Dinner with Iron Chef Alex G

A couple of weeks ago we were fortunate enough to attend the New Hampshire Food Bank charity event called “The Steel Chef Challenge” held at the Double Tree by Hilton in Manchester NH. This event brings four NH chefs together in a chopped like setting where the chefs are given a stocked pantry. Then the audience picks two surprise ingredients. The chefs are given 20 minutes to create a dish that is judged by three judges.

One of the most exciting things about this event is that the MC of the event was Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. This was so exciting as she is one of my all-time favorite celebrity chefs and she did not disappoint. Chef Alex was gracious, kind, funny and generous as she also donated two of her personal knives to be auctioned off at the event. I should mention not only was it a food competition but also an auction to raise as much money as possible for the NH Food Bank.

This event started a little bit earlier if you were a VIP. We were invited to have appetizers that were cooked by a number of local chefs. Many of these chefs were past competitors in the Steel Chef Challenge. There was also an open bar during this time. The big part of this time was the meet and greet with Chef Alex. Everyone was given a chance to have their picture taken with the chef and have a moment to say hello. When this part of the evening was over we all moved into the dining area where we all found our assigned tables. Within just minutes the event was started and the beginning of our dinner was being served.

The competing chefs for this event, were given a bag of Doritos and sardines as their challenge ingredients! They also had to use steak and scallops in the dish.

Our dinner started with a baby kale salad with butternut squash, pickled haricot vert, cheddar curd, toasted pumpkin seeds and a creamy Calabrian chili yogurt dressing. For the entree, we had a seared filet with a red wine and shallot Demi glaze along with chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s lobster ravioli. The ravioli had a saffron brown butter sauce, and on the side was balsamic roasted Brussel sprouts. Our last course was an amazing maple creme brûlée with a gingerbread cookie. Needless to say no one left hungry!

When the 20 minutes were up each chef presented their dish to the judges and crossed their fingers. The event then went into the auction portion of the evening where so many amazing donations were bid upon. Items included everything from Patriots gear, 2-night stay in Key West and a trip to Colorado and, of course, Iron chef Alex’s knives.

The final portion of the evening was finding out what chef won the challenge. I am pleased to say the chef from Earth’s Harvest from our home town of Dover, NH was the winner. Congratulations to all of the chefs as they were all terrific!

The NH Food Bank has put this event on for the past four years. The last two had Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and the year prior they had Chef Robert Irvine. To keep up to date with this and other events that help the NH Food Bank, like and follow them on Facebook.

Enjoy!