Kimberly Zeidner's appearance on 'Ultimate Recipe Showdown' will be on Food Network on Sunday. (Bruce R. Bennett / The Post)

The first thing a visitor to Kimberly Zeidner’s kitchen notices is the sheer organization behind it.

Not a dirty plate or cup in the sink. Not a cabinet that’s overflowing with one too many forgotten jars of spices. About the only item that "crowds" the counter is a tray of dips and crudités that Zeidner has laid out for her guests.

But such organization is necessary if you’re a hard-working young woman who’s trying to become the next Food Network celebrity chef in her spare time.

"I want to be Giada!" says the naturally effusive 25-year-old Zeidner, who was once dubbed the "hot cookie girl" by her college pals for her combination of good looks and baking savvy. And, indeed, she exudes much the same passion for a well-prepared meal as her idol, the Italian-American culinary doyenne Giada De Laurentiis.

But the difference between Zeidner, a native of the New York suburbs who now calls Boca Raton home, and so many wannabe glamour-girl foodies is that she’s actually appeared on the Food Network. After perfecting her recipes for a couple of comfort-food favorites, including a "triple threat" chili that Zeidner’s friends insist is the best, she won a coveted spot on the cable network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown series, where she competed against three other talented home cooks from throughout the country. The episode airs for the first time this Sunday at 9 p.m.

And no, Zeidner can’t reveal who won — you’ll just have to tune in for yourself. But over the course of a recent dinner at her home, she does share with us plenty of behind-the-scenes details of the experience, beginning with the fact that it took three days — three days! — of taping at the network’s New York studio for one 60-minute show. The cooking was done in the same kitchen — or "Kitchen Stadium" — where the highly popular Iron Chef series is taped.

As far as any TV debut jitters, Zeidner says she simply didn’t have them. Nor did she sweat the outcome of the competition.

"Regardless of whether I won or lost, I was so excited. Being on the Food Network … that was the dream itself," she says.

Zeidner’s cooking philosophy is one that emphasizes low-cost practicality. When she needs cocoa for a brownie recipe — such as the one she’s cooking for us on this recent evening — she doesn’t head to Whole Foods to buy some pricey imported variety. Instead, a bag of unsweetened Hershey’s from the nearby Publix will suffice. When she wants to make dumplings — as in chicken and dumplings — she doesn’t fuss with starting from scratch. After all, that’s what Bisquick was invented for.

At the same time, Zeidner doesn’t like to stint on flavor. Nor does she shy away from getting creative in the kitchen. That chicken-and-dumplings recipe? It’s actually lobster and dumplings, a luxurious take on a down-home classic. It’s the main course of this weeknight meal. And as for those brownies, Zeidner turns hers into "brownie cups," then stuffs them with peanut-butter ice cream and drizzles them with a sauce made from strawberry jam — in other words, a cross between brownies and a PB&J sandwich.

"Ever since I was a kid, I’d come home from school and mess around in the kitchen," says Zeidner of the wellspring for her culinary ideas.

Not that Zeidner didn’t benefit from a little motherly advice. She says her stay-at-home mom was — and is — her culinary inspiration, showing that you can play with recipes and concepts at every meal. A case in point: Her mom’s famous "Mexican" lasagna.

"She started doing that way before you’d see those things on the Food Network," Zeidner says.

It also doesn’t hurt that Zeidner has the instincts of a home cook with many more years of experience under her belt. As the brownies are nearing completion in the oven, she’s quick to grab a toothpick from the cupboard — if it comes out clean when she sticks it into the chocolate-y mixture, she knows the brownies are done. It’s an old trick, but a good one nonetheless.

And just like that, it’s time for supper. The lobster and dumplings, a dish that came about after Zeidner was searching for an easy-to-make alternative to lobster pot pie, is simply divine. Zeidner doesn’t let much get in the way of the lobster flavor-wise, save for a few peas and pearl onions as part of the sauce. But it’s having those crumbly "dumplings" — more like biscuits, actually — as the accompaniment that gives the entrée that unexpected homey turn.

Then, it’s on to the brownie bowls. Zeidner is worried she didn’t let them cool enough before she filled them with the peanut butter ice cream. To which one is tempted to say: And there’s a problem with brownies and melted ice cream…?

There’s not a lot of time for chit-chat after the meal. Zeidner is an early riser — she wakes up at 5 a.m. every day — and has a busy schedule as a sales representative for Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, Florida’s largest beer wholesaler. (A nice perk of her job: Zeidner gets to visit lots of restaurants.) The Florida Atlantic University graduate also sets aside time almost every day to cook; she says her baked goods, from a carrot cake cheesecake to her cayenne-spiced chocolate cookies (don’t knock them till you’ve tried them), are in high demand at her office and among her friends.

But for now, she’s got a whole set of dishes to clean before she goes to bed. Again, her success in the kitchen all begins with her insistence on orderliness.

"The second the company gets out of here, everything is scrubbed down," she says.

~charles_passy@pbpost.com

KIMBERLY ZEIDNER’S RECIPES

Lobster and Dumplings

(Serves 6)

¼ cup pearl onions, halved

¼ cup diced celery

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon butter

½ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups canned chicken broth (she prefers Swanson’s)

¼ cup frozen peas

4 lobster tails, meat cooked and shredded

1 cup Bisquick

1/3 cup milk

Saute the onions, celery and garlic with the butter. Sprinkle in the flour, salt and broth and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and add peas; cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in lobster.

Pour casserole mixture into an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.

For dumplings:

In a bowl, combine the Bisquick and milk until just moistened.

Drop uncooked dumplings by tablespoon onto the casserole mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350° for 20 minutes.

Cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Brownie Sundae Cups

(Serves 6)

1 cup flour (all purpose)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3⁄4 cup butter (unsalted)

1¼ cups sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups peanut butter cup ice cream (she prefers Publix’s version)

6 ounces strawberry preserves (warmed)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 6 jumbo muffin-pan cups or 6 6-ounce ramekins.

In a bowl, whisk together, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in sugar. Remove sauce pan from heat and add eggs and vanilla.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture.

Spoon batter into muffin cups or ramekins. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove brownie from cup and run the tip of a knife along the inside edge of the brownie, removing a small circle and scooping out inside.

Scoop ice cream into brownie cups and drizzle with warmed preserves.