EDF Cooking Contest--Pumpkin Challenge

[SamIAm]

Mermade, that's incredibly awesome. I'm so jealous that Mrs.Utah got the "Best Dessert In The Whole World" vote!

[Ron Burgundy]

Sapo,

I like the concept of the amuse, I don't think I'd like the pumpkin/sweet potato combination though.

I'm not really a fan of fried risotto in general. I think if you make a good creamy risotto it's best eaten as is. Doing anything else to it is unnesessary at best.

The dessert sounds really good but you didn't describe how it was made. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Sam,

Major props for trying the drink.

The gratin sounds very good (except for the nuts that I'm allergic to), although I would've liked to see it plated as part of a complete dish. The gnochi/salad dish looks great... and healthy!

The cheesecake sounds great, even if El D the nit doesn't think it's original. I dunno about cayenne in the brittle though. Seems like the heat would clash with the creamy cheesiness.

milliondollaz,

Pumpkin soup is pretty lame, but it's an improvement from a mangled bacon sandwich. I'll give you credit for effort considering your skill level.

There's quite a lot of chicken on the entree plate, did you eat all that? Maybe it's just the pic, but the seeds don't look fully toasty.

The roasted butter bowl is hilarious, but probly not something I'd like to eat lol.

Looking forward to seeing you improve!

Bretweir,

Solid apps there. I could definitely see myself snacking on those until I'm too full to eat dinner.

I really like the entree as well, even though I'm not a big fan of lamb. A great rustic fall/winter dish.

Mermade,

I like the spaghetti squash idea, as I said before.

Mrs. Utah,

The flan looks great, professionally garnished. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

The only complaint about your entree is that pumpkin doesn't really seem to be the feature.

BK,

Love the app, except for the spicy seeds, but you knew that.

I don't think the pumpkin chips should ever have gone on the plate. They're covering up the garnish!

Love the croquettes.

Mermade's son,

A respectable first effort. When plating, what you want to go for is symmetry and height. Notice how in the plate on the right the ingredients are towards the lower left of the plate. Try to keep it in the center. For height, what you can do is put some large leaves in a pile, then put some diagonally sliced carrot on top. Diagonal slicing is crucial for prettiness.

You might also want to think about a sauce or vinagrette drizzled around the plate. I suggest having your mom do the tedious work of making the vinagrette, then you can practice the more important job of artfully dotting it around the plate. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


This was so hard to decide, there's so much awesome food this week. I've spent over an hour reviewing all the recipes.

BK gets my pick for best chef. All 3 of his dishes were creative, very well executed and featured pumpkin. I didn't exercise my 2 vote option because I think 2nd place was a tie between Mrs. U and Bret Weir.

For best dishes, I rank them as follows:

1) scallops
2) flan
3) croquettes
4) sam's gnocchi
5) popover/bruschetta
6) "spaghetti"

[ElSapo]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not really a fan of fried risotto in general. I think if you make a good creamy risotto it's best eaten as is. Doing anything else to it is unnesessary at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hopefully this doesn't come off as defensive, but ...

Man, have you had a good arancini? If the Italians think it's a good idea to fry risotto, I'm sticking by it. The entire risotto ball isn't crunchy - the outside is, sure, but the inside remains soft and creamy.

I love these things. I had it for the first time in Rome, on my first night there in a restaurant near the Vatican. The place looked like a tourist trap, except it was probably the most "authentic" food we had the entire trip and was filled with Italians watching soccer.

The antipasti was amazing, although it was our first night and so we had no idea why they kept bringing us plate after plate. The prosciutto was sliced just a few feet away, and their arancini had a little piece of mozzarella stuffed into the center.

I tried the entire trip to find another this good, but never did. So when I got home, I wanted to learn to make them. Mine still aren't as good as that first night, but I'm working on it.

[Ron Burgundy]

I'll take your word for it that whatever you had in Rome was really good (has anyone ever had bad food in Italy?). It's hard for me to imagine how you could keep the rice the same texture. Maybe I'll just have to try doing it myself.

[ElSapo]

[ QUOTE ]
(has anyone ever had bad food in Italy?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Plenty, although I think that says more about areas with lots of tourists and less about Italian food. There is some real average-to-poor food in Rome, most of it in close proximity to museums and marble.

[Ron Burgundy]

Congrats to Sam! And to BK for best dish!

[BK_]

Congrats Sam, and thanks all. I was torn between Sam and Sapo for my best overall contribution vote, but ended up giving it to Sam.

[ElSapo]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats Sam, and thanks all. I was torn between Sam and Sapo for my best overall contribution vote, but ended up giving it to Sam.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I'm honored to have even been considered given the quality entrants. Congrats to the winners, this was an awesome competition.

[SamIAm]

Aw, shucks. I'd just like to thank everybody who voted for Quantity over Quality. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] BK and ElSapo both got tons of votes in the "best dish" category, and deservedly so.

Really fun thread. I'm psyched for cranberry. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]