Top Chef: Foo Thanksgiving

Top Chef: New York
Foo Fighters

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

  • Quickfire Challenge: Put their own spin on a recipe from the Top Chef Cookbook // Use Swanson broth to make the recipe into a soup
  • Elimination Challenge: Prepare Thanksgiving dinner for the Foo Fighters & their entourage

The guest judge for this round was Grant Achatz, a James Beard award-winning chef, from Chicago. He is a molecular gastronomy chef and also recently battled cancer. I had read about him before. He had cancer of the tongue, which has to be the worst place for a chef! Before going into chemotherapy there was a chance that even if the cancer went into remission, he might lose his sense of taste. He did survive the treatments and the doctors were able to preserve his sense of taste. Yeah!

Quickfire Challenge

When the chefs arrived in the kitchen and were introduced to the guest judge, Padma told them that one of the important skills chefs needed to have was to roll with the punches. They had to pick knives. Each chef picked out a knife with a different number, but it wasn’t 1-14. They were higher numbers like 91 and 188. After they were all done, Padma told them the number on their knives referred to a page in the Top Chef : The Cookbook. Oh, they love their product placement! They would have an opportunity to put their own spin on a recipe in the cookbook that came from a contestant in past seasons using whatever they can find in the Top Chef kitchen. They had 60 minutes for the challenge.

Ariane had a recipe from Dale and said it was time for her to get inspired. Yes, be creative Ariane! How are you still around? Jeff had a salad dish that Howie made. He said he could easily do it in 15 minutes. He didn’t need an hour. Wasn’t he cocky about time in the first episode and then didn’t have everything make it to his plate on time? Melissa had a dish that CJ and Tre made in a frozen dish challenge. She said it would be good if you were preparing it to be frozen, but she wouldn’t pick any of those ingredients. Leah got a recipe from Hung that was tuna tartare. She said it was flavors she had worked with before and tuna tartare wasn’t super complicated.

All the chefs were preparing their dishes when Padma and Grant come in telling them to stop. Grant said they changed their mind and they were in the mood for soup. Padma said to use the ingredients they already had with them and turn it into a soup. She said they would not have enough time to make their own broth so they provided them with Swanson broth. They had 50 minutes to complete the challenge now.

Leah was concerned making her dish into soup. She said the only way she could keep using tuna tartare was to do a chilled soup and the only base she thought that would work would be white asparagus. She hates white asparagus though. Carla had a poached shrimp dish from Leah from season 3. She felt a tad concerned, but also felt like you could judge a chef based on what kind of soup they could make. Jamie loves to make soup. She had a deconstructed falafel that Miguel had made before. She knew she could incorporate those middle eastern flavors since she was used to working with them. Richard had a chile rellano with a roasted pepper sauce from Sara M. He was going to use the same basic ingredients, but make it his own funky Mexican soup. Richard did say that he knew he needed some limes to add some lime juice to his soup, but he ran out of time so they never made it in.


Stefan
Thai Green Curry Bisque with Shrimp & Scallop Dumplings

Stefan had a scallop and shrimp burger recipe. Grant said the broth was very nice.


Ariane
Diced Lamb, Eggplant, Red Pepper & Couscous Soup

Ariane had the Colorado rack of lamb. She wanted to keep it earthy in its flavors. Grant said it was a little overcooked. Oh Ariane, will you ever do anything good?


Daniel
Ham & Egg Soup with Sauteed Mushrooms, Corn & Cheese

Daniel had a Black Forest Ham and Egg Bundle recipe to work from. Padma said she had never had ham and egg soup. Grant said it was a very nice complement to the original. Padma exclaimed that she liked ham and egg soup.


Richard
Black Bean & Roasted Pasilla Pepper Soup with Rice

Grant said he felt the soup really needed acid, which would have been the lime juice Richard never added!


Melissa
Italian Wedding Soup with Black Truffle, Parmesan, Linguini & Chicken

Melissa started out with a Black Truffle and Parmesan Linguine recipe. She turned it into an Italian wedding soup. Grant said she blurred the line and not necessarily in a good way.


Fabio
Mushroom & Asparagus Soup with Seared Trout & Salmon Belly

Fabio got Michael’s recipe of a duo of trout and salmon. Grant found it to be a little bit flat.


Carla
Shrimp, Tomato & Coriand Soup with Cucumber & Avocado Salad

She said she had Leah’s poached shrimp recipe. Grant and Padma liked it very much.


