The Lounge Cooking Contest Ideas Thread

[Mrs. Utah]

The Lounge Cooking Contest Ideas Thread

I am wanting to resurrect the Iron Chef threads that were in OOT but have disappeared for some unknown reason
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showth...rue#Post9832121



I have talked to a few of the "chefs" and all seem interested in some type of cooking contest.

Lots of debate about which forum, how to format a similar contest etc...

So, I am bringing it here to get some suggestions, thoughts etc,


My thoughts would be to simplify it.


I like having a common theme, whether it be an ingredient that is voted on or a style of cooking.
Maybe only one dish to be made instead of the 2 or 3 that IC had going.
I think a big one would be not to require an original or semi original recipe. That was tough and I think kept a lot of people away. I think allowing published recipes would be good as its fun to see how something that is published will really turn out.

Anyway, those are a few thoughts.

I am curious what you all think? Is it worth a go?

[diebitter]

I LOVE THIS!


It's at times like this, I wish I cooked regularly. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[MrWookie]

I like to cook, but I avoided the OOT IC competitions because I'm no plater, I don't dream up my own recipes, and my photography pales compared to yours. Honestly, I was thinking of starting up another cooking thread, but one for more everyday meals -- things that aren't a pain to prepare on a weeknight, and things that make for good leftovers to take into work for lunch.

That being said, it was fun watching what the real pros could concoct. If you've got the participation lined up, go for it.

[katyseagull]

I avoided the IC competition because I'm no plater and I'm no cook! But I certainly enjoyed it a lot. And those pictures that Mrs. Utah posted above are awesome. Those are worthy of being on the cover of a magazine, so scrumptious looking.

I like the idea of scaling down the IC scope to just one dish and allowing the use of known recipes. For someone like me trying to make an original professional-looking dish would be next to impossible.

I would love to see more cooking threads in the Lounge but if Iron Chef doesn't work out I certainly think there are several other directions we could go.

[Mrs. Utah]

I am interested in hearing what more people think.

It may not work, a contest format that is, but I do think that Katy had a good thread going a while back that disappeared.

I will say that the contest format was a lot of fun though, challenging for sure especially since there are a lot of very good cooks out there.

I guess I was looking for the happy medium, making everyday type food with the contest twist, where there is a common theme every week or every other week.
Something a little more laid back where I am not compelled to bring out the photo-lights and such. Something that a lot of people want to jump into. I learned a lot from what other people had posted.

At this point I am going to wait and see what kind of reception this idea gets here.

Wookie, if things were simplified-one dish, any recipe, etc would you jump in from time to time? Katy?

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]


I guess I was looking for the happy medium, making everyday type food with the contest twist, where there is a common theme every week or every other week.
Something a little more laid back where I am not compelled to bring out the photo-lights and such. Something that a lot of people want to jump into.


[/ QUOTE ]

Agree!

There are definitely some phenomenal cooks out there that's for sure. You guys set the bar so high that it's a little bit intimidating for us plain folk. I was just so impressed with the quality of the IC entries and the different approaches that you guys took.

I would probably participate if you did something simplified. I like having a theme and a task. I was actually thinking that I wanted to try to improve my cooking. I don't have the knowledge or skills that you guys have but for some dumb reason I want to photograph my efforts [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img].

Even if you don't end up doing an Iron Chef in the lounge I would still like to see some type of cooking thread. I could see us doing something each week where one of us picks an ingredient or specific style of cooking and we see what people come up with.

For example,

"This week's cooking challenge is to make some sort of dinner pastry. Entry must include some kind of pastry or crust. The filling is up to you."

Or,

"This week we are all going to attempt to make a Thai dish. It can be simple or complex. Document your efforts with photos and include your recipe."


haha, now that I read that back I see that it doesn't really differ from Iron Chef at all. Gah. Well, the point is I would participate if the expectations were rather low [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Ron Burgundy]

I think it's the structured competion aspect of it that made less people want to participate. People would take one look at Mrs. Utah's entries and be like WTF NO WAY I WONT EVEN TRY TO BEAT THAT!!!

When you have a poll to decide a winner, it forces you to really scrutinize every part of every dish. Which is difficult when you can't taste it, obviously. That leads to an overemphasis on plating, and the plating is what most noob cooks don't have a clue about. I always spent a lot more time cooking than I wanted to just because I knew I would have to make it look perfect.

I think if we got rid of the poll, that would put the focus more on the food and exchanging ideas, rather than "food porn." I'm not saying there's anything wrong with food porn, but I'd rather see 10 good dishes that I might actually make, than 3 totally amazing dishes that I probably wouldn't ever make.

Let's try not to dumb it down TOO much though. I don't want to see people posting Rachel Ray recipes. (zing!)

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't want to see people posting Rachel Ray recipes

[/ QUOTE ]

What's wrong with Rachel's recipes?

[slamdunkpro]

I didn't participate in OOT IC for various reasons - the primary being a very restricted weight loss diet, but now that a lot of that is over (and off) a cooking thread would be a lot of fun.

In one of the foodie forums I visit we do a version where someone picks the main ingredient and people post pics & recipes. the winner of the previous week picks the winner of the current week and that person picks the theme. So for example to get things started Mrs. Utah picks the first theme (ingredient or style) then picks the winner of that week - say it's me. Then I pick next weeks theme and then judge the winner and so on.

[MrWookie]

Well, here's an idea I had about this thing that might encourage more participation from people, even those who don't want to enter while also potentially making this more accessible to us amateurs. What about the contest based on what recipes actually get cooked by the readers? When the chefs submit their dishes, then, they're not only doing it with the idea to make a dish that is tasty, but also accessible to us commoners.

Eh, this might actually work out to be a pain. I'm not sure how many people would volunteer to try out one (or even more) of the dishes suggested here. Well, maybe if we take submissions in the first week, and then ask people to try out cooking them in the next 3 weeks or so. Just tossing this out there.