inspiration

the new season of top chef appeared unknowingly on my dvr last night. i admit it. it is the only reality show i'll admit to watching. i apparently programmed it months ago for the new episodes only. for those of you not in the know, it's survivor meets iron chef. a cooking competition. budding chefs vie for a feature in wine and food magazine and exactly $100,000,000,000. i may be a little off on that figure...

one of the features i've figured out on this show is that a lot of fancy chefs merely reimagine classic dishes with flair. there are several flavors you don't want to overdo, as they'll compete with one another. sweet. salty. spicy. you wouldn't put strong versions of any of these together. i'm still trying to figure out how to balance these competing flavors when i create on the fly.

tonight as i watched that episode of top chef, i tried again. mostly because i forgot my climbing stuff to go to the gym on my way home, but partly from television inspiration. ingredients. a whole chicken. two sweet potatoes. a can of french onion soup. brown rice. black pepper. garlic. cooked the rice, mixed it all together, shoved it in the chicken, and spread it around the chicken in my casserole dish. cooked it for an hour and change. screwed up by cooking it upside down, but it turned out pretty damn good. i might just have to make it again sometime.

when i have a guest or three...