Chopped Night 2013

December 23rd was the third annual Chopped Night at the Van Spronsens’ house! (In case you’re not familiar with the idea, each family member is given three ingredients and a course, and must make a dish appropriate to that course that uses all three ingredients.)

This year we all had to bring our A-game, because there were three additional challenges to make the evening that much more special:

  1. We had a theme! This year’s theme was Italian.
  2. We were each given four special ingredients to use in each dish instead of three.
  3. We were asked to provide a drink pairing with each course.

It ended up being a tremendous success! Here are the culinary creations our family came up with:

Antipasto #1 (Doug)

Required Ingredients: Prosciutto, Friulano cheese, pears, balsamic reduction

Prosciutto Pintxos

Prosciutto Pintxos

Drink Pairing: Ford Cocktails (by Ivan)

Ford Cocktails

Antipasto #2 (Jon)

Required Ingredients: Bocconcini, lemons, chard, Campari tomatoes

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Fried Panko Bocconcini with Chard Crisps & Tomato Chutney

Drink Pairing: Burdock Dandelion Soda with Mint Sprig (by Leah)

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Insalate (Matt)

Required Ingredients: Radicchio, olives, orange, egg

Italian Chopped Salad

Italian Chopped Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

Drink Pairing: Festive Flips (by Shari)

Festive Flips

Primi (Leah)

Required Ingredients: Squid ink pasta, ricotta, artichoke hearts, foccacia

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Sicilian Pasta with Foccacia Crumb

Drink Pairing: Pinot Grigio

Secondi (Ivan)

Required Ingredients: Tenderloin, porcini mushrooms, fennel, rosemary

Pork & Fennel

Dijon Pork Tenderloin with Merlot Porcinis & Grilled Fennel

Drink Pairing: Chianti

Cantorini (Shari)

Required Ingredients: Farro, anchovies, sundried tomatoes, grey squash

Farro & Grey Squash

Farro with Squash & Tomato

Drink Pairing: Chianti (served alongside previous course)

Dolci (Elyse)

Required Ingredients: Apple, pear, vanilla, basil

Galette

Apple & Pear Galette with Basil Disaronno Whipped Cream

Drink Pairing: Lillet Prosecco Cocktails

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Nice work, everyone!