Caroline shrugged. “Don’t give up, you never know. Chef Nancy’s full of surprises.”
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
After a lunch stop for ramen noodles, they were back exploring the market. Chef Nancy pointed out interesting produce, a pickle-maker, a hot sauce store, and a Chinese bakery, but they did not stop for another challenge.
“We’re here!” announced Chef Nancy. “Our last stop!”
Rae looked up and read the sign. “The Mushroom Man?”
Chef Nancy nodded. “Don is truly the Mushroom Man. He knows everything about mushrooms and sells some wonderful varieties.”
Oliver must have eaten too much seafood, or too much ramen. He said he didn’t feel well and couldn’t try any of the mushrooms. Chef Nancy was pretty worried. We tried five different kinds: enoki, oyster, shiitake, chanterelles, and morels. Morels were my favorite. They are meaty and savory and don’t taste anything like a regular mushroom.
“Can I have yours?” Rae pointed to Oliver’s plate.
He nodded and held his stomach.
Rae scooped up a mouthful of morels. “These are amazing!”
Caroline agreed. “And mushrooms aren’t even my favorites.”
Oliver felt a stab of regret. Should he have tried them? Forced himself? No, too risky. Great chefs were supposed to love all ingredients. It was a risk to let anyone see his weakness—he couldn’t stand mushrooms.
Chef Nancy stepped forward. “We have one more mini-challenge.” She looked at Oliver. “Are you up for it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don has been gracious enough to set up an unusual challenge—mushroom related, of course.”
Oliver scowled.
“Now that you’ve tried some of the varieties, we’re going to test your knowledge. You’ll each have five different mushrooms and five recipes . . . that are missing their mushrooms. Place your mushroom on top of the appropriate recipe card. The first one to pair all their mushrooms with the correct recipes wins.”
Oliver grinned. Just because he didn’t like them didn’t mean he wasn’t knowledgeable. He could do this.
Chef Nancy passed out the recipe cards and gave each contestant a bag of mushrooms. You may start . . . NOW!”
Rae dumped her mushrooms out onto the table. She had portabella, enoki, shiitake, morel, and porcini mushrooms. Now for the recipes. The portabella was the easiest to find. Stuffed Mushroom Cap—that had to be it. Shiitake had to be Asian Cabbage Stir Fry. Only three left.
“DONE!” Oliver raised his hands.
Chef Nancy rushed over to check his choices. “Congratulations, Oliver—you win!”
“AH!” Caroline dropped her cards on the table.
Rae felt exactly the same.
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
Chef Nancy bought old-fashioned candy sticks for the ride home. Everyone had one, even Oliver. He smiled. “I suddenly feel a lot better.”
Rae knew why—the Golden Envelope! Tomorrow, Oliver would have the advantage.
When they got back, Chef Nancy sent Oliver over to the Gadget Wall to pick out his prizes. While he was gone, Chef Nancy pulled out the big black board. Rae and Caroline watched her add two stars under Oliver’s name.
“Mini-grinder and mezzaluna!” Oliver swaggered back, holding his prizes in the air.
Caroline and Rae both nodded. The STP meant being supportive, no matter what. Rae did her best not to grumble. Not always so easy to do.
Chef Nancy made an official presentation of the Golden Envelope. Oliver wasn’t allowed to look inside until tomorrow at the elimination challenge, but Chef Nancy let him hold it, just for a minute.
That night, Oliver fell asleep smiling. Optimism was not the feeling across the hall.
Rae flopped onto her bed. “Why even try? Oliver has the advantage.”
Caroline pushed her face into her pillow, then sat up.
Rae moved next to her. “We have to beat him, but it won’t be easy—he’s like a genius or something.”
Caroline shook her head.
“Yes, we can do it. Together!”
Caroline shook her head again. “No, not that. He’s not a genius!” And then she confessed what she knew about the cooking lessons he had taken before the competition.
Rae was mad! Mad at Caroline—I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! But mostly she was mad at Oliver. Really? He called me that? A homeschooled wannabe chef!
