Chopped

Mindy really likes the show Chopped on the Cooking Channel so we recreated and adapted the show to celebrate Mindy’s birthday. Ligeia, Mindy and Erick were each given a basket with 4 secret ingredients inside. Each “chef” had to transform all the ingredients into a wonderful meal. Just like on the show, additional items from the fridge and pantry could also be used. We all went shopping separately so keep the items inside secret. Ligeia was in charge of creating the appetizer, Mindy the entree and Erick the dessert.

Ligeia was given a basket with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, green grapes and goldfish crackers. Ligeia had no idea what to create at first and hence spent the first several minutes eating the goldfish crackers whilst gaining inspiration. In the end she came up with a salad with marinated mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, grated grapes with ricotta cheese and sprinkled with crushed goldfish crackers.

Mindy’s ingredients included celery root, pickled sushi ginger, a jar of lupini beans and green starfruit. Needless to say, this was a very challenging basket, but Mindy had an idea:

…and immediately set out to work:

Fifty minutes later, she had created a wonderful lupini bean and celery soup, seasoned very well, with baked starfruit slices as a garnish with a side order of a mango and pickled ginger salad that was delicious!

The final course was dessert and Erick’s secret ingredients included Abuelita chocolate, flour tortillas, avocados and blackberries. At first, he had no idea what to do with the items:

But in time, he created this very yummy dessert plate:

For a different way to do dinner, we recommend trying a Chopped evening.

We hope everyone is enjoying their December!

Ligeia and Mindy :):)