‘Top Chef’ 21 episode 7 recap: ‘Sausage Race’ was a ball field battle of the wieners

Early “Top Chef” favorite Rasika Venkatesa was eliminated last week in the aptly titled “Chaos Cuisine,” leaving 10 cheftestants on the main show competing for a chance to win a feature in Food and Wine magazine; an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado; and $250,000 in prize money: Soo Ahn, Manny Barella, Kaleena Bliss, Kevin D’Andrea, Danny Garcia, Dan Jacobs, Savannah Miller, Laura Ozyilmaz, Amanda Turner and Michelle Wallace.

So what happened in episode seven, “Sausage Race”?

“It feels weird not having Rasika here,” says Danny, who has found a new running buddy in Savannah. Rasika was sent home last week in a result that was pretty shocking because she and fellow bottom chef Michelle have been two of the strongest, most consistent chefs of the entire competition thus far. “I felt like I was going home,” Michelle admits. Being in the bottom is “a kick in the ass.” But every day is “a new day to impress the judges.”

Quickfire Challenge

This new day begins with the chefs entering the kitchen to see host Kristen Kish next to “Top Chef” All-Star Bryan Voltaggio. Manny observes, “He has [competed on the show] not once, not twice, but three times, so I know he’s definitely crazy.” But he’s not the one cooking this time around. It’s up to the 10 chefs to “burn the competition,” according to Kristen. They will put the pots and pans to the test by making a flambé dish. They’ll only have 20 minutes to do it, but there’s $10,000 waiting for the winner. Danny and his wife are looking to buy a home, so that money would come in handy.

“I’m going to try and throw some shit together and hope for the best,” says Dan. Kaleena is making a kimchi-flavored doughnut. Amanda is no stranger to flambé, so she’s going to set fire to “almost everything in this dish,” including some caramelizing mango. Meanwhile, Michelle “can’t let this Quickfire go up in smoke”; she wants the money because she took a chance to start her own company, and that company is on hold while she’s doing “Top Chef,” so it’s especially important to her that this show pay off, literally and figuratively. All the while the camera captures tons of slow-motion shots of pots and pans on fire, which I suspect was part of the producers’ inspiration for the challenge. Fire pretty.

Utensils down! Time to eat.

Kevin: Grilled Shrimp Flambé Au Pastis with Fennel Potato Puree

Soo: Flambéed Bourbon, Fish Sauce Caramel, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Brioche and Bruleed Bananas

Laura: Pan Roasted Sea Bass, Flambé Vermouth Sauce, Radicchio and Apples

Manny: Sauteed Mushrooms with Mezcal, Marsala, Ricotta and Pecorino with Toast

Savannah: Saganaki with Cheese, Toasted White Bread, Molasses and Flambéed Peaches

Kaleena: Kimchi and Scallion Doughnut, Bourbon-Flambéed Peaches and Jalapeno

Danny: Grilled Prawns with Satsuma and Habanero Sauce, Flambé Mezcal

Amanda: French Toast Brioche, Cachaca Flambéed Mango, with Lime, Coconut and Vanilla Meringue

Dan: Grilled Radicchio and Cucumber Salad with Garlic Ground Cherry Pernod Emulsion

Michelle: Flambéed Mushroom and Bacon Toast, Sweet Potato Puree and Herbed Goat Cheese

But there’s a twist. “I don’t think we’re done just yet,” says Kristen instead of immediately telling the chefs who had the best and worst dishes. It turns out the top three chefs in this challenge will have to cook again to earn the $10,000 … er, actually, $20,000! Those standout chefs are Danny (his aguachile stood out, great smoky use of mezcal), Amanda (a great bite of fruit, toast and meringue) and Kevin (Kristen’s favorite dish texturally). Those three will now have 20 minutes to use fire in a different way: to char their dishes.

Danny wants to do a simple charred fish. Unfortunately, the fish he gets are whole, so he has to remove the scales and fins himself. Amanda is charring some vegetables and will try to cook veal in 20 minutes, which Danny thinks is “crazy.” Soo is impressed how expertly and quickly Kevin is breaking down his squab: “I think I would have entered the kitchen with 10 fingers and left with seven. I am speechless.” Kevin’s food tends to be subtle, so he doesn’t want to char everything on his plate. He wants to show the judges technique.

Kevin: Charred Squab Breast with Green Curry Yogurt Sauce, Panko-Fried Squab Leg and Toasted Almond

Amanda: Glazed Veal Chop with Grilled and Charred Corn Relish and Peach Pickles

Danny: Charred Branzino with Charred Poblano Puree and Charred Avocado

Bryan thinks Danny’s fish is well-cooked, and he loves the added avocado. Kevin executed his dish really well, but Bryan wishes there were more char on the squab; Kristen, however, “could eat 12 more of those.” Amanda was smart to use the charring technique on the corn, peaches and veal. Kristen’s veal was a little undercooked, but she loved the rest. Unsurprisingly given those critiques, Danny is the winner and is $20,000 richer.

