I love that the fabulous Kentucky home they are staying at has several garden plots and each chef gets to do some gardening! I’d love to have beds prepared and all the seeds and starter plants laid out for me to choose from! I need to live in this house! It also has a beautiful greenhouse. Why can’t this be the old ladies commune we used to talk about?
It is time to get down to cooking. The guest judge is Nilou Motamad. She’s the editor of Food & Wine and will be filling in for Gail Simmons who is very pregnant. She will probably be back toward the end of the season. She is due any day now. The quickfire is to make a dish to satisfy Gail’s cravings for red meat and spicy dishes. They will pick two dishes and Nilou will fly up to make them with Gail. This is ridiculous. Just have a seat Gail and come back after you’ve hatched.
Most everyone listened and did red meat and a spicy side. Our girl Kelsey did ham with strawberries and fried prosciutto. I’m worried. Pablo and Natalie were in the bottom. I think they were both vegan dishes. WTF? Ugh. David and Brandon won. I haven’t paid much attention to David but he is kind of adorable. Brandon, not so much. So let’s hope for a David win.
For the elimination, the chefs head out to the Maker’s Mark distillery for some bourbon and food. The distillery is amazing. I want to go there. I want to eat everything on this table including burgoo which is sort of a Kentucky gumbo type dish that must have at least four types of meats. It reminds me of Georgia’s Brunswick Stew that I make from time to time. It has to have three meats, usually pork, chicken and beef. There is also a bit of BBQ sauce component as well. Then there is every other southern dish know to man. Kelsey says burgoo is a lot like her Brunswick stew. Okay now, Alabama, don’t be claiming Brunswick Stew! I have the secret original recipe from the restaurant in Brunswick that made the stew famous. I think it was called the Pirate’s house. I don’t make it much because it is expensive to make and can only be made in large quantities. I did make hoe cakes today with some canned butter beans as my soup beans. I was having a hankering. But I did not cook them on a hoe. Everyone is getting wasted and then Padma walks up with a knife block. Time to pull knives for teams. They probably should not even be around knives right now.
The group is divided into two teams. Homegirl Sara is on the red team. Alabama Kelsey is on the black team. They have $1500 per team to shop at Whole Foods and prepare a meal for 48 people based on the local cuisine. The winning chef will win ten thousand dollars! One guy on the black team wants to do lamb. I don’t recall a lamb dish on the buffet and it is not particularly southern, mostly because lamb is pricey. I’m also a bit worried about Natalie doing a pie. She hasn’t been off to the best start and I want to keep her around.
On the red team, a guy also wants to do lamb. At least there he is getting some push back due to the cost of rack of lamb. He’s cocky and confident. I think this might be David the guy who I hope wins immunity over Brandon. Sara is trying to run the show and I am willing to let her until she busts out that she wants to do a VEGETARIAN BURGOO. I’m sorry honey. You are going home if you do that. It’s unclear what she is doing but she seems all over the place and I am feeling like she will go home or one of the lamb guys. The fact she said the words vegetarian burgoo gives me the creeps.
The lamb guy on the black team, Eddie, has $540 worth of lamb. For some reason they are more pressed about Natalie who just needs lemons for her lemon curd pie. Are you kidding me? Stretch the lamb. She can’t stretch her lemon curd you fucktards. Natalie is getting pushed around. Eddie knows if they lose it is totally his fault. The lamb kept his teammates from having the spices they needed for their dishes. Everyone is trying to poach Natalie’s lemons. Natalie is struggling mightily. Brandon is out of his element when it comes to southern cooking.
The red team is having trouble staying under budget too because of the damn lamb. If they would have just listened to me and NOT DONE A LAMB DISH which was the least southern dish on the table, this would not be happening. They are arguing over bananas instead of lamb. Really? The banana dish was also stupid. Can’t someone make biscuits and gravy or fried catfish? What is wrong with these people? Nini’s spoonbread with etouffee sauce sounds delicious. Oh Adrienne is doing catfish. Smart move, Adrienne. Why is Nini talking about making biscuits with butter?
The black team is first to feed the judges. Kelsey goes first with her fried catfish. I can’t keep up with it all. Kelsey’s catfish is a hit or so I thought. Later everyone is trashing it for being dry. Tom likes Eddie’s lamb and says it is the only thing on the table that is actually seasoned. That’s because he stole the seasoning budget from all of his teammates to pay for the fucking lamb. They are really bitching about this team. Nilou is coming out of the gate as a harsher judge than Tom. Should we not have some southern judges weigh in here? Both bearded dudes that I love got good reviews. Natalie’s lemon pie got trashed for not having enough acidity. That is because everyone pilfered her lemons!
The red team is up next and I have no idea what they are describing. Even Sara’s soup bean dish has no “soup” part to it. Everything is in a tiny upscale NYC serving. It doesn’t resemble Kentucky cuisine at all. I predict the judges will love this crap and they will win. And so far I am right. Even the Kentucky guys liked it.
At the judges table, David won immunity. YAY! The red team won and they raved about everything. Nini won with her spoonbread and etouffee sauce. She won $10K.
When the black team comes up Eddie tries to take the blame for the lack of seasoning. Tom tells Eddie he might have had the best dish with his lamb. Natalie and Pablo admit they weren’t able to get the ingredients they needed to perfect their dishes. Kelsey is also on the bottom. Brandon is on the bottom too! YAY! Maybe he will go! That would be great. The judges are not considering Kelsey. They are not thrilled with Brandon and Natalie.
Natalie was sent home. Eddie feels awful. Is he going to sacrifice himself? He seemed to feel really guilty, but he lets her go to Top Chef kitchen.
Next week we have Eric Ripert and Christmas! It doesn’t get any better than that!