It was the exact fuel she needed to be fired up for the next day.
“I’m sorry,” cried Caroline.
Rae nodded. There was nothing else to say.
Thursday—Elimination Challenge
Chapter 27
aroline, Oliver, and Rae were quiet at breakfast. Chef Nancy filled up the silence. She talked about the weather and the visit to Tower Market. No one spoke about the enormity of the day. Steve came in to check on things while they were eating, but Chef Nancy waved him away.
When breakfast was done, she pushed her chair back and stood up. “I won’t pretend that today isn’t important. Today’s challenge is huge, and I want you to do your best. Remember, it’s not over until it’s over. Think about what you’ve learned over these last two weeks, and apply that knowledge. You are better cooks today than you were a week ago and I am proud of each and every one of you.” Chef Nancy looked them each in the eye.
“Interviews!” It was Steve.
Chef Nancy nodded. “Right, two minutes!” She looked back at the table. “Ready?”
Everyone stood up. “YES, CHEF!”
I am going to win today’s competition because . . . I need to win. I have skills and knowledge, but I also have my own creativity, and that is something that is all me. This is a chance to prove myself.
Of course I’m going to win. That’s what I came here for. No matter what, I’m up for the challenge. I think I’ve proven myself this week. I don’t know what kind of advantage the Golden Envelope will give me, but I’m glad to have it.
I will win today’s challenge because I have faith. Faith in what I can do. It’s something you can’t measure or see or teach, but I feel it. It’s that little voice inside saying Yes, you can, and that feels powerful.
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
After the interviews, the junior chefs visited their parents for an hour. There were hugs and last-minute advice, and then it was time to line up.
Caroline, Oliver, and Rae stood in a line outside the filming studio door. In just minutes, the announcer would introduce them and it would start. No one said anything.
“ROLLING!” shouted Steve.
“Next Best Junior Chef is proud to invite our three junior chefs to the second elimination round of this competition. Please welcome Caroline, Oliver, and Rae.”
The door opened and they walked one after another, down the ramp, to the front of the room.
Chef Gary clapped his hands. “What a week! You have really showed your determination and skill, and here we are at another elimination challenge. I think you’re ready, more than ready. What do you say?”
“YES, CHEF!”
Rae’s heart was racing. Chef Gary was right. She was ready.
“Our junior chefs spent a day at Tower Market, where they met some very interesting people. I would like to invite those people to come forward.”
Chef Gary introduced them and they each put a box on the big table. “Miss Catherine is purveyor of Woods Hole Cheese, Jim Beckner is the owner of Beckner’s Fish Market, and Don Restero is the Mushroom Man. We have one more addition to our table, and that is from our own Chef Porter.” Chef Porter walked forward and added a small box to the table.
Caroline tried to think ahead. It had to be a fish challenge, but with cheese and mushrooms?
Chef Aimee stepped forward with the green bag.
Caroline stifled groan. She hated that bag!
“Oliver, will you please step forward and take an envelope?” She asked the same of Caroline, and then she reached into the bag and handed the last one to Rae. “
Please do not open your envelopes until instructed to do so.”
Oliver tapped the envelope against his leg. He wanted his Golden Envelope advantage, and then he wanted to get started. All this talking made him fidgety and uneasy—the opposite of calm.
Chef Gary put his arm around Jim. “Jim and I go way back, and I was honored that he agreed to participate in our competition. I understand you all did some fish-catching.”
Oliver perked up.
“Well, Jim has brought you each a fish for today’s challenge. And surprise, surprise! It’s the same kind of fish as the one you caught. Caroline will have lake trout, Oliver will have black cod, and Rae will have tilapia.”
Everyone clapped. Rae smiled—tilapia was good. She could work with that.
Chef Porter pointed to the table. “Miss Catherine, Don Restero, and I have also contributed to this challenge. We have each brought you one ingredient to use as the prominent flavor in your fish dish. You may now open your envelope and read out your mystery ingredient.”
