Wheat free, week two

Week two of my wheat free January went smoothly.  I haven't done any baking yet this week but did indulge some of my starch cravings and had some homemade fried rice and some oatmeal.  So I ate some grains but only at a few meals.  The big success this week was coconut curry beef from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook.  Since I can't do chiles while nursing I left out the chili flakes and tripled the fresh ginger.  I also didn't have carrots and instead added sweet potatoes from our 9 Bean Rows share.  It was fantastic!

For snacking, I made a couple batches of soaked, rinsed and dehydrated walnuts and pecans.  I can't decide if I like a final soak in salted water or not.  I also got two new ingredients to play with: unsweetened dried pineapple, which taste crazy sweet after having almost no sugar for these past two weeks and some date paste, which I'm interested in trying out as a sweetener in baked goods.  Will date paste work better than date sugar?

Since we're getting a fresh load of snow this weekend here are some kid picts.  This past week Penny has been really liking turnips.  She ate them eagerly from beef soup as well as some plain boiled ones.  So I decided to take my chances with my cloth diapers and made her some beet cubes to eat.  They weren't quite the hit the turnips were but still well received.  She's getting teeth all over the place now.  She has a lower incisor fully sprouted and it's adjacent tooth broken through.  Then I noticed on top she has both her lateral incisors broken through even though the central ones aren't coming in yet.

Penny showing off her tooth

Alex consented to a haircut this week.  I had no luck getting him to smile nicely for the camera though.

P.S. Is anyone else as tremendously thrilled that Carla is doing so well on Top Chef? I thought I'd be rooting for Richard or maybe even Marcel just to be contrary but I'm completely on Team Carla now. This lettuce wrap recipe is so brillant, Hooty Hoo!

Top Chef New York: Show Your Craft

I really enjoyed this week's episode. It was a lot less frantic and focused much more on the food. We began with the introduction of this week's guest judge, Donatella Arpaia. If you've watched more than one Iron Chef America than surely you recognize this successful restaurateur. She is a frequent judge on the show. The quickfire was a hot dog challenge with a real New York hot dog vendor in the house. Most of the chefs decided to whip up a sausage with the exception of Jill who crazily wrapped a standard dog in rice paper wrappers. Was this served hot or cold like a summer roll? I couldn't help gagging at the thought that it was a cold hot dog inside! Eugene who peaked my interest last week had nori with boursin cheese, another unappetizing combination. Nods were given to the success of Fabio and Hosea but Radhika's Indian lamb hot dog earned her immunity.

For the elimination round the contestants were given the task of running Craft's kitchen for lunch. The added spin was the 50 guests they had to serve just happen to be chefs that tried out and failed to get a spot on Top Chef, a sure to be critical crowd. The contestants divided themselves into appetizers, entrees, and desserts (5 each.) It was nice to see a set of Top Chef contestants that didn't moan and groan about making dessert. Finally they have learned! The Whole Foods shopping trip and night before prep fly by. I immediately know that Hosea has set himself up for failure. Being sure of the quality of your ingredients and being flexible with your recipe are cardinal rules in cooking and he breaks both of them by choosing canned crab meat he can't taste. The chefs arrive at Craft and get ready for service. Ariane give the other chefs a taste of her dessert when she unsure of it. They give her mixed answers but it seems like she knows there is a problem with the dish. Yet she proceeds anyway. Fabio displays an interesting technique where he remakes olives in a pasta-less ravioli type preparation. Everyone gets through the lunch and it's clear that there are more and less successful dishes. On to judging...

Fabio, Hosea, Carla, Ariane, Jamie and Jill are called in to be questioned by the judges. The judges praise Carla's pastry, Jamie's corn soup and Fabio's carpaccio. Fabio takes the win for his creative dish. Hosea, Ariane and Jill are critiqued next. Ariane's overly sweet dessert and Jill's poorly executed ostrich egg quiche seem to be the worst and it looks bad for one of them. They are called back in and Jill is the one eliminated!

I liked that we got much more details about the food in this episode. The chef's individual styles are developing. Jamie's comment about wanting to "celebrate the season and use good product" endears her to me tremendously. Fabio and Stefan are being portrayed as fierce competitors. Ariane seems to be on her way out. It'll be interesting to see if she can turn that around. Next week's episode will be a Thanksgiving themed meal with the Foo Fighters. I'm sure it'll be entertaining.

This week's winning dish: Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio

Top Chef Season 5 Premiere

I know, how could I have let this much time pass and not say a word about the Top Chef premiere? If you somehow were not one of the 2.7 million viewers last week don't worry, Bravo is sure to replay it like crazy. Most of this episode was snippets introducing each of the new contestants so there was a lot less detail about the food. Winning both immunity for the quickfire and the elimination round, Stefan has set himself up as the man to beat. Will make him a target or intimidate the others? All I know is if I have to hear him pining to be the "first European Top Chef" a zillion times my head will explode. I found Eugene intriguing because of his lack of formal culinary education. His successful dish in the elimination despite having no experience cooking Indian food made me even more interested. No one other than those two really stood out for me. It seemed no surprise that the least experienced chefs of the group were the two that got cut. Now we'll just have to wait and see what happens next...

This week's winning dish: Lamb Chops with Tabouli, Beef, Beef Skewer, Hummus and Yogurt

Top Chef: The Game

My husband sent me a link to the online store for the company that produces the boxed version of our game Hamsterball, which is now in stores (Target, Best Buy, etc.) I was browsing through (due to professional curiosity of course) and found Top Chef: The Game. I just had to order it! I've been counting the days until the new season starts and I love cooking video games. My recent favorite is Order Up for the Wii which is an improved version in the Cooking Mama genre. I love that you juggle several tasks at once but the game was a little short. I've been waiting for the Iron Chef game to be released after having the release date change at least three times and I keep looking at the Hell's Kitchen game but the CGI Gordon Ramsay is ghastly. Hopefully the Top Chef game turns out to be worth buying. I'll try and post a review when it gets here.

