Holy cow what an episode. The food? Don't remember. I know, I know, we're all about the food. Not so keen about forced drama. What's that you say? What other kind of drama is there? Here's the thing, as one of the former Top Chefs once told me, you don't need all the crap at the living quarters or the stew room. Throw any bunch of chefs together in a kitchen and drama will happen. That chef was right, it happens everyday in restaurants all over America. It happened in the most recent serving of Top Chef Masters and it was delectable in it's revelations.
The Quickfire. Who cares. For some reason the blind taste test has morphed into The Toughest Quickfire Ever. Uh, maybe for the chefs but for us it's the most boring TV ever. Watching people taste ingredients blindfolded is about as exciting as watching someone peel a potato. Wanna really ramp up the excitement? Have them compete against each other, blindfolded, in speed rounds. Anyhoo, they all tasted the same 20 items and no one got more than seven. While I couldn't track down the whole list here's some of the easier ingredients: peanut butter, corn, ketchup, maple syrup, mango and almonds.
Harold's got a point. If these Master Chefs were asked to taste the exact set of ingredients the Season One Chefs had to taste I think my girl Andrea Beaman still would have won. Thankfully it's over quickly and we move onto the elimination round. Here's where it starts to get good.
Do you know what Bravo named this episode? The Masters of Disaster. The guy in the middle? I'm a Top Chef junkie and I had to go look up his name because that's how memorable he was. So the challenge was to produce a buffet lunch for 200 by trying to mold these former contestants into a highly effecient team of sous chefs. If given a choice between herding cats or cooking with these chefs, we might have seen a lot of I Can Haz Cheezburger action last night. It gets better. The Master Chefs have to "interview" their potential sous chefs. How does each do this? Three write out a list of questions to ask each chef. One does not. One starts ordering his interviewees to cut up carrots.
(C'mon, admit it, it was fun watching him bust the chops of some of these former contestants)
Poor Elia looks as if she's flashing back to the Thanksgiving episode of her season.
Blaise also seems to not to be able to let go of the past. And Spike?
Spike just can't let go of being an asshat.
Which is ok because none of the Master Chefs want him on their team.
Keller even goes so far to say it was cruel of Rick to stick him with Spike. Rick, what has Keller done to you to deserve Spike?
All the little teams then go off and try and plan their buffet dishes. Up until now, we've seen the Master Chefs competing like good natured, comrades in arms. But it's the last round before the finals and it's now that we really get to see what these chefs are like back in their real lives. Who handles pressure well, who trusts their sous chefs. The masks that we've been seeing start to slip from their carefully crafted TV faces. What's also fascinating is that all these former contestants think they are the experts on Top Chef stategy.
Which is odd considering there's only one Top Chef in a group made up of losing contestants. I think I'd leave the thinking to the Master Chefs. Back in the kitchen a seemly simple question almost takes us to Hell's Kitchen.
What we get instead is a young man with a lot to learn and an older man who understands that there's more at stake than putting some young punk in his place.
But you could tell it came close to Def Con 1 for Chef Michael. As for Dale, if ever there were a New Jersey Housewife Chef, Dale is the one.
Day Two rolls around and our teams are in the kitchen for their last two hours of cooking and prepping. But that would be too simple. Time for a twist. Now they must pack up everything they just started cooking and head out to serve somewhere else.
Lo is looking pretty weedy is this point. It only gets worse when they see
where service takes place.
No umbrellas, no shade whatsoever from a very hot sun. The effects of direct sunlight on a seafood raw bar?
The answer's not underneath that towel Anita.
But Wait, There's MORE! The Masters must cut loose one sous chef from their team.
Keller, in a act of Karmic Justice, tosses the sticky Asshat. Oh yeah, loving the Keller. Service starts for the 200 seat filling free food loving diners. No other sous chef eruptions occur, at least not that we're shown.
The food. I could show you all the dishes but really it wasn't even close. Here's why, look at these pictures of Keller's dishes.
Think back to the buffets you've dined at and see if it comes close to the spread Keller put forth for this challenge? Not only did he put out great food, he got his team of sous chefs to crank out an amazing amount of dishes expertly prepared. Now the judging is interesting. The diners gave Keller only 3 1/2 stars while giving Rick 4 1/2 stars. The Master Judges however gave him a perfect score of 15 to take the win. Despite all the twists and drama, Hubert Keller seems to be peaking at just the right time.
Anita Lo, on the other hand, got twisted right out of the kitchen. Not that I think she was too sad to be leaving. I think she's happiest in her own kitchen doing her own thing. I know the next time I'm in NY, Annisa will be on my list of places to try.
Season 6 premiered tonight. Did you watch? What did you think? For me, like the very busy picture above, 17 chefs are way too many. Having seen the improvement made on the series with Top Chef Masters, it's a bit hard to go back to the grind of the Glad Stew Room, repetitive living quarters chatter, and stunt casting of brother chefs. Everyone ready for the very long haul of Season 6?
Would it be the Master of Italian cuisine, the hot headed Michael Chiarello?
Maybe it's the Mexican master, the spicy but calm Rick Bayless?
Or perhaps it's the French sophistication of Hubert Keller?
Now I can hear you from here, that's not a green tomato. Technically, no, it's not. Still it's not a fully ripe one either. I've fried green tomatoes and I just don't like how they taste. A really firm green tomato just hasn't developed that uniquely tomato tang. I want the umami of an almost ripe tomato with the firmness of a still greenish tomato. Southern sacrilege? Perhaps but since it's my plate of goodness I'm trying to achieve why not let me worry about the tomato.
