S16.E07: Carne!

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

Actress Lena Waithe challenges the chefs to make a trademark Kentucky dish known as the Hot Brown; chef Nancy Silverton and butcher Dario Cecchini break down a whole cow for the chefs to utilize along with locally-sourced ingredients.

Air date: January, 17, 2019

[AnnA]

Lena Waithe???   I never heard of her and when I googled her was totally unimpressed.   If Top Chef thinks they need to have a "name" guest, they should try harder.    If they can't do better, they might consider abandoning the practice.

[biakbiak]

8 minutes ago, AnnA said:

Lena Waithe???   I never heard of her and when I googled her was totally unimpressed.   If Top Chef thinks they need to have a "name" guest, they should try harder.    If they can't do better, they might consider abandoning the practice.

Lena Waithe is awesomesauce. The episode of Master of None which she won an Emmy for writing and acted in is such a personal yet universal story of familial acceptance everyone should watch it. No idea why she is on an episode of TC other than she likes food and has hung out with Padma a few times but can’t wait!

Edited January 15, 2019 by biakbiak

[AnnA]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

Lena Waithe is awesomesauce. The episode of Master of None which she won an Emmy for writing and acted in is such a personal yet universal story of familial acceptance everyone should watch it. No idea why she is on an episode of TC other than she likes food and has hung out with Padma a few times but can’t wait!

I'll take your word for it but I never heard of her or Master of None.

[Totale]

I never heard of the Hot Brown until I saw Bobby Flay take a whipping from the chef at the Brown hotel on Smackdown many years ago.  It was a given that they were going to do it at some point and it looks thankfully like it will be the Quickfire, but it's one of those dishes that just is what it is and if they get too funky with it they're all going to go Flay's way one by one. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

It should be fun to watch the cheftestants break down that amount of meat.    The preview of them hacking away at it were fun for me, but I'm sure not for them. 

One of the original Hot Browns looked like enough to feed everyone in the room.    

 

I love Eddie winning!    That was the perfect person to win, and I'm so happy for him.   It was lovely to see the other chefs congratulate him. 

Brandon's dish sounds terrible.     

However, what the hell did Brian say about small servings of meat?   I think I've been insulted, because I do love a decent cut of beef, well cooked and a good size too.     Brian and Sara are lucky they didn't go home too. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[jaybird2]

i make my ky hot browns over mashed potatoes with cheese sauce topped with tomatoes and crisp bacon.  I even make it at easter using left over ham.

wonder is they are going to make 'lamb fries' so known as rocky mountain oysters.  

[Bastet]

I'd heard of a Hot Brown, I think on some other show rather than in real life, but wasn't sure what it was until they brought out the original.  It wouldn't be my first choice for a late-night indulgence, but I wouldn't turn it down if someone put it front of my drunk self.  I thought several of the cheftestants' take on it went too far away from the concept. 

I'm not much of a beef eater; I love a good rib-eye steak or hamburger, and very occasionally a loin/filet mignon, but other than that I don't cook with/eat much beef.  I hate flank steak and also hate both pot roast and corned beef, so I guess from their food facts chyron that means I hate round.  I think the only cut I hadn't heard of was the plate, and I wouldn't have any earthly idea what to do with the head, either.  So while it's not my favorite meat, I was very interested in what they'd do with the various cuts of beef.

But, goodness, I wasn't interested in most of the results.  The dueling tartares didn't look/sound good, but Adrienne made strip steak - a cut I don't much care for - look good (I wouldn't eat it without scraping off the blue cheese, but it was visually appealing and I think I'd quite like it without the cheese) and Justin did the same with flank steak (but with him, too, I didn't love the other ingredients).  Sara pretty well imploded with both the QF and EC, and Brian made my beloved ribeye look boring (and, wtf, boneless?!).  The chuck, shank, and brisket dishes didn't do much for me, either, and Eric's dish looked/sounded truly awful, so overall I did not wind up having any sort of beef epiphany.

While Eddie's dish didn't appeal to me, I figured from their feedback he was going to win.  And, of the top three, I think he's the one who will most enjoy the prize (the others would love the trip to Tuscany and appreciate the opportunity to learn from Mr. Carne, of course, but I think he's the only one of them as excited by the butchering lesson as by the trip).