Related links:
John's Hamsterball Cake
A cute Chuzzle ad with macaroons
My Top Chef posts
My husband's games at Raptisoft

Top Chef: The Tour in Detroit

At long last Bravo's Top Chef: The Tour arrived in Detroit today. Well not exactly Detroit but who can blame them for choosing the brand new Rochester Hills Whole Foods as their home base? The chefs on the Detroit stop of the tour were Andrew Dambrosi and Nikki Cascone.

A ginormous Top Chef decorated trailer awaited fans in the parking lot. The sides were covered with images of the four winners. In the front there was a door to a small store with Top Chef gear (aprons, the cookbook, t-shirts) and another door to the demonstration area. In between the two doors were two bicycles set up to run blenders. Apparently they hold smoothie making events, but I didn't get a chance to see one. We signed in and entered the demonstration room. Inside was a small kitchen and seating for about 30.

After a splash of clips played, Nikki and Andrew entered. They discussed their dish for today: turbot on a quinoa salad with fava beans. Good knives and the nutritious aspects of quinoa were discussed. The cooking began and the floor is open for questions. The audience poses a lot of questions about the other contestants and the experience of being on Top Chef. A sample of the dish is served and the quinoa is excellent though the fava beans are sliced too small, which is possibly due to the fact that they need them evenly distributed in small portions. I've always had a problem with over cooking my quinoa and now I'm eager to give it another try.

The highlights of the conversation were Andrew's story of running past other applicants at his first Top Chef interview and them noticing and calling him first. Nikki was very personable and engaging. She described how quickly the challenges come at them, especially noting the marathon Wedding Wars challenge. Nikki says she regrets not showing as much of her style in the competition. Andrew seemed much more subdued but still had to whip out that "culinary boner" line. I really liked his dishes last season but that 14 year-old boy humor has to go.

We cornered Nikki and got more details on cooking better quinoa so look for my efforts later this week. I have a Joust to enter!

Me with Andrew and Nikki from Top Chef Season 4 Andrew and Nikki describing the dish
Andrew supremeing an orangeAnswering questions and cooking
Nikki cooking the turbot

My autographed Foodbuzz bag Abbie is turning out to be a camera hog. She shows up whenever I'm taking a picture now.

My Flickr Top Chef: The Tour Set
(Thanks to my sister-in-law for coming along and taking a ton of these pictures!)

Top Chef Chicago Finale Part 2

**beware winner revealed**
The end is here, the final episode of Top Chef Season 4: Chicago. The finalists: Richard, Stephanie and Lisa are in San Juan, Puerto Rico awaiting the final challenge. Stephanie mentions once again how she wants to be the first female Top Chef. Richard says he's putting everything on the line. Lisa brings up the fact that she has only won one elimination challenge but is confident she's going to win anyway. The contestants are brought before Padma and three guest chefs: Eric Ripert, April Bloomfield, and Dan Barber. The three guest chefs each have tables in front of then laden with various proteins. Since Stephanie and Richard are tied for the most elimination wins they draw knives to decide who has first pick for the proteins and guest chef to serve as their sous chef. Stephanie wins the knife pull and chooses Ripert. Richard picks Barber and Lisa gets Bloomfield. The chefs are told they are to cook a four course meal for 9 guests and that the final course must be a dessert. There will be 3 hours of prep on the first day and 4 more hours before service the following day.

The chefs and their assistants head to the kitchens. Stephanie plans to show off her style, which she says is balanced cooking. Richard says he wants to marry his classical training with molecular gastronomy. Lisa will focus on the flavors of Thailand and Vietnam. We get footage of Stephanie instructing the four star chef Ripert on how exactly she wants her fish trimmed. Lisa gets along quite well with Bloomfield to every one's surprise. Richard seems a bit unfocused but manages to attract attention when he pulls out liquid nitrogen to make a Tabasco ice cream. The prep time ends and the chefs head home for the evening.

When the finalists arrive the next day, Tom Colicchio is waiting for them with some news. Their sous chefs won't be helping them today. None of the contestants look surprised and they talk about how someone not showing up for work is part of the normal business of restaurants. All around this is an expected catch. Each contestant goes over a rough outline of their dishes. Stephanie has red snapper (1st course), quail with lobster ravioli and quail egg (2nd course), lamb medallions (3rd course) and a ricotta pound cake (dessert). Lisa is making grilled prawns (1st course), tom kha gai soup with dumplings (2nd course), wagyu beef (3rd course) and Thai rice pudding (dessert). Richard has chosen scallops (1st course), guinea hen, foie gras and chicken eggs (2nd course), pork belly (3rd course), and bacon ice cream with his banana "scallop" (dessert). I'm really interested in Stephanie's 2nd and 3rd courses, Lisa's soup and rice pudding, and Richard's 2nd course. I think it's a little strange that Richard is pulling out that banana "scallop" again. Richard is using his liquid nitrogen for the bacon ice cream. He elaborates on how this technique freezes the ice cream so quickly and prevents ice crystals from forming. He should have said it prevents large ice crystals from forming but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt, since who knows how Bravo edits. While I like the ideas behind Lisa's dishes I'm still not convinced she's shown us she can pull it all off perfectly. Stephanie frets about her ricotta cake. Lisa gives her the "you have to be confident" speech. I think we're a little tired of Lisa's "confidence".

The diners arrive. Ripert, Bloomfield and Barber are joined by Padma, Alfredo Ayala and Tim Zagat. Ayala is the chef owner of Delirio restaurant. Zagat is the CEO and co-founder of the company that makes the Zagat Survey guides. The judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Ted Allen make up the final three diners. The finalists enter to talk about their inspiration for the meal. Richard believes his meal is a reflective journey. Lisa mentions her Thai and Vietnamese influences. Stephanie says she tried to keep things simple and clean with multiple proteins on each plate while hitting all of the flavor points. The finalists return to the kitchen and the meal begins.

The 1st courses
Lisa: Grilled prawns with chili basil sauce and crab and a homemade potato chip
Stephanie: Seared red snapper, truffled cream and white asparagus broth with green asparagus salad
Richard: Scallop with mango and pineapple vinaigrette
Diners' comments: The texture of Lisa's dish is great, maybe the spice is too strong. Stephanie's flavors are delicate. Richard's dish needs to be simplified.
My thoughts: Stephanie's dish looks beautiful.

