Aleez Cuisine!

The mission: Create two dishes with ten serves each with at least one vego dish

We were given one hour, 40$, and a barbecue grill to prep and prepare our meal for the Iron Chef competition. I was on a team with two other girls, Mieke and Emeline and we were competing against a trio of males.

It was a lot harder than we though to get the meals we wanted under 40$. I think this was because we went to the grocery store nearby instead of my beloved Vic Market. We had to scrap the idea of doing a goat cheese and walnut stuffed fig wrapped in prosciutto and balsamic and decided to just make our whole menu vego.

We were given cutting utensils, bowls, cutting boards, oil, salt, pepper, and a dodgy grill.

Our 40$ worth:

Thus came our team name : The Red Light Vego’s

We were going to call ourselves Team Vego, but since both of the other girls hail from Amsterdam: Red Light Vego came about somehow.

When you have to prep, cook, and plate….one hour can really fly by!

I had to deal with a lopsided grill that made all the oil fall to one side, and the non-oiled side was always too hot!

Once it came time to plate, the clock was running down and if we went over time we were docked points. It was pretty hectic at the end, but I have to say plating was my favorite part (go figure: food blogger at heart) because we made it with one second to spare!

Caught Food-Bloggin’!

We were judged on taste, presentation, originality, timing, and food safety.

Being Judged

All plated out

First Dish:

a simple bruschetta: we first coated thick slices of rustic olive bread with a garlic and oil glaze before grilling it. Then we topped it with a mixture of diced tomatoes, fresh grated parmesan, balsamic vinegar, and diced basil.

Second Dish:

Quesadilla filled with a mixture of sautéed spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and ricotta. We garnished the dish with diced tomatoes, grated parm, and a basil leaf.

Gasm.

Ricotta and Veggie Piadina

• Sautéed Spinach
• Sliced Mushrooms
• Ricotta
• Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Tortilla
• EVOO, Salt, Pepper

1. Saute the spinach and mushrooms very quickly, not cooking it all the way through as it will cook in the tortilla
2. Combine the mixture of ricotta, spinach, shroomies, diced sun-dried tomatoes, and S & P in a large bowl
3. Place the tortilla in a EVOO coated pan
4. Put a portion of the ricotta mixture on one half of the tortilla and fold it over immediately
5. Once one side is golden, flip until it reaches your preferred color/done-ness.
6. Slice in half and plate it using the best of your MasterChef abilities!

So how did we match up?

…….TEAM Red Light Vego WON aaaaand blew the competition right outta the water. We got super high marks, especially on presentation.

The Ricotta and Veggie Quesadilla was a show stopper and one of the judges even gave us a 96 out of 100!

Receiving our prizes:

For our prize we received a machete knife. I have to say this si the oddest prize I have ever won but it is a fantastic knife. Not gonna lie: I’ve even been using it as a scissors of late. I feel like Indiana Jones cutting through everything, all I need is a satchel. (A bit outdated with The Hangover jokes?)

I feel to much like Dexter odd posting a picture of just the knife, so I’ll spare you. But trust: I don’t think you can tell from the picture but it seriously looks like a machete.

Winning Dish with the Winning Team

This event was heaps of fun. There’s something about cooking under pressure that makes the end result so satisfying. Oh and the food was absolutely delicious as well. Team Red Light Vego worked so well together it made the entire process flow seamlessly. I cant wait until my next cook off event. Maybe well have to start some sort of Fight Club-esque underground ring of fierce cooking competition. So hardcore.

Ciao for now,

Casey

Tags: basil, Bruschetta, cooking competition, iron chef, MasterChef, mushroom, parmesean, Piadina, quesadilla, Ricotta, Spinach, sundried tomato