TC News and Information 5.17.11

Let's start today's post with Stephanie Izard, who is doing a special "Dueling Pigs" limited seating dinner May 29 featuring humanely raised pigs of two different heirloom breeds. She'll announce only on Twitter - and soon - when tickets to those 16 seats will be available.

Then there's Carla Hall, who's out and about offering fish recipes as part of a "Go Fish" campaign with CanolaInfo.org. She demos a dish and talks about her new TV show, "The Chew," in this video with local Hawaiian station KITV.

We're glad Carla survived the tornado that shut down the St. Louis airport last month. But she has stirred up a bit of a kerfuffle by becoming a spokesperson for Fancy Feast cat food, which is sponsoring a "flavor creation contest" where cat owners can submit suggestions to be turned into actual catfood - the reverse of what most TC contestants aspire to - as reported here and here.

A kerfuffle of an entirely different color has emerged in Canada, where Food Network Canada is broadcasting the first season of Top Chef to be produced in a country other than the U.S. Toronto Life and HuffPost talk about the blogospheric backlash that ensued after previews aired at the end of last week's TC Canada episode foreshadowed Daniel Boulud and a "classic French-themed challenge" where one contestant would have to cook horse meat (which is apparently legal in Canada, although not in the U.S., and considered something of a specialty in France). The actual episode is airing 5/16/11 as I write this post and autolaunch it for Tuesday morning, although we in the U.S. are barred from legally viewing it. Top Chef Canada's facebook page said this prior to Monday evening's episode:

There has been a great deal of conversation around the use of horse meat in tonight's episode of Top Chef Canada.  The premise of this particular episode is traditional French cuisine and horse meat is selected as one among several other ingredients that represent traditional French foods. We assure our viewers that the horse meat along with all protein featured in this episode was federally approved and meets HACCP standards. . . . What has become clear in the past few days, however, is that there are many varying opinions and claims surrounding the commercialization of horse meat. In light of this, Food Network Canada pledges to investigate the various issues and will carefully consider all the facts around this topic should horse meat be suggested for any future production.

And we thought bugs were hard to stomach.

To end this post on a more light-hearted note, check out this video from CNN, where Suvir Saran and Mary Sue Milliken run into James Oseland for the first time since filming Top Chef Masters 3.


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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 3 Episode 6

TWOP on the Quickfire: "The remaining seven chefs join Curtis Stone in the kitchen for their Quickfire challenge. They have an array of heavenly ingredients, including foie gras, scallops and truffles. The only catch is that they have to create their dishes in just seven minutes, beating Tom Colicchio's personal best of eight minutes, 37 seconds."

Monkeys as Critics on the Quickfire: "Anyway, time for the Quickfire! For once the chefs get really good stuff to cook with like scallops and caviar and not Oreos and canned peas. The catch? They must make a fabulous dish (actually, two plates of it) in seven minutes. Hugh calls it a Quickfire on steroids. I love Hugh, but I don’t think he’ll grab immunity if he’s even slightly serious about half of his dish being the most elaborate cat food of all time."

Oregon Live on cooking conditions: "When the buses arrive at the Hollywood hotel where Maroon 5 is staying, the chefs have to complete the meals on the bus, not in one of the hotel's kitchens, which is sort of infuriating to watch. New York chef Floyd Cardoz is forced to cook steaks on top of the toilet! Los Angeles chef Mary Sue Milliken is prepping tostadas on a mattress normally reserved for liaisons with groupies. Eww!"

Jordan Baker on Hughisms: "Back on the other bus, Mary Sue has “covered the bed in tostadas” which Hugh tells us is “not any fetish I’ve ever heard of.” Oh, Hugh. Thank you for being a friend."

AV Club with a stray observation: "I honestly wonder what the editors would do without Hugh — while Floyd’s going on about how his kids are going to think he’s so cool for meeting Maroon 5, Hugh’s dropping one-liners left and right: 'I’ve got youth, and panache, and one eyebrow on my side' in the little interstitial between commercials was a particularly fun one, confirming that he’s self-aware about the unibrow situation."

A Just Recompense on feeding the band: "The band gives their food preferences. Adam Levine likes Japanese food, and steak. There’s a vegetarian, of course. And a guy from Nebraska who wants corn. Then there’s the guy who’s still upset they missed Thanksgiving dinner when they were in Australia. And one of them likes LA so wants Mexican food. Presumably that means LA-style Mexican, Because if you tell someone like Rick Bayless you want Mexican food, you’d better mean it. But Rick Bayless isn’t here, sigh."

Eater once again makes a lot of references to stuff completely unrelated to Top Chef.

Grub Street on the final moments: "Unsurprisingly, the judges summon the Black Team and Traci wins for her steak. That means Red Team is on the chopping block. 'The duress came through the food,' Curtis tells them, which was kind of the point of this whole ordeal, right? All three chefs are roundly criticized, but Alex — who made four dishes on his own — is sent packing."

