Chairman Fenris sez:
Now that the recipes are in for Big Battle Day After Thanksgiving, judges may begin discussing recipes and tasting and judging.
Remember that, for this battle, using up ingredients is a plus and should be considered in your judgement, as should the appropriateness of the dishs: What would you want to eat/cook on The Day After Thanksgiving?
Judging will end at about 8:00 PM, MST tonight.
Judges, please begin your analysis.
Java first up:
Presentation great call on the roast beef canapes, and your desserts sound sublime (I’m especially intrigued by the Cranberry/Pear Crisp)
theres’ also a good balance between the light/heavy portions (bread pudding but a fruit based crisp, rice salad balanced by the consomme etc.)
You used many of the leftovers, and something in each dish, and had veggies ( the lack of which is a pet peeve of mine). Where I did get concerned, tho’ is that there were lots of other ingredients that you needed to use to prepare your meal - the key for a good leftover based meal is not only the utilization of leftovers, but also the lack of need for more stuff. And, the ** very, very last ** thing I want to do the day after T-day is go to the store and buy some raw ground turkey!
IronChef Troy
I am very impressed by the reduction of leftovers (scapping the pizza??? wow.) I like the Gobble-aya item, though the meal does seem to tend towards the heavy (pot pie and shepherd’s pie?), but you do redeem yourself on the pot pie by adding the oriental flair.
The napoleons were an inspired idea, and once again, topping the meal off with a light dessert choice always wins favor from me. (I also am not immune to sucking up and bribery 
)
scores will be sent momentarily.
The esteemed judge from Michigan wishes to also point out, that in addition to her charm, wit, and general ‘goodness’, she was also the first to post her results.
Neener Neener Neener.
Damn! This was a tough one! Both chefs presented meals that I would die to have the pleasure of eating!
Whew-weee!
No comments, I’m just going to kick back, loosen my metaphorical belt, and send in my scores…
I don’t know about the other judges, but I’m thinking this is going to be a tough battle to judge. The two chefs seem very well matched. (Culinarily well-matched, I mean. Stop that, you two!)
A question for the challenger: in the Turkey Consommé, what is the purpose of the “raft” of ground turkey, egg whites, and vegetables in the preparation of the broth? It looks like you cook the “raft” and then throw it away, which would add to the intensity and flavor of the broth; but why the egg whites? I’m not familiar with this technique.
As the challenger has flour all over her hands, I will take the liberty of answering this question on her behalf.
The point of the “raft” is to remove all the impurities from the stock. Homemade stock is cloudy and has tiny bits of stuff floating in it… for consommé, you want to clarify the stock so it’s completely clear and pure, which you do by concocting the raft and periodically pushing the foam and other gunk up that rises to the top of the simmering stock onto the raft so it doesn’t get re-incorporated into the stock. Why egg whites? because they float.
java
Canapes
Consomme
Rice Salad
Stirfry
Bread pudding
Crisps
Troy
Gobble-aya
Cowherd
Chicken Pot Pie
Napoleons
Sorbet
Scores Mailed.
For the record, you will never believe this, but when I was in the Air Force, I was stationed in California, and there was a civilian employee at the chowhall there (named, appropriately, Hickey), who made the best bread pudding I have ever had in my life. This guy was a national treasure, and he made existence there (when I couldn’t afford to eat out) bearable.
I won’t have email access until 10:30 or 11:00 tonight. Thus I will miss the judging deadline. I’ll post comments though and email my scores in case Chairmen Fenris needs a backup.
We will post our judgments late afternoon/early evening. I actually really want to see if a twice cooked pancake is still just a pancake.
Fenris, the member’s board is down, need your email address for the scores.
Don’t forget to butterfly them and open them up when you’re trying my recipe… they won’t get properly crispy if you don’t. Oh, and broil them cut side up.
did I mention that you are clearly an excellent judge for taking this extra step? And good-looking too, if a bit melancholy.
come on, Scylla, the truth is you can’t make up your mind which one of us to vote against, isn’t it?
I can only assume that this blatent sucking up to a judge other than myself is directly linked to the fact that I mentioned having emailed my scores earlier. Keep in mind, please, that we Germans have a loooooong memory for such things.
We are having some problems at work (Yes, Chairman Fenris has a day job 
) with the brand new phone system. (I work in a call-center. You can see how this might be more of a problem for us!) and I may be late with getting the scores tallied and the results posted. While I encourage all judges to get their scores in before 8:00 MST, I’ll take late scores this once (How late? Dunno. Depends on how long it takes to redo the network/phone systems. The cut off time is “When Fenris tallies the scores”. Results submitted after that won’t be counted. )
Chairman Fenris
Hamlet, I e-mailed you my e-mail address.
Fenris
Oh, no no NO, wring. I didn’t suck up to you because I knew that a judge as incorruptible, as upright, and ahem as devastatingly lovely — not to mention clearly very intelligent — as yourself would never be swayed by such tactics.
Which is not to say, of course, that I consider Hamlet to be anything other than incorruptible, upright, intelligent, and quite attractive.
You know, maybe I should just let my menu speak for itself… I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and that should be enough.
