Category General

Virtual Cook Off 2008: What’s your best appetizer recipe?

3 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, News & Events January 22nd, 2008 @ 11:55 am

Crostini TartineSubmit your dish. The best recipe wins a private cooking party for 16.

Since last week’s posting about a feisty cooking competition among the Parties That Cook staff, we’ve received a slew of emails from home chefs wishing they could get in on a piece of the cooking action. In the name of good food, we feel it’s our duty to answer your call!

Grab your knife and spatula….You’ve officially been challenged to the first-ever Virtual Cook-Off brought to you by Parties That Cook!

Send us your most original appetizer recipe with photo to cookoff@partiesthatcook.com by April 30th, 2008. Include your name, contact info, and a couple of lines about why your dish should win. Entries will be judged on originality, taste, and presentation. Your recipe should be mind-blowingly delicious and possible to prepare in an hour or less. One entry per person, please.

We will eat our way through the entries and announce a winner on May 20th. The first prize winner will receive a private cooking party for 16, courtesy of Parties That Cook ($1200 value, redeem in San Francisco Bay Area or Chicago). Runners up will win tickets to our Gourmet Dating events or the Sumptuous Small Plates recipe card deck, featuring PTC’s best recipes and entertaining tips. The winning recipes will be inducted into the culinary hall of fame here on The Side Dish, and have the chance to become the next hit dish at our Parties That Cook events.

*Read the Official Contest Rules*

PTC’s First Annual Cook-Off Competition

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, News & Events January 15th, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
Indian Curry Vegetables in Wonton Cups One of our lead chefs, Mick, recently came up with the idea of holding a recipe competition among the Parties That Cook chefs and office staff. What a fabulous idea, we thought! Why not invite the best chefs we know in the city to bring in their favorite appetizer dishes in a definitive contest for culinary pride? We have to admit we had our own secret agenda – to swipe new recipe ideas for next season’s Sumptuous Small Plates menu.

At 6 pm, chefs and staff began filing into the office with steamy Tupperware containers and bundles of herbs in hand. Each contestant hovered over their secret concoctions, assembling nibbles ever so delicately. The warming scent of curry filled the room, and the ovens glowed upon the luscious tartlets plumping within. With the pop of a prosecco bottle, tension melted as colleagues began playfully inquiring as to which inferior dish the other had made.

Our bellies growled as dish after dish populated the buffet. And, finally it was time for feasting and judgment! The awe inspiring spread before us included, just to name a few: Potato Galette with Smoked Salmon and Dill Cream, vegan Sweet Potato & Corn Bhajji (fritters), Key Lime Cheesecake Mousse with Graham Cookie Crust, and Indian Curry Vegetables in Wonton Cups.

After each contestant presented their dish and asserted why their creation should win, the judges went to work – fiercely sampling and re-sampling. The cream of the crop will forever go down in the history books as the Official 2008 PTC Cook-Off Champions.

Drum roll please….
Sweet Corn Hush Puppies with Jalapeno MarmaladeFirst Place: Sweet Corn Hush Puppies with Jalapeno Marmalade by Chef John Silva

Tasting notes – A delicate balance of sweet, spicy and crispy fried goodness. Invokes memories of the South.
Somen Noodle Salad tucked in Inari PocketsSecond Place: Somen Noodle Salad tucked in Inari Pockets by Lauren Hahn

Tasting notes – Refreshing summery dish dressed with dashi dressing, and made portable with the help of bean curd pockets. PTC hired Lauren to be their Marketing Manager purely on her ability to describe this homespun specialty in salivatory detail.
Tartlets of Blue Cheese, Apple, Onion & HoneyThird Place: Tartlets of Blue Cheese, Apple, Onion and Honey by Chef Mick Dimas

Tasting notes (diligently provided by Chef Mick with his entry) – Savory and sweet, this small tart provides the flavor of two dishes in one! Taste, taste, taste: It is off the charts delish!
Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Jicama Slaw, Grapefruit & Nuoc Cham SauceFourth Place: Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Jicama Slaw, Grapefruit & Nuoc Cham Sauce by Chef Linda Esposito

Tasting notes – A unique take on the traditional. Highly adaptable recipe that can be vegetarian, vegan and is (most importantly) kind to the waistline.
Read previous entries
Read more recent entries