MasterChef Recap: It’s Gotta Be YOUR Bull….

30 Comments

1. 1
   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 1, 2012 at 9:57 pm

   I love this show but the thing that bugs me the most is how they get all cliquely right away and act like thirteen year olds at summer camp for the first time. Example: Tanya going over to Christine and seeking reassurance that everyone still likes her etc, and all the glaring and ‘stupid boys!’ comments and all that. The little groups huddling together and glaring at other contestants, questioning their motives and just in general never being about THE FOOD and who has the best but who is their best bud….this drives me nuts.

   And a big YES to the Becky decision in the mystery box challenge. She didn’t meet the challenge in the price point she was ordered to fulfill and that glazed peach was ridiculous. Okay, it tasted good. Fine. It wasn’t the challenge! Ugh. I hate when they pull crap like that.

   And another big YES to the Wal-Mart WTF. That was beyond annoying. And the little testimonials from the contestants they throw in there about how Wal-Mart (or whatever the promo each time) is God’s gift to the world etc really aggravate. Yeah, we know you have to pay the bills. But find a more subtle way to do it. Don’t hit us in the face with it like that.

   You know, WH is my natural ‘root for’ person. She’s a single mom, divorced, recovering… She’s my girl by definition. I’ve spent years in NA and AA rooms and always root for the recovering whatever and I totally get the mindset and the background and the game and the whole thing but she bugs the shit outta me for some reason. I know this girl (and a hundred like her) and she is displaying some of the worst of the character flaws endemic to them. And I say that as someone who is one of them. So I can’t root for her right now. She makes me itch.

   So glad this recap is up. I was really waiting for it. Thanks for doing it so we don’t have to.

2. 2
   Ed
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 12:34 am

   The worst part about the Wal-Mart stuff is that it sounds so fake and forced. You can tell that no one believes what they’re saying and they’re just reading the script. There are Super Wal-Marts where they do sell produce and fresh groceries and the like here in SoCal, but if I want the best, I’ll go to AN ACTUAL GROCERY STORE!

3. 3
   Dangerously
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 6:36 am

   Yeah, Wal-Mart has been doing something new to me here in Chicago…they have Wal-Mart Express, which is pretty much a grocery store, and then Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, which is also a grocery store, but does it’s best to hide the fact that it’s a Wal-Mart (aside from the name, at least). Still, I generally feel like if I buy a head of lettuce there, I’ll be throwing half of it out.

   What really bugs me is that…I went to Whole Foods yesterday (which everyone views as SOOO expensive) and did a little math in my head. And unless I’m wrong (and I’m never wrong), that same food was like $22 there, and infinitely better quality (and, might I add, less hormone infused).

4. 4
   Mummy Butterfly
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 8:13 am

   I totally agree about Wal-Mart. I might buy their meat if I had to, but I would rather drive three times as far to the nearest GROCERY STORE, before I TOUCH their produce. It’s always gross. My Mum is a die-hard Wal-Mart shopper. I’m pretty sure most of her clothes are exclusively off the Wal-Mart Clearance Rack (I love my Mum, don’t get me wrong, but my sister and I have to screen all clothing gifts she gives our children). And even SHE doesn’t buy Wal-Mart food/produce.

   They opened our first “Wal-Mart Marketplace” last week, and have another (near me) set to have a Grand Opening in a couple of weeks or so (laying the parking lot now). I will pay more and shop at Publix and Kroger – and trust my peaches, thank-you-very-much.

   @Dangerously – jealous of your Whole Foods. Nearest one to me is over 10 miles away.

   Becky, Becky, Becky… I guess SOMEONE in SOME restaurant may pay $40 for a peach dessert, but as creative as it was (and tasty as it was), it wasn’t going to WIN the challenge. My guess is that the judges knew they liked Tanya and Frank – so bringing up Becky was to make a point?

   I felt bad for Sasquatch. I like Felix, but this is the second time she’s seemed to have upset the judges. Sad face for both of them.

   Um, setting fire to a trifle… Didn’t Helene’s fire teach you ANYTHING? Not long now…

   I *LOVED* Josh’s “thank you” when told it tasted like Banana Split. Yep, wrong taste – BUT, I’m seeing a real trend there! Banana Split Trifle? Might sell for $40 on a menu! Plus, maybe it was the wrong FLAVOR – but it was identifiable and delicious and dessert-like. GO JOSH!

5. 5
   Another World
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 8:29 am

   Totally agree with your Whole Foods math, Dangerously!

   We just got a Whole Foods across the street and I couldn’t be happier. Walmart produce does not look like what was shown on MC- at least not at my local walmart.

   MummyB, I felt bad for Sasquatch too. And Felix broke my heart with her sad tears!

