Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz Goes Culinary on ‘Top Chef: Just Desserts’
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.”
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