Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 4 Finale

A Just Recompense on Kerry: "Their assistants show up; Chris’s is his chef de cuisine, and Kerry is someone he works with on large events, “putting stuff together on the fly.” I’m confused. Kerry’s not cooking on a regular basis? Is not chef/owner of anything? Or executive chef? I don’t understand, just what does Kerry actually do these days? Besides fishing with Tom Colicchio? But you know, this finale is working on a special event, putting something together on the fly, so this could be an advantage for him."

Mary Alice of Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on sweet: "At the butcher's, Chris picks up beef hearts. His love letter is to his wife, and he will be putting his heart on a plate. Rim shot! Such a clever little sass. He paints a really sweet picture of he and his wife's relationship and says he wants to thank her for allowing him to live his dream. Their family photos are adorable. Color me more smitten by the minute."

LA Weekly on the differences between the two chefs: "Immediately, the differences between Heffernan and Cosentino became apparent. Heffernan, the more left-brained of the two, became focused on ingredients, believing that the stories would come later. Whereas the more right-brained, 'emotional' Cosentino allowed the dishes to build from his memories."

Gossip & Gab on something this blogger doesn't get at all: "Hottie host Curtis Stone reminded us all that he’s a chef in his own right, inviting Chris and Kerry to the top floor of the Cosmopolitan and preparing a dish in honor of each of them. He can cook, he’s easy on the eyes, he has that amazing Australian accent… /sigh."

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Top Recipe - Chris Cosentino's Blood Sausage, Poached Oysters, and Egg

Thanks, Chef Cosentino, for not expecting us to make our own blood sausage....

Blood Sausage, Poached Oysters, and Egg

4 Boccalone Sanguinaccio
36 oysters (clean and shucked)
2 cups rich trotter stock
4 duck eggs
4 tbsp. butter
2 tablespoons chive batons
2 tablespoons chive flowers
Buckwheat sprouts
8 pieces of crusty bread

Start the blood sausages in a cold pan with 2 tablespoons of butter; once there is color on one side, flip and put into oven at 350 degrees. While the sausages are cooking through, start the eggs, making sure that they are sunny side up. When the eggs are ready (2 minutes) put them on a warm plate, then top with 1 sausage per plate. While the stock is reducing (with one tablespoon of butter), grill the bread over medium heat and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Deglaze the sausage pan with the pork stock and add the oysters, letting simmer for 1 minute. Mix with one tablespoon of butter and add chives then season to taste. Top the sausages with the sauce and oysters, and sprinkle the chive flowers and buckwheat sprouts on the plate. Serve with bread.

© 2012 CHRIS COSENTINO

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All Top Chef Interview with Chris Cosentino

Top Chef Masters Season Four Champion, Chris Cosentino, talks about his experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC: Tell us about your restaurant. 

CC: My restaurant Incanto, is in San Francisco in area called Noe Valley. It's an Old-World style Italian restaurant. We try to cook with an Italian philosophy. 

 In an average week, we get a 250 pound pig, whole - and two whole lambs or goats depending on what we intend to serve. We just work our way through the animals and change things up as we go.

We also have a project called Boccalone. We create 26 different cooked, cured and raw products. We sell all sorts of salumi. Five heart salumi... Fresh sausage... We have been doing it for about 5 years. I give people at home the ability to have the unique foods that are not available at the general market. If you want cheek bacon or back bacon you can order them and we will ship them. 

 These are the lovely Italian flavor profiles made with the best quality meats available for you to serve at home.

Click here for the full interview.

Thank you Chef Chris!

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All Top Chef Interview with Kerry Heffernan

Top Chef Masters Season 4 Finalist, Kerry Heffernan talks about his experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC: Going in to the finale, did you feel like the underdog? 

 KH: From the beginning, the person that I felt I was competing with the most was myself. It didn't make any difference whether I observed what anyone else was doing. It was only about me doing the very best that I could do. 

 So I felt very strong going in for a number of reasons. For instance, the format suited me. Serving four plates, a composed meal, a menu, not just a bite, was definitely what I am trained to do. Honestly I felt very strong going in.

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to learn more about City Harvest.

Thank you Chef Kerry!

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Bravo Exit Interview - Kerry Heffernan

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ATC Love to Chef Kerry Heffernan

By week 9 of this 10 week competition, Chef Kerry Heffernan nearly had Chef Cosentino running scared. Possibly his greatest strength is his ability to cook with such classic technique. He utilized this strength in the final battle, four courses of letters to his wife, his family, and to himself, and produced four very delicious dishes.

While his meal was very strong, it wasn't quite strong enough to beat his competition, but we think it was probably very, very close!

Congrats, Chef Kerry, for *almost* winning. You're a great chef and hope to see you back on Top Chef again some day.

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Congratulations, Chef Chris Cosentino!