Much better Chef
Challenger Javamaven:
Roast Beef Canapé: This looks tasty. What’s not to like about the combination of horseradish and cold roast beef, especially if the beef is a bit overdone? A good choice not to cook it more. I have no qualms about the pancake thing. I don’t make mine very sweet, and I’m assuming that these aren’t too sweet, either.
Turkey Consommé with Stuffing Royales: Thanks for the info on clarifying the consomme. This looks interesting and delicious.
Wild Rice Salad: I have to admit this doesn’t seem to be something I would order at a restaurant - rice salads don’t really appeal to me. Still, I’m trying to put aside my prejudices. This is a good way to use the leftover Chinese food in a way that doesn’t scream “This contains leftover Chinese food!” Good creativity here.
Turkey and Vegetable “Stirfry” on Potato Cakes: This looks quite good. I love fried potato cakes, which to me would be the highlight of this meal; the stirfry would just be a light topping. Thank you for scraping the yucky marshmallow topping off the sweet potatoes.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding & Caramel Sauce: I love a good bread pudding. This one looks great, especially the homemade caramel and the brandy in the whipped cream.
Cranberry-Pear Crisps: To me this is the piece de resistance of Javamaven’s menu. The cranberries are sweetened with pears, and the red wine adds sophistication. This would be delicious - I’ve printed the recipe and will make it some cold evening. Excellent.
Iron Chef Troy:
I’m giving Chef Troy an extra point for use of the most leftovers.
Gobble-aya: This looks great. One thing that’s desirable on the day after Thanksgiving is getting as far away from the traditional Thanksgiving fare as possible, and adding zip to the turkey with sausage and spices is a good way to do this. This may be the perfect day-after dish.
Cowherd’s pie: This, on the other hand, looks like something my mom would try the day after Thanksgiving, and I’m very sorry to say that’s not a good thing. Turkey stuffing, turkey gravy, already well-done beef, green-bean casserole, and veggies, baked in a pie? It might taste like regurgitated Thanksgiving dinner.
Oriental Turkey Pot Pie: more pie?? This may be too much pie. A good idea to use the leftover salad in the stock; I keep a freezer bag filled with just such oddments for stocks. The oriental flavor works well with turkey, and as with Javamaven’s rice recipe, this is a good way to make that Chinese food disappear.
Pumpkin-Yam Napoleons: These are elegant, beautiful, and tasty. The contrast between the crisp pancakes and the creamy mousse is very nice. Cheers.
Cranberry/Orange Sorbet: And this is nice and simple - the orange zest is a nice touch.
First off,
That’s Lower House Member Hamlet to you. And yes, I am incorruptible, upright, intelligent, and not hideous, but I am not easily swayed by idle flattery, especially in such an august place as Kitchen Stadium! For Shame…
(My S.O. however is more than easily swayed by legal tender with big numbers on them!)
To the judging:
Iron Chef Troy:
Your first dish nearly caused a divorce in our family… I am a huge fan of Jambalaya, my S.O., for now call her Ophelia (at least till she learns to swim), hates the stuff. We decided to go with my impressions, did I mention I love Jambalaya? It was very good, and, actually, precisely the kind of dish I would want on the day after Thanksgiving, tasty, filling, yet not too much. I was quite confused that I didn’t see garlic, cumin, cayenne, or paprika (the hot Hungarian kind) anywhere in the recipe. The Cajun spices were fine…to a point. When I am recovering from a hangover (yes, there is a fair amount of drinking in the Hamlet clan, no poison though), I want a little kick to the food. But all in all, very good.
(Ophelia–in this feminist retelling a bit like Asako Kishi, the East German Judge–says sourly, “these flavors just compete too much. I feel like I’m eating Italian Cajun and it’s not pleasant.”)
After we got back from our neutral corners, my wife and I really liked the taste of the Cowherd’s (‘round here shepard’s) pie and the Oriental flavoring in the Chicken Pot Pie. Both dishes would’ve tasted very good, but we must agree with the sentiments of our esteemed co-judge wring (are you the bimbo or the Rock star with the goofy glasses?), that, especially the day after Thanksgiving, the dishes were quite heavy. Great job of using almost all of the leftovers, but in these two dishes, that may have worked against you. Fantastic dishes though.
(Ophelia admits grudgingly, “these were adequately prepared but too heavy.”)
Ahhhhh the Napoleons. I must make two observations, 1) Uncle Fred must be a phenomenal chef to make pancakes that you can butterfly and broil; and 2) You must be an outstanding talent with the knife and stove. After roughly 10 tries, we still couldn’t make proper shells. What we were able to cobble together, season and broil were quite tasty…but still pancakey. (He look, I created a word…pancakey). With that said, the dish would’ve still been fantastic. The pancakes would be serviceable if not staggering, but the pumpkins and yams went so well together, it was still a great dish. We did have some concern that with 3 layers of crisp and mousse, you would end up (to paraphrase your competitor) Cracking crisps and sliding mousse. Looked a little tough to keep up and serve properly.
(Ophelia has nothing to add for the cameras).
Finally, the sorbet…sublime. I have nothing else to say.
