Top Chef: Fancy Pants Party

The chefs were in charge of a fancy pants progressive dinner party in Dallas where some dishes were not fancy pants enough, but first the chefs had to cook something out of a survival kit in the middle of nowhere Texas. Pay attention so you know what to make when the zombie attacks happen!

 

Quickfire Challenge

The chefs had to move onto Dallas for their next challenge. On their drive over there, they were stopped by a Texas State trooper in the middle of nowhere. They were instructed to pull their minivans into a field where picnic tables were set up next to Padma and guest judge, John Besh. Their Quickfire took place in the field. They were each given a survival kit and they had to create a dish using the ingredients in their kit. The winner would receive $5,000 and immunity in the elimination challenge. They had 30 minutes to cook on little camp site burners on top of the picnic tables.

The chefs were less than thrilled with not having any cutting boards and most of the food in the kits was either canned or mix packets. It was also windy so the burners were not producing much heat. Chuy made dirty rice since he wanted to make something southern for John Besh. Chris C. was using lemon mix from a packet to add acidity to his dish. Lindsay said her dad loved Vienna sausages when she grew up, but she was never a fan. Since some were in her kit, she decided she would make some to honor her dad. Edward looked around at what the other chefs were making and felt like they were making mess hall food. He wanted to make his dish as fancy as possible. Chris J. ran off to the corn field, hoping for some fresh corn, but it was mostly dry. He decided to use the husks as part of the plating.

After all the tastings, John said some chefs weren’t that inventive while others put their heart and soul into the dish.

Least favorites


Whitney
Beer & Peach Glazed Chicken with Green Bean Casserole

The green beans and chicken were straight out of their cans. John found no love in her dish.


Dakota
Sweet & Spicy Noodles with Crab Meat & Pineapple Juice

Padma said it was really sweet. John said the dish was one-dimensional since it was all sweet.


Chris C.
Spicy Garbanzo Beans with Tofu & Crab

John found it underseasoned and said it threw the whole dish off.

Middle of the Road


Chris J.
Fried Chicken on Lemongrass Noodles


Grayson
Pickled Herring with Hearts of Palm, Dates & Herring Juice


Ty-Lor
Black Pepper Chicken Stew with Garbanzo Beans & Rice

Padma said the rice was pretty good, especially given the conditions.


Sarah
Dried Beef & Pineapple Rice, Apple Sauce & Hearts of Palm


Paul
Pork & Beans with Coffee & Basmati Rice

Overall Favorites


Edward
Thai Peanut Soup with Salmon, Tofu & Fried Hominy

John said the attention to detail in the dish was commendable, the crab cakes were wonderful and the whole soup worked together.


Chuy
Basmati Rice with Smoked Trout

When Chuy called it “Chuy’s Dirty Mouth Dirty Rice,” Padma asked “Do I want to eat that?” John said that he never had canned smoked trout before, but he made him a believer.


Lindsay
Triple Club with Tuna & Sardines in French Onion Soup with Vienna Sausage

When John first saw it, it scared him, but the sandwich sent it over the top. John said that he understood the inventiveness and resourcefulness of her dish. John picked Lindsay’s dish as the winner so she won $5,000 and immunity. When she was declared the winner, Edward did not look pleased.

Elimination Challenge

For the elimination challenge, the teams went to a rich neighborhood in Dallas called Highland Park and had to create a course for a progressive dinner party. Padma broke up the teams into three groups for appetizers, entrees and desserts. Dakota was pissed she was doing desserts again. She said she didn’t come to the competition to make desserts. I would think by now that chefs know that they are going to be expected to make desserts on Top Chef. The chefs met with the three hosts at the three different houses before they created their courses.