The next thing you'll need (on this point I will not betray my Southern roots) is a well seasoned, bequeathed in the will to the envious consternation of your siblings, honest to goodness cast iron skillet. We're talking old enough to have fried your great great granddaddy's chicken in back in the day. People, if you want to get your Southern Culinary Freak on, this is what you need. Keeps your oil at a nice even temperature. To fry my tomatoes I use peanut oil because of the high smoke point. However. I drop in a couple of generous tablespoons from my ever present cache of bacon grease to mix with my peanut oil. Set the heat to high. Your tomato slices should be cut thin and even. They will fry much better with nice even slices.
This is something many people enjoy. Golden crispy coating on the outside, tangy juiciness on the inside with just a hint of bacon. Makes your tongue dance with savory flavors. The only other thing you might need is a big ole glass of icy cold sweet ice tea. Sometimes simple things are the best. At least that's what this kid believes.
Holy cow what an episode. The food? Don't remember. I know, I know, we're all about the food. Not so keen about forced drama. What's that you say? What other kind of drama is there? Here's the thing, as one of the former Top Chefs once told me, you don't need all the crap at the living quarters or the stew room. Throw any bunch of chefs together in a kitchen and drama will happen. That chef was right, it happens everyday in restaurants all over America. It happened in the most recent serving of Top Chef Masters and it was delectable in it's revelations.
Harold's got a point. If these Master Chefs were asked to taste the exact set of ingredients the Season One Chefs had to taste I think my girl Andrea Beaman still would have won. Thankfully it's over quickly and we move onto the elimination round. Here's where it starts to get good.
Do you know what Bravo named this episode? The Masters of Disaster. The guy in the middle? I'm a Top Chef junkie and I had to go look up his name because that's how memorable he was. So the challenge was to produce a buffet lunch for 200 by trying to mold these former contestants into a highly effecient team of sous chefs. If given a choice between herding cats or cooking with these chefs, we might have seen a lot of I Can Haz Cheezburger action last night. It gets better. The Master Chefs have to "interview" their potential sous chefs. How does each do this? Three write out a list of questions to ask each chef. One does not. One starts ordering his interviewees to cut up carrots.
(C'mon, admit it, it was fun watching him bust the chops of some of these former contestants)
Poor Elia looks as if she's flashing back to the Thanksgiving episode of her season.
Blaise also seems to not to be able to let go of the past. And Spike?
Spike just can't let go of being an asshat.
Which is ok because none of the Master Chefs want him on their team.
Keller even goes so far to say it was cruel of Rick to stick him with Spike. Rick, what has Keller done to you to deserve Spike?
Which is odd considering there's only one Top Chef in a group made up of losing contestants. I think I'd leave the thinking to the Master Chefs. Back in the kitchen a seemly simple question almost takes us to Hell's Kitchen.
What we get instead is a young man with a lot to learn and an older man who understands that there's more at stake than putting some young punk in his place.
But you could tell it came close to Def Con 1 for Chef Michael. As for Dale, if ever there were a New Jersey Housewife Chef, Dale is the one.
Lo is looking pretty weedy is this point. It only gets worse when they see where service takes place.
No umbrellas, no shade whatsoever from a very hot sun. The effects of direct sunlight on a seafood raw bar?
The answer's not underneath that towel Anita.
Keller, in a act of Karmic Justice, tosses the sticky Asshat. Oh yeah, loving the Keller. Service starts for the 200 seat filling free food loving diners. No other sous chef eruptions occur, at least not that we're shown.
Think back to the buffets you've dined at and see if it comes close to the spread Keller put forth for this challenge? Not only did he put out great food, he got his team of sous chefs to crank out an amazing amount of dishes expertly prepared. Now the judging is interesting. The diners gave Keller only 3 1/2 stars while giving Rick 4 1/2 stars. The Master Judges however gave him a perfect score of 15 to take the win. Despite all the twists and drama, Hubert Keller seems to be peaking at just the right time.
It seems our Chefs were lulled into a false sense of juicy burger security by the Quickfire. Little did they know the extent of the mighty challenge ahead. Challenge, thy name is Zooey. You see, Zooey has some food issues.
Finally the chefs get to the kitchen to start their prep. For as much as I thought the Quickfire was boring and uninspiring, I think this challenge is fantastic because it pushes the chefs to a level they don't often push themselves. You never know what you what might be achieved by stretching that culinary muscle.
Rick is looking fairly basic and true to his Mexican persona.
(A slap chopper? Really?)
Keller also seems to be roaming around in his comfort zone.
Anita seems a light on substance which is not good considering her 1 1/2 star Quickfire score.
Michael seems to be rocking after having found some suitable pasta at Whole Foods although some folks might grumble at his using boxed pasta. I think it's nitpicking, you don't see anyone making their own cheese do you?
Art is the one pushed to the edge of his limits and he makes a fatal choice to go with the Rice Ice Cream. I'm sure you were groaning at your tv. Now I have a bit of a conundrum which is how did he make that brittle? The recipe on Bravo's site says there's butter in the brittle but the judges specifically praise Art for making the brittle without butter. There are vegan peanut brittle recipes out there I'm just surprised Art pulled it off considering the choice of ice cream he made.
Keller is uncharacteristically scurrying around the kitchen, hard pressed for time but gets some lucky karma in the form of some good natured help from Michael, along with a good natured imitation of Monsieur Keller. This is a good thing for Michael because...
...when his table full of food starts to prematurely fold, who has Michael's back? That's right, L'ange de Hubert. Karma baby, believe it.
However it's pre-planning and experience that saves Hubert from not one but two overturned shooter glasses.
Both Keller and Bayless get good comments from the diners but it's Chiarello's pasta that satisfies the challenging crowd. Anita and Art's dishes leave much to be veganily desired. Despite her Quickfire score Anita holds on to cook another day as Art packs his knives to go back to Chicago.
We will certainly miss his gregarious spirit.
