Masterchef - Top 6 Compete (Part 2)

We are down to (back at) 7 home cooks competing with the return of Josh from "Top 6 Compete (Part 1)" last night

Mystery Box: Giant live prawns (much to the squealing of homecooks)

Three dishes are chosen to be tasted by judges:

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A record 5th time, Becky is called up and judges sample her grilled prawns with salsa verde and saffron rice. It is plated beautifully and her "spanish" approach works. Judges compliment her technique and flavours.

Christine is next. I was worried about her being blind trying to catch and prepare the prawns. She made Spot Prawns with pineapple broth. She had cilantro which was an ingredient the judges had mentioned they would use if they were cooking. Judges call it a "home run" with great flavour.

Lastly they choose to taste David Martinez' Spot Prawn Ceviche. He sauteed the bits in a cold sauce. Judges call it a complex dish that is rarely seen from home cooks. They compliment the visuals as well as preparation and balance of flavours.

The winner: David!

Quite shocking given he has not been performing too well lately. Finally, he wins a mystery box challenge and with that comes rewards....

Elimination Test:

David gets to choose which of the three ingredients he and the other cooks will use today. (No immunity it seems, but he gets an advantage)

1. BACON

2. CORN

3. BEETS

Twist: The dish must be a dessert. As per a modern trend, incorporating non-traditional foods in desserts.

His advantage: 3 examples of how to use the ingredient in desserts. As well as 5 minutes in the pantry solo to prepare.

He uses these advantages and chooses to make a rice pudding and asks a few questions. He then, forgets rice. His main ingredient!!! Uh-oh!

He scrambles and asks other contestents if they have rice. Becky has it, and actually does give it to him.

David - Corn and Milk based Rice Pudding with carmel. Joe calls it unedible and disgusting.

Becky - Popcorn Panna Cotta. Joe likes the opposing textures and flavours. All the judges enjoy her dessert.

Christine - Corn & Coconut Pudding. Judges feel it is more complex than it seems and very tastey.

Monti - Corn Souffle. Corn milk and pastry cream infused with lavendar. it sounds fancy and the judges say it is delicious and well done.

Felix - Corn Profiteroles. Graham says visually it looks like cat poo, it is dense not airy and he doesn't like it. Joe has similar sentiments saying it is disappointing.

Frank - Corn Budino with chocolate. Judges seem to enjoy.

Josh - Corn Creme Brulee. Visually it is not pleasing or appetizing, but flavour wise judges

Bottom Three:

Josh & Felix & David

Felix is sent home.

Master Chef - Returning Home Chef is...

The last 8 homechefs sent home return for a chance to win an apronand return to the competition. The mystery box challenege had each returning player choosing an ingredient they loved and that may throw off the others.

There was chocolate, pork, cream, portobello mushrooms, pomegranate, and other random ingredients.

*Spoilers ahead*


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I really thought Stacey, who left most recently, would be the returning cook, but it came down to Ryan, the cocky unemployed young lad and Josh, the obvious favoured cook from day one.

Next up was a fruit flan. The two prepared then the remaining homechefs still in the competition judged, based on technique, flavour, but not knowing who's was who's.

Josh went for more exotic fruits, while Ryan stuckw ith traditional berries. The "judges" spoke about crust, filling, knife work on the berries, flavour and in the end the exotic fruits from Josh won.

While I didn't think Ryan was the better cook, I thought he made the show more entertaining so I was rooting for him secretly. Josh, who is the better cook, especially with a dessert task, won and is back in Masterchef competition.




So do you think this returning home chef will last or be sent packing again soon? Is this game rigged? Who is your fave to win now?

MasterChef Top 8 and Top 7 Episode recaps

I am catching up on my shows after being away... Here is two in one Masterchef recap.... Top 8 and Top 7 up next...

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Task - They are in the desert, the judges arrive on horseback.

Frank (Red) - Becky, Josh, Felix.

Monti (Blue) - Stacey, David, Christine.

Then Chef Ramsay had Monti and Frank swap teams... they were not happy.

So now Monti is Red with Becky, Josh, Felix while Frank is blue with Stacvey, David, Christine.

They have 90 minutes to prepare meals for 101 cowboys - first team to 51 points wins.

Monti and Red team discuss - Rib Eye Steak with mashed sweet potatoes and spicy green beans. Some fear peeling and mashing will be too time consuming. Despite team disagreements, they move forward with Monti's idea.

Frank is accepting teams ideas and they decide with NY Strip with garlic mash, corn on the cobb and Stacey's BBQ sweet, smokey, hot sauce.

16 oz delicious steaks ready to go. Red team is doing the dry rub while Frank takes control on blue and is pre-searing steaks. Monti assigns Becky to man the grill while she cuts veggies a point judges realize.

Christine is grilling corn, but the husks catch fire and her team mates aren't much help... I mean, she is blind... an amazing cook, but needs a little help with some things obviously.

Meanwhile red team has overcooked some steaks, they only get 105 to serve 101 so Monti is in a prediciment. Yet blue team is stacking steaks causing juices to leak and cooking to continue.

101 cowboys and cowgirls eat and rate the meals.

5 minutes into service red team is out of sweet potatoe mash.

Meanwhile blue is serving overcooked steaks.

In the end it is 36-51 with blue winning.

Back in kitchen it is pressure test and the Blue team is told to go into the wine room and pick one name to NOT participate in pressure test.

Monti says she is cooking regardless, she suggests Felix. Josh disagrees and says he did everything. Becky agrees everyone did everything. So Josh wants him, Becky wants her, Felix agrees with Monti that she (Felix) should be, in the end, no one can decide.

back in the kitchen cheg asks the chef to step forward, after hesitation, Felix steps forward, much to Becky and Josh's annoyance.

The test:

6 eggs, they must make one perfect of each egg: sunny side fried egg, soft boiled egg, poached egg, a 3 egg omlette. That means NO ROOM for error!!!

Josh, Becky, Monti head to their station ready to go. Monti calls eggs "big time bitches" needing to be timed to the second. She is right!

