Top Chef Finale

That's it boys; It's over; Hosea takes home the title. Top Chef!!! As I mentioned in a previous post on this issue, Hosea was the guy I was routing for to win this competition. Sure, I had Carla in the mix and I think she is an amazing person of character and culinary skill, but Hosea was my boy in this one. His ability to think outside the box and produce something of tremendous simplicity is what really impressed me about him and got me on his bandwagon in the first place. It was no landslide by any stretch of the imagination. Stefan gave him all he wanted, but as Stefan as done all season where he would completely kick ass on something and then put out something that was mediocre to the judges. Padma even made the comment about his dessert, "It was pedestrian at best". Ouch!! She might as well have said, the soft serve ice cream at the local Cracker Barrel is better than this pile of fused chocolate cow pie. Not much concern to me, dessert is not something I aspire to dominate in either.

Overall it was impressive, the remaining three competitors, Carla, Stefan, and Hosea drew knives to see which order they would select there respective sous chefs. The sous chefs in question were runner ups from previous seasons. Casey, who is a complete smoke show, Marcel, and Richard. The final challenge was for them to create the best three course meal of there life. After a few hours of prep that day, they were to have three hours to get ready for the final meal. Aahhh, but a twist. As they arrive to begin for the final push, head judge, Tom Colicchio, is waiting on them with a table of fresh food that is indigenous to New Orleans and the region. Alligator, fresh red fish, fresh blue crab. In order to determine who got what, Tom had them each take slice of the infamous King cake. Whoever got the baby, got to pick what they wanted and they also got to choose what there other competitors were to work with. Hosea got the baby and naturally took the fish. He gave Carla the blue crab...that sounds a little wrong, and he gave Stefan the alligator. Why? Because the hell with Stefan.

So they do there dishes and present them to a star studded cast of diners at the world renowned Commanders Palace. I felt like all three of them put together a fantastic meal, but I do have to agree with the judges on this one. Stefan's dessert, not good. Carla, while we think she is great, should have stuck to her guns instead of listening to her sous chef Casey. But hey, if I was in Carla's shoes and Casey was talking to me, making suggestions, I would have probably done whatever the hell she said. She's that hot, to me anyway. Overall, from beginning to end, Hosea put forth the best work and he did exactly what he wanted to do, so my hat goes off to him for winning and my heart goes out to Carla for the mishaps that occurred in the finale. As for Stefan, he is amazing. Probably want be last time he is heard from. Should he have won, yeah he probably should have. Overall, he was the best chef on the show, but he made a big stumble at a time that he needed to be perfect. Hosea didn't have much flaw. The dish that Hosea made that did receive criticism was presented beautifully and this stumble was like a little trip over a sidewalk, where Stefan was a full scale freefall from 15 stories up. I am sure there will be much debate and I even have my reservations concerning the integrity of the show. I am certainly not saying I could do better, but I felt like overall this was not as impressive a field as it should be. However, I did enjoy watching and will continue to do so, as I find it to be an interesting study not just from a culinary standpoint, but from a sociological standpoint as well. Human nature is interesting.

Finger Lickin' Funny....

Mr. T!!!!

This is a tough pill to swallow. I really could not believe it last night when I saw this infomercial. It just breaks my heart to see such an American Icon like Mr. T doing this. I am sure it is tough to get gigs at his age, but its Mr. T. I honestly hope this is not the last memory that he provides us here on this earth.


I want to remember Mr. T like this...

Why not??

Somehow I just feel like this was something used in the kitchen of the Gambino crime family. Because really, who thinks this sh!t up? I'll take the .357 sunny side up with an Uzi over easy. If you want to check out for yourself.....

http://laughingsquid.com/gun-egg-fryers-cook-your-eggs-in-the-shape-of-gun/

Top Chef reviewed

So I have been watching the show 'Top Chef' since the new season started and it is winding down as the finale is taking place. I cook for a living, so this kind of stuff is of interest to me because I like to see what these chefs create and how they deal with the pressures involved in such a daunting challenge. In addition, I am by no way on the same planet as the talent of these people. They are pretty phenomenal at there craft and can give aspiring chefs something to shoot for, as far as caliber of cook. Sure they make some mistakes and people get eliminated, but it is human nature to make errors and the whole point of the show is to beat the other competitors. I like the show not only for the culinary aspect, but over the course of the programs you get to understand the people in the competition. There styles, personalities and there professionalism.

