Tournament of Champions ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Passion Fruit BBQ Presa Iberico
Kabocha and Passion Fruit Barbecue Presa Iberico with Wet Grinder Spice Crust, Soft Kabocha Puree, and Crunchy Kabocha Sticks
Randomizer: Protein: Presa Iberico | Produce: Kabocha Squash | Equipment: Wet Grinder | Style: Crunchy and Soft | Wild Card: Passion Fruit
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "This randomizer feels a little bit more towards my wheelhouse. I am starting to lean towards barbecue. I know that I can balance the sweetness of the squash and the passion fruit into a barbecue glaze. And then presa iberico lends itself to grilling and cooking, marinating it like you would a steak. That is something I want to put on the grill."
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "I plan to turn and cut some steaks, then put them in a marinade first. The acidity from that is going to help tenderize and break down the pork. Passion fruit, Dijon mustard, smoked shoyu. I want that to marinate before I crust it in spice. First time I have used one of these wet grinders before. Let her rip. And then we use that as the rub for the pork."
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "I have the black peppercorn, pink peppercorn, coriander, and fennel."
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "I know this works in a very high speed blender, but I am putting that into a piece of equipment that I do not know if it is going to work. This puree has to be luscious and rich. Wow, that is a pretty smooth puree. I started juicing the remaining pieces of squash to start my barbecue glaze. I am just going to glaze the pork after it is done. The sweetness will come from the squash."
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "I will use this fat to build a secondary sauce. Adding onions, garlic, a little chorizo for heat, and I squeeze a little bit of passion fruit in there too for sweetness. For a crunchy element, I am using a mandolin to cut the squash into really fine julienne and fry that at a low temperature so it gets nice and crispy."
{Bryan Voltaggio}: "The first thing I am doing is place the puree down the center of the plate. I put the barbecue glaze, two slices of pork, and the crispy element right on top. Should be served medium rare."
Voiceover: "This is kabocha and passion fruit barbecue presa iberico coated in a wet grinder crafted spice mix, with a soft kabocha puree also crafted in the wet grinder, and crunchy kabocha sticks. In terms of soft and crunchy, those crunchy sticks are audible and that puree could be described as soft, along with the gentle cook of the presa iberico."
Mei Lin: "The use of the wet grinder to make that spice mix to crust the presa, I thought that was very ingenious. But also to make this amazing smooth kabocha squash puree. I would never have guessed that came out of that wet grinder."
Susan Feninger: "This dish is gorgeous. The kabocha squash two ways is really nice and a great use of it. The pork is cooked perfectly."
Brooke Williamson: "I love the fact that the spices were started whole and then crushed in the grinder, because I am getting little pops of coriander in the seeds. The only thing I will say is I would have loved a slightly harder sear on the outside of the meat. Just a little bit more caramelization."
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