In last night's episode of Top Chef: Just Desserts, Beastie Boy
Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz showed up to test the chefs' abilities to
incorporate savory ingredients into sweet treats. The eight contestants
had to pick two ingredients out of the Top Chef: Just Desserts
Beastie Boys Pantry, which was stocked with foods mentioned in Beastie
Boys tunes, from "Brass Monkey" to "Hold It Now, Hit It." Their task was
to use the nontraditional ingredients to craft desserts to be eaten at a
street art exhibit.
After the chefs picked ingredients including a 40 oz. bottle of beer,
ham, hot butter, pork and beans and cheddar cheese, the catch was
revealed: in a moment of "sabotage," each chef picked a third ingredient
to pass on to another competitor. The resulting dishes included "pork
& bean brownie, pine nut cream, naked ravioli and tomato stick,"
"sweet pomme frites with sweet and savory sauces" and "popcorn panna
cotta, spicy cucumber air, bacon caramel and popcorn glass."
Ad-Rock sat on the judging panel with head judge/pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, Food & Wine
magazine's Gail Simmons and food and lifestyle writer Dannielle
Kyrillos and, as expected, shared some colorful opinions. "She made
french fries with dipping sauces. Not a pork & bean brownie. Just
sayin'. My culinary standpoint is 'I'm just saying,'" he said of one
contestant's offering. Of another's: "What do you guys think about she
just grabbed two bottles of booze?"
In the end, Ad-Rock concluded, "You all freaked it, but one of you
freaked it just a little more" and declared chef Matt's dessert of
cornbread and mashed potato cheesecake with whiskey caramel and gravy
foam the winner. Simmons told chef Rebecca her concoction of falafel
panna cotta, ham peacan brittle and 40 oz. ice cream was the losing
dish. Rebecca, who admitted to having a crush on Ad-Rock since she was
15, left with no hard feelings toward her idol. Her parting words: "I
still like the Beastie Boys, but I hate falafel right now."
Related
- Video: Ad-Rock Reveals Inspiration Behind New Beastie Boys Album
- The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Beastie Boys
Photo by Trae Patton/Bravo