The Connoisseurs Holiday Comfort Food & Drink Cookoff
It was Christmas II: Rudolph’s Reckoning, when the four Connoisseurs came together to battle on the culinary battlefield in the first competition to ever include a beverage as an essential part of the contest. The rules were thus: each Connoisseur was to create a dish which spoke to the holiday season and was a food that could be considered comfort food. This dish was to be paired with a “warming” holiday-themed drink. The warmth could come from temperature, seasoning, or alcohol content.
And so, at Connoisseur Jon’s condo in Somerville, the battle was joined.
The first to serve was Connoisseur Tom with his Spice-Crusted Muscovy Duck Breast on a Red Wine and Shallot Reduction topped with a Candied Orange Wheel, served alongside a Watercress and Pomegranate Seed Salad with a Red Wine Vinaigrette.
Connoisseur Tom’s beverage was a concoction he called Smoking Cannonball Punch.
The Muscovy duck breast was first covered in a special blend of spices including nutmeg, white pepper, allspice, cloves, mace, salt, curry powder, cumin, and bay leaves,
and then seared in a pan before being baked to a medium doneness. The duck renderings were used in both the reduction as well as the vinaigrette, which also included shallots and Dijon mustard.
The duck was sliced and plated on a little of the reduction alongside a salad of freshly cut watercress topped with a few pomegranate seeds and the vinaigrette.
Earlier, Tom had prepared candied orange wheels by reducing simple syrup with orange wheels and cloves in it; this infused syrup would be added to sweeten the punch later.
The cooled Orange slices were placed atop the duck breast and the presentation was complete.
Tom’s punch was based on a Russian Caravan smoked black tea mixed with the correct proportions of cranberry, pomegranate, and lime juice, the orange and clove infused syrup, and a heady mix of liquors including a few different rums.
An orange was studded with cloves and placed in the punch bowl and the “cannonball” effect was complete.
Next to present was Connoisseur Michael with his Rustic Galette with Vintage Cheddar, Pork, and Spicy Italian Sausage.
He served this with a Spiced Aztec Hot Chocolate.
Connoisseur Michael used fresh Italian sausages
along with a March 2005 vintage cheddar cheese and ground pork
to make the savory filling for this galette,
enrobed in perfectly seasoned and hearty homemade dough,
cooked to a golden-brown delicious finish.
The Aztec Hot Chocolate was made based on milk and real cocoa with a seasonal mélange of spices swimming about, including cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg.
Third to dazzle us with delicious December dining was Connoisseur Javier with his Homemade Biscuits and Hearty Turkey Gravy. This was served with a Spiked Mexican Manzanilla Tea.
Connoisseur Javier made the warm and soft biscuits in a heart-shaped silicon cupcake pan and
topped them with a savory turkey sawmill gravy with some mixed vegetables in it.
This already warming offering was taken to the next level with
a tea made of Mexican chamomile tea (called Manzanilla due to its apple cider- like taste when brewed properly) and cinnamon sticks, spiked with just the right amount of El Jimador silver tequila.
Connoisseur Jon was last to present his dish and he really moved beyond his comfort zone, wowing us with Homemade Gingerbread Ravioli with a Pumpkin and Mascarpone filling topped with a Brown Butter and Sage sauce. This was served with a warm and plentiful Hot Buttered Spiced Rum.
Connoisseur Jon made the gingerbread pasta dough
completely from scratch,
as he did with the pumpkin and mascarpone filling, while these raviolis spent their short cooking time in boiling water,
Jon made up a delicate sauce of brown butter and sage which he then spooned over the finished raviolis.
The tasters clutched close the hot buttered rums as they were perfectly made, very warm, and very warming indeed, although after all this food and drink, we were ready for a nap.
The judging was especially difficult this time around as all four of The Connoisseurs really stepped up their performance, as they seem to do each and every cookoff. As a reminder, our scoring system works as follows: each taster rates the dishes from 4 points to 1 Point (favorite to least favorite) based mainly on the merits of taste, they then have three bonus points to assign, one each for Presentation, Theme adherence, and Originality.
In fourth place, with 21 total points (though handedly winning the originality category), was Connoisseur Jon. What cost Jon the most points was the filling in his raviolis, it was simply too soft and lacking in depth of flavor. His drink was popular, but the quantity was a little much for some of the tasters to handle.
In third place, with 24 points (tying Connoisseur Michael for Theme Adherence) was Connoisseur Javier. While everybody loved the homey charm of Javier’s biscuits, they had too much baking soda in them and his gravy was a bit too salty.
Javier’s drink was delicious and a new experience for many of the tasters. It was in this tea that Javier’s deft cooking skills shined the most.
In second place, with 27 points (tying Connoisseur Javier for Theme Adherence) was Connoisseur Michael. Everybody loved Michael’s dish, especially the Swifts as the taste was close their beloved Christmas Tourtiere. However, for the second cookoff in a row, Michael’s use of premade, preseasoned, store-bought Italian sausage raised a few eyebrows. Where Michael lost the most points, however, was with his beverage. While some loved it, others felt it was too spicy, and others still felt the green cardamom pods imparted a soapy flavor to the final product.
In first place, with 32 total points (fully sweeping the presentation category) was Connoisseur Tom. The tasters loved the flavors of the duck and the smoky punch, but some felt the food was too fancy to be considered true comfort food.
We cannot wait until the next cookoff, but until that auspicious liaison, we bid you adieu and good eating!