S19.E02: Friday Night Bites

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

That said, I did like how every vote counted.  Usually in head-to-head battles, the person who wins is the one who gets the most judge votes compared to their competition; here, though, you could lose and still gain points for your team if the judging table was divided.

That's what I mean when I said it was convoluted, there were just too many rules, it's supposed to be a competition to find the best chef, what does football have to do with that?

[dgpolo]

52 minutes ago, GaT said:

That's what I mean when I said it was convoluted, there were just too many rules, it's supposed to be a competition to find the best chef, what does football have to do with that?

They got 5 yards for every pompom in their color, right? What's complicated about that?

[MerBearHou]

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

When I was in Austin I was recommended to get queso and I could swear they said "Kay So" too!

100%!  This Houstonian can tell you that we pronounce it Kay So.  It’s so good, especially with taco ground beef mixed in.  Yummm

[TzuShih]

15 hours ago, Yeah No said:

But doesn't that take at least 1 hour if you use the quickest boil/soak method?  How would anyone make chickpeas in a competition unless they used canned?

It's true that chefs generally consider dried beans superior to canned for several reasons, but with recent improvements in canning good quality canned beans are gaining and considered a close second by many.  The main reasons not to like them revolve around controlling the sodium (reduced sodium are available), tenderness, price and sustainability.  And some dishes come out better using dried beans, like falafel.

I can't find the reference, but even America's Test Kitchen has "softened" on using canned beans at times when they used to be staunchly against it.  Chickpeas are included and although not technically a bean, belong to the same general legume family as beans.

 

I an a big fan of chickpeas and enjoy many canned chickpeas from reputable companies.  In a quicky competition such as this - a kinda hokey 'Friday Lights" mishmash, I felt that Tom pointing out the use of canned chickpeas was on the 'petty side.'  I have no idea how palatable Sarah's choice of dish turned out, but I would certainly not chastise her for her choice of these very tasty beans.  (White Hominy canned beans - Pozole - might be another option.)  (P.S. I love to smash these beans into soups - even canned soups  😋  ... yum!)

[TzuShih]

14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

So no one can make beans on Top Chef because Tom has a hair up his ass about canned.  Whatever, Tom, LOL. 🙄

Has he ever had wonderful Spanish canned seafood?

This isn't the first time I've thought that Tom's opinions about food need to be updated.

Hmmmm.  😀  Can you suggest some tasty Spanish canned seafood?  My mind is currently drawing a bit of a blank (only tinned fish is coming to mind, but I'm sure I've forgotten many others).  Living a block from Zabars, I bet they'd have what you're suggesting.  Am always anxious to try new goodies!  😋

[Yeah No]

8 minutes ago, TzuShih said:

Hmmmm.  😀  Can you suggest some tasty Spanish canned seafood?  My mind is currently drawing a bit of a blank (only tinned fish is coming to mind, but I'm sure I've forgotten many others).  Living a block from Zabars, I bet they'd have what you're suggesting.  Am always anxious to try new goodies!  😋

This site features some you can get here in the US:  I've gotten Matiz and Ortiz brand at Whole Foods and World Market.  I prefer Ortiz but both brands are highly regarded.

https://www.seriouseats.com/what-are-conservas-iberian-spanish-portuguese-canned-seafood

You can order more online from this website if you can't find them near you.  I'm soooo jealous you live so close to Zabar's BTW!  Man, I miss that place!

https://www.tienda.com/food/canned-seafood.html

[Vermicious Knid]

I love cheese but the queso fountain just grossed me out.

Quote

The elimination challenge was too convoluted & IMO, stupid.

I was rolling my eyes at how tortured the entire thing was to make it some kind of football. I also got a different, non-food impression. This high school has a giant, state of the art athletic field that clearly cost millions of dollars. While so many schools are desperate for money to just educate students.

