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Thursday, July 19, 2012
2:00 pm
43 Comments
Hello, Gasmii! I’m back after a week off. I have to say, it’s great to come back to a show without Royce. No show should ever involve Royce again.
Before we dive into Tuesday’s episode, I need to thank BlueCanary for pointing out Justin’s unfortunate hairstyle. I’m obsessed with terrible 80s haircuts. My friends and I even play a game where we earn different point values for finding different types of mullets (permed, femullets, mohullets, skullets, etc.). Rat tails are the highest score possible!
This is worth at least 10 points!
Anyway, let’s get right into this episode. We begin just in time to find out if Clemenza is kicked out of the kitchen right away for leaving the bones in the quail. (There is definitely a joke about Clemenza boning Gordon in there.) We know that Clemenza makes it into the kitchen even before the theme song because previews have shown him cooking with the rest of his team. At least try to build SOME suspense, editors!
Even Clemenza is appalled at the shitty editing.
The doors to Hell’s Kitchen open in 30 minutes and the blue team really has to work quickly to get all their mistakes fixed. I don’t know if that’s enough time to get Robyn off their team. Oh, wait. They just have to fix the mistakes with their dishes. Justin offers to help inspect the quail and asparagus. Chef Andi just lets the red team know that they have a few “little easy fixes.” Again, that’s because they no longer have to work with Robyn.
I have a feeling she was always picked last in gym class.
Dinner is just about to start. Barbie thinks that the red team is set up for success and that everything will be really easy. It’s their menus but Gordon’s standards. That’s where it’s going to get difficult. If this group has taught us nothing else they’ve taught us not to think they’d ever be able to produce a well-made dish twice in a row. Justin tells us that he doesn’t think the red team is better than the blue team. “If we lose, it’s just because we couldn’t get our shit together.” That would make the red team better than you, Justin.
There is a reason he hasn’t spoken much before the last few episodes.
Hell’s Kitchen opens and orders start coming in. Gordon will be using diner comment cards to help him determine the winner of tonight’s dinner service. I don’t know about you, but I always tend to be really nice on any comment cards unless something horrible happens. There is a restaurant in my hometown that uses comment cards because it’s run by the junior and senior culinary students at the local community college. The lunch and dinner services are part of the students’ grades. It’s all food I can’t even imagine making myself. As a result, I tend to find it amazing and always write that on my comment cards.
Just save some time and write about how bad the scallops are before the meal.
Gordon yells at Christina to hurry up with the flat bread. They apparently don’t remember how much trouble they had with flat bread when they were cooking for David Beckham. Why are they making this again? That was a stupid idea, red team. If Christina fucks it up, then it’s not worth making. Barbie helps out with the flat bread and Christina actually just says, “Thank you.” The rest of the team should take note. That is how normal people react to help.
In the blue kitchen, Robyn is hoping to perfectly cook Justin’s squash blossom appetizer. So, why isn’t Justin working on this? If it was a dish he came up with, wouldn’t he be the most logical person to cook them when it truly counts? I think that much logic is asking too much from this show. I’m sure you were all surprised when the appetizers were sent back for being under cooked.
That is about par for the course when it comes to Robyn cooking.
Somehow, Robyn is able to blame this on Justin. She says, “Who the hell wants to eat a flower with mousse in it?” I’m sure the people who ordered it would like to eat it, Robyn. That’s really no excuse for you not cooking it correctly. She even directly blames Justin to his face! She thinks he set her up for failure! I’m pretty sure that Robyn is failing just fine without Justin’s help. Yes, Robyn. Justin told you to cook them for five minutes. However, you also should be able to recognize when something is under cooked. Also, stop saying “bro”!
Robyn looks good in this picture – because half her face is covered.
Robyn tries her hand at another plate of squash blossoms. This time, they’re over cooked. Robyn says she needs to make more squash blossoms and asks if Justin heard her. He has no idea what she wants him to do.
The red team is doing much better on their appetizers. They’re more than halfway done and the diners seem happy. They start sending out their first entrees. Barbie asks Kimmie if she needs any help and Kimmie turns her down. In fact, Kimmie gets angry that Barbie has offered to help. Then we learn that Kimmie doesn’t know the most basic anatomy concepts. She holds up both her hands and says, “You see these two fat ass fingers from Memphis?” I can’t type right now because my palm is covering my face.
Repeat after me, Kimmie: Hands.
Just after Kimmie tells us that she doesn’t need any help, Gordon makes them all taste the duck she made. Dana is right when she says that means things are really bad. The meat is over cooked. Then Kimmie says that her teammates don’t need to be eating her food and telling her what’s wrong with it. First of all, Gordon told them to do that. Second, it’s far better that your teammates do it than the diners.
While Kimmie tries again on the duck, Robyn finally sends out her first order of squash blossoms. However, there are no more scallops left. Robyn tells us that Justin didn’t prep enough squash blossoms and she’s lost all her faith in him. Right, Robyn. I’m sure it had nothing at all to do with all the orders you fucked up. I’ve lost my faith in Justin because he thought Robyn wouldn’t screw up as much as she did. With that, Robyn has to go out and face the diners herself. She is humiliated and wants to “crawl into a hole and die.”
