Skillet Doux

Liver, Anyone?

Dominic Armato

After today's news, all I can say is that Doug had better have this on the menu next time I'm in town!

Thrilled to see that the Chicago city council has put the controversy over foie gras back where it belongs and from whence it never should have strayed: the realm of personal ethics and personal choice.

UPDATE: This take is perhaps the best I've read in the wake of the move.

Asparagus Season

	Dominic Armato

I hate -- HATE -- getting a great idea for a dish out of season, but I suppose the extra time percolating in the noggin isn't a bad thing. I think I cooked this one twenty or thirty times in my head before I finally got the chance to make it this week, and that's probably why it turned out so well. I'd originally planned on using fresh peas, but I think the Baltimore farmers market opened a little late for them. Asparagus, however, is everywhere this time of year, and it turned out to be a lovely substitute.

This particular recipe is not exactly in the quick and easy file. It's a four burner dish that combines an awful lot of elements and involves some critical timing. Plus, this is the snooty restaurant version of the recipe (not that I have a restaurant in which to serve it), but that doesn't mean you couldn't simplify it if you wanted. I've never tried them, but I understand there are some methods for baked risotto that are entirely respectable, if not quite the same consistency as the stovetop version, and the morels can sit for a bit after they've been sautéed. So it's possible to do this without having to simultaneously juggle multiple items. But if you're feeling brave, there's nothing like chicken stock simmering on the rear left, risotto stirring on the front left, salmon searing on the front right and morels sautéing on the rear right.

Admittedly, it's a little rich for spring far. But the flavors are there, man -- it turned out great. And the acid in the vinaigrette helps to keep it from getting too heavy. Incidentally, this is exactly the kind of dish I like to point out to those who insist that Carnaroli rice is "better" than Arborio. You want your risotto to have a little body so it stands up to being plated with the salmon fillets, and wonderfully creamy as it is, I think Carnaroli is a little too loose for this purpose.

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Dominic Armato 1 lemon 1/3 C. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 C. loosely packed mint leaves 1 bunch asparagus 2 C. chicken stock 4 tsp. balsamic vinegar 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp. very finely minced mint leaves 1 pint fresh morels 1 Tbsp. butter 1 Tbsp. extra virgin oilve oil 2 Tbsp. butter 1 1/2 oz. diced smoked pancetta 2 Tbsp. minced onion 1 C. Arborio rice 1 Tbsp. grated parmigiano reggiano 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil 1 lb. salmon fillets, in four pieces

Seared Salmon with Sautéed Morels, Asparagus Risotto and Lemon-Mint Vinaigrette

Serves 4

The lemon-mint oil you'll use to make the vinaigrette can get pretty murky, so I think it's best to make it a day ahead of time if you can. If not, it'll still taste great, it just won't be as pretty. Using a vegetable peeler, peel all of the zest off one lemon, except for a bit at the ends (you'll need that later). Then lay the strips of lemon zest on a cutting board, outside down, and using a very sharp knife, lay the blade flat on a strip of zest and carefully shave off all of the white pith, leaving only the bright yellow zest. Once all of the pith has been removed, combine the zest with 1/3 C. extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet and heat over medium. When the lemon zest curls up and gets golden around the edges, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool. Once it's cooled enough to transfer but is still warm, combine the oil and zest with 1/2 C. fresh mint leaves in a blender or mini prep and buzz away until they're completely combined. Let the oil sit for 2-3 hours at room temperature, then strain it through a fine-meshed sieve lined with cheesecloth. Discard the solids and refrigerate the oil overnight, if possible in a round-bottomed bowl. The next day, all of the muck should have settled at the bottom. Carefully spoon the clear oil off the top, discarding the cloudy stuff at the bottom. You should end up with about 1/4 C. of lemon-mint oil.

If you're making this dish the way I do, there's a lot of mise en place to get ready. You'll be doing way too much at the stove to be going back to the cutting board. So first, do all of your prep and have everything ready right by the stove. If you wash your morels, do that first and give them a chance to dry a little bit before you use them. Otherwise, start with the asparagus. Snap off the tough bottom ends and throw them away. Cut off the tips and save those in their own prep bowl. If you have larger, tougher asparagus with stringy skin, you may need to peel the skin off first. But hopefully you picked up some beautiful, fresh, tender asparagus at the farmers market. Snap one stalk in half and take a bite out of the middle to test it. If it's pleasant to chew raw, leave it alone. If it's stringy, peel it. At any rate, after removing the bottoms and tips, chop the rest into 1/4" slices if you have larger asparagus, 1/2" lengths if you have small, pencil-thin asparagus. You want to end up with 1 C. of chopped asparagus. Put enough salted water in a small saucepan to cover the chopped asparagus and bring it to a strong simmer. Then toss in the chopped asparagus (but not the tips!) and blanch it for a couple of minutes until it's tender but still a little crisp. Strain the asparagus, saving the asparagus water, and shock the asparagus in ice water. Then drain and reserve it. Meanwhile, combine 1 C. of the leftover asparagus water with 2 C. of chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer on the stove.

While your stock is coming to a simmer, you can do the rest of the prep. Halve or quarter the morels, depending on their size, and check the cores for little critters. Cut the smoked pancetta into 1/4" dice, mince up your onion, get 3 Tbsp. of butter sliced up and at the ready, slice your salmon into four fillets and set them out, get all of the other ingredients next to the stove, and get all of the necessary pans on the stovetop. You don't want to be rooting through cabinets and the fridge while you're in the middle of firing this thing.

Lastly, before you start, mix up the vinaigrette. If you didn't quite get 1/4 C. of lemon-mint oil, add enough olive oil to bring it up to 1/4 C., then mix it with 4 tsp. balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 Tbsp. of very, very finely minced fresh mint. Give the vinaigrette a little stir, but don't whisk it -- you want it to separate and look pretty on the plate, so you don't want it to emulsify.

On the stovetop, start with the risotto. Have your asparagus water and stock mixture simmering at the ready, with a ladle at hand. Then combine 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter in a small, heavy pot and heat over medium-high until the butter foams and then subsides. When it does, toss in the diced smoked pancetta and sauté it until the edges just start to turn golden, about 4-6 minutes. Add the minced onion and continue sautéing, stirring frequently, until the onion turns translucent. Toss in the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute, so that the grains are completely coated with the oil and fat. Lower the heat slightly to medium, add a ladleful of the simmering stock mixture to the rice and stir until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Continue this process, a ladleful of stock at a time, waiting until it's completely absorbed before adding more, stirring almost constantly, until the risotto has cooked thoroughly, the grains are tender but still have some individual bite, and the mixture has a very nice, creamy consistency. If you haven't made a lot of risotto, just keep adding, absorbing and tasting until the texture seems right to you. If you run out of stock mixture and the rice still hasn't absorbed enough liquid, switch to simmering water so as not to make the flavor too intense. Once the risotto is cooked to the desired consistency, stir in 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. of grated parmigiano reggiano, salt and pepper to taste, and get it off the heat. Ideally, you want to time the morels and salmon to be done at the same time. If the risotto has to sit for a few minutes, it's not a tragedy, but it's best eaten right away.

To cook the morels, heat 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat until the butter foams and then subsides. Toss in the asparagus tips and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Then add the morels and cook for another minute or two until they're tender but still have some body. Remove from the heat, salt to taste, and reserve. If any of the hot components need to sit, let it be the morels.

To cook the salmon, heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. While it's coming to heat, season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Once the oil's hot but before it starts smoking, add the fillets to the pan, flesh side down, and sear them for 2-3 minutes until you have a nice crust and the filets are cooked about a third of the way through. Then flip them and cook another 2-3 minutes on the skin side until the salmon is cooked to your desired doneness. Personally, if that light pink color creeps all the way into the middle, I say they're way overdone. But it's a very personal call.

To finish the whole shebang, divide the risotto between four plates. Top the risotto with the morels and asparagus tips, and then the salmon fillets. If you're feeling saucy, pick out a couple of particularly pretty tips or morels and set them on top of the fish. Spoon the vinaigrette on and around the salmon and risotto, and then grate a little bit of fresh lemon zest over the top.

It's, uh... just that simple.

Top Chef Power Rankings - Episode 9

(Click here for the podcast version.)

PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING: Hey, all... apologies to anybody whose comments I've deleted, but I'm trying to keep this a spoiler-free zone (at least as far as eliminations are concerned), so in the comments section, anything that's already been broadcast is fair game, but anything that gives an indication of who might be eliminated ahead of time is off-limits. Thanks!

Ugh. Weeks like this may be good TV, they may be entertaining, and they may tell us a lot about how the chefs work with others, but for the Power Rankings? They're murder.

Here's the thing. The chefs didn't succeed or fail this week by cooking good or bad food. Yes, they cooked food both good and bad, but that was secondary. This week, they succeeded or failed by being smart or stupid. When you're preparing a huge catered event, working on a team, trying to please clients on one of the biggest days of their lives and working straight through the night to do it, being talented is a lot less important than making good decisions.

This didn't really apply, of course, to the quickfire. The mise en place relay was one of the greatest challenge ideas ever when they introduced it last year, and I hope it becomes a regular fixture. It's exciting, it's a pure test of skill, and it's always interesting to see who comes out knives blazing, and who gets exposed.

As for the elimination challenge, they should have stuck to the classics for the entire episode. Nobody wants the show to become stagnant, of course, but how do you axe restaurant wars? Or if you do, why replace it with wedding wars? I realize that season one's wedding challenge set some precedent for this, but on the week with the best team challenge potential (eight contestants remaining), the producers took the chefs and turned them into caterers. I'm not joining the chorus of disgruntled Top Chef fans who have taken to calling it Top Caterer by any means. I don't mind having some catering-style challenges mixed in. As I've said, I love variety and the show needs to stay fresh. But why this? Why now? And why at the expense of one of the most exciting classic Top Chef challenges for a group of contestants that, almost without exception, aspire to open their own restaurants? It's no travesty, but it is unfortunate, and I hope it's something they correct next season. Freshen it up somehow if you feel it necessary, but bring back restaurant wars. It's a wildly popular favorite for a reason.

Trying to deconstruct how well the chefs cooked this week was frustrating even for me. There were some dishes that were obviously the work of certain chefs, but most of them appeared to be collaborative efforts, some were conceived by certain chefs and executed by others, only about a third of the food is covered by recipes on the website and, generally speaking, it's almost impossible in many cases to know who, precisely, is responsible for what. That problem, combined with the fact that it's a catering challenge and quite possibly the last team challenge of the season (they might do one with six chefs remaining, but I can't see them doing it with four or two), and I'm reluctant to weigh this week too heavily when it comes to juggling the rankings -- but there's some movement nonetheless.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 4 7 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 3 4 1 Richard clearly fell into the "smart" category this week, and he just keeps on rolling. Okay, I thought picking the bride was pretty stupid, but it worked out pretty well for him, so I suppose that makes him smarter than me. As I read around, there's a large crowd knocking his decision to do a braised brisket. It was too simple and too easy, they say. And they're right, it was simple and easy. He basically slathered the briskets with Cajun spices, seared them and then slow-roasted them with brown sugar and mustard. But who here thinks Richard hasn't yet proven he can do creative, technically challenging dishes? Anyone? Show of hands? Exactly. He played it smart. He picked the right week to dial it back a bit and make a simple, satisfying dish that would be easy to scale, easy to transport and easy to hold. Also, while the website credits Antonia with the pulled pork "sandwiches", the pickles on top were done with rice vinegar, tarragon, turmeric, mustard seed and chile flakes. I could be wrong, but that has Richard written all over it, and it was his idea to do it with phyllo, so I'm thinking he was heavily involved there. Also, though I can't find hard evidence of it anywhere, Richard mentions "taking care of all the meats, all the sauces, all the braises" so I think the horseradish sauce that Padma and Tom were curiously gaga over was his as well. So he made some good food, and even if he wasn't an official "team leader", per se, it's clear he was doing a lot of the driving. Note also that the one guy who was getting irritated with his suggestions rather than listening to what he had to say ended up being the weak link at judges' table. All in all, another great week for Richard, right down to deferring to his teammate, yet again, when it came time to claim credit.

2 Dale Quickfires 1 4 2 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 4 1 This was not a banner week for Dale, but I don't think it reflects on his chances the way some seem to feel it does. Much has been made of his trouble with team challenges, but while some want to label him as somebody who doesn't play well with others, I'd amend that to read that he doesn't play well with those whose skill he doesn't respect. I don't know if that's any better, but it's a notable distinction, I think. The fact is that he's one of the most talented chefs in the competition, and he got saddled with arguably the three weakest remaining contestants. He responded poorly, but predictably for anybody who's been watching. What I find sympathetic about him in these situations is that he's frustrated by the same things we are. We find Lisa's negativity grating. We can't believe Nikki's balking at the prospect of making mayonnaise without a blender. We're annoyed that Spike asks him to take over the zucchini when it's obvious he's already shouldering the load. But we don't have to work with them. He does, at least temporarily, and the guy needs to learn how to get along with and relate to those he doesn't feel (usually rightly) are at his level. Fortunately for him, he might not have to the rest of the way out. So I could ding him for the attitude, but that seems kind of senseless, considering that's it's unlikely to be an issue going forward. As for his food, of course it was weak. He did the work of three people, and it wasn't just the editing and his indignant claims that made it seem so. In one of the bonus videos on the website, Antonia agreed that he was working like a madman. Of course, she goes on to say that what he was making was terrible, but how can anybody execute under those circumstances? He should have spoken up, but I'm guessing he knew he wasn't going to be able to do so in a constructive manner, so he chose instead to keep his head down and workworkwork. It was a bad decision, a symptom of his poor attitude and it resulted in mediocre food, but I don't think he was ever in any real danger. The upshot to being saddled with everything is that even if you do a lousy job of it, everybody else looks just as bad, if not worse, for putting you in that position.

3 Antonia Quickfires 3 4 1 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 5 3 I've been rough on Antonia at times, and I still don't think she has any hope of winning. But, good work is good work and she's regaining some of that early season consistency that had her nipping at the heels of the favorites. She was lauded for her pizzas, which sounds about right. They aren't complicated, but when you're cooking pizzas, small changes in technique pay big dividends, and technique is something that's never been a question with Antonia -- despite the fact that even I can supreme oranges faster than that. Antonia's got a little swagger back, she's marching toward the finals and I think she'll probably make it. You won't find me putting money on her to win, though.

4 Stephanie Quickfires 1 2 3 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 2 6 3 As confidence boosters go, praise from Gale Gand for your overnight wedding cake has to be pretty high on the charts (even if Gale confessed that lemon and chocolate isn't really her thing). I'm not sure that Stephanie's cooking this week had any real bearing on the competition, but as we all know, her nemesis is herself, and managing pretty well under trying circumstances has to have her feeling pretty good right now. The website also credits her with the short ribs and bleu cheese in phyllo canapé, and that's her style all over, so I'm thinking that attribution is probably correct. There's absolutely no clue as to how the ribs themselves were prepared, but the rest of the recipe looks nice and it sounds like it was well-received, even it if was a little messy. If it's a three person final, she's going to be on the bubble. If she's on, I think she makes it, but she can't screw around anymore. So we'll see if this week helps her get herself back in the game.

5 Andrew Quickfires 1 2 1 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 1 5 1 Andrew's time in the top three was rather short-lived, as he once again calls into question his ability to produce consistently. I do think he had a better week than it might seem at first glance, but his hold on that third spot was more than a little tenuous, so I'm busting him down anyway. He tore through the artichokes (a real pain to turn, if you've never done it), but really, is anybody surprised that he's a high-speed prep machine? As for the elimination, I'm going to stand up for him here, if only a little. Yes, he was one of the stupid people this week. Breaded + fried + chafing dish = bleh. But Tom's criticism that he made the same thing last week? That's not exactly fair. They were both chicken paillards, and Andrew should have known better, especially after doing faux caviar three freaking times. But to call last week and this week the same is to make a surface comparison. This week's chicken looks like a really nice recipe. The chicken is brined with star anise, mustard seed, fennel, coriander, cardamom, bay leaf, juniper and honey, the crust has a nice assortment of spices and fresh herbs, and the yuzu butter sauce sounds wonderful. I'm betting that Andrew had the start to a great dish last week, but he was constrained by the challenge. In his zeal to take it from great to awesome, he charged ahead without stopping to consider that this probably wasn't the best venue for it. So while he clearly blew it, I bet this is a great dish under other circumstances, and I understand and admire that compulsion to tweak and adjust and make it even better. Of course, he also made a lousy creamed spinach and Antonia and Stephanie did well, so down he goes. I think he has a shot at a four person finals, but I just don't see him making the top three without a huge stroke of luck.

