Top Chef

[FiggyPudding]

I would have liked to see Marcel shelve his natural petulance and roll with the problem he’d been handed.

Ha! That caught my eye too, Kafka - thanks for the link. I wonder about Chef Tom C's recurring defense of Tiffany also. Judging from his past comments, perhaps he was disturbed by the public hatred of her and felt it was out-of-proportion to her misdeeds and possibly due to the fact that she was female. He did lecture her about her lousy attitude after the Boys & Girls Club challenge, and he had a pretty big smirk on his face when she backpedaled about Dave's dessert. I can't figure him out.

[InchoateDetails]

Marcel is annoying but yeah, Betty should have just ignored him when he was trying to get back at her. What I have learned since leaving highschool is that sometimes it is better to just ignore someone. I always, always hate how the frou-frou 4 star chefs abhor the "regular" cuisine challenges. You can't tell me that when sick or sad they always grab the frois gras and never the Rice Crispie Treats or the good ol' cheeseburger. Betty was right in that a great chef shows versatility. P.S. I am refalling in love with Tom.

Edited to fix, Betty should have ignored him- not "annoyed him" like I had written. Plus spelling mistakes.

[firstaid]

Bye bye eyebrowless blondie chef!!!
I might be biased because I am practically a vegetarian, but meat and ice cream or sorbet are two things that should never be mixed. Did Marcel actually taste his bacon and avocado combination? I think the looks on the poor kids faces after tasting that says it all.

I loved Sam's sauteed vegetables and fruit dish, it also helps that he is easy on the eyes. He will replace pudgy Harold as my reality tv crush. I think Sam, Cliff and Betty will be top contenders.

[Deleted]

I was glad to see Emily go. I thought her comment about the woman who told her the ice cream needed more sugar was nasty. Her bitterness was really showing!

I like Betty but my opinion of her did fall a bit after she called out Marcel. I thought she chose a poor time to do it too, right in the middle of a challenge. I thought was karmic payback that the griddle wasn't hot enough for her sandwiches!

And count me in with y'all on being annoyed at the "too good for this" attitude some of the contestants have about "regular" food. Isn't that just basic cooking? Don't you need to know the basics before you go on to your "four star" cooking? And, I'm sorry, but to be so haughty about your skills and then serve a dish that was so salty it was inedible? Hmphf!!

Love Cliff and Sam.

Michael needs to lay off the beer.

[indygirl]

Did Elia say that she and Marcel had worked together prior to this competition? It was a voice over during the show when she was telling Marcel how she always defends him whenever the others put him down. (Heh.)

[india7]

Yes, she did say that, indygirl.

[indygirl]

Interesting. I am a bit surprised that Elia wasn't among those sniffing about cooking for a "low brow" eatery.

[crabbypatty]

I think Betty is an emotional girl, and I can see her going from happy happy to pissed off pissed off in seconds. I think most emotional people can be that way. I suspect Marcel, being next to her in the prep, was annoying the smack out of her with his arrogance. Just that hair alone would make me want to throw a meat thermometer at him in the kitchen. I think Betty needs to keep a lid on it though because Marcel will be Marcel's worst enemy. Betty doesn't need to say anything. I think she may be a little impressed by her own popularity on the show.

I've never cooked onion rings but even *I* know you don't let the onion rings sit in oil while waiting for the oil to get up to temp. Can we say soggy? It really shouldn't take oil that long to get hot again so Marcel was really being stupid there. His goading Betty while she was cooking was way out of line.

I'm glad Emily was aufed. I think her attitude & rotten comments during the ice cream challenge showed us who she really is. As someone here just said, she's bitter. That's the perfect word for her.

However I think Drunk Boy (whatever his name is) really deserves to "pack his knives & go home." His attitude with the judges was disrespectful & childish. I can see how Emily wouldn't understand the challenge, but Drunk Boy worked in places like TGIF. He should have known much better than to serve a messy, sh*tty flank steak. He doesn;t even belong in this competition, & he will probably go next week.

As far as the chick w/the braids & the Otto scandal? I can totally see myself being stunned in the car w/Otto's confession. I would probably do the same thing: talk about it with a buddy before deciding I *had* to turn him in. What he did could have disqualified the entire team and really showed him as a sleazy jerk. I'm impressed he excused himself from the competition, but what was he suppose to do? He knew he was going to get the ax, and he had to do something to help his reputation. Otherwise, he'd probably never get hired at any decent restaurant after this competition (I have no idea what he did prior to the show).

I like this group this season. I can't wait until Wednesday!

[india7]

I'm actually surpised that not more people liked Emily's chocolate and lavendar ice cream. There's this brand of organic chocolate that they sell at health food stores, and dark chocolate with lavendar is one of the chocolate bar flavors - and it is soooo good!

[girlnamedcarl]

I actually made a few of this week's recipes yesterday. My personal verdict:
- Josie's Miami Steak Skewers with Green Toast and Fire-Roasted Salsa: Not a simple, quick dish by any stretch; I had to clean out the blender twice for this one. I thought the steak would be spicier, but the tanginess from the marinade is still pretty good. The toast requires a couple additional steps, but it's quite yummy.

- Ilan's Corn 'n Bacon: Unspeakably easy, and pretty yummy. I made it with 6 oz. of center-cut bacon instead of the 8 oz. of regular bacon in an attempt to save an artery or two.

- Sam's Wild 'bout Fruit Salad: Good God, these names are annoying. My personal jury is out on this one. I'm a little bit new to spicy, herby sauces over fruit, and I can't say I'd be slurping the juice up through a straw. It's pretty good, but honestly, you can't go wrong with good mixed fruit. I dunno; maybe I need to put it on some salad greens and carve some Parmesan onto it. I just don't get what the judges saw in it.