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Food

Top Chef Masters: The Race to the Goal!

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So now we are down to the final 6 chefs who are going for the big payoff! 1 chef will be eliminated this week but who? The winning chef for this week will get another 10 grand for their chairty. Let’s jump in!

So this week’s classic quickfire. They had to draw knives for teams. They have to the the “mise en place relay race”. I love this challenge! The guys probably haven’t had to do their own prep for a long time. Tom Collichio will be judging this challenge. They need to open 15 oysters, dice 5 onions, butcher 4 chickens then seperate 5 eggs and beat the white so they stay in the bowl when it is upside down. The winning team will get an advantage, so I assume that the big challenge will be in teams. Art totally kicked Hubert’s butt in the onion chopping challenge. Rick skunked Art on the egg whipping so the Salt team won. The winning team all got 5 stars for their performance and the losing 4 each.
Pepper: Suzanne, Michael, Art
Salt: Hubert, Anita, Rick
Then they each have to make their signature dish to show the other chefs about them. My guess is that they will each have to recreate someone’s signature dish.
Hubert: Lobster and Truffle Cappuccino with Corn Madeline
Art: Seared Grouper with Hearts of Palm, Trumpet Mushrooms and Meyer Lemon Zest
Anita: Seared Sea Scallop with Potato Puree, Sea Urchin and Mustard Greens
Michael: Fennel Balsalmic Quail with Mosto Cotto Mostardo and Sauteed Greens and Roasted Apples
Suzanne: Chopped Sirloin with Green Peppercorn Sauce and Fried Egg
Rick: Rack of Lamb & Black Pasilla Chile with Mission Figs
For the elimination challenge they have to take a competitor’s dish and put their spin on it. Hubert got to choose (since he went twice in the relay). So he choose to do Anita’s so she had to do his. Then the knife pull. Art was doing Suzanne’s, Suzanne was doing Art’s and Michael had to do Rick’s (though he didn’t want to) with Rick doing his. It looks like they can ask questions of the chefs. They shopped together and were talking. Watching Anita was funny because her lobster tried to walk away;).
Art: Ground Lamb Scotch Eggs, Sweet Potato Fries and Tomato Tart
Rick: Quail with Parsnip and Prosciutto stuffing over Wild Greens
Suzanne: Roasted Grouper with Gnocchi, Peas, Bacon and Parsnips
Hubert: Seared Scallop with Cream of Sea Urchin over Fingerling Mashed Potatoes
Michael: Rack of Lamb stuffed with Fig Mostarda, Chickpeas and Fried Chickpeas
Anita: Corn Chawanmushi, Champagne Gelee and Lobster Biscuit Sandwich
Service and Judging:
Some thought Art’s egg was over cooked but everyone thought it really represented Art. Rick really stepped outside his style but good. Suzanne’s gnocchi was cold and her fish was overdone. Hubert’s sauce didn’t have enough of a sea urchin flavor. Some thought that Michael’s food was bland and too rare. Anita’s dish seemed to be a hit! Based on just what the diners said (former Top Chef Masters contestants) Michael or Suzanne will be going home and Anita is winning. The judges liked both Hubert and Anita’s dishes but Hubert did get told that it was not enough sea urchin. Art got hit about the lamb being to rare and the egg being to done. Suzanne got hit about cold gnocchi and over cooked fish. Rick was just praised. Michael got tagged for his lamb being to rare and too much of his own. Michael wanted to respect Rick. A judge asked if he care more about what Rick thought than the judges and Michael said yes.
Hubert: 21 1/2 stars
Anita: 24 stars
Art: 15 stars
Suzanne: 14 1/2 stars
Rick: 23 stars
Michael: 18 1/2 stars
Anita won! But Suzanne lost. I don’t find that surprising but I didn’t think it was going to be so close with Art.
See you next week! Next week they will be catering for Zoe Deshanel (I probably spelled that very wrong;).

Nerdosphere

Link Love

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I am a complicated and diverse woman. So here are just a few of the interesting things I have read lately and are worth sharing.

On the homeschooling front: Classless and Lovin’ It has a great piece looking at different algebra curriculums.
Looking at crafting: Scrapbook.com has cool piece on decorating comp books. I picked up a few for under 50 cents apiece.
In blogging: BlogHer has posted about the 2010 conference.
Politics: Mary Katherine Ham over at the WeeklyStandard (and I) actually agrees with Andrew Sullivan on dropping the Obama birth issue.
TV: TV Squad did an interview with David Tenant (Doctor Who) at Comic Con.
Robot 6 has a piece with the guest voices for the new Super Hero Squad. For those who haven’t heard, this is the new kiddie level Marvel cartoon (think Wordgirl).
Science and Tech: ScienceDaily has a piece on happyness.

