August 2, 2005

Willow Glen ‘Iron Chef’ competition attracts Food Network cameras

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Who ever said watching television turns people into couch potatoes has never seen Joan Hall and her friends in action.

Hall and Dale Olstinske, along with five other couples, decided last year to create their own version of the Food Network’s popular “Iron Chef” cooking show. Two couples served as judges while Hall announced the secret ingredient and the four men cooked. The wives and girlfriends were left to clean up. The couples had so much fun that they decided to do it again this year.

“Iron Chef” team Eric Gatzert and Kevin Silver.

Hall contacted the Food Network to find out if they could provide other ideas that would make this year’s “Iron Chef” party even more fun. Representatives from the Food Network called Hall back the next day. They were going around the country taping other people who had had the same idea. They were quite interested in Hall’s group’s idea that the judges would pair wines with the secret ingredient. The judges were Mike and Stephanie Ingster and Doug and Joan Laird.

They also asked Hall to change the date. No problem, she said. She had decided the secret ingredient would be pork.

They called the afternoon before, “I thought they were going to just go over the plans, but they actually wanted me to change the secret ingredient. They were filming a party in Las Vegas, which had changed its secret ingredient to pork,” she said.

Hall thought quickly and changed the ingredient to swordfish. Then she went to Race Street and bought eight pounds.
Finally the big cooking day arrived and with it at least 20 people in Hall and Olstinske’s kitchen. There were two people from the Food Network along with various freelance camera, lighting and sound people as well as friends and family taking photos of the cameramen videotaping the cooks. And, Olstinske’s sister flew in to watch too.

Once Hall announced the secret ingredient, the process began. The four chefs had five minutes to strategize dishes and make a grocery list and then an hour at the store to find the food they would need. They had two hours to cook with the goal of each team making four types of dishes.

Each team spent nearly the same amount, within $4, said Hall. Each team bought similar ingredients but made different dishes. The two teams decided that the losing team would pay both grocery bills.

Once the cooking was complete, the judges would take over. They had five different wines and they would eat, taste and drink. The teams were awarded five points for taste and two and a half each for presentation and originality.

The first team was Mike DiIorio and Olstinske, who made six dishes—an appetizer consisting of sashimi, spicy sushi roll and cerviche in lemon cups with wasabi and edible flowers; pizza topped with smoked swordfish, cream cheese and roasted peppers; grilled swordfish satai with peanut dipping sauce; Mongolian stir fried swordfish in lettuce cups; grilled swordfish with mango-kiwi salsa; and paella.

Team number two was Eric Gatzert and Kevin Silver, who made five dishes including swordfish sashimi with diacon radish in a red wine vinaigrette; swordfish ravioli with a saffron béchamel sauce garnished with capers; smoked swordfish with dried deep fried swordfish skin; grilled swordfish with a mango habanero sauce served with swordfish chowder; and swordfish mousse wrapped in a fried banana slice with unsweetened whipped cream and a green tea puree.

The judges and wine connoisseurs from the left are Mike and Stephanie Ingster and Doug and Joan Laird.

Only five points separated the two teams, but only one could win. Team number one garnered 74 points, based mostly on taste. Team number two received 69 points and was somewhat stronger in originality.

In addition to all the publicity and fun the two teams had, Hall had gone to a number of different merchants in Willow Glen that donated prizes to the winning team. Each basket contained $300-$400 worth of donated gifts. These included a cookbook and two hand towels from Casa Casa and fresh coffee beans from the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company. The Grapevine donated two nice bottles of wine. Cooking, etc. provided aprons, Sur Le Tab a beautiful, large platter and the Wine Club gave wine.

Hall said it took an entire day to clean up the kitchen. And there was another drawback. “There was not enough food to go around. The Food Network people and the judges all ate well, but the rest of us were running around trying to get a bite here and there. So we decided we’re going to do it all over again, probably in September so we can all enjoy the food.”

Watch the Food Network to see one-minute clips of the four local “Iron Chefs” in action. The clips will run through this month. A longer, two-minute clip is located on the network’s Web site at Foodnetwork.com.