The Greatest Secret
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly
A/N:
Chapter 142 (Food Fight)
A couple of days later, it was on. Rachael Ray and Ricky Flame had been practicing nonstop for this moment. Valerie had not helped either contestant, and assuming Rachael remembered the appropriate substitutions, then she would surely gain some points. As for the three apprentices, they were greatly looking forward to a full course meal prepared by the chefs. Valerie had her family watching this and told them that she'd be appearing on Chopped sometime before Christmas.
As far as all the apprentices were, she was becoming fast friends with most of them. There was Penny for Paula, William for Bobby, and just a few others. Guy Fieri's apprentice was a stocky man in his twenties named Gene. Tyler Florence's apprentice was Jamaican. Valerie enjoyed her conversations with him, he really enlightened her on the cooking of his hometown. So much so, that she actually wanted to make something Caribbean. He was a college student, mastering in Culinary Arts, and his name was Tyson. Then there was Aarón Sanchez, his apprentice was a young Mexican man named Emmanuel. She hadn't met any other apprentices yet, but as far as she knew, that was it. In which case, Gene, Tyson, and Emmanuel would be judging the competition. They didn't know her too much, nor did they know Ricky very much, so it would all come down to the food's presentation and taste. The Brussels sprouts were the one thing omitted, due to the fact that they took so long to prepare, so that meant the contenders had to do the extra items justice.
She sat at the judges table with the trio, considering the meal they were making was her grandparents' hometown specialty. She wouldn't be grading them as the other judges would be, but she would definitely be tasting and seeing just how well the food would come out to be. She pursed her lips and clasped her hands together on the table as the judge came out and stood between the two kitchen areas.
"Hello and welcome to Food Fight!" The announcer's voice rang in a cheerful, upbeat tone, almost harmonic. "Tonight we have something special planned for you, and it is a game of high stakes! Ricky Flame has challenged our very own, Rachael Ray, to a fight!" Valerie gazed over nonchalantly as Ricky came trotting onto the stage, he looked way to confident for a meal of this caliber. She knew he'd probably never cooked Italian in his life, so this had to be harder on him than he was thinking it would be.
"I'm Ricky Flame, of course I'm going to win!"
"Good luck to you," Rachael stated with a careful nod. Ricky laughed and moved over to his station. Valerie watched as her mentor walked over to the stove and checked on something, her eyebrows rose as Rachael turned and smiled at everyone. "I was allowed to begin just a few minutes early to make time for the Roasted Brussels Sprouts and the Pilaf." Ricky's jaw dropped and he jabbed his finger at her while Valerie began bursting with pride.
"Can she do that? Can she do that!"
"This is not Chopped, so I'll allow it," The host stated with a firm nod, there were no rules saying you couldn't start a little early. The show was thirty minutes long and the Pilaf took about 35 minutes before it was done while the Brussels Sprouts took an hour.
"But the Brussels Sprouts were omitted!"
"I never omit anything from my recipes." Rachel moved over to the sink and smiled subtly. "I believe in honoring and keeping true to family traditions. If Valerie's grandparents included them, then I'm going to include them." Valerie cupped her hands over her heart and felt it leaping for joy. She breathed in and watched Ricky shrug. Her eyes narrowed spitefully and quickly darted off, she did not appreciate his arrogance.
The host introduced the judges and the contestants, then introduced the chefs who were their mentors, they were going to oversee the judging and see just how much their apprentices already knew about tasting and foods.
During the entirety of the preparation, Ricky seemed more focused on quantity and finishing quickest. The apprentices seemed to waver between his hurried and rushed movements over to Rachael's patient and calm movements. She just seemed naturally appealing and easier on the eyes.
"Did he just ignore the mushrooms?" Gene asked while pointing a finger at Ricky. The group looked over and sighed, while working on the pasta veggie salad, Ricky put the sack of mushrooms back in the cabinet without even thinking. The recipe called for half a cup of chopped mushrooms. Emmanuel clicked his tongue and leaned in.
"I'm noticing he's forgetting a lot of the main ingredients. He's pulling them out, but putting them right back on the shelf without using them."
"Maybe he's working too fast. Meanwhile, look at that scrumptious cake that Mrs. Ray's got out already!" Valerie's eyes fell upon the cake and her heart rose as she spied the beautifully decorated cake that she just wanted to sink her teeth in.
After some time, Rachael and Ricky had their meals ready and in front of the judges. Valerie took a bite of the meal and intense flavor shocked her into a tearful silence as the pure essence dripped down her throat. Because the three judges were of age, they were offered a glass of red Sangiovese wine. Valerie, of course, was not. It didn't matter, she felt Rachael's food was prefect enough, just like her Papa and Mama Williams always made. As she bit into Ricky's food, she tasted nothing but bland food. The Pilaf just felt overly cheesed, the appetizer was missing its mushrooms, and the chicken was undercooked. She looked to the others and they were each eyeing Ricky's chicken with the same scrutiny. The look on his face was no longer portraying the same confidence he'd had prior to. As for his chicken marsala, it was as if the entire main course was no longer applicable, because everyone knew better than to eat undercooked poultry.