Food

Hell’s Kitchen Keeps Burning

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So here we meet for another episode of Hell’s Kitchen. Where we left everyone last week was Joseph calling out Gordon Ramsay. So will they fight? I think not but what I wonder is if Joseph is going to get tossed off the show. Well, lets get into it!

So out comes the security standing to Joseph’s sides. Ramsay says he has no repect and tosses him out. Then Ramsay gets back to the elimination. He asks for the nominees and why. The nominees were Lovely, Tenille, Andy and Tony. Ramsay tossed Tony out.
Then Ramsay sent Robert to the men’s team. The night is over and they are sent to bed. Only to be awakened by Scott and a fire drill complete with fire trucks. This is the lead into the next challenge. They have to work as teams to serve all the fire fighters a fresh pasta meal (chicken or meatball) with garlic bread appitizer. The first team done, wins. Before they can get their meals they have to have their appetizer first. So the women were waiting on Lovely and the men were waiting on Andy. Andy was only working in 2 ovens. 20 minutes into the challenge and no one had gotten bread yet. Ariel had to come over and take over Lovely. The guys were having the same problem of Andy not getting bread out (and I mean any) but none of the guys were taking over. The women got a lead by serving entrees first but then started skimping on the meat so they had to redo. At the end it was 6 tables left for the blue and 4 for the red. The girls were on their last table and then they got a plate back for a raw meatball. But the red team ended up winning! The girls get a spa day as their reward. The guys get to clean the fire fighter’s gear and trucks. Then they get to clean the dining room.
So Dave hurt his wrist while washing the trucks but chose not to tell anyone. Then Kevin rolls his ankles. So the medic comes to check out Kevin’s ankles and then Dave gets his wrist looked at. Both guys had to go to the hospital for x-rays and such. Dave got a slight fracture and a torn ligament. Kevin stretched 1 ligament so he got a boot. The other one is severly sprained. They are both sticking it out.
For service each team is sending out 1 member each to do table service. Dave volunteers for the blue and Ramsay picks Lovely for the red. Van is doing the apps for the guys and started them off well (except the yelling). Tenille is doing the scallops for the women and she starts off cooking the scallops in way to much oil. Robert asked Andy to help him with the scallops and then Andy was crowding a pan. Ariel and Sabrina are doing the apps but they couldn’t get scallops from Tenille. Suzanne tried to help Tenille but she wouldn’t listen to her. After a bit of a fight, scallops finally started flying out of the women’s kitchen.
On the floor, Lovely was way behind. Amanda was putting out some bad looking lamb. But Kevin was doing really well and was leading the blue team. Ariel seems to be emerging as a real leader for the red team. The guys were on their last table and Robert had forgot the salmon, which meant another 12 minutes. That gave the women the edge to finish first. But based on comment cards the girls lost by 2% on the satisfaction rating.
Ariel was dubbed best of the worst and gets to pick 2 for elimination. She nominated Lovely and Tenille (same as last week). Tenille says she is one of the strongest. Lovely says that she maintained her composure. Ramsay said he didn’t think either of them could win. But he kept them both because Joseph had to leave.
So will Lovely and Tenille be on the chopping block again next week? We shall see!

house management, WFMW

WFMW: Getting Stains Off Corian

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Ugly eh? Genius me was emptying my pencil sharpener on the counter. Of course it was way over full and got lead shavings on the counter. So I started wiping them with a dry cloth and it left a little cloud. Then I got a wet dishcloth, wiped it and this is what I was left with.

Nothing got it off. I used soap water, straight dish soap, degreaser, and bathroom cleaner. Nothing. Now I know that you can sand the counter down (the beauty of solid surface) but I was terribly nervous about that. So after I was done scouring my sink with Comet I used the cloth. The reason I didn’t use Comet in the first place was the Corian cleaning scare tactics. They said don’t use anything abrasive, it will leave scratch marks. They said it would be better to use a fine grit sand paper. Well, they were wrong. It took it right out! No scratches, no damage! Apparently a little comet goes a long.

Food

Next Food Network Star (7/26)

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So we are almost at the end! Who is going to win? I am pulling for Melissa but we will see! NerdPie is also pulling for Melissa. Will Jeffrey perk it up? Will Debby quit making excuses? Will Melissa contain her energy? Let’s take a look!

