Previously
on “Top Chef”: we're officially in the finale section of the
show. Joseph rolled in from Last Chance Kitchen to compete in a
Quickfire with sarsaparilla. There was a weird gimmick about being
limited in ingredients, but it didn't matter because Carrie made
fancy toast again and won. I mean, it looked really good, and that's
all she had to work with basically. The Elimination challenge was
cooking at 12,000 feet, with a requirement of baking. So you had to
bake something. Hipster Joe didn't do perfectly on the baking part,
but I guess the whole rest of the dish was so great he won. I know
that no one's baked goods were perfect but still. Carrie didn't
challenge herself and her dish wasn't super cohesive, but she cooked
everything well. Chris took some risks but it wasn't refined or
whatever so he was eliminated. (click for more)
Hipster
Joe is getting cocky. Carrie was thrown by being in the bottom but I
think she's ready to recover from this. However she does admit she
didn't think she'd get this far. Adrienne has her shit together
finally. Also in some places on the internet this episode is titled
“Sunday Supper”?
In
the morning Joseph and Carrie talk about what they'll be doing today.
Maybe riding an elk. Maybe lunch for Oprah. Joseph keeps talking
about how glad he is to be here, and tells a story about working with
Art Smith and feeding the audience on Oprah's show. He and Carrie
continue their conversation in the car, speculating that maybe it's a
downhill bike ride. Everyone ends up outside somewhere with Padma and
both Voltaggios. It is finally time for Rocky Mountain oysters. Why
did they wait so long? Padma makes a nut allergy joke. Joseph worked
with someone whose specialty was Rocky Mountain oysters, and Carrie I
think has worked with them specifically because she knew they'd be on
this show. Carrie knows what's up. Prepare Rocky Mountain oysters two
ways. More ball jokes.
30
minutes. Joseph says the flavor is between a gland and a brain but
with more iron. He has a plan for puree and fried testicles. Adrienne
is making soup, because they remind her of cod sperm sacs that are
made into soup in Korean cuisine. Carrie cuts up her testicles so you
don't need to have such a big bite, but she's also making pate.
Apparently the Josephs are both making the same thing: fried and also
in a puree with beans. Hipster Joe is just assuming these are going
to be like sweetbreads, and then he makes a snide comment about fancy
toast in confessional. Immediate cut to Carrie in confessional saying
she wouldn't spread it on toast or anything. Hee. Joseph isn't sure
he's cooked his properly.
Hipster
Joe: cornflake breaded Rocky Mountain oyster,white bean puree, and
brown butter braised Rocky Mountain oysters. Adrienne: Rocky Mountain
oyster dashi with chili oil and fried Rocky Mountain oysters. Joseph:
fried and pureed Rocky Mountain oysters with white beans and
amatriciana sauce (a type of tomato sauce). Carrie: Rocky Mountain
pate with fried Rocky Mountain oysters, garlic and shallots. Michael
Voltaggio looks like he's trying to hold onto his punk youth while
Bryan is like a hot dad. Bryan has always been the hotter Voltaggio,
don't @ me.
This
is a challenging ingredient. Joseph had good intentions but the fried
testicles are overcooked. Carrie made pate but it was too “liver-y”
and unbalanced. Adrienne made a great broth with deep flavors.
Hipster Joe made a pretty dish that was cooked well. The winner is
Hipster Joe. He wins an advantage and is very pleased with himself.
Padma
says something about buckling up for the ride. They all pile into the
cars and head out. Carrie casually mentions to Joseph that they could
break Hipster Joe's fingers to keep him from winning. By the time
they get to wherever they're going, it's all dirt roads and
everything. They end up at the Observatory and Padma sends them to
open the door themselves, so they can find family members. I mean the
preview was pretty obvious it was everyone's parents. Adrienne says
she didn't feel homesick at all until she saw her mom. Joseph's
grandmother is here and she doesn't even clear his shoulder which is
cute. Carrie's mom is here and Hipster Joe's dad.
So
in what is actually a great twist, the family members have made
lunch. That's really cool. Everything looks delicious and non-cheffy.
Carrie and Hipster Joe laugh about their own potluck from earlier in
the season. Joseph's grandma made rigatoni and meatballs, Hipster
Joe's dad has lasagna and pigs' feet in gravy (I legit thought it was
hot wings). He says it's their traditional holiday meal. Carrie's mom
made stroganoff. Adrienne's mom made gumbo and it looks good. We get
the dirt on everyone. Joseph helped his grandma out a lot after his
grandfather had a stroke. Hipster Joe's dad claims he was a perfect
child. Uh huh. He does get choked up talking about his mom because
she's just passed and everyone else's moms are here. Adrienne was
always in the kitchen, and her mom had been in the restaurant
business her whole life and she didn't want that for Adrienne. But
she grew up there so she felt at home there. Carrie was athletic and
kept up with all her boyfriends. Hee. Padma wants the dirt, and
Carrie tells her mom to be nice.
The
Elimination Challenge is to take inspiration from your family
member's dish and do your own version. Also show your growth or
whatever. I mean you know the drill by now. 90 minutes to cook.
Hipster Joe will get 30 extra minutes. None of these dishes look like
you could make them in 90 minutes. Adrienne doesn't think she can
make gumbo in that short amount of time and asks why her mom couldn't
have made cookies. Heh. Also Hipster Joe has two dishes, one of which
is pigs' feet so good thing he'll get extra time. Their family
members get to stay and taste tomorrow too.
Padma
and the Voltaggios leave and everyone gets to hang out with their
family members. All these dishes have personal stories and meaning.
