Crabs and Corn!

If you missed last night episode of MasterChef you can watch it here: Full Episode

Mystery boxes are always a little nerve wrecking. You never know what is under there and you really want to impress the judges and win the advantage.

To my surprise and delight, I lifted the wooden box to find LIVE crabs!

After Hussein and I moved to Seattle 3 years ago, we of course did some food exploring. One of my favorite spots was Pike’s Place Market. There you can find the freshest fruits, vegetables and of course seafood! We love crab, especially the Dungeness crab, so when I saw that under the Mystery Box, I knew exactly what to make!

I made Dungeness crab cakes with a mango and arugula salad and an avocado cream sauce and it earned me a spot in the top 3 dishes of the night! *does happy dance*

Beside me was Olivia who made a beautiful crab Benedict and Jesse who made a crab dumpling soup with a crab, avocado and apple salad! Jesse came out on top and won a HUGE advantage!

Jesse was able to decide who would make a sweet or savory dish. He asked which basket I preferred (what a gentleman) and I said “sweet” and that is what I got.

Once we entered the pantry, we learned what the ingredient was.. CORN! I would have never guessed that! How was I going to make a sweet corn dish?

Well, corn is naturally sweet, so in my mind including it in a dessert was not that far out. I also knew that Chef Christina Tosi has a corn cookie (amazing) and uses corn flakes in several of her desserts, including her famous cereal milk!

I decided to roast the corn and make a cheesecake! The kernels were little golden nuggets in the smooth creamy, cheese filling. The crust was made with crushed corn flakes and corn pops! I also popped some popcorn and made a popcorn ball with salted caramel. For garnish I pulled some sugar (I also added corn syrup to the mixture) and crushed some tortillas for a list “dust” on the plate. I was very proud of this dish and wish you could have seen it.

I may just have to remake it for you all 😉

The youngest contestant, Justin was sent home. He is an incredibly bright young man with an even brighter future ahead of him! He just graduated high school and is on his way to culinary school!

The two best dishes in the elimination challenge were Shelly and Stephen who will act as team captains in LAS VEGAS!!!!

See you in Vegas!

Xoxo,

Amanda