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| Judges: Jennie Runevitch, me, Jacob Tamme |
So there I was. With an Indianapolis Colt on my left and a WTHR news anchor on my right, I am tasting (and judging!) food prepared by local celebrity chefs and their celebrity counterparts (with assistance from local farmers to boot!).
The first course was served to us while we sat in the front row in the audience. It was an appetizer course. One team had to use cheese, the other pork (piece of cake ingredients!). The first was a crepe filled with ricotta and basil and topped with a bacon-black cherry buerre blanc. The basil lended a nice flavor to the ricotta, and the crepe was very nicely done. I wanted the ricotta to be warm, because the texture was a little mealy and the fact that it was served cold made it worse. The sauce was really rich, smoky and complex.
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| Ricotta Basil Crepe w/ Bacon Black-Cherry Buerre Blanc |
The next appetizer was a roasted pork loin on a crostini with orange-honey reduction and poached plum. The pork was perfectly done, and the crostini was perfectly toasted. The orange sauce was very sweet, especially when combined with the poached plum on top. I really enjoyed the texture of the dish!
Next the teams were challenged to entrees and desserts, and the entrees had to feature pork. The first dish was a seared pork tenderloin topped with bacon and cheese (I coundn't really determine what kind of cheese, something white and stringy), served with a bacon-bleu cheese gnochhi and some poached white asparagus. Everything tasted fantastic! The gnocchi was my favorite part of the dish, along with the nice acidity of the white asparagus with the richness of the other flavors. The pork tenderloin was a little tough (it steamed instead of searing), but everything else was great.
This team (Team Moo) presented a dessert of a crepe filled with vanilla ricotta and fresh berries. It was simply delicious, and a welcome lighter ending to a heavy meal.
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| Roasted Pork Crostini with Orange-Honey and Poached Plum |
The next team (Team Pork) presented a seared spiced pork tenderloin on a bed of fresh red wine pappardelle (from local Nicole-Taylor's Pasta) topped with a ragout of tomato, sausage, bacon, and zucchini. The flavors of this were awesome, and the pork was perfectly executed to a juicy medium temperature. The pasta ended up drying out a bit, and I really didn't think the sauce needed all of the bacon and sausage, but the whole thing was good.
Team Pork's dessert was insane: bleu cheese and bacon bread pudding. After lots of reflection--this dish is not easily forgotten--I still don't know if I liked it or not! I've never been so confused by a dish. It was so salty, so smoky, and so sweet! It was also extremely rich (no kidding) after an already rich meal, so that didn't totally work for me. Jacob Tamme thought it was the best thing ever, but I suppose when you train like he does (and you have to eat 6000 calories a day or whatever the number may be) you need to love food like that.
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| Entrees and Desserts from both teams |
Team Pork ended up winning (it was 2-1, and I won't reveal which way I voted). All in all, it was an excellent competition that I thoroughly enjoyed. Smiley and Paul Poteet were undeniably charismatic and fun, as expected. The other judges, Kellie Runevitch of WTHR and Jacob Tamme of the Colts were a true delight, kind and interesting. I have to say the event was quite an experience. It made me realize a few things:
1) Judging food is challenging! (especially when it's for charity!)
2) Richer and bolder is not always better. There is an art to restraint in cooking.
3) Local is becoming more of a mainstream way to shop and eat.
4) Milk is typically good for at least one week after the date on the carton (which is a sell-by date). Sniff it to make sure though!
5) Pork (despite what the FDA guidelines state) can be cooked just like beef! The problem with Trichinosis was that pork had not had the same dietary requirements as other animals, and the result was lots of parasites and other nasty stuff. Now that all of that is controlled, those are not any more of a concern than with beef. Hooray! Pink pork is so much better than well done!
I want to thank Chelsea, the Farm Bureau, and everyone who made this such a memorable experience for me. (Thanks for taking pictures, Mom!) I am humbled by my opportunity to participate in such a great event to benefit meaningful causes. On a side note, if anyone wants to let me judge food again, I am not above RockPaperScissors, standing on my head, or any other silly test to get me there. Cheers!
