Roughing It Top Chef Style
Apparently my parents were holding out on me when they took us camping all those years growing up. Here I thought roasted weenies and s’mores were delectable camping eats, but Wednesday’s episode of Top Chef made me realize I should have been demanding duck breast with mole sauce and watermelon salad, with a coconut lime ceviche starter.
This week’s elimination challenge had the chefs playing “cookie” to a ranch full of cowboys hungry for a high end lunch. Sounds easy enough, but the true “challenge” was preparing the lunch out of tents, open fire pits and a rustic chuckwagon. As contestant Eli stated upon seeing the accommodations, and this is surely to become an often repeated phrase in my house, “F*#k that with a spoon!”
And while there were some stellar dishes, including Bryan’s winning dish: Roasted Pork with Corn Polenta, Dandelion Greens and Glazed Rutabega (say that ten times fast), others had the judges begging for roasted weenies and even those white nasty bits of pork fat floating in the Pork ‘n Beans. More specifically, Mattin’s Ceviche Three Ways made guest judge Tim Love literally sick and had Tom Colicchio running to spit it out faster than a jacked up Marion Jones.
Not surprisingly, Mattin was sent packing, but at least he can always go to Pamplona, Spain. He’s dressed perfectly for the Running of the Bulls.
Pic Courtesy of NBC Universal
