Chopped

Wacky and exotic ingredients, extreme time limits, discerning judges, and creative dishes distinguish the Food Network show Chopped. On Tuesday, a group of friends recreated those elements in a heart-pounding, intense, and high-quality cooking challenge in the heart of Garden City, Idaho. Or something like that.

My first experience as a Chopped contestant took a more relaxed and friendly tone. There was no $10,000 prize for which we were competing (unfortunately), no utterly unrecognizable items in our baskets, and even the time limits were flexible. We had fun. We got to be creative. And we made four surprisingly scrumptious dishes.

First, for any unfamiliar with Chopped rules, the show goes something like this: Four contestants (typically professional chefs), three rounds (appetizer, entree, dessert), one basket the contestants open as the clock begins that has four ridiculous ingredients which must be included in the dish for each round (think octopus, duck, fennel, and animal crackers or halibut, Chinese celery, peperoni risotto, and orange drink mix). One contestant is eliminated each round (chopped), and one victor as determined by the three-person judging panel. On Tuesday, Megan, Kayla, Natalie, and I modified things. We only required three ingredients in our "baskets," our time was flexible, and we were our own judging panel.

In the appetizer round, Megan and I were given corn flakes, a can of Coors, grape jelly, and a half-hour. I thought I was sunk when I saw Megan go for the bacon, make a breading out of the beer and corn flakes, and start a pan with oil for frying. I mean, beer-battered, breaded, and fried bacon? How do I beat that? She topped it with a pineapple chipotle grape jelly dip. Not healthy, but savory, salty, and satisfying.

My first step was to use the beer with a box of corn muffin mix. Since we were making appetizers, I made mini beer cornbread muffins that I figured I would top with something to make a bite-sized portion. The mini-muffins went into the oven to bake. Then I grabbed protein from the same animal as Megan, but rather than smoky bacon, my choice was pork cutlets. I too went with a cornflake breading to fry the cutlets. My strategy was to go for bold flavors, so I put finely diced lemon rind in the breading. Beer in the bread, lemon in the meat, but how was I going to use the grape jelly? In truth, I almost forgot about it. With five minutes left, Megan reminded me about the jelly and even suggested I mix it with the creamy horseradish sitting on the countertop to make sauce with a bite for drizzling over my concoction. Her advice was excellent. The grape jelly-horseradish sauce was the crown my flavorful bite needed.

The finished product was a bite-sized beer cornbread muffin with arugula, cornflake-breaded pork cutlet and a touch of horseradish grape jelly sauce. The combination was a good mix of flavors, hot from the horseradish, hearty from the muffin, peppery with the arugula, bright and satisfying with the pork. Megan and I both smiled at our product.

After downing hors d'oeuvres we cleaned the kitchen to prepare for round two, the entree competition. Kayla and Natalie switched places with Megan and me. Their basket was filled with yellow squash, fresh ginger, and packaged kettle corn. I took more pictures of the process because I wasn't busy cooking.

Kayla at the stove.

Natalie prepping an Asian-inspired entree.

A sea of secret ingredients surrounding the chefs.

Natalie and Kayla sharing the range.

The ingredients inspired Kayla and Natalie in very different ways. Kayla made an eggplant curry with ginger, chicken, and squash, quinoa with kettle corn bits, and a garnish of fresh, lemony herb from her garden. Natalie used the squash to make ribbons that functioned like noodles and were infused with ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and Asian flavors. She topped that with beef medallions and a crunchy topping from the kettle corn. Two dishes, tons of textures and flavors, utterly unlike each other.

Yum. Fun. Friends. Three memorable ingredients amplified when found in combination. We resolved to do this again. In the mean time, we will continue watching Chopped and plotting our next plate. Anyone want to join in the flavors and fun?