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Top Chef Non-Tattoo Tuesday

Nope, no tattoos here.

Dim Sum Sunday - Pumpkins/Squash

So many choices of squash and pumpkins to choose from. Don't mind the funky gourds, I decided to use that lovely acorn squash along with a butternut squash to try a recipe I hadn't made before. I turned to one of my favorites when it comes to simple fresh cooking.
I toyed with the Squash Ravioli but instead decided on the Butternut Squash Pizza. No link this time so here's the recipe:

Butternut Squash Pizza

1 butternut squash
¼ c. grated mozzarella cheese
Olive oil
¼ c. grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and Pepper
12 sprigs parsley
2 cloves garlic
20 sage leaves
Pizza dough for 1 pizza
½ lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut crosswise just above the bulge. Cut off the top about ½ below the stem and the bottom as well. Peel the two squash pieces. Cut both pieces lengthwise and then cut ¼ inch slices (after removing seeds from bottom half). You will have half moons for the upper part, and elongated C shapes from the bottom half. Brush the slices with olive oil and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast about 30 minutes or until the slices are lightly browned and tender to the touch.

Meanwhile, peel and chop fine the garlic and add to about ¼ c. olive oil. When the squash slices are done, remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 450 to 500 degrees. Brush the prepared pizza crust with the olive oil and garlic, and sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella and Gruyere. Arrange the slices of cooked squash over the cheese. Bake the pizza for about 10 minutes, until the crust is browned and the cheeses have melted. While the pizza is baking, chop the parsley leaves. Fry the sage leaves briefly in hot olive oil, then drain them on an absorbent towel. When the pizza is done, garnish with the sage leaves, the chopped parsley, and a squeeze of lemon.

The only change I made was adding sliced baked acorn squash to the butternut squash. I made my own pizza crust because I think it tastes so much better. I resorted to a pizza pan instead of cooking it directly on my pizza stone so I could more easily share the photos of the finished pie. I had my doubts about enjoying this pizza. I'm a classic thin crust, deeply flavored tomato sauce, cheese with pepperoni kinda gal. I'm not much for white pizzas. If there's no tomato sauce baked into that delicious thin crust where do you get the umami flavor?More than plenty umami going on here. The squash is tender and just a little bit sweet but melds so nicely with the tangy cheese (and under layer of bits of garlic) with the fried sage. Make sure you use the best olive oil for all parts of this recipe, it makes a huge difference and is an integral part of the flavor profile. Don't punk out on the fried sage and sprinklings of parsley, it's delicious. It's a wonderfully bright fresh taste and certainly a change from my normal pizza routine. An excellent fall feast.

Top Chef Restaurant Wars - The Quickfire

This is just the episode to clear away the nastiness of last week. Restaurant Wars. I think it was one great episode as Top Chef remembers what makes us watch in the first place - chefs competing in the kitchen.

Since they had already done the Mise En Place relay race I wondered what sort of team building Quickfire they would come up with to match the intensity and passion of the relay race? I have to say what they came up with blew me away.It's simply diabolical. Split the remaining eight chefs into two teams of four. Each team has forty minutes to make a dish. Sounds simple enough. Oh no. Not so simple. Each team member has ten minutes to prepare their portion of the dish. Everyone is blindfolded until it's their turn to cook.Can I just point out that normally many of the contestants would be more than happy to see Padma coming at them with a blindfold, her funky boots and a riding crop. Perhaps even guest judges would enjoy that as well if the look on Rick Moonen's face is any indication. But the blindfold and Tom's relay race whistle? Whole 'nother ballgame entirely. Because not only are the chefs blindfolded, they cannot speak for the entire forty minutes.I know, crazy huh? Basically you have ten minutes to read the mind of the person ahead of you and continue on to a cohesive dish that tastes good. Add on top of that a High Stakes Quickfire with a $10,000 prize to split. I love it. I think the chefs started actually sweating blood. The only thing they get to talk about is the order of the line. Then it's off to the races.

Round One:Really the most important round because you're picking the proteins and setting the stage. Jennifer really kicks in with starting a sauce that's a good pairing with the black cod she yanked from the fridge. Eli goes with steak but his other components look a little iffy.

