Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 14

This week, the chefs competed in lovely Juneau, Alaska, using fresh Alaskan seafood. First, they celebrated crab by using it in the Quickfire Challenge. Sheldon impressed guest judge Sean Brock with his miso soup and pine-smoked asparagus with crab, and got a nifty $5,000 prize to take home.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to use freshly-caught salmon and 31-year-old sourdough starter to feed 200 diners at a picnic-like event called the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. Rather than bake their salmon, three of the four cheftestants made soup, and Lizzie cooked her fish on the grill.

Brooke's dish of poached salmon with broth hit all the right notes with the judges, and they gave her the win and a trip to Costa Rica. The other three dishes had both high and low points, but they decided that Lizzie's salmon didn't have enough flavor to compete with her near-perfect sourdough roll. She had lots of experience with fishing as a child, but it wasn't enough to keep her in the competition.

What did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 13

It's north to Alaska for the cheftestants as the Final Five board the Celebrity cruise ship Infinity for a trip to the 49th state. Along for the ride is Top Chef Masters host Curtis Stone. He and Padma meet the chefs in the cruise ship kitchen where they introduce the Quickfire Challenge. This time, they must make a one-bite item showcasing the highlights of iceberg lettuce. They have 2 hours, but they must make enough for 200 guests. After everyone served their dishes on deck, Sheldon was named the winner for his complex lettuce wrap.

That evening, the chefs sample the inventive dishes at the ship's restaurant, Qsine. Then Padma and Curtis spoil the fun by announcing that, for the elimination challenge, they must provide the next night's dinner service, making their takes on the classic surf and turf. Since Sheldon won the Quickfire, he got first choice of proteins. He played it safe with filet mignon and lobster. Brooke, on the other hand, stretched the definition of surf and turf by choosing mussels and frogs legs. For her inventiveness, she got the win. Meanwhile, Stefan cooked the skin of his pork belly to a crunchy consistency, and buried his eel in parsnips for his ravioli filling. For these transgressions, he was not allowed to move forward.

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

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 12

This week's episode was much more palatable than last week's. Also less dramatic.

The Quickfire Challenge featured renowned sushi master Katsuya Ueshi, who required that the cheftestants make delicious sushi for him. Quite an undertaking, and not everyone turned out a pleasing dish. Josh used bacon in his sushi, which Katsuya found to be too greasy. Stefan, however, is an old hand at raw fish preparation and stole the show with his yellowtail and shiitakes. Unfortunately, there's no more immunity, so he had to settle for five grand in prize money instead.

Out went Katsuya and in came Tom Colicchio with Momofuku's David Chang. Tom has rented a house in Seattle and has invited a bunch of cronies to hang with him while he's being bored on Top Chef. He wants the cheftestants to cater a little dinner party for his guests and the main dish must be fried chicken.

Not everyone is familiar with classic American fried chicken, at least that's what Lizzie claims. Stefan also suggests that they don't eat fried chicken in Europe. The excuse worked for Lizzie, whose chicken dish got her into the top three, but failed for Stefan, who was on the bottom for his lame chicken cordon bleu. Brooke also failed miserably, as did Josie, who really thought she had this challenge in the bag. Instead, Josh made the best fried chicken of the bunch, inspired by his grandfather's paper-bag-floured bird. And finally, we see the end of Josie.

Unless she wins Last Chance Kitchen or Save-a-Chef. Hey - it can happen.

So what did you think about this episode? Fear for Brooke's cooking life? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 11

It's the boys against the girls for Restaurant Wars this year! With Chef Micah eliminated, the men are short staffed, but you know what they say about too many chefs in the kitchen.

The two teams had 48 hours to put a restaurant together. Team Kristen went with her concept of traditional French cuisine with a twist called Atelier Kwan. Team Sheldon followed his Filipino roots with Urbano. The restaurants were assembled at the Georgetown Ballroom. Without a proper kitchen, the chefs had to build their own kitchens in the courtyard. They had one day to buy supplies and prep. The next day, they opened a restaurant.

