Iron Chef Honey Recap

When we set the date for Iron Chef Honey last March; it started out promising. We had 8 possibly 9 people lined up for this event, and the ingredient sounded like it would be delicious. I mean who doesn't love honey, right? Well, we ended up with just 5 people participating (our lowest number) and it probably ranked as one of the worst Iron Chefs food-wise. Okay. Okay. Looking back on the night; it wasn't that bad, but it sure seemed like it at the time. However, we did have a lot of great conversation and tons of laughter.


We started out the night with Morgan's Honey Spread. She came into this swearing we would hate it. She almost didn't bring it thinking for sure we would think it's awful. Well, she was wrong. So wrong in fact that she ended up in 2nd place for her dish. It was quite tasty with all the different components incorporated such as dates, olives, feta cheese, nuts, and, of course, honey. She served it with toasted (but "hard"...according to Kim...ha!) pita chips. 

Morgan's "really awful" Honey Spread - 2nd Place Finish

Next up was Cara and her Pear, Honey, and Goat Cheese Crostini. This dish was an immediate hit. I'm beginning to think there is a goat cheese theme here. Kim came in second with her Pistachio Goat Cheese Grapes. I came in second with the Goat Cheese and Basil Oil with baguettes. And, now, Cara came in first with her Pear, Honey, and Goat Cheese crostini. Congrats to Cara for her win. They were delicious!!

Cara's "really good" Honey Crostini - First Place Finish

Kim started out the Main Course with her Cajun Shrimp Pasta. Kim's dish had a ton of flavor and a ton of spice. So much spice that Cara declared she might have won Iron Chef Spicy with this dish. It was really delicious and well made!

Kim's Spicy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Then the night got interesting with Shu's main course. Shu made a Honey BBQ Pork Chop. Her recipe called for broiling the pork chop for a couple minutes. Well, cooking in a different house probably factored into her over-cooking the pork chop.
  

Shu's Honey BBQ "Tumor" Pork Chop

Actually, we had a bit of an adventure trying to turn off Kim's smoke alarm, opening windows, and turning on the vent. It was really quite hilarious. Fortunately, nothing caught fire; just a toasty pork chop. We all agree that had the pork chop been executed well it might have had a good chance for the win because you could definitely taste a hint of honey. Next time, Shu!! 

We ended the night with my homemade doughnuts. Unfortunately, the glaze on my chocolate doughnuts ended up being a bit too sticky. As a matter of fact, Morgan was caught with a small glob of the glaze on her tooth. However, the honey and powdered sugar glaze was much more successful. Even though the doughnuts didn't do too well at the iron chef; they were a hit at my work and they really are best right out of the hot oil. I will post the recipe soon!

Emily's "too sticky" Honey Glazed Doughnuts

Overall, the food certainly could have been better but it was still another successful iron chef! Sounds like the next one will be at Shu's house and the "secret" ingredient is possibly basil. Till next time...