Brandon's dish sounded the worst to me, and that he and Brian had easy cuts yet screwed them up while Sara was dealing with one of the two most difficult meant I was hoping she'd live to cook another day and he'd go home, but any of them would've well deserved the boot. 

This was just not a good showing from most of the cheftestants, and I think they - and the judges - are happy to have it behind them.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Bastet

[Deevee45]

Glad Eddie won tonight. He’s been consistently excellent, finishing in the top group the last four weeks. I know that Nick Elmi isn’t everyone’s,favorite but Eddie works with Nick in Philly. Nick’s restaurants are awesome...

[jaybird2]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I'd heard of a Hot Brown, I think on some other show rather than in real life, but wasn't sure what it was until they brought out the original.  It wouldn't be my first choice for a late-night indulgence, but I wouldn't turn it down if someone put it front of my drunk self.  I thought several of the cheftestants' take on it went too far away from the concept. 

I'm not much of a beef eater; I love a good rib-eye steak or hamburger, and very occasionally a loin/filet mignon, but other than that I don't cook with/eat much beef.  I hate flank steak and also hate both pot roast and corned beef, so I guess from their food facts chyron that means I hate round.  I think the only cut I hadn't heard of was the plate, and I wouldn't have any earthly idea what to do with the head, either.  So while it's not my favorite meat, I was very interested in what they'd do with the various cuts of beef.

But, goodness, I wasn't interested in most of the results.  The dueling tartares didn't look/sound good, but Adrienne made strip steak - a cut I don't much care for - look good (I wouldn't eat it without scraping off the blue cheese, but it was visually appealing and I think I'd quite like it without the cheese) and Justin did the same with flank steak (but with him, too, I didn't love the other ingredients).  Sara pretty well imploded with both the QF and EC, and Brian made my beloved ribeye look boring (and, wtf, boneless?!).  The chuck, shank, and brisket dishes didn't do much for me, either, and Eric's dish looked/sounded truly awful, so overall I did not wind up having any sort of beef epiphany.

While Eddie's dish didn't appeal to me, I figured from their feedback he was going to win.  And, of the top three, I think he's the one who will most enjoy the prize (the others would love the trip to Tuscany and appreciate the opportunity to learn from Mr. Carne, of course, but I think he's the only one of them as excited by the butchering lesson as by the trip).

Brandon's dish sounded the worst to me, and that he and Brian had easy cuts yet screwed them up while Sara was dealing with one of the two most difficult meant I was hoping she'd live to cook another day and he'd go home, but any of them would've well deserve the boot. 

This was just not a good showing from most of the cheftestants, and I think they - and the judges - are happy to have it behind them.

i've lived in kentucky and i always had the hot browns for lunch or dinner.  it's really heavy.  i also didn't like any of the interpretations.

[LennieBriscoe]

Well,  well,  well.  Finally "frou-frou" food got called out,  if in Italian. 

I for one am done with seeing an amuse-bouche presented as a main course. 

And xanthan gum?! That's known in the chef biz as "PYKAG."

[Straycat80]

I never heard of Hot Brown before this episode. Learn something new everyday.

I’m glad Eddie won. Finally a nod to Polish food. 

[jette]

I'm not sure how a room full of guests plus the judges were supposed to be fed large on-the-bone servings when most of the cheftestants were given what seemed to be a small amount of beef. Perhaps I need to rewatch...

[Ohiopirate02]

10 minutes ago, jette said:

I'm not sure how a room full of guests plus the judges were supposed to be fed large on-the-bone servings when most of the cheftestants were given what seemed to be a small amount of beef. Perhaps I need to rewatch...

Yeah, the parameters of the challenge did not allow for the chefs to make what the judges wanted.  This challenge would have worked better if they had more time and fewer diners.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved the Italian butcher and chef, he was wonderful, and added so much to the analysis.       I love that Eddie won, and will get to work with him in Tuscany.   The bottom three dishes sounded hideous, and I wish they would have dialed back the description of why they were so bad, because it was awful to listen to what the three bottom people did to that lovely beef.   

[whinewithwine]

Did I miss something?  What was the reward for winning the QF?

Really, Graham, a dress jacket over an undershirt?

Agree "Frou-frou" got called out.  Enough with tiny bites and micro crap.  This ain't Top Blais.

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, whinewithwine said:

Did I miss something?  What was the reward for winning the QF?

Immunity.

