Top Chef Recap: Episode 5 – Dame Mas Chocolate

This week’s Top Chef started out with a shocking order from Ms. Lakshmi that would have gotten her kicked off this blog for cheating. The CHEFtestants had to work with frozen pie crusts. Oh the horrors. After they got over being placed in such a demeaning situation, the quickfire provided the perfect opportunity for Joey to cement his dominance over Howie as the fattest, most obnoxious guy, by pretending to have no pastry training and then whipping out some pretty amazing looking alcohol-infused fruit tarts.

For the elimination challenge, Bravo embarked on their most tenuous attempt at corporate synergy yet, having the chefs cook Latin food for the cast of a Telemundo telenovela called Dame Chocolate, which, judging from these fantastic opening credits, makes Sabado Gigante look like it is written by Cervantes.

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Oh, PS: I’m pretty proud of the fact that I figured out how to put video on this blog, so that’s the only reason I made you watch that clip.

Back to the food after the jump.

Casey screwed up the most, although her idea of coffee-flavored mole sauce actually sounds like it could work. Padma says it tasted like cough syrup, but of course that doesn’t matter, because Casey looks like Jennifer Aniston, so inconsequential Lia goes home instead.

Not too much to report here, but for a special bonus clip from Bravo’s endless stream of online features, check out this sweet video of Padma explaining how to make hot, steamy tortilla chips.

Pic courtesy of rediff.