Who Wants to be Discuss Cooking's Virtual Golden Chef?

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

We will call our contest winner the Virtual Golden Chef as Iron Chef is already a title owned by Food Network. But the concept is the same.

Here's how it works:
Those who answer the accompanying poll agree to participate as either a cooking contestant, or judge. February 15 will be the cutoff date for entering in either category.

Our first Theme ingrediant is (drum roll please) Rolled Oats!

Judges:
Will be responsible for critiqueing recipes, ingredients, technuque, use of the theme ingredient, and presentation of the cook's various presentations. Each dish must make use of the theme ingrediant.
Points will be totaled as follows:
10 points for presentation
10 points for best use of the theme ingredient
5 points for organization of ingredient list
10 points for technique description
10 points for creativity
10 points for originality
Total points available = 55.

Cooks:
Are required to present at least 1 main dish, with 2 sides and a desert.
Will use theme ingrediant to the best of their ability
Will limit themselves to $25.00 U.S. for the purchase of ingrediants
Maximum cooking time = 2 hrs.

Submissions:
Must be entered by March 3, 2007 and will include:
Pictures of each plated food, preferably from multiple angles
The work area
List of ingrediants for each item presented
Detailed cooking technique for each item presented
Description of flavor as best as you can.

The honor system will be used for this contest.

Ok, that's it. Thanks for participating and good luck.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[ironchef]

I love it! Over forty views and only one response, and it's not even for a contestant.
GW starts two threads trying to stir up interest in cooking, something that has been serverly lacking lately, and everyone wants to be a spectator not a participator.

C'mon people, this is a COOKING site! People will discuss all day what makes or does not make a gourmand, what kind of electric vegetable peeler to buy, and movie lines, but when it comes a time to actually SHOW what you can do, show your love for cooking and creativity, show that you're not just watching the Food Network and then paraphrasing an idea from there, no one wants to step up to the plate?? Does no one have confidence in their ability??

I'm in if there's someone who is going to give me a challenge, or even if it isn't because it's all in fun. But, I'm not wasting my time if the people judging aren't going to know what the **** I'm making anyway either.

Yes, I know I'm being harsh, and somewhat of an ***, but I'm a little peeved that a forum that is supposed to filled with those who perpetuate the love for cooking, in actuality has very little members that do so.

 

[QSis]

Whoa, ironchef!

I don't know about everyone else, but my interest in cooking is the same as a fun hobby, that I dabble in, mostly on weekends. I am not a professional, I don't want to be a professional, don't know or care what a "gourmand" is, and sure as heck don't need to put any stress on my fun interest.

I am a competitive barbecuer, and have done well, even beating pros like you.

But I have zero interest in a virtual competition. Sorry that's not okay with you.

Lee

 

[GB]

IC I think you need to give everyone a little slack. Not everyones level of interest is the same as yours. Not everyone has time to do these things. Not everyone is creative. Not everyone likes to come up with recipes. Lots of people only know or want to know how to follow a recipe, not come up with their own.

 

[lulu]

I am guessing the "metal"chef thing is a US cultural reference, I read Goodweed's post and gathered that, but otherwise I am in the dark! I think its a good idea, and will follow and applaud, but like QSis have no desire to be competitive, nor the audacity to pretend to have the skill to judge another's plate of food. I certainly do enjoy posting about cooking, and food, and eating: it's how I came here, I am sure we all got here that way! But I made friends and talk about other stuff too. Be grateful for gourmands and gourmets: they keep restaurants/food producers of all standards open and chefs employed, lol. I am sorry that the slowness to step forward frustrates you Ironchef, but I am sure some one will take the challenge though. Having read many of your posts they will be hard pushed to better a plate you put forward!

Goodweed, although I don't know the idea this is based on its seems like a good idea, thanks for thinking it out. I will watch the competition with interest.

 

[college_cook]

Well I AM interested in competing, more to challeneg myself than anything else, but I guarantee that if I participate in Battle: Rolled Oats, you'll just be getting 4 variations of oatmeal, and I don't anyone really wants that. I'd definitely like to participate in the future though, and I am pretty curious to see what comes out of Battle: Rolled Oats.

 

[jkath]

IC, I'm not a competitor, but even if I were, you seriously outrank me! I look to your recipes for the "wow" factor!

I'd like to see you be the overall judge, actually. Kind of like the Tom Colicchio of our group.

 

[auntdot]

Sorry IC, have great respect for you but do not need to be chided because I choose not to play.

Right now between work and home have little time for anything, let alone trying to come up a recipe for an ingredient I almost never use.

And quite frankly an ingredient that does not tittilate my interest, at least at the moment.

I state that, but do not feel I had to.

This is a site where people are free to expostulate, express their opinions, and generally talk about cooking matters.

I prefer the cooking topics, but others may opt for the other forums.

Goodweed, God bless, always a great poster, is trying to get something going that could be quite interesting and fun. And it may be to the members, and then again, maybe not.

It could be that the concept, or the choice of food, needs a bit of refining, or maybe not.

Heck Goodweed, go for it.

This forum is about as democratic as anyone I have seen.

It is largely defined by its members desires, with a wee bit of prodding by the administrators and moderators.

But if folks just do not want to jump into a game, well, that is the way the it is.

Sorry. But it is great to have you here.

 

[Harborwitch]

Shucks, being unemployed I've got time - hmmmmmmm, oatmeal? Okay.