[avecsans]

So much eye rolling was done by me during this episode.  Eddie continues to bug. He tells his toddler that he’s going to “kiss the shit” out of him when he gets home? I guess I’m old, but who talks to a child like that? And when he started talking about having a spiritual experience watching the Italian butcher work? Come on. 

Sarah can leave asap.  A professional chef, and owner of beef cattle, puts that repulsive little turd on a plate and serves it?  They actually all showed what a mediocre group this is. I didn’t think anything looked good. And all Brian talks about is his part time butcher gig, and he hacked the crap out of that meat.

Not only are they mediocre, they’re pretty nasty, judging by the way they celebrated Brother’s elimination.

 I could never judge a quickfire, because it would gross me out too much to have to eat off the same plate as someone else.

[BusyOctober]

I will have to rewatch because when I heard they were butchering a whole cow, I assumed the chefs would kick ass and serve up perfectly cooked steaks or short ribs or even an over the top hamburger.  WTF happened??? Tartare?? Beef mousse?? Sad-ass sausage??  Was there a rule that they couldn’t grill a steak? Or that they must turn a beautiful cut of beef into something vile and as visually unappealing as possible? 

“Liquified tongue” is a phrase that should never ever ever be said aloud again.

[hendersonrocks]

I really like Eddie and am happy he won (and with it maybe one of the better prizes in Top Chef history). Brian and Sara need to get their shit together, stat, and I would truly Venmo David $10 to stop wearing his hat crooked.

I thought the comments last week about the chefs being bullies to Brother were overblown, but they did not exactly put their best feet forward in the first few minutes of this episode.

[buttersister]

Here’s your limited amount of beef to feed a group of (how many?) people—how dare you make small portions! If that’s true—hard to tell—this was either a setup or a total about face on the kind of food cheftestants have been making for years. Or, nobody’s paying that much attention.

This group has a lot of big talkers—small deliverers. Things should improve in several weeks. For now, I’ll settle for seeing Nancy Silverton, the Italian butcher asking, where’s the beef? and the last of Brandon.

[Yeah No]

I almost had deja vu over this episode.  I seem to remember another season (don't remember which) where the chefs disappointed the judges, who wanted big ginormous homestyle entrees, not dainty appetizer portions.  And Tom gave them the obligatory scolding over it, too.  So the judges wanted Flintstone sized brontosaurus steaks, but the chefs were sabotaged in giving them that by not being given enough time to do it.  I heard one of the chefs say that he did the best he could "in the time allotted".   Way to go, show, in giving them impossible challenges and then letting the judges blame them for the inevitable bad results.

[The Solution]

Hot Brown appears to be something I would never in a million years eat.

I was glad to see Eddie win this challenge and that prize. His was one of the very few dishes that appeared appetizing. Adrienne was no slouch either.

However, I disagree with Brandon's elimination. While his dish didn't exactly appear to be appetizing, at least he took a risk and made something interesting. Sara's dish was just plain ass and really didn't show any effort either. Coupled with her horrible performance in the QF, she really should have been the one eliminated.

[xaxat]

Dario's maniacal smile when he was sharpening his cleaver was like something out of a horror movie.

Padma's hair was gorgeous tonight. Made up for that wig last week.

They really should have paired the contestants with similar cuts and made it a head to head competition. I think one of the tastings was flank vs head and head meat is so much harder to use.

Nice editing at the judge's table showing Brian's (who always reminds us he is a butcher) reaction to Eddie's prize.

As soon as Brandon said he was adding xantham gum to his tartare I knew he was going home.

I noticed that the Top Chef kitchen has Anova sous vide cookers. Have they ever been given enough time to actually use them? I love mine and while they didn't do tonight's elimination in the TC kitchen, I would be really interested in how the chefs would have approached this challenge given time and a sous vide cooker.

[Souris]

The second Brandon said he used xanthan gum, I knew he was a goner.

Good point about the amount of meat they were given vs. the number of people they had to feed. But still, so many of the dishes just sounded and looked underwhelming.

I found it kind of odd the amount of people who used berries with their beef. I don't think of those things as going together at all.

[biakbiak]

I want to know how Justin got his egg to look like that in the QF! I imagine he cut off the white but I want to know how he got the yolk to look flat! It looked so beautiful.

