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September 4, 2008
Frugal Food Fight winner- Chilebrown!
Congratulations, Chile. You beat me at my own Spam pizza game! I don't know what happened to all the other entries this time, but I'll hook you up big time.
Here's Chilebrown's winning entry, more pictures over at Mad Meat Genius:
The Frugal GourmetThe Frugal Gourmet was the ‘Emeril’ of the eighties on PBS. Jeff Smith was his name. He was entertaining, funny and frugal. I always enjoyed watching him. I also had a suspicion that there was something a little odd about him. He would travel to Europe with his young male assistant and leave his wife home. Some people made some accusations against him and PBS dropped him like a Hot Potato. Today I am dedicating my entry to Jeff Smith. My first plan was to make a fruitcake. That probably would not be appropriate and not very frugal. I am going to make a pizza with ingredients that I have on hand.
My garden is in full swing so I can make some pizza sauce with fresh picked tomato’s. I checked the cupboard and found a can of Spam from The Pragmatic Chef’s last contest. There is some cheese in the refrigerator. The pizza will be cooked in the Beehive Oven fueled by almond wood. Let’s start by making the dough.
Pizza Dough
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (I use Honey)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour (1 cup more as needed)
1 teaspoon instant yeast
Combine water, honey, and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast starts to bloom. In a food processor combine all ingredients and mix until dough forms ball and pulls away from side of bowl. You may have to add a little more flour. Knead on a floured board for 10 minutes. Place in Ziploc bag and put in refrigerator for 24 hours.
Sauce
1 slice of bacon diced
7 or 8 tomatoes peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
Salt & Pepper
1 small onion diced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugarCook the diced bacon in large sauté pan for 5 minutes. Add the onions and sauté for another couple of minutes. Add the paste cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Arrange all your ingredients. Roll out the dough and assemble the pizza pie. Cook in oven at very high temperature for several minutes.
I think Jeff Smith would be proud. The Spam was actually very good I was surprised. I do not think I am going to run out and buy anymore unless there is another contest.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:58 PM
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September 2, 2008
We have a Food Fight winner!!!
To be announced tomorrow...
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)
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August 25, 2008
Food Fight #6 entries
I've had a few emails asking for the deadline to be extended, so let's go through that weekend and make it September 1st, which is a Monday.
Otay?
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)
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August 21, 2008
Food Fight #6- Ready to get Frugal?
Does anyone have any questions about the current food fight? We have quite a good number of entries so far, but I'd love to see a few more! The more contestants we can muster, the more stuff I'm willing to give away, so if you know someone interested, leave it in the comments.
The entries close on the 28th, unless collectively we feel like we need more time.
What are you making?
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:02 PM | Comments (3)
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August 18, 2008
Food Fight Six- The Fight for the Frugal- Rules
Okay. I've looked at the archives and realized that this is technically Food Fight Six, so alliteration be damned! I guess it could be Food Fight Six- Strive for the Stingy, but it's belaboring the point, I think.
Speaking of points, here's how it will break down:
1 - 15 points for Frugalness
1 - 10 points for Preparation
1 - 10 points for Presentation
1 - 5 points for Photography
1 - 10 points awarded for Pizzaz in your writing
A few notes- I'd like a breakdown on cost for your meal, but points can be earned for clever use and recycling of ingredients, too. Cost is important too, but I don't think somebody should earn the most Frugalness points just because their ingredients cost $.04 less than everyone else's. Imagination counts!
Preparation- Your meal should be nutritionally sound, as well as incorporating appetizing ingredients.
Presentation- No fine crystal needed, but a properly plated dish always goes a long way with me. Imagination triumphs over brute elegance every time.
Photography- Don't go out and buy a light kit and a fancy camera. Daylight is your friend, just have enough light so that you can turn the flash off in your camera if at all possible. It's only a 5 point possible score, but good photography is all we have to judge your meal.
Pizzaz- Entertain us! Explain how you went about putting together your entry, and feel free to talk about how "cheap and cheerful" living works in your lifestyle. Recipes earn points, cost breakdowns are a must.
Only those who enter get a full vote, and you can't vote for yourself. I think we'll have one total vote for everyone else who wants to opine.
