To start off this new round of Top Chef Masters,the Quickfire Challenge gave the chefs twelve minutes to make a divine cheese dish using the many international varieties laid out before them.
Traci Des Jardins won immunity and five grand for her charity here,thanks to her columbier and prosciutto carpaccio with croutons. She was quite stunned about it,since she thought the dish might have been too safe.
The Elimination challenge brought in some of the folks from The Biggest Loser,who wanted the chefs to make low-cal versions of high calorie food favorites of the current crop of contenders.
Teams of three were formed,with one making breakfast,another lunch and last dinner,plus all of them had to make dessert.
The calorie limit was 1,500,rather tricky considering the many heavy meals on deck but the blue team managed to make their plates add up to 1,211 which put them in the winner's circle.
Naomi had French toast with eggs and sausage to work with and thanks to a mix of Stevia and berries,along side a strip of turkey bacon,pulled off a breakfast plate that satisfied her BL contender completely.
In the entree category, George revamped a traditional deep dish pizza with a whole wheat crust,smoked mozzarella and balsamic oil laced veggies. It was such a huge hit with both the judges and BL people alike that I was surprised that George didn't take the win for this one.
That honor went to Floyd,for his take on a meatball Parmesan sub sandwich. He chose buffalo as the protein for the meatballs and served it with faro,spinach and asparagus.
The flavor profile on the plate was pleasing to all assembled. Floyd's charity,The Young Scientists' Cancer Research Fund,got ten grand and he received kudos for a job well done on this front.
Meanwhile,the Bottom Three was made up of chefs from both of the other teams. Mary Sue's corned beef hash with eggs over easy was transformed into a turkey veggie hash with a poached egg that wasn't too consistent with every serving. Also,the cut of the turkey and the vegetables left a lot to be desired there.
Next on the chopping block was Alex,who had fried chicken,biscuits and mashed potatoes as his low cal bar to hurdle. While the BL contestant whose favorite dish this was liked how he oven baked the chicken and coated it with panko,no one enjoyed the heavy cornbread on the plate.
He had intended to add applesauce for moisture but remembered far too late. The sweet potato puree didn't go over well with a few of the judges either.
The truly big loser was Suvir,who decided that it was better to serve a veggie burger and Asian slaw as a "proper" alternative to a bacon cheeseburger with fries. That might not have gone over so bad,had not Suvir chosen to also(as one of the judges put it)"serve a lecture on a plate" literally.
Before anyone got a chance to taste his dish,Suvir pontificated on the evils of red meat and how damaging it was to your health,which was annoying to his fellow TCM contender Hugh,who happened to be serving a reduced portion version of roast beef and potatoes right after him.
The burger itself didn't taste good,giving a "potato-y" texture to something that was already stuffed into a pita(starch on starch,not very healthy there). The worst thing about Suvir's need to strut his vegetarian stuff was how the mood in the room became so dismal,especially when you looked at the Biggest Loser contenders.
Personally,I have nothing against being vegetarian or vegan but one thing that's a big turn-off to anyone with weight issues(myself included)is being talked down to. You draw more flies with honey than vinegar,people,just saying. Especially when you're talking to a group of folks who have lost a substantial amount of weight and who probably know more from life experience about nutrition than you ever will.
Hugh,to his credit,lightened things up by making a joke out of what Suvir said and waited until they were back in the kitchen to confront him about bad mouthing red meat before his dish was served. Suvir dismissed him rudely and in an aside,insisted that Hugh's use of flank steak and smaller portions was completely wrong.
Well,Suvir,at least his meal was delicious and nutritious which no one could say about what you offered up there. You may have walked out of there,proud of your principles but your arrogance is truly tasteless.
Next week,the masters take over a drive-in and then have to make a meal with a really low budget. Should be amusing,indeed!
The Amazing Race:Unfinished Business headed over to Switzerland, where Gary and Mallory sailed through their Speed Bump just fine while Jet and Cord wound up at the back of the pack again. Jet got lost on his Road Block,which cost him and his brother a lot of time.
A Double U-Turn was in play and most of the teams chose not to use it except for Flight Time and Big Easy,who were neck in neck with the Cowboys.
That meant that the fellas had to finish off a fondue pot as well as deliver luggage to various hotels, both tasks being difficult enough to slow anyone down. The double whammy took Team Cowboy out of the running yet again and again,it was sad to see them go:
It was Carole King night on American Idol and yes,someone sang the Gilmore Girls theme song(sorry,Lauren,but it was less than impressive). Due to there only being six contestants lefts,the evening was divided between solo performances and duets,the latter not making much of a mark,if you ask me.
The one performance that wowed me was James Durbin's rendition of "Will You Still Love Me(Tomorrow)". Normally,I am not a fan of singers doing a group song as a solo but James made me a believer,folks. He truly rocked the house with this number and Randy may be right about him being the guy to win the whole kit and kickass caboodle here:
RANDOM NOTES
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: Now that Klaus is in town and in his own body,the big league supernatural showdown we've been waiting for is about to commerce.
Unfortunately,someone is going to die before this is all over and hopefully,that won't be a character we all care about(fill in the blank for your personal preference):
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