Previously on “Top Chef”: Tom and Gail showed up in the Stew Room to tell everyone they were going to go on a pub crawl instead of having a Quickfire. Most people knew something was up and took notes on the food they got. The Elimination Challenge asked chefs to pair up (randomly) and select a classic British pub dish to “elevate”. Some people were not familiar with any of this food. Buddha and Luciana took fish pie and deconstructed it, but kept the flavor, so they were the winners. May and Dale picked Scotch eggs, because May wanted to, and then Dale wouldn't listen to whatever idea she had, and then he didn't get them crispy so they were both eliminated. (click for more)
In Last Chance Kitchen: Dawn, May, and Dale had to elevate Welsh rarebit, which none of them had had before. Happily Dawn decided to mix kimchi and cheese and it was too much, so she was finally eliminated. Dale and May both survive.
Ali needs his confidence back after being in the bottom. Sylwia out of nowhere says she's proud of Victoire because she's only been speaking English for 4 months. Something about looking into someone else's eyes and trusting them.
In the morning, Padma greets everyone with Paul Young, who is a chocolatier. Gabri says he'd totally date him. Heh. The Quickfire today is to make cookies. Or “biscuits”. Or whatever you call them. You must make one sweet and one savory biscuit, and you can make one dough and split it. Winner gets immunity.
They only get 45 minutes. Amar sighs heavily. Luciana is going to split her dough to make her two batches. Charbel doesn't know what he's doing for his savory biscuit. Tom yells to the room that if anyone has a recipe please let him know. He hates baking. Gabri says “spicy chocolate butter” and then “kimchi tomato celery” in the same breath. I mean...I guess? Victoire snaps and says they don't bake in the Congo. Yeah but they bake in Italy? Buddha makes jokes about his dog. Listen, it's a lot of rapid fire stuff. Charbel almost knocks his tray of cookies on the floor. Sylwia is making a “Caesar” cookie. Ali hovers next to the oven. He did some training in Europe so he has some idea. Nicole is putting cookies in the oven with 15 minutes left? Less than 15? She says technically she has time but also “what the fuck am I thinking?” Victoire moved her biscuits because they're not cooking, only now they're overbaked. It's real frantic in here.
Victoire: savory: mascarpone and bacon sable; sweet: beetroot and coconut oil biscuit. The savory one is crumbling and they tell her biscuits should snap, which has always bothered me. They say that on Great British Bake-Off too. Chewy cookies are a thing, but they always want crispy cookies that break and don't bend. Maybe biscuits = cookies isn't accurate. Gabri: savory: corn biscuit with kimchi, tomato, pickled celery; sweet: corn biscuit with chocolate and chili. Amar: savory: prosciutto and Parmesan; biscuit with pine nuts; sweet: cocoa nib and vanilla biscuit. Tom: savory: “clouds” with beetroot and pickled blueberries; sweet: “clouds” with raspberries and pickled blueberries. They should look the same. Tom straight up tells Padma and Paul that he hates dry cookies. Ha! Paul looks offended, so he says it's a “bit of nice cake” but Tom has not produced biscuits. I don't think Tom cares. They're thick chewy cookies and I think they look good.
Charbel: savory: Parmesan and walnut sable with crème fraiche; sweet: chocolate chip biscuit with mousse and strawberry. He admits he doesn't like to bake “but we're on Top Chef, we have to adapt”. Don't kiss up. They put a shot of Tom but I think Tom knows full well he's not winning and he does not give a shit. Ali: savory: za'atar biscuit; sweet: orange sable. Sara: savory: smoked pimento cheese biscuit; sweet: clotted cream and key lime curd biscuit. They're both sandwich cookies.
