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Faced with mystery ingredients, Cook of the Week Challenge cooks work their magic

In Challenge 1, home cooks Cara Kretz of North Barrington and Craig Brannan of Lake Villa were faced with Madacaskar Vanilla, courtesy of My Sweet Kake, skirt steak, black beans and purple yams.

In Challenge 2, cooks Daniel Imburgia of Elk Grove Village and Hazel Oreluk of Mount Prospect were given light sour cream, courtesy of Littman Brothers Lighting, boneless chicken breast, apricots and parsnips.

Today, we hear straight from the them 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 Challenges 1 & 2 cooks and their final decision. We'll also offer essays from cooks in Challenge 3 and 4. Enjoy!

  Craig Brannan of Lake Villa made grilled skirt steak with vanilla bourbon barbecue sauce over Japanese sweet potato puree, left, and southwestern sweet potato hash. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com

Challenge 1

Craig Brannan makes a sweet potato puree to go with skirt steak

I was so happy to learn that skirt steak was the protein that I had to use in Challenge 1. The Madagascar vanilla definitely worked well in both the marinade for the skirt steak and in the barbecue sauce. The flavor came through perfectly, lending a subtle but noticeable essence.

The marinade really helped tenderize the steak, which can be tough if not prepared properly.

The cumin and garlic both played well with the sweetness of the barbecue sauce, and I think the addition of black beans into the barbecue sauce added a nice texture element and helped thicken the sauce to a pleasant consistency.

The Japanese sweet potato puree worked nicely as a foundation for the skirt steak. The addition of heavy whipping cream into the puree added a velvety richness to the dish.

Lastly, the Southwestern sweet potato hash turned out to be an ideal side dish for the skirt steak. I added black beans and the Poblano pepper to develop the flavor profile and enhance the textural element of the dish.

Overall, this challenge worked out very well. I tweaked the recipes a few times for maximum flavor and texture. Everyone that tasted the final dishes loved the bold flavors and smooth and creamy textures on the plate. I had comments like “Wow, this is the best skirt steak I've ever had”; “You should bottle this sauce and sell it!”; “Can I have the recipe for this?”; “I loved the Poblano pepper in the hash”; and “I could eat a whole bowl of this puree.” So, with that kind of response, I think the combination of ingredients and the bold flavors that I integrated pleased the tasters of my finished recipes.

- Jacky Runice

  Cara Kretz made Vanilla Coke grilled skirt steak with mashed purple yams and candied bacon-wrapped onion ring stuffed with spicy black beans. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com

Cara Kretz wanted to use vanilla extract in all components

Many factors went into my final dish: Vanilla Coke Grilled Skirt Steak with Mashed Purple Yams and Candied Bacon-Wrapped Onion Ring Stuffed with Spicy Black Beans. I wanted to use pure vanilla extract in all components to show that vanilla works in savory dishes as well as sweet, and I wanted to go in the direction of a “Chillin' and Grillin'” theme. Skirt steak, vanilla and black beans are used in Latin cooking, and purple yams are most often used in Hawaiian/Asian cuisine. By adding Coca-Cola, bacon, and onions, I was able to create an East/West Fusion inspired plate.

The highlight of my process was the first time I saw the intense color of the baked Purple Yam and tasted how sweet and wonderful it was! The low point also had to do with the purple yams. I learned the hard way that anthocyanin, a pigment that provides the deep purple color, chemically reacts with baking soda and turns the food green! One of my early attempts was to make a purple yam biscuit. They were beautiful until I took them out of the oven and saw they were bright green. After experimenting with different techniques, I decided the purple yams were best baked and mashed with butter and vanilla.

After trying three other dishes with the black beans and feeling none of them worked well visually on the plate, I ended up using the black beans mashed as a stuffing inside the bacon-wrapped onion ring - it was a perfect sticky base to adhere to the onion and the raw bacon. I chose to use the outer skirt steak which is slightly more chewy than the inner skirt steak since I knew I was going to marinate the steak for a long time in Coca-Cola, a natural tenderizer, along with the other ingredients.

All testers were very impressed with the taste and color of the purple yam, and there were “wow” reactions to seeing the bacon wrapped onion ring with the unexpected spicy beans inside. I had mixed reactions to using the Vanilla Coke in a marinade since some testers were used to a garlicky skirt steak and the vanilla threw off the taste.

