Bocuse D'Or, Top Chef Style

August 19th. Remember that night? 14 weeks ago? 104 days? That's how long it's taken to get to the final 4 chefs. 17 chefs whacked down to 4. A lot has happened in that time. Padma got....bangs. Tom probably scored some more product pimpage. Chefs added more tattoos to whatever body space they have left. So hold on my little Top Chef Crack Monkeys, we're almost to the finish line.When we last saw our chefs, Jennifer had just won the Quickfire and our chefs are sweating French bullets, waiting to hear what the Elimination Challenge held in store for them.A mini Bocuse D'Or, that's all. That's right, each chef will choose between lamb or salmon as their protein, use that protein, make 2 intricate garnishes, all perfect in technique and presentation, in four hours. A panel of 12 judges, some who are on the American Advisory Board of the Bocuse D'Or will be judging your food but the real cherry on top of this hot French Sundae? Thomas Keller, of the legendary French Laundry, will be serving as a guest judge. The only way it could get better is to roll the man in duck fat and cover him in bacon. So the stress is definitely on. Will someone blow a gasket and end up throwing SPAM petit fours on the mirror?Isn't that why we watch?

The chefs take one last shopping trip to Whole Foods where they stare at produce for inspiration.Back at the condo, further inspiration is drawn from watching the dvds of past Bocuse D'Ors.Apparently it's a party in the stands at Bocuse. That's the trip Bravo should give away to their Top Chef fans, a trip to France to cheer on the Americans at the next Bocuse D'Or.
Once the dvds are done, there's an interesting exchange between Bryan and Kevin with Kevin asking advice about sous viding his lamb. Now, this is still a competition, and Bryan didn't have to help Kevin out but he did. Does Bryan want to win? Absolutely but not at the cost of "being a prick" in his words. What I like about this attitude is that some of these chefs put the food before the competition. Of course Bryan may have helped Kevin out thinking there's no way he would win this particular challenge. It's not his strong suit. Still the whole exchange was a breath of fresh air.

The next day comes bright and early and the chefs work quietly in the kitchen. Chef Tom brings a guest by to remind the chefs just what is at stake.What's at stake for Michael is apparently the Trash Talking award.I think he's got that all wrapped up. Chef Tom stops by again, this time alone, so he can make funny faces at the chefs.But also to announce that the winner of the Elimination Challenge will get THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Who's making funny faces now?Suddenly it's time to start the Parade of Mirrors. Kevin is the first to get a gander at the rest of the judges who include Traci Des Jardin, Jerome Bocuse, Daniel Boulud, Alex Stratta and Tim Hollingsworth in addition to Tom, Padma, Gail and Thomas Keller. No point sweating about it now, your dish is done.

Poached Lamb Loin, Sherry-Glazed Beet & Asparagus in Sunchoke Cream

The judges seem to enjoy his food but Thomas thinks it's a little elementary for Bocuse.

Michael follows Kevin into the high stress arena.

Salmon with Cauliflower Chickpea Tart & Zucchini Tzatziki

While scoring points for being pretty, his flavors take a hit. Even worse, Alex Stratta finds a dreaded fish bone. In real world Bocuse D'Or, Michael would have failed right there. On top of that, his hollowed out cucumber impresses no one for technique or originality. Perhaps Michael should go watch with Kevin cook on his day off.

Back in the kitchen, Bryan finds himself in the weeds with time running out.But Bryan finds his earlier chef camaraderie rewarded by Jennifer who steps up to lend a hand, having won that extra 30 minutes in the Quickfire. Karma baby!

Crusted Lamb Loin, Lamb Shank Crepinette & Orzo Au Gratin

Again, the judges like the look of his platter and food but find the lamb undercooked and the rest of the dish needed just a bit more time.

Sausage Wrapped Lamb Loin, Carrot Puree & Tomato-Piquillo Canape

Eli decides to cut his lamb table side and immediately gets pinged for uneven slices and severely undercooked meat. So undercooked that no one wants to eat the meat. Not a good sign.

Salmon & Caviar, Shrimp Flan & Truffle, Celery Root & Shiitake

Jennifer finishes the group of five with her salmon. Her flavors seem to be well received but the direction of the dish lacked foresight. There's also some salmon servings that were perfect and others that were almost undercooked. Same with her shrimp flan.

