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I stooped down to look inside the oven, hoping that my crust would hold and I’d have no leakage. In addition to a wonderful flavor, I knew that the dish’s appearance was also important.
As I stood, I glanced at Axel’s workstation. His workspace was clean and impeccable. He was still busy working, making some sort of confit. It was interesting to watch him work.
He, too, was clearly in the zone, concentrating solely on the work at hand.
“Fifteen minutes left,” Terry informed us.
I looked down at my clangers. They were coming along perfectly. The crust had begun to get that beautiful golden color.
But all around me was chaos. A few of the contestants were clearly running out of time. Two of them had been overly ambitious, choosing dishes that were virtually impossible to make in the time limit that we had.
Three others seemed to just have bad luck. One of them had left a pot on the stove too long and had to start her dish over. Another one turned from one counter to the other with her dish in her hand and the contents of the plate slipped off and made a mess on the floor. The third chaotic participant just seemed lost. He turned one way and the other at his station, unable to focus.
“One minute, everyone,” Terry called out. “You have one minute.”
Smiling, and somewhat relieved, I opened the oven door and pulled out my perfectly golden brown clangers. They looked spectacular.
I set them onto a serving dish and waited.
“Time’s up!” Terry said. “Stop working and step back from your workstation.”
As I took my step back, I looked sidelong at Axel and noticed his intrigued glance at my clangers. He frowned, obviously curious about what I’d made.
One by one, the contestants were asked to bring their dishes, complete or not, to the judges table. They were then instructed to give a brief history of their dish.
Several of them walked back to their workstation clearly disappointed. A few more seemed both optimistic but a bit apprehensive, while only a handful appeared fully confident in their dish.
“Layla Tyler,” Terry said. “Could you bring your Bedforshire clangers to the judge?.”
I picked up my dish and walked to the judges table, setting the plate in the center.
“Tell us what you have here,” one of the judges said.
“My Bedfordshire clangers with a savory wild boar filling on this side and a lightly sweetened apple filling on this side.”
“Interesting,” Ms. Donner said. “So, we have the meal and the dessert. How brilliant.”
“But how does it taste,” Mr. Bellavance said.
The four clangers were sliced up and every judge tasted the savory side.
After many tries at Chef Mac’s house, I had ultimately decided to take out the elk and go with the wild boar.
“I love how moist this is without being runny,” Miss Jankles said. “And those flavors. Absolutely sublime.”
“I agree,” Ms. Donner said.
“This crust,” Mr. Fitzgibbons said. “Such a unique flavor...”
“It’s made with suet.”
They all looked at me with surprise, but nodded their approval.
“Now,” Ms. Donner said. “Let’s try the dessert.”
On cutting the crust, the rich and gooey apples inside spilled out.
“I can see nice, big chunks of apples,” Mr. Fitzgibbons said.
