Top Chef DC: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Last week’s episode of Top Chef DC was focused on hotel food. The episode itself was a lot like hotel food: somewhat boring, pretty ordinary, nothing too memorable.

Here are a few highlights, or lowlights as the case may be:

• The Quickfire Challenge was sorta interesting: chefs were charged with cooking an adult meal that could be suitable for a baby (apropos with Padma being a new mom and all). Tamesha and Kenny were the favorites with their veggie chowder and bulgar wheat dishes, respectively.
• The Elimination Challenge was sponsored by Hilton, so the chefs were cooking meals suitable for hotels and hotel guests.
• There was a tournament-style element to the challenge in which chefs, working in teams of two, had three chances (hence breakfast, lunch, dinner) to avoid elimination. The chefs who have been having a rough time of it shined during the breakfast rounds: Tim and Tiffany were winners with their “Creole Style” Crab Cake Eggs Benedict, and so were Amanda and Stephen with their Poached Egg, Pancetta, Potato Rosti dish.
• When it came to the dinner cook-off, it almost looked too close to call. I couldn’t believe Kenny was in the bottom! When it came to decision time, the judges offed Lynn and Arnold (who won last week!) because their pasta was overcooked and their Pineapple Red Curry Mussels dish was just too damn interesting for hotel dining.
• One of my favorite lines of the show came when Andrea was cooking short ribs and said short ribs need the “bizness,” as in an au jus. She knew her and Kelly’s dish would beat Kenny’s because his didn’t have enough of the “bizness.”

Top Chef Breakfast: “Creole Style” Crab Cake Eggs Benedict with Asparagus & Bacon Potato Hash in Hollandaise

Top Chef Dinner: Braised Beef Short Rib, Polenta, Shiitake Mushrooms & Gremolata (aka the “bizness”)

There’s an article that I can’t stop talking about: Frank Bruni, former restaurant critic for The New York Times, wrote a piece on the bloody mary. When I shared the article on Facebook, a friend replied, “It’s hard to imagine a better breakfast. Or dinner. Or lunch. Or snack.” So true! Because it is a drink that is good any time of the day, and because it could be a meal on its own, the Bloody Mary is our pick for the Top Chef Drink Pairing.

I think a farm-to-table brunch is in my near future. With fresh, ripe tomatoes on the horizon and a bountiful herb garden, I’ve got the makings for my own “liquid salad.” And, wondering what to do with those leftover Maryland blue crabs you couldn’t polish off the night before? Yes, crab eggs benedict, please.

posted by Ms. S&C