Battle II: Milk Chocolate Presentation to Judges


 
I would like to preface with a note about the judging process. In order for us to judge the appearance of each participant’s dishes, we must rely on the final plated photos as well as the process pictures. We are fully aware that we are not here to judge photo ability, although good photo quality (including good lighting, accurate colors, etc.) helps us to understand and appreciate what is plated and presented. In a no-taste food judging, we must “taste” with our eyes. This is one of the difficulties of judging the TVWBB Iron Chef comps, but Kevin, Clark and I have worked hard to be as honest and helpful as we could in this comp. It has been an honor and great fun!


My scores:

Team 1. Swedish BBQ Wikings: Daniel Andesson, Daniel Wolgast, Dennis Lundin.

Dish 1.) 3 2.75 3
Dish 2.) 2.5 2.75 3
Dish 3.) 3 2.5 2.75

Commentary:
Very impressive. Beautiful technique and presentation all around.
Dish 1, Starter. I question how prominent the chocolate taste would be in the final chicken sausage. I would have loved to have seen chocolate worked into the corn crème somehow; perhaps a picante savory chocolate folded/swirled into the crème. However, I consider that to be as near a perfect dish as I’ve ever seen here at TVWBB. I’d be happy to pay for that at any restaurant.

Dish 2, Planked steak. Beautiful presentation. Everything looks cooked perfectly as well. However, I was a bit put off by the “more-is-more” plating aesthetic. I understand that this is the entrée dish, but I think the salad and chanterelles were unnecessary, particularly as they don’t highlight any use of the secret ingredient. I would like to have seen the steak partially sliced, but that’s a personal preference, not a judgment.

Dish 3, Dessert. Here I was hoping for chocolate overload, as the two previous dishes were quite restrained in their use of the secret ingredient. The fondant is amazing, technically and otherwise. Bravo. But a little disappointed that the other components were entirely sans milk chocolate.

Additional 1 team-point for unity of vision and coherent theme. Well done.
Team 1 Total Points: 26.50

Team 2. U.S: Bill Michigan, John Solak, Bill Michigan.

Dish 1.) 2.5 2.5 2.75
Dish 2.) 2.25 3 2.75
Dish 3.) 2.75 3 2.75

Commentary:
Great job, particularly as Bill M had to step in and do double duty this competition.
Dish 1, Donuts. A big heaping bowl of milk chocolate goodness. Simple and straight-forward, in a good way. Could there have been more variety in the donuts themselves? Maybe some with a chocolate batter?

Dish 2, Short rib entrée. I was both thrilled and a little frustrated with this dish. A great use of milk chocolate in every aspect of the entrée, but not the most appetizing presentation. I have no problem with a home-style dish in this competition, but I would have liked the plating to be a little more eye appealing. The chocolate-covered strawberries and cherries seem unnecessary; the pig candy was sufficient. Would love to have tasted those short ribs…

Dish 3, Filet Mignon. Really impressive final dish. I am blown away that Bill roasted cacao nibs and made his own milk chocolate. The squash tartlet is really thinking outside the box. Bravo.

Additional 1 team-point for use of the secret ingredient in every aspect of each dish. Great work.
Team 2 Total Points: 25.25

I’m so impressed with everyone’s dishes on both teams. Each participant displayed hard work, culinary brilliance, and outside-the-box creativity with their cooking/grilling. Who would have known all this could be done on outside grills?
 
First off I just went to say excellent work, we were presented with exceptional creativity as well as incredible dishes, someone needs to find a way for me to taste all these dishes next time though! Anyways here are my results and explanations.

Team Sweeden
Dish 1
Appearance – 2.50, the chicken sausage is laid out beautifully and I really like the minimalist plating approach that you brought to this dish. I also like the addition of the red pepper to the corn puree it adds a real nice contrast of color. The only reason for the quarter point deduction is the greens. I see why you would add them but it almost looks as if they are just layed as an after thought , I feel it may have been better without them or even to plate the chicken on top of the puree. The prep photos were excellent as well and mapped out exactly what you were doing. Well done!

Creativity – 3.00 , I found your use of chocolate to be excellent in this dish. I love the idea of turning the chicken breast into a sausage and with the way you have rolled up the chicken with the chocolate you have made it so that every single bite will be chocolate filled. The side pairs very well for me, I can envision taking a piece of the chicken with the hot chiles and sweet chocolate and dipping it in the corn puree which sounds like it would have a decent acidity level from the vinegar and crème fraiche as well as the coolness. I felt your dish was very well though out!