With Brooke's extensive experience, she was chosen to run the front of Atelier Kwan. For similar reasons, Stefan was running the front of Urbano. While Brooke was the model of hospitality, Stefan's cold, blunt nature shone through, sometimes not even explaining the dishes to the judges. In the kitchens, Sheldon and Joshua kept their cool and ran a smooth service, while Josie once again had time issues with her broth and Kristen became overwhelmed by trying to manage too much. In the end, it came down to good food and bad service at Urbano, good service but questionable food at Atelier Kwan.

At Judges' Table, Stefan was spared the ax because of Sheldon's exceptional food. Urbano won and Sheldon was given a Toyota Avalon. As for Atelier Kwan, the choice was between Josie's poor broth or Kristen's mismanagement of the dishes. Ultimately, Kristen had to take the fall for her concepts and execution.

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

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 10

Is it me, or is this show getting unnecessarily more complicated every week?

First is the Quickfire, in which the cheftestants have fifteen minutes to make something tasty using fresh ginger. Wolfgang Puck is on hand to judge the dishes, which may also have included a bit of Canada Dry ginger ale in them. Brooke's caramel ginger squid impressed him the most and she was awarded immunity from elimination.

As for the Elimination Challenge - it was Restaurant Wars, but not. Each of the chefs is responsible for coming up with his or her own restaurant concept and one signature dish. They will present 100 portions of their dish at an event called Bite of Seattle, and two winners will be chosen. Restaurateur extraordinaire Danny Meyer, of the Union Square Restaurant Group and Tom Colicchio's former employer at Gramercy Tavern, is on hand to judge this contest. Guess Wolfgang had other things to do.

The restaurant concepts were all over the place, ranging from corner bistro to Thai/German. Yeah, that was Stefan's. The best of the lot were Sheldon's Filipino restaurant and Kristen's modern French, and they will go on to lead the kitchen in the real Restaurant Wars competition, which will air next week. After going back to the stew room and choosing the rest of their teams (which end up being boys vs girls), Lizzie, Micah, and Josie are sent out to face the judges. Just when it looks like Josie is finally going to be sent home, it turns out that Tom was most displeased with Micah's soulless raw food concept, and he is eliminated, leaving Sheldon with only two team mates for next week's showdown.

What did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 8

After being absent for a couple of weeks, Emeril was back with a vengeance, first as the judge of an oyster-related Quickfire in which the chefs had to source their own bivalves at Taylor's Shellfish Farm. Half the cheftestants had to make cold oyster dishes, the other half hot, but the winner of the challenge was the only chef who chose to fry his oysters, Micah. And those morsels did look tasty, if I do say so myself.

Emeril was also around for the Elimination Challenge, of course. The chefs had to pair up in order to create dishes inspired by roller derby girls with names like Jalapeno, Teriyaki, and Tempura. After first watching a game that got Josie fired up (the other chefs not so much), they took 2.5 hours to prepare their dishes at the roller rink and serve them up to 100 guests at party held after the final match of the season.

Chefs John and Brooke worked well together and prepared a winning dish of Thai beef with lobster rice and slaw, which beat out Lizzie and Micah's elevated crab-stuffed jalapeno poppers. On the bottom were Sheldon and Josh's soggy custard tempura and Josie and Bart's teriyaki beef skewer, which was called a "teriyaki terrible." Because Bart did the lion's work, and under-seasoned his share of the components, he got sent home, and Josie lived to battle another day.

