Tournament of Champions ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Glazed Pork with Butternut Squash Puree
Glazed Pork Blade Steak with Butternut Squash Puree and Glazed Walnuts
Voiceover: "We have blade steak. A glaze was constructed by juicing butternut squash. The chef also took the butternut squash, broke it down, and put it into Chef Mike (microwave!), letting Chef Mike handle the cook completely until it was removed, mashed with a little bit of butter and salt, and then finished with the second glazing of glazed walnuts."
Chef (David Viana): "Blade steak grilled glazed with a butternut squash glaze."
"The microwave, also known as Chef Mike, is high powered, and I thought that I could get the squash cooked in there really quickly. Pork blade steak is a really good blank canvas. Glaze is one of my favorite cooking styles. So I'm going bold. I want things that are going to really catch the judge's attention. I'm gonna add fish sauce, white balsamic vinegar, and then I vacuum seal it so it really infuses with the steak and will actually really caramelize once I get to the grill. I really want to go for char umami barbecue flavor to go with the sweetness of the squash."
"I want to use the butternut squash to make a glaze. I want salty, sweet umami. I'm going to add fish sauce, sugar, white balsamic vinegar, and a little bit of crab paste because it needed a little bit of funk."
"I'm putting food on this plate. Put the glaze at the bottom of the plate and sit the squash on top of it. I add the nuts, put the glaze on top of the steak. I'm finishing with mint. I really hope the judges appreciate the depth of flavor."
{Scott Conant}: "Perfect. Most perfect cook on this pork. That char on the exterior is absolutely perfect. It's dark. It has texture to it. It also has that beautiful, deep flavor. The glazed nuts, also beautiful."
{Kenny Orringer}: "I just love the sweetness against the char. Also, the way they glazed and caramelized those nuts. Gives you that crunch. Sweet and a little bitter. Really craveable."
Marcus Samuelsson: "Look at that char here. It's beautiful char. And then it's glazed like barbecue. But in Southeast Asia, you get that crab and the fish sauce. Really, really tasty. But I would have loved if the caramelized squash was a little bit more pureed. They cooked it in the microwave, but they didn't finish it enough in the microwave."
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