'Tacular #32: Choppedtacular Round-up!

Our 32nd 'Tacular was hosted by Sara and Dan on a chilly January evening. Teams had been assigned specific courses and a list of mandatory ingredients that their dish had to include. The rundown:

• Appetizers: Ground beef, shitake mushrooms, cheese, ramen
• Mains: Quince, goat cheese, dried apricots, artichokes
• Desserts: Candied ginger, coconut milk, prosciutto, acorn squash

With these bizarre combinations of ingredients, some of us were feeling a bit nervous about how tasty our concoctions would be. However, we all proved to be worthy citizens of 'Tacular Nation because our dishes were awesomely delicious! So, what'd we dream up?

Appetizers

• Sara and Dan: Ramen pizza with noodles for the crust and an ooey gooey meat, shitake mushroom, cheese, and olive topping
• Jenn (AKA Queen of the ramekins): Ramen in a parmesan miso broth topped with sautéed ground beef, shitake mushrooms, and green onions

Mains

• Marco and Laura: Rolled pork stuffed with a goat cheese, artichoke and apricot filling, finished with a quince sauce
• Karina and Christian: The McMompsons also went with a stuffed meat approach, rolling up pieces of chicken with a goat cheese and artichoke filling, topping with a quince glaze, and served with an apricot rice pilaf
• Jeremy and Mei: Homemade ravioli with three kinds of filling and a goat cheese sauce
• Sandra (that's me!): Deconstructed chicken pot pie with carrots, celery, peas, artichokes, and apricots with quince paste melted into the sauce; served with goat cheese and thyme biscuits

Desserts

• Kate: Mini tarts with a pecan and coconut crust, acorn squash and coconut milk filling, topped with whipped cream, garnished with candied prosciutto and ginger
• Ayako and James: Acorn squash and coconut milk cake, with a coconut milk frosting, garnished with candied prosciutto and ginger

Well done, gang! After thirty one 'Taculars, we have clearly honed our mad cooking skills over the years.

While not everyone could make it out (Daniel and Ian, we missed you), we did have full team representation -- woot!

As always, click on "'Tacular Memories" on our homepage to see the pics.

Onto the next 'Tacular...Spirit-tacular, to be hosted by JereMei on Saturday, March 19th. Bring us your boozy dishes (but no wine or beer...been there, done that!)!