The meal ends with accolades for all the chefs for their 12 hour Mini Bocuse D'Ors efforts. Still there's one more surprise. In addition to the money for winning the Elimination, the winner will also snag a spot to compete on the 2011 Bocuse D'Ors team. I don't think you'll be seeing that happen on any of the Food Network Competitive Cooking shows any time soon.
You have to think they are all just numb by the time they reach Judge's Table. Which is a good thing because the first round of comments are all about picking at each of the chef's weaknesses. No one goes unscathed but Tom winds it up by saying how much he respects the chefs and their food by getting to this stage in the competition and completing this challenge. The second round of comments seem to suggest that no one had the perfect dish. The only one coming closest is Kevin and his simplicity seems to be the biggest weakness.However, not enough of a weakness to stop the Juggernaut from taking home another $30,000 and the coveted spot to compete in Lyons.
Now for the Elimination. Frankly the four remaining chefs all looked like they were about to Stress Hurl.It doesn't take long for Padma to call out Eli's name.Can't say I was surprised but I am glad it finally happened. There's not one dish I think of when I think of Eli but I will remember him as someone who saw fit to mock a cancer survivor and I know if it were me that would not be something I'd be proud of.

Time to look ahead to the finale so pack your bags, we're going to Napa.

Top Chef Tattoo Tuesday

Finally the waitresses get some chef love...

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 6

Still have some of that wonderful turkey left so I decided to whip up some enchiladas. After some consultation with my culinary godmother, I went with Diana Kennedy's Enchiladas Sencillas recipe and just added my leftover turkey to the filling of onions and cheese.

Enchiladas Sencillas

Serves 6.

Sour Cream:
1/2 pint heavy cream
2 tablespoons buttermilk

Enchiladas:
1/2 cup peanut oil
12 freshly made corn tortillas
2 onions, finely chopped
1 cup grated Chihuahua cheese

Tomato Sauce:
1 pound tomatoes (broiled until blackened on the outside)
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 fresh serrano chiles
2 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sour Cream: Mix together heavy cream and buttermilk to make sour cream; set mixture in warm place until it is set, (about 6 hours).

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Blend tomatoes, blackened skin, core, and all, garlic and peppers. Heat the oil and fry the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until it has reduced and thickened. Add the salt; set aside to cool a little. Stir in sour cream and heat through gently. Don't let it boil or it will curdle!

Enchiladas: Heat the oil and fry the tortillas one by one, without letting them become crisp. Dip the tortillas into the warm tomato sauce to lightly cover them. Fill with the onions and cheese. Roll the filled tortillas up loosely and set them side by side in an ovenproof dish. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese and onion. Heat in the oven for no more than 10 minutes.
Serve immediately.

I like this recipe a lot because you're making a very rustic and smoky tomato sauce. It packs a lot of flavor for such a simple preparation. However next time, I will go with store bought sour cream. 6 hours is a long time to wait for sour cream. One last addition is the addition of a little cilantro to the filling. It tastes wonderful. The turkey soaks up that spicy, smoky tomato sauce and the cheese takes just a bit of the heat off the peppers to give you a nicely balanced, simple dish.
Heritage Turkey, the bird that just keeps on giving.

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 5

Leftovers. No Thanksgiving holiday is complete until you start trying to figure out what to do with all that turkey you roasted. The choices of leftover turkey dishes are endless. Turkey tetrazzini, turkey pot pie, hot turkey sandwiches, turkey a la king and turkey with rice. For my first leftover dish I decided to try making a Hot Brown.
The history of the Hot Brown is found in the past of the Brown Hotel in Louisville Kentucky. Like all great food legends, this one was born from an effort to please the desires of it's customers. Back in the '20's the Brown would sponsor a dinner dance. Those of you well versed in night life activities know that after a hard night of dancing and imbibing, sustenance is needed to recharge or recover from said activities. Apparently the Brown's patrons grew tired of the ham and eggs the kitchen offered up so Chef Fred Schmidt came up with a hot open faced turkey sandwich they called the Hot Brown. (You can find the history and recipe here) It was a huge hit and another legendary American food dish was born. To build your own Hot Brown you start with a couple of slices of Texas Toast with the crusts cut off. You're going to need that thickness from Texas Toast because it's got to hold up to your sauce. Add a layer of turkey on top of your toast, slice a couple of tomatoes and set them off to the side of your bread. Next you need to make your Mornay sauce. A Mornay is simply a Béchamel sauce to which you add grated cheese. When I went to check out the Google Images for a Hot Brown, it looks like more often than not, cheddar or American cheese is used but I'm following the hotel's recipe which calls for Pecorino Romano cheese. I did deviate from the recipe by using half heavy cream and half whole milk for the sauce. One quart of heavy cream is a whole lot of fat for one serving of sandwich. Once your sauce is bubbly and hot and all your cheese has melted into the sauce, you liberally smother your toast and turkey. Add one last sprinkling of cheese on top of your sandwich and pop it under the broiler. Once it's warm and your cheese has melted, take it out, sprinkle the top with paprika and parsley and add your crossed slices of bacon and serve while still bubbling.

