Culinary Challenge #1: Kim's Recap!

Well, Hanz's recap was pretty amusing to read, it partially could be because I was watching him over my shoulder through the competition. It really was quite a battle, and I am honored to have won this challenge. There were some amazing aromas in the house and I was pretty concerned...especially since they weren't aromas coming from my prep area!! I only had a bite of Hanz's lamb, it had a good flavor and everything else (except the fish...which I didn't see) looked delicious!!


When I saw that sage won (really!? We didn't expect it!), there was definitely a little panic going through my mind. Hanz had suggested sage, and I'd never cooked with it before. Honestly, I couldn't even remember what it smelled or tasted like! I figured I'd probably do a chicken dish, because lamb or fish were not things I've ever cooked before. I'd done a little research the night before the challenge wrote down some key ingredients, and planned to fly by the seat of my pants the next day.

When we got to HEB, we each grabbed a cart and went our separate ways. I first went into the fresh vegetable area and found packets of fresh sage. Grabbed a sweet onion and tomato and headed towards the meat counter. I hadn't completely decided what meat I was going to cook, but when I saw the prices my brain said "go for chicken!" I picked up some boneless-skinless chicken breasts and headed towards the cheese. After scavenging for a bit, I came upon some parmigiano reggiano. I headed down the spice aisle and grabbed dried sage, ran into Hanz, and went on my merry little way.

Next up was bacon! I knew I wanted bacon that wasn't too fatty and wasn't thinly sliced. I then headed to the dairy area, grabbed some cream cheese and salted butter. At that point I realized I forgot garlic, ran back to the veggie area and grabbed some, and picked up a package of frozen chopped spinach.

When we got home, it was time to get down to business. I picked my spot, laid out my ingredients and started butterflying the chicken breasts. Once each one was butterflied, I covered it in saran wrap and started pounding with a small frying pan. The next step was to make the filling!

For the filling I used the following: 1 package of cream cheese, a handful of chopped spinach, 1 crushed clove, 8 leaves of sage (chop FINELY, I didn't chop well enough and there were definite pockets of too much sage in the final product), and about a 1/3 cup of finely chopped sweet onion. Mix in a bowl and place about 1/3 cup (depending on the size of your chicken) of the mixture on half of each piece of chicken. Fold the other side of chicken over and seal with toothpicks.Wrap with 2-3 pieces of bacon and use the toothpicks to "hook" it onto the meat. Bake on baking sheet at 350F for 30 minutes, turn up to 375 for 10 minutes, and 400 for 5 minutes. Pull out of oven and top with a little parmigiano reggiano.

The side-dish Hanz was talking about it a play on something my mother made growing up; spaghetti pie. Boil some water and throw in a handful of capellini noodles, near the end of the cooking time drop in the rest of your spinach. Drain and set aside. In a mixing bowl add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, salt, pepper, minced sage, and minced onion. Mix. Add in some of the spaghetti/spinach mixture and coat evenly. Butter rammekins, and put a serving size of the spagheti in each rammekin. Sprinkle with a little dried sage and bake for 20 minutes (the last 20 minutes the chicken is baking), remove from oven and top with a sprinkle of parmigiano reggiano.
My only recommendation would be to take the individual portions of baked spaghetti out of the rammekins after baking and place on plate. It was hard to eat without doing that & the guys weren't going to use a knife to cut it up...

Pictures coming soon :)

The Results Are In

I would like to be the first to congratulate Kim for winning our first Mr Vs Mrs culinary challenge.


The main ingredient was sage (salvia officinalis). The rest was up to us. Kim went with a delightful, and I I mean to say extremely delicious butterflied chicken breasts, stuffed with a spinach / sage/ cream cheese mixture. These were wrapped in bacon, and held together with toothpicks for baking. They came out perfectly in my opinion. Also on the menu was an interesting dish, I’m not sure what was in it, but it involved spaghetti noodles, eggs, sage and I don’t know what else. It was pretty good too. Once again, in my opinion the chicken is what won the competition. But I’m sure she will be along to explain more of what she did and how she did it.


