The date was set, the contestants were lined up and the three challenging ingredients were selected. The Iron Chef dinner party was on!
If you haven't already watched an episode of Iron Chef (in English or Japanese) the premise is pretty simple - the guest chefs compete to create the best menu using three ingredients in each course. The judges taste, review and select a winner. For our at-home dinner party version, we assigned courses to the guests, told them what the three ingredients were, and although we were prepared to put the kitchen at every one's disposal when they arrived, all the dishes arrived potluck.
We started with six contestants.
Three days before the party, one withdrew due to illness.
The morning of, we lost another, contestant. The ranks were already closing, the tension mounting as the remaining contestants began to see their odds of coming out on top increase.
During the day, the dessert preparations were under way. Have you ever tried to concoct a dessert with asparagus? Even the Internet was no help here...turning up only balsamic glazes in the "sweet" category. We were on our own and the clock was ticking.
We began to experiment.
Asparagus Sugar. This had to be one of the weirdest flavors I've ever tasted. How to describe the pungent, strange, not-sweet-not-vegetable smell of this mix?
Caramel with bits of asparagus - good, but mostly because you can't actually taste the asparagus. Bad part? Cleaning up the pan. (you have to add lots of water and boil the caramel off - good to know!)
Candied asparagus tips. These were surprisingly good. Pulled out just when the sugar hit a thick enough stage to coat the tips and harden, they were oddly sweet and savory. We used a salted caramel, which helped join the flavors.
After going through a tasting station, including some strawberries that were sprinkled with asparagus sugar and a few others soaked in lemoncello and asparagus sugar, we settled on our dessert entry:
A cornmeal crust, a lemon-mascarpone base topped with strawberries marinated in lemoncello and asparagus sugar. We garnished each slice with a candied asparagus tip just before serving, but they softened after being made and were "sticky and weird" in the words of our judge. However, the rest of the dessert was delightful. (This probably cost us the winning spot, but such is the cost of experimentation!)
The other contestants arrived, wine was served on the porch and our judge, the wise, youngest participant, was selected.
Other dishes included:
A platter of puff-pastry shells with a bright lemon-cream sauce enrobing tender pieces of asparagus and chicken, topped with diced strawberries. Incredibly tasty.
A simple side of blanched asparagus, julienned strawberries and lemon zest, a perfectly simple combination of the three ingredients.
Salt and lime brined chicken breasts, grille, topped with a white wine and strawberry sauce seasoned with thyme and asparagus, and
An asparagus break with lime-cream and strawberries. The asparagus bread tasted strangely of peanut butter - some strange kitchen chemistry was at work in this last dish.
Our judge dutifully tasted everything and...
After carefully weighing the dishes (and his hosts feelings, his mother's feelings and those of the other contestants) declared "it was all good so I can't choose a winner!!"
In the face of such diplomacy, we had only one choice. We agreed! It was a delicious dinner and as the contestants packed up their platters and wandered off into the spring-scented night, we were already imagining the next trio of secret ingredients.
