S19.E05: Don't Mess With BBQ

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

The chefs meet Brooke Williamson at Houston's J-Bar-M, where she tasks them with putting their own spin on a brisket dish for some of the best BBQ pitmasters in Houston and their guest judge, pitmaster Greg Gatlin.

Original air date: March 31, 2022

[Bastet]

It drives me batty they don’t re-run this show later the same night like they used to; I totally lost track of time and missed the entire first half.

I am not excited by brisket, or barbecue in general, the way many people are, so I wasn’t wowed by the food.  (Of course, neither were the judges in several cases.)  All I could think was, even though they only take a couple of bites of each dish, that was a lot of brisket to eat in one sitting.

But Buddha and Evelyn's dishes indeed looked and sounded delicious.  Yay for Evelyn getting the win, and I love her being the only cheftestant in all these years to make a curry Padma didn’t have a single problem with.

[Straycat80]

I’m so used to getting a chunk of Texas toast at Sizzler, Ponderosa and other steak houses I don’t think I would have appreciated a twist on Texas toast in the quick fire challenge. But the toast the winner made did look good. Probably because it had bacon on it.
I’m happy Evelyn won as she is from Texas and Padma was happy with the curry. The brisket with pasta that Jackson made looked yummy. 

[Tango64]

I fully support Jo Chan. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I can't believe that one of the chefs made a dish too salty for Tom C.   I'm not even sure who did it, but it must have been solid salt to make Tom comment about it.  

Apparently, the too salty for Mr. Tom Salt Lick Colicchio, was Luke.  

Edited April 1, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[The Solution]

I seriously can't remember a season with better cheftestants than this one. That was a lot of food that I would have loved to eat and I am no fan of BBQ. I thought Evelyn was the right person to win but there were numerous other chefs there who easily would have won in any other season. Even the dishes on the bottom would have been passable. None of the chefs appear to be total douchewads this season either, which is really something.

Seriously, who can make a dish too salty for Tom?

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I can't believe that one of the chefs made a dish too salty for Tom C.   I'm not even sure who did it, but it must have been solid salt to make Tom comment about it.

 

1 hour ago, The Solution said:

Seriously, who can make a dish too salty for Tom?

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this.  I just roll with the fact restaurant food is significantly saltier than how I choose to cook at home, especially since I don't have sodium-induced hypertension and generally don't dislike the taste of salty dishes.  But after my first two visits to two different Craft restaurants, I opted to say "lightly salted" on subsequent visits.  It's great food, but even better without the notable salt level.

[Steph Sometimes]

Should've brought in Carrie from a few seasons ago to judge the toast challenge.

There was a lot of Monique this episode. A lot. Surprised she didn't go home.

Did anyone else catch the diner who looked like he had a bright pink face? It was kind of funny.

[Cotypubby]

My thought this episode: “There’s a Monique!?” I swear I don’t remember seeing her at all before this one! I fully expected her to go home because of that.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Hmmm, I'm so shocked.  Based on their criticisms, I thought Monique was leaving.  I watch a lot of Project Runway and "boring" is known as the kiss of death.  So I guess I don't "know" this show so well.

Ah, well.  Last week I said that I was sad that Robert and Evelyn were on the bottom because I thought that Evelyn and Robert were frontrunners and I got reactions like I said I had four heads.  But Evelyn won this week?  Weird.

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I can't believe that one of the chefs made a dish too salty for Tom C.   I'm not even sure who did it, but it must have been solid salt to make Tom comment about it.  

And wasn't it because of the pancetta?  But Nick, the person who won the challenge, also used pancetta.

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

But after my first two visits to two different Craft restaurants, I opted to say "lightly salted" on subsequent visits.  It's great food, but even better without the notable salt level.

I personally cannot stand the taste of salt, even a little bit.  I like chips, but if I add salt to any dish, and I taste it, I immediately think that it's ruined.  I could never be a food judge because they are all so damn obsessed with it.  My family and I tried pancetta once and we ended up throwing it out.  Yet every Food Network show is obsessed!

Edited April 1, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this.  I just roll with the fact restaurant food is significantly saltier than how I choose to cook at home, especially since I don't have sodium-induced hypertension and generally don't dislike the taste of salty dishes.  But after my first two visits to two different Craft restaurants, I opted to say "lightly salted" on subsequent visits.  It's great food, but even better without the notable salt level.

