Top Chef: June 2013

Our friends and a lovely couple, Torey and Jim, hosted a Top Chef dinner competition in January of 2013.  Torey and Jim would be competing against one another in a round of 5 courses - each paired with a wine, cocktail, or beer. We came ready to eat, not expecting the food to be so impressive to look at and eat.






There were four courses that evening:

• Amuse Bouche
• Appetizer
• Entree
• Dessert

Since both Torey and Jim prepared all four courses, we actually ate eight courses!  We never knew who had prepared which dish.  At each place setting was a scorecard, which we used to rate each dish on:

• presentation
• taste
• execution
• "wow" factor

It was a magical night that everyone decided needed to happen again.

So, the new tradition continued in June of 2013.  This time it was Tim and I competing against our friends, Ian and Katie.  We had the challenge of competing in Torey and Jim's house - so we had to schlep all of our food and plating items to their house where we assembled before serving.  An added challenge was that their building's gas lines were not working - so we had to work without a stove or an oven.  We made do with a microwave and an electric skillet.

I spent several weeks leading up to the competition scouring websites and magazines for recipes that could be made ahead of time and would impressive when assembled.  We did do a test run of a few of the recipes:

• scallops - dry scallops are worth the extra price over wet scallops
• cachapas - we had to figure out how to make it look fancy when serving it 
• strawberry ice cream - surprisingly tricky to make
• almond cake - thankfully we did test this out because our first recipe turned out more like an almond brownie instead of an almond cake

We also took a trip to Crate and Barrel to purchase some cute plating items to make our presentation a bit more impressive!  

Here are the menus for each duo.  I have listed Tim's and my menu first in each category.
We tried to take pictures, but in the rush of everything we missed photographing one or two courses.

AMUSE BOUCHE:

 
Summer Berry Salad in a Parmesan Cup
Assorted berries are tossed with basil and arugula in a parmesan cup accompanied by a mixed-berry gastrique.

 





Minted Watermelon Salad with Honey Yogurt Sauce
Watermelon and other seasonal fruits are macerated with lime and mint and paired with a creamy, tangy sauce.





APPETIZER:

 
Seared Scallops with Pea Puree
Seared scallops are served on a sweet pea puree and sprinkled with a gremolata of parsley, lemon zest, and shallots.  Crispy pancetta adds a slight crunch to each bite.

 



Goat Cheese Crostini
Toasted bread is topped with rich goat cheese, prosciutto, asparagus, or peach, a drizzle of honey, and a dusting of black pepper.




ENTREE:

Cachapas with Adobo Roasted Chicken
Venezuelan sweet corn cakes are served with chicken in adobo sauce and topped with queso fresco.  They are paired with two sauces of distinct Latin American origin: Chimichurri, a parsley-based Argentine sauce, and Aji Amarillo, a slightly spicy Peruvian sauce.



Beer-Braised Carnitas Tacos
Pulled pork tacos feature a chili-lime sauce, fresh mango-black bean salsa, and avocado wedges.  Tacos are served with traditional arroz con tomate.

Dessert:

Almond Cake with Strawberry Ice Cream
A slice of almond cake is served with fresh strawberry ice cream and a reduction of balsamic vinegar is drizzled on the side.

 
Torta di Rocotta
A ricotta cheesecake is scented with citrus and amaretti and paired with fresh berries and a raspberry-citrus glaze.






In the end, it was just as fun to be in the kitchen as it was to be eating and judging.  Ian and Katie were a great duo, but somehow, Tim and I were the winners of this Top Chef competition.  I think we can look forward to a brunch version in the coming months :)

Prague

Last, but definitely not least, is Prague.  People rave about Prague, and I always wondered how they can be so sure that it is the most beautiful city in Europe.  What could set it so far apart from all the other cities that I think are fabulously gorgeous?  I am now one of those people that raves about Prague.  I was sure I was going to be underwhelmed after having my expectations set so high, but I was still floored.

