Daily Loaf

This week, we’re back in the Champagne Room (aka: the podcast bunker) to rag on episode 6 of the new season on Top Chef.

I have to admit that the “Angels and Devils” theme for the Quickfire Challenge was a bit cheesy (and so were some of the dishes, and I’m not talking dairy here). The cheftestants had to create a duo dish using one main component two ways. Some of the chefs were a bit peeved at Robin’s win with her apple salad and apple crisp. Was Eli right to mock her for playing the cancer story card? No. But I do have to say that Penn and Teller were awesome. Anyway, we welcomed back the lovely Michelle Bernstein from Miami (a past judge on Top Chef) as guest judge this week.

For their Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to deconstruct a classic dish but keep the same flavors of the original dish. The judges table was very- how shall I put this – bitchy this week. The claws were out with Padma and Michelle and it was no-holds-barred with the critiques to the chefs on the bottom of the barrel this week. It was also great to see Michelle put Toby Young in his place concerning the pronunciation of “paella” (and the city of “Barthelona”).

We also got to see Ben Folds (Ashley) on top again this week (surprisingly), as well as Redbeard (Kevin) and Angry Brother (Mike V.). From all of the flack and hate comments we received over last week’s post/episode, I won’t reveal the winner or loser. (But, seriously, why listen if you haven’t seen the episode yet?)

Highlights: Eli hates on Robin for pulling the ‘cancer card’, Ron “The Chowder King”’s not-s0-deconstructed paella, how to pronounce “paella”, Jeff’s new bell, Katie’s thing for married chefs, and our response about the spoilers from last week’s episode.

Hear the hilarious podcast after the jump:
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This is it — the final episode, where we learn who is the Master of the Top Chefs.

I was quite impressed with this episode because they did away with the drama and really focused on the food (well, there was some nail-biting drama at the final judging). The chefs had to cook a four-course meal that told a story about their culinary career: Their earliest food memory, the experience that made them want to become a chef, their first restaurant, and where they’re heading in the future with their career. Their dishes were gorgeous (except for Michael’s whole fried fish) and made me want to reach through the screen to taste them.

Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and the five former Top Chef winners joined the judges to feast upon the cheftestants’ dishes (yes, Hosea is still alive). We also got to see some old pictures of the chefs, from childhood to their early career days — not pretty pictures, these guys definitely were late bloomers.

Highlights: Rick Bayless’ orgasmic mole (mo-lay, as in, the sauce) which took Jay Rayner’s “mole [mo-lay] virginity”; our fantasy Padma-on-Kelly chick fight; Keller’s former life as a dirty hippie; Chiarello’s diss at James Oseland; Jay wanting to bathe with Gail in Chiarello’s food; and the revelation of the winner.

At the end of our podcast, we discussed the new season of Top Chef and ragged on the newbies (and their crazy body art), but tune in next week to hear our rants on the first and second episodes of the season. Yes, we’re continuing this podcast — much to your delight.

Hear the exciting podcast after the jump:
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What a steamy episode this was! I think the title says it all, but you’ll have to listen to our podcast to hear it for yourself.

The Quickfire Challenge this week was the infamous blindfolded taste test. Kelly Choi blinfolded each cheftestant and they had a variety of ingredients to taste and guess – hoisin sauce, ketchup, peanut butter, dashi, poppadum, etc. Surprisingly enough, Mr. Italian himself, Chiarello, took the win for this challenge. I especially enjoyed the blindfolding part, and apparently so did Keller.

Surprise! A bunch of old Top Chef has-beens enter the scene to team up with the chefs and help them cook a buffet spread for 200 “Hollywood insiders” (who or what they were inside, I had no clue). To my happy delight, we got Fabio (”This is not Top Scallop!”) and Jamie from the last season, Elia and Ilan from season 2, Richard, Spike and Antonia from season 3, and some other guys I only kind of remembered. Each chef picked their teams and got to work. But an even bigger surprise was in store for them (go figure) – they had to not only move their buffet outside (read: not good for a raw bar) but also lose a team member before service. Of course the show is going to try to screw everyone over by the final episode!

Highlights: Dale getting all up in Chiarello’s face while Chiarello tries to keep it together and not curb stomp this dude, Anita Lo cursing for what I think was the first time on TCM, the power duo of Bayless and Blais combining their powers to whip up a creamy avocado ice cream, Chiarello being a douchebag throughout most of the episode, Keller smoking out the night before the challenge, and Jay Rayner is badly in need of an extreme makeover. Drama! Action! Excitement! (And the podcast is even better.)

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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

St. Petersburg College’s new Natural Science, Mathematics and College of Education building is certified LEED® Gold- St. Petersburg College recently announced that for the second time in as many months, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED Gold certification for one of its new campus buildings.

Best of the Bay of the Day: Best organic smoothie- Believe it or not, algae and bee pollen add up to a delicious drink called the Spirulina Power Buzz. Read this to find out where to get one.

