Top Chef Experiments: Carla's Roquefort Souffle

The January 2010 issue of Food & Wine has the potential to scare. Right there, at the top of the cover, in big bold print, are three little words that so many cheftestants fear (with good reason): The Judges' Issue.

Fortunately, as a Top Chef blogger, those words look like beautiful art on the page.

The January issue is pretty judgy, too, with Frank Bruni torturing Eric Ripert's amazing sommelier, Aldo Sohm, and restaurant critics from all over the country opining on their favorite chicken dishes. Plus, there's Gail. Lots and lots of Gail.

And the best Gail is in the article, "The Gail Simmons Challenge: Rescue that Top Chef Recipe." It's pretty much as it sounds - Gail reworks some of the failed recipes from seasons past, turning disasters like CJ's hideous airplane broccolini and Jennifer Z.'s notorious chiles rellenos into workable, edible dishes.

Feeling cheffy myself, I attempted Gail's reinvention of Carla's Roquefort souffle that never made it to the plate in the season five finale. While I've eaten a lot of souffles in my time, I hadn't made one before, so I thought it would be a good test of a) the simplicity of the recipe and b) whether my kitchen confidence is unfounded.

And you know what? The recipe is not that difficult and I do, apparently, have some skill in the kitchen.

I switched out the Roquefort for Stilton (because my grocery store was having a Roquefort-free day) and used a combination of heavy cream and skim milk for the cup of milk (it's unspecified in the recipe). I also used eight 1/2 cup ramekins instead of four one cuppers...because it was what I had. As a result, I decreased the cooking time by just about four minutes.

Overall, the recipe took a little longer to make than I'd anticipated, and I might have overbeat the egg whites just a tad, which slightly dried out the souffle, but they rose in the oven and had great flavor on the plate. The intensity of the cheese and is a good match for the chives and for the airy texture of the souffle. Paired with a green salad, just the way the article photos suggest, it's a nice light meal.

And pretty, pretty, pretty. While the just-out-of-the-oven puff didn't last forever, I was able to bask in its glow for a few seconds as I fumbled with my camera.

The verdict? I might make it again to fine-tune my souffle-making skills. It's ideal for a fancy brunch or a ladies' lunch, though not quite hearty enough on its own as a winter dinner for me and my big strapping husband.

Not bad, though. Gail has done Carla proud. Hootie hoo!

A Top Chef Thanksgiving: Recipe du Jour

Here's the final dessert recipe - we hope you've found a bit of Top Chef-style inspiration for your Thanksgiving meal.

Top Chef Season 5 finalist Carla Hall's Rustic Apple Pie Tart with Apple Cider Reduction (dessert)


INGREDIENTS

FLAKY PIE CRUST
2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks (8oz) chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

APPLE FILLING
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and dices
4 Fiji apples, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lemon
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION
1 quart apple cider
4 bags ginger peach tea (herbal)
2 inches ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

FLAKY PIE CRUST
Combine water, salt, and sugar in measuring cup. Stir and put cup in fridge for at least 15 min. (to chill water and to dissolve sugar and salt). Chill mixing bowl and paddle if possible.

Combine flour and butter pieces in mixing bowl. On medium speed, cut butter into flour till butter pieces are the size of chickpeas. With the mixer running, pour the water into the butter mixture. Mix till the dough comes together.

Separate dough into 4 discs. Wrap each with film and chill.

APPLE FILLING
In large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sauté apples for 1 minute. Add in salt, sugars, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice and crystallized ginger. Continue to cook on medium heat.

In a small bowl, combine water, cornstarch, and vanilla. Quickly stir mixture into apples. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Adjust seasoning if desired. Let cool.

PIE
Roll each pastry disc out to a 6 inch round. Put 1/4 apple mixture in the center and fold 2 inches of dough, making pleats, around the filling leaving the center open. Brush each tart with an egg wash, 1 egg and 2 T water. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, equal parts granulated sugar and brown sugar or cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees or till the crust is golden brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm with apple cider reduction.