[theatremouse]

I don't think Tom was just poo pooing the canned beans for the hell of it. I think he asked because if somehow she had cooked them from dried, he could credit her for doing that much. But since they were already cooked and canned, she didn't have the excuse for her super boring dish that she spent all the time getting the beans cooked. If they're canned, there's an element of: well what did you actually do?

[caitmcg]

44 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I don't think Tom was just poo pooing the canned beans for the hell of it. I think he asked because if somehow she had cooked them from dried, he could credit her for doing that much. But since they were already cooked and canned, she didn't have the excuse for her super boring dish that she spent all the time getting the beans cooked. If they're canned, there's an element of: well what did you actually do?

Especially given that panisse (essentially chickpea fries, which she cubed up like croutons) and socca are made from chickpea flour, and the crunchy chickpeas on top were a purchased product. Even with canned chickpeas, she could’ve done much more interesting things than throw the better parts of her dish on a pile of hummus. 

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

This high school has a giant, state of the art athletic field that clearly cost millions of dollars. While so many schools are desperate for money to just educate students.

Wasn't it a stadium for the shared use of multiple schools, not just one particularly wealthy one?

Of course, the disproportionate emphasis on athletics - at least when it comes to male sports teams, with football (my favorite sport, but still) being its own obscene category, possibly at its apogee in Texas - is an issue, but unless I heard Padma all wrong, this wasn't a stadium for one school, it was for some sort of federation of unaffiliated schools.

Okay, I overcame my laziness and looked it up -- it's the stadium of the Tomball Independent School District, which consists of about 20 schools from elementary to high school.  I don't know from that cursory search how many, and how many of each type, actually use it, or what other community events are held there, so I'll leave that up to a knowledgeable Houston resident to explain, but it's not remotely for the exclusive use of one school.

[Leeds]

I love cheese but the thought of a cheese fountain at the best of times is nauseating, and during Covid . . . .

[PhoneCop]

The more I think about it, the more I wonder what Stephanie would've done in next week's challenge, given that she doesn't really do Asian food and has that weird tendency to delete key ingredients from the final dish. Much as she deserved to PYKAG this week, it also feels like a bit of a mercy killing to spare the judges more of her opaque thinking process.

Stephanie: I've made a chicken satay, which was my go-to at Thai restaurants when I lived in Minneapolis.
Padma: Where's the chicken?
Stephanie: It's implied.

[Corgi-ears]

9 hours ago, jrzy said:

just let them cook and judge the best and worst among them.

Why even bring them the chefs to Houston? Just let them stay in their own kitchens in their own cities, complete with the equipment they are used to, and with the assistance of their sous chefs and whatnots. The judges can just travel around and visit the chefs in their cities, and judge them that way. Yes, Bravo and Tom already tried this other version of the show, and it was boring and only lasted one season, but let's try again. And let the chefs cook exactly what they want every week, with no parameters. That's the only way to see what the chefs really are like. Let them cook. Let them cook. Just let them cook. It shouldn't be about making a TV show, though Top Chef is a TV show.

 

[dleighg]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

Okay, I overcame my laziness and looked it up -- it's the stadium of the Tomball Independent School District, which consists of about 20 schools from elementary to high school.

I was curious also. There are really just two high schools (it looks like there are two other secondary level schools- one for "problem children" and one for "overachievers" (college-in-high-school or something like that) These schools don't seem to participate in athletics. The stadium is for football and soccer, and cost just under $50M. It's brand new (as it looked).  I guess the middle schools might use the field as well, but I can't imagine they need a 10k seat stadium for that. Does seem like overkill but I guess those Texans love their football.

As far as the "cooking game," I was fine with it. As others mentioned, I liked that getting even one judge to prefer your dish gets your team some points. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by dleighg

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, GaT said:

That's what I mean when I said it was convoluted, there were just too many rules, it's supposed to be a competition to find the best chef, what does football have to do with that?

I took it that they were trying to find ways to include elements of Texas culture this season and other than the obvious Tex-Mex food choices, football is big there so they figured, "Let's make a competition involving football".  Add working around Covid and this gimmicky challenge was born.  It felt more like something straight out of "Worst Cooks in America" than Top Chef, but whatever.  They have to find ways to make it entertaining for TV.

