Gaming World Forums
General Category => General Talk => Topic started by: Wash Cycle on January 24, 2008, 12:51:12 am
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Carrot Fantasmagoria
Alright, so I decided to do my entry for the GW Iron Chef competition tonight, since it was pretty much the only day I had completely free for the next as long as I care to look forward, I had the ingredients at hand to make most of the dishes I was thinking of, and that I ought to get it done before I procrastinate myself out of doing it. So anyway, I went to Giant Eagle right after school today to buy some of the things for the recipes I wanted to create, I spent like $12.13 or something like that so right off the bat not bad. Anyway, I came right home and got down to work.
Alright, so I know a thing or two about how to time the cooking of an entire meal, so I began by making the batter for my dessert. It was pretty simple, all that went into it was flour, a whole egg, another egg white, cinnamon, salt, flat beer and of course... carrots.
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20002.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20003.jpg)
Next I began to prep the soup, the ingredients were as follows (in order of addition to the soup): Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, red onion, (badly) diced carrots, minced garlic, cumin, ginger, tomato paste, lentils, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, salt and pepper. (following pictures are of a few random steps in the soupmaking process. Basically the idea was to create a nice blend of complementary flavors done up as a simple soup (you'll see what I mean by simple later)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20004.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20005.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20006.jpg)
Next I worked on my salad, which was really pretty simple. It was just grated carrots, raisins, parsley and a dressing that I made from lemon juice, olive oil, honey dijon mustard and a seasoned pepper blend. Nice and refreshing imo, some sweet and sour stuff going on, very nice color as well. Pictures detail the dressing and carrot preparation:
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20007.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20008.jpg)
Next up was the curry/raita which was pretty much just plain greek style yogurt, feathered carrots, lemon juice, walnuts, cumin and cayenne. Only one picture of this prep stage :( Again... nothing special concerning preparation here, it was a pretty straight prep and mix procedure just like the salad.
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20009.jpg)
After the curry/raita/whatever was finished I had some work to do on the soup still, which basically meant bringing the soup off the heat and blending it. Turkish soups of this variety are generally not... like Italian soups. They prefer a smooth homogenous texture, but alas I had not a submersion blender so my humble food processor got to do like triple duty this afternoon. This was one of the more difficult parts cause the soup was uh.. hot. And spilling it would just be unacceptable.
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20010.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20011.jpg)
I had to put it through the processor twice, the first time through it just didn't turn out right, but I kinda saw that coming so I didnt freak out or anything. Previous picture was taken during the first run through the processor. After I got the right texture and consistency it was time to work on the dessert. This part was a lot of fun.
Basically all that was left to do was season the batter and fold in the egg white and carrots to the batter that had been setting for the last 2 hours. In went the cinnamon and the egg, folded with extreme care. Then the carrots, and the batter ended up looking like this:
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20012.jpg)
So then I had to create a deep-fryer on my stovetop. Not too difficult... thank god I could find my candy thermometer though I'd have been fucking lost without that.
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20013.jpg)
I had a picture of those damn things frying but it was kinda shitty and the flash fucked it up but anyway. So by this point, I bet you guys are wanting to see some finished products. I will now present them to you in order of what I feel would work as far as courses go.
Carrot Salad on hearts of Romaine Lettuce
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20017.jpg)
Turkish Carrot, Tomato and Lentil Soup
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20018.jpg)
Carrot Raita
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20016.jpg)
Cinnamon Carrot Fritters
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20015.jpg)
So basically what you have is a nice appetizer salad, the main course, a palate cleanser (the raita) and then a nice crispy fried dessert (the fritters) with a cinnamon clove yogurt sauce for dipping.... all together now!
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20019.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/GW%20Iron%20Chef%20-%20Carrot%20020.jpg)
(another take lol)
<embed src="http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/TuniVib.mid">
<body background="http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/30225/tile.jpg">
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I am quite impressed with your presentation. Good job.
Now, describe to me the experience of eating a 'carrot fritter' because, although imaginative, the entire thing seems ridiculous.
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I am quite impressed with your presentation. Good job.
Now, describe to me the experience of eating a 'carrot fritter' because, although imaginative, the entire thing seems ridiculous.
well its basically just fried batter heheh, this particular version just had carrots. I've had all sorts of sweet fritters as well as savory ones with like zuccini or something, this one kinda combined sweet and savory becuase of the combination of the sugar in the beer and the carrots. I should have taken a picture of just an individual one instead of the stack lol.
