Noelle Myers recaps the 10th episode of Top Chef New Orleans!

We have gone from 19 Chefs down to 8, Top Chef New Orleans is heating up!

This week, Musician, Foodie, and Restaurateur Questlove was the guest judge for the Quickfire Challenge.  The theme for the challenge was Drumsticks – and there were several different kinds to choose from.  Turkey, game hen, squab, goose, quail, duck, chicken and guinea hen were all available.  There was a desperate scramble for the different wings and a few people did not end up happy with what they got.  It showed in their cooking.

Nick was left with Quail drumsticks after he paused to help Shirley, who had fallen in the scramble for her drumsticks.  He ended up on the bottom, along with Justin, who felt drummies were a bit beneath him.  Carlos was also on the bottom for his Goose Drumstick after he tried to hack the bone off and left shards of bone in his food.

On the other hand, the top three were very happy with what they chose.  Carrie decided to think outside the box and went for the squab drumsticks right away.  Nina was familiar with guinea hen from cooking it many times in Jamaica.  She sailed into the top three with her Jamaican jerk drummies.  Brian thought outside the box and made a chicken soup.  His creativity with the drummies earned him a spot in the top three.  Carrie was chosen as the winner and received immunity this week.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs went back to college – Louisiana State University (LSU) to be exact.  They stayed overnight in the dorms and then the next day they took over the lunch line for 500 students in the LSU dining hall.  The winner of this challenge received a Toyota Rav-4.  They had to use the dining hall equipment and supplies.  There were several hot and several cold stations, and there was quite a bit of commotion over who got what station.  Carlos caused quite a ruckus when he told the judges that Nick stole his oven (which was not true).

Nick served roasted pork, parmesan grits and bacon brown sugar gravy.  Justin made marinated gulf shrimp, cauliflower, asparagus, and garlic puree.  Nina created a fried chicken with corn puree and pickled onions.  Carlos served seared tilapia with chili ancho and Mexican coleslaw.  Carrie made a marinated broccoli salad and herbed yogurt.  Stephanie made a spicy tomato soup with pimento grilled cheese.  Brian made a shrimp cake with chipotle aoli.  Shirley (whose original station was needed by Carlos) used a pizza wood fire oven to make roast beef with potato puree and fire roasted tomato relish.

Shirley, Brian and Carlos’s dishes were the obvious front runners and they were in the top three.  Shirley ended up taking home the Toyota Rav-4.

Justin, Nina and Stephanie ended up on the bottom this week.  This was Justin’s fourth time in a row on the bottom and he was sent to last chance kitchen.

Next week it looks as though the feud between Nick and Carlos will heat up.  Stay tuned.