Competition Dining: Battle eggs and sunchokes

They created six course using the night's featured ingredient, chicken eggs, and a surprise addition, the sunchoke, in each.

Hill said before the noon hour reveal, he didn't realize that sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) were a North Carolina product.

This week's two semifinals were shifted back a week due to snow. The final will pit winners from Monday and Tuesday night battles on March 9.

As soon as the description was posted on big screens, squeamish diners shrunk away from this ambitious dish.

"I don't think I can do octopus," one said, and I saw several plates returned to the kitchen untouched. An inauspicious start for Hill's team.

"Mac and cheese, I can do," that same (and by now hungry) diner said, digging into a dish that oozed comfort food.

In contrast to Course 1, which featured a variety of challenges but no single theme, this one was of a piece. All the flavors blended in one warm and rich tone.

After the meal, Conklin said he and his team wanted to do a mac and cheese dish, but had to make the paste themselves.

"You practice different things," he said, "but then you're stuck with what's on the truck."

Angus beef has played a major role in the Competition Dining Series and Monday did not disappoint, although at least one diner had to ask for her almost-rare steak to be cooked up a bit more.

By this course, many meat-satiated diners left a bit of lamb on the plate, and I heard from diners who said this, too, was served a touch more rare than they would have liked.

It was clear that this battle would be decided by dessert, and the first offering included all the right notes: coffee, chocolate, caramel.

The burnt meringue, served to dozens of diners at the right texture and tone, was an impressive feat.

Competition Dining host Jimmy Crippen described this one as "that caramel you want to rub all over yourself," and some of my friends at Table 9 suggested that the sauce alone with La Farm's baguette would have made a winning dish.

"I guess I liked it, because I scarfed it," said one diner, looking around in surprise.

"It was great. It would be more great if I wasn't so full," added another.

With its dense beignet and ice cream-like glace, this dish earned the top score of the night for many.

As the scores were posted, it became clear that the chance Faire took in Course 1 would be costly and that Rex's Conklin has a hit in the mac and cheese combo.

So it would come down to dessert. Both dishes scored well, but the creativity in Conklin's combo put him over the top.

"We took it ot the last minute tonight," he said. "We rolled hard all day and were aggressive."

Hill described the day as "an out-of-body experience from 4:30 to 7:10 p.m."

Conklin was happy with the reception his food received and with the chance, next week, to compete in the Finals.

"I just wanted to make the people happy," he said.

Conklin will face the winner of Tuesday night's dinner on Monday, March 9, in the finale.