Sylwia: savory: anchovy cookie with parsley, garlic, and shallots; sweet: rose cookie with almonds and white chocolate. Buddha: savory: black pepper biscuit with prosciutto; sweet: raspberry and whipped cream biscuit. Luciana: savory: Parmesan biscuit with crispy bacon and walnuts; sweet: sequilhos with tonka bean. Sequilhos are made with cornstarch and sweetened condensed milk, and tonka beans are a vanilla flavor? Begoña: savory: lemon butter biscuit with fennel and dill; sweet: lemon butter and apple biscuit. Nicole: savory: cacio e pepe biscuit; sweet: pistachio and rose biscuit.
Victoire's sweet biscuits were burnt, and the savory ones fell apart. Gabri's corn biscuits were too soft in the middle. Tom also gets yelled at for not following directions, but he just gives a thumbs-up. I told you he doesn't care. Nicole balanced her rose flavor properly, Ali made good crispy biscuits, and Luciana had cheese biscuits that tasted like comfort. The winner is Ali. Wow, he is up and down this season. He says it's the first time he's won immunity.
Padma says what happens next doesn't happen often. You have the night off! No one is buying it. Tomorrow morning they will meet her at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. I'm kind of sad the old stadium was called White Hart Lane and this one is just “stadium”. Anyway, this is my dad's team (not that he played, it's just the one he has chosen to support). So they actually have the night off? Wait, don't they have every night off? Padma says something about endurance so Amar says he's in trouble. Sara used to play soccer in high school, so she didn't have to go home after school. She would drive around, smoke cigarettes, get high, and then go to practice. Heh. Immediately she tells the producers in confessional not to put that on TV.
Cut to that night, when everyone is out to dinner somewhere. Oh so it actually is a night off. Victoire asks Amar to sing for some reason, and he immediately says “Sing? That's why I'm in the kitchen”. People start revealing what they actually used to do before cooking, like Sara has degrees in statistics and psychology, and Charbel used to be a hairdresser. Begoña reveals she lives with her mom, her son, and her son's father, who is her ex. Hmm. Victoire tells everyone after the second war in the Congo, her uncle told her she should go to Italy to learn to cook. The racism was traumatic. She says she's the voice of many women from the Congo.
In the morning it's time to head to the stadium. Amar jokes they might have to cook in the bathroom. Ali loves soccer, and compares his comeback to coming back from a deficit in a game. This is a very impressive stadium. Everyone runs up the front steps and then walks slowly onto the field. Well, onto the sideline. The Elimination challenge involves teams of three, and three rounds of 45 minute “matches”. They get to pick their own teams, though. Luciana, Begoña, and Gabri quickly match up. Gabri says he and Begoña were in the top last week and Luciana “is my girl” so *raise the roof hand gestures*. Charbel, Sylwia, and Sara make a group. Charbel is avoiding Ali, it sounds like. No one wants to pair with Ali because he has immunity. Victoire, Amar, and Nicole join up, which leaves Tom and Buddha stuck with Ali.
Padma tells everyone they're using the league system of relegation. The first round will be two head-to-head matches, where each team will make one dish with a “beloved” UK ingredient. It's not clear if they get to pick an ingredient or if they will be assigned. Winners are safe, but losers will be “relegated” and have to compete again. Whatever team loses that round will have an individual final round, and the loser of that final round will be eliminated. Luciana says if she'd known how this would work she'd pick a different team. Yeah, if your team ends up doing poorly, you're going to compete against your friends. Guest judges are one of the judges from Top Chef: Mexico, and “Tottenham's ambassador”. They have to draw knives for ingredients, so I guess you can't pick which is sad. Luciana and Nicole both draw Stilton, while Buddha and Charbel pick Wensleydale. Cheese for everyone. Stilton is a blue cheese, and Wensleydale is a much milder firm cheese.
Padma leads them back outside the stadium to the outdoor kitchens they have set up. Stilton teams are up first. Amar only wants to cook once today. The judges are just hanging around watching and chatting. Gail has a blazer that is half red and half pink, which I mention because it's a little clashing but also I kind of like it? Begoña is leading, but no one seems to mind. Gabri specifically says he will follow her blindfolded. Someone asks him if he plays soccer, and he says he doesn't like sports but he does like the players. Hee.
Sylwia thinks Wensleydale would be good in a rarebit which is funny to me. Buddha is going for cheese and onion, a classic British chip flavor. Begoña's team puts together a test dish, and Luciana says it's too runny. Smart of them to test it. I think it's a poached egg with the cheese so it's all soft. Nicole admits she's been “aggressive” in team challenges but she's matured and she's not like that anymore. Kind of. She sort of argues with Victoire but compared to the other fights we've seen on this show it's not even registering to me as a fight. Sara tastes their rarebit sauce and says it's underseasoned. Sylwia is trying to put like, cilantro and chilies in there, and Charbel says “no it's an English dish” as if it has to be as bland as possible. But it's not Mexican either. You could make a Mexican flavored rarebit, but you might overpower the cheese, too. Just put more cheese in it. They are putting this sauce on cauliflower, and there is a shot of the judges saying they like the cauliflower, and right after Buddha saying he's glad they didn't go with cauliflower. Luciana and Begoña are plating already, with six minutes to go. Victoire is sneezing a lot, because she didn't tell anyone she was allergic to walnuts. She's seriously coughing and wheezing. In confessional she tells herself “finish your dish and you can die”. A producer makes her leave the area.
When the teams present, Nicole says that Victoire is having “a little bit of a reaction” to the walnuts, as we cut to the medical team stabbing Victoire with an Epi-pen. That's serious shit, you're supposed to use that thing and then go directly to the hospital. Victoire, Amar, and Nicole: duck breast, roasted fruit, Stilton butter jus with blue cheese and walnut crumble. Luciana, Begoña, and Gabri: poached egg with pear and balsamic vinegar, Stilton foam, and crumble. They don't really comment, but just vote. Victoire's team gets all the votes, so they are safe and I guess Victoire can go to the hospital. It was a complicated plate but it all worked. The poached egg didn't work with the foam, it was all one texture. I thought they fixed that? Because Luciana brought it up? I guess not.
Buddha, Tom, and Ali: braised onion with Wensleydale cheese puree, pickled grapes, pickled chilis, and brown butter crumble. Charbel, Sylwia, and Sara: cauliflower Welsh rarebit, stout and cheese sauce, caramelized shallot and cheese puree, and raw cauliflower. Only Padma votes for Buddha's team. Oops. The winning team used a lot of cheese everywhere, while Buddha's team muted the cheese, probably because they used the peppers.
For the second round, the teams must cook with apples. Specifically, the chyron says Bramley apples. Luciana and Begoña talk about cannelloni, and shoot down Gabri's suggestion of cheese. I think Buddha wants to make apple pie. Tom just fucked up a sweet challenge, but his attitude seems to be “yeah fuck it” so they're going for it. Both teams are using their ingredients in as many ways as possible. Buddha and Ali argue over a crumble vs. tarte tatin, and Tom refuses to care. This is a situation where I think Ali should back off a little bit, since he has immunity. No one wants to be Nicolas and force their team to do something that fails. Buddha is getting worried. The judges taste the apples and they are very tart. The safe contestants are making a peanut gallery, and Amar yells that the green team is green and the apples are green so come on. Tom chuckles as Amar goes “Oh wow, that was so good, good one”. He's so pleased with himself for noticing colors match. Luciana notices their apples are oxidizing, so they have to put their sauce on top to hide it. Buddha asks Tom for the crumble topping, and I'm confused because aren't they making tarte tatin? And not a crumble? Tom doesn't have it, and Buddha just pivots to tell Ali what to do. Why decide not to make a crumble but still make crumble topping?
Luciana, Begoña, and Gabri: crab and apple cannelloni with apple mayonnaise. Buddha, Tom, and Ali: Bramley apple tart with caramelized apple, nut crumble, and crème anglaise. It just looks like a pile of stuff, it's not a round tart that is distinct. Why bother? Buddha's team takes all the points. So Luciana's team has not gotten a single vote. Oof. They use the apple in a lot of ways and had a great flavor. Luciana was right, the apples were sliced too early and they're not as crisp as they could be. It was good, but the tart was better.
