Top Chef Masters - random thoughts

[sevenswells]

FINALLY!! FINALLY, it's back! With a gay Ken doll host, Christina Hendricks kyaaaaah (<3 <3 <3) and Ruth Reichl; Susur Lee will be making an appearance too, also INSECTS! I am excite!


-Good lord the quickfire challenge from hell! Sardines and dragon fruit! Corned beef and marshmallows! Liquorice and peanut butter! I don't even know how they made any of these work, all of it sounds pretty disgusting!

-Holy crap restaurant wars right on the first episode?! That's brutal! Those guys are totally not kidding!

-HAHAHA Traci Des Jardins as front of the house! I'm sure she's an outstanding chef, but she looks like a witch from a Disney movie! She said it wasn't her comfort zone, and I'm being uncharitable, but I can understand why O___o It looked like it literally hurt when she smiled to the judges -- must be facial muscles she doesn't use that often. I like her, though, she reminds me a bit of Stéphanie Le Quéllec, my favourite candidate in Top Chef France: social skills of a deaf rhino, but in the kitchen she becomes a goddess. I love the bromance (I can't call it any other way, I mean those ladies have travelled through friggin' Mongolia together! How badass is that?) she has with her friend Mary-Sue, too. I hope we'll get more of it in the weeks to come!

-Suvir Saran with his "good looks and eloquence" line won me over, and I find him kind of cute rambling all day about "masters do this" and "masters do that". He's awkward, and I'm all for awkward!

-No French chefs this time? Aw, shame. é___è I'm gonna miss that, and Jay Rayner's presence at the judging table, definitely. I'm sure Jay would have acted like a total fanboy around Ruth! Good thing that they finally got Indian cuisine chefs, though. It also fills the "funny accents" quota, I suppose XD

-HAHAHA the guy with the single eyebrow made me die of laughter with his "unusually large scallops". I know, I have to get my mind out of the gutter sometimes, but it has so much fun in there!
And the comments of the judges! "OMG it's a MONSTER SCALLOP!" "Hugh's scallop is intensely salty"
It figured he would get eliminated; dishes that are too salty on Top Chef, never mind TCM, are like a major offence, there's no coming back from it.

-OMG did I really see INSECTS in the preview?? FANTASTIC! I've ALWAYS wanted to eat dishes based on insects' protein; I love weird food, so this intrigues me a lot.

-I've just finished watching the episode and I already want MOAR!!! Why is next Friday not here already?? Come ooooooon I need my fix!

-Finally:




Wheeee!!! \o/ *on crack*

By the way, the most recent episode of South Park has KILLED ME DEAD (here's a streaming link: http://loombo.com/sr/dg0pognmw8vb ). THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LIFE, RIGHT THERE (well, not the shakeweights part, though, for the simple reason they don't sell those in France XD)

Comments

[sevenswells.livejournal.com]

Here is the recipe, "langue de bœuf sauce charcutière" ^^ Tell me if there are expressions or words that you don't understand, I'm not always sure of my translation (also, good news, I was wrong, you don't need a pressure cooker for this! ^^)

First I suppose you'll have to defrost the beef tongue, since you kept it in the freezer.

Once it's defrosted, leave the beef tongue in water with a little bit of vinegar for 30 minutes (in French we call that "dégorger"). Rinse well.

Put the tongue in a big pot, cover it with cold water. Add one carrot, two celery branches, one onion in which you've stuck three cloves, the white part of a leek, a few grains of black pepper, one bay leaf, parsley stems and a bit of thyme. Absolutely no salt at this point of the recipe.

My friend there's a variation of this "bouillon" where you put 2 carrots, one celery branch, the green part of a leek, one turnip, and then onion, cloves, bay leaf, thyme, black pepper the same as above, but apparently in this variation you can put a bit of salt.

So; put it on the fire and let it heat up until it barely starts to boil, then lower the heat. For the meat to cook well, count one hour of cooking per kilo of meat from the point where it has started to boil (is this clear enough? Oh god my English, so crappy X____X)

Once the tongue is cooked, put it in a strainer to "dry" it a little, and then peel the skin from it when it's still hot. My friend says that part hurts a little, apparently, but it's easier to peel it that way. Then cut the tongue in slices and put them in tin foil to sit.

Make the "bouillon" (the water with all the vegetables in it) boil again *after* removing the vegetables and herbs from it and let it reduce until half of it evaporates.

Meanwhile, dice some pickled gherkins (is that what they're called in English? I can't seem to find a precise translation. Those things: http://www.lessignets.com/signetsdiane/signet/vocabulaire/images/exfrle/cornichons.jpg In French they're called "cornichons". But it's not the bigass ones we find in slices in burgers, they're the miniature version) and in a pan, prepare a "roux" with flour and butter. Wet the roux with the reduced "bouillon" and whisk the preparation energically - the sauce has to be quite fluid. Add some tomato paste, as much salt as you prefer (taste it as you go), the diced pickled gherkins, small pickled onions, and chopped parsley. Then put the slices of tongue in the sauce so they can heat up a little (but don't let the sauce cook for too long, though)

So that's the recipe; I know I like beef tongue korean-barbecue style too, but I don't have recipes, I only eat it in restaurants.

Voilà! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'll do my best to answer (or, at least, pester my friend again until I get your answers XD)

[coloredink.livejournal.com]

Ah ha ha, no, this translation makes perfect sense! Just to clarify, though: so I do NOT peel the skin/tastebuds from the tongue in the beginning; I just just defrost it and cook it in the bouillon, and then I have the exciting task of peeling it when it's still hot (!!!).

Also, I was under the impression that gherkin was just the British word for pickle, but according to Wikipedia they're not! I can get cornichons, though (as far as I know, we also call them cornichons, and they're considered a bit fancy maybe), so that is not a problem.

Ah ha ha ha, I love tongue Korean-style too; I don't know why I didn't think of that! I have a grill and Korean chili paste and everything! But. . . but French food is fancier. :3 Okay, I am excited, I will let you know how this turns out! Probably next week. . . hmmm. . . *3*

[sevenswells.livejournal.com]

so I do NOT peel the skin/tastebuds from the tongue in the beginning; I just just defrost it and cook it in the bouillon, and then I have the exciting task of peeling it when it's still hot (!!!).

Exactly! ^^

I really hope it will be okay; all I know I absolutely love it when my friend prepares it for me. Do tell me how it went once you've tried it! I'll let my friend know, too, see if he can retain his reputation of being a refined gourmet even across the Atlantic Ocean XD