It;s an intense few minutes as they all cook and judges ask which egg they are most worried about, I am not a good cook and eggs even stress me out. My husband does most of the cooking - thankfully ;)

In the end, none of them do entirely well.... but Monti is safe first and then between Josh and Becky it is Josh that is sent home.

**Top 7 Compete**

Paula Dean arrives to do mystery box: A whole chicken, green tomatoes, collard greens, grits, blackberries, hot sauce, pepper jelly, bacon, cream cheese, and spices.

She wants them to put some "south in their mouth"

She also had letters and photos for each the homechefs from their families.

Time starts ticking and they are cooking like mad. In only 60 minutes it is interesting to see what they decide to try and make.

Results:

Three to taste:

-Becky - Oven Roasted Chicken with fried green tomatoes, biscuits and gravy with fried okra. - Paula loved it. The judges complimented her also.

-Frank - Chicken Roulade, pepper shutney and spicey potatoes. - Paula loves that he chose the dark meat which has most of the falvour, she thinks it is delicious but starts to choke after from spices. The judges compliment his technique.

-David - Pan Roasted Chicken with red pepper grits and shoestring onions. - Judges enjoy its flavour and Paula gives Ramsay crap for calling grits bland (he said David took a usually bland food and made it tastey ha ha) I agree, I hate grits, husband and kiddo love them though!

Winner of Mystery Box Challenge: Frank.

His advantage in next competition: He doesn't choose food, the judges have chosen Japanese food. (Sushi Platter) Frank's advantage is that he has immunity AND choose the pairs. (Yes, they will work in pairs for this competition)

They must make an exact replica - California roll, tuna sushi, yellow sushi, and many others....

One member of the losing team will be sent home. The pairs are:

-Becky & David

-Felix & Monti

-Christine & Stacey

60 minutes begins... however, the pair must not cook at same time and will switchw hen judges yell switch.

The pairs seem to communicate well at first, they need to tell each other what to do. David and Becky struggle the most, especially when Becky comes in and re does half of David's work.

In the end Christine and Stacey had the worst dish and Stavey goes home.

Master Chef - 12 and 11 compete

Two in one this week for recaps because.... well, I have been busy ha ha!

12 compete

We start with a food truck challenge. The amount of money earned goes to charity and the team with the MOST money wins. First up choosing teams...

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Stacey chooses Tali, Frank, Becky for her team

Then she chooses two teams...

Monti, David, Anna, Tonya

Leaving Christine, Felix, Mike, Josh as the last team

Then, Stacey chooses team colours which depicts what food type they will have.

Red - Mexican (Stacey's team)
Blue - Indian (Christine's team) who chooses Josh as team captain
Yellow - American (Monti's team) who chooses Anna as team captain

Each team plans and prepares a dish. Red team Stacey pushes for a vegetarian dish in addition to meat. Finally after They aim for taco's with side dish and guacamole... that would be delicious! After Ramsay lectures they ditch the veggie option.

Yellow team fights about side dish, fries versus chips. David and Monti hate each other. They aim for a burger with chips. Sounds plain jane. They do have two different mini burgers and chips in the end... Ramsay lectures and they decide to just do one, though with two minutes to go they have zero ON THE GRILL... oh boy!

Blue decides on some chicken tikka masala, Mike doesn't know what it is and they worry about time to prep but go for it. Sounds interesting.

If I had to pick one it would be the Mexican. But I love Guacamole!

Yellow - raw burgers after not starting to cook until 2 minutes before opening. David was on grill. After a slow start they get going.

Blue - seems to be doing best according to the judges, it has best flavour and is best deal

Red - Stacey goes to the skate park to recruit more people, tacos are an easy sell, though many would have liked to see fish tacos.

Results

Red team wins.

$154 difference between yellow and blue.

Yellow team loses.

Pressure Test

Tortellini.

Joe shows them the correct way to make it. They watch carefully.

60 minutes to prepare 10 perfect tortellini with a cheese and meat filling in a broth.

Monti - is confident though she hasn't made tortellini, she makes pasta a lot.
Anna - is using a mixer not her hands.
David - is using steel surface not wooden board and has fat fingers.
Tanya - has not made a lot of pasta and is very nervous.

Joe says pasta should be done first so it has time to rest after. Gordon says you want to make sure you time it all right.

David is the first one safe, despite his fat fingers he did a great job. Monty was also safe.

Between Anna and Tanya, it is close, but Anna heads home today.

*** Top 11 compete next... I typed it all up but it did not save... it was mystery box and they made rabbit. Becky was best and picked a fryer for her elimination round and a pizza stone for everyone else. Very few made pizza and in the end Mike and Tanya went home, despite crappy performance for David (also in bottom 3) and Tali (not in bottom three.

Master Chef - 13 compete

Another night of Masterchef....

The epiosde kicks off with a mystery box challenge, my favourite.


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Inside:
-corn
-watermelon
-t-bone steak
-cabbage
-peach
-sour craem
-spices

Total is under $20 at Walmart - obviously a sponsored mystery box challenge.

60 minutes to make dish valued $40+ at fine dining resturant.

Becky is planning a dessert, big risk. Cowboy Mike is excited, this is his kind of meal. Tali is struggling as usual. Everyone says they are happy with their dishes.

Judges watch and taste throughout the task and decide who are stand out dishes.

1. Frank
- grilled t bone steak with corn, slaw and cream sauce

2. Tanya
- Tarragon t-bone steak with braised cabbage and pureed corn

3. Becky
- Caramalized Peach with peached and cream puree

Then judges chose the best... Tanya
Elimination Test:

Tanya can choose between the following judges favourite desserts.

Joe - Tiramisu
Graham - Strawberry Shortcake
Gordon - Triffle

Tanya is safe and doesn't have to cook. She also gets to choose who makes which dessert (4 per dessert)

Judges will pick the worst from each dessert as the bottom three.

Tiramisu - Anna, Frank, David, Felix
Strawberry Shortcake - Scott, Mike, Tali, Christine
Triffle - Becky, Monti, Stacey, Joshua

60 minutes begins

Homecooks grab materials and start to prepare desserts.

Monti somehow sets fire to her trifle while in a frantic panic. She is running around asking for lady fingers and flour. I don't think most od them knew what a trifle was.