My attempt was both impressive and extremely disappointing. I am the sort of guy who acts on impulses, within reason of course. In the days leading up to the cook off I was desperately trying to think up something to cook! Last minute I decide to go with lamb. Fast forward: Local HEB, actually it is a brand new one just built on the outskirts of town (for all you Non-Texas types, HEB is the local mega giant huge variety at a lot of them – depending on the location). So as I am walking around looking for some mutton, I spy Kim walking along another direction with a packet of fresh sage in her basket. I got directions to the sage, and proceeded to buy the rest of what they had on the shelf. Made me anxious to have my own sage growing at home. Buying it is just crazy expensive for what it is, a few leaves in a plastic pack, but I am getting off topic, suffice to say that 5 seconds worth of sage picking just cost me about 10 bucks. I am in the wrong business I guess. Now with an ample supply of sage in my cart I made my way to the dairy. Armed with some fancy imported butter, (why not I’m making lamb after all) I made my way to the frozen foods section.






About this time, I realize, I have never cooked lamb before.






Shit. OK. Think creatively. Scanning the racks of frozen vegetables in bags I am not seeing anything remotely appetizing. Inspiration strikes. I pluck a bag of a mixed variety of fruits. Blue berries raspberries blackberries perhaps even strawberries. Honestly I am not sure what all was in it. I am flying by the seat of my pants at this point and the picture looked delicious.






Stopped in at the meat place next. As the lady in white come up and is preparing to ask me what she can do for me, Kim walks up says hello we slyly check out each other’s baskets and she looks at the fresh chicken. Here comes Miss Meatcutter. “What can I do for you two?” to which Kim replies “Just kinda checkin’ it out” I look up from inspecting a price tag, to find the woman in white is nowhere to be found. Kim leaves, and I wait at the meat counter a few minutes before giving up and grabbing some shrink wrapped bone-in chops. Good enough. Near the cheese now, and I can smell the stinky goodness. I grabbed a couple chunks of some random good smelling cheeses. I am not a cheese nerd, I simply know I like cheese, and basically follow my nose. On my way out I pass a most exquisite looking piece of salmon for a good price. Impulse buy #4 complete.


Back home we hit the kitchen. I take out the fruit dump it in a bowl, and mash it into a paste with a plastic glass. This I smear all over the chops and warm on the stove while I preheat the oven to 250 degrees. I take leaf of sage and place above and below each chop. I let that go, while I did some more prep work. Mushrooms! I chopped ½ of a bundle of shrooms into quarters, and the rest I sliced. These were placed in a muffin pan (a little in each muffin hole) with some of the more fragrant cheese, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and some coarsely chopped sage. This I threw in the oven.


The left over mushrooms were tossed in with the remainder of the fruit paste and a bunch of sage and set to simmer on the range. At this time I moved the chops into the oven as well, after tossing in some extra mushrooms, and a few slivers of that fancy European butter, and the rest of the cheese for good measure.


Next I started some sage tea. I threw in what I had left of my sage, coarsely chopped, but whole leaves work just as well along with some chopped fresh mint. Now you can add honey or sugar to this infusion if you find it a bit bitter, but take care not to add too much or you will lose a very pleasing aspect of this tea. It is relaxing, and the bitterness is not like coffee or cactus, but something much more comfortable. Hard to put my finger on, but it is nice; an acquired taste perhaps.


And quite literally as an afterthought I pulled out the salmon. About this time I realize I have never cooked salmon either.


I butchered this poor fillet. It was uneven; a great deal of it was torn. I honestly don’t know why I even served it at all. I shouldn’t have. This dish was a culinary abortion that somehow didn’t get flushed. I mean, I could have at least dumped the lemon sauce flavor packets in with it… The last of my sage was leftover from the mushroom prep, and had been sitting in Worcestershire. I tossed it in with some butter without a second thought. I don’t know what I was thinking. It literally turned an awful reddish grayish brown color immediately. To make a long story short, Zeke, the judge said, and this about sums up the dish “It looks as if a whale swam up to my plate, and vomited onto it. You then sprinkled some fucking sage on it and cooked it a little and served it to me…” Yeah… like I said, I think this is what really killed me. I think the tea was excellent, and the lamb came out extremely well.


