Top Chef Finale = Weak Sauce!!!

Hey Divas! Inspired by the New Orleans setting of the Top Chef Finale, I raced home from my after school volunteer tutoring program and brainstormed a divalicious Creole dish! While I waited for my boyfriend, Kuzak, to make his trek home from his office, the Adorable Monster followed me around the kitchen while I made dinner. For tonight's meal, I settled on preparing my version of Shrimp Etouffe served over collard greens and honey cornbread. With this spicy dish, we paired a lovely bottle of Malbec, a wine big enough to stand up to the Cajun spice! Everything turned out divalicious, but I wish I could say the same thing about the Top Chef Finale.

As far as culinary highs and lows go, the Top Chef Finale was a terrible, under seasoned dish that I'd like to send back to the kitchen! Three competitors - Carla, Stefan and Joseah - competed in the finale by cooking the best 3 course meals of their lives. Unfortunately, none of the food dazzled, and the sombre tone of the judges indicated that they felt much the same way I did, ultimately declaring Joseah the winner more by default than by choice. In fact, I can't name one dish that inspired me to want to cook more! Compared to past seasons, overall this year's competitors seemed tepid and pedestrian, and the finale proved no exception. Even Carla, who had emerged in recent weeks as my favorite competitor, seemed to buckle under the pressure of the final episode, producing sub par food. A disappontment to say the least. I only hope they'll have better casting next year. Sadly, even the Monster thought Top Chef sucked, requesting emphatically that he be removed from his comfy spot on the sofa in front of the TV and placed in his pen, where he could bury his fury head in shame under his bed!

So even though Top Chef was weak sauce tonight, the Domestic Diva's dinner delivered! Stay tuned for the Domestic Diva's Shrimp Etouffee with Collard Greens and Honey Cornbread Recipe! Coming soon to a blog near you...