Challenge #2: Appetizers!

For our second challenge, Adam chose to compete in the Appetizer course. We both had wanted to learn to make scallops, so it almost became a scallop challenge! Neither of us had made these before, so we weren't quite sure what we were doing.

Adam chose to make scallops three different ways. Adam made Cajun Scallops, Garlic Scallops and Lemon Butter Scallops. Megan chose to make Sirloin Kabobs and Scallops in a White Wine Sauce.

We both encountered a few issues while attempting to make this meal. First, Megan's Kabob recipe required her to learn to core an cube a pineapple (and she's very much appreciative to the people who post video's online for how to do these simple kitchen tasks!!!). Also, this was Megan's first time making Kabob's and grilling. The marinade for the sirloin  turned out to be very good! The pineapple turned out to be pretty easy too, once she watched the video. The main problem started when using the grill....  Megan's first attempt at grilling resulted in the Kabob sticks catching on fire and the ends burning off! Apparently you should be using the top shelf to grill Kabobs. Since the ends of the Kabob sticks had burned off, a couple of the green peppers had to be grilled separately and reattached after she was done grilling. The beef, mushroom, tomato, pineapple and green pepper on the Kabob all turned out great though (just didn't look quite as nice as she had hoped). The next task was too make the Scallops and the White Wine Sauce (Megan's first time uncorking wine!). While mixing the ingredients for the White Wine Sauce, Megan realized she hadn't purchase shallots, which was part of the recipe, so hopefully that wasn't too important :)  Overall, the Scallops and White Wine Sauce turned out pretty good. Here's a picture:

Sirloin Kabob (+ pineapple, cherry tomato, mushroom and green peppers), Rice, and Scallops with White Wine Sauce.

Adam's appetizer was to make Scallops three different ways. The beginning started off fairly simple with a lot of prep work. Once that was done, the real challenge was to cook three different kinds of Scallops at the same time. The garlic scallops were covered in flour, while the lemon butter scallops were breaded, and finally the Cajun scallops were simply covered in the seasoning. This made cooking all three more of a task to do at once because they all required different cooking techniques. In the end, the Cajun scallops turned out the best as neither of us cared much for the breading on the others. During the cooking of the Scallops, the pan for the Lemon Butter Pan was too hot, which didn't burn them, but didn't give them the color Adam was hoping for. Here's a picture of Adam's plate:

Three different types of Scallops (lemon wedge in the middle).

Next we had to vote on who's plate won:

Presentation: Adam

Taste: Megan

Difficulty: Megan, Adam

Winner: Tie

Megan thought hers was harder as it required learning a few different things that she'd never done before, while Adam thought his was more difficult as he had to keep three pans going with three different types of Scallops at the same time.

In the process of these challenges, we think we end up using every kitchen item we have:



Well, that's it for this challenge. Next week, Entree!



Challenge #1: Dessert!

Adam chose to make Eclairs and Megan chose to make Chocolate Dessert Timbales. Neither of us had made these desserts before.

While making them, we had a few "FAIL" incidents. Megan, while using a piping bag for the first time in adding the whipped cream topping to her dessert, managed to get just as much whipped cream on her clothing as she did on the desserts. (Note: We'll need to get aprons.)  For the Eclairs, the mixing part was easy (the part Adam thought would be most difficult), however, when Adam got to the baking (the part Adam thought would be easiest), things didn't go so well. Round 1 of baking the Eclairs resulted in Adam having to adapt them to "Eclair Boats" as the bottoms got stuck to the pan and ripped off. Oops! Round 2 & 3 turned out much better when Adam experimented with using tinfoil under the Eclairs on one half of the pan and using much more grease on the other half. Then, after making the chocolate, Adam had to pipe the chocolate onto the Eclairs - it worked out pretty well until Adam realized he was squeezing just as much chocolate out the top of the bag as he was the tip. Lesson learned from today - Piping bags are not as easy to use as they are on Cake Boss.

Here's a few pictures from our challenge:

Both desserts turned out pretty well! We tasted them and scored them as follows:

Presentation: Megan
Taste: Adam
Difficulty: Adam

Megan's had a more gelatinous texture to it, although it was still really good (the recipe contained unflavored gelatin). Taste wise, this caused us to choose the Eclair. The presentation of Megan's was much more creative. Adam's recipe was a lot more work as he had to make the Eclair filling, the Eclair and the chocolate topping.

Here's a couple of our FAIL pictures:

The first FAIL picture is when Adam squirted just as much frosting out of the top of the bag as he did through the tip. The second FAIL picture are the completed "Eclair Boats" that have been flipped upside down, filled with the filling and the chocolate topping was piped over the filling. Still very good.

First challenge winner: Adam