Tag: top chef

Please Join Me in Judging TOP CHEF KOREAN FOOD CHALLENGE

Bibimbap 비빔밥

Bibimbap, literally meaning “mixed rice,” a very popular dish in Korea, is prepared with steamed white rice, beef, and vegetables, topped with a fried sunny-side-up egg and spicy red chili paste, called gochujang. It’s one of the dishes that Chefs Guillas & Oliver hoped would  propel them to the number one spot at the Top Chef Korean Food Challenge.

Three teams of two non-Korean chefs randomly chose six traditional Korean dishes which were to be prepared in 30 minutes. Host Cathlyn Choi then provided a Magic Basket, containing traditional Korean ingredients that the chefs were required to incorporate into their dish. As one of six food bloggers along with three other esteemed judges, it was my absolute pleasure to attend this event earlier in the month in San Diego, California.

SIX DISHES SELECTED FOR THE CHALLENGE

bibimbap – beef & mixed vegetable rice with fried egg
 tuk bokki – spicy rice cake with vegetables
 galbi jim – braised short rib stew
 dak galbi – spicy stir-fried chicken
 gu jeol pan – royal nine section pan with meat, vegetables, and thin wheat pancakes
 kimchi – fermented cabbage

TOP CHEF KOREAN FOOD CHALLENGE

This Top Chef Competition is a part of  [buzzKOREA], a global campaign organized to introduce the brilliance of Korean culture and to share the secrets of the great hidden cuisine of Korea. Korean food is honestly the undiscovered jewel of Asian cooking.

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Galbi Jim – Korean Braised Short Rib Stew


Galbi Jim  갈비찜
Korean Braised Beef Short Rib Stew
with Shiitake, Chestnut, Dried Jujube, Ginkgo Nut, Daikon, and Asian Pear

Inspired by the Chefs and traditional ingredients at last week’s Top Chef Korean Food Challenge in San Diego, Galbi Jim was the first of many Korean dishes I’ve prepared since arriving back home.  It was my pleasure and honor to be invited to the event as one of six food blogger judges. There, I discovered a new love, Hansik (Korean food)!

Shiitake, chestnut, dried jujube (red date), ginkgo nut, and daikon are just some of the exotic ingredients that flavor this intoxicating stew. Beef short ribs are marinated in a mixture of grated Asian pear, with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and sesame. The meat is braised over low heat with the vegetables and fruit and the sweet/savory broth is reduced into a rich complex sauce…

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Dinner with Top Chef Stephanie Izard

seared foie gras served over smoked duck wontons
with a smoked duck broth

Stephanie making smoked duck wontons in Kristy’s kitchen.

menu
 
seared foie gras served over smoked duck wontons 
with a smoked duck broth
 
smoked goat with potato gnocchi 
summer squash and salsa verde
 
seared miso marinated lamb 
with market potatoes and blackberry gastrique
 
grilled bison strip steak 
with smokey blue and sweet onion panzanella
 
frozen nougat with peach and tomato coulis



Kristy’s Summery Table

How This Amazing Evening Came About…

You may remember me writing about the over-the-top birthday present from my brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Kristy, last year, Guest-Chef-For-The-Day in Charlie Trotter’s kitchen? So this year, my generous little brother, always outdoing himself, bid on having Top Chef Stephanie Izard come to their home to cook dinner for six people for my birthday present. It would be the three of us plus three guests of my choice. The silent auction benefits my nephew’s school, North Park Elementary School. The gift also included a Top Chef chef’s coat and cookbook. How cool is that? Thank you, love you!

That morning Stephanie and her Sous Chef Dave shopped at the Farmers’ Market, then they spent the day smoking the duck and goat, and prepping the meal. They arrived at Don & Kristy’s home carrying a huge cooler filled with all the ingredients to make one extraordinary dinner!
 
smoked goat with potato gnocchi
summer squash and salsa verde

In Her Own Words
Experience
In Chicago, my restaurant Scylla and before that sous chef at La Tache, roundsman at Spring, line cook at Vong. In Phoenix, line cook at Christopher’s Fermier Brasserie and other restaurants. In 2008 I was the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef.
Hometown
Born in Evanston, IL but grew up in Stamford, CT.
Education
University of Michigan, with a degree in Sociology, then headed to Arizona, where I attended the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona.
Chicago Love
In a very spur of the moment decision, I decided to just pack up and move to Chicago nine years ago from Phoenix. It is such a great food town, with a wonderful community of chefs. I plan on staying here for a long time.
The Drunken Goat
It’s definitely going to be representative of my style. There will be a lot of seafood, definitely a lot of pork products and some fun flavor combinations going on. I will take comfort-style foods and just bring them that one step further. It’s going to be a lot of tasty food.

Stephanie’s food is amazing, unique, delicious. We were all so impressed with her fresh, interesting and bold combination of ingredients. The dishes were very creative, yet balanced and harmonious. Stephanie and Dave themselves made the evening even more memorable. They were gracious, easy-going, good-humored, unpretentious, and a lot of fun!

Global Wine Pairing
 
Ruinart Brut Rosé Champagne NV
 
Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner Achleiten Smaragd 2006
 
Château de Ségriès Tavel Rosé  2008
 
Paul Hobbs Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007
 
Weingut Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Spätlese 2007

Stephanie describes each dish after it is served.
seared miso marinated lamb 
with market potatoes and blackberry gastrique

Stephanie and Dave are such good-sports! Taking a break from cooking to play with Stone. If it were still light out, I bet they would have been shooting hoops in the alley too!
 
grilled bison strip steak 
with smokey blue and sweet onion panzanella

 
frozen nougat with peach and tomato coulis


Little Chef Jett

Stone, Stephanie, and Jett

My dear friend Peggy and I met in college. We are Alpha Phi sorority sisters. After graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in 1977 we moved to Aspen, Colorado to put our college degrees to good use, we were ski bums. There we worked in restaurants cooking, bartending, and waitressing. Life was great, a free ski pass included.
Since Peggy and her husband, John, live in Chicago, it was a special treat to invite them to the Top Chef dinner. It was also a pleasure to invite Kristy’s sister,Wendy, who was visiting from Arizona.

Stephanie Izard’s new Chicago restaurant, The Drunken Goat, will be opening in the West Loop in February. Her site “Stephanie Izard,”  is in the midst of being redone right now but there is some content available, including some awesome recipes. Definitely keep checking back.
To my Blogger Friends in the Chicago area:
How about we finally get together and plan a dinner at The Drunken Goat in early April? I will be in town for Passover. It would be so great to meet in person. Let’s go visit Stephanie! If you are interested, please leave a comment here, and we will make some plans come March, OK?
Dear Stephanie:
Thank you so much for the outstanding meal 
and best wishes for continued success! 
Don, Kristy, Peggy, John, Wendy, Stone, Jett and I 
are your biggest fans!
Lori Lynn