Iron Chef 2009 (Battle Lemon)
This was our 3rd 'annual' Iron Chef Battle (we took 2008 off because Julia was a newborn). The other battles were black pepper and rosemary, respectively. Jake won Black Pepper and Sam won Rosemary. This year was a big deal to see who won!
Julia got a little jealous when her Mommy was holding Ben and not her!
Appetizers and drinks: Jake made a lemon sangria and lemon chicken lettuce wraps. Sam made a lemon mulled cider and lemon pepper shrimp.
Entrees and sides: Jake made scallops scampi with lemon risotto and honey-lemon snap peas while Sam made a chicken saltimbocca with lemon slices and prociutto and his side dish was artichokes with a lemon curry dipping sauce (yum!)
For dessert, Sam made mini lemon tortes and Jake attempted a lemon granita. He froze the granita and then was going to serve it in hollowed out lemon cups, making a pretty awesome presentation. However, he neglected to freeze the lemons themselves, so when he added the granita it all melted. We ended up having a lemon syrup in lemon cups... Poor Jake. He was so disappointed.
The ballots. Jake ended up winning this year by 2 points.
This is such a great tradition. Jake and his brother both love cooking, and it's a way that they've really grown closer. There are 7 years between them, so growing up it was hard for them to connect. I'm really glad they have a better relationship now! It means we get to see our nephew and niece a whole bunch when we visit NY and that's always a good thing :-)
Only 6 months between them: I hope they become good friends.
My sister and brother. What hams.
Karen and her boyfriend, Chad. He also likes to cook, so this was a fun night for him.
Ben amused us after dinner by dancing.
And singing.
Julia got a little jealous when her Mommy was holding Ben and not her!
Appetizers and drinks: Jake made a lemon sangria and lemon chicken lettuce wraps. Sam made a lemon mulled cider and lemon pepper shrimp.
Entrees and sides: Jake made scallops scampi with lemon risotto and honey-lemon snap peas while Sam made a chicken saltimbocca with lemon slices and prociutto and his side dish was artichokes with a lemon curry dipping sauce (yum!)
For dessert, Sam made mini lemon tortes and Jake attempted a lemon granita. He froze the granita and then was going to serve it in hollowed out lemon cups, making a pretty awesome presentation. However, he neglected to freeze the lemons themselves, so when he added the granita it all melted. We ended up having a lemon syrup in lemon cups... Poor Jake. He was so disappointed.
The ballots. Jake ended up winning this year by 2 points.
This is such a great tradition. Jake and his brother both love cooking, and it's a way that they've really grown closer. There are 7 years between them, so growing up it was hard for them to connect. I'm really glad they have a better relationship now! It means we get to see our nephew and niece a whole bunch when we visit NY and that's always a good thing :-)
Only 6 months between them: I hope they become good friends.
My sister and brother. What hams.
Karen and her boyfriend, Chad. He also likes to cook, so this was a fun night for him.
Ben amused us after dinner by dancing.
And singing.