Technique – 3.00, No deductions for me here, excellent use of the kettle. Love the idea of rolling it up in a sausage to allow the prosciutto to adhere. Nothing short of perfection!

Total for dish 1 – 8.50 / 9.00

Dish 2
Appearance – 2.50, I’ll start by saying I really appreciate the prep photos and how they laid out where you were going. For the main plated dish, I love the look of the steak as well as the potato, chantrelles, and especially the cedar plank presentation. The addition of the tarragon really brought the sauce to life appearance wise. My deduction here is for the lettuce in the cabbage bowl. I just feel it made the dish look a little cluttered and took away from the overall presentation.

Creativity – 2.75, I felt you used the secret ingredient very well, adding it into the rub on the steak as well as it playing a predominant role in the sauce. As well points are added for doing all of the cooking on the plank. The deduction is for the sides, while excellent in and off themselves and completed perfectly I don’t feel that they would add a lot to the overall dish personally. I just felt like there was a little too much going on. I think it would have been perfect with the steak, chocolate sauce, potatoes, mushrooms and a few asparagus spears. While a salad could have went well as an earlier course I don’t feel it fit on this plate and I felt the additional protein in the prosciutto didn’t belong (you already have the nice saltiness of the beef).

Technique – 3.00, I felt the sauce was done perfectly and would have complimented the steak, potatoes and mushrooms well. I also like that you added shaved milk chocolate to your rub. As well the steak looks like one of the best I have seen cooked and the mash look wicked on the plank!
Total 8.25 / 9.00

Dish 3
Appearance – 3, nothing I would imagine changing about this dish, in my mind this is perfection! I love the orange peel on the cake for color and flavor, the way the pears are panned out, the nuts on the cream look amazing and the beautiful chocolate gushing out of the volcano cake. Well done!

Creativity – 3, not much to say here but very creative use of the secret. You won me over with the addition of the pink peppercorns to the cake, you basically covered every sense! You have the sweet chocolate cake with a tinge of heat, the citrus from the orange and pears and finally the coolness of the cream. Then you move to texture where you have added the nuts as for crunch as well as the gooey cake, man would I love to eat that! Great work!

Technique – 3, You cooked it perfect, used the grill for it all, and really accentuated the secret ingredient. This dish is perfect in my mind.
Total – 9.00 / 9.00

Bonus – 2.75, the meal flows for me, the small deduction is just the amount of food! While there wasn’t a them aside from the secret ingredient I did feel the Wikings really showed different ways to use the chocolate in each dish and that I could have enjoyed working my way through the courses. Great work guys!

Team Sweeden Total – 28.00 / 30.00



Team USA
Dish 1
Appearance – 3.00, I can’t really explain it but I just want to dive in and eat them all. I love the assorted shapes and sizes and I feel the appearance of the drink adds a lot to the plating, great job!

Creativity – 2.25, seriously making doughnuts on a chimney is not something I would have ever thought of, have to hand it to you on this one! Also a double boiler on a grill is not easy to do! Having said that we are recreating a classic which has to take a little something away from the creativity aspect and the secret ingredient is presented as is with really no major alterations (maybe could have flavored the chocolate toppings). The drink was nice but again a classic where as it could have been your take on a classic!

Technique – 3.00, Look to be fried to perfection, chocolate and doughnuts obviously go great, nothing to complain about!
Total – 8.25 / 9.00

Dish 2
Appearance – 2.25 I really like the prep shots for this dish, they had me on the edge of my seat! The final plating looks a little rushed and didn’t really come together in my opinion. There is a little too much on the plate of a lot of different things. I still do want to dig into the short ribs though!

Creativity – 2.50, As far as use of the secret ingredient goes you nailed it! We have chocolate portrayed as a braise, a vinaigrette and a coating, all very creative. I am really intrigued by the vinaigrette and I do think you did some really neat things with the braise. I’m not sure the chocolate covered fruits and bacon really belong with the dish though and to me this part of the creativity actually hurt you.

Technique – 3, Looks like everything was cooked well, the short ribs look excellent and very tender, the fruit looks dipped with little to no drippings and the vinagerette looks like it came together nicely.

Total – 7.75 / 9.00

Dish 3
Appearance – 3.00, I have very little to say about this….I just really can’t see anyway that this could be improved, the plate looks amazing and there is nothing I would rather do than jump right in and get at it!

