Feature
Turkey throwdown
When a veteran expert gets lured into a trap, she remains unflappable ROBIN MATHER JENKINS MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE Renee Ferguson was thrilled when the Food Network contacted her about helping them film a show to air near Thanksgiving. The Geneva, Ill., resident, author of “Talk Turkey to Me,” squired the television crew around a few weeks ago and was undaunted when the network told her it had arranged for her to do a cooking demonstration at Kendall College. After 14 years of thinking on her feet while working the Butterball Turkey Talk-line and fielding questions from confused consumers, Ferguson thought the audience of Kendall culinary students couldn’t phase her. The producer, who wouldn’t tell us his name, told the kids that the Food Network was taping the show and explained that he would, from time to time, ask them to applaud. “It might not make sense to you,” he said, “but it might be because we need to go into a commercial break with some energy. And when I ask you to applaud, I want you to go crazy. Let’s see what you can do.” The students responded raucously, with whistles, hoots, arm pumping and extended, deafening applause. The producer called the students out of their seats and asked them to crowd ‘round the counter to watch Ferguson work. He en-
couraged them to call out questions, which they seemed happy to do. Ferguson, meanwhile, began to explain about the sausage-apple stuffing she planned to make. “I think whether you call it stuffing or dressing is kind of a regional thing,” Ferguson said as she plopped a pound of bulk sweet Italian sausage into a skillet to brown. “Down South, a woman once told me, `We don’t stuff our turkeys, honey, we dress them!’ But purists say: If it goes into the bird, it’s stuffing; if it’s baked alongside, it’s dressing.” Next, Ferguson talked about the apples she was using. “Granny Smiths, because they stay firm and they’re a little tart, and ...” “Big applause,” said the producer. The students obliged. As Ferguson waited, the applause grew louder, with more insistent hoots and lots of yelling. And there, pushing a cart laden with ingredients, was Food Network star Bobby Flay. Ferguson’s eyebrows shot skyward, her hands clapped to her cheeks. The roar of applause went on and on as Flay, natty in a knit argyle vest over an eggplant-colored shirt, came around to face her over the counter. Ferguson clearly realized what was happening: She’d been tricked into an episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” the Food Network series in which Flay challenges an acknowledged expert to an unanticipated cookoff.
“I’m here to challenge you to a turkey throwdown,” Flay said, when the applause finally dwindled. “Do you accept?” Flay was taken aback, perhaps, by Ferguson’s robust riposte: “I’ll be happy to show you where to put your stuffing!” Over the next 90 minutes, the two worked side by side. Ferguson’s turkey with apricot sauce featured the dressing she had demonstrated, while Flay made a dressing of intentionally overcooked wild rice (“so it blossoms,” he said), pomegranate seeds, chorizo and goat cheese. While Ferguson worked along steadily, looking confident and calm, Flay paced back and forth behind the counter, looking for ingredients, checking a pot’s progress. Later, Ferguson confessed that she was nowhere near as confident and calm as she appeared. “Talk about pressure cooking!” she said. “I almost forgot to put the sausage in the dressing! I would have forgotten, if Bobby hadn’t whispered to me. But what an honor!” As the two worked, the students called out questions. “Hey, Bobby, what are you serving for Thanksgiving dessert this year?” (Pumpkin-bread pudding, he said.) “Hey, Bobby, is there more pressure on `Throwdown’ or on `Iron Chef’?” (“Iron Chef,” he said.) By 2 p.m., the pair were dishing up samples for the audience. Onlookers were encouraged to taste both, because they would be interviewed later, the producer said. By and by, judges Chris Koetke, dean of the culinary school, and Matt McMillan, a Kendall alum who’s vice president of culinary matters for Big Bowl restaurants, arrived. The judges were seated at a table, with Ferguson and Flay standing behind them. A Kendall student in a bizarre plush hat resembling a whole turkey with its legs in the air stood between Ferguson and Flay. The judges conferred. They whispered to one another. They jotted comments. They whispered some more. They shook their heads in disagreement. They nodded in agreement. And finally, finally, they were ready to announce their decision. “It’s tough,” said Koetke. “One is very traditional and the other is very experimental, very unusual. But we have decided that the winner is ...” Sorry. Can’t tell you. Food Network swore me to secrecy.
MSU Lions Club
Free Pizza and Drinks Come to our informational meeting November 29 at 5:30 P.M. in the Cheyenne Room at the Clark Student Center We are an international organization that helps all types of people in need.
THE WICHITAN Nov. 14, 2007
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