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Honestly it looks really great and delicious! Seriously, I just had dinner, but I'm hungry now. I'm a sucker for salads, so that looks great. The yogurt stuff looks good, although I've never had any kind of Greek dip. The soup looks good, too, and interesting. The dessert looks delicious, also. Are they like cookies, kind of? I've never had a fritter.
The carrot ingredient adds a lot of intrigue. I know, that's a bad word to use, but I just think that carrots aren't really used in most conventional foods, and so I'm just sitting here trying to imagine the taste of these things. It's really cool that you put the time into this, too. Looks good, and hope you had fun eating it!
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jesus dammit christ wc.
I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE.
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I give you an F because of the music choice SONOFA BIRTC
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Two days ago I drank a gallon of carrot juice on a dare.
The next day I was diagnosed with vitamin A poisoning. Apparently it's toxic in doses over 20,000 micrograms. It didn't do anything serious but give me stomach cramps and a headache but fuck... vitamin A poisoning...
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I'm quite impressed. The presentation really saved the salad for me though, I think it was the weakest of the dishes. I do like the fritters as a dessert though, and I thought I would be the only one not making some sort of cake for desert :fogetshifty:. I think it is a strong start to this competition. I hope to have my dishes done this weekend, time to bring my A-game.
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oh nice on the leinenkugel btw.
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oh nice on the leinenkugel btw.
nice on the identification from a low resolution sorta blurry photo
unfortunately I had to let it go flat for it to work with the batter but yeah I really like their harvest ale or whatever it is. my dad bought a bunch of it and then ended up not liking it so I mostly am the one that drinks it lol
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Dude this is a good start to the competition. Nice.
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jesus christ man
you KILLED DIS SHIT
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so i scrolled down and saw picture 4 and thought 'well this is going to look like vomit' but this is bonkers man. you win.
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Holy shit I read the title and almost threw up because I was thinking of the CHOKING WITH MEAT scene from Phantasmagoria.
Awesome results though!
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Yeah, congrats on being a great first entry!
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This stuff looks pretty sweet. If I was still living at home I'd enter the carrot dish because for stuff regarding carrots I'd need alot of prep work/area and probably graters and shit which are not available in my dirty ass shared kitchen. But yea, the salad and the soup both look pretty appetizing. You definitely saved the dessert by making a cinnamon style carrot fritter, otherwise i think it would taste rather nasty and not sweetish. pretty good presentation and errything. congrats.
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Wow, very good first entry I'm impressed
My only quirk is the main dish is a soup, which isn't a bad thing, but to me I'd feel like I was lacking a real full meal, but I'm european where soup for us is always, always an appetizer
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really?
I thought it was the other way round.
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That whole thing looks genuinely delicious, and you didn't use a speck of meat! I didn't know that it was possible to make an entire meal that looked good without some dead animal flesh. You certainly proved me wrong.
Nice idea with the carrot fritters. I made clam fritters once (To go with chowder.), they were awesome.
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Oh wow that looks pretty swell; too bad for me mines looking a tad messy compared to this. But great work on this, it definately looks delicious and the presentation on that salad is fantastic!
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wash cycle is a perfectionist who has reached his goal!
your kitchen is very nice also. did you eat all this stuff? was it a carrot overload?
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yeah our kitchen is pretty well-equipped. I cant wait till I get to bust out the ice-cream maker
also yes I have eaten it all, I really liked the raita and the soup, the fritters were decent and just as a matter of personal preference I didnt particularly like the salad.. it was too.. carroty. everyone else who had it liked it though so yeah (I'm not a big fan of raw carrots in general so heh)
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yeah you did a great job with this.
the salad probably isn't something i'd be keen on but i'm sure it works. the soup though, wow that looks delicious (despite the really dark color and thick-looking texture (it is a thick soup, right?)) how does that taste to you?
the raita seems out of place and just seems like it'd be something people would choose between the salad or it for an appetizer, though i can see why you placed it after the soup. is it a light (not extremely heavy on flavor and not too thick/filling) dip? i assume so anyway.
finally, the fritters...just look downright strange but hell i like a lot of odd deserts so i'm sure it takes great.
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I love the carrot salad that sits on romaine lettuce hearts! I remade that dish, it was easy to prepare and of course tasty. Though you were right about it being too "carroty" so I used less carrots and added vinaigrette to it (just your basic salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar). It complimented the sweet taste of the carrot pretty well, plus the lettuce helped tame the strong acidity of the vinaigrette which balances it out all together. I think that some grilled chicken breast chopped into cubes would also taste well on the carrot salad.
Good job by the way!