Two chefs. Three ingredients. Twenty-four hours.
As if things aren't already hot enough in the kitchens of area restaurants, local chefs are going head-to-head once a week in their own version of The Food Network's "Iron Chef."
Every Tuesday this spring, Harley Smith, executive chef at 10 Center in Newburyport, is inviting different guest chefs to show him what they've got.
Last week, Kevin Carney of Andover's Cassis Bistro Francais put his kitchen prowess to the test against Smith in a face-off of culinary mastery.
With three key ingredients — lobster, rack of lamb and blueberries — to work with, the chefs spent the day in 10 Center's kitchen whipping up two distinct meals to serve that night.
"It's all in good fun," Carney said of the friendly competition — the winner of which is picked by regular customers.
The way the Chef Showdown works is simple. Each chef must create a three-course meal — appetizer. entree and dessert. The day before the showdown, they receive three ingredients, around which they must tailor their courses. They then have 12 hours to devise their menus.
On showdown day, the chefs sharpen their blades and get down to the business of dicing, mixing and pureeing, working side-by-side on their creations. Instead of a celebrity panel of judges, a la "Iron Chef," it's up to 10 Center's diners that evening to select their favorite. Those who order the showdown dinner receive both chefs' three-course meals — presented blindly — and vote on the one that stands out.
Carney, who has owned the 36-seat Cassis for 11/2 years, drew on the French bistro-style cuisine of his restaurant last week for his first course of Butter-Poached Lobster and entree of Dijon and Herbed Panko-Crusted Rack of Lamb. He topped off the meal with a Blueberry Gratinee featuring a champagne sabayon sauce with almond toffee.
"It's just about putting the right combinations together to achieve the right texture," he said.
Smith, who's been the executive chef of the larger, close to 100-seat 10 Center for six years, created entirely new recipes for a Tempura of Lobster starter and entree of Fennel-Dusted Lamb Rack Chops, with an original Blueberry Tiramisu for dessert.
"Our ideas are so different," Smith said of each chef's recipes. "There's not any similarities, except for the main ingredient (for each course). Everything around it is totally different."
Five hours before the dinner crowd would begin filtering in, Smith and Carney began the prep work for their meals. Smith shelled his fava beans, keeping one eye trained on Carney as he unpacked some of his tools and ingredients. Was there any nervousness on either chef's part?
"A little," Carney admitted.
Smith moved onto stripping the kernels off ears of corn, which he would saute with onion and garlic to form the basis of a corn emulsion to accompany his lobster. Carney, meanwhile, assembled the ingredients for his celery-and-apple puree to pair with his rack of lamb.
Carney credited television cooking shows for opening up people's views of cuisine. For example, he recently had duck with salsify, a root vegetable with an oyster-like flavor, on the menu at Cassis and a woman ordered it because she recognized it from something she saw on TV.
"They're more willing to try new things," Carney said.
But, Smith said, some shows — like "Hell's Kitchen," the reality show with New York chef Gordon Ramsay — might also leave the wrong impression. The average restaurant chef, he said, doesn't have a chip on his shoulder or spend his day yelling and screaming at his staff.
"We're a new breed of chef," he said. "You don't get anywhere like that."
That's why, they said, events like the showdowns, which are designed to introduce both chefs' restaurants to a broader clientele, work. Both chefs agreed that a little more cooperation — and a little less competition — benefits everyone in the restaurant industry.
"We're all in this ship together," Carney said.
10 Center General Manager Nancy Batista borrowed the idea for the weekly Chef Showdown from Sibling Rivalry in Boston. Chef Charlie Cicero of Anneke Jans in Kittery, Maine, was one of the previous competitors, and Batista is lining up chefs from around the Seacoast and North Shore for upcoming cook-offs. The final event of the season will feature more of an "Iron Chef" format, with the chefs cooking right in front of the evening's customers.
"We have such a foodie clientele. We definitely have people who know food and have high expectations of their dining experience, and we just want to keep it exciting and fun for them," Batista said. "And for the chefs, it's great to have them learn from each other and get ideas from other people's kitchens."
As the 5 p.m. dinner hour approached, the pace in 10 Center's kitchen became more frenetic. With bragging rights on the line, Smith and Carney began plating their courses, paying close attention to presentation.
Diner Brian Wilson, one of the showdown regulars, said the event offers some variety for customers, especially those who have a hard time deciding what to order. He said he and his friends also have fun trying to decide which chef is behind each dish.
"It makes for great conversation as you enjoy the meal and make a case with your dining companions about which chef did a better job on each course," he said. "I think it really makes you think about what you're eating, and pick out particular tastes you may enjoy more than others."
