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September 27
 

"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

 
Host ("The Chairman") Mark Dacascos
Iron Chefs Cat Cora
Bobby Flay
Masaharu Morimoto
Michael Symon
Culinary Commentator Alton Brown
Floor Reporter Kevin Brauch
Creator Keiichi Tanaka (based upon "Ryori no Tetsujin/Iron Chef")
EP Eytan Keller
Stephen Kroopnick
Stu Schreiberg
Packager Triage Entertainment & Fuji TV for Food Network
Origins Kitchen Stadium America, Food Network Studios New York
Web foodnetwork.com/ica
Airs 10p Sun, Food
Available In High-Definition Where AvailableStreaming Online

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Flay vs. Gordon: Battle Berry
October 11

The challenger: Chef Daisley Gordon, a native of Jamaica and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He has cooked at Kentucky's legendary Brown Hotel. Today, he serves his Traditional French with local ingredient as executive chef of Campagne in Seattle. Today, he chooses to lock cleavers with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

Prepare for battle.

The Crib Sheet:
FLAY
Vicki Wells & JC Pavlovich, sous-chefs
VS GORDON
Nikki Schiebel & Keiko Okuda, sous-chefs
Southwestern COOKING STYLE Traditional French

The Theme Ingredient: blueberries, strawberries, grapes, blackberries, golden & red raspberries, gooseberries, cape gooseberries and any other berries you can think of.

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 or her dishes wins.

The battle clock is set at 60 minutes, which will start when the Chairman, with full heart and empty stomach, utters the words of his dear uncle.... "Allez cuisine!"

Battle Berry is on in Kitchen Stadium. Interesting thing. Not all of today's offerings are technically berries.

Opening words from Chef Gordon: "I always thought that his flavors were really tasty and bold."

Flay is starting with duck confit. Food pro has a mixture of berries, chilies, and honey. Challenger is double-boiling some strawberries.

Tomatoes... also berries... they're being mixed on the challenger's side. He's also making some quail. So protein on both ends. More protein on Gordon's end with blood sausages. Over on the IC side, JC is making halibut, while Flay is brushing his berry mixture on the lamb, while Gordon is brushing herb-glaze onto his lamb.

"Fifteen minutes have elapsed." Gordon has a raspberry watermelon soup and a reduction of red wine and blueberry juice added to a pot with berries and shallots. A sheet of gelatinous berries is loaded into the oven as well, Flay counters with a pot of berries reducing, pinenuts roasting, and a puree of raspberries.

Tonight's Judges:
- Media relations director Lee Schrager (Southern Wine & Spirits)
- Actress Julie White ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen")
- ESPN host Kenny Mayne ("An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport")

Flay is working on two batters, something that looks like pancakes, and something that looks like polenta. Gordon has some crepes... and Kevin? "I scream, you scream." That's code for ICE CREAM MACHINE!

"Thirty minutes have elapsed." Halfway through the battle, Flay has a blackberry/cape gooseberry salsa, a mixed-berry bread pudding, and a pair of batters. Gordon has a fruit salad, sliced strawberries, and a saute of onions, capers, and berries. Iron Chef's blackberry rubbed loin is on the grill, halibut slices are on the heat, and balsamico has been added to a raspberry reduction. Challenger counters with a blueberry-sausage mix, strained strawberries, and a pot of orange juice. The blood sausage mixture is going onto that crepe he made earlier.

Vicki's ice cream is going out of the machine and making a nice berry swirl. Keiko's ready to cook Gordon's quail.

Flay is also trying out his blueberry pancakes, while the challenger adds golden raisins to the reduction of blackberry and onion.

"Fifteen minutes to go." No plates on either side yet. Flay found the pancake he wanted. More strawberries are being sliced and the raspberry/sugar coulis is being reduced and chilled. Gordon has a reduction of his own while his crepe is being finished.

Remember the watermelon-berry mixture? That's getting the sea scallops on the challenger's side. Flay is plating his pancakes with duck confit. Lamb also going down with blackberry barbecue sauce. Gordon is adding uni, or sea urchin, to his strawberry plate. Another berry plate on the IC side has cheese and fruit leather on it. Flay is plating his halibut on that raspberry sugar reduction as well as a summer bread pudding and swirled ice cream. And there's a napoleon to finish it out. The challenger's quail, crepe with poached egg... "One minute to go." ... strawberry napoleon with uni, gazpacho with sea scallops, and the berries with cheese and fruit leather.

And Flay is making a last second adjustment to his bread pudding! This could be a game changer.

"Five seconds... three... two... one..." Battle Berry is done, and everyone's in under the wire.

Judgment (Gordon): "For berries, I was very excited. Initially, of course, some of the berries are sweet, but some have a savory quality. So we decided to play on those particular qualities and push them in one direction or another."

- Strawberry Napoleon with Sea Urchin
- Raspberry and Tomato Gazpacho
- Blood Sausage and Berry Crepe
- Grilled Quail with Blackberry Compote
- Berry and Cheese Course

Judgment (Flay): "The main challenge for me was keeping the berries on the savory sides and to sweeten them up with the sweeter dishes later on."

- Blue Corn Blueberry Pancake with Duck Confit
- Raspberry-Brown Butter Poached Halibut
- Blackberry-Marinated Lamb
- Warm Berry Charlotte
- Fraise des Bois and Cheese Napoleon

Both sides had very nice play with the berries, but there can only be one winner. Whose cuisine reigns supreme tonight? The verdict...

  IRON CHEF CHALLENGER
Taste 30 24
Plating 13 12
Originality 13 14

... 56-50 in favor of Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Daisley Gordon might've outdone him with his originality, but when it comes to taste, nothing beats perfection.

Until next time, we bid you good eating.

To see this episode in its entirety, go to www.foodnetwork.com/ica.