Robyn and I finally agree on something.
Brian then gives us his thoughts on Robyn: “It’s not personal, but as a chef, she sucks.” Actually, Brian, I’m pretty sure she sucks as a person too. You haven’t been on a team with her long enough to know just how much. The blue team finally moves onto entrees.
In the red kitchen, Kimmie is trying to cook the duck again. She sends up a perfect order. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: people need to stop celebrating when it takes them more than one try to cook a dish adequately. Kimmie’s celebration is short lived because now her rib eye is over cooked. Just when I was starting to like Kimmie a little bit, she goes and screws up royally. As Gordon yells, we see Tiffany shoveling food into her mouth.
Now we know why Tiffany was bonding with the pig last week.
Gordon keeps yelling at Kimmie saying he thought she cared and that, at this stage of the game, over cooked meat just isn’t good enough. I didn’t think over cooked meat was every good enough. We go to commercial just as Gordon asks Kimmie if she’s giving up. Does anyone actually expect her to say yes? At this point, Gordon doesn’t even care if the entire red team goes home tonight. Kimmie tries one more time with the rib eye. This time it’s cooked perfectly. Again, Kimmie celebrates her adequacy.
The blue kitchen is sending out their first entrees. Brian forgets the onion ring garnish. When Brian does finally make the onion rings, they’re not cooked correctly. Let’s take a moment to let that settle. Brian fucked up onion rings. He should be eliminated right now just for that. I can make onion rings in my sleep! However, it is nice to see the fuck-up Brian I’m used to. It was weird for a few weeks when he was one of the better chefs.
All is right with the world again.
On his second try, Brian is able to tame the wild onion ring.
In the red kitchen, Dana is ready to send out her halibut and lobster dish. However, when it gets to the table, the diners find that the lobster is raw. Wait a second. How the hell did raw lobster get past Gordon? Doesn’t he check these first? He’s been yelling about his standards all night. I would imagine that he’d be checking just as closely as he always does.
You’re slipping, old man!
Dana hopes that it isn’t her dish. Gordon doesn’t give her the tongue lashing I had expected. He is actually rather nice. He does say that the lobster is “pinker inside than Paris Hilton’s lipstick.” Oh, come on, Gordon!! That’s the best analogy you could come up with when it came to lobster being as pink as Paris Hilton’s anything?!?!?! I really was hoping for a dirty joke there. I’m so disappointed with you this episode. On her second try, Dana sends out perfectly cooked lobster.
Justin is really leading the blue team tonight. It’s nice to see someone competent take the lead for a change. However, Clemenza seems to have a hard time communicating with Justin. Every time Clemenza is asked something, he just stays silent. However, I can see where Clemenza gets a little annoyed with Justin. It didn’t seem like one dish had anything to do with the other. Clemenza then sends up perfect sea bass with a “how do you like me now, bitch?”
I’m still on the fence about you, Clemenza. I wish you’d stop sweating in the food.
We go back to the red kitchen where things are running smoothly. Then we see Tiffany. She’s reusing a dirty pan to fish garnish. Gordon actually watches her scrape the dirt out of a pan and put the fresh garnish back in it.
I’m amazed she had the nerve to do this in front of Gordon!
She receives Gordon’s rage full on. He explains that a chef being this disgusting really tells him something about her. Barbie tells the camera that there are “two million saute pans in Hell’s Kitchen.” There really is no reason for Tiffany to reuse a dirty one.
Back in the blue kitchen, Clemenza is still acting like a little bitch toward Justin. Justin simply asks if Clemenza heard the meat and fish order. Clemenza just stutters when he tries to repeat it back. I guess he didn’t hear the order. Clemenza explains that it was hard to hear over Justin’s yelling. Justin was the only one talking to you, Clemenza! You didn’t have to hear anything else over him!
Apparently Clemenza forgot to count. He brings one sea bass up to be served. He’s got two more ready to come up. The order was only for two sea bass. Why the hell he he planning for three? Didn’t Patrick have the same problem the night he got kicked off? He even had his children to pray to. What chance does Clemenza have with?
Go sit with Kimmie and learn how to count on her two fingers.
And then Clemenza lies to Gordon. He says that he has the second sea bass ready to go. There is nothing in the pan. Why would you be stupid enough to lie to Gordon? Justin suggests that Clemenza let Brian take over the fish and help Robyn out with dessert. Why don’t we ever get to see dessert? That’s the most important part of any meal! Also, are you sure you want Brian to take over the fish station, Justin? If I remember correctly, he was the one who ruined ever piece of cod in the kitchen.
TVgasm never forgets, Brian.
Back in the red kitchen, the ladies are almost done with their entrees. Unfortunately, more food gets sent back from the dining room. Again, Gordon!?!?! This time, Tiffany’s potatoes are raw. Seriously? Raw potatoes? Potatoes are not that hard to cook. It takes a special kind of stupid to under cook potatoes.
This is that special kind of stupid.