6 Spike Quickfires 0 2 4 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 1 3 Holding steady at number six is Spike, by which I mean he's steadily unsteady. I even thought about dropping him below Lisa this week, but I just can't bump her up for making a chocolate hazelnut cake. If I knew for a fact that he was responsible for conceptualizing the boring vegetable spread rather than simply executing it, I'd do it, but his highest-profile contribution was a dish that was universally praised, which keeps him out of the basement. It's worth noting, however, that while I'm sure his Chilean sea bass with artichokes was nice, the truth is that between this week and last week, his sea bass and pasta puttanesca were more similar than Andrew's chicken paillards. I think Spike's a talented chef who's skilled at many things and master of none. This ability to do a lot of things competently has carried him far, but his time is running out. In this field, anything short of excellence isn't going to cut it. I give him three weeks, max -- probably less.

7 Lisa Quickfires 0 1 5 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 1 3 3 Also holding her spot is Lisa, who I want to put higher, but I just can't. Lisa's been a lot of unfulfilled promise. The chocolate ziggurat is the first good thing she's done since winning four weeks ago, and no matter how much promise she flashed and no matter how much the Bravo bloggers talk about her as though she's one of the most talented chefs remaining, there comes a point where you have to work to your potential or go home. Maybe I should be taking that tone from those who were there as a hint that she's going to make a late move. There's dark horse potential here, but until it's realized, she's sitting in the basement. And for those keeping score? It's now seven weeks since she's done her "specialty", upscale Asian. If anybody knows what that’s all about, by all means, do let me know.

8 Nikki Quickfires 0 0 4 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 2 3 This past Wednesday, at approximately 11:10 EST, Michael Midgley did his best '72 Dolphins impersonation by cracking some champagne and celebrating Nikki's demise. Or at least he should have. I know my wine rack was down a bottle going into the weekend. By finally blowing it this week, Nikki's streak of unwarranted survival came to a screeching halt at eight weeks, one shy of the nine episodes that Mikey managed to defy all logic, to say nothing of culinary convention and the very laws of time and space. Nikki had to basically do everything wrong to make it happen, but ladies and gentlemen, our national nightmare is now over. I'm sure Top Chef nation let out a collective groan when JP Marchetti revealed his family's love of simple Italian cuisine, but a few minutes later when Nikki realized she'd inadvertently stuck her neck out and started backtracking like a sleep-deprived politician, you knew it was over. First, when her teammates peg her for mayonnaise duty, she acts like they're asking her to shuck oysters with her teeth. And then, not only does the Italian specialist design a menu that would put the Carrabba's crowd to sleep, but she turns tail, becomes one with her inner coward, and then manages to botch the one dish she has actually has direct control over. Don't get me wrong, she seems like a perfectly lovely person. It's just that, as usual, Dale said what all of us were thinking. Relax, everybody. It's been a long, inexplicable run, but we no longer need wonder why Nikki is still here.

With Nikki gone, things get really interesting. As I see it, next week is the very first episode where a contender's elimination is guaranteed (provided, of course, the judges don't throw one of those "we're not eliminating anybody this week" curveballs). At this point, honestly, nobody's safe. If the elimination challenge were taking place in a real kitchen, I'd feel comfortable assuming that Richard, Dale and Antonia would all live to see another week, but serving offsite for Chicago's finest-to-be? It's dangerous, no matter how good you are. After the terribly misleading teasers of the past few weeks, I'm through trying to speculate what happens based on the tiny snippets the editors throw our way. But I think I can safely say that nothing from here on out will surprise me.

Discuss!

Orchard Market & Cafe

	Haleem Bademjune	Dominic Armato

Continuing the recent theme of exploring cuisines with which I only have a passing familiarity, this month's Charm City Hounds outing was to a Persian restaurant in Towson. My previous experience with Persian was limited to a dinner my ladylove and I shared at the widely known and respected LaLa Rokh while on a trip to Boston over five years ago. But this was in the pre-blogging days (for me, anyway), and due to the combination of time and lack of my own writing to refer to, I was left with only the vague memory of a cuisine that was quite exciting to me, embracing some of the Middle Eastern conventions with which I was familiar, but veering off into novel pairings and flavors. However novel, though, I wouldn't call my first experience with Persian surprising. It's an unfortunate habit of Americans to refer to any food produced within 2000 miles of Baghdad as "Middle Eastern" when that's about as useful and specific a term, from a culinary standpoint, as "European". Lebanese and Persian are, in my limited experience, about as similar as French and Italian -- probably less -- yet both routinely fall under the same blanket. Recognition of the true diversity of the region's foods is long overdue, and restaurants like Orchard Market & Cafe are exciting because of their ability to educate an ignorant public (among which I include myself) about the very much plural cuisines of the Middle East.

Eggplant & Artichoke	Dominic Armato

While the name Orchard Market & Cafe conjures up images of sandwich shops, it's actually an intimate little gem of a neighborhood restaurant, improbably tucked into a strip mall that's hidden behind a furniture store, a stone's throw from a dozen fast food and carryout pizza joints. As somebody who has a deep love for low profile ethnic eateries, I'm a firm believer in the underappreciated culinary potential of the nondescript strip mall. But it's rare to find such a place that's so downright warm and cozy. The incongruity stems from the restaurant's origins as an actual market and cafe, opened in the late '80s, that morphed into a full-service restaurant with the hiring of Iranian expatriate Nahid Vaezpour in 1990. Though the restaurant evolved, its location did not, and Vaezpour -- a widowed mother of 18 before joining Orchard -- now serves dishes that are both foreign and comforting, capturing the essence of the meals she'd prepared for her family while back in Iran. Our dinner was a preplanned affair, a rapid-fire succession of communal dishes that left us with fleeting tastes of a wide variety of unfamiliar foods. While meals like this are a wonderful way to get a sense of the cuisine in a fuzzy, delirious fashion, they're not conducive to the sort of analytical overthinking with which I typically approach my meals. As such, I'll have to forego my usual level of detail in favor of sometimes vague impressions. Hopefully this won't make the food seem any less compelling, because it deserves your interest.

	Mango Shrimp	Dominic Armato

We started with the Haleem Bademjune, billed as "a dip of eggplant and beans with sour cream, garlic, walnuts and spices, similar to baba ganoush". Similar it was, and I think I would have identified it as such had I been blindfolded. And while a creamy, comforting expression of eggplant, it was very familiar to me and, as such, far less compelling than the dishes to follow. I did note, with disappointment, that the accompanying pita was rather dry and flat (in flavor -- in shape, a given). Some would call this picking nits, but a good dish deserves good bread, and this wasn't. The second appetizer, however, was one of the highlights of the evening. The Eggplant & Artichoke arrived, a warm, melty mess, bound with a mild Bulgarian feta and swimming in a sauce laced with Dijon and dill, both pungent and very, very sweet. I suspect whole artichokes are not to be found in the kitchen, which is unfortunate, but right or wrong this didn't detract from my enjoyment of a strong-willed dish.

Mushroom Zaban	Dominic Armato

The third appetizer wasn't a troubled dish, per se, there just wasn't much to get excited about. The Mango Shrimp were sauced with a chutney that was built on onions and garlic and lightly spiced, but despite these additions it came across mostly as shrimp in a savory mango puree. The dish was inoffensive, but forgettable. The Mushroom Zaban, on the other hand, may have been my favorite dish of the evening. It wasn't much to look at, but the curried poached veal tongue with onions and portobello mushrooms had a luscious, earthy richness that I loved. I am, admittedly, partial to braised meats, but this was a particularly fine specimen. The curry wasn't so much a primary ingredient as it was a light accent -- a faint whisper -- to lend a touch of brightness to the succulent, silken, not-quite-beefy intensity of the tongue. This was the kind of meltingly tender meat that you want to linger on your palate. It's a dish to make a believer of tongue skeptics.

