S20.E02: Rice, Rice Baby

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

In the Quickfire, the chefs are challenged to make an amuse-bouche with unexpected ingredients that must fit on a Ritz cracker; the competition heats up as the chefs head to Alexandra Palace, where they must create rice dishes for 100 guests.

Original air date: March 16, 2023

[Bastet]

I don’t remember the last time I had a Ritz cracker, but I wanted ALL the QF offerings.  The one I most wanted to eat out of each group of three is the one that won each time.  I could not decide which of the five I thought was going to win.

I don’t hate rice, but I’m not at all excited by it and hardly ever it, so I was curious to see how many of the EC dishes would appeal to me.  Sarah’s and May’s I most wanted, and what Begoña, Charbel, and Ali made all looked good to me as well.  (I hate risotto, so had no interest in Gabri’s, but I think it’s impressive he made great mole and risotto under time constraints.)

Tom (the contestant, not Colicchio) saying every culture in the world uses rice – except Germany, there’s not a single rice dish in the whole country, was funny.  As was him assuring one of the diners not to worry about the dish being too spicy, as he’s German.

I thought Dale and Dawn smart to opt for congee, but Dawn choosing a rice that takes a very long time to cook was decidedly unwise.  And I have no idea what Sylwia was thinking with the vanilla salt.  I thought any of those three could go home, and was leaning towards it being Luciana.  I'm glad she survived, since she amused me when she said she wouldn't even be let back in Brazil if she went out on a rice dish.

Ali taking the initiative to hire women in his restaurant is great.  And I love Sara competing even though she's still breastfeeding -- she'll just pump and ship. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Bastet

[hendersonrocks]

I was hoping May would pull off the double win, but a great showing for her regardless and Ali is kind of adorable.

Dawn - who I like - seemed kind of checked out by the end. I don't blame her for wanting to preserve a little peace for herself in the chaos.

Props to Sara for pumping while across the ocean and to her husband for holding it down in her absence. That's hard core.

[Straycat80]

May had a good week. Winning the quick fire and getting in the top three for best rice dish. Her rice dish looked so yummy! 
Poor Dawn, she’s had a rough time this season. Not sure she can get back in LCK. 

[susannot]

Black rice absolutely cannot make congee in that amount of time.  Maybe in a pressure cooker?

Interesting that two Middle Eastern chefs won the first two elimination challenges.  Makes sense as that cuisine is classic and delicious.

 

LOVED Gabri's dish.

[JTMacc99]

Tough challenge. I think the winners and losers made sense. I also think May was super impressive this week, and that Gabri is both a terrific chef AND good TV. 

[blixie]

I know it's only episode 2, but I am fully in love with Tom, his food has been good to greatish (carrot dish and his amuse bouche quickfire) and he is hella funny, self deprecating. Easily the most charming contestant in the bunch. I hope he can hang tough, and continue to improve.

I thought the quick fire was one of the best challenges they've ever done, scaling it down to one bite, but given them lots of curveballs got some amazingly creative stuff. I don't think a single one  got even side eyed and I loved that there was no one singled out for the bottom.

I'm not surprised the two Middle Eastern chefs did really well in the Elimination, most other cultures still use rice as side / filler, but they have entire main dishes built around and from rice (mujudara, tahdig, pilaf, hashweh), they rarely if ever just serve white rice as a side. India has a lot as well but we only had one person make Indian style dish and he was a German faking it. I am always surprised when people say they can make rice in their sleep, because I feel like it's thermodynamic law of the kitchen, absolutely anyone and everyone can fuck up rice some times if not fully half the time.

I actually like Dawn, and her food, but I truly believe there are perfectly great chefs who simply aren't made for competition cooking shows, and Dawn is one of them, it seemed obvious she wasn't fully present for this and was probably only trying to keep a profile up for her restaurant opening.

I'm surprised so far Buddha is fading into the woodwork, in his season he was an International Chef with Michelin plating skills but all of Europe really caters to the pretty plating so he's not standing out on that level, and I'm not sure his flavors are enough to get him any higher than mid.

Quote

Black rice absolutely cannot make congee in that amount of time.  Maybe in a pressure cooker?

This was something super frustrating Dawn did her season, she would Voice Over about all the things she needed to do for dish to ensure it was executed correctly and then she....wouldn't do it. Here she did the same emphasized having to use a pressure cooker and then not using it until day 2. Lady open your place and cook food your way at your speed, I am sure it will be amazing.

