Tomatilla!

I guess the theme song for this should be ‘Home on the Range’ rather than something less cooking related – but it makes me think of rather different things. Tradition and a relaxed frame of mind and a relaxed approach to life. Rather more ‘slow food’ than cowboy food perhaps.

Here’s how this edition of the Paper Chef event was set up:

“The theme for this edition of Paper Chef is ‘Home.’ That means that the fourth ingredient is ‘something you already have in your home’ – you can’t go out and buy it – you have to look around and use something. If the cupboard is bare then you may have to make water the special ingredient! A reminder, the other ingredients are chile peppers, smoked swordfish (or if you can’t manage that, any smoked fish, and if you are a vegetarian, something smoked) and eggplant or aubergine.”

We got a smallish number of entrants but that’s completely my fault since this is the first Paper Chef after a six month break where I just got too busy to keep everything going.

Without further ado, here (I think in order of receipt of information) are the people and dishes that entered Paper Chef The Home Edition.

First entry in is from a brand new paper Chef participant, ‘Mrs. Anderson’ of Gild the Vodoolily. She entered a Smoky Green Curry Seafood Chowder. This soup is very rich, complex and wonderful sounding.

Another newcomer, Abby of Eat the right stuff, entered another soup, but very different, a smoked aubergine and elephant garlic soup which also sounds delicious but does come with a mild warning…

The Belly Timber crew, aka MizD and ChopperDave, honored us by taking time out of a horrendously busy schedule to play in the kitchen and – as usual – come up with a completely over the top surfeit of food. I may well miss something, but here is what I make it that they entered:

They, too, did us a soup – Smokey Spicy Fish Soup;
and Chile Roasted Eggplants;
and Smoked Cod and Eggplant ‘Tagine’
and an extra unofficial ‘Oven-roasted Indian eggplants filled with a paste made from the extras on hand: bell pepper, garlic, chives, Thai chiles, and more of that delicious cherry-smoked cod.’

on top of everything else they also sacrificed pottery to the gods to make this feast!

Ilva of Lucullian Delights, who gets an award as a patron saint of Paper Chef for her tireless support and enthusiasm for the event, also entered a feast, this time of two dishes. The first, a starter, was Hot Eggplant Rolls with Smoked Tuna, Fried Bread and Pinenuts and the second, a primo, a Pasta with Eggplant, Chili Pepper, Smoked Tuna and Pinenuts.

Finally, another new entrant, Jonskifarms of Jonski Blogski, entered a not-quite-following-the-rules, ‘smoked eggplant dip, and a green chile buffalo burger‘. It turned out that the smoked eggplant dip was actually a Maddhur Jaffrey recipe for one of the all time great Indian dishes ‘bengan bhartha’ and it sounds like it may have converted the author to at least one use for eggplant!

Entries and recipes and photos are coming in for Paper Chef 25 and since I am stuck at work until late in the day anyhow, I am extending the deadline until the end of the day. Regular participants and lurkers already know that we don’t pay too much attention to deadlines and rules around here, so this extension isn’t much of a surprise.

I realised that in futzing around with things here over the past month I lost my old blogroll so I am going to put a new one up over the next day or two while I wait to be certain I have all the entries there there will be and post a roundup of them – maybe Friday.

The short answer is whenever it’s hot, which means most of the year here. But it is more complicated than that. For example, although my fancy new gas (propane) grill has a side burner, I wouldn’t make it my first choice for boiling water. In fact it is used mostly for roasting coffee. But that means all boiled foods are out when it gets too hot to cook in the house.

That in turn means getting creative when you have potatoes coming out your ears because your CSA box just keeps ‘em coming. So I had to come up with some way to make something other than slabs of grilled potato – which aren’t all that great and take too long.

Grilled Potato Packets

So, I dug out my trusty chinese plastic almost-a-mandoline and sliced up lots of potatoes really thin and then did the same with a couple of onions. Then I made little packets of foil, each with a large individual serving of potatoes and onion, liberally doused with olive oil, kosher salt and sprigs of fresh rosemary. Fold them up tight, crimping the edges to seal them. Then put them all around the edges of the grill while you cook something else – taking care to make sure they aren’t over direct heat.

For this to work you need a grill with a cover so the heat gets kept inside like an oven. Turn the packets over after about twenty minutes and keep cooking for a total of about 50 minutes – your temperature inside the grill cover if you can test it should be about 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

When everyone unwraps the potato packets they should get soft, melt in your mouth potato and onions with a caramelized crust on the bottom of crisp potato and browned onion.

