Top Chef: Fancy French Cooking

04_robuchon

Top Chef: Las Vegas
Vivre Las Vegas

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

  • Quickfire Challenge: Create a dish using escargot in 45 minutes
  • Elimination Challenge: French pairing – protein & sauce

I believe I read it in one of the comments on a Top Chef blog a week or so ago that the producers should ban bacon and chocolate being used in any dish since those always win. I thought that wasn’t the case since Stefan was chastised last season for making a very bland chocolate ice cream dessert and then this week, there was a dish that was made worse with the bacon. It isn’t just the ingredients, but how you use them!

Quickfire Challenge

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The chefs met Tom Colicchio over at the Wynn Resort where he was with guest judge, Daniel Boulud. They discussed how French cuisine was becoming more popular in America, but one dish that had not gained as much popularity was the snail. Their quickfire challenge would be to create a dish using escargot as the main protein. Daniel said he was expecting to taste something he had never tasted before. It was also a high-stakes quickfire. In this one, the winner would get immunity and the loser would be sent home. They had full access to Daniel’s kitchen and pantry at his restaurant, Daniel Boulud Brasserie, at the Wynn Resort to make their dish.  Many of the chef’s faces look petrified at being sent home, but Frenchie Mattin looked pretty confident.

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Ron
Escargot Provencal with Caramelized Shallots, Pernod & Fresh Herbs

They both smiled at Ron, but didn’t say anything to him about the dish after trying it.

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Jennifer
Escargot with Grilled Ramps, Brussels Sprouts, Chanterelle Mushrooms & Yuzu

Daniel said the yuzu added a nice acidity to it.

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Jesse
“ELT” Escargot, Mache & Fried Tomato

Tom asked about her inspiration for her ELT and she had no idea. Daniel said it was interesting.

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Laurine
Sauteed Escargot, Lemon Risotto, Spinach, Parsley Pesto & Garlic Butter

Daniel said it was very nice.

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Hector
Caribbean Escargot with Pickled Mushrooms

Tom asked Hector if he was nervous cooking for Daniel. After some nervous laughter, Hector said, “Yes,” and Tom said he would be too.

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Robin
“Bagels & Lox” – Poached Escargot, Marmalade, Gooseberries & Rye Crostini

Daniel just nodded.

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Mattin
Fava Bean Crostini with Escargot Sauteed in a Piment D’Espelette & Anise

Daniel didn’t say anything.

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Ashley
Escargot Mirepoix Soup & Salad

Daniel said it was “Very interesting.”

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Kevin
Escargot Fricassee with Mushrooms, Brussels Sprouts & Candied Bacon Ham

Kevin was talking about having a bit of his dish from the South. Daniel asked if the candied bacon ham was his mom’s recipe or something like that; I couldn’t tell exactly what he said.  Kevin said it was something he had made up at his restaurant.

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Bryan
Escargot with Red Wine Risotto, Spinach Emulsion & Marcona Almond Froth

Daniel didn’t say anything.

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Michael V.
Escargot & Chanterelle Mushroom Bolognese Lasagna

Daniel said “Interesting.”

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Mike I.
Sauteed Escargot Over Potato Garlic Puree, Spring Onion & Ouzo Broth

Mike said it was a take off of something he picked up in Crete where most of the restaurants have snails on the menu. Daniel responded with, “Interesting.”

Winners

  • Mike I. – Daniel said he brought the entire soul of Crete out in the dish.
  • Kevin – Daniel said it was outstanding. He said they both loved the bacon ham.
  • Jennifer – Daniel said that adding the yuzu brought out an extra dimension to the dish.

Quickfire Winner: Kevin. He won immunity and another bonus that Tom said he would announce later.

Losers

Tom announced their three least favorite dishes that were picked for various reasons:

  • Jesse
  • Ashley
  • Robin

He told them that one of them would be going home, but they had one last chance to save themselves. They had 20 minutes to go into the kitchen and make whatever they wanted as an amuse bouche. Tom said it was one bite to save their life. He said the one with the worst dish would be sent home.