Creativity – 3.00, I’m not sure if I even have to go into this….you made your own milk chocolate. That alone has to get you perfect creativity points! But when you dive into the dish it reveals so much more. The wine and chocolate sauce seems like an incredible pairing, the salad with the dried cherries is ingenious with the chocolate and we haven’t even started to talk about that tart yet! Then we finish it off with a wicked drink as well, that sounds amazing to me. There will literally be chocolate (in different forms) in every single bite and sip with your meal, if anything warrants perfection that is it! Great work!

Technique – 3, nothing much new to add here, all done on the kettle, we have pastries, home made chocolate, a steak that someone takes the back seat even though it looks to be cooked to perfection, a dash of mushrooms accompanied by a lite salad and a cool drink. This is a perfect plate!

Total – 9.00 / 9.00

Team Bonus – 1 / 3, I struggled hard with this part. While the dishes are all amazing I struggle to see how they go together….At first I approached it as breakfast lunch dinner but that didn’t work and it’s obviously too much as courses. Now in the original criteria it does mention that points are to be awarded if the secret ingredient was used differently and uniquely in each course which it was here so I decided on 1/2

Team USA Total – 26

Congratulations to both teams this was a very hard thing to judge as every dish was better than anything I could do! I apologize for any critiques and thank all the competitors for stepping up! It was an honor to be a judge
Clark
 
Thank you Clark, Kevin and Gary. Your comments give me the inspiration to do better however, without this forum I would not have gained the knowledge to participate in a competition like this. With all of the original posts and unique ways of using Weber products makes one think "outside the box" to develop new and interesting dishes to present to your family and friends. I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to this site and giving me the creativity and inspiration to continue to better myself with ideas from all of you. Most of all, I would like to thank The Swedish Wikings on a <span class="ev_code_RED">WELL DESERVED WIN!!!!!</span>
 
Please forgive the delay. Rush hour in Ft Worth.

I scored before seeing the scores of my fellow judges or reading their comments. Just FYI.

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Swedish BBQ Wikings (when I first saw 'Wikings' I lmfao!).


Dish 1) 2.5 3 3

I very much like the concept for this dish. The plating is nicely done (and the photo shows it off to full advantage). I like the addition of the greens but feel they should be very lightly dressed, perhaps in a minced red chile vinaigrette, or something else complementary, to make their presence clear and to make this plate a more complete first course or lunch.

I love roasted corn cream and I like its use here. I think the container for it on the plate (I do not like inedible containers on plates) was superfluous; the corn would have been fine without the container, nicely garnished as you did.


Dish 2) 2.25 2.5 2.75

Some very nice things going on here but a bit too much. The plank idea is a good one - at first - but in reality doesn't work so well (where are the juices from the steak going to go?), and it looks too busy, i.e., too much on the plank.

I like the addition of the chanterelles. Nice sauce and rub. I have a problem with the sauce container on the plate (as noted above; if sauce must be in a container it should not be on the plate; if it is, the container should be edible). On a more appropriately sized plate, the sauce might have been under the steak, with perhaps the slightest drizzle on top, the salad might be down-sized to a garnish (good colors), the mushrooms and potatoes (nicely done) attractively arranged. (I like Primos but was somewhat disappointed that this meal wasn't entirely cooked on a Weber.)



Dish 3) 3 2.75 3

Bravo. Nicely presented. The very good shot of a this presentation helps too. I very much like the theme of the plate and its continuity, with the orange inclusion in the cooking liquid of the pears and in the cream. My only (slight) issue: I would like to see some color on or in the pears. Perhaps the addition of beet juice to the cooking liquid - just a bit - or something in a tea bag (a little turmeric root?) so that they would take on a bit of a tint. Fairly minor point. Nicely done.


Bonus: +2.5

I think there was good cohesion throughout, both in terms of the flow of the dishes and in their presentation. Milk chocolate was the SI, so of course one expects to see it represented across the dishes but, other than the prosciutto repetition - this kept the bonus from going higher - I felt the overall choices and concept of the three dishes was well planned.

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TEAM USA


Dish 1) 3 3 3

Very nicely done, nicely presented, nicely shot. Donuts are something I eat once every few years, and never glazed - and that didn't matter one whit.


Dish 2) 2.25 2.5 2.75


I would have liked to see a better presentation. (The angle hurts here.) The shorts ribs are an inspiration. The rice looks like an afterthought (and is not mentioned in the description). Perhaps it could have been molded somewhat high, the short ribs leaning up against, sauce drizzled from the top.

I like the idea of the salad but I think a warm salad might be a better choice - something just wilted - or perhaps a cooked green veg. Though the salad could benefit from an additional ingredient or two, overall it works for me - individually though, not so much on this plate. The chocolated cherries and strawberries - nice separately - are too much here. A plain sliced strawberry and a couple cherries would serve well as a garnish.

