Tournament of Champions ™

Baker:

Season:

Week:

Joe

Tournament of Champions ™ Season 07

Challenge Type:

Sunchoke and Black Cod Chowder

Voiceover: "This is a sunchoke and black cod chowder. The sardines were used as the base of the chowder. A cream was crafted with some ham hock, thyme and the sunchokes. The use of the smoking gun was entirely with walnut smoke. There was a chervil, chive, and bay oil. Finally, the sunchokes appear in a brunoise with celery, walnuts, Meyer lemon zest, and sardine paste."

Joe Sasto: "I think high end lunch is really going to come down to presentation and portion size. I'm making a sunchoke and black cod chowder."

Joe Sasto: "I'm building my chowder in two parts. One pot with all of my mirepoix and veg. But first, another one with a heavily infused smoked cream. I just let that come up to a simmer before covering it with the smoking gun."

Joe Sasto: "The sardines are not as fishy as I thought, and there's a whole lot of infused oil in the can. So I'm going to get that oil going in the aromatic base for my chowder."

Joe Sasto: "I want to cook these sunchokes in a few different applications. Sunchoke chips for texture, and then raw. I also want to do a fresh sunchoke salad. Apples and sunchokes make a perfect pairing."

Joe Sasto: "Black cod can be a bit tricky. We have whole fillets with the pin bone right down the centre. I'm going to cut right around that and get little blocks of cod loin going into a pan of clarified butter. Then I take the blended chowder, get it into a hot pan, and I'm going to finish cooking my cod belly in the chowder."

Joe Sasto: "The belly of the cod is very thin and extra fatty. By cooking it as a slow poach in the chowder, there's going to be less of a chance of overcooking it and it becoming dry and flaky."

Joe Sasto: "I need to build my plate in layers. I have my brunoise shallots, apple, and sunchoke down at the bottom. Finished with the sunchoke chips and the fresh sunchoke salad. A beautifully cooked black cod with crispy skin. And then last, the beaker with the cod belly chowder and the bay leaf oil. Nothing reads more high end than a fine dining soup pour table side."

Michelle Bernstein: "I love when people serve me a soup on the side so I can pour in exactly how much I want. The sauce, however, has a really intense sardine flavor. The sardine almost takes over a little bit. However, the sardine was used so intelligently on this salad. This little salad with the nuts and the shaved sunchoke is so smart. It has that lemon, it has a brightness to it, and it cuts through the fat." Kenny Oringer: "The black cod cooked beautifully with the smoking gun. I was really hoping that there would be something to really cut through that fattiness, and the smoke definitely helps. I love sardines, but there is a lot of sardine going on here." Geoffrey Zakarian: "This is lovely, luxurious, gorgeous. I feel like I'm at a four-star restaurant in midtown Manhattan eating this. The flavor's delicious. The sunchoke is treated in a couple of ways, which shows a very learned chef. This is just a small miracle here on the plate." Final score: 80. Winner.

Would you like us to create a recipe to match this dish?

We try to create several recipes every day, and we'd love to prioritize a recipe for you. Just fill out the form and watch your inbox - no cost, no catch.

Email Address

Never miss a new recipe from your favorite cooking shows