When Owen bestowed upon me the exciting but slightly daunting role of judge of Paper Chef #3 (wheat flour, cinnamon, crème fraîche and oranges) I had no idea how difficult it was going to be. I knew it would be tough, because each entry would of course be original, well-presented and at least look and sound as though it tasted excellent (because unfortunately I don’t get to actually taste the entries!!). What I didn’t realize at the time was how easy it would be to get caught up in each entry and each chef’s recipe (or recipes) and want EVERYONE to win the distinguished title of Paper Chef, February, 2005.

Each entry is like peeking into someone’s head while they’re cooking – more so than the everyday food blog entries. You see and hear their thought process from the minute they’ve read the theme ingredients right up until they take their picture of their completed dish. That is what I love about the television show Iron Chef…there’s a course there that is more natural than your average cooking show. It is a process in which you see the chef thinking and creating something from his or her head and heart. Not cooking from their own cookbook or a recipe that they have tried over and over and perfected prior to our seeing it. It is life and art and food all rolled into one hour…or in Paper Chef’s case, one weekend.

I started reading the entries last night when Owen sent me an email with the links. I was completely overwhelmed. Although I participated last month and went a little crazy making egg rolls and spending pretty much the whole of Sunday doing so, I just wasn’t prepared for the dedication and determination that we as food bloggers exhibit when called to a challenge. Even with all of my IMBB, WBW and SHF experience I still got a little shaky thinking about how I was going to miraculously choose one single “BEST” from all of those submitted. I left it until I had both the time and the empty stomach for it…never shop on an empty stomach but always judge Paper Chef on one…trust me. By the end of it I was salivating and shaking from hunger but I do believe I made the best choice.

I evaluated each individual chef on the four original rules of Iron Chef: Plating, Originality, use of the theme ingredients and Taste (being how I thought it would taste). I awarded up to 10 points for each category and then tallied it all up at the end. The entry of the February 2005 Paper Chef competition is Sam of competition is Sam of Becks & Posh. I thought her Very Posh Cheese & Biscuits (Potted Wensleydale Cheese with Mulled Port Wine Jelly and Home-baked Digestive biscuits) excelled to the highest degree in these combined categories. I think as my own reward for judging this competition I should be sent a jar of her gorgeous looking mulled port wine jelly. Yup. And it’s after the competition, so it so cannot be ruled bribery!

I would like to add here that each and every entry is worthy of the honor of being a Paper Chef and I congratulate all of you on a job well done. Make sure you join in on all the fun next month when I, your humble Domestic Goddess will be hosting the exciting festivities!

And one "honorable mention" goes to Melissa at CookingDiva for using the "bonus" ingredients today for her lunch and creating some really delicious-looking Yuca Croquettes with Chorizo and Broccoli filling, served with Orange Tamarind Sauce...she really is a cooking diva!