Tim Ferriss Recipe Contest!

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who entered! This contest is now closed, and we've chosen two lucky winners. See the results here!

ChefSteps is partnering with Tim Ferriss in support of his TV show launching on iTunes, which you can read about here: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/04/28/tim-ferriss-experiment/. The best part? We've got a contest for you with one heck of a grand prize.

Contest rules

Create a dish based on what you learn from any ChefSteps class or video—free or paid—and post your results below. Post should include images of your dish, details about how you created it, and where you have promoted it on social media.

The ChefSteps team will select one winner of their choice from all submissions based on the creativity of the dish, description of how the dish was created, and description of how it was promoted out on social media. Final decision is up to the sole discretion of ChefSteps.

Deadline is 12 pm Pacific on May 27, 2015. No exceptions. Winner will be selected by the ChefSteps team and notified no later than 5pm Pacific on June 5, 2015. Void where prohibited. No purchase required. You must be over 18.

Grand Prize

Winner may select one of the following: Dinner for four prepared by the ChefSteps team at the ChefSteps' kitchen in Seattle with Tim Ferriss himself and ChefSteps co-founders Chris Young and Grant Crilly. Dinner will take place on a mutually agreeable date. Hotel accommodations will be provided for the winner and guests (up to two standard hotel rooms), but winner will be responsible for his/her own transportation to Seattle. Winner may also forgo the dinner, if unable to travel, for $1,000 in cash.

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Comments

tshewman

I'm starting to wonder if I'm posting in the right place for the Tim Ferriss experiment contest..but here goes:

This is a dish with a number of recipes and techniques taken from ChefSteps videos/classes. Sous-vide vegetables (for the Daikon), High-Tech veggie burger (for the meatless meatballs), fluid gel class for gelled soups in the faux clams and mussels, Sous vide class for the carrot ginger chicken tenderloins and infused vegetables for the Ponzu pickled watermelon rind (the “T” in the chop) . Perhaps the largest challenge was what dish to..........."do over".......and why. After graduating high-school (many years ago) the "high-class" dish of that time for me was a surf and turf, which consisted of any number of things....steak and shrimp to pork chop and rubbery lobster tail.........so, I wanted to redo the dish and turn things around a little. So what was the surf and turf? The idea was an exchange.....where some of the turf was surf and..........some of the surf was turf........flavored………over all just tried to make things fun and different than what is normally expected....yet taste good. I remembered that the meal generally came with soup and a salad which I normally passed on or ate because….well, I was going to pay for it anyway, but looked for a way to bring those two elements into the dish while maintaining the remaining portions (the “main proteins). While researching what to do and reading through some of my books for inspiration, I came across an egg dish in Mugaritz where they create an egg shell from Mannitol. I had an idea to create edible sea shells (mussels and clams) using the same technique. I couldn’t find any molds online, so I had to figure out how to make them. I then looked more on line and stumbled on an unseen Heston episode (I thought I had seen them all) where he did precisely the same for the mussel shells. Though my flavoring was going in a different direction and was also doing the clam shells, it was somehow comforting I was on the right track. It turned out to be an exploration in food grade silicone, mold making, working with hot sugar (which continues to be an exercise in burn healing J) and food coloring. The molds were pretty easy to make and getting the thickness of the shells was pretty easy, but darn that sugar is hot. The biggest challenge was to create a grey clam shell. Lighter black didn’t work, combining white and black proved to be challenging as I couldn’t find any white food coloring (go figure), so I had to rely on a couple of things, combining a dark ivory (which is not what I imagined ivory to be) and timing and made the shells a couple days in advance and allowed the color to weep. It worked “ok” for some and not so well for others and would be much easier with a grey food coloring (if it existed). I made a soup and tried to make a savory custard (similar to recent ones) thinking that would be ideal…..but the soup just stayed………as soup. This actually worked to the benefit of flavor, because then I could eliminate the milk and eggs, and significantly reduce the cream and maintain a luxurious mouthfeel and good flavor release. This worked quite nicely. I found though that if I made it in the actual faux shells, it was easier and better than making it in the molds and transferring. Lots of fun with that portion of the dish.

For the Faux scallops, I didn’t want them to just taste like a vegetable and look like a scallop. I wanted an exchange of flavors. The beef suet as a poaching liquid and searing environment gave me just what I needed.

The faux lobster tail is the one part that needs the most work…..mostly with color and I probably should have “pre-carved” before cooking. I used RM to bind the two loins, tied the ends and joined them to create a sort of ½ moon (lobster tail-like) curve. But it needs more color (like apple skins or something. Still tasty but needs work.

