Iron Chef OOT 3/21-4/1

[Billy Bibbit]

Appetizer: Roasted Poblano Chile Bisque

2 corn tortillas
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small carrot
1 white potato, diced
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
cilantro and monterey jack cheese for garnish

Drizzle the poblano peppers with olive oil and roast them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let them cool a few minutes and then peel them and discard the peel along with the seeds and stem. Chop the poblano peppers coarsely.

Meanwhile, chop 1 1/2 tortillas into small bits, reserving the remaining 1/2 tortilla for garnish. Mix the tortilla pieces with the flour, salt and pepper. In a large pot, saute the onion, garlic, and carrot in butter for 5 minutes. Mix with the flour-tortilla mixture to make a roux, then gradually add the vegetable broth, stirring constantly. Add the potato and simmer until the potato is soft. Add the poblano peppers and mix the soup thoroughly in a blender. Return the soup to the pot, add the cream and simmer for a few more minutes. Garnish with grated monterey jack, tortilla strips, and cilantro.








Entree: Chili and Almond Stuffed Cod

1 1/2 lbs cod filets
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tomatoes
1/2 cup minced serrano chile
3 eggs
1 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp parsley
salt to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in buter. Beat the eggs lightly, and add them with the tomatoes to the onion and garlic until the eggs just curdle. Stir in the almonds, parsley, chiles, and salt.

Make pockets in the fish filets, being careful to only cut on one side. Stuff the filets and wrap them tightly in cheesecloth to keep the stuffing in the filets during baking. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I served it with pan-fried potatoes.

[Mermade]

App

<font color="red"> Huevo, Patatas, y Chorizo con Aceite de Habanero</font>

This is a little twist on eggs and chorizo.

1.5 lbs of potatoes (purple, red, and white) small cube
1 small white onion chopped
1 lb of Salvadorian chorizo cut into cubes
6 eggs (3 for poaching, 3 for sauce)
1 lime
10 Tbs of butter
2 habanero chilis
oil
Cholula hot sauce
fresh rosemary, parsley, and cilantro
salt
white pepper



Heat a large heavy skillet add oil and 2 Tbsp of butter. Add potatoes fry until golden and crisp. At the same time add chorizo onion and 1 Tbsp of oil into another pan and cook until chorizo is cooked through and onions are tender. Put potatoes on a paper towel to drain off some of the fat, return to pan. Drain the fat off the chorizo, onion mixture, and add to the potatoes. Add chopped fresh herbs. Mix well.



In a saucepan add 3 eggs whisk constantly on low-medium heat a minute or two add juice of a small lime and 2 cold Tbsp of butter. Continue to whisk constantly until the eggs thicken so you can see the bottom of the pan as you whisk. You do not want the eggs to curdle it should be liquid, thickened, sauce consistency. Remove from heat and whisk in 2 additional cold Tbsp of butter. (This thickens the sauce and stops the cooking). Take 4 Tbsp of melted butter and incorporate into sauce by drizzling it in a bit at a time while whisking. Add butter until desired thickened consistency. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Add Cholula hot sauce, some chopped cilantro/parsley, and a drizzle of habanero oil whisk until mixed well. (This is a traditional Hollandaise with lime as replacement for lemon and Cholula hot sauce and habanero oil for color, flavor, and kick).




(Habanero oil was made by finely chopping 2 habanero chilis and infusing some oil over night.)



Poach eggs. I can include my method for poaching eggs here, if desired, but perhaps it will suffice to say I follow Julia Child's advice in The Way to Cook, including piercing the end of the egg, boiling for 10 sec, adding vinegar to the water etc. etc.

Quickly toss the potato/chorizo mixture in a generous amount of habanero oil. Plate in a small mound, slide the poached egg on top, spoon on sauce, garnish with additional sprigs of parsley/cilantro.

[Mermade]

All the herbs I used are fresh from my garden. That makes me happy. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[cbloom]

It's my first time doing an ICOOT, but I couldn't let the Chile Battle go by without someone making a dish that really epitomizes the chile : Chile Colorado.

I always cook by building up some reference knowledge and then improvising. This is my background research :


http://www.rollybrook.com/asado.htm
Asado

http://www.rollybrook.com/chile_colorado.htm
chile colorado

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_13104,00.html?rsrc=search
Recipes : Red Meat Chili: Carne Chili Colorado : Food Network

http://www.recipezaar.com/19917
Chili Colorado Recipe | Recipezaar

http://food.sunset.com/sunset/recipe...ipe_id=1023839
Chile Colorado Fandango Recipe - Beef - Sunset

http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=...%20con%20carne
Astray Recipes: Chili colorado con carne

The best of those is the Fandango though the Rollybrook ones are super authentic.

