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“Hmm. The only thing you should be slapping is the fish for the entrée you’re making.”
The show proceeded smoothly after that. And Sera had to give Jordan points for trying. But at the end, after sampling all three dishes, she had to go with Vince’s pollo alla cacciatore because it was simply superb. For the audience’s benefit, she explained, “While I chose Vince’s recipe, Marc Bellitti also gets points for a professional-quality family sauce. And Jordan’s dish is original. They were all close...”
“I’ve always said Marc has the secret sauce,” Vince joked. “On and off the ice.”
“Hey, I thought that was me,” Jordan chimed in.
Camilla clapped her hands. “Well, we have a winner—” she fixed her gaze on her son “—and a loser.”
“So Jordan is hopeless?” Vince asked jokingly.
Camilla clasped her hands together. “Perhaps Sera would like to give my son a cooking lesson?”
Sera’s eyes widened. No way was she signing up for more. “Signora Serenghetti, I—”
Camilla’s request was a tall order. And she’d already told Jordan she wasn’t into reforming bad boys. But they were on TV with a live audience—and Jordan was contemplating her expectantly. Looking around for a lifeline, her gaze came to rest on Serg Serenghetti in the audience, and an idea struck. “Serg, would you like to come up here and suggest a wine that I could pair with Vince’s winning dish?”
She tossed a significant glance at Jordan and Camilla. “After all, if the loser might get a cooking lesson, the winner should receive some recognition, too.”
Serg’s face brightened.
“Well, pollo alla cacciatore is an interesting dish,” Serg said, though he was already slowly standing. “It’s got many blended flavors that you don’t want to overwhelm. You still want to taste the tomatoes and mushrooms.”
Cole got up to help him, but the older man batted away his hand.
“Oh, come on, Signor Serenghetti, I’m sure you can suggest something,” Sera prompted.
Serg chuckled. “Well, sure, if you insist.”
“Oh, I do.” Sera was enjoying herself. Beside her, Camilla and Jordan had gone still. Priceless. She bit back a laugh as Serg stole everyone’s thunder. Jordan was probably wondering whether she’d gone nuts and why she was disregarding his warning from earlier. But she had a plan.
Serg accepted help from a producer who gave him a hand getting on stage and led him to where Sera was standing. “Now, traditional chicken cacciatore is made with red wine—”
Sera furrowed her brow at the camera for effect.
“—but Vince went with white instead.”
Sera widened her eyes to underscore the point.
“Obviously, he would not have won if the dish wasn’t creative and delicious,” Serg added.
“Of course.”
“Now a Chianti classico is a good red wine to pair with traditional pollo alla cacciatore.” Serg paused. “But even a white zinfandel would be good paired with Vince’s version.”
“A Serenghetti who knows his wine,” Sera offered approvingly.
“My son—” Serg jerked his thumb at Jordan “—never offered you a glass of wine?”
Sera heated, and Jordan cleared his throat.
“Well, uh—”
“As a matter of fact—”
The older Serenghetti cut them both off. “A travesty.”
“We’ve had catering at family events. I’ve never had to bartend,” Jordan offered by way of explanation to the audience.
