Last week’s restaurant wars is over and we are down to 7 chefs in the kitchen. I think the morale of our chefs is down and we’re going to see more of that this week. Leah and Hosea are realizing that thier little “fun” last week can’t ever happen again. The stakes keep going higher and higher.

It’s a new week so let’s watch as the chefs enter the kitchen for the Quickfire Challenge!

Standing with Padma is Scott Conant (I think he’s super cute), Chef and Owner of Scarpetta Restaurant in New York which was recently awarded Three Stars from the New York Times.

As we all know, the Super Bowl is just around the corner. I’m sure in offices all across America game squares are being picked and bets are being placed. So this year they have a little bit of a game of their own. On a board are 14 ingredients, 7 across and 7 down – those ingredients are covered up. The chefs have to fill in a square in the grid and that will determine what two ingredients that have to pair for their quickfire challenge.  

Jamie – Fruits
Leah – Seafood
Stefan – Dairy
Fabio – Vegetables and Oats
Carla – Nuts & Grains
Hosea – Meat 
Jeff – Poultry

So what are the pairings? Padmas pulls the first tab at the top and Fabio’s pairing is Vegetables and Oats. Next up is Stefan…Dairy and OATS! She starts to pull off the rest and they are all OATS. This Quickfire challenge is sponsored by Quaker! So the challenge is to create an original dish pairing Whole Grain Oats with the food group that they drew. There is no immunity – but there will be a useful advantage in the elimination round. They have 45 minutes to come up with their dish. 

They all go rushing off to their stations! Jeff is banging away in one station while we have Jamie rolling shrimp in oats (what no scallops?). Carla seems calm and confident. I think this may be her week to win a Quickfire! Fabio is doing something strange with eggplant and Leah is picking out pin bones out of fish, AGAIN!

-Banana Mousse with Quaker Oast & Oat-Almond Petit Four
- Oat-Crusted Eggplant with Corn & Parmesan Salad
- Pecan & Oat-Crusted Tofu with an Oatmeal and Lentil Salad 
- Coconut & Oat-Crusted Shrimp, Nectarine Salsa and Avacado Créme Fraiche 
- Oat-Crusted Wiener Schnitzel with Warm POtato Salad & Mustard Sauce
 - Oat-Crusted Branzino & Mussels with Escarole and Bacon
 - Oat-Crusted Chicken Paillard, Grits & Fried Zucchini

So who didn’t Scott like? First up, Leah. He felt the bacon really clashed with the fish and the fish was overcooked (compensating for the undercooked fish from last week). He also didn’t like Fabio. He also didn’t like Jeff’s chicken. He really liked Carla! Yea!! He also loved Jamie’s well-cooked shrimp and Stefan’s flavor combos.

So who wins?? Scott picks Stefan! Again!?!? Yes, he’s good, but come on! Stefan doesn’t get immunity in the next challenge, which Padma is about to announce. She asks the team to go to the “stew” room and look for the presents. They get back there and there are “chef jacket jerseys” with their name and a big “5″ on the back. They come back into the kitchen and there are NFL helmets everwhere. Padma says that they have some people to meet! Crashing thru a huge paper wall are former Top Chef contestants.

Andrew – Season 4 (one of my Favorites! Give me a culinary boner dude!)
Josie – Season 2 (Team Rainbow and one of my people)
Andrea – Season 1 
Spike – Season 4 (Hat for all occassions)
Camille – Season 3
Nikki – Season 4 (Human Pasta Maker)
Miguel – Season 1 (sssssssss…..)

This is awesome! Each chef from Season 5 will compete head to head with a chef from a previous season. The challenge, to cook regional cuisine of an NFL team. Our teams are:

Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks, NY Giants, SF 49ers, New Orlean Saints. 

Stefan gets first choice on an NFL team and who he get’s to pick who his competition will be. He picks the Dallas Cowboys and picks Andrea from Season 1. I think he made a good choice. If I remember correctly, Andrea is into vegetarian and organic foods. With his choice of Dallas, I think the regional cuisine will center around BBQ and Ribs! THen both teams huddle and dole out teams amoungst themselves.

Jeff – Miami Dolphins (he is from Miami) and his challenger is Josie
Fabio – Green Bay Packers and Spike
Hosea – Seattle Seahawks and Miguel
Leah – New York Giants and Nikki
Jamie – SF 49ers and Camille
Carla – New Orleans Saints and Andrew (This is unbelievable!!! My two faves competing!)

This challenge will take place at the Insitute of Culinary Education (ICE) where they will be in front of an audience of enthusiastic culinary students!  Each team will have 20 minutes to create a regional dish of their team head-to-head. 20 minutes?!?!? Really?

