Well, I think it's safe to say that Chef Lorena Garcia is really on her way to the top of this season of Top Chef Masters. After a little bit of a rocky start and facing elimination in an earlier episode, the Venezuelan chef won the Quickfire challenge last week. This week, though, she did even better in the episode titled "Holly Madison's Pool Party."
Not only did the Latina cheftestant win the Elimination challenge but she actually did it with a SUPER Latin recipe: buñuelos!
Read more ¿Que Mas? 'Top Chef Masters': Lorena Garcia shines in Quickfire challenge
Earlier in the episode, the chefs were tasked with making a carnivore and vegetarian-friendly version of the same dish and Chef Takashi Yagihashi's Japanese-style tofu dish won out. Although his panna cotta was another favorite during the canapé-sized brunch party that guest Holly Madison, a.k.a. Hugh Hefter's former girlfriend and current "Miss Las Vegas," it was Chef Lorena who won the day with her "crispity crunchity" bites of buñuelos.
Of course, there's still a few episodes left to go but I have every confidence that Chef Lorena will keep advancing throughout the season. Will she even be named this year's Top Chef Master? I sure hope so! In the meantime, though, I am seriously craving buñuelos de yuca (the Venezuelan dessert ), so here's a recipe that we can ALL enjoy to celebrate Chef Lorena's victory! And to bid goodbye to Chef Thierry Rautureau, of course. Dig in!
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Buñuelos de Yuca (recipe courtesy of Food of South America)
Ingredients (for the fritters):
2 pounds of cooked and mashed yuccas
3 egg yolks, well beaten
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon sugar
Ingredients (for the sauce):
1/2 panela or 1 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of water
3 spice cloves
Directions:
1. Get the yuccas well mashed, add the egg yolks, the sugar and the salt and knead this until is a soft dough.
2. Make little balls with portions of this dough of about an inch diameter.
3. Fry them in abundant corn oil, until they get golden. Put them into paper kitchen towels so they absorb the extra oil.
4. For the sauce: Dissolve the panela, or the sugar in the water, add the cloves and wait until it thickens. Take it from the fire, and be careful of taking the cloves away. Let this cool and then in a serving dish put the little fried balls and over them this sauce. They can be served warm.
Are you happy to see Chef Lorena Garcia come win this episode of Top Chef: Masters? Will you be making these delicious buñuelos? Share with us in the comments below!
