Wednesday 13 July 2011

A Taste of Elegance - #4, #5, & #6

See posts for Dessert & Dish #1, and Dishes #2 & 3.  : )  


Dish #4, by I-Wireless Chef Rory Bancroft (I love the name Rory), was Braised Pork Belly w/ Forbidden Rice and salad.



Not sure where the judge's rice was located, or what the sauce is on their plate!  


So sad about this dish!  From the chef's story while plating, I was expecting an explosion of flavor.  Alas, it was not to be.  : (  Becca called it "flavorless."  I didn't think it was quite that bad, but certainly didn't taste like much. The Forbidden Rice, which we expected to have some great flavor, just tasted like regular wild rice.  Perhaps in the Emporer's time, that flavor was enough to warrant the hands-off-only-for-me sentiment, but it didn't work for us.  Sorry, Chef!  


Chef Paul McDermott's (of The American Legion) entry was the first we tried, and I completely forgot to look at the sign at the table, detailing what was offered!  I also forgot to take a picture of my plate... d'oh!!  






Dish #5 consisted of pork (loin?) with a mustardy sauce & a different sauce on top.  Served with carrot ginger salad and mashed potatoes.  I liked the meat a lot, but the potatoes & carrots... not so much.  Too much ginger in the salad, and the mashed potatoes didn't taste like anything.  SEASON, SEASON, SEASON is what came to mind.  Of course, then I tasted the gingery carrots, and thought there was too much seasoning, so what do ya do??  


Moving along... LOL 


Dish #6, brought to us by Chef Mike (Gabe) Gabrielson: 







I liked the look of this dish from the judges' table, and it was one of my favorites from the night.  I called it Prettily Stuffed.  : )  The pork was buttery & stuffed with greens, quite flavorful!  Served w/ a side of rice and asparagus, which both had quite a tasty flavor.  Good job, Chef!!


Until next time - have you ever attempted to stuff a meat other than turkey at Thanksgiving?  : )  

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