Top Chef – Recap & Review – Higher Steaks

photo: bravo

Top Chef
Higher Steaks

Original Air Date: Dec 7, 2011

Ryan O – Two Cents Senior Reviewer
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com

Steak! It’s what’s for dinner! And, it’s what’s for the Elimination Challenge! Oh, wow, that was weak, right? Moving on. The cheftestants are back on one team again and making steak for the cattle baron’s ball.

Oh, and I know you’re wondering: Yes, Chris J continues to wear his hair like a total dillhole.

Quickfire

In the kitchen with Padma is Dean Fearing, a James Beard-winner and restaurant owner. The cheftestants draw knives which have one of the five mother sauces: bechamel, veloute, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomate.

They have to make a dish that personalizes their sauce.

Here’s what 10 of the 13 chesftestants made (and the sauce they had to use):

Chris C (veloute): Halibut over mussles, andouille, mushrooms, and veloute
Edward (bechamel): Cauliflower milk bechamel with poached red snapper, crab, and fried oyster
Grayson (hollandaise): Scallop, charred corn sauce, corn raviloi, and blueberry balsamic reduction
Paul (espganole): Quail with pickled and roasted mushrooms, garlic scapes, and okra
Whitney (tomate): Poached shrimp, fennel pilau, sauteed okra, and pancetta
Heather (bechamel): Gruyere croquette, apple and giner compote, and Asian slaw
Beverly (espagnole): Crab maki roll with rib eye, charred shallots, peppercorn, sake, and red wine
Dakota (bechamel): Peach infused bechamel, seared scallop, truffle, and lemon crab
Ty-Lor (hollandaise): Hollandaise with lemongrass and citrus zest, ahi tuna, and baby bok choy
Nyesha (tomate): Tomate sauce with coconut ras el hanout and braised lentils

Bottom 3
Dakota: use of peach was overdone
Nyesha: too many flavors made it muddled
Beverly: there was more corriander wasabi sauce on the plate than her espagnole

Top 3
Grayson: Loved the ravioli
Chris C: loved the flavor combinations and that he added the poaching liquid back to the sauce
Paul: Quail and mushrooms with the okra and pickling was very good

Grayson wins!

Elimination Challenge

They’re working as one team to create a four-course dinner for 200 guests. Steak must be in two of the four courses for the cattle baron’s ball. They’re cooking at Southfork Ranch of Dallas fame. Oh, and the winner gets a new car.

The courses are Soup, Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert.

Edward is annoyed Heather is making the same cake she made for the quinceanera challenge. Yeah, I’d be a bit annoyed, too. He’s also annoyed because it’s his basic recipe.

Ty-Lor cuts his hand and has to go the hospital for stitches. He comes back the next day, tired, but committed to getting the steaks done.

Hilariously, the show did not get the rights to the Dallas theme so that when they drive up to Southfork, they have to play something that sounds vaguely like the theme but clearly isn’t.

Heather is pissed that Beverly is doing just the shrimp and taking forever to do them.

Whoa, the American Cancer Society is the beneficiary of fundraising at the ball. That’s just weird since there are so many links between the frequent consumption of red meat and a variety of cancers. It seems almost as if the American Cancer Society is endorsing red meat by being there.

Here’s what they made:
Sarah, Dakota, Beverly: Tomato-watermelon gazpacho, poached shrimp and avocado mousse

Tom likes it and thinks it’s properly seasoned but thinks they’re playing it a bit safe. Hugh think it’s a bit more acidic than he expected but it’s still very good.

Paul, Ed, Chris J: New York strip steak carpaccio, heirloom tomato salad, vinaigrette, and mushroom “bacon”

Tom says there’s no point of view in the dish. Hugh says he would’ve peeled the tomatoes since they had so much time and so many people working on the dish.

There’s a lot of angst about when to start put the steaks in the oven. They might’ve gone in too early and it might be Lindsay’s fault.

Nyesha, Ty, Whitney, Chris C: Grilled rib eye, creamy potato gratin, braised greens and compound butter

Dean has a problem that not all of the steaks are medium-rare. Hugh thinks they’re a bit messy. Tom and Dean think the gratin isn’t cooked. Tom and Dean like Nyesha’s compound butter and sauce for the steak.

Lindsay, Grayson, Heather: “Right side up” Texas peach cake, peach salad, and candied pecan streusel

Tom thinks that Heather’s cake is delicious. Hugh thinks the cake should be a bit sweeter.

Top 3

Heather, Nyesha, and Chris J, whose hair still looks stupid.

They thought that Chris’s steak carpaccio was well-cooked, Heather’s cake was light and moist, and Nyesha’s compound butter and sauce saved an otherwise unremarkable dish.

Heather wins. She gets the new car. Edward is annoyed because it was his recipe.

Bottom 3

Ty, Whitney and Edward.

Ty takes responsibility for the steaks, many of which were not medium-rare. Some of the gratin wasn’t cooked — at all. Whitney doesn’t have anything to say about that. Edward takes criticism for playing it safe with his tomatoes and roasted asparagus salad on the steak carapccio.

Whitney is sent home. Or actually is sent to …

Last Chance Kitchen

Whitney vs. Chuy, who beat Keith last week.

They draw knives — Chuy gets ostrich and Whitney gets elk. They have 30 minutes to create a hamburger from those meats.

Chuy: Ostrich and ground pork burger with Fresno chili aioli and onion straws

Whitney: Elk and pork sausage burger, shallot and garlic, egg sunny-side up

Keith, Richie, and Andrew, the previous cheftestants who lost in the Last Chance Kitchen are there, giving comments and cheering for both chefs.

Tom really liked both burgers but he picks Whitney’s burger as being slightly better. She’ll be facing next week’s eliminated cheftestant and Chuy will go home.

What did you find to be tasty in this episode? Did you think anything was overdone? Give us your Two Cents below!