Monday, February 27, 2012

Only His Cuisine Reigned Supreme!

Meet our Gretna Dinner Club Iron Chef 2012…. Eric!

We came, we saw, we cooked our hearts out… but only one could prevail. Our friend Eric nearly swept the vote for our first ever Iron Chef Gretna competition with his “Cinnamon Dusted Bacon, Honey Crisp Apple and Gouda Pizza”. It was amazingly delicious and, among many other fantastic dishes we sampled, best highlighted our secret ingredient for the night’s festivity – cinnamon! 

Most of our Dinner Clubs are arranged so that we know well in advance what we, and others, are preparing; however this one was different. We did know what portion of the meal we were to prepare. For example, I was assigned the soup. What we didn’t know was what our highlight ingredient was to be; at least until a couple of days before. Once we knew it was cinnamon the planning began! 

Everyone hustled to research a recipe for their course. We planned, we shopped, we prepared, and here’s what we ended up dining on for the night: 

Appetizer –  Cinnamon dusted bacon, honey crisp apple and gouda pizza

Soup –  Cinnamon, ginger and chicken soup with cinnamon-garlic crouton

Salad –  Arugula, apple and grape salad with cinnamon dressing

Entrée –  Cinnamon roasted pork tenderloin with honey, soy and garlic

Side –  Smashed, roasted root vegetables with cinnamon cheese

Dessert –  Apple turnovers with rich cinnamon-caramel sauce and black walnut cinnamon ice cream 

Eric's winning dish! Cinnamon-dusted Bacon, Honeycrisp
Apple and Gouda Pizza!
It may sound like too much of one thing, but I just can’t say enough how well everyone did incorporating the ingredient without overpowering or exhausting the palate. In the savory dishes, such as my soup, cinnamon was more of an aroma than the focus of your taste buds. Dessert, of course, was deliciously “cinnamon-ey” and the homemade black walnut ice cream was definitely a crowd pleaser. 

I loved the interesting application of cinnamon in the salad dressing that included more common dressing elements like mayonnaise and lemon juice. This was a great example of incorporating the spice in a detectable, but not overwhelming way. Cinnamon can be an excellent part of so many savory recipes; it’s not just for sweets. Watch later this week for more on cinnamon and its uses. 

Everyone did a fantastic job, but the use of cinnamon dusted over the warm, melty deliciousness of gouda cheese and perfectly crisped bacon was absolutely inspired. After you sunk your teeth in, you could detect the delicately sweet flavor of apple that paired so beautifully with the cinnamon and cheese. Heavenly! And nearly every vote after dinner reflected my sentiments. So congratulations Iron Chef Eric on your victory! If we meet again in battle…. Beware! 

I don’t know for sure what recipe Chef Eric used, other than he mentioned that he began with a recipe, but added the cinnamon on his own and took liberties with his preparation. Here’s a link to one bacon, apple and gouda pizza to get you started… hint – add your own magic – dust the finished and still-warm pizza with a little cinnamon!




Apple Dumpling with Black Walnut
Cinnamon Ice Cream



No comments:

Post a Comment