[LennieBriscoe]

A-hahahahaha! See ya, Dawn! (Am I really the only one to hear a constant undertone of arrogance?)

[Ms Blue Jay]

I took a picture of one dish that looked particularly good, and it was Ali's.  So funny how he ended up winning.

The results of the show are so obvious.  You know that if you're in Dawn's group, you're in trouble.

[The Solution]

Both weeks the dish I most wanted to eat was the one that won. Not surprised that both of them were from the MENA chefs.

Hated to see Dawn leave so early as I really do like her and her food (I realize that's an unpopular opinion around here). She reminds me a lot of myself since I am very time-challenged and competitive. I am interested in everything too - if I have 100 paths available to me, I will at least explore 99 of them. Hopefully she does well in Last Chance Kitchen as I don't believe her showing so far this season represents her skill level.

[Msample]

Was I the only one who did a double take when 56 ingredient risotto guy was able to use someone else’s leftover money in the grocery store ? Even if she’s cool with it, what about the other chefs ?

The editing monkeys did little to hide Dawns impending exit.

[Fukui San]

3 hours ago, blixie said:

This was something super frustrating Dawn did her season, she would Voice Over about all the things she needed to do for dish to ensure it was executed correctly and then she....wouldn't do it. Here she did the same emphasized having to use a pressure cooker and then not using it until day 2. Lady open your place and cook food your way at your speed, I am sure it will be amazing.

I thought she did use the pressure cooker on the first day but it still didn't get it fully cooked? Or am I misremembering things? 

I've never thought of making congee with black rice, but I do see recipes out there on it, so it's not unheard of. It's certainly less starchy and thus less suited for it, at least in terms of timing. It could bring some taste to the dish.

My instinct was also to make a congee, but shows you that no rice dish is foolproof. A steamed rice dish like the dim sum dish wrapped in banana leaves would be an option. 

Hainanese Chicken, like the one Buddha made, is one of my absolute favorites. He didn't seem to put a twist to it, but I could eat that every day. He did win that one time with a very straightforward pasta dish, so not everything he makes has to be overly fussy.

I guess we know that the producers of Top Chef aren't constantly online. This would have been the perfect challenge to have the YouTube comedian Uncle Roger (Nigel Ng), at least in the crowd of the Elimination Challenge, tasting all of the rice dishes. 

[wingsabre]

Congee can be done well in less than an hour, but black rice, that's hard because of the outer husk.  There are a few options that Dawn could have taken to make it work in her time, but I think she hasn't done it with black rick before so she didn't know.  I also don't think she makes congee enough to know all the tricks. 

1. Congee is way faster to make if you use broken rice.  A lot of Asian restaurants will make it out of broken rice, not just because it's cheaper to buy, but because it's super fast.  If she had taken the rice, and pulsed it under a vitamix to break up the rice, it would speed up the cooking process very fast.  She does not need to blend it to a powder, but just cracking the grains to 2-3 pieces each will do the trick.
2. Dry toasting the rice before cooking, which will cause the rice to further crack, and break up the husk.  This creates micro fractures into the grain and will allow more hydration to occur faster.  When cooked, the rice breaks up even more and helps make it creamy. 
3. When the rice was under cooked on day one, she could have poured a lot more water onto it, and just soaked the rice the whole time.  The extra hydration would make it easer to cooked the rice the next day.  Pre-soaking uncooked rice is done often to speed up the cooking process.
4. In the pressure cooker, if she threw in a few chopsticks, it'll cook faster and creamier.  Even a wooden spoon can help.  As the water boils in the pressure cooker, the chopsticks or small wooden utensils will float and skin.  It will then cause agitation against the rice and force it to break down into something creamy more. 

[ProudMary]

4 hours ago, Msample said:

Was I the only one who did a double take when 56 ingredient risotto guy was able to use someone else’s leftover money in the grocery store ? Even if she’s cool with it, what about the other chefs ?

You were not alone! How can that possibly be within the rules? When he was itemizing all the different ingredients he intended to purchase, my first thought was, how expensive will all that be?!? Of course it was going to be over the spending limit, which is in place to keep the playing field level. I don't understand how he was allowed to check out at WF. I wonder if there will be some consequences somewhere down the line. Why would it be included with no further mention within the episode?