What did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 7

When the cheftestants entered the Top Chef Kitchen, everything in the pantry was wrapped in aluminum foil. Padma was joined by the only woman to win Top Chef, Stephanie Izard, to introduce the Quickfire Challenge. The chefs could cook anything they wanted, but they had to unwrap their ingredients and anything they unwrapped had to be used in the dish. Also, they could only use foil for their cooking vessels. After 30 minutes of cooking, Padma and Stephanie tasted the dishes. Kristen's daring move to make sponge cake got her the win.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to go head-to-head using a variety of berries at the Remlinger Farms Berry Festival. Since Kristen won the Quickfire, she was on her own, but the other top five chefs from the previous challenge got to choose who they would battle with from the bottom five. Then the teams chose their berries. The next day, they had three hours at the festival to make enough dishes for 150 guests and the judges. Despite the team theme, it was loner Kristen who walked away with the win for her creative use of tayberries. Out of the five who did not win their head-to-head challenges, Danyele was sent packing for her rubbery terrine and too-crunchy crostini.

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

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 6

This week's Quickfire challenge was judged by food critic for the Grand Forks Herald, Marilyn Hagerty, she of the now-famed Olive Garden review. Apropos to nothing, the cheftestants had to please her palate with sweet and savory holiday dishes that reflect their own family heritage in some way, while using the latest product for placement, Truvia sweetner. Oh boy. Brooke makes an apple pie with cheese, and when Padma calls it "homey," she figures she is on the bottom. But Ms Hagerty likes homey just fine and gives Brooke the win.

With immunity from elimination, Brooke still takes risks with her winning Elimination challenge dish of lamb-stuffed squid. The premise of the challenge is to prepare a welcome home dinner for Washington natives Anna Faris and her husband Chris Pratt. They are foodies and will eat pretty much anything, even raw squirrel heart, according to Chris. The cheftestants dazzle them with a wide array of wild game and such. Well, "dazzle" might be the wrong word to use for Danyele's boring boar and Josh's underseasoned pork. Also for Eliza's bland elk dish, which earned her a one-way trip to the sequester house (unless of course she wins Last Chance Kitchen).

What did you think about the episode? Please tell us in the comments.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode Four

After the Thanksgiving challenge, tensions were running high as John continued to badmouth his competitors. Only Stefan seemed immune to the negative energy, turning his flirtatious attentions on Kristen.

Back at the Top Chef Kitchen, Padma was joined by Top Chef alum Naomi Pomeroy for the Quickfire Challenge. This time, the chefs were presented with two enormous slabs of aged beef and asked to butcher and cook a meal in one hour. After lots of mad chopping and cooking, the dishes were tasted and judged. CJ hoped to best his rival John with his tartare, but John's tender oxtail dish won the day and gave him immunity.

For the Elimination Challenge, Mark and Brian Canlis of the famous Seattle restaurant Canlis opened the doors of their 62-year-old institution so the chefs could recreate the original menu from 1950. Since John had immunity, he volunteered to expedite. The chefs haggled over who would cook what, then ran to the restaurant to begin their dishes. Padma, Tom, Naomi, and the Canlis brothers were joined by Emeril and Hugh Acheson for judging.

Although Kristen was stuck with cooking the sides of mushrooms and onion rings, she executed both dishes perfectly and came away with the win. Meanwhile, Carla undercooked her squab and Chrissy overdressed her special salad so they were both sent packing.

What did you think of last night's episode? Leave a comment below.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode Three

This week, the cheftestants competed in two completely unrelated challenges. For the Quickfire, they had one hour to make a dumpling native to a particular country. There were momos, manto, pierogies, and more. Chefs unfamiliar with the dumpling they got stuck with could use an Amazon Kindle Fire to do research, but after that, they had to wing it. Josie's version of the Korean manto earned her the win, and immunity from elimination, which would serve her well in the next challenge, which was...

Thanksgiving.

Yes, they filmed the season in the summer, but there they were, cooking turkeys and stuffing. Tom Colicchio and Emeril Lagasse acted as mentors for two teams of chefs, each putting their own spin on the holiday. Tom's Red Team added an Italian flair to their dishes, while Emeril's Gray Team naturally went for the flavors of New Orleans, with a little Portuguese thrown in for good measure.

