Top Chef: The Evil Queen

Top Chef has always been crazy about its product placement and this episode was no different with the elimination challenge a product placement for a movie. The main guest star was Charlize Theron who was there to promote her movie, Snow White and the Huntsmen. Even though the promotional stuff is annoying, at least they did something interesting with it for the elimination challenge.

Quickfire Challenge

The chefs were done with their tour of Texas so they headed back to San Antonio. Eric Ripert showed up for the Quickfire Challenge. He told the chefs that sometimes they had to switch gears while trying to make the perfect dish. They would have to create a sophisticated dish using three ingredients they grabbed from a conveyor belt.  They had to use all three ingredients in the belt, but could also use whatever else they could find in the pantry. Better stuff would come later on the belt, but they only had 30 minutes to grab items from the belt and create their dish. The winner would get immunity.

Lobster came around once, but no one ran to the belt in time so when the belt came around again, it had been taken off. It came around again and Chris just missed it before it disappeared again. The third time it finally came around, he was able to grab one from the bucket. He couldn’t grab the entire bucket though.

Losers


Chris J.
Butter Poached Lobster with Foie Gras

Chris chose lobster, foie gras and vanilla from the conveyor belt. Eric said the ingredients  didn’t go together or complement each other well.


Grayson
Butter Poached Dover Sole with Goldfish & Rosemary

Grayson grabbed some Goldfish crackers, dover sole, and grapefruit from the belt. The citrus notes in the dish were too overpowering and Eric couldn’t taste anything else.


Paul
Mussels in Ginger & Bitter Melon Broth

Paul took Wonder Bread, bitter melon and saffron. He had no idea why he grabbed the bitter melon since it was really hard to use. The dish ended up being too bitter and not appealing.

Middle of the Road


Edward
Sauerkraut Soup, Shrimp, & Shaved Truffle

Edward had the only dish that didn’t make either the top or the bottom of the list. He grabbed macadamia nuts, sauerkraut and shaved truffle. That doesn’t sound like it would be good but I guess it wasn’t the worst.

Winners


Sarah
Fried Soft-Shell Crab & Cottage Cheese Sauce

Sarah grabbed artichokes, cottage cheese and saltine crackers. Eric said the crab and artichokes were good and he was surprised how well the cottage cheese sauce worked.

 


Beverly
Glazed Sockeye Salmon & Black Eyed-Peas

Beverly had taken tofu, Rice Krispies and black eyed peas from the belt. She forgot to put the curried Rice Krispies on her dish before the time was called so her dish was disqualified. Eric said it was a great dish and she would have won if she had all three ingredients on her plate.


Lindsay
Bouillabaisse in Fennel-Pernod Broth

Lindsay had grabbed grouper, clams and Pernod. Eric found her dish harmonious and the flavors complicated each other perfectly. She as the overall winner, which Lindsay found to be a backhanded compliment since it wasn’t the best dish due to Beverly’s disqualification.

 

Elimination Challenge

Since Charlize Theron would be playing an evil queen in her upcoming movie, the challenge was to create a 7-course Gothic feast fit for an evil queen. Each dish was supposed to be wickedly beautiful. Charlize told them to think like the evil queen and take out their competition.

Paul planned to create an enchanted forest out of veggies. Grayson wanted to create a crime scene on a plate with a cracked open baby bird. Sarah was going to make a risotto with a particular red wine to make it all red. Paul saw that Beverly was making halibut and thought she was doing it to show Lindsay she would make a halibut that wasn’t dry like the least Restaurant Wars challenge. He said he didn’t get why Beverly was picked on since she had more cooking experience than any of the chefs that remained.


Edward
Tuna Tartare with Black Garlic Ponzu & Asian Pear Vinaigrette

Edward wanted to play on the good versus evil with the white sauce versus the darker sauce. Eric loved the two sauces and thought they were even better together. Charlize liked how it was like a war on the plate with the sauces on each side meeting together in the middle to fight. Padma was a fan of the fried fish scales we added to the top to look like spikes. Tom thought he did a nice job on the dish. Charlize said the black garlic had a punch. She found it assaulting and she liked it. Emeril said they were off to a good start.


Paul
Foie Gras with Bacon, Pumpernickel, Pickled Cherries & Beets

Paul put what looked like a bloody hand print on each plate reaching out to his enchanted forest filled with good and evil temptations. Eric was scared about the hand print a bit, but Charlize said it was good to be afraid. Emeril said it had the potential to be a mess, but it all worked together. Eric was excited when he found pickled jalapenos. He thought it gave it a kick. Emeril loved it. Eric found it fantastic.


Beverly
Seared Halibut with Red Curry Coulis & Forbidden Black Rice

Beverly said the halibut was snow white and the forbidden black rice was the evil queen with the sauce being the blood of the queen. Charlize said her halibut was cooked perfectly. Eric liked the pineapple in the dish, saying it wasn’t too sweet. They were thrilled at how well all the dishes had been so far.


