The Couples Cook off at Aggressive Appliances.

Posted on by Thor

Kristen Manieri the founder and editor of Orlando Date Night Guide was kind enough to invite M to document the championship finals for the second annual Couples Cook off happened on November 14. 2015 at Aggressive Appliances (617 Mercy Dr, Orlando, FL). Each of the four couples had then own state of the art kitchen in which to prepare their dish. I settled in at The Viking kitchen. I presumed the coup would arrive wearing Viking horn helmets, but it turned out this Viking is a brand of kitchen cabinet makers. I actually knew Rachel DesPlains because she had volunteers to pose to be in the Mennello Museum Mural. She and her boyfriend Mark Mastrangelo prepared a Filipino Chicken Adobo with a red cabbage slaw with orange vinaigrette.. Although I didn’t taste it, it looked delicious. Since they were the subject of my sketch, I was of course rooting for them to win. The room became crowded with spectators who s in all the chairs at the kitchen counter. I decided not to sketch the crowd to leave the kitchen and the cooking couple fully exposed.

There were plenty of gourmet bites and spirited sips for spectators while the finalist couples duked it out for the title of Orlando’s Top Culinary Couple! The  Cook-Off,
is a fast-paced, hands-on cooking competition, that brought together some
pretty awesome home cooks throughout the preliminary rounds in October.
After two heated rounds of competition at Aggressive Appliances, four finalists have now advanced to the Cook-Off Finals. People kept offering m food samples but my hands were busy.

Participating local vendors included: Whole Foods Winter Park, The Ancient Olive, Wild Ocean Seafood Market, Orlando Meats, Winter Park Distilling, My Father’s Table Cheesecake, Market to Table Cuisine, Olde Hearth Bread Co., Emma Bean, Quantum Leap Winery and beer from Whisper Creek Farm: The Kitchen.

Competitors were all given all the same main ingredients, and then the spice and secondary ingredient table was unveiled and contestant wrestled to grab what they needed.  Unfortunately Rachel and he boyfriend came in third place. Matthew and Kristin Cyr were the winners. They walked away with some amazing grand prizes, including a two-night
gourmet getaway to JW Marriott, Grande Lakes, a Wolf gourmet blender,
Tassimo coffee system, and Miele canister vacuum or a Kitchen Aid stand
mixer.

Couples Cooking Challenge Championship

Posted on by Thor

On November 14th the Couples Cooking Competition Championship was held at Aggressive Appliances, (617 Mercy Dr, Orlando, FL). The hands-on cooking competition was designed to give couples the opportunity to test their skills for the chance to win fabulous prizes and the title of Orlando’s Top Culinary Couple. Presented by Edible Orlando and the Orlando Date Night Guide, the contest gave couples the chance to compete in one of the 3 qualifying rounds, with one winner from each semi-final cook-off advancing to the finals. I sketched one of the qualifying rounds and then returned for the Championship. Contests were judged by local food personalities and writers, Joseph Hayes (Orlando
Magazine), Katie Farmand (Edible Orlando), Pam Brandon (Edible Orlando),
Adrienne Iannone (Whole Foods) and Cinthia Sandoval (Wild Ocean
Seafood).

There were some impressive prizes on the line including, A two-night gourmet getaway to JW Marriott, Grande Lakes including dinner for two at PRIMO, breakfast each morning in Citron, An American Brasserie, and two spa passes to the Ritz-Carlton Spa. The grand prize was a Sub Zero wine cooler. Other prizes included a Tassimo coffee system, a Meile canister vacuum, and a KitchenAid stand mixer.

A table with all the mystery ingredients was covered with a sheet. Each of the five couples was assigned their own kitchen which was prepped and ready to go. When the mystery ingredients were unveiled the contestants muscled in and gathered ingredients as if in a Black Friday frenzy. In the qualifying round they were polite and shared ingredients. Now with big prizes on the line it was each couple for themselves. Another unexpected twist came when they were told that the usual 45 minute preparation time would be reduced to 20 minutes. Everyone scrambled back to their kitchens and the competition heated up.

The couple I sketched was in kitchen 2. I spoke with them briefly after the dishes were finished. The primary ingredient everyone had to work with was shrimp. The couple made a modified grits dish to accompany the shrimp. One of the judges was tasting their dish as I was speaking to the couple. They watched her every taste, looking for signs of expression on her face. There were appetizers on hand for the crowd who came to watch the competition. I had to consider the sketch was none when the computer battery died. As a result of the competition, $800 was donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. In the end, it was Arti Kalidas and Chirag Kabrawala who, won the coveted title of Orlando’s Top Culinary Couple.

Couples Cooking Competition gets agressive.

Posted on by Thor

 The Couples Cooking Competition is a fast-paced, hands-on cooking competition designed to give couples the opportunity to test their skills for the chance to win fabulous prizes and the title of Orlando’s Top Culinary Couple. It is held at Aggressive Appliances, (617 Mercy Drive, Orlando, FL) which is right down the street from.

Presented by Edible Orlando and the Orlando Date Night Guide, the contest will give couples the chance to compete in one of the 3 qualifying rounds, with one winner from each semi-final cook-off advancing to the finals. Contests will be judged by local food personalities and writers like Katie Farmand, editor of Edible Orlando, Joseph Hayes, the Orlando Magazine dining editor, and Chef Israel from Second Harvest Food Bank.

Aggressive Appliances looks like an industrial warehouse from the outside, but inside, there were gorgeous, fully appointed, state of the art kitchens where the couples could compete. Each dish this evening had to include chicken. A table was set up that held key ingredients like spices and oils and a second table was covered with a cloth to hide the secret ingredient table. I decided to sketch kitchen 2 which came with a TV which was playing the cooking channel. The couple I sketched prepared a roasted chicken with a sweet potato chili hash. An appliance staff person was on hand in each kitchen to explain how to use the equipment. There was only one hour for the competitiors to get their dishes ready.

Only five couples get the chance to compete in each semi-final round.  On this evening there was going to be one winning couple and two wild card couples that would move up in the rankings. That made the chances of winning, 3 in 5. Each winning couple receives complimentary admission to the finals. The couples crowded around the ingredient table taking the supplies they needed for their recipes. Everyone was polite checking to be sure they weren’t taking ingredients another couple might need. Two couples agreed to split the rice.

Prizes for the winning couple include, a two-night gourmet getaway to JW Marriott, Grande L There was no elbows or punches thrown. The contestants then returned to their kitchens to start slicing dicing and cooking. The showroom filled with sumptuous aromas. iPhones were allowed in this semi final round but in future competitions there would be no digital crutches. The couple I sketched did refer to their phones a few times. Dishes would be judged on presentation as well a flavor. One couple kisses when their dish was done.

The the overall winners will get dinner for two at PRIMO, breakfast each morning in Citron, An American Brasserie, and two spa passes to the Ritz-Carlton Spa. Other prizes include a Sub Zero wine cooler, Tassimo coffee, system, Meile canister vacuum, KitchenAid stand mixer.  Arti Kalidas and Chirag Kabrawala won on this evening with their twist on a Moroccan tagine.

Proceeds from the competition support Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Entry includes all food, sit-down dinner with wine after competition and a fabulous swag bag filled with surprises. In other words, everyone is a winner. I went home and popped a frozen lasagna in the microwave for 10 minutes.

Mark Your Calendars!

The next competition qualifying round is Friday, October 17, 2014 and it is sold out.

The big Final Round is Friday, November 14, 2014 (A limited number of tickets
will be made available to those wishing to attend the finals as an
observer. These tickets will go on sale Oct. 20)