Chef's Challenge part 2

View from stage right(?)

So I was really tired when I posted earlier today (this a.m.) and will most likely be passing out shortly (my attempt at a nap failed).

I have to preface this particular culinary adventure with this line: through my job, I was lucky enough to attend the first inaugural Chef Challenge. I attended as staff, but was able to enjoy many parts of the evening as well.

The Chef's Challenge with Gordon Ramsay, in support of Mount Sinai Hospital was generously sponsored by MasterCard Canada.

Billed as "Canada's premiere culinary fundraising event for Mount Sinai Hospital's lifesaving research and care of women in their daily battle against breast and ovarian cancer", the premise of the event was simple: raise money for Mount Sinai - and if you're one of the top 50 fundraisers, you get to compete in the culinary challenge. The coolest part?  Each fundraiser was assigned to a team captain, each one, a top Canadian chef: Mark McEwan, Lynn Crawford, Jamie Kennedy, David Rocco or Massimo Capra - all of Food Network fame.

And of course hosting the evening was none other than the culinary rock star himself, Gordon Ramsay.

As guests ate, the various teams would go and create culinary arts of work to impress the celebrity judges.  The evening was a mix between Hell's Kitchen and Iron Chef. The evening was absolutely amazing.

And what were the guests eating?

First course: butternut squash soup with chestnuts and sage, paired with 2006 Wildass Riesling.

My thoughts: amazingly creamy and paired perfectly with the riesling. There was a touch of truffle oil in the soup as well.

Second course: seared and marinated salmon, beetroot carpaccio, Gravenstein apple, honey and soy dressing, paired with 2006 Wildass white.

My thoughts: perfectly cooked salmon with a nice crisp wine. The wine was a blend of many grapes, but what came through most was what I believed to be the chardonnay. (Side rant: chardonnay is an amazingly buttery wine, which went with the buttery texture of the salmon).

Third course: braised Pacific halibut, fennel confit, tarragon and a red pepper vinaigrette served with a 2006 Stratus White.

My thoughts: the flavours were amazing, but the halibut was slightly overcooked.  The wine while good, clashed with the red pepper vinaigrette.

Fourth course: fillet of Ontario Angus beef, sweet potato fondant, glazed red onion and wild mushrooms, served with a 2006 Stratus Red.

My thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of Ontario reds, so I won't go further than this on the wine. The dish itself was perfectly cooked - LOVED the glazed red onion and the mushrooms. The beef was done medium rare (which is the ONLY way to eat beef) - my only hangup is that the beef didn't taste as though it had been seasoned.

Fifth course (dessert): honey creme brulee with clementine sorbet and hazelnut shortbread, paired with Inniskillin 2007 Vidal Icewine.

My thoughts: The wine wasn't too sweet (I'm also generally not a fan of icewines) and was a perfect ending. The overall dessert itself? Amazing - I don't have a sweet tooth, but I could've gone for seconds. I loved the shortbread (subtley buttery), and the texture of the creme brulee was perfect. The sorbet was good too - very refreshing - though I had to say I left that on my plate.

The food for the evening was catered by Daniel et Daniel.

But oddly enough, the focus of the evening was not on the food the guests were eating, but on the stage.

Encouraging Team Massimo

Gordon Ramsay truly is a charismatic man, and kept the action going all night. Not only was he funny, he was also extremely gracious. It's no wonder he's a media darling (though I don't doubt for a sec he has a temper, I'm now more convinced than ever it's all an act).

I was lucky enough to have access to the staging area and managed to snag a few photos as well.

Being back stage gave me a chance to see how the stage kitchen was set-up. Let's just say that a lot of work goes into making sure these kitchens are working.

David Rocco and a team member

Mark McEwan and part of his team

Team Crawford: the winning team

The event ran straight through until 11:30, with all the challengers working hard throughout the night. And while it was a tough call, Team Crawford was the strongest and placed first overall. The trophies?  Eggbeaters mounted on a base - genius!

But of course the best part of the night was when they announced over $1 million dollars had been raised that night.

It was definitely a night to remember, and one that this foodie will never forget.