Jack and I have decided to do a fun project: Each week, we will cook a winning dish from Top Chef.
Oh yes, my friends. We will.
Although we don't have the culinary background to hack it on the line with the likes of Fabio, Stefan, Harold, Hong, Marcel, Tiffani, or Dave (I'm not your bitch, bitch!), I do have the chops to follow a recipe word for word and make something quite tasty!
So we'll pack up our knives and head over to our Top Chef Kitchen, which is NOT furnished by the makers of Glad® and does NOT have glowing appliances by the makers of GE™.
So I guess you don't have to worry about endless product placements.
We will cook through the winning dishes from Seasons 1-5, with a brief pause when Season 6 comes back on air. When that happens, we will follow the season, and then resume the remaining recipes when the season is over.
Unfortunately, you will not be able to gaze into Tom's gorgeous blue eyes or stare longingly at Padma's glowing skin. Gail's effusive smile will not light up our kitchens and guest judges such as Anthony Bourdain cannot provide us with constructive criticism such as "that dish was so ugly, it doesn't even deserve to be prison food".
You will instead receive my witty (I hope) commentary providing a bit of background about the episode and our trials and tribulations about cooking each dish.
Like take this dish, for example. Jack said he would cook it so that I could photograph it as soon as I got home from work so that I could get a good picture of it in the sunlight.
Instead, Jack cut off the tip of his finger while making it.
Actually, he cut off a millimeter of skin from his thumb while slicing the butternut squash, called me at work freaking out, so I rushed home to take care of him to find him on the couch watching The Dark Knight with a piece of toilet paper wrapped around it as our dog lay on his lap. I ran to the couch to see if he was ok, and the piece had magically healed itself.
I cooked the rest of the dish.
This amazing, delicious, healthy dish. Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef Season 1 (and the chef/owner of the restaurant Perilla in New York City) actually won the 1st Top Chef Challenge ever. The challenge of the episode, titled "Who Deserves to Be Here", was to basically cook a fantastic meal to serve to your peers. Harold won with this dish - a steamed Thai Snapper atop braised Brussel sprout leaves and a butternut squash puree topped with chanterelle mushrooms and rock shrimp.
Oh YES. This is going to be fun.
Steamed Thai Snapper adapted from Top Chef Season 1: Episode One
Meat:
1 piece Red Snapper
Sauce:
1 butternut squash
1 cup chicken broth
2 piece garlic
2 shallots
2 oz. butter
Vegetables:
3 oz. brussel sprout leaves (about 1 cup)
1 oz. rock Shrimp
1 oz. chanterelles
1 teaspoon chives
1 teaspoon parsley
Kosher
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.
Directions:
Skin and dice butternut squash for 15 minutes at 375°.
Sweat garlic and shallots in 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-low
heat while butternut squash is roasting. When squash is done, add squash meat.
Cover with chicken stock and simmer 10 minutes. Blend and add butter.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Peel brussel sprout leaves (from fresh brussel sprouts) from bulbs. Sweat
leaves in 1 tablespoon butter over medium low heat until golden brown, add
shrimp and chanterelles. Cook 2 minutes. Add parsley and chives. Season
to taste with salt and pepper.
Season snapper with salt and pepper. Steam snapper for 5 minutes.
What an interesting idea. I didn't even know that you could get those recipes. I am looking forward to seeing you recreate these dishes. And, this one definitely looks very yummy.
Posted by: Cheri | May 20, 2009 at 01:26 AM
that looks freakin' deliicious, and glad to hear that no fingertips were permanently lost in the process! we've lost touch, but i used to be good friends with a TC season 3 contestant.
Posted by: steph (whisk/spoon) | May 20, 2009 at 09:11 AM
Teanna, this is such a fun idea! I am a huge fan of Top Chef! This dish looks incredible - you did such a great job recreating it! Can't wait till Marcel's recipes, I think despite his personality, his cooking was my favorite, with foams and all :)
Posted by: Natasha - 5 Star Foodie | May 20, 2009 at 10:19 AM
BANG (or something along those lines). You really hit it out of the ball park with this one. Looks STUNNING.
Posted by: Eliana | May 20, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Oh my that looks good!
Posted by: Maria | May 20, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Oh, this is going to be FUN...your dish looks fantastic. Poor Jack. I can't wait to see all the posts on these...what an undertaking.
Posted by: Kayte | May 20, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Yay! I'm so looking forward to your posts! I love Top Chef. This looks like an amazing dish!
Posted by: Tracey | May 20, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Haha poor Jack! That's hilarious that you raced home to take care of him and he was just fine by that point watching a movie. Well maybe not so hilarious to you at the time. ;) I looove Top Chef. Can't wait for it to come back. Great idea to make all these dishes.
Posted by: Ashley | May 20, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Harold was great on Top Chef. And, this looks delicious! Good luck with your new challenge.
Posted by: lisaiscooking | May 20, 2009 at 12:43 PM
You know how to plate a dish. The best thing is that there are really very few ingredients in there, which is great.
Posted by: The Duo Dishes | May 20, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Looks delicious! It sounds like fun to work your way through the Top Chef recipes. I look forward to reading all about it.
Posted by: Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction | May 20, 2009 at 02:40 PM
Do you have any leftovers????
Posted by: jenn | May 20, 2009 at 04:45 PM
Don't let Jack test his knife skills à la Hung! 8-) I look forward to seeing you recreations of these dishes and you're off to a fanatastic start. This looks incredible (and incredibly delicious).
Posted by: Tangled Noodle | May 20, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Sounds like yummy fun especially with your honey cooking (not cutting) by your side.
~ingrid
Posted by: ingrid | May 20, 2009 at 11:55 PM
OMG, what a completely fantastic idea! I miss Top Chef, so your posts will tide me over in the interim. My boyfriend bought me the TC cookbook and the only things I've made are ice cream and waffles.
Posted by: Margot | May 21, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Is that an appetizer?
-Ava
Posted by: Red Ribbon Bakeshop | May 21, 2009 at 01:23 AM
What a fun project! I am really looking forward to Top Chef Masters starting next month. Your dish looks fantastic!
Posted by: CarolPeterman | May 21, 2009 at 01:54 AM
Your idea is really good.. Good project as well for both of you..
Posted by: Forklifts Brisbane | May 24, 2009 at 07:50 PM
It doesn't necessarily to be a great cook to be able to cook tasty food just a recipe to follow then good.. and a little appreciation of course.. *wink*
Posted by: beach real estate | May 24, 2009 at 11:43 PM
I'm glad the two of you are good in cooking.. well i can see it though
Posted by: Lia "distance education" Scott | May 25, 2009 at 09:27 PM