etee's Blog

So, this week I am going to indulge myself a bit, and focus on one of the chefts. A cheft who was one of the Four Horsemen of the Chefpocalypse, seemingly invincible, yet who is now hanging on the ropes. She started out very strong, claiming that she wanted to win "every QuickFire, every Elimination Challenge." And, for awhile, she seemed very strong, finishing at (or near) the top in pretty much every challenge, and earning the nickname "Jennifer Norris" after the "Thunderbirds" episode, when she took charge and led the chefts to a successful dinner. Things then started to go downhill when she became ill, and appeared on the bottom in a QuickFire for the first time. Bouncing back from that with her first (and only) EC W, she then stumbled (badly) in Restaurant Wars (though many of the failings weren't hers alone, in all fairness.) After this disastrous performance, she seems to have lost her mojo, ending up on the bottom in most of the subsequent challenges.

Follow up:

The subtext of "Jen on the Ropes?" actually starts out with the beginning of the episode, as the chefts were getting ready to head out to the Venetian. The cheft under discussion, Jennifer "Norris" Carroll, came out looking like death warmed over, as if she had gone three rounds the "real" Norris (Chuck.) The QuickFire Challenge, delivered via Room Service phone: prepare a breakfast (in bed) for the Lovely Padma and her roommate, Nigella Lawson. That's right, Breakfast. In. Bed. Talk about starting out with some food pr0n! At least, they were in separate beds! So, what did our intrepid cheft do? She prepared a fave from her childhood (and a variation of which is on the menu at her restaurant): "S.O.S" Creamed Chipped Beef with Toast, Potatoes and Tomatoes. Yep, that's right, she prepared **** on a Shingle. SRSLY, Jen, you have the resources of the Venetian, and come up with **** on a Shingle!? And you even call it **** on a Shingle when you serve it!? (I'm thinking Jen was an Army brat.) At least she wasn't surprised when Nigella gave it a WTH!? look. Compare this to the winning dish, a riff on a Reuben prepared by Eli. At least she succeeded in her goal of staying out of the bottom!

Afterwords, the chefts discover they have the afternoon off-sort of. The Elimination Challenge is to cook for a big wing-ding being held to celebrate the Las Vegas Strip. In order to be properly prepared, the chefts draw from the Knifeblock o' Doom (what else?), and get a resort/casino where they go to spend the afternoon and 'get inspired'. Jen draws the Excalibur, and heads over to check out the food. Turns out they have a variation on Medieval Times, where people eat without silverware while watching a jousting event center stage, which somehow makes Jen think of "The Sword in the Stone" (wonder where she got that from?), which somehow (too much mead, perhaps?) led to a NY Strip with Red Wine Reduction, Beets, Truffles and Herbs. Which, in true Medieval fashion, was served extra tough {/snark}. Again, let's compare this with Michael the V's winning dish, a Boneless Chicken Wing Confit with Curry and Blue Cheese Disc. The inspiration for this was the model fireboat at New York New York, from which he thought of buffalo wings. An interesting element was his use of an anti-griddle to create a solid disc of blue cheese.

After the soiree is over, the chefts repair to the Stew Room, where Jen just sits there looking beat down. As Michael the V, Bryan, and Kevin are called into the Winners' Circle, Jen appears to say "Can I just go now?" Listening closely, however, this is actually said by Robin, showing how the Editing Elves of BRAVO attempt to mis-direct us and create drama. Meanwhile, in the Winners' Circle, all are complemented, Michael earns the W (which we already knew), as well as a bottle of hooch booze fine wine and an invitation to spend some time at the vineyard (which we didn't.) Robin, Eli, and Jen are then summoned to the Losers' Circle, where they are lambasted for their efforts. After a thorough ****-chewing critique of their performance and the shortcomings of their dishes, the three are sent back to the Stew Room while the judges determine their fate. Jen still looks morose, while Robin appears to have been crying. Eventually they are re-called to JT, where they learn that Robin has reached the end of her run: her attempt (and failure) to do something she had never before tried, combined with her inability to create a proper panna cotta, leads to her being asked to PPYKAG.

Interesting, although we were led to believe that Jen was in real danger, Tom Colicchio admits in his blog that

Jen’s dish was more boring than it could’ve been, and the meat was a bit tough, but apart from that there were no glaring mistakes — certainly nothing to rival those of Robin and Eli. She didn’t really know about medieval cooking. I believe that had she known more about how rancid meats were the motivating factor behind the spice trade, or about the use of honey, those facts would have triggered ideas for her and her dish would have packed a larger punch. But when her meal was placed alongside those of Eli and Robin, there was no chance of her being sent home.

But, of course, I am sure they didn't let Jen know that.

One more point of interest, is Tom's explanation of why food in the olden days was so spicy. There is some debate on whether this is really true or just an Urban Legend (I am not sure, though I have heard that spice was used to hide the taste of 'turned' meat in some of the more temperate climates, such as India and south Asia.)

Next Week, on Top Chef: In a competition that sounds tailor-made for Jen the Perfectionist, the EC appears to be judged in the style of the Bocuse d'Or competition (this is about the time for a fine dining/haute cuisine/traditional challenge.) Also, in a departure from last season, the Thanksgiving themed challenge will actually be held close to Thanksgiving, and reportedly will feature "a protein in a protein in a protein". I am sure they are thinking something on the line of turducken, I am betting that Kevin comes up with some riff on the Bacon Explosion - maybe stuffing it into a whole roast pig? I guess we will just have to wait and see.