   Banana split trifle sounds delish! Thanks for the recap, Dangerously!

6. 6
   SuburBint
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 8:45 am

   My friend’s husband manages our local WalMart SuperCenter and they are very pro-WalMart when it comes to any sort of criticism…. but even she admits that their produce is garbage.

7. 7
   Dangerously
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 8:46 am

   My Whole Foods is 3 blocks away, which is nice since I never drive anywhere in the city. It’s no small part of why I live where I live, if I’m being honest.

   I think what I’m most baffled by, of all, is that they totally let DareDevil off light as hell for making a not-strawberry shortcake. I was so stunned by that, and it wasn’t even a talking point. Gordie was just like “why no strawberries?” and they moved on. And they also didn’t care that Stacy made an “Italian trifle” instead of a British one…I mean, it looked amazing, but…

   It’s one thing to be creative. It’s another thing to bake a pizza with ground beef topping when the challenge is “make a burger.” There was a lot of weird in that whole event.

   And I think you’re right about Becky’s peach…(well, that sounds dirtier than I’d intended…) I think they brought her up to show off the creativity with the dessert, because a) they had 2 great dishes to choose a winner from already, and b) it honestly looked like a lot of people did pretty poorly with that t-bone.

8. 8
   MummyButterfly
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 9:47 am

   @Dangerously – I thought DareDevil had strawberries AND the other berries… Did she have no strawberries? I was feeling a lot more confusion, because I was under the impression that the dessert HAD strawberries… She just added a few other types of berries. Now I need to watch again!

9. 9
   exhero
   Posted July 2, 2012 at 10:31 am

   I just feel the need to say that Felix pulls off a very pretty sad/cry face. I don’t know about the rest of you but when I cry it’s a huge red blotchy snotty mess. Not so much for her from what I could see.

10. 10
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 10:36 am

    Nope, no strawberries.

    I think the produce situation has a lot to do with locality too. If you are in an area where really good produce year round is common you are more likely to have better Wal-Mart produce as well. And it is a demonstrated fact that all grocery stores send their best produce to the more well off and suburban areas and their worst to the poorer ones so that will affect what you see in the stores too. That said, Wal-Mart totally sucks and I have no use for it. It sucks the life out of local stores and contributes to poor wage and labor conditions everywhere. You save a few pennies on the consumer end but at a huge cost on the production end and to the local stores. Hate Wal-Mart.

    Yeah, the judging on both challenges was bizarre. If you’re supposed to make something then be judged on that. Creative is good but it shouldn’t tank someone else who actually followed the challenge. I hated to Sasquatch go, I was hoping it would be Felix.

    I remember now the thing that really bugged me (ha!) about this episode and the contestants: both Felix and Becky, when called out for bad results, acted like nine year old girls with the flipping the hair and the sighing and the pouting, it was embarrassing. I know Felix was upset but she also looked pissed off that she wasn’t being praised for her efforts. Becky definitely was pissed off. They were so spoiled-little-girly about it all, it made me mad. And I had no reason not to like them at all before that, but their attitude this episode pissed me off. I kept expecting Becky to stamp her foot and say ‘it’s not fair!’ LOL

11. 11
    Moli
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:10 am

    I’m going to say ask this now, what is the difference between a parfait and a trifle(mind you I have never consumed nor seen anything called a trifle)? What they had ‘looked’ like a parfait.

12. 12
    Moli
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:11 am

    But, it is possible i have seen a trifle…and breezed past it because I thought it was a parfait.

13. 13
    MummyButterfly
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:30 am

    Parfait: http://www.featurepics.com/online/Parfait-Pudding-1568670.aspx
    Trifle: http://withfriendship.com/user/neeraj/trifle.php

    Main difference, I BELIEVE, is the cake/bread/ladyfinger… Parfaits are all creamy (pudding, mouse, etc). Trifles have some sort of cake layer (I make mine with chocolate and brownies).

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:32 am

    And I am suddenly reminded of that Friends Christmas episode where Rachel attempted to make a trifle but her cookbook pages got stuck together and it wound up with beef in it. LOL

    Trifle has custard, fruit, sponge cake, and gelatin in layers. A parfait can be anything – fruit and ice cream are very common or different kinds of ice cream, or different kinds of pudding. A trifle is a more definite kind of recipe with expected ingredients. But never beef.

15. 15
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Oh! And whipped cream. That’s the best part of a trifle to me.

16. 16
    Dangerously
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:38 am

    Even the Wal-Marts I’ve been to in the nicest parts of town have had shitty produce. I don’t know what miracle Wal-Mart they found to supply them with this food, but were I to guess, Wal-Mart bought it from a nice grocery store and donated it to MC as their own.

