Cooks' use of secret ingredients shine in their creations
More than halfway through Round 1 of the Cook of the Week Challenge and two more home cooks head to Round 2 matchups and the Nov. 1 live cook-off finale.
In close scoring, Teresa Fiocchi of Mundelein in Challenge 5 and Greg Zielinski of Arlington Heights in Challenge 6 will be cooking up another recipe in Round 2.
In Challenge 5, cooks Chris Copeland of Elgin and Fiocchi found cocoa powder, courtesy of Morkes Chocolates, turkey breast, eggplant and capers in their mystery ingredient bags.
Last year's Cook of the Week Challenge winner, Bill Hicks, was pleased with Chrissy Copeland's colorful dish and thought it had winning potential with some adjustments in seasoning. “The vegetable slaw was a nice foil to the strong flavors in the patty, and the eggplant fries are a nice concept,” he mentioned, “but I would encourage adding salt after they are on the baking rack rather than incorporating salt into the flour, Panko, and egg mixtures.” He reminded that recipe instructions are important - there was neither a cooking method of the burger nor a type of hot pepper used in the slaw specified. “Although you utilized the four ingredients in your various recipes, I would like to have seen a recipe that incorporated more of the ingredients in a single dish,” Hicks suggested. Chef Peter Menteer said Copeland turned a simple burger into something very nice, and her fries were a great Idea. Her dessert was puzzling to him, though, and Menteer noted that it “needs something to bring the chocolate and cantaloupe together.” Hicks liked the preparation ease of the cantaloupe sorbet and deemed the chocolate sauce a nice complement. Rhonda Morkes Dehn wished for more cocoa flavor in other components in addition to the dessert but she flipped over Copeland's burger claiming it “fantastic.” She thought Copeland was “definitely a motivated chef” and appreciated being introduced to interesting ingredients like adobo sauce and agave nectar but thought six recipes, even though simple, could be too much for the home cook.
According to Hicks, Fiocchi's caponata was an excellent way of incorporating challenge ingredients of capers, eggplant and cocoa. Although easy to prepare, Hicks wondered if the quantity of turkey breast specified in her recipe was correct and he suggested, there might be a typo in the Turkey Milanese recipe - “I presume you meant a ½ cup of flour,” he wondered. He also warned the cook to mind heat and salt levels per diners' taste buds but overall found her Turkey Milanese with Eggplant Cocoa Caponata to be a very nice dish. “I loved the flavor and appearance of the arugula, and the squeeze of lemon really brightened the dish. Well done.” Menteer thought Fiocchi's presentation was good and deemed it an “all around creative recipe and good use of technique.” Morkes Dehn also was swayed by the “very colorful” presentation, and she loved the caponata. Even though Morkes Dehn thought turkey could be dull, she found Fiocchi's combination of ingredients, especially perky arugula, lifted the dish and Fiocchi into the next round.
In Challenge 6, cooks Chrissy Christian of Hoffman Estates and Zielinski found avocado oil courtesy of Ellyndale Foods, ground beef, spinach, millet in their mystery ingredient bags on which to work their magic.
Christian's entry wowed judge Dan Rich with the array of flavors in the meatballs as well as the addition of a grain salad to complement the rest of the dish. “The saltiness of the Kalamata olives is a nice way to break up the texture and flavor of the millet,” Rich commented. Suzy Singh, Corporate Chef at NOW Foods, loved how Christian used Living NOW Millet throughout the entire dish but wished she added the cooking step to the millet and specified the type of liquid used to rehydrate the gluten free grain. Singh noted that Christian could have used Ellyndale Avocado Oil instead of olive oil to sauté garlic and spinach, too. “I am obsessed with the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce,” Singh added, “but you could have utilized the avocado oil instead of the EVOO for this as well. Overall, amazing flavor but make sure you highlight the mystery box ingredients in these challenges.” Menteer reminded all contestants to consider the most creative use of ingredients and cooking techniques in the Cook of the Week Challenge.
Singh thought Greg Zielinski did an amazing job using Ellyndale Naturals Avocado Oil throughout the challenge. “The oil has a very clean taste with a very high smoke point,” the R&D Food Specialist explained, “but you never want the oil to smoke prior to adding your ingredients as the oil will oxidize.” She noted that millet is naturally sweet, gluten free and is the ultimate flavor absorber and combining the Living NOW Millet with chicken broth, ground beef, and vegetable tomato sauce was almost a home run. “Next time remember to reduce the wine prior to adding the broth and instead of draining the beef fat, use that in combination with avocado oil to cook the vegetables to achieve even more flavor.” Previous Cook of the Week winner, Rich, cheered Zielinski for cooking with the season and liked how he used the grain in his dish. Rich thought perhaps that stuffed green peppers were a bit too run of the “millet” for this type of competition, though. Westin Itasca Head Chef, Menteer, graded the stuffed peppers highly for good use of product and technique. “All elements of the plate seem to go together well,” Menteer decided. The Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers moved Zielinski into the next round of the competition.