Chopped!

Ross and I had an interesting Friday night. We decided to mimic one of our favorite shows on Food Network called "Chopped." The jiist (sp?) of the show is that the cooks receive secret ingredients and then have to make a dish from the secret ingredients. So Ross and I challenged each other and gave each other secret ingredients to see how we'd do:

Ross gave me:
Lamb
Turnips
Horseradish sauce
Dates

I gave Ross:
Pork
Chippotle peppers
Parsnips
Mac and Cheese (in a box)

We both got creative! I grilled the lamb and made three dipping sauces: a turnip and horseradish puree, a date/merlot puree (I let the dates simmer in the merlot wine for a half hour before I pureed them) and a blue cheese/gouda cheese dip. In each of the three dips for the lamb there was a stuffed date with blue cheese. Then to accompany the lamb, I made a turnip tabbouleh (coucous, lemon, olive oil, tomatoes, mint, etc). It turned out really good!

Ross sauteed the noodles from the mac and cheese (after cooking them) and the parsnips and peppers and onions. Then he dredged the pork in corn flour and seered it and cooked it in the oven. Then topped the whole thing with the cheese sauce from the mac and cheese (which he made into more of a sauce) and in the cheese sauce he had the chippotle peppers! We did a great job!

Ross: Crispy pork with parsnip pasta southwest style

Jen: Lamb with Turnip Tabbouleh and dipping sauces three ways