Top Chef Episode 4: Ladies Who Lunch
This week’s episode of Top Chef was an exercise in testing the chefs’ flexibility and creativity as they had to prepare, both in the quick fire challenge and the elimination challenge, a version of fast food.
The quick fire challenge had the chefs at a gas station convenience store where they had a few minutes to pick out ingredients for a dish to be prepared in 30 minutes. The pickings were slim for gourmet chefs, and it was funny to watch them resorting to buying Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Spam to make their dishes.
In the end, their creativity was pretty amazing. The Krispy Kremes turned into a bread pudding, the Cup of Noodles into a noodle dish with peanut sauce (made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups) and Stephen’s indecipherable five-dish plate. The guest chef was really hard on the contestants, considering what they had to work with, and this made some of them, especially Candice, angry. In the end, Lee Anne won the challenge with a deep-fried sandwich, therefore giving her immunity for the elimination challenge.
The elimination challenge was to prepare a lunch one day and then reheat it in a microwave just before serving it to a group of Junior League women, all busy wives and moms. There was a lot of moaning and groaning and noses going in the air among the contestants about having to use a microwave. Some of the chefs barely knew how to use a microwave. Some failed the task spectacularly, like Candice who reheated a quiche to soggy imperfection and Lisa, who over seasoned and improperly cooked her chicken and pasta.
Stephen was hilarious in his snobbery. He made a complicated fusion tamale, combining Japanese and Mexican spices and then explained his dish to the women as if they were too stupid to truly understand the complexity of his dish. Stephen’s goal, as he put it, was to give these women “a little education.” Complex or not, it was awful and he ended up in the bottom three. He was shocked to be in the same company as Lisa and Candice as the judges chewed them out for their poor execution. Candice ended up going home for her inexperience.
Tiffani, Harold, and surprisingly Andrea, all nailed the task, thinking ahead about what gets better when it sits overnight, and what would reheat well in a microwave. The women seemed most enthusiastic about Harold’s Thai shrimp and lobster soup, but it was Tiffani who walked away with the victory. Her winning recipe is below:
Tiffani’s “Mirin Glazed Escolar (Sea Bass)”
For the fish marinade:
2 cup white miso paste
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup Shao Hsing wine
Combine all ingredients. Place fish in marinade – allow to sit overnight refrigerated.
Sear one side of the escolar in a large pan over medium heat. Remove fish and place in microwaveable container.
Place the closed container of fish into the microwave. Nuke on high for 4 minutes.
Remove and eat immediately. Be careful with removing the top as steam will be very hot.