What does it take to be a Master Chef contestant?

Spiced Duck Crostini with Wine-Soaked Cherries--would chef Ramsey approve?

"Master Chef " is Gordon Ramsay’s new reality cooking show that pits talented home cooks against one another for—according to the secretive paperwork—“a substantial cash prize.” For the twenty-five Seattle hopefuls eager to appear on the show, the last week has been a frenzy of auditions, questionnaires, third-person essays, and home cooking video demos. One of my good friends, Marc Schermerhorn, is one such finalist chosen from the over three hundred Seattle-area applicants who made it through the first open audition at Kirkland’s Sur la Table. Local chef Eric Tanaka of Tom Douglas’ restaurants was one of the participating judges, and other finalists include food critic-turned cook, Leslie Kelly, Scott Heimendinger of SeattleFoodGeek.com, musician Greg Ehrlich, Michael Natkin of Herbivoracious.com and Linda Miller Nicolson of SaltySeattle.com.

“Initially I didnt even consider auditioning for Master Chef. A lot of my friends pushed me to apply, and when the invitation was broadcast on Twitter, the pressure increased exponentially from a lot of the great cooks and professional chefs I've met through this medium. I got a lot of responses saying "You HAVE to try this--you're the best home cook I know," says Marc. In the end, “the competitive part of me liked the idea of seeing where I'd stack up against other home cooks in Seattle who are (ideally) cooking at their best.” And though he has no intention of giving up his day job at Microsoft, Marc—modest that he is—neglects to mention that he graduated as valedictorian with a perfect GPA from the Art Institute culinary school several years ago, and has gone on to stage at The Herbfarm, Poppy, and most recently, a day at renowned the Charlie Trotter’s restaurant in Chicago. His proudest moment at Trotter’s? “I worked through both services at this legendary restaurant, working closely with my assigned chef who told me at the end of the night if I wanted to move to Chicago, I'd have a job there in a heartbeat.”

The day before his audition, Marc had us over, and we critiqued his dish—a seared and sliced duck breast crostini, topped with pickled onions, and wine-soaked cherries. For hours, we went over each component—the cherries were re-cooked and made a little softer, a heavier hand was used in the spicing of the duck, the meat brushed with a Canlis recipe for lavender jelly to tie everything together, and bring a touch of sweetness and visual appeal. The day of his audition, Marc seared three duck breasts, left the kitchen to grab his coat and phone, and returned to find his dear Dalmatian, Blanche, licking her chops. Yes, Blanche had gobbled down all three duck breasts—and he had no time to spare before his call-time. “After an epic mood swing and sense of sheer panic, I quickly seared the last duck breast I'd held in reserve, threw it into the container and rushed out the door for my audition. I arrived with 2 minutes to spare,” he said.

During the audition, the judges asked the candidates a series of general cooking questions to test their knowledge in the kitchen—questions like: “How do you fabricate a chicken?” and “How do you cook asparagus?” Candidates were graded, and then twenty-five were asked to move onto the next round of more in-depth interviews. Finally, this weekend, we gathered at Marc’s house to film his audition tape—a 35 minute reel that illustrated him preparing his signature dish, oxtail lasagna, a tour of his 700+ cookbook collection, and a quick jaunt to the U-District Farmer’s Market for a chunk of Seabreeze Farm’s guanciale. And now, fingers are crossed—finalists will be finding out very soon whether they’ve been chosen to appear on the show, and filming is rumored to begin as early as February.

I’ve asked Marc to share his recipe that so impressed the judges at his Sur la Table audition. The recipe is loosely based off a recipe from the Herbfarm, which was then further reinterpreted by local chef Becky Selengut before we adjusted it again after our taste-test last week.

(I’d like to offer a hearty congratulations to all twenty-five Seattle finalists who’ve made it this far into the competition. I have no doubt that our fair city will be well represented on Master Chef!)

Spiced duck breast crostini with wine-soaked cherries

Crostini

1                      Baguette, sliced into ½” thick slices

½         cup       Extra virgin olive oil

½         cup       Bing Cherries, dried

3          sprigs   Thyme

1          tsp        Lavender, dried

½         cup       Sugar

1          cup       Red wine

¼         each     Red onion -- sliced into paper thin slices

2          tbsp     Red wine vinegar

¼         tsp       Salt

1          pound  Duck breasts -- about 2 large

Spice Rub

½         tsp       sea salt

¼         tsp       black peppercorns

¼         tsp       coriander seeds

½         tsp       fennel seeds

2          tbsp     rosemary leaves, fresh

½         tbsp     thyme leaves, fresh

¼         tsp       Lavender

Sichuan Peppersalt

1          cup       Kosher salt

½         cup       Sichuan Peppercorns

Instructions

Duck Breast:

Seasoning the Duck: 

If you have a spice grinder, combine all the rub ingredients and grind together well.  If not, grind the ingredients in a small food processor or a mortar and pestle. Score a grid in the skin of the duck being careful not to cut into the meat. (This helps the fat render, as well as allowing the spice rub to penetrate the surface more easily). Rub the spice mixture into the duck breast on both sides and allow the duck to rest, ideally overnight but it’s still great if you need to cook it right away.

Cooking the Duck: Heat a pan over medium high heat and coat the bottom with olive oil.  When hot, add the duck breasts, fat side down and turn the heat down to medium. Let the fat render from the duck breasts and slowly brown the skin.  This process should take about 10 minutes.  Turn the duck breasts over and if they are small cook for only 2 minutes on this side and let rest off the heat lightly covered for 5 minutes before slicing ¼” thick for medium rare. Cook for 3-4 minutes if the duck breasts are large. Slice on a bias to fit baguettes.

Bing Cherry Lavender Compote: In a small saucepan, add the cherries, thyme, lavender, sugar and red wine.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until most of the wine is absorbed. Set aside.

Pickled Red Onions:  Soak red onion in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain and mix with the red wine vinegar and salt. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, mixing occasionally until it turns a bright fuscia. Set aside.

Sichuan Peppersalt: Combine salt and Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan. Heat over medium flame, shaking occasionally, until peppercorns become fragrant and begin to pop. Ensure peppersalt mixture toasts but doesn’t burn. Remove from heat, grind in spice grinder and sift through fine mesh sieve.

Assembly:

Dip one side of baguette slices in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toast in 375-degree oven for 8-10 minutes until top is toasted and bread crisps. Remove from heat.

Place sliced duck breast on baguette slice, top with two thin slices of duck and sprinkle with Sichuan peppersalt.

Place 3-5 cherries on top of duck, drape with 1-2 slices pickled onion and a bit of frisee dressed with a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.