Episode 8: "Common Threads" Options

[Guardianangels]

I enjoy hearing the regular judges as well as the guest judges, give 'big picture' qualities of good chefs. As for example, in this evening's episode, the guest judge indicated that good chefs receive constructive criticism. I wonder if the contestants ever really listen!!!

I think that overall, the quality of the chefs in regard to professionalism has slipped since the first group. As I recall, an Irish guy was ostracized by his peers for making a rude comment to the guest judge, and in today's episode, a contestant actually states how he believes a judge just doesn't like him!!! WOW!!! What nerve!!!!! But the peers didnt seem to have any problem with him saying that! The language of these chefs is getting a bit out of hand as well. Not sure if it was edited more in previous seasons, or if these are just more foul mouthed. I really dont think I would want to go to a fancy restaurant to hear people in back talking like that ! Most of the contestants in the first two seasons still stand out to me.. now they are more of a blur, and not as memorable. I dont seem to have the same respect for their approaches to winning.

I would like to learn more about the technical components of some of the things the contestants do.. instead of featuring a food.. like todays rice packages.. what about featuring a tool... such as.. mixmaster, or mandolin slicers etc.

How do the judges settle disagreements regarding who goes home? Is there someone who always gets their way? gives in? Use a coin toss? heads they stay, tails they are outa here! Scissor/paper/rock? I would like to see Gail and Tom use a coin toss, and Gail saying.. ok.. 2 out of 3, ok.. 3 out of 5.. ha haha... I wish Gail would talk more, her contributions are good and would like to hear more of what she thinks.

I am still waiting for Tom to find a dish that is worse than the brocollini!!!!

Enough of the bedroom/bathroom undies scenes from the contestants home... what does that have to do with being top chef? Best oral care and cleanest shave... wins!! LOL

How about a show where you pit different seasons contestants against each other.. like the person booted from episode 3 from each season goes head to head... then person booted from episode 4 etc.. till you get to the winners!!! That could be fun! You could put in clips of them from the prior episodes and give extra cudo's to improvements made since on air.

I loved the requirement of using a budget tonight.. I was waiting to hear you say $5 for a family of 4! But hey.. I shop in Wisconsin, not Illinois!

The top chef pantry and cooking resources seem sooooooooo expansive! How about some time you have an episode where the chefs have to go into someone's home and use what they have for cooking equipment!!!! Including using an electric versus gas stove! Oh wait.. even better.. cooking at a dorm! LOL.. hot plate and a mini fridge.. come up with a 3 course dinner! LOL

Love the show overall.. dont want to miss any of the episodes.. but hope those who edit, do a little bit better than these last several episodes!

Ciao

[HYPRTCKR]

Watching the episode where the kids help the chefs make a meal & the under or $10 meal challenges. I felt it was a good & great idea to have kids help in the kitchen, Antonia said she would come to tears if her partner was a girl. She has t-issues in a good sentimental way. ;-) The New Zealander got let go. He was a favorite. ;-(

This post has been edited by HYPRTCKR: May 1, 2008 - 01:02 AM

[er5844]

How were the chefs able to purchase all of those items for under ten dollars? I shop at whole foods all of the time, and it is hard for me to believe they were able to purchase the meat, and chicken alone for under $10. I think that it is not possible to shop at whole foods for a meal for 4 for under 10 dollars. I have purchased a whole chicken before that was at least 12 dollars alone, and there is no way these chefs purchased a whole chicken plus vegetables for $10. I wish they were honest and admit they spend more than $10 on this challenge. Maybe the prices are different in california, but i shop at whole foods and do not believe this challenge is possible. I think the show was not honest about the number of items bought by the chefs. I believe the chicken alone cost these chefs $10 and was possibly not added to their bill. I challenge the show to actually post the receipts to prove they purchased all the items used in the dishes for $10. I love the show, but believe they are trying to fool the audience. As a person who shops at whole foods i personally do not believe this challenge is possible.

This post has been edited by er5844: May 1, 2008 - 01:03 AM

[actor59]

Because she was missing her daughter, who's about the same age as these kids.

Yea Jim your Back. I'm so happy...

[Mediocre Chef]

The language of these chefs is getting a bit out of hand as well. Not sure if it was edited more in previous seasons, or if these are just more foul mouthed. I really dont think I would want to go to a fancy restaurant to hear people in back talking like that !

To be fair, people in the back of most "fancy restaurants" are speaking in a mixture of Spanish and Portugese, and are saying things 600% more foul and depraved than anything anyone on Top Chef has ever said.

