Top Chef - Way Too Long...Just Like This Post

Well, here we are again. It seems like just yesterday when I was dissing Lisa and drooling over Dale.

Here’s a test. Okay, quick, tell me who won last season. I actually kind of forgot, until I watched the last few minutes of last season’s finale.

On to the new season... Oh gosh, there are SEVENTEEN of these folks. That’s way too many. Weren’t there only 16 to begin with last season? That was already onerous. 17 is even worse.

They’re in New York this season and, apparently, one of them wore a bikini in her audition video.

OMG. The credits alone with all their names (Alex, Ariane, Carla, Danny, Fabio, Gene, Hosea, Jamie, Jeff, Jill, Lauren, Leah, Melissa,
Patrick, Radhika, Richard, Stefan) take 5 minutes. We see Whole Foods Market and Grand Central Station.

These are the ones I like:
Eugene, born in Hawaii, is kind of tough. He didn’t go to culinary school, which seems to give him a bit of a chip on his shoulder. But I don’t care, I like him. (He reminds me of Dale, my early pick last season).

Lauren, chef in a Savannah steak house, seems lovely. She has a military husband, who is currently deployed in Iraq.

Ariane, owner and chef in a NJ restaurant. I just hope she doesn’t play the Mom card too much. It looks like she has enough other stuff going for her that she doesn’t need to.

Daniel - Long Island chef who says he’s been under the radar for too long. I’m not sure why, but I like him.

I don’t like:
Jeff – Sweet, but a little white bread kind of dull. He looks pale and he has an unnatural relationship with his hair.

Stefan – I can’t understand a word Stefan is saying. I know this isn’t Shakespeare, but it took me three rewinds to figure out he was born in Finland (I think).

They’re on a ferry to Governor’s Island. They arrive. Padma and Tom are there. Padma YELLS out her intro. Really, we can hear you! Tom: There are no prizes for second place here. Yeah, except the exposure in front of millions, okay thousands, of viewers, which doesn’t hurt in the restaurant business or, actually, any business.

First Quickfire:
They’re getting rid of one of them almost immediately. Huh? They have to peel 15 apples with a knife. Is that really such a big deal?

The first nine contestants do fine and are safe. Richard (I think) cut his thumb, but keeps going. Stefan is immune from the next challenge.

The next 8 go on to the next challenge. They have to cut 2 cups of apples into a brunoise. The losing four will have ANOTHER challenge. My fav Eugene is safe and some bearded guy is real fast and safe as well.

There are 4 remaining chefs, including Lauren (with the soldier husband), who have to cook a dish in 20 minutes. The chef with the worst dish will go home. Since I don’t know these folks, I don’t really care, to be honest, but I like Lauren. There’s a culinary student there too, Patrick, who thinks he can make it with these other experienced chefs.

Lauren makes a spinach salad. Patrick, the student, makes apple slaw with yogurt dressing, mint, cinnamon and honey. Yuck! Radhika makes pan-seared pork with apple chutney, raisins and chili powder. That sounds really good. Leah, from New York, does seared scallops.

My prediction: Either Leah or Patrick will go home. They probably want to keep the kid around for a bit longer just to humiliate him, so I’m guessing Leah.

WAIT, I’ve forgotten the cardinal rule of reality television. The person that has the most airtime is the one going home. So that would be Radhika or Lauren. NOW I don’t know who to pick. I’m still saying Leah, but I may be wrong.

Oh gosh, Tom said he really like Leah’s dish and Radhika’s dish too. That leaves Lauren and Patrick. I AM THE WORST GUESSER. (You should see how bad I am on House Hunters.)

Patrick’s dish looked the worst to me… Let’s see. I give up…Oh this interesting, Lauren and Patrick knew each other in culinary school. Then why is Patrick still in school? I guess he started later.

Tom, don’t send Leah home, she needs to keep her mind off her husband in Iraq… Commercial...OF COURSE!

Patrick stays! Lauren is going home. That stinks. Now we know for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that the most highlighted person goes home. (Didn’t I learn anything from last season?)

Lauren doesn’t even get to see the kitchen. That’s a bit brutal and pointless. WHAT was the point of that? Seriously I’m PO’ed. That was MEAN for the sake of being mean.

The chefs pick knives that have different areas of New York on them. Each pair has to design dishes inspired by that area.

