As you know, I absolutely love Top Chef. I was a huge fan of Chef Paul Qui and was so excited for the finale.  As I’ve traditionally done in years past, I hosted a little Top Chef finale watch party for a few friends.  We enjoyed several delicious dishes, including sticky chicken thighs, roasted red potatoes with old bay and roasted sweet potatoes, and string beans in a sherry reduction.  But one of my favorite parts of the night was setting the table!

It was simple (no flowers like Ina Garten), but I had fun getting everything down and clean.  We started with some delicious cranberry walnut gorgonzola from Trader Joe’s and these delightful date, hazelnut, and pumpkin seed “Toast for Cheese”, made by The Fine Cheese Co., and caramelized onion and cheese tarts from Trader Joe’s (my favorite hors d’oeuvres they have).

My favorite of the night was sticky chicken thighs.  This recipe is SO easy and really delicious (find it here).

I want to buy more chicken thighs to have on hand for later this week, as this recipe takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, and it’s gonna be a busy one…

I’m watching Top Chef right now and my mouth is watering as the cheftestants are cooking their own BBQ at The Salt Lick outside of Austin. I’m thinking of my own trip there last March. And seeing all this meat, I’m dreaming of the prime rib we had on Christmas day!

Slip’s cousin Michael used his Big Green Egg to smoke this huge piece of meat in Jack Daniel’s wood chips (that’s wood chips made out of old Jack Daniel’s wooden barrels— great flavor). 

The meat was juicy, tender, flavorful, and perfect. Michael served up slices (and ribs) with a creamy horseradish sauce, as well as fresh horseradish with a serious kick. We also had sides of salad, corn pudding, roasted root vegetables, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and fresh bread. And a gorgeous cake for dessert.

And leftovers? There were plenty. Prime rib sandwiches for a week!

It’s pretty awesome. Any suggestions for our team name?

A few days ago I saw something on Twitter that really excited me— Top Cheftestant Jen Carroll of 10Arts announced that someone had cancelled a reservation for 2 suckling pigs. Bummer for them, bonus for me. I quickly got together a group of friends and Slip scored us a reservation for Friday night dinner at the luxurious and architecturally stunning Eric Ripert restaurant, located in the Ritz Carlton on Broad Street.

I can’t possibly give enough accolades to 10Arts. The service was absolutely impeccable: warm, personal, and knowledgable. But let’s be honest— the food was center stage. How could it not be, when it comes out to the table like this?

Chef presented this beauty, sourced locally (from Princeton, NJ) over to the table for presentation, and to meet and greet us. I was personally so excited to meet Chef Jen, who I was so impressed by on Top Chef. Her creations I had admired on TV definitely lived up to all of our expectations.

Chef took the pig back into the kitchen and butchered it for us— as we had absolutely no idea how to tackle the beast. The pig returned to the table along with all the amazing side dishes we enjoyed. It was certainly a Friday night feast.

To the left are little brioche buns, stuffed with foie gras and truffles. Decadent and divine, a great start to the meal. Chef also made a gravy for the pork (we each got our own personal gravy boats!) with the pan juices and a lot of ginger. The flavoring was really unique and the ginger was such a great complement to the pork. The best part was hands down the pork belly and the crispy skin. So yummy!

Also on tap was some baked macaroni and cheese with ham, collard greens (tasted acidic in a really good way), pomme puree, and haricot verts with trumpet mushrooms. Literally best haricot verts I’ve ever had in my entire life. Who knew that green beans could taste so rich and savory?

The meal was complemented by a few tasty red wine pairings and ended with a small tasting of mini-desserts including a brownie, and mango macaron.

Overall, this was a really unique and fun experience. I am so elated that we had this opportunity and word has it that 10Arts may be doing this suckling pig event more often… stay posted and I highly recommend you take a stab at it!

Part of my “quick fire” challenge in honor of Top Chef Finale Part 1 tonight. The challenge was to make 2 different toppings for a sesame seed crackers to serve my guests— 15 minutes time with anything in the house. I made one savory and one sweet and this one was sweet. I topped the cracker with Gracious Gourmet’s Fig and Almond Spread, a dab of Nutella, matchstick apples, and a dash of sweetened coconut. I’m not lying at all when I say this was absolutely delicious. Gracious Gourmet might have been cheating— their spreads and tapenades are really yummy on their own or with cheeses or meats— but the combination was actually so good! I won the quick fire :)

Yayyy, Top Chef is on again! And with some of my absolute favorite chefs back in action, I think Top Chef All-Stars may be the best season of Top Chef yet! I love that the Chicago season bested the quick fire— I honestly did think that was definitely one of the best seasons. Still really dislike Spike. So happy to see Dale, Karla, Fabio, and Tiffany, among some of my favs. Anyone else excited about this?

Top Chef, on Demand from last night. I am furious! I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched yet, but I am really disappointed about the results. Does anyone share in my frustration?