The judges discuss each homecook and their strategy and results so far. It is down to the wire with most cooks finishing just in time.

Tiramisu

Felix - adds nuts and Joe is not impressed. Felix starts to cry. Graham comments on the visuals lacking and doesn't seem to enjoy the flavour either. Gordon says it is way too sweet, looks as sad as she does "is a mess" he calls it her worst performance on masterchef causing more tears from Felix.

Frank - Graham likes the look and taste

David - Gordon is not happy it is thick and heavy. Joe complains about the watery substance calling it gross.

Anna - I missed... I was on facebook LOL too lazy to rewind

Trifle

Josh - Joe says it tastes like a banana split, a bowl full of cream and bananas. Graham

Monti - Gordon mentions how half way through the challenge she had nothing and although it still lacks sponge, it tastes delicious.

Stacey - It looks beautiful, she calls it an Italian trifle.

Becky - Joe says it is gross and spits it out. He says she tried to show off and it bit her in the ass. Graham and Gordon agree.

Strawberry Shortcake

Christine - used other berries a berry shortcake

Tali - missing foam but has good flavour

Scott - didn't glaze strawberries

Mike - missed or wasn't shown?

Stand Out Dish

Stacey

Bottom Three

Becky
Felix
Scott

Going Home

Scott






What did you think of the mystery box dishes?

How about the Elimination Test?


Next Week:
Homecooks hit the road for a food truck challenge.

Hells Kitchen - 13 chefs compete - Part 2

After a brief recap of last week's part one 13 chefs compete, we get started back in Hell's Kitchen.

The drama with Robyn and Kimmie continues.

We are preparing for the first ever fashion show in Hell's Kitchen.



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The men are quickly distracted by hot models on the runway. The res team criticize the models lack of eating, being too skinny.

Raw scallops, over cooked scallops, the women mess up - well Tiffany messed up, but wouldn't admit it even though Barbie tried to tell her they were no good.

Blue seems to be a bit more on top of things getting some appies out.

The usual chaos ensues. The fashion show runs and Ramsay gets the teams prepped for once the runway ends and they start entrees. Barbie can't recall how many of each meat, Robyn knows then goes ghetto in the diary room - I seriously can't handle it. they either cast black women who are stereotypically ghetto-trash-talking, or they cast white trasy women to be ghetto-talking. WTF?

The men are once again distracted by the bikini clad women walking down the catwalk. There is a fire in a pan and some burned meat. Ramsay is less than thrilled - obvs.

The women run out of meat after overcooking and Robyn tries to send her team mates to the blue kitchen to swipe some. A few try, but chicken out. Robyn finally admits she doesn't have enough meat and wants some frmo blue. He tells her no she is a silly cow and makes her go ask this customer what she wants instead.

The women continue to mess up. Between cooking things wrong, or sending wrong things up it was just a mess. Tiffany won't take responsibility for the bad swordfish but finally the entrees all get out.

....

The Blue team fights over nominations as usual and they ended with Clemenza and Brian or Guy.... Guy....

Ramsay surveys the blue team and the majority seem to think Clemenza should go home.

They each say their piece as to why they shoudl stay, Clemenza is deffo mroepassionate and fights HARD to stay.... it pays off..

In the end, Clemenza gets sent back in line and Guy goes home. The red team cheers.




What do you think? Do you agree with who went home?

Masterchef - 14 compete

The chefs are fast asleep in their hotel rooms and come 3am they are woken up. By 4am they are at one of the top hotels working the early rush cooking all the room service breakfast orders. Crazy!

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They will be cooking:

oatmeal
fresh fruit salad
hand made panckcaes
eggs benedict
egg white omelette
2 eggs any style

Blue Team - Josh
Becky, Frankie, Anna, Monty, David, Tali

Red Team - Christine
Felix, Scott, Tanya, Mike, Stacey, Ryan
*Power to swap one member of her team for one of Josh's. She swaps Ryan for Becky. Smart move!

Team chooses an expediter to oversee plates.

Blue - Monty

Red - Felix

Breakfast is 7am. 90 minute prep time begins.

130 orders each. Satisfied customers will hang their team colour tag on the door. Whoever gets the least tags faces the pressure challenege.

Blue team is assigned stations. Red team decides together who does what.

Red Felix lays out the board for expediting,s he is a food runner and seems to be organized, however, in prep Ramsay is concerned they do not have enough hollindaise for benedict.
yelling.
Blue has scorched bacon and uncooked spinach and Monty is shouting at her team which makes Christine concerned that Felix is too quiet. Christine is blind so without verbal communication she is uncertain where her team is at.

7am - service begins.

Blue team has some yelling again/still with Monty and Josh. Both teams are squished into a small kitchen and the shouting and chaos stresses me out as a viewer!

Blue team is sending more food out than red, Christine tells Felix to speak up and get things going. Christine is upset Felix is doing everything herself with no communication, Chef Ramsay tells her the same thing. Everyone is clearly stressed out. I can relate, not that I have done this, I have worked in resturants for years though..... Although Monty is loud and annoying (shouting in 2 languages) they are working it.

Joe checks in with guests to see how they are doing. Blue seems to be doing well.

Red (as Ramsay warned) ran out of hollindaise. Felix tries to drizzle and save which makes Ramsay mad. Christine starts to be more vocal. She ensures everyone is doing what they should.

Blue has quality control issues as Ramsay discovers broken egg yolks, a hair, not enough fresh fruit, etc.

Where blue started strong, they are starting to crumble.

When the results come in

Red - 60%
Blue - 40%

Blue must face pressure test.

Pressure Test
Three are saved from Blue team: David, Frank, and Monty.

Josh is pissed. Ryan is alaso pissed.

The rest of the Blue team are cooking a dessert that terrifies chefs around the world.

Molten Lava Cake. (OMG I ate one last week at Joey's, the inside is so warm and gooey and delicious inside the cake!)

The 4 chefs prepare.

Ingredients: Flour, sugar, eggs, powdered sugar, chocolate, cinnamon and butter.

They get 4 attempts. Once they have one they think is good they bring it up as the one to be judged.

40 minutes begin.

Editing always has you guessing how it will go...

Tali finished first, Anna, then Josh, and finally Ryan with under 45 seconds to go pulls his from the oven.