The last two times I did this I did them once with marinated grilled pieces of cut up chicken and the second time with a whole roasted chicken on a rotisserie spit. The first came out perfectly in every respect, but in the second I got a big grease fire when I went in the house to check something and came back to find the chicken rather blackened and the temperature in the grill at over 700 degrees! But I cooled it down and figures out that it was just the skin and that I could pull it off after it was finished cooking and everything would be good – which it was. And the potatoes were even better.

And, yes, Paper Chef ends tomorrow at Noon, so hurry and get those entries in!

While I wait for the Paper Chef entries to come flooding in, I’m going to resume blogging about other subjects. In this case the matter of going out to eat at restaurants. I do this less and less and especially less and less at fancy dining establishments. Why? Because I find it a worse and worse experience. The cult of celebrity has made truly high end dining so expensive that it cannot be worth it – especially at large establishments where you just cannot get truly personal attention. And mid-level restaurants just don’t seem to get it anymore – they act like high-end places but the food isn’t good enough and the service is phoney. As a result I prefer low-end dining. My favorite places to eat out are all under $20 per person total for a full meal (excluding drinks – but I rarely order much anyway – I don’t have the legs for it anymore).

I still have some favorite high-end places, but they are all very established and are clearly no longer ‘fashionable.’ Never mind that I think the food and the total experience is better – they just aren’t trendy anymore. I’m talking about places like Chez Panisse and Boulevard and Bay Wolf that are reliable and comfortable and just plain good.

What crystallized all this for me? A recent trip at the height of Summer up to Sonoma and then back through Napa. I took some visitors from England up to Dry Creek for a very nice trip around some wineries. We had lunch first in Healdsburg, did a nice circuit and then headed across to Calistoga and back down through Napa in the hopes of scoring a decent meal without a reservation at a good spot. We ended up in Yountville at a new establishment that has gotten lots of attention, highly positive reviews, and which is associated with one of the highest reputations in the world. We were seated at the bar, treated indifferently and got a meal that started on a high note and went steadily downhill to plumb the depths. I should have sent the dessert back and perhaps would have done if I wasn’t with overly reserved and polite English people (and wasn’t one myself).

And that was the bottom line. I could not have made a salad as nice as the one we started with. But I could have done better on the next two courses and ANYBODY could have done better on the dessert. Let’s just say that a raw crumble is very bad indeed.

I was not asked how my meal was – which WAS a good thing since I was prepared to say what I thought. Obviously I’m not going back. And I may very well not bother going to any of the other restaurants I associate this one with – life’s too short

Anyway, this is just one example. In fact I am more disappointed than not when I eat at high end establishments. And I am almost always disappointed when I eat at mid level restaurants. It’s only down at the so-called-bottom of the range that I find satisfaction anymore. Am I the only one?

OK – a couple of hours late, but here we go…

The theme for this edition of Paper Chef is ‘Home.’ That means that the fourth ingredient is ‘something you already have in your home’ – you can’t go out and buy it – you have to look around and use something. If the cupboard is bare then you may have to make water the special ingredient! A reminder, the other ingredients are chile peppers, smoked swordfish (or if you can’t manage that, any smoked fish, and if you are a vegetarian, something smoked) and eggplant or aubergine. You should create a dish, cook it and write about it on your blog before next Wednesday the 12th at Noon PST. The full rules (such as they are) are here.

And as for meeting the theme – be creative. Something that reminds you of home; a homely or basic dish; a universal comfort food; etc. Have fun! And send links to the postings to my email or add them in comments here so I can go check them out…

The final ingredient list after all nominations was: Chile peppers, zucchini (courgettes), crawfish (crayfish), scallions (spring onions), cocoa nibs, italian prune plums, saffron, blueberries, olives, chicken, peaches, rosemary, five spice (the chinese blend of five spices), ‘skin’ (presumably of anything), basil, smoked swordfish, cod roe, aubergine (eggplant), lard, sardines, caraway seeds, lemon cucumbers and cardamom.

A pretty wild and wacky list I thought. The next stage is to pick three of these completely at random – and for that I turn to my trusty TRUE random number generator, random.org, which uses atmospheric noise to generate random numbers, which, if true, is far better than the fake random numbers that computers generate. Anyway, they have lots of tools, including the ‘sequence’ tool that picks random numbers from a list without duplicates – which is what I want. Our numbers this time were 16, 18 and 1 which translates into:

• smoked swordfish – which I am choosing to interpret as any smoked fish for those with difficulty or issues using swordfish and as anything smoked for those who can’t even manage fish.
• eggplant (or aubergine) – again, you may substitute, but who would want to?
• chile peppers – I’m tempted to break the official rules and ban substitution on this one, but what the heck – if you are allergic or have dietary issues, pick something that you classify as hot or spicy.

