Upcoming Iron Chef Cook-off!

A Iron Chef competition is in the works with one of my roommates, Danielle. Consequently I've been reading up on different cooking magazines, cooking books and mentally planning meals the last week. What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How could I work the things that I do well into the competition, which will invariably involve multiple servings of the same dish (i.e. translating a big pizza into separate appetizers)? for your enjoyment...

Strengths:

- I think I am a decent cook overall. I've picked up a couple of techniques that I think can help win over a crowd. One dish I will probably try to work in is a type of stuffed chicken breast. The great thing is you can stuff it with just about anything. I find the trick is browning it in a skillet on both sides and then finishing it in the oven. Otherwise it becomes too difficult to try to cook the chicken all the way through and not burn it, all while not letting the chicken sit in a bunch of oil and getting too greasy.

I also feel like I make good pizzas (something that is a few years coming). I've been kicking around the idea of making small, mini pizzas. These could serve as appetizers of some sort. I haven't tried to miniaturize my big pizzas, but figure that it couldn't be too difficult.

- Potatoes. I eat a lot of potatoes. I've prepared them many ways. I can get good hashbrowns, homefries and potato chips, besides the obvious baked/mashed dishes. I feel this gives me a good advantage and flexibility with whatever gets thrown at me.

- Italian cooking. As mentioned with the pizzas above, I've been cooking Italian for some time. Risotto is a favorite that I don't make too often and can work well with lots of different ingredients. Pastas can come together nicely, too.

- Food Network. Ok, I know as well as anyone that watching people cook on TV does NOT translate to being a good cook at home. Practice makes a good cook. That said, remembering those little tricks and tips can help make that little difference in whatever you are preparing.

Weaknesses:

- Desserts. I'm not a big dessert guy, so this could pose a problem (especially if we go with a three dish requirement, appetizer, entree and dessert). I could minimize my loses here by staying basic and simple. My trump card right now is figuring out how to make homemade caramel sauce.

- Sauces. Besides my glorious homemade chicken gravy (see below posts) I haven't made a lot of progress by way of scratch sauces. I've come up with stir fry sauces that work pretty well, thanks in big part to Albert the China Chef where I work. On second thought, however, I've experimented with making port reduction sauces that have turned out pretty well, so I might be OK here, as long as I can play towards I've practiced.

- Presentation. I cook for myself. I don't care how the food looks on the plate. I don't present to myself. I'm lucky enough if there's still food left by the time I get to the table. I'll need to work on height of the dish on the plate (thank you food network) and spreading sauces on the plate all fancy like (see above problems).

All in all it should be pretty fun. Our kitchen is set up nicely for something like this, with two burners each, an oven each and half a prep area each. Depending on secret ingredients, I think it would be fun to do a new version of an old classic. Like spiffing up fish and chips, pizza or breakfast dishes. We'll see how it all comes together. I'm excited! I'm going to try to work in wine pairings to win over the crowd, too.