He serves a flattened pile of goo. It has no form, it isn't done, it literally looks like a blog of goop.

But form isn't theonly way to rate the food, taste counts too.

Anna and Josh are pulled up first - "pure prefection"

Ryan and Tali are up for elimination. One tastes bad and one looked a mess.

Ramsay asks who ever knows they were the worst to step forward and pass over their apron. After a few moments, Ryan finally stepped forward and passed up his apron.

Ramsay tells him he didn't expect molten soup from Ryan.

and with that the cocky Ryan heads home. Tali is his buddy and probably the only one upset to see Ryan leave.



Were you shocked with who went home? How about how it went down?

What did you think of the team challenege?

I would have loved to eat some of those pressure test foods... mmmm....

Who are you rooting for now?

Masterchef - Top 15 compete

Another night of masterchef with one of the grossest mystery box challenges ever - ewwwww!


The top 15 enter to begin the mystery box challenge. The person with the best dish will get a "huge advantage" in the elimination challenege which will follow this mystery box challenege.

Inside the box was....


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... brain, balls, tongue, a lamb's head, hearts, livers, and more - gross!

90 minutes to create something gourmet... *gag*

Felix is excited because she says in asian cooking they eat everything. Most homecooks are not excited about this challenge though.

Watching then cook, prep, experiement makes me want to barf.

Cocky Ryan thinks Monty should go home next and he is winning it all.

The judges go around and the ideas teh homecooks have range from brilliant to disgusting. Considering the ingredients, I can't see how anything good could come from it, but there are some creative cooks there!

Judges inspect all the dishes and choose the Top 3 stand-outs.

They choose:
-Becky - Sweet Bread Duo - with chicken liver pate on buttered toast. A sampling as she called it and Ramsay calls it bold but delicious. Three different tehcniques, textures, flavours, a very well done appetizer.

-Ryan - Sweet breads with potato and shallot curry oil. He is cocky, the others are upset he was chosen. Judges say it is balanced and delicious.

-Christine - Panko fried sweetbreads with bok choy - judges say it is terrific and delicious.

The winner is: Ryan

Choices:

1 - Ahi Tuna
2 - Ham
3 - Crab

He can choose which ingredient everyone will cook with. He also doesn't have to cook and is safe from elimination.

He chooses crab.

He then chooses 7 to use fresh crab and 7 with canned crab.

WOW!

Canned - Becky, Monti, Felix, Stacey, Frank, Joshua
Fresh - Christine, Scott, Tali, Anna, Helene, Mike, David

60 minutes

Judges discuss what they would do with fresh or live crab. Ryan was very strategic in assigning the type of crab each cook got. Blind Christine cuts herself on the love crab but luckily it is a small cut.

Judges circulate to see what each homecook is doing. Reminding them to taste everything.

Time to taste...

Tali - Paprika buttered crab. "Looks like a horror movie" "Where is all the crab?" "We gave you a $60 crab and you did what with it?" They think he was stupid with it.

Joshua - Thai Crab Trio. "bold, spicy good"

Mike - Crab bisque. Fresh crab processed into canned taste.

Tanya - Thai green curry with crab.

Frank - Orecchiette puttanesca. He keeps making the same thing over and over. Too much crab, no balance "like hamburger helper"

Christine - Ceviche cocktail. Visually appealing, delicious, fresh, fragrant. Ramsay invites Ryan to conme try it, he says "it's really awesome" which was nice, because being so cocky I expectes what we have seen in past seasons "meh i could do better" attitude. I hate Ryan a little less, just a little.

Helene - Crab Soup - Joe is not happy, he says it tastes like canned crab.

Monti - Scotch Egg. Judges are impressed it actually tastes good. Ryan is not happy.

Judges debate and are impressed with what they did with canned crab.

Two spectacular dishes:
Josh and the winner.... Christine.

These two are team captains for next challenge.

Bottom four:
Frank, Tali, Mike, Helene

Josh notices 3/4 of the bottom 4 had fresh crab, how ridiculous is that?

Frank and Mike are sent back, leaving Helene and Tali for elimination risk.

Helene is sent home.... when asked who will win... she says "Frankie"




Next episode is team challenge, looks like an early 3am wake up call for breakfast roomservice at a busy hotel. Chaos ensues... of course... Can't Wait!

Hells Kitchen - 13 Chefs Compete

We continue from last night's elimination with two chefs at risk....

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Danielle is sent home. The girls are in tears. Tiffany, Kimmie and Robyn are happy, the rest are sad.

The men are arguing too - blaming Patrick for their poor service. Royce seems to lead the brigade. HE needs to go!

the next morning Chef Ramsay presents trends in the food business. Models come out to show the food trends....

1950s - crazy colourful dishes - layered jello mold jiggler and tv dinners.

1970s - fondue (I love fondue)

1990s - asian fusion

The men are all excited about the hot models ha!

The challenge:
Fashion Night in Hell's Kitchen. David Meister, Amanda Che, Ian Soltani are the three guest judges, all fashion designers.

Each team produces 1 appetizer and 2 entrees (1 seafood and 1 poultry)

David like spicy, healthy, swordfish, Ian likes colourful, heavily seasoned Amanda likes healthy, not fatty

30 minutes....

During preparation Blue discusses swordfish, mushrooms, lobster medallion while Red is led by Dana the perfectionist.

The usual Hells kitchen drama continues with the bossy chef, the idiot chef, the lazy chef and so on.

Appetizer
Justin - they say it isn't visually appealing the foam looks gross, it doesn't look elegant or sophisticated and is too much food for an appetizer. Taste - the foam is too sweet and the rest is a bit bland.

Dana - mango broth with crab meat. Soup isn't elegant, can be messy, it does have some flavour.

Red Wins

The judges are super specific and picky - uh oh!

Poultry

Patrick - describes the dish as "thins the mucus" ew! They don't like the blob of sauce, they say it tastes interesting but there is no kick in it. They like it, they don't love it.

Tiffany - has something "fried" on her dish, which is not healthy. It also looks disgusting and the fashion crowd would clearly hate it. It is delicious they like the salad but the rest is greasy.