[vb68]

6 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

Dawn - who I like - seemed kind of checked out by the end. I don't blame her for wanting to preserve a little peace for herself in the chaos.

She's looked off from the word go to me. She actually seemed so tired, like she's been doing this competition for a month or so already and had a hard time just focusing on any of the challenges.

I'm not sure why she came back this time. She certainly didn't seemed overly excited or driven to prove herself.

And I have always liked her, too. I always thought she did the most interesting food in her first season. 

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, blixie said:

I'm surprised so far Buddha is fading into the woodwork, in his season he was an International Chef with Michelin plating skills but all of Europe really caters to the pretty plating so he's not standing out on that level, and I'm not sure his flavors are enough to get him any higher than mid.

I recently re-read one of my own comments from last season (because someone "liked" it) and I said much what you just did-- that his plating was absolutely gorgeous, but is food seemed "bloodless."

[Daisychain]

2 hours ago, wingsabre said:

Congee can be done well in less than an hour, but black rice, that's hard because of the outer husk.  There are a few options that Dawn could have taken to make it work in her time, but I think she hasn't done it with black rick before so she didn't know.  I also don't think she makes congee enough to know all the tricks. 

That is a fascinating tutorial @wingsabre.

Rice is my favorite starch (although occasionally tied with pasta) and I still mess it up 25% of the time.  All, what are your proportions to cook basic US long-grain rice?  My Mom taught me to use a little less than a 2-1 ratio -- like 1 and 3/4 cup water to a cup of rice.  And then it goes for 20-22 minutes on low heat.  I still find even if I use a different pot it changes.  I just moved and my range has 3 different burner sizes, which I haven't quite figured out.  Wish I could do it perfectly every time.  Meanwhile I plan to start attempting a congee.  Or maybe I should first go to a restaurant that serves a good one. :-)

[rlc]

Very pleasantly surprised by this episode. I feared Gabri would be a goner early in the episode based on the number of times he said that he really needed two days to cook his dish. I’m on the fence about his going over budget- he needed to purchase so many spices in quantities far beyond what he required which greatly elevated his costs.

May’s food looked incredible for both dishes- now that her confidence is higher, she should be wonderful to watch. Interesting to see Dawn react to Luciana losing it over her pots being removed- she snapped at Amar this episode for over-vigourous stirring, and she was furious with Gabri last week. 
 

The right person went home this week, and I’m more than pleasantly surprised. I feared that when Tom said at judging table that they all knew that Dawn was capable of more that she would be kept. Sylwia was truly at a disadvantage this challenge (as was Tom)- her dish may have been weird, but was well prepared. Luciana and Dawn both had rice cooking issues, but it sounded like Luciano’s plate was overall better prepared. Don’t call something a congee if it isn’t creamy/porridge-like. 

I know that many around here are not big fans of Sara, but I’ve always liked her and have mad respect for her competing while pumping (and being in another country). 

Loving this season overall. Looking forward to learning more about these chefs- especially Ali, Charbel, Dale, May, Begona, and Gabri.

[dleighg]

58 minutes ago, rlc said:

I’m on the fence about his going over budget- he needed to purchase so many spices in quantities far beyond what he required which greatly elevated his costs.

I agree; but I was also happy that he didn't end up with the win. It looked wonderful though, and really hit the challenge on the nose. 

I was impressed in the quickfire that they didn't race to the table knocking one another over like on other competitions. I guess they are "too cool for school" to do that.

The Canadians are doing well! I'm also happy to see Sarah doing well. Her "everything rice" looked great to me.

So with the pots of water scandal, were the pots just placed off the heat? Or were they actually used for something else? It didn't seem to cause an issue in the end, in any case. 

And on a tangent, I watch a few different flavors of reality competition TV and "Fire" seems to be the latest catch word. I don't hear that one in my daily life, but I'm old.

 

[sugarbaker design]

5 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Why would it be included with no further mention within the episode?

To show how cool May is.

[blixie]

Quote

He did win that one time with a very straightforward pasta dish, so not everything he makes has to be overly fussy.

Right I'm not saying he doesn't have good flavors just that Buddha stood out in his season because there weren't a lot of chefs working in his key on his season, now he's surrounded by people who are working in his kind of fine/high end dining so his plating which is still exceptionally pretty isn't going to separate him out from the pack, like it often did last year.

