Top Chef: Masters Episode 4
After a week off, Top Chef: Masters was back and this time, the contestant were Chinese chef Anita Lo (Annisa, New York City), Douglas Rodriguez (Ola, Miami), John Besh (August, New Orleans), and Mark Peel (Campanile, L.A.). Besh, many of you may remember was dang near an Iron Chef but was edged out in the final by Michael Symon.
As usual I joined an unknown number of foodies on Twitter chatting about the show live at #topchef.
Quickfire: Cook an egg with one hand tied behind your back.
Why?!?!?! These people are world class chefs, why waste their talents doing something from a junior high Fall festival? What a crock. At least the judges were adults even if the challenge was childish.
Rodriguez made arepa. Peel made duck egg pasta. Besh did a form of shirred eggs and Lo did Asian flavored scrambled eggs.
Peel 2 1/2 stars, Besh 1/2 star (his eggs never cooked), Rodriguez got 3 stars and Lo got 5 whole stars.
Elimination Challenge: Magic Dinner
The chefs prepare a fake out dinner for Neil Patrick Harris (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Doogie Howser, MD) and some of his pals. The meal needed to be an illusion - to look like something other than what it is or some sort of spectacle.
Next Food Network Star – Time for Mid-Terms
This week, the remaining 6 finalists were put through what the judges called “mid-terms.” It was time for them to show what they can do. The first challenge required the finalists to make squid, tofu or Brussels sprouts into a kid-friendly dish. They also had to do a 2 minute demo of the dish.
In this challenge, everyone received positive feedback after this challenge, except for Jamika. Where was her personality this week? She lost track of time in the demo and didn’t finish.
Next up, the finalists were given the challenge to take a kid-favorite dish and make it something adults would enjoy. They were put into teams of two and would then be doing a demo on the Rachael Ray show.
Katie and Debbie’s makeover of chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese was an interesting blending of their two culinary points of view. Unfortunately, their chicken was dry as could be and had no flavor. Debbie was very calm and relaxed in front of the camera and just seemed very natural. Katie was looking down so much during her portion of the demo that it was hard to listen to her.
Next Food Network Star - Intrepid
This week when the finalists showed up at the Food Network studios, they were greeted by Bobby Flay and a platter covered by a dome. This seems to strike fear in the finalists because you never know what ingredient will be revealed. They were challenged to create a regional burger worthy of appearing on the menu at Bobby’s new restaurant, Bobby’s Burger Palace. The second part of the challenge was to present their burger on camera.
In this challenge, Katie was still struggling and, for the second time this season, served undercooked meat to the judges. Her turkey burger might have had potential if they were able to taste it. Jeffrey was having a rough week after an impressive initial run, his presentation was below par and the food was not what the judges had come to expect.
Michael created a mouth-watering Mulberry Street Burger to represent New York. It was stuffed with fresh mozzarella, topped with basil and the burger itself had proscuitto grilled right into each side of the patty. In spite of his nerves on camera, he went on to win this one based on the fantastic burger! Be sure to look for it on the menu at Bobby’s Burger Palace.
For the elimination challenge, the finalists were taken to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Guy Fieri met them there and explained what their challenge: They were to prepare a dish that represents a specific state using ingredients provided, which would be served to returning servicemen and women, as well as their families.
America’s Test Kitchen Seeks Your Questions
Fans of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, listen up: The staff of Cook’s Illustrated’s television franchises wants to hear from you.
The shows already feature questions from viewers sent in via mail or email, as well as the occasional visit by a local “neighbor” on Cook’s Country. Now, though, the shows are asking fans to call in their questions to a toll-free number, with the possibility of being featured on an upcoming episode.
Check out the call for questions from recent email newsletters:
CALL THE AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN HOTLINE TODAY!
Call us on our toll-free number (866-514-7801) and leave a message with your cooking question. Please remember to include your name, number, hometown, and state in your message. If your question is chosen, we will call you back within a few weeks. You could be featured as a caller on one of our TV shows (”America’s Test Kitchen” or “Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen”) and have your questions answered by host Christopher Kimball. (Please leave only one message.)
Top Chef: Masters Episode 3
Contestants in week three included Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustards Grill, Napa), Wilo Benet (Paya, Puerto Rico), Ludovic “Ludo” Lefebvre, (LudoBites, LA) and the ever popular Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Chicago). Like other fans of Iron Chef: America, I know Lefebvre from Battle: Tuna which he waged with Mario Batali. I am not as familiar with Pawlcyn or Benet (who was recently featured on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmermn) but Bayless I know well, at least by reputation.
Rick Bayless is a chef that I admire greatly because of the authenticity he brings to his Mexican cuisine. Don’t look for cheddar cheese or crunchy tacos at one of Bayless’ restaurants - his cuisine is free of the Americanized foods we have been taught were Mexican by any one of a dozen Gringo-Mex chains.
