Top Chef, 1/25/12

Final six!

Oh sweet, Cat Cora’s the guest judge. I heart her. Padma divides the chefs into three teams of two. In a Quickfire designed to test speed, the chefs are given 40 minutes to peel, devein, and butterfly two pounds of shrimp; shuck a crate of corn; make a pound of fettuccine from scratch; then use those ingredients to make a dish. No immunity from here on out, but the winning team gets to split $10k. According to history, that means Paul, who’s already won $35k (Yes I keep bringing that up! I’m jealous, ok?!?!!!) in various challenges, is probably going to win.
- Grayson and Chris: fettuccine with toasted corn, oil poached shrimp, bacon, rosemary
- Lindsay Sarah: fettuccine with corn milk, shrimp, tarragon, parsley
- Paul and Edward: DISQUALIFIED!
Well, never mind about Paul winning; he left the shrimp off his and Ed’s plates. The other chefs are quite pleased. Can you blame them? And the winners are … Grayson and Ponytail Chris! YAY! I heart Grayson, and I cannot stand Lindsay or Sarah. Proving why, Sarah’s all like, we would’ve won, but Cat Cora doesn’t like tarragon. Oh, of course. Because it certainly couldn’t be that the other team made a better dish than you, right? (And Cat didn’t say she didn’t like tarragon; she just said she wouldn’t have used it.)

For the elimination, the chefs must cook against the teammate they were just paired with; each person will cook a version of the same dish for 200 people at a block party, and the partygoers will vote for which version they like better. Grayson and Chris decide to make a chicken salad sandwich with a watermelon salad; Lindsay and Sarah, meatballs and a veggie salad; and Paul and Edward, Asian bbq with pickled veggies. Then Padma announces they must make healthy versions of these dishes. Winner gets $15k. (Paul’s bank account: “We so got this.”)

Block party! Ponytail Chris’s station is being swarmed by bees; he’s allergic. Grayson is making her sandwiches to order and is getting really backed up. Sarah’s worried cuz nobody’s voting for her meatball. Folks keep getting two slices of Ed’s bread instead of one. Paul’s got that kerchief tied around his head again! He’s sooooooo cute to me when he does that. Dana Cowin of Food & Wine magazine is making the tasting rounds with the judges, intimidating the hell out of everyone.


- Paul: turkey kalbi in lettuce wraps, eggplant, white peach kimchi
- Edward: shortrib kalbi on a steamed bun kimchi chipotle puree topped with and radish sprouts; pickled cucumber, carrots, fennel, and daikon
Paul’s dish is a hit; Emeril calls it brilliant. Cat says Ed’s beef is chewy; Tom says there’s too much bun-to-meat; Padma says her bread was hard and dry.


- Grayson: chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat bun with arugula, pickled onion, and olive oil mayo; watermelon salad with feta cheese, watercress, and pumpkin seeds
- Ponytail Chris: chicken salad sandwich with red lettuce and tofu “mayo”; watermelon salad with pineapple ice
Dana says Grayson’s chicken salad lacked flavor; Cat says the watermelon salad needed some lime or something. Tom likes the curry in Ponytail Chris’s sandwich but complains that the bread is drying out. Padma preferred his watermelon salad. Agreeeeeeeeeeeed. To me, cheese + watermelon sounds gag-me gross, but a pineapple slushee + watermelon? YUM TIME. Dana wants to put it in a blender with some vodka. (Yuck.)


- Sarah: calabrese style meatballs made with whole wheat bread and turkey; tomato sauce; salad of zucchini, fennel, baby squash, arugula
- Lindsay: Greek meatball made with lean veal, lamb, and yogurt; salad of quinoa and black eyed peas with vinaigrette
Emeril loves Sarah’s meatball and the sauce. Tom says the salad had a ton of flavor; Dana begs to differ and says all she got was zucchini and arugula. Apparently Sarah’s salad-tossing skills are subpar. Tom says Lindsay’s meatball had a ton of flavor; this time, Dana agrees.

Grayson, Paul, and Lindsay are the top three. Grayson kind of makes me want to declare her my bff with this exchange:
Tom: “You have to win this against other dishes that are potentially much more exciting.”
Grayson: “What, like a meatball?”
EPIC ROFL. (And Cat totally laughed, too.) Grayson is so right. First of all, everybody picked easy, simple fare for this challenge. As well they should have. It’s a block party, not a banquet. Secondly, the meatball was the simplest of those three dishes, if you ask me. Anyhoo, Paul’s dish was the fave. (Paul’s bank account: “Duh!”) He has now won FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. Hey Paul, I'm single.

Sarah, Edward, and Ponytail Chris are in the bottom. Oh please oh please oh please OH PLEASE let Sarah go home. Darn -- Ponytail Chris goes home. So in Last Chance Kitchen, it’s Ponytail Chris vs Beverly. Beverly wins! Bye bye, top knot.