The Next Food Network Star – Jeffrey Falters; Katie Can’t Cook And Debbie Gets Whacked

The Next Food Network Star

The Ultimate American Meal

Scenes from last week with Teddy crying. Then I remember how much I really don’t like Debbie. Ooh, there’s Ina, looking so pretty in the intro.

The first person we see is Michael, then Melissa and then Jeff. Oh, it might be Teddy going home, because he says he’s really exited about doing better.

The group goes into the Food Network kitchen and Bobby is there. The challenge this week is to create the ultimate burger. Bobby says he’s opening Bobby’s Burger Palace in Connecticut this weekend. He says the winner will have his or her burger on the menu.

The burger should come from a specific region of the country…oh, so like an elk burger from…wherever it is there are elks... They have to present their idea in front of the camera in 30 seconds and they have 20 minutes to cook it. Teddy looks like he wants to pass out.

Melissa - Burlington, Vermont Burger with Vermont cheddar cheese

Oh, there’s a real culinary hotspot for you. The shopping is great, but is it known for its cuisine? Not exactly, but maybe the judges will think it’s a charming choice.

Michael - Mulberry Street Burger with mozzarella and pancetta

Jamika - Mardi Gras Madness New Orleans Burger with cayenne and sausage

That’s a good idea.

Debbie - Cal-Asian Burger

Jeffrey - California Convertible Burger Californian in a Mexican way

Huh?

Teddy - Pennsylvania Burger with an Amish spin

(Hmm, is he going to put a bonnet on it?)

Katie - San Francisco Market Turkey Burger

Uh-oh, Katie’s burger isn’t done when the time is up.

Melissa goes first. She makes a Burlington burger. She tells us she went to college in Vermont, oh, okay, that’s fair. She did a good job. Bobby likes that it’s a beef burger with turkey chili. (I think that’s weird and I have no idea where the chili is. Inside?)

Jeffrey is next. He doesn’t say much, except that when he’s in the mood for blah, blah, blah he makes blah, blah, blah. Bobby: It’s the usual hot, sweet thing. Susie didn’t feel like she learned anything. Bob says he’s not showing any growth.

Teddy is okay as he describes his burger with Amish elements and a whole bunch of other stuff, including special ketchup. OH! I guess I’m wrong, because we see three contestants in the back with their mouths hanging open at how badly he did, including Debbie, who has a grudge. Bob says Teddy can’t find a comfortable place in front of the camera. Jamika says (to his face) that he’s like a game show host. Did I miss something? I thought he was fine.

Susie says his burger isn’t as good as she thought it was going to be. Bobby says “Sometimes, you can have TOO MANY things on a burger.” Oy, he can’t win with them. Oh well.

Debbie….wait…I’m not sticking my neck out here. Let’s see what the judges say. Susie “loved” her presentation. Bob says he likes the flavor of the burger, but there’s not enough of it. Bobby likes the idea, but she didn’t deliver it. I don’t like that she said “Kree-in” for Korean and that’s all I’m going to say…in this paragraph.

This whole time, I’ve been thinking about what hamburger I would have made in this challenge…one that would have been incredible and…honestly…I COULDN’T THINK OF ONE. I think this was harder than it seemed. I happen to love Garden Burgers with all the crap that a regular hamburger has, but I really don’t think I could have come up with one in 20 minutes. So I think Teddy’s was better than they’re giving him credit for.

Michael’s sounds sooo good. It’s stuffed with mozzarella and pancetta and served on garlic bread. It looks like there’s some kind of tomato sauce too. I don’t care what the judges think, I think his spiel is fine (plus he’s toned down his accent) and his burger looks fabulous. Whew! Susie agrees. Bob says he’s always nervous in front of the camera. Bobby likes his burger – classic ingredients. Bob does like that it’s on garlic bread. I bet he’ll win. Oh, I forgot Jamika.

Jamika says, “Wazzup to all my burger lovers out there?” Susie’s in love. But then Jamika gets a little too slick and begins to sound like she’s doing a commercial. Bobby doesn’t like the slab of sausage under the burger. So as I was saying, Michael will win.

Oh wait, there’s still Katie with the raw turkey burger, which she’s now told us about a hundred times. All she can think of during her 30 second camera routine is that the burger is raw. She’s not great.

