This month's challenge was a homemade soup and not just the soup, but if the recipe called for stock or broth, you had to make that from scratch, too! We trust everyone followed the rules because each chef was able to recall how they made their stock and what ingredients were included so I suppose there is not reason to question anything.
There was a wide variety again with this challenge. Only Nick and AJ made similar soups - both made a broccoli and cheddar soup although each tasted very different from the other. Julie made a tomato based zucchini soup, Sarah made her famous chicken tortilla soup, Tim brought his French onion soup, Jenna created a crab tomato bisque and I, being the ultra-creative one and being conscious of the fall season, made a pumpkin soup.
Jaime was kind enough to act as our "Chairman" for the event and she did a superb job, but we look forward to her competing again next month. She was kind enough to dish up all the soups and warn us of how HOT they all were.
All of the soups were delicious. Well, at least, I thought all of the soups were better than average and all deserved at least one vote. Although the rest of my AACC colleagues apparently did not share the same sentiment towards my soup. I was the only one that did not receive a single vote. Jerks.
Sarah's chicken tortilla had a nice little spice kick to it. Nothing over powering, but on the back end of the bite you had a hint of heat. Her chicken was very tender and the shredded tortillas in it created a bean flavor which balanced the slight heat. It was very good. I was very impressed in our newest chef's ability. She did tell me earlier in the week she was going to win so I figured she would have a strong showing.
Julie's zucchini soup was good. Reminded me of Italian minestrone minus the noodles. The only problem, well I should say, the only criticism I had about the soup is the chunks of zucchini were massive. You could have easily used a knife and fork to cut it up, but it had great flavor.
Jenna's crab tomato bisque was very nicely executed. As usual, Jenna brings a lot of technical skills to the table. She is much fancier than the rest of us. She even garnished the soup with an asparagus puree which brought coolness to the soup that was nice.
Speaking of fancy, AJ and I had recently lunched at T. Cook's at Royal Palms and both had the lobster tomato bisque and for that reason, neither of us voted for Jenna. While Jenna's had great flavor, we could not help but compare it to the mouth watering, large chunks of lobster goodness that we both very quickly sucked down.
Tim made his mother's famous (so we were told) French onion soup complete with the bread and cheese broiled crouton on top. This was the soup I voted for...it was good. For me, the gooey cheese on top made all the difference. The onions were perfectly tender and the bread perfectly crunchy. He did go a little heavy on the Worcestershire but I could overlook it due to everything else.
After all the tasting and discussing the voting commenced. And the winner was (again).....JENNA M. Yes, Jenna took the trophy home for a second time. She won by one vote. It was a valiant effort and she deserved it (I guess).
After we gave her a round of applause and I handed the trophy over, we moved onto the pallet challenge. AJ provided the ingredients for the contest. The ingredients he used sound elementary, but everyone had a difficult time getting them right. I must admit, I was surprised a few did not nail every single one, but in the end, Jenna won that, too. 
So now that I have relived the loss for the second time, I am annoyed and am signing off. Goodbye. 
And, oh yeah...
…..congrats again Jenna.