	Koobiedeh	Dominic Armato

The appetizers out of the way, we moved on to more substantial fare. The entrees opened with the Koobiedeh which was, like the Haleem Bademjune, very familiar to me. It was a ground beef mixture lightly seasoned, formed over skewers and grilled. It was then topped with sumac and served with rice. I enjoy simple grilled meats quite a bit, but I found this particular version a little mundane. It was tender, with a pleasing texture and a little bit of char, but it struck me as underseasoned. I think a little acid, most obviously lemon, might've been all that was necessary to wake it up. I considered requesting some, but by the time I was in a position to flag somebody down, we'd devoured it -- a testament to the fact that while less than great, it was still tasty.

Chicken Abadan	Dominic Armato

The next entree had some interesting things going on, but felt like it didn't quite come together. The Chicken Abadan combined chicken with a token amount of shrimp and scallops, and covered them in an abundant tomato-based sauce with curry and saffron. The first problem was that the sauce just didn't feel balanced to me, as if all of the flavors were present but hadn't quite come together into that magical cohesive whole. And while chicken, scallops and shrimp have an affinity for each other, here the seafood felt more like an afterthought. And even if I set aside my boneless skinless chicken breast prejudice (is there a more boring, flavorless cut in the known meat universe?), despite being smothered in the sauce, the chicken didn't seem one with it. I wasn't in the kitchen and I don't know how it was prepared, but the feeling was that of a "take chicken breast, top with seafood, ladle sauce" preparation. This makes it sound awful, and it wasn't at all. There were interesting flavors and a good dish was in there somewhere. It just didn't fulfill its potential.

	Dried Plum Lamb	Dominic Armato

The Dried Plum Lamb I found frustrating, because while I enjoyed it a lot, it felt just barely incomplete. I love crossing that sweet/savory divide, and a sweet meat entree is one of the trickiest expressions of such. It's a risky proposition that often turns out poorly. In Persian cuisine, though? Old hat. It would seem they throw together meats and fruits with reckless abandon. Here, the lamb was stewed in a sauce made with tomatoes, pomegranate, lemon and dried plums, and paired with thick slabs of tender butternut squash. The butternut squash should have been the key. With pomegranate, lemon and plum, it was a very bright dish that needed grounding and the starchy but sweet vegetable almost brought it down to earth -- but not quite. Though delicious, it lacked a certain roundness of flavor that I think could have been achieved if the meaty intensity of the lamb had been developed a little more. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and a couple of people at our table declared it their favorite.

Duck Fesenjune	Dominic Armato

I had no such reservations, however, about the Duck Fesenjune. Not only was it a delicious, well-executed dish, but it was exactly the kind of unfamiliar but utterly compelling flavor profile I'd been hoping to try. Our duck leg was perfectly poached, moist and tender, with an orange flavor that was intense and sweet. The accompanying sauce, made with pomegranate and walnuts, is touted on the menu as a Persian classic. But what's classic to Persians, in this case, is new to me, and I loved it. There was nothing subtle about it, sweet and saucy and full-flavored, but this one came together in a way some of the other entrees didn't. This was also in the running for my favorite of the evening, and it's what I found most reminiscent of our meal at LaLa Rokh.

	Desserts	Dominic Armato

By this time the little fellow had had quite enough, so we quickly stuffed some desserts in our mouths and ran off. I remember a moist cake with sweet frosting, punctuated with pomegranate seeds and nuts that provided a lovely textural contrast in addition to their flavors. I'm not a fan of baklava that's drowning in honey, so it was nice to get a version that let the pastry and nuts share the stage. I would have liked to sit and savor them over some Persian tea or coffee, but it wasn't in the cards.

All in all, a lovely meal with a couple of exceptional dishes where even the misses were enjoyable, if flawed. I hate to keep coming back to LaLa Rokh, but at the moment that's my only basis of comparison when it comes to Persian. LaLa Rokh was very refined, with pure flavors and ethereal aromatics. It's clear that Orchard Market & Cafe comes from the same tradition, but here the food is hearty and comforting, more evocative of the kitchen table than the grand dining room. One gets the sense that Vaezpour is cooking for the restaurant in much the same manner that she did for her children back in Iran. Some dishes are more successful than others, but they're all welcoming, all prepared with love, and each a lesson in the flavors of a cuisine that demands and deserves to be considered an entity all its own.

Orchard Market & Cafe
www.orchardmarketandcafe.com
8815 Orchard Tree Ln.
Towson, MD 21286
410-339-7700
Tue - Thu	11:30 AM - 4:00 PM	5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Fri - Sat	11:30 AM - 4:00 PM	5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Sun	11:45 AM - 4:00 PM	5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Case In Point

For those who felt the $10 challenge on Top Chef last week was obviously rigged, this is the exact dish (thanks, Mr. Vongerichten) I'm making for dinner tonight:

Dominic Armato

My itemized bill from Whole Foods:

4 bone-in chicken thighs	$2.18
1 lemon	$1.00
1 lime	$0.50
1 grapefruit	$0.67
loose greens	$1.12
1 red chile	$0.21
TOTAL:	$5.68

Out of my pantry, I'll be using some leftover sour cream, a spoonful of miso, half a cup of rice (not pictured), oil, salt and pepper. There's easily enough room under $10 there to get some more chicken (I'm only feeding two and a half, and am only using half the citrus and greens) and some sour cream. A tub of miso would put me over, but I'll let you decide whether or not you believe I could have come up with a tasty alternative. And I assume we can all agree that a cup of rice, oil and salt are pantry staples that, even if you added in prorated costs, would be dirt cheap.

Point being, $10 for dinner for four, even at Whole Foods, is not only doable, I just did it without even trying.

Opening Day

	Dominic Armato

In our household, the opening of the Baltimore Farmers Market has been received like a holiday.

It's been marked on my calendar for a few months now. I spent the winter in a culinary rut, and couldn't wait to be inspired by some beautiful, fresh produce. We didn't arrive in Baltimore until the middle of last summer, so I was curious to see if it would be in full swing off the bat. I'm pleased to report that while it isn't quite summer abundance, the spring market is just barely off its peak. Asparagus is all over the place, and that'll be my primary target next week. But for opening day, we hit some old favorites. The mushroom stand, in particular, was looking fantastic and I splurged on some morels, as well as some fresh eggs, onion chives and ciabatta to go with them.

Dominic Armato

We also grabbed some snacks we'd missed since the fall. The mushroom stand makes some outstanding mushroom fritters, fried on the spot and served with feta cheese, mesclun greens, basil and hot sauce. This is one of my favorite mushroom dishes anywhere, light and crisp but still juicy and moist inside. They're worth the trip all on their own. I'm also a fan of the chive buns from the Vietnamese stand and the chicken tamales, though the latter was absent this week. So we wandered around, snacked a bit, and went on home to cook up some breakfast.

It isn't the most unique recipe, but I don't know of any better way to celebrate the opening of the farmers market than by preparing its bounty as simply as possible. If you're somebody who has always cooked scrambled eggs hard and fast, you owe it to yourself to make them this way. There's no going back. Here, I've just dressed them up with some of Sunday's haul. It's a snooty-looking recipe, but it doesn't have to be. I like the little bit of tartness that the buffalo milk butter provides, but don't go hunting it down. Plain old unsalted butter will be just as awesome. Similarly, any old chives will do, and of course this would work great with a myriad of mushrooms. I'd avoid the really watery mushrooms like button and crimini in favor of varieties like shiitake or oyster, but again, it's all good -- use what you have.

---

	Dominic Armato 1 Tbsp. buffalo milk butter 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 pint morel mushrooms 1/4 C. chopped onion chives 6 large eggs 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter toast 1 Tbsp. grated parmigiano reggiano salt and pepper

Scrambled Eggs with Sautéed Morels and Onion Chives

Serves 2

The eggs require a lot of attention and the morels can sit, so you want to prepare the morels first. There are two schools of thought on whether or not morels should be washed, and I'm still on the fence. But if you wash them, try to give them plenty of time to dry before sautéeing them. Halve or quarter them lengthwise (depending on their size) so you can remove anything that might be inside the hollow stems. To cook the morels, heat the buffalo milk butter and olive oil over medium-high heat, then add the morels and sauté until they just soften. Toss in 1 Tbsp. of the chives, remove the mushrooms from the heat, salt and pepper them to taste and set them aside.