Bobby likes the combination of ingredients, but Susie is “disappointed” that it’s not cooked. I actually thought hers looked like it would have been good, had it not been served in E coli territory.

The bottom two are Katie and Jamika. The top two are Melissa and Michael, who is the winner. Go me!!! Michael is so happy he says (to us) that he wants to make out with Bobby.

By the way, here’s the menu for Bobby’s burger joint and I don’t see Michael's burger on it. Another thing - Does ANYONE agree with me when I say that I think there should be Veggie Burger on the menu. I like that they have burgers with beef, turkey or chicken, but can’t they offer a vegetarian one? Even Pink’s has veggie dogs, for goodness sake, but no veggie burgers either.

Katie’s all weepy. She’s probably outta here.

Cut to the next morning when they’re all getting up. WHY do we have to see that? They’re interviewing Katie so much that it’s clear this is her swan song.

They arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. They waste the time of a real life color guard and Guy walks in. He tells them they’re going to be preparing food for a party of returning soldiers and their families and their dish has to tell a story. Oh goodness, let the poor military folks go home! Don’t make them eat this horrible food. Although maybe after what they’ve been eating, even Katie’s raw food would taste good.

They have to prepare a dish using all the ingredients from a specific state. TJ Walter, associate editor of USA Weekend magazine, comes out. He’s nice as he tells them the winning dish will be on the cover of USA Weekend magazine, which has 49 million readers. (I’m taking a big leap here and guessing that that’s the magazine that goes with USA Today, but on the weekend.)

They don’t say how each person is assigned to each state. I thought Michael would get to choose, because he won the other challenge. I guess not.

Teddy is okay with his duck and comes up with a plan pretty quickly.

Jeffrey is confused about what to do with blueberries and lobster. I don’t blame him.

Just for fun, I plugged Blueberries and Lobster into Epicurious. I got two unrelated recipes that came from this book. The only reason those came up was because THAT'S the name of the book. The recipes had nothing to with those two ingredients. Then I looked in Recipezaar and I found this. That’s a little better and I suppose you could use fresh, instead of dried, blueberries.

Suddenly, something comes to Jeffrey - Potpies. (I hate that word) But unfortunately the burners are really slow and he’s having a problem. He’s rushing, rushing, rushing.

Teddy goes first with his presentation to the military people and the judges, including Guy. He’s starts out okay, but he’s really nervous. Guy glowers at him.

One service person says Teddy’s presentation was bad, but he loved his food, so he didn’t care. Guy is still glowering. Bobby liked the food, though, and, apparently, that's just the way Guy looks, because he liked it too.

Jeffrey is horrified and embarrassed about his (Pot) Pie and he doesn’t know how to serve it attractively. So he drops the “glop into the bowls” and basically hopes for the best.

He starts out strong in front of the crowd, but kind of fades. It doesn’t matter, because Susie actually says about his food, “It’s disgusting. I would never eat this unless I had to.” The others agree.

Honestly, THIS is what I don’t like about this show. Why does it always have to be cooking against all odds? I know they all do it – Top Chef Masters cooking in dorm rooms. But does handling an unlikely situation well really equip you for a show on the Food Network? In that case, they should probably just recruit the military people in that very room, who could accomplish anything against great odds.

Melissa gets some state with skirt steak and chilies. She’s not familiar with the chilies, because the ball and chain back home doesn't like them, I guess. She tastes every single chili before she cooks with them. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.

Melissa comes out all perky and talks about her single mother, who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and died when she was 20. (I am NOT going to remark that that will get her some extra points for “sharing”.) She says skirt steak was their big treat growing up.

Susie thought Melissa's story was “lovely” (of course, she did) and Bob thinks her skirt steak with mango tastes like a good home cooked meal. Guy likes it the best, so far. Bobby agrees.

Katie is on. She’s cute, oh, she’s losing it. Oh, actually, she’s still cute. She’s talking about her cousin in the rangers and she knows how their families worry about them.

Guy likes her catfish, Bobby says she did okay, but she’s “middle of the road”.

Jamika is having stove problems.

OH NO! She’s putting her potatoes in a food processor. NO, THEY’LL TURN TO GLUE!!!