The 2nd courses
Lisa: Tom kha gai soup with dumplings
Stephanie: Seared quail breast over lobster ravioli with mango lobster sauce and quail egg
Richard: Guinea hen breast, sous vide chicken egg, foie gras and spring vegetables
Diners' comments: Lisa's soup was delicious and balanced. They would love to have more. Stephanie's leeks weren't cooked enough. Richard's dish had good complexity but it was hard to distinguish between the components.
My thoughts: The coconut broth for Lisa's soup looks divine. Stephanie's dish seems to have too much going on. Richard's dish seems incredibly rich and I really want to try a sous vide egg.

The 3rd courses
Lisa: Wagyu beef with coriander, garlic, oyster marinade, chayote and cucumber salad, hot sauce and garlic chips
Stephanie: Medallion of lamb with maitake mushrooms, braised pistachios, blackberries and olive tapenade
Richard: Pickled radishes, mirin broth and pork belly
Diner's comments: Lisa's beef wasn't tender enough and the sauce too sweet. The salad was good. Stephanie's lamb surprised and delighted all. Richard's pork belly wasn't seasoned properly and needed to be crisped. The radishes were good.
My thoughts: Lamb with mushrooms sounds good but I would have been very skeptical of the blackberries and olives with it. All soft pork belly doesn't sound appealing.

The dessert courses
Lisa: Black Thai rice pudding with lime and mango creme, crisp taro and caramelized coconut
Stephanie: Ricotta pound cake with tropical fruit and banana creme
Richard: Bacon ice cream with banana "scallop"
Diner's comments: Lisa's pudding was "exciting" and they wanted more. Stephanie's cake was OK but too unrefined. Richard's dessert was good. Tom agrees with me that every ice cream manufacturer is thinking about putting out a bacon ice cream.
My thoughts: The rice pudding looks great and I love the crisp taro and coconut on it. The ricotta cake looks a little sad. Bacon ice cream is overdone and I hate typing the quotation marks on that "scallop". It's just a chunk of caramelized banana!

Dinner is finished and judging begins. The three contestants are brought forth to answer questions and defend their choices. Richard admits to having "choked". From what we've seen all season he could have done better than his performance tonight. Stephanie believes she makes mistakes when she second guesses herself. Her example is the ricotta cake. Lisa is straightforward and believes she gave food that represents herself and the food she likes to cook and eat. The finalists leave and the judges deliberate on who had the best dish for each course. Lisa and Stephanie both get high marks for the first course. Lisa aced the second course, with only a slight nod to Richard. Everyone is still wowed by Stephanie's creative third course. Lisa and Richard both get credit for good desserts. Then shockingly, Bravo does not torture the viewers with any more discussion...Stephanie WINS!!

I loved this episode! It really focused on the food. I'm happy to see Lisa do well, just to see the great ideas she came up with. Her soup and rice pudding both looked great. It was also nice to see her get along with another chef. I was sad to see Richard not at the top of his game but at least he made a solid effort. I loved that Stephanie amazed the guests with her creative lamb dish and the beautiful looking first course.

Stephanie's Winning Dishes: Red Snapper and Asparagus, Seared Quail Breast, Roasted Lamb Medallions, Ricotta Pound Cake

More food TV:
I suffered through my taped copy of the Next Food Network Star this week and it was pretty unmemorable. We didn't even get Lisa in a cute outfit! She was wearing a olive green sack for half the episode. Maybe it'll become interesting enough to write about as the competition thins out.

Top Chef Chicago Finale Part 1

**spoilers ahead**
Puerto Rico at last. The first part of this season's Top Chef finale begins with updates on the four finalists' lives. Stephanie has been travelling in Cambodia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Antonia has been working 100 hour work weeks. Richard has been staying focused. Lisa got a haircut and has invested in a lot of hair product. Bravo emphasises Lisa's outcast status by having her arrive last in the airport reunion and have the other finalists give her that look. This all seems so reminiscent of Marcel's greeting from season 2. Except poor Marcel was the victim. And no, I'm not still bitter Marcel didn't win, why do you ask?

For the quickfire we are introduced to Wilo Benet of Pikayo. Wilo and Padma explain that Puerto Rico has many different types of frituras that are popular served with beer. What no Michelob plug? The contestants are told to make two dishes in 40 minutes. Both dishes will have to contain some plantain. The table before them has both green and ripe plantains. Stephanie remarks that she has worked with plantain before the finale and really didn't love them. I've never had great plantains, they just seem so starchy. Time begins. Lisa runs to pick her proteins while the other chefs pick over the produce table. The finished dishes are presented. Lisa has a confusing "chutney-slaw" which seems to be a random use of two terms. Antonia and Richard lose points for having unpleasant raw plantain flavor and/or texture in their dishes. Lisa and Stephanie both earn praise for their taste but Stephanie's wins with her balanced proportions.

The finalists are then taken to a party where they sample Puerto Rican fare. A whole roast pig is featured. Images of the celebration are shown along with the overly dramatic voice over of the finalists expressing their desire to win. Afterward, the contestants are taken to the governor's mansion for the elimination challenge reveal. Each chef is given a whole pig and set to cook a cocktail party for 100 using parts of the animal in at least two dishes. To aid them, four eliminated chefs from this season are brought out to serve as sous chefs. Stephanie is given the opportunity to assign the sous chefs as reward for her quickfire win. Lisa looks nervous since she's done a decent job pissing people off. Stephanie picks Dale for herself, Spike for Richard, Nikki for Antonia and Andrew for Lisa. The contestants begin to plan their dishes. The finalists are left to the task of breaking down the whole hogs while their sous chefs head to the markets. Richard makes a last minute call to Spike for Malta. He plans to use this sweet, non-alcoholic malt beverage for a rib glaze. This sounds really good! All of the finalists have a pork belly dish planned. Pork belly what you call bacon before it's cured and smoked. So essentially the fattiest part of the pig, yum. The prep time quickly runs out and the finalists and their sous chefs leave for the evening.