Of course, I can't piece together when we did what, but I'll just share a few highlights here:

The Architecture
Everywhere you look there are beautiful medieval and renaissance buildings.  It's not just a small old town section, the whole city is . Each building is so unique and has a refreshing lack of uniformity that can be found in many European cities (ie: Paris, Vienna).  It gives it a feeling of a quaint town, but on the scale of a large city.  This is really what struck me so strongly and why I was not underwhelmed, but instead overwhelmed by how impressively gorgeous the city is. As trite as the saying is, "pictures cannot do it justice."

Folk Dinner and Dancing
One excursion that we went on was to a location just outside of the city where they host traditional dinner and dancing.  It was a a bit touristy (we were tourists of course), but tons of fun.  Uncle Steve and I even got to dance a traditional Czech dance together :)

Just Palling Around Prague
Regardless of where we were or what we were doing, we always had a great time.  We took a walking tour of Prague, ate delicious meals, toured a small town in the country, braved the trolly system, explored a castle, and wandered aimlessly through meandering streets.

 St. Agnes Convent
 This convent fascinated me - it was so ancient and felt fully of mystery.  It was built in the 1200s with the simplicity and austerity that you would expect from a convent.  However, in contrast to the cathedrals and castles we were touring this plainness was part of its beauty.

Austria

Unfortunately, by Austria my daily exercise of jotting down what we did that day ended.  I had to lead a day-long professional development the day I after I returned and the reality that very little was complete on the presentation forced me to spend my free moments working on that instead. :(

Here are a few highlights from the trip, with much fewer details, but better than nothing.  As Uncle Steve has predicted, the detail and time spent on chronically each section of the trip declined in the same way the last child in the family has almost no proof that they even had a childhood while the first child has 100 pictures from practically every day of their first year.

DAY 1

Beer Garden
We stumbled upon this beer garden in the park just outside of our hotel within the first hour of arriving to Vienna, and it was arguably the best part of our stay in Austria  We crossed a street, entered the park, and were immediately greeted by the welcoming site of tables and chairs nestled in a tree-shaded alcove.  Our daily respites here, after several hours of site-seeing and before heading out for dinner and/or a concert, became the perfect transition from day to evening.

Ballet at the Vienna Opera House
The Vienna Opera House did not disappoint. How I managed to forget to take any pictures of this is beyond me, but Day 1 is completely undocumented in pictures for me.

DAY 2

Schonbrunn

We started the day with a general  tour of the city, part of which included a tour of Schonbrunn.  The palace reminded me a lot of Versailles, which after learning of the connections between Austria and France from that time period made sense.  Marie Antoinette, famous for her marriage to French king, Louis XVI, was actually the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and grew up in the Schonbrunn palace.

Naschmarkt
At the end of our tour we were dropped off at the Naschmarkt which is a famous outdoor market.  It is extremely cramped with vendors and restaurants shoved into a narrow area, but the tight space lends to the high energy of the market.  We grabbed lunch at a tiny restaurant before heading out on our own.

Museum
Our next stop of the day was the Kunsthistorisches Museum.  We did not spend much time here, but enjoyed seeing the large ceiling in the museum which was painted by Mihaly Munkacsy.

 Mozart Concert 
We ended the day with a wonderful concert of famous Mozart pieces played by musicians dressed in the style of his time period.  While the concert was not held at the Vienna Opera House, the building where it was located was also absolutely gorgeous.
DAY 3

Lippizanner
The day for Aunt Elaine and I began with a trip to see the Lippizanner horses.  We left early so we could get a good seat to see them training and practicing with the horses.  Even the training area for these horses looks like a palace.
Around Town
For our afternoon, we decided to just wander through the streets, which was a great way to see the city.

St. Stephens and St. Peters
In our wanderings we stumbled onto two different cathedrals.  As cathedrals are not Uncle Steve's favorite, he pulls out some reading materials, finds a nice spot to sit, and relaxes while Aunt Elaine and I explore them.

St. Stephens was being renovated/restored, but it was still stunning.  The ceiling of St. Peters dome was painted beautifully. You could even take an elevator up most of the way to the top of the main dome before climbing several flights of stairs to finish the trek up to the very top - where I believe a dove was painted if I remember correctly (Although, I'm probably completely wrong).