They arrive at a gorgeous apartment with a magnificent view. There are 3 gay chefs that seem to care a lot that we know they’re gay. There are 2 chefs with very thick accents - Stefan and Fabio.

Here are the teams of two and the areas they go to. There will be a winner and a loser in each team.

Richard and Jamie
Astoria / Greek Cuisine
Why do we care that they’re gay? I’m more interested in the fact that Jamie has millions of tattoos.

Hosea and Carla
Brighton Beach / Russian
Carla uses the word yummy a lot and wants to be led by her spirit gods. Okay, she’s ripe for a fall.

Ariane and Stefan
Long Island City / Middle Eastern
Ariane isn’t that confident, because she knows nothing about Middle Eastern food. That could be a problem.

Jeff (with the pretty hair) and Fabio, with the thick accent
Ozone Park / Latin Cuisine
Jeff is happy. He lives in Miami and says he knows “his Latin”. He says Italy (Fabio’s home) is a whole other continent. Good geography know-how, but can he cook?

Radhika and Jill (never heard of her or saw her before)
Queens / Jamaican Cuisine

Leah and Melissa / Little Italy
I thought Leah went home. Oh, sorry that was Lauren. Leah is the New Yorker. I’m still mad about that POINTLESS exercise of having someone get her hopes all up and then sending her home...on the ferry of all things? It stinks.

This one isn’t much of a challenge! Just go to Ferrara’s and get a cannoli or two or fourteen and call it a day.

Leah worked and lived in Italy and works at an Italian restaurant. Melissa is a “country mouse”, so she’s worried.

Patrick and Daniel / Chinatown
Patrick says he’s familiar with Chinese cuisine from cooking school. Okay, who does he remind me of? And I don’t mean that in a good way.

Daniel is amazed that Patrick is telling him what he’s going to do. He’s licking his chops at the thought of beating him so easily.

Alex and Eugene / Little India
Eugene has never cooked Indian food. He seems to be tasting ready-made food and seeing what he can duplicate. Interesting. (Dale would able to do it.)

They walk into the Top Chef kitchen. They have 2 hours to cook. Some bald guy is sweating a lot.

Fabio is annoying when he speaks English. He sounds like Fabio. OMG! THAT’S his name and that’s exactly who he sounds like.

Wait a sec. In front of the judges, Stefan has lost quite a bit of his accent…It seems like he had 3 months of Berlitz since the last time they showed him.

Ariane is not confident. THAT will be her downfall or possibly we’ll be able to watch her grow. That’s always edifying.

Daniel is a great chopper. Carla is not doing well. Some other bearded guy, oh Richard, is making a Greek slider. Ariane is making farro. I don’t like this. They’re showing her A LOT. She’ll probably be gone.

I have NO idea who might win. There are way too many folks to sort through. Fabio can’t believe they have 3 minutes left and Jeff hasn’t even started plating his food.

The judges come in. Ahhhhhhh, Jean-Georges, My FAV!!! Padma introduces him, then Tom and Gail.

Ariane, please DON’T tell the judges that that you know nothing about Middle Eastern food. Too late. Stefan (with his improved accent) explains his dish with confidence. Gail says Ariane’s lamb was nice, but her farro risotto was really undercooked. Jean-Georges likes the skewered something or other. Tom likes that he used cinnamon. Stefan is in the running to win, Ariane is not.

Oh gosh, Richard (is it?) says (to the camera) that Tom is really cute. Not that I haven’t said that a million times before, but Richard should really be concentrating on the job at hand.

JG likes Jamie’s deconstructed salad better than Richard’s overcooked lamb. Richard loses and Jamie wins.

Radhika hopes Jill’s dish is worse than hers. Gail says Radhika’s halibut needed something “texturally”. JG says the contrast between the fish and the rice was “a little mushy”.

They think Jill’s scallops are overdone, but they like the flavor and the “char”. Tom says the sauce made sense. Radhika - losing side; Jill - winning side.

Fabio reads his ingredients, because of his English. Jeff’s coffee sauce looks gross. Tom doesn’t like Jeff’s combo of rice, corn and beans. Jeff explains he forgot a few of the elements. Tom likes “Fabio’s knife work” with the avocado, but didn’t like that he covered it up with mushrooms. JG thinks Fab’s needed more salt. Jeff actually wins.

