Page 62 of Punk Rock Reflection
Angel took in the praise from the judges as they complimented his dish for being packed with flavor and bringing the heat. Chef Alex even thanked him for remembering to add enough salt.
The first celebrity chef to be eliminated was Snoop Dogg, and Angel felt the loss. The rapper/actor left the set with swagger, flashing twin peace signs, and pledged ten thousand dollars to his charity even though he didn’t win.
The entry round somehow felt quicker than the first, but Angel skated by with his take on ajiaco Cubano from the basket ingredients. The thick soup, made with squash, yuca, potato, sausage, and pumpkin, impressed the judges.
Teresa Guidice was the one to be eliminated this time. Luckily, she left graciously without flipping any tables and also pledged ten thousand dollars to her charity.
Angel stood eye to eye with Neil Patrick Harris ready to face off in the dessert round. They were told to give each other stern and menacing stares, but it was impossible to look at the How I Met Your Mother sitcom star without smiling. With his strawberry blonde curls and boyish good looks, NPH was adorable as he raised one eyebrow, and Angel couldn’t suppress the laugh that broke through his lips.
Angel shook out his shoulders and put on his game face. This was for the win. Angel’s charity was God’s Love We Deliver, a nonprofit that provides nutritious and healthy meals to people with HIV/AIDS and other life-altering illnesses who are unable to cook or shop for themselves.
Neil Patrick Harris was married to a professional chef, so Angel knew he was up against serious competition. Just like the eliminated competitors before him, Angel would donate to his charity in the event he lost, but the win would mean bragging rights and a personal achievement for him. So, he steeled his expression and stared at his adversary.
“Bring it on,” NPH said, with an exaggerated comedic growl, which barely contained an ounce of tenacity.
Angel managed to keep a straight face this time and replied, “It’s on. Like Donkey Kong.” He cringed and wished he never added the last remark because it was so cliché and so 1992, but Neil Patrick Harris burst out laughing.
They resumed their positions in front of the baskets, hands on the handles, and opened them to reveal a package of instant vanilla pudding, corn muffins, caramel covered apples, and kale.
Kale?
The clock started and Neil Patrick Harris took off while Angel stared at the offending leafy vegetable wondering how the hell he was going to use it in a dessert. Looking at the other ingredients, inspiration hit him. Flan! It was his signature dessert, and he knew he could make custard from the pudding. He just hoped he had enough time.
The first thing he did was crumble the corn muffin and mix it with eggs, flour, and butter. He poured the batter into tins in order to make nice little cakes as a platform for his flan and stuck it in the oven. Next, he broke off the caramel coating on the apples to make a sauce and used it to coat the silicone muffin trays. He incorporated the pudding mix into a milk and egg mixture for the flan and hoped it wasn’t too sweet, then added it to the muffin trays. It smelled divine but needed to cook.
The corn cakes came out of the oven a few minutes later and were beautiful and perfectly set. Now he just needed to wait for his flan to cook. Watching it through the oven door, because he didn’t dare open it and let out the heat, he worried. The last thing he wanted to do was serve Chef Aarón undercooked flan, and he realized that the traditional Latin dessert would be thoroughly scrutinized by his favorite judge.
With six minutes left to the round, he removed the tray from the oven and carefully inverted each pocket of the domed custard over one of the corn cakes. The caramel sauce looked exquisite as it dripped over the dessert and pooled in the dish, and it smelled heavenly. It turned out amazing. He only hoped the corn cakes elevated the dish and didn’t distract from it.
He suddenly remembered the kale, and his heart sank. He should have added it to the corn cakes. With no time left to do anything else, he chopped the leafy vegetable and dropped it into the fryer. The judges yelled warnings to get everything on the plate, and it made Angel’s pulse race. With seconds left on the clock, he garnished the flan with the crispy kale chips. It gave color to the earth tones of the dessert and looked appetizing. He only hoped it tasted as good as it looked.
The clock ran out and he dropped his chin into his chest, exhausted. Neil Patrick Harris also let out a breath, and Angel looked at his competitor’s plate. “You made biscotti?” Angel asked, thoroughly impressed. It was dipped in caramel on one end and chocolate on the other, and it sat on top of a bowl of ice cream with green flecks.NPH made kale ice cream!“Oh, you are a force of nature, Neil Patrick Harris,” Angel teased. “That looks amazing.”
Neil Patrick Harris’ dish was presented to the judges first. He made biscotti from the corn muffin and incorporated the apples into the mixture. Angel didn’t use the apples, and it had him worried. NPH also used the caramel coating as a dipping sauce, much like Angel, in addition to melted chocolate. The ice cream made with vanilla pudding and kale was clearly the star on the plate, and all three judges loved it. They praised it for being innovative and said it tasted amazing.
Angel’s flan was next. Chef Alex thought it was overly sweet and wished that he did more to transform the kale.
Damn NPH’s kale ice cream!
Chef Zakarian liked the texture.
Chef Aarón said he appreciated the way Angel stuck to his Latin roots in each round and loved the flan! Unlike Chef Alex, he thought the addition of the corn cake cut through the sweetness of the dessert and balanced out the flavors.
As Angel stood there waiting to see whose dish was on the chopping block, he offered his hand to Neil Patrick Harris. “You’ve been an amazing competitor.”
“Damn right I have,” NPH replied, with a cocky smile, then nodded humbly and shook Angel’s hand. “As were you.”
Angel fidgeted until, finally, Ted lifted the silver cloche to reveal the ice cream and biscotti. He won. Angel won. He stood there, in shock, while Ted Allen said the words Angel only fantasized about before today.
“Chef Angel Garcia,youare the new Chopped champion!”