I won't kid you, this is a heart attack on a plate. I only used half the amount of sauce and that was still plenty. Still it tastes fantastic and the flavors are so divergent from your just finished Thanksgiving Day meals that you won't feel like you're eating leftover turkey yet again. However those of you on Lipitor or Crestor, perhaps you should give this sandwich a pass. It's that decadent.

KARMIC KITCHEN 2009 THANKS - BACONIZATION

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 4

When it comes to Thanksgiving Turkey do you like your breading in or out of the Bird?
	I'm totally into stuffing my bird full of goodness, no bacteria scares me.
	Are you crazy, I'd rather be safe than sorry and give my family stovetop stuffing.
	I just order a double meat pizza and call it good.
pollcode.com free polls

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 3

Working the day after Thanksgiving is not the happiest time for some of us. Especially if you're one of those Black Friday shopping enthusiasts. I am not. I'm more than happy to avoid that crazy madness. But if I have to work, I at least want my co-workers and I to have some tasty food to knosh on while we're hard at it.My free range, heritage turkey was incredibly delicious. I brined the bird the night before resulting in a juicy, tender and flavorful turkey. The dark meat on the legs wasn't dried out and tough, the breast meat was so good it almost converted me from a dark meat fan to a white meat fan. I can't wait to use the leftovers in some other dishes...dishes that won't need a lot of ingredients masking the dry breast meat. My union carpenters also gave it the Hearty Men Seal of Approval. One more note on cooking the turkey, I followed a method from the folks at Cook's Illustrated which calls for cooking it at high heat and flipping the bird every 15 minutes 4 times. I would happily do all of these tricks and methods again to reproduce that succulent goodness.My Wild Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans wasn't nearly as popular as the mashed potatoes. I knew that was going to happen but being the good sports that my co-workers are, they at least tried it. It helps when you train them on all the sweet goody experiments that they trust you enough to try something different. I love this dish. It's from Martha Stewart's Thanksgiving issue of her magazine. The only thing I didn't do was add the flat leaf parsley which might have added another layer of flavor but with the toasty pecans and plump, sweet cranberries and golden raisins, I didn't think it needed it. Another great thing about this dish is that if you substitute vegetable stock for the turkey stock I used, you could easily convert this to a wonderful hearty vegetarian side dish. Plus it's so easy to make and store ahead of time. This one goes into my side dish rotation.Cranberries are one of the few truly seasonal fruits. You can only get fresh ones now and happily for me now is the time to enjoy my favorite cranberry recipe, Cranberry Sauce with Port and Tangerines from Epicurious. If you like your cranberries jellied and decorated with can ridge indentations, this is probably not the recipe for you. Tart cranberries dancing in ruby port with a hint of sweetness and a brightness provided by the tangerines. I'm mixing into my oatmeal tomorrow morning. Take advantage of the fresh cranberries while you can.The not very fancy but certainly nap inducing lunch spread. Normally if I'm having Thanksgiving with my family back east, my mother would have added a side dish of sauerkraut. A throwback to my German immigrant heritage. She also makes a light lunch Oyster Stew and pops a few plump Chesapeake Bay oysters into the turkey stuffing.Since I was doing all the savory dishes, my co-worker Tina, came through with two apple crumb pies. Thanks Tina, pie for everyone!

Karmic Kitchen 2009 Thanks - Thankful that I have a job and can work on Black Friday during one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression.

We're thankful you have a job too because dog food's not cheap! Can we have some turkey?

