Astroboy, are you saying that you aren’t going to participate as a judge?
Fenris
ryoushi,
Whatever role you choose would be fine, but I’d also like you to judge. Consistently judges disappear, so I’m asking everyone to do double duty.
I’d personally like to see a commentator for the next battle, but choose whichever role suits you!
Chairman Fenris
I have worked as a salesman and travelled for a living, so I am inclined to be lenient (especially given the time of night you posted).
Therefore:
Judging starts officially in just under 15 minutes. I do not want to delay the judging. Thus, your scores may suffer to one degree or another if a judge doesn’t feel that they can fairly evaluate your menu without recipes. I leave that in the hands of the judges. However, should the recipes not be posted by the time judging ends (Tomorrow at 6:00 pm, MST), I will have no choice but to disqualify your entries, regardless of the judge’s score.
Fenris
Judge? Sure… but I ain’t going up 'gainst that Java person!!! She scares me!
Oh. That’s ok, then. 
In any event, Big Battle Apple is OVAH! and it’s time for tasting and judgement. Please post your comments, critiques etc. I also note that discussion amongst judges is encouraged! If you’re comfortable with doing so, e-mail your scores to me, if not, just post them here.
Remember, you are to judge based on how well each Chef has articulated the theme ingredient. Up to ten points for taste, five for creativity, five for presentation. There will be a maximum total of twenty points." You may not give the same number of points to both chefs.
Allez Cuisine!
Chairman Fenris
[sub]A public servive announcement from former Surgeon-General C. Everett Koop[/sub]
Hello, I’m former Surgeon-General C. Everett Koop. Yes, I am still wearing my goofy white uniform, thank-you-very-much! I wish people would stop talking about that. I designed it, I can wear it as long as I want!
Harumph. But I’m not here to talk about my fashion choices. I’m here today to tell you about a serious health problem - nay, a health crisis - facing our country.
Remember the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Well, it seems that advice is now working all too well. Americans are eating so many apples that thousands of doctors are now at risk of losing their jobs.
Studies have shown that you apple-eaters are less likely to get colds, flu, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, leprosy, many types of cancer and have almost no incidence of male impotency.
Doctors depend for their livelihood on Americans contracting horrible, scabby diseases and conditions, many of which are brought on by poor diet. So, please America, before you bite into a juicy, delicious, healthy apple, remember your doctors.
These are my preliminary findings. I will wait to see if Scylla’s recipes appear before making final comments and zipping my scores off to the chairman.
Javamaven’s Recipes
These look beautiful and delicious – the Iron Chef is, as always, a pro. There is very little to say about this meal
other than “Let’s eat!”
The cold soup looks refreshing and tasty, an intriguing blend of fruit and vegetables. I thought the inclusion of cream might make it a bit heavy, but examining the recipe, I find that the richness of the cream seems to be well-balanced by the tartness of the Granny Smiths and the crisp texture of the apple chip.
Pheasant with wild rice stuffing and Calvados sauce: yum. Looks terrific. Golden Delicious apples are a good choice to go with the flavor of pheasant: I think that GDs are an unfairly maligned apple. Cooked, they take on a sort of honeyed fragrance that would pair very well with game. Also the inclusion of smoked bacon in the stuffing – yum, I say again.
Lamb with chutney: this looks great too. I like the idea of accompanying lamb with apple chutney, rather than the oft-used (and oft-nasty) mint sauce. This is simple, but when you’re dealing with an ingredient like lamb, simple is good.
Arugula salad with roasted apple and churro: rather an interesting assemblage of items. I’m trying to imagine a combination of arugula, cinammon, and parmesan. I would happily eat any of the three items, don’t get me wrong; I’m just not sure how well they would all go together.
Apple Ginger Tart Brulee: Mmmmm. “Brulee” anything and I’m happy. I think the combination of apple, ginger, and vanilla sounds different and delicious.
Scylla’s Recipes
One can describe a meal as delicious and savory, and Scylla is certainly a talented enough author to make my mouth water with his descriptions of food. But I find it difficult to judge properly without the recipe before me. I’d like to take a look at the preparation and ingredients of the dishes. But here are my impressions based on the descriptions.
The idea of a unifying theme for the entire meal would of course delight any Iron Chef judge’s soul. The theme of Anticipation, Perfection, and Memory, as expressed by the dishes, actually sort of makes sense; and the presentation, especially of the “Garden of Eden” platter, is creative and entertaining.
