This past weekend, my roommates and I competed in a Top Chef competition in our residence hall. We met in the lounge late Saturday afternoon, where we were given $15 for supplies and the secret ingredient- eggplant. None of us had cooked with eggplant before, but we found a recipe for eggplant croquettes, which are basically crab cakes with eggplant instead.
Once we had that figured out, we raced to the grocery store. Well, not really raced exactly, because getting to the grocery store involves waiting for the bus for half an hour. When we finally arrived at Giant Eagle, we were surprised to discover that our ingredients only came to $10. On the spot, Evelyn came up with an idea for an appetizer consisting of pizza crust, eggplant, tomato, and ricotta cheese.
After another long wait at the bus stop, we made it back to our apartment, only to realize we had less than an hour for cooking. Heather and I did the prep work (chopping & measuring), while Evelyn, the most experienced cook, did the heavy lifting. Just in time, we headed down to the lounge with our creations. The judges tasted every team's entry and then announced three finalists. We were stunned to hear our names being called!
Never having actually watched Top Chef, we did not expect the next part of the competition- commenting on why you chose each entree. The two other groups went on and on about their culinary backgrounds and creativity. One group even claimed to have presented theirs in the shape of Nevada. We, on the other hand, simply said that we thought the recipe sounded good.
We were certainly not expecting to win after that fiasco. To make matters worse, when the judges commented on each group's dish they said our appetizers were "scorched and soggy." When we were announced as the winners, we were so shocked that we burst out laughing!
Once we had that figured out, we raced to the grocery store. Well, not really raced exactly, because getting to the grocery store involves waiting for the bus for half an hour. When we finally arrived at Giant Eagle, we were surprised to discover that our ingredients only came to $10. On the spot, Evelyn came up with an idea for an appetizer consisting of pizza crust, eggplant, tomato, and ricotta cheese.
After another long wait at the bus stop, we made it back to our apartment, only to realize we had less than an hour for cooking. Heather and I did the prep work (chopping & measuring), while Evelyn, the most experienced cook, did the heavy lifting. Just in time, we headed down to the lounge with our creations. The judges tasted every team's entry and then announced three finalists. We were stunned to hear our names being called!
Never having actually watched Top Chef, we did not expect the next part of the competition- commenting on why you chose each entree. The two other groups went on and on about their culinary backgrounds and creativity. One group even claimed to have presented theirs in the shape of Nevada. We, on the other hand, simply said that we thought the recipe sounded good.
We were certainly not expecting to win after that fiasco. To make matters worse, when the judges commented on each group's dish they said our appetizers were "scorched and soggy." When we were announced as the winners, we were so shocked that we burst out laughing!