Once again, Gordon accuses Tiffany of not caring. She then tells us that she cares about food more than she cares about her family. Seeing as Tiffany only cares about cooking “like a 9″ on a scale of one to ten, that means she cares about her family, at most, an 8 on that scale. If any of Tiffany’s family members are reading this, I’m sorry for how little Tiffany cares about you.
Tiffany takes her bad mood out on everyone else and is fuming around the kitchen. She has to cook her potatoes over again and that leaves the red kitchen at a standstill. Is anyone surprised that Tiffany is the reason service has been halted? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
Justin is still leading the blue team. However, over cooked steaks knock Justin down a few pegs. Clemenza and Robyn both seem pissed off that Justin isn’t taking any responsibility for screwing up. I’m not sure where they’re getting that from. It seems like Justin has been doing that all night. He didn’t blame anyone else for his mistake (like Robyn) and he didn’t lie to Gordon about anything (like Clemenza). Maybe Justin is getting the “Barbie treatment.”
I got your back, Justin.
The red team is still waiting on Tiffany’s under cooked potatoes. Are you kidding me? Is she going to Idaho to personally get the potatoes before she cooks them? Sliced potatoes should not take that long to cook. Chef Andi gets fed up with Tiffany’s attitude. She doesn’t even accept Tiffany’s apology for all the yelling. Chef Andi even calls her the sloppiest cook she’s seen in her entire life. With that, Tiffany is sent out of the kitchen and Dana takes over on the potatoes.
I try not to laugh at people when they’re crying. I’m making an exception for this.
Tiffany thinks that the others made her look like “a fucking idiot.” I don’t know about you all, but I thought Tiffany was doing a fine job looking like an idiot all on her own. It was the one consistent thing about her! Also, what the fuck was in Tiffany’s potatoes? Even Dana is having a hard time cooking them. They keep coming out crunchy. She adds some cream and puts them back in the oven. I am a little grossed out by Dana sticking her fingers in the potatoes to try them. She could at least get a fork.
That’s bordering on Tiffany-level disgusting, Dana!
The blue team is on their last table. Brian proves, once again, that he is not the man for the fish station. He brought up one of the two sea bass. He didn’t like the way the second one was cooked and wanted to leave it in the oven a little longer. Clemenza is eating the dessert for some reason. Oh, hey, Brian served raw fish. I’m sure no one saw that coming. With that, the entire blue team is sent out of the kitchen.
Once they’re back in the dorms, Justin and Clemenza immediately start arguing. Clemenza tries to blame Justin for not telling him how much fish was needed. Sorry, Clemenza. I like you, but Justin clearly told you how much fish you had to cook. He was the only one talking to you about it. It shouldn’t have been that difficult. Back in the kitchen, Gordon and Chef Scott finish the final blue team ticket. That’s kind of a treat for the diners. They get a meal prepared by Gordon Ramsay.
Definitely an upgrade from Justin, Brian, Robyn, and Clemenza.
The red kitchen’s potatoes are finally cooked. Did no one order potatoes up until the last table? It seems kind of weird that the last batch was so difficult. You would think these problems would have been figured out pretty early on. Dana says it feels good to know that the blue team got kicked out of the kitchen. At least she knows they’re not the losing team tonight. Not so fast, Dana. Remember when Patrick got kicked out? The entire red team got kicked out that night and there was no winner.
Dana does not have a very good short term memory.
Both teams are standing before Gordon. He has the comment cards in his hands. He was hoping they would decide the winning team. Instead, he tears them up and tosses them on the floor. Gordon tells them that this was the most shocking dinner service yet. I’m not sure if “shocking” is the right word. Was it terrible? Yes. I don’t think anyone was shocked that it went so badly.
After all, Tiffany is still here.
Gordon expected this dinner service to be their absolute best since the chefs created their own dishes. Apparently Gordon isn’t watching the same show we are. I think all of us expected it to be the train wreck that it was. He really needs to stop with his high expectations of this group. He just keeps getting disappointed. Since both teams sucked, there will be no winning team. Both teams must nominate two people for elimination.
Justin is quick to nominate Robyn. That’s a pretty obvious nomination. She did run out of scallops because of how badly she screwed them up. Brian votes for Robyn as well. Robyn nominates Justin. I think the entire viewing audience simultaneously rolled their eyes at that one. Robyn keeps saying she asked Justin for help. I think Robyn needs to learn that asking for help and blaming someone for her own mistakes are not the same thing.
I say we raise some money to get Robyn a dictionary.
Then Robyn tries to accuse Justin of setting her up for failure because (brace yourself for the amount of stupid you’re about to have thrown at you) the squash blossoms were different sizes. That makes complete sense. Justin started growing squash back in the spring in the hopes that some of the blossoms would grow to different sizes. Then, knowing he and Robyn would be on this very episode together, he picked blossoms so that there was a ridiculous amount of variation in the sizes. It’s so obvious!
That Justin is a sneaky one!
Clemenza nominates Robyn as well. Then Brian says what we’ve all been thinking since the very beginning, “Robyn, you’re a fucking idiot. Get out.” Just for that, I promise not to be too mean to Brian in my next recap (unless he does something overly stupid).
