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**Pinary** · 10-10-2012, 01:57 AM

Ages ago, deep in mysterious 1990's Japan, an idea was hatched. Two competitors would be given an hour to concoct a meal centered on a single ingredient. These "Iron Chefs" were the masters of their craft, but their ways have, sadly, been lost to the mists of time.

Now, however, nearly twenty years later, the idea rises once more...

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So here's the plan: people each PM me an ingredient. I select three of the suggestions at random and post them here. Anyone who wants to participate then has seven days to create a meal starring those three ingredients. At the end of the week, I randomly select three more ingredients, and we begin anew.

The prize for participating? You get a full, home-cooked meal, and one that's not necessarily what you'd normally eat.

If, for whatever reason, you can't use one of the ingredients (you're allergic, you can't buy it in your area, etc), you can just PM me and I'll randomly grab you a replacement.

What to suggest? Make it any sort of ingredient you can think of. Meat? Sure. Spice? Sure. Fruit juice? Go for it. Just make sure it's something you can get most places in the world and isn't too terribly expensive. (And no, you don't have to be cooking to suggest something- feel free to add to the variety of what people use!)

Anyway, drop me a PM; once I've got a good number to start with, I'll roll up the first selection and get this thing going!

**Schazer** · 10-10-2012, 03:42 AM

I will throw my stupid poofy white hat into the ring

Gatr · 10-10-2012, 05:55 PM

TV-Dinner-in-Blender meals incoming.

**Pinary** · 10-10-2012, 07:37 PM

Alright, the first round of ingredients is ready to go! Here, contestants, are your three ingredients:

-Spinach
-SALMON
-Instant ramen noodles (but not the soup stock)!

You now have a week from this very moment to cook a meal centered around these three things and post about it here. (Pictures, videos, and colour commentary are all encouraged!)

**Schazer** · 10-10-2012, 07:44 PM

Oh wow, that actually sounds like the result will be halfway edible.

Now I've just gotta toss up whether to use tinned or smoked salmon pieces.

Gatr · 10-11-2012, 01:03 AM

Wow, I can actually make something like that.

SleepingOrange · 10-11-2012, 02:17 AM

Ugh even in Oregon salmon is still more expensive than I want to play with for an experimental meal

BOOO on whoever said salmon!

It's too bad, because if it weren't for the poverties I can think of about eight things I could do for this

**btp** · 10-11-2012, 11:38 AM

I actually made something like this the other day. Though instead of ramen I used Bowtie pasta. I would post pictures, but I ate it all!

**Schazer** · 10-16-2012, 06:57 AM

Ok fuckers I did this shit.

I am eating it right now and it is pretty solid, at least twice as solid as my food presentation skills (which are crap). Once I've done my dishes I'll do a write-up in the hopes it spurs some more of you to nut up and step up.

**btp** · 10-16-2012, 09:50 PM

Let me tell you the tale of a salmon-spinach pasta. Once which technically did not meet the requirements and therefore is automatically disqualified, but one which i ate nonetheless.

The world of pasta is a friendly one to the inexperienced bachelor (or bachelorette). The method is simple, the ingredients, affordable, and the result is almost always delicious.

Simply put, you must boil these "noodles" (I shall use the term noodles, though in my case it was bowtie pasta), for a reasonable amount of time, 8-10 minutes perhaps, and then after removing the scalding water, mix in whatever ingredients you desire. It is a recipe difficult to botch, and easy to adapt.

In my case, I found myself with a predicament. I had purchased a surplus of canned vegetables, (spinach, green beans, corn) and I found that, unless I deliberately set out to utilize them, they would sit in my pantry, untouched forever. I needed, however, an excuse, some reason to dredge them out, open their cans and ingest the ingredients within.

I also had the same issue with a package of ~~bowtiepasta~~ noodles. So I felt the reasonable choice was to combine the two.

I brought out the big pot. Which is really just a medium sized pot, but it has a lid and is perfect for the type of boiling noodles requires. Fill with water and add some seasoning (Nature's Seasoning ™ specifically, - mostly salt, pepper and a few other tidbits), then bring to a boil. The "bringing to a boil" part takes a while, so in the meantime I got out the pan.