What surprised me the most was how obsessed I became in developing the recipe and my kitchen turned into a science lab. The hardest part was narrowing down the recipes ideas to one final plate. Normally I just jump into cooking and know what I am making. These ingredients were a surprise and lots of fun to be challenged. Whether I win or not, I enjoyed the experience.

- Jacky Runice

  Daniel Imburgia presented his International Tacos to the judges in the Cook of the Week Challenge. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

Challenge 2

Daniel Imburgia talks International Tacos

I prepared what I am calling International Tacos, a four-layer taco that has a lot of different flavors. The Mexican-inspired apricot chipotle sour cream sauce on the bottom, followed by Southern-style Cajun chicken, topped with a pickled parsnip coleslaw similar to taco toppings you'd find on the West coast and drizzled with an Asian inspired sweet apricot chili sauce. Apricots threw me off at first, but in the end, it was a very nice addition to the tacos and actually worked very well in two separate places in the dish. I love challenges, so I was in pretty good spirits the whole time.

I actually just started eating parsnips regularly about two months ago, using them along with radishes in a dish with roasted Yukon Gold potatoes that I eat as a part of my breakfast almost every day.

So it was hard to think of what else to do with parsnip other than roast it. I am a big fan of coleslaw, both the creamy and the vinegar types, so I thought a shredded parsnip coleslaw would be great on top of the chicken breast no matter which way the dish was put together.

My family thought it was a little spicy but my friends loved it. My favorite response was my nearly 3-year-old daughter, Abigail James Imburgia, who said “It spicy” and then she continued eating it.

The high point during the process was having that “Eureka” moment when my preparation came together in my mind, and then again when I put it all together and tasted it and thought that it turned out delicious. My low was definitely plating the dish - I was a bit frustrated getting it to look the way I saw it in my head until it finally came together. We eat tacos all the time and most of the time they barely get from the serving tray to the plate before they're all gobbled up. And, if I have friends over, it's very common to see them just eating the taco right out of their hands, no plate needed!

- Jacky Runice

  Hazel Oreluk made Chicken Breast with Apricot Sauce and Parsnip and Potato Chips with Sour Cream and Chives Dip. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

Hazel Oreluk makes an apricot sauce for her chicken breast dinner

I prepared Chicken Breast with Apricot Sauce, and Parsnip and Potato Chips with Sour Cream and Chives Dip, an easy-to-make, budget-friendly meal for someone who has limited time to cook. I thought chicken breasts, parsnips, and apricots would be easy to integrate but I was a bit puzzled with the sour cream. Assuming that there may be a few non-fans of parsnips (little ones especially), I thought I'd “hide” it among the potato chips. I think the intimidation of being in the challenge coupled with planning dishes that would be agreeable to adults and kids alike were the hard parts. I used ingredients in ways a regular home cook would use them avoiding complicated preparation and cooking methods.

My technical low was the time it took to brown the chicken breast whole, so I opted to cut it in strips. The high was tasting the parsnips chips! I often use parsnips in soups or stews but have never done it as a chip. When I was cutting the parsnips, it smelled “cinnamony” so I was not sure how it would taste after deep frying it. My husband, toddler, and I tasted it, and we loved it! I think I found a healthier alternative to french fries. With fall coming, this meal would be perfect for colder weather because the chicken with apricot sauce is hearty while the parsnips and potato chips are comfort food. My husband said it goes well with beer!

I had this picture-perfect plating in my head but due to room temperature, knife skills, and other factors, the plating did not turn out as well despite my reconfiguring it to look “artsy” on a plate. Can I say “rustic Midwest” as a presentation style? (note to self: take classes on knife skills and piping skills.)

After this first challenge, I have so much respect for professionals: it's one thing to cook for family in a relaxed atmosphere and another to cook for customers who will be judging your work. Of course, I would like to be one of the Top Four and eventually win, but if it is not in the stars, this experience is rewarding. Finding out parsnips taste delicious as fried chips is one reward!

- Jacky Runice

Chicken Breast with Apricot Sauce with a Sour Cream and Chives Dip

Southwestern Sweet Potato Hash, Skirt Steak And Marinade with Vanilla Bourbon Barbecue Sauce and Japanese Sweet Potato Puree

International Tacos (Cajun chicken tacos with pickled parsnip slaw, apricot chipotle sour cream and sweet apricot chili sauce)

Vanilla Coke Grilled Skirt Steak with Mashed Purple Yams and Candied Bacon-Wrapped Onion Ring Stuffed with Spicy Black Beans

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