Appetizer House – Kim & Justin Whitman

The wife was a party planner. She said presentation was very important. She said she wanted the plates to be conversation starters, but they had to be something easy to eat. Also she was not adventurous about trying new foods. She listed off what she didn’t like: bell peppers, cilantro or food that makes people self conscious about their breath. Chris J . decided he wanted to make something that looked like cigar to get people talking. Paul thought it was too risky. He said there are problems when people make what they want to eat and ignore the client’s requests. Lindsay said that since Kim liked balanced items, she was going to make a salad with raw and roasted items.


Chris J.
Roasted Chicken Cigar with Sweet Corn, Collard Greens & Cumin Ash

When Sarah saw Chris’s dish, she become insecure since she thought his dish was much more whimsical. No one else seemed to think it was whimsical. Kim found it daunting. Tom thought the flavors were okay but found it dry. Kari said that eating a cigar wasn’t appealing to her.


Sarah
Grilled Roman-Style Artichokes with Date Puree

Kim loved it. She said it matched what she described perfectly. Gail said the artichokes were grilled perfectly.


Lindsay
Roasted & Raw Beet Salad with Chickpeas & Greek Vinaigrette

Kim loved the beets. Kari wasn’t too impressed with the other items besides the beets. John found it a little boring. It didn’t excite him at all. Kameron was really enjoying it and found it very colorful.


Whitney
Seared Scallop Over Sweet Corn Puree

Tory said that Kim and Justin had mentioned they wanted a conversation starter and this dish would not start a conversation.


Paul
Fried Brussels Sprouts with Grilled Prosciutto

A random guest loved the combination of crunchy and smooth in the dish. Kim loved it. She said she also roasts Brussels sprouts, but Paul did a much better job.

Entree House – Kari & Troy Kloewer

The husband loved spicy foods but his wife did not. She also did not love cilantro or raspberries. He said he loved meat and she was a vegetarian. While the chefs were preparing the food, Heather was highly annoyed with Beverly since she was taking over the entire kitchen that all the chefs were sharing. She was leaving stuff all over the place and moving other people’s stuff out of the way. She didn’t think she was being selfish, but Nyesha agreed with Heather that Beverly was hogging the kitchen


Heather
Garlic & Rosemary Grilled Lamb Chops with Garbanzo Beans & Mint Chimichurri

Kari liked the garbanzo beans. She was not used to seeing them green, but she knew they were fresh. Tom said he could not get past the overcooked chops. Gail agreed saying they were very tough. A random dinner guest said it didn’t appeal to her.


Chuy
Sockeye Salmon Filet Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Kari found it very good. Troy thought it was extremely mild. The judges were very quiet in front of the other guests.


Beverly
Seared Scallop with Creamy Polenta

Troy said it was very good. He liked the twist with the white truffle. Kim said if they were having another dinner party, she would have asked her to come make the dish again.


Ty-Lor
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Summer Slaw

Gail found the presentation a little bit sloppy. Troy thought the pork was dry but liked the color and presentation. A random dinner guest said it reminded her of something her parents would have made in the ’50s.


Nyesha
Roasted Filet of Beef with Vegetable Melange

Kim did not find it very appetizing. Kari said it almost looked like there was blood decorating the outside of it. John said it was a red wine reduction sauce, not blood.

Dessert House – Kameron & Court Westcott

The last couple liked cake balls, cupcakes, fudge and bananas. They wanted to eat something that is worth every calorie. Court said he had a gummi bear obsession. Chris C. had a cupcake recipe that he had never tried, but he was willing to risk it.


Dakota
Banana Bread Pudding, Banana Mousse & Banana Date Milkshake

Dakota was worried her bread pudding was not fancy enough. A random guest said she could eat the bread pudding every day. Kim thought it was worth every calorie.


Chris C.
Strawberry Cupcake with Banana Custard & Chocolate Icing

Court said he never had a fine dining cupcake, but he thought it was one of the best cupcakes he had ever had. Tom was asked what he thought and he said that his mom told him if he didn’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything. He was remaining silent.


