I liked the way they started with the old Chefs watching and the new Chefs competing. I think it helped the Newbies not knowing who they were going to be up against. It also lets the Alums get some pressure... We have some pretty talented Newbies!!! Chicken as many ways as you can was also a good challenge to start- something VERY basic so there is a lot of freedom, creativity and variation available.
Do you guys think Padma's asked Jamie if he was tattooed everywhere herself, or was it a dare from a producer???
Emily is pretty blunt- hoping her cooking backs-up her attitude. Annie's stage-fright will NOT serve her well... I think we all had a good instinct about her. If anyone was curious, Panzanella is a cooling summertime salad that relies on the bread as the “filler” to soak up the juices of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as the olive oil you pour over everything... poor Annie.
Interesting that Silvia was the only Newbie to get a dish in before the timer and only her, Emily and Jamie did more than 1 dish.
Favorites were Silvia, Emily, and Jim. The winner is Jim's Fried chicken innards with aioli, bitter lettuces & strawberry vinaigrette, WOW!
On the bottom- Annie, Gerald, and Jamie... Going to sudden death is Gerald!
The Alum's Shrimp and Grits in 30 mins challenge is not my favorite... not that they should do the same thing, but maybe just "Shrimp" instead so it's more similar? Less time is also tough, but shrimp cook quick!
On top we had Amanda, Brooke and Shirley- and the winner is Brooke's Shrimp scotch egg & grits with lemon fennel salad and espelette pepper!
On the bottom were Casey, John and Katsuji.
And Gerald is battling John in sudden death! I feel for them both and am glad John decided not to play the game and let it be about the food. Now they face off in a 20 minute Oyster Roast!!! (I don't even know what that is...)
They both took very different routes, John not actually roasting the oyster which I thought was risky, but paid off. Gerald did a good job with his roasted Thai oyster, but it just wasn't enough and he's headed to LCK!
I was a bit shocked that the newbies had as much trouble as they did preparing a chicken dish in 60 minutes. I think the open ended nature of the first challenge had many of them biting off more than they could chew.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the veterans challenge. Shrimp and grits was underwhelming.
I was pleased to see Emily (We are calling her Angry Andrea.) do well. I have a feeling there will be some cat fighting on Le Chefre between her and Katsuji.
Katsuji auto corrects to karaoke.
Please Brooke do not complain all season about how you shouldn't have come back while you win challenges.
Shirley still odds on favorite to take the title.
Gerald seemed like a nice guy. I was sorry to see him go. Tesar has mellowed a bit which was a pleasant surprise. Does this mean Annie the Dreg belongs to Team Bug?
Excited this season has finally started!