She says (after the fact) she knows what’s going to happen. But she’s hoping that when the potatoes go into a casserole-type thing and are covered with cheese, no one will notice that they’re “a gluey mess”.

It’s a commercial and the coming scenes look good. Michael punches Debby in the face with a baking sheet and she gets all dramatic, holding ice on her face...not a good look for most people.

Jamika says her (Jamika's) dish looks like slop. That’s not good. She comes out and does a good job in her presentation. Bob says it felt like a party when she was up there. Guy likes the flavor, but says the texture is horrific. Bobby agrees and says it’s very gluey. A military person didn’t like it.

Now I’m nervous watching Debby, knowing that she’s about to get bashed.

Michael bangs his sheet pan right into the corner of her eye or it may have been her cheekbone..."by accident". She’s “in so much pain she can’t think straight”.

Michael feels so horrible that he has to force himself to concentrate on his presentation. And he was so assured before. He’s making Hawaiian fish with a macadamia crust. He’s funny out there, as he says he grew up in the Bronx with peanuts, so he was excited to get macadamia nuts.

Bob says Michael makes people feel good. Susie says he has trouble in front of a camera, but in front of an audience he’s good. The judges like his food.

Debbie goes on and says something about being Korean and southern and how that makes her particularly understand what the troops are doing for our country. Huh? Susie looks confused.

Debbie wasn’t evil or bad, she just didn’t make any sense. She made chicken breast and I have no idea what state she was supposed to be representing.

Bob says she did a fantastic job considering that Michael had just hit her in the eye with an oven door. (Get your facts straight, Bob.) Bobby says the food is bland. It seems as if Melissa’s food will win the day and Michael’s presentation will, but Melissa will probably win.

I hope Jamika doesn’t go home. Oh, I forgot they showed Katie at the beginning, it’ll be her... Buh-bye.

Back in the judging room, Susie says they have to be prepared to share something of themselves at this point in the competition. They loved Jamika’s presentation, but Bob says he “was shocked that that dish could come from her.”

Bobby says Katie’s catfish was very good, but her presentation didn’t really talk about the food. When he brings up her raw lamb AND her raw turkey, Katie starts weeping. I’m getting a little over this show. In the real world, do people cry during job interviews? Maybe after, but not usually during.

Susie loves Michael’s dish, but Bob says he hasn’t made friends with the camera yet. Michael says he’s going to work on it and next week he’ll be 100% better. How’s he going to that? Is he going to get some coaching? Obviously, not from the FN folks. They never seem to be teaching them anything. If they already knew this stuff, would they even be on this show? It’s kind of annoying.

Bob says Jeffrey seemed different this week. Jeffrey says he was embarrassed by his food. Bobby says it was awful. He agrees. Bob says Jeffrey’s “flirting right up against the edges of blandness”. Bob wants to see more edge.

Predictably, Bob LOVED Melissa’s presentation. I’m not being horrible, but it almost seems as if they want to hear about personal tragedy and how the finalist overcame it, before they’ll consider the person for TNFNS. Should that really be necessary? Susie says “Great, great job.”

I'm just thinking what if Emily had cried about how she had stubbed her toe as a child, would she have won her Ultimate Recipe Showdown? Try that, next time, Em.

Bobby likes Teddy’s very delicious sandwich, but says Teddy makes him nervous when he gets in front of the microphone.

Bobby says he was little concerned about Debbie. She said it was rough.

Bob says he thought Debbie's presentation had warmth. It did? AND that it brought out her graciousness. Heh? I think he's grasping at straws.

Bobby says her chicken had no flavor. She says she wasn’t 100% herself, but that she’s not saying that was an excuse. Oh, I think she was.

Bobby doesn’t let her get away with that and says, “Sometimes when you have adversity, you can turn it into something positive.” Thank you, Deepak Flay.

Then Bobby tells the group that not one of them is hitting ball out of the field, or words to that effect, and that there’s a fantastic opportunity for one of them to grab the title. “You gotta knock everybody out.”

Okie Dokie…The winner, and the one who gets the cover of USA Weekend Magazine, is…Melissa. She can leave the room. She says to us that they underestimated her. Michael and Debbie are safe. They leave.