[seltzer3]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I didn't need to see the mascots running up and down the field, especially since no team won.

That said, I did like how every vote counted.  Usually in head-to-head battles, the person who wins is the one who gets the most judge votes compared to their competition; here, though, you could lose and still gain points for your team if the judging table was divided.

They actually dodged a bullet.  Because dumb formats like this can easily fall into a situation where the worst dish actually gets spared, because one of the teams win before all dishes are presented (Think what happened with Jamie in Top Chef All-Stars).

Edited March 12, 2022 by seltzer3

[rhofmovalley]

From what I gather from my cousins who live in Texas, high school football is an EVENT. Their kids aren't high school age yet and they still frequently go to games on Friday nights.  They get crowds in the thousands from all around the city.

I didn't mind the format of the elimination challenge, just the fakey way they made it seem like it was SO close, when really they had to have it be that way so it wasn't a boring blowout.  This is, after all, entertainment first and a cooking competition second.  Gotta get those ratings.

[staphdude]

12 hours ago, dgpolo said:

They got 5 yards for every pompom in their color, right? What's complicated about that?

Exactly. There is always some additional gamifying and this was a great way to add an additional chance at team immunity. The game was straightforward and in fact it was nice there was no guarantee there would be a winning team.   For me the worst extra wrinkle game is restaurant wars. 
 

My biggest complaint was the lack of straight up indulgent carb heavy dishes. A bonus would be to include an unctuous queso component. They were in a football stadium-run with an over the top carby tailgate treat. 

[Cotypubby]

I don’t understand what was “so convoluted” about the scoring. Each color pompom for your team moves you ahead 5 yards. First to get 100 yards wins. If no one wins, the winner and loser can be from either team. 
 

🤔🤔 what was hard about that!?

[Cheyanne11]

On 3/11/2022 at 6:08 AM, Yeah No said:

So no one can make beans on Top Chef because Tom has a hair up his ass about canned. 

Now, now, to be fair...Tom has a hair up his ass about SOMETHING every week.  If it wasn't canned beans it would be something else, lol.

[carrps]

4 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I don’t understand what was “so convoluted” about the scoring. Each color pompom for your team moves you ahead 5 yards. First to get 100 yards wins. If no one wins, the winner and loser can be from either team. 
 

🤔🤔 what was hard about that!?

Yeah, I didn't find it difficult to understand either. And I liked that each round was not winner take all.

 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, staphdude said:

My biggest complaint was the lack of straight up indulgent carb heavy dishes. A bonus would be to include an unctuous queso component. They were in a football stadium-run with an over the top carby tailgate treat. 

Were they maybe supposed to make something for athletes, not tailgaters?  I remember Dawn was asked what kind of carbs she liked to eat before competing, but I don't think it was ever mentioned again, so it may not have actually been an element of the challenge.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Bastet

[dleighg]

29 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Were they maybe supposed to make something for athletes

yes I think that was the (unstated) implication. And maybe it was also just a nod to the "it's not really healthy to eat tons of simple carbs" ethos these days.

[TzuShih]

17 hours ago, Yeah No said:

This site features some you can get here in the US:  I've gotten Matiz and Ortiz brand at Whole Foods and World Market.  I prefer Ortiz but both brands are highly regarded.

https://www.seriouseats.com/what-are-conservas-iberian-spanish-portuguese-canned-seafood

You can order more online from this website if you can't find them near you.  I'm soooo jealous you live so close to Zabar's BTW!  Man, I miss that place!