Tips to improve gas mileage (and save some green)- Do you have a lead foot or drive an inefficient automobile?  Here are a few simple tips to improve gas mileage and save a bunch of green!

Living Sustainably in Tampa Bay: Darren Brinkley, owner of REAL Building- Brinkley is the owner of REAL Building and home that he built for his family in St. Petersburg is the first home in Florida to achieve the LEED for Homes Gold Rating.
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First of all, I want to say that the views expressed in this podcast are not the opinions of all of us on the panel and definitely not those of Creative Loafing. That being said, if you’re a vegan, we’re apologizing beforehand for this one.

For the quickfire challenge, the cheftestants had quite a juicy challenge: burgers! They each had to create a burger with an accompanying side dish. All of the dishes seemed to reflect their creator – well, maybe not Anita Lo who made “burger soup”, which was runny cheese with chunks of burger. Really, that’s all you’ve got this week, Anita? Girl looked like she was sorely in need of some Ambien, that’s all I’m sayin’. Oh, and I must diss on Bayless (my hot white Mexican chocolate) for serving up guacamole as a side dish. No wait, three different kinds of guac as a side and without chips to dip in them! C’mon, Ricky, guacamole is a condiment.

For the elimination challenge, the cheftestants had to each cater a different course for a luncheon for actress/wannabe singer Zooey Deschanel and her tragic hipster pals. The twist (or “the rat”, as Art put it): Zooey is a VEGAN (read: no meat, fish or dairy) who can’t have anything with gluten or soy either. No meat, no cheese, no wheat, no soy faux meat products, and sorry Art- no fried chicken.

Highlights: Art Smith’s cheat rice milk ice cream (cop out) mixed with strawberries that looked like menses, Chiarello’s chemo (’quinoa’) pasta, Zooey’s tragic hipster party guests, Bayless’ perfectionist tendencies, Anita’s “sad plate”, and general vegan bashing. Bonus: Next week, we get to welcome back past Top Chef contestants Spike, Dale, and Richard Blais (and his fab faux hawk)!

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[About Best of the Bay of the Day: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now on your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Algae and bee pollen in a smoothie? Yes, the deep green, kelp-colored drink with flecks of bright yellow may be a bit off-putting at first glance, but the strawberries and bananas give it a great fruity flavor. This tasty and nutrient-packed Spirulina Power Buzz smoothie can be found at Rollin’ Oats Cafe and Market at the St. Petersburg and Tampa locations.
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In this first episode of the Championships Round, we welcomed back Hubert “The Other French Guy” Keller, Suzanne “Cold Fish” Tracht, Anita “Cowardly Lion” Lo, Michael “Brown Noser” Chiarello, Art “Honey Bear” Smith, and the delicious Rick “Hot Mexican Chili” Bayless (I’m not partial, I swear).

For the quickfire challenge, the chefs got into two teams and had a Mise en Place Relay Race (a.k.a: chopping and prepping food items) to see whose team was faster, the winner then getting an extra point toward the Elimination Challenge. Let me tell you, that Rick Bayless sure knows how to use a whisk for some hot whisking action – those egg whites sure were at stiff peaks…among other things. Anyhow, back on track, the Bayless/Lo/Keller team took the win.

The chefs were then asked to cook their signature dishes for each other to enjoy. I swear Michael Chiarello put roadkill on a plate and called it dinner, the balsamic glaze looking very much like blood on top of the quail which was sprawled out on the plate. Not cute. Hubert Keller made an interesting lobster and truffle “cappuccino” which was an interesting take on soup (I think it was soup) and Rick made an amazing-looking roasted rack of lamb with pasilla chiles and mission figs (Did I mention I’m not partial to Bayless?).

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to cook another chef’s signature dish but put their own spin on it. What did we get? Cold grouper (Tracht), undercooked ground lamb in a “Scotch egg” (Smith), creamed sea urchin (Keller), lobster on a biscuit (Lo), rack of lamb with figs shoved in it (Chiarello), and some delightful looking quail and parsnips (Bayless).

Highlights: Kelly Choi seeming to be withering away, Art’s “egg issues” and name dropping, the Gael Greene and Elvis affair, the possibility of Anita Lo sabotaging her own food in future episodes just to get kicked off the show, and Rick Bayless’ magical powers of Mexican cuisine.

Hear the hi-larious podcast after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

In this episode, the master chefs had to shop only from one specific aisle in the grocery store for their Quickfire Challenge. I’m sorry, let me correct myself – from Whole Foods Market, having traveled there in their Lexus, and bringing along their handy Gladware storage containers to store the food which would be cooked in/on GE appliances. Oh, and all while sipping on Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper (did I get all of the sponsors in?).