Hosea does a dumb little trio of smoked fish. Gail thought Carla’s dish needed more sauce….and flavor. Tom liked the style of Hosea’s dish…shows how much I know. Padma: There is “a culinary elegance” to Hosea’s dish.

Melissa’s dish would have been a big hit with more salt and pepper. Let that be a lesson to us all. So Leah wins.

Okay who have we seen a lot that lost this challenge?
Radhika, Richard and Ariane. Because Richard actually overcooked his lamb, he’s gone. Stefan will win. Let’s see.

Oh darn, there are still more people.

JG tastes Patrick’s food and asks about the noodles. Patrick says he never cooked with them before. Padma says they’re gummy. Tom says the dish is one note. JG says it’s too wet.

Tom says Wolfgang Puck has been making Daniel’s poached chicken salad for 20 years. Gail didn’t like either dish, but Daniel won.

There are still more!

I forgot all about Eugene and Alex’s Indian dishes. Tom likes the dishes. Padma says that Eugene, without knowing it, has made one of the most classic south Indian dishes, curds and rice. They all love the dish. I’m good! Really good.

Anyway, I stick with my top three losers:
Patrick’s dish is amateurish. Gail says that Radhika’s dish missed the mark. Tom says Ariane deserves a trip to the bottom.

The contestants have beer and agree that the judges really like salt.

The winning group is Stefan, Eugene and Leah. Patrick, the culinary student, and Ariane are the losers.

They say that Leah captured what the new Italian is. JG commends Stefan on his technique. Padma is amazed that Eugene never had Indian food before. I really like Eugene, I don’t think he’s going to win this challenge, but I think he’ll show us some great stuff.

We're told that in every season, except one, the winner of the entire competition wins the first challenge. Stefan wins tonight. He wants to be the first European Top Chef.

The losers have to explain themselves. Ariane again says she wasn’t familiar with Middle Eastern food. Tom says her farro wasn’t cooked and that everything on the plate counts. Patrick didn’t show the inspiration of the area. Tom says he had a cliché of what Chinese food is.

Tom is unfair with Ariane. She says in her own restaurant she has books to look at. Tom says you don’t learn to cook from books. Yeah, but they give you ideas, a bit of knowledge and inspiration. JG was nice about Ariane. Tom was a pain.

Send the kid home.

And they do! Patrick goes home. Gosh, whatever cooking school Patrick and Lauren went to (did they say it was the CIA?), it didn’t have a good night.

Too many guys with facial hair make it very confusing.

The Apple Falls Far From The Tree

Or Chocolate Cake Made From Hot Cocoa Mix And Cooked In The Microwave Is NOT My Idea Of A Good Time...Or A Good Cake

A little background first: My mother was a superb knitter, sewer and crocheter (sp?), and I inherited none of that from her. Because she was always did whatever had to be done in that arena, I concentrated on cooking...at which she was also superb, but happy to cede some control.

My own 20-something daughter, living independently and far away, DOES cook when given the opportunity, and more importantly, the ingredients. But I suppose when a sweet itch comes, you scratch it with whatever you have handy. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I got this link from her for Microwaved Cocoa Mix Chocolate Cake in a coffee mug.

Anyway, microwaved cake in a mug is not the ONLY horrible idea here. What's REALLY horrible is the main ingredient - Hot Cocoa Mix. Gross. Why would you have that in the first place? All you need for hot cocoa is cocoa powder, sugar and milk. Surely that's not too challenging to have in any kitchen.

I looked around for alternate recipes. I found a perfectly serviceable one here. I even substituted, with some hesitation, oil for the butter, AND, of course, I cooked it in a coffee mug instead of a bowl.

My daughter's "recipe" uses flour, hot chocolate mix, an egg, water and oil. Mine uses butter (or oil), sugar, an egg, vanilla, milk, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder - a difference of 3 measly ingredients.

Her recipe has the ravenous youngster (who else would make this?) mixing everything in the coffee mug. Ugh! I allowed myself to use a bowl and then pour everything into my well-Pam-ed coffee mug. Hers "baked" for 3 minutes; mine for 2 and a half minutes.

I happened to have some leftover ganache in the freezer from the President-Elect's cake, so I slathered on a bit. I probably should have waited until I unmolded it.

