Before we get going a couple of things. Carla has to get out of the pastry rut! Leah and Hosea need to keep it in their pants. So hold on for the live blog! (well, live to tivo)

QuickFire Challenge:

The guest judge is Scott Conant. The chefs have to pick a square then they will line up with both a food group and key ingredient. It ends up that everyone’s key ingredient was whole grain oats regardless of your food group. I am interested in how good or bad the eggplant in oats will be. The judge made fun of it. Oats in breading is so not original. I am a home chef and have known about it for years. Really, that is the best they could come up with? So on the bottom was Leah (that fish is biting her again), Fabio and Jeff. Doing to much got Jeff again, he needs to calm it down and pick one idea at a time. On top was Carla, Jamie and Stefan. The winner was Stefan. Again.

Elimination Challenge:

So everyone got Top Chef jerseys/jackets with their names on the back. So here come past season chefs. They are Andrew, Josie, Andrea, Spike, Camille, Nikki, and Miguel. There is a head to head cookoff where they are celebrating the regional cuisine for each team. Stefan gets to pick so he picks the Dallas Cowboys and is going against Andrea. Then everyone else had to choose their teams each. They will have 20 minutes to make a dish and will be doing it in front of culinary students using only the ingredients provided. They had 2 hours to plan their dish and test out some stuff. In judging the judges score a winner (7 points) and the Fan tasters vote for a score of 3.

Miami Dolphins: Jeff vs Josie
Packers: Fabio vs Spike
Seahawks: Hosea vs Miguel
Giants: Leah vs Nikki
49’ers: Jamie vs Camille
Saints: Carla vs Andrew

Looking at her ingredients, Jamie starts to panic a bit. Stefan is sure that Andrea can’t cook and so he doesn’t have anything to worry about.

Serving:

NY Giants: Leah(Strip Steak with Creamed Corn, Snap Peas& Arugula Salad) vs Nikki (Chicken Livers with Onions and Goat Cheese on Challah) Leah scored the touchdown and Nikki got the field goal.

Seattle Seahawks: Miguel (Cedar Plank Salmon with Noodles and Mushrooms) vs Hosea(Crispy Salmon Roll with Ginger-Blackberry Sauce) Hosea won the touchdown 3-1. He also won the field goal.

New Orleans Saints: Andrew(Crayfish Crudo with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette) vs Carla(Crawfish and Andouille Gumbo over Grits) Carla wins the touchdown but not the field goal.

Dallas Cowboys: Andrea(Tex Mex Chili with Fried Corn Chips and Guacamole Coleslaw) vs Stefan(Roasted Pork with Coleslaw and NY Steak with Corn Salad) I have to saw that both of Stefan’s dishes sounded so good. The judges were split so the whole 10 point sat with the fan tasters. And they awarded the full 10 points to Andrea. So Stefan is the 1st old chef to win.

SF 49’ers: Jamie (Crab Cioppino with Olives, Basil and Toasted Sourdough) vs Camille(Miso Sweet Potato Mash with Mustard Crab Meat and Salad) The judges were once again tied but Jamie won the tasters and won all 10 points.

Miami Dolphins: Josie(Warm Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Papaya) vs Jeff(Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Sangria Sorbet) Josie won the touchdown and the field goal.

Green Bay Packers: Spike (Five-Spice Venison with Port Reductions and Micro Herb Salad) vs Fabio (Venison with Mustard Sauce and Mache Salad with Cheddar) Spike won the touchdown due to Fabio over cooking the venison. But Fabio won the field goal.

Judging Table:

So first up are our winners! Toby tasted Carla’s love. Scott actually liked how Jamie cooked. The single winner was Carla! She won 2 tickets to the SuperBowl. Then the losers went in. Fabio said that the venison was done right before he said it on the hot cabbage. Fabio then started to argue about putting acid on salad with cheese. Jeff was angry he got beat by a hot ceviche. He then got told it was because it didn’t have enough flavor regardless of how many techniques he used. In the end Jeff was sent hope. After all Jeff’s talk about Josie not making a ceviche, he poached his shrimp. What a hipocrite.

Now is when it starts to get real exciting because we are getting close to the end. So I will see you all next week!