Makers Mark is a fabulous distillery to visit, it is absolutely beautiful in that part of the state, beautiful rolling hills, farms, really stunning scenery. The prettiest actual distillery is Four Roses, which has Spanish style buildings, also in central Kentucky, with rolling hills and farms. So far, they are doing justice to my home state. But I agree, the chefs southern dishes didn’t end up so southern in most cases. I can’t wait for the rest of the season!
Soup beans are what they call great northern beans with country ham, I think it’s a Kentucky thing, my mom is from KY and used to make them all the time. When done properly they are so good. Sara’s looked good with cabbage and some other stuff in them.
Soup beans are pretty much any beans that have some sort of “bean gravy” for lack of a better term that makes them go well with cornbread/hoe cakes.Today’s soup beans were butter beans, but usually in this house they are blackeyed peas.
I’m a Kentucky girl all my life. I’m loving the audience is getting to see some of the pretty places in the state. I live very close and I’ve been to Markers Mark several times and it is a really special place. I would love if they also filmed at Shakertown fairly close to Markers Mark. That’s another special place that has a restaurant on the grounds using everything grown there. Served family style excellent Kentucky eats.
Bean soup in my neck or the woods was always either pinto or white beans cooked with a ham hock. Add cornbread and you had a meal fit for a king.
I do not recognize the house where they are staying. Has it been mentioned during the show the name or location of the home and I just missed it? Fabulous, beautiful would love to tour the house and grounds.
I read that the mansion was owned by some lumber baron? and it had been empty for 7 plus years, so the gal who was asked to prep the gardens (for the cast to do their planting) had to clean up 7 years worth of weeds and get some healthy soil in a very short amount of time with help from local farmers.
It sure is a beauty though.
Pot Liquor.
Pot liquor is the liquid from cooking greens and is delicious. I may have to pick some up when I run to the Publix here in a bit. And a ham hock.
No really. I am getting ready to go! Sigh. I’ve been “getting ready” for the past few hours by catching up on my emails.
I had forgotten about pot likker (granddad’s pronunciation). He also called buttermilk with cornbread crumbled in it a milkshake. I remember all the grandkids being so disappointed when he offered us a milkshake and it didn’t involve ice cream, chocolate syrup and milk. Was so disappointed I don’t think I ever even tried it. He also crumbled cornbread in his pot likker.
Shit. I knew I forgot something at Publix. I needed buttermilk for my cornbread! ARGH. I guess I’ll have hoe cakes with my greens tomorrow instead.
My mother did the cornbread in buttermilk thing too. It’s gross. buttermilk is for baking only.
You can make your own buttermilk by adding one teaspoon of either lemon juice OR white vinegar for every cup of milk. The acid will curdle the milk a little, use curds and all.
Absolutely. I never buy buttermilk. It even has the same effect in recipes when you use almond milk.
I only have half and half..
I still eat cornbread in my milk. Yum!
Just finished a pot of Brunswick Stew. It’s delicious but even after giving 2 quarts away, there was plenty left over.
The black team should have put their foot down about all that lamb. Lemons, oranges and herbs would have been about $20 of that $1500. Eddie can apologize all he wants, but he passively aggressively sabotaged his team’s dishes.
I totally agree. Eddie should have fallen on his sword and requested that he be sent home instead. Hope either Eddie or Sara go next. Sara is a know it all and wants to do it all. Enough of her!
Northern Kentucky has a regional dish of barbequed mutton. Guessing it was changed to lamb because Whole Foods does not carry mutton.
I don’t usually watch this show but I got a message last week from my husband’s cousin asking me to watch because her nephew was one of the contestants. I’m guessing she had no idea how he did on the show because so far I haven’t seen much from him that impresses me.
I might like this show better when there aren’t as many chefs in the kitchen and they are playing for their self. I was glad the girl that went home also didn’t have a good crust because it would have been too sad to see her go just because she didn’t have enough lemons.
Hold on there, Miss Georgia, we Virginians have a claim to that Brunswick Stew. I inadvertently had the real thing about 40 years ago. We were at the ex’s granddaddy’s farm and I was starving. His wife told me she had a pot of Brunswick Stew on the stove and to help myself. I dug into that bowl and started seeing bones I didn’t recognize. I looked at the ex and he burst out laughing. It was SQUIRREL!!!!! Eeeeeek!!!!! It was delicious.
Brunswick stew is from Brunswick GEORGIA. But you are allowed to enjoy it in Virginia too! My recipe doesn’t include squirrel. The thing is there are so many ingredients that you have to make enough for like 50 people.
TT, Wikipedia has a rumor has it type of thing that says it was created by a staff member of a Virginia legislator in 1828. But it is Wikipedia. We do have a Brunswick county here too. I prefer it without rodent as well, so the GA recipe would be preferable to me.
I, too, thought Eddie might fall on his sword. I seem to recall someone doing that in an earlier season.
Sorry I didn’t read all the posts before I replied to an earlier post, My reply was very similar to yours. Great minds…..
And the judges totally dissed him/her for that… if I’m not mistaken.
Thank you for recapping this TT. It’s so early in the season and I get flubgergusted just wanting to eat sooo much food from every episode I have a hard time picking favorites. I’m not happy with the man who spent a third of the team’s budget on a dish that isn’t a take on a local favorite.
I said it last week and I’ll say it again, that house is amazing! Now that we know about the garden set up? I’m really fricking jealous!
Sara grates on my nerves as well. Praying she goes next week.
Ok, going to share, don’t kill me everyone, but milk and saltines…yum, From my mom, it is really yummy!
i would have figured out a way to have a lemon or two end up in my pocket at Whole Foods
Once again, another female gets sent home and it wasn’t even her fault. I wish the judges would consider doing blind tastings so they wouldn’t be able to unconsciously descriminate.