(Ophelia smirks, “a bit sweet, wouldn’t you say?”)
Fantastic meal, great use of the leftovers, but a bit much for the Day after Thanksgiving>
Iron Chef Javamaven:
Unlike your competitor’s first dish, your first dish did not make us fight, in fact you could not have chosen a better food. After having a couple of the canapes, we had to excuse ourselves from the table for some of that spanking you two did before. (yes, it is a very dramatic relationship). It was fantastic. We both are huge fans of leftover roast beef with horseradish, and the sour cream was a great idea. However, our experiments with the refried pancakes were a disaster…we ended up with burnt pancakes and then…refried pancakes. Still an incredible way to start the Day after Thanksgiving.
(Ophelia says, “Although this was not the most creative combination, roast beef, horseradish, and sour cream match so well that I can’t even object.”)
Your consomme was very good too. It was nice and light, and tasty. The royales were a little troubling texture-wise (it’s a flan thing), and may not have held up in the consomme, but that’s just nitpicking. Very good.
(Ophelia fairly glows, her mouth a flat line rather than the usual downturned corners, “this was very sophisticated and light.”)
Your salad was also quite tasty. I am not a big fan of Hoisin sauce, nor rice salads in general. Although it was not up my alley, it was quite good.
(Ophelia, astonished by her own gushing, growls “these ingredients matched very well. A good salad.”)
The Stir fry was, however, just up my alley. Throw everything in and see what happens. I was concerned that putting an entire cup of leftover gravy would overpower the poor little veggies, but Ophelia assured me that it wouldn’t. Very good use of leftovers, and a good dish.
(Ophelia, back to her old tricks says, “Isn’t this just nouvelle hash?”)
We enjoyed the way you mixed your dishes…starting with a meaty appetizer, to a light soup/salad, then a stirfry, after that I would’ve served the crisps before the bread pudding. Again, nitpicking, because both dishes were very good.
(Ophelia is too busy stuffing her sourpuss with dessert to comment)
Your dishes were outstanding, if a little predictable. But, on the day after Thanksgiving, I guess tradition is still in the air. Now we go off for the biggest shopping day of the year!
Scores are emailed. Outstanding job by both Iron Chefs. You overcame my initial concerns for the theme ingredient and made them shine (although I still want the Spam battle). Fenris has done it again.
First of all, regarding the gobble-aya:
It’s true that a properly prepared pizza sauce would have too much oregano and/or basil in it to mesh well with the cajun spices. However, we’re talking DOMINO’S here; we’d be lucky if it even had salt and pepper in it. I chose to treat it as tomato sauce, nothing more. besides, the tomato sauce and bloody-mary mix were needed to carry the spices into the rice, since it was already cooked and there was no way for it to absorb the spices in the first place. Also, I did mention red pepper as one of my spices. I assumed people would know I meant cayenne - I apologize for the confusing nomenclature.
As for the epithet “italian cajun”… it was neither - it was creole, a cuisine that is known for combining tomato with rice. You folks need to try my shrimp creole sometime… you’ll never make disparaging remarks about tomatoes and cajun spice again.
Now then. I admit the cowherd’s pie is heavy. However, if you make the oriental chicken pot pie, you will be surprised at how light it is.
As for the pancakes, the key to their being butterflyable (hey, I made a word too!) is that they have been refrigerated for 24 hours. If you made them and immediately tried to butterfly them, I’m not surprised they disintegrated. You need to give them time to stiffen up.
I really don’t mean these responses to seem petulant - I hope they don’t. I just wanted to answer your concerns.
Judging the rotten sonuvabitch who just beat me an insulted me in my Supreme leader thread:
Gobble-laya:
As much as I hate you, I cannot help but admire this dish. Piquant and original. High marks.
Cow-herds pie:
Satisfying. You get credit for using many leftovers but it is a little difficult to differentiate this from the leftover fare I usually make myself by just heaping a bunch of shit together in a pan.
Oriental chicken pot pie:
I like this. I wish that this had come before or in place of the Cow-herds pie as they just don’t seem top belong together in the same meal though.
The Napoleans and the Sorbet are as good as they could be.
Tasting Javamaven:
Roast Beef Canape:
I’m torn on this one. It is either incredibly yummy, or it tastes like total shit. Those could be some greasy pancakes with some nasty gray beef. Somehow I trust you on this.
Consomme:
Hmmm. This is not your typical leftover. A masterful working.
Wild Rice Salad:
Again, I am pleased by the lightness and delicate taste of this dish.
Stirfry:
You know, I tried to imagine this several times, but I just keep coming back to the pan-fried turkey mush, or shepherd’s pie concoction that is standard day after fare. The wine added to this dish felt like it detracted rather than added to the experience, kind of like having a guy in a tuxedo next to you at a stock car race.
Pumpkin bread:
I’m sorry but this looks like puke. It tastes Ok. I know those leftovers have to get used up, maybe the dog will want some.
Peear Crisps:
Now this is what I’m talking about. This is amazing. I am making this Saturday. :tosses pumpkin bread away:: Only four pears? Please can I have more.
(Sorry about brevity, just got back. Emailing scores presently.)