https://www.tienda.com/food/canned-seafood.html

Thanks for the websites!  Actually, I've been a fan of many of those tinned fishes (mussels, sardines, anchovies). For some reason when you mentioned "Spanish canned seafood" my imagination went to cans of paella, stews, hearty soups, etc.  😄  But I enjoyed those websites with their ratings, testings, etc.  I know that Zabars carries a few that were mentioned (I actually have a tin of Roland mussels in my fridge right now).  Will check out some of the other recommendations.  Ortiz sounds wonderful!  (By the way, while I LOVE having Zabar's around the corner, my neighborhood has lost about 4 large supermarkets over the last few years.  Without a car, it's hard to do major shopping unless a place is reasonably close.  We have a Trader Joe's & Whole Foods & Fairway within a mile....but then I need to find a taxi to take me & my goodies back home!  And I'm a serious foodie!  😁  (Am not big on online shopping, but will do so for good eats!)

[BlackberryJam]

1 hour ago, carrps said:

Yeah, I didn't find it difficult to understand either. And I liked that each round was not winner take all.

 

The format addressed the complaints in previous seasons about “winner take all” dish-off competitions. I mean, sure, the mascots and that stuff was over the top, but I liked the format.

Also…I feel like Jackson has the ticking time bomb of inability to taste or smell. I have no idea how he’s getting managing it.

[Lamb18]

I'm just watching this now. Is that season 2 Sam? What happened to him? He looks like wrung out and sandpapered all over. Or is it he's just older?

If the noodles are slimy, can't you just rinse them?

[Archery]

I liked the football “gimmick.”  The blue team almost screwed itself over by trying to game the points (changing the order), but it turned out that the red team chef would have gone home in any event. 

It was cool that Dawn coached her team to a win in this challenge, since she won her season’s head-to-head drive in movie challenge with popcorn.

I think I rewound three times just to see Padma’s face as she tried to chew that queso crisp thing. 

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

If the noodles are slimy, can't you just rinse them?

She could have tried that but my guess is that they turned out that way because if they were dried she didn't soak them properly beforehand or she overcooked them.

[Norma Desmond]

12 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Is that season 2 Sam? What happened to him? He looks like wrung out and sandpapered all over. Or is it he's just older?

Season 2 was in 2006, he's just 16 years older and also looks like someone who's had a bit too much sun exposure over the years. He's still handsome though.

[staphdude]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

Were they maybe supposed to make something for athletes, not tailgaters?  I remember Dawn was asked what kind of carbs she liked to eat before competing, but I don't think it was ever mentioned again, so it may not have actually been an element of the challenge.

I didn’t get that they were working on meals for athletes but I may have missed it. The tailgate mention was just because football stadium + carbs to me means a chance to go indulgent. I’ve also seen enough football player meals on Hard Knocks to know they can step out from the highly managed nutritionist meals and    just enjoy over the top food.

[rhofmovalley]

14 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

I'm just watching this now. Is that season 2 Sam? What happened to him? He looks like wrung out and sandpapered all over. Or is it he's just older?

Sam is also Type 1 diabetic, so I presume that has something to do with his thin appearance.

[Kerbearjo]

On 3/12/2022 at 1:29 AM, Bastet said:

Wasn't it a stadium for the shared use of multiple schools, not just one particularly wealthy one?

Of course, the disproportionate emphasis on athletics - at least when it comes to male sports teams, with football (my favorite sport, but still) being its own obscene category, possibly at its apogee in Texas - is an issue, but unless I heard Padma all wrong, this wasn't a stadium for one school, it was for some sort of federation of unaffiliated schools.

Okay, I overcame my laziness and looked it up -- it's the stadium of the Tomball Independent School District, which consists of about 20 schools from elementary to high school.  I don't know from that cursory search how many, and how many of each type, actually use it, or what other community events are held there, so I'll leave that up to a knowledgeable Houston resident to explain, but it's not remotely for the exclusive use of one school.

Yes! I live in the area and it is for the whole district. Tomball is not a huge district but football is a big deal here. We have high school taxes that pays for it 🙄. We are zoned to a nearby district that has a high school that wins state a lot and people literally move here so their kids can play football at the school (also my HS from a million years ago).  

[carrps]

2 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Sam is also Type 1 diabetic, so I presume that has something to do with his thin appearance.