"Rachael, explain what you did for this meal please," Tyson asked while taking a bite of her chicken marsala.
"Gladly. This is a meal created by Valerie's grandmother, Vala Williams. It seems that it is a family tradition, I am honored to present their recipe, which is a little piece of their home. Valerie's grandparents came from Italy, of course." The apprentices nodded and ate a few bites of the salad while Ricky simply glared at the food. "What you have first is the appetizer. That is the small Italian Pasta Veggie Salad with a fat-free Italian dressing. It calls for fusilli pasta, onion, green bell peppers, chopped mushrooms and the Italian Dressing that you have."
"I can really taste the flavor of this appetizer," Emmanuel said while hovering his hands above the salad. "The mushrooms compliment the salad very well."
Gene cleared his throat and turned his head towards Ricky "Something I wanted to point out. While you were running about, one of the items you neglected was the mushrooms. You had them out and ready to use, but then you put them back just a few minutes later." Ricky's eyes bugged out and his hand flew to his forehead, how could he miss something so important? "Other than that, your presentation on this plate…It just looks like you threw a couple noodles down, threw together a couple peppers and just moved on your way."
"Speaking of presentation-I'm sorry to interrupt-" Gene glanced over at Tyson, who was grabbing some of the pasta up with his fork. "I wanted to commend Chef Rachael, you've surprised me with the fullness of the plate. I prefer a large salad as an appetizer, taste is a very important factor too and it appears you've matched both."
"Thank you."
"Can you explain the steps you took on the sides? I can't help but notice your loyalty to the recipe in your desire to create these Brussels sprouts. It is surprising, they have a very sweet, yet salty taste to them. What did you do with them?"
"The recipe itself calls for one and a half pound of Brussels sprouts, their ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed, along with olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. I preheated the oven to four hundred degrees, placed the ingredients together in a sealed plastic bag, shook it and poured them onto the baking sheet. After that, you should roast them for thirty to forty five minutes, shaking the pan every five minutes for an even browning. They should become dark brown, almost black, and that gives them their crispy taste."
"I see, I am very impressed with this side, especially considering I never thought I'd eat any Brussels Sprouts in my lifetime." Ricky slowly glared at Rachael. Valerie bit into the crispy vegetables and sighed heavenly as her mouth danced with sheer joy.
Emmanuel poked the Pilaf slightly while looking to Rachael. "I'm a fan of this Quinoa Pilaf that you've made, I really feel like I'm eating from Italy." Anymore praise and Valerie just might die from pride.
"The Pilaf requires a right amount of vegetable oil, chopped onion, carrots, rinsed quinoa, vegetable broth, chopped walnuts and chopped fresh parsley. If you have too much of any one thing in here, it could offshoot anything. Now, what I did differently here, as I called up the original creators of the recipe-"
"That's allowed?" Ricky shouted in aggression. The host nodded their head and motioned for Rachael to continue. It was always good to research whatever food you were presenting.
"I fried the onion with garlic, added about a quarter of a cup of white wine, then later added in the walnuts.
"Mmm, very good!" Ricky rolled his eyes as Gene moved on to the Chicken Marsala. "Now please tell us about your main course."
"Gladly! This is a lightly coated chicken breast braised with Marsala wine and mushrooms. It takes approximately 30 minutes to finish the meal completely."
It all came down to the cake, both cakes looked relatively good, but when Valerie bit into Rachael's cake, fireworks rang out. Her eyes widened with delight and she quickly looked up to her mentor. Ricky's cake seemed to fall a bit flat and was lacking in flavor. "Please tell us about this cake."
"Initially you should reheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease together three to four eight inch round cake pans. Beat together five egg whites, add sugar, beat I the egg yolks, and further ingredients necessary. Afterwards, bake for twenty five to forty minutes, combine the cream cheese, margarine, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl, frost the cake with the layers together and sprinkle the pecans on top or include them in the frosting."
"What is this lemony flavor that I'm getting?" Tyson asked as he took another bite of the cake.
"Keeping true to their traditional recipe, I've added some lemon curd in between the layers and on top of the cake, as it brings about the presentation and tart flavor to complement the sweetness of the cake." The judges nodded their heads and began to speak amongst themselves, it seemed a rather unanimous decision.
"Based on presentation, flavor, and overall fullness, I found Rachael's meal to be more appetizing and interesting," Emmanuel commented with a knowing smile. Ricky rolled his eyes as Valerie met Rachael's gaze. A sense of pride flowed freshly through her veins as she listened to Tyson go about his commenting.
