Kids In the Kitchen

Top Chef 4: Chicago
Episode 8, Part 2
Kiddie Cuisine

Elimination challenge! Padma talks about Art Smith's organization, Common Threads, which promotes eating together at a family table. In order to do this, the chefs are challenged to make an easy, family-friendly dinner on a budget so tight it squeaks - this time, $10 for four servings. (And as a mom of five, I was especially interested in how the chefs were going to pull this off. Did they get to clip coupons?)

Many of the chefs head straight to the chicken at Whole Foods, and no wonder - I mean, my Acme is boasting an 89 cent thigh and leg package in its latest circular. But I digress. Dale sees the masses clamoring for chicken and decides to "go Chicago" by using brats as his protein.

Antonia tells us she's a single mom, so this challenge is certainly up her alley. She decides to do a stir fry, making healthy whole wheat noodles. Mark says curry is great when you're short on cash, and he's going to make a vegetarian version for this challenge.

Padma announces another twist to the challenge - each of the cheftestants will be assisted by a junior sous chef, one of the kids who are participating in the Common Threads program. Antonia gets a little choked up thinking of her own daughter, but fortunately she's paired with a boy. All the chefs seem to bond with the kids, who are especially well-behaved and helpful.

Richard's making chicken thighs (did he see the circular?) with beets, which his sous chef Abigail has never eaten before. (Ironically, I was introduced to beets this past December, when I was a guest taster on the Rachael Ray Show....and yes, I am digressing again, but the beets - this time in risotto - were much better than I anticipated. Just sayin') Antonia's also using chicken, this time in the stir fry. Spike is making spaghetti with olives, and Nikki is doing a one-pot meal with roasted chicken and veggies. Dale makes his brats with Emmanuel, a short boy who reminds Dale of himself (apparently Dale's dream of a career in basketball were cut, well, short when he didn't grow past the 5'5 mark). Andrew, who is making chicken thighs and fennel, admits to learning to cook for himself after he broke 200 pounds as a teen. Having the kids in the kitchen is bringing out a lot of personal info, and it's really neat to learn more about the cheftestants.

The meals are served to tables of four kids, including the sous chef responsible for each dish. All of the kids seem pleased with the meals, which is really encouraging because in my house? No way would I get away with fennel or olives, and don't even mention beets.

Judges table. First, our top three are called in - Nikki, Antonia and Andrew. Nikki gets kudos for her one pot wonder, and for her ability to sell the kids on brussels sprouts. Antonia's stir fry had kid appeal with grown-up flavor, while Andrew mixed fruit with a savory dish. The winner is Antonia, whose real life experience paid off big time tonight.

Antonia calls the bottom three - Stephanie, Mark and Lisa - back to the table. Steph's tomato and peanut butter combo was questionable; Mark's curry was inappropriate and lacked protein; Lisa's dish was bland and uninspired. Mark - who is convinced that Tom just doesn't like him - is asked to pack his knives and go. Tom does ease the blow by offering to share a beer later. See, he is a nice guy!

Next up - here comes the bride....and the wedding food!

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Kids In the Kitchen

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