As for Dawn and the pressure, I don't recall seeing any shots of her using it, they had multiple shots on day 1 of her stirring an open pot of rice, and being disappointed with it texturally, but it's possible it was just a pressure cooker pot w/o a lid, but the way she said  she'd use it tomorrow to save her rice seemed weird if she had already used one and it didn't....get her rice where she wanted it. 

Quote

Even if she’s cool with it, what about the other chefs ?

Yeah I had the same thought. but I'd also guess the ingredients he's using, aka Mexican ones are probably more rare (last week he couldn't find one which I think cratered his ability to rethink)  and thus cost more and so it simply made up for a disadvantage he's probably going to experience often unless he veers away from his signature cuisine. I can't imagine what that michelin starred Chef of Kol has in food costs sourcing native Mexican ingredients and getting them across the Atlantic.

[Fukui San]

Oh God. With the episode title being what it is, it occurred to me that the Polish chef literally made Vanilla Rice. 

[Inga]

I love Dawn, she’s very talented, but I’m glad she’s gone. I cannot take another season of her voice, the whining, the time issues. You all have the same amount of time Dawn. If time is your issue, then cooking competitions are not for you. 
i adore May and i looooovvveeee rice pudding, so I’m so glad someone made a dessert and that it was a finalist. I’m rooting for Sylwia because I’m Polish, lol 

[Rai]

There have definitely been instances where other cheftestants have donated their leftover funds to help a chef buy what he wanted. This happened on Top Chef Masters several times. The rationale given was always "I want to win because they could cook their best." It's a choice made by each individual cheftestant and how they want to budget, and no one ever seems to mind. For the grace of god go them and their shopping, etc.

[MaggieG]

I had to laugh at Sylwia being confused about the Quickfire rules. The poor woman just wants to cook her potatoes. 

I like Gabri but he seems very chaotic in the kitchen. Like he's always one move away from knocking something over or knocking into someone. 

[AriAu]

Nice episode and really impressed with how many great (according to the judges in the moment) dishes there were...but it is still really hard to follow with soooo many chefs. Even with an extra 15 minutes we saw very little of most of the chefs other than Mr. 54 ingredient mole who will be gone soon enough. The dishes were really imaginative and well prepared and the 3 dishes in the bottom were not "bad dishes"-Dawn went home for a dish that in prior seasons might have let her skate by. 

I thought it was a weird to have rice be involved in a challenge spread over 2 days since I would think that the cool down time would hurt the rice and certainly wouldn't help. It's why there were so many congees and why Sarah was smart to use it is a rice cracker(ish) thing.

It did not seem like Dawn's heart was in this and given her timing issues, it is obvious that her head wasn't (and historically hadnt been) "in it" either....especially using a long cooking rice for her congee. Dawn's exit was similar to Jen Carroll in the first All Star season-a popular fan favorite and almost winner, with a good story and who had been adopted into the TC Family and who then flamed out quickly in the All Star season.....altho Dawn's lacked the yelling and the expletives! 

Quote

I'm also happy to see Sarah doing well. Her "everything rice" looked great to me.

Big Sarah fan since she seems very real and genuine and makes a lot of food I would like to eat. It will be interesting to see how she does with the Euro/guest judges who are not familiar with some her flavors-I am not sure the guest judge knew what "everything bagel" flavoring meant and last week's judges had no idea whether it was a good pot liquor (or licker or likker) sauce or not.

By the way, Sarah is getting a very nice edit, at least so far-the pumping the breast milk discussion certainly humanizes her, as did the part about never having been to London or Paris...I hope it means she will go far.

Quote

Was I the only one who did a double take when 56 ingredient risotto guy was able to use someone else’s leftover money in the grocery store ? Even if she’s cool with it, what about the other chefs ?

I was not shocked by this because on the Pack Your Knife pod (IYKYK), Sarah from last season that she even had a little alliance among a few of the cheftestants to share money or products (l"you get onions, I will get lemons") so I was kinda glad that they showed it. Whether it's fair or not to all the cheftestants is another story (I say it's not and brings in a level of alliances and gamesmanship that TC has seemed to avoid, unlike others in the reality TV world), but it has been done in the past.

Edited March 17, 2023 by AriAu

[MerBearHou]

I don't know how Victoire cooked next to Gabri -- he was leaning into her area as he stirred and was 1/2 inch from knocking into her more than once.  I get that it's tight quarters but he was so aggressively stirring kind of "over the line" into her cook area.  He was gifted not a small amount of extra money that no one else got and his frenetic energy is irritating to me -- Gabri is not my cup of tea at all.

