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Top Chef Chicago Season 4

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apskip:
Here's something new and interesting from TV Guide: "being forced to cook together for a wild and woolly outdoor event" is what the episode 2 is about.

apskip:
I plan to do the complete recap tomorrow morning, but wanted to discuss one important part of it right now. The "worst of the worst" discussion focused on 3 contestants, Stephanie, Valerie and Nikki. Nikki was there because of a mediocre stuffed mushroom canape. She knew it was not good enough to be served before the prep was finished. Since it was on the preprinted menu, she had to tell some potential customers it was not available. However, then she went and allowed the judges to sample it. What a terrible decision! I think that Nikki deserved to be eliminated for bad judgment alone. Dale got pulled into it because he had attempted to save her dish at the site with pecorino cheese but did not taste it(neither did she), but at least he had the good sense to warn her not to sample the judges with it.

apskip:
The Quickfire was at the Green City Market, where ingredients were purchased with $25 in 30 minutes to create one dish with no more than 5 ingredients, including all Kitchen ingredients except pepper, salt, sugar, or oil(which don't count). The guest judge was Wiley Dufresne, a Manhattan restauranteur noted for use of new food tecnologies. That market had wonderful greens and vegetables, variable meat, and no seafood(Chicago is 800 miles from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, although restaurants there certainly do have it) not even fish from the Great Lakes.

The bottom 3 dishes were by Richard(surprising since he is a proponent of new food technology), Erik and Spike.
The top 3 dishes were by Valerie, Mark and Ryan.
Richard's dish was a chicken soup heavy on pieces of chicken.
Erik's dish was lamb chops.
Spike's dish was sirloin tips, but he was hampered by the poor quality of the meat he received vs. what he was expecting; he termed it "dog meat".
Valerie's dish was rib-eye steak, peaches, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and arugula.
Mark's dish was seared sirloin with peach and turnips.
Ryan's dish was sirloin steak, potatoes, lettuce, radishes, and mustard.
Mark wins.

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

Gail Simmons is back as permanent judge and she had a lot to say at Judges' Table(which as a co-founder of the show should be the case).
The task was to cater a cocktail party for 200 at the Lincoln Park Zoo. 5 teams of 3 were formed by drawing knives with each team focused on the culinary habits of a particular animal - Vulture, Gorilla, Lion, Bear, Penguin.
Each team prepared a complete set of canapes in large quantity using $500 in 30 minutes ingredient shopping at an unspecified(or I missed it) upscale local grocery. They then have 3 hours to prep and one hour to set up onsite at the zoo. Teams are(to be recehcked):

Gorilla- Valerie, Antonia, Stephanie
Penguin - Jennifer, Andrew, Lisa
Bear - Nikki, Dale, Spike
Lion - Richard, Ryan, Erik
Vulture - Manuel, Zoi, Mark

Gorilla Menu - Black Olive Blinis w/Mascarpone, Pear Crab Salad, Lamb and Edamame Lettuce Cups
Penguin Menu - Thai Shrimp and Crab Salad, Roasted Zucchini, Squid Ceviche, Yuzu and Mint "Glacier"
Bear - Venison Loin, Seared Salmon, Stuffed Mushrooms(see my prior post about this one), Cheese & Honeycomb on Bread
Lion - Beet Salad w/Goat Cheese Foam, Bison Tartare, Ras al Hanout(see note after last week's recap for info about this), Chicken Satay, Prime rib w/Horseradish Foam
Team Vulture - Chicken on a Tostada Chip, Moroccan Lamb Meatball, Anchovy on Quinoa Croquette

The dishes that were rated best were from Team Penguin and Team Vulture. Andrew was singled out I believe for the squid ceviche as the most outstanding dish. No prize was mentioned but the honor of victory is meaningful in this competition.

The worst dishes were from Team Bear and Team Gorilla. The stuffed mushroom controversy was covered last night in a separate post. Both Nikki and Dale were in jeopardy and I believe Nikki's trangressions were serious enough to warrant her elimination. However, I wasn't there to taste and the blini dish and the crab salad must have been pretty bad. Out of Nikki, Valerie and Stephanie, Valerie was selected for elimination. I believe the blinis were hers and her not knowing that blinis cannot be made ahead of time was a critical factor. She should have chosen another dish to prepare.

apskip:
The next elimination challenge, acording to TV Guide will involve Guest Judge Rick Bayless(a Chicago area native and owner of a Mexican resaurant in Chicago and several in Mexico). It will involve catering a Latino street fair.

I see Rick's Mexican food shows several times a week on a local PBS station in the New York metro area. He is probably my favorite cooking show host.

georgiapeach:
Apskip asked me to leave a note in this thread that he will be back with the latest very soon, as he is being released from the hospital this evening.

Good news! :hearts:

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