Edited January 18, 2019 by biakbiak

[Yeah No]

Is it me or have a disproportionate number of young people on reality shows (especially cooking competitions) lost a parent at a relatively young age?  It was mentioned about two of them in this episode.  The more I watch these shows the more that seems to be the case.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Yeah No

[jcbrown]

1 hour ago, Souris said:

 

I found it kind of odd the amount of people who used berries with their beef. I don't think of those things as going together at all.

OT but I’ve made a Marc Forgione recipe a couple of times that includes a red wine/ port/ veal stock reduction with blueberries and bleu cheese over steak and, though it takes a couple of hours, it is fantastic!

[IDreamofJoaquin]

Aww Brandon!!!  Couldn't you measure??

[Ellee]

Lol yes I have a bit of a soft spot for Eddie. Glad he won this week. 

As always .... question.  Brian was again less than successful this week.  There is something about him that makes me want him to succeed too.  Was Brian’s RW win due more to Eddie’s execution or truly due to Brian?  Would Brian’s manual have tipped the scales in his favor?  

Yeah ... I don’t know what I’m trying to say either.  :D  

How would those of you in the know rank these cheftestants?  I’m clueless on the skill levels and actual wow factors when it comes to the competition and root for my ‘soft spots’. Lol ... Adrienne is growing on me too I think.  Usually by now I have a clear favorite. Don’t think I can say that yet this year.  

[LennieBriscoe]

I don't know; are we sure about the amount of beef each contestant was initially given? Could they have had more and chose none? I ask because, for example, Sara made quite a few sausages, but after slicing them up, she served what, one slice per judge? 

But most important were the decisions as to specific dishes. Tartares? Sausage? They are not why a world-class butcher was invited. Frankly, I'm surprised Eddie won for a variation of halupki (never mind the show's usual gimmick of Aufing those shown telling their kids how much they are missed).

As for a "Hot Brown": Never heard of it. My late-night after-show go-to is pizza, hot, cold, yesterday's, whatever!

Edited January 18, 2019 by LennieBriscoe

[jmcd44]

I don’t hate Sara but I snorted when she brought up the empty plate & Lena was kind but Padma just goes “Well SHE can’t win.” I listen to the Watch What Crappens podcast & I hope they talk about that in their Padma impersonation. 

I’ve had a Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel & it’s awesone. But I only had about a third of it (and it was later in the afternoon so I was hungry). It is so rich. But I also managed to order Derby Pie afterwards. I went back to my hotel & took a nap. 

[jette]

Upon further reflection, I'm wondering why the judges were surprised that they were served frou frou beef dishes.  After all, this group of cheftestants took the lump of food that is a Kentucky hot brown and made it quite small and refined. 

I too would never touch a hot brown sandwich. I'm from NOLA, give me a poboy made with some awesome Leidenheimer or Gambino bread. I am all about the crunch!

[cameron]

Actually had the Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel for breakfast.  The Seelbach Hotel which was featured on last weeks also serves it at breakfast time.  It was quite good.  Didn't finish  it though as it is quite a lot of food.  But had to try it.

[Empress1]

On 1/14/2019 at 7:43 PM, biakbiak said:

The episode of Master of None which she won an Emmy for writing and acted in is such a personal yet universal story of familial acceptance everyone should watch it.

That is one of the best episodes of television ever, and I bet $5 that it's given many people the courage to tell their parents something they fear will disappoint them. It's so, so good. I love Lena Waithe.

9 hours ago, xaxat said:

Padma's hair was gorgeous tonight. Made up for that wig last week.

I agree. Loved the soft curls.

When someone said that Sarah's sausage was half casing I was so repulsed. I was watching her making it just thinking, "That looks ... gross." 

[theajw]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

Actually had the Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel for breakfast.  The Seelbach Hotel which was featured on last weeks also serves it at breakfast time.  It was quite good.  Didn't finish  it though as it is quite a lot of food.  But had to try it.

I stayed at the Brown Hotel when I was presenting a paper at a conference there.  Ate in the hotel restaurant every morning--after walking to the Seelbach beforehand for my Starbucks--but never tried the Hot Brown.  Logical reason: I hate turkey.  :D  I also don't eat a lot of beef, except for hamburgers, so neither challenge did anything for me.

Our group also ate at Edward Lee's Milkwood, which was amazing.  I wonder if he'll make an appearance this season?  