Edited March 17, 2023 by MerBearHou

[JTMacc99]

6 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Gabri is not my cup of tea at all.

The phrase that came to my mind watching him so far is "he is a lot."

Sometimes you get that with super creative people. I feel pretty confident that he'll be in the middle of a lot of our Top Chef drama for as long as he lasts. 

[MerBearHou]

1 minute ago, JTMacc99 said:

Sometimes you get that with super creative people.

Ha!  Oh yes, you do -- and I do not prefer them 😝

[meep.meep]

15 hours ago, blixie said:

I know it's only episode 2, but I am fully in love with Tom, his food has been good to greatish (carrot dish and his amuse bouche quickfire) and he is hella funny, self deprecating. Easily the most charming contestant in the bunch. I hope he can hang tough, and continue to improve.

I thought the quick fire was one of the best challenges they've ever done, scaling it down to one bite, but given them lots of curveballs got some amazingly creative stuff. I don't think a single one  got even side eyed and I loved that there was no one singled out for the bottom.

I actually like Dawn, and her food, but I truly believe there are perfectly great chefs who simply aren't made for competition cooking shows, and Dawn is one of them, it seemed obvious she wasn't fully present for this and was probably only trying to keep a profile up for her restaurant opening.
 

I share your Tom love.  He's talented and funny.

I wonder if Dawn is suffering from jet lag.  It hits some people (like me) much harder than others.  If you can't wake up then you continue to make stupid mistakes.

[JTMacc99]

1 minute ago, MerBearHou said:

Ha!  Oh yes, you do -- and I do not prefer them 😝

It's the way he's managed to pull other people into his stuff that I think will eventually (or in your case has already) make people tire of him.

He managed to spill water all over the place in the first episode, and that move dragged poor Dawn into his antics. This time, he managed to not consider that 800 ingredients was going to go over his budget, and his solution was to ask other chefs if he could use their leftover money. Not to edit his cart, but rather to see if somebody else could help him.

Now, I have absolutely no problem with him asking to use leftover money. To me, it's not much different than a chef asking if they could use some of another chef's ingredients excess during a challenge. But what I'm seeing of Gabri so far, is that him bringing in other people into his chaotic world is going to be normal and not a once in a while kind of thing.

 

 

[sugarbaker design]

16 hours ago, blixie said:

I know it's only episode 2, but I am fully in love with Tom, his food has been good to greatish (carrot dish and his amuse bouche quickfire) and he is hella funny, self deprecating. Easily the most charming contestant in the bunch.

 

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

I share your Tom love.  He's talented and funny.

Ditto.  Tom is also easy on the eyes.

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

Now, I have absolutely no problem with him asking to use leftover money. To me, it's not much different than a chef asking if they could use some of another chef's ingredients excess during a challenge.

Totally agree, no biggie.

[BlackberryJam]

I'm still at the stage where I can't remember all their names. 

Ritz crackers have a certain salty, buttery flavor that has to be accounted for when making the dish. I can't see avocado working for me with Ritz, but some of those did look delicious.

I like rice as a side dish. I am not a fan of congee. @wingsabre Your rice-cooking tutorial is amazing. Thank you.

Dawn was done for early. You could see it in her eyes. She looked so beat I was wondering if she hadn't recovered from jet lag.

I'm so glad the show is back. 

[rlc]

I'm obviously giving this too much thought, but budgeting must be incredibly difficult for the chefs coming from other countries. Not only are you not familiar with pricing in London, but items that are cheap and plentiful in your home country are likely expensive and exotic in London. It is quite a learning curve. I lived in Italy for a while and found it very easy to shop for seasonal and local food items, but it was incredibly difficult and expensive to try and make something from home.

[dleighg]

That reminds me of shopping for certain spices at a "normal" grocery store (Whole Foods included) vs. at an Indian grocery, where you can buy big bags of cumin, cardamon, coriander, etc. for a couple dollars, vs $6 or $8 for a small jar at the grocery.

[Suzn]

I always learn of ingredients watching this show and can usually find out about new things but I'm stumped.  What is caviar cream?