“Honey,” said Caroline.
“Mushrooms,” said Oliver.
“Cheese.” Rae frowned. Cheese and tilapia? This wasn’t going to be easy.
Chef Gary held up the Golden Envelope. He handed it to Oliver. “Oliver, you are the winner of the Golden Envelope and this gives you an advantage in this challenge. You may swap your ingredients with anyone else. Or you can keep the mushrooms and black cod.”
“SWAP!” announced Oliver. “With Rae for the tilapia and cheese.”
Rae was stunned. Chef Gary was too. “Really?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chef Gary stepped back to the center of the room. “You have sixty minutes to prepare your fish and an accompanying side dish. Do you accept this challenge?”
“YES, CHEF!”
“CUT!” yelled Steve.
“WORKSTATIONS!” shouted Chef Nancy. “I’ll come by and check in. Caroline, you’ll be first.”
“It’s not easy to think fast,” complained Caroline, “but I do have some ideas. Having to use the honey actually helps. I want to use the honey for the side dish, too.”
“Good,” said Chef Nancy. “Just remember, you have a delicate fish. You don’t want to overpower it.”
Rae waved her pantry list when she saw Chef Nancy approaching, and then she whispered, “I can’t believe Oliver changed with me. I’m so happy I got mushrooms.”
Chef Nancy examined the list. “If everyone is happy, then you’ll all do your best.” She had a feeling about Oliver and mushrooms. He must not like them. Why else would you give up such a delicious ingredient?
Chef Nancy approached Oliver cautiously. He was pacing back and forth. “So, Oliver, is everything okay?”
He nodded. “Just thinking. Sometimes it helps if I keep moving.”
“Any ideas for your recipe?” asked Chef Nancy.
“Something cheesy and spicy.”
Chef Gary clapped his hands. “Attention, everyone! We’re going to do things a little differently. When I call ‘time,’ we’ll do the pantry run and then move right into cooking without a break.”
Caroline looked over at Chef Nancy. They were on their own. No more help.
Chapter 28
OLLING.”
Chef Gary raised his hand. “You have five minutes in the pantry. GO!”
Rae grabbed breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, lemons, cauliflower, cream cheese, and garlic. She stopped and checked the list inside her basket. She couldn’t forget anything—not this time.
Caroline was done before the time limit, but she tried to look busy for the cameras. She took extra time pretending to look for white balsamic vinegar.
“TIME!” called Chef Gary.
Everyone ran back to their workstations.
Chef Gary raised his hand again. “LET’S GET COOKING!”
Oliver, Caroline, and Rae pulled out their fish. They were all starting the same: fillet the fish. Oliver was done first, but Caroline wasn’t far behind. Rae took her time—the last thing she wanted was for the judges to have a mouth full of bones.
Chef Aimee and Chef Porter wandered back and forth between the workstations, checking on everyone’s progress. Rae wasn’t excited to see Chef Porter coming her way, but she forced a smile. “Hello, Chef Porter.”
“Hello, Rae. What are you working on?”
Rae dropped the last cauliflower floret into the boiling water. “I’m making roasted garlic cauliflower mash. Next, I’ll roast the garlic in the oven.”
“I look forward to that,” said Chef Porter. “I am something of a fan of roasted garlic.”
Rae sliced the top of the garlic and rubbed it with olive oil. “Me too!”
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
Chef Aimee’s first visit was with Oliver.
He held out his bowl for her to see. “This will be the crust for the fish. I’m mixing Parmesan cheese, paprika, black pepper, white pepper, thyme, celery seed, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and breadcrumbs. I’ll coat the fish in flour, buttermilk, and then this.”
“Frying or baking?” asked Chef Aimee.
“Baking,” answered Oliver
“Looks tasty,” said Chef Aimee. “I’m glad I’ll get to try it.”
Oliver added grits to his pot of boiling water, whisked them together, and lowered the heat.