Now, on to what counts in the real world. The salad with apple vinaigrette, fried apple strips, and homemade lo-mein noodles sounds beautiful, but I admit I’m having a hard time imagining the taste (I especially want the ingreds. for the noodles.)
The smoked spareribs: oh, man. These look great. What? Only one each? These sound so good, I’d like to make a whole mess of them to serve as a main course (maybe with some mashed potatoes … oh, wait, I’m supposed to be judging this menu, not coming up with my own). In this instance, I need the recipe not only to judge it, but because I want to make it!
Crabapple Gumbo: I was hoping that someone would serve seafood. The idea of making gumbo with seafood broth, crab,
and apples is a new one to me – it sounds delicious. Much would depend, of course, on how the seafood stock was prepared. (Recipes! God***t, I need the recipe!) Based on the description, it sounds really delicious.
Apple Smoked Roast Beef. I like the idea of infusing the meat with flavor by inserting onion, apple, and celery into it. I never thought of pairing apples with beef, but your description makes it sound well worth tasting.
The apple sourdough bread sounds intriguing as well, but might be too much of a good thing: apples are marvellous, of course, but so is a nice well-made sourdough, without embellishment. So I’m not sure about that one. (Recipe!)
Pastry Crusted Whole Apple Pie: something else I never thought of doing. (Scylla’s dishes are certainly innovative.) I like the idea of a contrast between warm, soft apple filling and cool, crisp raw apple. Sounds really good. The chocolate might be a bit much, but if it’s just a dribble I’m sure it’ll make a nice compliment.
These are very worthy entries; I’m impressed by the two very different styles of the chefs, and by the creativity, time, and thought that they both obviously brought to the contest.
Agreed. I cannot assign points until I see Scylla’s recipes…
However, Java’s Roast Pheasant with Wild Rice & Apple stuffing, Calvados Pan Sauce sounds absolutley scrumptious (if slightly intimidating!)…
Scylla’s Pastry Crusted Whole Apple Pie also sounds very good… and is a recipe that I might actually try once I have an oven again (Korean dorm rooms are notorious for their lack of cooking facilities).
As for the salads proposed by our worthy contestants: I’m not a big fan of fancy high-falutin’ salads, I likes me some down-to-Earth, regular old salads (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers… maybe a few olives if I’m feeling frisky!)… so minus a few points for pretentiousness to both contestants…
So far, Java gets a 16.5 out of 20 from me (minus .5 for intimidating me earlier!)…
Scylla cannot be accurately judged until the recipes are posted…
I am afraid I must withdraw from the judging of this particular battle on the grounds that I can’t stand cooked apples. However, if enough judges do not come forward I will try to score things objectively.
A note (since Iron Chefs are allowed to comment during tastings):
The inspiration for this salad comes from a very similar salad served at my culinary school’s restaurant. The sweetness of the roasted apple pairs well with the peppery arugula, and the cinnamon makes a very good accompaniment–the sweetness of the churro is what ties it in (a twist on the crouton idea). The parmesan is a very small amount, and when using a high quality parmesan, its nutty flavor works well.
Just a reminder: 24 hours to go!
I am very grateful for the extensions, and though I’ve been to New York City and back today, I intend to stay up until I have my recipes complete, and posted.
My apologies to Javamaven. I can only conclude that she truly has an “Iron” core, as she seems to suffer from an equally if not more oppressive workload, but somehow managed to do her job without complaint and post on time.
A poet’s perception is the key to the competition. In each ingredient, you must see whole worlds of degree of sensation, equally for taste, touch, and sight. Any nimble mind may do as much, but the true artistry comes from the ability to share this unique vision of the ingredient with others through the medium of your culinary talent.
Yes, the crux of the battle must hinge entirely on the ability to best utilize the chosen ingredient.
And yet, there are dishes where, in the medly of creation, this clear vision is lost. In a black and white scenario, this would be folly for the chef, sure grounds on which to judge against his work. However… if the strength of the creation is such that it overwhelms the judge, still, allowances may be made.
For the time being, I will withhold announcing any points given until the last recipes are posted. I will say that, in keeping with my perception of the competition, that Scylla has done the more effective job of staying within the defined parameters, truly exploiting all that the apple has to offer. His artistic presentation is lovely, and provides, of course, cultural context for the apple, which adds a wry flavor to his offering. Once I have digested the recipes that back them up, I may well be fully swayed.