[amarante]

I didn’t have issues with his getting extra money for the mole ingredients. I think a lot of the expense was because he needed relatively small amounts of spices so it was equivalent to stocking your spice pantry in one week.

unfair wouid be if he had used extra money to purchase a very rare and expensive protein or truffles which wouid have elevated the dish. Mole is a peasant dish in the best sense and doesn’t rely on expensive ingredients 

Having the necessary spices didn’t negate the difficulty of actually creating a great mole in a limited amount of time. 

[Miss chi chi]

Love Tom from Germany.

I still love Dawn from her season when she was so kind to Jamie and told her she deserved to be there just like Shota and Gabriel. I was sad to see her go, but I also didn’t enjoy her consistently being in over her head. The edit stunk though, because I knew Dawn was going home pretty early in the episode.

Gabri is a mess.

Ali is very handsome.

I really didn’t enjoy Sara in TC Kentucky, but willing to reconsider…

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Miss chi chi

[Rambler]

I’m liking Begona the most so far. That's two elimination challenges in a row where the judges were like "this dish is crazy, but I love it". She doesn't get much screen time, so I guess she doesn't have a made for TV personality, but I gotta love a chef who lets it all hang out creatively. I suppose on one of the challenges she's going to go too far out there and crash and burn, but hopefully that won't be for a while.

[susannot]

1 hour ago, Miss chi chi said:

Love Tom from Germany.

I still love Dawn from her season when she was so kind to Jamie and told her she deserved to be there just like Shota and Gabriel. I was sad to see her go, but I also didn’t enjoy her consistently being in over her head. The edit stunk though, because I knew Dawn was going home pretty early in the episode.

Gabri is a mess.

Ali is very handsome.

I really didn’t enjoy Sara in TC Kentucky, but willing to reconsider…

 

Joining the Tom love train.  Very droll when some diners asked him how hot his dish was and he said, not very, I'm German.

 

Gabri is a mess, but a hot mess. He is very good TV.  Amazing that he pulled off a 54 ingredient mole that was very authentic and delicious.

 

I watched the episode again.  Dawn did not use a pressure cooker on Day One.  She talked about using one on Day Two when her rice was still crunchy, but did she really? By then it may have been too late.  One detail I did not pick up on is that May also used black rice for her dessert dish, and landed in the top 3.  The judges swooned over its delicious creaminess.  How did she get it creamy when Dawn failed?

That South African judge was a beautiful woman but those fake false eyelashes really detracted from her appearance.  I do not get why some women consider those attractive.

[Bunnyette]

7 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I share your Tom love.  He's talented and funny.

I wonder if Dawn is suffering from jet lag.  It hits some people (like me) much harder than others.  If you can't wake up then you continue to make stupid mistakes.

Well Nicole is doing ok and she’s based in Western Canada.

[caitmcg]

6 hours ago, rlc said:

I'm obviously giving this too much thought, but budgeting must be incredibly difficult for the chefs coming from other countries. Not only are you not familiar with pricing in London, but items that are cheap and plentiful in your home country are likely expensive and exotic in London. It is quite a learning curve. I lived in Italy for a while and found it very easy to shop for seasonal and local food items, but it was incredibly difficult and expensive to try and make something from home.

Also, it has been interesting to hear, from French TC winner Samuel (booted this episode) last week and I believe Gabri this week, that in their home country versions of TC they don’t shop, they only use the producer-stocked pantries. So not only are they shopping in a different country and context, they won’t have had to budget and shop retail for the contest previously (and of course, just shop/order wholesale for their restaurants).

[Leeds]

On 3/16/2023 at 8:22 PM, Msample said:

 

The editing monkeys did little to hide Dawns impending exit.

I kept telling myself that the editing monkeys were doing it on purpose because she was actually staying, and I didn't want to be disappointed that she didn't leave.

16 hours ago, dleighg said:

 

And on a tangent, I watch a few different flavors of reality competition TV and "Fire" seems to be the latest catch word. I don't hear that one in my daily life, but I'm old.

 

Most of my reality show watching is cooking shows, and the latest catch word is "hero", as in star ingredient of a dish.  I can't stand it.

 

3 hours ago, susannot said:

 

That South African judge was a beautiful woman but those fake false eyelashes really detracted from her appearance.  I do not get why some women consider those attractive.

Glad I'm not the only one who felt this.

[sharifa70]

On 3/16/2023 at 7:49 PM, blixie said:

I'm surprised so far Buddha is fading into the woodwork, in his season he was an International Chef with Michelin plating skills but all of Europe really caters to the pretty plating so he's not standing out on that level, and I'm not sure his flavors are enough to get him any higher than mid.

