Top Chef 5/28 Recap: Here’s the Beef

[PhoneGrrrl]

This is it—the last challenge Chicago before heading to the finale in San Juan! By and large the wheat has been separated from the chaff and the remaining contestants are pretty strong. It is anyone’s game to lose at this point, and the chefs know it. Antonia is ready to get to Puerto Rico, Stephanie is psyched at the possibility that there may be three women in the finale (a TC first), and Richard is just worried he’ll lose it before he gets to the end.

I see dead cow parts.

Okay, I’m not a vegan or anything, but I just don’t like a lot of red meat. So the Quick Fire in the Allen Bros. commercial butcher shop is a bit much for me. The final five arrive and the lady who runs the business makes them dress up in USDA-approved butcher gear and takes them to the meat prep floor. There they have twenty minutes to cut down a huuuge dry-aged bone-in ribeye rack with ultra long bones into seven “tomahawk” chops. This sounds like a racist term, but that’s what they called it. To make the chop, they have to cut off the dry aging outside, slice the ribs down into seven individual chops, then clean the long bone. As the guest judge later describes it, the ideal look should be a big lollipop on a stick.

Spike is on board with the challenge because both of his grandfathers were butchers, but the rest of contestants have a bit more trouble. Stephanie is overwhelmed at the size of the slab of beef, Richard is fairly methodical, and Antonia and Lisa apparently muddle through it alright. After the twenty minutes is up, they pack up the chops and head back to the kitchen. There they are met by Padma and Rick Tramonto, a big-time Chicago steakhouse owner, chef and guest judge. He directs them to cook a chop for him, medium rare, in thirty minutes. Spike would want thirty-five minutes but takes the thirty; he grills the meet for a few minutes on each side before putting the chop in the oven. Lisa second-guesses herself, Stephanie worries about the temperature, and Antonia is sure of her steak-cooking method—searing the sides to make a crust then basting continuously with butter.

Once time is called, Rick and Padma check out each steak. Rick cuts the steaks open, feels the middle, and asks a few questions, but no one tastes anything. After looking and touching them all, he says Stephanie’s was the worst because the butchering was off and the steak was undercooked. Richard’s butchering was inconsistent and his steak was also undercooked. He liked Lisa’s, thought Spike had amazing butchering skills and grilled the chop perfectly, and complimented Antonia on the crust she got on the outside of the chop. Rick chooses Spike as the winner, and though he won’t have immunity, he’ll get a little bonus in the Elimination Challenge.

Making the meat to beat.

For the EC, Rick is turning his new restaurant over to the five chefs for one night. They will each have a station on the restaurant kitchen's line and will each be required to make an appetizer and an entrée for about 60 people. The restaurant is already booked and the kitchen is stocked, so there’s no need to hit the market this week. Spike’s win gets him first choice of proteins for both the appetizer and the entrée and no one else can use those particular proteins. Lisa thinks this could really box him in and be a disadvantage. Spike has had this privilege before so we all know he may try to screw over the other contestants with his choices.

The EC isn’t until the next night so the chefs have an evening to mull over the competition and eat the leftover steak chops. Spike is ready for the challenge; he wants to see a battle of the sexes in the finale. He thinks Stephanie is the strongest woman chef but isn’t sure if Antonia or Lisa is better. If he had his druthers, Antonia would be eliminated next. Richard again says he is worried that he’ll blow it; being out on this challenge is no different from going home on the first because to him. He echoes this sentiment at least two more times throughout the episode.

The next day at Tramonto’s, Spike gets his five minutes to pick out his proteins. He grabs more of the tomahawk chops and a bag of frozen scallops. He really wanted to do scallops and didn’t worry that they were frozen. Pretty much everyone else wanted to do scallops too but once they saw that the scallops were frozen, they quickly got over their disappointment and moved on. Lisa will make shrimp for the appetizer and use New York strip in the entrée. She’s making some kind of peanut butter mashed potatoes that she’s made before. (Peanut butter, really?) Antonia grabs a bone-in ribeye (short bones) and a ton of vegetables out of the walk-in. Stephanie and Richard are both doing something with sweetbreads for their appetizers. They’ll have three hours to come up with their two dishes and execute them before service starts.

There’s only minor bitching in the kitchen this time around. Lisa complains she’s hot from the fire Antonia has going in the wood stove, but Antonia pulls the door down a bit to make her happy. Lisa’s nerves are getting to her, but without Dale there, she stays pretty cool. Spike struggles with the scallops; after they defrosted they were very watery and he has to work to dry them so they sear up properly.

