Next Iron Chef Redemption: Episode 2 (spoilers)

[Joanie]

I hope I'm not blind and have missed a wrap up of this episode. Which yes I did watch since it was only an hour. A very basic wrap up here.

They went to the 5 Cent Diner in downtown LA (which I tried to go to last visit) for no good reason really, to be told they had to make interesting versions of tacos, banh mi and falafel. Since Guanicelli won last week, she got to assign people to the food, she picked tacos. I can't remember everyone but Marcel had falafel (and it seemed like Mehta pulled some bullshit on him while cooking) along w/ the woman who kinda looks like Guan and Mehta I think. Simon really didn't like Faulkner's banh mi pasta and she took great exception to that. She was in the bottom along w/ Estes and the other woman. The secret cook off ingredient was white bread and F. made a monte christo and some bread ice cream (?), can't remember the other two but one got great marks and Estes was in the bottom. I'm surprised at the pissy attitudes of these people when they get the boot. No one expects a loser to be happy, but Estes wouldn't even look at anyone.

[babette feasts]

I found it strange that A. Guarnaschelli was concerned about over-spinning sorbet. Without the butterfat of ice cream, there is no danger of ruining the texture by over-spinning, in fact I think sorbet only gets smoother and finer the longer it is spun. I suppose if she had completely forgotten about it in the machine it could have frozen solid and stopped the machine, not sure if those have any kind of automatic shut-off. .

The presence of Marcel makes it extra hard to take this show seriously, especially with his goofy zippered chef coat and rope apron strings. Just one more area where the he needs to reinvent the classics? I know he did do well on one season of TC, maybe I take him less seriously as a chef because he is not a restaurateur.

And is it just me, or do Spike's coats look dingy and dirty grey amongst all the whites? I'm no laundry queen, but I think I would bleach my chef coats or get new ones before going on TV in dingy whites.

[Worldwide Diner]

I'm getting annoyed by every contestant on this show, including Faulker - who I really enjoyed watching in the past. This series went down the toilet when Food Network started pimping their own "stars" and TV whores instead of acclaimed chefs.

[huiray]

I thought Elizabeth Faulkner's "pasta" dish was decent. That Simon Majumdar took a particular dislike to it was odd, to me. Anyway, her "white bread" dish apparently was one of the "best 5 dishes" the judges had ever tasted on any iteration of the show (or something like that). The other "strong contenders" (e.g. Mehta, Guarnaschelli et al) were shown (in voice overs) to be very concerned about Faulkner's threat to them when EF related the judges' comments to the assembled group back in the kitchen.

p.s. With regards to Majumdar - in the past season he had revealed certain "quirks" and odd dislikes of his - such as pork with pineapple, IIRC. There were also other things like that dish with lardo that Ming Tsai did and that Donatella Arpaia severely disliked - and that Majumdar also concurred in, IIRC - but which Michael Symon, the only real chef amongst the judges, said Tsai had nailed in terms of what he set out to do and how he had achieved it (which was of no import to Arpaia and Majumdar)

[chowser]

I thought Faulkner's dish could have been great, but the worst of three strong dishes so they had to show some criticism on why it was at the bottom. Her dish sounded like it was better than many in other groups but Guarnaschelli planned it that way. She was also smart about pairing herself with the other two.

[jmckee]

Speaking of quirks, I like me some spicy, but I often wonder if Donatella has any suggestions to make other than "it needs more heat."

[chowser]

Well, she did eat an entire hot pepper and then criticize the chef for too much heat. I can't remember who it was.

[Janet from Richmond]

I'm just glad her, her attitude and her stupid ponytails are gone. She was like nails on a chalkboard.

[huiray]

I would have liked to have seen Lee Ann Wong as a contestant rather than Estes. :-(

[Janet from Richmond]

That would have been great.

[ipsedixit]

+1

But I don't know if there were conflicts of interests involved as she was a previous producer of Top Chef.

[LurkerDan]

why would there be conflicts? She competed on the internet portion of this and didn't win against Estes. Unless you think that was rigged from the start to keep her out, it seems obvious there were no conflicts.

[paulj]

She's also been on Cooking Channel's Unique Eats (as commentator). There's also discussion on the web of her (Lee Ann) being a Chopped judge, though that episode hasn't aired yet.

[ennuisans]

The rule that says "When it's too close to call, vote out the woman" was in fine form this episode.

[LurkerDan]

What rule is that? And where was it invoked?

So, will we now have the conspiracy theorists on one side saying it's rigged in favor of a woman winning (as was often said last season) and the conspiracy theorists on the other side saying it's rigged against the women?

[ipsedixit]

Chef Spike ... "The Next Sandra Lee"!

[chowser]

Ow, that comment... But appropriate. Really--melon balled avocado? At least puree it and throw it in w/ some alginate. Overdone but less home dinner party-like. I thought the comment was a snark to the next food network star.

[C. Hamster]

Aunt Sandy would say melon "baled"

[alliegator]

Aunt Sandy would have figured out some way to incorporate avacado balls into a vodka drink ;)

[huiray]

I think that is a bit unfair. He's not half bad, I think he has decent talent. Sandra Lee, OTOH, seems to have minimal talent.

[ipsedixit]

I was commenting on what Simon Majumdar said about Spike's taco crusted fish in the Chairman's Challenge, something to the effect of "This is the Next Iron Chef, not the Next Home Dinner Party".

[chicgail]

That said a lot, didn't it.

[chicgail]

There was a shot of Estes seeking ingredients with a book open in her hand. Why would she have a book with her? Was it a cookbook? Is that allowed? If it was, isn't that odd that a professional chef would be referring to cookbook recipes? Or am I making all this up?

[jmckee]

Not odd at all. I've got a book at home with pictures of top chefs' home kitchens and you wouldn't BELIEVE the number of cookbooks Ken Hom (among others) has. Also, Gordon Hammersley keeps a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" handy at all times; he says it's where he goes if he really needs to know how to do something.

[chicgail]

I just thought that the rules may have precluded the use of cookbooks in the competition, but I also realize I may have made that up.

[charmedgirl]

Might not have been a cookbook, might have been her personal notebook. On Top Chef, they are prohibited from using cookbooks (someone got sent home once for using one, if I remember right), but there have been episodes where they have shown the chefs back at their apartments at night brainstorming and writing/formulating recipes. Richard in particular seemed to rely heavily on his personal notes. I don't remember the scene (and maybe it's super obvious that it's a cookbook, in which case disregard) but if not, it could be that she had a notebook where she was keeping her thoughts/ideas/recipes as the challenge progressed.