Top Chef ™
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Lamb Spiedini
Lamb Spiedini with Dandelion Salad and Cow Peas
Bailey: "I think I'm going to do a lamb skewer. Beans could be nice. I'm kind of figuring the rest out."
Bailey: "We're gifted a bunch of beautiful ingredients from Brenda and Tracy. So I grab things to reinforce the poplar flavors that I harvested, like poplar bud syrup. I scoop that up."
Bailey: "I'm using dried cow peas or black eyed peas, and we are in cow town, so it feels like the right move, but I know I need all the time to get them cooked through. I have to cook these 100%. I am cutting some artichokes, celery, parsley stems to add to my bean cooking liquid. I really want to make dandelion greens with these cow peas. I'm hoping that it all comes together. A lot of feeling it out on this one."
Bailey, talking to Tom while cooking : "I'm. making cow peas. I'm also doing, like, a lamb kebab with it. Also, like, a grilled, marinated dandelion green. And then a creamy stock, like, puree situation."
Tom, discussing Bailey behind the scenes: ' Bailey, she's going to have to add a little bit of sweetness somewhere in this dish, because the dandelion greens are really, really bitter. She's working on a lot of different things and trying to edit as she goes along, but she doesn't seem 100% as sure as some of the other chefs."
Bailey: "I'm not getting enough of the poplar into it. Oh, my God. It smells so terrible, though. Everything I'm doing today feels a little risky. I'm using far more of this poplar syrup than I ever anticipated in my life. These are really strong unique flavors that I'm working with. A little too much poplar. This could be really out of balance. But if it's not enough, then what's the point of doing it?"
Bailey: "Still trying to dial in my lamb marinade. I'm adding honey because just needs some help."
Presenting to Judges
Bailey: "I did a lamb spiedini with grilled dandelion green salad and Cowtown cow peas or black eyed peas. I also used black poplar syrup as well as some birch syrup to glaze it."
Judges
"Well, anytime you serve meat on a skewer, I'm in. I love the lamb, and dandelion greens are not easy to cook with, and it was nice to see her take that risk in the dish."
"I thought she did a really good job."
"Yeah, I think she did a great job with the ingredients that she was using. The only issue I have is the peas. There's a flavor combination that I'm not familiar with at all. You know, I think it's the poplar syrup and the roast garlic together. And I don't know if I like it or not, but I keep going back to it."
"My peas were also, like, a little too crunchy. Like a little creamier would have been nice, actually."
Bailey: "Today was sort of a weird day for me because I did a lot of feeling it out, but I was like, I don't know. I don't know if it'll connect.."
Kristen Kish: "Bailey, yesterday, when we first started foraging, there was a little bit of intimidation going there. But today you got that inner forager to come out and produce something really unique."
"It was really quite delicious. It was odd at times, but I have to say, it was great to see you do something feeling like you."
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