Iron Fork Competition Minneapolis 2009

Today I will share my recipe from the Iron Fork competition, In which I was the sole amature competitor against 5 local chefs from some of the great restaurants in the Twin cities. The competition was a fundraiser for Second Harvest sponsored by City Pages. Over a thousand people were watching as we battled to prepare tasty and inventive dishes in one hour featuring one secret ingredient. What an honor to be a contestant!

Before the competition, I got to rub elbows with the chefs. The sous chef from the "Happy Gnome" introduced me to fermented garlic, a black sticky substance with a flavor of roasted garlic and the sweetness of a date. I love it when I meet a new flavor!

The secret ingredient was squash. The "Happy Gnome" chef (who came in second place) made an acorn squash and ouzo cocktail (which I thought was very clever) and a halibut dish that looked amazing! The winner of the competition was the chef/owner of "Saffron", who let me use his olive oil (imported from Pakistan) in my arugula fennel salad. The olive oil was so wonderful that it made my eyes tear up and my knees go weak. He used his own line of spices in all of his dishes. They were delicious.

I made a tarragon and butternut squash ravioli with fresh lemon zested pasta and a golden beet reduction, coconut cream sauce (our friend Jelena said that complicated layers of flavor are all the rage in restaurants these days, which based on my iron fork experience I would have to agree with!) The side dish was an arugula, fennel, orange salad and a single carrot flower.

The weeks leading up to the competition I was like a traveller in a foreign country isolated by an unfamiliar language. I kept searching the minds of people I came in contact with, for clues as to how to get around in this thing. I looked at every person I met as a potential guide, a messenger placed in my path to reveal some secret which would help me be able to cook something impressive for my moment in the culinary sun. It did seem that angels were appearing in my path that week. The morning of the marathon I met a woman who told me how to make hollindaise without using heat (I decided this would be too risky, I wouldn't want to give the judges salmonella!) When I got home from the race, Christina and I went out for Thai food at "Ruam Mit", and the chef came to our table to show us how to make little carrot flowers (which I decided would be Christina's job for the competition, and she plowed through three bags of carrots practicing!! The things we do for love.)

So here is the recipe, the whole thing takes about an hour. It wasn't the winner but I was happy with how it turned out!

Ingredients:
~2 cups unbleached white flour
2 eggs
salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
lemon zest
1 small butternut squash
1 orange
1 can coconut milk (use the cream)
fresh tarragon
thyme
pepper
2 golden beets
1 lime
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1-2 tsp cornstarch

The pasta:
Make a volcano of flour with a pinch of salt in it on a sheet of wax paper taped to your kitchen counter (it is less messy if you use wax paper, but you don't have to). Make a well in the flour and add egg, olive oil, and fresh lemon zest. With a fork, beat the egg and slowly bring the flour mixture into the egg mixture. When the dough begins to come together, knead with flour until smooth (you may not need all the flour). Roll the dough thin with a rolling pin (as thin as you..or your sous chef..can get it!) Cut into squares using a knife or a square cookie cutter (we found a great set at Cooks of Crocus hill on Grand Ave).

The filling: Boil a pot of water. Peel the skin off of a medium butternut squash and scrape out the seeds (you can toast these and use as a garnish). Add the squash to the water and boil until tender (~20 min) remove the squash and mash with a drizzle of coconut milk, orange juice and fresh diced tarragon using a food processor (or a fork if you prefer rustic squash) Salt, pepper and thyme to taste.

Assemble the ravioli by filling one square, lining the edges with a wet finger, and then adding the other square.

The sauce:
Peel and cut 2 golden beets. Place in ~1 1/2 cups water and boil until the water gets yellow. Remove beets (you could have as a side dish, but we did a crisp salad instead) and continue to cook liquid down, adding a few Tbsp coconut milk. Cook your ravioli in this liquid (about 3-4 min). Remove ravioli and set aside. Add 1 Tbsp brown sugar and the juice from 1/2 lime to the sauce. Remove some of the liquid and mix with a little corn starch (1 tsp) then pour the cornstarch liquid into the sauce and cook to thicken. Put the ravioli back in the thickened sauce. When you are ready, plate your ravioli and garnish with an arugula, fennel, orange salad (olive oil, garlic and orange juice dressing) and a bit of orange zest and sugar over the top!

~Enjoy~