Ingredient Wars! Formerly known as Chopped, the Home Version
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 12:20PM in Ingredient Wars Some of you know I did a home version of Chopped, the Food Network show. It was a lot of fun, and forced me to be creative. A great exercise for my brain, and we got a delicious dinner out of it! And my husband has a lot of fun coming up with my surprise ingredients.
And quite a few of you said you’d love to join in the next time I did it, so here it is! But with a small change. I don’t want to give the Food Network any reason to tell me I need to stop using the name “Chopped,” so I gave it some thought and came up with this name and a button you can all use on your posts:
On Chopped, they start with four chefs, and they prepare three courses, with one chef getting chopped after each course. The ingredients are unknown to them until the beginning of each round.
Now of course, we won’t be chopping anyone here, just doing the surprise ingredient part. Much less stress. And there’s no time limit, either. I know how tough it can be to join in blog events because of time constraints in “real” life, hehe. So if you want to join in, just take the ingredients and do something at your own pace. If you want to get back to me with what you came up with, that would be awesome! I’ll add everyone’s links and a photo in the original post.
And as far as the ingredients go, if there’s something you can’t find, or can’t use because of allergies, go ahead and pick something sort of close to the original one. It’s very flexible--the main idea is to push your boundaries and come up with some new stuff.
And remember, you also have access to anything in your pantry, just like on the show!
So here are the surprise ingredients for this installment of Ingredient Wars:
1. Cod Fillets (or some other white fish)
2. 1 orange
3. Ricotta Cheese
4. Egg Roll Wrappers
5. Ritz Crackers (or another butter cracker)
So there you go! There is no set posting date, no deadline--just take them and do something, then post what you come up with. And you don’t need to have a blog to join in, either. But I’d love it if you let me know in the comments if you participate and what you come up with!
Elle | Print Article | Share Article | Email Article | 21 Comments tagged Ingredient Wars, cooking, new england
Reader Comments (21)
How fun! I love the new name you chose! I am excited to see what everyone comes up with. It sounds like fun!
I have several ideas--love this ingredient list. I'm not a fish fan, so I'll go the chicken route, still, it should work with fish, too. Fun!
PastryChef--can't wait to see what you're thinking!
Maria, feel free to give it a try if you like!
Fun!!!
I have ideas already...wow. I can't wait. But I'll do this in a couple of weeks when I'm back in Vancouver. :)
I might get in on this. Awesome idea. Might try something this week.
Cheers!
Nick
Forgive me if this is a silly question, but I've never seen the show. Is the point to use all 5 ingredients in one recipe, or 5 recipes - one per ingredient?
Thanks!
Hi Dawn--you can see more about the show here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/index.html
But the point is to use all 5 ingredients in one or two things, but they should work together, like en entree with a side. You ca see my first Chopped post for ideas: http://ellesnewenglandkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/chopped-results-rubbed-steak-with.html
And you have access to anything in your pantry, which I'll add to the post--thanks for the reminder!
I'm thinking cracker-crumb crusty fish...but will let you know what I do. Thanks for the inspirations.
let me know when the sea salt & chocolate run is up.
;-P
Sounds like fun. Wish I had some time to take part! Good luck.
Sounds like fun! I'm not a big fish fan, but swapping out chicken would work. I'll see what I can come up with. :)
I'm definitely going to attempt to try this one this weekend... Got something brewin' in this brain over here... Thanks Elle!
This is a great idea! I have a couple of ideas spinning alreadY! Maybe Ill try to whip something up this weekend!
Great name Elle! I think is such a great event! I love how casual you are making it!
Incredibly clever! I watched Chopped last night for the first time and it was very intense! This is much more manageable. I will definetly let you know if I take on the challenge.
Regards,
Em
Love it! I love the idea of being forced to use certain ingredients to challenge your repertoire -- that's why I go to the farmers' market! i've definitely got some ideas brewing....
These ingedients don't seem so tough to use & combine. Elle, does it have to be an original recipe or one adapted to use the required ingredients? Thx!
~ingrid
It can be anything you want, Ingrid. :) No restrictions.
Hmmm...the crackers are throwing me. But that's because I was just looking at an old recipe for Mock Apple pie which is make with Ritz crackers. I need to think about this. ; )
OOooo, two starches and fish paired with cheese. I have to give this some thought...