Top Chef

This is the only time throughout season one that Katie Lee Joel is asked on screen if she's picked a winner.

Elimination Challenge Dishes:

Harold's Menu

1st Course
Seared Diver Scallop with Blood Orange & Fennel Salad.

2nd Course
Olive Oil Poached Bass.

3rd Course
Pan Roasted Quail with Herb Spaetzle & Cherries and Foie Gras.

4th Course
Duo of Beef with Kobe Beef and Braised Short Ribs.

5th Course
Fig Tart with Cheeses.

Elimination Challenge Dishes:

Carlos - Artichoke potato cake & escargot, coconut sambal peanut sauce.
Frank - Escargot & American cheese ravioli, potato bell pepper peanut sauce.
Marisa - Pate brisee tart with snail garnish.
Michael - Shoestring potatoes with artichoke cheese sauce & peanut pesto snails.
Elia - Buttery escargot with artichoke & American cheese.
Ilan - Baked escargot in the shell.
Suyai - Braised potatoes & artichokes, garlic escargot with cheese sauce.
Marcel - Frog leg lollipop, chicken liver puree, garlic & parsley sauces.
Betty - Frog leg & chicken liver cake, salad & peanut vinaigrette.
Sam - Turmeric & cereal crusted frog leg with eggplant & caper saute & duo of sauces.
Josie - Frog leg nugget with chicken liver peanut butter & eggplant jelly.
Cliff - Braised frog leg, eggplant chip & cornflake chicken liver.
Emily - Cornflake & peanut butter crusted frog leg with grilled eggplant.
Otto - Frog leg & chicken liver, rice, vegetable sauté & peanut sauce.
Mia - Chicken fried frog leg with garlic mashed eggplant & wilted arugula.

QuickFire Challenge Dishes Shown:

>Marcel - Banana & avocado tart with corn chips, ice cream, & rum cocktail.
>Elia - Strawberries with red wine & chocolate flambe sauce.
>Betty - Spicy coconut curry, steamed mussels & mango couscous.
>Suyai - Spicy tequila lime shrimp with chunky mango & avocado salsa.
>Sam - Espresso shrimp flambeed with sambuca, roasted hazelnut & peanut paste.
>Carlos - Creole shrimp flambeed with Spanish brandy.
>Emily - Sliced pork chops in apple sauce, red plums, Granny Smith apples.

Padma says in her blog for the episode "Seven" that while she has no input in the Judging for the QuickFire Challenge, she does taste all of the food. Then she takes everything she experiences to the final Judges' Table, where each Judge's opinion has equal weight, and tells the other Judges what she thought about the chefs' performances in the earlier Challenge. Tom does the same thing with what he sees during his walk through.

Suyai's out.

When Ilan wins the elimination challenge, Chef Tom points out that Harold won the first challenge in season one, and then went on to win the Top Chef title.

Josie said 1 wrong thing when Team Vietnam was discussing what dishes would they make - pho (Vietnamese flat stripe rice noodles) is a traditional food, but it is NOT served in every family. Only some families serve it at home, others eat it in Pho Stores.

Team Vietnam wanted to go a little traditional, but they didn't:
- their summer roll had pickled watermelon;
- their pho was made with pork (Vietnamese pho is made with beef or chicken) and there wasn't enough broth in it (broth must be 2 or even 4 times more that pho);
- their refresher isn't actually Vietnamese.

QuickFire Challenge Dishes Shown:

Frank - Prawns, pompano fish, East Coast fluke & Bigeye tuna.
Michael - Sashimi tuna with sesame oil, sushi rice with sesame rolled in cucumber.
Cliff - Hama Hama oysters with ginger, soy, mango & jalapeno / Split prawns, hamachi & daikon.
Otto - Mackerel sushi with crab, scallops & scallions.
Elia - Mackerel sushi with olives, sea urchin & New Zealand snapper.
Ilan - Abalone sashimi, uni on rice & scallop in the shell.

In her blog Lee Anne Wong, from season 1, said she saw the reason that team Korea's panna cotta was so stiff- Marisa used a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon to measure the gelatin.

Elimination Challenge Dishes:

Team Vietnam (Josie, Betty, Sam, Mia, Emily, Michael, Carlos)
Summer roll with pickled watermelon.Pork pho with carrot vermicelli.Cucumber & aloe refresher.
Team Korea (Ilan, Elia, Frank, Marisa, Cliff, Marcel, Otto)
Braised pork, kim chee, sticky rice & lotus chips.Jasmine tea pannacotta with tapioca & candied taro chip.

In his bravotv.com blog, Tom reveals that had Otto not bowed out of the competition, Marisa would have been sent home.

QuickFire Challenge Dishes Shown:

Marisa - Vanilla peanut & swirls.
Cliff - Marshmallow with cookies.
Michael - Peanut butter, jelly & bananas.
Betty - Redondo Beach berry.
Ilan - Bacon & waffle.
Carlos - Avocado, vanilla & marshmallow.
Sam - Ginger snap & citrus crumble.
Marcel - Bacon & avocado.
Josie - Peach cobbler.
Emily - Calming chocolate with lavender.

Elimination Challenge Dishes:

Michael - Cheese steak sandwich with onion rings.
Marcel - Pork chops with mashed potatoes and cabbage.
Sam - Summer fruit salad.
Emily - Super slamming surf & turf.
Frank - Wonderland mushroom fantasy.
Ilan - Bacon smoked roasted corn.
Cliff - Grown up mac & cheese with fish sticks.
Josie - Miami style BBQ steak skewers with fire roasted salsa.
Elia - Shrimp & fish tacos with guacamole and fried beans.
Carlos - Chicken fried shrimp with corn, red pepper and lime salad.
Mia - Mama Mia meatloaf sandwich with spicy ketcharella.
Marisa - Strawberry crisp with orange caramel sauce.
Betty - Grilled cheese with portobello mushrooms & roasted red pepper soup.

Emily was eliminated this episode. Betty was the winner.

Elimination Challenge Dishes:

Black Team (Frank, Marcel, Betty)
Sausage & cheese pizza.Berry & melon skewer.Crispy chocolate cookie with banana & peanut butter drizzle.Berry lemonade.
White Team (Ilan, Josie, Elia)
Chicken Parmesan with veggie lasagna.Berryriffic cheesecake.
Orange Team (Sam, Cliff, Carlos)
Turkey meatballs with zucchini, tomato sauce & roasted cornFruit smoothie with graham cracker crumbles.
Red Team (Michael, Mia, Marisa)
BBQ chicken skewers with coleslaw & grilled vegetables.Old-fashioned fudge cake.

QuickFire Challenge Dishes: