300 replies to this topic

[annabelle]

Does anyone else think that scallops and shrimp are the most overused ingredients? If the contestants are not forced to pick a specific kind of protein I feel it's endless variations of shrimp and scallops. I know they have limited time but how about some lamb chops or chicken thighs or fish or anything besides shrimp and scallops. I like both but I'm developing an overexposure aversion just by watching the show. I can't imagine how Padma and Tom feel.

What gets me about the chefs is that they seem to have a hard time changing gears. If there are no lamb chops, scallops, wagyu beef available they freeze up and start whinging about how Chef B took all of "their" shrimp.

I'm just a homecook and I can switch it up on the fly when I'm unexpectedly out of something integral to the dish and make something else without making a trip to the market or bemoaning the lack of ingredient to my household.

And, frankly, I'm starting to get a shellfish allergy by osmosis or whatever the television version of that would be. And since when did cerivche and crudo start to qualify as "cooking"? Chef Sam in Season 2 got the boot for "not cooking anything" (said by Tom C.)when he served a ceviche going into the final three or four, I've forgotten which.

[David Ross]

What gets me about the chefs is that they seem to have a hard time changing gears. If there are no lamb chops, scallops, wagyu beef available they freeze up and start whinging about how Chef B took all of "their" shrimp.

I'm just a homecook and I can switch it up on the fly when I'm unexpectedly out of something integral to the dish and make something else without making a trip to the market or bemoaning the lack of ingredient to my household.

And, frankly, I'm starting to get a shellfish allergy by osmosis or whatever the television version of that would be. And since when did cerivche and crudo start to qualify as "cooking"? Chef Sam in Season 2 got the boot for "not cooking anything" (said by Tom C.)when he served a ceviche going into the final three or four, I've forgotten which.

I couldn't agree more with you. What's surprising, almost stunning, is that the Chef's don't get it--aka, "changing gears." I am so over seeing a seared dayboat scallop. While it may taste delicious, is that really innovative or creative? Is that the dish that will win you the title of Top Chef? Paul got it right with an innovative take on a maligned vegetable, "Fried Brussels Sprouts with Grilled Prosciutto." And he cooked something.

[Florida]

I'm beginning to think some of you take this show much too seriously.

[David Ross]

I'm beginning to think some of you take this show much too seriously.

Tragically, some of the Cheftestants don't take the show as seriously as we do.

[chezcherie]

What was on the judge's table--broken glass? Spilled ice? I found it so distracting, I had to replay the segment twice to get the gist of their comments. Kept wondering what the set design team was thinking?

[David Ross]

What was on the judge's table--broken glass? Spilled ice? I found it so distracting, I had to replay the segment twice to get the gist of their comments. Kept wondering what the set design team was thinking?

I thought the same thing. Maybe it was a metaphor for the "shattered" dreams of Chefs who presented an awful mess.

In my years of cooking steaks I've never heard of the "triple-sear" method. They started with rubbery -looking ribeyes that were cut too thin, then they mucked it up with that oddball cooking method-sear on a barbecue, (with a fire that was too hot and needed dousing with bottled drinking water), chuck the steaks in a vat of bloody water, re-sear on an indoor grill then mace the devils in the oven. No wonder Fearing got a medium-well steak.

And speaking of Fearing, he had that sh**-eating grin on his face when he chastised the Chefs with his biting criticism. Sort of "I'm smiling. I'm making you think your dish was great. It sucked, but I'm still smiling at you." I loved it.

[GordonCooks]

Looking forward to Mean heather getting thrown under the bus.

[David Ross]

Looking forward to Mean heather getting thrown under the bus.

How many more cakes does she plan to bake?

[Jaymes]

Looking forward to Mean heather getting thrown under the bus.

How many more cakes does she plan to bake?

I think maybe I need that recipe.

[gfweb]

And speaking of Fearing, he had that sh**-eating grin on his face when he chastised the Chefs with his biting criticism. Sort of "I'm smiling. I'm making you think your dish was great. It sucked, but I'm still smiling at you." I loved it.

Very Texan trait.

[Jaymes]

And speaking of Fearing, he had that sh**-eating grin on his face when he chastised the Chefs with his biting criticism. Sort of "I'm smiling. I'm making you think your dish was great. It sucked, but I'm still smiling at you." I loved it.