On the red team, Dana’s first vote is for Tiffany. Tiffany thinks she was set up to look like a piece of shit tonight. Again, no one had to set her up for that. It just comes naturally. Who the hell would have set her up anyway? She was the only one cooking those potatoes and the only one using a dirty pan to cook fresh garnish.
Why the fuck is Dana voting for Barbie?! Barbie didn’t screw anything up at dinner tonight. Christina votes for Tiffany. Kimmie votes for Barbie because of how she was at prep today. Kimmie, Tiffany, Christina, and Dana all sent out something that wasn’t cook correctly. Barbie took a little longer than her teammates would have liked cleaning the lobster and the mussels. Yeah, she should definitely go home for that.
I made the same face when Dana voted for Barbie.
Dana explains that it’s not anything that Barbie says, it’s because she gives people looks when they screw up. I don’t even know how to respond to that. This is the first episode in a long time where Kimmie hasn’t threatened someone with physical violence, and they’re worried about Barbie’s attitude. We cut away just before Christina can make her choice between Barbie and Kimmie.
The blue team is making their second votes. Robyn votes for Brian. At least that one makes a little sense. Brian did fuck up the fish and onion rings. At least there is some reasoning behind that vote. Brian votes for Clemenza. We don’t get to hear the rest of the votes.
The chefs are standing before Gordon again. Brian tells Gordon that they have nominated Robyn. She immediately starts shaking her head and laughing. Gordon asks her what’s going on. She explains that she asked Justin for help and he wouldn’t help her. Justin jumps in and says it’s not his job to spoon feed Robyn. I think the point there goes to Justin. He goes on to say that he had no turmoil on the team until Robyn got there.
I am shocked – SHOCKED – that this is the person bringing all the drama to the blue team.
Apparently the bitchy attitude is contagious. When Brian explains that Clemenza was nominated for treatment of the fish and his performance during prep, Clemenza goes insane. I don’t even have the energy to write down what he said. Just imagine what Robyn would say in that situation and you pretty much have it.
Moving on to the red team, Christina explains that their first nominee is Tiffany because of her potatoes. Their second nominee is Barbie because of her work while they were prepping. Gordon seems surprised by this. He even questions their choice of Barbie over Kimmie. Has Kimmie ever been nominated? How has she escaped that this long? Oh, that’s right. Barbie is still on the red team.
It’s OK, Gordon. I don’t get it either.
Tiffany actually tears up when she explains herself to Gordon. They keep bringing up the potatoes. Why haven’t they been focusing on the fact that Tiffany is just fucking disgusting? It’s Barbie’s turn to defend herself (again). Gordon questions why her team wants her to leave so badly. Barbie just says that they’ve wanted her gone since day one and the only opinion that matters is Gordon’s. That’s why I like Barbie. She’s “not here to make friends,” but she’s not actively trying to piss people off either. I think she truly wants to impress Gordon and run his restaurant. I’m glad that Gordon can see through the “we hate Barbie” bullshit.
Gordon calls on Clemenza next; chastising him for lying and “throwing us all under the bus.” I don’t think Gordon knows what it means to “throw someone under the bus.” Clemenza lied to Gordon, but he didn’t really blame anyone else for his mistakes. Finally, Gordon recognizes that Robyn isn’t a team player. I think he’s really starting to get pissed off with her. That makes me happy. Maybe she’ll be leaving soon.
After this is all over, Gordon makes one of my wishes come true. No, not the one where he cooks me an awesome dinner and then we do dirty, dirty things. It’s the one where Tiffany goes home!!!!!! This is a long time coming. It’s been a good two weeks. First Royce left and now Tiffany is leaving. I haven’t smiled this much about a TV show in a long time.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!
It looks like BlueCanary is going to have to really good drama next week. It seems that Kimmie is going to screw up royally making traditional southern food and Brian’s comedy is going to push Gordon a little too far. I can’t wait!
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43 Comments
I love Barbie’s facial expressions. Her teammates really shouldn’t be complaining about her making faces given the escalating degrees of fuckery that they subject her to — how is anybody supposed to maintain a poker face under those conditions?
Did we know that Kimmie and Tiffany were particularly good friends? I was surprised at the strength of Kimmie’s reaction when Tiff went home, but in all fairness this season bores the socks off of me, so I only pay attention with about 30% of my brain most of the time. I wasn’t sure if Kimmie was crying because Tiffany did leave or because Barbie didn’tleave.
I’m currently hoping for Barbie and Justin in the finale, because we are getting a lot more screen time with them and they are obviously the most competent members on their respective teams.
Oh, I forgot: I have had cream-based potato dishes take a ridiculously long time to cook. Maybe there’s an actual scientific reason why potatoes take longer to cook in dairy? Of course, I would expect a professional cook to a) expect that little hiccup and b) take steps to prevent it, i.e., blanching the potatoes during prep. But I don’t suppose one could apply the word “professional” to anything about Tiffany, except for “professional whiner.”
I don’t even know if it’s possible for anybody to tell if a lobster claw is undercooked without cracking it open. Ramsay just has to trust that his cooks have left it in the pot for the proper amount of time.