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION
Combine all ingredients. Reduce to 3/4 -1 cup. Chill and serve with apple pie and a wedge of cheddar or bleu cheese.

© 2009 CARLA HALL

A Top Chef Thanksgiving: Recipe du Jour

Top Chef Season 5 cheftestant Melissa Harrison's Old School Sweet Potatoes with Stewed Fruit, Dried Cranberries, and Apple Cider (side)


INGREDIENTS

OLD SCHOOL SWEET POTATOES
25 sweet potatoes (peeled, chop ends off)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick, micro planed
1 nutmeg, micro planed
4 bags of mini marshmallows
2 sticks of butter cut into little bits

STEWED FRUIT AND DRIED CRANBERRIES
4 bags frozen mixed berries
5 oranges, juiced and zested
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 1/2 cups of dried cranberries
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups of orange juice

APPLE CIDER
4 gallons of hot apple cider
8 cinnamon sticks
Nutmeg, grated
4 oranges, zested
3 oranges, juiced

DIRECTIONS

OLD SCHOOL SWEET POTATOES
Slice sweet potatoes an inch thick and toss them in a mixture of brown sugar, butter, grated cinnamon and nutmeg. Place on a greased baking dish or sheet tray. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until they are fork tender. To serve, sprinkle the marshmallows onto the sweet potatoes and finish baking or broil until they are toasty and melted into gooey goodness.

STEWED FRUIT AND DRIED CRANBERRIES
In a large pot, place the butter on medium heat, then, once it is melted, toss in the berries and sugar. With wooden spoon, coat berries. Add orange juice and zest. Bring to simmer and add cinnamon.

On the side, re-hydrate the dried cranberries in warm orange juice. When plump, drain cranberries and add them to the stewed fruit. Cook fruit for 30 to 45 minutes. Taste and add more sugar if needed.

APPLE CIDER
Heat everything together on the stove until piping hot. Serve in a mug with a cinnamon stick.

© 2009 MELISSA HARRISON

A Top Chef Thanksgiving: Recipe du Jour

And now for the main course!

Top Chef Season 5 cheftestant Ariane Duarte's Orange Braised Turkey Breast with Mushroom and Caramelized Shallot (main)


INGREDIENTS

TURKEY
1 Butterball turkey breast on bone

BRINE
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon sugar
8 sprigs of thyme
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

TURKEY STOCK FOR GRAVY
Breast bone
2 carrots wash and chop 1 inch pieces
3 celery stalks, wash and chop 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon white peppercorn
2 quarts Swanson low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Wondra flour

MUSHROOMS
1 pound baby portobellos, sliced
3 shallots, cleaned and sliced
3 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

TURKEY AND BRINE
Remove breast meat from bone. Save bones.

Heat water, orange juice, salt, and sugar and let salt dissolve in a pot. Add thyme, orange zest, and peppercorns. Let steep and cool. Pour over turkey breast, let sit for 1-4 hours.

TURKEY STOCK FOR GRAVY
Chop up breast bone, preferably with a cleaver. Put in stock pot and add all ingredients. Let simmer for one hour. Strain into pot, let boil, and whisk in flour. Let cook for 15-30 minutes more on medium heat.

MUSHROOMS
Melt butter almost brown. Add shallots and mushrooms, raise heat and let brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add to thicken gravy.

TURKEY
For boneless turkey breast about 5 pounds sear the breast in a hot pan both sides then roast in 375 oven for about 45 minutes. Internal temperature should be about 160 then let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

© 2009 ARIANE DUARTE

A Top Chef Thanksgiving: Recipe du Jour

As a first course for your meal, how about trying one of the soup recipes we'll be posting over the next few days?

Top Chef Season 5 cheftestant Jeff McInnis's Apple and Fennel Soup with Blue Cheese Fig Custard (appetizer)


INGREDIENTS

SOUP
2 large shallots
2 handfuls fennel
Few sprigs thyme, sage
2 cloves garlic
3 Granny Smith apples
3 fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper

CUSTARD
3 egg yolks
1 cup cream
5 figs
1 1/2 ounces blue cheese
Pinch salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

SOUP
Slowly sweat shallot, fennel, apple, and garlic. Add wine and reduce by 1/2. Add chicken stock. Simmer on low and reduce by 1/2. Add cream and simmer with herbs. Puree till very smooth.