Lindsay
Seared Scallop Over “Witch’s Stew” & Dragon Beans

Charlize said her scallops was cooked to perfection. Tom said he could not stop eating the stew. It was so good. Padma said Lindsay had immunity but she may not have needed it.


Sarah
Amarone Risotto with Lamb Heart

Emeril and Eric agreed that she did a nice job with the risotto. Tom said all of the ingredients together were really quite delicious. Charlize said that in the movie, her character was quite fond of bird hearts. After eating this dish, she said she was her character since she really loved the lamb heart.


Grayson
Black Chicken with Beets, Quail Egg & Foie Gras

Grayson said she wasn’t sure how literal she was supposed to take the challenge since her dish looked like a slaughterhouse. She told the judges that she wanted it to look like the chicken was slaughtered on the plate and the quail egg symbolized the baby that was inside her. Charlize laughed and said, “Oh you went there. Can I steal that for my character?” Tom said if the dish tasted as good as it looked, it was the winner. Eric loved the claws were still on the feet. Emeril agreed saying she went for it. Charlize said the chicken was crispy and delicious. She loved the vinegar on the beets.


Chris J.
Poisoned Apple & Cherry Pie

Tom cut open the apple and it looked like it was diseased inside with maggots. He loved it. He said this was where Chris’s bag of tricks actually worked. Tom said the cherries were great. Padma loved the cinnamon. Charlize said the combination of everything worked really well.

Judges Table

Tom said it was the most exciting meal they have had all season. It would be little glitches that would send someone home. All the chefs were called in at once. Sarah had nailed the lamb heart; it was perfection. The tiny details had made Lindsay’s dish. Ed’s sauces were amazing. His dish had beautiful flavor and depth. Chris’s dessert had the perfect sweetness to it. It was the perfect time to bring out his bag of tricks. Beverly’s rice was perfect and did not overpower the coconut. It was also a beautiful texture and had a nice bite. Grayson had the visuals down. Paul’s enchanted forest was beautiful and they loved the hand print.

The overall winner was Paul. Edward, Lindsay and Chris were also safe. That meant that Sarah, Beverly and Grayson were the losers of the group. The judges said they had to nitpick to decide who would be sent home. Charlize loved Sarah’s presentation. She had the rich colors of royalty, but the first bite of the risotto had a big taste of salt. Tom also said the risotto was a tad undercooked. Sarah said that’s how she prepares it. Tom said he understood but he was nitpicking because he had to at this point. Tom told Beverly that her sauce started to thicken up the longer it was on the plate. Charlize said that Beverly’s fish was perfectly cooked and the rice was heaven, but she was put off by the weird texture of the sauce. Padma loved the idea of Grayson’s chicken. Charlize said she had never had black chicken, but the meat was moist and the skin was crispy. she also loved the beets. She did find the greens a bit too salty. Padma said the foie gras really didn’t work with the rest of the dish.

Final Decision

Tom told Sarah that she went there with the lamb heart that she cooked perfectly, but the risotto had a bit too much cheese and just missed the mark with being slightly undercooked. Beverly’s dish told a nice side of the story and had some evil in there with the forbidden rice. It was nicely put together dish, but the sauce was on the sticky side and difficult to eat. Grayson definitely went there, but had some salty greens and the judges were unsure of how the egg and foie gras really worked with the dish. Beverly was asked to pack her knives. She really could have used the immunity from the Quickfire Challenge.

Last Chance Kitchen

Beverly arrived in the Last Chance Kitchen to face Nyesha. When all the other chefs came out, Tom made the ones that had already lost to Nyesha raise their hands, showing Beverly that Nyesha already beat five of them. Tom asked them who they thought would win between Nyesha and Beverly. They all said they would put their money on Nyesha. No one thought Beverly would win.

Tom told them to cook a dish with black drum, a fish local to the gulf waters. He said the twist was they had only one pass to go through the pantry to gather all their ingredients and equipment. After they did that, they got to their stations and started to set up when Tom showed up again and told them that they had to swap ingredients. Nyesha was not pleased. Beverly had picked all Asian ingredients, but she was now making something Mediterranean that Nyesha had planned instead.


Beverly
Seared Black Drum with Oranges, Fennel & Black Olives

Tom told Beverly that she stepped out of her comfort zone to make something that wasn’t Asian and maybe she should do it more often since her dish was great.


Nyesha
Seared Black Drum with Julienne of Tri-Pepper, Slaw & Pineapple Chutney

Tom wanted to bottle the pineapple chutney that Nyesha put together.

Tom said the final decision came down to seasoning. He said that Nyesha’s dish was slightly underseasoned so Beverly was the winner and Nyesha had to turn over her chef’s jacket.

Questions

  1. What did you think about the guest judge showing up to promote her movie and having the entire theme of the show be around that?
  2. Were you glad to see Beverly finally go or do you think she’s picked on too much by the other chefs?
  3. What do you think about the twist in the Last Chance Kitchen?

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