So it's Luciana, Begoña, or Gabri going home. That sucks. For the last round, the ingredient is English peas. Begoña is confident but she doesn't want either of her teammates to go home. This whole team is winners. Gabri says in Mexico they use peas as a garnish, so he's not used it it. He puts some kombu in with the peas. Begoña is making at least four preparations. Luciana makes yakiniku sauce, which is a sauce you put on grilled meats. She seems pretty confident in those flavors. Gabri is rolling out the pea puree? To dehydrate? I'm not sure. The peanut gallery is standing and they're anxious for the competitors.
Begoña: cream of peas with crème fraiche, salted peas, fried peas, and pea meringue. It's not just fried peas, but she peeled them and fried the peel. And the meringue doesn't actually have eggs, it's the water from cooking the peas that's been whipped. The way you can use the water from cooking chickpeas to sub for egg whites in vegan dishes. Luciana: scallop carpaccio with yakiniku sauce, and pea veloute. Gabri: sauteed peas and cured beets with a pea and mint tuille.
Begoña was showing them range with all her preparations, but Tom says she overcooked her peas, along with Gabri. He also shits on her fried peels, but Gail and Padma point out it was artistic and intentional. Luciana didn't have as much pea flavor, even though Tom insists she cooked her peas the best out of the three. Gabri got plenty of flavor, and it was inviting.
Tom says there was one dish that left them flat, and that was Luciana's dish. Aww. This was a hard challenge, competing against her friends. She's ready for LCK; she says she's ready to remove her earrings and start chopping.
Next week: “family holiday feast” in the Kent countryside. Everyone having to share a kitchen, I'm sure someone being mad about it.
Last Chance Kitchen: it sounds like they are keeping two people and only eliminating one. Luciana is excited to be here. Dawn in the peanut gallery looks mad but too bad. Luciana's pea puree on top of scallops just didn't work. Tom says they don't have time here, so you have to make one dish with all three of the ingredients: cheese, apples, and peas. Oh and also rabbit. May says in Thailand they don't eat rabbit. Balance all four of your flavors.
Still only 30 minutes to cook. Dale says rabbit overcooks very quickly, but that means it dries out quickly too. May thinks you can't cook rabbit thigh in half an hour. Luciana backs that up. Dale is planning on a foam, and he wants a cheddar for it but there isn't cheddar so he is using feta. Can you swap one of those for the other? Luciana doesn't think you can use strong cheese with rabbit because it will overpower the rabbit. So she's using mascarpone. May sounds like she's flailing. Dale doesn't want a lot of other ingredients to try to mix in. Luciana is frying kale to get a bitter flavor.
Tom Time! May is stuffing the rabbit loin with cheese and stuff for poaching. But she's out of time, so the water is hotter than it should be. But she doesn't want undercooked rabbit. Luciana is busy working and Dale is trying to chat up Tom, asking if he likes rabbit and whatever. Dale also likes his foam, although it could maybe have more cheese. May is searing the rabbit, but she's doing that thing where you plate other things and leave something on the stove until the absolute last second. But everything gets plated.
May: rabbit loin roulade with ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, apples, and peas. Luciana: rabbit loin with miso and sake sauce, mashed peas, mascarpone, and glazed apples. Dale: roasted rabbit loin and kidneys with feta and apple espuma, peas. Tom is asking very pointed questions, like why May went with a roulade, and did Luciana mean to have her mashed peas be chunky, and did Dale think the feta would season the whole dish? Oof.
May's sauce is great, and her peas are kind of crunchy but it works. Luciana's sauce is a little salty, and all her components make a great bite. Dale cooked everything really well but the feta is underseasoned. The best dish is Luciana. It's really balanced when you eat everything together. The losing dish is May's. Boo. The roulade just didn't work. She interviews that in her real life she's not cooking something she doesn't eat. Once May leaves, Tom tells Luciana and Dale that one of them “could very well” be reentering the competition next week.
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