Thursday, November 17, 2011

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 3

With the cheftestants whittled down to the final 16, the competition began in earnest. The first Quickfire Challenge involved rattlesnake. Fortunately, the chefs did not have to kill or clean their protein. Johnny Hernandez of La Gloria restaurant was on hand as the guest judge.

Although most were unfamiliar with the ingredient, everyone seemed to struggle with the subtle flavor of the meat. This was especially true for Paul and Richie who overpowered the rattlesnake with seasoning. Nyesha also stumbled by overcooking the meat. On the positive side, Beverly's preparation was elegant and Sarah's touch of lemon added coolness to the dish. The beer-battered rattlesnake of Dakota ultimately won the challenge. She earned immunity in the Elimination Round and $5,000.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs were split into two teams (Team Green and Team Pink) and asked to cater a quinceanara, the Mexican version of a Sweet 16 party. After shopping at Whole Foods and a Mexican grocery store, the chefs had three hours to prep. Team Pink got off to a bad start when Keith purchased pre-cooked shrimp for Lindsay's dish and she had to abandon her plan. Both teams were tripped up by the prepared tortillas that they purchased.

Despite putting on a decent feast that the attendees enjoyed, the judges found fault with both teams. Ultimately, the Green Team fared better and received the win. Of the Pink Team members, Ty-Lor, Sarah, Lindsay, and Keith were singled out as having the worst dishes. Ty-lor's fritter was deemed dry, both Sarah and Lindsay's dishes lacked seasoning, and Keith's enchilada suffered from using flour tortillas instead of the traditional corn tortillas. In the end, Keith was asked to pack his knives and go.

So what did you think of last night's episode? Leave your comments below.

Posted by NealP on AllTopChef.com

7 comments:

the dogs' mother said...

Both Daughter and I were yelling at the TV - nooooo, to cooked shrimp and premade tortillas. Didn't anyone watch the previous seasons. And did anyone else hear 'boxed cake mix'? We thought we did. Crimes!

Marsha said...

I like flour tortillas, but NOT for enchiladas. Someone really should have told him to use corn. But I disagree that the chefs should have made their own tortillas. That's going a bit far.

MoHub said...

An awful lot of under-the-bus throwing for this early in the season. At least Keith knocked Andrew out of Last Chance Kitchen.

theminx said...

Thanks, Mo - now I don't have to bother watching LCK!

MoHub said...

Minx—

I actually missed it as well, but many other bloggers have given away the result, so I figured it was more or less public domain.

theminx said...

I probably would have just skipped to the end of the video anyway. :)

moi said...

Two terrible mistakes on his part, bless him, because I liked the big lug. And I find this strange coming out of my mouth, but I got kind of ooged out at the rattlesnake quick fire. And I've eaten it before (although, like most exotic animal meat, I find it's mostly just an excuse to eat really good deep fried batter). But last night, it seemed somehow . . . wrong . . . to cook those fellers up.