The others are sent out while they discuss the others. Susie says Teddy is fake and nervous in front of the camera and Katie has unforgivably served them raw food.

Bob says at least a couple of Teddy’s dishes have been good, but not Katie’s. I’m sure she’s out. C’mon, move it along. Then, they pick TEDDY to leave. That is a surprise. He said he kept digging and digging and he just couldn’t figure out how to give them what they wanted.

Let that be a lesson to you, Teddy. Either be yourself and be prepared to take the consequences of people thinking you're a jerk; or do a better job at pretending to be likable.

Oh, next time is Rachael Ray. That’ll be entertaining and painful at the same time.

Last week, my Bookmaker.com buddies thought KATIE would be leaving this week...with Teddy close behind, but they weren’t too far off.

I’m not sure why Michael isn’t at the top of the heap, but he still has time. And why isn’t Melissa ahead of Jeffrey? Those three have been at the top of the pack in the same order, since the beginning. These odds-makers…they’re an unusual bunch, but they’ve been pretty accurate.

Next Food Network Star Season 5: Round 4

Contestants: From Most to Least Likely To Win

· JEFFREY SAAD -170

· MICHAEL PROIETTI -120

· MELISSA D'ARABIAN +120

· JAMIKA PESSOA +165

· DEBBIE LEE +180

· KATIE CAVUTO +270

PS Check out these odds:

Black Eyed Peas Vs Perez Hilton

Punching Perez Becomes A Trend +300

Perez Or Will I.Am Discuss This On A Talk Show -200

They Will Admit It Was All For Publicity +100

Smackdown on Iron Chef

Iron Chef America

Flay vs. Excoffier

I’m not talking about the smackdown between Chef Bobby Flay and Chef Philippe Excoffier.* I’m talking about the one between judges Michael Ruhlman, noted food writer and blogger, and Andrew Knowlton, restaurant editor of Bon Appétit on Iron Chef America last night.

Although I caught only the last half of this Iron Chef, it was enough to see the virtuosity of the French Chef Philippe Excoffier. (That spelling really does look strange.) We also saw the seemingly endless inventiveness of Bobby Flay, a real American treasure.

This is what happened: Excoffier had had his turn and the Iron Chef was being judged. The secret ingredient was the fish Dorade (which I've always known as Dorada). Ruhlman and Andrew disagreed mightily over Bobby Flay’s Hot Dorade Ceviche. Bobby heated the elements of the dish and then poured them over the thinly sliced fish. Bobby liked that it didn’t taste solely of citrus, like most ceviches. That’s where the problem started.

Andrew thought the level of acidity in the dish made it almost inedible. He said,”The acidity in the dish kind of knocks you back.” “In THIS dish?!!” Ruhlman queries, as if Andy is crazy. Andy says YEAH, it’s “overpowering”, but he says he loves the texture of the fish.

Ruhlman looks at Andrew, over the head of the third judge - the ninny Jenna Wolfe from Today (and not even the weekday Today) - and says in a raised voice, “IT’S A CEVICHE.” He pronounced it in the 2 syllable French way, rather than the 3 syllable Spanish. (It DOES come from the Spanish, though.) Ruhlman adds, “IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE ACIDIC.”

Andy: It shouldn’t be like biting into a lime.

Mike: You’re too delicate.

Andy: It still doesn’t taste good.

Whoa! Bobby’s right there.

He (Bobby) laughs. They spar a bit more and who knows what they’ve edited out. But Ruhlman has no patience for Andrew… that much is clear. Why he doesn’t the smack the knowledge-less Jenna when she says, “I like this. I like that,” I have no idea.

The two judges revisit their battle while tasting Bobby’s last two dishes.

Andrew says the Crispy Dorade Fillet With Sour Orange Vinaigrette has just the right amount of acidity. He wants Ruhlman to agree that the other had too much. Ruhlman agrees about the current dish. “It’s an appropriate level of acidity for THIS preparation.” But he doesn’t take back what he said about the ceviche. Andrew looks frustrated.

Bobby’s last dish is a Dorade With Cauliflower Sauce.

Ruhlman does voice his concern that Bobby has showed fewer techniques than Excoffier has and that he’s presented them basically with fish and 3 sauces several times, while Excoffier’s menu had been more varied.