After a bit of time with the mentors, the chefs were left on their own to finish cooking at Fare Start, a company offering culinary training to struggling and homeless people. The meal was served to Emeril, Tom, Padma, Fare Start's Megan Karch, Food & Wine's Dana Cowin, and local chef (by way of France) Thierry Rautureau. After tasting both teams' dishes, Team Tom won by unanimous decision of Thierry, Megan, Dana, and Padma. They loved CJ's beautifully-basted turkey and Lizzie's half-butter, half-potato mash, but the win went to Carla Pellegrino for her carrot soup with meatballs.

There were lots of problematic dishes on the Gray Team's side, and Tom sorely wished he could send Josie home for her undercooked turkey, but she did have immunity. Instead, Kuniko was sent home for her undercooked potatoes. Surprising, since she had done so well in the competition last week.

What did you think about this week's episode? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 2

On the first real episode of the season (I don't count last week's episode as anything but filler), we start off with two team challenges. In the Quickfire, the chefs must get into teams of three and cook some local Pacific Northwest shellfish for special guest judges Josie Smith-Malave, Stefan Richter, and CJ Jacobsen, all of whom had competed on Top Chef in the past.

Some teams get along better than others, and the team that seems to have the most similar styles and the most respect for each other - the blue team of John, Kuniko, and Sheldon - get the win for their geoduck sashimi. They draw knives to decide which of the three gets immunity, and that goes to the most hated chef in Dallas (as he is sure to remind us repeatedly through the season), John Tesar.

Before the Elimination Challenge begins, there's a twist. A big one.

Suddenly, the former cheftestants are new cheftestants, as Josie, Stefan, and CJ don Top Chef jackets and join the scrum. What the what?

Amid speculation that these three had an unfair advantage, the chefs are told that they will be cooking for Seattle superstar Tom Douglas on the top of the Space Needle. Each team of three - including the newbies - will get 47 minutes to make a dish using ingredients scrounged from the Top Chef pantry.

Two teams work at a time and present their dishes to the judging panel, which includes Emeril Lagasse, Gail Simmons, Tom Douglas, and of course Tom and Padma. All the dishes are pretty impressive, but the team win goes once again to the Blue Team of Kuniko, John, and Sheldon. Since it was Kuniko's clever idea to poach their fish in chile oil, she gets the individual win.

Less-impressive dishes were created by the Gray Team and the Team of Old Timers. Stefan had overcooked their quail, and Jeffrey had overcooked his team's cod. It was looking like Stefan would get the boot, but the judges decided that Jeffrey's sin was the more egregious.

So...what did you think of the twist? Is it fair? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Top Chef Masters 4.8 Recap

This week's Quickfire Challenge was a bit complicated. The remaining four chefs - Chris, Patricia, Kerry, and Lorena - were split into teams of two. Only one chef could touch the cooktop, while the other chef was in charge of the pantry and tools. Chris and Patricia worked together well, as they always have in the past, but there was some tension between Kerry and Lorena. She seems to be a bit of a control freak, and Kerry just wasn't doing what she wanted him to do when she wanted him to do it.

Guest taster was Vegas odds maker Johnny Avello who didn't seem all that knowledgeable about food. He seemed to enjoy both Chris' and Patricia's dishes, but in the end, he chose Kerry's somewhat simple pasta dish as his favorite. No immunity, but Kerry and Lorena get to split $5K.

The Elimination Challenge was also a bit involved. Apparently there's this global thing called "Diner en Blanc," a pop-up restaurant event that is so wildly popular that the NY event had 33,000 applicants for 1,400 seats. In Vegas, there are only 300 diners, who must bring the tables, chairs, and silverware with them. The Top Cheftestants will provide the food, each of the four cooking for 75 people, plus another five portions for the critics.

