And then there were two

So, now it's down to Besh and Symon. Symon, you rock! My observation of these two has been that Symon would be amuch more entertaining Iron Chef than Besh. While Besh does have a great sense of humor, it's usually clever repartie compared to wide-open Symon. He's the energy that the Food network needs.

Next week is the showdown in Kitchen Stadium. If I'm not mistaken, I thought I saw Besh carrying a big swordfish in the preview clip. Did they intend to reveal the secret ingredient or are we being misled?

Yeah, yeah

Right, I haven't posted anything in a long time. Hmmm, Why? Well I sort of lost interest in cooking as my time dwindled by having more of a life. I started hitting the gym 3 days a week, working longer hours, and the damn oppressive heat of this summer. I lost my appetite in order to shed the many ponds I gained while cooking so damn much, and because it got expensive.

Momentarily, however, my passion is emerging again. Most likely spurred on by The Next Iron Chef airing on the Food Network. Two of my favorites chefs are competing head-to-head, Michael Symon of Cleveland (!) and Chris Cosentino of San Francisco. When Michael won this last Sunday I yelled loud enough that neighbors probably though the Indians are going to the World Series (bummer on that). Symon showed his Cleveland colors by not being afraid of the grill, hell, everyone in Cleveland has a grill...and know hot to use it.

Michael Ruhlman has been blogging about his judging experiences with Bourdain weighing in his armchair critique, insightful and humorous. I wish the Food Network would focus more on the cooking and let these chefs really cook in real Iron Chef situations. Next up, "Snacks on a plane", WTF. This is like Top Chef with a better prize. But I'll still watch it, of course. Any show that demonstrates that great food can be made on-the-fly, I believe, sends out a strong message toward the general populace to not be afraid of good cooking or cooking well.

I remember a newspaper article about Zach Bruell of Z Contemporary Cuisine ( in the mid eighties) and Parallax ( in Cleveland. Much like today's "Take Home Chef", he would go to a grocery store, pick and interesting "victim", and offer to whip up an extraordinary meal from the contens of their cart in their own home. It was like me learning to cook in my Mom's house (no offense, Mom) rumaging through leftovers to create something I wanted to eat that was just the right taste. Ok, I'm rambling. More later.

Ta for now,
JR

And the winner is...Batali (46 - 44)

Chef Chris Cosentino brought great dishes to the table, but in the end Iron Chef Mario Batali's cuisine reigned supreme. I was a little surprised, however, that Batali had no offal dishes (unless you count caul fat) knowing he was going up against Cosentino. Batali focused his dishes on a trip to Majorca, Spain...do the the Spaniards use offal? I'll have to research that.

Back to the show. I was trying to catch the dishes as fast as I could, but I know I missed some. If anyone caught the whole menu, please post it or send it to me. Though I am hoping Chef Chris might might post his dishes on his blog, Offal Good.

Just found...Whoa! Paolo posted a blow-by-blow of the show at MenuPages Blog. Awesome. But I'll post an abbreviated rundown.

Cosentino

1. Cheese crostini of ricotta w/ garlic bread
2. Sea scallop crudo with pickled and raw garlic
3. Garlic pasta with [thinly sliced] snails
4. Garlic roasted squab holding a clove in its talon (including the head cut lengthwise to expose the brain)
5. Eighty garlic clove braised pork belly & tripe
6. Garlic infused honey mousse and pine nut brittle

Batali

1. Tapas: garlic bruschetta with lomo, garlic-potato tortilla, brandade stuff piquillo pepper
2. Gambas (langostine) al ajillo
3. Cod with green garlic emulsion
4. Cold gazpacho soup (garlic, almonds, melon) &; sopa de ajo with the quail egg ricotta ravioli
5. Lamb chop with escalivada (squash blossoms)

The score:

Taste: 25-24
Plating: 13-7
Originality: 8-13
Total: 46-44

C'mon! An "8" and he used the squab talons, livers and brains. Chris was robbed.

Anyhow, I think the best part of the show was when Mario was dribbling some sauce over the cod and Alton Brown said, "Look, Mario is saucing his codpiece." I've watched enough Alton to know that joke wasn't a freudian slip. Good one, Alton.