The Pine nut sushi came out of an idea for using rice and the watermelon (ala Mugaritz) where I was just going to replace the faux tuna with the compressed, roasted, frozen/thawed roasted again smoked watermelon. But that’s where I suddenly got the salad inspiration and made a pine nut puree to help bind the pine nuts, and added the remaining elements of the…..salad….so between the mussels, clams, and sushi, I had my soup elements.

The mushroom meatballs were a no-braner to help round things out. I cooked them in a combination of beef fat and toasted sesame oil to help marry them into the other elements of the dish (they were delicious!).

The watermelon rind as the bone for the faux chop (using tuna) came out of no-where while I was shopping. If I were to do that again, I would pull 1 less vacuum cycle to keep the bone color a little more real. To carve and insert them into the tuna was easy and the crunch added a wonderful contrast and the Ponzu naturally complimented the tuna.

So what did the final dish consist of?

1. Faux Sushi - Pine nut sushi with lemon zest, goat cheese, watermelon, mint leaf and lemon thyme garnish.

2. Beefy mussels (pho beef soup gelled and served in the edible mussel shells).

3. Foul grey clams (chicken tortilla soup gelled and served in an edible grey clam shell).

4. Faux Lobster tail (Chicken tenderloin cooked in carrot ginger butter topped with a ginger/carrot foam and chervil garnish).

5. Faux scallops (Daikon Radish, poached in beef suet and seared) with chervil garnish.

6. Meatless Meatballs (Mushroom meatballs) seared in beef suet and toasted sesame seed oil.

7. Faux bone-in chop (tuna with a ponzu-pickled watermelon rind as a bone and a faux demi glaze).

Everything was well received with some elements (the edible mussel and clam shells) being both delicious and surprising). When announced on Facebook (it’s the only social media group I subscribe to) ChefSteps, Mugaritz and Heston Blumenthal were all tagged. I announced that I had a Chefsteps course I was going to give away free to anyone that wanted it………no one replied/responded and I got a fair number of likes and comments. Uncertain why no interest in the class. The Faux mussels were also a great visual surprise!

Just not what was expected (a goodthings) yet very well received. Was a fun learning process, well received and allot of fun to do. Thank you for the opportunity and for continuing to push many of us forward.

Some pictures:

Finished dish - Surf and Turf

mussel and clam molds

Foul clams. Edible clam shells with chicken tortilla soup gel

Watermelon rind cut to a "t" for pickling

Ponzu pickled watermelon rind

Sebastian_26225

I was captivated by the idea of transforming a tough cut into a tender steak through cooking sous vide. Wanting to take a traditionally chewy piece of meat and serve it like a steakhouse cut, I began to think about my favorite steak pairings. The flavors of Argentina and vibrant green chimichurri came to mind, a perfect pairing. I gave a notoriously tough piece of meat, chuck steak, a quick pre-sear before sealing it with olive oil, garlic, and parsley, I cooked it at 136 degrees for 24 hours. The day of, I made a chimichurri sauce with fresh parsley, oregano, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and chili flakes to compliment my beefy steak. Echoing Argentine cuisine, I dropped spheres of roasted red bell pepper into an alginate bath to create a garnish with contrasting flavor and color. Once the steak was done, it got another quick sear in a smoking hot cast iron pan to set the crust before slicing. Buttermilk mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and crispy garlic chips rounded out the dish and perfectly complimented the tender, crusty chuck steak.

Social Media:

I plated the dish live on Twitter through Periscope.

I also posted the video to YouTube.

I tweeted a few pictures of the process and finished dish on Twitter and Instagram.

I also posted the photos to a Facebook photo album.

For everything I tagged Tim Ferriss and ChefSteps and used the hashtag #dinnerwithtim

Twitter: @CulinaryArtsSci - https://twitter.com/CulinaryArtsSci

Instagram: culinaryartssci - https://instagram.com/culinaryartssci/

Sebastian_26225

I'm not sure why youtube didn't link correctly. But here's a proper link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqw08R5tV1Y

naithaddi

sous vide Cod, curried celeriac and fennel purées, with traditional ratatouille. Only promoted on Instagram.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Super simple dish. But it covers pretty many things.

Cryo fried steak, not in liquid nitrogen but based on advice from Chefsteps.

Vacuum chamber pickles.

Sous vide taters.

Sous vide bearnaise.

Compressed tomato.

Promoted on G+ and I think FB as well as Pinterest.

douglas_bd

Dish: Scallop. 10 Accoutrements

A couple weeks ago, I received a sample of Roland Mussel Powder. From what I can tell, it is mussels that have been (freeze?)dried and blitzed to a very fine powder. With a bit of water it makes a very aromatic broth that smells oceanic and umami (can you smell umami?). Anyway, there were no instructions, preparation details, or ideas for use, but it was intense in flavor, and called out for me to do something with it. I decided it would be interesting to build a dish around it for this challenge.