Get cooking! Entries end on the 28th.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)
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August 14, 2008
Food Fight #5 #6- The Fight for the Frugal!!!!!!
Announcing Food Fight #6- The Fight for the Frugal!!!!
I've chosen this theme because times are tight, let's face it. I've been doing a lot of blogging to prove it, but it's nothing you don't know, right? I know a lot of you have food gardens, cut coupons, and make a lot of stuff from scratch, so here's your chance to profit from it!
In terms of judging, here's the deal. The usual "Four P's" criteria will apply- presentation, preparation, photography, and pizzaz in the writing, but the twist this time is the fifth P- "penny pinching". Along with your usual entertaining write-ups when you enter your dish with up to 3 pictures, you'll have to 'break down' what you submit with prices, and the frugality of your dish will be a major criteria. I'd like to see 3 courses- appetizer/soup/salad, entree, and dessert, and your pricing should be based on feeding four, even if you have more or less mouths to feed in your home.
Let's give everyone two weeks to submit, so we'll close entries at the end of the day on Thursday, August 28th. Email me your entries with picture(s), interesting write-up, and the pricing. Notice you have to take out the phrase 'REMOVETHESEWORDS' from my email address before sending, this is to thwart the scum-sucking spammers.
Prizes? Did you say prizes? What, the thrill of a job well done isn't enough?
Didn't think so.
I'll be giving great prizes like our all natural, gluten free Survival Spice® barbecue rub, Tibvrtini Olio Novella- one of the finest olive oils in the world, and their Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Blanco organic white wine vinegar. And to make it more interesting, the more entries we get this time, the better the prizes will be. First prize will be all 3 of these, and more!!
Seriously, let's have a lot of entries this time, I really do want to reward all of us who try so hard to make great stuff without spending a lot of money.
Get cooking!!! Let me know in the comments or by email if you're interested.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 9:18 AM | Comments (5)
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July 12, 2007
Food Fight????
Diana has thrown down the Gauntlet for another Food Fight.
Is is time? Leave a comment if you're up for it!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:53 AM | Comments (3)
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October 9, 2006
The Spam® Cookoff- WINNER!!!!
Congratulations, Diana, on your fine victory! Diana has won Food Fight Five- The Spam® Cookoff, with her Curried Spam® and Mango Salad, which she presented in a couple of interesting ways.
Diana, if you still want to donate your six-pack to Operation Gratitude as part of our Two For the Troops program, I'll be glad to match it!
This was a really good competition, I think. To make something like Spam® into an upscale dish takes a lot of thought and imagination, and every entry we had sure had both of those! Thanks to everybody who entered, even the "imaginary entries" were really fun.
So, what's the next Food Fight to be?
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:17 AM | Comments (7)
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October 5, 2006
Spam® Cookoff Voting Thread
(Photo: Dr. Biggles, of his sons demonstrating their "Spam on a Stick" technique...)
Let the voting begin! Here's the original rules I posted:
• Spam® needs to be a primary ingredient, no hiding a few morsels in another dish! You need to use a full tin, or thereabouts.• Those who enter can cast a full vote in the comments of this thread only. Other readers can vote too, but their votes in total will only serve as one tie-breaking vote. And just for another cruel twist, no voting for yourself!
• Imagination should be a large factor in the voting, I think. Be creative!
• Oh, and yes, you actually have to eat it and let us know how it turned out.
I'll award a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner. I'm going to enter, too, and vote. I'm not saying my vote could be influenced by an entry using Survival Spice™ or our other products, but... If I win, I'll donate an extra sixpack to Operation Gratitude.
This has been a real challenge, and a lot of fun, I think. Leave your vote in the comments, along with an explanation of how you came to your decision, if you like. I'll close the voting as soon as all the entrants have posted their vote.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:12 AM | Comments (9)
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October 3, 2006
Gail's Kinda Cajun Spam with Polenta
Gail has sent in the latest entry into our latest Spam® Food Fight, a "Kinda Cajun Spam with Polenta". At the point, because I don't know of any other entries that might come in other than Dr. Biggles, I'll say "last call" to create a Spam® dish! To see all the entries so far, just click on the Food Fight category in the right sidebar.