Very Texan trait.

Damn straight.

Bless his heart.

[Jaymes]

Looking forward to Mean heather getting thrown under the bus.

I get the feeling they might be moving the bus into position.

They keep showing Heather complaining about, well, everybody, but particularly Beverly. And in the previews for next week, didn't they show Beverly teamed with her?

[annabelle]

Yes they did. Or it was misleading editing. I keep waiting for Beverley to go all Jackie Chan on Heather. It'll never happen, of course.

How is that Heather can win by baking the same cake that she baked for the Quincinera challenge? And if she was so worried about the damned watermelon pickles, why didn't she work on them herself instead of standing around ragging on Beverley? All I can say is it's a good thing I'm not on this show. Where was the other chubby blonde, the one from Houston? She should have taken Heather's wrist and looked her in the eye and said, "Heather, darlin'. Remember yourself." That was always enough for me to know I was going to far when Mama did that.

[GordonCooks]

Hell hath no fury like a Mad Korean woman...just ask my mom ;)

[Shalmanese]

What was on the judge's table--broken glass? Spilled ice? I found it so distracting, I had to replay the segment twice to get the gist of their comments. Kept wondering what the set design team was thinking?

I thought the same thing. Maybe it was a metaphor for the "shattered" dreams of Chefs who presented an awful mess.

In my years of cooking steaks I've never heard of the "triple-sear" method. They started with rubbery -looking ribeyes that were cut too thin, then they mucked it up with that oddball cooking method-sear on a barbecue, (with a fire that was too hot and needed dousing with bottled drinking water), chuck the steaks in a vat of bloody water, re-sear on an indoor grill then mace the devils in the oven. No wonder Fearing got a medium-well steak.

And speaking of Fearing, he had that sh**-eating grin on his face when he chastised the Chefs with his biting criticism. Sort of "I'm smiling. I'm making you think your dish was great. It sucked, but I'm still smiling at you." I loved it.

The triple seared steaks were mentioned on the top for being perfectly cooked. The conventionally seared steaks were on the bottom for a lack of consistency (and also cooked on the too hot fire). The method makes sense, it's a great way to develop a lot of complimentary maillard flavors and the rapid cooking and cooling allows for more time on the grill without the interior overcooking.

Also, this seems completely basic but why the hell wouldn't you triple and quadruple check the judges plates to make sure that every single one of them was perfectly on point? Screw it if the diners get overcooked or undercooked food, the judges should get the 4 out of the 200 where not a mistake was made.

It baffles me that the judges plates could be so inconsistent, some steaks were overdone, others were underdone, some gratin was cooked through, others were raw which meant they must of come from completely different sheet trays. Maybe one of the requirements that wasn't shown was that judges would get plates at random chosen by the producers. Otherwise, I can't imagine how that could have happened.

Also, why did nobody think to sous vide the steaks? Once they said 200 steaks, all perfectly medium rare, I was thinking, wow, this was kind of a gimme for sous vide. With 200 steaks, you don't even need to bag them, you could just cook them all in a oil or butter bath the day before, chill them and then just mark them off on the grill before service.

[annabelle]

What was on the judge's table--broken glass? Spilled ice? I found it so distracting, I had to replay the segment twice to get the gist of their comments. Kept wondering what the set design team was thinking?

My son and I were speculating that Padma may have started hitting the booze again and broke her glass. She used to get pretty hammered before and they would sort of edit around her slurring it up "Pleash pack your knivesh an' go!" *hic*

[pastrygirl]

What was on the judge's table--broken glass? Spilled ice? I found it so distracting, I had to replay the segment twice to get the gist of their comments. Kept wondering what the set design team was thinking?

I thought it was confetti. Weren't they still at the party venue?

[jsmeeker]

I guess they didn't build a "Top Chef Kitchen" any place in Dallas. I'm glad we got a good local Dallas chef on the show, Dean Fearing is arguably the most well known Dallas chef. Overall, this season is very "meh" to me. It's seems like too much "Top Caterer" once again.

[David Ross]

I still don't get, nor do I buy, "par" cooking steaks then re-heating them on a grill or any other manner of secondary cooking at a later time.

