Now this is very interesting. The recipe on the website calls for both chorizo and Polish sausage. Plus, I know one of the comedians talked about the Polish sausage in the dish. At the time I thought he simply misspoke, but now I'm wondering. I'm in the middle of rewatching the episode now, but is it possible they actually used both and the phrasing of the clips we saw lent the mistaken impression that they omitted Polish sausage completely?

Also, there was tequila in the sauce -- not just the shots they did themselves while serving (which was actually my memory as well, though many seemed to think they also omitted the tequila).

I'm starting to think all of the components might have actually been in place -- just buried.

Dmnkly wrote:Now this is very interesting. The recipe on the website calls for both chorizo and Polish sausage. Plus, I know one of the comedians talked about the Polish sausage in the dish. At the time I thought he simply misspoke, but now I'm wondering. I'm in the middle of rewatching the episode now, but is it possible they actually used both and the phrasing of the clips we saw lent the mistaken impression that they omitted Polish sausage completely?

Also, there was tequila in the sauce -- not just the shots they did themselves while serving (which was actually my memory as well, though many seemed to think they also omitted the tequila).

I'm starting to think all of the components might have actually been in place -- just buried.

Dom -

Seriously. The lengths you'll go through to justify the show.

Signed,

The Real Voice Of Reality

aschie30 wrote:Dom -

Seriously. The lengths you'll go through to justify the show.

Signed,

The Real Voice Of Reality

Hey, man... my interest is the truth! I've got rankings to do! And I think it'd be awesome if Lisa and Antonia revised their recipe retroactively to include the sausage that they'd omitted. What's better fodder for rooting against them than that?

(I've already put in an E-mail to Ted Allen seeking clarification -- we'll see if that gets any response )

I realize this is like deconstructing the Zapruder film, but take a look:



Aaaaaand look closely at the hotel pan in front of Antonia:



It's not as clear in my lousy photo as it is when you watch it on TV (wish I had a way to grab screen caps), but either those are two different sausages, or Whole Foods forgot to season the "chorizo" on the right.

And of course, just because they bought them doesn't mean they used them -- but that sure looks like two different types of sausage to me. Polish sausage is generally a fine grind, though isn't it? The intricacies of Polish tubular meat is not something I know a lot about. But even if so, it wouldn't surprise me to see Whole Foods do a coarse grind, season it in a similar fashion and call it a Polish sausage. I've seen them do bastardized sausages before, and Antonia made reference to the chorizo and Polish sausage being "right next to each other". Too bad they're closed, or I'd call the meat counter.

(Don't ever accuse me of being less than thorough )

Ted Allen: "So which was worse? Antonia and Lisa not really focusing on the main ingredient..."

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

That seems pretty clear. I think the Polish was in there. They just intentionally buried it, which isn't that much better, but it sounds to me like it was, in fact, on the plate.

I think you're on to something. That could very well be polish sausage in the pan. After all, it's not like there's more than one type of chorizo. I've never heard of that.

Oh, wait. I have.

Never mind.

jaybo wrote:I think you're on to something. That could very well be polish sausage in the pan. After all, it's not like there's more than one type of chorizo. I've never heard of that.

Oh, wait. I have.

Never mind.

If it were just the photos, who knows. But put that together with the recipe, put it together with the phrasing of the comments at judges' table... it adds up. You don't say things like "not really focusing on" and "downplayed the Polish sausage" if it isn't there. You say they didn't use it.

Dmnkly wrote:One thing that IS very interesting is that the recipe for the "asparagus" dish on the Bravo website completely omits the asparagus!

Dmnkly wrote:Now this is very interesting. The recipe on the website calls for both chorizo and Polish sausage.

Point - Bravo's website isn't completely reliable when it comes to printing recipes.

Name of recipe - Sea Bass with Purple Potato Puree, Chorizo and Tequila Sauce

Point - Where's the beef, er, Polish sausage? Although Bravo may not be completely reliable when printing the names of recipes, either.

An argument can be made on either side. We'll just have to believe what we believe. Tell you what. You be Henry Fonda and I'll be Lee J. Cobb!

jaybo wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:One thing that IS very interesting is that the recipe for the "asparagus" dish on the Bravo website completely omits the asparagus!

Dmnkly wrote:Now this is very interesting. The recipe on the website calls for both chorizo and Polish sausage.