Another really imaginative, well executed dish. I'm really impressed with the creativity we've all put in to this!
Continue reading "Gail's Kinda Cajun Spam with Polenta"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 6:54 AM | Comments (6)
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October 2, 2006
Diana's Curried Spam® and Mango Salad
Here's our entry from north of the border. Diana found a turkey version of Spam® that I didn't know existed, and found a very creative way of presenting it as an appetizer that I'll include in the extended entry. Nice job, Diana! Tons of imagination here, I think.
Continue reading "Diana's Curried Spam® and Mango Salad"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:30 AM
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September 27, 2006
Dennis' Spam® "Entry"
The Spam® cookoff continues! Please let me know if you're planning on entering, so I'll know when to put up the voting post. We're having a lot of fun with this, but I also think it's a good lesson in how to work around an ingredient in a dish that's not quite up to the standards of the rest of your meal.
This "entry" from Dennis I got via email was so funny I had to share it:
Last evening I decided to create a recipe for your SPAM contest, as detailed below. However, I am unable to submit a photo for the following reasons:1. I am not allowed to touch my wife's cameras, and
2. Each time I tried to take a picture of my entry the flash refused to work.I hope this does not eliminate my entry as I think the written description alone will have people drooling. Here we go!
1. Open one can of SPAM and slice into approx. 1/4-inch strip slabs.
2. Set aside for now.
3. Take two room-temperature NY strips approx. 1 1/2 inches thick and partially slice through the center to form a pocket.
4. Place a mixture of diced garlic, onion, and Hatch green chiles in the pocket of the steak, then close with cinnamon toothpicks.
5. Liberally coat both sides of the steak with Survival Spice™.
6. Using your smallest knife, cut each SPAM slice into flower shapes (a variety of flower shapes is acceptable, nay, encouraged).
7. Place the steaks on a preheated bbq and grill to desired state of doneness.
8. While the steaks are grilling, dip the flower-shaped SPAM pieces into different (hopefully appropriate) colored food colorings.
When the steaks are done, place each on a plate, then place the flowers around the outside of the plate. While eating your steak, try not to disturb the flowers.If this sounds good, let me know. I have lots more!
HA!!! Maybe instead of food coloring you could dip them in colored powdered sugar for a more 'festive' look.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 5:57 AM | Comments (1)
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September 26, 2006
Spam-a-wyin' Pizza
Hoo boy, this was tough! I went 'round and 'round trying to think of something different to do for my Spam® entry. Ultimately, after thinking about a place where people actually are enthusiastic about Spam®, I decided to take a stab at a dish I really don't care for- Hawaiian pizza. Traditionally prepared with ham, pineapple and green bell pepper, I realized that just using Spam® was going to be a challenge on the palette, let alone the other ingredients.
Continue reading "Spam-a-wyin' Pizza"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:26 AM | Comments (1)
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September 25, 2006
Chilebrown's Spam® Tamales
We have our first Spam Cookoff entry! Chilebrown is first off the mark with an innovative use for the venerable canned meat treat we all know and love (cough, cough):
Ms. Goofy and I had fun with this competition. While we were in Santa Cruz we ordered a Spam appetizer. We would have never even thought of such an act. I will say it was different.It was a challenge to think of a recipe. Spam can be very salty. There is a low sodium version. I chose to use 'Spam with Cheese'. Everything usually goes better with Cheese. Spam Tamale was our choice.
I traveled to 'The Mission District', in San Francisco to purchase fresh masa. I wanted to make these authentic Spam tamales. I bought the corn husks and masa. I also had a killer burrito for lunch at "Taqueria San Francisco".The Mission is a great place to eat and buy Mexican food.
I used some killer bacon purchased from the "Freedom Meat Locker" on my last 'Meat Adventure'. I chopped some onions and cubed the Spam. I cooked the bacon and onions and briefly sweated the Spam. This would be my filling. I added a little chipotle puree to the masa for flavor and color. I soaked the corn husks and then assembled the tamale.