This is not to say that I was not impressed with the IronChef’s work. However, I will only offer full evaluation once I have savored the competition in its entirety.
Apple Lo Mein Salad
Greens
1 head Iceberg Lettuce
leaf spinach
brocolli
radish
Fried red apple skin strings (briefly in canola oil at 375 degrees)
Combine and arrange artistically
Lo Mein
1 cup germ semolina
1 whole egg
2 tablespoons apple juice
1 teaspoon finely chopped red apple skin
1/4 teaspoon salt
water as needed
sesame oil
combine salt, semolina, and apple flakes into a mound with an indentation. add egg, and apple juice and knead using water as needed (all Semolina will be different) to produce a rich pasta dough.
Use pasta roller to form into long strands, let dry at least 1/2 hour. Boil to al dente stage, drain into collander and immediately soak with cold water to stop the cooking process. Use a touch of sesame oil to maintain Lo mein integrity.
The Vinaigrette is a standard italian dry mix combined with apple cider vinegar and apple cider itself, in lieu of water, made rich and thick.
Garnish as described. The apple carvings can be done two ways. First is with deep indentations using a paring knife. Once the apples are carved they are then placed in an oven at 200 degrees for 12 hours. They will shrink to about half their size. This is the way I’ve done Adam and Eve’s heads. The snake is a carved raw apple quarter, to provide contrast and color.
Apple Smoked Spare Ribs
1 rack of full sized pork ribs.
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup of apple juice
black pepper (dash)
white pepper (dash)
red pepper (dash)
cumin (dash)
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 chopped garlic clove
2 tablespoons of Terriyaki sauce
¼ cup each brown and white sugar
Combine and mix all ingrediants except for ribs. Slough mix over ribs until fully coated. Allow to marinade in refrigerator for several hours.
Smoke in prepared smoker (I use a Brinkman) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours over applewood. For the last half hour wrap ribs tightly in tin foil to make them rich and juicy and force the flavor through the meat. It will literally be falling off the bones. This is the secret. Cut into single ribs and serve.
Crabapple Gumbo
(this is the most difficult dish in the menu)
2 quarts Seafood stock
4-6 whole crabs (dungeness, or blue crabs will do. Whichever is fresh)
1 dozen small crabs.
¼ stick butter
2 cups each diced spanish onions, celery
1 cup diced red apples
1 cup diced green apples
½ lemon squeezed for juice.
½ teaspoon each black pepper, white pepper, red pepper.
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon thyme
1 ½ tablesppons salt
1 tablespoon file powder
2 cups cooked rice.
Melt the butter in large saucepot. Add diced vegetables and apples, stirring frequently over medium heat. Continue to stir and cook for about an hour until most of the liquid has dissolved, and everything is carmelized a rich dark brown. When it is almost a paste, you know it’s ready.
Add seasoning ingredients except for lemon and cook on high for 5 minutes stirring and scraping bottom frequently.
Add stock, and stir frequently while bringing to a boil. Many of your vegetables will dissolve or become translucent as they return their flavor to the broth.
Simmer, stirring occasionally until reduced by a third to a half. You are looking for a rich thick broth, not an etouffe sauce. Depending on how you cooked your vegetables you may need to add more stock, or let the mixture reduce. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste (you will need to wait a few minutes after adding seasoning for the taste to pervade the broth so be careful.)
Strain the mixture, and return ½ cup of vegetables to broth.
Bring to boil, and add crabmeat (see stock) and clams (be sure to wash them thoroughly first.) Simmer until clams open, add lemon juice and serve in bowls over rice.
Stock and crabs.
Boil crabs for ten minutes (after washing them) in one gallon of water. Remove crabs and add one chopped onion and 2 stalks of celery, and boil.
Pick crab meat from body of shells. Place all shells in with the celery and onions. Crack the top half of the claws so the meat is accessible but leave the final section of claws intact. Refrigerate claws and crabmeat until needed.
Simmer your stock mixture until reduced by half, strain and refrigerate.
The key here is the very slow cooking, and reduction. Please do not use lump crab meat. There is a world of difference between it and what you can get yourself. The smaller the clams the better. Be sure and discard any clams that have opened prior to cooking.
This dish, like any gumbo takes practice to get right. I myself do not like to use fishbones in seafood stock as the can imbue the stock with an unpleasant fishy taste. If you don’t have the time to make a proper stock, Knorr Seafood stock cubes and onion and celery will make an acceptable if not sublime substitute.
