One more quick post; this one about the winners. Bravo for Nikki. I'm really glad she got in there with a top dish. However, I don't expect this to be a turning point for her; I still think she is gone soon. For both women this challenge was a dream; it fit right in their comfort zone; a family-friendly meal on a tight budget.

The chef that really surprised me was Andrew. When the concept of the challenge was laid out, I really didn't expect much from him, especially with the addition of the child sous-chef. He really turned out a superb plate, in a genre that I didn't think he had much chance in. I may have to take another look at him as a possible finalist. Bravo, Andrew.

Don't ask me why I did this, but......I just spent the last few days watching all 13 episodes from season 2 (I came in about 2/3 of the way through when they were first aired, and missed the first two episodes when Dan & his boyfriend watched them).


Of course, doing so, I had to keep score. So, for comparison to this year's standings (see my sig), here are the final points for the S2 chefs:

Ilan +16
Sam +13
Marcel +9
Betty +8
Cliff +2
Elia -1
Frank -2
Josie -2
Emily -4
Mia -5
Suyai -5
Otto -7
Michael -9
Carlos -11
Marisa -11


Sam and Betty were pretty much splitting the top spot early, until Betty had her bad run starting with Episode 5. From there, Sam was running away with it until he was eliminated--even Restaurant Wars didn't hurt him much, since he'd built up so much of a lead until then.

One thing that struck me was Marcel's repeated line, "I'm not here to make friends; I'm here to win." Did he really think the others were there to lose? Sam and Betty and Ilan were kicking his ass throughout most of the competition, and none of them had anywhere near the personality conflicts he had.

Greetings to all of you in Top Chef land! I'm a newbie here but I did try to catch up on all the posts. First off I have to say I really love Top Chef. I'm a self/ semi professionally trained cook, (Not a chef. But what the hell. I'm easy. I like learning new things. Especially when it comes to food.) Although in all candor there are some delicacies have not tried yet. I've never had sushi-I'm a bit of a germaphobe and the idea of raw fish- eeck! That gives me the willies. Nor have I ever had crab brains or goose liver. But, I do cook a lot of "comfort" foods. And I do love Italian, Mexican and Chinese foods. And with every episode of TC I learn a little more and a little more. I got hooked on this show because my wife loves Project Runway. And when TC first started it was right after it. I really like Tom. He is a fair judge and does add an air of integrity to things. Gail and Ted are always insightful. Padama, while she's easy one the eyes she always looks like she just smoked a hottie and is zoning a bit. Maybe that explains why she eats so much when tasting. All that aside I'm sure the elves manipulate things via editing but the show doesn't come off as completely staged. But I'll get to that later.

What a cast this time. Interesting and diverse. If you'll bear with me I'd like to off a few thoughts on the past and current cheftestants. I promise I won't take long.

Naima- Well, she shot herself in the foot by trying to "hide" from the cameras on the first day! And she wasn't a good cook. She had problems with, of all things, salt. That's a basic, man. Oh, and that runny eye cauliflower thing. Barf.

Valerie- Doesn't ring a bell anymore....

Erik- Believe it or not this dude looks just like one of my brother-in-laws! Just with less piercings. Good chef, got nailed on a no brainer.

Ryan- This metrosexual ass was better at his personal hygiene than was his cooking. I have family, and was born in, the Midwest. I know tailgate food. And fine dining isn't one of it's attributes. And I must add that as a now long time resident of CA he gives the rest of us Californians pallets a bad name. Good riddance.

Zoi- Her of the Marty Feldman eyes. Sorry Jen, but apparently your girl has the cooking capacity of a Denny's line cook. That doesn't mean she's a bad cook. It just means she was in over her head.

Manuel- Another good chef who went before his time. He should have been more assertive and told Spike where he could put his hat and spring roll. That would have made for some good reality TV.

Jen- She did it for Zoi...

Mark- AKA Hyde from That 70's Show. I like Mark. He's cool people. He looks like he'd be fun to have at a barbecue with all the Bud you could drink, (and smoke!). But Mark, like Zoi, was out of his depth. Mark on TC is like a video gamer who's incredibly gifted when it comes to playing Super Mario Bros. and then he gets thrown into a Resident Evil competition. He just couldn't keep up.

Nikki- There's something about Nikki I like. She's got a warm aura about her. She did deserve to be spanked for her own sausage-gate. You can make hand made lasanga noddles, Nikki? But not hand made sausage? Time was a factor, but sausage making ain't that hard.

Spike- The K-Fed of TC. Well, he looks like him to me. Spikes a good chef, but I get the feeling very soon he will be handed his hat by the judges.

Antonia- The first half of Sausage-Gate 2008! Do I believe her and her wildebeest of a partner played it fast and loose with the "rules" of the Improv challenge? Absolutely. But they odviously presented a dish that tasted a helluva lot better than the asparagus with erectile dysfunction that Jen and Steph hashed out. And her stir-fry looks yummy, but as Bed & Breakfast said- it was a challenge in her comfort zone.

Andrew- Yikes! Somebody flush this dude's secret stash of Black Beauties down the toilet. And after he said "culinary boner" I lost use of my libido for a good day and a half. My poor Joanne didn't know what was up. Or rather what wasn't. Andrew and the elves-keeping doing that voodoo that you do so well. Just lay off the boner talk. I don't want to have to call security.

Lisa- AKA Shrek Goes Fourth. Sweet Jebus. How did this troglodyte get cast for this show? Wait, stupid question. The "Darth Sideous" of Sausage-Gate. It was beneath her to cook a Pole Dog, huh?