(The book in the picture is Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet, which is a fabulous book, but NOT the source of my recipe.)

I know the idea is to eat it straight from the cup, but I wanted to get a good look at it.

How was it? Well, at least, it didn't taste artificial. But it had a very odd texture, kind of like an English steamed pudding. If you WERE going to make it, which I don't necessarily recommend, I'd cut down on the baking time by about 15 seconds, so the inside was more fudgy.

The best part? That I actually got an email from my very busy daughter, even if it was for a poor excuse of a cake. The second best part? My ganache.

Note to Anonymous:

THIS is the cocoa mix I have in my pantry. It's about 8 years old and I'm still waiting for you to finish it.

Fed Up Rachael Ray

RR actually took a camera down her throat on this morning's show to prove to worried fans (and perhaps a few detractors, as well) that she did NOT have throat cancer, but a cyst, which will be removed in December.

Apparently, she has had tons of messages from folks who were wishing her well and assuming she was battling a serious illness.

I suppose there was no other way to PROVE the tabloids' headlines wrong. But I do feel kind of bad that she felt she had to have a huge metal pole with a camera on the end of it shoved down her throat to show there was only a cyst. I guess that comes with the territory of having your face, and more importantly your products, in every outlet known to humankind.

Around The Dial

Who knew that Rocco DiSpirito could give good relationship advice? What a change from his Restaurant days.

Rocco had a very amiable chat with Rachael this morning. Maybe he just came off well next to RR, but he actually made some sense. After the obvious DWTS chat, he talked about how folks can be dissuaded from cooking by watching the experts. After they talk about bio-diverse this or organic that, they scare people away from the kitchen.*

That's probably why people DO buy RR's books, because they know there's nothing scary in them (although 587 versions of the same hamburger or meatloaf is pretty scary to me) and they won't be challenged to do anything new or different.

Rocco said another thing that made me more positively disposed towards him. He was talking about men cooking for women. He said lobster is very sexy (AND it's very well-priced now) and he suggested the gentleman pulling apart his date's lobster and dipping it in butter for her. He didn't go in to what happens next, but I'm guessing they're not doing the dishes immediately.

The other dish he proposed was risotto. He said that it's great for a woman to see a guy paying such close attention to one thing for 20 minutes. Wow, that WOULD be a turn-on. Even taking out the recycling - ALL the recycling - would do it for me.

****************

Giada started her weekly stint on the Today Show this morning. (I'm guessing that's how they do it - she's does one week at a time.) They have gorgeous new pictures of her to introduce the segment. The camera lens would have to be cracked, to take a bad picture.

She showed us her top ten kitchen utensils. There were only one or two that I disagreed with and her top few were mine also.

Number one was a microplaner, although she prefers the larger holed one with a handle. I like the long skinny one. Parmesan comes out like snowflakes.

Number two was nylon-tipped tongs. She showed my exact ones. You can't scrape a hot grill pan with them, though, or they'll melt a bit on the ends...like mine.

Another good choice was a colander/scooper combination that makes it easy to grab stuff out of hot cooking water.

I disagree about the silpat, but Giada did make a good point about it being reusable and thus, perhaps, a more green choice than foil or parchment paper.

The porcelain measuring spoons are a bit precious for me. I only use stainless steel. I think they're more exact.

This is a good list for a cook with a new kitchen to set up. College types definitely don't need all these stuff, but the microplaner, tongs and scooper would be useful for the occasional cook.

* It is true that sometimes it's hard to know the right thing to do. My biggest question these days is whether to buy organic from half a world away or non-organic from a local farm. Don't say local organic. Obviously, that's the best choice, but it's not one that we're given most often. And I'm not even taking into account the huge price difference we're faced with.

Cynthia Made Me Do It

I was scrolling through my favorite blogs and I was reading Cyn's post about soup. I clicked on the accompanying article that she always includes. I hadn’t even gotten to the "cow heel" part, (that’s probably a good thing…sorry, Cynthia) when I jumped up and just HAD to make soup, any soup, immediately.

I went for this supremely easy lentil soup, which I now have safely tucked in the fridge for any future soup cravings.

Gosh, I wonder what she'll force me to make next week.