I also noticed the saltiness when I went to two of Tom's restaurants.  Maybe I am a "salt snob" but I tend to think too much salt is a lazy way to make something "taste good" and a way to make up for lack of talent.  If your food tastes great without going heavy on the salt, you really have talent.  I have also theorized that maybe a lot of chefs like Tom were former smokers and their taste buds have been deadened to the point of thinking everything needs more salt than it really does.  

[oldCJ]

I’ve only seen texas toast as french toast so the quickfire was very interesting. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by oldCJ
updated

[oldCJ]

8 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

My thought this episode: “There’s a Monique!?” I swear I don’t remember seeing her at all before this one! I fully expected her to go home because of that.

That’s funny. In last week’s thread it was mentioned how unrecognizable she is with her hair down. 

[seltzer3]

I was kind of confused about the quickfire challenge.  Simply because I thought it was supposed to be a "Texas toast challenge", but it then the plates seemed to devolve into more of a fancy toast challenge.  I like Nick, but his dish kind of looked like an avocado toast.  Or what's the difference between texas toast and fancy toast?  But Monique gets dinged for her dish being more of "tea sandwiches".

I was kind of confused by Monique and Buddha doing Meulli Feulli.  Because I thought Meulli Feulli was made out of puff pastry, and not slices of bread.

Its one of the generic top chef challenges, of not sure how far you can push the goalposts without falling off the cliff.

It was interesting that Ashleigh was talking about how she was frustrated about the quickfire taking off time for her prep in the elimination challenge.  Which makes me think of the following scenario.  Could someone just play hokey?  And be like, "nah I need time of the elimination challenge, cya Tom!" and run straight back to the brisket challenge?

[carrps]

10 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

Did anyone else catch the diner who looked like he had a bright pink face? It was kind of funny.

I saw the pitmaster with the Armenian name (Ara Melikian, IIRC). It made me smile.

 

[MerBearHou]

Texas Toast is a nice, big, thick slice of bread.  As said above, perfect for French toast.  Monique’s did look exactly like tea sandwiches to me because they were so thin and it was a stretch for her to say they were toasted.

[Ohiopirate02]

While Jackson's pasta looked amazing, I wanted someone to point out his error when describing his sauce.  I got excited for a split second when he said North Carolina because that sauce had zero tomato in it.  I actually though someone crafted a high end Eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce.  It's the superior NC BBQ sauce--vinegar, hot pepper and a hint of tomato.  But then he finished his phrase saying North Carolina mustard based sauce.  

[HurricaneVal]

I thought it was very telling that all three Texas Toast dishes that were the favorites were more traditional interpretations of Texas Toast in that they were thick-ish slices of french type bread with stuff on top.  The more radical interpretations were in the bottom three.  My takeaway from that was the owner of the J-Bar-M restaurant who was brought on as a guest judge was a definite traditionalist.  Which I didn't think boded well for the elimination challenge since some folks were definitely radically reinterpreting the traditional brisket.  I was pleasantly surprised to find her quite open to jazzing around with brisket.  Apparently the woman really likes her toast on the traditional side!

On another note, the J-Bar-M restaurant that hosted the competition looks to be completely brand new--perhaps not even open yet.  Those smokers in the kitchen didn't look nearly as grimy or as used as a true BBQ pit usually looks.  I wonder if they were getting ready to open, then COVID hit and they had to slow it down and hosting Top Chef was a way to get some costs back and free advertising.

I'm starting to kind of like Jackson.  I didn't originally like him for some irrational reason, unrelated to his COVID handicaps, but whatever made me not like him, isn't there anymore.  Or I got over it.  He obviously has great chef instincts.

[sharifa70]

Luke knew his dish was too salty and he commented on having too much pancetta without having time to balance it out.

I used to be afraid of salt to the point of almost never cooking with it (and watching friends and family immediately reach for the salt shaker when I cooked for them). Then I started watching this show and I have to say that Tom has improved my cooking by leaps and bounds with that one simple “needs more seasoning” gripe. I feel like I’ve learned to use salt much more effectively, and his advice to taste and adjust the seasonings every time I add an ingredient has been invaluable. I’ll never be a gourmet chef or anything but I see a lot less reaching for the salt shaker at my dinner table these days. So yeah, I appreciate Tom.

I was horrified at Jackson’s choice to grind up that brisket so I’m happy it turned out so well for him. 

[TipseyGirl]

28 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I'm starting to kind of like Jackson.  I didn't originally like him for some irrational reason, unrelated to his COVID handicaps, but whatever made me not like him, isn't there anymore.  Or I got over it.  He obviously has great chef instincts.

