Adam Montiel and Jeremy West, The Cork Dorks, competed in The Cork Dorks Culinary Throwdown 7.
Their challengers: Andy Morris and Scott Taylor, from First Look on KVEC 920 AM.
Both teams competed in a Thanksgiving Mystery Box Challenge at Idlers Home in SLO this Thursday, Nov 21!
The Judges were:
Bryan Idler, Idler’s Home
Kathy Signorelli, AGM Radio
Melissa Danehey, SLO County Food Bank
(CLICK THIS to check out the great work the SLO County Food Bank is doing in our community!)
The MC: our very own Suzanne!
As the crowd gathered and anticipation grew in the room, the Idler’s Home team put out a fantastic grazing table full of bites and Jennifer Idler was behind the bar pour some great wine and beer for the crowd.
We began with both KVEC & Krush getting a 3-minute unboxing session. The teams opened their Mystery Boxes to discover ingredients that they’d use to create some Turkey Day side dishes. Both teams got identical boxes and were required to use all items in some way. We also unveiled a general use ‘pantry’ full of additional ingredients that they teams could chose to use to customize their dishes and get creative to complete the meal.
In the boxes, there were ingredients to make: Green bean casserole, stuffing, and Ambrosia salad.
Idler’s Home’s Kaeleigh Moss prepared and cooked a turkey for each team and there was a turkey carving component to the challenge as well.
Teams were allowed to bring special dishes and utensils from home. Andy Morris of KVEC brought some family history with a special cast iron pan that was his Grandmother’s!
THEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED!
Jeremy smack talked Andy and then immediately spilled gravy all over the stove they were using because he poured it through 2 collinders thinking the supporting collinder was a pan! ha! Luckily there was more that did not spill still in play for The Cork Dorks!
Teams were allowed a ‘phone a friend’ call limited to 5 minutes. Jeremy and Adam were the first to reach out and they made the most of that! They called upon Chefs Greg and Kelly Wangard to ask about desserts! The creative couple were extremely helpful with ideas and measurements and even face-timed to see the pantry items!
Andy and Scott then phoned a friend as well. They called Liz Taylor (Scott’s wife) who was at the event! She wasn’t much help on how to make whipped cream but she was very encouraging!
Both teams brought also their own rolls from separate bakeries.
Then the crowd counted down the last minutes and it was time to present the dishes to the Judges!
The Cork Dorks creations: Open face Turkey Roll sliders with stuffing and homemade gravy, then green bean casserole with turkey with stuffing working into the recipe…like a Thanksgiving inspired pot pie! Plus, for dessert, The Wangards came through with a tasty idea for apples sautéed with walnuts and the Dorks included a sweet roll with sweet butter, fruit and a cherry on top.
Andy Morris’ and Scott Taylor’s plate were next! They served the Traditional turkey carvings, stuffing with crumbled sausage, traditional green bean casserole (baked in Grandma’s special cast iron), gravy, plus ambrosia salad with whipped cream for dessert!
In the end, the audience got to taste the different dishes, we tuned in to The Wheel of Fortune to see Bryan Idler competing on this week’s episode of the long running TV game show.
Results were in!
The Winners: The Cork Dorks!
Thank you for everyone that came, our judges, the teams and The Idler’s Home family and staff!
Check out some video fun from inside the event below!
And, you can hear the pre-event Liquid Lunch fun here:
