Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge recap: Leftovers into yummy-overs

In this Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge recap, the chefs must tackle one of the biggest Thanksgiving food obstacles, the dreaded leftovers.

This Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge recap saw the chefs take on two Thanksgiving staples, pie and leftovers. Which chef transformed that turkey dinner into something new without losing the comfort that leftovers provided? Well, the challenge had one chef on the floor.

After last week’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge premiere, the chefs seem to have found the balance between creativity and traditions. This Food Network program is part entertainment and part inspiration. Sure, the home cook might not think of the 15 ingredient, complicated side dish. Still, that home cook can take a few ideas from this show and incorporate them.

For the pre-heat challenge, the four chefs had to create a savory side dish using classic pie flavors. The four pie flavors were pumpkin, apple, pecan and chocolate. While the judges thought that pumpkin would be the preferred flavor, someone had to get the chocolate.

Thinking about this challenge, the premise is quite interesting. Rethinking ingredients is so important. Why let all those pantry ingredients go to waste. Everyone should adapt some of these ideas.

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Looking at the four pies, I thought that pumpkin was the easiest ingredient. Risotto, ravioli and many other recipes quickly came to mind. Deborah chose to make grits. It was a smart decision, although one that I never considered. Definitely a recipe to remember when you have pumpkin left in the pantry.

Darnell had chocolate cream pie, easily the hardest ingredient. No one wanted that chocolate pie. Still, chocolate and spice go together well. His roasted carrots with a chocolate chimichurri was so creative. Although the spice level was a little heavy, he earned a lot of respect with his dish.

The winning pre-heat was Deborah. The judges appreciated her pumpkin grits with red eye gravy. Her advantage was being able to choose her main heat challenge ingredients and assign her fellow competitor’s ingredients. It was definitely a good advantage to win.

The main heat challenge was to create a totally unexpected meal made from leftovers. No turkey sandwiches would be appreciated in Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge. These meals needed to show some ingenuity.

Each chef had a turkey ingredient, a side dish ingredient and a pie ingredient. For the dessert, the chefs had to create a dessert (not a pie) with that leftover pie. This challenge is a little difficult because the chefs need to find the flavor without re-serving pie. When it comes to creativity, the three chefs seemed to be on the same page.

Three out of four chefs chose to make ice cream. Unfortunately, the ice cream maker was the destroyer of Thanksgiving dreams. It seemed like the ice cream machine wanted to torture the chefs who chose to make ice cream.

Turning pie into ice cream seemed a little easy. I would have liked to see the chef really push themselves on this challenge. Could they have taken that pie and made a microwave cake? Couldn’t have there been something other than ice cream with pie in it?

While the ice cream machine tormented the chefs, why was Jackie prepping items on the floor? There were two shots of Jackie fixing her ice cream on the floor. While I’m sure that this set was immaculate, no one should be prepping on the floor. I doubt that there wasn’t enough counter space in the Food Network studio. This move was a little odd.

But, desserts weren’t the only part of this challenge. The chefs had to create a savory dish that reimagined leftovers. Overall, the savory dishes were quite impressive.

When thinking about leftovers, they need to bring a warm, comforting feeling when you eat them. It should have the best parts of the Thanksgiving feast, but not an exact replay of that meal. All the chefs seemed to deliver on that premise.

Even though each chef had creativity, all the chefs did have missteps as well. From seasoning issues to execution flaws, no one was perfect. Basically, it came down to which meal did you want to eat again.

If I was judging, I would have chosen Deborah’s gumbo. Even though the judges thought that her stuffing rice ball was a little dry, this dish sounds quite tasty. More importantly, I am going to steal this idea for some of my leftovers.

Even if you don’t like gumbo, you definitely could use turkey in a soup or stew. The turkey lends itself to a variety of flavors and spices. Why not try a posole or another style of soup. It doesn’t have to be a variation on just turkey, broth and noodles.

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Unfortunately, Deborah’s dessert, a pecan bread pudding, was a little dry. In a bread pudding, people want it to be decadent and rich. There wasn’t enough custard or richness to bring together the dessert and pie. Still, she was safe.

Josh and Darnell both had dishes that the judges liked. Overall, Josh was the only chef that all the judges agreed was safe. While his angolotti was smart, his dish needed a push of seasoning. It was a smart dish.

I didn’t particular care for Josh’s milkshake dessert. The judges were impressed, but I found it just ok. While Josh wasn’t a winner (this show doesn’t announce a weekly winner), he does move onto the finale.

In this week’s desserts, I really wanted more. All the ice creams were just expected. Who hasn’t used the ice cream machine on a Food Network challenge? Plus, the ice creams had technical flaws.

Unfortunately, the chef sent home was Jackie. The judges didn’t think that her mole bake highlighted the carrots well. While I thought that the roasted carrot/beans layer was an interesting idea, the judges weren’t a fan.

Overall, her dish was a little clunky. Personally, I think that this style of dish has a lot of creativity. Additionally, the use of the carrots and beans in a puree sounds quite interesting. I might have to try that idea because it could boost the vegetable component in a dish.

Additionally, her dessert was slightly off. Although the texture of her ice cream was the best of the ice cream bunch, she had errors. The ginger flavors were too powerful. Even if she had successfully fried the ice cream, the flavors were off.

Maybe all the time that she spent prepping on the floor was a poor choice and lead to her elimination. No one wants floor food. Could that kitchen prep have been the real reason for Jackie being sent home in this Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge recap?

Next week is the finale of Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge. Who do you think will earn the prize and the title? Even more important, will you borrow any of these ideas for your Thanksgiving leftovers?