Elimination Challenge

“Who’s ready to play ball?” Kristen asks the chefs. “This week you’ll be taking part in America’s favorite pastime.” But they won’t be doing it alone. Enter “Top Chef” All-Star Amar Santana and the Milwaukee Brewers’ famous racing sausages. Manny is excited for a challenge involving chorizo, which is one of five different sausages the chefs will be preparing in two teams of five for a head-to-head challenge. The teams are decided by drawing knives, and they coincidentally end up split almost perfectly by gender:

YELLOW TEAM — Kaleena, Michelle, Laura and Amanda with sole gentleman Danny

BLUE TEAM — Kevin, Soo, Manny and Dan with sole lady Savannah

There will be five innings. Each inning, naturally, will feature a different sausage. Every member of the team will be responsible for one dish. Then the racing sausages will race, and the order they finish in will be the order the chefs present their dishes to the judges. Including Kristen, Bryan and Amar, there will be 15 judges, among them actress Brittany Snow, plus local chefs and sausage experts.

“Whichever team wins the most innings will obviously be the wiener of the challenge,” says Bryan. Let’s get this sausage party started!

Unfortunately for all the chefs, though, there will no longer be immunity from elimination offered to the winner of the Elimination Challenge. And once again there’s the possibility of a double elimination. Tomorrow they’ll have two hours to cook in the American Family Field kitchen. But first the groups have to convene to decide their menus. On the yellow team, Danny has the season’s last immunity in his pocket, so he offers to do the hot dog, and he’s gonna keep a close eye on the budget to make sure Laura doesn’t spend it all this time. Amanda takes the bratwurst. Kaleena offers to do Italian. Laura requests chorizo. And Michelle takes Polish, with which she’ll make an etouffee. She asks her fellow chefs what they think of that idea, and they approve.

“The chaos challenge hit me hard,” Michelle admits about landing in the bottom two last week. “I have to buckle down. I cannot put out any more bad dishes.” The good news is that she has succeeded before despite self-doubt about the challenge or ingredients, so she’s certainly capable of doing it again.

On the blue team, Dan wants to take bratwurst, Manny naturally wants the chorizo. Soo decides to take the hot dog, though he’s nervous about making a dish with “the vanilla flavor of all the sausages,” but it’s “such a neutral flavor that I can make it as crazy as I want.” Savannah feels comfortable with Polish. That leaves Kevin with Italian, though he doesn’t sound enthusiastic about it. “It’s close to France,” jokes Dan. Kevin says he wants to make risotto. Dan asks if he has made it before, since it’s historically been a dangerous dish to try to prepare on “Top Chef.” “Of course,” Kevin answers. Fateful last words?

So the battles will be Danny vs. Soo (hot dog), Laura vs. Manny (chorizo), Michelle vs. Savannah (Polish), Kaleena vs. Kevin (Italian), and Amanda vs. Dan (bratwurst).

While shopping, different strategies take shape. Savannah’s dad spent a lot of time in Poland as a military negotiator, so she’s going to take her Polish sausage and make pierogis. And Laura is making her own sausage so she can control the flavors, which sounds like it’ll take more time and ingredients. But no budget problems this time. Checkout is drama-free. “Everybody was good on the shopping,” says Kevin, giving two thumbs up. “There’s nothing else you wish you could get?” asks a producer. Yeah, “$20,000,” he says, remembering coming that close to winning the Quickfire.

The next morning Laura video calls her husband, whom she has worked with for the last six years. “It’s been hard for me being isolated,” she admits. “The partnership with my husband is so important because it’s having that right hand that you can trust. Doing this without him is really hard. ‘Top Chef,’ it is a competition. That unconditional support, you don’t find that here. You have to find it from inside you.”

Then the chefs enter American Family Field, home of the Brewers, and it’s time for the race to determine the order of meal service. “I feel like I’m a little bit partial to the chorizo,” says Amanda, even though she’s cooking bratwurst. “He’s the only brown guy, so I gotta root for him. SOC — sausage of color.” Unfortunately, the sausages missed their DEI training, so chorizo finishes fourth. The order ends up being (1) hot dog, (2) Polish, (3) Italian, (4) chorizo and (5) bratwurst.

On the yellow team, Amanda observes, “Danny and myself and Laura have not won a single team challenge. We can’t lose. We have to win.” For Michelle, we learn that she played softball in college. She also grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to Houston, Texas, which was a “food shock” as it introduced her to creole and Cajun cooking, including etouffee, which is about to be put to the test.

Meal Service

Time runs out in the kitchen and the chefs take to the field, along with the judges, including chef Barkha Limbu Daily, chef Aaron Bickham, Zocalo and Mazorca co-owner Jesus Gonzalez, Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage president Daphne Jones, chef Gregory Leon, Carnevor and 3rd St. Market Hall co-owner Omar Shaikh and former Milwaukee Brewers player Ryan Braun.