Remember – these are the first three ingredients of four – this gives you a chance to get a jump on grocery shopping and planning before the fourth ingredient and theme are announced on Friday. Then you cook and write about it before next Wednesday, September 12th.

Also, we carry the non-used ingredients over to next month, so they get another chance at fame and posterity next time…

Not a long post this time – just an update on where we stand. First off, the event will start properly next Wednesday, Sept 5th, when I’ll announce the three random ingredients. Then on Friday September 7th I’ll announce the ‘special’ fourth ingredient and you’ll have until the following Wednesday Sept 12th at noon PST to make a dish using the four ingredients and write a post about it in your blog.

The current ingredient list from which the random three wil be selected is: Chile peppers, zucchini (courgettes), crawfish (crayfish), scallions (spring onions), cocoa nibs, italian prune plums, saffron, blueberries, olives, chicken, peaches, rosemary, five spice (the chinese blend of five spices), ‘skin’ (presumably of anything), basil, smoked swordfish, cod roe and aubergine (eggplant).

This is a much more exciting list and we could get some really challenging combinations out of it (blueberries, cocoa nibs and cod roe anyone?). There is still time for more – so keep nominating ingredients in the comments or via email until Wed Sept 5th….

Come now people! This is not good enough. So far we only have eight ingredients nominated for Paper Chef. Admittedly, they are very high quality ingredients – just the kind a Paper Chef would use – eccentric, interesting, bursting with flavor. But really, I can’t in good conscience pick three from eight! I barely need a true atmospheric random number generator for that!

So far we have: Chile peppers, zucchini (courgettes), crawfish (crayfish), scallions (spring onions), cocoa nibs, italian prune plums, saffron and blueberries.

So, please leave some nominations (two per person please) in the comments or email them to me.

In the meantime, here are some more past Paper Chef events and winners to entertain you…

Paper Chef #6: Ricotta, strawberries, almond paste and white chocolate.
The winner was Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote with Ricotta-White Chocolate Gelato and Scented Madeleines.

Paper Chef #7: Buttermilk, Dates, Honey and Eggs.
The winner was Feta Souffle with Walnuts, Dates and Feisty Greens.

Paper Chef#8: Cheddar cheese, olives, spinach and either potatoes OR cream, not both.
The winner was Warm Spinach, Cremini, and Kalamata Salad with Creamy White Cheddar Dressing.

Paper Chef #9: Chilli, Peach, Flowers and Something Local.
The winner was a Stuffed Pork Loin.

Paper Chef #10: New Orleans version with beer, tomato, sausage and shrimp.
The winner was Stephen‘s Beer-Boiled Shrimp Po’ Boy.

It looks like we are going to hold the Paper Chef in the same general time period as in the past but stretch it a bit. That means that the official start of Paper Chef 25 will be Wednesday September 5th when I will reveal the three random ingredients. Then on Friday the 7th I will reveal the fourth ‘special’ ingredient or theme and from then on you will have until Noon PST the following Wednesday (the 12th) to cook your dish using the four required ingredients and post to your blog about it. All winners will now get – eventually – a copy of Digital Dish (since I only have about 2000 left over).

Anyway – for those in the know, the Paper Chef experience starts with ingredient nomination – we need a list of ingredients from which to randomly select our special three. Usually we have a bunch to carry over but I think it is time to start fresh since all the ingredients from last time are six months old at this point!

Also, normally everyone only gets to nominate one ingredient, but in order to build up a good selection, you all should nominate TWO ingredients. I will start with Chile peppers and Zucchini (courgettes).

I’m also going to do a little Paper Chef revue to remind you all what all the fuss is about.
But first, the officially revised ‘more like guidelines…‘ of Paper Chef.

The Rules

Absolutely only the fun of it and for no other reason whatsoever, the Paper Chef challenges each and every one of you reading this to let loose your culinary imagination and make up a dish of your own. Loosely based on the ideas of the Iron Chef, fond TV favorite in the US and Japan, and on the British show Ready, Steady, Cook! (fond favorite in the UK), the Paper Chef is all about creativity and constraint, challenge and cooking.

About a week and a half before the event opens, I post an ingredient list from previous events here at Tomatilla! Older ingredients fall off the list, as does anything that actually got used in an event. Those ingredients are ‘banned’ for a month just to prevent the choices being cream and chocolate and cream and chocolate and cream and chocolate and…you get the idea. Any reader of the blog can nominate a new ingredient (one nomination per month per person please) and it can be anything within the bounds of good taste (both kinds).