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Top Recipe - Traci Des Jadins' Japanese Steak

Japanese Style Steak, Miso Braised Daikon, Cucumber & Pea Shoot Salad

NGREDIENTS

Steak:
2 pounds rib eye
1/4 cup mirin- for marinade
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup pea sprouts
8 ounces daikon
1 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoons mirin- for daikon
Rice wine vinegar- to taste

Cucumber Salad:
1 tablespoon plum paste
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons mirin
3 cucumbers – Japanese or European
1 cups pea sprouts

DIRECTIONS

Steak:
1. Trim the rib eye, remove all sinew and fat
2. Marinate with a little mirin and soy sauce.
3. Sear rib eye in smoking hot pan until both sides are nicely charred. Finish cooking steak in oven at 350 degrees until medium rare, about 6-7 more minutes. Slice and place on a bed of pea sprouts.
4. Cut the daikon into 1 1/2 inch thick discs and turn into little flying saucer shapes.
5. Place into a sauce pan – cover with water, add a tablespoon of miso and a little mirin.
6. Cook until tender at a simmer, 10-15 minutes, add a little rice wine vinegar to balance flavor.

Cucumber Salad:
1. Combine paste, vinegar, oil, and mirin for vinaigrette.
2. Cut cucumbers into desired shapes.
3. Combine with sprouts and dress with vinaigrette.

© 2011 CHEF TRACI DES JARDINS

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All Top Chef Interview with Alex Stratta

Master Chef Alessandro Stratta talks about his career, his life with 3-year-old twins and surviving cancer.


Click here for the podcast.

Click here to learn more about his charity: FasterCures.

Thank you Chef Alex!
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Bravo Exit Interview - Alessandro Stratta

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ATC Love to Chef Alessandro Stratta

Chef Alessandro Stratta started off this competition on the right foot, but unfortunately things seemed to go downhill from there. This week, he was far too ambitious in the number of dishes he made for the Maroon 5 dinner, and a couple of them just didn't reach the heights that the critics expected from the chef. The once Iron Chef Italian was bested by a plate of overcooked pasta.



Chef Stratta, we're sorry to see you go so soon - you seemed to be destined for the finale. Good luck and good health to you in the future!

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Stratta and his dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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Congratulations, Chef Traci Des Jardins

Congratulations to Chef Traci Des Jardins for winning both the Quickfire and the Elimination Challenge this week. It was all about the beef. First she dazzled her fellow cheftestants by making a simple beef carpaccio dish, then she wowed the critics - and members of the band Maroon 5 - with her steak with Japanese flavors. Lead singer Adam Levine in particular was impressed, as he was the one who requested both steak and Japanese food.



That makes $25,000 in total for Chef Des Jardins' charity - so far. There's still plenty of money to be won.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Des Jardins and her dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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Reactions for Top Chef Masters 3 Episode 6

This week, the seven remaining cheftestants faced two interesting challenges. The Quickfire Challenge involved "heavenly" ingredients such as caviar and foie gras (which Curtis pronounced "fwa gwa"). Cooking with luxury ingredients wasn't really the challenging part - that would be the time constraint - a big 7 minutes. After the frenzy of mostly raw preparations, the chefs then rated each others' dishes. Of course with this group, there was tons of both honesty and modesty.

Celina ends up at the bottom of the pack, while Traci takes the win with her beef carpaccio, getting $5K for her charity La Cocina, and immunity in the next challenge...

...which is to cook a family-style meal for the band Maroon 5, based on their requests. And the requests are quite varied - there's a vegetarian and a vegan in the group, but lead singer Adam Levine wants steak and Japanese food. There are also requests for corn, spanikopita, and Thanksgiving dinner.

The chefs head to Whole Foods and then get to working on their prep and cooking - on two tour buses. The buses are small, with 3-burner stoves and a tiny oven. While it's mentioned that this challenge is really about time management, I think it's more about 3 or 4 people working in a tiny area with no counter space. It's like me, trying to make a holiday meal in my kitchen - if a guest comes in and tries to help (aka - get in my way) then I go ballistic. But I'm not a mild-mannered Master chef, either.

Anyway...because Traci won the QF, she got to choose a team, and whether she wanted 2 or 3 teammates. She went for 3, choosing Hugh, Naomi, and Mary Sue for her Black Team. The other three - Alex, Floyd, Celina - became the Red Team. Was choosing three people a good idea when the space ended up being so tiny?

Maybe, maybe not. The Red Team serves first. It surprised me that both teams pretty much gave the band exactly what they asked for - spanikopita, steak, corn, and Thanksgiving. Personally, I thought they'd be a bit more creative, like making spanikopita filled with corn, or baking a chicken served with cranberry sauce. But nope. Anyway...since both teams pretty much made the same things, it made comparisons all that much easier for the critics and the band. Their main issue with the Red Team's meal was the soggy "cafeteria food" pasta served by Alex, and they weren't all that happy with Celina's spinach pie/cous cous duo. Floyd made an uninteresting salad that even Adam Levine says he could have done.

The Black Team fares much better. Although Mary Sue's fried avocado looked like "a piece of poop rolled in birdseed," it was a delicious poop. Traci's steak with Japanese flavors was a unanimous favorite, and Hugh's spinach pie was miles better than Celina's, as was Naomi's Thanksgiving dinner. And the margaritas they served probably helped, too.

