The Next Iron Chef (part 5)

Double elimination day. The chefs first challenge was to make a vegetarian Indian dish. The first 30 minute challenge in my opinion looked pretty close, but there's not taste-o-vision yet.

OK 50% is not bad. Amanda made it through but Nate Appleman got cut. I must admit Amanda's plating was very unique. I did not see Jose Garces getting cut though. Chef Mullen was sweating bullets when he was down to the last two contestants standing to get a ticket for the next challenge.

It looks like the next challenge will take place in Tokyo, Japan. wish I could go

The Next Iron Chef (part 4)

This weeks challenge is 2 dishes with a Mexican twist, one sweet one savory with Tamarind seasoning. the exciting part of this challenge was the shopping done at the outside market. To see the chefs running around in chaos shopping is pure enjoyment itself. Almost at the end of the challenge the chairman threw in a drink to be made. It really cam down to the wire on this one.

TIME FOR JUDGING
Chef Dominque Crenn ~ dishes were not good, one was not done inside, drink was bad ~ if I had to pick right now she's going to be voted off
Chef Nate Appleman ~ the judges seemed to like his dishes, but his drink did not win them over
Chef Amanda Freitag~ they liked here shrimp dish, but she shopped poorly, dessert presentation was poor
Chef Jahengir Metha ~ liked his dishes, amazing that FINALLY this time he got the ice cream machine to work
Chef Jose Garces ~ in his element when it came to this challenge, he dishes seem to be pleaseing to the judges
Chef Seamus Mullen ~ market style, like street fair style food kind of won over the judges other than the mango
Chef Roberto Trevino ~ defiantly in his element when it came to this challenge, the judges really seemed to like his dishes and beverages




Jehangir Metha: won the Mexican challenge
Nate Appleman: survived to cook another day
Jose Garces: survived to cook another day
Seamus Mullen: survived to cook another day
Roberto Trevino: survived to cook another day
So it came down to Amanda and Dominque: Amanda lived to cook another day ONLY because of her dessert. Guess I read the judges right, Chef Crenn is now history.

the sneak peek for next Sunday said DOUBLE ELIMINATION. Here is my guess for next weeks double elimination: chefs Amanda Freitag and Nate Appleman

The Next Iron Chef (part 3)

This week on The Next Iron Chef the theme was Innovation. Each chef was assigned to learn about one of four Traditional Asian cuisines. Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Korean at each location they will have 10 minutes to study that dish to recreate it. Chef Mullen won last weeks challenge so he got to pick his partner and also pair up the other 6 remaining chefs on teams.
Out of these teams one of each pair will end up with an advantage.

On their way to the restaurant chef Mullen says, "we are on our way to Seoul" and as serious as possible chef Appleman says, "I thought we were going to Korea", WOW. Once they get to their restaurant locations they get to taste the dish they have to recreate. Then they start their time test of 10 minutes. Whoever creates the best replicated dish wins the timed battle. Amanda Frietag wins the Green Curry challenge over chef Jehangir Mehta. Pho beef soup winner was chef Dominique Crenn over chef Jose Garces, Nate Appleman wins Korea battle over chef Seamus Mullen, Chinese dumpling winner was Roberto Trevino over Brad Farmerie.

This weeks challenge of Innovation is to take the traditional dish they just created and make it American. The winners of the 10 minute test gets a 5 minute head start in the food network kitchen for the elimination cook-off. Five minutes to us is nothing but in a timed challenge it's huge.

As always there is equipment failure that adds a little twist and frustration. The meat grinder gets clogged, the deep fryers are not hot, ice cream machine not freezing. You would think after two weeks of the same failures that you might want to start the fryers before you need them. equipment prep is just as important as food prep.

This week there were not too many negative comments about the dishes from all the chefs. I must admit chef Mehta's presentation was creative. Serving his dish as "take-out" food was a good move. The judges really liked Trevinnos meatloaf dumplings, but the winner of this weeks challenge was chef Seamus Mullen's Korean spiced Reuben. The front runners this week were Seamus Mullen, Amanda Freitag, and Nate Appleton.

I would be lying if I said that I was shocked that chef Crenn was in the bottom 2. Each week the judges have struggled with her dishes. Now I am surprised that my top pick at the beginning of the show Adam was in the bottom 2. When the verdict was handed down Adam was sent home.