I don’t get the term “professional” applied to any cook, whether they are considered to be a “chef” by the world at large or not. It’s a vocation. No chef school requires a baccalaureate for admission. In fact, being a chef requires nothing more than on-the-job training. Anybody can call themselves a chef and open up shop without any credentials whatsoever, and it’s perfectly legal. The guy that cuts my hair can’t be in business unless he demonstrates more skill in his field than any chef has to.
@crankyguy: “professionals” are for the people who have experience cooking on a line, I guess.
I too am disappointed that we never see desserts in HK. Cooks seem to think that pastry is a lesser art than regular cooking, so i’m not surprised. I think they don’t like it because pastry and bakery are way more precise and difficult than cooking, you have to be focused and there’s far less room for improvisation. It’s like in tof chef, where they always say “I’m not a pastry chef” with that condescendant tone, like pastry chefs are lesser beings.
I like Brian. He’s cute in his weird way, never blames anyone else when he screws up, and he’s the funniest contestant this season. Doesn’t take himself too seriously, I like that.
@ crankyguy — By “professional cook” I just meant someone who expects people to pay for the privilege of eating their food.
I would like to see desserts on HK too! On Top Chef the desserts always seem to be where people screw up the most. Even on MasterChef, the dessert challenges are viewed with a fair amount of trepidation, because baking really is all about chemistry and making sure you have the exact balance of ingredients combined with the proper cooking time and temperature. On HK they sometimes mention someone being on the dessert station, but that’s all we get. Maybe Chef Andi and Chef Steve really do all of the tricky bits, so for the contestant working desserts it’s simply a matter of plating?
@ SuburBint, your post did remind me of how cooks refer to themselves as professionals, but I wasn’t trying to correct you. It’s just something that has bugged me for a while. I remember some female contestant on Top Chef during a roach coach competition being all upset because a customer had flirted with her. As a “professional,” she found it very offensive because she doubted that he would would flirt with a medical doctor or lawyer in a professional setting. The roach coach was like her office, I suppose.
Yes, Robyn, Justin is a total bastard! He only suggested the dish to make you look bad. AND, you’re right – who would want to eat flowers with stuff inside? If people really wanted to eat that, it would already be on the BK value menu!! His evil knows no bounds! In fact, I’m surprised he didn’t do the Snidley Whiplash laugh when he suggested and you guys agreed to it!!
As to the rest of the whiners: I have 2 teenagers who are better at taking responsibility for their fuck ups – yes, teenagers!! And just a little hint, when Gordon asks you a question, 9 times out of 10… He already knows the answer so don’t even bother to lie!! (my kids know this too!) Have none of these idiots watched the show before?
One last thing, Barbie has the BEST “Bitch, please!” face EVER!!! Her expression just says it all. I wasn’t sure about her at first but she actually seems to have it together!
Damn it! Just one more thing!!!
I never EVER want to eat any place where Tiffany has worked, eaten or even just stopped in to ask for directions to Kimmie’s house!!!! Just kill me! In fact, where is she from?!? I want to scratch the whole city offmy “to visit” list to avoid the possibility of accidental exposure! Ewwwwww! So nasty!!
Ok, I’m done now.
Oh, many ‘professional’ chefs have a very low opinion of ‘bakers’. Also those who are self-taught (fashion designers are the same way about the self taught). Baking and pastry are a science and you must be exact in what you do. Improvising and creating dishes is way tougher for those who specialize in pastry than for savory chefs. You can’t just toss something in to see if it makes it taste better – it could screw it up chemically. And you can’t taste as you go because the item(s) have to be baked before you can tell how they’ll taste.
IMO, baking is way harder than savory cooking and I suspect a lot of chefs agree, deep down, which is why desserts seem to scare the bejeebus out of most of them.
So glad nasty Tiffy is finally gone. And Kimmies vow to Tiffany that she will ‘get rid of Barbie’ is truly bizarre. I mean, I really, REALLY hate to think all this anti-Barbie is racially motivated but other than Barbies lack of interest in staying up all night braiding each others hair and reading Tiger Beat with the other girls, I’m not seeing any reason for all the hate. I mean, could she truly be THAT much of a bitch without us seeing at least some of it?
We’ve seen desserts a few times on HK but it always just them plating something, the dessert is already prepared for the most part.
Baking is extremely difficult. My mom bakes a lot and I remember I asked her how to make icing from scratch one time. I missed her heard how much vanilla to put into it and put way too much. Trying to salvage it took it forever.
I don’t have a problem with them putting their fingers in the food to test for doneness – their hands are presumably clean and they are handling the food from beginning to end so no big deal there. Although ‘fork test’ is kind of a ‘potato’ thing so using a fork to test them and try one would conceivably make a lot of sense. But the finger doesn’t bother me. Now if she used a utensil and then stuck it back in again (Tiffany!) or put her finger in her mouth, then there’d be a problem.
