Below is my meal, along with a link to the recipe. You can compare the pictures. None of them really look like the original.
Roast Chicken Cordon Bleu
Taste: It tasted pretty good, and Alvin said it was his favorite.
Substitutions: I didn't use capicola; instead I used dried duck. That tasted pretty good. I used cheddar instead of gruyere. I didn't have parsnips, so I used carrot. I have no blender, so I chopped it by hand.
Comments: I didn't make the mushrooms part of the recipe. The chive oil was pretty tasty. I didn't stuff the chicken uniformly and so some sections had a lot of stuffing, some parts didn't have any stuffing.
Crispy Potato Gnocchi
Taste: This one was my favorite. It is great for the winter. Most of the guests thought the gnocchi was pasta.
Substitutions: I used parmessan instead of pecorino. For this meal, I only used the spaghetti sauce. I only made the potato gnocchi and not the ricotta gnocchi.
Comments: I made the cheese, butter, and spring vegetable sauce the next night for dinner. It tasted like a really rich mac and cheese. Instead of truffles I used shitaki. Overall, I like the spaghetti sauce better.
Pecan and Oat Crusted Tofu
Taste: It was unique and satisfying, but didn't exactly fit into the flow of the meal. The onions were a little raw still at the end. Next time, I would leave the onions out.
Substitutions: I could not find a single lentil here, so I just left it out. Right now in this season, I can't find any bell peppers or snow peas in this city, so I also left that out. Instead of pecans, I used walnuts.
Comments: I have made this dish before, and last time I made it according to recipe. This time, I marinated the tofu for a day, and it was a lot tastier.
Yam, Potato Sauce, Mushroom and Cauliflower
Taste: I really like the layers of flavors in the dish. The potato sauce tasted more like mashed potatoes than a sauce. The thicker slices of sweet potato could have been cooked a little longer.
Substitutions: Instead of bacon, I used chicken fat. I left out the asparagus since I can't find any in this city right now.
Comments: Sweet potatoes here are either white or yellow in color. I used the white one. Therefore, this dish does not have a lot of contrast in color.
Banana Scallops
Sorry, I forgot to take a picture. I made the banana scallops, and a friend brought some cookies, and another friend brought some vanilla ice cream to match the dessert.
Taste: It was a fail. Two nights before the dinner, I tried caramelizing the bananas, and it worked. During this meal though, it didn't work, and so it just tasted like a sweeter banana.
Substitutions: When I attempted the trial run before the meal, I made the banana guacamole. I thought it was very good, but it no longer tasted like a dessert. So I took the guacamole out of my dessert.
Comments: Next time, I will leave out the trouble of caramelizing the bananas and just serve ice cream, cookies, and cut bananas.
Quiz for Top Chef fans:
Name the Top Chef that cooked the meal on the show, and name whether it was a quick fire challenge or an elimination challenge.
2 comments:
I won't know the answers to your quiz, but to me, and I am sure to Alvin, "Bethany" is the winner and the "Top Chef". From the photos, each dish looked delicious and colorful and your guests must have plenty of compliments to the "Chef",right?
Oh my goodness! It looks delicious!!!! I'm a Top Chef fan, but I honestly can't remember who made the meal. Sigh...Wish there was a way for us to taste your food, Bethany!!! I think after that meal you would NOT be hearing "Please pack your knives and go." =)
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