Once again I joined an unknown number of foodies on Twitter chatting about the show live at #topchef. Bayless, an avid Twitter patron, was not able to join the group, however Benet did stop by (virtually, anyway, from a bar in Puerta Rico) The most noticeable thing during the introduction was Lefebvre’s body language - folded arms, standing off from the crowd - did not endear him to many.
Get Ready to Audition for The Next Food Network Star
Are you immersed in the current season of The Next Food Network Star? Do you think you can do a better job at competing than the current contestants? Have you been dreaming of having your own show on Food Network? Then you are in luck! Food Network will begin auditioning up-and-coming professional chefs and home cooks for a chance to be one of the 10 finalists for the next season of The Next Food Network Star!
Below is a list of dates and locations where you can bring your completed application, photo, resume and/or bio, which will allow you to meet with casting directors. If you aren’t able to make it to one of the auditions shown below, you can submit an audition video telling them why you should be The Next Food Network Star. You can submit video auditions right on the Food Network website.
Next Food Network Star: Dinner at Ina’s
This week, the finalists were greeted by Tyler Florence at a large supermarket. Their first challenge was to shop for a dinner party for 12 guests. The twist? They could only spend $60, and some of them were very good at stretching their money. As they were shopping, Tyler would be asking them to give them a quick on-camera money saving tip. Several of them seemed very lost in that part of the challenge. Jeffrey and Melissa really seemed to do well, with Jeffrey being selected as the winner on this one.
Next, they were taken to Ina Garten’s home in the Hamptons. They were told that they would be cooking in her kitchen (who wouldn’t want to do that?) and would be matched up in teams of 2. Jeffrey had the option to choose his partner and selected Michael. Ina pulled out the remaining names from a hat to match up the remaining finalists. Debbie was less than thrilled to be matched up with Teddy and Eddie was not happy about being matched up with Melissa. There was just a bit of foreshadowing going on in this episode.
Top Chef: Masters Episode 2
Wednesday’s combatants on Top Chef: Masters included the über-cutting-edge Wylie Dufresne (WD-50, New York City), 2002 Food and Wine Best New Chef recipient Suzanne Tracht (Jar, L.A.), one-time Iron Chef challenger Graham Elliot Bowles (Graham Elliot, Chicago) and Elizabeth Falkner (Citizen Cake, Hayes Valley, CA) a former sous chef for Cat Cora.
Both Defresne and Boyles are masters of the hot trend known as molecular gastronomy. Tracht is famous for reinventing old favorites and Falkner’s background is in pastry arts.
Quickfire - The Vending Machine
The chefs had to make an amuse busch from items in a vending machine. Amuse buschare bite-sized tidbits served before appetizers and a literal translation yields the phrase, “mouth amuser.”
Dufresne over-reduced his Dr. Pepper sauce and it solidified before the judges could taste it. As a result, he came in deadlast with 3 stars; Falkner had 3.5, Graham Elliot Bowles had 4.5 stars but was edged out by Tracht who had a perfect score of 5 stars.
Giada at Home
Food Network’s resident Italian food expert, Giada De Laurentiis added another new show to her belt, Giada at Home. Featuring the popular chef in her own kitchen, with glimpses of family life as her husband, Todd, and baby, Jade, occasionally appear, as well as other family and friends, we’re treated to a different side of Giada.
I will say that although I love Giada and her recipes, it all seems very perfect. But then so does the life of Barefoot Contessa and a few other stars that shoot from their homes. Perhaps it is. That being said, I like the entertaining aspect this show offers. Once Giada is done making the meal, she sets the table, the theme, the decor, giving small tips along the way. As table decor is one of the things I struggle with the most when entertaining, I love seeing how she pulls it all together at the end, and aside from Sandra Lee’s tablescapes, most of the other shows don’t offer this.
Check your local scheduling for airtimes, but do check it out.
Photo from Food Network.
Next Food Network Star - Meet the Media
This week, the finalists were challenged by the media. First by Esquire, then by Good Housekeeping. Two very different publications with different demographics.
In the first challenge, they met Ryan D’Agostino, the Editor of Esquire Magazine. They were each given two ingredients that could be found in an Esquire man’s kitchen. The challenge was to come up with something that one of their readers would want to make. Once their dishes were completed, they were thrown an extra challenge of doing a 1 minute on-camera presentation of their dish. This was to be their first impression of how they would do on-camera. For some it went well, but Jamika lost her train of thought and never got it back. It was also painful watching Michael trying to stretch his for an extra 20 seconds. Eddy seemed to have redeemed himself from last week and came across much better and ended up winning this challenge.
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