pork belly throwdown

if you thought the fried chicken throwdown was over-the-top, this one will definitely make your jaw drop. yes, it's a pork belly throwdown and a prescription for lipitor should probably come with each judge's ballot.

in this round, the throwdown will be more iron chef than throwdown with bobby flay. this time, we have a (not-so) secret ingredient and the chefs will choose to prepare the ingredient anyway they choose as long as it's the main ingredient in the dish. judging criteria will be based on originality, plating, and taste.

and how fun would pork be without beans? (or really, the other way around.) houston chowhounds amateur chefs will competing in a battle beans potluck that the real chefs will be judging. houchies can register to compete on the chowhound discussion board.

the event will be hosted by chris shepherd at catalan on mon, aug 17th. tickets will be $25 each and will go on sale on mon, july 20th after competing chefs and judges are announced. ticket proceeds remaining after covering food costs will benefit the charles v. blanton community garden in the 1st ward.

jonathan jones, the host of our last throwdown; the FCTD throwdown champions, randy evans and cody vasek; and antoine ware, catalan's sous chef, will be guaranteed entry in this throwdown. the remaining spots will be determined by lottery. the registration deadline for chefs to enter the lottery is july 17th @ 5pm.

a wild card judge will also be chosen for the judging panel. if you would like to be considered, please submit a short essay on "why you should be a PBTD judge" to imneverfull@gmail.com by july 17th @ 5pm.

event details, registration information, and judging criteria have been posted here. check the bottom of that webpage, join the houston chowhound discussion board, or follow @imneverfull on twitter for PBTD news and announcements.