After nearly two months off it is good to see the king of TV cooking shows back.  Raleigh-based Chef Ashley Christensen jumps into the pressure cooker of Kitchen Stadium to battle Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Will she rise to the occasion or explode under the pressure?

Ashley Christensen, the chef-owner of Raleigh’s Poole’s Diner is in town tonight and she brings with her the traditions of Carolina cooking.  She makes just the third chef from the Triangle area to battle on Iron Chef.  Chef Ashley is considered one of the top chefs in the Raleigh area.  Last September she was included in Bon Apatit’s article “Women Chefs: The Next Generation,” where she was thrown into good company along side Kelly Liken, Naomi Pomeroy and Allison Vines-Rushing.

The questions is whether Chef Ashley is ready for the heat of Kitchen Stadium where Iron Chef Bobby Flay awaits along with his sexy sous Rene Forsberg and Christine Sanchez.  Also waiting is the secret ingredient Chum Salmon and the judges Ben Sargent, Cady Huffman and Jeffrey Steingarten.

Check below for the outcome.

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Flay                   Christensen
Taste: 20                Taste: 14
Plating: 12              Plating: 11
Originality: 13       Originality: 10
Total: 45                Total: 35