'Extreme Chef' Recap: 'Beach Blow Out'

On Thursday, July 14, three chefs came to know the beaches of San Pedro, California better than they probably would have liked, starting with a swim in 48 degree weather, in the “Beach Blow Out” episode of Extreme Chef.

They began on a boat where, after practically tackling each other to grab ingredients in the boat’s pantry, Tiki Torch Executive Chef Raja of Maui, Hawaii, Villa Blanca Executive Chef Francis Dimitrius of Beverly Hills and, Executive Chef and Made by Meg Owner Meg Hall from Hermosa Beach, California had to jump off the boat into freezing water and paddle on a raft to the shore.

Umm, not so much. None of the chefs could paddle further than a foot and all opted to lean over the sides of the raft and dog paddle their way to the shoreline. Chef Hall, who had earlier advised the other chefs to "watch out" for her, had the hardest time and was still paddling while the other two chefs began their dishes. In the last two episodes of Extreme Chef, the losing chefs made similar claims of bad-assness only to fall flat at the table. When, oh when, are reality show contestants going to learn that throwing down those verbal gauntlets only serves to jinx their win?

Their cooking test for the first challenge was to create a raw seafood meal in 25 minutes using tools from a steamer trunk. Chef Raja created a shrimp poisson cru which he worried would be too ambitious – but his dish, made with citrus and coconut milk, was the most colorful and looked to this viewer to be the most flavorful.

While Chef Dimitrius created a scallop-kiwi sashimi, Chef Hall created an ahi tuna poke (which means to slice) with an Asian guacamole.

The judge for the first challenge was author Simon Madjumdar, who had something nice to say about each chef’s dish along with a few deserved criticisms. But at the end of the first challenge, Chef Raja took top honors and won a major advantage in the next challenge – a challenge which would have been perfect for a home improvement show but a nightmare for chefs on a deserted beach.

The judges for these next challenges included celebrity Chef Erin Greenspan and author Simon Madjumdar, who is also a judge on The Next Iron Chef.

Chef Raja’s advantage was a fully-built cooking station – while the other two chefs had to build their stations from scratch using materials strewn out on the sand – plus they all had to do sand diving for the ingredients which included typical deserted island proteins I’m sure we all have in our pantries – wild boar, turtle and clam and a bag of clams and mussels.

Chef Hall created a wild boar dish with a cashew and coconut meat salsa with asparagus, corn and grilled blood oranges which the judges called tough but flavorful. Chef Dimitrius created a turtle hot pot which he served in coconut shells – a move the judges thought was pure Extreme Chef. Rounding out the group was Hawaii-based Chef Raja, who created a tropical seafood cioppino (fish stew) with a mango coconut salsa which the judges would ultimately never get to taste. They praised his clams and mussels entrée but Chef Raja’s Hawaii/not-a-care-in-the world/surfer attitude got the better of him and he forgot to plate his tropical salsa.

In the X-Factor portion of this challenge, otherwise known as the proverbial monkey wrench in your soufflé – the chefs were charged with racing down the beach to break open crates stocked with coconuts which they had to crack open with just a chisel and a rock. The second part of the X-Factor sideline was to find plates buried in the sand using only a treasure map.

This round proved to be too much for Chef Hall, who was selected to leave Extreme Chef due to the tough wild boar she prepared.

In the final challenge, Chef Raja and Chef Dimitrius had to create that perfect single bite in just 20 minutes for a price tag of $10,000 – not bad for a bite of food in a silver spoon. A beach fire pit served as the heat source for the bites, which contained only four ingredients the chefs had to break into a large ship safe to retrieve.

The four ingredients were not beach picnic – dragon fruit, squid, red jalapeno and vanilla bean. Chef Raja created a dish that showcased the tentacles of the squid, something the judges praised as smart given the short cook time of the protein and the ease of crisping it due to the protein’s narrow size.

Chef Dimitrius opted to create a tempura batter and do a stuffed calamari which Chef Raja put down as “fried calamari you’d get in a bar.” Would his continued arrogance result in a second loss?

But the judges had a lot to say for Chef Dimitrius’s bite since, rather than damaging it with a fork, he reached into boiling oil to grab the stuffed calamari. Again the judges praised his Extreme Chef qualities, but Chef Raja’s calamari looked much more appetizing on screen than Chef Dimitrius’s bite. It seemed a tie could be in order.

At the end of the episode however, the judges reserved the most praise for dark horse Chef Dimitrius who walked away $10,000 richer and with the title of Extreme Chef, having endured the elements and backbreaking challenges including having to build his own cooking station with little more than nails and wood.

Stay tuned next week when the chefs get iced out at the Arctic Glacier Ice Factory in Los Angeles with a hailstorm thrown in just for fun.

See you then!