YumSugar

Top Chef Vegas: Episode 5

partysugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:06:42 -0700

In what may be the world's first pairing of chuck wagons and ceviche, the Top Chef gang went camping this week. In 100-plus degree heat on a dusty dude ranch, the chefs prepared meals over fire pits for a group of hungry ranchers. It looked simultaneously horrible and highly entertaining.

Who do you think looked most home on the range? Let's talk about it when you read more.

Do you like the "high stakes" quickfires more when they win money or immunity?
I feel like we're finally getting to know the contestants; did this episode give you a new perspective on any of the chefs?
Is ceviche this season's scallops?
Is Michael V. too cocky, or does he deserve to be?
Which challenge seemed harder: cooking cactus or cooking at the camp?
Would you want to eat fish on a dude ranch?
Does Tom Colicchio seem to be getting tougher and less polite with each season or is it just me?
How odd was it that Ron made mojitos even though he doesn't drink?
Whose dish would you most want to eat? I'm curious to try Kevin's, since I'm fixated with watermelon and tequila right now.

Did I forget an important point of discussion? Bring it up in the comments.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Chef Tim Love Loves His Animals

partysugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:50:49 -0700

After falling in love with his Texas accent and cowboyish ways on the first episode of Top Chef Masters, I was more than happy to RSVP to a special luncheon hosted by chef Tim Love at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Love spent the entire night before the lunch slow-roasting three whole animals - goat, lamb, and venison - over a mesquite wood grill. He applied a different technique and application to each one. Love filled the lamb with mirepoix and wrapped the venison in bacon. He made a trio of dishes that paired with Belgium beers. Marc Stroobandt, a master beer sommelier, was on hand to teach guests how to properly pour the brews - creating a nice heady foam is a must! Love's trio included a goat crepinette with braised lentils, lamb tacos with Texas salsas, and venison sliders with a aioli. To take a better look at the lunch, read more.

View 14 Photos ›

Bravo Announces Judge Lineup For Top Chef: Masters

YumSugar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:17:10 -0800

Last month, news broke that Kelly Choi would host the upcoming Top Chef spinoff, Top Chef: Masters. In a statement released this morning, Bravo has confirmed this as fact and also revealed the star lineup of judges for the new show.

Joining Choi on the judging panel will be former New York magazine restaurant critic Gael Greene, British food critic Jay Rayner, and Saveur editor-in-chief James Oseland. The culinary competition will follow the format of the original Top Chef series, but its contestants will be award-winning, widely known chefs, competing head to head for the title of Top Chef Master. As for the cheftestant lineup, The Feedbag has reported rumors of participating chefs.

Many have appeared on Top Chef as judges: Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, Scott Conant of Scarpetta, celebrity chef Todd English, and Michelle Bernstein of Michy's. Other possible competitors include seafood czar Rick Moonen, Hawaiian cuisine titan Roy Yamaguchi, Chris Lee of Aureole, Florida vet Norm Van Aken, Texas chef Tim Love, and possibly even Tom himself.

I'm getting excited about the lineup of both the judges and the rumored cheftestants. Do you feel the same way? Which chefs would you love to see on the show?

Source

Come Party With Me: Housewarming Party - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:00:32 -0700

When selecting a dessert recipe for a housewarming, choose a dish that can be eaten on the go without any utensils. Cookies and cupcakes are delicious, but empanadas keep up with the tapas-themed menu. These tasty, small pastries are filled with berries and goat cheese. If you don't have the time or expertise to make dough, simply use premade refrigerated pie crust.

To learn how they are made, read more.

Blackberry and Strawberry Empanadas
From Tim Love

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup blackberries
1 cup wild strawberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs,
2 tablespoons water
Peanut oil, for frying

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix well. Add shortening and break it up by hand until it resembles cornmeal.
Add chicken stock and knead until all is incorporated. Let it rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes in cooler.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine blackberries, strawberries, goat cheese and sugar and mix well.
When the dough has chilled, roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin.
Cut circles out of the dough with a 4-inch round cutter. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each dough circle.
Beat the eggs and water together in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash all around the edges of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling to make the circles into half moons. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal the dough closed.
Heat a pan, filled half way up with peanut oil, to 350 degrees F.
Fry the empanadas until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes, turning them over occasionally with tongs.

Serves 4.

Print recipe with images | without images

Tim Love's Three Animal Lunch at the Food & Wine Classic

partysugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:19:03 -0700

View Slideshow ›

Top Chef Masters: Episode One

partysugar — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:50:17 -0700

Well, Top Chef fans, what did you think of the spinoff, Top Chef Masters? I have mixed feelings about the show - I loved seeing the world-renowned chefs compete, but I hated seeing three of them fall so far, so quickly. I also didn't like how the stakes weren't as high: the four competitors are already established and well-respected professionals in the food industry.

They aren't desperate to win, their careers don't depend on the success of their performance. Top Chef Masters lacks the immediacy of the original. These chefs haven't shopped for groceries or made desserts in years, so who cares if they can't complete a quickfire challenge? To see the rest of my thoughts and discuss the premiere in more depth (warning, spoilers ahead!), read more.