Tom comes in and takes a look around. Antonia says she’s doing fine so far and is busy working on her warm mushroom salad and ribeye dishes. Stephanie tells Tom that she really likes this last challenge because it tests their ability to think on the fly and create a menu in a few minutes. Richard gives Tom only a basic description of what he’s making; Tom comments that it is surprisingly straightforward. Richard says he likes to under-promise and over-deliver but later realizes that he sounds like he’s always playing it safe. Lisa tells Tom about her peanut butter mashed potatoes and Tom looks a bit scared. Spike shares his problems with the frozen scallops but says that if he can make them look good, then he can make any food look good. Tom then tells the group that he is going to be in the kitchen with them as the expediter. Antonia is a bit too excited at spending more time with Tom.

Laying it on the line.

The three hours has gone by fast as you please and Tom calls the cooks over to meet the “VIP” guests for the evening, past winners Harold, Ilan, and Hung. When asked to offer advice, Harold tells the contestants to stay true to their own style of cooking, Hung tells them to do what they need to do to win, and Ilan advises against shaving someone else’s head. Notably, Ilan no longer has a city skyline shaved into hair.

Service starts and each of the contestants are called to prepare six tasting portions (at one-third the normal portion) of their dishes for the judges’ table. Lisa says that they should have realized they would have to make tasting portions, but it didn’t dawn on them at all. First the appetizer courses are served one right after the next to Rick, Padma, Gail, Hung, Ilan, and Harold.
Lisa serves grilled and chilled prawns, lemon zest and tomato salad on a crostini. The judges like the lemon in the seasoning but question the choice of chilled shrimp because, as Harold notes, the chill dulls the flavor of the shellfish.
Richard serves hamachi with crispy sweetbreads, radish, avocado and yuzu. The judges universally love this dish and think it is perfect.
Spike serves seared scallops with hears of palm and oyster mushrooms. Harold though everything had the same texture and tastes the same. The hearts of palm are dry and taste less than fresh according to Padma.
Stephanie serves sweetbreads with golden raisins, fennel and pine nuts. Harold was impressed by the dish; Hung would have preferred the pine nuts be toasted but loved the crispiness of the fennel. Gail notes Stephanie’s dish has everything Spike’s was missing.
Antonia serves mushroom and artichoke salad with a poached egg and bacon vinaigrette. Gail doesn’t think the dish is the strongest going, though the egg was perfectly poached. Rick is also under-whelmed by the dish.

As sure as day follows night, the entrees follow the appetizers.
Richard, after much delay, plates up beef filet, potato puree, turnips and pickled Brussles sprouts. The dish’s elements are spread across the plate, which makes it more of a project to eat because, as Harold notes, it all tastes good when combined. Padma thinks Richard should have put it all together and not make the diner work at enjoying the dish.
Lisa delivers a New York strip steak with apple caramel sauce, green beans, and peanut butter mashed potatoes. Though Rick was worried about the mashed potatoes, he really enjoys the flavor. Ilan thought the meat was under-seasoned and Gail thought it was cut too thin.
Spike makes his tomahawk chop, sweet potato puree, Brussels sprouts, and cipollinis. Ilan thought the meat was better by itself rather than with the vegetables; the judges thought the sweet potatoes were too sweet.
Stephanie serves beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms and apple sauce. Padma and Hung were both over the moon on this dish. Everyone else was busy eating.
Antonia presents the bone-in ribeye with fennel and cipollinis, shallots and a potato gratin. Ilan enjoyed the fattiness of the meat but Hung thought it was a bit too rich. Rick thought it was the most well-rounded dish of the evening.

Service is done, save for making a half-portion of each dish for Tom to sample. Stephanie is happy with the results and Antonia thinks she’s safe but realizes that it is still up in the air.

Down to the final four.

The five remaining chefs get to stew one more time before facing the judges. They crack open some wine and beer and toast to making it this far. Padma comes in and brings them all back to the Judges’ Table. At the table are Rick, Padma, Tom and Gail; the prior winners are not on the panel. Padma asks Richard how he thought he did, but he just wants her to tell him how he did. He says that if he made the appetizer again, he’d tweak the recipe a bit. Rick tells him that it was a great appetizer. Gail says that his problem lay in the entrée because the meat was inconsistent.

