Chopped Night 2014

Welcome, friends and family members! On December 28, 2014, the family Van Spronsen held its fourth annual Chopped Night!

This year, two exciting twists were added:

  1. Each set of ingredients was placed in a bowl and each person drew a set randomly, so that it wasn’t known which course or ingredients would go with each person!
  2. Ingredients were grouped by colour, and each person received a different colour!

As usual, the creativity was off the scale, and the night was a smashing culinary success! Well done to all participants! (Trust me, all the food was delicious too.) Read the rest of this entry »

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!

Chopped Night 2012

What a lot of fun this was! I have such an original family!

(Sorry the photo of my dish is so bad … it’s the only one I took!)

1-marshmallow
Chef: Elyse
Course: Appetizer 1
Dish: Marshmallow Yam Spread with Beet Chips
Required Ingredients: Yams / Sage / Marshmallow
Christmas Word: ?
2-mushrooms-tanenbaum
Chef: Shari
Course: Appetizer 2
Dish: Mushroom Tanenbaums
Required Ingredients: Chorizo / Cranberry Port Jelly / Walnuts
Christmas Word: Tanenbaum
3-a-myrrh-ican-caesar
Chef: Doug
Course: Salad
Dish: A-Myrrh-ican Caesar Salad
Required Ingredients: Kale / Parmesan / Coconut
Christmas Word: Myrrh
4-gnocchi-garland
Chef: Jonathon
Course: Entrée 1
Dish: Gnocchi Garland with Savoury Thyme Applesauce
Required Ingredients: Gnocchi / Apple / Mustard
Christmas Word: Garland
5-indian-beef
Chef: Ivan
Course: Meat
Dish: Indian-Spiced Beef on Rice and Crisp Greens
Required Ingredients: Beef / Garam Masala / Cream
Christmas Word: ?
6-deconstructed-salad
Chef: Leah
Course: Entrée 2
Dish: Deconstructed Ornamental Salad
Required Ingredients: Endive / Beet / Pomegranate Molasses
Christmas Word: Ornament
7-pepper-toffee-caramel-pears
Chef: Matt
Course: Dessert
Dish: Pepper Toffee with Caramelized Pear
Required Ingredients: Pear / Pepper / Dulce de Leche
Christmas Word: ?