CHOPPED!

Being the cooking nerd that I am, I asked for something rather non-traditional for Christmas.  I asked my husband to stage a culinary challenge for me.  I got the idea from the Food Network television show, Chopped.  The premise of the show is that four chefs compete in three rounds of cooking (appetizer, entree, and dessert).  The chefs are given a basket of ingredients for each round that they must use in the dish.  Each round, one chef gets "chopped" (hence the title of the show).  By the end, there is one chef standing, and he or she becomes a Chopped Champion.

This past Tuesday evening, I arrived home from work to a basket of secret ingredients, a well-stocked pantry, and a grinning husband.  It was on.  I was given 30 minutes on the clock to create a delicious entree. 

My secret ingredients (which Rich took from an actual Chopped episode):
1. Chicken things (bone-in with skin)
2. Ginger root
3. Green Onions
4. Honey

My initial reaction was one of relief - this was a flavor profile I could work with!  Immediately, I thought Asian!  Using every one of these ingredients would not be difficult. 

Then, I took a look at the chicken and panicked.  These were some monster thighs and 30 minutes was not a lot of time.  I had to ensure they were cooked through, or else I would be chopped for sure (no one ever makes it to the next round serving raw poultry).  So, here is what I did:

1. I immediately preheated the oven to 375, as I knew I wanted to bake the chicken.  However, I decided to brown the chicken in a pan to get the cooking process started while the oven pre-heated.
2. Once browned, the chicken found its way to a baking pan and into the oven.
3. Meanwhile, using the same pan (now coated with a bit of chicken fat), I sauteed grated ginger and garlic. 
4. After the ginger and garlic softened, I added a bit of white white, orange juice, honey, chili powder, green onions, and just the tiniest bit of peanut butter.  As we all know too well, peanut butter can have a very overpowering effect: use sparingly!  I let this mixture reduce on a low heat.
5. Then I thought, well, I can't just serve chicken and sauce.
6.  Keeping with the Asian-inspired theme, I sauteed a bit more garlic and ginger in olive oil in a separate pan.  Then I tossed in some baby spinach and thinly sliced fennel.  I added salt and pepper to taste. 

7. Well, here I was with about 5 minutes on the clock and things were looking good.  The chicken was just about done, but the skin was not crispy. 
8.  I brushed a bit of the wine reduction sauce over the chicken skin and threw the pan of chicken into the broiler.  After a minute or two of broiling, I removed the chicken from the oven to rest.
9. 3 minutes to go...
10. I got to thinking about my dish and realized this could end up pretty one-note texturally.  I've seen many an episode where the food was delicious, but the contestant was chopped because the dish could have used a crunch.  Thinking quickly, I spotted some pistachios in the cupboard, crushed them, and topped off the veggies with some pulverized pistachio!
11. One minute left and time to plate!  The veggies were transferred to the plate as was the chicken.  I even smeared the sauce all fancy-like around the plate.  Oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Time is up!  Step away from your dishes!

Although I was not actually competing with anyone (just going for personal best), Rich assured me that this dish would NOT be chopped!

Try this dish yourself, or better yet, stage your own version of Chopped!  It was a lot of fun.  Next time, I'm going to try to do an appetizer round followed by an entree round (that is, if someone is kind enough to go out and purchase some more secret ingredients for me)! 

Happy cooking,
Emily