That was what I was thinking, too.

 

[jrzy]

On 3/12/2022 at 4:06 AM, Corgi-ears said:

Why even bring them the chefs to Houston? Just let them stay in their own kitchens in their own cities, complete with the equipment they are used to, and with the assistance of their sous chefs and whatnots. The judges can just travel around and visit the chefs in their cities, and judge them that way. Yes, Bravo and Tom already tried this other version of the show, and it was boring and only lasted one season, but let's try again. And let the chefs cook exactly what they want every week, with no parameters. That's the only way to see what the chefs really are like. Let them cook. Let them cook. Just let them cook. It shouldn't be about making a TV show, though Top Chef is a TV show.

 

Wow, that's not what I meant,  I was just referring to the convoluted and confusing elimination challenge. 

Edited March 14, 2022 by jrzy

[buttersister]

Quote

This isn't the first time I've thought that Tom's opinions about food need to be updated.

My favorite is still the season Tom gave Carla Hall a hard time because she said she cooked with love.

Tom should lay low about criticizing all canned products. (There are grocers in Barcelona that keep some really good tinned fish and vegetables locked up—they’re targets for thieves.) He’ll eat those words one day, too.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/12/2022 at 12:10 AM, theatremouse said:

I don't think Tom was just poo pooing the canned beans for the hell of it. I think he asked because if somehow she had cooked them from dried, he could credit her for doing that much. But since they were already cooked and canned, she didn't have the excuse for her super boring dish that she spent all the time getting the beans cooked. If they're canned, there's an element of: well what did you actually do?

 

On 3/12/2022 at 1:01 AM, caitmcg said:

Especially given that panisse (essentially chickpea fries, which she cubed up like croutons) and socca are made from chickpea flour, and the crunchy chickpeas on top were a purchased product. Even with canned chickpeas, she could’ve done much more interesting things than throw the better parts of her dish on a pile of hummus. 

Those bags of puffed chickpea snacks were what I initially thought were going to be seen as a problem.  Especially on a show where even canned legumes are always considered  a problem outside of the Quickfires.

[Lassus]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:53 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

This high school has a giant, state of the art athletic field that clearly cost millions of dollars. While so many schools are desperate for money to just educate students.

Welcome to Texas.  I mean, America.  (But specifically Texas.)

[Captain Asshat]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:28 PM, MerBearHou said:

100%!  This Houstonian can tell you that we pronounce it Kay So.  It’s so good, especially with taco ground beef mixed in.  Yummm

Also a Houstonian, and I agree with all of this.

[Colorado David]

On 3/12/2022 at 6:21 PM, Lamb18 said:

I'm just watching this now. Is that season 2 Sam? What happened to him? He looks like wrung out and sandpapered all over. Or is it he's just older?

 

I wondered about Sam as well, he's looking like a much unhealthier version of his previous self. He's older now, I get that, but yeah he's lost weight and looking a bit haggard. I hope he's ok, always liked him as a competitor and seems like a genuinely nice guy (esp doing lots for the diabetes community.) 

 

Yeah, the football thing is only fun if they are doing like the tailgate competition from seasons back (I love seeing the veteran players showing up to chow down - 'Fridge' Perry among the others.)  The carb loading thing seems to barely tie to football, it could tie more to track and field or swimming IMO.  Those long distance runners gotta carb up, and what Phelps had a daily intake of what like 6000 cals per day while competing? Insane.    Bless those mascots, they must have been so friggin bored with no crowds to showboat for.

[Lovecat]

On 3/12/2022 at 8:21 PM, Lamb18 said:

If the noodles are slimy, can't you just rinse them?

What got me was that the chef (Evelyn? Still working on names...) said she was going to scoop that batch of noodles out and try again...in the same already starch-laden water?!??  I mean, I understand she was working with a limited burner situation, and may not have had time to boil water from scratch, but that ain't going to do anything for your slime problem, lady.  

