Me & Gordon Ramsay, part 4: preparing for the audition

OFF THE RECORD: I had a little mishap in the kitchen this morning. I realized I had forgotten to buy a cucumber, an essential ingredient in Mystery Dish #1 (and I live 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store). I found a neighbor with a cuke, but when I cut into the avocado, which wasn't even ripe when I purchased it Friday, it was brown. Another "essential" ingredient for Mystery Dish #1 unavailable...

After a few moments of alternating between panic, temptation to give up, and general pissiness, I decided to do my best with the ingredients on hand. Good call, Fraser!
And muchas gracias to my beautiful daughter, who pitched in like a trooper, washing, cutting, spiralizing, and cleaning up in my wake. (...this from a kid who doesn't even like cooking!)

Here's Mystery Dish #1 in progress...

After cutting the raw vegan sushi into bite sizes, I tried a few... delish!

So, I guess there are no "essential ingredients", except maybe the nori wrap.


The prep for Mystery Dish #2 went smoothly, but I was not pleased with the look or taste of it, even though I followed my recipe exactly.


I haven't made this Winter Fennel Salad in a long time, so I guess my taste buds have changed. Still, I brought it along, just in case something went wrong with the sushi during the 90 minute ride to the audition.

Which dish did I share with the Food Critic? Find out tomorrow, when I blog about my audition for Gordon Ramsay's "Master Chef".

Until then, Salud!