Quarantine Chopped Challenge: Cooking Up a Remote Sense of Community

Itchin’ for Some Friendly Competition

Like many other workplaces, our offices have been closed for quarantine, and our team has moved entirely to working remotely. We at Mission Data have been craving a bit of that sense of community that has been lacking as of late. We’ve taken steps in that direction by repurposing some of our Slack channels to encourage some extra activity, sharing, fun & games. However, some of us in our #homecooks Slack channel wanted to get a bit more hands-on and find an outlet for some pent up creativity; throw in a dash of mystery and a pinch of competition, and voila! — we decided to host a friendly Chopped Challenge: Remote Edition!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with a “Chopped Challenge,” Chopped is a competition cooking show on the Food Network where the contestants are presented with a basket of mystery ingredients and must cook a meal using all of them within the time limit. Since we’re all working separately, and there’s a lot of uncertainty in finding what you need in the grocery store right now, we decided we needed to give a solid 2-week deadline for all the Mission Data aspiring chefs to comfortably get the 4 mystery ingredients, prepare a dish or meal, and submit the results to me.

← View previous articles in our COVID-19 Series:
• Part I: Looking at the Glass Half Full Amidst a Crisis
• PART II: Free Content Available While You’re in Quarantine
• Part III: Tech to the Rescue

Let’s Get Cooking!

I announced the official start of the challenge, along with the 4 Mystery Ingredients our contestants would use:

• Pearl Onions
• Coconut Flakes
• Wasabi Peas
• Maple Syrup

Our first challenge had 5 contestants, who would use these ingredients to prepare a dish of their choice, and submit the results to be voted on by their coworkers via Slack within 2 weeks from the time the ingredients were announced. The voting categories were Best Presentation, Most Creative, and Best Lip-Smackability (as we sadly couldn’t actually taste anyone’s submission). Contestants were to provide me with photos of their dish, the recipe, and some sort of review of the dish’s taste (from the picky children you live with or your over-critical self) by the deadline. How did they do? Let’s look at the results!

🍴 If you’re interested the recipes and reviews for each submission, please see the full article on our blog: Quarantine Chopped Challenge: Cooking Up a Remote Sense of Community

The Submissions

Todd’s
Wasabi Pea Crusted Tofu on a bed of Coconut Rice, with a side of Maple Balsamic Brussel Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Pearl Onions.

Lucas’s
Toasted Coconut Pancakes
Wasausbi Poppers™ ©

Ro’s
Coconut & WaSabi Pea Battered Tilapia
Wasabi Pea & Roasted Garlic Aioli
Pickled Cucumber + Shallot Salad
Maple Syrup Candied Bacon Swiss Chard

Eric’s
Kiss My Spicy Grits, Sweet Griddle Cake!

Rachel’s
Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Avocado Wasabi Smash topped with Maple Syrup Quick-Pickled Shallots

The Results

We presented the submissions in a random order, and with no credit to the chefs, for our colleagues to all provide unbiased votes for their favorites. Everyone had one vote to hand out for each category and a few days to allow everyone to chip in. Afterward, our final tallies were made, giving us our winners! 🥁 Drumroll please…

😋 Best Lip-Smackability goes to Rachel!

For her delicious looking Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Avocado, Wasabi Smash topped with Maple Syrup Quick-Pickled Shallots. Yum, yum!

📸 Best Presentation goes to Todd!

For his meticulously presented Wasabi Pea Crusted Tofu on a bed of Coconut Rice, with a side of Maple Balsamic Brussel Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Pearl Onions. It’s Instagram-ready!

🎨 And Most Creative was a tie, going to both Ro and Eric!

For Ro’s Coconut & WaSabi Pea Battered Tilapia, Wasabi Pea & Roasted Garlic Aioli, Pickled Cucumber + Shallot Salad, & Maple Syrup Candied Bacon Swiss Chard. And Eric’s Kiss My Spicy Grits, Sweet Griddle Cake! They certainly had fun with this challenge.

Congrats to all our winners, and we succeeded in finding a fun diversion away from our normal day-to-day remote routines by spicing up the community with a bit of friendly competition. More contestants are joining our next Chopped Challenge that is currently underway. Those aspiring chefs are currently working with Rhubarb, Black Garlic, Zucchini, and Maraschino Cherries. Good luck to them all!

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