Was I the only one who missed the signature Top Chef theme song?
Why couldn't Michael Schlow make a dessert that pleased Girl Scouts? I understand that he was under a time restraint, but hello? Rice Krispy treats? Brownies? Cupcakes? He could have made any of these desserts and totally impressed the little girls.
What did you think of Kelly Choi? Was she trying too hard? Is she too skinny to be the host of a culinary competition?
Did Bravo fool the chefs? How come Michael Schlow's cake didn't bake? How did Tim Love not realize he was putting his food in the freezer?
Would you eat macaroni and cheese that was made in a dorm bathroom?
Was there too much emphasis placed on the charities?
How did you feel about the critics table? Don't you love how it's not called "judges" table anymore?
Did you love or hate the star rating system?
Were you surprised Hubert won?
What was your overall perspective on the show?

Source

All-Star Lineup Announced For Top Chef: Masters

YumSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:08:48 -0700

If you're already missing your weekly dose of Top Chef, don't fret: Bravo has announced the cheftestant roster for Top Chef Masters, a new series premiering June 10.

In addition to its impressive cheftestant list and exciting new lineup of judges, the new show will also feature special appearances from a number of personalities, ranging from the predictable (previous winners, Tom, Padma, and Gail) to the surprising (Neil Patrick Harris, Zooey Deschanel, writers and producers of Lost). The show has 24 of the country's most prominent chefs vying for a $100,000 charity prize. Like its original counterpart, each episode on the spinoff show will include a quickfire and an elimination challenge - except the first six episodes of Masters will consist of four chefs competing to name a winner. The six winners will then convene in the final four weeks and one person will be eliminated each episode until the finale, when the last one standing earns the title of Top Chef Master.

A surprising number of celebrity chefs were rumored to be on the show, and while some of the information turned out to be untrue, some of it was right on point. To find out which celebrity cheftestants will compete, read more.

Rick Bayless – Frontera Grill, Chicago, IL
Wilo Benet – Pikayo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
John Besh – Restaurant August, New Orleans, LA
Graham Elliot Bowles – Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago, IL
Michael Chiarello – Bottega Restaurant, Yountville, CA
Michael Cimarusti – Providence, Los Angeles, CA
Wylie Dufresne – wd~50, New York, NY
Elizabeth Falkner – Orson, San Francisco, CA
Hubert Keller – Fleur de Lys, San Francisco, CA
Christopher Lee – Aureole, New York, NY
Ludo Lefebvre – Ludo Bites, Los Angeles, CA
Anita Lo – Annisa, New York, NY
Tim Love – The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Fort Worth, TX
Rick Moonen – Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
Nils Noren – French Culinary Institute, New York, NY
Lachlan McKinnon Patterson – Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder, CO
Cindy Pawlcyn – Mustards Grill, Napa Valley, CA
Mark Peel – Campanile, Los Angeles, CA
Douglas Rodriguez – Alma de Cuba, Philadelphia, PA
Michael Schlow – Radius Restaurant, Boston, MA
Art Smith – Table Fifty-Two, Chicago, IL
Suzanne Tracht – Jar, Los Angeles, CA
Jonathan Waxman – Barbuto, New York, NY
Roy Yamaguchi – Roy's Restaurants, San Diego, CA

Do you have any pre-show predictions? Who will you be rooting for?

Source

Top Chef - Did You Watch What Happened?

YumSugar — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:01:38 -0700

I must say, I was pretty disappointed that last night's Top Chef was a reunion episode - especially because I had just gotten a good grasp of the S3 contestants names. However, having said that it was sort of fun to see the chefs return. I'll admit, I really liked those S1 folks and was wondering why only Dave, Leann and Harold were there. In addition to those three, four contestants from S2 showed - Cliff, Sam, Ilan and Mikey (Marcel was apparently on a fishing trip) - and five from S3 - Lia, Sandy, Micah, Camille and Clay.

I understand how a show like this is a lot of fun for hardcore viewers, however it sort of knocks the drama out of the competition. I wanna see cooking, I wanna see fire, I wanna see drama! I don't want to see people rolling their eyes, plugs for other Bravo shows (I love Tim Gunn, but really? A question from acclaimed chef Jean Georges I can understand, but from Gunn or the gal from Workout, how is that relevant??), weird montages of Padma's fashion or how chef Tom is adored in the bear community.

Did you watch? What did you think? There were some pretty weird moments on there - my personal favorite came from Micah the "African American" (did you see Cliff's face?!). I just don't understand how anyone thinks they can go on to a reality show and omit/alter/lie about their past. Haven't they ever heard of the internet?!

In related news, did you know that Anthony Bourdain is filling in on Tom Colicchio's blog?

Guess Who?

YumSugar — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:55:39 -0700

Guess who was hanging out with Tim Roth and Dennis Hopper? To find out, read more

You probably already figured it out, but the answer is: Mario Batali. He was hosting a cocktail party at Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

Personally, I love the way this photo is awkwardly posed, as if Roth and Hopper were big fans who needed to have their picture taken with Batali, or maybe they're a happy family on vacation?

Image Source