Top Chef 3: An Upscale Barbecue

First was the Quick Fire Challenge:

The guest judge for this challenge was Chef Norman Van Aken. The challenge was for the chefs to create a dish using Florida citrus. They were given 30 minutes to prepare their dishes and these are some of the dishes that resulted:

• CJ: Pan seared Sea Perch, Carrots, Raddichio, Oranges & Hazelnuts
• Casey: Play on S’mores With Vanilla/Tequila Cream, Blood Orange & Key Lime
• Sandee: Trio of Citrus; Key Lime Mojito, Grapefruit Brulee With Shrimp, Sea Bass
• Micah: Spicy Avocado Citus Soup With Carmelized Red Grapefruit
• Lia: Crab Salad With Sourdough Croutons & Grapefruit Vinaigrette
• Dale: Citrus Salad With Watercress, Endive, Fennel, Lemon Poppy Seed and Goat Cheese
• Sara N.: Blood Orange & Tangelo Citrus Salad With Shrimp Honey Tangerine Vinaigrette
• Hung: Slow Roasted Sea Bass Citrus Crumble Watercress and Radish Salad
• Tre: Raw King Salmon with Macadamia Nut Pesto & Coriander Seared Salmon and Fuji Apple Salad
• Howie: Vanilla Butter Poached Lobster Tail And Citrus Salad
• Brian: Alaskan Halibut With Blood Orange & Pomegranate Molasses
• Joey: Fennel Salad With Blood Oranges, Watermelon & Grand Marnier Shooter

The losing dishes were from Sara N., Micah and Sandee. The top 3 favorites were from CJ, Hung and Tre. The challenge winner was Hung. (Again, Tre and Hung are the real contenders! I think they may be the ones to watch!)

Hung now had immunity from elimination.

Then came the Elimination Challenge:

The chefs were told they would be cooking at an ultra-glamorous champagne barbecue. They needed to make high end food for the crowd at an elite barbecue event. They would get $200 and 30 minutes to shop and 2 hours of prep time the night before. The next day, they would have two hours to cook at the party location.

Micah was having a tough time in the competition because she A) is not a morning person, B) does not like living with 13 strangers and C) missed her daughter terribly. I can understand her feelings, but think that perhaps she should have considered all of that when deciding to apply for the show…

Sara N. seems to suffer a lot from low self esteem. She wasn’t confident at all in the Quick Fire Challenge, and then she was nervous and not confident again in the Elimination challenge. I’ve never known a successful chef without a lot of self confidence. She may be an early eliminee this season, unless she gets her act together.

Here are the dishes that the chefs prepared:

• Camille: Grilled Swordfish With Chorizo & Artichoke Potato Salad
• Micah: Lamb With Grilled Halloumi & Pomegranate Sauce
• Lia: Lettuce Wrap With Grilled Shrimp & Couscous Salad
• Casey: Strip Steak, Polenta, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp With Potato Salad
• CJ: New York Steak With Salt Baked Pineapple, Lentil Puree & Dirty Rice
• Sara N.: Vietnamese BBQ With Pine Nuts, Radish & Cucumber Salad
• Brian: Scallops Shrimp & Sea Bass Sausage With Ginger Slaw & Chili Glaze
• Tre: Peach BBQ Glazed Salmon With Crab Avocado Salad
• Sandee: Vanilla Poached Lobster Pancetta Wrapped Date and Black Truffle Slaw
• Howie: Jamaican Jerk Pork, Mango Slaw With Citrus Vinaigrette
• Joey: Korean BBQ Chicken With Charred Corn, Tofu & Bean Sprout Salad
• Hung: Flank Steak With Grilled Corn Salad & Bagel Chips

After the event was over, the chefs cleaned up and headed back to the Top Chef judges’ table for the judging.

The judges liked Hung’s dish and said that it was great, even though it was very simple.

Tre disappointed the judges this time becasue he didn’t have any acid to cut through all the fat in his dish. And they said it was too salty.

Sandee’s dish was the least favorite of some of the judges becasue they said it wasn’t really barbecue.

Padma loved Brian’s seafood sausage and Sara N.’s lettuce wrap. Chef Colicchio agreed that Sara N.’s dish was very good.

All the judges like Micah’s dish a lot too. They said it was a great combination of tastes.

Padma first asked Micah, Brian and Sara N. to come before the judges. They were the top three dishes in the BBQ. The judges chose Brian as the winner of the challenge.

Then they asked to see Sandee, Howie, Tre and Joey. They were the least favorite of the chefs in this challenge. They decided to eliminate Sandee.

It’s shows like this one that make me wish we could taste the dishes!

Do you agree with the decision to send home Sandee? Who do you think looks like the strongest chef so far this season? Who do you think is the weakest? Leave a comment to let us know!

Be sure to check out what Head Judge Chef Tom Colicchio has to say about this episode on his blog.

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_{Photos from Bravo.com}