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Robin
Avocado Soup with Yuzu, Green Apple Mustard Relish & Crab

Tom said it was a very nice dish. He said the proportion was a little off. It could have used more crab, but overall, it was a nice dish.

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Jesse
Tuna Tartare with Sorrel, Gooseberries, Fried Quail Egg & Fried Bread

Tom said it was a classic combination of tuna tartare with the quail egg. He said it was proportionally a little off. It could have used more tartare and it could have been a little spicier.

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Ashley
Foie Gras with Pineapple, Tarragon & Ramps

They thought the pineapple brought a nice acidity to the foie gras, but they thought the foie gras could have been cut a little bit thicker and the pineapple could have been a little more caramelized.

Tom said it was very difficult to send someone home for one bite, but one of them would be going home.

Quickfire Loser: Jesse

Elimination Challenge

The chefs drew knives except for Kevin. Half of them drew a classic French protein and the other half drew a classic French sauce. Their elimination challenge was to pair up and create a dish, which would be part of a six-course meal. They would be cooking for very famous French chefs: Hubert Keller, Laurent Tourondel, Jean Joho, Daniel Boulud and Joel Robuchon.  Joel Robuchon was voted Chef of the Century and everyone drooled about him being involved. I’m wondering what all the French chefs are doing in Vegas. It is just crazy! Kevin would not be making anything, but joining the French chefs while they ate all the dishes.  The chefs would have two hours to cook in the Top Chef kitchen before finishing up cooking and serving in Joel Rubuchon’s restaurant. The chefs had 10 minutes to pair up.

The teams:

  • Eli & Laurine – Lobster & Sauce Americaine
  • Hector & Ash – Chateaubriand & Sauce au Poivre
  • Michael V. & Jennifer – Rabbit & Sauce Chasseur
  • Ashely & Mattin – Poussin & Sauce Veloute
  • Bryan & Mike I. – Trout & Sauce Bearnaise
  • Ron & Robin – Frog Legs & Sauce Meuniere

Ashley wanted to use some green asparagus in her dish with Mattin, but he said that would not go well with the sauce. She trusted him since he was French so she was following his lead. Robin was paired with Ron and kept coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas that he didn’t like. He wanted to stay true to his classical French training and tried to get her back on track. Mike I. was teamed with Bryan while Jennifer was teamed with Michael V. Mike I. thought that Jennifer and Michael were the team to beat, which I agreed with. He thought that his team with Bryan was the other one to beat. I believe Mike thinks too highly of himself. I see him as more middle of the road compared to the other chefs, but we’ll see.

In the kitchen, Mike did want to do something different than a classic Bearnaise sauce. Bryan had a way to make it that he did in his steakhouse that was an eggless sauce, so he told Mike how to make it and then concentrated on the trout. It was like a comedy act watching Ron just making his food and Robin talking nonstop while cooking. She would ask his opinion about every five seconds and didn’t seem to notice that she was doing all the talking. Ron told the camera later that he thought no one wanted to work with her since she was all over the place. He asked himself, “Do we make a good pair? I plead the fifth.”

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Ron & Robin
Frog Legs Meuniere with Lemon Confit, Mache & Arugula Salad with Fried Capers

While plating it, Robin commented that the greens were wilting quickly under the heat lamp. Tom said it was seasoned well. Jean said it was really heavy with the flour. Daniel said the frog legs were overcooked. Hubert said overall there was some creativity in the dish and thought that frog legs were a very difficult dish to cook. Gail agreed. Joel said they put a lot of thought into the dish, but the other flavors were masking the taste of the frog legs.

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Bryan & Mike I.
Warm Cured Trout with Deconstructed Bearnaise

After describing it, Daniel was laughing while saying if they combined all the flavors of the deconstructed Bearnaise, they would have the sauce again. He seemed pleased with it. Daniel said it was a perfect translation. He loved the lingering flavor of the Bearnaise. Jean said it was simple, but still sophisticated. It was really well executed. Kevin was worried they wouldn’t capture all the components of the sauce, but was impressed with how well they did with it. Joel said a great dish was to take something simple and make it exceptional. He thought they had done it and he really liked it a lot.