Same! And it's so weird because now I'm not sure why my first impression of him was, "this guy is going the be the turd of the group." I am really enjoying him. He has some interesting ideas and must be a great chef to be continually in the top with limited taste and smell.

I really like the rest of the chef's too. No one that I am actively rooting against, and that's refreshing.

Edited April 1, 2022 by TipseyGirl

[seltzer3]

36 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I thought it was very telling that all three Texas Toast dishes that were the favorites were more traditional interpretations of Texas Toast in that they were thick-ish slices of french type bread with stuff on top.  The more radical interpretations were in the bottom three.  My takeaway from that was the owner of the J-Bar-M restaurant who was brought on as a guest judge was a definite traditionalist.  Which I didn't think boded well for the elimination challenge since some folks were definitely radically reinterpreting the traditional brisket.  I was pleasantly surprised to find her quite open to jazzing around with brisket.  Apparently the woman really likes her toast on the traditional side!

On another note, the J-Bar-M restaurant that hosted the competition looks to be completely brand new--perhaps not even open yet.  Those smokers in the kitchen didn't look nearly as grimy or as used as a true BBQ pit usually looks.  I wonder if they were getting ready to open, then COVID hit and they had to slow it down and hosting Top Chef was a way to get some costs back and free advertising.

I'm starting to kind of like Jackson.  I didn't originally like him for some irrational reason, unrelated to his COVID handicaps, but whatever made me not like him, isn't there anymore.  Or I got over it.  He obviously has great chef instincts.

I think that's what makes the challenge confusing.  If I was a contestant I would be generally puzzled, when you have a texas toast challenge where it was very literal, but then the brisket challenge were more tolerable to more innovative interpretations.

 

[buttersister]

I loved it when Tom, aka, MORE SEASONING, found a salt lick in Luke's dish. Saw that coming when Luke couldn't get any lime juice on it for balance--still, seasoning food properly is a balancing act and a little along the way usually gets it done.

I was super happy for Evelyn and Padma. All these years of bad curries! LOL! Wouldn't have guessed the great one would come from a Texas brisket challenge. 

[dgpolo]

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Hmmm, I'm so shocked.  Based on their criticisms, I thought Monique was leaving.  I watch a lot of Project Runway and "boring" is known as the kiss of death.  So I guess I don't "know" this show so well.

I thought she was leaving based on their criticisms too, but I thought the 'kiss of death' mentioned was that she didn't follow the 'brief' of highlighting the brisket.

7 hours ago, oldCJ said:

I’ve only seen texas toast as french toast so the quickfire was very interesting. 

We always have texas toast garlic bread with pasta.

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

  My takeaway from that was the owner of the J-Bar-M restaurant who was brought on as a guest judge was a definite traditionalist.  Which I didn't think boded well for the elimination challenge since some folks were definitely radically reinterpreting the traditional brisket.  I was pleasantly surprised to find her quite open to jazzing around with brisket.  Apparently the woman really likes her toast on the traditional side!

The owner of the restaurant was not the guest judge and is not a woman. Dave Gatlin of Gatlin's BBQ was the guest judge. Brooke the other guest judge is a former Top Chef winner.

[dleighg]

When Ashleigh said her brisket was undersalted, I didn't understand why that was the kiss of death. Of course it *became* the kiss of death when she served big thick slabs of undersalted brisket. Why on earth didn't she slice it thin and salt each piece? I know it's not the same, but it sure would have been an improvement.

I wouldn't have had a clue how much of spice (of any sort) to put on a massive piece of meat like that.

[HurricaneVal]

Wasn't the blonde woman the owner of the J-Bar-M?  Or part owner?  She was at the chef's table for the elimination challenge tasting.  Or am I really confused?  I thought she introduced herself as the owner.

[dgpolo]

7 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Wasn't the blonde woman the owner of the J-Bar-M?  Or part owner?  She was at the chef's table for the elimination challenge tasting.  Or am I really confused?  I thought she introduced herself as the owner.

No, that was Brooke Williamson, former Top Chef winner. Owner of restaurant was the pit boss with the beard that several of the chefs talked to while checking on their briskets.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, TipseyGirl said:

Same! And it's so weird because now I'm not sure why my first impression of him was, "this guy is going the be the turd of the group." I am really enjoying him. He has some interesting ideas and must be a great chef to be continually in the top with limited taste and smell.

