Cooking Competition Quotes

“Winslow bounced over on the balls of his feet, clearly not experiencing any sort of crash. 'Aren't your guys nervous? I'm nervous as all hell.'
'There's nothing to be nervous about,' Beck said, joining them. 'Nerves are only useful when they can spur you on to work harder, faster, better. Once the work is done, they become pointless.”
― Louisa Edwards, Too Hot To Touch

“ whatever," Winslow snorted. "The first team that got judged, from the Italian place on East Thrity-Sixth? They came back in here looking like whipped dogs. Come on, I Know i'm not the only one here about to wet myself."
There was a short pause while they all looked at Win, and the way he was sort of dancing in place.
"Dude," Danny finally said, "Maybe you just need to pee.”
― Louisa Edwards, Too Hot To Touch

“He'd gotten his polenta into a bowl and was chopping the dill while Regina spooned the shrimp and kielbasa pooling like buttery, spicy magic on top of the grits.”
― Terri-Lynne DeFino, Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?

“It started with a bashed-up baguette and the promise of dessert.

Test One
"Okay, what have you got?" Jeff asked.
"What have I got? You're the genius who said we could make a competition worthy dessert out of a floor baguette," I said.
"I'm the big ideas guy. You're the flavor guru." (He's not wrong.)
We decided on a maple bread pudding, inspired by Chef Luc Roy in Montreal.
After a bit of fiddling with measurements and deciding on doneness, about an hour and ten minutes later it was ready and smelling like heaven but too sweet, too loose, and too close to a classic pouding chômeur.

Test Two
We decreased the milk, added another egg, and removed the maple syrup. But we still needed a core flavor. Hmm, core...
"What about apple?" I suggested.

Test Three
We added some sautéed Golden Delicious, and it was good but still missing something. "Maybe a little crunch?" pondered Jeff. "Walnuts?"
"Yes," I said with a high five. "But pecans."
We were jiving like peanut butter and jam.
Fifty-seven minutes later we had another golden-brown bread pudding on our hands. It was moist but still had texture, and the flavor was definitely there. Yet it still wasn't competition-worthy.

Test Four
"I have an idea. Can you get me a small saucepan and a whisk, please?"
Jeff fetched the pan while I collected butter, sugar, cream, and Calvados, then whisked together a spiked butter sauce over the heat. I poured most of it over the still-warmed bread pudding, so it absorbed the luscious sauce like rain on Kentucky bluegrass.”
― Amy Rosen, Off Menu