Jamie Andrade, Joan Huenecke to meet in Round 2 of the Cook of the Week Challenge
Maybe the third time will be the charm for Elk Grove Village's Jamie Andrade.
In the bacon, lettuce and tomato challenge, Andrade's recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes and Tomato Bacon Aioli beat Tara Riley's BLT Pizza, pushing Andrade, a mother of three who is making her third appearance in the competition, into Round 2 of the Cook of the Week Challenge.
Andrade will meet Joan Huenecke of Palatine in the next recipe round, which will play out in early October. Huenecke's spice-rubbed, peach tea-sauced ribs and harvest salad won the tea matchup against Mundelein's Pam Larson.
The judges evaluated the recipes on creativity, use of ingredients, ease of preparation, appearance and perceived taste. Here's what the judges had to say about the recipes.
Fried Green Tomatoes by Jamie Andrade
Gale Gand: Looks and sounds delicious. I love the contrast in textures. A lot of steps, but it seems worth it.
Ted Brunson: I love that you have brought a taste of the South to the suburbs with a traditional taste. The prep is not too difficult and can actually be fun with others involved. Using the bacon grease is key in this. I would like to see the lettuce a little more involved. Overall, nicely done and I like the aioli use.
Penny Kazmier: This looks like it could be served in a fine restaurant. Very pretty plate. The idea of using the tomato and bacon in the aioli is creative and a good way to use your limited number of ingredients to get more flavor into your dish.
Joyce Mongello: I like the idea of using the tomatoes in all the applications of the recipe - the aioli, in salad on top and as main ingredient. Very creative and it looked beautiful! I would suggest salting the fried tomatoes as soon as they are done frying. Just a little, because the bacon is salty, but I feel like they should be seasoned as well as the other components. Maybe add a little fresh basil to the micro green salad on top … that would give it a nice freshness.
Tara's BLT Pizza by Tara Riley
G.G.: Very nice end-of-summer dish. Maybe a bit too complex having them roll their own dough.
T.B.: Presentation is fantastic! The preparation can be a bit of a downfall as it is quite labor intensive. People have done BLT pizzas before, but not this pretty. I would like to see the greens be more involved rather than in the middle of the pizza. It's a pie I'd love to try.
P.K. The combination of bacon, green onion and Fontina cheese sounds delicious, especially when topped with tomatoes and peppery arugula. Pre-roasting and salting the tomato slices to dry them out a little and concentrate their flavor may have added even more flavor.
J.M.: I like the ease of preparation in this recipe. This dish would make a nice quick dinner. I feel like kids would also enjoy this dish as well as adults. Maybe a balsamic reduction drizzled over the top of pizza after it comes out of the oven would be a nice finishing touch.
Rubbed Ribs with Warm Harvest Salad by Joan Huenecke
Keri Christopher: I believe this recipe has more flavor to it and I am drawn to the combination of the spicy with the cayenne and sweet with the apricot.
G.G.: Sounds delicious but a bit complicated with roasting the radishes, sauteing two types of greens and three cooking steps for the ribs.
T.B.: A lot of thought went into this dish. The only negative is that it is quite involved and may turn some people away in fear of failing. The salad as a pure side put it over the top for me. Great job.
P.K.: I like the use of the rub on the ribs. The sauce sounds good, but might be helped by a little acid to balance the sweetness. Very creative treatment of radishes and greens.
Apricot Chutney Ribs with Radish Slaw by Pam Larson
G.G.: I like the contrast in textures (tender sweet meat vs. crunchy mustardy slaw). I hope there's enough kick in the chili flakes to offset all the sweet in the sauce.
T.B.: I live by the law of minimalism, less is more. That's what I saw here with creativity and great flavor. Not a difficult process and good use of ingredients. While I do love slaw as an accompaniment to ribs, I was left wanting a bit more. I would love to try this dish as the use of tea was incorporated very well.
P.K.: Spicy radishes and broccoli slaw sounds like a tasty combination and a nice way to incorporate radishes into a meal. Chutney on ribs sounds delicious, but the chutney in this recipe might benefit from a little vinegar and a handful of sliced almonds, prior to blending, to round out its flavor.
Cook of the Week Challenge fan favorites
Voters picked Jamie Andrade's Fried Green Tomatoes with Tomato Bacon Aioli and Joan Huenecke's Peach Tea and Apricot Ribs with Warm Harvest Salad as the Challenge 1 and 2 winners, respectively.
Cast your vote for your favorite Challenge recipe of the week at surveymokey.com/s/2014COTW. Each week we'll select one person at random to win a prize from one of our sponsors. For voting on Challenge 1 and 2 recipes, Dawn Monegato will receive a Go Orange, Hunger Action Month T-shirt from Northern Illinois Food Bank.
Coming next week
See what Round 1, Challenge 5 contestants make with trout, hoisin sauce, apples courtesy of Alexian Brothers Health System and honey whole wheat bread from Great Harvest Bread Co.
Challenge 6 contestants whip up dinner with canned corn and $10 from Porte Brown CPAs. Can they feed four on such a tight budget?
Challenge 5
David Rench of Spring Grove vs. Roberta Fahey of Arlington Heights
Challenge 6
Molly Sutton of Arlington Heights vs. Aban Daboo of Aurora