Cook of the Week contestants finish Round 1 with creativity, confidence
In Challenge 7, home cooks Martha Garmon and Alexandra Zades of Schaumburg were faced with tilapia, scallions, cauliflower and turmeric, courtesy of Amita Health.
In Challenge 8, cooks Christina Anderson-Heller of Wood Dale and Sylvia Schafer of Cary faced with Porte Brown's challenge to create a brunch menu for less than $25 using a gift card from Valli Foods.
Today, we hear from these cooks about their inspirations, trials and errors, thoughts, feelings on the ingredients and more.
Next week, we'll hear what the judges thought about recipes submitted by cooks in Challenges 7 and 8 and their final decisions.
We'll also offer a rundown of the challenges coming in Round 2, some of the secret ingredients and more information about the live cook-off on Nov. 1 in Itasca.
Enjoy!
Martha Garmon finds inspiration in cauliflower, scallions
My honest reaction to the mystery ingredients was, “I can do this!” I love to make cauliflower puree, and that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the mystery ingredients in Challenge #7. I prepared Cauliflower Crusted Tilapia with Scallion Aioli, Turmeric Cauliflower Puree and Red Quinoa. My first try was to make my puree after roasting the cauliflower. However, I didn't let it roast long enough, and the puree was grainy. So, I went back to my tried and true method of steaming the cauliflower first. I probably could have gotten what I wanted by roasting the cauliflower longer, but I tend to keep most of my dishes under an hour in total prep and cooking time. I don't want to come home after work and spend more than that in the kitchen.
I was afraid that I might not get many points for creativity if I did a pan-seared tilapia. I thought it might be interesting to see if I could use the cauliflower as “bread crumbs.” That turned out awesome, and I was surprised at how well the cauliflower works as a breading. Cauliflower would be a great gluten-free breading. I wanted to use the scallions other than as just a garnish, so I used the green parts of the scallions to bring crispness to the quinoa, and I made scallion aioli for a sauce. As usual, my husband was my best tester helping me to decide between the toasted pepitas or toasted sliced almonds in the quinoa.
I was surprised about conceptualizing the dish so quickly. My concern about entering a competition was that it would take me too long to come up with a dish but this was very encouraging. It was fun!!
Alexandra Zades embraces turmeric and lets it shine
The mystery ingredients for this challenge really guided me in the direction of Indian spices and I was definitely relieved to find cauliflower, which is one of my favorite ingredients, in the mystery bag. I eat tilapia at least once a week, so having that as an ingredient was also comforting. I made Spiced Tilapia served over Cauliflower Coconut Rice and a Carrot Salad.
I really wanted to use turmeric in multiple ways, since it's a great spice that adds a beautiful color and unique flavor to many foods plus it has great anti-inflammatory benefits. To highlight turmeric, I used it in all three components of my dish: a marinade for the fish, a sauce for the cauliflower rice and a dressing for the carrot salad. I've never tried tilapia in a turmeric based marinade, but after the great reviews from my family - I'll be sure to use this recipe time and time again! On my first trial of the marinade, both my family and I thought “it needs more acidity” so I adjusted measurements for the lemon juice, turmeric and cumin until I got the flavors down. I opted for a pan sear of the fish which turned out perfectly visually and taste-wise. My mom loved the cauliflower rice immediately - and every chef knows that if mom likes it, it must be good.
Usually, we eat family style at my house, where everyone serves themselves, so I never focus on my presentation. That said, it was fun to get creative with plating and the final presentation was decided after my brother ran a Facebook poll on which dish was prettier.
It was fun to have ingredients assigned, and it reminded me a lot of “Chopped” which is one of my favorite shows. I really loved not only making my very own recipes but also experimenting with measurements until everything tasted just right. I was also a little nervous knowing that my family and judges would be critiquing my food. I guess I'll have nerves right up until I find out if I make it on to the next round!