Then, to make the eggs, combine the unsalted butter and eggs in a cold nonstick skillet, preferably one with sloping sides. Put the skillet over medium heat, and gently whisk the eggs as they warm up. You don't want to beat them and make them foamy, but you want to keep them moving. As the eggs start to heat and thicken, you need to watch them very carefully. Whisk them constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the skillet. If they start to stick just the slightest bit, remove them from the heat, keep whisking for a bit, them return them to the heat. After five or six minutes, small curds will start to form. At this point they can go from liquid to overcooked in a matter of moments, so periodically remove and return them to the heat, whisking the whole time, until they reach kind of a loose oatmeal consistency. At this point, you want to get them off the heat, stir in 2 Tbsp. of the chives, salt to taste, and quickly split them between two plates. You want them to be loose and a little wet (they're actually a little overdone in this photo), and they'll keep cooking for a good 20-30 seconds after you remove them from the heat, so don't wait too long to get them off the heat.

Top the eggs with the morels, the parmigiano reggiano and the rest of the chives, and serve with toast.

Top Chef Power Rankings - Episode 8

(Click here for the podcast version of this post.)

Can I get this out of the way right off the bat? I'd like to declare Art Smith my mortal enemy. Oh, sure, his Chicago restaurant is booked into the fall, and he devotes tons of time and energy and money to charity, and he's a champion of cooking and eating as a family, and everybody says he's basically the nicest guy in the world -- but insist that the only way to improve the chicken dish is to remove the skin? It's on, Art. Oh yes, it's on.

Let's just say this wasn't the episode for food nerds. Not that simple, quick, inexpensive, healthy meals for the whole family aren't important. They're vitally important and, truthfully, much more important in the grand scheme of things than the elitist little foodie minutiae that people like me get all huffy about. People need more of what we saw this week and less of... well... this. But there are challenges that let the chefs show off their skills in a manner that has some bearing on the final stages of the competition, and challenges they just have to survive. This week gave us two of the latter. And... surprise!... more controversy.

But first, Uncle Ben's 90 Second Ready Rice! I made my peace with Top Chef's product placement a long time ago, but even I found this one a little painful. That said, the people who take it as a personal affront and don't think this is the future of television in the commercial-skipping DVR era are kidding themselves. In any case, 15 minutes isn't a lot of time and it's nice to see who performs under pressure, so that's worthwhile.

The elimination challenge was cute and amusing and its heart was in the right place, but I'm not convinced it was a good challenge for this stage of the competition (though it was, admittedly, a lot better than what I predicted based on the teaser). Perhaps we're getting a little spoiled this season. Anybody remember the vending machine challenge or the "prepare to serve 20 people tomorrow but we're not going to tell you what kind of equipment, if any, you're going to have" challenge? I'm okay with variety. I like it, in fact. As much as some people scream and yell, I like the fact that every single challenge isn't fine dining in the Top Chef kitchen. But when you've gotten this far, (almost) everybody is extremely talented, and I hate to see somebody going home because there wasn't enough protein, or because the kids didn't dig it, especially when it looks like they weren't informed their audience would be 13 and under.

$10 for four is tough. $10 for four at Whole Foods is brutal. But despite the rumblings on some message boards, I say it's entirely doable. Especially since I'm sure this worked like similar challenges in the past, where Lee Anne provides the chefs with an abbreviated list of pantry items that will be available ahead of time, so they can plan accordingly. I've picked up a four pack of chicken thighs at the Whole Foods around the corner for just over four bucks, and protein is half the battle. Go with a few inexpensive vegetables, keep it simple, use the pantry wisely and this isn't the mission impossible that some seem to think it is. And yet, this is the internet where disbelief quickly devolves into conspiracy theory. A common sentiment seems to be that it must have been $10 per person, never mind that that's waaaaaaay out of line for the average family of four's food budget. $10 per plate x 4 people x 30 days = $1200/month, just for dinner. I even saw it suggested on one board that the tape confirmed a much larger budget. But while bettyjoan's sleuthing is after my own heart, I think this is a case of digging deep, but not deep enough. The register shot while the chefs are checking out does, indeed, show a total just over $50. But it's a tight cutaway shot that doesn't have any chefs in frame. It could have been shot at any time, it could have been B-roll they pulled from a different episode, it could have been a random shopper shopping -- we have no way of knowing. Talented editors splice everything together to create the illusion of continuity, but in the span of ten seconds you could have three or four shots that were all filmed weeks apart. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a high resolution screencap, and the lo-res is useless if you're trying to read anything other than the total. But it's semi-readable on television, and I got navel oranges, figs and half & half (among others). None of the dishes this week put those ingredients together, so I'm inclined to think the shot was from another episode, or from a roving camera that grabbed a few random register shots that the editors worked in. I do expect, however, that their budget was a little higher. They made at least six plates -- four for the kids, one for the judges' table and one in the kitchen for Tom, and probably a camera plate -- so you'd expect them to increase the overall budget appropriately. This would have the benefit of allowing the chefs to achieve a little economy of scale (making eight plates for $20 is a lot easier than making four plates for $10), but I don't see how that's some kind of perversion of the challenge's spirit.

All of that aside, however, I kind of feel like this was a non-week for the rankings. Aside from Stephanie's disturbing slide, I don't feel like we saw anything terribly relevant to the rest of the contest. Of course, Mark might take issue with the suggestion that nothing really changed this week, and there are those who will dramatically trumpet this as a shocking episode where Antonia reasserts her excellence, Nikki proves she belongs and doubts are raised about Richard and Dale's dominance, but I just don't buy it. Episode eight was a cute diversion, but it was a diversion. I don't think it told us much and hopefully we get back to the meat and potatoes next week.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 3 6 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 3 1 Richard may have been winless, and he may have flown low during the elimination, but I was a lot more impressed with his dishes than some of those that stole the spotlight. His tuna steak and tomatoes with truffle oil and yuzu vinaigrette looked beautiful, earned a shout out from Art Smith, and left me trying to figure out how truffles and citrus go together -- pretty much Richard in a nutshell. And in the elimination, his roast chicken with beets was also made with apples, avocado, black beans, ginger, lime, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, cilantro and basil. It really sounds good to me, it was certainly one of the more sophisticated dishes made, and while I didn't taste it, I have to wonder if he overshot the challenge somewhat. But he continues his march to the finals, and despite being out of his element I think he showed very well.

2 Dale Quickfires 1 4 1 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 4 0 I feel much the same way about Dale that I do about Richard this week. He didn't make a big splash, but he put great food on the table, and probably had an even stronger week than Richard. First off, I love the fact that he completely, if inadvertently, showed up Nikki in the quickfire. She's peddling light board takeout "Chinese" fare, and he's making a complex fried rice dish with pineapple, scallops, scallop paste, XO sauce and long beans. And his elimination dish didn't win the hearts of the little ones, but Lee Anne loved it and it sure looked good to me. He took the opportunity to get away from his specialty a bit, and turned out a great-looking complete dish with potatoes, apples, Dijon and a sweet and sour cabbage made with red vinegar and honey. Consensus seemed to be that it was delicious and a great use of the budget, just a little too aggressive for the kids. Whether that last sentiment was coming from the kids or the judges, I don't know - but we'll get to that later.

3 Andrew Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 4 1 Cracking the top three for the first time this season, much to my surprise, is Andrew. It's more a function of Stephanie's troubles, but that's not to take anything away from a strong week. His quickfire didn't work. Trying to pull off fish crusted with instant rice in 15 minutes was a little bit of hubris at work, though you have to appreciate the enthusiasm and the admission that it probably wasn't the brightest idea. But technical issues with the crust aside, Smith seemed impressed by his almond and sundried tomato pesto with honey. There was a good dish in there. As Smith suggested, Andrew just needed more time to experiment with it. His chicken paillard with fennel, orange and apple salad, however, was tack sharp, maybe the most elegant of the nine, and a remarkable use of the money and pantry. The chicken was crusted with panko, parmesan, basil and cilantro before being fried, he did a lemon-chicken jus with garlic and Dijon, and the dressing for his salad was a simple but effective affair of olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey and lemon. It was classy but accessible, it had kid and adult appeal, and it was a complete meal. Whether or not it was his intention, Smith gave the impression that the only reason it didn't win was because of Smith's philosophical issues with what he calls the "chicken finger phenomenon". Okay, fine, Art, they were glorified chicken fingers. But they were really glorified, the dish worked in fresh fruit and vegetables, and none of the half pints made a peep about the fennel, which was probably new to them and odd for anybody the first time you have it. Are we rewarding practice or theory, here?

