Top Chef Week 5

Last week, the chefs were given the opportunity to present a dish on the Today show and have it tasted by the hosts of the show. Television is hard and serving the actual hosts is scary. Even scarier? Serving a bride and her friends at her shower. Read on.

The Quickfire Challenge had the chefs greeted by Padma only. This was because they would be the tasters instead of a guest judge. They were informed they would be participating in a test of their palates. Pairs were going head to head two at a time and had to guess ingredients in a sauce. Daniel and Hosea went up first. Danny was confident he would win. They had 15 seconds to taste. The sauce was shrimp and lobster bouillabaisse. Hosea won by naming shrimp, lemon, and carrot. Ariane and Jeff went head to head next. Ariane had five guesses and Jeff had six. Jeff missed the first one and thus Ariane moved on to the next round. Stefan and Jamie were up next. Stefan won by naming four ingredients. Eugene missed his first guess and had Leah move on. Radhika and Fabio were up next, with Radhika beating the proud Italian chef. Carla and Melissa competed and Carla correctly named four ingredients. Round 2 had a Thai curry sauce being tasted. Hosea could guess seven ingredients; Ariane six. He won by naming coconut milk, sugar, Thai basil, ginger, salt, pepper, and Thai chili. Stefan named the right ingredients, which "pissed off" Leah. Radhika guessed wrong, making Carla move ahead. Round 3 had the remaining three taste a Mexican mole sauce and each would guess one ingredient, spelling bee style. Carla guessed peanut butter first and got eliminated. Hosea and Stefan thus guessed back to back with Stefan eventually getting one wrong (tomato paste). Hosea had the opportunity to guess a correct ingredient. He did (scoring with vegetable oil) and won the challenge, as well as immunity. Hosea said he was "happy as hell" to "outpalate" Stefan.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs drew knives that said "Something Old," "Something New," "Something Borrowed," and "Something Blue." Wedding time! Or shower that is. The chefs matched up in their teams and Padma said she was throwing a bridal shower for a "friend." And who might that be? Judge Gail Simmons! She said there would be 35-40 of her girlfriends there. She asked for no veal or black beans, but she was open to anything. She wanted it good and to impress her friends, some of who were her Food and Wine magazine colleagues. On the "Something Old" team were Hosea, Jeff, and Stefan. On "Something New" were Eugene, Carla, and Daniel. The "Something Borrowed" team was Jamie, Radhika, and Ariane. "Something Blue" (the most difficult because who can find blue foods?) was Fabio, Leah, and Melissa.

The chefs arrived at the dining space on Fifth Avenue and were told that Food and Wine Editor-in-Chief Dana Cowin would be the guest judge. They were serving based on the old wedding rhyme. "Something Old" decided to do a dish based on heirloom tomatoes, which were "old school" and they also used the tomatoes in old world recipes from different countries. Jeff created a tomato sorbet and tomato Carpaccio from Italy. Hosea made a Spanish gazpacho with a cucumber salsa. Stefan made a French tomato terrine with eggplant and balsamic vinegar. As they served, Hosea was shaking so bad he almost spilled the glass of gazpacho. Jeff's sorbet got raves, while Stefan's terrine was dubbed "bland."

"Something New" was up next. Eugene came up with a "new" way on sushi, in which the guests could make their own sushi rolls. This came up after Eugene's rice came out too mushy and they had to come up with a new dish. They served a surf and turf style sushi. Eugene cooked up the tempura shrimp. Daniel cooked the filet of beef and a peach-miso barbecue sauce. Carla made the yuzu granita as a palate cleanser. She also made a salad, to which Daniel added mushrooms, which took her aback because she had no idea about it. The dish was too messy. There was "no explanation" on how to eat the sushi. Gail said the shrimp was "cold" and cooked in oil that was too old. Dana said there was nothing "sushi" about the dish.

"Something Borrowed" had the idea of borrowing from Radhika's Indian culture. Ariane was responsible for cooking the lamb. Radhika had the Indian spiced yogurt marinade covered. Jamie created a carrot puree with wilted kale and toasted almonds. Padma called the lamb "delicious," Gail loved the spices and said the dish "made me happy."

"Something Blue" found inspiration from the deep blue ocean. Leah and Melissa decided that Fabio should explain the dish because he was "charming" and had that Italian accent. He came out and called the ladies "beautiful!" They made a Chilean sea bass crusted in blue corn flour. Under the fish was a roasted sweet corn puree and Swiss chard. Fabio said these two components fit into the blue theme because in the light spectrum they come out blue. I didn't understand that at first. But I figured it had to mean that when blue (fish) mixes with yellow (corn), they make green (Swiss chard). Gail said the choice of sea bass was not "politically correct." A diner called it "old people food." Padma said that it did have "more bold flavors" compared to the other teams. Because Tom wasn't a woman, he couldn't sit in on the shower. But he did eat the dishes in the kitchen and made his comments at Judges' Table.

Some juicy bites: Everyone hates Stefan. Leah called him an "a-hole." Hosea thinks he's bossy and doesn't recognize equals. But Stefan does have a heart . . . for Jamie. He flirts with her, but she's having none of it for a good reason. "Does the word 'lesbian' mean anything to you?" Jamie asked. Leah and Hosea have a nice relationship, with some flirting. However, they are both taken and enjoy the friendship they have. Fabio got married two years ago and actually cooked for his wife's bridal shower. Daniel said Gail would be a "hot bride." And the biggest gem of all: blueberries aren't blue! When Tom observed team "Something Blue," he said that it was hard to find blue foods. Melissa said blueberries were blue. Tom said, "No. They're purple." Honestly, Jamie could end up having a huge crush on Stefan later on in the show, but it would still not be as important as knowing that blueberries are not blue. This is why Tom Colicchio is amazing - for providing culinary tidbits like this.

Next week, Hosea probably won't be the only one shaking as he presents a dish. The guest next week is . . . wait for it . . . Martha Stewart. Next Wednesday better roll around fast!