    I didn’t get that vibe from either Felix or Becky…Felix was crying, as she seems to do pretty often (and yes, pretty prettily as well), but I thought all of her anger and frustration was pretty well directed at herself. As for Becky, all I saw was her open her mouth as if to respond to Bastage telling her that she was trying to show off and fucked it up, and then seemed to think better of it. I think she seemed like she wanted to get a little defensive, because she thought she’d produced something good and was really caught off guard by Bastage coming out swinging.

    And now I’m sad that I totally had forgotten about that Friends episode…that would’ve been a good thing to reference

17. 17
    timgunnssister
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:49 am

    I recently took a chance on some Wal-Mart steaks. Never again. I prepared them the same way I do all our steaks – cover them in sea salt for an hours per inch of thickness then rinse the salt off, pepper them, sear them in a pan then put the pan in the oven to finish. M steaks come out great every time. But this one. They were chewy and bland. Waste of money and yes, I bought the supposed ‘best’ ones in the black package.

    Back to Whole Foods for grass fed for me.

    And we have decent vegetables at ourWM but I also have markets near me that sell local produce so I buy mine there. FE’s blog says his twitter account was hacked. Wonder who’d do that? Not a ‘gasm.

18. 18
    Leto
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 7:50 pm

    I read a lot of recaps here but almost never comment. But please:
    I’m french so I don’t get a WORD for this Walmart business. Somebody to explain? :p

    Also Christine is my Ben Star for this season. I KNOW she won’t win, but i love her and I’ll be heartbroken when she’ll leave. Like Ben next year I liked Sasquash too, I’m sad he had to go, considering that the only dessert that was deamed “unedible” was Becky’s (yeah, sorry, I can’t stand Becky. Though I didn’t like Whitney either)
    And I don’t really understand why a twist on a triffle is good, but a twist on a shortcake isn’t. And i’m a baker. I mean, I’m not an american, so maybe it’s heresy to make a shortcake with other berries than strawberries, but the main concern in a COOKING challenge shouldn’t be the baking of the shortcake? I found that ridiculous.

    Thanks for the recap Dangerously, and sorry for the Becky/Whitney not liking :p

19. 19
    Jimbob Jones
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    @Andyourlittledogtoo — I make my trifles with beef and peas. And, yeah, that episode is the first thing I thought about too

    Actually, Dangerously, I’m surprised that you didn’t pull that reference, too. You’re so good at that.

    Maybe you’re slipping. Getting old. Soon you’ll be referencing Twilight to try and stay “current”.

    That Friends episode is one of my favorites — especially with Ross/Monica’s Mom’s incredible schpiel at the end. “It did not taste good.” and Joey’s “What’s not to like? Beef? Good! Jam? Good!”

20. 20
    Dangerously
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    I am disappoint. It is a fantastic episode of a show that I’ve easily seen every episode of. I, in fact, always got laughed at by my friends, because when we went to a bar for Trivia and there was a TV question, I prayed for Friends. Have not missed a single Friends question in all my years of pub trivia.

    Have I not made a Twilight reference yet? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! Now…to find out what this “Twilight” is.

    And Leto…it’s ok for you not to like Becky…I see why people don’t. She’s just my pony. But…WHITNEY?!? My dear Whitney Miller? That’s fine. Dislike all you want, that’s just one less person for me to compete with.

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    maryedith
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    @Jimbob, that’s a sheperd’s pie.

    @Dangerously, I could be wrong but I think that was the first season of Friends.

22. 22
    maryedith
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    There are lots of variations on the English Trifle. The trifle itself comes from Italy, where it’s made with mascarpone and cream instead of custard and cream.

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    Jimbob Jones
    Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:37 pm

    “@Jimbob, that’s a sheperd’s pie.”

    I’m guessing you never saw that particular Friends episode. The recipe book that Rachel was using for the trifle had the pages stuck together (Dammit, Chandler!), so she made a half trifle, half shepard’s pie.

    If you’re talking about the “trifle” episode, it’s DEFINITELY not the first season. I want to say it’s the sixth (because Monica and Chandler were living together at the time, but not yet married). In fact, I don’t think there was a Thanksgiving episode the first season — I believe they didn’t start until the “football” episode of Season 2.

    And I officially know way too much about this show.