The next day the finalists are given five hours to complete their dishes. Soon after arriving Stephanie and Dale discover that their pork belly wasn't in the fridge all night. Dale takes the blame and is clearly upset over ruining the planned dish. Stephanie reacts calmly and pitches the questionable meat. Dale and Stephanie make plans for a pork rind topped salad and something with ground pork. Cooking is completed with only a minimal amount of Lisa complaining. No suspected sabotage during this round. The chefs and their food move out onto the mansion's courtyard and the guests begin to arrive. Padma is going for the goddess look. The judges and guests sample the finalists' food. I'd love to be able to taste Stephanie's coconut braised pork, her satay on sugar cane and Richard's ribs. Both Antonia and Lisa seem to go too literal with their Latin dishes.

Judging commences and Richard and Stephanie are called in as the favorites of the evening. Stephanie's salad with pork rinds and pork satay are praised. Richard is given credit for editing his dishes well and his execution. Richard is named as the favorite of the evening and a brand new Toyota is his prize! Antonia and Lisa enter for their critiques. Antonia admits at first that her beans were undercooked then backtracks and claims she wanted them al dente. The judges question Lisa's decision to follow a stricter Latin theme. The judges deliberate. Antonia is eliminated. Lisa vows that they will not regret the decision. Antonia and Lisa return to the other finalists and let them know the verdict. Lisa snipes at Stephanie and Richard for not congratulating her. They were friends with Antonia and yet Lisa managed to scrape by at the bottom once again. By all means they should be jumping with joy.

Antonia seemed like a good cook but her dishes never interested me like Stephanie's, Richard's, Andrew's or Dale's. At this point I really can't decide who I'd rather have win: Stephanie or Richard. I just want to wait and see who pulls out all the stops for the perfect final meal. Lisa has made an interesting villain but I don't think anyone is fooled into thinking she has quite the same amount of talent at this point in her career as Stephanie and Richard do. We'll have to wait and see.

This weeks winning dishes: "COSTILLAS DE CERDO" Pork Ribs and Pork Belly, BBQ Pork Shoulder, Ham and Beans

Top Chef Chicago High Steaks

***spoiler warning***
When rail was king, Chicago was known as the "Hog Butcher for the World". This week's theme and challenges were made for this Midwest city. The episode begins this week with clips of the contestants mooning over how close they are to the finals. Stephanie is especially excited over the potential for all three finalists being female. Perhaps Stephanie is really excited about the possibility that Richard will slip up and get eliminated? She has to know he's her biggest competition.

The two part quickfire challenge begins at the Allen Brothers butchery. A dry aged rib rack awaits each chef and they are given 20 minutes to carve out 7 tomahawk steaks, a ginormous frenched rib eye. Spike mentions he's part of a butcher's family and whizzes through his carving. When the time is up they return to the Top Chef kitchen and are introduced guest judge Rick Tramonto (beware, obnoxious music plays on his site). Each chef is then given another 30 minutes to cook one of their steaks medium rare. Various methods are employed by the contestants. Antonia finishes her steak in what has to be 2 pounds of butter! Poor Richard bemoans the fact that with only 30 minutes he's not going to be doing his steak sous vide, but pulls out a torch in the end to improve his steak's crust. Tramonto reviews the cooking of each steak as well as the butchery of the uncooked. Richard and Stephanie both under cook their steaks. Antonia's butter bath works in her favor and she receives an honorable mention for the steak's crust. Spike's wise decision to use the oven to finish his steak along with his superior carving earn him the quickfire win. Finishing a steak that thick in the oven treats it more like a roast and allows for more even cooking. It's a smart move on his part.

Padma reveals that the elimination challenge for this week will be to take command of the Tramonto Steak and Seafood restaurant for dinner service. Each contestant will be required to use the supplies at Tramonto to create an appetizer and an entree for a fully packed house. Spike's advantage will be to choose a unique protein for both of his dishes. The contestants go home for the night and are seen chowing down on steak dinners. (I'm hungry.) The next day they head to the restaurant. The interior does look beautiful. Spike makes his pick scallops and the aforementioned tomahawk. The other contestants make their selections and begin prepping for service. Both Richard and Stephanie have chosen sweetbreads and beef tenderloin. Is this a sign they aren't afraid to go head to head? Antonia decides to make an egg and bacon salad for her appetizer and a bone in rib eye for her entree. Lisa makes disparaging remarks over Spike's choice of frozen scallops and picks shrimp and NY strip. When he opens the scallops up, Spike begins to worry and spends time attempting to dry them off. Chef Tom Colicchio looks over the contestants prep and more ominous comments are made about the frozen scallops. He also produces his patented Colicchio flinch when Lisa mentions she's making peanut butter mashed potatoes. I can't blame him, it sounds awful to me. She shrugs it off and claims she knows what she's doing. Colicchio pokes at Richard and wonders if he's playing it too safe. Richard's defense is the restaurant's steak house theme. Further along during prep, Lisa has to bring up "sabotage" again when she gets a little too toasty in front of the wood burning oven. Her whining is generally ignored.

Before dinner service Colicchio announces that he will be expediting this evening and introduces them to their VIP guests. Out pop Harold, Ilan and Hung, the winners of previous seasons of Top Chef. They offer their advice for the competition: be true to yourself (Harold), don't shave any one's head tonight (Ilan) and don't worry about being the fan favorite (Hung). Service begins and each chef is told to create tasting plates for the judges and VIPs. Stephanie and Richard's dishes are enjoyed by all with the sole complaint of Richard's steak cooking being inconsistent. Antonia's salad is well executed but doesn't wow them. Her entree is deemed very rich but good. Lisa's grilled and chilled shrimp come under criticism. She pulls off the peanut butter mashed potatoes but her accompanying steak is flawed. Spike's scallop dish falls flat. He couldn't save the frozen scallops and the dish itself is lacking in texture and flavor. His tomahawk is commended for its execution but the plate itself looks far too spare. Its honeyed sweet potato side is deemed too sweet as well.

The chefs complete their dinner service and leave to go to their last judging in Chicago. Stephanie, Richard and Antonia get positive assessments of their dishes. Both Lisa and Spike have their appetizers critiqued. Spike pushes it a little too far in arguing that if Tramonto had the frozen scallops they shouldn't have been so bad. He has a point but isn't diplomatic enough in the way he brings it up. The contestants are sent back and the judges deliberate. Spike regrets his comments and fiddles a set of worry beads. The contestants are called back in and Stephanie's dishes are both deemed excellent and she takes the win. She receives Tramonto's latest book and a full kitchen of GE Monogram appliances. Even if she doesn't win in the end she has definitely collected some good loot from her various wins! Richard's appetizer is praised and he is in for the finals. Antonia gets her spot for her entree. Finally the choice has to be made and Spike loses his place in the finals to Lisa.