First Inning: Hot Dog

Soo: Corn Dog with Wasabi and Jalapeno Mayo

Danny: Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog with Braised Cabbage and Beet Relish

The result: six votes for Danny, nine votes for Soo. So that’s one for the blue team. Soo’s batter was a great proportion to the hot dog itself, great texture. The ginger brought all the flavors together. Bryan says it’s the most fun corn dog he’s had in a long time, though he thinks both dishes were “incredible.”

Second Inning: Polish Sausage

Savannah: Pierogi with Fennel and Apple Salad

Michelle: Etouffee with Creamy Grits

It’s a blowout: 13 for Michelle, two for Savannah. Michelle’s dish reminded Brittany of home. Ryan felt it was far superior to ballpark food, “an explosion of flavors.” Tom Colicchio assures Savannah that her dish was “excellent,” but it needed more of the sausage.

Third Inning: Italian Sausage

Kevin: Risotto with Roasted Parmesan Emulsion and Fennel

Kaleena: Potato Gnocchi with Italian Sausage and Calabrian Chili Ragu

Another win for the yellow team! And it’s another blowout: 13 for Kaleena and two for Kevin. Brittany thinks it was a good risotto, “but I don’t know any better,” she tells Amar. The texture of Kaleena’s gnocchi was fantastic, though, and the topping amplified her flavors. Amar calls it “absolutely perfect.” Tom thought Kevin’s dish had good flavor, but too much cheese. Nevertheless, Gail Simmons assures him that it’s one of the better risottos they’ve had on the show. With two innings left to go, no one’s dishes have totally struck out.

Fourth Inning: Chorizo

Manny: Chorizo and Cheese Tetela with Roasted Salsa and Avocado Crema

Laura: Chorizo Kebab Taco with Yogurt Sauce

Amar wants to vote for both. Brittany agrees it’s a really hard decision. “We wanted to make sure our pitch was perfect,” says Manny. I don’t know if he deserves extra credit for making a sports reference that also namechecks Brittany’s movie, or if he should be docked points. It’s the day of the dad joke. Ultimately, it’s a close call, but Manny wins it nine votes to six. The only differentiating factor for Kristen is that Laura’s spice level overpowered her dish a little. Manny’s dish was better balanced. “You gave me my perfect plate of food,” Gail tells him. Tom voted for Laura, though, in large part because she made her own chorizo.

Fifth Inning: Bratwurst

Dan: Potato Pancake, Charred Cabbage, Sauerkraut, Mustard Butter and Herbs

Amanda: Rye and Caraway Spaetzle, Caramelized Onion with Beer and Mustard Sauce, Crispy Sauerkraut

And it’s not even close: Amanda by a mile, 12 votes to three, which means the yellow team wins the challenge! Amanda did a great job adding layers of flavor. The crumble was what did it for Tom, who also praises the mustard sauce. “But they’re both really good.” The cabbage in Dan’s dish gets compliments, but Amanda’s dish was more cohesive. “When the deck is stacked against you,” says Amanda, “to come through with a big win and be the one to send it for your team is probably one of the best feelings.”

This is exactly how you want a “Top Chef” challenge to go: nobody seemed to lose because they had a bad dish. Sounds like good cooking all around. Of course, that means eliminating someone is gonna suck extra hard.

Judges’ Table

“Collectively, this was the best that you’ve done all season,” Tom tells the 10 assembled cheftestants. On the winning yellow team, the chefs who won their duels — Amanda, Michelle and Kaleena — are singled out for praise before one is declared the winner: Michelle! Her second Elimination Challenge victory, and coming right off of almost getting eliminated. “Oh my god!” says Michelle. “To win it knowing that everyone put up phenomenal dishes, it’s such a boost of confidence for me.”

Kevin, Savannah and Dan were the three losing chefs on the blue team, so they’re the bottom three. “At this point, every little thing counts,” Tom tells them. “Unfortunately, someone will be going home for making a good dish tonight.” Tom thinks all three of the losing chefs made the same mistake of not incorporating the sausage well enough into their dishes, so it’ll come down to the flavors they delivered beyond the sausage. They all seem to agree that Savannah is safe and that the elimination is between Dan and Kevin — or both, but eliminating two chefs for good dishes would be silly.

Indeed, just one is ousted: Kevin.

“Coming second in ‘Top Chef France,’ I have this empty feeling like I was so close to the win. Coming into this competition, I really wanted to have a fire again, but it happened differently. I’m sad,” says Kevin in his exit interview. “The good thing with American ‘Top Chef,’ you still have ‘LCK.’ I’m still going to go to ‘Last Chance Kitchen’ and I’m going to fight over there very hard to take back my spot in ‘Top Chef.'” I don’t envy him going up against Rasika, though.

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