'Top Chef' episode 12 recap

February 12, 1:08 PMTop Chef ExaminerMatt Wolf

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I breaka my finger and I still winna the challenge

"Hospital?! I'll chop it off and sear it."

So said Fabio about his broken pinkie finger after somehow injuring himself in the kitchen while cooking Lidia Bastianich's "last supper," a simple recipe of Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Potatoes. By heroically overcoming his handicap and finding a way to peel potatoes and butcher chicken with one good hand, Fabio nailed the dish and secured a spot in the New Orleans finale.

And Carla. Again! Charged with cooking for Jacques Pepin, another simple recipe consisting of Squab and English Peas with Red Wine Sauce, she stepped up, cooked the squab a bit too much (knowing full well that you overcook squab for the older generation of chefs),  and amazed the judges with her peas. Homegirl also took Wylie Dufresne's quickfire by storm with her Dr. Suess-themed Green Eggs and Ham dish. Carla has to be the favorite at this point - when you cook Jacques Pepin's last supper, and he later says "I could die happy now," how do you lose to a Swedish mental patient who apparently can't even cook a piece of salmon?

To be fair, Stefan did apparently cook the potatoes well in his version of Marcus Samuelsson's last supper, but really, how hard is it to cook salmon? I cook salmon all the time for my family. Marinate it in some sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, and a little bit of orange soda. Put it on a hot grill, close the hood, and crack open a beer. Drink the beer. Watch a frightening pack of coyotes run wild in the field behind your house (this part is optional.) Open the hood and remove the salmon. It's not rocket science. Still, it can be argued that a Season 5 finale without Stefan would have felt incomplete... hell, even I would have argued that. So here we go.