After the usual trip to Whole Foods, they have 4 hours to prepare their picnic-style dishes, three of them, which will be served cold the next day. Chris goes typically over-the-top, with oil poached swordfish and pate; Kerry keeps things picnic-simple. And the girls do their own thing: Latin and Pan-Asian influenced chow (guess who does which).

The girls end up serving their food to the critics first, and there are mixed emotions. Lorena's chicken salad was too sweet and her chocolate mousse too thick. (The non-critic diners seemed to love it though.) Patricia's chile jam was pleasing to some, but not so much to others. The boys, on the other hand, did very well. Kerry's three dishes, which at first seemed pretty simple, got only positive comments from the critics, and Ruth insisted it was what she wanted to eat on every picnic. Francis thought Kerry hit it out of the park, but then couldn't stop raving about Chris' pork and chicken liver pate. The rest of the critics agreed, and awarded the win to Chris.

It seemed a toss-up between the girls as to who was going home, but Patricia seemed to make the most errors this week and ended up packing her knives.

So what did you think? Should Patricia have gone home? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Top Chef Masters 4.2 Recap

This week, the Mastercheftestants managed to avoid competing in a Quickfire and were instead thrust directly into the Elimination.Challenge. Jay and Christine encountered many problems with planning their wedding, from the death of the maid of honor to venues cancelling. So they turned to the Masters to make their big day perfect - in only 24 hours.

The chefs are required to serve passed hors d'oeuvres at a cocktail reception, then go on to a multi-course dinner followed by cake. Art Smith volunteered to make the cake after name-dropping all of the many celebrities he's baked for, including Lady Gaga and Oprah. (yawn) He makes a pineapple upside-down cake, which seems really ill-advised, since the tops are uneven and how do you balance layers on that? And of course the cake slipped and slid and despite being patched together like Humpty Dumpty, still earned Art a spot in the bottom three.

But first - the top. The adorable Takahashi prepared "pork berry" sliders on steamed buns and earned raves from guests and judges. Chris Cosentino once again showed off his immense talent by making a pork adobo that even the picky Filipino family members found "pretty damn good." But the win went to Patricia Yeo, who served a ceramic spoon chock full of pickled mackerel ceviche with young coconut.

Ok, back to the bottom. Besides Art, Mark Gaier didn't do so well with his dish of raw salmon. It wasn't supposed to be raw, but the judges somehow ended up with sashimi (the bride and groom had perfectly-cooked fish). And Debbie Gold made a weird salad of grilled napa cabbage when she couldn't find the ingredients for her original idea - a more traditional Southeast Asian green papaya salad. It seemed to be a real toss-up between the three, but in the end, Debbie was asked to pack her knives and go.

So what did you think about the wedding and its various successes and near-fiascos? Please tell us in the comments.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to the Top Chef Texas Reunion

NOW season 9 is officially over.

What did you think about this year's reunion? Any surprises? Anything you think was particularly interesting? Please tell us in the comments!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1

This week, the four remaining cheftestants - Beverly, Paul, Lindsay, and Sarah - gathered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the first round of the finale. Padma and Tom met them at the top of a mountain at Whistler, a ski resort that was a location for the 2010 Olympic Games, to stage a culinary version in three events.

For the first event, the four chefs each had to cook in a moving gondola. Lindsay took that one, earning a 10K cash prize and a guaranteed spot in the finales. The second event involved removing ingredients frozen in blocks of ice and cooking outdoors. Paul took that one. And for event three, Sarah and Bev had to ski and shoot for their supper. While both dishes were close, Sarah's emerged victorious, and Beverly was sent home yet again.

The previews made it sound like there will be TWO more finale episodes...what do you think of THAT? (Personally, I think one is enough.) Please leave comments!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 12

This week, the challenges seemed to get more complicated than necessary. For the Quickfire, the cheftestants were divided into three teams of two: Grayson and Chris, Ed and Paul, and Sarah and Lindsay. Each team was responsible for peeling umpteen shrimp, making fresh pasta, and shucking a large quantity of corn, with which they would then create a dish in whatever time they had left from forty minutes. Kinda like the relay races of seasons past, but not. Guest judge Cat Cora and regular judge Emeril decided that out of the three teams, they preferred the shrimp and bacon pasta created by Chris and Grayson, earning them each $5,000.

