|
|
GSNN
Primes |
|
Previous Episodes September 27 October 11 October 18 October 25 November 1 November 8 November 29 January 1 January 3 January 10 January 17 January 24 January 31 February 6 March 7 March 21 April 4 April 11 May 2 May 9 May 23 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Our ultimate competition is with ourselves. That is what my uncle told me when I would visit him as a young boy... My uncle, the man the world knows as Kaga the Chairman, has decided that although America is a young country, we now possess the proper palate to host our own Iron Chef competition, an American celebration of the world's high art of cuisine." Recaps by Chico Alexander, GSNN
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright Statement Powered by 1&1 Internet |
|
Flay
vs. Stone: Battle Skipjack The Challenger: author and Chef Curtis Stone, who traded in an Aussie-rules football playbook for a recipe book, honing his craft in the London kitchen of Mirabella, where he earned his Michelin star. He's also a contestant on "The Celebrity Apprentice" and one of People's "Sexiest Men Alive". Today, only his culinary prowess is being graded against... Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Well, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Gentlemen... Prepare for battle. The Crib Sheet:
The Theme Ingredient: Skipjack tuna.
The Rules: Each chef must create a
five-course meal, with each course utilizing the theme ingredient,
within 60 minutes. The judges will score the dishes on a
20-point scale: 10 points taste, 5 points plating and
presentation, 5 points creativity and use of ingredient.
The chef that best articulates the theme ingredient
through his dishes wins. In an added wrinkle, today's
battle is a special "grill battle". The chairman wants one component
from each plate to be grilled. And Battle Katsuwonis pelanis is on! This is also known as a striped tuna, bonito, katsuo, and aku. Skipjack has a fairly-high oil content, so it'll be interesting to see what the chefs choose to pair with this protein. Flay is starting with two oils and a pasta, while Stone is going the route of a vitello tonnato. He also has a veal, tomato, and a fish that they kissed before plunging a knife in it. "Fifteen minutes have elapsed." Over the break, the Iron Chef has grilled red bell peppers, a bechamel sauce, and a ground fennel and allspice mixture is coming together. Stone has vacuum-packed skipjack loins, capers, anchovies, and cauliflower with coconut milk. Tonight's Judges Stone is functioning as the chief butcher of the fish on his side of things, while Mario is trying to harvest some juice for a sorbet. How in the world will that go with tuna? Christine, meanwhile, has a mayonnaise in Flay's kitchen. She also unpacks some white sardines. "Thirty minutes have elapsed." Half of the battle gone in Kitchen Stadium. Flay has a grilled pineapple relish, a mint-habanero sauce, and a passionfruit-mango curry. Stone has candied orange peel, cubed tuna, and pureed cauliflower. Time is going to be a huge issue, as both chefs are going to try and calculate when the fish needs to hit the grill. Stone is playing with a wide range of cooking methods, with one ceviche, one tartare, and one in the immersion circulator. Flay... has hit the grill with the fish with 23 minutes remaining in the battle. Stone's fish shortly after. "Fifteen minutes to go." Plates are coming out on the Iron Chef's side. Flay has a grilled red pepper sauce, a mango-curry-passion sauce, and a bechamel sauce. Stone counters with confit tuna belly in a blender, grilled shellfish in tomato, and garlic chips in a deep fryer. "Ten minutes to go." Stone's tomato water sorbet is out of the ice cream machine. He's also plating grilled tuna with orange supremes and cauliflower puree and olive tapenade on tuna. Flay has his curry tuna down. "Five minutes to go." Flay is plating his freeform lasagna, grilled tuna with barbecue sauce, grilled tuna with curry sauce, a tonnato dish, and two more dishes to go. One is a red pepper tuna, the other... a fish taco. "One minute to go." Following with Stone's ceviche, confit, tonnato with flatbread, tartare, and sorbet. It's all coming down to the last minute... Literally... "Five seconds... Three ... two... one... " Stick a fork in Battle Skipjack, it's over! Judgment (Flay): "Very tough ingredient. It's almost mackerel-like, so my approach is to treat it like meat instead of fish." - Grilled Skipjack Tonnato Judgment (Stone): "What we wanted to show was how many different ways you can cook with it, how many different types of preparation." - Tuna Ceviche with Coconut The challenger seemed to be on his game all day. Will he throw Iron Chef Flay onto the barbie? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?
... 49-37 in favor of Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Curtis Stone put up five dishes worthy of Kitchen Stadium, but the mere fact that Bobby Flay was born on a grill says it all right there. Until next battle, we bid you good eating. To see this episode in its entirety, go to www.foodnetwork.com/ica. |
|||||||||||||||||||