With a few links of Filipino pork sausage, beef oyster steaks, avocado and a kitchen appliance meant for cooking Italian cookies, New Jersey-born Chef Britt Rescigno cooked her way one step closer to winning $150,000 on Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions.”
Her Sunday night win over Chicago executive chef Kaleena Bliss earned Rescigno a spot in the cooking competition’s final four. The bracket-style show began with 32 chefs, including David Viana of Judy & Harry’s in Asbury Park and Lita in Aberdeen, who lost on the April 6 episode.
This is Rescigno’s third trip to the final rounds of the show, the winner of which receives $150,000. Last season, she bested James Beard award-winning chef Jonathon Sawyer; chef, restaurateur and “Chopped” judge Marc Murphy; and James Beard award-winning chef Amanda Freitag before ultimately losing to Maneet Chauhan.
In season four, she took down prior champions Tiffani Faison and Jose Garces before losing to Chauhan.
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Contestant Britt Rescigno, as seen on Food Networks’ fifth season of “Tournament of Champions.”
Who is Britt Rescigno married to?
Rescigno, who grew up in New Gretna and worked as an executive chef on Long Beach Island, recently opened Italian restaurant Fiamma in Idaho with her new wife, Chef Kinsey Leodler
“This is the whole new Chef Britt: getting married, my first restaurant,” Rescigno said during Sunday’s episode. “This is a lot of new things and exciting things happening, and I have space for one more thing and that’s ‘TOC’ champ.”
She and Bliss were tasked with preparing a “fruity and nutty “dish with longganisa (Filipino pork sausage), avocado, and beef oyster steaks. They had to utilize a pizzelle press, and they had 40 minutes to cook.
“The Randomizer was not nice to us this round,” Rescigno said of the spinning wheel that determines the ingredients and cooking style required of the chefs each round.
She prepared farrotto (farro cooked like risotto) with seared beef oyster steak, herb and frisée salad with grilled avocado vinaigrette, and a savory pizzelle cooked in fat from the sausage.
Bliss made avocado and herb grilled oyster steak with spaetzle, cashew cream and a fruity salad
Judges Michael Symon, Cat Cora and Ming Tsai did a blind taste of their dishes and complimented Rescigno’s farrotto and seasoning. They awarded her dish 88 points out of 100, while Bliss received 85 points.
The “Tournament of Champions” finale airs at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 20.
Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to sgriesemer@gannettnj.com, follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to her weekly newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Food Network: Chef Britt Rescigno keeps cooking on TOC