I kind of get why you got that impression of Jackson.  I've watched way too much reality TV for decades now and I saw them setting him up to look like a turd, but perhaps because I've learned to resist that effect and try to see the real person sans producer prodding and editing I didn't let that happen with him.

[Rai]

I'm really rooting for Nick, but I'm starting to worry he may not have the chops to go all the way. Very happy for Evelyn though! I would've thought Jae should go in over Jackson. Her "kajun" food looked INCREDIBLE and drew almost as many raves as Evelyn's. Out of all the dishes tonight, Jae's intrigued me the most.

I love the idea of shredded brisket with pappadelle, and think that perhaps some kind of brisket stroganoff could've worked for Jo. Especially since she likes cooking with mushrooms! I did think Jackson should've shredded his brisket, not ground it, but since it worked out for me, what do I know. I thought Luke's dish looked stunning, although presentation obviously goes to Buddha. I am bummed Ashleigh was chopped and I hope she comes back.

Using the burnt ends was very smart on both Evelyn's and Jackson's parts, and that would've been part of my suggested strategy to anyone. The burnt ends are the best part, get in there.

Definitely enjoying the Houston-focused season more than the general Texas season. It's like two different shows, not just seasons.

[PhoneCop]

6 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

I was kind of confused by Monique and Buddha doing Meulli Feulli.  Because I thought Meulli Feulli was made out of puff pastry, and not slices of bread.

It is. I can see their thinking—since mille-feuille is just a few layers of alternating puff pastry and filling, slicing the bread thinly and layering it doesn't seem like the worst interpretation, at least to me. But as HurricaneVal pointed out, it backfired, so maybe the unspoken subtext of the challenge was that it had to be something that still presented as Texas toast-like, not something that could be approximated with thinner slices of bread?

I think all the PYKAGs are going to be kind of painful from here on. No really objectionable personalities (IMO), and the chaff has largely been separated from the wheat in terms of ability. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by PhoneCop

[meep.meep]

Since the whole point of Texas Toast is that it is thick bread, turning it into tiny thin shards was not honoring the spirit of the ingredient.

I also thought Carrie should have been the guest judge.  Fancy Texas Toast!

Happy for Evelyn's win, especially since she knew so many people there.

[carrps]

I hate texas toast. I'm not a huge fan of BBQ either, so this was kind of an "eh" episode for me.

We also shot each other shocked looks when Tom found a dish too salty. Salt lick indeed.

[pasdetrois]

6 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

But then he finished his phrase saying North Carolina mustard based sauce. 

Having grown up eating BBQ in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, I was shocked when I first ate it in South Carolina. The sauce was mustard-based.

[7-Zark-7]

How does Jackson keeps winding up in the top despite not having a sense of taste or smell? I never want to hear Padma say to a chef "Did you taste your dish before serving it?" ever again.

[Rammchick]

There's a big difference between cooking with salt and adding it afterwards.  When you cook with salt, it enhances natural flavors.  When you add it afterwards, it just makes things taste salty.  The same goes for salty ingredients.  Can only imagine what a salt bomb Luke's dish must have been.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Rammchick

[Quilt Fairy]

I thought brisket was supposed to be sliced thinly on an angle.  I was surprised to see these huge hunks of beef.

[TzuShih]

20 hours ago, Bastet said:

21 hours ago, The Solution said:

Seriously, who can make a dish too salty for Tom?

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this.  I just roll with the fact restaurant food is significantly saltier than how I choose to cook at home, especially since I don't have sodium-induced hypertension and generally don't dislike the taste of salty dishes.  But after my first two visits to two different Craft restaurants, I opted to say "lightly salted" on subsequent visits.  It's great food, but even better without the notable salt level.

My major take on Tom is his love of 'acidity' and lemon (and many yoghurt-based dishes).   (Noted by me, I'm sure, because I, too, LOVE the tangy tastes.)  It also occurs to me that many 'salty' foods are neutralized nicely by lemony flavors.  It makes for a nice balance.  😋

[Keely]

9 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

While Jackson's pasta looked amazing, I wanted someone to point out his error when describing his sauce.  I got excited for a split second when he said North Carolina because that sauce had zero tomato in it.  I actually though someone crafted a high end Eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce.  It's the superior NC BBQ sauce--vinegar, hot pepper and a hint of tomato.  But then he finished his phrase saying North Carolina mustard based sauce.  

