Friday, September 21, 2012

The Sam Livecast Competition: Preliminary Round Win!


Me, Sam the Cooking Guy and Denice Hynd

I have been a HUGE fan of Sam the Cooking Guy for many years.  I remember laughing hysterically at the first show I ever watched as he burned his face from the steam of draining pasta in the sink!  So, when I saw that he was going to have a cooking competition in the "Red Kitchen," I broke out the video camera in seconds and had a submission video to him within 48 hours.  I was thrilled to find out that I was chosen as one of the eight lucky contestants.   Here's the submission video I sent him:


It was a one minute time limit for the video, but the last four seconds were so cute with little Baby Bodhi's voice in it, I didn't care if that disqualified me.  Fortunately for me, it worked!

I went back and forth with what to make, carefully taking the $25.00 spending limit and the 45 minute time limit into consideration.  My Buffalo Sliders with Roasted Corn and Chipotle Mango Salsa granted me advancement into the semi-final round and a new, embroidered Sam Livecast Chef's Jacket!  What a GREAT experience!

My new Sam Livecast Chef's Jacket
Denice Hynd was the person I was cooking with and she was nothing short of an excellent competitor.  When I asked her what she was making, I instantly shrunk a little with worry.  Her Pumpkin Beer Spicy Chili sounded amazing.  It was seasonal, easy, economical and healthy.  It sounded like something I would have loved to make and loved to eat even more!

My usual kitchen whirlwind showed up not long into the competition with a grill that shut off and a broken shoe, but I can honestly say, that if nothing goes wrong for me in a cooking competition...something is VERY wrong.  Those of you that know me, know this to be VERY true!

I took almost every second I had in the 45 minutes to created my dish and the judges took every second they had to decide.  It wasn't without much thought, a very close competition and lots of Facebook comments (on both sides) that I walked away with a win.  I never got to taste my sliders OR Denice's chili, but I'm thankful, grateful and super excited that the decision went my way.

Ending the night on a GREAT note!  Thanks so much!
We ended the night with a well deserved shot of whiskey in a wooden shot glass.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I am so thankful to EVERYONE that participated that night and I can't wait for the next round.  I'm already working on the next recipe, so keep your eyes peeled for the semi-finals.  You can watch the entire preliminary Livecast replay right here, below the recipe for my winning sliders!

As for being a Sam Livecast Competitor, here's my promise to all of you:  I will keep a POSITIVE attitude, maintain my INTEGRITY and COOK MY ASS OFF, no matter what happens!  Thanks for all your support and I hope to see everyone at the Fixtures Living Finals!

Buffalo Sliders with Roasted Corn and Chipotle Mango Salsa 


Buffalo Sliders with Roasted Corn and Chipotle Mango Salsa

Prep Time: 25 minutes /  Cook Time: 20 minutes / Servings: 9 sliders

Ingredients:

For the Sliders:
  • 1 1/4 lb. ground buffalo
  • 9 small dinner rolls
  • 1 tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup Kansas City style barbeque sauce (NOT Guy Fieri !!!)
  • 1/2 tsp. Raspberry Chipotle Rub (optional)
NOTE: I purchased the Raspberry Chipotle Rub at Temecula's Old Town Spice Merchants.  You can purchase it online here:

For the Salsa:
  • 1 1/2 mangos, peeled, sliced and chopped
  • 1 ear of corn, roasted with kernels removed
  • 1 1/2 red bell peppers, roasted and chopped
  • 1/4  medium red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. chipotle chile powder
Steps:

For the salsa:
  1. Heat a gas grill or burner to high heat.  
  2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. 
  3. Leaving the husks on the corn pieces, place the peppers and corn directly on the grill flame for about 5 minutes until blackened.  Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes.  
  4. Remove peppers from the heat and allow to cool for about 2 minutes before chopping.
  5.  Remove corn from the heat and allow to cool for about 2 minutes before removing husks.  To remove the kernels, place the husked ear of corn upright in a large mixing bowl and run a knife down the side of the ear, cutting the kernels off and allowing them to fall in the bowl. Using a spoon, break the kernels up individually into the bowl.
  6. In the same large mixing bowl, add the chopped mango, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, chipotle powder and salt & pepper.  Stir well with a spoon until combined. Set aside.
For the sliders:
  1. Heat grill to high heat.
  2. Combine ground buffalo, onion and garlic powder, barbeque sauce, raspberry chipotle rub and salt & pepper.  Mix well with your hands and separate into 9 small slider patties.
  3. Grill on high heat for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on your meat temperature preference. 
  4. Slice the dinner rolls in half and place one of the burgers on each of the buns.  Top with 2 large spoonfuls of the salsa and serve. 

2 comments:

  1. This is a great posting Heather, I enjoyed reading and watching it all, keep up the great work! Look forward to the next posting! Good Luck in the next round with Sam.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You look beautiful! That was so cool you lucky girl!! That was a test for Chop! You are ready chicky! xo xo

    ReplyDelete