Some of my prep photos are nasty blurry, sorry.

I got 4 oz of Anchos and 4 oz of Pasillas. Remove stems and seeds. Toast in a 500 degree oven for 1 minute until they just start smoking.



Then drop them in a pot of boiling water. Turn off the heat, put the lid on and soak for 20 minutes or so.

During that time I sauted some diced onion &amp; garlic and tossed it in the blender. I also toasted 1 tbsp cumin in a dry pan until it just started smoking, then assembled the rest of the spices :



some clove &amp; fennel seeds (non standard) and bay leaves. I also put in some mexican oregano (not pictured). Thyme would be more standard but for some reason I didn't have any !? Grind it up in a mortar and pestle.



I got about 3 pounds of beef short ribs and 3 pounds of pork shoulder. These are the short ribs after I trimmed some fat. I also trimmed the fat off the pork shoulder and cut it into roughly 1-2 inch cubes.



Ok, the Chilis are done softening so they go in the blender + 1 cup of the soaking liquid (toss the rest). Blend them with the onion until smooth. I had to add a bit more water to get the blender to go.

At this point if I was a CIA geek I would strain the sauce but I'm not so I didn't.

In a large pan now brown all the meats in batches so you don't crowd the pan. When it's all brown, dump in a beer and scrape to deglaze the goodness. I added about 2 cups of chicken stock and brought it to a boil. Dump in the contents of the blender and the spice mix, stir it all up.

Now I went very non-standard here and added 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 tbsp molasses. This will make the sauce a lot sweeter and darker, more like a barbecue sauce.

Put the meat back in the pan and you're ready to braise :



Simmer for 3 hours on a very low stove-top, or just toss it in a 300 degree oven and go out.

I made some plain grits/polenta to go on the side and garnished with avocado and cilantro.



I had the Coppola Syrah with it and it was perfect. I don't think the picture can convey the beauty of the color of the sauce.

I'm very happy with the modifications I made, they worked just like I wanted, making it deeper, sweeter, richer. The only flaw was maybe the cumin flavor was too strong; I actually used less than some of the recipes, but maybe my real whole cumin is fresher and stronger than theirs.

ps. I wanted to plate a whole short rib but they totally disintegrated (yum). You can see a bone of one standing up on that plate.

pps. the sugar/molasses bit could be skipped if you used a nice dark sweet beer and used more of it and reduced it.

[CardSharpCook]

I am out of town right now and will be unable to post the polls. If someone could do that it'd be great. Just wait 'til after 9pm PST so that any late entries from the west coast can get in.

[Mrs. Utah]

I am cooking right now and should be done in time.

[StevieG]

Ironically enough, I could not really devote time to IC OOT this week.

But I tried doing an appetizer.

Jalapeños Stuffed with Crab and Avocado

For the stuffing

8 oz steamed backfin crab meat
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 avocado
1 lemon

Chop the avocado, juice the lemon, mix it all together.

Slice jalapeños open, remove seeds. Stuff with crabmeat and bake at 350 F for about 20-25 minutes.

I also roasted and pureed some red peppers to make a cooling sauce.



To be perfectly honest, I did not like how it came out. It tasted all right, but it was not the combination I expected.

However, I loved the avocado and crab combination. I will try this again, only as the basis of a salad.

[O Fen�meno]

I feel like the cumin would contribute negatively towards the dish

[StevieG]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel like the cumin would contribute negatively towards the dish

[/ QUOTE ]

Oops! I forgot to mention the cilantro.

1 T, chopped

Don't know if that makes the cumin a better part of the dish or not, but there it is.

[Mrs. Utah]

Chili Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Chipotle Peppers


Chili Pasta

31/4 cup unbleached flour
4 eggs
1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2-t tsp cayenne pepper

Pulse ingredients in food processor or make a well with dry ingredients and add eggs to center. Use a fork to combine and make a dough. Kneed out with extra flour and pass through pasta machine to form sheets.

Cover to prevent drying out until ready to use.






Filling

I did not measure-sorry

I sauteed chopped red onion with (finely)chopped chipotle peppers in a tsp or two of oil until onions are soft.
Combine with goat cheese and chopped fresh cilantro.

I spread out the pasta and dotted the filling and covered with the second sheet of pasta. I cut the raviolis and decided to use a round cutter to make a smaller ravioli. Use a little water to seal the sheets of pasta.









Heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees.

Fry ravioli for 1 minute per side and drain on paper towel.



Guacamole

Combine avocado, chopped seeded tomato, chopped jalepeno, chopped red onion, lime juice and salt to taste.


Plate and serve with guacamole and sour cream