I made three different Salsa's to accompany the tamale. I used all ingredients from the garden and some home smoked chipotle. I made Pico de Gallo, Chipotle Salsa, and Orange-Honey Habanero Salsa. The Orange Habanero Salsa was a sweet eye opener.
The tamale's steamed in a bamboo steamer for an hour. The results were very good. Ms. Goofy even enjoyed it. I think she had a closed mind coming into the competition. After she tried it she was hooked. I just had one for breakfast. What a great way to start the morning. The only problem I have now, is what to do with the two leftover cans of Spam. I am looking forward to seeing the other entries! Peace,Paul
I'll post my entry tomorrow, and a picture of the Spam appetizer that Paul mentioned in his email when I get a chance.
Keep cooking! Let's try to have the entries in by the beginning of next week, but let me know if you need more time.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:28 AM | Comments (2)
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September 22, 2006
The SPAM® Cookoff
Our latest Food Fight is the SPAM® Challenge. Let the contest begin! Here's a few ground rules:
• Spam® needs to be a primary ingredient, no hiding a few morsels in another dish! You need to use a full tin, or thereabouts.
• I think this time I'll put up a post for voting, and only those who enter can cast a full vote in the comments. Other readers can vote, too, but their votes in total will only serve as one tie-breaking vote. And just for another cruel twist, no voting for yourself!
• Imagination should be a large factor in the voting, I think. Be creative!
• Oh, and yes, you actually have to eat it and let us know how it turned out.
• Other ideas for rules? Leave them in the comments.
I'll award a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner. I'm going to enter, too, and vote. I'm not saying my vote could be influenced by an entry using Survival Spice™ or our other products, but... If I win, I'll donate an extra sixpack to Operation Gratitude.
Have fun with it, and email me at least one picture and your recipe! Let's try to have them all in by the Monday after next.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:20 AM | Comments (8)
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October 10, 2005
Food Fight Four- Interpreted category winner is...
... drum roll...
PAUL, aka Chilebrown, for his version of Meg's "Su Dong Po Pork". Chilebrown is on a roll, he was also a runner up in Food Fight 3. Paul's version of Meg's dish is here.
Paul will receive a tin of Survival Spice™, a DIF T-shirt, and a bottle of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva, the organic olive oil that was rated as one of the 7 best olive oils in the world by Taste magazine, for his victory.
Congratulations, Paul! Email me the T-shirt size that you want, when you get a minute.
Thanks also to everyone who entered and followed the action this time. It was a great contest, I think, and I think it's a real tribute to the great cooks who stop by every day. Thanks for that, too. I've got a few ideas for Food Fight Five already, but I think we all need a bit of time to recover from this one!
The actual voting results are below the fold.
Continue reading "Food Fight Four- Interpreted category winner is..."
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:15 AM | Comments (4)
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October 7, 2005
VOTE HERE for FF4 Interpreted Recipe Submissions
(Photo of FF4 entries, my entry bottom right not eligible, of course.)
Update: VOTING CLOSED- The winner will be announced Monday morning.
The voting is still open for the best FF4- Interpreted recipe submitted, until this evening. Will Paul hold on to his lead??
Please take a few minutes to look at all the entries here before you vote, because the way the post was written should be important, too. I have to say, I get quite a kick out of seeing them all in one picture, great job all!
Again, unlike previous Food Fights, I've decided that anyone reading can vote. I set the poll up so you can vote once a day, but PLEASE, no stuffing the ballot box!!!! I'm not saying that I'm closely monitoring IP addresses, but...
Voting will be up until sometime Friday evening, October 7th. Good luck!!!
The ballot is below the fold.
Continue reading "VOTE HERE for FF4 Interpreted Recipe Submissions"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 9:30 AM | Comments (3)
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September 30, 2005
Food Fight 4- Original Winner is...
MC, for his "Northwest Salmon with a Twist"!
For those of you just tuning in now, the rules of the contest were posted here, so you can catch up and get ready for the "Interpreted" part of the contest, which I'll post later today.
MC will receive a tin of Survival Spice™, a DIF T-shirt, and a bottle of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva, the organic olive oil that was rated as one of the 7 best olive oils in the world by Taste magazine, for his victory.
