It's Throwdown Time!

Heeee hee. He said beet battle.

Nah, too many people don't like Beets ( surprising to me, but true. )

Some other ideas :
Mushrooms
Fish
Pomegranate ( seasonal)
Cheese ( I think this one could be very popular- "Battle du Fromage" ).

Deb

Nah, too many people don't like Beets ( surprising to me, but true. )

Cheese ( I think this one could be very popular- "Battle du Fromage" ).

Deb

I can see my offering now; cheese on a plate.

You don't mess with good cheese.

Nah, too many people don't like Beets ( surprising to me, but true. )

Cheese ( I think this one could be very popular- "Battle du Fromage" ).

Deb

I can see my offering now; cheese on a plate.

You don't mess with good cheese.

Totally agree. I was thinking more common cheeses, like fresh mozzarella, cheddar, Kenny's or Capriole cheeses as an ingredient in a dish. It works for all courses.

how about a non-meat theme ingredient?

Like a Beet Battle? Would it sell?

I don't believe it would sell anywhere near as well as the Kentucky bison battle We'll certainly one of our vegetarian/Vegan friends but they are certainly not the majority in the food community. Basing a throwdown on such a theme I'm afraid would greatly reduce the attendance.

[Robin Garr]

Like a Beet Battle? Would it sell?

No.

I like Leah's idea in general, though: Burgers or chili or banh mi or something else that could easily be done meatful or meatless or somewhere in-between, and let each entry rise and fall on its own flavor merits?

[Robin Garr]

By the way, for the record, I think APRON should definitely be the beneficiary. HotBytes has been a part of this venture since the beginning, and I'd like to see us rack up a few pence for such a worthy local restaurant related cause during the cold hard months of winter.

Juleps Catering is in...but not for an eight-course meal! How about one course for each organization?

RIBS !!!!

How do you judge an app vs. a main vs a dessert? I've judged before I'm not sure how this would work...

How do you judge an app vs. a main vs a dessert? I've judged before I'm not sure how this would work...

Well, you'd have to judge it on: Taste, Eye Appeal, Success in its Category. Many TV chef competitions do this. Not everyone has the same dish or the same course, right? I'm just weary of competitions where everyone has to taste 40 chilis or 20 chowders or 15 shrimp-and-grits. I think diversity brings real competition.

How about "Battle Comfort Food"....If ya thinks about it, the theme would certainly open up an entire genre of possibilities. Meat, meatless, etc, etc....

BURGOO!

Or ribs - ribs would be great, too (only with Steve - I UNSupport it w/out him).

Maybe a second category for greens? Or spoon bread?

Orr...

Rolled oysters?

:!: How about "Battle Comfort Food"....If ya thinks about it, the theme would certainly open up an entire genre of possibilities. Meat, meatless, etc, etc....

That's a pretty damn fine idea there Steve-O. I knew you were on the payroll for a good reason!

A great category that could be open to everyone including the home cooks, all sorts of interpretations(Old Fashioned Traditional to Deconstructed Modern Techniques), and a variety of dishes, including desserts! I have a judging criteria that could work well for this.

I would definitely like to throw my hat in the ring for this and start working on the gory details
.
It would be very cool if we could figure out a way to somehow squeak this into part of the ACF Conference in March. There will be VERY qualified judges already on hand. They will be judging the various culinary competitions that are part of the conference.

Perhaps the opening Icebreaker Reception could be an option because I'm already working on making that a smaller version of a "Taste of" event anyway. But for that to happen, the tickets would have to be a minimum of $50 per person.
Also it's on a Friday evening at 7:00 pm and not the best time to get restaurants involved as that's when the entire city goes out to eat.
Just a thought though.

You could broaden it a little to root veggies - " What's in the Root Cellar?" Type of theme??