Blue wins

Seafood

Robyn - seabass with seasoning. They like the colour and the grape though it is a bit bland.

Guy - Swordfish with a lot of seasoning. They like the ingredients, plating and flavour. The don't like the sauce.

Blue and Red each get a vote, but the third vote means Blue wins

Kimmie is mad Robyn didn't add spice as instructed. The women are pissed, but the Blue team hasn't had a win yet have they? Of course this worsens the Red Teams arguing.

Blue gets money to shop in Malibu - new outfits, wine tasting, and a relaxing day. They have a personal shopper then go for wine tasting. They drink..... a lot.. their diary room talks later are hilarious.

Red gets to clean and set up a runway - it is not without bickering and argueing but they let loose at the end with some hilarious catwalks and poses. Tiffany and Robyn burp and laugh and snort and fart while the other ladies look over in disgust.

When the Blue team returns, hammered the red team gets upset again.

Both teams go to bed early, but Clemenza wakes up early and is loud trying to wake everyone else up...

Kimmie goes nuts and is using a punching bag outside. She is ready to kill Robyn, who was on "her side" but clearly isn't anymore.

Fashion Night begins....

Ramsay explains how the show will go and emphasizes the timing of food. Kimmie and Royce are chosen to help plate food and Ramsay warns that these customers are not easy to please.

Clemenza starts cooking scallops before the doors even open... I seriously don't even GET how people make such stupid mistakes.

Looks like Clemenza may be sent home right then and there, also looks like the red kitchen drames some of the blue kitchen and sets them up for failure....



TO BE CONTINUED.........

Hell's Kitchen - 14 chefs compete

Last week somehow I missed an episode of Hells Kitchen and so tonight I learned that both teams lost and nominated two people and Don went home, Roshni movies to Men's Blue Team.

Tonight....

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Blue welcomes Roshni and Red Team is still divided.

They have bouncing balls all over the dining room and they grab them - each has food items / ingredients on them. These are the items they can use for the contest - 35 minutes for 5 traditional Mexicain dishes.

They all make a dish then the team picks the top 5 to present to guest judges.

1 - Tacos
Royce - Pork
Kimmie - Shrimp

Red wins

2 - Burritos
Danielle - falling apart, hard to eat
Clemenza - Mexican/Italian flavour the judges like

Blue wins

3 - Soup

Tiffany - crab salsa soup
Justin - pickle shrimp tortilla soup

Red wins

4 - Enchilada

Christina - not sure?
Patrick - lobster

Blue wins

5 - Tostada

Roshni - crab chili grilled tostada
Dana - ahi tuna

Blue and Red each get one vote from the judge so Ramsay is the tie breaker

Red wins

Reward - Gourmet Lunch and big surprise. They eat at Riveriera with one of the guest judges. Then they get salsa dancing lessons and apparently drink more judging by their diary room bits.

Punishment - Blue team has "Mexican Night" preparation. Salsa by hand, prep both kitchens. Their lunch is something disgusting. Men cut and cut and cut ingredients in preparation and tensions are high, particularily between Clemenza and Patrick.

The women returns in a festive mood, which worsens the mens mood.

Later Royce bitches to Danielle about the challenge. Tiffany doesn't like it and sets a "no bitching policy" then after drinking a bottle of booze she goes gossiping to others ina drunken slur. She gets the whole conversation and its participants incorrect.

The next morning Robyn decides to address it and everything is messed up. Tiffany sitys as Kimmie yells at poor Dana and Danielle for something they didnèt say (Royce had said it ... Tiffany was drunk and mixed up who said what when she reported to the team)

DRAMA

The kitchen opens and women are not getting along. They start off with mussles that arenèt done correctly. Blue kitchen has minimal success.

Kimmie and Dana have a fight because Kimmie told her to put fish on same tray as meat. THEN THEY SERVE RAW PORK. Danielleès fault. Ridiculous!

Meanwhile, Blue is doing better, but not by much.

Patrick is tossed out along with Guy.

Next Danielle is kicked out of the kitchen after a second round of raw pork.

Then Clemenza and get kicked out for.... raw pork!

Barbie is then kicked out for needing a thermo for chicken

Tiffany has burned mashed potatoes and is also kicked out bringing our total to 7 people.

Royce makes 8 and Blue now has Brian and Roshni left.

The remaining chefs work hard, but it is just amazing how many were kicked out. Both teams lose and have to choose nominees...


Nominees:
Blue - Guy and Patrick
Red - Barbie and Danielle

They all argue to stay, I could have them all leave and be fine to shorten this season to be honest...


NO one goes home - it is to be continued - luckily it is on tomorrow!



What a show - next episode looks intense too - D-R-A-M-A!!!

Masterchef - Top 16 Compete

at the largest military base the chefs are told that 201 marines will arrive to eat. They are doing a team challenge using portable kitchens, and so the show begins.....

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Entree from each team then they line up behind their favourite team's entree

Frank & David are team camptains...

Frank (Blue) - Felix, Scott, Stacey, Tally, Tonya, Mike, Christine.

David (Red)- Becky, Josh, Mike, Helene, Ryan, Anna, Monty.

Interesting men all chosen first, blind gal chosen last. Ah well - it is what it is.

The rules:
-One entree
-Must contain: one protein, one starch, one vegetable
-feed 201 marines
-2 hours

Frank sticks with his Italian roots and wants a pasta - Chambota?!!?

David chooses BBQ porkchops.

Judges fear the cooking during serving time with pork chops may be a problem, while they fear the pasta dish may be too unfamiliar to the marines.

Red struggles to get organized and start, while the Blue team is having a tough time on the grill throwing unseasoned veggies to dry out and burn.

The marines arrive and the red teams pork is undercooked, while the blue team seems ready to roll but is worried they do not have enough.

Red - BBQ porkchops, cheesey potatoes and cole slaw.
Blue - Grilled Chicken with pasta salad.

Christine is serving chicken breasts, which is awkward for her but I feel like the blue team is looking for a sympathy vote having the blind gal serve.

Red runs low on food that is cooked and ready - potatoes gone... so they are serving only cole slaw - uh oh!

Blue then runs low on pasta.