"I found Ricky's meal to be decently cooked, but I don't think he researched his food as well as Rachael did, at least she made an effort to contact the original creators of the recipe. Also, I couldn't help but notice the lack of several crucial ingredients, plus the undercooked poultry was a bit of a disaster for him." Ricky's face fell as Tyson turned his gaze to Rachael. "I'm going to have to side with Rachael on this one."
"I agree," Gene commented while taking a bite of the cake. "I just simply cannot get enough of this cake, it is fantastic! She kept her meals well balanced, wasn't in any hurry, made sure to pace herself and include everything necessary for the full flavor. If you ask me, she's got my vote." Ricky's eyes widened as the host gasped into the camera, clutching the microphone tightly.
"Oh my god, you saw it here! Our very own Rachael Ray has defeated Ricky Flame! This means he must hold fast to his side of the deal that he made with Bobby Flay and hand over his hour block to Rachael for one week while bowing out gracefully." Ricky stepped back and put his hand to his stomach, his skin was beginning to turn green as he watched the group eat the meal before him. Rachael and Valerie raised their eyebrows as he began shaking his head. "Mr. Flame, do you know what this means?"
"I-" He babbled and whined, his voice was incoherent and his eyes were starting to water.
"Also, I do believe a part of the wager was Valerie Brown must choose who she wants as her men-"
"I'm with Rachael!" Valerie rose joyously and ran over to Rachael's side. Her mentor smiled brightly as Ricky began to pale.
"There he is!" Bobby's voice rang out throughout the area. Everyone glanced over to the doorway to see him walking onto the stage with three network executives behind him. The executives had black suits and black shades, though the head of them did not. He wore a brown sports jacket with khaki pants and no shades. "As you can see, he took the idea of my show, Throw down with Bobby Flay, and created it into his own show…how that passed regulations, I'll never know. He threatened to lie on national television in order to try and take Rachael's apprentice from her, and his behavior is unsightly. How many times have you been notified about his egregious actions and not done anything about him?"
"I see," Said the manager with a quiet voice. Ricky's eyes widened in horror and everyone else froze. What would happen next? Nobody could be too sure. The manager stepped forward with one executive on his right and one on his left. He narrowed his eyes and spoke out in a rough tone. "Ricky Flame, you are a disgrace to our network. Since it appears Rachael has already won the hour block left over by your show, that means her show will run during that time until we find a suitable replacement for you."
"R-Replacement? But sir, you can't…"
"Hand over your spatula and your apron, Mr. Flame." Ricky gasped as the two executives extended their hands. Slowly, he pulled the spatula from his apron and gave it to the man on the right. He turned his angry eyes towards Bobby, then Rachael. Rachael gazed back at him with sadness, it was always a shame whenever someone was to be fired, even if they were an arrogant asshole. Valerie moved her eyes down and pressed her lips together as her heart started to sink. "The apron too, Flame."
"I know, I know." He sobbed once and handed his apron to the second executive, who promptly threw it onto his shoulder. Rachael closed her hands and stepped forward, catching their attention.
"Sir, with all respect, I know he's probably broken so many of our rules, but…I think it would be wrong to just leave him on the streets. As cruel as he is, this is New York, there's bound to be crueler…" The man rubbed his chin as Valerie smiled, she loved that the woman was so kind, even to Ricky. "Maybe give him a job as something…whatever that may be."
"Well…" Ricky's eyes darted up and he quickly nodded, begging for a job, any job at all. The manager let out a sigh and clasped his hands together at his waist. "Fine. Ricky Flame, you will work within the Food Network studios as a custodian." Ricky's jaw fell and Valerie's eyebrows rose in surprise. It was better than nothing, sure. "Take it or leave it. You won't be offered any other job." The fallen star slowly closed his hands and bowed his head, this was the path he'd chosen. "Think about it Flame, if your greed hadn't become who you were, you might have potentially become a bigger star than you already were. It's a shame it's come to this."
"I understand sir." His voice broke and caught his throat, the tears started to sting his eyes. "I-I'll take the job…"
"A good choice." The manager turned to Rachael and gave her a fatherly smile. "And congratulations on your win and your new time slot. As for you, Valerie, I hope you will learn all you can under your mentor's wing."
"I will, I'd be honored to." She burst with pride and looked up to Rachael, there was no way she was leaving this woman's side for the next four years. The executives nodded and started on their way out, dragging Ricky along with them. Valerie looked at Bobby and almost wanted to hug him, but she respected the calm silence that surrounded all of them. "Mr. Flay, er…Bobby, thank you for everything you've done." The man smiled with pride and nodded his head.
"Ah thanks, we chefs around here have to stick together. I didn't think it was right of him to try and take you from Rachael. Just one more thing he wanted to take away from the chefs, I wasn't going to let that happen."
"Good. I think I'm going to have a great time with all of you."
Quite the match up, tell me how you felt about it. Oh and remember what I said before: Until chapter 157 if you want to comment you have to comment anonymously because of 's odd standards.