[glitterpussy]

15 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Those bags of puffed chickpea snacks were what I initially thought were going to be seen as a problem.  Especially on a show where even canned legumes are always considered  a problem outside of the Quickfires.

Yes! I was so confused by Chickpeagate. I thought the puffs were what Tom was talking about...so you have a problem with canned chickpeas for hummus (which I kinda thought was standard) but not not crunched-up puffs that I buy my kids for snack?!

And then the rice noodles--I'm screaming. You don't boil them! You pour hot water over them and soak for just a few minutes!

I thought Sam looked hot. I do like them a bit scruffy and scuffed-up I guess😂

[Colleenna]

9 hours ago, Colorado David said:

Phelps had a daily intake of what like 6000 cals per day while competing? Insane.    Bless those mascots, they must have been so friggin bored with no crowds to showboat for.

Phelps says 8,000-10,000 a day. I'm a distance swimmer (2 miles) and 74 years old so I swim a *lot* slower than Phelps,  and I burn about  450 calories per hour. But you carb load THE NIGHT BEFORE,  not the day of ..... otherwise you'll be hurl-tastic. 

[Colorado David]

13 hours ago, Colleenna said:

Phelps says 8,000-10,000 a day. I'm a distance swimmer (2 miles) and 74 years old so I swim a *lot* slower than Phelps,  and I burn about  450 calories per hour. But you carb load THE NIGHT BEFORE,  not the day of ..... otherwise you'll be hurl-tastic. 

Good on you being in that great a shape at 74!!! I'm 55 and doubt I could do 1 mile in one go.  Oh and yeah good point on the night before - thinking of the Office episode where Michael ate fettucini right before their fun run for rabies.  Hysterical.

[MerBearHou]

On 3/11/2022 at 3:05 PM, meep.meep said:

Tom's expression when Padma blew the whistle right next to him was priceless!

Chris Shepherd’s too.  That was hilarious!

[backgroundnoise]

On 3/11/2022 at 8:24 PM, GaT said:

That's what I mean when I said it was convoluted, there were just too many rules, it's supposed to be a competition to find the best chef, what does football have to do with that?

It's Texas.  Isn't football a religion or something?

[Kip1]

I grew up in an agricultural area in California and have had Mexican friends since I was 4. I've only heard queso pronounced as Kay-so both around here and when we lived in Texas in the '70s. Maybe Kes-so is a Houston thing.

About the overcooked rice on one of the dishes - I've never heard overcooked rice called "broken". When I overcook rice, it either gets hard to burned on the bottom or gummy and clumpy. I googled broken rice, but all of the entries seemed to be about cooking with grains of rice that have splintered or cracked.

[sATL]

what exactly is broken rice ??🤔 I have a feeling that is the way I eat rice...

[WearyTraveler]

13 hours ago, sATL said:

what exactly is broken rice ??🤔 I have a feeling that is the way I eat rice...

I think (not 100% sure, though) that when rice is overcooked, the grains break when you use a tool to stir or serve it, as the grains are too soft. 

[Captain Asshat]

On 3/18/2022 at 2:32 PM, Kip1 said:

I grew up in an agricultural area in California and have had Mexican friends since I was 4. I've only heard queso pronounced as Kay-so both around here and when we lived in Texas in the '70s. Maybe Kes-so is a Houston thing.

It’s not a Houston thing. I’m a Houston native, and It’s “kay-so” here too. 

[Leeds]

 

On 3/12/2022 at 4:43 AM, Yeah No said:

I took it that they were trying to find ways to include elements of Texas culture this season and other than the obvious Tex-Mex food choices, football is big there so they figured, "Let's make a competition involving football".  Add working around Covid and this gimmicky challenge was born.  It felt more like something straight out of "Worst Cooks in America" than Top Chef, but whatever.  They have to find ways to make it entertaining for TV.

Yet somehow the producers of The Great British Bake Off managed to make an entertaining, family friendly, funny show without resorting to gimmicks.

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Leeds