So Emeril Lagasse pops up when they finalists enter their restaurant. They are doing a challenge based on Julie and Julia. They each will be creating a 3 course meal for a dinner party with the “culinary elite” of 20. They get $1000 and a sous chef. They will have to demo some portion of the meal live. Before they do anything, they went and watched the movie.
Melissa- 1st: Potato Torte with Ratatouille, 2nd: Brick Herb Chicken with a Mushroom Port Sauce with Orzo, 3rd: Cheese Trio with a Pochette
Debby- 1st: Chili Rubbed BBQ Shrimp with a Savory Corn Salad, 2nd: Braised Korean Short Rib on a Garlic Grit Cake, 3rd: Asian Pear Egg Roll
Jeffrey- 1st: Seared Scallops with Green Chili Chutney and Chipotle Cream, 2nd: Seafood Risotto, 3rd: Chocolate Mousse with Biscotti
Jeffrey only spent $317 but he didn’t go back to get anything else. They go to a home on Miami Beach to cook. They got to see all the names on the name cards and they are really cooking for many of the best. Of course the sous chef are past contestants. Michael is cooking with Debby, Katie with Jeffrey and Jamika with Melissa. While watching Melissa making a potato tort and puts bacon on top, I (and NerdDad) are convinced that I need to try that! Michael (and I ) both think that Debby’s ribs may not be done all the way by service. Melissa was having problems with her food. Jamika over salted the orzo and the potato tarts weren’t cooking.
In the presentation Melissa started to talk about her childhood and talked about her mom killing herself. Over all it was a sweet presentation but I don’t know about talking about suicide. Bobby said he was seeing a different Melissa and she said the other was her nerves. The ratatoullie went over well. Melissa demos her brick chicken with the main course. Some of the chickens were over cooked but the tort was a success. Her dessert was a big hint. John Besch loved the ratatoulle, the tort, and the dessert pastry.
Debby comes out for her presentation. Her appeitizer with pretty. Tyler Florence felt this the appeitizer wasn’t original. Gina Neely felt the ribs were missing something. The dessert is the course that Debby does the demo. Her demo was good. Her dessert was dinged by at least Samuelson’s being a little raw.
Then onto Jeffrey. Jeffrey is planning on under cooking the risotto so it doesn’t congeal before the guests get it. Jeffrey does his demo right off with his scallop appeitizer. His demo was smooth and the course seemed to go well. Then out comes the risotto. No one seemed happy as they were eating it while he was presenting. Payard said it was the worse risotto in his life. He got some great comments regarding his dessert. Bobby did ask how much he spent.
Morimoto and John Besch liked Debby. Anne Burell liked Jeffrey’s demo the best. Samuelson, Emeril, and Bayless seemed to like Melissa. Before we head into judging and elimination, my predictions are Debby and Melissa as the final 2!
Bob said that Melissa pouchette was the best dish of the night. Payard said is was a great pastry. Bobby wanted more in the demo but Melissa got nervous. Bob thought there was diamonds in to much verbage. Then onto Jeffrey. Bob thought his demo was flawless. He got hit pretty hard about not spending enough money. They said he is a good cook and charismatic but not sure if he is a star. Then it is Debby’s turn. Bobby had issues with her food. He wanted more flavor and the egg rolls weren’t all cooked through. Bob said the food was hit and miss. Bobby feels he hasn’t tasted Seoul to Soul. Then they got a shot to say what was on their minds before a decision is made. I personally think that Melissa made the best plea. But I have to say, this is the first season that I can see watching all 3 but my favorites are Melissa and Jeffrey. But I think they are going to choose Melissa and Debby.
The final 2 are Melissa and Jeffrey!!! I would watch both of these shows! Next time we will get some AB!! (Alton Brown) The finalists are going to final shoot some pilots! See you next week!

Food

Meal Plan Monday

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It is really hot in Fresno! But I really want to cook and bake more this week so let us give it a go! We have a night with out dad this week and we are celebrating Nerdling’s 4th birthday so that will dictate a couple of days in there.

Monday: Homemade Pizza (on Boboli)
Tuesday: Egg/Sausage/Stuffing casserole, Bacon, Fruit (as per requested)
Wednesday: Crockpot Beef Ribs, Couscous Blend, Broccoli
Thursday: Pasta Bake
Friday: Cube Steak, Beer Bread, Broccoli