Choosing an Iron Chef Theme: Idea and Tip

We had Iron Chef on Sunday and it was great fun since:

1. We hadn't done Iron Chef for about 6 months,
2. Bets was in town and many people hadn't met her husband, J-Duck, and daughter, JV, and
3. We got to meet new people and see old friends who had never attended IC before.

Realizing I needed to send out the invitation quickly, I made up a theme and it turned out perfectly.

So here's my Iron Chef theme idea: Iron Chef: Battle Summer Fruit.

Use it. Love it. Work it.

Unlike Iron Chef: Battle Germany where we all ate very little and felt like the potatoes and bratwurst were just sitting at the bottom of our stomach, everyone brought light and sweet and flavorful dishes that you could easily go back for seconds.

This leads me to my Iron Chef theme tip: when choosing a theme for Iron Chef, choose a lighter ingredient as your secret ingredient.

People end up zhuzhing it up anyway with different ingredients, sauces, and fats, so don't worry about flavor. Plus, everyone won't get stopped in their tracks by too-filling foods and will be able to try everyone else's creations. Let's just say I don't think I'm going to be choosing foie gras as an Iron Chef theme anytime soon!

Those were my two bits. Thanks for listening!