Ultimately, the four-man Black Team came out on top, with Traci's steak getting the win. All three of the Red Team's members had their faults, but Alex's dishes - all of them - were the worst, which got him eliminated this week.

So what did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment!


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Top Chef Masters 3 Episode 6 Previews

The remaining aspiring-masters are asked to create a hit meal for Grammy Award-winning recording artists Maroon 5. The band drops by and challenges the chefs to create a feast fit for a rock star, but, in true “Top Chef Masters”-style, it's not that easy. Once again the tables are turned and the chefs are taken out of kitchen and brought to a surprise location to prepare their meals. What conditions will they be dealing with to pull off a *harmonious* dinner? Find out tonight, 5/11, @ 10/9c on BRAVO's Top Chef Masters 3.

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 3 Episode 5

Oregon Live on a tight budget: "Working with a selection of basic ingredients, with prices broken all the way down to individual units or ounces, the chefs have to make a gourmet appetizer for under $1. Immediately, you sense that the concept of 'Dollar Store Cuisine' is completely foreign for most of the chefs. Las Vegas chef Alex Stratta starts pricing how much each individual walnut in his dish will cost. Atlanta chef Hugh Acheson, who has had at least one industrial-strength freak-out each week, promptly freaks out when he fumbles an egg for his dish and it breaks. Heavens! That was worth 18 cents!"

Monkeys as Critics on reactions to the Elimination Challenge: "Curtis is already moving on to the Elimination Challenge! Each chef must cook a main dish and a side for 100 people who will not have utensils. Traci is thinking amusement park. She isn’t far off. This seems too simple to be trusted, and that scares the poop out of Hugh. Seriously, he said it scares the poop out of him, I’m not being cutesy paraphrasing here."

Clean Plate Charlie on Hugh: "Hugh only can think of slaw. Slaw? With your hands? He says 'Yes. We've all eaten slaw with our hands but it's done in private.' Once again, I'm not sure whether to worship him or report him to the authorities."

Jordan Baker on slow going: "Oseland talks to a diner who’s been waiting 15 or 20 minutes. He and Alex order one of everything and collect their number – 98. We don’t see the scene where the table with number 3 is still waiting for their food, sipping sullenly at their third grape soda of the day."

Reality TV Calendar on the first shift: "First shift front of house. George, Floyd and Traci with Naomi having grabbed the drive through. It doesn’t take long for chaos to set in. George is not making his orders clear. He’s not specifying sides or telling them 'here' or 'to go'. George says it’s ridiculous. Best chefs in the country working a drive through. Hah!"

A Just Recompense on flirting: "Curtis continues to flirt with Danyelle: normally dates are over after the meal but now they go inside, she says she’s doing ok on their date. Guys, next time, leave this on the cutting room floor, it’s really nauseating. But James and Alan are doing some flirting, too: Alan says, looking over his giant cup of soda, 'When I was interning for you did you ever think we’d end up here?' I find their flirting a lot more palatable."

Eater has more on flirting: "Curt and Restaurant Girl can’t be the only ones having all the fun so he says the same thing Monica said to Bill 15 years ago except he’s not under a desk: 'When I was your intern did you think we’d end up here together?'

AHHHH. The boy is hot for teacher.

Restaurant Girl fires back: “This is my first drive thru date. How’s it going?” Curt then calls her a “hush puppy”. He got her open like 7-11, all day, every day, WOOP... Hot stuff."

AV Club on challenge goals: "As for the Elimination Challenge, I would readily admit that this is not a fair test of the contestants' overall ability as chefs: If the producers had wanted that, they would have told the contestants the challenge ahead of time and had the test be who could make the most sophisticated version of fast food. However, this wasn’t about who could cook the best fast food dish. Instead, it was about who could work with their ingredients to create something different from what they had intended. It was about their skills of imagination and creativity, with perhaps a bit of luck (Mary Sue’s food truck experience, picking the right ingredients) thrown in for good measure."

TWOP on the winner: "Mary Sue admits she took a gamble with her fritters, but the critics think it paid off. But who wins? It's food truck purveyor Mary Sue, who'll take home another $10,000 for Share Our Strength. Oseland says, 'In any context -- fast food, slow food -- what you made for us today was fantastic food.' Mary Sue promises to put the quinoa fritters on her menu."

Grub Street shares one last behind-the-scenes tidbit: "Since this is my last week as a critic on the show, it's as good a time as any to talk about how the judging actually works. Before we call the chefs out, the critics sit down one at a time with the producers and go over their favorite and least favorite dishes. I would have thought that this system would create a lot of conflicts, since the critics ostensibly have to come to some sort of consensus. But we usually pick at least most of the same dishes. It's a little trickier to agree on the top three and the bottom three, but coming up with whose dish was best and whose was worst is pretty clear. Then we sit down at the critics' table, the chefs are brought out, and the producers prompt us (via our earpieces) to tell specific chefs our feelings on their dishes, either positive or negative, depending on whether it was the winning group or the losing group. I really wish there were something juicier I could say about this."

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