“Skirt steak is an interesting choice, eh?” said Ben.
“I think it’s a good challenge,” said Amanda. “It’s difficult to make skirt steak tender and very easy to make it chewy. So this will be a test of technique more than about cooking a weird ingredient.”
“And it’s a challenge of creativity,” said Priya. “Easy enough to grill a steak and slap some rice and beans next to it. You can eat that meal in any Mexican restaurant. I’d like to see these chefs do something we haven’t seen before.”
Lindsay watched one of the chefs grab garam masala from the pantry. “I think Chef Langley is pandering, Priya.”
Priya laughed. “If hereallywanted to impress me, he’d make his own garam masala. Any Indian chef worth his salt, or his curry powder, can make good garam masala.”
And so it went. A massive digital clock behind the judge’s table kept time. The judges watched the chefs work. Priya and Amanda had some practice in providing commentary for contests like this, and Lindsay didn’t know how snarky she was allowed to be, so she held back. But then Priya made a dry comment about one of the chefs slicing an avocado, and Lindsay felt more in her element.
For the next twenty minutes, the three judges made food-related jokes and cracked each other up. When the chefs were down to five minutes, though, the whole room filled with tension. Lindsay worried the chefs wouldn’t get their dishes done on time. It was a close call for the guy who had made some kind of Indian marinade for his steak; he literally threw pieces of sliced steak at the plates to get everything done on time, and sauce flew all over his station.
Next: tasting.
Each chef presented the judges with a plate of food and explained their thinking. One chef had, quite predictably, basically made fajitas and overcooked the steak while he was at it.
“I could get this meal at any chain suburban restaurant,” said Lindsay.
“I agree,” said Priya. “It’s…fine, but not very imaginative.”
The garam masala guy admitted that he’d seen Priya on the panel and decided to go in an Indian direction. He’d made a marinade for his steak with Indian spices and served it with a side of wilted spinach and basmati rice. Everything was cooked competently, but Lindsay said, “I’m not 100 percent sure this works. I like the flavors, but I’m not sure skirt steak is the right vehicle for them.”
The third chef nailed it. He’d served his steak with fingerling potatoes and a leafy greens salad, and he’d made a savory marinade that had a lot of vinegar in it, but the steak was tender and perfect, and Lindsay loved a well-seasoned potato. “You’re also not thinking very far outside of the box,” Lindsay said. “But I want to eat all of this. The steak is cooked perfectly.”
The fourth chef had made a steak salad, presenting the steak in a bed of romaine with a ton of chopped veggies and shaved Parmesan on top, and though the dish also wasn’t very imaginative, he had cooked the steak perfectly.
The chefs were ushered out, giving the judges time to discuss. They agreed pretty quickly that the third and fourth chefs should advance, and they’d give them a pass on the lack of creativity because there were only so many things you could do with skirt steak, and that one chef’s attempt had gone pretty badly awry.
Lindsay felt terrible eliminating two chefs. Priya said she’d get used to it.
The four chefs were brought back in. Ben announced the results with a practiced look of regret on his face. Two chefs left, and the other two went to their stations.
Round two was then a face-off, and the mystery ingredient was…heavy cream.
One chef quickly got shortbread in the oven, and while it was baking, he whipped up the cream and made little strawberry shortcakes. The other chef found some clams in the pantry and whipped up a small plate of steamed clams with a cream-based sauce.
When the judges were presented with the dishes, Lindsay was most nervous about the clam dish. She knew that, although they were an unusual pairing, dairy and seafood could go well together if done thoughtfully, and she had in fact tasted very good dishes with both, but the concept had always turned her stomach. On this chef’s dish, though, the sauce ended up being delicious, and the clams were steamed just right. Compared to the creator of the strawberry shortcake, which was good but not mind-blowing, the other chef was a clear winner, Lindsay thought. “You should bottle this sauce,” she said. “I would just drink it right out of the bottle.”
The chefs were sent out again, and Priya and Amanda agreed with Lindsay, so in another unanimous decision, they declared a winner.
Once filming concluded, the judges left to change clothes so it wouldn’t look like all the episodes were filmed on the same day. Amanda and Priya had to get back out for the second episode, but Lindsay took her time. When she returned to the green room, Pedro and Claudia were flirting heavily with each other. Lindsay greeted them both amiably, but mostly she was glad she wouldn’t be stuck judging or sitting with Zachary, who made her uncomfortable. He seemed like the sort of guy who hit on his kitchen staff constantly.
She turned her attention instead to the monitor, where filming of the episode was already in progress.
And suddenly there was Brad.
This was clearly why Lindsay had been told she couldn’t judge the second episode. She was annoyed Brad hadn’t said anything, but glad she didn’t have to judge him. That would have been impossible. Well, also unethical for, like, five different reasons.
She decided to ignore Pedro and Claudia and instead focused on the screen.
Brad and the other chefs were running around the kitchen, grabbing ingredients, chopping vegetables, tossing stuff in pans. The secret ingredient had indeed been lobster, and Lindsay wondered how much Brad had to stretch himself to cook seafood.
Apparently not that far. He appeared to be grilling the tails to make lobster rolls. She watched, somewhat in awe, as he whipped up an aioli like it was the easiest thing. He didn’t have time to bake his own rolls, but she bet he would have otherwise.
She realized she hadn’t seen Brad in action since culinary school. He was efficient, he kept his station clean, he thought fast on his feet. His face showed only complete focus on what he was doing, but every now and then he’d glance up in a way that made her feel like he was looking right at her, although probably he was just self-conscious about the cameras.
His plates looked immaculate as the round ended. He’d made coleslaw, too, and it sat in a neat little pile beside the lobster roll, which was stuffed with big chunks of lobster, celery, green onions, and some kind of seasoning. Lindsay had eaten a lot during that previous episode, and she was violently allergic to lobster, but looking at the camera close-up of that lobster roll made her mouth water.
