Monday, July 20, 2009

Flip Frying Away

Back from vacation, tanned, rested and ready. Let's catch up on this past Wednesday's Top Chef Masters shall we? It's going to be quick so hold on.
The Chefs: Nils Noren, Michael Chiarello, Rick Moonen and Lachlan Patterson. None, to the best of my knowledge, has been on Top Chef before, a first for Top Chef Masters.
The Quickfire: Re-interpret Junk Food into Fine Dining, from Season 1.
Correction: Actually Nils was part of Season Three, Epi 13 when the chefs cooked at FCI.

The Banquette of Scrutiny this week?Crazy Jeff Lewis and the employees he hasn't fired this week or who are not on house restrictions. (WE WANT ZOILA!!!)(We feel and enjoy your pain Zoila. One word, EBay.)

The Four Junkfoods Chosen: Fish Sticks, Hot dog, Corn dog, and Fried Shrimp. Sadly no one chose HoHos (or is it a Yodel?). The chefs begin their frantic race against the clock.Rick "I can't hold still for the Camera" Moonen decides to make a deep fried seafood hot dog. This is actually a brilliant strategy because if you're not going to stud your dish with bacon then your next best bet is to deep fry it.
Nils, who's obviously not American because if he was he wouldn't decide to eliminate the fried element of his Fried Shrimp dish that he'll be serving to the Deep Fried American Junk Food Lovin' Diners.Doesn't anybody consult with the experts before they try their hand at these Quickfires? Sheesh!
Micheal's dish of fishsticks goes from being log-like to a ball of meat. Has promise.
Lachlan's hot dog evolves into a stew. I'm hoping there's onions in the stew. We who are regular fans of Flipping Out know just how much Jeff Lewis enjoys a good onion.

Proscuitto Stufaco with Pork Sausage

The diners poke at the stew, wondering about the rawness of the meat. It's not the biggest hit.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the face of someone who's about to get her Deep Fat Freak on. A true American. Michael hits his dish out of the park with his Swordfish Meatballs with Fisherman's Sauce.Nils has a lot of catch up work to do with his Poached Shrimp with Creamed Corn & Pickled Cherry Tomatoes.The Diners, while finding the dish very pretty, lament the loss of their fried shrimp.
Only one time can I remember a chef sent out an empty dish for a Quickfire and that was Howie on Season 3. It didn't take 3 seasons of Master Chef to reach that point.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the face of someone denied of her Deep Fat Freak. A true American, about to crank up a masterful whine about said denial. What's really sad is that Rick's dish sounded really good and something that would appeal to these diners. Bad JuJu man, baaad JuJu.

Which dish takes the coveted 4 1/2 stars?
Who's your Fry Daddy? That's right, the Fried Fish Balls. Chefs, listen up. Do you really WANT to win? The title may say Top Chef Masters but it's still Top Chef so remember: Bacon Rules, Salt Your Dish and Always Choose the Fryalator over the Thermal Immersion Circulator and you'll be taking home the big cardboard check for your charity. And please, send some food over to Zoila at whatever house Jeff Lewis is living right now, she deserves a nice meal.

2 comments:

MakingSpace said...

Those swordfish meatballs actually looked really good. LOL

NYD said...

I have always wanted to try a deep fried twinkie