Cooking for a Classic chefs make flamin' hot Cheetos a delicacy

After Thursday night's Cooking for a Classic event, I know two things for sure: I am now a fan of flamin' hot Cheetos, and my dislike for mushrooms remains a thing.

Chef Andrew Smith of Buku Wake Forest and Chef Orlando Jinzo of the Leadmine, in Southern Pines, competed at 1705 East in the fourth night of the fundraiser for the Lucy Daniels Center.

At 9 a.m., they received their four special ingredients — bison short ribs, several varieties of mushrooms, jarritos sodas and flamin' hot Cheetos. Each team had one hour to devise their menus for three courses, and the appetizer had to be vegetarian. By dinner, they were serving up six courses of crowd-pleasing creativity.

The courses are served blindly, and diners vote via app for their preferred offering in each of the three courses: appetizer, entrée and dessert. At the end of the night, diners learn who created which menu.

The first appetizer was beautiful to look at. Jinzo created a shaved asparagus and exotic mushroom salad with a poached egg. At first I was a little intimidated because the mushrooms were featured prominently on the plate, but the dish turned out to be pretty tasty — my tablemates agreed.

Smith's appetizer was quite different — wild mushroom agnolotti — a delicious pasta with a crème sauce and charred broccolini. This dish was a little more my speed and the mushrooms were beautifully hidden inside the pasta. This dish quickly became a fan favorite.

The entrée round did not disappoint! Smith created my favorite dish of the night — tamarind braised bison short ribs with chimichurri cauliflower withe flamin' hot Cheeto grits...FLAMIN' HOT CHEETO GRITS!

I think everyone in the room wanted more of the grits, and the meat was cooked to perfection. It fell off the bone but kept it's integrity, all while tasting incredible.

Jinzo's entrée also tasted wonderful, but the meat was overcooked. The celebrity judges said he did take a risk with his bison short rib korma with a basmati rice cake and flamin' hot Cheeto pompadom, however the execution did not go as planned.

Chef Smith's dessert — jarritos cheesecake with mandarin gelee and hot Cheeto streusel and ginger ice cream — was beautiful and tasty. One of my tablemates described it as the kind of dessert you would take a drive for. Another one said it was his favorite dish of the night. It was served beautifully on the dish, and all of the flavors completed one another.

Chef Jinzo's dessert — a jarritos mandarin soda sticky cake with whipped buttermilk and hot Cheeto honey powder — was also flavorful, but it was clear the cheesecake was the fan favorite. The sticky soda cake was a little dry and the dish was not as visually appealing.

After three rounds, we finally learned that Chef Smith was declared the winner of this round. He now advances in the competition to cook again next week. Tickets are still available for next week's dinner.