Does that 25.00 count what we have in our pantries, freezers, etc. or must we limit ourselves to 25.00 worth of ingredients total??????

 

[Silver]

Now, I'm aware that I won't be competition for anyone (especially IC), I don't have fancy plates for fancy presentations and I sure as heck don't know what I'm doing, but I'm in it for the good times and the challenge. I personally want to challenge my creativity (or lack thereof).

I'm sure I'll come up with something, and at the very least, I'll have to eat it!

 

[subfuscpersona]

I *loved* this idea when I first saw it, especially since the ingredient was Rolled Oats - nothing fancy or expensive.

I thought it would catch the attention of others and I would have followed the responses with *great* interest.

I personally use oats in many forms in my cooking but could never meet the requirements for this contest

Cooks:
Are required to present at least 1 main dish, with 2 sides and a desert.
Will use theme ingrediant to the best of their ability
Will limit themselves to $25.00 U.S. for the purchase of ingrediants
Maximum cooking time = 2 hrs.

I think this is a *great* idea and hope you all can drum up more interest and participation.

Perhaps you would get greater participation if you allowed the contestants to chose between main dish, sides and deserts and submit their recipe for a particular category. You could then pick the winner(s) within each category, with a special mention for the contestant who was skillfull enough to submit a winning entry in all categories.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I would like to participate as a contestant. And believe me, I haven't really used rolled oats all that much. But then again, that's why I chose it as an ingrediant. I'd like to challenge myslef to come up with some really good things with such a ho-hum ingredient. And I think I can do it.

What I want to know is, if I'm not a judge, is it right for me to be a contestant? If so, then I'm in.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Constance]

How about a maybe? If I can get my husband interested, I think it would be a fun thing to do some time in the future. (He and I work as a team.)
Thing being, I've got this retirement party looking at me February 10, and by the time that's over with, I'm going to be worn out.

 

[Silver]

Constance, you have nearly a month afterwards to get your submissions in! I say go for it!

To clarify the ingredient - are we limited to rolled oats or oats in general (eg. steel cut)?

 

[skilletlicker]

...

I'm in if there's someone who is going to give me a challenge, or even if it isn't because it's all in fun. But, I'm not wasting my time if the people judging aren't going to know what the **** I'm making anyway either.

Yes, I know I'm being harsh, and somewhat of an ***, but I'm a little peeved that a forum that is supposed to filled with those who perpetuate the love for cooking, in actuality has very little members that do so.

Ironchef, I would certainly be one of those who would make an unsatisfactory judge from your perspective because I probably would not "know what the **** I'm [you're] making anyway."

As for the second paragraph quoted above, if I do not live up to your idea of the type of people with which this forum should be filled, I trust you will not allow that to diminish your enjoyment. I assure you that I will try not to let it affect mine. I might even decide to make a submission although my food would be very plain compared to yours.

I am being a bit harsh as well but I suspect there will be quite a few members and visitors that will be less discouraged to see that your views are not unanimous within the community. It is certainly possible to love food and cooking and use this forum to enhance one's knowledge and skills without living up to the expectations you seem to be hinting at.

Good luck to all in the contest.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Constance, you have nearly a month afterwards to get your submissions in! I say go for it!

To clarify the ingredient - are we limited to rolled oats or oats in general (eg. steel cut)?

I believe Oats in General would be acceptable.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Let me do a bit of translating here. After reading the many posts and sometimes seeing ruffled feathers, it is my position that this is what is being said by IC. He is frustrated that so few are jumping at the chance to participate. That is all.

From one view, I understand as I am passionate about cooking and would love to see a host of people accept the challenge. This isn't a contest where anybody loses. It's one that challenges everyone to try to increase thier cooking skills, and gives us a benchmark with which to gauge those skills. I want to participate, to find out where my strengths and weakneses lie. And should I do well, that will be something to crow about. And I like crowing.

On the other hand, there are a good many people on this site who just want to learn to cook, or to find out what knife is best for a certain chore, or how to use their new SS cookware without food sticking to it like glue.

There are also people who are here to enjoy the comraderie, or who just need a recipe for KFC-style fried chicken.

To be sure, we wear many hats around here, and have skills from just barely knowing how to boil and egg, to preparing 4-star quality preperations, and everything in between.

So whether you want to participate in this contest, or judge, or just watch, or even, you don't want anything to do with it, it's all good. This is a great site full of great people. To be sure, I believe IC will blow me out of the water with his experience. But then again, I'm a very creative and inventive person. And I understand the physics, the science, and the artistry of cooking. I have some tools, and can improvise if I don't have exactly the tools I need. So I might just have some suprizes for anyone who competes against me. I'm not a 4-star chef. But then again, do I really need to be? I'm not aplying for a job here, just trying to have a bit of fun by challenging myself.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[YT2095]

I`d love to have a go (I`m always game for a laugh) but I haven`t Quite worked out how to post pictures and stuff and my write-ups are lousy at the best of times.
though I could probably be a reasonably average contender in real-time, I lack the skills to present it here in any acceptable way, also I`m only a cook not a chef and I`m in the UK too.

I think I`ll sit this one out and watch

 

[jkath]

Beautifully said, Goodweed!

YT - anytime you have a photo, send it to one of us and we'll help you post it. You should still consider doing this! I'd like to see what rolled oats would do when coming from the UK.

 

[jkath]

GW, again I love your concept/idea, but a thought, perhaps, oats as a main ingredient is a toughy. How about, go with a more widely used ingredient.

I think that's why it's a challenge, mish