If you have never seen the show before, chefs compete to create the best dish out of 4 "mystery basket" ingredients. They are able to use other ingredients from the pantry, but must utilize the four unique ingredients they are given.
FTR members/professional chefs Tanner Freed and Chris Henry volunteered to entertain us with their skills and bring us together to celebrate and enjoy food-- the very mission of Food to Recover!
Sous chefs were selected from the crowd, and FTR members were chosen as celebrity judges.
It was an evening full of quick dicing, creative cooking techniques, delicious combinations, and lots of on-your-feet quick thinking!
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| Chefs and Sous chefs think and work quickly! |
We had 2 rounds of fun; each lasting 30 minutes.
In round 1, chefs were instructed to create an appetizer with the following "mystery ingredients:"
- Cactus leaf
- Canned Chicken
- Jicama
- Fresh farmers market peaches
- BONUS:Pineapple Tomatillos
Cactus leaf can be tricky to prepare, as it can get slimy pretty quick if you're not careful. Canned chicken was a challenge, because it was already cooked, thus the chefs were unable to infuse it with much flavor. Jicama is a mexican root that is very fresh and crunchy. And, the pineapple tomatillos were cherry-sized balls bursting with citrusy pineapple flavor.
We all watched in awe as one chef dropped the canned chicken into a boiling pot of water and topped the "rouleau" or roll with a peach and carrot sauce, while the other chef quickly minced and diced the cactus and peach for a fresh salsa to mix with the canned chicken and place atop a crostini.
Simple genius. And delicious.
Our celebrity judges critiqued the presentation, creativity, taste, and use of garden produce from our Food To Recover garden. Tanner and his sous chef came out on top for Round 1!
Round 2 was the entree round! The anticipation in the room increased as the crowd eagerly awaited the new "mystery basket" ingredients and the talent of the chefs.
The Round 2 mystery basket included:
- Pork chops
- Raisins
- Polenta
- Swiss chard
Chefs and sous chefs got to cooking, while they briefly discussed the ingredients in their hands. Polenta is ground corn and can be utilized for many different dishes. Pork chops are thought to be a quick cooking and versatile protein. And, swiss chard, a dark green and colored stem vegetable, was plucked fresh from our garden.
Both chefs chose to pan fry (or sear) their pork chop and finish it's cooking in the oven. For one chef, he saw polenta cakes, while the other reconstituted it (added liquid to it's brick form) and made it into a porridge bed for the pork. A sweet and acidy sauce was added atop the polenta and pork for one chef, while the polenta cakes were topped with a simple but delicious sweet sauce.
Chef Chris Henry was the winner of this round!
With a 1-1 tie, the results were broken with one simple criteria: who used more garden produce. In the end, Tanner had utilized more garden ingredients, naming him the First Ever FTR Chopped Champion!
It was an evening full of creativity and inspiration! We hope to host another FTR Chopped soon, so keep an eye out! And, start sharpening your knives! We'd like you all to participate!
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