Messy and Picky

We were invited by the people at Harrah's Entertainment Atlantic City to check out a new food-related show they had at Circus Maximus Theater at Caesar's: A Taste of Emeril's: Cooking Challenge. The star would be the audience and the man moving things along would be Marc Summers, a face both of us grew up with on Nickelodeon's "Double Dare". (That's Marc, above) From Harrah's:

Taste of Emeril's is a fast-paced, intriguing, and often hilarious food competition and cooking demonstration, where contestants can win great prizes including chances to experience the finest restaurants at Caesars Atlantic City and The Pier Shops. The culinary action, hosted by Marc Summers from the Food Network's hit show "Unwrapped," will pit audience members against one another, as they compete for top spots as assistant chefs. Emeril will welcome guests and assist competitors via on-screen video.

Chef Ralph Pagano, who was still working in between seasons of "Pressure Cook" [episodes] was the ringleader of the show. Pagano was at ease in front of the large theater and two teams of amateur cooks at his side.

Here's host Marc Summers introducing each team to the crowd. We assume the participants were picked when they bought tickets earlier in the day at the box office in the casino.

The participants were put through some sous chef tasks as part of the challenge to be the last one standing. The first challenge was to whip up some egg whites. Chef Pagano offers up some pointers to one of the participants.

As Chef Pagano went around judging each person's technique, he stopped at one and jokingly held the bowl of whipped egg whites to see of they were stiff enough to not spill out of the bowl. One member of each team of three was let go.

One of the dishes prepared by Chef Pagano, to be paired with everything else, was a red snapper baked in a salt crust. Here's Summers pouring a box of salt into a mixing bowl as Chef Pagano mixed up ingredients.

Here's a look at the whole stage with the big screen where taped segments of Emeril Lagasse were shown.

Here's Chef Pagano running around the audience with a snapper he had prepared prior to the show. As he walked by Picky, the heavy scent of intensely flavorful fish left a trail.

When Emeril's segments came up, the lights changed and all eyes were on the big screen. We thought that the segments were a bit choppy, definitely not the highlight of the show.

There was a brief intermission as one team was eliminated and the final two contestants on the remaining team were split to compete for the big prize. Summers took to the crowd and asked questions about Emeril and food in general for a chance to win a seat on stage to watch the action up close.

And here's Siggi, the lady who stole the show. She liberally downed shots of peppermint schnapps and limoncello while preparing dishes on stage. Siggi was hilarious and the hosts really rolled along with her.

Here's Chef Pagano putting the finishing touches on a lemon meringue pie. He fired up a blow torch to singe the tops of the pie.

The next challenge was to make a fruit soup using the ingredients before them. Siggi went ahead and chugged down some limoncello and started pouring everything in sight into the blender. Across the way, Diana methodically created a concoction. When both soups were brought to Chef Pagano, he had to take a swig of schnapps before taking a taste of Siggi's recipe.

Here's Chef Pagano taking a taste of Dianna's creation, "The Sober One." (Each contestant had to name their creation and Dianna's name got had the whole audience cracking up!)

And with that, it was time for a winner to be crowned and it turned out to be The Sober One, Diana. Siggi got a consolation smooch from Chef Pagano as well as a nice prize package including a dinner at Ceaesar's Mia.

Diana's grand prize, read off by Summers, included cookbooks, spices and a private dinner for four with the chef of Phillippe (also at Caesar's).

After the show, there were single servings of the meringue pie for all to have as they left Circus Maximus. Chef Pagano came out and mingled with the crowd as we gobbled up the tasty pie.

Here's Messy enjoying her serving. The whole thing was fabulous, and the crust was especially delicious.

A shot of the just barely singed puffy top.

We had a great time laughing at the fast-paced action all night long. You can check out the show through November 12th for $35. You can buy tickets here. Summers will be the host through the 2nd and closing out the show will be Mark DeCarlo. (No word if DeCarlo will be diving through a pool of green slime to one up Summers.)