Paper Chef#5- nominations and a roundup

Paper Chef Ingredients

[UPDATE – we have had brown sugar and red wine added as suggestions – I have put them in the list below]

The current list is: Smoked paprika, chorizo, goat cheese, yeast, tamarind, lamb, chipotle en adobo, olive oil, cucumber, potato skins, mustard, sherry vinegar, ground coriander, star anise, chestnut paste, egg, almond paste, brown sugar and red wine. See below to nominate others.

Cannot nominate: eggplant, pomegranate, stale bread or chocolate

Semi-Official Paper Chef Rules

On the first Friday of every month – that would be Friday April 1st – at some point prior to Noon PST, I will announce a list of four ingredients that must be used, along with any other ingredients you choose, to make a dish and then write about it by Noon PST on Monday, 72 hours later. An impartial guest judge will pick the best sounding recipe to them and the winner will be awarded the “Paper Chef” title for that month. An evolving tradition is that the winner becomes the judge for the following month so that we have a judge and so that people can’t just keep on winning…the winner also gets to display the prestigious winner icon on their site.

I’ve had lots of questions about things like photographs. Photographs are NOT necessary to take part. Nor is having you own blog – I’ll be happy to post a recipe for you if you want. However, it is clear that having a nice photograph will help influence the judges – if they see it looking good it is a lot easier to imagine it tasting looking good…

It is also absolutely OK to substitute if you just cannot find an ingredient or if you or someone who will eat the dish has an allergy – just try to substitute with something close to the original to remain in the spirit of the occasion.

Anyone who wants to is welcome to submit ingredient ideas and all suitable ones will go onto a list. Three of the ingredients will be randomly picked from the list and the fourth will be seasonal or trendy or in the news in some way. If the list of four is totally unsuitable (maraschino cherries, english mustard, liver and suet) then we will redraw randomly until it is conceivable to cook different kinds of dishes with all four ingredients.

Ingredient suggestions go to the Paper Chef forum on Is My Blog Burning up to midnight the day before the event or in the comments field here. Ingredients that are NOT selected will be rolled over for a month and then removed. Anyone at all can suggest one ingredient – not more. Suggestions that are not realistic or are in bad taste in the estimation of the powers that be (me for the moment) will be ignored.

No sign up is necessary to take part. Just send an email to owenl1998@yahoo.com before Noon PST on the Monday to point to your entry.

To give you some ideas of what people have done in the past here is a summary of the events so far:

Paper Chef #1: Cilantro, Ginger, Almonds and Winter Squash

The winner was Curried Chicken and Squash Soup with Meyer Lemon.

Paper Chef #2: Potatoes, Savoy Cabbage, Chicken and Lemon

The winner was Lemon Chicken Egg Rolls with Citrus Dipping Sauce.

Paper Chef #3: Wheat Flour, Cinnamon, Creme Fraiche and Oranges

The winner was Very Posh Cheese and Biscuits.

Paper Chef #4: Eggplant, chocolate, stale bread and pomegranate.

The winner was Cocoa-Pomegranate Roast Chicken with Eggplant Stuffing.

If you look through the entries you will see that people pretty much make just about anything – desserts or savory dishes, small or large, complex or simple.

I like to think it is a chance once a month to push your creativity a little in the kitchen by putting just a few constraints on what you can do.

Anyway – please nominate away…