Chef and Company Chef Challenge

Last week I went to the chef challenge at Chef and Company. Chef and Company is a store over by Grizzlies in Brainerd that has any pot or pan you could possibly wish for. They also have a gorgeous kitchen in which they do cooking classes. Check out their website. It is http://www.chefcompany.com/

Once every two months they have a chef challenge. You can be one of the audience members who gets to drool over the creations for the single price of a non-perishable food item. I have been to several of their cooking classes and I had a can of unused pineapple slices in my cupboard to use as the fee so I decided to check out the competition.

I got there about five minutes before they started. If you are going, get there super early so you can get a seat at the table. They had folding chairs but you can't see and I wound up standing the whole time.

The two chefs were Tom Kavanaugh and Shelly Shields from the Quarterdeck. The competition was based off the "Iron Chef" competitions on Food Network. Right before the show starts, the "secret" ingredient is revealed. The chefs have an hour and a half to create three dishes. This time the secret ingrident was shrimp. Think of the wonderful things you can do with shrimp!

Tom made a shrimp risotto, trout stuffed with a shrimp mousse and mushroom ragout, and homemade pasta with shrimp wrapped in phyllo dough. Shelly made a shrimp bisque, cerviche with a fennel salad and an appetizer that consisted of cornbreaded shrimp layered with wanton wrappers that she had fried like chips.

One of the judges was Matty, a local restaurant owner and as I watched him shovel bites of the trout into his mouth, my eyes literally watered. That is the only bad thing about this competition...if you go, you may get a little taste with a tiny plastic fork, but you probably won't get a big bite so eat a large supper before you get there! For a foodie such as myself, it was hard to watch and not want to rip the plate out of the judge's hand.

I thought Shelly should have won the competition, she was very focused and her presentation was amazing. I had a little taste of her bisque and I can't even describe it, it was so good. As the judges critiqued each dish, I was disappointed that not one of the three judges knew what cerviche was and each one asked how it was pronounced. (Cerviche is shrimp that is cooked by marinading it in citrus. No heat is involved in the cooking, the citrus will cook the shrimp by itself.) I have to give them a little break though, it would have been tough to be a judge and criticize all that wonderful food. Both Shelly and Tom made some pretty mouthwatering dishes.

In the end, Tom won the competition. I tasted his leftover mushroom ragout and it was very good. Then I went over to Grizzlies and ordered the mushroom ravioli because I was starving. I will admit that his homemade pasta did inspired me to make my own pasta the next weekend. You can read about that in the article below this one. The competition is definitely worth your time if you like to get inspiration from different sources. I will go again in a heartbeat but I will make sure I eat first!

There was some dip and cake for everyone to eat while you browsed the store. The dip was very tasty and the recipe was on the table for everyone to take. From the recipe you wouldn't think this is a very sophisticated dip but the blend of the flavors was perfect. Here is Julie's dip recipe. I hope she won't mind that I shared it with you. Make sure you check out Chef and Companies website and see if any classes fit your schedule. You will be glad you did! Also, make sure you get over to the Boathouse at the Quarterdeck to check out Shelly's cooking for yourself!

Julie's Olive Dip

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup diced green olives
1 cup diced black olives
1/2 cup chopped onion
dash of tabasco sauce

Pulse olives and onions in a food processor, then add cream cheese and tabasco. Serve with crackers or vegatables. All your friends will ask you for the recipe!