Lentil Soup (serves 6-8)

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
1 onion or 2, chopped
3 skinny carrots or 2 big, chopped
optional: ½ cup ham or bacon, diced
4 garlic cloves, nasty middle stem removed
1 cup lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
1 can diced tomatoes
optional: additional 2 cups vegetable stock

Heat olive oil and salt in large saucepan. Stir in onions, carrots and ham, if using.




Heat until you hear a sizzle. Cover, turn down heat to low and cook until onions are completely soft, at least 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Towards end of softening time, press garlic cloves into pan. Stir in and cook for a few minutes.

Stir in lentils, 4 cups of stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down to gentle simmer. Taste liquid for seasoning and add salt and lots of pepper. Cook for 55 minutes. Test lentils, taste for seasoning and continue cooking if necessary.

I serve the first batch, as is. Then before it goes into the fridge, I add up to another 2 cups of stock, because it thickens so much on standing. Or add the extra stock when you reheat it the next day.



For a creamier texture, you can take out a portion and purée it and stir it back in.

Thanksgiving Countdown

I have to admit that Rachel made me feel pretty guilty when I read this post in which she said she was revving up for Thanksgiving…and it was only Halloween! OY! I’ve barely put my Christmas decorations away.

Actually when it comes to Thanksgiving, I am supremely organized. The only thing is that the organization is purely in my head. It hasn’t manifested itself in any practical way…yet. But that’s about to change:

Ready Start Go!!!
Here is my countdown to Thanksgiving…well, it’s far too early to think about the actual cooking. No, I’m wrong, we can THINK about it all we want, and in fact we should be, but there are other ancillary concerns for the Thanksgiving host.

Oh, one little note about the cooking, before we begin –
From the day after the LAST Thanksgiving, keep a file of possible Thanksgiving recipe choices and try them out them out throughout the year. (You still have a bit of time to do that.)

Up to three months before Thanksgiving -
Do anything that will not have to be redone by Thursday, November 27th. That includes painting the kitchen, cleaning out the basement or garage or découpaging an old table, so that those things are out of the way.

Start to firm up the menu. Definite recipes should go into one file with a plastic sleeve, so they can get through the cooking onslaught relatively unscathed. Keep a pen handy to note any changes.

Week of November 10th – 16th
Clean oven. This means no spitting, grease-type foods can be cooked until after November 27th.

Organize anything that doesn’t have to do with cooking - guest room linens, getting fishing gear out of the dining room…it’s still too early to wash the wine glasses, but you can iron the tablecloth and get the kids to carry stuff down to the basement.

Make your lists and buy staples – flour, sugar, nuts, dishwasher soap, plenty of sponges, garbage bags, cleaning products

Week of November 17th – 23nd

Anything that can be frozen, MAKE NOW.
For me that’s cranberry sauce, my four pie crusts – 2 shortcrust for Pecan Pies, Graham Cracker crust for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie and a mystery crust for a yet as undetermined pie number 4…that I better hurry up and decide upon.

Polish the silver. Okay, you can wash the wine glasses now if you have somewhere to put them when they’re clean.

Clean the house by the Sunday before Thanksgiving. You never know when you might have unexpected early houseguests. Quick touchups only, after that date.

Buy any non-perishables you have left on your list. Do not buy your extra toilet paper and paper towels at the same time as you’re buying 12 pounds of potatoes and a huge turkey.

November 24rd until T-Day
Sorry, you’ll have to wait a bit for that list. I still have a table to découpage.

Never Turn Your Back On Rice Pudding

Or This Could Happen

I was so busy trying to find something on the Food Network website that I took my eye off the ball, while making this batch of rice pudding. I looked just in time and I saved (most of) it.

Rice Pudding (6 servings)
Adapted from The Joy Of Cooking

¾ cup jasmine rice
1 ½ cups water
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups half and half
a generous ½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup raisins, soaked in 2 tablespoons of rum or brandy if you wish
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring rice and water to boil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes. (Water will have been absorbed.)

Stir in milk, half and half and sugar. Bring to boil. Cook, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes on medium to medium low heat, simmering gently until mixture is thick and creamy.

Stir in raisins and cinnamon after mixture has been cooking for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir whenever you’re in the vicinity. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into medium bowl or ramekins.

Press plastic wrap right over top to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate until ready to serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.