So You Think You Can Cook? Week 3!
It’s Monday, so you know what that means (at least for two more weeks!) It’s time for So You Think you Can Cook and it dominated most of the show. After a quick recap of what happened in the past two weeks, the three remaining contestants, Martika, Jen and Ben, were brought out to join the audience and watch this weeks challenge along with us, and nervously await the results.
(Side comment: Uh, foreshadow much, there Rach? Like we couldn’t tell who was going home by the carefully unscripted yet pointed banter….)
For this weeks challenge, they piled into the car, without knowing where they were going, and ended up at an elementary school where my boy Colby Donaldson gives them their task. They have 90 minutes to cook enough food for 25 third graders, using a different ingredient trio. The judges will be the kids, a panel, and a licensed dietician.
Martika, as the winner of the last challenge, gets to choose her food trio, and delegate the other two. She chose the ground turkey, whole wheat pasta, peas, Jen got the chicken breast, broccoli, brown rice, and Ben is stuck with the task of selling fish to kids with the talapia, zucchini and potatoes. (thank goodness they said fish - I’d never heard of talapia!!) They’re taken to the prep kitchen, given a couple helpers to help with the prepwork, and told yet again “So you think you can cook? Prove it!”
Ben went for baked fish sticks, and zucchini bread with creamcheese topping, as well as baked fries on the side. Martika chose the turkey because kids love meatballs - she went with an Italian parmasan meatball over pasta with marinara sauce, with the peas on the side simply cooked in butter and garlic. Jen opted for baked cornmeal and wheat cracker encrusted chicken, roasted broccoli with cheese, and brown rice with bell peppers and celery. Ben tells us he was confident, and gave them something that looked like it was fried, but was much healthier and thought the kids would go for it.
There was a little bit of controversy as Martika kept opening the over to turn her meatballs, letting all the heat out which made Jen’s chicken take longer then planned, but they all got it done and down to the cafeteria on time - seconds before the bell rang! The kids swarmed the cafeteria, and the debate commenced. The kids were not shy about giving their opinions on what they liked and didn’t like, while the dietician commented that to get kids to eat healthy, you have to blow them away. She wasn’t sure she saw that. We went back to the studio to await the verdict at the end of the show!
Rachael’s friend today? Bob Green joins her in the kitchen to make a more figure friendly pumpkin pie. He is all about all things in moderation, and he loves to treat himself with sweets on occasion, in order to help you stay on your program. Watch the pre-prepared crusts, one made at home, a simple graham cracker crust is much healthier for you! Use the whole wheat ones, and also a transfat free vegetable shortening. Eat more pie, you need a little fat, and the end result looked divine!
And then, he gives some tips for not packing so much turkey down the hatch - don’t show up starving! Make it more about the people instead of the food - the friends and family are most important, the food should compliment it instead of overindulging yourself into a coma. He then shows Rachael how to make a Vanilla Caramel Truffle Latte, which is healthy, AND if you drink warm drinks, you tend to eat 100 to 150 less calories afterwards!
Rachael then shows us how to make her Wild Mushroom Turkey Cutlets with Wilted Spinach for dinner, and it’s judgment time for our SYTYCC contestants! (Creepy lighting time!)
Martika, the kids liked the meatballs, but left the peas alone. Everyone thought it was tasty, but thought she needed to do something to hide the peas.
Ben had the hardest task, selling the fish - the kids loved the fries, but wouldn’t eat more then a bite of the fish, the dietician liked the fries, but thought the shortbread was a little over the top health wise - good marks from the culinary team though!
Jen - the kids loved the broccoli, and the chicken, and everyone liked the rice though the cornmeal coating was a little tasty.
The winner of the challenge? Jen! She and Ben share a big hug. He’d said earlier that hands down, his new buddy Jen deserved to win… that was the foreshadowing I mentioned… because right after the commercial break, Martika was also sent to the kitchen table, while Ben was sent home with a doggy bag.
Tune in next Monday for the So You Think You Can Cook finale - who do YOU think should win? Jen or Martika? I think Ben got a bum rap, having to work with fish for kids. My kids like fish- but different kinds. One only likes Salmon, the other only likes Halibut, and the youngest loves all kinds of fish just keep it coming, mom!
PS - for those who are looking for the weekly grocery list, and information on how to get on the Rachael Ray show? Check out the buttons down there on the sidebar, give a click, and be sure to let us know how it goes!
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