A couple weeks ago, my full-year course students competed in our first ever "Chopped Competition!" I was a little nervous about how it would go, since this is the first time we tried something like this--but I must say--I was incredibly impressed with the outcome overall ! They did an awesome job at coming up with a unique variety of creative, attractive, and tasty dishes! We had everything from mango chicken chili served in a tortilla bowl to a stuffed crust flat bread pizza! All dishes were completed on time, and were not only edible, but also delicious! The hardest part was choosing one winner out of 16!
The mystery ingredients this year were:
- Mango
- Avocado
- Red Bell Peppers
- Small Flour Tortillas
- Chicken Breast
Be sure to scroll down and check out the photos/ descriptions of the final products! They all did a great job!
By the way, the winning dish ended up being # 10.
It was a delicious crispy Cajun chicken served over brown rice with sauteed onions and peppers, drizzled with a lemon mango sweet and sour sauce and topped with crispy fried tortilla strips.
It was a wonderfully executed dish with a perfectly balanced blend of taste elements!
CHOPPED CHALLENGE!
The
goal of this challenge is to create the most innovative and impressive
dish with the resources available to you. You will be given a basket
of “mystery ingredients” that
must be used in your dish. You will also have full access to the
staple ingredients, spices, milk, eggs, and butter in the room. You
can create
an appetizer, main dish, and/or dessert using these ingredients as you see fit. You are encouraged to transform ingredients and use them in creative and unique ways.
Many
times in life, the most economical way to cook is not by following a
recipe, but by applying your cooking knowledge and skills to utilize
what you already have
in your kitchen. This challenge should help you to practice this
approach, as well as to promote creative problem-solving and
collaboration with your group members.
Day 1: You will be watching an episode of the hit Food Network TV Show, “Chopped,” in class in order to
familiarize yourself with the process/ concept of the challenge.
Day 2:
You will receive a list of your “mystery ingredients” the next day in
class and will have that period
to design a plan for the ingredients with your group. This will be
submitted at the end of the period, and should be used as a guideline
for the lab the next day.
Day 3: The day of the challenge, you are able to refine, tweak, and make moderate changes to your plan;
however, you should still be following the basic concept of your plan from the previous day.
You
will need to work quickly and efficiently in your teams. On the day of
the challenge, all dishes must be completed and submitted with a
description within 10 minutes of the end of the
period. At that point, a sample will be given to the teacher to judge,
a photo of the dish will be taken, and you will be allowed to sample
your dish as well.
**The winning dish will be judged based on creativity, presentation, and taste, just as they are on the actual show!
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