In what was probably a surprise to no one, Chris Cosentino created an offal-based meal that both shocked and amazed the critics (some of whom even hated it, possibly). While the meal made by his competition was delicious, Chef Cosentino's was both delicious and outrageous, and his boldness played a big part in his victory.

Congrats, Chef Cosentino! The Michael J. Fox Foundation is sure to be pleased with the over $140,000 you'll be sending their way!

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Recap of Top Chef Masters 4 Finale

I want to start out by saying that I rather enjoyed this season of Top Chef Masters. The challenges were overall more interesting than in past seasons, and the competitors had a bit more spunk. None more spunky than Chris Cosentino, who happily sparred with Art Smith through the first several episodes, then really settled down to some serious cooking closer to the finale.

This week, there was no Quickfire. Instead, Curtis cuts to the chase. Each of the two final chefs - Kerry Heffernan and Chris Cosentino - must compose a meal of four dishes that act as "letters." The first course must express a love letter, the second an apology, the third a thank you note, and finally, the fourth course must be a letter to oneself. The Finalmastercheftestants don't have to go it alone though - each gets one sous chef in the form of someone they have worked with for years. For Chris, it's his chef de cuisine at Incanto, and for Kerry, a long-time friend. No, not Tom Colicchio (that would have been cheating).

After a period of meal planning the chefs head out to shop. Kerry goes only to Whole Foods, which is close by, so he has more time for prep. Chris goes to three different stores, which cuts down dramatically on his cooking time. In the end, however, it didn't seem to matter.

The judges for this contest were a bunch of well- and not-so-well-known food critics, including the founder of Chow and Alan Richman from GQ. They're all hyper-critical and seem more than a bit jaded, but the final judgement comes from the shows own bunch, including Ruth and Francis. While Kerry's food was very delicious, and the seeming favorite of Mr Sweater, the other judges were wowed by Chris' bold choice to use offal in three of his four courses.

And we know who wins this thing. Personally, I think it was pretty obvious from the start.

Congratulations, Chef Cosentino!

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Top Chef Masters 4 Finale Previews

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 4.9

A Just Recompense on Mystery Guests: "We know, and the chefs seem to know, the mystery guests will be someone they know. Turns out, the critics get to cook. I love this idea. Francis Lam graduated from the CIA (not to mention the University of Michigan, but that had nothing to do with cooking), and I know from her book Garlic and Sapphires that Ruth is an experienced cook; I suspect James knows his way around the kitchen as well. But for all the chefs know, they’re dealing with their crazy uncle Eddie, another chef’s parent or spouse, or previously eliminated chefs (which would be pretty cool, actually)."

Mary Alice of Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on the Mystery Guest dishes: "Chris and James’ shrimp dishes look very similar - even down to the plating. Curtis tastes each and says 'I actually can’t decide which I like more!' to which James responds, Oh, just shut the f--- up.' Sassy Molassy! Lorena and Francis didn’t get their pasta cooked in time so they present a saute of swiss chard with chicken and stuff on top. Curtis likes the sauce but wants something to put it on. Kerry and Ruth created a sauteed chicken dish with bacon, rosemary and swiss chard cream. Their plating is quite different — Ruth used half a chicken while Kerry’s is just small pieces. Hilariously Curtis likes Ruth’s dish better."

LA Weekly on the Elimination Challenge: "Keffernan's team had whipped up a Chicken Florentine, Garcia's a lasagna, and Cosentino's a basic pork dish -- no bells and whistles in any of them. But the chefs took different approaches when it came to vamping them up. Keffernan stayed relatively true to the original form, guiding the students in creating a Florentine-inspired chicken with orzo and asparagus ragout. Cosentino went out of his way to teach the kids that what a pig eats is reflected in how it tastes, and used the pig's presumed diet to help them put together a pork loin with hazelnut brown butter, apples, and watercress. And Garcia, the queen of "food is love," kept it basic, enhancing the students' lasagna with better ingredients and technique, and serving it family-style."

Gossip & Gab on smart: "Kerry Heffernan took notes during previous seasons and made the wise choice to be kind to his mystery partner."

The Zagat Blog on scary Kerry: "Kerry is kind of intense and terrifying, ordering the kids around and yelling at them to move faster and push harder like a scary gym teacher, but he whips them into shape and turns a string-cheese chicken Florentine into a Florentine-inspired chicken with orzo and asparagus ragu. And Kerry wins again! This man is on fire."
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Top Recipe - Kerry Heffernan's Florentine-Inspired Chicken with Orzo and Asparagus Ragout

Florentine-Inspired Chicken with Orzo and Asparagus Ragout



Remove breasts (whole with skin and bone intact) of 2 small chickens, and cut each in half. Cut legs and remaining carcass into half-inch pieces.