I remember a few years back going on a tour of a kitchen at one of Seattle's "top" fine dining restaurants owned by a well-known Chef. To my horror, there was a baker's rack with skads of "pre-cooked" ribeyes waiting for orders to come in whereby the Chefs would finish them on the grill. While I personally can't understand why anyone would do that, I suppose in some minds it makes sense when you are catering a Cattleman's Ball for 200. But at a restaurant where steaks should be cooked-to-order? Never. That changed my perspective on that particular kitchen and I'd never order a steak at that place again.

[heidih]

I still don't get, nor do I buy, "par" cooking steaks then re-heating them on a grill or any other manner of secondary cooking at a later time.

I saw that on Chef Hunter last night. The alleged reason was to speed up service. The critique, other than the taste issue, was the food cost/waste when you do not get as many orders as you pre-prepped.

[Holly Moore]

What are chefs doing serving 1/2" thick steaks anyway? Especially in Texas? Extra-especially to Cattlemen?

[Shelby]

What are chefs doing serving 1/2" thick steaks anyway? Especially in Texas? Extra-especially to Cattlemen?

OMG BIT ditto here from Kansas. Seriously, were they even 1/2" thick????

Them ain't cattle country steaks for sure.

[David Ross]

The method, the puny, thin steaks, the gristle and fat I saw, and the posed people in the audience all made me skeptical of who these "Cattlemen" were. I come from a cattle ranching heritage that goes back over 150 years and we'd never cut meat like that nor would we sacrifice it the way the Chefs did. Awful. Just awful.

[David Ross]

How many more episodes of "Heather Hell" do we have to slog through? If she worked in any restaurant kitchen I owned, she'd probably only last through the fish course. One hopes she isn't as rude and obnoxious in "real life" as she's been on Top Chef.

[Jaymes]

How many more episodes of "Heather Hell" do we have to slog through? If she worked in any restaurant kitchen I owned, she'd probably only last through the fish course. One hopes she isn't as rude and obnoxious in "real life" as she's been on Top Chef.

I suspect she likely would have gone on the last episode, but that would have meant Bev going home, too. Not sure that would have set well with the viewers.

[annabelle]

Okay, so I rewatched last week's episode before watching this week's show. Somehow I missed it that The Cake that Heather Baked was Asian Chef Whose name I can't remember's recipe and that she borrowed it not once, but twice! How is this fair? How does she have the brass to get on her high horse at Judges's Table about Beverley and the shrimp from last week when she has twice baked something that is not even her own recipe or concept?

I really didn't want to see Chef Nyesha go. Since the judges seem to make the rules up as they go along, I think they should have sent home Samurai Chris from Moto and Heather. Pick the two obvious trouble makers and PYKAG.

I mean, Chris made that disgusting cigar thing and now almost blew it for Grayson with his gimmicky sweet potato chain that wasn't. Heather obviously doesn't play well with others. Dakota and Nyesha should have gotten a pass for the bleu elk(?), since they otherwise had a cohesive dish.

I'm reaching the end of my patience with this show. So many missed opportunities and drama.

[David Ross]

Well, keep your cowboy boots on because I suspect Heather may be around a while. When Padma made a comment at the Judges Table about the strain between Heather and Bev, Collichio shut her up pretty quick with a biting comment to the effect that "we don't care about that stuff," (lack of teamwork, unprofessional behavior in the kitchen, being a wretched witch to work with). In other words, Tom apparently doesn't care if cooks act like Heather as long as they can cook.

[annabelle]

I've resigned myself to her being around until the bitter end, Dave, getting more strident and smug as we go. I can oonly hope that she makes it to the finale only to fail spectacularly. If Tom truly "doesn't care about that stuff", then I can only imagine the turnover at his restaurants.

Where's Eric Ripert when I need him? He and Hubert Keller can sit on opposite sides of Tom and Padma and bring some sense to the judging. Plus, they can talk to each other in rapid French so Tom can't keep up, just to be mean.

[hsm]

While Heather is getting the bitch edit, apparently, Tom's not anticipating hearing about her holding Bev down while yelling at someone to shave Bev's head.

[gingerpeachy]

Can anyone give an update of what's going on at Last Chance Kitchen? We can't watch it in Canada.