by Arthur Perkins
 
It's crunch time on Top Chef as the loser tonight does not get to go to the semi-finals next episode in New Orleans. If you don't go, you can't win so the pressure is on for peak performance. The Quickfire is simple. Wiley Dufresne, ardent advocate of molecular gastronomy, is the Guest Judge for the Quickfire. He asked the chefs to create an egg-based dish in one hour. They respond as follows:
 
Leah - Quail egg and potato ravioli w/Caviar and Brioche w ricotta and bacon hollandaise; eggs hollandaise w/ bacon
 
Carla -    "Green Eggs and Ham" w/ green tomato salsa and Jalapeno oil
 
Stefan - poached eggs on brioche w/ ham and bearnaise sauce; pannacotta egg w/ faux mango yolk and sweet bearnaise sauce
 
Fabio - quail egg w/ buckwheat pancake; eggs w/bearnaise sauce; coconut milk pannacotta w/ mango puree; lychee soup w/ lemon yolk
 
Hosea - egg whites w/ salmon and asparagus; egg white sticky rice w/ poached shrimp and avocado; avocado and tempura-fried egg salad
 
Note that the extra time gave 4 chefs the desire to do a second dish, all except Carla. Wiley visits each chef with Padma and makes generally positive noises, but when he gives the grades Leah, Fabio and Hosea are all in trouble with serious faults to their dishes (I guess Wiley was saving them for a more dramatic moment). Stefan has done very well, but Carla even better. Carla wins the reward, a significant advantage in the Elimination Challenge.
 
The Elimination Challenge is introduced as "The Last Supper" for 5 giants of the culinary world. Each one has chosen a dish that they want to have as their last meal ever. Those choices and the chef whose knife draw won them are:
 
Carla - Roasted Squab by Jacques Pepin; Carla adds fresh peas w/butter tarragon, lemon thyme butter sauce, demi-glace
 
Stefan - Salmon w/Roasted Potatoes and Spinach by Marc Samuelsson; Stefan adds spinach two ways and dill sauce
 
Fabio - Roasted Chicken w/Roasted Potatoes and Leafy Salad by Lidia Bastianich; Fabio adds herb-roasted potatoes and caramelized cipollini (wild onions) and his leafy salad has carrots, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar
 
Hosea - Shrimp Scampi and Tomatoes Provencal by Susan Ungaro; Hosea adds beurre blanc
 
Leah - Eggs Benedict by Wiley Dufresne; with a slow-poached egg plus bacon on challah added by Leah
 
It is highly suspicious that Hosea gets a seafood dish (he had a 1/3 chance), Fabio an Italian(he had a 1/6 chance), Stefan gets a Scandanavian (he had a 1/6 chance) and Carla a Frenchman (1/6 chance). While there is a probability of one of those occurring, all 4 of those happening is beyond credulity( 1/648). Could the knife block have been marked to give chefs the determined matching with just those culinary experts? It looks that way to me, but I wasn't there. The chefs get the night off and choose to go to eat at Harold Dieterle (Top Chef 1 winner) restaurant Perilla and get tips from him. The next morning they have 30 minutes and $300 for food shopping at Whole Foods. On return they have 2 hours to prep and then will cook in 20 minute increments. Fabio get a serious injury when he falls and dislocates his finger. With a lot of rhetoric similar to "When the going get tough, the tough get going", Fabio goes ahead and finishes cooking. Tom visits the kitchen and tells them not to embarrass him in front of these distinguished diners.
 
The dishes are generally well received, with the simplest favored by the judges. It is clear that these culinary experts like to eat simple things expertly done rather than complicated things. Their comments are:
 
Pepin - the texture of Leah's egg is off, thin hollandaise sauce and thin flavor (you know she's in trouble)
Tom - Stefan's salmon overcooked (agreed to by all 8 at the table) and his dual versions of spinach taste the same ; Toby liked his potatoes
Wiley - Fabio excellent chicken but the salad looked like an "airplane salad"
Carla - comments on her own dish that the squab was OK when sliced but looked overcooked when  actually served; Jacques says no problem as it did not taste overcooked
Jacques - wished Hosea had seared the tomato Provencal for improved flavor
Jacques represents the other 4 diners at Judges Table.
 
Tom's overall summary is "Thank you for not embarrassing me." The winners are Carla and Fabio, both chicken dishes. Fabio is the overall winner and receives a very large bottle(a jeroboam maybe?) of what looks like the Devil's Peak Terlato Family Vineyards wine plus a 3-day expense paid trip to the Terlato Family Vineyards in Napa Vallley, California.
 
The losers group are the other 3. Their major sins are:
 
Leah - egg texture, hollandaise thin and flavor not robust
Stefan - simply, overcooked salmon
Hosea - a variety of minor things
 
It was obvious that it would not be Hosea eliminated. Could it be Stefan? No, his sins were not in the same league as Leah's. Leah has had a good run on Top Chef, but she reached her capacity and maybe desire and is told to pack her knives and go.
 
On to New Orleans, where the semi-finals and finals will occur. The preview showed Emeril Lagasse in the next episode; he is always larger than life.

(Photo courtesy NBC)

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