The Elimination Challenge was somewhat tricky: each cheftestant had to shop for another to create a mystery box of ingredients. The recipient of that box then had to choose seven items to utilize in their dish. So each chef decided to totally screw the other one over by giving them crazy ingredients, and Roy Yamaguchi got pissed and went Samaurai on everyone. (No, not really, I just wanted to create some drama for this episode that had to be the most drama-free, playing-it-nice episode yet. *yawn*). No Jay Rayner this week again but we feel all of the brown-colored ingredients on Johnathan Waxman’s plates sufficed to replace Jay’s mole in this episode.

Highlights: Gail Simmons‘ chest as a topic of much conversation (again), Kelly Choi looking very much in need of a proper meal and a better stylist as usual (no, we don’t know who she’s wearing), Johnathan Waxman needs glasses, Art Smith’s lovey-dovey teary-eyed speech at the judges table, and Roy Yamaguchi wanting to be “friends forever” with his new chef pals.

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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

TRA’shion Fashion and Art Show 2009 (photos) – The fabulous trashionistas were out in force for ARTpool’s annual TRA’shion Show, and photographer Chip Weiner caught all the recycled green glamour.

Letting go of addictions: Using alternative methods to release addictions of any type- Kelly Rothwell gives us alternative methods such as energetic healing, visualizations and affirmations, that can be used to not only cope with such addictions but to understand the reason behind the addiction and let it go for good.

Living sustainably in Tampa Bay: Dave Starman’s biodiesel fueled car and green lifestyle – The first in a series of profiles, by Jack B., of individuals who are living sustainably in Tampa Bay. This profiles Tampa Bay resident Dave Starman.
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Tabbouleh salad is a quick and simple dish that can be served as a side, used in a wrap, or just eaten by itself. I like to spruce mine up with fresh veggies and herbs, like I’ve done with this recipe. This light and refreshing salad with bright flavors makes for great summer fare.

Tabbouleh is traditionally a Middle Eastern dish used for mezze (appetizer finger food) that primarily contains bulgur wheat, parsley, mint, lemon juice and olive oil. It’s often seen served as dip or in pita bread.
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This week, our podcast team was sans Jeff Houck, but we were delighted to have PoHo writer Wayne Garcia join in on the fun (and he gave us a new theme song). Otherwise, it was the regular crew of Taylor, Stephen, and myself (Katie).

In this episode, the master chefs had to put a spin on a junk food dish for their Quickfire challenge, and everyone loved Michael Chiarello’s (former Food Network chef) balls – fish balls, that is. We in the studio also chatted about our fondness for fishsticks.

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What is it about bacon that we love? It seems the food world has had an obsession with it lately, from bacon vodka, to Bacon Salt, to the infamous Bacon Explosion. But have you ever thought of pairing bacon with something on the sweeter side? What about bacon in candy?

I dared to go there when I purchased the Mo’s Bacon Bar. I had read about it before on the trusty food porn sites that I peruse and salivate over daily, but had never seen it in stores. “Bacon and chocolate?”, I thought, “What a great combination!” I love the pairing of sweet and salty in food – like SnoCaps and popcorn at the movie theater – and I am a bacon fanatic. This was also the item that spawned the idea for my Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes. I was bound and determined to find this candy bar.
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There’s nothing better than a warm slice of banana bread for breakfast slathered with some butter, and maybe even jam. Or peanut butter. I love the two tastes together in a sandwich, so why not put them in bread form? I decided to go a little nutty and combine the two for this quick bread concoction.

Quick breads (like this one) are very versatile and super easy to make, even for you novice bakers, and for those, like me, who are lazy and hate to measure out a jillion ingredients and wait for dough to rise, etc., etc. They also make a great treat for breakfast or a snack.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

Stretching your diet and exercise comfort zone: moving through a plateau: contributor Kelly Rothwell lists a few ways to work through your diet and exercise plateaus.

Greenpeace comes to Tampa with bad news about Florida’s emissions: Joshua Michael Poll takes a look Greenpeace’s report that Florida is one of the biggest emissions producers in the world.
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The first cruise I ever went on, about two years ago, turned out to be an unofficial swingers’ cruise… They had their own events in different parts of the ship (away from us monogamists) but they wore next to nothing at dinner, topless sunbathed on the Lido deck and nude sunbathed on the topless deck. Even the European guests complained. The best part was when the cruise line threatened to leave them in the Grand Cayman Islands if they didn’t start cleaning up their act … This was definitely a cruise to remember, and one that left me with fond memories of people I would never want to see half-naked again.

Read more vacation memories and plans for this year by clicking here.

Katie Machol is the editor of CL’s Green Community site.

Your Creative Loafing food contributors, GNATV and Katie Machol, joined forces to bring you this entertaining video tutorial on how to prepare “Fiesta Mac n’ Cheese” in a rice cooker. This easy recipe can be prepared in a jiffy just using a rice cooker. A little late for Cinco de Mayo, but a fun and tasty dish for any time of the year!

(Video and recipe after the jump)

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This week, our heroes bring in guest and CL contributor Katie Machol, talk about the Bay area’s best food sites, fill your wine rack and dish on a bad meal at Aquaknox.

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