Round 1, Week 2: Ashland Sausage Co. mini ham, frozen tater tots, peaches and pecans
Jamie Andrade
My first thought was that you guys had been very cruel this year: two pre-made ingredients that are really hard to transform, then a fruit and a nut. I about had a panic attack walking out of there. Honestly, I was lost.
I thought maybe of slicing the ham and doing some kind of glaze, but then what — just cook the tater tots as a side? After a while I just thought, let’s give a pizza a go ... everything under the sun tastes good on pizza. I love, love, love the chipotle peppers in adobo — whatever you put them in give it a slightly smokey heat, which I thought would go great with the ham, then I knew I had to tone down the sweetness of the peaches and pecans. So I toasted the pecans with a little paprika to keep the smoked flavor throughout the dish, then caramelized the peaches with some onions.
I was still stuck on the tater tots, but thought ‘let’s go ahead and throw a few on there toasted with cheddar cheese’ — and honestly, those were the best bites of that flat bread!
Mary Beth Thornton
When I first received the secret ingredients, the peaches and pecans immediately made me think of Georgia. When I incorporated the ham into the dish, I thought of a summertime Georgia Cobb salad with peaches and glazed pecans.
The one ingredient that threw me for a loop, was the tater tots. I wanted to pair the salad with something that would show the sweetness of the peaces and glazed pecans. A quiche and salad combination came to mind. I thought how I could pull this off. So I baked the tater tots and blended them with the pecans to make a crust. I wanted to do a peach brandy glaze or slices on top and came up with peach brandy glazed chopped peaches. I wasn’t sure how it would taste. I cooked a quiche up and tasted it and was amazed how addicting and good it was.
I made it a couple times and added a dollop of sour cream and it was great!
Mary Beth Thornton