Thursday, March 22, 2018

#75: root vegetables - February 2016

Our roots cookoff was held on the 14th of February at Ash's lovely house in Hastings-Sunrise. It was also the day Kristina announced that she and Chris would be expecting a baby in the summertime! It seems so long ago now...

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
roasted parsnip soup
Jen: "chim chim churri" roasted parsnip soup with caper chimichurri
Scotch 'egg'
Kristina: "the bedeviled Scotsman" curry potato Scotch 'egg' with mustard, piri-piri sauce, jalapeño, & veggie bacon
confit
Malloreigh: "comfy" potato & fennel confit with tarragon
pirogi three ways
Ash: "pirogi roulette" potato pirogies 3 ways: spinach & garlic, caramelized onion, and sauerkraut; with beet-jalapeño salad
vegan poutine
Jeff: "you had me at poutine" double-fried russets with mushroom demi-glace and marinated tofu 'cheese'
potato donut
Chris: "potato to the core" potato donut with chocolate potato truffle, and potato white chocolate sauce

The votes show that there was one more person in attendance, but it's been so long now I can't be sure who. Maybe Allie, or Maddy.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Jen/Ash
presentation: Jen
creativity: Kristina
perceived effort: Ash
rootiness: Jen/Mal
overall favourite: Kristina/Mal

overall winner: Kristina

best name: (unscored category) Jen

Thursday, March 8, 2018

#74: 'fast' food - January 2016

Our 'fast' food cookoff— dishes created in less than 15 minutes on location with nothing pre-made— was held on the 18th of January at Blühaus. The idea was to create a sort of short order cook aspect to the cookoff, just to see what kind of dishes can be made with very little prep available to you. The results were quite interesting and varied, although our total cookoff time actually increased compared to usual!

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Thai noodle salad
Kristina: "ah, Phuket" Thai rice noodle salad with cucumber, carrot, basil, & mint in a soy/mirin/ginger dressing
dragon bowl
Malloreigh: "fame" soba noodle bowl with fried tofu, veggies, & shimeji mushrooms in a miso-tahini sauce; pepita & pea shoot garnish
fried pb&j
Jen: "hot lunch day" fried peanut butter & homemade jam sandwich with homemade pickled rhubarb; fried sage leaf garnish
warm cookie dough
Allie: "um, warm cookie dough?" mostly-baked chocolate chip cookies
silken tofu crème brûlée
Ash: "sugar burns real quick" silken tofu crème brûlée with blueberry mint sauce poached apple & pear
Chris: "a pear and an apple walk into a bar" poached apple & pear with pumpkin seed walnut crumble; ginger cherry & fresh basil garnish

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Kristina
presentation: Chris
creativity: Ash
perceived effort: Malloreigh
wow, you pulled that off: Jen/Chris
overall favourite: Malloreigh/Jen

overall winner: Jen

best name: (unscored category) Allie