The thing that completely mystifies me, and perhaps someone here who has more experience with cooking large numbers of steaks in a restaurant setting can help me out with this, is that it isn’t that hard usually to test a steak for degree of ‘doneness’. You touch it. The amount of give tells you where it’s at. You don’t have to actually cut into it to find out if you cooked it long enough or too long. You have to adjust for the time after you take it off the grill/out of the pan but if you do enough of them shouldn’t you be a master at knowing how done it needs to be before you take it off to get it to the right temp after it sets before cutting? It seems like the simplest thing to figure out and get right out of most of what they do there. I mean, chicken can be a real bitch, but steak is pretty straightforward. What am I missing here?
I wonder about those potatoes. That cooking issue sounded wrong to me. I’d worry about what was wrong with the potatoes in the first place, but then I am not a potato expert so maybe that just happens sometimes. I know sometimes baked potatoes don’t cook right no matter what you do so perhaps that happens with scalloped/otherwise sliced potato dishes too. I don’t know.
So glad Tiffany is gone. Tears of an assclown.
@timgunnssister the hate for Barbie goes back to the first two episodes or so. They thought she was lazy ecspecially during the digging through the ice scallop hunt where she pretty much stood back and did nothing. It was a bit of a silly grudge that then kept building. They had a grudge so she had an adittude and they were upset about her adittude so they had more of a grudge the adittude, grudge and so on. They were justified at first for being upset about her laziness but at this point it’s just so damn silly and petty that it makes anyone still mad at her and trying to vote her out (for no other reason except their grudge) look really ridiculous, immature and juvenile.
@crankyguy: I didn’t realize that the lobster claw was still in the shell. That makes a lot more sense. However, I’m still kind of amazed that Dana didn’t know how long to cook it. They basically had a practice run of this menu earlier in the day when they created it.
@SuburBint: I am not really an expert on cream-based potato dishes. I tend to only make those when I can get them in the freezer section. I guess my gripe is the same thing with the lobster that I mentioned above – the chefs had practice run earlier in the day. Tiffany should have had no problem making them again. Maybe the oven they used for dinner service wasn’t right.
@PopePhilly – I think they had par cooked the lobster, so Dana should have cooked them for a little bit, instead she forgot about them not being fully cooked and just warmed them.
@andyourlittledogtoo – I don’t know about cooking alot of steaks at the same time, but I remember watching Ramsey say (I don’t remember which show) that rare steak would feel the same as your finger on your cheek, well done = finger to your forehead, medium = finger to your chin. But the steaks are still cooking when you let them rest, so you really have to know your times.
Yeah, the lobster was partially cooked (I guess that’s parcooked) and then was supposed to be finished upon ordering. Dana apparently forgot and thought they were already completely cooked. That was a huge mistake for the customer but not a stupid one for the chef, just a brief lapse. I think that’s why Ramsey wasn’t so hard on her for it. That and it was in the shell and got by him as well.
Yeah, the steaks are still ‘cooking’ when you take them off, but you’d think the chefs would be able to judge the times better than they do. Of course, we have Robyn who can’t seem to adjust the times on different sizes of squash blossoms (by which I mean she alleges that she doesn’t understand the need to do so, not that it would be easy because I have no idea). So….
As for the term ‘professional’, I have never in my life heard that term used only with regard to those who have specific educational degrees or licenses. Professional has always been used, in my experience, with regard to expertise and experience and the having of a ‘profession’ to which you are dedicated. There are some very educated people with the highest standards of licensing who are very ‘unprofessional’ in their attitudes and actions. (see pretty much all therapists who appear on MTV television shows for some examples). If someone is trained and dedicating their work lives to a particular profession whether it requires higher education or state licensure or not I would expect them to feel a pride in their profession and to act accordingly.
I need to thank BlueCanary for pointing out Justin’s unfortunate hairstyle.
Happy to oblige! I noticed it a couple episodes ago, but didn’t get an opportunity to bring it up in context. However, when he made the 80s comment, I could no longer let it slide. It’s relatively short, so I’m assuming he’s only recently committed to it. Bad, bad choice, Justin. But I’m still rooting for you.
Blue team: Robyn gets more ridiculous with every episode. At this stage of the competition, no one should have to rely on anyone else’s help to that extent, and I don’t know if she thinks her outbursts during elimination will make her look better, but they really don’t. Brian should stay far away from the fish station. That should just be a kitchen rule. Clemenza needs to get it together and maybe use a little talc every now and then. The more he sweats, the more flustered he gets, and then he sweats some more. It’s an ugly cycle.
Red team: I’m so glad Tiffany’s sloppy, unsanitary, slacker behavior finally caught up to her. The fastest way to get GR Steak to close after a couple dead weeks would’ve been to put Tiffany’s ass in that kitchen after airing her slovenly ways on national television. I loved it when Andi ripped into her. I can’t understand why Tiffany thought her own mistake with the potatoes, which Dana actually warned her about in advance, was somehow the rest of them plotting against her. As for Dana herself, I don’t care for her attitude, but she’s way more competent than Tiffany. A few mistakes here and there is forgivable, and the lobster thing was just a misunderstanding all around. Kimmie has been walking a thin line with me for awhile, and right now she’s sort of on the bad side. I think she could be good if she let herself–she needs to drop the ghetto attitude and gain some confidence, because that “no one will listen” thing got old ages ago. Sack up, girl. Barbie can just keep doing what she’s doing. So can Christina.
