The Smell of Victory

photo gallery : 

WNC Chefs Challenge 2010, Week 12

• [View]

Wine & Food Festival

Chefs Challenge #12 Recap
Written By: Kate Mackay



It was the last challenge in the semifinals, deciding who would go on to face the Dining Room at the Inn on Biltmore Estate at the Grand Tasting: Chef Stewart Lyon and his Curras Nuevo Cuisine team or Chef Juan Carlos Martinez and team Nico’s Café.

Emcee and festival founder, Bob Bowles, went over the list of previous secret ingredients and quizzed diners as to what in-season, native ingredient they thought they might feast upon tonight. So far the secret ingredients had included apples, tomatoes, coffee, onions, blueberries, and, yes, even bacon. The dining room was abuzz. Inspired patrons shouted out “squash,” “eggplant,” then, “peppers.” With each guess shot down, Bob commended the diners on their valiant efforts and revealed that the night’s secret ingredient was garlic. Pleased “ahs” rippled through the crowd.

Sharing a common breath-tainting family with former secret ingredient, onion, my table wondered how the teams would handle garlic’s pungency—especially when it came to dessert. For the most part, it was subdued in the dishes, typically sautéed or roasted as to not overwhelm the palate (or offend dining neighbors).

One dish in particular let the garlic run rampant—in a good way. Lyon and Team Curras Nuevo Cuisine’s garlic-jalapeño cured snapper served over rich avocado crispy rice and guajillo-garlic ponzu with a refreshing garlic-mussel shooter evoked ceviche flavors. The dish’s complex heat was undoubtedly rooted in the wrath of the peppers, but it was backed up by the garlic’s full-bodied presence. Garlic dominated the dish without overpowering it.

Martinez and the Nico’s Café team created the highest-rated, and, perhaps, most decadent dish, a surf and turf consisting of pan-seared snapper and pork tenderloin with mojo beurre blanc, served over a creamy roasted garlic mash and asparagus tips cooked to perfection.

Both teams scaled back the secret ingredient’s intensity in their desserts. The Nico’s Café team’s berry-garlic cobbler fell a little short. The garlic-caramel whipped cream was delicate yet rich, but the intensely sweet cobbler’s texture was granular and reminiscent of brown sugar crumbles. Team Curras Nuevo Cuisine’s bourbon-hazelnut toffee bar topped with a garlic-honey glazed vanilla ice cream and garlic peaches incorporated more depth and presented the sweet and savory contrast in a subtle manner.

Lyon and his team from Curras Nuevo Cuisine ultimately garnered more of the crowd’s favor and were declared the winner. They will go on to face the Dining Room at the Inn on Biltmore Estate at the Grand Tasting during the WNC Magazine Asheville Wine & Food Festival on August 14 at the WNC Agricultural Center.

Team Curras Nuevo Cuisine’s dishes:
• Roasted butternut squash-garlic bisque with fried garlic chips and a squash blossom
• Garlic-jalapeño cured snapper served over avocado crispy rice and guajillo-garlic ponzu with a garlic-mussel shooter
• Vanilla bean, garlic-honey glazed ice cream, bourbon-hazelnut toffee bar with garlic peaches

Team Nico’s Café’s dishes:
• Garlic salsa spinach salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette and candied garlic bacon
• Pan-seared snapper and pork tenderloin with mojo beurre blanc, roasted garlic mash and asparagus tips
• Berry garlic cobbler with cinnamon and garlic-caramel whipped cream