Carrie used to make beef stroganoff with her dad and now he's in
assisted living and she's here partially for him. She jokes that
she's going to have PTSD when she leaves. Joseph's grandmother
actually apologizes to him for making something that she thinks is
hard to work with, because there's not a lot there. Aww! Joseph
promises her he can totally work with it. Adrienne knows her mom will
tell her to get her shit together, but with a smile. She wonders why
she couldn't have been here to do that a few weeks ago. I mean her
pep talk is to show herself and her own food, with the slight
exasperation that only a mom can give her kid who isn't living up to
potential. Hipster Joe laments he has to do two dishes, and his dad
promises that God and his mom are with him. Hipster Joe is going to
make me cry and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's like Mike
Isabella never making Italian food professionally because it was too
painful.
Back
down the mountain for shopping. Hipster Joe says lasagna is what his
mom always made for special occasions. He almost doesn't want to
change it. Adrienne's mom has been working on her gumbo basically
Adrienne's whole life and she doesn't want to change the flavor.
Carrie's dad is a hunter so she's adding buffalo. Everyone calls out
“Eleven minutes left!” and then Joseph is like anyone know how
much time we have? Heh. Hipster Joe plans to make lasagna roll-ups so
he doesn't have to make lasagna. Joseph doesn't want to make
something his grandmother won't get. He's going to stuff the
meatballs in the pasta.
Back
at the house Adrienne tells everyone how her mom kicked her ass about
slacking. Hipster Joe has his hood over his head and he's slumping
around. It's emo, but he's still pretty upset about his mom and he
says in interview how she was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed
away two months later. I am pretty sure he said it's been seven
years. But it's clearly still fresh. He really doesn't want to get
sent home making her food.
Hipster
Joe gets the kitchen to himself for half an hour. He's thrilled to
have it for his tomato sauce and pasta dough. Everyone else gets to
be greeted by Eliza from Top Chef Seattle who owns the restaurant.
Honestly I don't remember her at all. When the other three chefs get
access to the kitchen, they do so with a maximum of noise and yelling
Hipster Joe's name. Everyone has really gotten along this season
except for Claudette. It's nice to see everyone joking around and
being goofy. Carrie's making pasta too, to make stroganoff raviolos.
Adrienne says it's hard to elevate the gumbo while keeping the deep
roux flavor that is important. She's got a plan to cook everything
individually so each ingredient stands out. So a deconstruction.
Joseph cooks tomatoes down, and saves the juice to cook his pasta in.
Carrie's dough, though, is terrible. It's too dry. But it looks like
she eventually gets it together. Family members and judges arrive so
it's time for some awkward conversation. Hipster Joe wants some
crispy edges on his rotolo so he busts out the blowtorch.
Hipster
Joe: pig's feet rotolo with braised chicken, mushrooms and Swiss
chard. It's pasta rolled around filling like a cinnamon roll. You've
probably seen lasagna rollups on Pinterest or something. They think
that you can taste the spirit of the original dish. His dad likes it,
although his first thought was “Is this going to be good?” I
wonder if they'll be nicer than usual because the family members are
there. Certainly I doubt they'll say anything negative about Hipster
Joe.
Carrie:
beef stroganoff raviolo with buffalo sausage, mushroom duxelle,
herbed crème fraiche and caramelized onions. All the parts represent
someone in the family. Carrie's mom says she can make it every
Sunday. Aww. The egg yolk on top reminds everyone of egg noodles
which is what normal people put their beef stroganoff on. Mom's
Japanese, though, so we had it over rice and I had no idea it was
normally served over noodles until I got to college.
Adrienne:
“Mom's gumbo”--butter poached king crab leg and shrimp with
trinity, fried andouille chips and rice. It's one shrimp, with
carrots and celery leaves and a thick gravy, and andouille chips. On
a separate plate is a piece of crab leg that is partially hollowed
out with rice inside. Each piece of seafood is perfectly cooked and
very well seasoned. Making it fancier didn't take away from the
flavor. Everyone looks really pleased.
Joseph:
pork and veal agnolotti with pomodoro paste, Parmesan crisp and
basil. It seems to go over well. The filling is exactly like the
meatballs they had yesterday, and Tom says it doesn't stray too far
from “Sunday gravy”. Padma thanks everyone for coming and the
contestants get one last goodbye. The Stew Room involves a wine bong
crafted from a funnel and a tube. Carrie and Joseph are hilarious.
Judges'
Table. Padma tells them it was the greatest food of the season for
her. Adrienne is the winner! Awesome. Everything was perfect and had
the right balance. Cooking the proteins separately was the right
decision. Padma reassures the other three that there isn't really a
bottom today. Hipster Joe had to take inspiration from both lasagna
and pig's feet. He married them together really well. Carrie made
delicious ravioli, but Tom says the only thing he would do
differently is mix the braising liquid with the crème fraiche.
Joseph managed to keep his sauce from breaking which a home cook
wouldn't know how to do (?) and it set him apart. The Parmesan crisp
added some salt but was maybe a little chewy.
Joseph
had the best pasta, but the Parmesan was chewy. But he needed that
cheese because he needed salt. Carrie could have made her crème
fraiche into a real sauce, which would have mimicked beef stroganoff
sauce which is an important part. Hipster Joe got his crispy edges,
but the judges think the curled crispy edges are a result of his
slicing the pasta rolls too soon. It is crispy and they get the
relation to the crispy edges of lasagna, but maybe that was
unnecessary.
It's
hard to send someone home on a dish based on a family recipe. Carrie
is eliminated. Aww. She just really needed that sauce to tie things
together. She was killing it though, but I think when the finale
started she just kind of slid downhill. She still considers herself a
local girl, but she knows that she's stronger than she thought.
Next
week: fishing, Food and Wine in Aspen, lots of famous people.
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