Stephanie and I got to participate in the City Pages Iron Fork Amateur competition on Saturday while we broadcase the Weekly Dish LIVE from Surdyks. The mystery ingredient was Chicken.

The winner of the amateur contest will compete 10/15 in City Pages Iron Fork professional event against Scott Pampuch (Corner Table) Sami Wadi (Saffron) Le Cordon Bleu has a student competing ans there is a mystery chef. (get tickets at www.citypages.com)

There were 4 contestants:

Emily Noble (blogger of www.90saladsin90days.com) and her generous friend who sent me this great video re-cap of the event. Emily came in second place with Qunioa balls filled with cheese and chicken breast stuffed with spinach and egg noodles. 

Craig Johnson who won the event with a weiner schnitzel and cabbage. Craig is part of a local mens cooking club that has been cooking since the 1940's.

Jesse Morse is an amateur chef who works at Toro and he made an amazing roast chicken and potato gratin with Thyme.

Carrie Obry (blogger and local writer) had a super cute taco made with a cheese Frico and a roast leg with a wine reduction.

 The event was super fun and this video captures it nicely.

Cristalino Cava, Extra dry - Spain - 8.49

Value brand of the year by Wine and spirits magazine. lemon and tart apple flavors. Sweet, bright perfect for Mimosas or Bellinins.

Snoqualmie - US Washington State - 2007 - Sauuvignon Blanc - $6.49  

Fruity, great value, if I saw the person who priced this I would have to tell them they have under priced it. Great for cooking and drinking after.  

Twin Fin - US California - Pinot Grigio - 2007 - $8.99

Screw Cap. Fruity, dry, thirst quenching. Cool, Crisp great really cold and they have cool pacakaging and website at www.twinfin.com  

Big House Red - US California - 2006 - $8.49

Big House Red claims to be a blend of Sangiovese, Corignone, Syrah, Barbera, Mourvèdre, Petite Verdot, Montepulciano, Zinfandel, Tannat, Aglionico and Charbono. Or basically all the leftover, used-up, resquashed remains from other, higher-priced wines. It's a perfect wine for somebody like me, who seeks out a good bargain. The New York Times ranked this in their top 10 under $10.  

Gascon - Argentina - Malbec - 2008 -  $9.99

 Hint of  Cassis, dark currant, vanilla, and a hint of leathery tobacco. This Argentinean Malbec is a good wine all in all, and for all of those who are looking for a pair with this wine, don't look for seafood or steak, but maybe a prime rib or chocolate dessert. Picked by Wine guy at Surdyks as a great deal.  

Ravenswood Vintners Blend - US California - 2007 - $9.99

Great fruit and a fantastic value. Plum, Rasberry, peppery with vanilla and clove. Great for meat, Barbeque and chili.  

Red Truck - Cabernet Sauvignon - Sonoma California -2006 -  $9.99  

 Hearty with notes of dried cherry. Given an 86 by Wine Spectator Magazine. Introduced a mini-barrel available at Sams Club or online. This innovative new package uses bag-in-box technology (the bag and FlexTap) but places them in a fun plastic barrel like three bottles of wine.  

Smoking Loon - California - Petite Syrah - $9.99

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Hints of berries, earthy and robust. Intensity that can stand up to many hearty meat dishes.  

Borsao - Spain - Garnacha and Tempranillio - $8.49

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A wine you can brag about as being about the best value in the store. Borsao comes from Spain and is a blend of 75% Garnacha and 25% Tempramillo. Upon opening the bottle I got a whiff of cinnamon and cherry. On the palate it's light and fruity and medium dry.It's not just a fruit bomb, however. There is touch of pepper and the finish is very smooth and clean.

Although any variety of apple works in this cake, I like to use a combination of varieties, particularly honey crisp, sweet tango or the green apples

• 5 cups peeled and diced apples
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2eggs
• 1/2 cup vagtable oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional pecans or walnuts)
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour (general purpose, not self rising)
• 1 1/4 tsp 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 325 degrees and grease pan. I like to use 11 x 17 clear pyrex dish so I can see when the apples become a deep brown and pull away from the sides of the pan.

Mix dry ingredients. Set aside.

Peel and Chop apples.

In a smaller bowl beat the eggs and stir in other wet ingredients.

Make a well in the center of the dryb ingredients, pour in the wet and mix until just combines. Gently fold in the apples. (you will notice the batter becomes more wet and maneageable as you do this) . Add nuts here if you like them.

Bake for 45 minutes until cake is pulling away from sides of dish and a toothpick comes out cleanish.

Cool 20 minutes.

Serve.

Stephanie March, Julia and I had a great time last night at Luring Kitchen and Pasta Bar. I really liked the esthetics of the restaurant. The design was simple and the front of the restaurant was open and airy with lots of outdoor seating. There is lush landscaping amongst the industrial backdrop of the Eiddel (sp?) building it is in on 1359 Willow Street. I found the room pleasing. We sat at the bar and had very good service. I cant wait to get back and sample more from the dinner menu - I really liked it. When you consider that the restaurant was only open recently the server and bartender was really knowledgeable and easily recommended 4-6 dishes - of course we ate them all and then some - here is what we ate.

Braised beef with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce.  This dish had a good flavor but the texture of the shredded meat was very chewy and a bit tough. I am afraid it had been cooked too far in advance of serving. The caramelized onions on top were actually deep fried mini onion rings and there was a horseradish drizzle that was tasty but I wished there was more. This dish had lots of promise but was the most disappointing.

Scallop with roasted beet, goat cheese and they were all stacked in a sandwich and some other liquids on the plate to make it look pretty and it did! We liked this dish and ordered two of them. The scallop was cooked perfectly and the roast beet and goat cheese was a nice combination. My only wish was there was two scallops for the $7. The dish was pretty and tasty.

Zucchini Fries was next. What's hard to like about fried zucchini? Nothing. They were fine and served with a marinara sauce. I wished for a creamy sauce with a hint of ranch instead and also the fries were more like shoestring versus cut fries. More zucchini would have helped the flavor but overall - they did taste good and the breading was well executed.

Tuna Tartar. I always like this dish. At Loring kitchen it was beautifully done with big chunks of tuna that were perfectly displayed amongst a pico de gayo mixed in on a jalapeno and lime chili oil bed. This dish was pretty and tasty and could only have been improved with a sprinkling of rock salt on top.

I saved the BEST dish for last. Roasted Brussel Sprouts with pancetta and blue cheese. This dish was heavenly. The brussel sprouts were perfectly caramelized with the pancetta and they sat in a blue cheese balsamic sauce that was to die for. Stephanie promised right there that she would try to recreate these for Thanksgiving. These were delightful little morsels!

Lump Crab was a great dish with mushrooms and a lovely lemon white sauce that was delcious. Again the only bummer here was there was 2 large pieces of crab and 2 small - and - I wanted bread to sop up this yummy sauce.

I am going back to this place. I think the perfect atumnal day would be to sit outside with a Summit Beer and take in the park views. Yummy.