6 ounces of orzo (or any pasta), cooked in salted boiling water till al dente. Shock in ice water, then drain well and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside.


4 ounces of baby spinach, cleaned and rinsed


One small bunch of asparagus finely cut on a bias, heads split


1 ounce of pine nuts, toasted and set aside


3 ounces of whole butter


2 ounces of heavy cream


1 quart brown veal stock


8 slices black truffle


2 cloves of garlic, finely minced


3 sprigs tarragon, stems removed and leaves minced



Using a shallow roasting pan, place chicken legs and carcasses in a 450°oven. Brown legs, turning often until well-colored; strain all fat. Place browned bones into 4 quart sauce pot and cover with the veal stock (and water if necessary); bring to simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, skimming constantly. Strain liquids, discard bones. Reduce liquid to 1 cup, skimming constantly and carefully checking the seasoning. Set aside but keep warm.



Heat a 10-inch sauté pan and add 1 ounce of heavy cream. Place spinach, stirring frequently until completely wilted. Season well with salt and pepper, and place the entire mixture into a blender. Puree well. Check seasoning, and set aside.



Heat a 12-inch sauté pan until quite hot, and add 1 ounce of canola oil. Place chicken breasts, seasoned very well with salt and pepper, skin-side down in the very hot pan. Cook on medium heat until chicken is well-browned, and then place in 400° oven for additional 10 to 12 minutes until just done. Set aside, keeping the chicken warm.



In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat 1 ounce of butter, adding sliced asparagus and salt and pepper, with 3 ounces of water. Cook over medium to high heat, adding garlic and cooked orzo when asparagus is barely tender. Season well with salt and pepper. Finish with minced tarragon and an additional ounce of butter, swirling to gently combine. Set aside and keep warm.



In a 6-inch sauté pan, roast toasted pine nuts and one ounce of butter. Heat until butter turns slightly brown. Immediately add mixture to blender, and purée well. Set aside.


Warm the spinach mixture, adding a bit of cream and butter if needed. Check seasoning and set aside.


Remove chicken from bones and slice on a bias, arranging attractively on four plates.

Add any accumulated juices from chicken to chicken stock, bringing combined liquid to a simmer. Check seasoning, strain again, and add sliced truffles.

Judiciously drizzle sauce around and over chicken so that there is just an attractive streak on the plate.



Spoon warm orzo and asparagus mixture into the center of the plate.



Spoon an attractive streak of spinach on the edge of the plate. Finish with a "Cordon" of the pine nut and butter mixture around the edge of the plate. Serve immediately.


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Bravo Exit Interview - Lorena Garcia

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All Top Chef Interview with Lorena Garcia

Top Chef Masters contestant, Lorena Garcia, talks about her experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC: I do not recall hearing anything in the instructions about creating a "restaurant" dish. I only heard "elevate the dish to a master level." Were you told to create a restaurant dish?

 LG: No, really, to my recollection, we were told to "elevate the dish" to something that could be taught to the kids - something that they could learn and reproduce. It was lasagna, there was only so much we could do. It had to be something accessible and doable for them.

 ATC: If you could go back, is there anything that you would do differently?

 LG: In the process of making the dish, I learned things about the sudents, like Jojo had type 2 diabetes, and maybe if I had known that, I might have modified things a little, but honestly, I still would have presented the dish family-style and I am imagining that the kids will prepare this again for their families.

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to learn more about Lorena Garcia Cucina.

Click here to learn more about The Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

Thank you Chef Lorena!

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ATC Love to Chef Lorena Garcia

Chef Garcia's kids made her a lasagna, and she taught them how to make an elevated version of the dish. Unfortunately, it wasn't elevated enough to earn her a slot in next week's finale. Up to this point though, she had done very well in the competition, earning over 27K for her charity, which made her happy despite the loss.


Good luck Chef Lorena - you are a great competitor and we're eager to see what you dish up in the future.

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Congratulations, Chef Kerry Heffernan!

After nine long weeks of competition, Chef Heffernan finally won an Elimination Challenge, and it was a big one. His team of high school students learned a lot about making a brown chicken stock and preparing chicken properly, and their delicious results won him a slot in the finale.


Congrats for the huge win this week, Kerry! Good luck in the finale!

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Recap of Top Chef Masters 4.9

This week, the three remaining mastercheftestants had to take on the role of teacher, first in a Quickfire that paired them with three of the critics, then with high school culinary students.

The Quickfire was a replay of last season's "mystery teammate" challenge. With a wall separating the cheftestants from their partners, they had to make sure this other person cooked a dish very similar or identical to the one he or she was making. Chris was paired up with James Oseland, who put on a fake accent and turned out a dish much like the one Chris made, which earned them a win. Kerry with Ruth and Lorena with Francis also did pretty well, but not quite well enough.