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 2

So pretty.

My stock pot was hopping all day.

Hmmmm cranberries.

Martha's Wild Rice and Fruit side.

Day Two Dishes:
Turkey
Stuffing & Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Relish
Wild Rice & Fruit
Two Huge Pots of Turkey Stock

Dirty Dishes Left to Clean Status:
Not bad.

Karmic Kitchen 2009 Thanks - The day is done and everything that was planned was accomplished.

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 2

Now that the bird is safely nestled in it's warm oven, time to fill in the details of my Fed Ex'ed bird.
I'm not the biggest fan of big traditional turkeys by themselves. I'm more fond of the whole meal. Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries and if you must, something green. That's what I look forward to. I'm a dark meat girl so the typical broad breasted white grocery store turkey doesn't appeal much to me.I wanted something with a little more flavor, something more traditional. Luckily I didn't have to go very far. Heritage Farms is the marketing and sales arm for small farmers across the country selling heritage turkeys, poultry and pork. Thanks to Frank Reese and his Kansas Good Shepherd Ranch heritage turkey breeds like the Standard Bronze, Narragansett, Beltsville Small Whites and Bourbon Red Turkeys are thriving. They are bred to withstand living outdoors and can reproduce naturally (something that's been bred out of the standard domestic broad breasted white turkey).They are free to range for natural parts of their diets and never are fed antibiotics or animal byproducts. They are also not cheap because they're not bred to be cheap. They take longer to reach marketability and reflect the true cost of small family farming as opposed to giant factory farms. As for the taste? Let you know later on today.Don't forget to visit our DSSer's taking part in our Dim Sum Sunday Thanksgiving Extravaganza. Moi over at Bite the Apple has started out her day trying to subdue her sweet tooth, either that or totally yank it out of her head and Dani at Gardening Under the Florida Sun is blowing me away by her family making their own cornucopia!! Make sure to visit and check out their blogs and prepared to be amazed and hungry.

DSS - Thanksgiving - Day 1

(Is she making the world's largest baked potato for Thanksgiving dinner???)

Houston, the bird has landed.


Karmic Kitchen 2009 Thanks
I am thankful that Fed Ex saw fit to finally deliver my turkey...only a day late.

Dim Sum Sunday - Thanksgiving

Don't forget this Thursday to Sunday is our Thanksgiving Dim Sum Sunday. Show us your favs, the dish you always refuse to eat, or even the one dish there's never enough of. Share your goodness with us. Extra credit to anyone who tries their hand at a Tubaconducken. Just make sure you stock up on bacon first.

Top Chef Tattoo Tuesday

All the horseshoes and rabbit's feet tattoos couldn't bring enough luck to keep this chef stay in the game.

Why I cook

Aunty Belle over at the The Front Porch, asked me to make something from Dorrie Greenspan's beautiful book, Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. I accepted her request because I like to challenge myself. The recipe she chose was, for this book, most likely fairly simple. A warm Chocolate Raspberry Tart. Made from bittersweet chocolate with raspberries baked into the filling, it sounded like a winner. Made by Pierre or Dorrie, I'm sure it is a winner. My first time making it? A leetle rough around the edges.
OK, first let's talk about my mistakes. Rolled my Pâte Sucrée too thin. What was I thinking trying to put whipped cream on a warm tart? Stupid. A little too much butter on my tart pan. I'm not even sure it needed it with the smooth surface. Now, I image googled this particular recipe after I was done to see if the surface of my tart matched how it was supposed to turn out. Not much luck there. I'll have to ask Aunty for what the book's version looked like but I'm just not happy with my results. If you'd like to give it a shot, the recipe for Warm Chocolate Raspberry Tart can be found here. But this is why I cook. To me, I failed with the results (it just looks bad) but I really want to know what I did wrong and try it again. How does it taste? I'm not much of a bittersweet chocolate fan. It's a wee grainy. Crust is good. I imagine if I had been serving this to guests I would have thrown a lot of raspberries on top with a quick sprinkling of powdered sugar and gave it a go.
So, I'd love to hear what you think? How do your cooking failures make you feel?