Well lately, as the cream has risen to the top, I have been overly impressed with the remaining competitors in the challenge. Hosea, Stefan, Fabio and Carla are all capable of winning this thing. However, for the finale in New Orleans, they did a challenge where they brought back three people who had previously been eliminated and had them compete for a spot in the finale. The three they brought back were Jeff, Leah, and Jamie. Of those three I personally thought Jeff had the most talent and he didn't disappoint guest judge, Emeril Lagasse, as he voted him back in. However, for the elimination challenge Jeff had a double whammy; Sure he was back in, but he had to win the challenge outright or he was automatically eliminated. When Jeff got eliminated on a previous episode I thought he got a raw deal and one of the others should have gone instead. He had been a strong player in the game throughout. So I was excited that he was getting a second chance at this.

So the chefs cater this ball that takes place prior to Mardi Gras, apparently a big deal, and none of them disappointed. I would go into there preparations, but that would be very long winded, and I am not even sure about some of them. But in true form, the two I have been routing for came through in the clutch and that would be Carla and Hosea. I guess I jumped on there bandwagon a few weeks ago because they are American and they put out the dishes I would most like to eat. Not that the others, Stefan and Fabio, put out bad dishes and that they are foreign. I just really like the style of Hosea and Carla. They really come across as down to earth people who just want to work there ass off and put out a great product. Where Stefan and Fabio just come across as too arrogant. Arrogance is good in the kitchen to a certain degree, but they take it a bit far. I view the person cooking my food in the same fashion as I would a surgeon. Would you want a confident person who knows the principles and technique to do the job or would you rather have someone who is unsure and has no confidence. I prefer the confidence with a touch of arrogance because I, like most people, want it done right and I want it to taste great.

So the plot thickens now with Hosea, Carla, and Stefan. They are all that is left. While Jeff came in and did a great job and the judges liked his work, it was not good enough to win overall. That title went to Carla. She is an African-American lady whose Southern roots really come through in her cooking. As evidenced by her being in the finale. I am sure nobody cares about this post and I really don't care if they do or not. It is my blog and this is something I have been watching and have enjoyed watching it. So I felt like writing about it. I don't have a clear cut favorite, but I am hoping the title of 'Top Chef' goes to either Carla or Hosea. Don't get me wrong, Stefan is pretty damn strong in the kitchen, so it will be a challenge and I am looking forward to watching.

LANE KIFFIN IS A FREAKING IDIOT

Ok, so NuKese Richardson is committed to Florida and decides to change his mind and play for Tennessee. Lane Kiffin (UT's new coach) tells the kid not to say anything so that Florida will still think he is committed. Then on national signing day, sign papers with Tennessee instead of Florida. Then Kiffin calls out Urban Meyer at a recruiting banquet saying Meyer tried to cheat and still could not get Richardson to go to Florida. Then today an LSU commitment decides to sign with Tennessee and says that he has known for weeks but Kiffin told him not to let anyone know. Kiffin has got some serious ass whippings coming his way. (See Georgia celebration crap in '07 and then Urban Meyer making Georgia pay in '08 by calling timeouts at the end of the game just to make the ass whipping last a little longer) Miles and Meyer are two coaches you don't want to piss off. Both have shown they will rub it in your face if they get the chance. (Meyer with the timeouts last year and Miles calling a fake punt while up 38-3 in the peach bowl against GT because GT's coach made a smartass comment to him during the press conference). Tennessee's program is in shambles and it will take Kiffin a few years to bring it back up if that is possible. He's going to have to play Florida every year and LSU gets UT back on the schedule in 2 years. I can't wait til Florida ass rapes them by 60 next year and every year after that and LSU will do it in 2 years. I don't think Miles will forget about this. Kiffin sure is a cocky little shit for never having accomplished anything. He was the OC at USC for one year and then got fired halfway through his first season as Oakland's head coach. I will be Florida's biggest fan next year when these two teams meet. I think Kiffin just made Tennessee take over for Ole Miss as my least favorite team. Here is a snipet of Kiffin calling out Meyer...

