Quickfire- Ming Tsai is the Guest judge for a sudden death Quickfire!!!
Time to cook with tea- they have 13 varieties to choose from! I have to say, I love this idea! Very different- but again, everyone isn't on the same playing field since they get random teas. It would be hard to get a white tea, it's so light.
Rebecca is rocking out a cake- love it!!! I love Tea Cupcakes, maybe I should make them for Halloween? I also Love Melissa's idea with the tea infused rice!
Top: Melissa, Greg, Ron- Winner being Greg with his Tuna Crudo With Strawberry White Tea and Coconut
Bottom: James, Aaron, Rebecca- Up for Elimination is Aaron! Overcooked Fish!
He chose to go head-to-head with Katie- then says it's an easy choice (jerk) plus he didn't have the balls to call out Keriann.
30 mins to cook a dish with boiling water. Katie makes a Pasta and Aaron makes Spring Rolls with Shrimp. In the end, the winner is Aaron so he gets to stay- boo.
Elimination Challenge- Go to Fenway for a culinary competition- they must use a classic ballpark snack to create a fine dining dish! (Popcorn would suck)
What on earth were some of these chef's thinking? I feel like there were a lot of poor choices made- it is interesting... Aaron is seriously such an ass, everyone seems to dislike him more and more each week (me too!)
I love that they see everyone each time and they all get to listen!
In the top we have Greg with Roasted Duck, Peanut Nam Prik Pao, Peanut Brittle, Crispy Shallots and Fresh Herb Salad, Melissa with Corn and Ramp Soup With Pickled Ramps, Fried Calamari, Truffle Butter and Bacon Popcorn and Katie (shocker) with Popcorn Mousse, Blue Cornmeal Salted Shortbread!
And the winner is Greg! He is really becoming a force to be reckoned with! Maybe he is the Beast because Doug has been flying under the radar!
In the Bottom we have chefs that made some basic mistakes:
Katsuji with Bread Pudding With Mushrooms, Bacon, and Deep Fried Braised Pork Belly - he didn't cook the pork very well and no one was very impressed
Keriann with Beer-Braised Short Rib, Horseradish-Parsnip Puree, Crispy Pretzel Shallots, and Lager-Infused Fondue - the rib was not cooked enough and was really tough
Ron with Popcorn Soup, Breaded Fish Croquette, Dill Pickled Celery and Sun Gold Tomatoes - proportions were really off with the giant croquette, it was supposed to be a soup
Next week there is a double elimination challenge!!!
VD really did throw down the gauntlet this week but I don't know if anyone wants to pick it up and risk infection. Greg must be on team VD because he is burning it up. It has been pretty clear the past couple episodes that he is the early favorite to take this thing and then during the critiques the judges even said so!
ReplyDeleteHilarious elimination photo for George.
Maybe it was the editing or maybe I'm watching too much reality TV but I correctly predicted everyone in the top and bottom before they were announced, including Gregory as the winner and the obvious (in my opinion) elimination of Ron. That 'soup' looked nasty! The curse of popcorn strikes again.
Gregory certainly deserved his victory by nailing every component of his dish but I was rooting for Melissa and her corn soup. I think that was the dish I most wanted to try.
Congrats to the rookies for pulling out of negative point land but I know from experience that it's fairly easy to fall back. Be prepared - especially with some potential anchors on your team.
Michal told me that Katsuji is the Le Chefre anchor this year. I think he has potential if he stops over complicating everything but only time will tell.
Ditto to what Ben said. I just wanted to add that Aaron really is a dick! He said something like "top chef is helping me work out my issues" but all this experience is doing is bringing out his issues & his assholerly. It feels like he's using his rough childhood/broken home back story as an excuse to continue being a douche instead of recognizing it as the cause of a personality problem that he needs to fix.
ReplyDeleteHope he goes home soon!