I thought the flavor intensity would hold up well as a foam, and decided it would pair well with a scallop to bring a briny sea note to the plate with a sweet scallop. I started to flavor bounce through the history of ChefSteps dishes to come up with a list of flavors that would all marry well together in a single dish. Sweet butternut squash puree, caramelized carrots, coffee butter, pork belly, cured lemon peel.

I liked the idea of playing the purity of the butternut puree off of a similar puree made from caramelized carrots. I've used the coffee butter to finish scallops before and love the over-the top richness of the combination. Pork belly seemed like it might overpower the dish, but I thought of the microwave prosciutto recipe, and that a crispy pancetta chip could bring some saltiness and texture. The lemon didn't seem quite right, but a cured orange peel seemed a much better fit. Some burnt scallions, dressed with a touch of champagne vinegar, reminiscent of the ChefSteps charred rapini. I thought a touch of tarragon and basil flowers would give it an herbal-floral note. And finally, a few wisps of smoke to finish the dish. I didn't want a heavy smoke, but just a fleeting feeling of smoke, similar to the way it's used at El Celler de Can Roca for a baby octopus dish. I didn't have fancy serviceware, but improvised with a mason jar and 3 small holes punched in the lid. Here's the original sketch of the dish as I was contemplating how it would all fit together:

As I prepped all the components, I decided that a mussel foam could be too heavy, and wanted it to be light and ethereal on the dish, so I ditched the siphon foam approach and pulled out the went for a lighter 'mussel air' to complete the dish.

For my social media blitz, I created a video of the plating of the dish and posted on YouTube. (Check out the fine mise en place, or marvel at nearly a minute and half long gratuitous crotch shot...it has something for everyone, or at least enough to garner 99 views (come on 100!) in a day and a half.)

https://youtu.be/B0i38sEi95k

I posted to my facebook friends and asked them to share.

Shots went up on Instagram and Twitter. (@BDDOUGLAS)

And of course I posted to the What's for Dinner thread on the ChefSteps community forums.

I uploaded the dish recipe onto the community recipes page: http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/scallop-10-accoutrements

Finally, I posted to my blog about not confusing mussel powder with muscle powder, the pretentiousness of Mussel Air, and the thought process behind the dish.

Rafal_172423

My contest entry that I would like to be graded is available here on my blog!

I made:

Sous-vide NY Strip Steak (55C/131F for 90 minutes) on a bed of Green Pea Mash
Chive butter for the steak
Caramelized carrots with orange juice and honey reduction inspired by this ChefSteps recipe
Multi-colored baby potatoes with caramelized baby carrots

I have advertised my post on Facebook and tagged it appropriately.

Again, please have a look at my full contest entry available here on my blog as this comment form is no good for a detailed overview, presentation, or writing anything substantial in!

Thanks for this contest ChefSteps team and Tim Ferris!

(tech/IT note: I will not be editing my website from now on as the contest is closing very soon. If needed to verify authenticity, `curl http://rafal.io/posts/tim-ferris-chefsteps-contest.html | shasum` should produce the hash 551aa142e301f4571340afa0087a1ee38fd9235f).

Abishai_Powers_174088

I am Abishai Powers and this is a recipe I created for Mexican Meatloaf Sliders. I was inspired to create this to fulfill a bucket list goal for me and my dad. He talks to us a lot about what he learns from Tim Ferriss, and we want to meet him. I find that some of it goes over my head, but dad helps us understand how to take what we need to learn out of all the jumble of what everyone wants to make you learn.

Tim’s contest is the first time we had heard about ChefSteps, and we have really enjoyed their classes. Mom has made part of our homeschooling program and I couldn’t be happier. I watch shows like Masterchef Jr., and I want to be able to cook like that. ChefSteps helped me change the way we cook. We discovered that we like weighing ingredients instead of measuring them, because I too, hate doing all those dishes!

I know the contest said 'under 18 only' but I really wanted to enter. I asked my dad about that and he said, "Screw it. If you do an awesome job, Tim will recognize that."

Mom and I worked together on this recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. My grandparents came over and helped us with the tasting. They gave it a big thumbs up!

The creation of this meal was the only way I could think of to combine the southwestern flavors I liked at Moe’s with the love I have for a good burger. Learning to make the bun was a totally new experience for me. There is a lot more precision required when you’re baking instead of cooking. We used the slider recipe from the ChefSteps kitchen and gave a small twist by sprinkling the buns with taco seasoning. It added a little pizzazz to the buns. Below are the ingredients for the burger patty…

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 lb. Ground Turkey

2 Eggs

1 cup Bread Crumbs

½ cup Diced Onion

2/3 cup Diced tomato

½ cup Diced Jalapeño

½ cup Diced Green Bell Pepper

¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp Chili Powder

2 tsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp Seasoning Salt

½ Tbsp.Pepper

Instructions:

Mix the ground meat and egg whites together until well blended. Add Worcestershire Sauce, Bread cumbs, Garlic, Chili, and Onion powders, Pepper and sea salt. Mix with ground meat well and set aside.

