TOP CHEF REPORT

TOP CHEF REPORT

(pictured lamb with carrot puree and wilted kale)

Welcome to TOP CHEF REPORT (12/10/08). Sorry it is so late! I was in Cali!! The quick fire challenge is the "name that ingredient" game. Daniel and Hosea face off first. They each taste a sauce and name as many ingredients in it. The sauce is shrimp and lobster bouillabaisse. Hosea wins. He names 4 ingredients. Jeff loses to Arianne. Thank you Carla! I was waiting for someone to say cream!! Stefan beats Arianne in the second round. He guesses 7 ingredients in the Thai Green Curry. All the girls seem to think Stefan is an asshole. I like him alot, what do you think? The final round sauce is a Mexican Mole Sauce. Carla is out on the first try! Peanut butter? Really? I think she is so annoying! It's between the baldies Hosea and Stefan and Hosea wins! There will be immunity for this challengeThe Chef's pull knives that say either "old" "new" "borrowed" or "blue". They Chefs are responsible for Gail Simmons' bridal shower. I think Jamie needs to stop whining and complaining please!!! Fabio, Leah and Melissa are on the blue team. Daniel, Carla and Gene are on the new team. Gene is really into sushi, can he make anything else? Jeff, Hosea and Stefan are on the old team. I think that is a great team, they are all 3 of the most talented chefs on the show. It Will be exciting to see how their dish turns out. Arianne, Jamie and Radika are on the borrowed team. They are doing an Eastern spiced lamb marinated in yogurt, vadauvan carrot puree (I will have to google this spice later), wilted kale, and cucumber raita (this will need to be googled as well). It doesn't sound like a very strong menu. I wish Radika would stop doing Indian food like she said she wasn't going to do in the first episode. She doesn't want people to think she can't do anything else, but I get the feeling she can't!!. The new team's menu consists of a surf and turf sushi roll (ummm WTF, really?....interesting I guess?), frisee salad with won ton, peach miso BBQ sauce (what is this going on exactly?) and a yuzu sorbet. I still can't stand Carla. I'm sorry, I just don't know why! The blue team's menu is really simple they are going to make a Chilean sea bass ( you know how I feel about this dish, its either perfection or a disaster and they bought theirs from a super market, so it was probably previously frozen, but I hope it turns out good, roasted corn puree (yum, if done right) and swiss chard. The old team menu is tomato terrine wrapped in eggplant (sounds good to me!), carpaccio with tomato sorbet and a gazpacho. I think they might be on the chopping block for using too many tomatoes. I don't even think tomatoes are that "old". I mean those tomato, basil and mozzarella salads with balsamic are in every yesterday these days. That dish is so "NOW". I am getting heartburn just thinking about all those tomatoes to be honestTom comes in and we learn there is no such thing as a blue food. How interesting. I did not know that. I mean I have seen blue lollipops, but those are artificial! I don't know if Tom was amused by their "borrowing" rationalization. Tom doesn't seem excited about Gene's deconstructed sushi. I've had deconstructed chili that I love and was fun to eat, but I don't know about sushi. Gene turns his failed rice into a chili pepper sticky rice which I think is really interestingOld served first. The loved Jeff's sorbet, but felt the terrine was a little bland. Daniel adds shitake mushrooms with Carla's salad without asking. She was annoyed. I guess I would be too. New serves second. The beef with peach BBQ sauce looks good. That's a pretty hard dish to F up though. The women don't really understand how to eat it and the shrimp was cold. Leah is so cocky, it's really annoying. I think she is safe for this week though. Wow that carrot puree is HOT YELLOW. The something borrowed lamb dish looks really pretty! They finish plating at the last second. They think the lamb is well cooked and delicious and love the flavors and spices. Everything went together. Gail was very happy with it. I think these girls may be the winners. The Chilean seabas was served last. They were the blue team, so they encrusted it in blue cornflower. VERY CREATIVE. They thought it was delicious, but didn't really have bold flavors. It didn't look like anything specialThe old and borrowed courses are the two favorites. They loved Arianne's lamb. She got off to a rough start, but is really proving herself. I think she may have some talent, but does she have what it takes to be a top chef? Arianne won another elimination challenge. Jamie is PISSED!!! She is talented, but not that great. I mean she did serve a raw egg on live TV. Stop drinking your haterade Jamie and focus on your food. Your attitude STINKS! I am glad that Daniel admitted to putting the mushrooms in, which is good. I am glad he didn't throw Carla under the bus, even though I think she is pretty annoying. There is no way the blue team is in last place. Their dish seemed much better than that sushi mess. The judges were disappointed that Carla didn't speak up about the mushrooms. I think that Gene is going home. His dish was the worst and he was the leader and made most of the main componentsTeam blue is safe. I knew they would be. Bye bye Gene... I think he is just young and inexperienced. I was wrong. Daniel was sent home. It was just a matter of time. He didn't really stand out.

Until next week...