Paper Chef 32: Game On!

After a brief respite Paper Chef is back!  The little vacation was well-planned.  The international commission that oversees P.C. decided it would only be fair to take the month of August off to allow our lesser known sibling have some time in the bright lights.  Now that the Olympics are over, we can retake the headlines as the cornerstone competition of international acclaim, amazing demonstrations of athletic prowess and yes, well, maybe some controversial wardrobe choices too.

Hey, what you wear when you’re cooking is your business…and maybe your neighbors.

In any event, in Paper Chef 31 – July’s round – it was a first time for me and it was a blast!  I was inspired by the ingredient choices and the dish cooked by Hank, the previous winner.  It seemed like it would be fun and challenging and there was no disappointment whatsoever.  I can only hope that there are some other new folks and returning competitors alike this time around. 

Without further delay, the ingredients!  Chosen randomly from this month’s list are the first three:

Yogurt

Quinoa

Rice Paper or Other Wrapper

And to this, from the list I added:

Tomatoes

I know that tomatoes weren’t the most interesting or unusual judge’s choice, but taking a cue from the season, it had to be done.  Those of us in tomato growing climates know that there’s nothing that compares to a ripe, warm tomato grown in season, somewhere near your plate.  So there you have it.

Yogurt, Quinoa, Rice Paper/Wrapper and Tomatoes

(Secretly, the folk music lover side of me was cheering for Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)

Clearly, there’s some leeway with the rice paper.  I would think eggroll/wonton wraps would be fair game, along with tortillas of varying shapes and sizes.  But rice paper wraps are the goal if possible.

I’m excited for the quinoa and will be the first to admit that:

a) I’ve never cooked with it – have 2 bags of it in the pantry and it’s near the top of my list of recipes awaiting birth, so please, inspire me.

b) I was totally pronouncing it wrong until I read Melissa’s post last week.  Oops.  Good thing I hadn’t actually said the word to someone, just lusting after it in my mind.

Finally, the rules:

Design it, cook it, take some nice photos and write it up on your blog.  Send a note to paperchef [at] gmail [dot] com.  Ilva, our illustrious Paper Chef organizer will roundup the entries and the judging shall begin.

Entries need to be in by midnight DST* on 9/9/08.

Feel free to leave a note here or email Ilva with any questions or comments.

Are you still here?  Get cooking!

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* Deliciousness Standard Time

Comments

[ilva]

Oh, this will be interesting, not that easy. What a pity I am going away....

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Well . . .um . . . ah . . .
Alright that's how I always feel about these. Now, I'll just write the list and tape it up in the kitchen and hope that that box of red Quinoa grabs me with an idea or two.
Yogurt, Quinoa, Rice Paper/Wrapper and Tomatoes
Right.

[melissa]

Yikes! This should be interesting...

I was pronouncing it wrong until last year too. I feel badly now that I was sort of mocking about it. Ah well.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up, hopefully including me.

[Pia]

I'm getting a headache already...this is going to hard.

[andrew]

Uh oh...There seems to be a lot of trepidation about the ingredients...is it the rice paper/wrappers?

I hope there are some dishes to judge!

(Easy for me to say, as I have no idea what I'd be making at this point)

[Tricia]

What an interesting combo! Funny about the rice paper wrapper - I was secretly wishing for rice paper + rice vinegar + {no third ingredient with rice in the name, harrumph!} :^)

[caren]

what the hell is quinoa?

[Amber]

Don't hold me to it, but I am DYING to enter this one...

We'll see if I can find good yogurt in time, perhaps Wegman's will save the day.

[Rebecca]

Hey... I'm right up the way and Alosha's post came from my recipe... Hop on over and I'll throw a bowl of quinoa salad your way. Throw three more people on the pile for dinner service. I can handle it. I grew up cooking for 100+ per meal (not joking...)