** Apple Smoked Roast Beef**
1 large (5 pounds is a minimum for this process to work properly) roast beef. I like to use an Angus top round with the fat cap.
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teeaspoon salt
½ cup chopped onions, celery, and and red apples
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce.
2 tablespoons Tiger brand sauce
dash of cumin
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
Place all ingredients except meat in a sauce pan with a light coating of butter and sautee briefly 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently.
Using a knife make three wholes penetrating 2/3 of the way through the beef along the width of the beef. Working backwards repeat 2 or three more times.
Stuff your sauteed ingredients into the holes. You don’t need to fill them, just get some of that flavor in there. Rub the beef with any leftover mixture and allow several hours for marination.
Fire up your smoker. Use predominantly apple wood. Seasoned heartwood with fresh branches No leaves is best. A little bit of hickory and mesquite will round out the flavor nicely.
Use a meat thermometer. I cook my roast on the bottom tray of the smoker. If I’m cooking ribs on the top tray, so much the better as juices will drip down onto the meat.
For a roast this size, it will be a perfect Rare/medium rare when my thermometer (and all thermometers) are different reaches 125 degrees or so.
(important note on smoking: If you are new to this technique resist the temptation to use too much wood in the smoking tray, and don’t allow your smoker to get too hot)
Allow roast to cool for at least fifteen minutes before slicing as the juices will return to the edges and provide a much tastier and tender roast.
Slice very thin on an angle with a very sharp knife. Allow slices to fall in the juices that will pour forth. Only slice as much as you intend to serve at a time, as leftovers will be tasty if the meat is more or less intact.
** Apple Sourdough bread **
Obtain sourdough starter and follow directions for care and preparation. (a Gourmet store will often sell ready made packets that you can use to start your own culture.) Making bread is different every time due to vagaries of yeasts, starter cultures, and flour. You will need to be practiced in this art to tackle good sourdough.
I use about two cups of sourdough starter, 1 cup of apple juice a teaspoon of sugar a teaspoon of salt dry yeast, and mix in bread flour with a wooden spoon until using the spoon is no longer workable. I then coat my hands and a bread board with flour and begin kneading, working in more flour until I have a fairly stiff bread dough. When kneading you will find that the bread gets very tough and resistant. Work through this until it becomes more pliable and elastic, like silly putty. Add thin strips of almost juliliened apple skins into the dough for color and texture.
Cover and allow to rise.
Beat down knead briefly, cover and allow to rise.
Beat down, and if you have the time refrigerate overnight.
Cut dough into two sections and work each into a ball. Coat lightly into olive oil and roll into long italian style loaves.
I place aluminum foil on the cooking racks and allow the loaves to rise in the unheated oven for forty five minutes. Turn heat to 400 and cook until a golden brown. About 45 minutes.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
Apple butter and Apple Sauce
I’ve tried to make both of these at home, and the truth is apple butter is much better if you just go and buy it.
Apple sauce is easy. Boil your apples like potatos. Skin and mash them (after coring.) You may need to add a little sugar if your apples are tart. Overripe apples work best. Sometimes a little apple juice is needed. A touch of cinnamon and an hour in the regrigerator will give you an excellent product. It’s better than what you get in the stores, but honeestly not worth the effort. I like Mott’s apple sauce best.
Pastry Crusted whole Apple Pie
Ready made or make your own pastry dough (I always make my own. See below)
1 giant Granny Smith apple per pie
a couple of crushed graham crackers
¼ cup to ½ cup apple filling per pie (see below.)
1 cinnamon stick and sprig of mint per pie.
Core each apple.
Working from the inside carefully hollow out the apple leaving enough of a wall to maintain structural integrity ¼ to ½ inch.
Place chilled hollow apple on a circle of pastry sheet large enough to enclose it. Now the important part. You’ve cored this apple, so there’s a hole on the bottom. Use your crushed graham cracker to make a good half inch packed layer in the hole, so that all your yummy filling and juice doesn’t run out.
Fill with hot apple filling. Fold pastry over apple to completely enclose it. You can use a little milk on your finger to fix seams, and be sure and trim the extra. You may wish to poke little holes with a toothpick over the pastry to make a design. I use simple lines and circles, but sometimes I write each of my guest’s names in the pastry with pinpricks for an extra special treat.