Edited January 18, 2019 by theajw

[AriAu]

Is this the weakest group of chefs in awhile...since ....California or DC? None of these cheftestants have consistently turned out special/creative/even interesting dishes that show them to be beasts in the kitchen or even a real force that other chefs seem to realize they have to contend with. Just mediocre across the board. Maybe they have all watched too many past episodes and seasons and think the challenges are more than they seem to be, but at the end they have to turn out good, creative dishes in the time allowed. . They had to cook meat and they all over thought it and over did it on some level...there was no real winner, just 3 people who made the least weak dishes!

At this point, we have no idea who are the favorites for the finale, and usually at this point people start to stand out. I guess Eddie has been consistently in the top the last few episodes, but his food is strong, but hardly the thing of past winners or even the leaders in the clubhouse form prior years. Plus, I cant believe he survived after the cell phone conversation KOD at the start.

Oh and anyone who did not come with a strong idea of what to do with a Hot Brown was just too dumb to be Top Chef!

Edited January 18, 2019 by AriAu

[BusyOctober]

24 minutes ago, AriAu said:

Oh and anyone who did not come with a strong idea of what to do with a Hot Brown was just too dumb to be Top Chef!

Exactly!  I'm pretty sure the contestants know which city they will be competing in, so why wouldn't you brush up on the local cuisine?  Search out popular local chefs & restaurants... At least Google some regional "classics"? 

It's like going on "Survivor" without knowing something about how to start a fire.

[WendyM]

When I saw "Hot Brown" in the episode description, my mind immediately went to Better Call Saul and one of Jimmy's pranks. (Sorry!)

If they wanted "real" dishes, they should have made the competition about serving that table of judges, not the entire restaurant! Geez. That being said, yes Sara (Sarah?), you should have made a meat loaf. Xanthan gum in food is never good---have you never watched the show, Brandon? It's right up there with truffle oil, I think. As for Brian, I don't get his deal. Was the RW win a fluke?

I'm so happy for Eddie because indeed, it's the prize I would covet the most. I dream of Tuscany regularly. And I love his "exuberant" face, lol. I've even put aside my dislike for his boss. I'd like Eddie to win the whole thing, fair and square. (Unlike his boss did, ha.)

Dario was so great and said so many important things about animals and meat. And Nancy Silverton's episode of Chef's Table is one of my all-time favorites.

[politichick]

12 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I will have to rewatch because when I heard they were butchering a whole cow, I assumed the chefs would kick ass and serve up perfectly cooked steaks or short ribs or even an over the top hamburger.  WTF happened??? Tartare?? Beef mousse?? Sad-ass sausage??  Was there a rule that they couldn’t grill a steak? Or that they must turn a beautiful cut of beef into something vile and as visually unappealing as possible? 

“Liquified tongue” is a phrase that should never ever ever be said aloud again.

Yeah, they didn't get enough meat to work with, but an over-the-top burger would have been fantabulous and the judges would have loved it. My mouth's watering just thinking about it!

[AnnA]

Except for Eddie's win, last night's episode was a huge disappointment.  I was totally unimpressed with all of it......from  Lena Waithe's appearance to the dishes the chefs created.   

ETA:   Speaking of Lena, who goes on a national TV show featuring sophisticated cuisine dressed like a teenage boy in a school yard?

Edited January 18, 2019 by AnnA

[carrps]

I also only ever heard of the Hot Brown on that Bobby Flay show. It looked disgusting then, and it looks disgusting now. I never like those skillet breakfast/lunch things. They always put a ton of stuff into it with usually mediocre ingredients and make it too big hoping to impress with size.  And turning it into a Scotch Egg??? That was weird.

I was really happy for Eddie, but I yelled at him that it was Hungarian! I know, I know, it's in several Eastern European cuisines. I still remember going to Ohio for a reunion of my mom's family, and my grandmother had made several hundred of them. Yum.

I was thinking the xanthan gum was the kiss of death, but Sara and Brian are such sad sacks and really haven't made anything appealing to me I thought one of them might go. Sara's mouth is making promises her chef's knife can't keep.

I keep looking at Kelsey, and I do not see 29. I think it's her old lady make-up. She looks like she's going to play bridge with her lady friends. The hair skews a little old, too. I want to do a makeover for her!

