There Is No “Ooooh” in “Macaron”: An Opinionated Top Chef: Just Desserts Recap

Those of you following along know I’m a die-hard Top Chef fan and that I am unabashedly rooting for local pastry chef Megan Ketover, a contestant on this season of TC: Just Desserts. I was delighted to see Megan on the winning team for the second week in a row, although I’m itching for individual rather than team Elimination Challenges already.

I am somewhat surprised at my overall reactions to Wednesday night’s episode. Despite the egregious (but of course not uncommon) product placement component to the Quickfire Challenge – contestants were tasked with creating a dessert that might grow up to be a chewing gum flavor – I was impressed by the pastry chefs’ efforts. Sure, the prospect of winning the $25K ponied up by the chewing gum sponsor might have been a motivator. But, at least as the show was edited, I didn’t see any of the contestants rolling their eyes at the silliness of the exercise. When this show is at its best, the contestants rise above the goofball twists and constraints they're up against to produce innovative and well thought-out results. And I saw a lot of that in this Quickfire.

While for the most part the contestants came off well, the sponsor, not so much. The winner was to have his/her dessert “voted on by consumers” as a potential new gum flavor. However, it seems the sponsor has dumbed down [unexpected] winner Craig’s Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes with Cream and Strawberries and is offering it in gum form as "Lemon Square" alongside Root Beer Float and Bananas Foster flavor options. Vote if you care to. I won't bother. Nor will this episode convert me into a chewing-gum consumer, whatever the flavor.

Other than that, I’m wondering if I'm looking at this season through rose-colored glasses as I root for my local, Megan. Somehow I didn’t find the Real Housewives on this JD episode as annoying as I expected to. Nor did my usual allergy to the color pink send me into hives at this week’s dishes for the Elimination Challenge.

Hugh Acheson's appearance as a judge may have helped keep this episode from becoming too saccharine for me. I loved his dry sense of humor as a contestant on Top Chef Masters last season and am looking forward to his appearance as a judge alongside Emeril on Top Chef 9: Texas.

But the one thing that drove me crazy this episode was that everyone – even that chick at the end of the table who was Housewife Lisa Vanderpink’s colleague who I assumed was French – pronounced this dessert as “macaroon.”

What a missed opportunity! Macaroons are shredded coconut American concoctions, while macarons are delicate cream-filled sandwich cookies of French origin. Serious Eats has a solid 101 on the topic here. And you can listen to something resembling the correct pronunciation of macaron here. OK, stepping down from my soapbox now.

Next week Just Desserts meets Willy Wonka in an episode TC producers The Magical Elves selected as one of the all-time top 10 favorite episodes they’ve ever produced, telling Entertainment Weekly it “may be the ultimate episode of Just Desserts. . . The contestants cry when the challenge is announced, and it's one of the most creative and dramatic episodes of any show we've ever done.” So, as for that preview that shows Megan Ketover in tears? I’m hoping it was filmed at the beginning of the challenge, not after. The Elves love misdirection . . .

Meanwhile, if you’d like a taste of Top Chef before next Wednesday rolls around, Season 6’s Kevin Gillespie, one of my all-time favorite TC contestants, appears in cartoon form at 11:45 Sunday night in Squidbillies on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Sounds like Kevin had a hoot playing himself. You can read more here, and here's a video that's giving me fits trying to upload.

It's Restaurant Week 'round these parts and I'll be back with more later in the week. Enjoyed a fine dinner at Bouquet Restaurant and Wine Bar with local food blogger Stephie of Small Girl Adventures, who is hosting this month's Culinary Smackdown: Battle Oktoberfest. What a delight to meet her in person!

Bad Girl Bread Brunch + Happy Valentine's Day

Birthdays don't take a holiday, but I like to make a holiday of my birthday. Alas, weekend getaway plans did not come to fruition. But Cindie and I had a fine food-filled morning today, an abbreviated version of the trip we'd planned to Columbus.

First stop: fork heart knife. Brunch doesn't get much better than this. Thoughtful twists on traditional dishes, made with carefully sourced ingredients, in a cozy, casual setting - just four indoor tables in the narrow storefront that also houses fhk's catering kitchen. You can taste the care put into every bite, and you feel like family as soon as you walk in the door and see the welcoming smile on Sierra's face. You could probably wear your bedroom slippers to this homey spot - although you might regret that choice if you had to wait outside for a table, even on a day as warm as this one in Cincy. We arrived when they opened at 10:00 and got a table immediately. When we left at about 10:45, the line was beginning to form.

Menus change each week for fhk's open-to-the-public Saturday and Sunday brunches and their Wednesday and Thursday dinners. I salivate every time I see a new menu, handwritten on butcher paper, on fhk's facebook page.

Today Cindie and I both opted for the Greek strata - artichokes, olives, feta and "Bad Girl" bread from local Blue Oven Bakery. (Yes, that's really the name of the bread.) It came with a salad of greens and blueberries with blueberry balsamic dressing. (Sierra and Leah, if you're ever giving cooking lessons, I would love to know how you manage to make your dressings so flavorful yet light.)