Bobby shares his philosophie (my word, not his). He says he likes to make the main ingredient the star and then have a few “friends” along for company.

That’s the last we hear until the verdict is announced. How will it play out? Will Ruhlman continue tut-tutting Andrew and will they get that moron away from the judges’ table.

Here are the scores:

	Flay	Excoffier
Taste	27	21
Plating	11	13
Originality	10	12­
Total	48	46

The Iron Chef reigned supreme. Thank goodness for that, but it wasn’t a surprise. Fewer techniques notwithstanding, Bobby got them with his rambunctious, remarkable cooking. But I do wish they’d learn to spell Excoffier’s name right.

*Note: The Food Network spells his name EXcoffier. But in the book he wrote as chef to the American Ambassador in Paris, it’s spelled Escoffier. That looks more correct, but since I’m writing about him on the Food Network, I’ll spell it the way they do, even though it looks weird.

Top Chef Masters – It’s An Offal-Ly Close Race, Plus Is The French Way Always Better?

Top Chef Masters - Offal Tasty

Still no Michael Chiarello. Gosh, they’re making us wait a long time.

The first chef this week is Wilo Benet. I love him. From his first word, “Hola”, he seems so cute and kind. He’s the Chef/Proprietor of Pikayo in Puerto Rico, as well as a couple of others. Tom says he is Puerto Rico’s first celebrity chef.

Cindy Pawlcyn is the chef of Mustard’s Grill in the Napa Valley. She’s been cooking since she was 13 and she’s playing for Clinica Olé.

Ludovic Lefebvre is the French chef/owner of Ludo Bites in Los Angeles. He’s got that kind of Zac Efron hair that’s plastered on his head and in his face. (I’m a HUGE Zac Efron fan, I just don’t like the hair.) Ludo's charity is C.H.A.S.E. for Life.

Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo is the last chef. Everyone knows Rick Bayless - the master of Mexican cooking. His charity is the Frontera Farmer Foundation, which gives grants to small farmers.

Kelly comes in. Rick is so friendly and open. He says he’s a bit nervous to be cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen and that it’s much easier to be judge. Wilo smiles. Ludo kind of frowns in disagreement. I’m guessing he would never admit to any weakness.

They have to draw knives. They’re all different colors. They have to create a dish using ingredients of that single color. The judges for this Quickfire are Chris Oliver - food stylist, Joann Cianciulli - cookbook author and Christina Peters - food photographer. Obviously, the presentation of the dish will be as important as the taste in this challenge. They have 30 minutes.

Cindy’s worried because she says she’s older than the others and not as fast as she used to be. I think she looks pretty tough and she IS cool. She says she’s stubborn and determined and that’s how she became a chef in the days when there weren’t many women chefs.

Rick is amused because he describes himself as “the king of slow food”.

I can’t but think that Ludo’s Frehhh-nschh accent is un petit exaggerated and he has an ego to match. That should make him an awful lot of fun to watch, especially if he loses. He says the training in France is very, very tough and you’re under a tremendous amount of pressure. He says he used to go home at night and cry after days working with Alain Passard.

Rick is happy he got the color green, which is the color of his favorite foods. He tells us he grew up in Oklahoma City in his parents barbecue restaurant. He says that Mexican cooking is often done in an “intuitive style”, which he tries to emulate.

They rush around to finish before time’s up. Merde! Ludo is mad because he forgot the tomato on the plate. Well, Frenchie, let’s see how well you do now.

(You know that I hold French cuisine at the very top of the pack and I think the French have an inherent sense of taste and style. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be ribbed for their – not completely unjustified - hubris.)

Ludo - Red

Steak Tartare With Watermelon, Red Onions & Red Beet Gazpacho

The waiter forgot to bring out Ludo’s beet gazpacho. Well, THAT’S not fair. The judges say the tartare is amazing. He gets the waiter to bring out the sauce, They pour it over and they actually prefer it the other way. One says it looks like blood.

Cindy - Yellow

Yellow Vegetable Curry Over Sweet Corn Grits & Fried Corn Tortillas

One judge loved the different shades of yellow and different texture throughout the dish.

Rick - Green

Roasted Vegetables, Molé Verde With Tomatillos, Green Chilies & Pumpkin Seeds

One says it’s complex, another says very tasty.