Leah
Chilled White Asparagus Soup with Brioche, Tuna & Tapenade

She started off with a tuna tartare recipe. Grant said white asparagus is not an easy flavor to work with. Leah said she didn’t like it and was upset she got it. Grant said he liked it though.


Jamie
Chickpea Soup with PIckled Chiles, Yogurt & Crispy Shallots

She had the deconstructed falafel recipe. Grant said he thought it was a great representation of the original recipe.

Once again, not everyone was shown so they must have been middle of the pack people in terms of tastes (Alex, Eugene, Hosea, Jeff and Radhika). Grant said overall he thought the chefs handled the curveball quite well.

Winners

  • Jamie – The soup was very balanced and very well done.
  • Leah – White asparagus is very difficult ingredient to work with, but the flavors shone through.
  • Daniel – The soup was a complete vision. It was very hearty and rustic.

Elimination Challenge Winner: Leah

She was immune from elimination in the next challenge.

Elimination Challenge

For the elimination challenge, the chefs had to make Thanksgiving dinner for some very special guests. They would be working in two teams. As the winner of the quickfire, Leah got to pick six chefs to work with her. She picked Jamie, Hosea, Stefan, Melissa, Fabio and Radhika. Once the teams were determined, the chefs got to see who they would be making Thanksgiving for. It was the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl said they were big fans of the show. I actually read an interview where he said while making their last album, he would writing songs while watching Top Chef. That’s what made producers ask him if he wanted to be on the show. Dave did say they were picky eaters so he had given Padma copy of their rider so the chefs would know their likes and dislikes. The chefs would be traveling to their next tour stop to prepare the meal for the band and their entourage of 60 that included some vegetarians. After the meal, the Foo Fighters would pick the winning team to watch the show and the losing team would have to clean up. Also, a member of the losing team would be eliminated.

The teams arrived at the arena and thought they were being taken back to the kitchen, but they are walked to an area outside where there were tables and rows of microwaves. There is no refrigerator or freezer anywhere.  They had one burner per team, microwaves and toaster ovens to make their meals. They had 15 minutes to plan their meals. On Leah’s team, Stefan was making suggestions on what they could do. Jamie wasn’t having any of it saying that they only had one burner. Stefan wasn’t worried since he ran a catering company and had prepared things in situations like this before. On the other team, Jeff was stepping up to be the leader, but Carla is a caterer and apparently Ariane has catering experience too. Ariane felt that no one was taking her suggestions seriously. Probably because she keeps losing at Top Chef.

The two teams went off shopping and shared their team names. Leah didn’t know where her team name came from. Alex said their team name came from Ariane being viewed as a hot older woman. I guess both teams were in a sexy frame of mind!

  • Team Sexy Pants – Fabio. Hosea, Jamie, Leah, Melissa, Radhika, Stefan
  • Team Cougar – Alex, Ariane, Carla, Daniel, Eugene, Jeff, Richard

Team Cougar Menu

  • Butterball Turkey – Ariane
  • Stuffing – Jeff
  • Roasted Potatoes – Daniel
  • Sweet Potatoes – Daniel
  • Pork Roast – Eugene
  • Macaroni & Cheese – Alex
  • Pumpkin Parfait – Jeff
  • Peach Cobbler – Carla
  • Banana S’Mores – Richard

While at the store, Eugene used some of the money to make a makeshift extra grill with a chafing dish and some charcoal so he could roast the pork on that and keep the one burner free for other things. Jeff was worried that he might have taken on too many things, but he thought the strongest people were the ones that could handle the most. Everyone was asking Ariane if she had the turkey in and if she was doing what she was supposed to be doing. She was trying not to get angry at them all second guessing her talents. I guess since they hadn’t seen any talents yet.

Team Sexy Pants Menu

  • Butterball Turkey – Stefan
  • Stuffing – Radhika
  • Mashed Potatoes – Leah
  • Sweet Potatoes – Melissa
  • Gravy – Stefan
  • Side Salads – Jamie
  • Pumpkin Tiramisu – Fabio
  • Fruit Crisp – Hosea

Stefan was calling out what was going on and Jamie was muttering to herself about “whatever Stefan says goes.” Wow! Someone has some attitude. It sounded like he was trying to get everyone on the same page, but she did not like him so I don’t think it mattered what he said, she wasn’t going to like it. Hosea said he wasn’t a big fan of the fruit crisp but it seemed to be a crowd pleaser so he was making it. About 40 minutes before service, it started raining outside. Tents were put up over their tables of food. They had to get their food on the table before the time was up. If it wasn’t on it, then they couldn’t serve it. It seemed both teams made their food there on time.

