IRON CHEF HALLOWEEN 2010!

Sorry for the late post, there has just been too much going on in the past few weeks. 

So, Iron Chef Halloween was on! We love to cook and EAT and here are some fun details and results of the great food competition this year!

1st place - Renee Biss

Dish: a Beautiful Combination of:

- Pumpkin Scream Ghoulee baked in mini pumpkins!
- Poison Caramel Chocolate Apples!
- Egg of Newt Shooter!

Comments: So appetizing! This lovely, winning presentation deserves to be on the cover of a magazine!

2nd place - Cynthia Graham

Dish: Brains and Eyeballs!! 

Details: Brains were filled with a moist chocolate cake and raspberry filling iced with a raspberry butter cream. Eyeballs are orange cake balls covered in white chocolate with fondant decorations.

Comments: The vibrant colors were so welcoming and it tasted so good that it's truly work of a real chef!

3rd place - Stacy Kistler

Dish: Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Ref. from: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/spiced-pumpkin-cheesecake-62444.aspx

Stacy: To get the spiderweb effect, I just reserved some of the white batter before I added in the pumpkin and spices. I used a pastry bag to pipette the white batter in circles on top, then dragged a knife through the circles.

Comments: Delish! The winning cake was moist and melted in your mouth with a rich creamy, cheesy texture with a nice hint of spicy, fall taste. We loved it, thanks Stacy!

PRO Contestant: Debbie Chenoweth

Dish: a Wonderful Combination of Fall Themed Pastries!

Debbie: I have long been fascinated by the combination of math, science, art and creativity that is cooking in general, but that is especially so with pastries.  I’m not a big fan of Halloween (I never have been, sorry!) so I don’t think in terms of scary stuff.  I almost didn’t participate for that reason.  But I do think of pumpkins and spices and caramel apples, so I used those tastes as my inspiration.  I wanted to try my hand at pumpkin scones.  These scones are full of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, and the spice is boosted in the glaze.  The caramel apple Danish is made on a base of homemade croissant dough shaped into a pinwheel and then topped off with a spicy apple filling and caramel.  The gingerbread cookies compliment the spice a bit further in the garnish.

Comments: 2 THUMBS UP! Absolutely wonderful. LOVE every single one of these pastries! Great presentation with a wonderfully fresh taste inside and out. Makes my mouth water just to think about it. Another pro in the pastry/cake category in this competition!

Food Loving Contestant: Frances Wun

Dish:  Bloody Fritos Corn Salad with Maggots!
Details: My famous Fritos Corn Salad with a twist of Halloween spirits. (Fritos Corn Salad recipe available at my older post here - http://cookingwithmun.blogspot.com/2010/04/mexican-chilli-frito-corn-salad-super.html). Splash of blood was made sweet beet juice which by the way, went really well with this humble, yet flavorful salad AND the maggots were simply cooked white rice with a bit of black sesame powder!

See you all next year Halloween! Woooooooohhhhhh, hahahhahhahahahahh!