Congratulations again, MC! Email me your address and T-shirt size when you get a chance.
The breakdown of the voting is below the fold.
Continue reading "Food Fight 4- Original Winner is..."
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
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August 29, 2005
Food Fight #4- Recipe Grab Bag!
Okay, Food Fight #4 is afoot! Here's how it will go:
Everybody interested needs to email me your recipe by Monday, Sept 5. I'll put your version up as they come in. I'll put them into a grab bag and dole one out to each of us. As everyone's finished dishes come in, which hopefully can be by Monday, the 19th at the latest, I'll feature one or two of them each day for everyone to ooh and aah over.
Once everything's in and we've all had a chance to 'digest' them, we're going to cast 2 votes, one for the best recipe submitted and one for the best execution/interpretation. Make sense? More below.
Continue reading "Food Fight #4- Recipe Grab Bag!"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:49 AM
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July 8, 2005
Food Fight #3 Second Place- Paul's Chinatown Pork Roast
Paul's Chinatown Roast
Second prize this time went to Paul from Rodeo, CA. Paul entered a sirloin roast, which is on the far end of the loin from the blade roast Biggles used in his dish. The sirloin end does not have as much fat content, and the higher ratio of bone gives you a lot of potential to develop deep, intense pork flavors. However, because it's more lean, it can dry out if you just blast it in an oven.
What I really liked about Paul's entry was the care he took in cooking this properly. By brining his roast the night before, he increased the roast's capacity to retain moisture. By smoking it 'low and slow' and using an instant read thermometer, he guaranteed a great result.
Paul wins a a DIF T-shirt, a tin of Survival Spice™, and a DIF refrigerator magnet.
Congratulations again! The recipe is in the extended entry.
The next Food Fight will start in a few weeks. Start thinking about your dish and work on those food photography skills!
Continue reading "Food Fight #3 Second Place- Paul's Chinatown Pork Roast"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:07 AM | Comments (4)
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July 7, 2005
Food Fight Winner #3!!!! - Biggles' Stuffed Pork Roast
Biggles' Survival Stuffed Pork Roast
We have a winner! Congratulations to Dr. Biggles, whose fine food blog MeatHenge is frequently filled with succulent goodies like this, really did a good job with his entry.
Second place goes to Paul for his "Chinatown Pork Roast." Two winning pork recipes this time, both done with similar cuts of meat but completely different cooking techniques. I'll post Paul's entry later today or tomorrow. Both dishes are great and it was a tough decision, as both of these as well as quite a few others this time were really good.
My take on the winning dish:
The blade end roast is a great choice for this kind of technique. It's fabbed out from the front part of the loin nearest the shoulder, so you can see a few ribs and the end of the shoulder blade in the pictures, hence the name. That bit of T-shaped shoulder blade in the top is what is sliced and sold as "country spare ribs", in case you didn't know. Lots of bone=lots of flavor.
The choice of chard is good. Chard has a bit of background bitterness, so it supplies depth of flavor and moisture to the pork as it cooks. I like to use pine nuts a lot too, for their crunch, saltiness and character, and toasting them as Dr. Biggles did is an absolute must, his toaster oven trick is a really good one.
His note on it needing a bit more salt is perfectly valid. Survival Spice™ contains far less salt than a lot of spice blends on the shelf. A lot of blends out there have more salt than anything, and I chose to go a different route. Survival Spice™ contains a well-balanced amount of quality kosher salt and no more. Salt is inexpensive so why pay more when you can later season to your own taste anyway?
Congratulations again! Biggles and Paul both win a DIF T-shirt, a tin of Survival Spice™, and a DIF refrigerator magnet.
Thanks to everyone who entered, this was the best contest yet. And keep sending in those great pictures in! I'll post a few more reader food pics this week.
So without further ado, Dr. Biggles recipe, rich with great photos, is in the extended section:
Continue reading "Food Fight Winner #3!!!! - Biggles' Stuffed Pork Roast"
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:13 AM
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June 24, 2005
Food Fight #3- Red, White, and black and Blue
For those of you that may have missed the first two, "Food Fight™" is a photo and recipe contest. Submit a picture of a dish you've made along with the recipe. Winners get their entry in the "Food Fight™ Hall of Fame", a Desert Island Foods™ T-Shirt, a tin of Survival Spice™ and a Desert Island Foods™ refrigerator magnet.