Wilo – Orange

Smoked Salmon Tartare With Coconut Milk & Tomato Paste Sauce

Judge: I love the color and the texture. She does wonder whether the steel ring should have been left on. Of course, it shouldn’t have. Wilo! You messed up. They LOVE the flavor…maybe the most of any dish. Wilo laments that leaving the steel ring on is like wearing a tuxedo with the dry cleaning tag hanging out.

The results:

Ludo - 3 stars

Cindy - 3½ stars

Rick - 4 stars

Wilo - 4½ stars

Ludo is mad. Wilo says he feels lucky to have won. His charity is the San Jorge Children’s Research Foundation. He’s sweet.

The Elimination Challenge is to create a street food dish that will be served to people…on the street, I guess…at Universal Studios. The catch is that they’ll have to convince the public to eat something a little more adventurous than normal.

Uh-oh what is it? It can’t be a domesticated animal, I suppose, but maybe something gross that is found under the sea. Maybe something slimy and jellied. Dunno…

Oh gosh, it IS some kind of protein and they draw knives to see what they get.

Wilo gets beef hearts. The Frenchman should have gotten that. He probably eats them for breakfast. Cindy likes offal. Rick gets tongue and he says he actually loves to eat tongue. (I ate it as a kid. It really does have great flavor and makes a great sandwich.)

Cindy gets tripe. She’s not bothered. Ludo has Pig’s ears. Rick says (to us) better him than me, because he’s never cooked them before.

Ludo is fine. “I like zat. I use ZAT in France.” Actually his accent is a bit less strong than before. Then he adds (in a VERY Frehhh-nschh accent),”If you want to be the master, you need to know about food. I know how to cook a pig ear…I know all these things.” Harrumph to you too, buddy! Oh, this is funny, Bravo thinks we’re so uncultured that they put subtitles in English under Ludo as he speaks.

They have $300 and 45 minutes to shop and 3 hours to prep and one hour the next day.

At Whole Foods, Ludo asks Rick for advice about Mexican cheese. Rick thinks (to himself) that that’s a bad idea for Ludo. It’s nice, they all help each other. Cindy is hilarious. I’m picking her early. She says she started a club back home called “Girls who eat guts”, where she and her friends go out and eat offal, so she should be fine.

Ludo finds out Rick is doing tacos. Merde again.

Cindy is concerned that she’s using a pressure cooker. Rick is amused. He helps her.

Ludo starts a vegetable broth. Wilo has never cooked beef hearts before. He slices them thin. Rick is happy, because he has more time to cook in his style of bringing lots of flavors together. Ludo is freaking out, and the others help him. He wants nothing to do with that.

Wilo is so darling talking about his charity, which is a hospital for children with terminal illnesses.

Cindy is smart to do a soup, so there's no problem getting it all ready. Ludo is behind and has so much to cook and get ready at the last minute.

Rick – Tongue

Chorizo, Bacon & Tongue Tacos With Guacamole & Pickled Onions

It looks great. Rick finds it hard to serve and talk and sell the tongue, but he does a great job. Kelly comes over and introduces the critics. Same old, same old.

James: Wow! This is brilliant. Melt in your mouth tender. Jay agrees. Gael: I definitely would have a second.

Wilo - Heart

Beef, Ham & Chicken “Tripleta” In Pita Bread

I wonder if he’ll get marked down for mixing the heart with other proteins.

The crowd loves it. He has a whole rhythm going. I like him. One person says, “I think I can feel it beating in my mouth.” Eww.

James: Too much topping for me. Gael says you can’t even get into it. Jay: There are lots of textures in here. James says this is really tender compared to other hearts he’s eaten. There has to be something wrong with that sentiment. Jay is impressed that he hasn’t slopped on his shirt.

Ludo – Pig Ear

Pork Quesadilla With Chorizo, Pinto Bean Puree, Lime Aioli & Smoked Paprika

THAT sounds fantastic, but Ludo is having a problem getting the food cooked in time. Usually, he says he has five guys helping him. The judges approach and when his food isn’t ready, he tells them about the Frehhh-nschh way he’s cooked the pig’s ears. Ludo is trying to charm Gael with his accent. The guys are getting fed up at having to wait for their food.

