Let me tell you that it is so much easier just watching it on TV and talking about it. At first I was totally into having a competition at home, it would be fun, no TV cameras, and I knew I wasn’t in danger of getting chopped. However, I did begin to get nervous when Billy came home from the grocery store and had this smirk on his face. He wouldn’t tell me any of the ingredients, of course, but he wouldn’t even give me any hints! I had to wait until tomorrow, the day of the competition.

My reaction to the first "chopped" basket

When Sunday arrived Billy photographed the first set of mystery basket ingredients – for the appetizer course. You will understand my reaction when you see what was in the first basket!

Here’s what was in the first basket. Oh, lucky me… NOT!

We’ve got Tamarind, Beef Marrow Bones, Parsley  Root and Chicken Livers.

Round One – Appetizer, 20 minutes to prepare!

Unsure of what to do, I just started peeling the parsley root, to give myself a moment to think about it. Not really a bad basket. Wished the beef marrow bones weren’t in there. That’s what I give to our pups!

The 20 minutes literally flew by and that was me working in my own kitchen. So, I can’t imagine doing it on the show because you don’t know your way around, unfamiliar with pantry items, nervous about TV, etc.

Anyway, here’s what we ended up with as the appetizer. Honestly, it was really good! I loved the flavor of the tamarind sauce.

Appetizer Round - Pureed Parsley Root topped with Cajun Cornbread Chicken Livers served with Tamarind Sauce

I definitely would not have been chopped this round… so on to the next.

Round Two – Entree, 30 minutes to prepare!

Here’s what’s in the second basket.

We’ve got Kohlrabi, Peppermint Lifesavers, Beef Tongue and Malanga.

Ok, I’m going to be honest with you and let you know that when I saw the ingredients in the second basket I was not really liking Billy too much. Beef Tongue? I don’t want to cook that, ’cause I don’t want to touch it. Sure, I can handle chicken, cut up a roast, go fishing and gut the fish, no problem. But I don’t want to deal with this beef tongue. The reality is that it’s not a good basket choice with only 30 minutes to prepare, but I did my best. That is, after I had a meltdown…

What happened is that I unwrapped the beef tongue and it was in the sink. It was huge, I mean really huge. I didn’t want to look at the whole thing, but I figured I could work with a small piece and not really think about it being a tongue. Well, I couldn’t cut the darn thing and it was really grossing me out. That, on top of the fact that I had just worked with chicken livers and bone marrow. My stomach was queasy and I was not feeling the love, if you know what I mean.

{{{ Time Out… Stop the clock. }}}

Billy cuts a piece of the beef tongue for me and the clock starts again.

At this point I’m just thankful that I’m not a “judge” and I don’t have to eat what I’m about to prepare. lol

Getting started I immediately put the beef tongue into some water, season it with some Italian seasoning, and a bay leaf, put a lid on it and just leave that sucker to boil.

Wishing that I hadn’t pureed the parsley root in the first round, ’cause I didn’t want to treat a second root veggie the same exact way, I peel and thinly slice the Malanga. I put it in a single layer into a hot frying pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley and let them fry up.

Meanwhile, I blanch the Kohlrabi tops in some salted water and set aside.

I chopped the Kohlrabi bulb into anything but uniform pieces (now I’m feeling the time crunch). I throw in some equally messed up pieces of apple, some apple cider vinegar, thyme and Oops! I forgot to use those icky Peppermint Lifesavers. I throw 2 of them into some hot water and melt them down to put into the Kohlrabi and Apple salad. The mint and thyme combination turned out, to me, to taste like mouthwash. But, oh well.  I set that to the side.

Back to that beef tongue. It’s not getting any tenderer. I take it out of the pot and discard the tough outer layer. Then I chop up the meat into small pieces and put it back into the water. It’s boiling hard but there’s no softening this thing up in the time allotted.

I put some heavy cream and butter into a separate small frying pan. I add some flour, salt and pepper to make a roux. I add Marsala wine and let it come to a bubble. Using a slotted spoon I remove the beef tongue from the boiling herbed water and put into the cream sauce. I let it come together for a minute or so before I spoon some on top the Malanga rounds. I then plate the salad on the side.

Here’s what we ended up with.

Entree Round - Kohlrabi Greens with Fried Malanga Rounds topped with Beef Tongue in a Marsala Cream Sauce with a side salad of Apple & Kohlrabi

It doesn’t look too bad. I liked the taste of the malanga rounds and the sauce. I didn’t try the beef tongue and the salad, as I said, was a little “mouthwashy”. Oh, I may have been chopped this round, but we’ll never know. Now will we?

Time to move forward to the dessert round. At this point, I’m really hoping for a nice basket with 4 ingredients to make a dessert that I will want to eat!!

Round Three – Dessert, 30 minutes to prepare!

Hmmm… wonder what’s in the dessert basket?

We’ve got Top Ramen, Butter Beans, Sour Strawberry Belts and Mandarin Oranges in Juice.

Ok, I can work with this.  

I immediately get the top ramen into some boiling water.

Then I put some butter into a large frying pan over medium heat. Once the top ramen is soft I put it into the frying pan along with some brown sugar and cardamom. It caramelizes and I set it aside.

I grab a small saucepan and put the sour strawberry belts into some water. I boil them down to melt them and add a little white chocolate liquor. I put that into the ice cream maker and let it do it’s thing.

Meanwhile, I pulse some of the mandarin oranges in the food processor.

In a separate bowl I whip up some heavy cream and sugar. To that I add some of the mandarin oranges that have been in the food processor. Set aside the orange whipped cream.

I open the butter beans, drain the liquid and put them into the food processor along with the balance of the processed mandarin oranges and some cream cheese. Whip it up.

I check the strawberry white chocolate ice cream, coming along nicely… hope it freezes some more!

Now for assembly. Four small dessert dishes. I put in the top ramen. Next comes the butter bean cream. Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes to set.

I remove the desserts from the oven, top them with the orange whipped cream, place a few mandarin orange segments on top, and a strategically placed sprig of fresh mint.

When I was ready to put some of the ice cream on top, the soft serve dispenser was clogged. Probably from those gooey strawberry belts. See, this is the type of stuff that happens on the show, too!!

So at the last moments I’m frantically rushing around trying to get the ice cream on the desserts. I managed it just in time. Not as pretty as I wanted it to be, but it was good. Actually, my favorite thing about the dessert was the ice cream.

Here’s what the dessert ended up like!

Dessert round - Caramelized noodles topped with orange butter bean cream, mandarine oranges and strawberry white chocolate ice cream

It was fun! What did I learn from this? I learned that:

1. I don’t want to be on Chopped.
2. I like preparing food with ingredients I choose.
3. I don’t like pressure.

Basically, food preparation to me is love. It’s my passion and I don’t want to be rushed or forced into preparing something that is disgusting to me.

Oh, and speaking of disgusting… No offense, as I do realize that beef tongue is a delicacy to some. I, however, did not eat it or try it. On an up note, our dogs are loving it!