Watching Rachael Ray

Hey guys, sorry I’m a little late getting these up! My house has been attacked by a vicious round of stomach flu that’s been cavorting through the schools and I fell victim to it Monday night after nursing my kids through it all weekend long. But I’m feeling much better today, so let the recapping commence - we’ll get all caught up by the end of the day!

Monday’s show was dominated by round two of So You Think You Can Cook! But before we get to that, I have to address the outfit - while I love the concept in general, I was completely distracted by the brighter swatch of the zigzag pattern just under the black on Rachael’s dress. The necklace was overkill too - and ugh. Yeah, not my favorite dress - she’s had some real winners this season - this one isn’t it! However - those boots? AWESOME!

But, back to SYTYCC! After a recap of last weeks challenge, Rachael welcomed the four remaining contestants to the stage for a quick challenge - peel and chop potatoes for 90 seconds - all skin gone, and cut into 8 wedges and thrown in the bowl. The winner with the most weight in the bowl, gets a big advantage for the second part of the challenge.

Ben takes the slow and steady route, Iron Chuck is quick and both boys have the first potatoes on the scale. The girls are slower, and there’s peels flying all over the place. Along with the peels? There is blood too - three out of four cut themselves! Martika is complaining because she doesn’t have a peeler at home, and isn’t used to using one! The winner is Ben with 1 pound on the money!

The next part of the challenge is a bottom of the jar/box recipe segment. The advantage for Ben is that he gets to choose his ingredient first, and assign the others. They will have 20 minutes to make 1 portion, and plate something that highlights their bottom of the jar/box ingredient. Ben chooses molasses, then gives Jen the Apple-O’s, Martika gets the pickles because she’s ‘a spicy girl!’ and Iron Chuck gets the mayo.

The judge? Iron Chef Bobby Flay! He’ll be looking for presentation, spice, and the ingredient being the forefront of the dish. So you think you can cook? They have 20 minutes to… Prove it!

While they are working away, Bobby is the first ‘buddy of the week’ to give Thanksgiving tips! It gets off to a great start with Rachael holding his new cookbook upside down and Bobby correcting her - lots of laughter. Bobby shows us his no miss Roasted Turkey recipe! Words to live by: I know it’s a lot of butter, but it’s Thanksgiving! Forget about it!

And don’t forget to go to the site and check out the web exclusive - Bobby’s worst holiday cooking disasters and then, brush up on Bobby’s carving technique before your big day!

Back to the prep kitchen where the SYTYCC guys and gals are cooking up a storm! Rachael checks in to see what they’re making. Martika makes a chicken Cuban sandwich, Jen went with a cereal crusted chicken cutlets with peanut butter sauce and grilled apples. Ben went for a broiled chicken glazed with molasses with a green salad, and last but not least, Iron Chuck went a simple seared salmon with couscous and an herb mayonnaise - I can tell he’s in trouble right away, as his presentation is more what you’d see on a family table, compartmentalized and, well, boring.

Bobby joins them to do the tasting, and Rachael heads back to her kitchen to make what’s for dinner: Turkey Cutlets Milanese-Style with Pumpkin Polenta.

Rachael, who was nervous last week about letting one go, this week is clearly enjoying the elimination process - complete with creepy lighting! The verdict:

Jen: daring, and the flavors were nice with heat and sweet - the chicken was overcooked, and the apples under cooked. She’s in the bottom two.

Martica: liked the use of the pickle juice, presentation was lacking a bit, but the flavor was there, and she was declared the winner of the challenge!

Ben: presentation was restaurant worthy, however it wasn’t as creative as it could have been, but had good flavor too.

Iron Chuck: was very nice, and applause for not using chicken like everyone else. He could have done more with the mayo, and spent too much time on the couscous and salad, and the salmon was undercooked. As a result, Chuck is eliminated from the competition!