Point - Bravo's website isn't completely reliable when it comes to printing recipes.

Name of recipe - Sea Bass with Purple Potato Puree, Chorizo and Tequila Sauce

Point - Where's the beef, er, Polish sausage? Although Bravo may not be completely reliable when printing the names of recipes, either.

True, true and true! Which is why I wouldn't think much of any of these on their own. But for the recipe to be wrong* and for them to not use what sure looks like a second type of sausage in their prep area and for both Tom and Tim to phrase their criticism in a manner that would be extremely odd if there weren't at least some Polish sausage on the plate -- it just doesn't fit. It's not very clear, I agree, and I don't mean to suggest that this should make it obvious, but I'm convinced.

* - Plus, doesn't erroneously adding an ingredient seem an awful lot stranger than erroneously omitting an ingredient?

Dmnkly wrote:[But for the recipe to be wrong and for them to not use what sure looks like a second type of sausage in their prep area and for both Tom and Tim to phrase their criticism in a manner that would be extremely odd if there weren't at least some Polish sausage on the plate -- it just doesn't fit. It's not very clear, I agree, and I don't mean to suggest that this should make it obvious, but I'm convinced.

* - Plus, doesn't erroneously adding an ingredient seem an awful lot stranger than erroneously omitting an ingredient?

Who's Tim?

It's pretty easy to make mistakes.

jaybo wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:[But for the recipe to be wrong and for them to not use what sure looks like a second type of sausage in their prep area and for both Tom and Tim to phrase their criticism in a manner that would be extremely odd if there weren't at least some Polish sausage on the plate -- it just doesn't fit. It's not very clear, I agree, and I don't mean to suggest that this should make it obvious, but I'm convinced.

* - Plus, doesn't erroneously adding an ingredient seem an awful lot stranger than erroneously omitting an ingredient?

Who's Tim?

It's pretty easy to make mistakes.

Touche!

But my points remain valid

(Sorry, Ted)

and

A: "Can we really mix polish and chorizo?"
L: "They're very similar."

I think it's quite possible they pulled the chorizo and polish sausage out of their casings, browned them, and served them under that 8oz hunk of sea bass.

I still think it violates the rule of "Do NOT ignore the challenge" though. Sounded like there was very little alcohol flavor and very little polish sausage flavor.

I don't really have an opinion about this week's elimination. I would have been mostly fine with any of 'em going home (although I would have been sad to see Stephanie go). But it sounded like Steph+Jen's dish was not ver good cheese and bread with asparagus on the side, while Lisa and Antonia's dish was well executed seabass with chorizo and polish sausage on the side/underneath.

They both made a non-challenge ingredient the major component of the dish, it seems.. so at that point, I think judging on taste is fine.

I have seen fresh polish sausage at Whole Foods before -- not that particular location, but it's definitely something that local stores have done.

Confirmed by the meat counter.

The Halsted Whole Foods makes a Polish sausage in-house, and it's a coarse grind like the rest of their sausages.

Dmnkly wrote:Confirmed by the meat counter.

The Halsted Whole Foods makes a Polish sausage in-house, and it's a coarse grind like the rest of their sausages.

Please tell me you weren't up all night waiting to call Whole Foods. PLEASE!

At one point during the judges' questioning of the losing team, tom asks the girls why they decided to go with chorizo and not polish sausage, and also, during the judges' deliberation Tom asks whether its worse to have left some things out rather than to have a bad dish, implying that the polish sausage was left out altogether. Even if it showed them with the polish sausage on their work station that does not mean they used it in the dish.

i dont think that a team who doesnt follow the rules closely enough should immediately be the losing team. I would weigh how far they went off course against how horrible the other team's food was and base my decision on that. Also taking in other considerations like how well the bad food team met the challenge parameters. If they were a little off of the mark, that could factor in as well.

I still think this show, like all the other bravo reality shows, is rigged, right from the beginning, including the process and guidelines they use to choose contestants. The entire concept is geared towards entertainment rather than an actual test of skill levels of the best chefs in the country.

I finally got around to the most recent episode last night and I have to say that it was one of my favorite yet (culinary speaking). I was impressed with almost all of the dessert preparations and I thought the "improv" challenge was inventive and challenging. The two bottom groups just seemed to suffer from bad choices, but both dishes seemed like something I'd like to try (although the asparagus dish was easily the weakest).