4 Antonia Quickfires 2 3 1 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 1 4 1 Right. Of course. Thanks, Antonia. The week after I rake you over the coals and say you deserve to be even lower, you get all charming, pick up a double win, and reveal that you're not only an executive chef but a doting single mom. Don't misunderstand, I don't take back anything I said last week. I just feel dirty about it now. I'm going to give her a bump here because a double win is a double win, but I'm going to do it grudgingly because that was about as unexciting as a double win can be. Admittedly, the rice in the salad is an interesting little twist that apparently works. But that aside, it's grilled skirt steak and greens with a simple vinaigrette. I don't doubt it was tasty, but I have to wonder if Art Smith was more in love with the idea of it than he was with the dish itself. And as to her elimination dish, yes, I get that it was easy and nutritious and fun for kids. But she stir-fried chicken, noodles and a few vegetables with a bottled teriyaki sauce. Let me be clear, I think this a great simple dish for families at home (even if I'd advocate some fresh garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sugar over a bottled sauce), but this is Top Chef. I don't care if this is the family home cooking challenge. Meat + vegetables + bottled sauce doesn't impress me. I'm giving you your fourth spot back for now, Antonia, but you're on notice.

5 Stephanie Quickfires 0 1 3 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 5 3 The only real news of the week is that Stephanie's disturbing slide continues. She's been on the bottom of three of the last four challenges, and she's narrowly escaped elimination twice. A lot of people are convinced she should already be gone. She tanked the quickfire with a rice and seafood pancake she didn't even bother to taste (the 15 minute challenge isn't the time to try something new, Stephanie), and then her elimination dish was almost universally loathed. Padma, with her "It's disgusting, I really detested it," quote certainly made her feelings clear. And Tom couldn't stop harping on what he called a "bizarre" combination of tomato and peanut (even if millions of West Africans would disagree). But despite those who feel she's been given a free pass to the finals because the producers reallyreallyreally want a woman to win, I think she survived on a split decision. Art Smith writes... "Peanut butter, tomato, chicken, and couscous, actually sounds bad but tasted great. She put combinations together like a child would but it had great flavor." In seemingly contradictory fashion, he also said on camera that it didn't taste that great, but given the context I think he was referring to the couscous at the time. So it looks like the guest judge saved her, backhanded compliment and all. I also love that Tom writes... "In retrospect, I think the episode was cut in a way that made it seem we took the greatest issue with Stephanie’s dish when in actuality, we debated long and hard about them all, and Mark’s emerged as the least favorite of the bunch." ...which sounds a lot to me like a polite way of saying, "Yeah, we have no idea what the hell Art was thinking." But for the sake of argument, let's suppose, for a moment, that they did let Stephanie ride on her previous performance a little bit. I don't see why so many people have a problem with this. The judges have said quite openly that while they judge each challenge individually, they're sometimes inclined to consider previous performance when it's a very close call, and I don't see how holding them to the letter of some imagined set of "rules" works to anybody's advantage. Well, anybody other than Mark, anyway. As long as it was close -- and Smith's comments poke an awfully big hole in the theory that she was the "obvious" choice for elimination -- I have no problem with them using her past performance as a tiebreaker. But all of this argument over whether or not she deserved the axe this week sidesteps the real question, which is what the hell is going on with Stephanie? The first time was a fluke. Last week was troubling. Now I'm starting to wonder if she really is cracking under pressure, and if she is, next week isn't going to be any easier for her. I'm not writing her off by any stretch of the imagination. I think she's coming back. But she's making it really hard to believe.

6 Spike Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 1 2 Spike, meanwhile, just keeps plodding along, interspersing swaths of mediocrity with occasional nuggets of great promise. This wasn't one of his better weeks, and I've pretty much given up on the idea that he's going to make a move on the backstretch, but at least he didn't embarrass himself this week. His quickfire wasn't exactly inspiring. He stuffed his tomatoes with rice and veal and topped them with veal demiglace, port and a bit of rice vinegar. It was the 15 minute challenge, but still, you'd like to think he could come up with something a little more interesting than that. And it isn't as though it was an elimination challenge where you could argue he's playing for safety. It's a quickfire. Either you win outright and gain immunity, or lose basically nothing. There's no reason not to shoot for the moon. As for his elimination dishes, I'm going to set aside my annoyance with his rather liberal use of the term "pasta puttanesca" for a moment. And when I do, I'm not impressed. There are no recipes posted for his carrot soup or baked apples, and the pasta recipe looks incomplete (there are no capers listed, though they appear in the photo), but it looks like a typical overcooked tomato sauce unceremoniously dumped over naked noodles. 45 minutes is waaaaay too long to cook a sauce like this. I'm trying to set aside my mediocre pasta pet peeve here, I really am. And he checked all of the appropriate boxes. It was healthy, kid pleasing and cheap. But seeing pasta, which should be a gimme for a cheap and healthy family dinner, produced in such a lame fashion -- it hurts me.

7 Lisa Quickfires 0 1 4 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 1 3 2 Lisa's downward trend continues, with two bottom finishes this week. Those flashes she showed while teamed with Stephanie were downright tantalizing, but she's stopped turning out good food and even if she has a couple of good dishes left, her days are numbered. I was a little surprised to see Smith calling her out for a lack of originality, especially after praising Spike's dish, but it wasn't as though Lisa's dish was any great shakes either. It was pretty much boilerplate mass-market Southwestern, with tequila shrimp, corn, beans, peppers, rice spiked with cilantro and an avocado cream. Her quinoi crusted chicken with beans and edamame doesn't look too bad, but the judges hated it. Lee Anne seems to feel that it just needed a little salt and lemon. Because of her previous issues with approaching the challenge as stated, she's starting to second-guess herself now, trying to play psychic and guessing what level of seasoning the judges will deem appropriate rather than just tasting her food and making it good. But her attitude has become so toxic at this point that I don't think she can come at anything with a clear head. Between teaming up with Dale and working through the night, next week ought to be a laugh riot.

8 Nikki Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 2 2 What, you thought because she was on top in the elimination I was going to let her out of the basement? Please. Though not in such stark terms, I believe I said it last week. This is how she cooks -- like a competent home cook, not a professional chef. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm in the camp that believes there's just as much honor in preparing a simple one pot meal for your family as there is in producing haute cuisine for an adoring public. But Top Chef isn't about rewarding capable home cooks (if it was, I'D be competing). Except for this week, when apparently it was about rewarding capable home cooks. But that's a completely temporary scenario. Butchered fried rice with way too much soy sauce and one pot roasted chicken and vegetables will get you through an episode with family and health-oriented Art Smith, but it won't get you thr-- wait, which episode are we on, now? Criminy.

9 Mark Quickfires 2 2 2 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 1 4 And so we come to Mark, who showed an awful lot of potential in week two, and not very much since. He put some good-looking food out there, and his flavor palette, coming from as far away as it did, made for some refreshingly interesting dishes. But really, nobody should be surprised by this one. His recipes on the website for this week are a total mess. The quickfire recipe is missing and the elimination recipe is all screwed up, and showing a photo of Nikki's dish to boot. So I'm mostly stuck having to take the judges' word for it. He was called out in the quickfire for overcooking his turkey, and might I add the fact that he overcooked his protein in a 15 minute challenge is hilarious. And while some have called it a bad idea to try to serve curry to kids, I don't like that line of thinking. For starters, while the chefs were told this was supposed to be a good family dish, I don't believe they were told outright that they were serving a roomful of kids. And secondly, I hate the school of thought that there are some foods that aren't good for kids. I believe -- or maybe I want to believe -- that they don't like what we don't feed them. My little guy is one and a half, and he eats everything I do. For the parents who are snickering and saying to wait until he's five, I reserve the right to shamelessly backtrack at some point in the future. But my point is, if you make good food, kids will eat it. There are parts of the world where children are raised on curries, and they aren't fundamentally different from American kids -- they're just exposed to them early on. But rant aside, it sounds like the problem is simply that Mark didn't make a very good curry. Without seeing the recipe it's hard to say, but a very sweet coconut milk curry that's heavy on sweet potatoes does sound rather off-balance to me. As a side or a component it sounds right on, but as a standalone dish, it seems like it needs something to ground it. Wild speculation aside, however, it doesn't really matter. The Kiwi makes an exit at roughly the appropriate time, and his accent will be missed more than his food.

