Top Chef
Week 6
This was the sixth week of Top Chef Season 5, New York. 11 chefs remain after Danny was sent home last week with the football reference that was almost as bizarre as his beard. Tonight's guest judges are many and varied...
Quickfire Challenge
To start the show the contestants have to do a "Quickfire Challenge" which is generally a skills test. Today's was a cooking challenge - the contestants have 45 minutes to make a holiday dish using just one pot.
Radhika is immediately concerned because she usually uses "10 cooking vessels" to make a dish. Glad I don't have to wash the dishes in her house.
Arianne immediately observes that Martha is also from Jersey.
The guest judge for the Quickfire challenge is Martha Stewart. Martha advises the chefs to "Make it simple but not TOO simple."
Jamie: Potato and kale stew with sea scallops.
Hosea: Fish, chicken and chorizo paiea. He's concerned that the rice needs to be done but gets the dish done well. Martha seems pleased.
Jeff: Potato Risotto with pork. While he's cooking it he comments "This is going to be good." On this show that's a good indication that it probably won't be. When Martha comes around to taste she initially seems impressed that he made a risotto, but then uses the word "pungent" which I don't think is likely to be complimentary when talking about food. Jeff knows he's in trouble.
Arianne: Cauliflower puree with filet mignon. Martha says she doesn't eat a lot of beef but that she really enjoyed it. Martha comments that there is a lot of butter in the dish and Arianne surprises her by telling her there's actually no butter in it.
Fabio: Polenta. Says his grandma used to make him stir the polenta to keep him out of trouble. Ultimately Martha doesn't like it though, says she would have liked to see the mushrooms in the dish and that she found the color ("greyish") off-putting.
Eugene: Comfort food. Pork stew. Korean chili pepper base. Corn starch to thicken. He doesn't like using the corn starch but felt he had to due to the time constraints.
Stefan: Veal Celtic Stew with chanterelle mushrooms, which Martha says she LOVES.
Melissa: Pork tenderloin with braised cabbage, applies and bacon. Martha seems pleased with the orange and apple flavors.
Leah:
Carla: Brined turkey breast with apple and dried cherry stuffing. Martha seems to enjoy it but Carla doesn't get any rewards.
Martha singles out Hosea, Arianne and Jamie as the best three; and Arianne wins! Jamie is chagrined because once again she's the "bridesmaid". Arianne has immunity.
Elimination Challenge
To introduce the challenge Padma brought in the Harlem Gospel Choir. I notice that Martha Stewart didn't stick around to hear them...for whatever that means.
For the Elimination Challenge the contestants had to cater a fundraiser event for AMFAR with 250 guests at the Prince George Ballroom in New York.
Guest judges for this event (I guess Martha was busy):
The chefs have to prepare dishes inspired by the Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelve Drummers Drumming: Stefan - Chicken pot pie. Stefan observes that when he first came to America that his first Christmas he had chicken pot pie so he associates it with the holidays.
Eleven Pipers Piping: Hosea - Does a smoked pork tenderloin and manages to smoke out the whole kitchen in the process.
Ten Lords a Leaping: Jeff - Seared Halloumi and cheese.
Nine Ladies Dancing: Fabio - Opts to do crab cakes with the "dancing crab legs" theme. The judges are not impressed. It's "dense", "greasy" and "fattening."
Eight Maids a Milking: Melissa - She does a beef dish with cheese. Some of her cheese got ruined in the open fridge
Seven Swans Swimming: Jamie. Naturally...scallops. It seems to be all she cooks. I suspect that if they gave her a dessert to make she'd offer chocolate covered scallops. It's bad - the initial reaction is that it's too "slimy" and almost "raw".
Six Geese a Laying: Arianne - Basically does variations of deviled eggs. The judges like the taste but Tom is put off somewhat about her cooking devilled eggs. "Are you going to win on devilled eggs?"
Five Golden Rings: Eugene - Did a poisson cru (not Poison) with polynesian flair. The initial reaction from the
Four
Three
Two
A Partridge in a Pear Tree: Radhika. One of the more obvious themes she goes with poultry and decides to make a duck breast.
They finish their prep work and go home to come back and finish the next day. When they get back the next day...they discover that somebody left one of the fridges open and the food in it has not chilled and has spoiled. Hosea and Radhika are the primary cheftestants affected. They have to toss their proteins. Then something remarkable happens...all the other cheftestants pitch in and help them prep replacement dishes. A remarkable show of sportsmanship which pays off for them later. It was really quite inspirational.
Judge's Table
Tom comes into the stew room to talk to the cheftestants. He expresses his disappointment in the general quality of the food from EVERYBODY (even the winners), exhorts them to cook the food that got them to the show, then he observes that they all pitched in to help Radhika and Hosea and as a Christmas present from him to them...nobody is going home this week. Wow.
Observations and Random Stuff
- The product placements are getting even more overt. Did anybody miss Hosea calling home on his T-Mobile Sidekick phone? How could you, they even zoomed in on it.
- Quote of the Week: "This morning when I woke up I pulled a shoe out. I pulled a shoe out of my ass. I don't know if it was Tom's or Padma's." -Stefan-
- Jamie and Arianne have sort of formed a bit of a team - Jamie says they've gotten into the habit of cooking next to each other so they can taste each other's food.
- Eugene is getting sort of defensive and prickly about things. He's getting a lot of criticism and he's not taking it well. He seems angry most of the time. All of the cheftestants are getting a bit arrogant about the quality of their food, which is odd considering what Tom goes on to tell them about how disappointed he is.
- Stefan and Fabio are playing up the "Euros" angle a bit. Understandable I guess, especially with the disintegration of "Team Rainbow" and the defusing of the Hosea/Leah "romance" the producers are trying to build some alliances in the show.
- During the show they had a text-in contest asking which of four chefs (Fabio, Arianna, Jeff or Leah) we would like to get caught under the mistletoe with. I guess the show viewers (at least the ones who respond to text surveys) are primarily women (and gay men) because 85% of those who responded voted for either Jeff or Fabio.
- Natasha Richardson looked fantastic. What an amazing dress for her. Not many women can stand next to Padma and hold their own, but she did.
- Jeff is from the "Dilido Beach Club" but every time they flash that on the screen I think it says "Dildo Beach Club."
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