Food TV

I have to admit that I am one of those self professed girly girls in some ways. For example, I like snuggling more than watching sports. Of course, being that I am engaged to a sports blogger you can imagine how well that goes over. At some point in our relationship we have learned to compromise. I get to snuggle while he screams at the television watching sports. I have learned to appreciate them somewhat and in turn, he has learned to appreciate Food Network (who can blame him?). Needless to say when Chef Robert Irvine ended up at a Chicago White Sox game where he had to cook for two hundred people, it was a show that both of us were ready to watch.

Dominick likes to describe Dinner Impossible as Mission Impossible meets the kitchen. Since it’s a pretty good description, I will borrow it, as I am sure he won’t mind. While all of the food missions that Chef Robert is given seem impossible, this one takes the cake. He has to prepare food in the commissary of the Chicago White Sox Stadium. He can only use the typical ballpark food, which is frozen in boxes available to him, but he needs to give it gourmet flare. Now here’s the hard part. He is cooking for 200 retired policemen and their friends and he has to have the food ready by the seventh inning stretch. Oh, and that’s with completely frozen food and after throwing the first pitch of the game.

Chef Robert is British so telling him that he has to have his food prepared by the seventh inning stretch means little to him. He has no idea how baseball is played. When he learns that an inning can last for a really short time or can last for a long time he seemed ready to get to work. After all, an inning really is determined by just six strikes. He had to hope for the best otherwise he might end up in trouble, especially with all that frozen food.

So, once Robert learns about his mission, he immediately sets to work. However, the food is nowhere near the kitchen. Instead, the food is down about 15 flights of stairs so rather than making the meal plan, Robert grabs everything he can, along with his assistants and hopes for the best. While the assistants are taking everything up to the kitchen, Robert has to go out and toss the first pitch of the game. I say toss, because while it made it over the mound, it ended up bouncing once it got there.

He soon realizes how serious baseball can get when he spends an entire half of an inning making his dinner plans. Robert rushes to get cooking and reaches disaster when he places some meat on the grill that ends up thawing, shrinking, and looking all chewed up. He ends up having to toss the meat because otherwise, he’d be serving slop with his name on it, and Chef Robert doesn’t play that way.

Robert doesn’t stay discouraged for long though. Soon he has things moving along. On the menu for the evening was Swedish Meatballs in Dijon sauce, Pepper Crusted Corned Beef, Chicken Skewers, Chimichangas with Guacamole, Brats in a Blanket, Mango Ginger Lime Chicken Wings, Double Chocolate Brownies, and Margarita Ice Cream made with Dippin’ Dots and Margarita mix.

The food sounded and looked great and things were coming together, when Robert hit a snag and cut his finger. Due to time constraints he popped on a glove and kept on cookin’! Things looked pretty bleak for awhile due to the fact that this was one fast paced game, but Chef Robert was saved when he had one out to go. A pitching change came through, which meant little to him until he realized it gave him up to ten minutes. It was that ten minutes that was all he needed to get things ready and out to the sports box. Dinner was the best that any ballpark has ever put out! Dinner was a complete success, the mission was accomplished, and Robert has become quite the baseball fan!

The next Dinner Impossible will be on next Wednesday at 10:30PM EST. Stay tuned for the next recap as Robert faces his next “impossible” challenge.

Dinner Impossible, Chef Robert Irvine, Chicago White Sox, Dippin Dots, Food TV