Welcome to another week of my TOP CHEF report. Scott Conant is the guest judge for this week’s quick fire challenge. He just got a three star NY Times review for his restaurant. The chefs will play football squares to match up the food group and the key ingredients that they will be cooking. The key ingredient is Quaker Oats for everyone. The winner of the quick fire challenge will no longer be winning immunity, instead they will win an advantage for the elimination challenge. Stefan had dairy he made a banana mousse with Quaker Oats and oat almond petit four. Fabio, who had vegetables, coated eggplant with the oats, deep fried it and put a corn and parmesan salad in the middle of the eggplant. It didn’t look very appealing, and Scott laughed at it. Carla had nuts and grains. I add walnuts and raisins to my oatmeal and it’s delicious and makes it a more satisfying meal. Carla made pecan and Quaker Oat crusted tofu with an oatmeal and lentil salad. ??? Kinda strange… Scott liked it though. Jamie had fruits. Instead of doing a dessert she made coconut and oat crusted shrimp with a nectarine salsa and avocado crème fraiche. Very creative and it looked delicious. Does anyone else think this Scott Conant is sexy? I do. Oh did you just see him smile. DAMN. Hosea made wiener schnitzel because he had meat. It was accompanied by a warm potato salad and mustard sauce. Looked great to me. Leah picked seafood. She prepared a Quaker Oat crusted branzino (which is a Mediterranean sea bass) and mussel with escarole and bacon. Jeff had to make a poultry dish. He made a Quaker Oat crusted chicken paillard with grits and fried zucchini. I think Jeff is a hottie too. Scott chose Leah and Fabio as the worst dishes. He also noted that Jeff’s dish was too heavy. Scott really enjoyed Jamie, Carla and Stefan’s dish. He chose Stefan as the winner. He is very talented. Hosea is pretty jealous of him.
The chefs are instructed to go to the stew room for their surprise. They are given chef coats with the #5 (for season 5) and their names, like a jersey. The challenge is called the TOP CHEF BOWL. The challengers will be chefs from seasons past. The lineup includes Andrew D’Ambrosi (season 4), Josie Smith Malave (season 2), Andrea Beaman (season 1), Spike Mendelsohn (season 4), Camille Becarra (season 3), Nikki Cascone (season 4) Miguel Morales (season 1). Each chef will have to go head to head against a past season’s chef and they will have to cook regional cuisine from the team that they are assigned to. I can’t believe they didn’t have the Ravens, I’d like to see them try to make a crab cake better than the ones at G&M. Stefan chooses to go against Andrea and picked the Dallas Cowboys. Smart move. She’s a vegetarian chef. Jeff and Josie will both be cooking food based on the Miami Dolphins. I think they are both from Miami. Fabio and Spike have the Green bay Packers. Hosea and Miguel have Seattle Seahawks. Leah and Nikki, who are both from NY have the Giants. Jamie and Camille both have San Francisco 49ers. I know Jamie is from there. Carla and Andrew have the Saints. That seems like an easy one- crawfish!!
The chefs are only given 20 minutes to actually cook their food, but are given two hours to plan and look through the given ingredients. Did Hosea almost set Leah on fire?? Carla is kind of growing on me. Can anyone guess who is going to win the $10,000 bonus fan favorite prize? Maybe Fabio? Please write your guess in my comment section. I’m curious to know who you all like. During challenge day the audience is made up of past contestants wearing their favorite jerseys. Two chefs will cook per round head to head. The judges will note on who scores a touchdown (or wins the round) which is worth 7 points. Then 5 fan tasters will vote on her gets the field goal (which is worth 3 points). Very creative challenge. Nikki and Leah go first. Nikki made chicken livers with onions and goat choose on challah bread. I love challah bread. MMM it looks good. Leah seared a NY strip with creamed corn, snap peas and an arugula salad. Leah scored the touchdown and Nikki has the field goal. Any chef from season 5 who loses will be up for elimination. Miguel and Hosea are next. They are talking some serious smack to each other while cooking. Miguel made a cedar plank salmon with noodles and mushrooms. I hate salmon and mushrooms, so that’s a loser for me right there. Nice presentation though! Hosea made a crispy salmon roll with ginger blackberry sauce. It looks good, but I think I see some mushrooms in there. UCH. They look like adorable eggrolls. Hosea wins the touchdown and the field goal! Carla and Andrew go against each other next. Andrew is an entertainer and very funny. He’s a got a great personality. Andrew made a crayfish crudo with a spicy lime vinaigrette. He definitely got New Orleans down, but is that something you want to eat while you’re watching football? It is very creative and presented well. Carla made a crawfish and andouille gumbo over stone ground grits. Carla scored the touchdown. Way to go Carla. Andrew got the field goal though. Andrea and Stefan are the next to compete. There is some flirting action going on for sure. Andrea made a tex-mex chili with fried corn chips and a guacamole coleslaw. Stefan was ambitious and did two different meats over two salads. He roasted pork over a coleslaw and NY steak over a corn salad. It’s making me hungry. Andrea took all ten points because she was the fan favorite; the judges were split. I’ve never seen Stefan’s head so red and he just called himself a douchebag. Okay…. Camille and Jamie cook next. Camille made miso sweet potato mash with mustard crab meat and salad. It looks awesome and I love sweet potato and crab. Jamie made a crab cioppino with olives, basil and toasted sourdough bread. It also looked really good. The judges are split, but the fans pick Jamie so she gets the full 10 points. Josie, who competed against Jeff, made a warm rock shrimp ceviche with papaya. Is it even ceviche if it’s warm? Jeff also made a rock shrimp ceviche with a sangria sorbet. It was a beautiful presentation and looked so refreshing and delicious. The judges picked Josie and so did the fans. She received the full ten points. Good for her. I think Jeff may be going home. Fabio is the last to compete and if he loses then team season 5 will lose. Can Spike win it all for the allstars? Why isn’t Jill wearing a Ravens jersey? I don’t like you Jill!!! Spike made a five spice venison with port reduction and micro herb salad. Fabio also made venison with a mustard sauce and mache salad with cheddar. Fabio overcooked the venison. Spike won the touchdown, but Fabio won the field goal. The home team won 37 to 35. Close game chefs!!
Stefan, Fabio and Jeff are on the bottom. Why did Jamie turn her headband down like that? She looks like a moron. Sorry, I know this is a foodie blog, but those who know me, also know I am a fashionista. Carla won the challenge. She won two super bowl tickets. Are you kidding?? That’s AWESOME.
Jeff is eliminated. Fabio overcooked the venison, but whatever. UNTIL NEXT WEEK and can’t wait. Chef Ripert will be guest judging.
1 comment:
Wow. You remember names and seasons and dishes and everything.
Very unusual for a Top Chef blog.
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