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Mochi

Season 16, Episode 7

"Mochi Obliged"

Chopped Champion Cole Dickinson

Episode theme: none

Original air date July 9, 2013

Image of mochi; dessert round ingredient.

Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay

Meet the Chefs

Regina Chen

After graduating from culinary school, Chef Regina Chen spent 12 years working up from the line to head chef at Maison Akira, a French-Japanese restaurant (now closed). Chef Chen took a break from the daily grind for a few years, taking consulting roles focused on menu development, restaurant opening, and restaurant operations. These experiences built towards the opening of Rice & Nori in 2018. Chef Regina's fast casual Japanese food concept has grown to two locations in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood and South Pasadena, CA.

Cathy McKnight

Chef Cathy McKnight completed a pre-law degree before changing paths and attending culinary school. An early adopter of the movement towards local, seasonal cuisine, she co-founded a boutique catering company in the late ‘90s in Orange County, CA. The catering business, What A Dish, grew into a cafe and bistro still operating today under different ownership. Since then, Chef Cathy has served as a consulting executive chef to several businesses focused on meeting specific dietary needs: Model Meals – a prepared meal delivery company built to help customers achieve the Whole30 diet/lifestyle – and Eilo's Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant and catering company that specialized in locally sourced paleo food.

Jason Quinn

Chef Jason Quinn studied history and chemistry before realizing his passion for creative food. With no formal culinary training, he learned the restaurant business by working in multiple positions, interned with Chef Kerry Simon, and reached an executive sous chef role. Then, at the height of the food truck trend, Chef Jason and his partner Daniel Shemtob started The Lime Truck. Their successful truck finished in first place on season two of Food Network's Great Food Truck Race, which led to establishing his first brick-and-mortar, Playground, in Santa Ana, CA. Chef Quinn is a serial entrepreneur who launched a bakery, Dough Exchange (twice closed), several food hall stands (closed), and a bar, Recess (still open). Although the COVID pandemic led to the end of Playground's iterative ten-year run, Chef Quinn has evolved again. In the same space, he has reopened a new membership lounge concept, DTTN 2.0, with an adjacent 18-seat culinary theater, Trust, offering chef-guided multi-course dinners with wine pairings.

Cole Dickinson

Chef Cole Dickinson’s humble first role in the restaurant industry was as a busboy, however he would go on to cook in multiple world renowned kitchens. A protégée of Chef Michael Voltaggio, Chef Cole worked at several of Voltaggio’s establishments, including the chef de cuisine role at the acclaimed modern restaurant, ink., that he occupied at the time he competed on Chopped. He also competed as Chef Voltaggio’s sous chef against Chef Bobby Flay on season 11, episode 9 of Food Network’s Iron Chef America, and again on his own on season 3, episode 11 of Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen. Chef Dickinson has also worked with other culinary heavyweights logging stints at Fat Duck in London, Michelin-starred l2o in Chicago, and with Wolfgang Puck in Hollywood. After traveling the world, he settled in the San Francisco Bay area. Since 2018, Chef Dickinson has been the executive chef overseeing all food and beverage operations at MacArthur Place in Sonoma, CA, including the flagship dining room, Layla Restaurant.

Hungry for more?

Try making Chef Cole’s Dutch Baby pancake recipe at home!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy cream

  • 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting

  • 3 eggs

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 cup milk

  • 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

  • 2 bacon slices, diced

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

​Directions

  1. Put an 11-inch French skillet or ovenproof sauté pan in a cold oven. Preheat the oven to 475°F.

  2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the cream and the 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar. Pour the mixture into a cream whipper and charge with the cream charger. Refrigerate until ready to use.

  3. Put the eggs, flour, milk and vanilla in a blender. Blend on high until frothy, about 30 seconds, stopping the blender to scrape down the sides as needed.

  4. When the oven is preheated, put the butter in the hot skillet. Return it to the oven until the butter melts and browns, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully pour the batter into the hot skillet. Bake until the Dutch baby is lightly browned and the sides have risen, 17 to 19 minutes.

  5. Meanwhile, heat a 9-inch French skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Discard the fat in the pan. Return the bacon to the pan, add the maple syrup and simmer over medium heat for 20 seconds. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

  6. Remove the skillet from the oven and let the Dutch baby cool for 3 to 4 minutes.

  7. Cut the Dutch baby into wedges and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately with the whipped cream and bacon syrup. Serves 4 to 6.

Recipe excerpted from WilliamsSonoma.com.

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