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
Chef Porter and Chef Nancy both arrived at Caroline’s workstation at the exact same time. Caroline stopped working and looked up, worried.
“Please continue,” said Chef Aimee. “We don’t want to interrupt.”
“What’s that?” asked Chef Porter, interrupting.
Caroline stopped and turned to see what she was asking about. “Radishes. I’m going to roast them with honey.”
“Oh! I’ve never had those before.” Chef Nancy smiled. “Can’t wait to try them.” She coaxed Chef Porter away. “Let’s go see over here.”
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
“THIRTY MINUTES!”
Oliver rolled his fish fillets in the breading and put them on a greased baking sheet in the oven. The tilapia needed to cook for only fifteen minutes, so there’d be plenty of time for plating. Plating? Oliver looked around frantically. He’d forgotten all about plating. He hadn’t picked up anything from the pantry. Nothing green, not even a stalk of parsley. He banged his fist on the table. How could he have been so stupid!
Caroline checked the oven. Her trout was cooking perfectly. She’d added a few extra cloves of garlic. She’d heard something about Chef Porter liking them. She smiled and whispered to herself, “Never disappoint a judge.”
Rae added morel mushrooms to the garlic in her pan and stirred until they were tender. She peered into the saucepan on the stove. Her broth of water, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, Szechwan pepper, and shallots smelled heavenly. She lowered the heat. The flavors had fused—it only needed to stay warm.
“FIFTEEN MINUTES!”
Rae put a skillet on the stove, and while it warmed, she patted her fish dry and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Once the skillet was hot, she added the fish. A hot pan guaranteed a nice crust. She watched her fish carefully. Delicate fillets cooked in no time.
Caroline added the radish leaves to her skillet of roasted radishes. The leaves wilted and she turned off the heat.
Oliver grumbled and stirred cheddar cheese into his grits. Bland-looking fish, plus bland-looking grits—his plate was going to be a disaster. He needed some color and he didn’t have anything.
“FIVE MINUTES!”
⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
Rae picked a shallow bowl and placed it on a plate. She put the black cod in the center of the bowl and surrounded it with spicy Szechwan sauce and morel mushrooms. She added dollops of roasted garlic cauliflower mash sprinkled around the edge of the plate, adding cut chives for color.
Caroline put her trout on one side of a rectangular plate, on the other she arranged the radishes and their green leaves into a decorative arrangement. Between the tw
o spaces she placed three drops of spiced honey.
Oliver did the best he could. He put his fillet on the plate opposite three dollops of cooked grits. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. The golden fillet stood out on the white plate.
“TIME!”
Six hands went up.
Caroline and Rae were smiling.
There was a five-minute break while Janet and Mark shot video close-ups of the food.
I feel really good about my fish. I cut a nice fillet and it’s well spiced. I think the judges will be surprised by my roasted honey radishes. I tried one and they are delicious. I think Chef Porter will enjoy the spiced honey—sweet and spicy go well together.
Everything worked out just the way I wanted. My spicy Szechwan sauce isn’t going to burn anyone’s tongue, but it does have flavor. I think it’s unexpected with the morels. The cauliflower turned out great too. I used the food processor to mix in the cream cheese, garlic, Parmesan, and chicken broth. It came out so creamy and smooth—not at all like cauliflower.
My plate is austere. I want the judges to focus on the food, not on decoration. I don’t need any visual tricks. My food speaks for itself.
Chapter 29
hef Gary called Oliver, Rae, and Caroline to the front with their plates. “Since this has been a week of family traditions, we thought it would be nice to end together, our cooking family. Caroline, can you tell us what you’ve made.”
Caroline straightened up. “I made a honey glazed trout fillet with roasted honey radishes and spiced honey drizzle.
“Yum!” said Chef Aimee.
Chef Gary handed out the forks.
“I like the presentation,” said Chef Porter. “It’s very colorful, and I can’t wait to try those radishes.” She speared a radish and took a bite. “Delicious! I am not disappointed.”
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