For our fifth episode we decided to skip our random die roll to determine who would be next, and instead I (Sam) won a coin flip with Greg to be the next Dubious Chef.
My featured ingredients were:
We did go ahead and randomly roll to determine that Ken would be the Mystery Ingredient provider for this episode, and much to my consternation he brought, drum-roll please.... Flour tortillas.... .... .... Yeah, I was so totally expecting THAT to be an option....
- Oatmeal, Cornmeal or other Cereals
- Cheese, Cottage cheese, or Cream cheese
- Apricot, Cherry, Peach, Plum/Prunes or other Stone fruits
I actually had several false starts while planning because of the "Oatmeal, Cornmeal or other Cereals" selection. Immediately after the roll I thought I'd go with something breakfasty, but despite the fact that I almost always have oatmeal for breakfast myself I couldn't really come up with an idea "fancy" enough that I could see getting decent points for the creativity category. Once I had discarded breakfast as a theme I moved on to the concept of using Cornmeal and Polenta as my foundation. Unfortunately I've never made Polenta before and the couple of quick trial batches I made did not turn out well at all. About mid-week I was discussing possible options with my friend Miki and after he suggested a Roasted Peaches with Honey Mascarpone Cream recipe he was fond of my entire concept suddenly formed up as a holiday meal. Once the flour tortillas were exposed as the secret ingredient I was pretty sure how to incorporate them into the main dish, but failed rather poorly in an attempt to also include them in the desert. A quick experiment with the heat gun and some Cinnamon Sugar showed that I wasn’t going to be able to create anything similar to a cinnamon churro so I tossed the experiment and proceeded with what I had.
Roasted Peaches Flambe with Honey Nut Cream Cheese
Preheat oven to 350F.
- 2 peaches, halved and pitted
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons Philadelphia Honey Nut Cream Cheese
- 2 shots of Grand Marnier
Mix the butter and brown sugar together to form a paste.
Place the peach halves, cut side up, in baking dishes. (I used small cast iron cauldrons for extra presentation points.) Place a large spoonful of the brown sugar mixture into the center of each peach half.
Put the dish in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Allow to cool at least 5 minutes.
Top with a large spoonful of the Honey Nut Cream Cheese, insert a cinnamon stick for garnish, and add a half a shot of Grand Marnier to each dish and ignite.
Cherry Ham Steaks with Sharp Cheddar on a Flour Tortilla
In a small saucepan bring the cherries to a slow boil, add dashes of Liquid Smoke and extract of Cinnamon. While liquid in cherries is reducing by half, brown the ham in a large skillet then add the reduced cherries, lower heat, cover and simmer at least 10 minutes. In a another skillet brown the tortillas and melt the cheese.
- 1 pound fully Cooked Boneless Ham Steaks
- 1 can Del-Monte Dark Sweet Cherries
- 2 cups Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1 package Flour Tortillas
- Dash of Liquid Smoke
- Dash of extract of Cinnamon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Cornbread Stuffing with Pine Nuts
Prepare stuffing per box directions substituting real butter for margarine and adding Pine Nuts while fluffing.
- Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix
- 1/2 stick of Butter
- 2 tablespoons Pine Nuts
Final Score:
- Creativity–9
- Presentation–9
- Taste–9
Items Purchased:
- 2 peaches $0.79
- 1 box Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix $1.42
- 1 pound fully Cooked Boneless Ham Steaks $2.98
- 1 can Del-Monte Dark Sweet Cherries $1.00
- 2 cups Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese $2.00
- Philedelphia Honey Nut Cream Cheese $1.86
Total: $10.05
Did not use:
- Half the Cream Cheese
- Half the Cheddar Cheese
Brought from Home:
- Half an airplane bottle of Grand Marnier
- stick of butter
- brown sugar
- Pine Nuts
- Cinamon Sticks
- Cinnamon Extract
- Liquid Smoke
- Salt & Pepper
