Tournament of Champions ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Glazed Pork with Butternut Squash Two Ways
Voiceover: "Judges, this is a glazed pork steak with butternut squash and watercress. The glaze that finished the dish was maple smoked shoyu. The drippings found their way into a butternut squash puree. The tale of that puree begins as such: it was peeled, it was diced, and it was microwaved in seasoned water. Another half of that diced butternut squash became the dice, and the microwave was also used to craft the pickled red onions. Glazing the plate and portions thereof is a calamansi and champagne vinegar gastrique."
Chef (Marcel Vigneron): "I go through my Rolodex of dishes, and I think glaze on the pork as I'm cooking it with soy sauce and honey on a bed of butternut squash puree and some pillowy, medium diced butternut squash."
"I'm no stranger to TOC. I know you gotta use the randomizer as many times as possible. So I'm going for two glazes. I've got my gastrique, and then I also have my smoked shoyu and maple syrup glaze, which I'm brushing onto the pork. And then the butternut squash puree but also the butternut squash dice. That's two boxes, not just one. That's what you need to tip the scales."
"First, I put my microwaved butternut squash puree, diced butternut squash right on top of that. Then we take our glazed pork blade steak on top of the diced butternut squash with the calamansi gastrique."
"And last but not least, microwaved pickled red onions, the watercress. I tried to check as many randomizer boxes as possible. We're just gonna have to let the judges decide."
{Scott Conant}: "I gotta tell you something. That is delicious. This is sensual. This is deep and developed. I love the usage of the onion here. It's such a nice pickle. The beautiful watercress on the plate. That great puree. There's so much goodness here, chef. Great, great cooking."
{Kenny Orringer}: "Whoever cooked this is a true master. To get that to cook to this perfection. It's still pink inside. And then glazing it and getting those bitter notes in because it's super well charred with a super sweet puree in the bottom. And those pickled red onions. And then getting all these other flavors to work so well. Well done, chef."
Marcus Samuelsson: "How can you, in 30 minutes, cook something this big, this tender? It is brilliant, brilliant cooking. The butternut squash, the two textures, the funkiness of the gastrique. But I got a couple bites that were definitely a little chewier than I probably would have liked. And the watercress, it kind of gets lost on me in this."
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