Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Battle of the Chefs: Ortanique vs. Chispa


Last week's Battle of the Chef's was the culmination of the culinary competition that has been rocking Coral Gables all summer. A crowd of 200 packed the La Cuisine Gourmet showroom and everyone was whooping it up during the competition (thanks to beer from Peroni and a wine from Cavia). The teams were Cindy Hutson of Ortanique on the Mile (below) and Jesse Souza of Chispa.

Both teams had to create 4 dishes from a mystery bag of ingredients which included: oysters, rack of lamb, rabbit, yuca, marshmallow cream, blueberries, duck fat, truffle oil and shredded coconut. The pressure was quite palpable but the the two teams chopped, boiled, braised, fried and spun sugar like champs. Hutson's team won, but it all looked good. Too bad only the judges got to taste the winnings. The winning dishes below included applewood smoked bacon wrapped oysters with yuca fries and citrus cheesecake with spun sugar and marshmellow cream.

Delectable dishes from the Chispa team included rack of lamb with roasted peaches, Greek yogurt sauce and crumbled feta and a trio of tarts.

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