Slice, Dice and Spice Competition

The morning dawned rainy and overcast.  Not to mention cold.  My 9 am start time was pushed back a half hour, which gave me a chance to roam the Rochester Public Market, where I always seem to find friends.  Coffee at Java's, and a brief conversation with Eliza Kozlowski from the George Eastman House, and then back to the Market office at 9:15.

I did not read the email carefully enough, or skipped a detail or something.  I thought I'd be paired with a pro chef to cook three dishes in 30 minutes.  Nope.  One dish, no pro chef.  On my own.  Fifteen minutes to inspect a tabletop pantry and 2 coolers with ingredients and spices.  A grill with a burner.  One pot.  One sautee pan.  Three cutting boards.  One sharp chef's knife, one very dull.  Several volunteers to help with logistics, but no touching the food or helping with the actual preparation.  The rain made the grass work area slick and muddy, so rather than slosh around in the mud, I spent a few minutes moving the grill and then the work table.  I was worried about safety, but no, I was worried about falling on my butt and wearing the embnarrassing stains of iniquity.

 

I didn't know what the ingredients would be until 9:15.  I expected some seasonal items like apple or pumpkin, and would have been pleased if that were the case.  The items were pretty basic, with no over-the-top fun items.  Kale was about the most exotic item.  The previous contestant used all the tomatoes, and a few juicy ones, freshlyn procured from the Market, were sitting on the table.  I thought about going Mexican, and the spices were there, but no beans or meat products.  Vegetarian dishes are not my forte, save but one.

It's 9:30, and I've got a pot with nearly boiling water and a heated sautee pan.  It's cold, and I'm cooking in a gray rain jacket, and soon after I started the rain finally stopped.

I opted to make an ultra-quick version of my aromatic Bologna-inspired sauce chock full of fresh vegetables.  So here was the menu I created:

Bolognese Basil & Red Pepper Sauce
Grilled Garlic Butter Flatbread
Spicy Tri-Colored Orzo

A crowd started to gather, and I tried my best to ignore them.  But the one thing I know about cooking is that aroma is closely related to taste.  The most successful hot dog vendors fire up their grills and put the onions on immediately to generate nose-appeal. I selected a dish that created an olfactory impression of deliciousness, even if spectators were unable to taste it themselves.   

I needed to melt butter, but did not have a third pan.  Hmmm... what would MacGyver do?  I took one of the serving bowls, which I had not intended to use, and cut four pats of butter and dosed it with garlic granules.  I then floated the bowl in the water over the orzo, and covered it, drawing a small reaction from the volunteers.  The judges were not there to watch, so no bonus points for creativity, but I was rather proud of myself.  It seemed like time was not a factor, but the last eight minutes flew by, and I was struggling to finely chop some jalapeno to add spice to the spicy orzo. I did not want the pepper to be raw, and fortunately, the orzo was hot enough that it cooked the pepper and, according to plan, made it very aromatic.  With just a few minutes to go, I realized I had not added the basil leaves yet.  I would have liked them to infuse the sauce a bit more, but realistically, they needed only to be wilted, which was easily accomplished.

At the end, I looked for a tasting spoon, and found none.  I added a small amount of salt to the "Bolognese" sauce.  Later, when I finally tasted the sauce, I felt it could have benefited from more.  Ah, the benefit of tasting.  

I was not certain if the elements of appearance, taste and creativity were being judged equally, but I wanted the presentation to be as elegant as possible.  I cut the flatbread into triangles and angled them on the plate, then kept the pasta and sauce separate.  The sauce is very thin, so I kept it to a minimum so not to make the flatbread soggy.  The result was almost like a colorful Italian stir-fry with onions, red peppers, mushrooms, whole basil leaves and chopped fresh rosemary in a light tomato broth. Judges could either mash it with the orzo, or scoop it with the garlic-butter flatbread.  I decorated the orzo with a sprig of fresh basil, and I thought the three finished dishes looked very appetizing.

My friend Zeke came halfway through and took some photos, so as soon as I get those, I will post them.  Win or lose, the Slice, Dice and Spice NY event was as terrifying as I thought it would be, and yet the most fun a wannabe chef can have with a knife and no tasting spoon.  Kudos to Michael Warren Thomas for an enjoyable public event, and to the volunteers who were helpful and friendly and humorous.

Good luck to the eventual winner!