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Eli & Laurine
Lobster, Sauce Americaine with Cauliflower Puree

Jean thought it was a nice dish, but the lobster was tough and the sauce was too bitter. Joel said they succeeded in their dish, but looking at it closer, he was concerned about it losing the sense of the traditional dish. Laurent said that if someone had no classical French training, it is a very difficult dish to execute.

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Mattin & Ashley
Seared Poussin & Ravioli with Sauce Veloute & Green Asparagus

Tom commented that there was a lot of bacon in the sauce. Gail agreed. Joel thought the poussin was bland. Jean said they had worked very hard and did not have a very good result. He said the poussin was overcooked with the skin being really dry. Hubert said if they had a great sauce, it could have been a good dish. Daniel said the bacon overwhelmed the poussin. Tom, “Everybody likes to say everything is better with bacon; this is one case where it’s not.”

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Jennifer & Michael V.
Rabbit Chasseur with Mustard Noodle & Shiso

Daniel said it was a very good piece of rabbit. Joel said that rabbit is difficult to make since it is often dry in texture. He said that in this dish, it was cooked perfectly. He thought it was a successful dish. Daniel agreed saying that it was quite well executed. Laurent shook his head in agreement. Tom said that both Jen and Michael are young chefs, but the dish was very mature work.

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Hector & Ash
Cheteaubriand, Sauce au Poivre with Confit de Pommes & Spinach

Hector had problems with his meat since it was taking so long to cook. He was waited for it to get the right temperature before taking it out of the oven to rest, and really ran out of time. When he was cutting it at the last minute so they could plate it on time, it was a mess. The pieces were not cut all that well and they were bloody on the plate, which did not give Ash a lot of time to spoon the sauce over the plate before the time was up to serve it. He did not feel that he got enough sauce on the plates.  Padma wondered where her sauce was on her plate. Gail said it was there, but it was very thin. Tom said he had an issue with the cooking of the meat since part of it was brown and part of it was red. Joel said it was too bad it was lacking refinement and it was lacking the sauce. Gail was shocked at her piece of meat since it was overcooked and looked like it had been “hacked with an ax.”

Padma asked Joel if the chefs pleased him. He said he was pleasantly surprised by the work of some of the young candidates. He thought some of the dishes were very successful. Gail said that she didn’t think the show would have been able to have this kind of dinner at this point of the show any other season. Jean said he would love to hear any of the current chefs names in the future. He liked the talent of the chefs in this country.

Judges’ Table

Padma asked to see Michael, Mike, Bryan and Jennifer. I guess Mike was right! They were told they had the two best dishes of the evening, but they just stared back at the judges. Padma told them it was okay to smile so they did. Tom told them that some of the comments heard during the evening were “Wow. This is incredibly professional food.” Daniel said his French colleagues around the table were totally impressed.

They started with the trout dish. Tom said that Joel was very impressed with the dish. Padma confirmed that Mike was responsible for the sauce. He said he was and both of them discussed how to deconstruct the sauce. Daniel said they could really taste all the flavors of the sauce. Bryan said he was responsible for cooking the fish after Padma asked. Tom said the fish appeared to be a simple fish on a plate, but he knew it was a little more complicated than that. Bryan said he used the top side of each fillet and then paired them together to reconstruct the fish. I have no idea what that means! Padma asked who had the idea to plate the fish the way they did. Mike said it was Bryan’s idea to cut the fish as a cylinder and thought it came out brilliantly.

They moved onto the rabbit dish. Michael said he wanted to break down the rabbit and cook it with as much skill as he could because of the importance of the people they were cooking for. Michael said he was the most nervous he had ever been cooking. Tom told Jen that the sauce was a brilliant idea of what food could be once you start with a classic and move it into contemporary cooking.

Daniel got to pick the overall winner. He said they all showed amazing execution, but there was a definite outstanding combination in one cook. The winner was Bryan. He seemed a little surprised. As the winner, Bryan got the opportunity to work with Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for a week.

