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Top Chef: Texas

David Ross

By David Ross
in Food Media & Arts

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Jaymes

Jaymes

Posted
Posted

And speaking of Fearing, he had that sh**-eating :shock: 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.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Jaymes

Jaymes

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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?

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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annabelle

annabelle

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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.

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Shalmanese

Shalmanese

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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 :shock: 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.

PS: I am a guy.

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annabelle

annabelle

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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*

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

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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?

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jsmeeker

jsmeeker

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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.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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David Ross

David Ross

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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.

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

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heidih

heidih

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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.

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Shelby

Shelby

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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.

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David Ross

David Ross

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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

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

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David Ross

David Ross

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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.

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

Host, eG Cook-Off's, https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

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Jaymes

Jaymes

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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.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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annabelle

annabelle

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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.

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David Ross

David Ross

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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.

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

Host, eG Cook-Off's, https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

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annabelle

annabelle

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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.

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

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It's interesting that they are allowing the eliminated chefs to be seated ringside in Last Chance Kitchen. They have been very helpful to the contestants.

I also think it's cool that the chefs in the show aren't aware of the existence of the Last Chance competition. Too bad this is the only season that this will be the case.

Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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