Judges look around and discover a raw pork chop. Red Team is in shit. Ramsay (as we know from Hells Kitchen) does NOT accept raw food! They do some preliminary votes and of course the editing shows us only about even.

Both teams keep pushing hard but Red team is still trying to get meat cooked and Becky and Monty step up to take over and get things happening as David stands unsure what to do. Blue is trying to finish the pasta so they have enough for everyone.

In the end the men are fed and it is time to vote. Ryan jokes the red women need to show their breasts - Monty is pissed.

The lines look fairly even so they do a count....

Red Team wins! By 16 votes!

Blue enters a pressure test, Red Team is safe.

Pressure Test

One gets a pass this round, the team captain chooses Felix to be safe because she had recommended chicken and macaroni. She wants to stay and cook, so he chooses Scott who wants to cook. Frank chooses Stacey and she takes the pass while bawling.

The test: apple pie

They will be judged on the filling, crust and overall technique.

Some are worried, some are confident.

The judges discuss the technique and details that must be paid attention to from pastry to apples to temperatures to flavouring.

Many chefs do not have their pies in with only 30 minutes to go....

-Frank - delicious, flaky crust, melt in your mouth apples
-Tanya - firm apples, odd flavour and texture
-Tali - good
-Felix - visually great,
-Mike - he put cheese on his, a strange move, additionally it was soggy with juices
-Scott - looks bad, but the taste is good. Bad pastry, good filling, so not the worst
-Christine - although she is feeling discouraged, Ramsay compliments her skill and tells her to stop feeling upset for herself and believe in herself more! She has a flaky crust, no soggy no liquid (he scrapes it so she can hear it) she is crying, and he lifts a beautiful wedge of pie that tastes amazing.

Tanya, Scott, Mike are bottom three.

Not surprisingly cheeseman Michael is sent home.



Tomorrow night there is more and some drama too.... can't wait!

Hells Kitchen

another episode of hells kitchen tonight.....

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The girls are not happy with Barbie. Robyn and Kimmie are losing their minds yelling at her.

New day, Barbie wakes up early and noisily cleans, banging dishes and stomping as she cleans. Out comes Tiffany losing her mind, threatening to choke out Barbie. Robyn is ready to snap too and drama is causing all hell to break lose until Chef Ramsay calls them all down stairs to the kitchen where a room of people are singing America the Beautiful in an immigration ceremony.

Chef Ramsay challanges the chefs to serve them all. Which ever team fees their entire side of the kitchen wins. The menu? Cobb Salad then choice of sliders, pizza or grilled cheese.

Royce is on salads and holds up the men's side. Women struggle with communication.

The Ladies win and get to go to San Diego safari via private jet, while the men get to do some hard labour...

The giraffes lick the girls and they all celebrate with Chef Ramsay. The men lift trees and clear our land.

Later that night Hells Kitchen is ready to open....

American heroes attend and Chef Ramsay is hoping they can actually complete dinner service tonight... I however, am not as optimistic.

Blue starts off well with Royce on Appies. On the floor Don can't spell so his tickets are slow and hold up the men, but the kitchen does well getting food out. Clamenza can't tell time and quotes 20 minutes to the pass, then 15 then he isn't sure - when he brings it up it is cooked perfectly, and the men continue to excel.

Red team starts with soupy spaghetti and Dana is bombing on appies. She finally gets her footing and things start to come out. barbie messes up scallops - again - Ramsay is pissed because it was for a VIP table of firemen. Christina helps out and keeps the red team going.

Both kitchens struggle at times and it seems like they may get through dinner service... Briana keeps burning fish which messes with Kimmie's timing of entrees, which they have to remake. Clemenza runs out of wellington he is supposed to bemaking for the marines on meat station and is forced to go out and reccommend the NY strip instead.

Red gets kicked out of the kitchen and is the obvious loser. They put forth Briana and Barbie, then Dana.

Robyn tells Chef Ramsay Briana and Barbie. Ramsay calls forward Roshni as well. In the end Chef Ramsay sends Briana home.

The ladies are still pissed barbie is till there... more drama to come surely.

Master Chef - Top 36 Challenge

The rest of the auditions happened tonight and then a Top 36 challenge using beef.

Some memorable cooks from the auditions:

husband and wife, blind gal, tall (not basketball player) guy, nearly made it gal, cowboy, Monti, and more.

At the end of the hour, there are some groups. One group of 12 is safe to go to master chef, the other group of 12 is already not staying and then there are a few people back at the stations still who get to come present their dishes.

Going Through - the cocky asian girl, Ryan the unemployed ego maniac...that was all I saw....

First up:

David - Italian Beeg Taco with Eggplant - tastes good but simple
Anna - Beef stuffed onions with raisins and horseradish - Lacks colour but tastes good
AJ - Orecchiette pasta with broccoli rabe and fennel meatballs - nice idea but a bit bland
Tanya - Persian Kebab with red onion pickle salad and egg plant - bold but within her comfort zone of persian food

Tanya and David get through. Husband and Wife AJ and Anna step forward and are told to say good bye to each other as one is going home alone is AJ. Anna goes through.

Next up:

Christine - Thai Basil Beef with rice dish (She is the blind cook) - complex flavours are delicious but beef is dry
Bubba - Ranch Stew with corn bread topping - flavourful but simple
Didn't get her name Nadinni? - Beef and Spinach Curry - cooked well but doesn't explode with flavour
Monti - Beef Roll with greens and almonds - delicious

Monti goes through. I am glad I like her!

Bubba and Nadinni(?) did not make it.

Christine - gets through!!! I love it!

Last up:

Courtney - (a man) Spaghetti Bolgnese - brave move to try to make sauce in shrot time, it is a bit sweet
Romy - Grape Leaf Patty - pickled well, weird colour for beef, but tastey and bold
David- Faux Bone Marrow - smart idea, savory, but some undercooked veggies
Sharine - Roasted egg plant stuffed with garlic mash and beef with tomato butter sauce - raw eggplant, not a lot of positive reviews

Courtney - sent home, a bit shocking
Sharine - sent home, no shock there
Romy and David - only one goes through.... and it is David!



And now we have our Top 18!!!

