So You Think You Can Cook

Good day dear followers,

This is Mish Phillips.

It is a great honour to be a guest on this esteemed blog, created and maintained by Andrew, Alison and Penny. (But mainly Alison and Penny - I notice Andrew has not yet made a post). Their parents must feel so blessed, to have the privilege of raising three such talented and inspiring children. For the last four days I have been kindly taken in by the Jacksons, and for that I thank them. To mediate in a long-standing family argument is the least I can do. Thus I introduce to you,

So You Think You Can Cook!
The Ultimate, Incredible Jackson Children Cook-off! 

After three nights of intense cooking and tasting, it's time to count the votes. First though, here's a run down of what was served up each night:

Night One - Andrew Jackson
Scrumdiddlyicious creamy chicken and basil curry, served with rice and steamed vegetables.
Sunken butternut snap biscuits filled with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Although some might say that Andrew was at a slight disadvantage, being the first contestant of So You Think You Can Cook, "excuses are tools of the incompetent". Think of it like a handicap. Despite his time constraints, Andrew brought out a highly commendable meal. There are few things as satisfying as that comfortable feeling when you've eaten well, and this dish certainly gave you that. It was a brave move to go with a curry, but he was well rewarded for the risk - one of the judges was later heard mentioning that she had never enjoyed a curry as much before. Seconds were freely taken, which speaks for itself.

Unfortunately, little effort was put into presentation of the meal. In fact none. Not only was the meal not plated up, it was left to the diners to serve themselves. A small omission maybe, but one that surely cost Andrew when it came to pleasing the judges.

The meal scored well when it came to nutritional value, with all major food groups accounted for. Sadly, Andrew failed to realise the most important rule of including green vegetable matter in meals - always make sure it is disguised. The steamed beans, snowpeas, carrot and broccoli were perfectly cooked, but one cannot expect greenstuffs to be received positively if they are so openly presented to the world. Such things should be hidden away in some part of the dish, so as to be eaten blissfully unawares. We're not Popeye, you know.

When it came time to serve dessert, Andrew presented his delicious speciality of sunken buttersnap biscuits, filled with a thick layer of caramel and whipped cream. Sadly, this was a recycled idea, as Andrew had made and shared and eaten a number of these creations earlier in the day. However, the concept of punishing someone for serving dessert twice is ridiculous, so we shall allow him some leeway here.

Night Two - Alison Jackson

Homemade beef lasagna served with a crunchy nut salad of wom bok, toasted almonds, chinese noodles, and shallots, itself served with a dressing of soy sauce, vinegar, castor sugar and oil.
Crispy chocolate brownie with caramel sauce, ice cream and combination m&m's. 

Alison chose to go with a more traditional dish, by happenstance a favourite of one of the judges. (This was, of course, internalised at the time so as not to allow any bias to enter into the creative process). There was no cutting corners here, with the lasagna made almost fully from scratch. However, like Andrew, Alison could have shown better commitment to the cause had she gone to the lengths of making the sheets of pasta from homemade dough. (But we will forgive her that. How was she to know what high standards her maligned sister would set the following evening?)

 "What bok?"

For the sake of honesty, it must be admitted that the salad was approached with some trepidation by the judging panel, who had never before seen such a combination of ingredients tossed together. However, with the first mouthful it was abundantly clear that this was a taste and textual sensation. It was the sort of experience that one almost regrets having, for the lingering memory can only bring the sadness of deep loss. The greenstuff was perfectly offset by the crunchy noodles, and the dressing was strong and flavoursome.

And now we come to the dessert. It was a delicious juxtaposition of sweet caramel and warm brownie, delicate floating m&m's in their fractured shells. A combination so glorious that one might doubt its existential nature. Yet before the sweetness could become overpowering, it was tempered by the gentle coolness of the ice cream. You won't find an occurence of something like this in the Gobi Desert.

Special mention must be made of Alison's efforts to humour a finicky judge - all blue m&m's were painstakingly removed from the packets so as not to taint the purity of the dessert.

Night Three - Penny Jackson
Chicken margarita wrapped in prosciutto, stuffed with basil pesto, bocconcini cheese, baby spinach, served with roasted baby truss tomatoes, steamed carrots, and roasted herb potato. 
Triple-thick-bottomed chocolate mousse cake.

Penny attacked this challenge with the ferociousness of someone with something to prove. Starting her preparations at 4:00pm, there is no question a stupendous amount of effort was put in. It was definitely worth it. Carefully prepared, lovingly cooked and meticulously plated, this meal was unbelievable in its attention to detail. Juicy fillets of chicken wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with the pesto and bocconcini mix set the tone, and the flavour of the roasted tomatoes was the perfect compliment. The crispy herb potatoes were a well chosen side. The carrots were a pleasant extra - there was no need for them to be disguised because they're not green.

"The meat just went on and on and on."

Some could argue that Penny's dish might be improved with better calculation of the serving sizes, however one would be a hypocrite to take that line of reasoning while also sharing in the ample leftovers.

Penny showed that she had the confidence to break away from a recipe, making the wise choice to leave out the expresso in the dessert. Her cake was a masterpiece, and although it was somewhat clumsily put together this in no way detracted from its appeal. The mousse was well set, and the base showed no sign of dryness. In fact it was spectacular. There's no way I'd be overseas with something like this being served up back home.

And now, with our summaries completed, we come to the scoring...

Final scores:

Presentation:
Andrew - 4
Alison - 8
Penny - 10

Taste:
Andrew - 8
Alison - 8
Penny - 9

Effort:
Andrew - 5
Alison - 8
Penny - 10

Creativity:
Andrew - 6
Alison - 7
Penny - 9

Nutritional Value:
Andrew - 9
Alison - 8
Penny - 8

Token Points:
Andrew - 8
Alison -3
Penny - -1

Congratulations to all the contestants for a well fought out battle. It is with great pleasure that I announce that the winner of So You Think You Can Cook - The Ultimate, Incredible Jackson Children Cook-off! is...

Penny Jackson!

Total Score:
Andrew - 40
Alison - 42
Penny - 45

With her victory, Penny has surely earnt the right to peel off her label as the weakest cook in the family! But will the others fight back and prove that theirs is the strength of consistency? Can Penny defend her title when episode two comes to blog? (Presumably when I am next visiting Canberra for an extended period - one must have an impartial judge for a competition of this standard to go ahead). What do you think?

I leave you with some further photos of Penny in various stages of cooking. This is partially as a celebration of her achievement, and partially because I have no more photos of the others to give you. I hope you have enjoyed this analysis of the dining delights of the last few days - we welcome your comments and opinions.

Until next time, dine well and appreciate every meal.