See your recipe in lights!!! Be a home chef superstar!!! Kill a little time and have fun doing it!!!
This contest will run through the Fourth of July so keep your cameras handy!
The Rules, once again:
Imagination, execution and "drool factor" are the primary judging criteria. If your dish is lavish, fine, but a hot dog can still kick your ass if it's done well. I'm not saying the judges are going to favor recipes using Desert Island Foods.com™ products, but it could break a tie.
Photos must be transmitted via email with the subject line "Food Fight submission", should be no larger than about 500 pixels in any dimension and no more than 200K in size. If any of this tech stuff makes you dizzy, submit it anyway you can and I'll convert it for you if you win.
Recipes should be easy to understand and in this format:
1) Title
2) Your degree of difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard)
3) Approximate prep and cooking times
4) Full list of ingredients in U.S. units
5) Numbered easy to follow preparation steps.
If your dish is somewhat elaborate, which is great, wherever practical try to provide time-saving hints if someone wants to make your dish in a hurry.
Good luck! The contest will end July 6th, the Wednesday after the Fourth of July. Let's have some great BBQ pics! Make sure to take nice close-ups of your dish, a few of them last time were taken too far away to have any "drool" factor and that hurt you in the scoring.
The lawyers make me post this:
Legal Notice:By posting to "Food Fight™", you retain the rights to your pictures and recipes but grant Desert Island Foods™, LLC. and its present and future affiliates or assigns permission to use, publish and reproduce your pictures, recipes and comments in perpetuity.
Get cooking! And remember, have fun with it. Fun counts...
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:09 AM
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June 2, 2005
We have a winner!!!!
Food Fight #2 is over. Thanks to everyone who entered, keep sending in those pictures, you could win next time! The second Food Fight was won by Chris from Phoenix, AZ. His updated Chicken Cordon Bleu was simple, imaginative and his description was the most enthusiastic I read this time:
One of the first things I really made well was Chicken Cordon Bleu, and still have a mild addiction to stuffed chicken. I thought about how you go to Arby's and they have this in sandwich form, combined with how I like a good chicken club. I mean, chicken, cheddar and bacon! It's great. So I thought I'd reverse this into stuffed form.Cheddar and bacon seemed like it may not work quite right, so I opted for prosciutto and a sharp white cheese.
His recipe was also well done, using a standard breading technique of flour, egg and bread crumbs. This technique using Survival Spice makes terrific fried chicken, too. Here's the recipe:
It takes: -2 good sized chicken breasts -4 slices prosciutto -4 small slices of a sharp white cheese (measurements are relevant and not really exact - also depending on how much you really like cheese) -1 cup flour -1 cup bread crumbs -2 tablespoons Survival Spice™ -1 egg- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a small warm pan, warm up prosciutto a bit (this may not be needed)
- Butterfly cut chicken open (I like to open it up further so I can cover and create a pinwheel effect)
- Place prosciutto and cheese inside chicken and roll up into a nice little package (set aside)
- In one bowl, add flour and mix in 1 tablespoon of Survival Spice
- In another bowl whisk egg
- In a third bowl, add bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon of Survival Spice
- Take chicken and dredge in flour, then coat with egg, and breadcrumb mix
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutesGoes great with garlic mashed potatoes...
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:48 AM
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May 13, 2005
We have a winner!!!!
Congratulations to Steve from Seattle, WA for being the very first Food Fight™ winner!!! His winning dish is called "Sweet Fried Red Cabbage with Kielbasa." The final dish is at the bottom of the page.
Lots to comment on here. First, great job with the mise-en-place, (the prep work). Well organized, sir. He did all the right things- slowly rendering the bacon, then removing it to cook the cabbage in the grease. Cooking the kielbasa seperately is also a great idea, it gives you full control over the browning. Basic home cooking done perfectly!
