Habanero Challenge!!! Tame the heat and create a dish that features the habanero pepper! Not sure I would want to be the judge for this challenge. I can't handle that kind of heat!
Poor Sheldon- Spanish is a asset for this challenge! It's a little unfair at this point though, we are in a cooking competition and I think the chefs should have the same advantages at this point... Something like that could really affect the outcome.
Shirley adding the seeds- WOW!!! I would die! That is going to be hot!
Brooke made a roasted pork loin with orange and green habanero salsas to balance out sweet and spicy- YUM! They thought it was refreshing and balanced.
Sheldon made a pan roasted chayote squash stuffed with tamal and charred habanero salsa. It was creative given his situation, but they didn't seem impressed. They liked that he used a vegetable, but the tamal did nothing for it.
Shirley's masa dumpling with poached egg, chayote squash, habanero and chicharrón was complicated! The judges liked it! They thought it was smart.
Their favorite dish was Brooke's- girl is on a roll!
Elimination Challenge!!! Go back in time and create a dish using traditional, local Mayan ingredients cooking over an open flame, no electric tools, but they get to keep their knives! WOW- tough one! Shirley agrees! At this point in the competition, it should be tough, but this is a bit ridiculous.
Jeremiah Tower is the guest judge and Brooke is star-struck! Luckily they get to travel around and taste various dishes that are traditional to get some ideas and background. I wonder what kind of alcohol they made?
Xcaret- I've actually been there! Cool place! This is a nice venue for this challenge! No limes, onion or garlic... hmmm. They are going to have a tough time! I feel like they should get more time for this... Seems like they're all going with fish- I wonder if there is any protein available?
Brooke's hoja santa leaf-steamed snapper with bean and corn ragout, jicama and papaya relish looked pretty good! Her fish was perfection but there was not much heat or dimension. The salsas were bland!
Sheldon's grilled snapper with annatto crab sauce, Yucatan vegetables and habanero salsa sounds yummy, even with his grill issues. He brought the heat, maybe too much? He took some risk which they liked!
Shirley's hoja santa leaf-grilled grouper with crustacean habanero tomato sauce and dragon fruit corn salad sounds good- I like that she used corn and a different fish than the others. The judges liked the grouper too, although some thought it was a bit dry! She did a good job editing her ingredients and showcasing flavors.
There was one dish that really stood out- the winner is Shirley! WOW!
Who is going home? Brooke's fish was perfect but her dish did not have enough flavor even though there was a lot going on. Sheldon's fish was a bit of a mess and overcooked, but he brought other good flavor and made an interesting dish.
This was a tough decision- but the chef going home is Sheldon. I am in shock- and pissed! I disagree with this, not just b/c he's my chef, but because he actually met the challenge of bringing out the flavors of these ingredients. Oh well!
Finale is next!!! Girl Power!
I can't believe it.
ReplyDeletePickely got robbed!
So many things had to go wrong for Pickely to lose this season. They had 2 of the final 3 chefs before the LCK winner and their only competition this season (sorry Bug) had one chef in LCK vs 2 Pickely chefs. That means they had a 2/3 chance to have 3 of the final 4 chefs and no Le Chefre chefs and could coast to a possible record breaking win. Instead, they go into the final with zero chefs! WTF. Pickely was Atlanta up 28-3 vs New England in the Super Bowl this year. Bag pointed out that it's a good year for the underdog and LE CHEFRE's reign will continue for yet another season. Huzzah!
Now onto the episode:
I agree Kelly. I was not a fan of the final challenge either. Cooking unknown/unfamiliar ingredients without most of your usual tools seemed a bit over the top. I have enjoyed most of the challenges this season but I thought that was a silly one to determine who would cook in the finale.
I was sure Sheldon was winning this season based on his story arc and how many talking head interviews he did but I was obviously quite wrong. It seemed like Padma wanted Sheldon over Brooke but that Tom and Graham wanted Brooke.
Not sure what is going on with the points but it looks like Brooke somehow has 9 points from last week's elimination and should only have 7 but her QF from last week should be a 5 instead of a 3. Also, this week her QF is 2 points instead of 3?
Am I the only one tired of Shirley's endless stories? I think even Tom got a tiny bit annoyed when he tried to point out how different the Mayan cuisine was and Shirley said she used shrimp salt. Haha.
I wanted it to be Sheldon vs Brooke in the epic Seattle showdown. Ah well.
I think my favorite part of the episode was learning that a habanero pepper is 140x as hot as a jalepeno! Whoa.
I'm rooting for Brooke to take home the title and be the 2nd chef to return from LCK and win.