Thanksgiving & Top Chef Rock

Thanksgiving was supposed to be quiet this year but it turned out to be anything but. It was supposed to be my Mom, four friends, and I. And that what it was for the FIRST dinner at 11:30. That was turkey with all the trimmings. My nephew called and he said he and his family would be bringing a complete ham dinner to Mom's and that they would be there at five to serve mom and I. Greg, his wife, Angela, daughters Megan, Chelsea, Katie and son Grayson arrived a little late, about six. It was a great dinner. We played charades until late. I didn't get home until after a ten. It was great fun.

Now on to Top Chef. The life lessons we learned on Top Chef this week were: Sometimes completely out of your control you will be dealt cards that make you have to quickly change directions, sometimes it will rain on your parade, sometimes no matter how good you do someone else will do just a little bit better, never undercook anything, and sometimes you have to clean up after others.

The guest judge this week was Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea Restaurant. I was kind of touched when Hosea mentioned that he could relate to Grant since Grant was a cancer survivor and right before he left for Top Chef, Hosea found out his dad had cancer.

In The Quickfire Challenge the chefs drew knifes with numbers on it. The numbers on the knifes were page numbers in the Top Chef Cookbook with recipes from previous seasons' contestants. The challenge began with the chefs being required to cook the recipe on the page number they were given. Ten minutes into the challenge they were thrown a curve and had to change directions. They had to quit working on the recipe they were given and had to use the ingredients they had to make soup. The three that did the best at changing direction:

Jamie with her chickpea soup with pickled chilies, yogurt and crispy shallots.

Daniel with his ham and egg soup with sauteed mushrooms with corn and cheese.

Winning immunity from elimination was Leah with her chilled white asparagus soup with brioche, tuna, and tapenade.

The elimination challenge was to cook a Thanksgiving Dinner with all its trimmings for the rock group the Foo Fighters and their entourage of sixty people, including eighteen vegetarians. The chefs were divided into two teams. Since Leah won the elimination challenge she got to choose her teammates. Team Sexypants was Leah, Jamie, Hosea, Melissa, Fabio, Stefan, and Radhika. Team Cougar (named to honor the "hot and sexy" Ariane) was Ariane, Jeff, Alex, Richard, Carla, Daniel, and Eugene. The winning team goes to the Foo Fighters concert that night, the losing team stays back and cleans up the mess.

The Team Cougar menu: Turkey, Stuffing, Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Pork Loin Roast, Macaroni & Cheese, Pumpkin Mousse, Peach Cobbler, & Banana S'mores.

The Team Sexypants menu: Butterball Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Gravy, Side Salads, Pumpkin Tiramisu, and Fruit Crisp.

When the chefs got to the arena they found a kitchen with numerous toaster ovens and microwaves, one burner, no refrigerator, no freezer, and no oven. Eugene creatively made a burner from scratch. While they were cooking the higher ups threw the chefs another curve with a rain storm.

Team Cougar had the best turkey cooked by my gal Ariane. Finally I didn't have to hold my breath wondering if she was going home. Team Sexypants outclassed Team Couger with their desserts. The competition was extremely close but the winners were Team Sexypants. Which meant not only did Team Cougar have to clean up but one of the Cougar team members was going home.

Even though I really don't like Jeff I gained a lot of respect for him for the way he defended his team. Good for him. At the judges' table the ones from Team Cougar that were announced as safe were in order; Eugene, Alex, Carla, and Ariane. The bottom three:

Jeff with his spoonbread stuffing with figs, cranberries, walnuts, and onions, Daniel with his undercooked potatoes and sent packing with his poorly cooked banana S'mores, Richard.

Richard in a tearful exit mentioned that he has tried for three seasons to get on Top Chef and was sure his family was proud of him. I kind of respect him for not giving up and for keep trying to get on the show after failing a couple of times!

Hope your Thanksgiving rocked and that your weekend will too!