James: “The texture of the pig’s ear itself is very appealing.” Now when was the last time you heard THAT? Jay: It is. It’s a satisfying mouthful.

Cindy – Tripe (Stomach)

Hot & Spicy Menudo

She tells folks that it’s a great hangover cure. They like it. Jay is surprised that it’s a little under-seasoned. James agrees, but says the tripe itself is terrific. Gael: Sweet and tender.

The public rates the dishes. The chefs all feel they did well. Ludo really wants to beat Rick, the King of Mexican food. He says that would be BIG for him. Ludo says (to us), “Let’s go, let’s go. Give me my score and tell me I win.” Rick, meanwhile, says he had a blast.

Back at the Critics Table, Ludo explains how he made his dish. He wanted to serve it in a familiar way that wouldn’t scare people away. Gael says that was a wonderful choice.

James does his thing of HOW did you cook that and then asks for the ingredients in the broth in which the pig’s ears were cooked.. Heaven forbid, he should guess something and be wrong. It is interesting to learn, though, that Ludo put turnips in his court-bouillon. James says he would have expected to get a lot more of those strong flavors on his palate, but he didn’t. That's a bad thing, apparently.

James says Cindy’s tripe was tender, even though she was worried about it not having enough cooking time. Gael liked that it was “a hot stew on a cold day”. Jay asks her if she “stinted” on her seasonings, because she was nervous about the public not liking the tripe in the first place. Cindy says she “was trying to make the world’s most introductory menudo”. Jay says the broth was under-seasoned and under-flavored. Pooh.

Rick was happy to get tongue. Kelly says she loved the Cotija cheese. Jay wonders if the dish couldn’t have used more acidity. Rick says that’s what the tomatillo guacamole was for. James says the tongue was cooked brilliantly and he loved the whole dish.

James asks Wilo how the meat is traditionally prepared for a tripleta. He says it’s not usually as finely julienned as he did it here. James says heating the pita would have been time well-spent. Gael loved the spicy mayonnaise in the bottom of the pita pocket.

The chefs go back to the kitchen with a full bar waiting for them. The critics go at it. James says Cindy’s menudo was “weak in the knees”. He says it’s got to have punch.

Remember how I wondered in the first Top Chef Masters if these published critics would be up to producing appropriate sound bites. They’re doing a good job.

Rick says (in the kitchen) that it was all harder than he thought it would be. He opens some wine.

Gael loved Wilo’s pita, which served as a cup. James says he cut the heart too thin to really taste it.

Gael though Wilo’s dish was perfect. Jay says it was a big, bright, wonderful mouthful. James: Absolutely delicious. Wilo’s winning, that’s my guess.

James thinks Ludo’s dish didn’t work, but Jay says he had the toughest ingredient to work with and he did a pretty good job.

They combine the Diners’ scores (that’s the public) with the Critics scores and the points they got in the Quickfire.

Ludo

Diners’ – 3½ stars

Critics – 4, 3, 3 stars

Total 16½

Cindy

Diners’ – 3 stars

Critics – 2½ 3½, 3

Total – 15½

Cindy is excused to go back to the kitchen.

Rick

Diners’ – 4 stars

Critics – 5, 5, 4½

Total – 22½ stars

Ludo is told to go back to the kitchen.

Wilo

Diners’ – 4 stars

Critics – 4, 4, 3

Total – 19½ stars

Rick wins. He’s thrilled that the $10,000 donation to the Frontera Farmer’s Foundation “will change lives for people”. What a good guy. Rick says he played to his strengths, which all his chefs at home had told him to do. Wilo and Rick hug. Ludo wants to come back to Top Chef Masters 2. They’re all quite chummy. It’s nice.

Ummm, I don’t see Michael Chiarello in the next group either when they show the previews. They’re really holding out on us until the last minute.

I think they’re doing a really good job with this show. Even at the beginning of each episode, when I’m bummed that MC isn’t on, they somehow still get me to watch. I love chefs anyway and I'm fascinated by the snapshots we get of their personalities. Are they accurate? I don’t know, but it’s fun to see a chef you admire in a different (and sometimes difficult) situation. And, as we all know, if it's caught on film it must be true.