I've added some other spices to this too when I've made it- a tiny bit of cloves, allspice, cinammon, a crushed juniper berry, a splash of red wine and some red currant jelly but remember, it's easy to ruin a dish with too much of this stuff.
I also like the way Steve documented the procedure. You don't have to do anything this elaborate to win but it was great to watch the dish in progress. Truly well done, Steve.
Steve wins a tin of Survival Spice™ and the distinction of being the very first Food Fight™ winner. Congratulations again!
Thanks to everyone who entered, it was a tough decision. Lots of good entries and a few great ones! As Food Fight™ grows, I'll be awarding second and third prizes too, so don't give up if you didn't win.
The next Food Fight™ starts soon and runs through Memorial Day so you can enter your Memorial Day BBQ dishes. Remember, the "rules" are here.
Have a great weekend everyone, I've been getting a lot of nice emails about the blog, it definitely makes it more fun to do.
Here's Steve's winning entry:
"Getting Started"
"Red Cabbage, Red Apples, Red Onion, Sliced"
"Bacon, Cooked till crispy and removed, keep grease to cook Cabbage in."
"Cooking Cabbage, Apples, and Onion in Bacon fat"
"When Cabbage is cooked down and starts to fry,
Add 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar.
Add crispy Bacon and Cooked Kielbasa and Serve."
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:47 AM
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May 12, 2005
Final Food Fight reminder!
This is it! Entries close tonight and I've had some good ones already. Rules are here and remember, have fun with it! Good close-ups of your dish are best for the web.
Keep it simple and don't sweat the small stuff, really. The winner, which will be announced tomorrow, gets a free tin of Survival Spice™, and the 'honor' of being the First Food Fight™ champion.
If you can't enter this time, you'll have another opportunity in a few weeks, just in time for Memorial Day BBQs!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 8:38 AM
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May 9, 2005
Food Fight reminder
The first Food Fight submissions must be in by Thursday night, the 12th. Rules are here, but remember, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece.
Keep it simple and don't kill yourselves over it! The winner, which I'll try to announce Friday, gets a free tin of Survival Spice™, which of course is the best spice rub going, IMHO.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 7:56 AM
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May 6, 2005
Get your Food Fight entries in!!!
You have until May 12th to get your entry in. The rules for submission are here.
Cook something up this weekend and take a picture and send it in, along with a basic recipe/technique to me.
It really doesn't have to be elaborate or elegantly photographed to win, so go for it! I've gotten a few good ones so far but I think they can be beat.
Have fun with it! The winner gets their entry posted here and a free tin of Survival Spice™.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 9:48 AM
Back to Main
April 28, 2005
Let the first "Food Fight" begin!!!
Okay, "Food Fight™" is a photo and recipe contest. Submit a picture of a dish you've made along with the recipe. Winners get their entry in the "Food Fight™ Hall of Fame" and either Desert Island Foods.com™ products or cool DIF swag.
See your recipe in lights!!! Be a home chef superstar!!! Kill a little time and have fun doing it!!!
Imagination, execution and "drool factor" are the primary judging criteria. If your dish is lavish, fine, but a hot dog can still kick your ass if it's done well. I'm not saying the judges are going to favor recipes using Desert Island Foods.com™ products, but it could break a tie.
Photos must be transmitted via email with the subject line "Food Fight submission", should be no larger than about 500 pixels in any dimension and no more than 200K in size. If any of this tech stuff makes you dizzy, submit it anyway you can and I'll convert it for you if you win.
Recipes should be easy to understand and in this format:
1) Title
2) Your degree of difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard)
3) Approximate prep and cooking times
4) Full list of ingredients in U.S. units
5) Numbered easy to follow preparation steps.
If your dish is somewhat elaborate, which is great, wherever practical try to provide time-saving hints if someone wants to make your dish in a hurry.
Good luck! Because this is the first contest, the entries won't close until May 12th, so get cooking!
The lawyers make me post this:
Legal Notice:By posting to "Food Fight™", you retain the rights to your pictures and recipes but grant Desert Island Foods™, LLC. and its present and future affiliates or assigns permission to use, publish and reproduce your pictures, recipes and comments in perpetuity.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:02 AM