I think the short ribs really star here, so more thought needs to go toward making them shine, in their presentation and in more complementary sides.


Dish 3) 2.75 3 3

Very nicely done. Creative ideas, well executed - the point of TVWBBIC in the first place. My little bit of a ding? Lack of color counterpoint. The martini, maybe, with a garnish of color on a pick; perhaps a thin red bell pepper curl on the steak, or a little colorful veg confetti on the salad or tartlet.

Very inspiring.


Bonus: +1 Good use of the SI throughout but I did not get much of a sense of cohesion or overarching concept with the choices.


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I hope everyone had a great time. We have some very talented cooks here - as this contest, like the last, makes abundantly clear.


I am running behind schedule. I need to get back to driving. I'm leaving it to someone else (anyone?) to total my scores.

San Antonio here I come...
 
Wanna thank the judges and i wanna thank my Team and ofc Team USA for a great battle.

*To clarify to Kevin*

My dish was cooked on my Weber. But i used the Primo grate ontop of my Ci grate and added the D-plate between them.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
I am running behind schedule. I need to get back to driving. I'm leaving it to someone else (anyone?) to total my scores. 
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Team Sweden - 27.25
Team USA - 26.25

Regards,

Beuller

(please tell me someone, anyone, gets the reference)
 
Thank you all for a great competition! I was really impressed of Team Usa and their ability to think outside the box. I mean dougnuts on the weber...i was blown away!
Last but not least i wanna thank the judges, it really shows that you gave it som serious thoughts and gave us some great pointers.
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Thank you all for doing this and for let me be a part of this! Great work by the judges and I take all the advice I got there to use for the future.

Also a big thanks to team USA for a nice team effort!

This was the most fun thing I done in a long time online for sure!
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Ohh and I want to thank my fellow wikings ofcourse!
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Congrats again to all team members. This was a very close competition. Congrats to the Wikings for the win.
I encourage the team members to post any additional prep photos that they might wish to share at this time. I'd love to see some more of the behind-the-scenes work that was involved.

Time to start choosing members for the next comp!
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My dish was cooked on my Weber. But i used the Primo grate ontop of my Ci grate and added the D-plate between them.
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My mistake and my apologies. I stand corrected.
 
Donut making on a kettle.

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I used a glass to cut out the doughnuts and a screwtop of a soda pop bottle to cut out the doughnut holes pretty easy other than you have to be very careful with the oil because any drops that drip into the chimney cause a flare up.
 
Dennis see if you can find Cake flour and follow the recipe on the bag or box. If you can't find Cake flour you can make you own by using 1 3/4 cups sifted all- purpose flour and 1/4 cup corn starch to make 2 cups. I used 4 cups flour 1 packet yeast dissolved in tepid water, 1/2 cup sugar, 6 egg yolks and enough water to make the dough come off the sides of the mixer. After 20 minutes add a teaspoon of salt and mix it again This give the yeast a head start. Transfer to a oiled bowl and let it rise covered with a damp cloth for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm place then knock it down and let it rise again. Sorry I make my doughs by feel not using exact measurements but this is kind of close to what I do. I hope this helps.
 
Cheers all around! Thanks to all the competitors and judges for taking the time to entertain us. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't watch it unfold as I was out of town. One suggestion for further battles would be to keep it confined to one thread so we can't watch it unfold via email notification. I totally missed the new threads.

One really neat part of this ic thing is that I've been pretty impressed with the stuff we cook on the weber (doughnuts, cake, brioche, English muffins etc). It's surprising that some of us hadn't bother before. Having this venue is opening up a ton of doors.

I'm not sure where we should go with the next battle, but at some point I'd like to see me/don/Gary get a chance to challenge these swedish upstarts
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Some more photoes:

Flambé in the sunlight...not that exiting right?
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Plank with another mash.

Sliced and sauced


And kevins thought about drip lines around the plank is on the normal planks you buy. I bought mine att the "Build market" so they are just plain. But i will add some lines to these Oak Planks.
 
Love the idea of keeping it one thread, I completely missed this for the past 2 days.

Absolutely STUNNING what these fun competitions are bringing out in everyone.

I can't wait to break out donuts on a chimney for breakfast at our next BBQ comp.
 
But i will add some lines to these Oak Planks.
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It would reaaly up their usefulness. I am a huge fan of serving on wood, be it planks or wood or bamboo cutting boards.

I do think less on the plank is in order. Perhaps make a smaller 'side plank' to serve some of the sides on.

The last shot, though everything is crowded on, is a winner.
 
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