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“Top Chef” Week 3
26-Nov-2008
Written by: Jill Marino
Food for the Foo Fighters.
The chefs stumbled in last week’s episode. They went from Tom praising their cooking skills in week one, to having him say they “set American cuisine back 20 years,” in week two. Those left standing had to not only impress the now doubtful judges this week, but also one of the most popular rock bands in the world.
It all started off with the Quickfire Challenge. Padma met them in the kitchen with Grant Achatz, molecular gastronomy/chef extraordinaire from Chicago. The chefs were instructed to pick a knife with numbers on them. The numbers referred to pages in the “Top Chef” cookbook, and they had one hour to put their spin on a previous contestant’s recipe. During the cooking, it all stopped suddenly. Padma and Grant wanted soup! The chefs had to take the ingredients they were already using and create a soup with them. Many of them found this difficult. Leah, who was making a tuna tartare with olives now had to figure out how to incorporate tuna in a soup.
Some who stumbled were Ariane, who turned lamb with ratatouille into a stew with eggplant and beef broth. Grant dubbed it “overcooked.” Richard’s take on chile rellanos with black beans and rice needed some acid, which he admitted to because he forgot to add lime juice as time was running out. Standouts included Jamie’s take on a deconstructed falafel - a chick pea soup with a mint and cilantro yogurt. Also Daniel turned a breakfast sandwich into a ham and egg soup with Monterey Jack cheese that Padma and Grant both loved. Who won? Leah, who didn’t think she could pull it off. Her chilled white asparagus soup with tuna and olive tapanade gave her immunity and also the chance to pick her teammates in the Elimination Challenge.
Via a video, the Foo Fighters greeted the chefs with their Elimination Challenge. They admitted to being Top Chef fans and being on the road, they’ve eaten some interesting Thanksgiving meals. The challenge was to make a feast for them and their entourage of over 60 people, including some who were vegetarians. They would go to the venue with a rider listing the bands likes and dislikes. The winning team would be invited to the concert later that night.
Leah picked Jamie, Hosea, Stefan, Melissa, Fabio, and Radhika for her team. They called themselves Team Sexy Pants. While Carla, Alex, Miguel, Daniel, Ariane, Richard, Jeff and Eugene were Team Cougar. This is because many of the male chefs think of Ariane as a hot mom. They arrive at the venue in Syracuse and discover that they will be cooking outside! However, there are only tables set up with one burner on each, as well as microwaves and toaster ovens and no refrigerators and freezers.
Eugene decided to make the most of the situation and create a makeshift grill by using a chafing dish rack to hold the charcoal. While that was positive, the day soon turned negative as it started to rain. Fabio was having none of it, saying, “It’s raining into my tiramisu. I’m not going home because of rain in my tiramisu.” Crew members helped put tents up to assist the chefs, but soon time ran out and it was time to serve the judges and the Foo Fighters.
The band and the judges walk over to get served, which excited Richard who sees Tom approach and calls him, “Tom ‘Gay Bear Icon’ Colicchio.”
Team Cougar served first. They had a spoonbread stuffing with figs, which the band didn’t really enjoy because of the use of figs. Dave Grohl even said they should “execute the classics the way they’re supposed to be done.” A five cheese macaroni and cheese with bacon by Alex was universally praised. Ariane made the turkey with mushroom gravy, that Tom said redeemed Ariane for her previous offenses when she was in the bottom. Eugene’s maple smoked pork loin made with his homemade grill was “MacGyver”-like by Foo Fighter Chris, who enjoyed the dish. The team’s potato dish was not good. It was “al dente” and Gail said it’s not how a potato should taste.
Team Sexy Pants served up a vegan cornbread stuffing by Jamie. Everyone at the table loved it and preferred it to the other team’s attempt. Their turkey however, was not as good as Ariane’s. They also served classic yams with marshmallows, which Dave enjoyed very much because they actually burned the marshmallows.
The judges and the band decided to taste the desserts head-to-head. Team Sexy Pants had their desserts tasted first. Fabio finally got to serve his tiramisu, which was with pumpkin and honey. Tom loved how Fabio was from Italy and not familiar with the American holiday, but made an Italian version of a pumpkin dessert for the occasion. The team also offered a fruit crisp with peaches and blueberries.
Team Cougar were highly confident of their desserts. Carla made a peach and cherry cobbler. Jeff created a fruit and pumpkin mousse parfait with maple, which no one liked. The dish was dubbed “barfaits.” Richard tried to use the band’s love for frozen chocolate bananas and made a banana s’more with vanilla cream and chocolate ganache. Because they were the team being judged second, the s’mores had time to sit and were not as hot as they should be. Also the cream looked like “spit.”
For one of the teams, it was a very happy Thanksgiving. The other, it was an embarrassment in front of a huge rock band. If they thought cooking for the Foo Fighters was tough, next week they get to have the hosts of the the Today show taste their food. The heat is definitely on.
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