It's off to the finale in Puerto Rico for Stephanie, Richard, Antonia and Lisa! From what I've seen I think Richard and Stephanie are very nearly equal in great ideas, but Stephanie definitely has had more slip ups in execution. Antonia seems like a solid player and deserves her spot but I just don't see the same spark in her. Lisa is my least favorite. I haven't been intrigued by anything she's made all season. In addition she seems like she cooks to please herself not to create pleasure and excitement in others. I find her very much like her antagonist predecessor Tiffani from season one. She does serve to create drama in the show. We'll have to wait and see if there are any surprises in store.

This week's winning dishes: Veal Sweetbreads and Beef Tenderloin with Salsify Puree

Update: I always write my posts before I read other blogs but here's more info I found on the scallops from Hungry Magazine. Turns out Tramonto's not responsible for the scallops, Bravo is.

Top Chef Chicago Restaurant Wars

***spoilers included***
The awaited Restaurant Wars episode is here! I always look forward to this episode because I love seeing teams tackle interesting concepts and possibly bite off more than they can chew. This week's bonus replacement head judge, Anthony Bourdain, was a welcome surprise. Though I don't agree with the harshness of all of his views, his wit is always entertaining.

We begin this week with an early morning wake-up call from chef Collichio. The contestants are told to pack up and head out for breakfast service. They arrive at a local breakfast joint and are told they will each get a turn at the egg station. My 6 year experience as a Big Boy waitress taught me that there isn't a lot of "cooking" going on in most big chains these days. A lot of the food came from a local commissary and required little more than reheating by the cooks. The exception was always eggs. You could tell the skill and talent of the cook by how smoothly they could work the egg station. Salvador and Lupe, if you're out there, I mean you two! The cook's economy of motion and the instinct for egg timing lead to a smooth breakfast service. Antonia and Dale fared best at this challenge. Antonia takes the win for her ability to listen to direction and maintain a calm demeanor.

It's revealed that Antonia will be able to pick her restaurant team as reward for her win. Antonia wisely picks Stephanie and Richard for her team. This puts Spike, Dale and Lisa together for the opposing team. Minus two players, it's a rematch of the wedding wars teams. Antonia's team decides to call their restaurant Warehouse Kitchen (WK) and focus on high end cuisine in a casual environment. Spike, et al. choose the name Mai Buddha (MB) and are headed in an Asian direction. The next morning they head for Whole Foods for the food, Pier One for decor and back to their makeshift restaurants to start cooking. Bourdain arrives and the menus are revealed. I'm interested in the trout dish and the Gorgonzola cheesecake from WK and the laksa, halo-halo and short ribs from MB. Stephanie and Spike will represent their teams as front of the house staff in addition to providing help on a dish or two. Bourdain also reveals that each team will receive the help of an eliminated contestant. MB gets first pick and chooses Jen. WK decides to choose Nikki since they are making fresh linguine. The dining rooms are set up and waiters arrive. Plenty of the expected bickering occurs between Dale and Lisa. The judges arrive and the other guest judge is revealed to be Jose Andres. They visit WK first. There is praise all around, especially for Stephanie's two contributions the linguine and Gorgonzola cheesecake. The judges move on to MB. Ted Allen has a few snide comments about the decor. While the first course's pot stickers are praised Lisa's laksa is criticized heavily for its overpowering smoke. The second course follows the same pattern. Spike's short ribs are given heavy praise while there is nothing but disappointment over the overly sweet butterscotch-miso covered scallops. The final blow comes with the dessert course. The sticky rice fix has not done it's job and the dish is found sorely lacking. Baby vomit comments are thrown around.

It's time for judging and it's no surprise that WK is the winning team. The linguine and cheesecake are praised again and Stephanie is awarded the win. For her win she receives a luxury trip to Spain. MB is called in and their dishes are critiqued. The laksa, scallops and sticky rice are singled out as being the biggest problems. Spike's smart, game play influenced decision to take the front of the house and concern himself with only one dish works to his advantage. His short ribs are praised as the best of their menu. Lisa and Dale argue over culpability but in the end Dale is let go because of his role as the executive chef. Once again I'm sorry to see Lisa avoid elimination. Dale's food over the course of the competition seems much more inspired. He does seem to lack experience and will hopefully continue to improve and have success in life.

Little is revealed about next weeks episode. The question to me is will one of our strong players (Richard, Stephanie or Antonia) fail or will we finally cull Lisa?

This week's winning dishes: FRESH LINGUINE & CLAMS WITH SAUSAGE and GORGONZOLA CHEESECAKE

Top Chef Chicago Serve and Protect

I was mistaken...last night the "next time on Top Chef" revealed the next challenge is Restaurant Wars!! I really was sad thinking they were only going to have a Wedding Wars challenge this season. I can't wait til next week!

We begin with a salad challenge for this week's quickfire. Haven't we heard enough that everyone thinks Sam Talbot is attractive? Bravo thinks not. In spite of the generous 45 minutes given, poor Stephanie forgets a component on her plate. Most of my favorite dishes this season have come from her but she just can't seem to pull it off consistently. Maybe it's just the pressure of the competition? Spike takes the quickfire win with his "Sensual Beef Salad". His over the top description and the messy looking plate didn't impress me but the taste really is the most important part.