Next week things get nasty again. We haven't seen the wedding challenge since season one, and it's absolutely brutal. The chefs will be up all night cooking an obscene amount of food, and they're already worn out and sleep-deprived. Add to this that the website teaser's title is "Pointing Fingers" and it looks to be a nasty episode all around. The episode-end trailer shows Dale cracking the whip, which would seem to put him in a team leadership position. That makes me nervous, given the judges' propensity to insist that the captain go down with the ship. But more likely, if Dale's team fails, somebody else who's barely hanging on finally cracks and saves him. Lisa, Nikki and *gulp* Stephanie seem like prime candidates to me, but it's hard to guess who best copes with a lack of sleep. I'm pretty sure Andrew will be okay, but that aside, it's open season and the battle for the top spot will be a war of attrition. I expect it will be a bloody one.

Discuss!

Podcast Clarification

Just to clarify, since quite a few people have asked, the podcast Power Rankings won't be replacing the written Power Rankings. It's just an alternate format for those who dig the audio, and I'll be posting them together going forward (though the podcast may differ slightly from the written version). The written word is the first priority!

Eastern Avenue Taco Crawl

	Las Palmas - Dominic Armato

Last week, I rather enjoyed putting off the Top Chef Power Rankings until Monday. It gave me a chance to dig a little deeper and to work on the podcast, which seems to have been received pretty well so far. So we'll stick with that schedule going forward -- new rankings on Monday. And in the meantime, much as I love reality TV analysis with an obsessive level of detail, it'll be nice to get back to Skillet Doux's regular restaurant and recipe analysis with an obsessive level of detail. This week, tacos, specifically those in my backyard. One of the things I love about Baltimore's Little Italy is that it's a classic, old ethnic enclave bordering on a new, vibrant ethnic enclave. Eastern and High street? Pasta. Three blocks east to Eastern and Broadway? Tacos. In preparation for a Chowhound outing, I've been scouting a lot of tacos lately. Not that I like to reduce Mexican cuisine down to its best known street food, but it's a big neighborhood with a lot of ground to cover, and a taco crawl seems a good way to benchmark some of the local eateries and identify the ones worth focusing on. I've already posted my thoughts on Tortilleria Sinaloa in extensive fashion, but I figured I'd run down some other recent explorations along Eastern Avenue in rapid fire fashion.

Las Palmas - Dominic Armato

Starting on the west end of the strip is Las Palmas. It's a cute little shop on the north side of the street with a fairly extensive menu of standards and it's the nicest room of this bunch. It's still very small and exceedingly downscale, but it's bright and well-maintained and generally pleasant to hang around. Unless you're doing battle with the chef's son over an appropriate volume level for Power Rangers (I felt 8 was reasonable, but he seemed to feel that 23 was necessary for the full effect). But the folks are friendly and it's easy to drop in and grab a bite. I'm pretty sure they're using Sinaloa's tortillas (most of the taquerias in the neighborhood do, and with good reason), but unfortunately Las Palmas' tacos are a little weak. They just seemed underseasoned all around, though the texture on the lengua I tried was a medium dice seared to a nice crisp, and I loved it. Frankly, what excited me most about Las Palmas was the salsas. They serve a red and green with the tacos, and both are very simple, clean and delicious. The red was smooth and a little oily with a nice smoky chile flavor. It clearly wasn't meant to stand on its own, but as a taco accent I thought it was particularly nice. The green, however, was awesome. It's very watery, which I mean as an expression of its consistency and not an indictment of its flavor, which is excellent. It's a tomatillo base with jalapeno, cilantro, very finely diced onion and bits of avocado (among other things, I'm sure). Nothing special or unusual in terms of ingredients, but it was exceptionally fresh, green, light and vibrant -- obviously made with great care. The bistec ended up being one of my favorite tacos in the area on the strength of that salsa, even if it wasn't particularly noteworthy otherwise.

	Palomino - Dominic Armato

Moving further east and a couple of blocks up Broadway, there's a silver taco truck on the east side of the street that goes by Tacos Jalisco. I tried their chivo and some manner of beef (I've now forgotten which) and both were good, but speed and convenience aside I didn't see a compelling reason to pick them over some of the other options in the immediate area. They were significantly cheaper, but the size seemed proportional to the price. The next place down the line, however, is very compelling. Back on Eastern, just east of Broadway and directly across the street from Tortilleria Sinaloa, is a funky joint that goes by either Palomino Restaurant or the Starlight Bar & Lounge, depending on which sign you believe. I can't find evidence of either name anywhere on the internet, so it remains a mystery. Palomino is long on character, an impressive bar running one side, pool tables in the back and a tableful of guys playing cards that seems to be a permanent fixture. If you aren't deaf when you enter, you will be by the time you leave, since the stereo blares an odd mix of Mariachi music and Mexican hip hop at Friday night levels even on Tuesday afternoons. However loud you think it is, it's louder. The fact that I return probably says something.

Palomino - Dominic Armato

Palomino throws in a small bowl of soup with every meal, which is nice, but the fact that the soup is usually quite good is extra nice. I've never had anything subtle. They've all been potent, spicy, slightly oily broths with varying bases. The one you see here was a spicy chicken soup with a drumette thrown in. Once you get to the tacos, Palomino certainly has its style. Grilled and griddled options are completely absent, and the taco selections instead focus on braised and roasted meats. The carnitas, pictured here, were quite lovely if not as porktastic as you'd expect from the places that specialize in carnitas. They were also the driest of the tacos I tried (though only on a relative scale), as the rest of the list is rather saucy. The barbacoa, in particular, is bold and wet, almost more stewed than what I think of as barbacoa, but delicious nonetheless. The one complaint I could make is that Palomino is often very heavy on the grease. Given the nature of my old 3 AM haunt back in Chicago, the grease feels like home to me. But it might put you off and I wouldn't think less of you for it.

	El Taquito - Dominic Armato

Though it's been inconsistent at times, El Taquito, another block east, is where I had the best plate of tacos I've yet tasted in Baltimore. I had the puerco, cecina and lamb barbacoa on that particular occasion. The puerco was moist and tender and had the fat that Sinaloa lacks and Palomino has in abundance. Simple but great flavor. I loved the cecina (salted beef), pleasantly chewy with a nice marinade, seared and crispy on the edges. The lamb barbacoa was probably my favorite on that day, tender but with substance, lightly seasoned, and chock full of meaty lamb intensity. I later sampled the pollo, not a typical choice for me, and loved it. I suspect it was roasted, then shredded and crisped on the griddle. But in any case it was crusted in places with a great seasoning mix, and even the tortillas had been skillfully griddled, taking on just a little crispy texture in places. And the price is right. Three great tacos, a Mexican coke, tax and tip for $10 says winner in my book.

Tijuana Tacos - Dominic Armato

All of these restaurants already mentioned have their merits, but one place for which I can universally recommend a pass on is Tijuana Tacos. I had a good feeling upon walking in the door, but it's possible that's because, based on the name, I was anticipating Tex-Mex and tequila. In actuality, it's a humble little taqueria/bodega with all of the usuals on the menu. The tacos section has seven or eight offerings, each for $2.50 apiece. In what may be the deal of the century, ordering three tacos will earn you the privilege of paying an extra 50 cents, since an order of three tacos is listed at $8.00. My first visit was mediocre, but my second put me over the edge. The carne asada was sautéed. Not a hint of fire or smoke to be found. Also, when you order carnitas and al pastor and can't determine which is supposed to be which, that's really not a good sign. Fortunately, other options abound. And I've still only gotten to about half of the taquerias on my hit list. More later.

