Iron Chef Irvine

Plantains 6/25/09- Carmen

Platanos Rellenos
6 yellow plantains (not green and not brown; the different stages of plantain are very different in flavor; this in between stage is called “pinton”)
1 tblsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground pepper
½ lb. picadillo (halve the recipe below)
2 cups ground Saltine Crackers or bread crumbs, mix in Italian seasoning
2 eggs
oil
Boil the plantains whole, (do not peel) for 15 mins. in salted and peppered water.
Once boiled peel them and mash them. Form them into a mini bowl in your hand and fill with picadillo. Place another plantain cap on top and form into a ball. Make sure all sides are enclosed to avoid leakage of picadillo. =) Dip them in battered eggs and roll into seasoned cracker crumbs. Fry them in hot oil until golden brown. For a beautiful presentation, cut them in halves and dress them with a bit of pimentos on top.
I wish I had taken a picture so you could see the bright colors!

Picadillo
oil
1 lb. ground beef 1/4 cup ham cubed
1 yellow onion finely chopped 1 tsp. salt
1 bell pepper diced 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
1 clove of garlic minced ½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup medium dry sherry 6-8 pimento stuffed olives cut into halves or thirds
Add jarred pimentos to liking
Saute onions, bell pepper and garlic in oil set aside. Cook ground beef until browned, add ham and all other ingredients. Cook for about 20 mins. on medium-low heat.
(This dish is usually served with white rice and black beans with ripe plantains on the side.)

Bread Pudding

from Maggie
3 cups dry bread crumbs
2 cups milk scalded w/ 1/4 c butter
1/3 c sugar
2 eggs
1/8 t salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 raisins

Place breadcrumbs in a 1/5 qt. baking dish Blend in rest of ingrediants. Place baking dish in pan of hot water (1" deep) Temp 350 Time 40-45 min

Iron Chef: Irvine for Beginners

1) If you AREN'T competing, show up a little before 6pm. You can contribute something to the meal such as an appetizer, dessert, or drink, but it doesn't need to be related to the secret ingredient. Since you're not competing, you may be chosen to be a judge for the competition.

2) If you ARE competing, you have until 6pm on the night of the competition to create a dish that showcases the secret ingredient. For instance, in the Chocolate competition, chocolate sauces on non-chocolate items will be just as appropriate as chocolate dishes.

3) Judging begins at 6pm, but the kitchen opens at 5pm for those people that need to plate or heat up their food.

4) Your entry will be judged based on Taste, Creativity, and Presentation, all of which are weighted equally. The official Iron Chef: Irvine score card can be downloaded from the "Links" section of the blog.

5) In addition to the main judging, there is a People's Choice award that everyone (including the competition judges) gets to vote on*.

6) The winner of the competition is awarded the coveted red apron, gets to host the next competition**, and chooses the next secret ingredient. The People's Choice winner is awarded an almost-as-coveted black apron.

*Only people who try every entry are eligible to vote on the People's Choice award.

**Non-Irvine residents are asked to choose a location in Irvine to serve as their home kitchen stadium.

#26 Wine

Mark won with his warm chocolate souflee with port reduction chocolate sauce and homemade port infused whipping cream.
Congrats to newcomer Paul who won people's choice with his risotto.
Everything was yummy please post your recipes.

Catchup!

NO its not the next secret ingrediant (although that's not a bad idea).
Here's a catch up of the last few iron chefs (that haven't made it on to the hat yet)
32 Almonds- Rebecca
31 Apples- Nancy
30?? Ryan
29 Chili Pepper- Eva's Green Chili Stew
28 Chocolate-Steve
27 SOY- Ryan's wraps
26-Wine: Mark's Chocolate Souffle with port Wine sauce
25LIme- Eva's Lime Ice w. candied lime peels
24Garlic-Maggie's garlic tart w. tomatoes
23Pork- Rylinh's pork pulled sandwiches
22Lemon-Eva's lemon curd
21Chestnut-Rebecca's ??
20Pineapple-Suzzette's Pineapple Cake
19Carrot- Maggie's Carrot Cake
18Bread-Evonne's Bread Pudding
17Peppers- mark's tri of peppers and dip
16Lentils- Evonne's friends Indian Lentil Stew
15Cranberry- Evonne's friend with a rare steak w. cranberry sauce (and garlic mashed potatoes)
14Avocado-Evonne's Soup
13Maple-Maggie
12 Squash- Eva's Squash Ribbon Salad

and just to make this a running list
11-Ginger-Marcia's Ginger cocktail
10-Phyllo- Maggie's Tart
9-4th of July Pizza-Eva's Potato and Sausage Pizza
8-Raspberry-Julie's Parchment Paper Salmon w/ raspberry sauce
7 Cheese-Steve's friends lobster bruscetta (Eva stepped in as runner up w/ cheese crisps)
6 Mushrooms- Carmen's stuffed mushrooms
5 Apple?-Noah
4-Crab-Lauren's crab cream cheese wontons
3-Orange- Julie's nephew w. orange pancakes?
2-4th of July Burgers-Julie's Shrimp Burger
1-Pear- Eva's pear bruschetta