When the votes were finally tallied, Smith edged out Carney with his first and second courses of lobster and lamb. But Carney's blueberry gratinee was the resounding favorite for dessert by a three-to-one margin, giving the visitor from Cassis the showdown's overall crown for the night.
Karen Hayden of Merrimac, who attended last week's showdown by chance, said it added a nice twist to a typical night out for dinner.
"The food was excellent and it was fun pretending to be a judge on a television food show," she said.
The chefs
Harley Smith
10 Center, Newburyport
r First course: Tempura of Lobster with fava beans, oyster mushrooms, corn emulsion and bull's blood.
r Second course: Fennel-Dusted Lamb Rack Chops with curried potato puree, pan-roasted baby carrots and glace de veau with mint essence.
r Third course: Blueberry Tiramisu with chocolate pastry cream, pomegranate coffee-soaked lady fingers and dehydrated blueberry-vanilla crumble.
Kevin Carney
Cassis, Andover
r First course: Butter-Poached Lobster with blonde lillet sauce and essence of beets.
r Second course: Dijon and Herbed Panko-Crusted Rack of Lamb with celeriac-apple puree and Provencal vegetables.
r Third course: Blueberry and Champagne Sabayon Gratinee with almond praline.
IF YOU GO
r What: Chef Showdown
r When: Tuesdays, 5 to 10 p.m.
r Where: 10 Center, 10 Center St., Newburyport
r Cost: $35 for three-course meals from two chefs. (10 Center's regular meal also available for those who opt against the showdown.) Reservations suggested. Call 978-462-6652 or visit www.tencenterstreet.com.
Blueberry and Champagne Sabayon Gratinee
With Almond Praline
For the sabayon
9 ounces egg yolks (approximately 10 yolks)
9 ounces granulated sugar (approximately 3/4 cup)
7 ounces dry champagne
10 ounces heavy cream
Over a hot water bath, mix the egg yolks, sugar and champagne to 180 degrees while constantly stirring.
Place mixture in a mixer and whip until completely cool.
Whip the heavy cream separately and fold into the egg yolk mixture.
Hold in refrigerator.
For the praline.
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sliced almonds
In a sauce pan, cook the sugar and water until the sugar reaches a dark amber or caramel color (be very careful; this is extremely hot). During the cooking process, use a pastry brush to periodically brush down the sides of the pan with water to prevent the sugar from crystalizing.
Remove the caramel from the heat and add the almonds, using a wooden spoon. Mix together.
Pour this mixture onto a heat-safe surface covered with baking or parchment paper. Allow to cool completely.
At this point, the praline can be broken by hand or with a mallet.
.
Assembling
Add a layer of fresh blueberries to the bottom of a souffle dish. Spoon on a layer of sabayon.
Add another layer of fresh blueberries and then another layer of the sabayon.
Place under a broiler until the top is golden brown.
Garnish the top with more fresh blueberries and pieces of broken-up praline.
— Kevin Carney, chef/owner Cassis Bistro Francais, Andover
Blueberry Tiramisu
For the chocolate pastry cream
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Heat the cream with the sugar and bring to a boil.
Whisk the eggs and cornstarch together in a bowl. Whisk the cream mixture with the eggs slowly. Add the chocolate to the cream and egg mixture and heat slowly until tiny heat bubbles form.
Pour mixture into a shallow pan and top with wax paper. Refrigerate mixture for about an hour.
For the topping
1 pint blueberries
1/2 cup crushed vanilla wafers
Place fresh blueberries in a 150-degree oven for about four hours to dehydrate. Toss with crushed vanilla wafers.
For the cake
24 lady finger cookies
1 pound cream cheese
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coffee
1 cup pomegranate juice
Cook the frozen blueberries with 1/2 cup sugar in a sauce pan until soft. Puree this mixture and refrigerate until cool.
Mix the coffee and pomegranate juice together and put in a squirt bottle.
Whip the blueberry puree with the cream cheese and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
On a baking sheet lined with wax paper, place six separate servings of two lady fingers side by side. Soak the lady fingers with half of the coffee and pomegranate mixture. Spread some of the blueberry-cream cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers. Top each with two more lady fingers and soak with remaining coffee and pomegranate mixture.
Place the chocolate pastry cream in a pastry bag and pipe attractively on top of the lady fingers.
Top each serving with a little of the blueberry-vanilla crunch.
Makes six servings.
— Harley Smith, executive chef 10 Center, Newburyport