[actor59]

How were the chefs able to purchase all of those items for under ten dollars? I shop at whole foods all of the time, and it is hard for me to believe they were able to purchase the meat, and chicken alone for under $10. I think that it is not possible to shop at whole foods for a meal for 4 for under 10 dollars. I have purchased a whole chicken before that was at least 12 dollars alone, and there is no way these chefs purchased a whole chicken plus vegetables for $10. I wish they were honest and admit they spend more than $10 on this challenge. Maybe the prices are different in california, but i shop at whole foods and do not believe this challenge is possible. I think the show was not honest about the number of items bought by the chefs. I believe the chicken alone cost these chefs $10 and was possibly not added to their bill. I challenge the show to actually post the receipts to prove they purchased all the items used in the dishes for $10. I love the show, but believe they are trying to fool the audience. As a person who shops at whole foods i personally do not believe this challenge is possible.

Your Right..... lol

[MaureenKennedy]

I do not think that the show tonight really focused on the problems of the American family eating for $10 for two adults and two children. And what grocery store do you know that will let you peel away your Bok Choy right at the cash register ? Is the American family supposed to eat Chicken 5 nights a week (and I am there, eating alot of chicken because of limited pension). I live in So Calif and food is very expensive here. The vegetables alone would have been more than $10 here. I can get chicken breasts with no bones at $1.99 a pound on sale, so it is possible to get the meat for under $10. But to have the winning dish using PASTA is a crime as a big problem with low income families is having to stretch their food with high calorie pastas leaving us with a lot of fat children. I think Lisa (or is it Lia ?) should have been sent home because of canned vegetables????? What is so healthy about the sodium content of canned vegetables? What is Top chef about opening a can of vegetables?

I am disappointed that too much of the judging was based upon ADULT palette's rather than children's palettes. Agreed this is Top Chef, however the challenge was for children to eat the meal - and most children (but not the girl from Mexico eating Mexican food) do not want highly seasoned/spicy/hot food, nor would they want the acidic lemon or lime. As a kid I hated all that stuff.

Spike, why did you not teach your kid the proper way to peel a carrot? You use the peeler pushing away from your hand doing the bottom first and then reversing the carrot - this is COMMON SENSE?

Lastly, I wonder if Top Chef/Bravo got permission from Emeril Legasse/Food Network Channel to use the words "smell-o-vision" in their commercial during tonights episode????????? (It's probably trademarked a long time ago. LOL)

[woshkie]

I love the idea of creating a meal for four people for $10.00.
BUT having them shop at WHOLE FOODS... (the HIGH PRICE LEADER) is ABSURD!!
$10.00 at WHOLE FOODS will in reality buy you $5.00 worth of product.
Take that $10.00 anywhere else you'll get twice as much stuff as you will at WHOLE FOODS!!
Maybe they get a 50% discount for being a sponsor of the show.

So true, no way could you make a complete meal for 4 with $10 shopping at Whole Foods. I cook for a family of 4 and it's hard to keep it under 15 or 20 bucks at my local grocer and they are way cheaper than Whole Foods. Way crappier too. I wish I could afford to do all my shopping there.

[NiCi]

So, other thoughts:

I'm really worried for Steph--this was her worst week yet. Me too, tomatos and peanutbutter, what was she thinking?!!

I'm glad you're teaching your daughter to cook, Antonia. Are you teaching her to stab her teammates in the back and ignore the rules of whatever game she plays, too? Preach it Bro!

That Richard Blais wants to make little Blaises is all the proof that I need that the universe hates me. What's wrong with little Blaises runnin round all over the place? They could each have little Hawk hair (once it grew in)...

I totally related to both Nikki and Dale on this challenge. I was the runt of the litter, too, growing up, and I hated it as much as Dale apparently did. As for Nikki, her history really spoke to me. My mother practically raised my sister and me by myself until I was 8, and then there was no "practically" about it until I was 13 and she married my stepfather. One of the reasons I started learning how to cook was because I had to--my mother started graduate school when I was about 11.

I. Am. Sick. Of. Lisa. I am sick of her attitude, her unimaginative food, her cigarettes, her nose ring, her babushka, her scowl, and I am just sick of her. Preach it again!!! She must PYKAG ASAP already! Attitude alone should get her a boot mark on her butt and the door hitting her in same place on her way OUT!!!!!

Bye, Mark. Hope I run into you sometime in New York; I'd love to deconstruct that duck of yours and see if we can make something amazing out of it.

Andrew with a boner of any kind is almost enough to turn me straight. I am speechless (just as I was when I heard that clip at the end of last night's show!)!