The Foo Figthers and the judges arrived for their food. They started with Team Cougar first.

Team Cougar Entrees


Ariane
Butterball Turkey Confit with Mushroom Gravy & Cranberry


Jeff
Spoonbread Stuffing with Figs, Cranberries, Walnuts & Onions


Daniel
Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms and Onion Cream Potatoes


Eugene
Maple Smoked Pork Loin with Apple Chili Chutney


Alex
Mac & Cheese with Bacon

Dave said he did not like the figs in the stuffing.  Taylor said he wasn’t a big fan of figs in general. Grant said it is sometimes good to execute the classics the way they are supposed to be done. Taylor said he was a fan of the mac and cheese with the bacon. Dave was a big fan of the bacon. Taylor said the potatoes were slightly al dente. Chris liked the pork and how Eugene rigged his own fry pan. Dave said Eugene definitely got an honorable mention for the smoker. Dave said the turkey was really tender. Tom brought up she had been up on the chopping block the last two episodes. Dave asked if she redeemed herself. Tom said she did with the turkey.

Dave decided to eat the main dishes of the other team and then have a dessert off.

Team Sexy Pants Entrees


Stefan
Roasted Turkey, Whole Roasted Beef Tenderloin and Onion Gravy


Radhika
Vegan Cornbread Stuffing


Melissa
Old School Sweet Potatoes and Stewed Fruit


Jamie
Corn Salad and Wax Beans

I never saw Leah’s mashed potatoes mentioned on the show and they aren’t on the Bravo website. I’m not sure if something came up with them and they were just overlooked in the editing or if she decided not to serve them. Nate from the Foo Fighters said the vegan stuffing was super good. Dave said it had more flavor than the other stuffing and it is not as dry. Nate said the vegan stuffing was his favorite thing from either team. Dave loved the yams since they burnt the marshmallows. He thought that was a requirement. Dave asked how they cooked the turkey. Tom explained that they had microwaves and toaster ovens. Dave thought the other team had better turkey.  They went back to desserts.

Team Sexy Pants Desserts


Fabio
Roasted Pumpkin, Honey & Cinnamon Tiramisu


Hosea
Peach & Blueberry Crisp with Whipped Cinnamon Cream

Gail really liked the tiramisu. She said it was really light. Taylor really liked the the fruit crisp. Everyone liked Sexy Pants’ desserts.

Team Cougar Desserts

Jeff commented that the stuff that used to be hot wasn’t hot anymore since they came back for desserts later.


Carla
Peach & Cherry Cobbler with Vanilla Cream


Jeff
Fresh Fruit Salad with Pumpkin Mousse


Richard
Banana S’Mores with Vanilla Cream & Chocolate Ganache

Taylor made an awesome face after trying Jeff’s fruit salad. He said he didn’t like pumpkin foam. Dave said it wasn’t so much the taste, but the consistency was off. Taylor said no more barfaits and pushed Jeff’s dessert away. Dave asked if someone offended the s’mores guy because he thought he spit on his. Taylor said the team floundered on desserts.

After eating all of the food, Chris said he didn’t think one team stood out more than the other one since he liked items from both teams. He thought the turkey was better on Team Cougar. Nate agreed and said the desserts were better on Team Sexy Pants and they did have his all over favorite dish with the vegan stuffing. Dave was choosing Team Sexy Pants. Taylor said he liked mostly Team Cougar more. Taylor said dessert wasn’t going to push him over since he doesn’t usually order desserts. The bands came over to the tables to tell the teams which team won and would be seeing the concert that night. Padma informed the teams that it was very close, but the band did pick an overall favorite. They went with Team Sexy Pants. After the judges left, Eugene started cussing up a storm saying that their food was better. Ariane said she was going down with her head held high. For once, she could say that!

One team went to the show and the other cleaned up while grumble, grumble, grumbling about losing. After the show, the losing team was called in front of the judges.

Losers

Padma asked if the team was surprised that they lost. Jeff and Daniel said they were very surprised. Tom asked why they were surprised. Jeff said he thought they did very well under the circumstances with the curveballs that were thrown as well as the rain. Tom said they have to deal with those curveballs as chefs and Jeff hadn’t told them anything that the other team didn’t have to deal with as well. Padma asked if there was a team leader. Alex said they didn’t assign one, but one did emerge: Jeff. Alex said he did a great job organizing the team. Alex felt it was the execution where they fell apart. Jeff thought they gave 100% and wouldn’t trade them any one on his team for the other one.