Ha! You are not alone in this. My head popped up when he said it...and I promptly made a serious face when he said some mustard madness. So not only were my hopes for an eastern sauce dashed, he added insult to injury by calling a SC bbq sauce and NC sauce. Hmph. And to pay homage to one of NC's oldest arguments, an eastern sauce does not include tomato abominations, hint or otherwise. 

Edited to add: I'm still surprised anyone went home on a brisket challenge in which they did little to no actual smoking of the brisket. Smoking meat/bbq is a skill unto itself. Brisket is one of the hardest things to learn to smoke properly. I suppose that's why they had someone else do it, but by that same token, why then bother with a brisket challenge unless it's just because they are in Texas and therefore must do brisket?

Edited April 2, 2022 by Keely

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, TzuShih said:

My major take on Tom is his love of 'acidity' and lemon (and many yoghurt-based dishes).   (Noted by me, I'm sure, because I, too, LOVE the tangy tastes.)  It also occurs to me that many 'salty' foods are neutralized nicely by lemony flavors.  It makes for a nice balance.  😋

And that was exactly Luke's intention, but time ran out before he could hit his toasts with that touch of acid.

[Lamb18]

Finally getting to this episode!

I remember the chefs sweating it out in over 100 degree heat and staying up all night for their BBQ in Austin.

Those briskets with their rubs look so good.

[Lamb18]

Why is that guy grinding up that brisket? There's other opportunities to make a stuffed pasta. I suppose you could have noodles with brisket. Lightly salted with butter to complement the brisket. But it sounds weird.

Garlic granules would work for a brisket. I use them as a rub on hamburgers.

[Lamb18]

That DeMar is someone to look out for.

[VintageJ]

13 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

That DeMar is someone to look out for.

Love DeMarr. He’s my favorite so far.

[dleighg]

22 minutes ago, VintageJ said:

Love DeMarr. He’s my favorite so far.

he's been near the top a lot this season. But hasn't been getting much in the way of talking heads etc. Wonder if they're trying to keep him under wraps as a clear front-runner.

[carrps]

Damarr.

[mlp]

I was worried about Jackson when he said he was going to grind his brisket.  That sounded like a weirdly bad idea to me.  Obviously, he knew what he was doing.  

I hope Brooke isn't going to show up on more episodes.  She seems to be an excellent cook and she seems to be respected for that but her smug, humorless personality rubs me the wrong way.  Now she's even showing up regularly on FN so I can't avoid her.

[Yeah No]

20 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I thought brisket was supposed to be sliced thinly on an angle.  I was surprised to see these huge hunks of beef.

Perhaps you've never been to Katz's Deli in NY?  😉

[Yeah No]

12 minutes ago, mlp said:

I was worried about Jackson when he said he was going to grind his brisket.  That sounded like a weirdly bad idea to me.  Obviously, he knew what he was doing.  

I hope Brooke isn't going to show up on more episodes.  She seems to be an excellent cook and she seems to be respected for that but her smug, humorless personality rubs me the wrong way.  Now she's even showing up regularly on FN so I can't avoid her.

I felt the same way about Jackson grinding the meat, although he was smart enough to also put unground pieces on top of the dish.  He must have excellent technique if he can grind brisket and end up in the top 3, all while being taste impaired.  It reminds me almost of dishes I've had at restaurants like Le Bernardin that looked humble or bland but when you bit into them they tasted out of this world.

Re: Brooke - I liked her in her first season of TC but since then she has lost me with her personality for all the same reasons you cite above.  And yeah, we can't get away from her now either!

[Bastet]

I like Brooke.  I love her food (not just through the TV screen; I've eaten it) and she's quite impressively skilled as a competitor in these types of challenges -- she's been on Top Chef twice and Tournament of Champions twice (well, three times, but we don't know the results of III yet as it's still airing), and of those four times competing against other highly acclaimed chefs, she's won twice and come in second twice -- so I enjoy when she's a guest judge, because of her experience as a cheftestant.  (And I've never had any problems with her personality, so there's nothing to turn me off her.)

[Souris]

I was surprised Ashleigh went home. It really seemed from the comments that it was going to be Monique. Disappointed, because I wanted the NC chef to do better.

So many chefs didn’t seem to understand the Quickfire assignment.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Souris

[carrps]

Yeah,  Brooke is local to me, and all of her food I've ever eaten has been fabulous. But she has also been wonderful with the local community during all the covid foofahrah.