Top Chef ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Bellavitano Mac and Cheese with Merlot Mushrooms and Breadcrumbs
Chef Kaleena: "I pulled a merlot bellavatano. It seems like it's going to have that beautiful melt that a cheddar does, but it has a much bolder, complex flavor. I feel like I got the best of both worlds with this cheese."
Chef Kaleena (during prep): "Don't judge my store-bought pasta, please. I'm cooking for 100 people. This is not the challenge where you're going to make a pasta from scratch. This is the challenge where you're going to highlight the cheese and get the job done. Not so much Mac and cheese. More like a play on Alfredo."
Chef Kaleena: (presenting to judges): "I thought everyone was going to be doing macaroni and cheeses, and then somehow I'm the only one. I used the BellaVitano in it. I wanted to bring out the flavors of the rind of the cheese, so I braised some mushrooms and some aromatics and merlot."
Judges (behind the scenes)
"What I like about Kaleena's dish is that she really took a cue from the cheese using the merlot. This whole dish is a celebration of the wash on the cheese itself."
"Kaleena made a very tasty dish."
