One down!!!

This was a fun battle albeit very nerve wracking!!! Our food really came out great and all in all we were very happy with it. The hit of the night with the judges was the "turduckin" which we had some fun with. I cant stand the tradtional turduckin as it just seems so ridiculous to me so we had to do these three wonderful birds some justice!! We did a crunchy stuffing, topped with a poached duck egg, turkey cracklin and a chicken liver sauce..yum.
The strange thing about the editing was that we presented both the turkey and dessert family style in honor of my favorite holiday and i was a little disappointed not to see them that way. None the less the judges really seemed to love all of our flavors and the riffs we put on a traditional meal.
After watching this episode i need to get ready for my biggest challenge so far...cooking for my family on thursday!!
Ill try to get some good turkey day recipes up for everyone in the next couple of days.
Live to cook!!>>>MS

Comments

[Maureen L.]

VICTOIRE!!!!!!!!

haha, CONGRATS on your 1st win! You are so awesome. Your personality is infectious and hmm your food looks yummy too. I haven't had the chance to test for myself but when I get the chance to visit, Lolita will definitely be on my checklist.

GOOD LUCK with everythingggg!
YOU'RE HOT!

[Anna]

congrats - Off to a great start! :-)

[Shelley]

Is it me? Is it the editing? Steingarten seems a bit quieter, heavier, and more geriatric. What gives?

Delighted to see you score Big Time, Symon! It all looked delicious.

[Bill Burge]

Ah turduckin. I totally called it yesterday on my blog -- Albeit, not the kickin' riff.

Thanks for doing the non-Chicago Midwest some justice.

[J.K. Simmons]

First competitor down! more to come! great job! But i wonder did you use the dish that you spilt the grapa on? if so did it alter the flavor? good luck on your big challenge thursday! Enjoy your thanksgiving and good luck on the next one!

[Jenni]

Great Job Symon!

I have been cheering for you since from day one of the Iron Chef Challenge. I was thrilled to see you win you very first battle and an "Offical Iron Chef". I loved your play on the the turduckin! Good Call

I look forward to visiting one (or both) of your restuarants soon!

Keep up the great work :)

[cheryl k]

Way to go Chef Symon! Battle Thanksgiving was great fun to watch. This is the most intense I've ever seen you! Got to get my books autographed by Ruhlman on Saturday, then another cardiac win by the Brownies, followed by your win. Yet more reasons to be glad I'm from Cleveland!

[HoosierMama]

Congratulations on this latest win, Chef Symon!

"cooking for my family on thursday!!"

Dang, I wish I was in YOUR family. Would love it if you could share some recipes and save my poor family from having to eat Paula Dean's corn casserole again.

Cheers to you and yours this Thanksgiving...

[ktdid747]

CONGRATS Chef Symon!..the Thanksgiving challenge was sooooo much fun to watch! (love that you kept things traditional but put a little spin on it).. look forward to seeing your other challenges!

I will be hosting our Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday (and I love cooking on this holiday).. though I always have to stick with our traditional way of doing things (or I would hear about it, believe me! LOL), any great recipes to try as alternatives would be much appreciated!!!-maybe something with apples? (and have any good recipes for the leftovers?? ;)

hope to see you at Lola soon to congratulate you in person-planning on trying to make it there to celebrate my birthday (I'm just hoping we can get reservations before the year's end! LOL! ;)

[thomas]

well done, chef!

i knew you were going to serve family style, i wonder why they edited that out? that's the other half of the food experience at thanksgiving; sharing it.

hope they get you a better chef's coat next season.

have a great holiday.

[Laura]

Why can´t we get the recipes of Iron Chef programs??? Food looked yummy!!
Fun and inspiring to watch you cook as always.
Love your sense of humor!!

[Mommy]

Congrats Chef!

[Angela]

Man! Crispy skin, silky egg yolk, and creamy liver... I'd have to go be alone with that dish for a while.

[Lisa]

LOVED watching you compete last night!! It was so exciting, and inspired me to help cook some of this year's meal and avoid the dreaded green bean casserole (ugh!). Thanks for inspiring the secret chef that's inside all of us!

[Kelly]

You were so much fun to watch! Thanks for inspiring me with my impending thanksgiving dinner.

I hope they let you cut the sleeves off of your jacket!

Kelly

[Erol]

Chef,

Greatings from New Hampshire.

Solid showing and my wife and I were really pulling for you. I became a big fan before I knew you were from Cleveland, but that just seals the deal.

We will be in Browns Town later this week and look forward to trying that Crab Gnocchi and Tomato Bisque @ Lola. Sounds delicious!

Keep up the solid work and stay true, I was surprised about the whole lack of family style thing at the judging table last night too...

Good Luck Brotha!

[Guillermo Perez Companc]

Mike:

We were more nervious this time with your first battle than the final, your talent and creativity are incredible.
I missed the short sleeves, maybe the network does not agreed with your tatoo. Can wait to see Chris and Aaron battling in the Iron Chef Stadium.
Happy Thanksgiving
GPC

[Kristin]

Congrats on your first win as an Iron Chef! Your dishes looked fantastic, way to go!

[Janine]

Hey Michael,
I loved watching you on Iron Chef! I look forward to the future shows. Hope to visit Lola sometime. You're hot in the kitchen! Good luck!

[Mary Hunt]

Great job, Chef Symon. I was cheering you all the way through the Next Iron Chef competition. You're in the big time now. And you are my fav.

[Mary Hunt]

Great job, Chef Symon. I was cheering you all the way through the Next Iron Chef competition. You're in the big time now. And you are my fav.

[Kathy]

Congrats on win numero uno! I'm sure there will be plenty more to come. :) Everything you made looked totally awesome, and I would have loved to be one of the judges!

[Kelly B]

Congrats on everything!! So cool to say I know an Iron Chef!!

[Cher]

Greetings from Barbados, West Indies!!

Well Chef, you are the greatest! Some friends and I are hooked on Food Network and watching you guys on Iron Chef is absolutely thrilling. Due to time zones we had to wait until about 11pm to watch you beat the pants off Besh ( nothing against him, but we prefer your style). We were on the edge of our seats and when you won, well it was yelling and screaming and I swear we woke the neighbours, we were so hyped we couldnt go back to sleep and I was late for work the following morning.

One last note, one other reason why you are held in high esteem here in paradise is this....your signature ingredient is PORK....wohaaaa....we consider ourselves the grand PORKISTS of the world..i am convinced Barbados consumes more pork per capita than any where else in the world.....So Iron Chef Symon...may you continue to succeed and give us the enjoyment in watching you at every turn...dont know if I will ever get to Cleveland, but if we do we know where we are coming.....Keep smiling and Good Luck!!! PS, gosh that denim must have been hot..yea...but you wore it well.

[SS]

You were awesome!!!! What we love about you at our house is that you stay true to yourself. Your laugh is contagious! Keep on winning...Best of luck!!