The Elimination Challenge involved instructing two teenage culinary students through a restaurant-quality dish. The students first cooked the dish they wanted to make for their mentors, and then they were instructed on how to make the dish better. Chris seemed to really get into the spirit of the challenge, taking his kids on as actual chefs-in-training. Kerry did as well, but he acted more like a drill sergeant. Lorena, on the other hand, while claiming to love the challenge, seemed less in a teaching mode.

In the end, it was her not particularly inventive take on lasagna (she had them make...a lasagna) that got her canned. Kerry pushed his students to turn out something both flavorful and well-crafted, and that earned him a win.

Next week, Kerry battles Chris for the final prize. Who's gonna win? Place your bets here!

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Top Chef Masters 4.9 Previews

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 4.8

Mary Alice of Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on say what? "Critics' table -- or as Chris calls it, 'Top Chef Ulcer.' They call all four back. Everyone gushes over Kerry's progression from creamy to powerful. They question the sweetness of Lorena's chicken salad and the texture of her chocolate mousse. She admits she did not taste the chicken salad today, and James Oseland's eyebrows raise higher than any botox could ever hope for."

A Just Recompense goes ballistic on Kerry: "Kerry is very selfish! He has been a terrible teammate all along! And nobody ever calls him on it! Not even here on this blog! So I will call him on it! Kerry, you are selfish! You screwed Patricia on the Thai challenge! You got Clark sent home from the Grand Canyon! And now you destroyed Lorena’s dish! I do not know if he does it on purpose, or if he is just very focused and does not pay attention to other people. But if he is a chef, he should know better! And some one should scold him for it! Someone with more authority than me! I do not like Lorena, but I would treat her better than that! He cooked her salmon twenty minutes early so he could cook his shrimp! I would think the chef could handle cooking a piece of fish and some shrimp at the same time! It is not like they were cooking for 700 people, they were making three portions! And what makes me very angry is that Kerry wins! His Shrimp Farfalle with Herbs and Yellow Tomato Beurre Fondue was creamy and tangy. So what, he is Not Nice! I do not care if he is best friends with Tom Colicchio or not! City Harvest gets $2500 and it is hard to complain about that. Just because he is Not Nice does not mean his charity should be held responsible!"

LA Weekly on he's too nice to be a judge: "After tasting the dishes, Avello said the most refreshing, honest thing we've ever heard a guest judge say on this show -- that he was honored to taste the food of such amazing chefs and had no place complaining about any of it. (Right. On. Finally! Why do these guests judges suddenly act like they're Alan Richman?) But he had a favorite, and that was Heffernan's shrimp farfalle -- a dish that carried the weight of Garcia's seared salmon with rice that didn't make the plate."

Gossip & Gab is one of two recappers who don't know the difference between "tureen" and "terrine" (Mary Alice is the other): "All of the chefs were brought before the judge’s table for commentary. Kerry Heffernan got great reviews for all of his dishes. Lorena Garcia was taken to task over a few aspects of her dishes – like the sweetness and consistency of her chocolate mousse. Chris Cosentino received rave reviews for his tureen, as well as a comment on the inconsistency in the doneness of his meat dish. The bread was a flop for Patricia Yeo, and her dishes didn’t meld into a cohesive meal."

The Zagat Blog on whiteness: "As the chefs are setting up their picnic dinner the next day, the 300 patrons arrive. To the uninitiated, Diner en Blanc looks like a cross between a cult and a Tom Wolfe fan convention. The whole 'everyone in white' thing is schticky."

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Top Recipe - Chris Cosentino's Pork and Chicken Liver Pate with Hazelnuts and Truffles

Pork and Chicken Liver Pate with Hazelnuts and Truffles

5 lbs chicken liver
5 lbs pork shoulder
5 lbs pork belly
1 bunch thyme
1/2 bunch savory
1/4 cup garlic
1/4 cup shallot
1/2 cup sauterne wine
1 cup black truffles
2 cups hazelnuts
salt and pepper, as needed

Hay Carrots:
Baby carrots
2 bay leaves
1 orange peel
1 bunch thyme
3 cups hay
2 tablespoons salt
water

Cut the pork and marinate with shallots, garlic, and sauterne. Grind ½ through small die, and then ½ through medium die. Grind all together, mix with chopped truffles and toasted hazelnuts. Cook a piece to taste in a plastic wrap in boiling water. Let chill before tasting.

Line a terrine mold with pan spray, then lay down plastic wrap to line the mold. Pack in the ground meat. Tamper the molds to get out air bubbles. Bake in a 300 degree oven in a water bath until they reach 134 degrees internal temperature.

Press the terrines with a weight and let cool. Slice and serve with carrots, mustards and cornichons.

Carrots:
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil until tender (this should take about 18 minutes).

© 2012 CHRIS COSENTINO

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Bravo Exit Interview - Patricia Yeo

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