24. 24
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 3, 2012 at 12:02 am

    No, it wasn’t the first season. I do recall the looks on all their faces when they politely ate her trifle. She had no idea it wasn’t supposed to include beef and peas. But Joey loved it. LOL

    The reason I think Becky acted like a nine year old girl when called down is she stomped down all put out, swung her hair as she got there, and then stood there all pouty and mad. As I said, all that was left was for her to stomp her foot and whine ‘It’s not faair! Mine was better than hiiiiis!’ She was ridiculous. Now, she may be a fine person and not usually act like this, I haven’t been watching her all that closely before. But this episode she was a whiny baby. And Felix, although I understand why she was upset, can stop crying. Like, now. Maybe she was mad at herself. But she looked very much like Becky just in a different reaction is all: a little girl sent to the principal’s office for reasons she understood but did not think merited discipline. Perhaps more of a ‘I know I hit her but I didn’t start it!’ kind of reaction.

    But that’s my take on them. They might prove me wrong. We’ll see. I was sorry Sasquatch went instead of Felix and I think the challenges this episode were judged all weird. I mean, it’s like they told them to make Arroz con Pollo, and one chef made it and it was not perfect, and another chef came up and said, ‘here’s my version, but I used pork instead of chicken and macaroni instead of rice!’ and they tell him he didn’t do the challenge but it tastes wonderful so he wins and the one who did the actual dish gets panned. I hate when they do stuff like that.

    And if someone knows somewhere that a glazed peach costs forty dollars on a menu then I’d love to hear about it. And avoid eating there.

25. 25
    zerocool
    Posted July 3, 2012 at 10:53 am

    My dad knows an apple grower and he said the reason Walmart’s produce is shitty is that they don’t properly store it before it goes to the public.

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    Annie
    Posted July 3, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    I never thought Gordo would stoop down to schlepping Wal-Mart (bleh!) but, here we are.

    Wal-Mart blows. I hate shopping there….whatever money I save from not buying things at a normal grocery store, I end up blowing on dumb shit ($5 DVDs, candles, etc). That’s where they get you. Dont even get me started on the People of Walmart!

27. 27
    sarcasatire
    Posted July 4, 2012 at 1:54 am

    In NYC, we’ve been seeing Walmart commercials where people blind taste-test a steak and after drooling all over it, they learn it’s from Walmart. “Wow! I’d definitely buy a steak from Walmart!”, they say. Well, I wouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong..I love Walmart Supercenter when my fam is on vacay in Virginia Beach each summer..dvds, towels, flashlights, and bath essentials are all great for a week at the beach. But steak? Nuh-uh. I’ll take my chances at the Piggly Wiggly.

28. 28
    crankyguy
    Posted July 4, 2012 at 9:22 am

    What’s with the Wal-Mart steak snobbery? I tried both a T-bone and a ribeye, and they both were very good. The meat is not prime grade and not aged, but neither is any other cut of beef that I have ever been able to find in a supermarket. Is there something going on that I’m not aware of, like the packers picking out only the diseased cows for sending to Wal-Mart? The ground beef for sale at my nearest Piggly Wiggly is labeled as coming from Mexico, so I take my chances with Wal-Mart domestic ground chuck instead. The one and only time I bought hamburger from the Pig, I discovered when I got it home that they had wrapped a thin layer of fresh red meat around a core of old, gray, smelly meat in a blatant effort to disguise the age of what was offered for sale.

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    MummyButterfly
    Posted July 4, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    @crankyguy – Maybe you have an awesome Wal-Mart. Where I live, I buy domestic beef (or buffalo) at Publix, and my produce at Kroger or Publix. I live less than a mile from a Wal-Mart (many around me walk there), but their fresh food is simply disgusting. The produce is always close to rotting and the meat is constantly on the verge of turning grey. Meanwhile, at my local Publix – everything is open so you can see the meat prep area, there are constantly little meat-guys asking if they can slice your meat for you (or repackage things in a different size), and BOY when it gets close to getting old – they get that stuff out FAST.

    I have lived in this area for close to 8 years, and it has been that way for the entire time I’ve been here. I honestly think for the longest time it’s had more to do with the fact that Wal-Mart hasn’t put much effort into their grocery section (training people properly or equipment). Now that they are “launching” the Wal-Mart Marketplaces, they are trying to rebrand themselves, and figure Gordon is the way to go.

30. 30
    crankyguy
    Posted July 4, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    @MummyButterfly, maybe I have lucked out with Wal-Mart compared with the rest of you since I find their produce to be just as good as Publix or Kroger. Publix does stock a few items of produce that my Wal-Mart does not, like blood oranges, fresh watercress, broccoli rabe, and fresh figs, but the things they both carry are no different in quality. As for meat selection, I have never seen buffalo, rabbit, quail, or ostrich meat at Wal-Mart like I have at Publix, so if that’s what you like, then Wal-Mart is not for you. The service is better at Publix, since employees go out of their way to be helpful almost to the point where I want to tell them to just leave me alone, so I’ll give you that.