For the Elimination Challenge, rather than cooking as a team, each dynamic duo had to face each other in cooking their version of a single dish. The dishes would then be served at a block party for 200 people who would be responsible for choosing the winning dish from each pair. After the cheftestants chose the dish they wanted to make, Padma added a twist: they will have to create a lightened version of it for the challenge, to appease sponsor Healthy Choice.

Paul's turkey lettuce wrap version of kalbi beat out Ed's short rib version. Lindsay's Greek-ish lamb and veal meatball beat out Sarah's turkey version by a small margin. And Grayson's made-to-order chicken salad sandwiches beat out Chris' version made with tofu mayo. Once again, Paul wins the challenge - and gets another $15,000 for his growing wallet. It's looking like his partner, Ed, is going to bite the dust, but in a surprise ending, it's Chris who ends up being sent home.

So what did you think? Should Chris have gone home? Please leave a comment!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 11

This week, the chefs were sent back to San Antonio to do battle in their original kitchen where a mysterious conveyor belt has been installed. The chefs must choose three ingredients from the rather odd variety that will appear on the belt and use them in one dish. Guest judge Eric Ripert is on hand to help Padma taste the resulting combinations and choose a winner who receives immunity from elimination. And that winner is Lindsay for grabbing ingredients appropriate to a bouillabaisse-type concoction that pleases Chef Ripert.

On to the Elimination, which is to cook a macabre feast for guest Charlize Theron, who is starring in a new movie called Snow White and the Huntsman. So basically the whole episode is a promo for the movie, which looks to be pretty good, apart from the expressionless waif who plays Snow White. Anyhoo...each chef cooks a course for the dinner served to Chefs Ripert, Lagasse, and Colicchio, plus Padma and Charlize. Ed incorporates spiky fried fish scales and sauces representing good and evil, while Lindsay makes a witches' stew of short ribs and dragon beans. Grayson serves a black chicken leg with the claw still attached, and Sarah creates a blood-red risotto redolent of amarena wine and lamb heart. Paul wins the challenge with his multi-component "enchanted forest" decorated with a "bloody" handprint.

During dinner, only compliments are heard, but during the judging, nitpicking arises. Sarah's risotto is salty. A couple of Grayson's components are misplaced. But Beverly's gummy sauce sticks most in the judges' craw and they send her home.

So what did you think this week? Fun challenge? Please leave a comment!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 9

This week's challenges were all over the place. First off, they were joined by guest judge Nathan Myhrvold, author of the multi-volume tome, Modernist Cuisine. The Quickfire Challenge predictably involved putting a modernist twist on a dish, aka using what is popularly known as "molecular gastronomy." Some folks played with food chemicals, some did not, and the simplest dish - Ty's watermelon with tapioca maltodextrin olive oil - won the challenge. And scored Ty some much-needed immunity.

For the Elimination, the chefs went to famous bbq joint The Salt Lick to learn some real 'que techniques. The nine chefs comprised three teams that were each responsible for chicken, pork ribs, and brisket, plus two sides. After another all-nighter of cooking over hot fires in hot weather, Sarah got woozy and had to be sent to the hospital. Meanwhile, this left her team of Ed and Ty in the lurch, so they did the best they could without her. Unfortunately, they ended up on the bottom for their efforts, along with the team that included both Chrises and Beverly.

The three remaining chefs - Paul, Grayson, and Lindsay - chose to use Asian flavors on their barbecue, making it quite non-authentic but also quite delicious. They won the challenge and a cool $15K to split between them.