The elimination challenge is revealed and the theme is healthy boxed lunches. Each lunch must include one ingredient from each of the four categories: whole grains, lean protein, fruit and vegetables. I love that the focus is low-glycemic index meals that would work for diabetics. My father is a type 2 diabetic and my own weight loss success has come at least in part from making high-carb foods treats only. For his win, Spike gets 10 extra shopping minutes and 4 ingredients that he alone can use. He gleefully announces that he plans on using this advantage to the fullest to screw over his fellow contestants. The chefs go shopping and Spike picks chicken breasts, tomatoes, lettuce, and bread. All are common staples that could really mess up the other chefs plans. Dale goes for lettuce wraps with bison, made with napa cabbage. I really love ground bison for chili and bison chuck for pot roast so I'm more interested in his dish. Andrew lets us know (repeatedly) that he studied nutrition for two years and plans to make a completely raw meal. His parsnip and pine nut "rice" for maki rolls sounds like a terrible idea. A broohaha occurs when Lisa finds her rice turned to high and cries "sabotage". Bravo gives us the vague evidence that Dale had been using the same range and furtive glances from all the rest of the chefs. The contestants pack up their individual meals and head for the police station. The officers are given the choice of meal and if necessary instructions on how to reheat them. Praise is given for most of the meals from the officers. Tom Colicchio prods Andrew's maki roll and looks offended.

In judging, Stephanie's comforting choice of leek and mushroom soup is given high praise for being a dish the cops could relate to but Dale's flavorful bison lettuce cups take the win. Lisa, Spike and Andrew are called as the bottom three. Lisa's undercooked rice and shrimp falls short. Spike's bizarre combination of olive and grape in his chicken salad and his lackluster use of the gameplay influenced lettuce, tomatoes, and bread come under scrutiny. Andrew's dish fails miserably as none of the judges liked it at all. Lisa then complains that she believes she was attacked and attacks right back with a unnecessary reveal the Andrew failed to use a whole grain. Andrew gets pissed. They glare at each other in the stew room and then are called in. Andrew and his raw maki get cut.

Again, I can't wait for next week's Restaurant Wars! In the meantime, I made some really delicious meatball soup of my own and I plan to post the recipe later today.

This week's winning recipe: Lemongrass Mango Bison Lettuce Wraps

Top Chef Chicago Wedding Wars

I'm sad to hear that there will be no restaurant wars this season. Having the teams of chefs work together to create a restaurant concept and try to execute it in such a short amount of time was fun to watch. In comparison, the past wedding themed episodes always filled me with a sense of dread. The quickfire is a welcome favorite from last season, the Relay Race! The mayo, oranges and artichokes I know I could tackle, though maybe not with the speed of the contestants. That monk fish on the other hand, Yikes! With so little usable flesh, frightening visage and messy looking innards I'm glad to not be the one filleting it. On an off note, I never see monk fish sold in SE Michigan. I wonder if I'm not looking hard enough.

The two teams of contestants are set to creating a dueling wedding meal according to the tastes of the bride or the groom. The bride wants meat and potatoes fare while the groom is leaning toward Italian, not incompatible choices for planning a menu. The wedding is pulled off with exhausted contestants and some fairly standard recipes. We see Richard and his team prove they are the much stronger competitors. Stephanie's cake is amazing considering the time given. On the other team, Dale's attempt make sure it all gets done whatever the cost to quality seems foolish. Spike focuses on making sure he has at least one dish done really well, a much smarter approach. Lisa certainly doesn't win points for the look of her cake but is saved by the taste. Nikki fails to step up to the plate and lead despite the Italian theme. As others have said, did we really think she was going to last much longer? This episode was fun enough to watch but left me with few recipes or ideas I feel I need to try. The one exception is Richard's brisket. The recipe sounds like a good one. Though, if you watch the shot of the meat raw you'd see that is no lean brisket and probably had a lot to do with how great is was.

Til next week, Braised Brisket of Beef

Top Chef Chicago Common Threads

My poor baby Alex has had a really crappy week. He's been sick and laying around since Sunday and is only starting to recover a little today after a miserable night last night. Since he's conked out after dismantling and rebuilding his Lego Chum Bucket, I thought I'd write down my thoughts about this week's Top Chef episode.

We begin with an Uncle Ben's rice quickfire challenge. I'm not a fan of microwave bag rice, most of them are pellet-like, greasy, taste terrible and are way over salted. But the contestants are given only 15 minutes for their entree and there aren't many ways to tackle rice in that short a time. At least it's better than the Kraft dressing challenge! I saw that Andrew was making his own wild rice flour and hoped this technique would work. Alas, he couldn't pull it off and his wild rice crusted fish ended up being too crunchy. Antonia wins immunity for her rice salad. I can see how the hard texture and heavy seasoning could work well as a salad accent and the majority of the dish was fresh vegetables.

The elimination challenge is revealed and the theme is the Common Threads organization. The contestants are given $10 to make a healthy meal for a family of four. Worried about cost the contestants fly to the meat counter for chicken, what a disappointment! Why not get the best looking, in season (and therefore usually cheapest) vegetables first and then decide on a small amount of meat to go with them or even forget the meat. I'm getting really tired of people planning meals around "the protein". I also thought it sad that no one picked pork. When making a mostly vegetable dish with meat as a seasoning, pork is as cheap as chicken and the flavor goes a lot further. At least Richard and Andrew pick chicken thighs instead of breasts. Stephanie looks pretty clueless and struggles to decide what to get. This does not bode well. When they get to the Common Grounds kitchen it's revealed that they will be cooking alongside the kids they will feed. I think this is a great idea to have the kids excited about trying the new dishes and help the chefs temper their creations and make them fit a child's palate. They all handle it very well and seem to genuinely try to involve and inspire the kids. I liked that Antonia was using whole wheat noodles and had high hopes for Mark's vegetable curry. Stephanie again seemed bewildered by the whole experience. Everyone gets their dishes done and serves them to the judges and groups of children, including their little sous chefs. I was amused by Andrew's server technique of squatting down to describe the dish. It's such a cliched trick he must have experience waiting tables.