The pan is used for many things: pancakes, vegtables, burgers (before I got my grill), and it manages an excellent job with all of these. Now, the canned corn and green beans I could care less about. They were filler, nutrients that I needed to eat at some point. But the spinach, popeye the sailor brand spinach, that deserved some special treatment. You see, spinach from a can has the very unfortuante property of tasting as if, well as if it was from a can. There is a distinct "canny" taste in each leafy bite, and that can be distracting, especially when with each bite, you know that that spinach could have been so much more.

The can-water was drained and into the pan the spinach went. Toss in some oil, 5-spice, and turn up the heat. Eventually the oil and spices claim the dish and enhance the "spinachness" while leaving the "canness" behind.

Of course, also during this process I realized I did not have a meat to put into my dish. A meat is important. So, scavenging, I found a lone pre-cut salmon steak in my freezer, given to me by my mother in a sweet gesture of food-related gifts. This would do well, especially since my other option was a quarter block of tofu which had been sitting in the fridge for too long (it got the trash).

Secret food preparing tip: If you need to thaw something, just heat it up...in the microwave.

DING! salmon is thawed...mostly, and also unevenly, but enough that it can go into the pan...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eventually the water has boiled and the noodles, added to it during salmon hunting, have reached their tender point. The heat is turned off and the water strained. Then DUMP IN THE VEGGIES, and mix in the now cooked spinach.

Now, in the pan which has the remains of a nicely cooked and seasoned spinach - the salmon was tossed in, broken into pieces, and brought from a delicious pink to a different-kind-of-delicious white-pink. DUMP IN THE SALMON.

Then, because it is a pasta, DUMP IN THE ALFREDO.

(then mix a little bit of almond milk with the alfredo and DUMP IT IN)

Put on a little heat, mix, stir, and serve.

The spinach breaks apart easily, and essentially coats the entire dish, it becomes more a seasoning itself rather than a seperate ingrediant, but that's how I like it (it's actually fantastic in a fried rice).

Anyway I ate it, several times.

THE END.

**Pinary** · 10-17-2012, 09:51 PM

Alright, put your spatulae and barbecuepodes down. (Two hours ago, really.) This week's cooking period is up (though it's not like I'll jump down anyone's throat for cooking something from a previous week.

Get some more ingredients flying my way, and I'll get the next set up once I've got enough.

Gatr · 10-18-2012, 02:44 AM

yea, too busy to participate. sorry.

**Pinary** · 10-25-2012, 02:11 AM

Okay, folks, we now have enough ingredients for the next round:

-water chestnuts
-Crusty/crispy bread, e.g. a baguette or some asiago bread
-eggs

Again, you've got a week from now to make something out of this. (Hopefully I'll have time to actually participate this time around.)

**btp** · 10-25-2012, 02:48 AM

oh man I am IN. ciabatta here I come.

SleepingOrange · 10-25-2012, 03:10 AM

Hmm!

I think I can manage this

**btp** · 10-28-2012, 05:01 AM

Cook Bread Like Rice

INGREDAMENTS:
[Image: 4CB47B48-A13E-45AD-B1EA-D5BA4E1A3903-113...D1F06B.jpg]

So recently I've taken a liking to a thing I call "spice-rice". Which is basically just rice+egg+seasoning+tabasco. It forms a nice consistency and has a breakfasty taste to it.

So for this challenge I figured, "why not make the same thing, but use the bread as my base?" I mean, they're both starch right?

Since this was a little more fried-rice style, I decided to toss in whole water chestnuts in lieu of chicken or other meats I typically use. Something that will retain it's own flavor, while still picking up the flavor of the spices.

OAKY LETS GO:

Gonna start with that ciabatta bread...hmmm...

SpoilerShow

MEANWHILE. WITH VEGGIES:

SpoilerShow

INTERMISSION:

SpoilerShow

CRACKIN EGGS

SpoilerShow

And the finished product is...

SpoilerShow

MaxieSatan · 10-28-2012, 06:18 AM

That was beautiful.

**btp** · 11-11-2012, 12:50 AM

Are...are we still on waterchestnut bread because I made another thing and it was TERRIBLE

**Pinary** · 11-14-2012, 05:09 PM

Right yes, this needs to be moved ahead.

Send me the ingredient whatnots and I'll get the next thing going once I have enough. ("Enough", for reference, is a value I arbitrarily decided to be "one from each of at least five people." In case you were curious.)