NY Daily News – November 04, 2014
by Jeanette Settembre
Stop, drop and shop
Five of New York’s Bravest — finalists in the Daily News’ citywide 5 Alarm Cookoff challenge — dashed through the aisles of Key Food in the East Village to get groceries for the showdown on Rachael Ray’s ABC show on Wednesday morning.
Jing Kong, Nancy Lincke, Joe O’Rourke, Scott Worontzoff and Anthony Truscelli picked up their shopping carts — then received the final challenge from Ray: They had 20 minutes to think of a recipe and $40 to buy the ingredients.
And there’s an even bigger challenge: The dish must comprise five layers.
The hometown heroes are no strangers to acting on the fly, but thinking up a dish that fit into Ray’s cookie-cutter guidelines was a pressure cooker.
“There’s not enough time for fancy,” said Truscelli of Engine 162 in Staten Island. “I’m just going to keep it simple with comfort food.”
His quest led him to the produce aisle for melons to make a sweet and savory appetizer.
It didn’t take long for the smack talking to heat up once the cashier started the clock.
“You’re in my way, son, get to steppin’,” Lincke, an EMS veteran of Battalion 44 in Brownsville, barked at Worontzoff in the dairy section while grabbing some queso fresco for her Mexican-inspired dish. Lincke may be a rookie to the competition but she swept through the supermarket like a top chef.
“When I walked in the store the first thing I saw was tortillas. I knew I wanted to bring the spice to this competition!” added Lincke, who rang up at $39.49 and took only 15 minutes to shop.
Her fellow brothers in arms went over their budget and had to put a few items back. Worontzoff was over by two pennies and had to leave behind fresh garlic for his dish.
“Did you go over, sunshine?” quipped Lincke sarcastically.
Worontzoff snapped back confidently, “Losing the garlic was a minor casualty for me. See you in the winner’s circle!”
The firefighters will battle it out for a chance to win $2,500 and a $2,500 Key Food gift card on the “Rachael Ray” show at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning on ABC.
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