At judges table, Andrew, Antonia and Nikki are called as having the top dishes. Antonia takes the win for her vegetable stir fried noodles. Stephanie, Mark and Lisa are called out as the bottom three. Things look bad for Stephanie and her mushy couscous and frenetic peanut butter and tomato sauce. Mark's "vegetable" curry is criticized heavily for being too sweet and not much more than sweet potatoes. His dish was found the most laking and he's sent home. At the end, we're treated to a glimpse of next week's wedding theme and the possible emotional and physical breakdowns of the contestants. We'll have to wait and see if they can deliver the drama.
This week's winning dish: Stir Fry Whole Wheat Noodles

Top Chef Chicago Improv

The sexual innuendo was flying everywhere this week but in the end the jokes weren't enough to save Jen from being sent home. This week began with a dessert themed quickfire. Ah the bane of the Top Chef contestant, dessert. It seemed that most people had learned from the previous seasons and had some dessert recipe to fall back on. I was pleased that Richard ignored the fear of baking and approached a dessert like I think most "chefs" (as apposed to bakers/pastry chefs) should. You can make a great dessert that doesn't require knowing formulas for baked goods. The uninspired chocolate cakes from several contestants only shows that they can memorize a good cake recipe. Richard's dish of banana scallops with banana guacamole shows that he was trying to bring the most out of a sweeter presentation of the ingredients given. I was happy to see him earn immunity and a spot in the Top Chef cookbook for his dish.

Next, the contestants are given a night on the town and seats at Second City. During the show colors, emotions and foods are chosen in random combinations shouted out by the crowd. The contestants are then told that these combinations will be the inspirations for a five course meal to be served the next night. The contestants pair up and choose their improved categories. The next day they go shopping. There is some complaining on the part of Lisa and Antonia about not wanting to use their improved ingredient, polish sausage, and so they swap in chorizo. Snotty comments about polish sausage fly. A few little twists are added in the Top Chef kitchen and they end up serving their dishes back at their own house. The squash soup starter goes over well and then comes the yuk it up phallic asparagus plate. This plate looks like such a mess I though Erik had snuck back in! The toasted, orange goat's cheese looks and sounds like it would be great with the asparagus but the plate is just too messy with too many things on it. The dishes of chorizo (Polish sausage stand in) with sea bass and pork loin with bacon look good, but not winning awesome. The wow-factor dish of the night is Richard and Dale's beef fat marinaded tofu with green curry. Not only does this sound awesome (beef fat, tofu, Thai curry, fried eggplant, yum!!) but it pulled in their emotion, perplexed, wonderfully. Everyone seems to enjoy the food.

In judging, the squash soup and tofu dishes come out on top with the tofu taking the win for the evening. The lower scoring teams end up being Stephanie and Jen for the asparagus and Lisa and Antonia for the chorizo/sea bass. Lisa really defends her Polish sausage hatred and in the end Jen is let go for the asparagus dish. Lisa is clearly on the outs with the fans from what I've read online and I have to agree. She seems to argue and complain and generally not enjoy herself. We'll see if she can improve her mood next week when all the chefs get to cook with kids. I'll have to see if Alex will want to watch this one. He watched Ratatouille this week and had to cook for us that evening. He's just like his mom though, he hates following a recipe.
This weeks winning dish: TOFU STEAK MARINATED IN BEEF FAT

Top Chef Chicago Tailgating

This week was all about "the common man". For the quickfire, the contestants had to choose a beer and pair it with a dish. I'm only an occasional drinker of wine or beer, but I really like Killian's Irish Red. I've recently been trying some local brews but I go through a six pack so slowly I haven't tried many. Any suggestions for a Midwest version of Killian's are very welcome, or steer me in a new direction. I was thrilled to see Stephanie in the top group again, since I'm really becoming fond of her cooking. Her mussels sounded the best out of all the dishes. Jen wins immunity for her shrimp and scallop beignets. They sound yummy but to quote Padma, "I could deep fry my big toe and it would taste good." It was appropriate for the challenge though. Am I going to turn into a bitter Team Stephanie fan?

Moving on to the elimination round, the contestants are given $350 to feed 80 tailgaters at a Bear's game. Other than figure skating, I'm just not a sports fan. I spent five years at the University of Michigan and didn't go to a single game, football or otherwise. So I don't have any tailgating experience but I do love grilled food. I was particularly interested in Richard's "Pate Melt" made with pork and veal. And even though I don't like warm bananas, the idea of making them part of a jerk chicken sandwich appeals to me. According to the judges, Antonia missed out by placing the bananas to the side and not on her sandwich. In the bottom three were messy Mark, a clueless Ryan and a poor planning Nikki. It was a surprise decision to send Ryan home for not following the spirit of the challenge and not performing up to par. I really think that Nikki's lack of effort and forethought should have at least made it a difficult decision. Who can tell when you aren't there to taste everything?
The winning dish this week: Tandori Pork Ribs
Which very bizarrely has a url link with the wording "brussels_sprout_zucchini_stirfry.php" What's that about?

Top Chef Chicago The Elements

Another episode, another chef that didn't make the cut. I had high hopes for this week's show. I really liked Ming Tsai back in his East Meets West days. I've watched his Fine Living show, Ming's Quest, and Simply Ming on PBS but neither really caught my interest. Most importantly, I find him admirable for agreeing to be a spokesperson for FAAN and for his efforts to make his restaurant, Blue Ginger, allergy friendly. Apparently, he has a child with food allergies. I can only imagine and compare his experience with my own. I was so excited about having a child and being the one to expose them to the world of food. As things turned out, it may very well be that my son will never be able to taste my favorite 3 year-old aged gouda or have a steak topped with buerre blanc. There was definitely a mourning period for me in regards to that and there was also the fear of feeding him to deal with. I can only think that as a chef he would have felt similarly. I've reconciled myself with trying to make the best quality food I can for Alex and be on the constant lookout for new things he can have safely.

Anyway...this weeks episode starts with a blindfolded taste test to see if the contestants can determine which is the "quality" ingredient. Fun for those playing, a little dull for the viewer, but it's a worthwhile quickfire to give those with discerning palates an advantage. The elimination challenge had four teams cook with the four elements as inspiration. I think the decision to eliminate Zoi because of her poorly seasoned mushrooms instead of Richard for his scaly, mushy looking fish was a little suspect. But, she has been in the bottom position before and possibly that pushed the judges her way. Richard on the other hand has been hovering in the top.

