Sunday, March 7, 2010

Chef Smackdown @ Stubbs

Whenever I have a chance, I try to peruse the weekly Chronicle for fun upcoming events. Recently, I was skimming through and I spotted the Stubb's Bad to the Bone Celebrity Chef Smackdown featuring: Chef Shawn Cirkiel of Parkside, David Bull of Bolla, and Paul Petersen of Rick's Chophouse.  Sweet, just a couple of months ago my brother, Harlan, became the General Manager of Parkside. Meaning... FREE TICKETS! How did he not tell me about this before? Immediately, I scope out my chances for a set of tickets. Highly unlikely; I was told. Since it never hurts to ask, I persisted that Harlan just check in with Shawn anyway. Lucky me, Shawn's wife decided not to go and 2 extra tickets were to be had! :-)

Naturally, I ask Emily to join me in order to continue our hot streak of adventure together. Free food, live music, and a competition - what's not to love? The event was held outside on the Stubb's outdoor stage. The competition consisted of each Chef pre-selecting a secret ingredient and then incorporating all three ingredients into one fabulous dish. Seeing as the event promised food for each guest, the chefs were able to plan their dish in advance but they were required to make the judges' dishes on stage within 30 minutes. The chosen ingredients consisted of goats milk or cheese, achiote, and tangerine. I never heard of achiote but apparently it is a sauce made of ground annoatto seeds often used in Latin American cuisine. 

Here were their dishes: 

David Bull - Achiote Glazed Salmon with Smoked Bacon Grits, Goat Cheese Crema and Tangerine Spinach Salad

Paul Peterson - Annato Crusted Pork Loin with Goat's Milk Corn Pudding and Achiote Seared Tangerines.



Shawn Cirkiel - Goat Milk Sorbet, Achiote and Tangerine Fritter, Tangerine Salad, Local Orange Blossom Honey. 



Not surprisingly, the dishes were all great; and for both Emily and I our top choices were between the Pork Loin and the Fritter (aka: a donut). Comparing savory and sweet is the epitome of apples and oranges but for us, and the rest of the crowd, Shawn's fritters won by a landslide! 

Afterwards we headed down to Parkside to completely fill our bellies with even more mouthwatering food. An entry for Parkside will have to wait for now, but clearly this was another unforgettable night in Austin!  



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