Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard
So, I was all excited when Kristi Yamaguchi won Dancing With the Stars, especially since she was the first woman to win since the very first season.
Well, tonight was the finale of Top Chef: Chicago, and my absolute favorite chef, Stephanie Izard, became the first woman to win Top Chef honors, period. I was so ecstatic, especially since I wasn’t sure if she’d get it after her dessert kind of bombed.
I am so completely in love with this show. I’d never watched it before, but a couple weeks ago, I discovered that I actually got Bravo, even though, at the time, I only had basic cable and technically shouldn’t have. I saw half of the Season 3 marathon, and then I began catching up with Season 4. I tell you what, Bravo sure knows what it’s doing — marathons are where it’s at. That’s how I discovered the awesomeness fierceness of Tim Gunn and Project Runway, and it’s how I cemented my new love affair with Top Chef. I’ve now seen all of the season that ended tonight except for the very first two episodes.
From the minute I started watching, Stephanie, Richard and Antonia were my favorite contestants. They were all really cool, they didn’t struggle with Asshat Syndrome the way that Erik and Spike and Andrew did, and they consistently won the Quick Fire and Elimination challenges. It was no shocker when they made the Final Four. (It was, however, a bit of a shock that Lisa — who should have gone home, like THREE TIMES prior — made the cut.)
Antonia is an overall amazing chef, but her going home and not cracking the Top Three proves that one mistake can send you packing. One mistake. That was all she made in the last elimination challenge before the final.
Anyway, Stephanie totally deserved to win, and I’m planning on making plenty of her recipes.
I’ve totally discovered a love for cooking. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but I’ve kind of dabbled here and there. Now I’m all about finding cool recipes to try. A couple weeks ago, my parents came over for dinner for my mom’s birthday and I made a chicken, goat cheese and blood orange salad, and for dessert, angel food cake with ginger cream and fresh berries. I believe those were both Rocco DiSpirito recipes.
On Sunday, for Father’s Day, I’m making pan-seared, oven-roasted bone-in ribeyes in brown butter with shallot and potato gratin — both of those recipes are Antonia’s, actually — and fresh broccoli. My sister is going to be my sous chef. Hee.
And in a couple weeks, I’ll be cooking for my brother and sister-in-law. I think I’ve settled on Thai food, and will be making a chicken satay with orange-scented jasmine rice.
It’s so much fun to cook and I’m definitely going to start investing in some better gadgets, especially some good knives. Rachael Ray sells a really cool set that’s not too pricey and has gotten tons of great feedback. I eventually want to get a much better set of cookware, and I definitely want a chef’s pan.
Anyway, Bravo continues to run Top Chef marathons, so I recommend checking it out. It’s so fascinating to watch, and I still watch some of the same episodes over and over because I just like to watch them cook.
Plus? Yeah, well, I have developed a ginormous crush on Tom Colicchio, have cemented my crush on Ted Allen, I want to be BFFs with Gail Simmons and wow, do I have a girl crush on Padma Lakshmi. Seriously? She is breathtakingly gorgeous.
L to R: Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Ted Allen and Gail Simmons