Round Two:Here's where the mind reading begins. Laurine has to figure out what direction Jennifer wants her to go and then go there fast. Robin has it a little easier since Eli got quite a bit done. No disasters and suddenly their ten minutes is up.
Waiting on the sidelines once you're done? Not so much fun.

Round Three:Bryan jumps right in and starts whipping up a sauce with an avocado while Mike understands where Jen and Laurine are going.

Round Four:
The last round goes to Kevin and Michael. Kevin gets that Jen wanted to poach the fish in olive oil but puts his own spin on the dish by butter roasting the cod instead. Michael makes a couple of minor adjustments but pretty much finishes off the dish. The results?
The Blue Team's Black Cod, Sauteed Mushrooms, Shitake Broth and Radish Salad.

The Red Team's Pan Roasted NY (KC?) Strip Steak with Whipped Miso Avocado Puree.

It's not Crap on a Plate kids for what they had to do to get there. I'm amazed. It looks like the judging was very close and I like that they had to compare a seafood dish versus a beef dish. In the end, Jennifer's Blue Team takes the win but really both teams did a great job on an incredibly difficult Quickfire. And let's give credit where credit is due - the producers who came up with this challenge deserve a big thank you for bringing something new and exciting to the Top Chef table. Almost makes up for last week's stupidity.

Dim Sum Sunday - Pumpkins/Squash

Our last Dim Sum Sunday - Pie had some really great participation. All the pies set my mouth to watering. Let's check them out.
Dani at Gardening Under the Florida Sun gave us a wonderfully rustic Apple Galette.La Diva at La Diva Cucina makes a break from the land of Key Lime to make a beautiful Banana Cream Pie.Buzz of Buzzkill finally narrows down his Pie As Food Group to give us a old family favorite, Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Hey, the Boy likes it!Troll of The Troll Report gives us something totally new with his Carambola Pie that tastes just as good as it smells.

Thanks so much everyone for your pies, I would have had a hard time choosing which one I would want to try first and that means a lot.

It's October, Halloween is coming and I can't resist all the beautiful all the pumpkins and squash. So take your pick for the this Dim Sum Sunday - Pumpkin/Squash. Maybe continue the pie mojo, maybe a little pumpkin ravioli, or even Butternut Squash Risotto. Go Pumpkin Thumping Crazy.
Dim Sum Sunday is open to anyone and everyone. Make a dish with the ingredient or theme in mind (or enjoy a restaurant doing all the work for you) take a picture of your hard work, post it on your blog and come back here this coming Sunday and tell us you're ready to share and we'll digitally run right over and wish we had been at your house to call dibbs on seconds.

See you all Sunday.

10 Signs That You Might Have a Problem

If you came here looking for a rehash of the Pigs and Pinot Elimination Challenge of the most recent Top Chef episode - here's the rundown. Kevin won, Ash lost. Normally I'd be a slop happy pig in a poke with a whole episode dedicated to the hog. However. I refuse to do a Happy Happy Joy Joy dance while the producers insist on making the nasty drama at the condo the focus of the viewers attention. I don't watch Top Chef for scenes of children acting like they still need a mommy. I watch for the Kitchen Drama. I watch for the food. I watch for things like Bacon Jam.
So sorry kids, no Pigs and Pinot Soup for you today. Instead. I give you......signs you may have a Bacon Addiction Problem.

10) Babe the movie pig starts your mouth drooling.

9) You lobby your state senator to make Bacon the Official State Cured Meat.

8) You ask your boss if the office has National Bacon Day off (the first Monday of September).

7) Spends way too much money on the Archie McPhee & Co. Bacon Page.

6) Saves money on bacon lip balm from Archie McPhee by making your own with bacon fat and wax.

5) You think The Squeal is one of the finest pieces of art ever to grace a kitchen wall.

4) Believes the Theory of Baconization and It's Relativity to a Better Life is more important than the Theory of Relativity.

3) Thinks Detroit would sell a whole lot more new cars if they came with crispy bacon smell instead of new car smell.

2) Schemes to get the word Baconization into Webster's Dictionary (and not just the Urban Dictionary)

1) Your blogger buddy hand embroiders a Bacon Love handtowel and sends it to you...and you frame it for your kitchen.