Brush pastry lightly with whipped egg whites and water for nice golden browning and bake at 350 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes, or until pastry is done.
Break cinnamon stick in half and insert into top of pastry for stem. The sprig of mint on top will give it added leafy appearance.
A big scoop of vanilla ice cream is laid on the serving dish. Use a spoon and press down on the middle to create a large indentation to hold the hot apple (press far.) Arrange three candied apple slices (see below) around ice cream and drizzle chocolate syrup over apple, plate, and ice cream (not too much.) Serve immediately.
Pastry
I make the pastry with warm milk sugar, and yeast. To make a thin moist dough. I then take a stick of butter and place it in the cuisinart with 2 tablespoons of flour.
Roll the dough into a perfect square and refrigerate. Form the butter mixture into a square a little less than half the size and refrigerate.
Place over dough’s lower half, fold over and seal. Roll this out until you are back to original size, and refrigerate again.
Fold in half again, roll and refrigerate.
Do this one more time, than roll it flat. Keep it refrigerated until ready to be use.
The filling is simplicity itself . Bake apple slices with cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar, and a touch of salt at 350 degrees for one hour in a covered dish. If needed add a little water.
The candied apples are made by melting a teaspoon of butter, and one half cup of white sugar in a saucepan. A little bit of mint leave will add the perfect zest. Once mixture is melted, stir in apple slices and cook stirring twice for about three minutes. The apple slices should be warm but mostly uncooked in the center.
Once again my apologies for posting late. Chairmen Fenris is quite the taskmaster with his quick deadlines, and my travels had left me exhausted and incapable of doing agood job with my recipes since I was falling asleep at the keyboard.
And, I feel that it is only fair to acknowledge that the extra day has provided me with an advantage in being able to go into detail with my recipes.
Javamaven posted on time, and did not have that advantage.
OK, the Apple Smoked Spare Ribs and the Apple Smoked Roast Beef both sound heavenly! However Scylla was late in presenting his recipes, so a point or so must be deducted for that…
Also, both contestants must sacrifice a point each for missing the obvious “Pork chops and apple-sauce” reference (Java already paid for this in her earlier scores…).
So, my final scores for this round will be:
Java: 16.5
Scylla: 17
Scylla had more recipes that I thought would be delicious if I made them myself (which I could not do, in all fairness, due to poor cooking facilities here…), plus he did not scare the socks off of me earlier in the thread!
Shame on both of you, however, for missing the “pork chops and apple-sauce” connection! FOR SHAME!!
My dear judge, I think you may miss the point of this competition–to find new and different ways of cooking with apples (or any of the other ingredients). Of course I thought of pork chops and applesauce–it’s a common combination. It’s expected. It’s well known. That’s why I didn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.
With my education and experience, if I had put pork chops and applesauce on this menu, not only would I have disappointed our beloved Chairman Fenris, but I’m sure at least one of my chef instructors would hunt me down, put me over his knee and spank me ([sub]ok, there’s one that I wouldn’t mind doing that… ;)[/sub]).
And about intimidating you earlier, all I have to say is: 
I concur with my esteemed competitor.
Alas, I must disagree firmly with both Iron Chef and her Challenger. On Kaga’s Iron Chef, judges often make comments similar to what Astroboy said.
Often I have heard someone in the second or third seat (and on rare occasion, the food critic or fortune teller) say “I found it surprising that you had the world’s best squid brains, and you didn’t make the classic “Squid-brains and Jelly Sammich” like my sainted mother used to. It’s a staple of traditional Japanese cooking. I’m disappointed that I didn’t see your take on this classic”.
One of the challenges of the Iron Chef competition is to cook for a variety of palates. Note that on the show, the first and fourth seats are usually the experienced, worldly palates (“An interesting use of monkey nostrils, but when I had a similar dish in Tanzania, they had rather more mucus. I’m not certain if your ‘mucus-lite’ version is an improvement.”), the second seat is the Bimbo-Du-Jour who may or may not have a sophisiticated palate (so you’ll either get “<tee-hee> I think this is just oOOoky!” or a comment similar to the first) and the third seat is almost always reserved for someone who isn’t a gourmand (“You put milk that was so rotted that it turned into a solid in this dish? What were you thinking!?” / “Um…it’s called ‘cheese’ sir”)
Astroboy’s comment was perfectly legitimate and I appreciate his honesty as a judge.
Chairman Fenris