Mix together Onions, tomatoes, Jalapeño, and bell pepper. Add seasoning salt and mix well.

Fold veggies into meat carefully but thoroughly.

Make your patties to the size you want.

Bake the patties on 350° for 15 – 20 min.

Then drop them onto a preheated grill or pan and cook for 2 min on each side.

Options:

You can always top your burger with the things you love. The choices I made were to use crispy turkey bacon and grated cheddar cheese as my bun protector. Keeping the patty juices from making the bun soggy. Top the patty with a slice of American cheese, because it’s my favorite, but my dad preferred the pepper-jack. Then we gave ourselves a nice helping of homemade salsa to give added southwestern Pizzazz.

I promoted my recipe on my blog at https://abishaipowers.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/cooking-up-some-mexican-meatloaf-sliders-for-tim-ferriss/

I made my dad promote it on his blog at https://coffeescholar.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/my-son-wants-to-meet-tim-ferriss-and-me-too/

Then my dad posted it on various Twitter and Facebook feeds for his different businesses, at least 20 places I think.

Then I have my own Youtube channel where I cook and a video was on there promoting it as well at https://youtu.be/9LoqChEYfMo

I really hope I win. I want to meet Tim and do parkour with him and I'll probably take my dad too although he'll act like a little fangirl when he meets Tim.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Way to go! Looks awesome!

tshewman

Nice Abishai! looks delicious!

Chris_170001

Hello, my name is Chris, Here is my entry:

Sous vide chicken thigh, pan seared over avocado and spinach sauce (with a squeeze of lime and dash of salt), and a side of brussels sprouts pan seared in bacon fat and reduced in a creamy parmesan sauce, garnished with bacon and parmesan cheese.

Background:

I am a long time fan of Tim Ferris and have been following his blog and books since the launch of the 4 Hour Work Week. Fast forwarding to today, I purchased the season pass that led me to ChefSteps. I have been thoroughly enjoying ChefSteps and have been very thrilled at the level of detail in the videos. This level of detail was great enough to help me successfully make and enjoy my first Sous Vide meal! I also have been following a Ketogenic diet so I wanted to make a high fat low carb dish. I got the inspiration from the Sous Vide basics video for the chicken thigh. The chicken thigh was seasoned with salt and pepper, marinated in olive oil, and was cooked in the bag at 149° F for an hour and a half. After removing the chicken from the bag, I then pan seared the skin side for a delicious crispy top. The sauce was made out of spinach, avocado, and avocado oil. I also added a touch of lime juice for some citrus kick to the avocado flavor. This particular sauce was inspired from the Green Pea Mash recipe. To finish the main dish, I garnished it with 2 lime wedges.

For the side dish, I have recently been experimenting with a vegetable most people hate, brussels sprouts. I wanted to utilize something that most people dislike simply because they have had the food item poorly prepared in the past. I cooked bacon in a cast iron skillet and set aside. I then microwaved the brussels sprouts for quick cooking from the video “Making the Most from Your Microwave” (which was very interesting and has saved me lots of time since!). I then pan seared the brussels sprouts in the same pan with the bacon grease. After a quick sear i added some heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese to let it reduce to a sauce. This was partially inspired from the video “Broccoli Cheese Sauce” but also from some of the Keto meals I have prepared. They came out perfectly and I had to fight my fiance for the last bite! (She Won)

ChefSteps has helped me become a better cook by encouraging me to experiment and add my own twist to some of the recipes and videos. As I stated previously, I have been on a low carb high fat diet for almost a year and half so it is so empowering to be able to make yourself healthy meals. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that Tim has recently been deep into a keto diet so I hope he appreciated this meal designed for a Ketogenic diet

I have shared this meal on my Facebook and Google+ (I do not have a twitter). I have also been telling almost all of my friends and family the gospel of ChefSteps!

Tim and ChefSteps will continue to inspire me and I appreciate the chance to be in the contest! Thank you for all that you both do and continue to do!

Sincerely,

Chris

Cooking 4 Chicken thighs, 2 bone in and 2 deboned to see any difference (cook time was the same but deboned was obviously easier to eat).

Bacon cooking in the lodge Cast iron dutch oven combo as recommend in the 4 Hour Chef.

Brussels sprouts after being pan seared and reduced in the heavy whipping cream and cheese sauce.

The finished product again from the top