Edward
Panna Cotta, Cantaloupe Consomme & Raspberries Stuffed with Basil Pudding

Kameron thought the presentation looked like Elmo. Kari said it was a bit jiggly looking. Kim said it tasted better than it looked.


Grayson
Chocolate Sponge Cake, Caramelized Bananas & Semifreddo

Tory said it looked great, but was a bit too rich for his tastes.

Judges’ Table

Winners

Heather, Grayson, Paul and Dakota were told that they had the best desserts of the night. Tom said he loved Grayson’s pretzel in her dessert. He really likes salt with dessert. John said that Sarah had five flavors that really worked well together. Her dish was spot on. Gail said that Dakota’s bread pudding was really moist and gooey in the center. With the melted chocolate and the crunch with the peanuts, made it all feel comforting. She really nailed it. Tom thought that there were a lot of different textures working in Paul’s dish. Everything really made sense. John picked the winner as the chef that took a risk while still listening to what the clients wanted. Paul was picked the winner.

Losers

Ty, Chuy and both Chrises had the worst dishes of the evening. Tom told Chris C.  that he was not sure where his dish started and where it stopped. It was all over the map. Chris said he wanted to incorporate what they wanted, but also have some cohesiveness. John said he needed to listen to input, but don’t cave in. Otherwise he could end up with a big mess. Ty said he was not satisfied with how the plate went out. He said he wasn’t clean enough. Gail said the plate was out of proportion with a large amount of meat. John said the knife skills had to be there, but what was on the plate was hacked and stacked. He didn’t slice it naturally. Chuy said he made his dish at his restaurant a lot. It was a play on bagel and lox. Gail said the way the goat cheese was cooked, it became mealy. Chuy said he needed the cheese to be hot in the middle but it ended up overcooking the salmon. Tom said if the salmon had to be well done for the dish to work, then what made it a good dish. Chris J. said he felt it was do or die so he took a risk with his cigar. Tom said the ingredients needed to mean more than the idea. The meat was too stringy. John said it was gimmicky. He shouldn’t focus on what looks like ash, but instead focus on creating good food.

Final Decision

Tom told the chefs that if they thought things through, they might have corrected a lot mistakes that were made. Chris C. started with a cupcake and didn’t know how to make one. He needed to create a dish that made sense and not just throw everything on the plate. Ty would have done better if he used fewer ingredients. He had too many things going on and he lost focus. Chuy had an idea that worked in his restaurant, but gave them some overcooked salmon and goat cheese. Chris J. had to realize that sometimes he has to let go of what he thinks are great ideas. Chuy was asked to pack his knives and go.

Last Chance Kitchen

Chuy went up against Keith who was the first chef to actually win Last Chance Kitchen more than once. They picked up a rib rack at a butcher shop. They had to butcher five bone-in rib eyes and cook one medium rare steak perfectly. Tom said he was looking for a nice crust, but not overseared. He also wanted it cooked perfectly on both sides. They had 45 minutes to butcher, cook, let it rest and serve it.

When Tom checked out their work, he found that not all of Keith’s cuts were uniform. He found one cut sloppy with some meat still on the bone. His steak was medium rare but it was cooked more on one side than the other. Tom thought that Chuy might have trimmed the cuts a bit too much since he could lose some of the flavor in what was cut off. His steak was perfectly cooked.

Tom told Keith that his chops were nicely butchered with a little unevenness and a little divot taken out of one of them. He said with the cooking, it was seasoned perfectly but it was a seared a little more on one side. Tom told Chuy that he wished he left some of the fat on but the bones were perfectly clean. With the cooking, it was a nice sear and perfectly medium rare. Tom said that one tiny difference led to his decision. With Keith having one side seared too much, Chuy won the challenge.

Questions

  1. Do you agree with Dakota about not having the chefs do dessert on the cooking competition show?
  2. Did you find any of the survival kit dishes appealing?
  3. What do you think about Beverly hogging the kitchen when the other chefs were also trying to use it?

Photos: Bravo TV

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