Christina Anderson-Heller has fun creating brunch menu
I was extremely excited to see a brunch challenge - brunch is my favorite meal because it includes mimosas! I created a menu that could serve six guests for under $25, and it was a challenge, but a lot of fun to come up with easy-to-make recipes with shared ingredients.
My husband and I have a lake home in Wisconsin, and our summer house guests are always treated to Sunday morning brunch. I often prepare a strata or breakfast casserole because it can be done the day ahead. I decided to take my favorite ham and asparagus strata and turn it into minis by baking them in a muffin pan. I also love to pick up fresh berries at the local farmers market and make a sweet custard; and while the name 'clafoutis' sounds fancy, this is actually the easiest dish to prepare. Of course, you can't have brunch without bacon, but I decided to throw in a twist and candy it with a pinch of cayenne and fresh thyme from my herb garden. When I prepare brunch, I always try to include sweet, savory and salty and serve it all buffet style so guests can graze as they please.
When making my ham and asparagus strata I usually use Gruyere cheese, however, it is quite pricey, so I spent a lot of time shopping around the cheese section in Valli trying to come up with alternatives. I finally decided on a combination of Gouda and Swiss cheeses, and they were a perfect substitute.
Price became an issue again with berries because I originally wanted to do a triple berry clafoutis (raspberry, blackberry and blueberry) but decided to omit the blackberries because of the price. My total grocery bill? $25.08 to prepared Mini Ham & Asparagus Strata; Berry & Lemon Clafoutis; and Candied Bacon with Thyme.
On a sunny Sunday morning, I invited six of my friends over to test out my brunch recipes over mimosas. My taste testers all gave me thumbs-up! The bacon was the crowd favorite, of course. I baked the bacon with brown sugar and zested orange peel on one piece to try it, and it was not what I was expecting, so added a pinch of cayenne and some fresh thyme from my garden and it was a winner! I was really surprised how easy the mini strata were and how cute and rustic they looked with the bread popping out of the top. They also cooked so much faster than a typical pan strata.
I loved having the challenge of cooking brunch for under $25! I tend to buy extravagantly sometimes, so this challenge may have changed how I cook brunch from now on!
Sylvia Schafer makes a flavor-packed skillet for a crowd
I prepared a roasted potato, sausage and egg dish - Sunshine Quarto Potato Skillet with Andouille. My family loves lots of flavor and color, and this dish has both. I wanted to create a dish that was both filling and flavorful. Meat and potato dishes always stick to your ribs and satisfy.
This dish was easy to make for under $25, and if you wanted to spend a bit more, you could get organic ingredients for around $32. The most important: try to buy organic cage-free eggs because the whites are not runny and will hold together well. I like the taste of organic eggs over regular eggs, but it does make an impact on your grocery bill.
I'll 'fess up and tell you that I burned my hand when removing the skillet from the oven, which was definitely a low in the process. The eggs took a little longer to set up than I thought they would and my salsa was very spicy. My husband thought it was perfect, but my daughter thought I went too hot with the salsa. Also, I was experimenting with the spinach leaves, trying to create more of a flower appearance. The green was a nice addition of color to the dish. However, the leaves did shrink-up more than I had expected. On the plus side, everyone loved it. My husband actually had thirds. I had to make it a second time for the photographer so I shared with two other friends that polished off the skillet. Another good thing was that my husband committed to a bike ride with me to work off our big meal.
I have learned from experience that you really need to make sure you are finely dicing onion when adding to roasted potatoes; otherwise, the onions don't want to get tender at the same time as the potatoes. I use andouille because the flavor of the sausage is soaked up in the potatoes and creates a nice robust flavor. I like Cotija cheese because it is not stringy yet it has a nice bold flavor. The smoky flavor of the chilies paired well with the sausage. The whole dish was full of flavor, and I would make this dish for a brunch anytime it's a little unique for brunch, and it makes a great appearance.
- Jacky Runice