So who do we have?
Anna Rossi
Becky Reams
Christine Ha
David Mack
David Martinez
Felix Fang
Frank Mirando
Helene Leeds
Joshua Marks
Michael Chen
Mike Hill
Monti Carlo
Ryan Umane
Samantha de Silva
Scott Little
Stacey Amagrande
Tali Clavijo
Tanya Noble


View full bio's here

Reality TV - Tuesday June 5

Tonight was another reality television night.

Masterchef
Auditions #2 was tonight and it didn't disappoint. Like last night there were some good, some bad and some questionable. As I said last night I will recap and blog episodes once auditions are over. It is just too hard for me before that point... and I am feeling lazy ha! Last night I listed a few names from Auditions #1. I missed the tall guy who everyone asked if he was a basketball player - he was awesome! Tonight a few stand outs included Felix (first gal), the dessert girl who ran for a rolling pin, the cowboys were entertaining at least, but the horse riding one got through. I also loved the husband and wife combo.

Love in the Wild
I seriously can't understand why I watch this show... but I do. It is usually my background show while I do other things online and my recaps are pretty vague idf I can remember names. I will try to do better this time, but no guarantees. Tonight's episode was a good start. I love Jenny McCarthy as host and the nick names the contestents used for each other("boobs mcgee") helped me since I usually have to refer to them by nicknames (Have you seen my Bachelorette recaps? "head injury guy" and "egg dude" and "long haired boy" LOL Sorry, I am not detail focused - CLEARLY!) Read my recap from tonight here....


Hells Kitchen
Episode #2 was tonight and the drama was full force. It is always equally entertaining and mind-blowing at how terrible these "chefs" are.... See my full re-cap from tonight's episode here.

Tomorrow: SYTYCD Auditions #3 (Again, I usually start recaps once we get our top group, though a bit of commentary happens during auditions and CERTAINLY during Vegas week!!!)

Thanks for reading.... Remember Big Brother Starts in a month - squeeeeee!!!

Hells Kitchen - Episode 2

First they were woken up at 6am by loud rap music... then, in their PJs raced down stairs where their first challenge began...

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Digging through the ice piles they had to find all the scallops. This was tough as some were in barefoot, PJs and Royce even got a split bloddy nose.

Once completed they had the challenge to prepare 6 scallop dishes. The women took an early lead and win the challenege.

Men are left to clean up the ice pile while women head for a yacht party to Catalina with Chef Ramsay.

Men eat poorly cooked scallops turned into shakes and Royce and Brian have conflict. Meanwhile, Women feast and toast and zip line and laugh and play.

Before second dinner service, men seem united but the women struggle to get along, communicate and share... Robyn and Barbie have beef over stupid things and it seems dinner service will be a challange because of this.

In addition to the regular menu items they have table side shrimp scampi appetizer. Christina and Brian are on the floor preparing these table side and the rest are intheir team kitchens.

Don struggles with pizza under Chef Ramsay's observation, which he admits makes him nervous. These nerves, or lack of skills lead to a burned AND raw pizza... go figure!

Both kitchens have issues throughout dinner service - no surprise!

Additionally, raw and overcooked shrimp for a table on the blue team leads to Brian getting shouted at from Ramsay.

Things get intense in both kitchens, but two hours into service, the red kitchen gets kicked out. The ladies lose it and it's yelling, screaming, hissy fits. Tiffany is throwing things and Kimmie is swearing.

The blue kitchen is not far behind and is kicked out of the kitchen also.

This seems common nowadays - they never get through the dinner service. If I was going as a guest I would try for near the end when I could at least get some food in my belly after two hours of listening to Ramsay scream in the kitchen.

Red Team/ Ladies as well as the Blue Team / Men both lose "A sinking ship and a runaway train"

They both need to come up with two names to put forward for judging/be sent home.

The men seem to be on the same page, mostly, with Chris (who even nominated himself) some suggest Don, but others think Royce. Guy says if a man can't man up he should go home... looks like Royce as 2nd nomination? I guess we will see who they ask, each person seems to have a different 2nd choice.

The red team all agrees on Barbie also.. Tiffany is still losing her mind while Kimmie offers to up against Barbie to send her home. The ladies agree on Roshni, who is not impressed as she doesn't deserve to be up based on tonight's service.


Red: Barbie who isn't a team player and Roshni.
Blue: Chris based on performance tonight and Royce based on performance on garnish.

Ramsay calls all four forward and Roshni explains how she was just the second vote. Barbie says Kimmie and Robyn are worst chefs for bringing down the moral.

Royce talks about his dedication and says his performance tonight isn't representative of his abilities. Chris says he is a strong cook, with passion and desire and admits he messed up tonight and owned it.

Ramsay made some snide remarks in response to them all, he then calls Roshni and Royce to return to line.

In the end, Ramsay says it is difficult and says truthfully they should both be going home, he calls Barbie and sends her back in line then takes Chris' jacket.

Chris heads home, sadly. But we need the girlie drama for the show so of course Barbie will stay to keep Kimmie and Robyn talking ghetto and threatening her.

"Piss Off"

and as if on cue, Robyn moans and whines about Barbie... Barbie talks smack back and then Ramsay finishes off with him clever one liner...

Next Week:

Barbie may have survived elimination, but will she survive the night? Looks like Robyn, Tiffany and Kimmie are all from the same ghetto hood and attack Barbie... Tiffany is even in her bra and bouncing at Barbie threatening her... while Robyn looks on approvingly nodding... oh so gangsta

Sheesh!



Next week will be more drama - of course.... still too soon to pick a favourite but I do enjoy the girlie drama and the boy stupidity - for now.

Reality TV - Monday June 4

Bachelorette
Another night of dates, cocktail parties and a rose ceremony. There was sailing, tears, anger, roses and disappointment. Read my full recap here.

Hell's Kitchen
See the contestent roster and bios here.
See tonight's recap here.

Masterchef
The first episode was tonight and we saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I didn't do a recap, I usually don't until the group is established but some stand outs were the young 'gaysian' who made wontons and who's parents don't approve. Also the cocky unemployed guy. I also loved the blind woman and I wish the high schooler made it, but hope she returns next year. Another episode tomorrow and once we have our set chefs I shallbegin episode recaps.

