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Top Chef Chicago Season 4
apskip:
The only 90 minute episode of TopChef that I can recall was the Holiday Chef Special (I call it Battle of the Seasons) last December. 75 minutes is typically reserved for the first and sometimes last episodes of a season when they either have a lot of contestants to introduce or lots of action.
TexasLady:
--- Quote from: apskip on March 11, 2008, 03:18:02 PM ---The only 90 minute episode of TopChef that I can recall was the Holiday Chef Special (I call it Battle of the Seasons) last December. 75 minutes is typically reserved for the first and sometimes last episodes of a season when they either have a lot of contestants to introduce or lots of action.
--- End quote ---
:jumpy: :wohoo: :jumpy: I can't wait!!! 9PM CDT!
apskip:
Right from the start of episode 1, it looks like TopChef 4 will be a high-voltage affair with lots of conflict between contestants. Tonight the main event was between Andrew and Richard, but that was after Jen and Zoi announced to the group that they have been a couple in San Francisco for some time. The response of another contestant was a snippy "so what, they can just be sent back as a couple." I'm not so sure about that, as that couple both seem to be decent chefs. There are guys(Andrew and Dale) who appear to have all the social skills of Hung and there is another(Richard) who is modeling Marcel with the high-tech flair but much higher interpersonal skills. Contestants have been allowed to bring $200 worth of their own special ingredients with them for use anytime during the entirety of TopChef 4.
Contestants landed and went to Pizzeria Uno, the most famous pizza restaurant in Chicago. They ate pizza and chatted each other up, but anyone who has seen any prior TopChef season knew what was coming. What is the feature at Pizzeria Uno? Deep dish pizza is the answer. What is the first quickfire challenge for the 16 contestants? If you guessed deep dish pizza you have been paying attention and get a gold star. Contestants have to buy ingredients in a separate shopping period, then will have 90 minutes from scratch. Richard took a second pan so there wasn't any left for Andrew when he was ready for one. He had to do a skillet version. Here are the different types of pizza presented by the contestants as best as I could get them on paper(easy) and then read my own handwriting(difficult):
Andrew - sweet marinara, onions, prosciutto, cheese
Antonia - burratta cheese, prosciutto, arugula, heirloom tomatoes
Dale - sausage, pickled kielbasa, scallions, sriracha sauce
Erik - mushrooms, onions, peppers, sausage
Jennifer - "Harvest Style" grapes, bacon, fontina, rosemary
Lisa - Asian BBQ duck
Manuel - Sopressata + rapini a la Siciliano
Mark - chicken, zucchini, Marmite (a yeast extract from Australia and New Zealand found on breakfast tables) molasses
Nikki - "White Pie" ricotta, pecorino cheeses
Nimma - "Hunter Style" onions, mushrooms, stracchino cheese
Richard - peach Taleggio with sweat tea sauce
Ryan - salad, butternut squash
Spike - "A la Grec" feta, olives, sausage
Stephanie - melon-tomato, prosciutto, olives, arugula
Valerie - "meat and potatoes"
Zoi - broccoli, pesto, lamb sausage
The Guest Judge is Rocco di Spirito, who along with Padma tastes all 16 dishes. He sorts the contestants into two groups of 8, the "winners" and the losers". It will be apparent which is which in the way the table below is organized. The 8 winners(on the left) get to sequentially based on drawing knives choose their opponent(on the right) in a 2-person competition. The opponent then gets to choose which of the 8 classic dishes they are cooking (or reinventing).
ELIMINATION CHALLENGE
Richard vs. Andrew - Crabcakes
Mark vs. Stephanie - Duck a L'Orange
Jen vs. Nikki - Lasagna
Antonia vs. Nimma - Shrimp Scampi
Spike vs. Lisa - Eggs Benedict
Dale vs. Manuel - Steak au Poivre
Ryan vs. Valerie - Chicken Picatta
Erik vs. Zoi - Souffle
Judges table included Rocco, Padma, Tom Colicchio, and Anthony Bourdain. The on-the-spot ratings were
that the winners of the above were Richard, Stephanie, Nikki, Antonia, Lisa, Dale, Valerie and Zoi. The 4 top finishers of those were Richard, Stephanie, Antonia and Nikki. Stephanie was judged best. No reward was mentioned.
The losers were the other 8, but 4 of them were singled out as the worst of the worst. They were Erik, Nimma, Mark, and Ryan. The sins of each one was reviewed in great detail. Ryan was charged with not knowing what a picatta sauce was and trying to make it Milanese style instead with bread crumbs. Erik admitted he had not made a souffle in over 20 years and was not skilled at that technique(Note: since he picked the dish last, even though he theoretically had a pick of dish it was souffle or nothing). He had used potatoes and also put tortillas on top, both of which worked against the souffle rising properly. Nimma's sins were too much salt on her shrimp, inbability to do a proper flan and general incompetence. Ryan's deconstructions went awry but it looked to me like he was not going to be eliminated(something I could not say about the other 3). Tom Colicchio came up with the line of the night - "You have to know the classics if you want to work with modern food." The ax fell on Nimma, who was told to pack her knives and go.
There were 3 contestants who "lost" the 2-person challenges but who made a positive impression on the judges with their food. They were Andrew, Jennifer, and Manuel. There were 5 contestants who based on the commentary were rated middling: Dale, Spike, Lisa, Valerie and Zoi.
I am not willing with 16 contestants to try to identify the dishes of all 16 in the Elimination Challenge, but I will the the 4 top and 4 bottom a go:
Stephanie - Duck Breast, Mushroom, Bok Choy, duck spring rolls with Orange Soy Glaze
Richard - blue crab, apple coleslaw, smoked ras al hanout (I've never heard of this and am going to look it up and know before next week, since Richard has a lot of high-tech stuff and we're likely to see it again)
Antonia - pappardelle with shrimp, lobster, fontina, and squash blossoms
Nikki- "Classic Lasagna" with sheep's milk gouda cheese
Nimma - shrimp scampi w/Cauliflower Scramble
Mark - Enoki mushrooms, smoked duck breast w/ a Sakitini (preumably a martini with sake substituted as the base liquor)
Erik - pepper jack cheese souffle w/avocado creme fraiche, black bean puree, salsa
Ryan - chicken cutlets w lemon-potato gnocchi, creme fraiche, warm herb salad
For next week I will abandon my one night experiment with index cards for note-taking and return to 8.5 x 11 inch paper. This should reduce the time and number of rewrites to get a decent recap out, as I will be better able to read the notes I take during the show.
marigold:
:lol: I'm so angry because I discovered last night that I have BRAVO Canada and yup it did not show Top Chef
I can probably catch it through another channel but on a rerun.
:'( So I can't join you guys on here :lol:
TexasLady:
--- Quote from: ca bb fan on March 13, 2008, 12:08:39 PM --- :lol: I'm so angry because I discovered last night that I have BRAVO Canada and yup it did not show Top Chef
I can probably catch it through another channel but on a rerun.
:'( So I can't join you guys on here :lol:
--- End quote ---
OH NO!!!!! How dare they not show it! (:;)
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