Iron Chef: 1325 Pierce

First things first: I am still exhausted from last night. This wasn't quite to the scale of the ole housewarming party, but nonetheless the experience was draining. And this was with help (what? you let someone else cook in your kitchen?).

Before you do anything, go read Alyse's rundown--as far as narrative goes, she knocked this one out of the park. And I must, in that vein, give a MASSIVE shout-out to my two sous-chefs, Alyse and Jazmin. Lord knows I would have been lost without them last night. And a slightly smaller, but still enormous shoutout to new friends Joanna and Lucy who drove me nuts while trying to clean my kitchen while I was trying to cook in it. And to Carly for her deveining and zesting, and Andrea and the rest of the crew for peeling potatoes like madwomen.

Shoutouts complete. Let's run through the night.

First up was the Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup. The original recipe I was working off here called for chicken broth, but I wanted a bit more of a seafood flavor, so I got shrimp with the heads on (which I might do permanently from now on. It takes literally a quarter second for me to cut off the head of a shrimp, and you can get it for $3 less a pound. And they make a glorious stock. Speaking of stock...) I made a shrimp stock from all the heads and shells along with some celery, onions, carrots, thyme, a couple of bay leaves, and a good tablespoon of black peppercorns. After bringing to a boil, I simmered all of it for about an hour. Then, a tablespoon or so of red curry paste, a couple of chopped jalapenos, fresh cilantro, chopped fresh lemongrass, lime juice, and zest of lime all cooked together. Add in some shrimp and mushrooms, and you're good to go.

Ideally, this only cooks for about ten minutes, but that's tough to do with so much going on. I cooked rice in jasmine tea and added some tarragon for lightness. By the way, if this recipe sounds familiar, it should. I just made some tweaks this time.


The Nouveau Shrimp Cocktail was next, and boy did I bite off more than I can chew. Four sets of shrimp, all cooked/marinated differently, plus four different sauces. Can you believe I almost did five? There is something seriously wrong with me.

First up with the tequila lime marinade with the tarragon garlic butter sauce. Tossed a mix of olive oil, tequila, cilantro, and garlic, jalapeno, salt, pepper, and lime juice in a blender until it was smooth and creamy and soaked the shrimp in it. Alyse rocked the tarragon garlic butter, creating a terrific garlic paste that really does, as she claims, release the flavor of the garlic much better. Sauteed the shrimp for a few minutes, and can a brotha get an amen?


Then the first bit of tragedy struck. I wanted to make a guava sweet and sour sauce to pair with a set of shrimp marinated in the same tarragon garlic butter I had used to make the sauce before. The shrimp, of course, went fine. But somehow I had forgotten to buy just about everything I'd need. No tomatoes. No pineapple juice. At least I didn't forget the guava.

Never fear. I used ketchup as the base, added the sliced guava, ginger, garlic, a serrano chile, orange juice, rice wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Simmered for about twenty minutes and strained. Crisis averted--this sauce was fantastic. I actually think it was much better this way.


The next pair was a citrus prawn marinade along with a Thai dipping sauce. The marinade was just a basic mixture of orange juice, lemon juice, Disaronno, a serrano chile, olive oil, and Worcestershire (close your eyes and try to spell Worcestershire. I dare you.) sauce. The sauce was water, cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Yes, I put garlic in almost everything. Booyah.


The final cocktail was fried coconut shrimp with a thai peanut sauce. Crap. More crisis. No coconut milk. Substituted heavy cream and a bit of coconut that I just happened to have on hand. I knew from the beginning this one was a risk. I had never tried mixing together these flavors before, and I could only hope the shrimp got enough flavor to stand up to a peanut sauce. And this peanut sauce was no joke. I roasted the peanuts in peanut oil and added them with a bit of the oil into the food processor. Then a couple of serrano chiles, more fresh ginger, more garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, salt, and cilantro leaves. Left it on high for a minute or two while I coated the shrimp in egg whites and tossed them in a mix of corn starch, flour, coconut, salt, pepper, cayenne, and turmeric.


Whew, finally the appetizers were done. Wait, we haven't even started the main course yet???


The main course was crab stuffed bacon wrapped shrimp with a lemon basil sauce. People were already going to town on the food in Neighbor Jason's apartment. Plus, he had already finished his main course: a cajun barbeque shrimp with an unnamed sauce that basically made me want to slap my momma. (Kidding, ma!) For many, they used his crusty french bread as a vehicle to consume as much of the sauce as possible. I knew I was in trouble. But I had one last trick of my sleeve. And thankfully, Sous-Chef #2 Jazmin was there to come through for me.

She made a roux, a pesto, and the lemon basil cream that used those two ingredients while I stuffed the shrimp with crab and wrapped in bacon or turkey bacon. The recipe is much too long to detail here, but here was the inspiration. I also mashed, and then whipped potatoes with garlic and butter. Had I remembered what I meant to do originally, they would have also gotten parmesan and salt, but by this time I was damn near delirious. But for sheer impressiveness, I knew this puppy would be hard to beat.

And there it was. The cooking was done. People were stuffed. And satisfied. And as for the moment you've all been waiting for? When one of us goes home in crushing defeat while the other enjoys the warmth of victory?

Predictably, never happenned. Jason declared me the victor--I declared him the victor. In the end, I think the guests won out. Hard to beat multiple gourmet shrimp-based meals in one night. For free. And unquestionably, the best part of the evening for me was the craziness of my kitchen at about 7:30. Three people peeling potatoes, Alyse chopping up her 4832908th clove of garlic, Jazmin showing a level of focus and determination that was really just terrifying for someone who almost didn't even come...oh yes, this evening was made by the people. And that's why I keep throwing these ridiculous dinner parties. You just can't beat good food and good company.

Up tomorrow: the German Chocolate Cake I made that everyone (including myself) forgot about. And later this week, ribs make a comeback and the grocery store I drove a half hour to visit.