Popchips, Workbar, Kitchen Surfing, and a Recipe, Too

It had been quite awhile since I'd been able to make it to a Blog and Tweet Boston event, but when I heard that Jen and Kerrie were setting one up with Kitchen Surfing, I new I couldn't miss it. If you haven't heard about Kitchen Surfing, it's a service available in six cities (so far) that lets you pick out a chef to come to your house and cater your dinner party.

If sampling what some of Kitchen Surfing's chefs had to offer wasn't reason enough to show up, the venue certainly was. Our host for the evening was Workbar, a shared coworking space in Cambridge where you can rent a desk or office (and apparently attend the occasional event.). As someone whose dream it is to one day work from home, I've always wanted top stop into Workbar and see what it was all about. Dinner was served on the first level, which had been cleared out, but afterwards a few of a us got a tour of a different floor, where some night owls were still hard at work.

Where was I? Right. Dinner. This particular event was also sponsored by Popchips, a relatively new brand of potato and tortilla chips that are popped rather than fried, so they have less oil, plenty of flavor, and a unique, almost rice cakeish texture. The three participating chefs from Kitchen Surfing were tasked with serving some fifty or so attendees a dish they had made using Popchips in some way.

Chef Jitti Chaithiraphant serves Corn & Cheddar Popchips Soup

Chef Jen Rogers pours a Bloody Mary shot to go with her Popchips Chicken & Waffle

Chefs Mark O'Leary and Justin Hackett talk about their Vietnamese Bahn Mi Sandwich

After sampling some truly professional recipes that you'd never know were made from a packaged snack food, we guests were faced with the alarming challenge of creating our own recipe with Popchips. Competitively, no less. Mine is below. If you think it looks any good, please stop by the Blog and Tweet Boston website to vote for it. The winner gets a Kitchen Surfing gift certificate!

Original Flavor Popchips and Root Vegetable Salsa Fresca

Ingredients:

1/2 large red onion
4 carrots
6 radishes
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Dice up all your vegetables into about 1/4" cubes (teenier on the garlic, natch)
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. For optimal flavor, refrigerate overnight before dipping your Popchips.