ATC Love to Chef Nelson Paz

This was one of those challenges where the losing team wasn't necessarily bad - two of the judges favorite desserts came from Team Craig - it just wasn't as good as the winning team. The same goes for Nelson's desserts - they weren't necessarily bad, just not as good as those created by his teammates. Or maybe they just didn't like cotton candy.

A rough break for Nelson, after coming thisclose to winning the Quickfire Challenge with his black forest dessert, which would have earned him immunity.

Nelson, we're sorry to see you go, and wish you much success in your future.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Paz. If you have anything negative to say, please do so on our Reactions post.


Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Just Desserts 2 Episode 3

This week, our pastrycheftestants were visited by Bravolebrities. First, Top Chef Master competitor Hugh Acheson joined Gail for the Quickfire Challenge, in which the chefs had to create desserts to inspire a new flavor of Extra gum. The winner of this challenge would get immunity, plus a cool $25K.

All of the desserts were absolutely adorable, since they had to fit on tiny doll-sized plates. It was pretty amazing to see how creative the chefs could be on such a small scale. After tasting, Hugh determined that his favorite was Craig's lemon pancakes with strawberries - much to everyone's surprise, including Craig.

As winner of the challenge (and the money!), Craig was able to choose two team captains for the next challenge. After appointing himself and Amanda, they chose teams:

Team Craig: Sally, Matthew, Orlando, Nelson, and Rebecca.
Team Amanda: Chris, Carlos, Megan, Katie, and Melissa

The challenge was to create a dessert table for the second anniversary celebration of Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant, Villa Blanca. Her husband, Ken, and their wee doggie came out to present the challenge. Ken told the pastrycheftestants that Lisa loves pink, and the chefs went crazy with that theme. Both teams turned out tables full of pink desserts and pink flowers and pink everything. It all looked a bit like Barbie and Hello Kitty were duking it out. Or puking it out.

The guests arrive to taste the food. In addition to Gail, Johnny, Hugh, and Hubert Keller, we had Lisa Vanderpump, her husband, dog, and daughter, and two other Housewives of Beverly Hills - one of the annoying sisters, and the one with the huge fish lips.

The desserts seemed to go over pretty well, for the most part, but the decor is what won the contest for Team Amanda. Team Craig's table was too little girl-ish, and too cluttered, causing Hugh to remark that it looked like something that could be on a show called "Dessert Hoarders." Craig had made lemonade for his "dish," which would have gotten him eliminated if it weren't for his immunity. Instead, Nelson got the boot for his pink cheesecake lolly with a cotton candy garnish.

Did you watch this episode? What did you think? Please leave a comment!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Top Chef Just Desserts 2 Episode 3 Previews

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Recap Roundup - Top Chef Just Desserts 2.2

Eater on Orlando: "Orlando ends up at the bottom of the Quickfire and didn't seem to understand what Margaret was getting at when she said she 'personally didn't like it.' Instead he goes off into the confessional booth to say that Margaret needs to leave her 'personal shit' at home and judge professionally. Here's what we heard Margaret say: 'Orlando, look, I know you are a bitch in the kitchen, really I do, but, honey, that shit sucked ass. Lemon and chocolate? Really? Lame. I don't want to ride you too hard about your dessert in front of the others, so I'm gonna temper what I say by using the word "personally."'"

TWOP on cliches: "Orlando chooses Craig and interviews that he's staying away from Melissa because, during the last challenge, she 'drove the bus over one of her teammates.' What? Did you just see that? What he did? It's like he took lemons and made a tired cliché new again. Because, who cares about being thrown under a bus when there's some crazy asshole out there who will purposefully just drive the damn bus over your ass?"

Picktainment on Teams and Cakes: "The Red Team (Matthew, Chris, Megan, Melissa) is headed for simple architecture, clean lines, and good flavor. The Blue Team (Amanda, Katzie, Vanarin) is going to marry science and art and make musical instruments. Or something. The Black Team (Orlando, Nelson, Craig) has Nelson who actually studied architecture and Craig who is still a bit off but Orlando picked him because he wanted Melissa less. Not sure what they’re up to yet, but there will be a lot of architecture from Nelson. The Green Team (Carlos, Sally, Rebecca) is clearly being led by Carlos who has a lot of ideas for bike gears and The Twilight Zone."

Culture Mob on technical difficulties: "The chefs then transport their cakes to the concert hall, and start to set up outside. Immediately, problems start and not the fun, fixable ones. Essentially, it’s too hot to serve cakes outside, and the heat is ruining all the chefs’ work. This kind of thing irritates me. The producers should know better; I feel like there’s a difference between setting up a challenge for professionals and setting up unsurmountable obstacles that they have no control over. Like the sun."