You can all now be jealous of my legendary Bacon Folk Art. Thank you Dani of Gardening Under the Florida Sun, I will treasure it forever.

Top Chef Tattoo Tuesday

Do NOT mess with Chef Kevin's pork.
(Try imagining Babe all grown up and in a biker gang)

Sunday Dinner

Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, pan gravy and mustard greens.

First of many Visiting Mother Meals.

Pair Pimping

Oh boy, Product Pimpage Quickfire. My favorite kind of Quickfire....not. Never heard of Alexia Crunchy Snacks. Don't think I'll be pairing them up with anything in my fridge anytime soon.

Little bit of a twist in this episode. Seems that the Battling Brothers Voltaggio have both worked for guest judge Charlie Palmer.A little lingering resentment is always good for a relationship. Still Michael gives it his all for the Quickfire. The dishes don't appear to be too exciting. Robin, Ash and Jen end up in the bottom half of judging. Jen hopes that she has the judges at her station first which of course means they show up to her station last where they get to taste overcooked pork chops. Robin and Ash have no excuses but are well versed at the art of reacting to Quickfire Bottom Judgments.As for the winning dishes? Turns out Charlie does like Bryan better. Along with Kevin and Baby Eli. Who wins the Snackie Quickfire?Baby Eli. (I guess even a blind squirrel can find a nut) Sadly for Eli's parents no $15,000 gold chip for winning which means Eli will still be living at home.

Next up: All Pig All the Time.

These Boots Were Made For Porking

We again start off this week's episode with a fashion review. Were we going for the Cher - Half Breed look here? Way too much clothing if that's the case.

When Babies Cry

Someone wake me up when the adult version of Top Chef kicks back in.

Home Cooking

The second half of the latest Top Chef episode was aimed squarely at the Home Cook because they are cooking at home.Raise your digital hand if your house looks like this and you cook family style every night in your beautiful house (sorry Martha, you don't count). Padma describes the problem, that tough economic times have more and more people throwing dinner parties at home. I'm not sure if I'm following the logic of not having a job or health insurance and the number of dinner parties one throws but who cares, it's Top Chef where logic and common sense were stuffed in Glad Ziplock bag and thrown behind a pan of frozen scallops in the walk in freezer. Who are the chefs cooking for? Homeless families? People with no jobs? Home cooks?Silly me, it's 5 chefs who have restaurants, jobs and health insurance. What the hell was I thinking? Why it's the Macy's Culinary Council. Not to be confused with......the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Would have made about as much sense as having Macy's connect with this challenge and a whole lot more fun. You know this episode isn't really about food or fun when you realize it's a pairs challenge. This has all the makings of Drama Stew. Stressed out chefs, 3 hours to cook from out of a bag, space limitations, high expectations and working with those you don't love. I'm sure the producers squealed with delight when Mike I. and Robin hooked it up knife-wise. Raise your digital hand if you knew we were all in for a whole lot of baby whining at that pairing. Off they go to stake out their space for the next three hours.Mike I's big fat head is so heavy that it drags the rest of him down into a full body slam onto the floor. I'm pretty sure they have special helmets for that condition.

Cooking happens in the crowded quarters but no disasters seem be developing. No fights over who does what probably because chefs who work well together were paired up while the rest seemed to have resulted in dominant chefs pairing up with don't rock the boat chefs. Kinda boring. Maybe if we throw a hunk of cheese in our Drama Stew that will thicken things up.Don't mind me, I'm not here to give feedback, I'm here to scoff at your efforts and get a jump start on my judging of your dish. Feel free to say something stupid so I can laugh at it during service.
Tom finally leaves and the chefs get closer to service. Ashley and Baby Eli are serving spot prawns over gnocci. Because spot prawns are so tricky to grill Baby Eli, being the most awesome chef ever, bails on cooking the more difficult item and apparently stir fries the gnocci in a wok. Ashley, being a Seattle chef, at least understands the tricky hand she's been dealt. That's a protein that's right in her wheelhouse so you know she understands the timing has got to be perfect. The real problem looks like sharing a gas grill with someone else while grilling the delicate prawns. Ash, on the other hand, has no such worries.If you've got time to set the table there's something wrong with your cooking. Or perhaps your cooking surface?The one time I felt connected to this challenge was when they were blowing electrical circuits. Probably because everything I learned about electricity and fuseboxes I learned from A Christmas Story.Looks like Brother Michael is knee deep in the kimchi because stop and go cooking is not the best method for fish. Right there in the kimchi weeds with him are Ashley and Baby Eli after Ashley discovers the heavy salt hand of Baby Eli's cooking of the gnocci. Can she do anything to save this dish? Her choices were pretty limited to not serving the gnocci and just serve the prawns or go with the gnocci and hope the judges are as clueless to Basic Seasoning 101 as Baby Eli apparently is. The gnocci stays.