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/39140432.html?pollSubmit=y&submit=submit&oid=4&mr=1&cid=6500&pid=39145272

The Weekend Reviewed

Well I am a few days late on getting this up, but what the heck. Friday, January 30th was a fantastic day. As you know I went to Memphrica to see AC/DC. Well anyway, we got to the city around 2:45 in the afternoon, caught a late lunch at the Rendezvous. It was wonderful. I have used there BBQ sauce and Dry rub seasoning for many years, but I had never actually sat down and had a meal there. Our waiter, Louis, was an older Black gentleman with a sharp charm about himself. He gave us some insight about the place and what not. I got the impression he had been there a good many years. Another thing I noticed is that nearly all the service staff was older black men. I certainly can appreciate that and the appeal because of where I grew up. I bet that old timer could have recited the entire menu if I had asked, but that might have been over the top. I also like the fact that he yelled out our order to someone right there in the back and he did the same we when we ordered our beers. I can still here him yelling, " Bud light bottle". Anyway, after the meal, we met up with the rest of our crowd. A rather lively bunch they were, as they got to Memphis the day before. To say they were hungover and ready for more would be an understatement. So we wandered over to the Peabody for a little happy hour and a duck walk. That was pretty entertaining as I had not seen the ducks in about 27 years. I aim to be an honorary duck master for the day at some point in my life. The next and last stop before the concert was at the Flying Saucer. How can you not love this place. A bazillion beers to choose from. It is an alcoholics heaven. I drank heavily and the rest of the hungover bunch grabbed a bite to eat. They drank heavily as well. Off to the concert.....with my urging, we got there early. I wanted to get in and get settled. It is a character trait I get from my dad. We went and saw the Cowboys when I was in high school and were in our seats and hour before the players came out for warm ups. Anyway, we get nestled in, club level to the left of the stage if you were standing on the stage. The opening act, I forget there name, was pretty good. There were an Irish band that rocked pretty heavy. but enough about them. I was in the concourse downing $8 beers at that time. The concert started with a 5 minute video of this AC/DC train rolling along the tracks. It was a cartoon, so there were anatomically correct cartoon females and some wickedly devilish AC/DC members, Angus especially. The band opened up with a few tracks off the new album that were really good and then they let loose on about a 7 song concoction of old stuff and the damn place went crazy. It started with 'Back in Black', a few songs later, ' Thunderstruck'. A few songs after that, ' Hells Bells' and this huge ass bell emerged from the ceiling. I tell you it was insane. The more the played the more I drank. By the time they finished with' For those about to Rock' I was plum wasted and extremely fired up. I figured an encore was due with the energy in that building. They rocked us and we ate it up, as we should have. It was dark and the music started...it was the intro for ' Highway to Hell'. The light hit down on the stage and there he was, Angus. At this point he had abandoned most of his clothing. He was down to the school boy shorts. He took it off during one of the songs. He lit into that first guitar riff of 'Highway to Hell' and it was absolutely amazing. The place kicked it up another level. I was so fired up I started punching my buddy in the arm. He spilt his beer on the people in front of us, but nobody cared. We got our faces melted that night and it was worth every damn cent it cost to be there. You can imagine this enthusiasm carried over for quite a while after the show as I think i was done with my after party around four. It wasn't that I couldn't go at it anymore, it was that I didn't need to go at it anymore. I think I had made my point by then. I ended the night with a Denny's waffle and some bacon. Thank god that Denny's was in the hotel because I couldn't make it much further after that. The following day, naturally I felt like death, but not nearly as bad as I should have. I am not sure what to attest this too. Maybe I was still rocking from the night before or maybe it had something to do with the heat in our room. The system was flawed and I could not fix it. I am no mechanic. Or it could have been that the hotel only offered cold showers. I don't know, but I did not feel as bad as I should have and it did not hurt that the Rebels beat the Dogs on there home court in B-ball for the first time in a decade. Granted we wanted them to win, as we tried to give it back to them. However, I was only awake for about thirty minutes after I got home from work. I was cashed. Mentally and Financially.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Here is Miller's one second Super Bowl Ad. It is definately common sense in advertising. Why pay 3 million when you can pay 100,000 and your commercial will be remembered just like all the rest. "Buy my product", that's the whole point. The second video is the one second commercials that did not make the cut.