Chopped All Stars 4/22/12 spoilers

[smartie]

agggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh Penny, she's still mean.

The baskets were kind of boring, meat and potatoes - nobody transformed them into anything else.

Bread pudding should be banned.

was rehashing the last NFNS contestants the best they could do? (who won last season I cannot remember)?

[TrishUntrapped]

I still want to see Scott Conant cook with a basket of fish, cheese and onions.

[DiningDiva]

:-). me too

[smartie]

and cheap dried pasta

[TrishUntrapped]

Yeah, and let's make this the dessert basket.

[Janet from Richmond]

LOL.....love it!!

[cellophane_star]

I would not eat anything that Vegas guy cooked... Talk about unappealing

[chicgail]

It's probably a good idea that you don't ever see most of the chefs who cook for you, cellophane.

[cellophane_star]

Possibly but since he was vying for a spot as a TV show host factors into my opinion of him (not to mention the food itself wasn't appealing either).

[DiningDiva]

Penny sure hasn't changed has she :-) Middle Eastern food isn't exactly mainstream in the U.S., so her food probably was interesting to the judges.

Pink pants? Chris wore pink chef pants (with a red jacket), someone needs to dress that boy...

[paulj]

I was struck more by the 'I'm still the better cook' comments of the guy who lost the entree.

These contestants were drawn from that season that produced the sandwich boy. Artie won the previous year - and competed last week.

The next week is titled 'judges shakeup' or something like that (on the Wiki chopped episodes page). Maybe the fans will finally get 'mean' Alex's head.

[DiningDiva]

While I'm interested in what Alex can do, I'm more interested in seeing Mark Murphy and Chris Santos cook.

We've seen Alex and Marcus on The Next Iron Chef, but I don't think we've seen Mark and Chris cook much on FTV. They're more an unknown for me.

And yeah, that "I'm still the better cook" guy was just a sore loser. His plate did not look better than the others and he was still rather stiff, wooden and not very appealing.

[KrumTx]

I'd like to see Mark and Chris as well.

[DGresh]

I actually didn't mind Penny as much this time. I definitely thought that her food seemed the most interesting (i.e. I'd most like eating). I thought her appetizer course was brilliant. I thought Justin acted like an ass on exit (though I kind of liked him on NFNS).

[chowser]

I thought what Justin said was accurate,--he is a far better chef but he was a sore loser. I didn't like Penny at all. She was so full of herself and how wonderful her flavors,taste, etc. were. I can't wait to see her up against real chefs. Does she really think she can compete on the lines of the Iron Chef,, since she said she wants to be the next one? I don't know why they bring back the losers of NFNS on this show to compete, other than to show they can't. Last time around, the winner of the NFNS lost in the first round and it didn't seem close. They did much better this time than last, though, when Lisa didn't plate anything but deviled eggs.

[DGresh]

I agree that she'll get blown away by any "real" chefs; I personally thought she did better than any of the impostors from last week's episode. Yes, Penny imagining herself as an Iron Chef is amusing. Thus far, I don't think Michael Symon has much to worry about.

[chowser]

I agree. I was impressed with Jeffrey but Michael Symon has nothing to worry about with either. In fact, I think all the Iron Chefs could beat any of these contestants--there is no comparison. And, I think the Iron Chef contestants are far better than the NFNS, although it's an unfair comparison. I'd love to throw Top Chef contestants into this mix.

[DGresh]

Or how about any of the people who have won the run-of-the-mill chopped shows? That might be a bit embarrassing though, since these are "all stars". I think most chopped champions would beat the FN "personalities".

[riversuzyq]

....Ohhhhh, you meant who won the NFNS last year!!! Duh! It was Artie Sequera (sic) <walks away shaking her head...” read the posts more carefully Suzy”.....>

[riversuzyq]

#3 on the bread pudding! I think it was Aaron Sanchez who won last season. That beautiful blue cornmeal should have been transformed into a dessert tamale filled with the chutney, bacon and apricot!

[coney with everything]

and while they're at it, no French toast/pain perdu...seriously

[paulj]

If bread is one of the key ingredients, then I can see doing bread pudding or french toast (with tough judging). But this case, one of the key ingredients was a flour. Pulling a brioche loaf off the shelf was a cop out. By the way, how did Vic used the blue corn flour?

[gonepoopin]

The cornmeal was mixed into the pudding part.

[chowser]

I'd think the opposite. If bread is one of the ingredients, the obvious thing is to do a bread pudding so it shouldn't be done since creativity is part of the scoring. It's like getting lettuce in the appetizer round and making a salad.

[paulj]

The judges have rather rigid ideas of what constitutes a dessert. I believe it was Amanda in particular who complains if it isn't sweet enough, or reminds them more of breakfast than dessert. There's a strong tension between playing to their expectations, and being creative. Cakes go over well, if they bake in time. Producers must like cakes, because they add drama - will they cook, will they come out of the pan, etc.

What would you like to see them do with bread?

[chowser]

It would depend on the bread but for $10,000 something more than an obvious bread pudding that any home cook could/would do. I'm not saying it's easy. But, it's part of the challenge. Start with caramelized bread crumbs:

http://www.giovannastrifles.com/2009/07/bread-crumbs.html

Toast/broil it and make a cracker like crust. Or use it like a streusel.

Warp it around something and fry it. Something like fried ice cream only there probably isn't ice cream. Fruit like bananas would work.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/deep-fried-ice-cream-recipe/index.html

http://www.kingshawaiian.com/recipes/desserts/FriedIceCream

Like an el bananarito:

http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20110831-eight-finalists-for-big-tex-choice-awards.ece?ssimg=252665

Layered bread dessert:

http://www.foodista.com/recipe/CML4H3QJ/rupjmaizes-kartojums-layered-latvian-rye-bread-dessert

Deep fried nutella:

http://rasoithekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-2-deep-fried-nutella.html

Chocolate covered bread:

http://thewineandcheeseplace.blogspot.com/2011/06/chocolate-covered-bread.html

Make little sponge cakes w/ bread crumbs (the loaf takes 55 mins to bake--making little mini muffin size ones would be about 15 mins).

Apple betty w/ bread crumbs, but cook the apples on the stove first:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/appl...

[huiray]

"The judges have rather rigid ideas of what constitutes a dessert."
-------
Slightly OT, but I wonder about any connections in a general sense with the topic discussed in another thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/507205

[chicgail]

Actual bread is rarely in the dessert basket, although it is always in the pantry.

And I totally understand the complaint that "pan purdue" (French toast) reminds them of breakfast. It is breakfast.

[paulj]

Is that how 'lost bread' is served in France? Yes, in the USA French Toast is considered a breakfast item, though when I was a kid we ate it at supper. But Laura Calder has a savory version seasoned with herbs. And the Spanish equivalent torijjas often appears in the dessert section of cookbooks.

[chicgail]

It's not that French toast isn't cooked different ways in different parts of the world or that it can be served at meals other than breakfast. My point was simply that, in this country, it is not typically a dessert (or a savory entree). It is a breakfast food and, for that reason, reminds the judges of breakfast.

[moto]

Appleman beat Sanchez in the final round last season. Sanchez made wonderful food to eliminate other Chopped judges (dessert round vs. Zakarian, and both made souffles), and in the first two courses of the finale, but slightly overbaked his chocolate cake at the end.

[chicgail]

My first thought was similar, but I would have used the blue cornmeal in crepes.

[jeanmarieok]

They really seemed to like Penny's food . I didn't think Vic had a chance in heck of winning. Not only should bread pudding be banned, so should french toast type desserts. Cop outs - all of them.