Service begins at the very simple yet very beautiful outdoor setting overlooking the bright lights of Vegas.Interesting that both brothers had halibut in their bags of product. Bryan seems to have won this round, earning praise from the judges while Michael gets dinged not only for over cooked fish, undercooked pancetta but also the concept of egg yolk wrapped in pasta on top of the fish. Ashley and Baby Eli's gamble that the judges have all had tastectomies comes up craps. I don't think there was one part of their dish that was not harshly dissected. Jen and Kevin earn raves for their Korean Beef and Tomato Broth dish. Robin and Mike I. didn't end up killing each other and produced a dish that fell squarely in the middle.
They all head back to the M Hotel for Judge's Table. Bryan and Laurine, Jen and Kevin have the top two dishes. Jen takes her first Elimination Challenge win with her seemingly inspired on the fly Tomato and Cardamom sauce.She also wins a Macy's card loaded up with $10,000.She promises to buy her co-winner, Kevin, a suit. Apparently there are no good clothing stores in Atlanta or at least not any that Kevin shops in. As for the losing teams?No surprises here. But before we get to that, we did have a little bit of tension out in the stew room when the losing teams went in for judging. It's a pretty good indication of how tightly wound up these chefs are getting. Kevin seemingly asks Bryan an innocent question about Michael's dish and gets pretty much an FU for his efforts. Are we beginning to see the cracks in the Battling Brothers Voltaggio? Tension and stress do crazy things to people. While Bryan may have been worried that his brother was going home, I wasn't. Not with Eli and Ash in there with him. I really wasn't worried too much about Ashley. Why? Because one distinct pattern Top Chef judging has is that if you don't do anything or at the most, make a salad, you go home. Hell Tom's punted people for not cooking (cerviche) a dish. I thought Ash was a slam dunk for basically shaving fennel and setting the table (which I don't think is part of the challenge anyway). Not only did he not do much of anything, he admits that he's not in the top tier of chefs left in the competition. Short of taking yourself out of the competition, I can't think of a better way to auff yourself. Not that Ashley did any better to keep herself in the game. By taking the leadership role, by not throwing Baby Eli under the bus where he belongs, she's walking the fine line of accepting responsibility or giving up on defending the dish.Tom is shocked. What shocks me is what a lousy job of judging Tom does in this episode. He even admits as much in his Bravo Blog: Most of the questions we ask don’t make it into the final version of the program, but we really do try to ascertain who was responsible for what. We didn’t know, as you did from watching the program, that when Ashley gave the gnocchi to Eli they were fine, and he then oversalted them. We knew only that Ashley had made the gnocchi. Ashley made a personal point throughout this competition to treat the team as a team and never ascribe blame to her partners, even when it was merited. She did so both with Mattin and, now, with Eli. This is admirable, but it would have benefitted her to say to us, “Eli oversalted the gnocci I’d made. I knew it the moment I tasted them.” In the discussion between judges after the chefs step out, Tom even suspects that it was Eli that oversalted the gnocci. So now we're judging a chef's dish on whether or not they throw someone under the bus? It's down to which dish is worse and the consensus is Ashley and Baby Eli own that. To choose between the two means choosing between someone who under difficult circumstances undercooked delicate prawns and someone who choose to cook something delicate in a manner that guaranteed they would end up heavy and dense, oversalted them above and beyond the cooking method AND didn't seem to realize that they were oversalted. So who goes home?Brilliant. And sometimes a stiff upper lip is not as easy as it sounds.
Next up? The chef both brothers have worked for stops by for a little pimpage and guest judging.