Cook of the Week Challenge: Andrade, Huenecke bring whole chicken, almonds, mangos and licorice extract to the tailgate party
Jamie Andrade vs Joan Huenecke
Jamie Andrade: I left the Daily Herald building in panic mode. Ha-ha! What a basket! I was joking with my colleagues that I was going to get Twizzlers; close enough with that extract. I went to pick up the ingredients on my lunch break with a colleague. We spent the entire ride back to the office throwing around ideas and laughing at how we were going to be able to incorporate that extract in. My original plan was to make a smoky sweet barbecue sauce using the extract. The trial went OK and it wasn't bad, but as the sauce sat and the flavors became enhanced it just tasted like licorice tomato sauce so into the garbage it went. Sunday night, fearing the impending doom of the photographer coming in less than 24 hours I dug through my cabinets - Jagermeister, that's licoricey, that might work. Ginger, sure why not. I'm glad I bought that orange juice this week. So, I got to cooking and the end result came out more delicious than I could have imagined.
Joan Huenecke: How did I think of the menu, "Tailgate Octoberfest Chicken with Fennel Slaw and Grilled Mango Salsa"? I began planning the menu by thinking of tailgating. Beer seemed like a natural in this setting. I injected Octoberfest beer into the chicken before grilling because the chicken should enjoy a beer too! I included a salad that could easily be transported and assembled on site. The mystery ingredient anise extract inspired me to create the fennel slaw. Fennel has a licorice flavor, so this vegetable would work well with the anise extract. Tailgating is not complete with out salsa and chips. Grilling the mangos and vegetables before assembly brought out the sweetness of these ingredients.