Meant to add: Great job on this recap!
@ Andyourlittledogtoo, it used to be that only certain jobs had “professional” attached to them, and blue collar jobs never did. An architect was a professional and a plumber was not. Even if you compared the greatest plumber in the world to the worst architect, it was the architect who was the professional. Parents wanted their kids go into “the professions.” Now, like you say, everybody is a professional, so I should just get over it.
If someone is paid for their skill, whatever it is, that means they’re a professional. IMO. The lady at supercuts is a professional, whereas my mom cutting hair in the kitchen is not. Despite the fact that my mom is a better stylist than the lady at supercuts.
Anyway pototatoes take forever to cook in dairy because you have to cook it at a lower temp so the dairy doesn’t burn or scald. Potatoes in water cook faster because the water is boiling. You can’t boil milk or cream. And scalloped potatoes, depending on the size of the dish, should take 45 min or more if it’s in a big casserole dish.
Very glad to see Tiffany go. She was gross. I predict Justin and either Christina or Barbie in the final.
If someone is paid for their skill, whatever it is, that means they’re a professional.
That would include crack whores. Okay, I’m in the minority here, but the upside is that I get to be a professional too. Yay for me.
@ crankyguy — Honestly, until you brought it up, it had never once occurred to me that being a “professional” had to do with the level of education required for that job (education vs. training, I guess.) I had always just assumed that use of the word implied that someone was either trained in that field or paid for doing it (or hopefully both.) But you’re right, if that is what the word professional means, then we would have professional crack whores, and that is not okay. At all. You’re definitely right about the correct meaning of the word, but sadly it is one of those words that is used improperly so much that it has lost its actual meaning. However, from this day forth, I will do my best to only use it in the proper context.
(It occurs to me that this might read as sarcasm, but it isn’t meant that way. I do like to use words properly, and never realized that I was misusing “professional” until you brought it up.)
So, I did some searching about the word “professional” because 1. I took a half day off from work, and 2. I’m a big nerd when it comes to stuff like this. Here is what I found:
As a noun, “professional” only refers to someone who went into one of the three learned professions: law, medicine, and theology. For law and medicine, this specifically means the actually practice. For example, I am a legal assistant, but I am not a professional because I don’t practice law.
When used as an adjective, “professional” refers to the way someone makes their livelihood. For example, I am paid to be a legal assistant. Therefore, I am a professional legal assistant.
While the contestants are professional chefs (assuming they were all being paid as chefs before the show), they are not professionals.
@crankyguy: Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention. You learn something new every day! Like SuburBint, I will definitely be more careful from now on with my use of the word “professional.”
@ PopePhilly: thanks for the research, but I am saddened to learn that architects aren’t professionals. I wonder what Ayn Rand would have Howard Roark say about that?
@ PopePhilly — Thanks for doing the research that I probably would have forgotten to ever get around to doing. Apparently one can be a professional crack whore after all.
Hey, crack whores are referred to as ‘pros’ all the time!
Seriously though, language changes over time and usage determines a lot of what we say and understand. I’m not going to lose any sleep if someone calls someone a professional or tells them that they are supposed to act like a professional or that they are being unprofessional, even if they are not doctorates and licensed in medicine, law, or theology.
I think we can all agree that whatever her education, training, or skill, Tiffany was no ‘professional’ by any of our definitions. Girl was gross.
Prostitution is considered the world oldest profession!
I was just thinking of a skill like golf. The difference between an amateur golfer vs. a professional golfer is that the pro gets paid. Not trying to stir up shit or anything.
@zerocol, just keep it in the adjectival form and we’ll be okay. But Tiger Woods had better know that if I EVER hear him refer to himself as just a professional, then I swear I will write a letter to the editor of my local paper calling him out for his audacity. I already know what I’m going to say: “Who the fuck does he think he is — a chef?”
In a proper kitchen, the title chef is not tossed around lightly. A chef is someone that is in charge of a kitchen. Everyone else is a cook. There are different levels of chefs in a full brigade (a full kitchen, usually higher end). It usually goes something like: Executive Chef, Exec Sous Chef, Pastry Chef, Head Chef, Chef de Partie (can be for different areas of a kitchen, aka sauces, fish, pantry, etc), Sous Chef, Commis, Line Cook, Prep Cook. etc. The title chef is used a lot now a days because of the rise of celebrity chefs, food network, cooking shows, etc. Also, in a kitchen, giving someone the title of Chef will sometimes appease someone without giving a raise.
Cream based potatoes (aka scalloped potatoes) should be baked ahead of time in a kitchen. They are usually baked in huge sheet pans or hotel pans, let to cool, put in the fridge and then cut to the desired shape. They can then be reheated for plating. This can be done for smaller parties and same for larger groups.
The general hygiene of the HK people is pretty common for restaurant kitchens. There are many restaurants that if the customer actually saw what was happening in the kitchen would be totally empty. As far as any direct contact with your fingers, that is totally normal. That is how stakes are tested. That is how most pre-tossed salads are tossed. Fingers should never go into your mouth in a kitchen. Most kitchens have spoons/forks around for that. Even double dipping that spoon/fork can get you fired in some places.
