Neil Clooney - Bite of Oregon's Iron Chef (2009)

There were five chefs competing in this year’s Iron Chef Oregon competition, including myself, but as I was the reigning Iron Chef, I got a bye all the way to the final. It was nice to able to soak up the atmosphere, drink some beers from local breweries and watch the other competitors scramble to produce one entrée for each of the three judges in 30 minutes using the mystery ingredient as the centre piece for there dishes. The other four chefs came from all around Oregon including one other chef from Ashland, Franco Console, who pretty much cruised through his preliminary round, and the semi-final to set up an all Ashland final and a repeat of the 2008 Food and Wine Classic final.

It was exciting to have this Iron Chef final up in Portland being represented by two Ashland chefs. It was time to throw down once again for 30 minutes of cooking, with more than 1000 spectators watching Saturday night’s main event.

After all the introductions had been made the mystery ingredient was unveiled, it was Kajiki aka Blue Marlin. It was an impressive piece of fish that is similar to Ahi in its structure, but opaque in color. Neither Franco nor I had ever worked with it, but with only 30 minutes to produce one entrée we were eager to get on with the competition. We both had identical pantries and produce to work with and a sous chef to help us.

Thirty minutes flies by fast so it’s imperative to have some sort of game plan when you go into these competitions if you are going to succeed. My game plan was to do a side by side tasting of Kajiki. I cut the fish into six equal sized squares (three plates remember, two pieces per plate) and poached half of it in chili lime infused olive oil, this was served with fennel confit, peach and corn chutney and arugula oil. The other pieces I pan seared and served with baby sauté potatoes, bacon wafer and chive foam.

Neil Clooney - Bite of Oregon's Iron Chef Competition (2009)

Both sides of my dish ate well individually and when eaten as a whole dish, the flavors were very complimentary to each other. The judges tasted my dishes first and then Franco’s, and then it was a nail biting ten minutes of deliberation and point counting. In the meantime, the guest commentator was Rahman “Rock” Harper season 3 winner of Hell’s Kitchen who was keeping the crowd entertained and asking us questions.

As the results came back, all was not as it seemed as the judges had somehow scored a draw. Franco and I couldn’t believe it as only a point had separated us in the last Wine and Food Classic final in Ashland last year and now we were tied once again.

The judges determined that the deciding vote was up to Rahman “Rock” Harper, who didn’t seem too thrilled about this but took the challenge anyways. After what seemed like an eternity Rahman “Rock” Harper decided that I had done enough to be awarded the title of 2009 Oregon Iron Chef, much to my relief and obviously Franco’s disappointment.

Another fun year and I’m excited that I was able to win two in a row and looking forward to competing next year. I have a funny feeling its going to be an all Ashland final again.

Chef Neil Clooney

As well as this business venture, First Place Food, I have some cool events coming up the next month. On August 8th, I get to defend my Oregon Iron Chef title at the Bite of Oregon in Portland, which is a great event for the food scene in Oregon. On August 11th, I get to teach again at Allyson’s cooking school right here in Ashland, Oregon. Fresh from teaching my first risotto class, which was a huge success and was able to showcase how versatile the “risotto” can be. Allyson’s cooking school has asked me back to do pasta cooking class. Anyone would think I was Italian. So exciting and busy times ahead, I’ll keep you posted on how everything pans out with First Place Food.

Thanks Neil Clooney