I remember Buddha being rather fair-to-middling in the first few episodes. He really hit his stride after a shaky start and never looked back, but I feel like at one point he was thisclose to being eliminated for his greasy samosas, I think? Didn’t he deep fry puff pastry or something? And the young smiley cheftestant got eliminated instead because of raw potatoes? Anyway, I was pretty exasperated with Buddha and thought for sure he was living on borrowed time until the episode when he paired up with Jackson for the EC. 

My point is I haven’t written Buddha off quite yet.

Begoña is definitely one of my front-runners. She seems to be pretty solid and creative, and I like her calm energy.

Gabri stresses me out. He’s probably perfectly lovely but just watching him is exhausting.

Dawn is another one who stresses me out so I’m okay with her exit. 

[wingsabre]

19 hours ago, Daisychain said:

That is a fascinating tutorial @wingsabre.

Rice is my favorite starch (although occasionally tied with pasta) and I still mess it up 25% of the time.  All, what are your proportions to cook basic US long-grain rice?  My Mom taught me to use a little less than a 2-1 ratio -- like 1 and 3/4 cup water to a cup of rice.  And then it goes for 20-22 minutes on low heat.  I still find even if I use a different pot it changes.  I just moved and my range has 3 different burner sizes, which I haven't quite figured out.  Wish I could do it perfectly every time.  Meanwhile I plan to start attempting a congee.  Or maybe I should first go to a restaurant that serves a good one. :-)

Honestly, the most consistent way to cook long grain rice is with a rice cooker.  it takes a lot of the stress out of cooking rice. Even a very cheap rice cooker can be purchased for less than $20.  You can cook it on the pot and you can steam rice, but there's nothing more consistent than just washing rice and cooking it in a rice cooker.  Then the only thing you need to worry is the ratio, which I personally like as 1:1 in a rice cooker.  The whole thing is contained, so I don't need to worry much about evaporation.

They're also much more energy efficient than cooking rice on the stove top, and it'll free up a burner so you can cook other food items. to pair with your rice.

[Jodithgrace]

I love my rice cooker. I can use it to make pilafs, as well as all kinds of rice. In addition, I use it to make a week’s worth of oatmeal for myself, which I freeze in portions. I want to try to make congee in it as well. One of the chefs did plaintively ask if they could use a rice cooker, but I didn’t hear an answer. I’m not sure why they couldn’t, since they use all sorts of other appliances. But I suppose it wouldn’t work for most of the dishes they were making, especially in those quantities. 

[amarante]

16 hours ago, susannot said:

 

That South African judge was a beautiful woman but those fake false eyelashes really detracted from her appearance.  I do not get why some women consider those attractive.

They have a caterpillar fetish?

But seriously I don't understand a lot of the extreme unnatural beauty trends. For some reason, distorted features have become normalized. 

It is fascinating to look at the faces of beauties in the past - even the recent past before extreme plastic surgery became the norm. While their faces might have been tweaked a bit - Rita Hayworth had electrolysis to raise her hairline but as a whole their faces were much more distinctive and many of them had slight flaws that would have been corrected in today's world

To quote Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard - [We didn't need dialogue] We had faces.

[Daisychain]

Thanks @wingsabre and @Jodithgrace.  Nice advice, I ordered a small version rice cooker that should fit into what storage I have left in my kitchen.  It'll be nice to have no-fret rice!

The cool thing about this international season is that it makes you want to try everything.  E.g., I just googled ouzi recipes, when previously I never heard of this.  I do love lamb so that works out well.    Including ingredients from the quick fire I had never heard of.  (Bottarga?)  It's the sort of education that makes your mouth water.

I left work very, very, late last night and on the way home listened to the Pack Your Knives podcast with Kevin and Tom, the two NBA sports writers/journalists.  They had Lorna Maseko on as a guest and she was so charming, energetic, and knowledgeable.  She and Kevin did a big nerd-out (for lack of a better word) about their favorite restaurants in all of Africa and then Kevin nominated her to host To Chef Africa All Stars.  I would pay-per-view that.  

[buttersister]

Quote

How did she get it creamy when Dawn failed?

Imo, May > Dawn.

[Vermicious Knid]

Nobody tried for a pilaf, or jollof rice, or rice noodles that would have been paired with a soup. But hey, someone managed risotto, that Tom actually liked.