Watching Rachael Ray

We jump right into the competition at the top of the show, with the revealing of the famous celebrity judge for the final So You Think You Can Cook challenge - and it’s none other then Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives! Jen and Martika have their work cut out for them, as they hit the stage for a quick challenge to see who gets the advantage for the final throwdown!

In the 90 second juicing challenge, Jen just barely edges out Martika which allows her to pick her three appetizer ingredients, and assign Martika hers as well. Jen chose the prosciutto, goat cheese, and filet minion, and she assigned Martika the wild mushrooms, sea scallops and pomegranate molasses. The previous contestants also made an appearance, and Jen got to choose an assistant, and provide Martika with one as well. Unsurprisingly, Jen chose Ben, and gave Martika Chuck to work with.

Colby gives them the last “So you think you can cook? Prove it!” and it’s a race to the kitchen where they have 20 minutes to make 3 appetizers for Marcia Cross and the culinary staff to judge. While they were working, Marcia joined Rachael at the kitchen table to talk about the new babies, Desperate Housewives, and how awful it was to have her babies then have to go back to wearing the fake belly.

Marcia also brought along her newest project in partnership with hallmark - the Legacy Keeper, a memory-keeping product that helps preserve family histories. It even has an mp3 digital recorder so that you can have the story in their own words, plus lots of places to store keepsakes and such. It’s a beautiful idea!

Rachael joins Colby in counting down the last few seconds, and find out what they made. Jen and Ben made Filet Tartar stuffed with goat cheese on bread, Sweet and Sassy Cream Cheese Dip on toast, and Prosciutto, Tomato and Basil Toast.

Martika made wild mushrooms in tamari sauce and stuffed with mushrooms, sea scallops marinated in the molasses, and crustinis topped with a sausage topping.

While the tasting and decision making was going on, Rachael made dinner - Tenderloin Steaks with roasted Tomato Steak Sauce & Sage Brown Butter - Balsamic Ravioli. Afterwards, it’s time for the reveal of the winner! The culinary team felt Jen did pretty well, they liked the middle dish, and the last dish, but the raw meat was not something they’d ever serve and it was under-seasoned.

Martika was told she under-seasoned her dishes, and the scallops could have been seared. It was close, again, but in the end Jen is declared the winner of the first So You Think You Can Cook competition!