Three ingredients are chosen at random from the final list and the host (usually me but not always) picks one more ingredient that is topical or seasonal or that suits our whimsy. The first three random ingredients are announced on the Wednesday before the first Friday of the month (hey – they are official rules – so they should be incomprehensible). The fourth special ingredient is announced on the first Friday of the month.

Then you get five days (Friday Noon to Wednesday Noon) or so to make up a recipe, cook it and post the recipe to your blog. Then post a comment here or send an email to owenl1998 at yahoo dot com to be included in a roundup. Optionally, if you are up to speed on these things there will also be a Technorati tag to place on your post to make it easier for everyone to find posts.

It is also absolutely OK to substitute if you just cannot find an ingredient or if you or someone who will eat the dish has an allergy – just try to substitute with something close to the original to remain in the spirit of the occasion. We know that ingredients are fresh and in season at very different times in different places around the world.

There are a constantly changing set of categories categories every month at the discretion of the judge (but always at least one). Despite extremely fancy creations from many entrants, a good simple entry is just as likely to do well.

The previous month’s winner gets to be judge if they want (and is ineligible to win that month but can still enter) and gives out whatever kinds of awards they like. It is also OK to NOT want to judge, in which case I’ll find a judge of some nature for that month.

I’ve had lots of questions about things like photographs. Photographs are NOT necessary to take part. Nor is having you own blog – I’ll be happy to post a recipe for you if you want. However, it is clear that having a nice photograph will help influence the judges – if they see it looking good it is a lot easier to imagine it tasting good…

We aren’t sticklers for timekeeping here – but turning an entry in after the judging is done probably means you won’t win. And – on the point of competition – most of the people who enter seem to like it being a competition – so it is one. But it is NOT a competitive competition – it is more like a collaborative competition. People love to see the inventive ideas others come up with.

To get you started here are the first few Paper Chef competitions…

Paper Chef #1: Cilantro, Ginger, Almonds and Winter Squash

The winner was Curried Chicken and Squash Soup with Meyer Lemon.

Paper Chef #2: Potatoes, Savoy Cabbage, Chicken and Lemon

The winner was Lemon Chicken Egg Rolls with Citrus Dipping Sauce.

Paper Chef #3: Wheat Flour, Cinnamon, Creme Fraiche and Oranges

The winner was Very Posh Cheese and Biscuits.

Paper Chef #4: Eggplant, chocolate, stale bread and pomegranate.

The winner was Cocoa-Pomegranate Roast Chicken with Eggplant Stuffing.

Paper Chef #5: Prosciutto, sherry vinegar, green garlic and goat cheese.

The winner was Garlic chive and Goat’s Cheese Ravioli with Sherry Vinegar Reduction and Prosciutto Shards.

OK – nominate ingredients in the comments or to my email…

This was a tough decision. I liked thog‘s theme a lot and his little biographical story was very touching – AND the dish looked excellent – although I STILL don’t get the Choko experience. Wikipedia says its like a chayote but pictures from Australia and the descriptions bely that. Basically a bland and bumpy flavorless squash.

I really liked the look of Brilyn‘s roulade – I’m going to have to try that technique some time – and I liked her general discourse as well.

Noodle Cook always goes so far over the top (in a good way) that I have to resist just giving him a win every time for the sheer effort he puts in.

Ilva is a Paper Chef hero for tirelessly promoting it and for running the Swedish version – and she made three dishes!

In addition, all four are multiple entrants and keen supporters of the Paper Chef. We had moved to giving two awards and although that might seem excessive, I’m going to award them both. There are sort of categories of haute and home but mostly people ignore them – quite rightly. So, here goes…the winner for the home category is thog for his Choko Maths and the winner of the haute category is Ilva for three fancy dishes.

There – five months late but done…

Now onward. I am going to reopen Paper Chef and we are going to change it a bit – not a lot. I think that the biggest problem for participating is that it is hard to do it all in a weekend. But it isn”t fun without the time pressure. So we are going to break it apart a little. The three random ingredients will be announced on a Wednesday and the fourth theme ingredient on the Friday as before. And people have to get entries in by the following Wednesday but they have to promise on their honor that they only take two of the days in between to think, plan and cook. That gives everyone more time to get some ideas and ingredients and more time to write it all up. I’m also going to make it more mid month because I think everyone gets blindsided by it happening right at the very beginning….

If you have any more ideas let me know, please.