You Say Ballotine and I say Terrine

I was wondering, way back during Episode 4, what sort of amazing challenges were in store for the chefs who reached the final five of the competition. You see, Episode 4 was the Daniel Boulud, snails, Joël Robuchon, and classical French sauces episode. A great episode to be sure but I wondered why this great episode happened so early in the season. Now we know why. Bocuse d'Or.
First, a bit of history on the Bocuse d'Or. It's a culinary competition pitting the best of the world's chefs using classical French Cuisine. The competition is not that old, the first was held in 1987. The event is held every two years in Lyons, France. France has won the Bocuse six times, Norway four times, Luxembourg and Sweden have won one each. Americans have not even sniffed a Bronze Bocuse, only coming as close as sixth. A team consists of two chefs, a lead chef and an assistant chef who must be under the age of 22 at the time of competition. They have five and a half hours to prepare their two dishes, meat and fish, in front of a live audience. It's about precision, technique, presentation and taste. It is not for the faint of culinary heart.

Back at the condo, our chefs prepare themselves for their last Quickfire in Vegas. Eli reveals that he's playing to win...not so much for himself but for Richard Blaise. For some reason, Eli believes that Season Four's title of Top Chef was unjustly taken from Richard, going so far as to quote the great movie line from the Princess Bride, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.". What Eli doesn't seem to realize is that Richard choked during the big game. This can only mean one thing (Dun-Dun-Dunnnnnn) Loser's edit. Still it's not all doom and gloom because Jennifer gives us a Condo parting gift...

...Tank Top Tease!!! (thanks to whoever was following Jen around with the camera)

Our chefs arrive at the kitchen to find Padma wearing her tallest black heels.Because there's nothing a beautiful woman loves more than towering at least a full head over a short man.Standing in Padma's slim shade is Gavin Kaysen, the Rodney Dangerfield of the Culinary World. He was in the 2007 Bocuse D'or but had the misfortune of having a French dishwasher mistakenly eat two of his side dishes and ended up placing 14th. Again in 2007, as a contestant on The Next Iron Chef, he was eliminated for having an under seasoned dish but did not reveal until later that his food had been improperly stored by the tech crew, resulting in it soaking in an ice bath and leaching out all it's flavor. Will Gavin find respect and a little love from Top Chef?Maybe. Padma certainly looks like she's about to tuck him into her pocket. Gavin goes on to describe the chicken Ballotine he made in 2007, leaving out the part about the French Dishwasher's Snack (the name of my next cookbook or band, I can't decide) and how it's a protein, inside a protein, inside another protein. So the Quickfire is to make a version of Gavin's dish, a Ballotine, in ninety minutes. Immediately, the Asshat Voltaggio veers off the track into doing exactly what he wants to do, totally ignoring the whole spirit of the episode which is about fundamentals and precision.BRILLIANT! Jennifer, who needs a win desperately, begins to worry me when she starts to sound like the Ghost of Robin past by explaining that she's never made a ballotine before but at least chooses to make a ballotine from seafood which is in her comfort zone. Apparently Michael has already crowned himself Top Chef and has skipped ahead and also made himself a Judge.BRILLIANT! Finally the ninety minutes is up and the Protein-fest begins.Eli, who I doubt has made a ballotine before, makes a good choice of Scotch Egg. No one spits it out.Michael's Poultry Terrine Chicken with Turkey & Bacon Mousseline is up next.Jennifer finally finds her mojo again with a beautiful Calamari Steak, Scallops, Salmon, Shiitake, Shiso with Rice Noodle Salad which earns a warm "Welcome back." comment from Padma.
Bryan gives us a beautiful Rack of Lamb & Merguez Sausage Wrapped in Caul Fat. He also has sauces of carrot, curry yogurt, roasted pepper coulis and date and fig puree.Kevin sticks to his Juggernaut strategy of drawing on his deep Southern heritage and reinvents Cormeal-Fried Fillet of Catfish with Scallop & Shrimp.Now for the long and the short of all the dishes. Kevin gets a little grief for having dry catfish but it's Michael's terrine that gets called out for being (drumroll please....) a terrine and not a ballotine.BRILLIANT! Maybe the accumulated tattoo ink in his body is causing Michael a bit of short term memory loss....
Of course the winner is the one person Michael claimed had nothing left to show.No immunity or gold big money chip but she does receive an extra 30 minutes she can use for the Elimination Challenge. If we're lucky, she'll model that tank top again.

Up next: Mini Bocuse