Andy | 
02 12th, 2009| 
Annie's wins her first Tri-Decathlon challenge (Photograph: James Keys)
Challenge 3 - Cooking
Result: Annie 161.5 def. Annie 159
Venue: Lindon St / Buranda Woolies
Referee: Michael “Baby Chicken” Kazlauskas
Attendance: 5 (Andy, Annie, Referee Michael, Alana, Keys)
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The Food Critic’s Scoreboard
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The Winner’s Report
YES!!! I’m finally on the scoreboard! And what a victory it was. It appeared in the morning of the challenge that Andy was going into it already geared for defeat (which was disappointing for me because that’s no fun) but he did some last minute cramming and research before the secret ingredients were revealed (as did I - thanks Jamie Oliver) and so that left both of us feeling quite confident. A serious competition was on our hands.
Referee Michael aka Takeshi Kaga revealed the two secret ingredients: bacon and hazelnuts. Such awesome choices! Go Takeshi. Phew - I was so scared they were going to be really obscure. We had a quick intense plannning session - eyeing each other off and trying to figure out what each of us was up to - and then it was off to Woolies with our $30 budget, which both of us miraculously managed to achieve.
So this is what I made in the end:
Main - Bacon wrapped Cod with Baked carrots in a bag
Sprinkle onto a piece of cod a chopped garlic clove, thyme sprigs, salt and pepper and lemon. Wrap in bacon then bake for 10 min. To crisp bacon, can pop into grill afterwards for a couple min.
Get big piece of foil and fold in half. Slice carrots and place on one half of the folded foil. Add a tbsp of butter, salt, pepper, bacon, rosemary, orange zest and juice from 1 orange. Fold foil over carrots and seal all edges. Bake in oven for 40 mins.
Dessert - Annie’s Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Trifle
First prepare a bowl of raspberry jelly and place into fridge just long enough to half set it. Place sliced choc rollettes into bottom of a ramekin. Layer some half set jelly on top of that. Add layer of whipped cream, sprinkle some chopped hazelnuts. Repeat the layering: choc rollettes, raspberry jelly, whipped cream with chopped hazelnuts. Place in fridge for an hour. To serve garnish with raspberry sauce (crush a handful of fresh raspberries with a couple tablespoons of caster sugar), fresh raspberries, shaved chocolate and more hazelnuts.
Anyway, it wasn’t that stressful for the most part since we had allowed ourselves a bit more than 2 hours to prepare everything. But for some reason, when it came down to our deadline, things were frantic. Getting everything “plated up” (to sound all chef-y and pro) was a little bit stressful, but we managed to get it on the table in time and we just sat back in a heap - hot and sweaty and slammed down a couple glasses of champagne to celebrate our efforts.
The judges ruminated and deliberated as we waited very anxiously - or me more anxiously than Andy that’s for sure. They seemed to be eating more of Andy’s dish more quickly than mine, so that got me worried. And their comments that it was really even between us, really made me sweat it out because I was so not prepared for it to be such a tight finish.
Then came the scores and comments. Here’s what they had to say about our mains:
Annie’s Fish Dish
Keysy: ”Simple yet elegant. Plate should have had more on it. I thought fish and bacon was weird but i liked it.”
Michael: ”Carrot delicious. Herbs very nice.”
Alana: ”The bacon was too loosely wrapped. Needed more greenery though the fish looked moist. It tasted moist too.”Andy’s Chicken Dish
Keysy: ”Unexpectedly creative. Chicken was a bit tough. Well spiced and garnished.”
Michael: *too busy stuffing his face to comment*
Alana: ”Wrapped bacon was impressive. Like it was from a restaurant.”
And the desserts:
Annie’s Trifle
Keysy: ”Beautiful and something I haven’t had before.”
Andy’s Slice
Keysy: ”Beautiful presentation and creativity.
The results for each category were sooooo close!! I got so nervous after Alana’s scores (she gave hers first) because I had only just scraped through on that one and I was thinking there was a real chance Andy could possibly steal this supposed given-victory away from me. But no - there was to be no stolen victory for him that day. The judges spoke true and fair. It was crazily dead even, but I managed to inch Andy out in two categories and that won me the main meal and dessert. Woo hoo!! I can’t describe the pure unadulterated joy I experienced when I realised I had finally won my first challenge! I can’t wait to experience it again and again in the coming weeks.
I do give props to Andy though for his valiant efforts - he really did create two great meals and give me a run for my money. So cheers buddy and here’s to our upcoming dead even battles.
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The Loser’s Report
An epic day of tasty food and spontaneous creativity ended with me falling agonisingly short of upsetting that ragamuffin from the streets, Annie..
Much like the aforementioned ragamuffin in Mario Kart, I thrived in the underdog role, producing a very decent main dish and a spectacular dessert to give Annie a real run for her money. You should have seen her as the meals were being judged by Messrs Michael and Keys and the ever-present Goat. She was sweating away with a look plastered on her face that can only be described as ‘panicked’.
Going into the contest my tactics were simple; first rely on my previous cooking experience to handle the main meal and second; memorise a dessert recipe and hope to high heaven that Michael’s ingredient would fit in. As you’ve probably deducted by now, it worked.
The event kicked off at exactly 3.15pm as Referee Michael announced his ingredients of choice. The first was quite simple, bacon, while I was relieved to see that the dessert ingredient, hazelnuts, fit my memorised recipe perfectly. After trapesing around the house all morning in a state of near-depression I, all of a sudden, felt extremely confident.
I took some time to come up with my grand plan for the main meal. In the end my desire to produce something unique and creative lead me to a meal my mother made famous a few years ago; chicken pieces stuffed with parmesan cheese and mint and wrapped in bacon. As a side dish, I went for a lovely mediterranean salad with fresh rocket, fetta, bacon, sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic. De-lish.
After finalising my meal the next task was to get down to Woolworths and purchase everything I needed below the allocated $30 budget. It was a tough process – the line at the deli was extremely frustrating – but I got everything I needed, all the while wearing the outrageous Ninja shoes that Mel bought me in Japan. Iron Chef I may have looked, but clumsy and self-conscious I felt.
Once I had all the ingredients for my main and dessert (memorised using a simple acronym; Vegetarian Best Friends Sometimes Chew on Meat & Eggs / Vanilla, Butter, Flour, Sugar, Coconut, Milk, Eggs), I headed home. I was feeling great, great enough to cause an upset of epic proportions.
Alas, it was not to be. Despite producing my bacon-wrapped chicken delight and hazelnut and chocolate-garnished coconut slice and presenting them with the flamboyance of a homosexual actor, I fell just short. Annie’s bacon-covered fish and chocolate, rasperry and hazlenut trifle were too good. I was so close, yet so, so far away.
While I respect that the judges’ decision are final and I was beaten fair-and-square, I do have one lingering frustration with the final result. My creativity marks for the main dish were ridiculous. Annie wrapping a fish with bacon more creative than my wrapped and skewered chicken pieces with a side of salad? I think not. Alana, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Apart from that I can’t really argue. Annie’s fish was scrumptious and her dessert was just that bit more tasty than mine. But it was a close thing and I made her sweat and at the end of the day, I’m happy with that.