I figure this is enough for now, check back for some more after action reviews from Kimberly, and Mr. Zeke!






Thanks for reading—


Hanz

The poll is closed!

The clear winner for the first challenge is sage!

We will be setting up a new poll for the next challenge of Mr. vs Mrs. soon! Please remember to check back for a biography on the first judge and, of course, the results from our first competition which will take place on Saturday, April 23rd!

7 days out from the first challenge!

I just want to remind anyone that hasn't voted at the bottom of the page to get to it! Our first challenge ends in 6 days.

In the event of a tie (because there have been ties for the lead multiple times throughout the voting process), we will do a 24 hour runoff vote. Please be sure to check back on Friday, April 22nd to see if we need your tie-breaker vote.

I am in San Francisco, California this week for a work conference. While here I've been soaking up the sun, smells, and culinary creativity! Everywhere I go, including the Giant's baseball stadium, there is something yummy to see, smell, or taste! Today was my last day to be a tourist, tomorrow I will be in meetings for 13 hours straight. Wish me luck and hope that Starbucks doesn't run out of coffee!!! (Pick your poison, mine is the White Mocha!)

Below are a couple of pictures of gorgeous AT&T Park, San Francisco!

We found a house!

Over the past few weeks we've been on the hunt to find a rental house for a decent price in the New Braunfels, Texas area. The market is pretty rough right now, and it was hard to find something that would allow us to have our dog, Mac, and would be functional for our needs. On Wednesday evening, I discovered a craigslist post and found a house worth checking into.

I battled rush-hour traffic to get to New Braunfels for us to check it out. The result? We put down a deposit yesterday afternoon!! It is still being remodeled (cook-top stove has been replaced with a stove & oven combo, wood floors are to be refinished and the walls will get a fresh coat of paint), but they expect it to be ready for move-in on April 16th!

Here are some pictures of the kitchen, where all of our Mr. vs. Mrs. competitions will be held!

..and just because I mentioned him, here is a picture of Mac!

Please remember to vote at the bottom of the page for the first challenge!

---
Kim

Ingredient Profile: Cilantro

Cilantro (aka Chinese Parsley or Coriander leaves)

The first thing I was able to find out in my quest for cilantro knowledge was that it comes from the carrot family! How interesting! Cilantro is actually the leaf of the coriander plant, which grows wild in South East Europe, it is used throughout Mexican, Mediterranean, and Asian dishes. For over 1000 years, coriander has been considered an aphrodisiac. The Chinese used (or still do, maybe?!) coriander in love potions and believed it provided immortality. Cilantro can be used as an appetite stimulant.

I use cilantro most in Mexican dishes. It can add a burst of color and flavor to tortilla soup, a yummy flavor to salsa or guacamole, and make a boring salad exciting! I always use fresh herbs, as they have the best (fresh) flavor and add some amazing aromas to the kitchen. In the freezer section of some grocery stores, they have frozen herbs (including cilantro, chives, and parsley), they are great to keep for when you're in a pinch and don't have fresh herbs to add to your meal. I'd recommend checking to see if they carry something like this at your local grocery store!

What is your favorite dish with cilantro?

Ingredient Intelligence Report : Mustard Seed

Mustard Seed

Mustard is another herb that has been used for 1000s of years, in many different cultures. The greens are used in stir fry recipes as well as in adventurous salads. But the part of the plant we are focusing on is the seeds. Mustard seeds come in three main varieties; Black, Brown, and White. Of course when you hear the word mustard, what do you think of? I know i think of those construction site yellow football shaped squeezable bottles that excrete a similarly colored semi-paste that compliments your Sunday afternoon grilled hot dogs perfectly, especially when paired with a frosty brew of your choice. Personally i prefer the darker things in life, so it would be brown mustard on a brat, along with a nice heavy stout or bock. But there is more to mustard than the obnoxiously colored squirt bottles we grew up loving.

