Iron Chef Williamsport competition anticipated.

The 2014 Iron Chef Williamsport competition between St. Mark's Lutheran Church and this year's challenger, Faith United Methodist Church, was a hard fought battle to the end. When the scores were tallied, St. Mark's came out ahead by less than 1 point. Of course, the real winner was Family Promise, the beneficiary of the proceeds of the competition.

Iron Chef Williamsport The contest's menus were particularly challenging this year. Both teams had to work with Delmonico steak. But then the fun began. St. Marks faced a daunting ingredient list that included scallops, broccoli rabe, quinoa, and white chocolate and kumquats! Faith United pondered over shrimp, beets, couscous, and dark chocolate. Both teams had to create an “amuse bouche” and deliver it to the judges in the first 15 minutes.

Iron Chef Williamsport Gary Chrisman gave the play-by-play this year with Mike Caschera soliciting comments from the live audience. The audience was treated to a tasty meal of tomato-basil soup, prime rib au jus, bundled haricot vert, cheddar mash with sweet potato garnish, and a flight of napoleons for dessert. Once the meal was served, the cooking challenge began.

Iron Chef Williamsport St. Mark's team, as per the rules, was headed by Pastor Kenneth Elkin, and included past participants Bernadette and Kathy. They faced off against the Faith United Methodist team, led by Pr. Larry Leland, and assistants Diane and Will.

Iron Chef Williamsport The result favored the St. Mark's team 72.72 points to Faith's 71.76 points. A very close result.

The video stream of the competition is archived at: www.ustream.tv/recorded/45268299.

This year, a drawing was added at the beginning of the event for one lucky ticket holder to be invited to sit at the judges table and enjoy the efforts of the teams. Scott Dunlap of Faith United was the winner of this drawing.

As always, the team created interesting and delicious meals. Pastor Elkin described the St. Mark's menu, adding a bit of color to the basic list of ingredients:

Today we present to you a different take on Surf and Turf.

The tide has gone out and left behind a wonderful plate of things to enjoy.
You have already sampled a cheese sea shell in the Amuse Bouche.

The Entree plate begins with a natural shell containing one of our required elements, broccoli rabe, a green much favored in Mediterranean cooking.

Those unruly, somewhat bitter stalks have been pureed and mellowed with crème fraische and parmesan cheese and baked with a light sanding of nutmeg.

The second required element is quinoa. Its tiny mild-flavored grains from Peru permeate the salad of baby arugula and scallions dressed with lemon zest, juice and olive oil.
It rests on a schmeer of roasted dates that have been thinned with red wine vinegar and pear liqueur.
A few pebbles of edamame complete this dish that is garnished with feta.
We encourage the diners to get a bit of the sweet/sharp dates on the fork with the rest of the salad.

Our approach to the Delmonico is utter simplicity.
It received a seasoning mixture and salt and pepper before cooking on a smoking hot cast iron grill pan, sliced after resting, and topped with a balsamic reduction.

The final required element is the delicate scallops that have been seared and served on a sea-foam drift of lime jalapeno aioli.

The dessert completes our seaside theme in its use of the two required elements white chocolate and kumquats.
Kumquats have been pureed into a sauce with orange liqueur, and then layered together with a mousse of white chocolate and a bit of the kumquats.
A piece of white chocolate hides under a beach umbrella with a sunny slice of kumquat garnish.

And to completely satisfy you at the end of the meal, a mini shooter of Lady Godiva white chocolate liqueur.

The event raised in excess of $4000.00 for Family Promise. The St. Mark's youth waiters brought in $359 with "tips for a promise."

The crowd left with full bellies and the satisfaction of knowing they had helped with a good cause.

Iron Chef Williamsport