Later this Week...

Love in the Wild, SYTYCD & More

Hells Kitchen Season 10 Premiere

Hells Kitchen kicked off tonight. If you missed it, I have your recap, as well as my opinions... just read on.... Also, check out the contestents bio's here.


It started with Sexy Chef Scott showing his photo before he met Chef Gordon Ramsey. He had hair.. and if it is possible, he was even hotter than he is now.... *sigh* If you are new to my Hell's Kitchen Recaps, let me warn you, I have a hard crush on Chef Scott. Anyways, Scott asks who else is willing to shave their heads. One male does, One Female does... ramsey stops them before anyone else gets their heads shaved and it is revealed that the two who were shaved are in deed Chef Scott's friends ha ha!

They go work on their signature dishes and the season is off to a bang....


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Robyn vs. Don

Robyn made bass and was complimented for plating and flavour
Don made a huge portion of something southwest pasta something or other? It is too spicey

Win: Ladies

Tiffany vs. Guy

Tiffany makes lamb that is drenched in sauce and soggy
Guy makes bass and says the sauce got burned and not to try it

Win: neither

**Meanwhile one guy is coughing and seems like he is about to pass out - Clemnza*

Roshni vs Royce

Roshni made lamb and had a "balance of flavour"
Royce made pan seared something. He cooks at SDK his executive chef is Ralph who is a past contestnet runner up.

Win: Both

Danielle vs Justin

Win: Men

Kimmie vs. Brian

Win: Neither

Barbie vs. Chris

Win: Neither

Briana vs. Patrick

Win: Both

Dana vs. Tavon

Dana makes scallops which are complimented by Chef Ramsey
Tavon makes shrimp, scallops, crab on pasta. Ramsey doesn't like the flavour.

Win: Ladies

Christina vs. Clemnza

Christina makes pork chop which Chef loves
Clemenza makes veal truffle something

Win: Ladies

Ladies win!!!!! BBQ cooked by Rock and Dave (past winners of Hell's Kitchen season 3 and 6)

Losers: Clean-up Kitchens (both)

Blue Team / Men finish cleaning and start studying the books for dinner service.

Red Team / Ladies are a bit tipsy and they are being goofy.

In the morning the chefs start prep with their new knives. Men seem more confident than the women who are a bit frazzled and nervous.

Chef Ramsay arrives and ANNOUNCES it is the 125th dinner service. He drills a few of the chefs and the women clearly are not up to par.

Dinner Service Begins and the women are struggling with appetizers and sends Roshni upstairs. Barbie steps in and things get on track. Blue is not doing much better as Royce struggles on appies also.

The usual chaos ensues with Chef Ramsay yelling "RAW" and "WTF" and so on. Tavon the alleged executive chef not only doesn't cook well he prepped the scallops that are so poorly done they can't be cooked or even used.

Blue team loses "ya you suck at least red team finished appetizers"

They nominate: Tavon and Don. Chef disagrees and calls Royce down with Tavon.

Tavon is sent home.

Obviously.

Too early to pick favourites yet....





And so we continue with another season of drama in the kitchen. Any faves yet?

Hells Kitchen Season 10 Contestents

Here are Season 10 Contestents...... Links are to FOX's Bio for each:



Barbie

Brian

Briana

Christina

Clemenza

Chris

Dana

Danielle

Don

Guy

Justin

Kimmie

Patrick


Robyn

ROyce

Roshni

Tavon

Tiffany

Hell's Kitchen Finale

Hell's Kitchen came to and end and I have to say, out of the final two, I thought Will would win, but I am not disappointed with Paul. Both were talented and theonly complaint I had about the finale was that Elise was in it! Really? Top 3? She was not even top 10 in my book! Tommy's gf and mom came to visit and the young girl was really attractive, much to everyone's surprise. Paul's brother came, Elise's son and husband and Will's wife and mother I think.... Paul won the first challenge in replicating a dish Chef Ramsay made. He and his brother got to go to a dodger's game where Ramsay threw the first pitch! In the cooking challenge it was close, but Will came out on top allowing him first pick of team mate int he final dinner service. The final challenge of course had them create their own menu items and past cooks returned, they picked teams and did the final Hell's Kitchen Dinner Service. Overall this wa a good season, I ahted that they kept "drama Elise" for ratings, to be honest, she made me not want to watch the show, she wasn't even the "fun" kind of drama. Ah Well. I hope they do another season soon, I would love to attend Hell's Kitchen to eat once.... More Fall TV

Hells Kitchen Top 5

Tonight's episode began with our Top 5, Tommy, Paul, Jennifer, Will and Elise, in their black chef coats. I still do not get how or why Elise is there except that she is drama.

The first challenge had them re-making ugly dishes such as meatloaf, lasagna, tuna casserole, eggplant parm and chicken and dumplings. They had to race around the resturant to grab the plate with the item named on it that they would like to make...

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Five Special guest judges ranked them out of 10 each (50 total) on presentation and again (same ranking) on taste. Here is how it worked out:

Tommy - Chicken & Dumplings
Presentation - 44
Taste - 30
Total - 74

I was pretty impressed with how his looked, nice colours, though the liquid was a turn-off he had floating onions like "lily pads" that actually did look "pretty"

Paul - Tuna Casserole
Presentation - 33
Taste - 27
Total - 60

I'd say epic fail on all fronts. He didn't want this dish, he got stuck with it, he used canned tuna which sealed his fate.

Jennifer - Lasagna
Presentation - 28
Taste - 24
Total - 52

She opened by saying she hates lasanga - not exactly a great kick-off. It did look nice, but if I was making it, I would have done lasagna rolls, where you roll and fill a lasagna noodle, so pretty.

Returning Chefs came including Ben s5, Tennille s6, Trevor s8, Jillian s8, Van s6.

They went head to head with current guests and although both had issues in the kitchen 96 % of guests would return tot he current chefs kitchen vs 80% to past guests.

As a reward Ramsay did not send anyone home, even though Jennifer and Elise were the two at risk.

Jennifer alsoa dmited her crush on Paul, in case she was sent home she had to let him know - adorable!

Elise should have left - I despite her!