[JTMacc99]

Given the comments from the judges and the number of plates we saw them preparing, there is virtually no shot the chefs were limited to just the meat from the cow they broke down. (That’s my behind the scenes brain talking. Tom is a producer, when he asked if Brian’s meat was on the bone and asked why he didn’t serve it that way, he had to know that was actually possible. He’s not stupid or uninformed.)

And if I’m right about that, the whole lot of them are tone deaf. When you’ve got a guy excitedly chanting Carne! at you, you should consider that a HINT. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by JTMacc99

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

ETA:   Speaking of Lena, who goes on a national TV show featuring sophisticated cuisine dressed like a teenage boy in a school yard?

An adult who dresses the way THEY want to dress and DGAF about how other people/societal norms think they should dress? I think she looked great, and totally Top Chef quickfire appropriate - Padma and others wear casual clothes all the time to judge QFs, and I don't see how Lena's outfit is any different.

I also just generally love her style (especially her outfit at last year's Met Gala, when she wore a rainbow cape and a suit for the theme "Fashion and the Catholic Imagination").

[Lovecat]

I cannot hear the words “beef tongue” without recalling this, perhaps the best Top Chef moment of all time!

[Empress1]

9 minutes ago, hendersonrocks said:

An adult who dresses the way THEY want to dress and DGAF about how other people/societal norms think they should dress? I think she looked great, and totally Top Chef quickfire appropriate - Padma and others wear casual clothes all the time to judge QFs, and I don't see how Lena's outfit is any different.

I also just generally love her style (especially her outfit at last year's Met Gala, when she wore a rainbow cape and a suit for the theme "Fashion and the Catholic Imagination").

I totally agree. That's Lena's aesthetic. She wouldn't go on there in evening wear because it's not that kind of show (Padma has worn jeans in the Quickfire kitchen plenty of times), and that's what her casual clothes look like.

33 minutes ago, carrps said:

I keep looking at Kelsey, and I do not see 29. I think it's her old lady make-up. She looks like she's going to play bridge with her lady friends. The hair skews a little old, too. I want to do a makeover for her!

I said last week that she comes across as older to me too. I think part of it is her voice.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Anyone who came on this show to compete, and didn't have a Hot Brown recipe, and couple of desserts, and practices up on fast knife skills, is probably going home.  

[AnnA]

4 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

An adult who dresses the way THEY want to dress and DGAF about how other people/societal norms think they should dress? I think she looked great, and totally Top Chef quickfire appropriate - Padma and others wear casual clothes all the time to judge QFs, and I don't see how Lena's outfit is any different.

 

 

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I totally agree. That's Lena's aesthetic. She wouldn't go on there in evening wear because it's not that kind of show (Padma has worn jeans in the Quickfire kitchen plenty of times), and that's what her casual clothes look like.

 

Yes.   Lena is an adult and has every right to wear whatever she wants to wear.

I did not say or insinuate that she should have worn evening wear.

Padma does dress casually and has worn jeans on Top Chef.   However, unlike Lena she always does it with style.

I have a right to my opinion and I thought Lena looked ridiculous.

Edited January 18, 2019 by AnnA

[cameron]

48 minutes ago, carrps said:

I also only ever heard of the Hot Brown on that Bobby Flay show. It looked disgusting then, and it looks disgusting now. I never like those skillet breakfast/lunch things. They always put a ton of stuff into it with usually mediocre ingredients and make it too big hoping to impress with size.  And turning it into a Scotch Egg??? That was weird.

I was really happy for Eddie, but I yelled at him that it was Hungarian! I know, I know, it's in several Eastern European cuisines. I still remember going to Ohio for a reunion of my mom's family, and my grandmother had made several hundred of them. Yum.

I was thinking the xanthan gum was the kiss of death, but Sara and Brian are such sad sacks and really haven't made anything appealing to me I thought one of them might go. Sara's mouth is making promises her chef's knife can't keep.

I keep looking at Kelsey, and I do not see 29. I think it's her old lady make-up. She looks like she's going to play bridge with her lady friends. The hair skews a little old, too. I want to do a makeover for her!

Actually, they are quite good.  Think of a croque monsieur with bacon.

[carrps]

6 minutes ago, cameron said:

Actually, they are quite good.  Think of a croque monsieur with bacon.

But it, then, has whole lot of crap piled on top. Heh, maybe I just don't get gargantuan food!