After some lengthy discussion during which it seemed Tom hated *everything* the other two teams presented, the judges declared that Chris Crary needed to go home for his sin of making a too-salty dry rub for his team's pork ribs.

What did you think about that? Did he deserve to go home? Please leave a comment!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 7

A new day in the Top Chef Kitchen and the cheftestants were greeted by Padma and Tim Love, of the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, standing near a variety of Don Julio Tequilas. The Quickfire Challenge was to come up with a dish that paired well with a tequila of their choice. There was no immunity, but a $5,000 prize for the winner. After 30 minutes of cooking, Padma and Tim tasted the dishes. Heather was called out for a dish that didn't pair well with the tequila, Chris J. was tripped up by dry chicken, and Sarah missed with overcooked risotto. On the top of the heap were Chris C., Lindsay, and Ty-Lor with Ty-Lor taking the prize for his spicy Thai clams.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs were put into teams of two based on how they were standing together at the time the challenge was announced. They were tasked with putting together a 6-course menu of game for Tim Love and a group of his famous chef friends. In addition to the regular judges, the cheftestants would judge each other's dishes to pick the worst teams. The teams shook out like this:

Venison - Dakota and Nyesha
Squab - Paul and Sarah
Elk - Chris J. and Grayson
Boar - Lindsay and Chris C.
Duck - Beverly and Heather
Quail - Ed and Ty-Lor

The challenge would end in a double elimination, but the winning team would split $10,000. After the usual frantic shopping trip, the chefs returned to the kitchen for three hours of prep. Then it was off to the cramped kitchen at the Lonesome Dove to finish and serve their dishes. After the tastings by the judges at the table and the chefs in the kitchen, Padma asked Ed and Ty-Lor to come out and accept their win for their exceptional quail.

Then the chefs were given 15 minutes to fight amongst themselves to determine which teams should be in the bottom three. They finally decided on Teams Venison, Elk, and Duck. An extended period of time was devoted to Grayson chewing out Chris J. for his ill-advised sweet potato component and Heather creating various Beverly/Bus trajectories. Ultimately though, it was Padma, Tom, and guest judge Hugh Acheson who had to make the call on the team to be sent packing. In the end, it was not Chris J.'s bad sweet potatoes or Heather and Beverly's muddled duck dish, but rather Dakota and Nyesha's undercooked venison that got the thumbs down.

Next week, the venue moves to Austin and Emeril returns as a guest judge. So what did you think of last night's episode? Leave your comments below.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Reactions to Top Chef Texas Episode 6

This week, the cheftestants were still in Dallas, using Le Cordon Bleu as their home kitchen. For the Quickfire Challenge, renowned Chef Dean Fearing and Padma tasked them to put a spin on five famous mother sauces: Velouté, Hollandaise, Espagnole, Tomate, and Bechamel. With 90 minutes to cook and the promise of immunity in the next challenge, the chefs were up to the task, with the best performance coming from Grayson, who made a beautiful hollandaise.

The Elimination Challenge involved steak, and lots of it. The cheftestants were to act as one team and serve 200 guests at the Cattle Baron's Ball, held at the Southfork Ranch. Two of four courses had to include steak in some form, and Ty-lor, who had worked in a steakhouse for two years, took the reins for the entrée course. Unfortunately, while prepping some bone marrow, he poked a hole in his paw with an oyster knife and ended up spending the night in the ER.

The next day, on an hour sleep, he seared steaks on the grill and put them aside for other team members to fire. Unfortunately, Ed put them in to cook a bit too early, so some steaks ended up on the well side of medium, while others didn't get cooked enough. But that wasn't the worst problem of the evening - Whitney, from whom we've heard nary a peep so far, managed to coax out nothing but raw potatoes in 6 hours of cooking, which earned her the boot. And Heather gets the win for successfully making a cake that she had also made for the Quinceanara challenge. From Ed's recipe. Hmm.

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

Posted on AllTopChef.com