Tom said that it wasn’t a runaway beating from the other team. There were dishes that stood out. Gail told Ariane that her turkey was better than the other team. It was perfect. Grant said it was super moist and carved well. Tom told Jeff he thought the stuffing was dry and was probably cooked too long. Daniel said he was responsible for the potatoes and the vegetarian stuffed mushrooms. Gail said the problems with the potatoes were they were undercooked. Daniel explained the time crunch and how they weren’t getting done so he threw the roasted potatoes into the microwave to get them done. Tom asked if at any point he decided to just leave out the roasted potatoes. Daniel said Thanksgiving needed potatoes and starch. Padma and Tom pointed out there was starch in the sweet potatoes and stuffing. Tom said it was his least favorite dish.

Tom said the desserts set the two teams apart. Carla said the cobbler wasn’t exactly what she had hoped for. She liked the crust and thought it might have been a little sweet. Gail said the intention was good, but it failed in the execution. Gail also said the flavor combination that she found odd was the pumpkin mousse with the berries. They didn’t balance very well. Grant said that reinterpreting a classic dish there has to be some main compenent there to tie it to the classic dish. He said an example of that was the s’mores, which was Richard. Grant said that there was a lack of burnt sugar and melting chocolate. He said it was a failed concept. Richard tried to explain his dish with wanting to do frozen banana with chocolate since the band said they liked it, but since there was no freezer he went with the s’more idea. He focused more on the banana than the chocolate. Gail asked what was on top of the graham cracker. He said it was a vanilla creme. She said it didn’t work in a catering environment where the food would sit out for a bit. It ended up looking like foam and Gail said the band commented that it looked like spit.

Judges’ Table

They sent the team out to discuss. Grant said he thought it came down to the people that made desserts: Carla, Jeff and Richard. Tom asked about Daniel and his potatoes. Gail said Daniel’s execution was sloppy. Tom wondered if Daniel thought he could slip in some undercooked ones with cooked ones. Grant joked that maybe no one would notice. Tom thought Carla’s dessert was okay, but it wasn’t outstanding. Gail agreed. She thought with the other dishes they were discussing including Daniel’s food, her dish was the least offensive. Grant said he could buy that. Tom said across the board, his dishes were not very good. Tom said the pumpkin and berry dish was just wrong. Grant agreed it was very wrong. Tom said his stuffing could have been fine, but it was overcooked. He thought it was good that Jeff became the leader. He wasn’t chosen and he didn’t say that he was when it was asked in front of the judges. He liked that he just emerged as the leader and his teammates recognized him as a natural leader. Grant said if he was picking a team, he would pick Jeff. He thought he just was doing too much and lost focus. Grant picked the s’mores dish as his least favorite dish. He said it didn’t taste good and conceptually, it was a mess. Gail asked why someone would do s’mores in a catering situation that you would have to do one by one and they would still be sitting there for a while. Tom said they did not have to do everything on the rider. He could have done something else with bananas. It sounded like it might be Richard. Will it be?

The teams were called back in. Tom said as a team challenge there were some low and high points. He told Eugene that the pork dish was his favorite dish from both teams. He was safe and could leave. Tom told Alex that he put together a few good dishes so he was safe as well. He told Carla that desserts were not the strong suit of the team, but hers was the best of the team so she was safe. He told Ariane that Thanksgiving was all about the turkey and her turkey was excellent. She had redeemed herself. That left Jeff, Richard and Daniel. Tom said to Daniel that undercooking potatoes was never a good idea and serving them was even a worse idea. Tom told Jeff that he probably bit off more than he could chew. Tom told Richard that the band wanted something with bananas, but the s’mores were really disappointing. Padma asked Richard to pack his knives and go. I was sad to see him go. I liked him. I thought it was funny that he had a crazy crush on Tom, but his dishes hadn’t been outstanding since he started.

Questions

  • Was Richard the right person to send home for his s’more dish? Should it have been Daniel for serving undercooked potatoes or Jeff with the weird pumpkin/berry dessert that made Taylor and Padma make a face?
  • Was Jeff saved because he was a decent team leader even if his dishes weren’t outstanding?
  • Should the best of each team been able to go to the concert and the worst of each team been put on the chopping block?
  • Which of the soup dishes looked good enough to eat? What about the Thanksgiving dishes?

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