Iron Horse Chef: The Finals



It was The Ore House against Cyprus. It was Ryan Lowe, the hip, young and locally minded chef that is thoughfully steering the Ore House into the 21st century. And it was Vera Hansen the seasoned pioneer of the locavore movement and the creative mind behind the curtain at Cyprus Cafe.

But a more accurate and telling description would be that this was a contest between two of the nicest and humblest artisans you can imagine. Chef's that smile. Chef's that really don't seem to possess the self importance gene. And mind you, this writer has worked in many kitchens, all of which can still stir

feelings of stomach distress ... especially when I think of Stan the Silent Baker literally stepping over me to get to the walk-in after I slipped and cracked my head on the greasy floured-dusted tile floor (It was bleeding. My head, that is.). But I digress. But may I add that it was the middle of the night? It wasn't the dinner rush.

It was like, 4 a.m.

Ok.


So.


Vera's ingredients: Duck Fat. Lemon. Housemade yogurt. Sugar. Pomegranet Molasses (of course ... right? never go anywhere without it)  (Vera also brought along a selection of spices including cardamom, nutmeg, rosemary, oregeno and basil).

Ryan’s ingredients: goat vodka, balsamic vinegar, homemade pickles, corn flower, worcestershire sauce  (Ryan also brought along a selection of spices including cumin, celery seed, nutmeg, cayenne and cinnamin)

Each chef was then given one secret ingredient that until that moment, was unknown to them. The unknown in this case was a whole chicken from Napier Family Farms. The chef's would need to "break it down" before incorporating it into their menus (see the video on our Facebook page of Vera breaking land speed records in Whole Chicken Chopping - note: the clip may note be suitable for some Vegans ... and those prone to seasickness.

want to see more pics ... and read more ??? click on "read more"

The resulting fare? Here is a sampling: Pillowy basil and olive oil ice cream (Ryan), Succulent chicken breast with a hint of nutmeg on a bed of spiced creamy zucchini pasta  (Vera), sweet and frothy cucumber smoothies (Vera), A threesome of goat vodka Bloody Marys... each uniquely concocted from a different breed of tomato, including Mortgage Lifter (why they are called this, I have no clue) and Black Krim's ("they taste like their color," Lowe said. They are more purple than black. Kind of like the color of a bruise), lightly dusted and perfectly fried oyster mushroom calamari (Ryan) and creamy and spicy corn chowder, the stock, swirling with a hint of James Ranch Belford (Vera) ...

Fear not, this all to vague and tertiary recap. Everything has been logged in great detail and will made available in the form of a cookbook. Stay tuned .... and we will let you know how to get your hands on it and support a worthy cause at the same time.

Anyway, the results. This writer had the good fortune of actually being one of the judges (It felt very much like the day this writer got married. I know I was there. I saw the video. But it was like a dream sequence. I think anytime more than one set of eyes are on me ... I slip into a coma-like state. Sure, I can talk. I don't drool (debatable). But the room spins and I am not sure exactly what is coming out of my mouth. I have it on good authority that "I did fine." I know this much, Ryan and Vera deserved a thoughtful and meaningful evaluation. So this writer tried keeping in mind that whatever was said was subjective and based on my feeling and my taste buds and NOT sourced from my brief culinary education at Johnson and Wales (I lasted two semesters ... I learned just enough to be dangerous ... I still own the knives. $12,000 dollar knives is how I look at it. But that is another story). Here is the insider skinny. We were to apply a grade to the different categories. For instance: Creativity. This writer, and his fellow judges were to decide how many points out of 15 (or 20, depending on the category), the contestant deserved for creativity (or taste, or presentation ... etc). Here it might be important to point out that this writer was never a stellar student (see: $12,000 knives). So, as a result, this writer wants to inherently give an A+ to everybody just for showing up. So, I had to fight that propensity. But really, tell me, how does one decipher whether to award somebody's sorbet a 14 out of 15 or a 13, or a 12 ... or a 15 for that matter (my favorite grade, regardless of performance)?

So, anyway, this writer tried very hard. This writer can make claim to that. He tried.  They both rocked it out of the parking lot. And with all things being equal, it could have been a  grueling loss-of-sleep (and friends?) decision. But this writer was relieved in some strange way when the decision was rendered significantly easier when reigning champion, Ryan Lowe, made the decision to not use the Napier Family Farms chicken. Now, take note, it was unspoken, but somehow understood that contestants were not actually "required" to use the "secret ingredient." But there  was also an implied expectation that you DO use the ingredient.  And not using it ... was, in my opinion, a mis-calculation (you see, more insider knowledge, this writer believes that it was a calculation on Ryan's part. He by no means was disregarding the unwritten rule ... he was instead, taking a gamble. He liked the menu he had so carefully formulated in his head over what I am sure was many days of noodling ... . So he took a gamble that fortunately and unfortunately made this C-student's job a little easier.

What was so elegant ... was that if I didn't know any better (but I do ... ) ... I would swear that Vera had ESP. She took the chicken, broke it down like a craftsman, and made art. Beautiful job Vera.