On this week's episode of Top Chef Las Vegas we're down to the Final Five: Hot Bro (Bryan), Angry Bro (Mike), Redbeard (Kevin), Eli "Bonaduce", and Ceveech (Jen). (Even though I finally learned their real names a few weeks ago, I still like to refer to them as the nicknames we made up for them in our podcast.)
If you saw the sneak peek of this episode then you already know that this week's guest judge is none other than American culinary deity Thomas Keller. (If you don't know who he is, you might want to look him up before watching this episode and then beat yourself up for not being a devoted enough foodie.) It looked as if even the V Brothers were sweating when they learned that Keller would be gracing them with his presence. Surprisingly enough, Ceveech looks a heck of a lot better this week – she even laughs! Should we credit Valium or is she smokin' the good stuff?
In the preview videos below, we get a peek at tonight's Quickfire and Elimination Challenges. For their Quickfire, the chefs have 90 minutes to create a ballotine. Yes, I even had to crack open one of my old textbooks to look this one up. (It turns out, the chefs were actually mispronouncing the word.) According to Epicurious' Food Dictionary, a ballotine (bal-lo-TEEN) is "Meat, fish or fowl that has been boned, stuffed, rolled and tied in the shape of a bundle. It is then braised or roasted and is normally served hot but can be served cold. Often confused with galantine, which is poached and served cold." As Ceveech put it, it's a "protein in a protein in a protein". Or, as I like to think of it, a protein explosion. I like that Ceveech decided, "To hell with all this fancy schmancy gourmet crap!" and went renegade, Paula Deen-style, by making a Turducken.
For the Elimination Challenge, I'm still not quite sure of the actual challenge. It looks in one shot as though they're making a ton of amuse bouches. In the video below, it seems that Angry Bro and Ceveech are both cooking with the same protein. All I know for sure is Thomas Keller is finally guest judging, which is enough to get me to watch.
In the video below, there is some major foreshadowing going on: Ceveech's risky salmon dish; Hot Bro is attempting a 10-hour braise in 4 hours and remarks, "I hope that it doesn't get me in the end." (*cough*Thatswhatshesaid*cough*); and Redbeard is actually going out on a limb and attempting something he's never done before, saying it is "one of the edgiest ones [challenges] for me to try and do something that I never do." (Um, isn't that no-no number one in Top Chef and has been the downfall of so many cheftestants?) Could a heavy-hitter (someone other than Eli) end up going home tonight? Watch what happens!
Tune in to Bravo tonight at 10 pm EST/9 pm C, check out our own live Tweets during the show (Jeff: @TheStew, Katie: @culinarypirate), and listen to our podcast here tomorrow! (You can now download on iTunes and check out Jeff’s Top Chef Flickr page.)
See videos after the break:
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.