When it comes to personality, I'm most astounded by Lisa who seems to focus mainly on what she won't do rather than what she will do.

"I told myself I was not going to cook a dessert."
"I don't cook with beer."
"I won't serve polish sausage."

If I owned a restaurant, she is the exact opposite of the kind of person I'd want as my chef.

I'm sure many of us could come up with a bunch of dishes that meet the polish sausage-purple-drunk idea. I liked the perogi idea. How about polish sausage-purple potato hash with a fried duck egg and dark ale gastrique (pair it with a glass of the same ale)?

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:
When it comes to personality, I'm most astounded by Lisa who seems to focus mainly on what she won't do rather than what she will do.

"I told myself I was not going to cook a dessert."
"I don't cook with beer."
"I won't serve polish sausage."

If I owned a restaurant, she is the exact opposite of the kind of person I'd want as my chef.

I think Dale put it best when he said that Lisa's personality was purely "observational negativity" constantly saying stuff like "this sucks" or "f*ck that..." It's emotionally draining, and under a high pressure situation, like the one that these chefs are under, it's not like it helps any.

gmonkey wrote:

eatchicago wrote:
When it comes to personality, I'm most astounded by Lisa who seems to focus mainly on what she won't do rather than what she will do.

"I told myself I was not going to cook a dessert."
"I don't cook with beer."
"I won't serve polish sausage."

If I owned a restaurant, she is the exact opposite of the kind of person I'd want as my chef.

I think Dale put it best when he said that Lisa's personality was purely "observational negativity" constantly saying stuff like "this sucks" or "f*ck that..." It's emotionally draining, and under a high pressure situation, like the one that these chefs are under, it's not like it helps any.

Of course, that's like the pot calling the kettle black, as Dale does not strike me as the Ambassador of Sunshine.

aschie30 wrote: the Ambassador of Sunshine.

Oh thats a funny line. I'm going to steal it and give you no credit at all.

I was just reading the blogs on Top Chef online and Ted Allen gave props to Dmnkly. Congrats!

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/blogs/index.php?blog=ted_allen&article=2008/04/ted_408_images&page=2

For more on this kerfuffle, check out the very thorough and generally excellent coverage of Top Chef on this blog, www.skilletdoux.com. I’m not going to confirm or deny the accuracy of webmaster Dominic’s weekly rankings of the contestants, but I appreciate the time and depth of knowledge he displays reaching those rankings; he truly does a great job. (Note to Shauna: He might be a great guest judge next season.)

Oooh! That would be cool!


Sharona

Man ... the tables were really turned tonight. The once/perennial frontrunners were either middle of the pack (Richard, Dale) on the chopping block (Stephanie) or gone (Mark) and two two were normally also-rans were favorites. Nikki and Antonia did well, but they are definitey not as strong as Richard or Dale.

Stephanie has really got to get it together. Tomato & Peanut butter and lemon ? Oof.

Color me squeamish, but I don't need to hear "smell my poo" on a food show.

Sharona wrote:I was just reading the blogs on Top Chef online and Ted Allen gave props to Dmnkly. Congrats!

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/blogs/index.php?blog=ted_allen&article=2008/04/ted_408_images&page=2

For more on this kerfuffle, check out the very thorough and generally excellent coverage of Top Chef on this blog, www.skilletdoux.com. I’m not going to confirm or deny the accuracy of webmaster Dominic’s weekly rankings of the contestants, but I appreciate the time and depth of knowledge he displays reaching those rankings; he truly does a great job. (Note to Shauna: He might be a great guest judge next season.)

Oooh! That would be cool!


Sharona

that *would* be a great twist -- bring in a blogger guest judge to really piss off the chefs. "What the F*** is a BLOGGER doing judging my food ? I'm SO INSULTED ! F***!!! "

And why did Dale do the "Aussie Aussie Aussie" thing to Mark, the Kiwi ?

Sharona wrote:I was just reading the blogs on Top Chef online and Ted Allen gave props to Dmnkly. Congrats!

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/blogs/index.php?blog=ted_allen&article=2008/04/ted_408_images&page=2

For more on this kerfuffle, check out the very thorough and generally excellent coverage of Top Chef on this blog, www.skilletdoux.com. I’m not going to confirm or deny the accuracy of webmaster Dominic’s weekly rankings of the contestants, but I appreciate the time and depth of knowledge he displays reaching those rankings; he truly does a great job. (Note to Shauna: He might be a great guest judge next season.)

Oooh! That would be cool!


Sharona

Major, major props Dom!

And, having him as a guest judge wouldn't be that far out -- there was that secret blogger at the Restaurant Wars episode last season. I think it'd be awesome.

First of all, congrats Dom! A guest judge spot on Top Chef would indeed be well-earned and well-deserved. Frankly, I think you're more qualified to be a Top Chef judge than Ted Allen, whose culinary knowledge seems somewhat sketchy at times. BTW, I love the podcast feature you added last week.

This truly was an Antoniasode and it seemed like it was going that way from the outset. It all got a bit smarmy for me but you have to give credit where it is due and her winning dish looked delicious.

Lisa again dodged a bullet but still, it was great to see her in the bottom 3 and quite satisfying to hear Art, who was dealing with her for the first time, specifically mention her lousy attitude. I'm definitely bothered by her but she seems to have zero chance of winning, so I'm trying to appreciate her for the entertainment value she brings to the show. Speaking of the bottom 3, I'm glad that Stephanie once again lived to see another day but her chances of winning it all seem to be diminishing as things roll along. And, going back to Dom's blog, he made a good observation last week about what Stephanie's lack of success in the Quickfire challenges might portend.

I'm sorry to see Mark go because he seemed like a good guy and I don't remember him ever doing anything particularly irritating, which is fairly rare for a reality show cheftestant. Judging from what was said about his dish, I can't say it was a bad call, but still, if it had been Lisa, I would have been pleased instead of sad.

As for next week, "I've got a culinary boner" just thinking about it.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:First of all, congrats Dom!...

This truly was an Antoniasode and it seemed like it was going that way from the outset.

Ditto on the first part. On the second part, it's good to remember (not that anyone here doesn't know this) that before the film editor even sits down at his/her workstation, the winner of the week is a known fact. So it's the function of the editor and the producers to work backward from the outcome and create a "narrative" that makes the outcome feel unarbitrary.

If I so chose, I bet I could take the show's raw footage any given week and create a cut that would have viewers going WTF at the judges' decision. I could have you positive this week, right up until the judging, that Mark was going to win and Antonia was going home. Viewers wouldn't stay with the show for long if the show did that, so the show doesn't do that. Maybe this week the producers went a little overboard in their quest to create the illusion of order in the universe.

Congrats to Dom indeed. It's always nice to see someone get recognition for their work.


I'm sad to see Mark go, that guy always had me laughing, mainly because I thought he sounded like Murray from Flight of the Conchords though. Although I do think he is a better chef than a few people that are left. I would have been pissed if they sent Stephanie home.

Not sure what I think of this challenge. Sometimes it seemed impossible that they could have obtained all of the ingredients they did for $10. Plus they served 6 servings on a budget for a family of 4. It was nice that everyone was excited to work with the kids instead of being angry that they might get in the way.

I want to eat some rice salad.

I hate to say this --
Stephanie is getting on my nerves. Her reputation in Chicago was solid but not spectacular (I never made it over to her place -- it just wasn't that high up enough in the order to make it worth the trip) and her food on this show, although at times interesting, definitely seems to have its flaws (who knows -- I may be mistaken -- perhaps yesterday's dish really did taste good and it is just Smith et al who can't recognize quality food).
In addition, she almost always seems on the verge of tears. Would you really want somebody like that running your place?
I started out in this rooting for her, but now I hope it goes to Blaise (spelling?) who manages to both keep his head and turn out what appears to be quality food.

DML wrote:(who knows -- I may be mistaken -- perhaps yesterday's dish really did taste good and it is just Smith et al who can't recognize quality food).

Well, we know Padma hated it and Tom didn't seem thrilled, and I'm sure that was played up for dramatic purposes. But in his interview, Smith says he thought it was really delicious.

Art Smith wrote: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.

So maybe she survived on a split decision. Or maybe they gave her a pass based on previous performance. As long as she wasn't significantly worse than the other options, I'm okay with that, though I know some abhor that practice.

In any case, thanks, guys... not sure whether this is more likely to earn me a guest judge spot or a cease and desist from Bravo legal, but it's fun, anyway