A MasterChef Challenge

We're off to CentreParcs for the weekend with my sister-in-law and her husband. We'll eat, drink, spend hours playing board games, complain about saddle sores and, to top it all off, we've booked a session in the AquaSana spa. I can't bloomin' wait. M's mum has set us a MasterChef challenge. We cook one night, they cook the other. The challenge is ON.

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We must create two courses and the shopping list ingredients must be the "heros" of the dish. We can include other fresh and store cupboard ingredients and there's no time limit but can't take so long that hungry dinners are left waiting at the table all night.

Our shopping list:

• lamb
• coconut milk
• mushrooms
• baby corn
• pistachios
• cherry tomato
• pears
• chocolate

So, grouping the ingredients, our reaction is to create a main dish including lamb, coconut milk, mushrooms, baby corn and tomato, and a dessert dish with the pears, chocolate and pistachios. Although, lots of other possible (some weird and potentially wonderful) combinations are trying to sway us in a different direction.

I'm a dessert girl so my focus has been on the pud. I've found this pistachio, pear and chocolate cake, which looks delicious:

Find the recipe at Alice Bakes A Cake

It has the advantages that I can make it in advance and we'll have cake to spare on Sunday. Then there was this French Pears Belle Helene dish to consider:

Find the recipe at Eat Boutique

I don't think the colours in this image really sell it, but I can imagine the flavours. Soft baked pear. Yum! I liked the look of this more rustic pear and chocolate cake:

Find the recipe at Leena Eats

Or what about something like this served with a baked pear (I'll go with plain and simple pear to get a spoonful of this!)? The issue with this ice cream based one is getting access to a large enough freezer to chill the ice cream maker dish and then store it, once made. If I don't make this for the weekend, it'll definitely be pinned to make this Summer!

Find the recipe at Taste

Then there are these two easy, ready in moments puds which we could easily add pistachios to [1, Pear and chocolate pudding 2. Pears with chocolate sauce]:

Decisions decisions... Are you a MasterChef fan? Have you ever set or been set a similar challenge? What would you cook with this mystery box of ingredients?