Think your interns are impressive? Ours is Almost Famous. Our current test kitchen intern, Amanda Digges, has headed off to Napa Valley this weekend to compete in the finals of the Almost Famous Chef Competition. The contest pits the country’s top culinary students against each other in a series of challenges, including a market-basket cook-off, and presentation of a signature dish. To get to the finals, Amanda’s already beat out the best of the best from the Northeast region.

Amanda’s signature dish, which she’ll be adapting to appetizer portion for the contest, is a Cornish game hen breast, with game hen sausage stuffed under the skin, pan-seared and roasted, then served with farro and golden beets (get the recipe here).

The contest is streamed live on the web this weekend, so you can watch Amanda compete. The Mystery Basket is at 11 am PST on Saturday, and the Signature Dish event is Sunday at 5 pm. And don’t forget to cast your vote for Amanda in the Fan Favorite when the cook-off ends…so we can say we knew her before she was famous!