CUSTARD
Whisk yolks and cream. Crumble blue cheese. Cut the figs and season with salt and pepper. Mix all.

Place in rubber flex molds, sprayed with Pam. Bake in water bath at 300 degrees till custard sets, about 25 min.

Garnish with fennel fronds and slices of fig. Add brunoise green apple to soup for texture.

© 2009 JEFF MCGINNIS

TC News & Information

Top Chef 5 champ Stephanie Izard has started a series of dinners called the Wandering Goat, in anticipation of her upcoming Chicagoland restaurant, the Drunken Goat. Her second dinner will be held on September 2nd and features a bacon theme. For more information, click here.

What? Richard Blais only came in fourth in the Top 10 Atlanta reality stars of all time?

Padma Lakshmi attended a screening of Inglourius Basterds. What do you think about her dress?

GLAAD Top Chef Invasion

The Hancock Park: Chef Invasion hosted by GLAAD (that would be the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, not to be confused with a similarly-named Top Chef sponsor) took place on August 23rd and featured season 5's Jamie Lauren and Rich Sweeney in hand-to-hand combat. Well, they took knife to onions....

And the winner of the GLAAD Top Chef Golden Whisk? Rich Sweeney! Watch the "award ceremony" here.

Top Chefs in Columbus

Cliff O'Neill

Columbus, OH

Top Chef: The Tour came to Columbus, Ohio, today. Featured on the program were Top Chef: Chicago (Season Four) winner Stephanie Izzard and Top Chef: New York (Season Five) finalist Ariane Duarte.

On this steamy late Spring day, the pair put on a cooking demonstration for the crowd in front of the city’s historic North Market. Afterwards, they took questions from the audience which ranged from the culinary (“How do you make a nice glaze?”) to the salacious (“Are Hosea and Leah still dating?”).

Asked by a young, aspiring chef what to do to pursue a culinary career, the two agreed that one should work in food in many different capacities, from front-of-house to bussing tables. Stephanie even told of her amusing early experiences working at Olive Garden and having trouble with the pronunciation of “pasta e fagioli” (pasta fa-ZHOOL).

In fact, it seemed like Ariane had to prod the audience to ask about the more gossipy aspects of her reality TV experience. Once asked, she reported what her erstwhile lovebird co-contestants (Season Five winner Hosea Rosenburg and finalist Leah Cohen) have said already: They remain friends and would be closer if they had the slightest desire to live in each other’s towns. (Rosenburg resides in Boulder, CO, while Cohen is married to life in New York City.)

Stephanie volunteered that during her season there was a clause in all the cheftestants’ contracts barring them from “touching” each other. By the next season, Ariane added, that clause was gone.

That was, said Ariane, an indication that the producers were going for more of a “Real World meets Top Chef” vibe going forward.

To laughter, Stephanie added that she didn’t care about the clause, since she didn’t want to touch anyone anyway.

About the manifold Top Chef blogs, the two reported that they were advised by loved ones to not read them, since they can be quite nasty.

(This, of course, made this blogger wince as he thought back to the snarky comments he’s made on his own TC blog. Still, after some reflection, he approached anyway, knowing he was rooting for each of them in their respective seasons.)

Afterwards, the two politely posed for pictures with fans and signed photos and Top Chef merchandise. Ariane reported that her New Jersey restaurant is still booked three weeks out, while an equally affable Stephanie chatted with fans.

Advised of this new blog, the ladies suggested they’d check it out, with Stephanie signing this blogger’s Top Chef Cookbook, “Keep nice blogging!”

TC News & Information

Did you know that Martha Stewart called Top Chef Five winner Hosea Rosenberg?

Here's a short interview with him....

BuddyTV got in on the conference call interview with Carla Hall and gives us the scoop.

And Carla dishes with The Washingtonian about some of her local food favorites.