Las Palmas	Palomino
1622 Eastern Ave.	1700 Block of Eastern Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21231	Baltimore, MD 21231
410-537-5024
El Taquito	Tijuana Tacos
1744 Eastern Ave.	2224 Fleet St.
Baltimore, MD 21231	Baltimore, MD 21231
410-563-7840	410-522-0003

Aaaaand, We're Live...

I'm probably going to regret this, but here it is anyway.

Skillet Doux in audio. First podcast? This week's Top Chef Power Rankings.

Am I one of the cool kids now?

Be kind, be brutal -- let me know if these are worth continuing.

Link after the jump.

Top Chef Power Rankings Podcast?

Y'know, being that I actually do voiceover for a living and have a studio set up at home, should I be doing the power rankings as a podcast as well? Would anybody listen to it if I did? Seeking input.

Top Chef Power Rankings - Episode 7

Pastry! Sausage! Controversy! Sleuthing! We get our first highly controversial elimination of the season, and the power rankings reach embarrassing new heights of obsessive thoroughness. More on that in a moment.

First, pastry. As mentioned last week, pastry freaks chefs out. Some of the most talented chefs are completely incapable of making a good cake. Though you might not think so at first, they're really completely different disciplines. Being a chef is about throwing things together, tasting, adjusting and improvising. Being a pastry chef is no less creative, but it's about precision, and there's a lot less room for on-the-fly improvisation. This is, however, season four, and most of the chefs seemed prepared, if a little out of their element. Chicago has an extremely high-profile pastry chef in Gale Gand, so unless she and Rick Tramonto are going to make an appearance later in the season (which would be nice), it's a little disappointing to see another NY import -- especially one who hasn't already been on the show. That said, I've eaten multiple times at both Jean Georges and Tru and, uh, sorry Gale... I enjoyed Iuzzini's desserts a lot more.

As to the controversy, while my annoyance didn't quite reach the same level of the comments I've been reading, I didn't like this call one bit at first. After watching the show I had the same impression that everybody else seems to have -- that Antonia and Lisa completely ignored the challenge and didn't use their primary ingredient. And while I could see the judges saying something to Stephanie and Jennifer along the lines of, "Guys, we know they strayed way off course, but you have to give us something to hang out hat on and you just didn't," I didn't like the precedent being set that you can basically ignore the parameters of the challenge and get away with it. Fudge them, okay -- but ignore them completely? I thought Antonia or Lisa should have gotten the axe.

But then, as I was doing my research for this week's rankings, I took a look at the recipe for their dish. And lo and behold, there's the Polish sausage, mixed in with the chorizo! Now, the recipes on the website aren't always entirely accurate. I've known them to omit ingredients or components at times. But it's one thing to erroneously omit an ingredient. It's another thing entirely to erroneously add an ingredient that was never there in the first place. So this got me wondering... despite the quotes from Lisa and Antonia that seemed to clearly indicate they were NOT going to use Polish sausage, did they end up using some after all, or did they amend their recipe for the website after the fact to include the thematic ingredient that was never there?

So I rewatched the episode, trying to pay very close attention to exactly what was said. Antonia clearly stated that they weren't going to use Polish sausage, but when was that interview done? If it was before they went shopping, which seems probable, they very well may have changed their minds. And while there are a lot of quotes that could be read either way, I found these two quotes from judges' table particularly compelling:

Ted Allen: "So, which is worse? Antonia and Lisa not really focusing on the main ingredient, or Jenn and Steph giving us something that was kind of a muddle on the plate?"

Tom Colicchio: "In Lisa and Antonia's case, you know, they downplayed the Polish sausage and introduced chorizo."

(My emphasis)

If they hadn't used Polish sausage, why on earth would you phrase it like that? Wouldn't you just say they didn't use the main ingredient, or they ignored the main ingredient? It sounds more like the kind of comments you'd hear if the sausage was there, but buried. Also, during the shopping scene, there's a very quiet, quick bit of dialogue between Antonia and Lisa:

Antonia: "Can we really mix Polish and chorizo?"

Lisa: "They're very similar."

So we know for certain that they at least considered using both. And finally, I caught something during the prep scene. I realize this is like the culinary equivalent of the Zapruder film (thanks to Ed Fisher for the screen capture!), but bear with me:

It's a lot clearer in glorious high definition than it is here, but in the hotel pan in front of Antonia? Sure looks like two different sausages to me. The three on the left are that nice, bright chorizo red, but the two on the right are a pale pink. Now, the finer points of tubular Polish meats isn't my area of expertise, but that sausage on the right sure seems like an awfully coarse grind for Polish sausage. So I decided to follow this through to its logical (if completely insane) conclusion.

I called the meat counter at the market where the chefs did their shopping (the Halsted & Waveland Whole Foods in Chicago) and asked if they had a house-made Polish. The fellow I spoke to replied that they do, indeed, make a Polish sausage and that I can find it in the meat case. I asked if it's a really fine grind, like commercial packaged sausage, or if it's a coarse grind. He told me it's the same type of coarse grind as their other fresh sausages.

My conclusion? Antonia and Lisa DID use a little bit of Polish sausage for fear of being disqualified if they didn't, but because they didn't want to, they intentionally buried it deep in the dish. It's not much better than leaving it out entirely, but for those who are hardliners when it comes to the parameters of the challenge, it makes a difference. I don't know this for a fact, and Tom said a couple of other things at the judges' table that sure made it sound like they only used chorizo, but you put everything together -- the recipe, the quotes, the photos, the judging, the Whole Foods meat counter -- and it just fits. I still think Lisa or Antonia probably should've gotten the axe. Even if their ingredient was on the plate, they clearly made an effort to hide it as much as possible and expressed outright contempt for the challenge, which is almost as bad. But I'm less annoyed with the elimination decision since it appears that Polish sausage probably was, in fact, worked into the dish. Did the sleuthing affect the rankings this week? Not really. But it was a good enough way to waste a Friday night.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 3 5 1 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 3 1 Ladies and gentlemen, the third contestant in Top Chef history to win both the quickfire and elimination in the same episode (yeah, I thought there would have been more, too). Richard gets his groove back, and you don't keep somebody out of the top spot after a week like that. In this quickfire, his banana scallops with banana guacamole and chocolate ice cream sound flat-out awesome. Slicing and searing the bananas like scallops is a fun presentation, but the heart of the dish is the "guacamole", which he made with tarragon, cilantro, basil, lime, chiles and ginger syrup. I realize that most people tend to be dessert purists who don't like it when savory ingredients sneak into their sugar and chocolate, but crossing that sweet/savory divide is where it's at for me, and apparently Johnny Iuzzini agrees. And then -- take note, Antonia and Lisa -- he throws himself into the elimination challenge and comes up with a creative and delicious way of handling a difficult theme ingredient. Tofu is often delicious, but it's tough to make it interesting. But once again, he finds a way to play with the judges' expectations and impress and delight them. I know I'm repeating myself, but the frequency with which he's been able to produce dishes that genuinely surprise the judges is the most impressive feat of any contestant this season. I can't think of any previous contestant who's managed to do that more than a couple of times over the course of the run -- it's tough to keep turning out creative dish after creative dish under pressure -- but between his peach taleggio pizza, jicama tacos, salmon with white chocolate and wasabi, banana scallops and the tofu steak, I count five times now where the judges' reaction has basically been, "I have no idea what this is or how the hell you did it, but it's fantastic." And had I included reactions that were surprised and pleased but not quite dumbfounded, I probably could've upped that number to seven or eight. The salmon scale episode was a fluke. Richard is doing exactly what he needs to do to win this thing, and the really impressive thing is that he keeps doing it week after week. Also, take note of the fact that he had a chance to throw Dale under the bus by tanking the challenge and surviving on immunity. Not only didn't he do that, he didn't even approach the challenge half-heartedly. He was genuinely excited to work with Dale, he gave it everything he had, and then jumped at the chance to give credit rather than fighting for it. That's class.

2 Dale Quickfires 1 3 1 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 4 0 It's time to reward Dale's emergence as a frontrunner, and he finally breaks into the top two. In case it wasn't clear just how strong he's been lately, since week three, his dishes have gone Win, Top, Top, Bottom, Win, Top, Win (the flub being that pork quickfire where he had a technical problem). And he isn't doing it by sneaking into the top, either. He's earning it. Halo-halo isn't something I have a lot of experience with, so I can't really