BB7: The Iron Chef Edition

I watch my fair share of food-related programming on TV and one of the shows I often find while channel-surfing is Iron Chef America. In this culinary game show, a theme ingredient is revealed at the beginning of each episode, and the two competing chefs must make 5 different dishes using that ingredient. For instance, the secret ingredient may be chocolate, in which case the chefs are given access to a table laden with every form of chocolate imaginable, and the chocolate may be used in all kinds of interesting sweet and savory dishes. It is fun to see that even simple ingredients have such infinite potential, and to see a familiar ingredient being used in imaginative and new ways.

BB7 is the Iron Chef Edition.

The theme this month, inspired by the Iron Chef culinary competition, is One Ingredient, Two Ways. We are iron food bloggers, no doubt about it, but seeing as we have real lives outside of blogging, you know, little things like families, jobs, classes, kids- 5 recipes with one ingredients may be a wee ambitious, but 2 recipes is quite within our reach.

Select any ingredient- it could be a fruit, vegetable, legume, grain, herb, spice, flour, nut, even something like coconut milk or frozen peas or soy sauce or gluten. What you choose as your theme ingredient is entirely up to you. It could be something familiar or exotic.

Then, cook that ingredient in two different recipes where both recipes are inspired by other blog(s). For instance, you might choose chickpeas and make (1) hummus and (2) chana pulao. Or you might lemons and make (1) lemon rice and (2) lemon cake. You might choose coriander seeds and make two different types of masalas. This is simply a way to see how a single ingredient can have many different uses.

The Rules

1. From now until September 25, look through your favorite blogs and use one ingredient in two different recipes. 
2. The recipes have to come from other blogs; that is the whole premise of Blog Bites, so please turn to other blogs for inspiration. 
3. The two recipes you make with one ingredient can come from the same blog or two different blogs. 
4. Write a single post telling us about the 2 recipes you tried with one ingredient, with the following: (a) A link to the recipes on the inspiring blog(s), (b) A link to this post (the event announcement), (c) Picture of your dishes.
5. Please write a post specifically for this event. 
6. Please do NOT copy a recipe word for word from another blog- that would be both illegal and unethical. Either re-write the recipe in your own words if you have made substantial changes, or simply add a link to the recipe. One of the reasons I am hosting this event is to remind ourselves that when we use recipes from other blogs, we must be fair and honest in giving them due credit. 

Please make sure your entry meets all the rules above. Then, send me the link (URL) of your entry at the following e-mail address: OneHotStove AT gmail DOT com

You can send in as many entries as you like.

I will try my best to be a good host, by reading and leaving a comment on your post and thanking you for the entry within 2-3 days. Check back on September 26 to see the round-up. If you choose to participate, please take the time to come and read the round-up, read your fellow participants' entries and enjoy the event.

The food blog world has so many interesting events going on and it is easy to get lost in the frenzy of participating in them. For myself, I have decided to slow down and choose carefully, to participate in fewer events but spend more time writing a post specifically for that event. And then, I will try to be gracious and make sure I read and appreciate the round-up, to appreciate the theme of that event and learn something from it. I'm reminding myself that quality beats quantity every single time, and so I have tweaked the rules of this event to reflect that as well.

Thank you for your participation!