Chron.com on Vanarin's chocolate sculptures: "If those instruments made noise, it would be 'womp-womp.'"

After Elton on the losing cakes: "Between the Black and Blue Team, the Blue Team looked the worst. It looked like the cake was starting to eat itself and then imploded. Although the Black Team had more of a problem with a unifying theme and working as a team (Orlando took a bitchy jab at Craig calling him the 'nitwit of the team' which only reinforced Craig's earlier interview where he talked about being picked on because he was an odd child) it was the Blue Team that failed miserably. The cake looked hellacious and, according to the judges, was lackluster in flavor."

If you are a Top Chef Just Desserts recapper, drop us a line and we'll include your recaps here!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Top Recipe - Matthew Peterson's Lemon Vanilla Créme with Mint Purée & Hazelnut Sable

Lemon Vanilla Créme with Mint Purée & Hazelnut Sable

Cream:
200 grams lemon juice
200 grams sugar
200 grams whole egg
3 grams agar
270 grams butter

Sable:
200 grams butter
200 grams sugar
200 grams all purpose flour
200 grams hazelnut flour
1 pinch of salt

Crème Fraiche:
1 cup crème fraiche
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mint Puree:
100 grams mint
500 grams Neutral Glaze
50 grams lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Cream:
1. In a medium saucepot combine all ingredients except the butter.
2. Boil for three minutes. Add in butter and stir well. Strain through sieve.

Sable:
1. Cream butter and sugar, add salt. Add hazelnut flour. Add all purpose flour.
2. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown. Chop coarsely.

Crème Fraiche:
1. Combine all ingredients and whip to fluffy. Reserve in fridge.

Mint Puree:
1. Puree all ingredients in a blender. Strain and reserve.

© 2011 CHEF MATTHEW PETERSEN
Posted on AllTopChef.com

Exit Interview - Vanarin Kuch

Posted on AllTopChef.com

All Top Chef Interview with "Top Chef Just Desserts" Season 2 Chef Vanarin Kuch

Vanarin Kuch talks with us about his experience on the show.

Chef Van is the pastry chef at Tiny Boxwood's Cafe in Houston Texas.

Click here for the podcast.

Thank you Chef!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

ATC Love to Chef Vanarin Kuch

This week the competition held another team challenge, this time creating a cake to reflect the architecture and performances of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Vanarin's team came out on the bottom, producing a cake that just wasn't attractive. Vanarin had a great idea - to make musical instruments out of modeling chocolate - but unfortunately, it suffered in execution.

Vanarin, we hardly got to know you, or what pastry talents you possess, so we're sorry to see you go. We wish you great success in your career in the future.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Kuch. If you have anything negative to say, please do so on our Reactions post.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Congratulations, Red Team!

The Red Team, comprised of Matthew, Chris, Megan, and Melissa, produced a multi-level cake for this week's team challenge that was not only attractive and well-planned, but also each layer was delicious. The judges were especially fond of Melissa's cardamom-flavored layers, which gives a boost of confidence after last week's trip to the bottom.

Congrats to all of you - looking forward to seeing what you can produce on an individual basis in the future!

This post is only for positive comments about the winning pastry chefs. If you have anything negative to say, please do so on our Reactions post.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Just Desserts 2 Episode 2

This week, the Quickfire Challenge involved creating a fabulous and unique lemon dessert for guest judge, pastry guru Margaret Braun. Matthew wowed her with a relatively simple lemon cake, which gave him the Quickfire win and immunity in the Elimination Challenge.

While the QF seemed simple, the Elimination Challenge was far more complicated. The pastrycheftestants had to work in teams to produce a cake large enough to feed 150 people, based on the architecture and events held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Team Red = Matthew, Chris, Megan, and Melissa
Team Green = Carlos, Rebecca, and Sally
Team Black = Orlando, Nelson, and Craig
Team Blue = Amanda, Katzie, and Vanarin

Time was short, so we weren't going to see anything worthy of Food Network Challenge. Still, I didn't expect cakes to be so...ugly. I'm sure the judges (which included Hubert Keller again this week) didn't either. Team Blue's cake, for example, was pretty nightmarish, with it's preponderance of glitter and one particularly hideous layer made by Vanarin. The three cakes-within-the-cake got mixed reactions as far as flavor.

Team Black's cake was falling apart, and the three layers weren't at all cohesive. Craig's in particular was amateurish. The flavors in their cakes were pretty good though. Team Red, which had four members, got the best reaction. Their cake was not only attractive, but also all four layers were delicious. And finally, Team Green fared well looks-wise, but the cakes weren't all successful.

The team with four members once again is the strongest, with Team Red taking the win this week. Vanarin was sent home for his scary layer.

So did you watch? What did you think? Please leave a comment!

Posted on AllTopChef.com