As much as I hate to admit it, Spike was really good working with his junior partner. I think Spike could understand somone at that level - I don't know, maybe the chef hat threw him...

Now THAT sounds like my old buddy!
Welcome Back! *and all feels right with the world again*!

This post has been edited by NiCi: May 1, 2008 - 05:28 AM

[NiCi]

And that's bad, gastronomically, because . . . ???

Her attitude alone makes my stomach turn!

[NiCi]

No way Tom Blogs this week either lol.

Bock-Bock-Be-Ock! (supposed to be the sound a chicken makes!)

[NiCi]

Not to go back to tanning the horse-hide but WOW. Every instance shown last Wednesday had both chefs saying they didn't use polish sausage. Now a week later, VOILA, Ted points out in the online recipe the two ounces of polish sausage allegedly used? WOW. Manipulate much?

Must be nice to be able to re-invent reality whenever it does not suit you... but what does he take US for?

If you want me to go along with your little "re-invent reality" scheme it will take either some big bucks (in cash, no checks, please) or some very good, old whiskey (and plenty of it)!

Ooops, guess I still had some snark left over from last night (still a bit miffed about what was done to Jim!)

[Mushy]

Do you mean to tell me that in an episode to cook a $10 meal for a family of four, they couldn't find any families of four in Chicago?

[Kristlkrost]

Ooops .......Wrong thread I'm so confused.
Bye! ...Enjoy!
'Cause I sure can't.

K!

(brevity lesson by Kanigirl )

[partsgirl]

With Judging this transparently questionable and Challenges as contrived and over the top as next weeks Wedding Wars I think I can safely say that this show has its waterskis, is on the ramp sporting a leather jacket and is about ready to jump the shark.

[partsgirl]

Maybe vegetarian . . . but I think there's still supposed to be protein in that from alternative sources.

The puker is tomato and peanut butter.

And I've been thoroughly experimental with tastes . . . I've tried strawberry ice cream topped with ketchup. Don't do it!!

I get apple and peanut butter and lots of other accompanyments . . . but tomato isn't one of them.

So, what gives??

Maybe it's possible that those were in the instructions we didn't hear... maybe. Maybe , maybe, maybe. The elves work hard to raise us mushrooms. That PB&T still gags me. Put me right off my morning coffee. And I'm ranking that ketchup as an ice cream topper right there with PB&T. I've made tomato preserves and they're quite tasty but I'm not ready to spread it on a sammich with peanut butter.

[Radyms13]

Antonia pulled a Mike Midgely--won both the quickfire and elimination challenges!

Same three on the bottom for both challenges!

Really glad Steph slid through--don't know what she was thinking tomato/peanut butter.

I, too, wondered about the $10 in Whole Foods---local superstore ok but Whole Foods??

Glad to see Nikki do well for a change.

Still have to deal with Spike.

Too bad about Mark, he was cute and funny, but not the strongest chef.

Lisa needs an asstitude adjustment in the worst way.

Wedding wars---Arrggghh---whey do they want these people to pull an all-nighter???

[Radyms13]

Bravo finally got it's act together----you can watch last nights episode on line. Think that will happen from now on?? Oh wait maybe for the even numbered episodes only.

[Fordmanrod]

You made me laugh very hard.
(Oy hard again)
Chuc.... Queen of the meat balls with pineapple

Disclaimer:.

The T-Shirt below DOES come with the man included

KK i am snagging on here because I do not have time to read these first 13 pages before I go to work... I dont think there will be much discussion this week on this outcome; for Mark to make a curry for a family meal was dumb. Yes, curries are tasty but when youare cooking for the masses you realy are taking a risk with that and it bit him in the butt. Not to mention that it just wasn't very good per the judges. I was glad to see Steph dodge the bullet... she needs to watch out ... at this point she may not be so lucky next time.
Next week looks like it will be crazy.

[partsgirl]

KK i am snagging on here because I do not have time to read these first 13 pages before I go to work... I dont think there will be much discussion this week on this outcome; for Mark to make a curry for a family meal was dumb. Yes, curries are tasty but when youare cooking for the masses you realy are taking a risk with that and it bit him in the butt. Not to mention that it just wasn't very good per the judges. I was glad to see Steph dodge the bullet... she needs to watch out ... at this point she may not be so lucky next time.
Next week looks like it will be crazy.

But this is the TC board... It will get discussed until there is nothing left of the horsey... Read the first 13 pages... not many in agreement with you, yet. But it's early... B&B and Tele haven't appeared yet...