Iron Chef Challenge over spring break

Over the break, I participated in an Iron Chef challenge among friends. We were split up into three teams, given a $40 budget and four hours to make three dishes that best incorporated peanuts. The dishes were judged by three independent judges, two of them were parents and a sister. The judges scored the dishes based on their taste, presentation and use of peanut.

Kevin, Eric and Jonathan C. were on my team and we worked very well together. The love we displayed while calling each other the n-word and other horrible names simply flowed into our work. The dishes were split up by person, with Kevin working on the entree (Pork chop with Thai peanut sauce), Eric on the dessert (Peanut butter and chocolate bar) and Jonathan C. on the appetizer (Jalapenos stuffed with peanut butter). I just sort of walked around and made sure everything was looking good. My shining moment was in the decorating stage, where I completely blew away the competition.

The darkest hour of the competition occurred when the jalapeno stuffed with peanut butter first came out of the oven. I was skeptical about this dish from the beginning but Kevin decided to use it for its simplicity and I agreed. When we tasted the dish, my heart dropped because the dish was terrible. I was sure that we were going to lose the competition because of the appetizer alone. Eric tried to save the dish by spicing it up with salt, cayenne pepper and coconut milk but it did not help much. In the last hour of the competition, I make the decision to drown the peppers in coconut milk and top it off with cayenne pepper. And it worked! Well sort of, it turned the dish from terrible to passable.

Certain individuals on one of the teams from the onset of the competition, was very arrogant and obnoxious and I wished for nothing more while I was cooking than to win and rub it in their faces. When we did finally win, I was damn obnoxious about it, though Kevin was not too humble either.


Eric crushing graham crackers



This was Kevin's second Iron Chef but somehow he still manages to look confused



This was Jonathan C. first time cooking and it really showed...



Kevin's responsibility was the pork chop entree



Eric was in charge of the dessert which was the highest ranked dish



Kevin cutting up a pepper for the pork chops



Jonathan C. was in charge of the appetizer, jalapenos stuffed with peanut butter. This dish stole the show with its "creativity"



Lounging around after finishing all of our dishes way too early



Left to right: 1) Pork Chop with a Thai peanut sauce. 2) Peanut butter bar. 3) Jalapenos stuffed with peanut butter.

- Iron Chef muffinman