The mustard seed is famously tiny. In fact Buddha, Nahmindes, Allah, and Jesus all made references to this effect. The seed is small, but the plant gets fairly large compared to others in its family. Such as radishes, cabbage and turnips. As small as the mustard seed is, it has a laundry list of medicinal uses including; diuretic, emetic, anti-inflammatory, an aide to blood circulation, and as a frostbite preventative. It's oils can be harvested for use in culinary applications, such as pickling, frying, marinades and even for off the wall stuff like bio-diesel. In fact this plant is so useful the ancient Greeks actually hailed it as the best herb ever!

All in all i would say the versatility of this plant is limited only by ones imagination. There seem to be a nearly limitless amount of possibilities, should this ingredient be chosen, God only knows what will happen in the kitchen!

--

   hanz

Garlic - Ingredient Profile

Garlic (Allium sativum)

History:
Garlic is an ingredient that has been used in food and medicine in many cultures for thousands of years. In some cultures, it has been thought to ward off evil spirits (werewolves and vampires, too). Through my research, I've found that there are many medicinal benefits of garlic including, but not limited to: heart disease prevention, improvement of the immune system, and may possibly protect against cancer (Source).

What is it?
Garlic is actually a member of the onion family. The bulb of the plant is divided into cloves, which are the edible part. Smash the clove with the flat side of your chef's knife, peel away any of the covering (it reminds me of tissue paper), and mince! The raw garlic has a pungent, spicy flavor, but when cooked the flavor begins to mellow and become sweeter.

What do you do with it?
Garlic can be used in a variety of ways. I use it most often when cooking Italian and Asian dishes, but it has the ability to complement the flavors in any kind of cuisine! It can add a nice punch of flavor to ground meat when browning. Another tasty method is to roughly chop cloves, cut small slits into a roast (pork or beef), place garlic in slits, and throw in a slow cooker with some broth, onions, and carrots for 8 hours.

This ingredient could be used in so many different ways for this challenge, the trick will be to let the flavor "speak" for itself, without being overbearing.

What is your favorite dish to cook with garlic?

Kim

Sage - Ingredient Intel

 Sage

          Salvia Officinalis – Common Sage, or Garden Sage meadow sage true sage, or just plain Sage, has been used by man for medicine, dispelling evil spirits, cleansing of the soul, seasoning and marinades as well as myriad other culinary applications for thousands of years.



          This plant was hailed by Hippocrates who was enthusiastic about the healing qualities of Sage saying "Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?" (Why should a man die while Sage grows in his garden?). These are pretty strong words coming from the father of western medicine.

            The plant has a somewhat bitter, pleasantly earthy green flavor, and compliments poultry better than anything I can think of offhand. In my opinion, this herb really shines when used in grilled or baked dishes. Sage can also put an interesting twist into seafood, the color offering a very nice effect to work into a presentation routine. But with a bit of lemon or other sour / tart flavors to offset the mild camphoric bitterness of this sacred leaf, bringing out the full flavor of the poultry or fish. I haven’t worked much with sage and beef myself, but think there is potential for something like this.

      There is an idea that could definitely be interesting!

--
    hanz

OK - here we go...

As promised, this is Hanz, "the other half of the blog". Fortunately Kim pretty much covered all the important stuff already in her previous post.


This blog is an idea we both had while in the kitchen preparing a meal. We both have our own way of working in the kitchen; styles, techniques, etc. We noticed that when working side by side we were always stepping on each other's culinary toes. The idea for Mr Vs Mrs originated as joke, between us trying to figure out a non biased way to decide who's method is superior.


In the end it won't matter who wins, but that we both had a lot of fun - and hopefully you can share some of that fun with us as you follow our blog.


Thanks for reading, stay tuned, and don't forget to vote!

Welcome to our blog!

Hi! This is Kim, half of the duo of the Mr. vs Mrs. Blog. The other half of the blog is Hanz, and you will be hearing from him shortly. We are not yet Mr. & Mrs., but will be soon enough!

This blog was created in order to share recipe ideas that are created through a weekly challenge of a reader selected "secret ingredient". The poll will close the evening before the scheduled challenge. We will include pictures of our battles, the recipes we created, and the results from a neutral 3rd party judge each week. 

Our first battle will include one of the following spices: Cilantro, Sage, Garlic, or Mustard Seed. Please vote below! Our poll will close on April 22nd and the battle will begin on April 23rd.