“Top Chef” contestant Dale Levitsky introduced the TV food world to Colorado lamb when he was a finalist on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” on October 3, 2007. The 30-year-old Chicago native outlasted 11 other contestants, surviving each double challenge in the 13 episodes leading up to the final cook-off in a two-episode finale.
The cooking competition aired on Bravo between June and October 2007. Fifteen contestants spent most of their time at Miami’s Fontainebleau Hotel concentrating on ingredients such as seafood and tropical produce as the field was whittled down to six contenders. When the competition was moved to New York’s famous Le Cirque restaurant the six were surprised to find that their next challenge was to stop at the Continental Airlines kitchen and prepare a meal that could be pre-prepped, re-warmed and served by the cabin crew to the business class passengers. Dale’s steak au poivre was just good enough to make the cut and his truffle honey chicken at Le Cirque earned him a place in the finals in Aspen.
The four semi-finalists were challenged to create a mid-day dish based on fresh trout snagged from Aspen’s Frying Pan River followed by the evening’s contest: elk for 45 hungry cowboys and cowgirls at the Aspen Mountain Resort. Dale’s seared elk loin, cauliflower and fingerling potatoes with a huckleberry demi-glace were deemed best and he advanced with two other contestants to the next day’s final test. The challenge was simple—cook the best meal they had ever made. The menu was to be planned as a three-course meal, but a last-minute challenge was to add a fourth.
Dale chose a fois gras mousse for his first course, seared scallops for the second and lobster with corn, mushrooms and gnocchi in a curry jus for number three. For his pièce de résistance, Dale chose Colorado lamb.
Starting with a frenched rack of Colorado lamb, Dale coated it with a dry rub and let it set overnight in the refrigerator. On the big day, he prepared a duck fat dip and dropped the seared lamb into it, letting it set until perfectly medium-rare. While the lamb was cooking, Dale made the side dish of eggplant purée, tomatoes and squash.
Dale’s choice of Colorado lamb for his centerpiece was a good one. Colorado’s clear, unpolluted mountain air and the presence of natural pastures for grazing result in lamb that is generally credited with being the mildest and most flavorful available. Summit Creek Natural Lamb prides itself on raising the best of the best Colorado-raised lamb. Once the lambs reach market size they are moved from the high Rockies to Summit Creek’s expansive feed yards where they are grain-fed, a process that adds to the animals’ mild flavor and texture. As a result, Summit Creek Natural Lamb is the choice of America’s best chefs and restaurants.
The final judgment found Dale in a virtual tie with Las Vegas chef Hung Huynh. Hung’s first and third courses were deemed best and Dale’s scallops and Colorado lamb topped the second and fourth. In a controversial decision the judges awarded first place to the often abrasive Hung. When asked if any of the dishes prepared by the other contestants stood out in his mind, even Hung relented with a half-compliment, unlike his usual demeanor, “I tasted Dale’s lamb dish and it was excellent.”
For those who want to serve Summit Creek Natural Lamb it is available to order at summitcreeklamb.com.
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pmand is filed under Colorado Lamb, Rack of Lamb. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.