Top Chef ™
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Sweet Potato Caramel with Sorbet and Meringue
Sweet Potato Caramel with Coconut White Chocolate Sorbet, Sweet Potato Streusel and Meringue
Sweet potato variety drawn: Purple Majesty.
{Brandon}: "I'm doing the dessert as well, but it's top secret. Ooh."
{Brandon}: "When I was a child, my grandma used to make this sweet potato with marshmallow. That was a combination I'll never forget. We got eggs, coconut cream. So I want to make sweet potato with meringue on the side. Do you know what Jonathan's making? "
{Brandon}: "I am dual savory and pastry chef. We got meringue. Let's button this up. I was working at Alinea in Chicago, and the chocolate guy doesn't show up. I said, chef, I can temper chocolate. And everybody kind of gasped. I worked my station and the pastry station, and I reigned supreme. I hope y'all ready, cuz I came to cook."
{Brandon}: "I've never made this before. Never have I ever worked with Purple Majesty. But it's beautiful."
{Brandon}: "My biggest fear is being the first one eliminated between my brother and I. I've gotta get on top. Two minutes. If my mom knew I made it in one hour, she would be so proud."
{Brandon}: "I'm gonna finish making my ice cream, and then I'm taking it to the finish line."
At presentation: {Brandon}: "My grandma used to make caramelized yams for Thanksgiving. I used to eat the whole container, so I made a sweet potato caramel with the skins. Lighten things up with a caramelized coconut in white chocolate sorbet. The streusel is potatoes that were part cooked, and then I baked it off with a little bit of sugar to kind of add some texture to the dish."
Response to being called out for marshmallow: {Brandon}: "So this is actually meringue."
WINNER of the Purple Majesty round and one of the top five overall. Kristen Kish: "Not unanimous, but still the majority. Brandon, congratulations." {Brandon}: "Told you I was coming with it, bro." Judge: "It just felt like amplified sweet potato to me. That was good. It's like something I've never had before." {Brandon}: "That's the goal." At judges' table Tom Colicchio: "Brandon's was really whimsical and fun. The sweet potato skin caramel alone was something worth spotlighting. That was my favorite thing I ate of the day. Wildly creative." Sean Brock: "All five of you really took big, bold swings."
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