Ariane Duarte is feeling super chipper as the episode begins, having won another elimination challenge last week. Eugene Villiatora is feeling nervous about being in the bottom and knows he needs to perform. Hosea Rosenburg takes a few moments to call his dad; it turns out his dad was diagnoses with cancer right before he left for the show.

The chefs all need to focus, though as it's time for the Quickfire. Padma Lakshmi introduces their special guest, Martha Stewart! She is there to judge their efforts at making a delicious one-pot supper for the holiday season.

The chefs only have forty-five minutes, a short amount of time to make a hearty one-pot dish, but some chefs do well despite the time constraints. While Martha is unimpressed with Jeff McInnis's potato risotto, Eugene's stew, which he thickened with cornstarch, and Fabio Viviani's polenta, she likes Hosea's paella, Jamie Lauren's scallop on a potato-kale stew and Ariane's filet mignon on a cauliflower puree. She announced Ariane to be the winner, which means that Jamie is once again close to victory without getting it.

Unfortunately, that is all the Martha Stewart we get, as she departs and Padma introduces some members of Harlem Gopsel Choir, who sing to the chefs what their challenge will be. Each chef will get one of the items mentioned in the 12 Days of Christmas. The chefs have to conceptualize a dish around this to be served to 250 people at a benefit for AIDS Research.

The breakdown is as follows.

• 12 Drummers Drumming: Stefan Richter makes a pot pie with a drumstick and a little pastry in the shape of a drum.
• 11 Pipers Piping: Hosea takes the concept of “put that in your pipe and smoke it” and goes with it, using smoky spices like chipotle and smoked paprika to flavor his smoked pork dish.
• 10 Lords a Leaping: Jeff has to make quite a stretch, and does a salad with two seared Greek cheese, calling it “Island Leaping.”
• 9 Ladies Dancing: Fabio decides to do something with crab because they have legs and the females “dance” around their eggs.
• 8 Maids a Milking: Melissa Harrison is inspired by the cow, and does a gorgonzola and beef dish.
• 7 Swans a Swimming: Jamie decides to do scallop “swimming” in a vichyssoise.
• 6 Geese a Laying: Ariane does six different kinds of deviled eggs.
• 5 Golden Rings: Eugene makes a seviche and serves it with a ring of golden pineapple. 
• 4 Calling Birds: Nobody! ‘Cuz there's only eleven chefs left, psych!
• 3 French Hens: Leah Cohen does poultry on a puff pastry with butternut squash puree.
• 2 Turtle Doves: Carla Hall does a mushroom (it's a turtle's back?) dish.
• Partridge in a Pear Tree: Radhika Desai decides to do duck breast with a pear chutney.
  

The chef only have three hours to prep and it's a frantic evening. At the end of the night, they all shove their food as best as they can into the fridge, and this is where the trouble starts. Not only is the food itself still hot (food safety, folks!) but the fridge doesn't close. The next day, the chefs arrive to find the food in that fridge is hot. Hosea's and Radhika's proteins are unusable.

However, although this was being taped in like August, the cheftestants all have the holiday spirit and help their fellow competitors re-prep their protein. Even Dr. Evil/Stefan pitches in, noting he wants to win on his merits, not because someone else lost due to misfortune.

The event starts and the chefs all managed to get their food done in time. The guest judges are chef Michelle Bernstein and actress Natasha Richardson.

Jeff and Hosea seem to be popular with the guests (as judged by the number of red ribbons pinned by the guests to their station, the voting mechanism used for the event), especially the ladies. Radhika's and Stefan's dishes also seems to please.

But Jamie's dish is called slimy, Eugene's offering makes Michelle wonder if he even tasted it, and all the judges can taste in Melissa's is her gorgonzola. And while those three are eventually called out as the worst, the feedback for the evening is pretty poor, from underwhelmed to downright negative.

For the best, it's Stefan, Radhika, Hosea and Jeff. Hosea wins, but because everyone pitched in to help – which he and Radhika are both quick to acknowledge and appreciate – everyone will win the prize of Michelle's new cookbook.

Eugene, Jamie and Melissa are the worst. Jamie responds to criticism about as well as you would expect at this point, and Eugene, perhaps in a misguided attempt to fight for his spot, seems to come off to the judges as stubborn. The three are sent back in the stew room, and Tom notes to his other judges that he thinks the overall offerings were mediocre, and he wants to talk to them all.

He heads into the Top Chef stew room, and there it is! The Stern Talking-To! You can't win with a deviled egg or a boring puff pastry. Cook like you mean it!

And after that, he gives them one other present: because of the “holiday” and because of the generosity with which they pitched in to help their fellow chefs, no one is going home this episode.

It's a Top Chef Christmas miracle!

Hosea: Smoked pork loin with chipotle mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and apple jus



Jeff: Seared cheese with roasted beets, peas and spices



Radhika: Braised duck leg on toasted brioche with pear chutney and toasted pistachio



Stefan: Creamy chicken pot pie with English peas and white asparagus



Ariane: Deviled egg six ways



Carla: Braised chicken with mushrooms



Fabio: Corn and roasted pepper crab cake with chipotle lime



Leah: Braised Guinea hen with butternut squash puree over puff pastry



Eugene: Poisson cru with pineapple rings and Gold Yukon potato chips



Jamie: Sea scallop and vichyssoise



Melissa: Gorgonzola and NY strip on crostini and cranberry vinaigrette

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist.  See what I am cooking this week on www.Three-Bowls.com!