Tom notes that Stephanie was very calm throughout the challenges but looks like a nervous wreck before the judges; she says they make her nervous. Rick also loved her appetizer and she says that if she made the entrée again, she’d make it a bit more acidic. She never made the dishes before this challenge, much to Tom’s surprise. Gail tells Lisa that her appetizer would have been better had the shrimp been warm. Rick wasn’t impressed with Lisa’s appetizer at all but loved the entrée, though a bit more skilled technique would have improved it. Tom thought the strip steak was unevenly cooked in the portion he had.

Antonia explains her dishes were based on what she would want to eat at a steakhouse. Rick was highly complimentary of her dishes. Spike said he wanted to do the same chop again because he had such a good time with it at the QF. Gail liked the chop but the judges took him to task over the frozen scallops. Tom says that frozen scallops should not even be accepted from the supplier and Rick asks why he used them. Spike fires back that the scallops were in Rick’s walk-in and he accepted them but Rick counters that Spike chose them and didn’t have to make that decision. The chefs then take their leave of the judges while deliberations ensue. Spike immediately regrets jumping on Rick about the scallops.

Back at the Table, Tom enjoyed the last challenge and we learn that the prior winners were all impressed with the skill of these five. Rick thinks Stephanie’s efforts were the most well-rounded and Gail says Stephanie always shows something new. Richard’s appetizer was also innovative but Padma notes that the main course was not put together correctly. They also think Antonia continues to bring well-thought-out dishes to the table. Spike’s problem was that, as Tom says, if he wanted to cook in a simple, clean style, he needs to have better ingredients than frozen scallops. Tom thinks Lisa approached the challenge in a slightly apathetic way; Padma says Lisa focused on flavor and not technique, but Tom doesn’t like the lack of technique. Tom and Rick think Lisa’s shrimp was the worst and Rick says that Spike’s scallops had a promise of something more. Gail thinks the two were equally bad and Padma thinks Spike didn’t put forth much effort in his entrée.

The decision is made and the chefs are brought in to see who needs to pack their Spanish-to-English phrase book. Tom tells them they’ve all done a great job throughout the competition and Rick chooses Stephanie as the winner for bringing the best overall dishes to the table. She gets Rick’s new cookbook and her very own suite of GE Monogram kitchen appliances like the ones used in the Top Chef kitchen. She’s happy to be going on to the finals. Richard, because he had the best appetizer overall, and Antonia, because she had the best entrée overall, are also both going on to the finals. The top three leave the room and things turn a bit more rough.

In the most voice-overed/ADR’d Judges’ Table segment of the year, Tom notes that Lisa has been in the bottom five times and Spike seven so it is no surprise that they are in the bottom two tonight. Tom says that Lisa hasn’t been pushing through and being as ferocious as she needs to be. He knows there’s passion there and the judges need to see it. (Perhaps she needs to become Ferocia Cuisina for the finale.) Spike, Tom says, made a huge error with the frozen scallops; simple cooking is laudable but the ingredients have to be perfect. Padma then drops the axe and tells Spike he’s out. He says his goodbyes and thanks them for the opportunity. Lisa is going on to Puerto Rico and promises to really bring the passion. Of course, Spike is disappointed but won’t let this hold him back (insert rote sentiment from every episode here) and the others are just thrilled to be in the big finale and have another toast.

Next week the top four contenders head to San Juan. I hope they are all challenged to make mofongo; it’s one of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes, right next to a budin with guava and meringue topping. Excuse me while I go find a snack.

[Google]

 

[Bunny555]

Wow.....excellent recap PhoneGrrrl ! Thanks

[ch13]

Originally Posted by PhoneGrrrl

(Perhaps she needs to become Ferocia Cuisina for the finale.)

hahaha. i can't imagine lisa cooking in a spandex outfit. great recap!

[Harmony2000]

Awesome recap and I LOVE mofongo, if done right. Otherwise it can be this big giant disgusting greasy mess. I'm thinking Lisa's would be a greasy mess.

[Bearcata]

Congratulations for getting this recap up so fast your speed is truly amazing.
Also thanks for the phrase/name/state: Ferocia Cuisina. Italian is it??

[iguanachocolate]

awesome, Phonegrrrl!

i actually watched the show before reading your recap this time, have to tell you, would rather read your recap and then watch the show! yes, you are that good.

Thank you!

[MFWalkoff]

Tom says that Lisa hasn’t been pushing through and being as ferocious as she needs to be. He knows there’s passion there and the judges need to see it. (Perhaps she needs to become Ferocia Cuisina for the finale.)

YES!

Terrific recap!

[roses4me]

You've done it again! Fab recap.