Today they have two hours to review their ingredients and to come up with a dish. Each NFL team has ingredients that are from their areas. So they each start going thru their coolers and bags of groceries. Any Season 5 chef who loses in their head-to-head will be up for elimination at the end of the day. They arrive at ICE the next morning and in the audience with the students are the Season 5 chefs who have already been eliminated! It’s so nice to see Richard! :)

Here are the rules:

Two chefs cook per round

Judges’ vote scores a Touchdown (7 points)

Fan Tasters’ vote scores a Field Goal (3 points)

 All the food used must be uncooked and the final dish must be completed in 20 minutes.

Round 1: New York Giants (Leah vs. Nikki)
Nikki made Chicken Livers with Onions & Goat Cheese on Challah. What?? Chicken Livers? Come on Nikki…and what is with the presentation? (Note to producers, it was a bit much that you had to use NFL branded plates) 

Leah made a NY Strip Steak with Creamed Corn, Snap Peas & Arugula Salad.

SCORE: Home Team: 7 points  All-Stars:  3 points 

(Note, this scoring system sucks… it’s a majority win of the judges and students. How lame)

Round 2: Seattle Seahawks (Hosea vs. Miguel)
Miguel did a Cedar Plank Salmon with Noodles & Mushrooms. He talked thru this dish like he was teaching a class, it was kinda distracting, but kewl at the same time. The first team was so quiet. There was some banter going on between Hosea and Miguel.

Hosea did a Crispy Salmon Roll with a Giner-Blackberry Sauce. This was a little fun. Its a rare salmon wrapped in an eggroll wrapper, deep fried quickly then sliced on the bias. Dip in the sauce and you’re good to go. Perfect for a game-time party! 

SCORE: Home Team: 10 points   All-Stars: 0 points [Home: 17  All-Stars: 3]

Round 3: New Orlean Saints (Carla vs. Andrew)
Andrew is talkin it up with the crowd . He made a Crayfish Crudo with a Spicy Lime Vinaigrette. 

Carla meanwhile has made a Crawfish and Andouille Gumbo over Stone-Ground Grits.

SCORE: Home Team: 7 points All-Stars: 3 points  [Home: 24  All-Stars: 6]

Round 4: Dallas Cowboys (Stefan vs. Andrea)
Andrea has made a Tex-Mex Chili with Fried Corn Chips & Guacamole Coleslaw. This dish is a bit spicy she says, just like how she likes her men apparently!

Stefan comes back with Roasted Pork with Coleslaw and NY Steak with Corn Salad. I think Stefan clearly has this one.

SCORE: Home Team: 0 points All-Stars: 10 points  [Home: 24  All-Stars: 16] No way… I can’t believe this!

Round 5: SF 49ers (Jamie vs. Camille)
[Note: Toby looks soooo bored...]
Camille has done a Miso Sweet Potato Mash with Mustard Crab Meat & Salad. 

Jamie counters with a Crab Cioppino with Olives, Basil & Toasted Sourdough.

SCORE: Home Team: 10 points All-Stars: 0 points  [Home: 34  All-Stars: 16]

Round 6: Miami Dolphins (Jeff vs. Josie)
Josie made a Warm Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Papaya. Presentation is a bit messy, but does it taste good?

Jeff also made a ceviche. Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Sangria Sorbet. 

SCORE: Home Team: 0 points All-Stars: 10 points  [Home: 34  All-Stars: 26]

Round 7: Green Bay Packers (Fabio vs. Spike)
Spike made a Five-Spice Vienison with Port Reduction & Micro Herb Salad.

Fabio’s dish is Venison with Mustard Sauce & Mache Salad with Cheddar.

SCORE: Home Team: 3 points All-Stars: 7 points  [Home: 37  All-Stars: 33]

So there we have it… the Home Teams wins the Challenge by 4 points!!! 4 points! Unfortunately, we did have some losers. Jeff Fabioa nd Stefan are up for elimination. Who will go home.

But before we talk about who is going home…who is the winner of this challenge?? Jamie, Carla, Hosea and Leah are in front of the judges. Toby said he tasted the LOVE this time in Carla’s dish. Tom also enjoyed the dish. With Hosea, Tom complimented the idea of rare salmon in a fried eggroll. Scott likes to watch how Jamie cooks and liked the flavors in her dish. All the judges loved Leah’s simple approach.

So Padma says that Scott get’s to make the decision on who the winner is. I think it will be Carla! Do you???

CARLA WON!!!!!! OMG!!!!!

I am jumping up and down! This is so awesome!!! Carla won two tickets to the Superbowl!!

Meanwhile, Carla sends the boys to the table.

Fabio starts off really defensive. At one point, Scott stops him in mid sentence and tells him to calm down, he is the judge and Fabio isn’t. This is Stefans first time at judges’ table up for elimination. What it came down to for the chefs is that Stefan’s dish was uninspired. They felt is lacked flavor. Jeff was feeling pretty beat down. He did too much and he knew it. His dish lacked flavor and that was the point of all four judges. 

The judges talked and talked. It was hinted that Jeff’s ceviche was the one they really had a problem with.  So it comes down to this. Our chef that is going home tonite is Jeff. 

Jeff, if I ever come to Miami, I’ll eat at your place, maybe…