They were asked to send in Mattin, Ashley, Hector and Ash. Gail told Ashley that the way she cooked the poussin by searing it, dried it out. It added a heaviness to the dish. Daniel said the veloute was closer to a gravy than a veloute. Tom said they picked up a lot of bacon in the sauce. Mattin said he put a little bit of bacon in it. Tom said it was very strong. Mattin said he hadn’t made a veloute in a very long time. Daniel said the asparagus wasn’t much of a boost in the dish. Mattin said it wasn’t his idea to use asparagus. Padma asked Ashley if it was her idea. She said, “Yeah, okay, it was,” as if she was taking the hit for Mattin blaming the dish on her. Tom said it might have worked better if they made an asparagus veloute. Ashley said that was brought up. Tom asked Mattin if he shot the idea down and he said he didn’t. Ashley just looked at him in disbelief. Mattin made another excuse about how it was his first time doing something like that and Tom said it was everyone’s first time. Someone is defensive!

Padma asked Hector and Ash where the sauce was on their plate. Ash explained the time issue with the meat not cooking fast enough, which led to plating at the last second. He said the sauce was great, but the plate absorbed what he put on it so quickly the first time around saucing it. There was no time to sauce it again before it had to be served. Tom talked about the lack of consistency in the meat. Gail said everyone’s meat was completely different. Hector took the blame saying that what they were putting together was great but the meat was taking too long. He said he should have just taken it out of the oven sooner so it could rest properly and then he could cut it with more time. He said that was his mistake and he did get very sloppy on the cutting. Daniel said how long it would take to make both pieces of their dish (meat and sauce),  saying they had enough time. He said it would have helped if they had a good game plan.  The chefs were sent out.

Tom said the point of the show was to find the best cook, and with both dishes, cooking was the issue.  Tom said both Ash and Hector had different ideas about their dish. He saw Ash as being very delicate with it and he didn’t see Hector thinking that way about it at all. He said the problem with the beef was that it was under rested. He said when you cut a piece of under rested meat, the juice bleeds right out. Daniel said the meat Hector made was the most simple thing to do. Tom said that any chef that works a buffet line in Las Vegas could carve a piece of meat better than that. Gail thought Ash had the idea of how to make his sauce correctly, but it just didn’t translate. Daniel said what they could taste of the sauce seemed good, and if the meat had been perfectly cooked and seasoned, it would have saved the dish. Tom said a good sauce could not hide the fact that the beef was incorrectly cooked.

Tom said Ashley’s ravioli pasta was rolled up too thick. It was also dried out. Gail was shocked at Ashley’s reaction to the judges when they talked about her dish. She said it was like Ashley took no responsibility. Daniel wondered if Ashley laid the responsibility on Mattin  since he was French. Tom said she just shut down when he was asking about the asparagus and veloute. He said when he brought it up, he knew she was going to either throw him under the bus or shut down. She chose not to call him out on lying. Tom said it was Mattin’s moment to shine. He is French, he was cooking in an idiom that he is comfortable with, and yet it didn’t happen for him. He thought the veloute was not properly made. It usually has a velvety texture, but Mattin’s sauce had too much bacon. Tom said it was a bacon cream sauce, which Gail agreed with.

The chefs were brought back in. Tom said the challenge was to take classic French proteins and marry them with classic French sauces. Tom said there were problems with both parts of the dish. He said it could have been a great dish, but it just fell short. Tom said with Ash and Hector it was a problem with the cooking of the protein and the sauce did not match with the protein well to create a harmonious dish. Padma asked Hector to pack his knives and go.

Questions

  1. What was up with Jesse and her fried eggs? She seemed to love throwing them on top of her dishes.
  2. Anyone a fan of snails? I had them years ago and liked them, but they were drenched in butter so it could have been the butter talking.
  3. Anyone shocked that Mattin failed at both French challenges in the episode? I know coming from the country doesn’t automatically make someone an expert, but I thought he would have done better and not been in the bottom.

Photo source: Bravo

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