Don't let the perspective on that photo fool you. The strata portions are large and filling for just $8 or so. Cindie and I also split an order of fhk's signature potatoes bravas and had to ask for boxes for our leftovers.

Next stop: Park + Vine (a few blocks south of fhk on Main St., near 12th), a lovely shop with all manner of eco-friendly products, plus local and vegan foodstuffs, including offerings from Northside's Picnic and Pantry. I came away with a compostable birthday card (with seeds in the paper) for a friend, and the first in a series of sweets purchases, from local Chocolats Latour.

Then we hit Findlay Market, which was bulging with Valentine's Day specialties. I resisted the urge to snap a pic of heart-shaped filet mignon from one meat stall, but couldn't pass up this chocolate-covered baklava from Areti's Gyros. Seriously, could there be a more decadent dessert than baklava covered in chocolate?

Cindie and I were also powerless to resist Jean-Francois' Valentine's macaron assortment - baci (chocolate and hazelnut), mon chéri (chocolate and cherry liquor), kir royal, hot kiss (spicy chocolate), and bittersweet and passion fruit. Cindie made the mistake of trying to share hers with her husband. Me? I'm saving them all for myself.

And then there was the chocolate mousse at Fresh Table. Cindie asked for a spoon so she could eat hers on the spot. I'm trying to pace myself . . .

A couple of savory options I couldn't resist from Fresh Table were house-cured gravlox with capers and mustard sauce.

and, to be extra healthy :), a slab of Fresh Table's veggie lasagna:

Off to taste my purchases, and will report back once I come off my sugar high.

Thanks to all who commented on my refreshed look and fab new header designed by the inimitable Minx, my blogging partner over at AllTopChef. You can also find me on my new Eggy facebook page, where I'm having fun sharing tidbits and links in a different format from my blog.

Happy Valentine's Day!
eggy

Merry Christmas to Me, and You, and You, and You, and You

Having trouble getting into the holiday spirit? I know I'm not the only one. Some of you have been felled by flu, or drained by care-giver duties. Others challenged by snow from Georgia to New Mexico, ice upon your dock, or the need to keep your garden and chickens warm through an atypical Florida cold snap. And do any of us ever feel like we have enough time to get that ultimate Christmas "everything" done on top of the already demanding obligations of our everyday lives - even, ahem, if you live in Hawaii?

Sometimes, my friends, a little holiday attitude adjustment can be attained by indulging oneself. Which is just what my friend Cindie and I did yesterday, after tending to our "obligations." We called each other twice to make sure we were awake and on schedule, taking the new Eggy-mobile in for its 1000-mile check-up, picking up meds for Cindie and her husband and camera batteries for me, and tackling our Christmas food and gift shopping lists at Party Source, Findlay Market, and Avril-Bleh's. Phew.

Somehow we were done with our errand-running an hour and a half ahead of our scheduled lunch reservation at Jean-Robert's Table, a destination we'd been looking forward to for some time. Thankfully, they were able to seat us early and we indulged in a fine meal that melted our stress away. Merry Christmas to us!

I'll post about our delightful lunch another time. But meanwhile wanted to spread some holiday cheer. For my local readers, treat yourself to these macarons from Jean Francois and Taste of Belgium, the waffle stand at Findlay Market. You will not be disappointed! And for my long-distance readers, I wish I could send each of you a box, but apparently they're so delicate even Jean-Francois hasn't figured out how to ship them yet. So I hope you'll be content with a few photos and my best holiday wishes :)

On my last trip to Findlay Market with Cindie, before Thanksgiving, I brought home one of Taste of Belgium's limoncello-flavored macarons.

As soon as I tasted this ethereal confection and its flavor-forward limoncello filling, I knew I had made a mistake – by buying only one.

Les Macarons de Jean-Francois now have their own facebook page and e-newsletter, which is where I learned about their new winter flavors: peppermint candy cane, chocolate candied orange, eggnog, chocolate ganache, gingerbread, and pecan pie. So I treated myself to box, and settled in to savor them with a glass of eggnog last night. Although they’re not much bigger around than a quarter, these lovelies pack an amazing punch of flavor. I didn’t finish them all last night, but each one I tasted delivered exactly what it promised. The pecan pie filling was the essence of pecan pie, the gingerbread the epitome of gingerbread. And the chocolate candied orange made me swoon.

They're $12 a box, or 5 boxes for $50, which you can order at 513-381-3280 or info@jfmacarons.com. You could take your chances just showing up at Taste of Belgium's Findlay Market stand, although they sold out yesterday.

Who needs visions of sugar plums dancing through your head when you could have these? Sometimes the best holiday gifts are the ones you give yourself, including cutting yourself some slack and giving in to a taste of self-indulgence. Wishing you all a merry, merry.

Photo by Teri Campbell of TeriStudios and TeriShootsFood.com 
for Les Macarons de Jean-Francois

Cheers!

eggy