Top Chef - 4/30/08

Antonia is determined to do better this week. There was a gratuitous shot of Mark brushing his teeth and shaving shirtless. Don't know where that came from.

Quickfire features Oprah's personal chef and Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (which I really like, but I can imagine the chefs will poo poo). They only have 15 minutes. There is a mad dash in the kitchen. Given 15 minutes and rice? That's tough. I like Dale's idea of fried rice. Spike's stuffed tomatoes don't seem like they would have enough time to cook properly. Maybe I'd do some sort of Spanish rice with Mexican spiced shrimp? I love shrimp quesadillas, so that might be good. Mmmm.

Antonia made Salad and Rice with steak.

Nikki made fried rice with lots of veggies.

Richard made tomato steak with tomatoes, looked yummy.

Stephanie made Brown Rice Pancakes with scallops.

Spike made Stuffed tomatoes, and they looked like they had enough baking time

Lisa made a grilled shrimp with lime and rice and some avocado in there.

Dale made fried rice featuring long beans.

Mark made miso glazed turkey, which was called tough and dry. not good.

Andrew made the rice into a crust for fish, and it was called clever, but not necessarily good.

Mark, Stephanie, and Lisa ended up in the bottom. Dale, Richard, and Antonia were in the top, with Antonia winning. I would have been in the bottom probably because I liked the idea of Lisa's. ;)

This week's challenge is all about simple, nutritious, affordable meals. $10 budget! And I think they are going to be cooking with kids, because Padma said "simple enough for a child to help with."

Shopping is a challenge. Everyone gets chicken pretty much except for Dale, who got Chicken Bratwurst.

For no known reason, we got a shot of Mark playing the didjeriedoo.

Antonia got to talk to her daughter and told a knock knock joke which I am not going to teach to my daughter, but it was funny.

I was right, and they get kid helpers. Antonia has a problem because she misses her daughter so much. I can understand. She got a boy, which she said should be easier than a girl, who would remind her of her daughter.

Spike's making soup again, and his kid cut himself a little when peeling, but he goes right back to it. Good kid.

Mark is making a veggie curry, and Lisa thinks that's stupid to make for a family, but I disagree, I make curry and other Indian food all the time for my family. In fact, I have a killer Hard Boiled Egg Curry that would be perfect for this challenge.

Tom was cute checking out what all the little chefs were doing.

All of the people they are serving to are kids, except for the guests.

Richard made roast chicken with black beans, plus apple, avocado, and beet salad. Went over well, though he could have left off the chicken skin.

Lisa made Roasted chicken with edamame, and a peanut butter and apple french toast. Chicken didn't get the best reviews.

Dale made Turkey Bratwurst with potatoes, onion, red cabbage and apples. The kids seem to like that more than the judges.

Spike made Pasta Putanesca, Carrot Soup with orange, and semi-baked apples. The kids are super excited about the pasta, and it goes over well with everyone.

Nikki made a Roast Chicken with mixed veggies, tomato and cucumber salad. Looked yummy.

Mark, as mentioned, made a vegetable curry, cinnamon rice, cucumber salad. Sounds delicious. Padma says it is too sweet, and he is criticized for not enough protein. He should have put in some chickpeas.

Antonia made a chicken veggie stir fry with whole wheat pasta. She got high marks for that, because she knows how to cook for kids healthily.

Andrew made Chicken Paillard and something else. He talks too quickly.

Couscous with with eggplant and zucchini, chicken in peanut & tomato sauce, then apples with maple and granola for dessert. Not so good. The couscous is not done well.

Time for judges table. Nikki, Antonia, and Andrew are tops. The winner is Antonia, and I am glad. Last week she had blatant disregard for the rules, and ended up in the bottom. This week, she embraced them and won.

In the bottom are Lisa, Stephanie, and Mark. Mark thinks he is there because Tom hates him. He totally should have used more veggies and some beans, more complex veggies. Lisa was told her stuff was bland, and she was aghast. Padma went so far as to say that she despised Stephanie's dish, and that the tomato and peanut butter was disgusting. Ouch. Plus, she cooked couscous wrong. It's hard to mess up couscous.

In the end, it's Mark leaving, and Tom made sure to tell him that he doesn't hate him. I think it was time for him to go, he's been lacking in several challenges. I'll miss his accent.