I took a cooking class recently and the instructors had these bowls of tiny plastic spoons everywhere – we were encouraged to taste, taste, taste. And if they saw someone putting a non-gloved finger into food then in their mouths then back in food, the dish (es) were scrapped. And you used the tiny spoons ONCE then threw them away. Though I admit, I seriously doubt this goes on in pro kitchens. They were mostly teaching us about using clean cutting boards and utensils to avoind food borne bacteria, etc.
And seriously, I never really understood that so much food has either been completely or even partially prepped before orders come in. It’s logical and makes perfect sense, it just never occured to me.
@timgunnssister: I think that’s what bothers me most about the chefs sticking their fingers – the fact that those fingers then go in their mouths. I understand what what Carol is saying about steak being tested by touching it. However, that finger is not being placed in a chef’s mouth and then into another dish. It would be just as easy to grab a fork, pick up some of the potatoes, and then taste them. Maybe that’s just me.
@Carol: Thanks so much for your insight! I always love it when someone who understands cooking/the restaurant industry more than I do (granted, that isn’t too hard seeing as most of my meals are made in the microwave) can add something here.
@timgunnssister I think it does happen in more professional kitchens. At least I know on Top Chef they use plastic spoons to taste their food once then throw them away. One season a chef was caught either double dipping or using his fingers, I can’t remember which, and was immediately kicked off.
One season a chef was caught either double dipping or using his fingers, I can’t remember which, and was immediately kicked off.
If we are thinking of the same incident, the chef was from somewhere in Great Britain, and it was early in the first season. I got the impression that he was kicked off more for back-talking to Hubert Keller, in who’s kitchen the offense took place, and Daddy Tom than for the offense itself. He essentially told them that it was no big deal, that they were grandstanding because they were on TV, and that they were liars if they claimed it didn’t happen in their kitchens all the time.
I gotta stop hanging out in the T&T thread. I meant “whose” kitchen, of course.
@ timgunnssister – I think though in a cooking class where you have students who are not professionals and who you do not know at all I would be very wary too and make sure they used disposable spoons to test food. The habit of not double dipping may not be ingrained and as home cooks they may think nothing of double dipping as well. In a commercial restaurant kitchen I think there is just a different expectation, although obviously if all those Dateline exposes are any indication that is not always the case. At any rate, putting your finger in the food during prep and cooking is a given, it’s what you do when you’re cooking. There is no other way to cook food. It’s putting your fingers in your mouth that is the big sin, that you never do. So if you are going to taste the food you use a utensil ONCE and not again for that purpose. What I saw Dana doing was testing the potatoes for doneness, not putting her finger in her mouth to test flavor. As long as the finger doesn’t touch the lips I don’t see that it is any different than any other step in the prep/cooking process where the hands touch the food all the time.
@crankyguy I got the impression it was the offense itself. They looked really disgusted by it, which is understandable since they were going to be eating that food later on. If they want to eat food with spit in it, I highly doubt they would serve food with spit in it.
@sagittariuskim, conflicting eyewitness reports, eh? I wish I could remember the name of the female chef who had her own show on the Food Channel years ago who would occasionally read viewer mail. She read one letter which complained about how disgusted it made that viewer to see the chef stick her finger in food, lick it, and do it over again. The chef’s response? “Get a life.”
All this talk of double dipping reminded me of how in middle school when my friends would share something like nachos, our number 1 rule was no double dipping. Yet we had no problem sharing a drink.
@crankyguy I don’t see a problem with it if you’re cooking for yourself. Or if you’re cooking for a boyfriend or girlfriend.
@sagittariuskim, the chef whose name I cannot recall was a famous restaurant chef, so if she did it on her cooking show it does not stretch the imagination much to think she did it at work. I used to be a line cook for couple of years, and I saw that and much worse. The show I am thinking of was on so long ago that I am not talking about e-mail or Tweets when I say letters, so maybe everyone is more strict about that now than back then.
You know the Las Vegas tagline ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’? That same tag can be applied to kitchens – what happens in a professional* kitchen, stays in the kitchen. There is so much that happens in a kitchen that you never ever want to know about. Some kitchens are perfect and amazingly clean. Some are so awful you wonder how no one has died from eating the food. The average restaurant is somewhere in the middle.
*I am using professional here as it means a kitchen which serves food to paying customers. This past week I made cookies & brownies with my nephews. It was a given that they would be licking the spoons and occasionally be nicking some of the dough when I turned around to get something. Was I grossed out? Nope, because I knew that the only ones eating those cookies/brownies would be their parents and them. I might be a chef, my home kitchen might be kitted out with professional stuff, but it is no way a professional kitchen. That being said, in my work kitchen I have sent people home for such behavior.
@Carol: Hahaha. You used “professional” correctly there because you used it as an adjective.
There is a big difference between a professional kitchen and someone’s home. For example, tonight I made paella just for myself. I used the same spoon every time I tasted it. However, if I were cooking for a group of people (even if they weren’t paying), I wouldn’t do that.