Chicken, creole paste, dijon mustard, corn meal and two sherbet ice pops, these were the ingredients that four teams of Culinary Specialists (CS) aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole were given.

With this random grocery list, the chefs had fifteen minutes to decide how to prepare the ingredients and then one hour to cook their meal.

"We know we have a real talented group of CS's, and a lot of the time they don't get to express their culinary talents," said Culinary Specialist 1st Class John Mobley. "We wanted to do something for them that would be fun and get their creative juices flowing."

The ingredients were selected from the storage room as items that are not used on a daily basis and all except one have not been used on deployment yet.

"I knew I could do something with the chicken and Dijon mustard, but what really threw me off was the popsicle," said Culinary Specialist Seaman Justin Lesley. "I thought about it, and I always make smoothies at home with my popsicles, so that's what I went with."

Lesley, along with two fellow cooks created a cornmeal and flower fried chicken, fried rice dumplings with a Dijon mustard curry sauce, and sauteed vegetables in a sweet soy sauce. For dessert, they blended a strawberry banana smoothie and thinly sliced strawberries and bananas with a granola and vanilla-based chocolate souffle.

As appetizing as this dish may seem, what won the competition was team three's mango chargrilled chicken with sauteed peppers, spinach and onions and fried sliced potatoes.

"Some of the other teams used different things like smoothies or dessert with the ingredients, but we were able to put everything on one plate and pretty much get the taste of everything in one bite," said Culinary Specialist 2nd Daphne Hubbard. "To take five mystery ingredients and have no idea what you're cooking, then create a masterpiece, as the CO (commanding officer) said, shows a lot about our culinary skills."

Although team three won the judge's vote, the Cole crew voted team one as the best-plated meal.

"I voted for team one as the best-looking meal because is had great color balance," said Gas Turbine Systems Technician Mechanical 2nd Class Gavin Ellowitz. "I would say the best part was the pageantry of it all. Dressing up the mess decks, made it seem more special than just another event held somewhere we eat everyday."

The event ended with a special cake for the captain's birthday.

"This was my third birthday spent aboard the best warship in the Navy," said Cmdr. David Wroe, Cole's commanding officer. "I was thoroughly impressed by the talent of our Hero's Cafe chefs and the support their shipmates showed tonight."

This was Cole's second kitchen challenge while forward-deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations and it is not the last event for their determined chefs.

"A big part of this is getting them excited about their career field and how much more it is than just day-to-day cooking they have," said Chief Petty Officer culinary specialist Ashley Rivera. "We're looking at joining the Surface Line Week 2017 and maybe the Best of the Mess and Joint Forces competitions."

All in all, the competition sparked excitement throughout the ship and allowed Cole's crew the opportunity to show appreciation and support for their fellow Culinary Specialists.

Cole is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners, and to preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region.

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