In my season opener post, I forgot another source of amusing Top Chef extras that I've enjoyed during previous seasons: Chow's podcast exit interviews! If you followed the previous seasons and haven't listened to these pod casts please do. I particularly loved listening to Michael from season two, but they are all worth listening to.
This week's winning dish: GRILLED SHRIMP WITH PICKLED CHILI SALAD (mmm, miso glazed bacon *drool*)

Top Chef Chicago Film Food

The quickfire this week seemed like a great showcase of the chefs' skills but the show editing didn't give us enough close up food shots for it to be worth it to the viewer. I would have loved to have a closer look at Dale's avocado rolls. Seeing him slice the avocado was impressive. And I would have been interested in know more about different components on Richard's plate. But alas the editors denied us our food porn and hurried through. Then came the film inspired meal. Usually just the thought of tapioca pudding makes me gag (sorry dad, I know you love it) but for some reason Andrew's mushroom/balsamic/soy tapioca with the seared salmon sounds awesome. I think it may have been a stroke of luck that broke poor Richard's smoker. I can just see the judges complaining that like Marcel's foams we really don't need every dish covered in plastic wrap and filled with smoke. During the judging, I think Zoi was full of sour grapes with her repeated complaints about what the judges are looking for. I trust Tom Colicchio and Daniel Boulud to call out a poor choice in flavor combination. Would I have put wasabi in white chocolate and served it with smoked salmon? No, but clearly the dish worked. Judging from her bloodshot eyes I think she may have been terribly upset and worried about being sent home (or maybe stuck in a room too long with free Bud Lights?) Stephanie's food is once again what I'd love to be able to taste. My mouth watered thinking about her NY Strip Steak, Braised Short Rib & Apple Potsticker with Caramel Sauce This is definitely a labor intensive dish though, not one I think I'd attempt anytime soon. My mind is spinning trying to think of a way to combine those flavors (beef, apple, caramel) in more simple preparation.
This week's winning dish: SMOKED SALMON WITH FAUX CAVIAR

Top Chef Chicago Block Party

Once again Alex has brought home some nasty cold from school and I caught it. I haven't been able to taste anything all week and it's making me miserable. I made a huge pot of chicken soup today and loaded it with garlic. I hope the fact that I could smell the garlic slightly on my hands this evening is a good sign.

I only just got around to watching this week's episode of Top Chef. While there wasn't a lot of interesting dishes it was a decent episode. I was surprised at how many of the contestants didn't bother listening to the quickfire directions. Erik once again had a plate that looked like a disaster. His souffle plate, from the season opener, was a mess but this "fine dining" taco was even worse! He couldn't possibly have thought that plate looked professional. The Kraft product placement was tedious and annoying during their ingredient hunt. Don't forget the spicy ranch dressing and KC Masterpiece! By all means they would be lost without those valuable ingredients. I was truly glad that Stephanie won this week for her fruit crumble. Keeping the cinnamon dusted fried won tons separate was good planning and the whole dish sounds wonderful. I do think it was fair to let Erik go for not thinking ahead and changing his plan to make corn dogs. There had to have been something else they could have done with those hot dogs that would have held up against their transport time. They could have just dressed the plain dogs with some awesome toppings and wowed the judges that way. It was a bad call on his part. Next week looks interesting. There's a film theme and I hope it will be matching dishes to movies. In the meantime here's Stephanie's winning dish:
MIXED FRUIT WITH OATMEAL-PINE NUT CRUMBLE

Sunshine Chicken Thighs

Top Chef was fairly uninteresting last night. I was really disappointed that the gorilla team the vegetarian animal as their theme didn't even bother to make all vegetarian fare. Why not rise to the occasion? At least it seemed as though the worst dish was voted out: Black Olive Blinis with Mascarpone and Rutabaga?? That just sounds awful and apparently they were cold as well. The only dish that piqued my interest this week was Mark's: MARINATED ANCHOVY ON A QUINOA CROQUETTE The recipe seems incomplete but has a nice picture of the plate. I'll admit to having a fear of small fish. I like them and would like to eat more of them but I have no idea what to do with them at home.
What I have been cooking at home lately is this turmeric-lemon chicken. I always thought of turmeric as just a spice for coloring but it has a pungent-bitter flavor of it's own that I think is wonderful with lemon. The tumeric gives the chicken a vivid yellow color as well. Here's the recipe:

Sunshine Chicken Thighs
This recipe also works with other cut-up chicken on the bone but is best with thighs.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 - 1 1/2 pound of chicken thighs, with skin and bone
1 lemon,
4 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
Directions
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
-Peel the garlic cloves place in a roasting pan with the chicken thighs (chicken should be in one layer). Slice the lemon into 4 slices. Squeeze the lemons on top of the chicken and then place the squeezed lemons into the roasting pan. Sprinkle on the spices and salt and drizzle on the oil. Rub the spices into the chicken.
-Place the roasting pan into the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
-Remove the roasting pan and baste the chicken with the drippings.
-Place the pan back in the oven and increase the heat to 425 degrees. Roast for another 25-30 minutes until tender and golden brown.
-Optional: Smash the roasted garlic cloves into the pan drippings and drizzle over the finished chicken.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/45198/sunshine-chicken-thighs.html

Top Chef Chicago Episode 1

I'll admit it: Top Chef is shameless "reality" TV, but I can't help watching the new episodes anyway. I won't waste time writing recaps, there are better sites already out there doing that. I particularly love Television without Pity's Keckler and the Bravo TV Blogs. Harold and Anothony Bourdain are always worth reading on Bravo. Occasionally, I'll read Blogging Top Chef or Amuse-Biatch, too.
My thoughts on the season 4 opener are: I love that they get lockers and can bring some of their own ingredients. It makes so much more sense when they are all competing with different cooking styles to make sure they have crucial elements of their personal style. The idea of having pairs to compare for the first elimination challenge instead of trying to compare that many dishes all against each other was decent. I liked that the winner triumphed despite her nerves. Did Andrew seriously say he didn't know how to make mayonnaise? I thought his competitor, Richard?, was trying to even the playing field by offering up his bottled mayo. Bottled mayo vs. freshly made? But Richard's dish was picked as better anyway. I'm most interested in seeing more of Stephanie and maybe Mark (tho the Marmite use may have been just a gimmick). Stephanie's spring rolls sound great but I can't see myself springing for demi-glace to cook the legs. Maybe substituting already confited legs would be good?

The winning recipe this week: DUCK BREAST & DUCK SPRING ROLLS