Dale- He's holding up and flex his wings. But, I'm going to go against the grain here and say I don't think he'll make to the finals. Dale has anger issues in the face of adversity. This may be his eventual down fall...

Stephenie- Another of my personal favorites. Steph is competent, creative and cute to boot. But I think her nerves are starting to get the better of her, sadly. Hang in there Steph! But I have to ask, what the hell was in her head when it came to her last dish? The "Comman Threads" one? I can think of just one thing...

Richard- A professional and a gentleman. I am rooting for Richard. I'm smitten with the Blais charm I suppose. Richard reminds me of my brother in his sense of humor. They both will think of a joke, which in reality would make Henny Youngman blush with it's corniness, and upon deliver think they've uttered the best quip since Groucho Marx. And you gotta kind love that level of dopey enthusiasm.

I've heard a lot about how a few people think this is totally fixed. Are all reality shows honest? Well, no. You would have to be living in the proverbal cave to think that. At best I think it would be fair to say that during their off time the chefs are given suggestions about certain dramatic aspects. Think of the "suggestions" the actors in the first Blair Witch were given. Little ideas here and there. But I can't buy the whole thing is rigged. When the elves reveal themselves to be members of the Illuminati by asking the chefs to make a tasty meal out of the alien carcasses from Roswell, then I might.

Until then, don't bother passing the tin foil hat.

Well, it's late. I'm sure I'll see you all out on the boards. Nice to be here. And again a warm hello.

Edited for brevity....Something I know SO much about.
Warm welcome back to you.


Are you sure you aren't WAJ's good twin???
Love your name... profile pic and your post.
I heart it.
Where do you work??....What kind of restaurant??


I hope you don't mind if I say Happy Cinco De Mayo here
to the masses.

Mucho caliente in the Mehico' desert ya know??
Hiccup!!!
If I'm gonna celebrate all things Mexican...well.....

Joann might like a peek

Pero...mi casa su casa Meeeeester Sexy Spanish man.
Siesta is just a word

Kristl, it's still the same issue, hasn't changed... "Mediterranean Style Cooking" isn't a cuisine. It IS a marketing term, used by food manufacturers and restaurants, to mean something nebulous and evocative. And a term that will inevitably be used in a challenge underwritten by Bertolli, one of the manufacturers that market something nebulous and evocative using that term.

But again, to say that "Mediterranean cuisine" means southern Italy is exactly like saying "Caribbean cuisine" means eastern Cuba.

Colicchio's objection was to finding the black truffles in a Tuscan Italian chicken and pasta dish - despite the fact that truffles come from Tuscany and are used in Tuscan cooking. (Actually, Tuscany isn't even near southern Italy; it is, however, Mediterranean.)

Chefs cook and speak at their peril when they do so in absolute ALWAYS or NEVER, black & white terms.

Yes Helen, that would be the idea. Lots of "knife-swapping" to get the cuisine they want or rid themselves of a cuisine they've no clue about. Then more "knife-swapping" to try to get the course they're more comfortable with. Could get quite silly, but they'd all end up in the Confessional whining about who wouldn't swap with them. Yeah, good TV.

Good morning kind sir and........ NO!!

I shall have the research done by tomox......I say nay.

Well I say nay sort of!!!
Tis done but is not the norm.
I gowontee.

B&B, I have to agree about Mark's failure at the challenge itself. One, that was not a healthy nutritious meal for a family of four, and it's just not possible to redefine healthy or nutritious or meal in a way that it could get a passing grade. "Family of four," it's reasonable to expect a kid, if not two or three. Or two kids, grandma, and a single working mother. And implicitly if not explicitly, Americans living in Chicago. And a chef is going to give them a plate of curried veggies, as a meal. PYKAG.

We don't know that Mark said he wanted to produce a vegetarian meal, but if he had, I'd have eliminated him with even greater enthusiasm. I know many vegetarians who produce dreadful food, but they all understand the core concepts of complex carbs, complete proteins, healthy vegetable fats, legume/grain combos, etc. Were I to find out a chef attempted a coup by offering a vegetarian meal, without knowledge of what underlies vegetarian cooking, PYKAG.

I don't recall Colicchio ever wanting to eliminate anyone over the mis-labeling of a dish or meal, but I think it's likely someone at that table also complained about the name of the dish - Red Curry. "Red curry," in a culinary context, doesn't mean "Oh look, it's a curry... and it's red." Along with a Yellow Curry and a Green Curry (which Dale made the episode previous), Red Curry is one of 3 basic curry types found in Thailand and SE Asia. The 3 types have very different flavor profiles and lists of basic ingredients. Mark's "Red Curry" doesn't even approximate a Red Curry; if I am at Judges Table, Mark will be scolded for some egregious misnaming. If I found out he misappropriated the name without knowing anything about "Red Curry" means, it might also be PYKAG.

Bit of pre research.


I just wrote to a truffle specialst lol
No lie.

Here is where you and I will come to proverbial blows Mr. Bao.

Tuscany is way too far north to be
considered "Mediterranean style cooking"
I know you think it is just a catch phrase but it is
not...Just as "low country cooking" is not here.

It is light and southern and they have
done studies on that basin for heart health for years.
It is Greek and African even but it is NOT Tuscan.
Not by the the real defines of Med cooking.



http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/15390 efining and understanding the Mediterranean Nutrition and Diet is not easy because there are several countries that border the Mediterranean Basin. Still, the traditional diets from the people living in the 1960's in countries like Greece, and Southern Italy have been studied extensively over the past several years.

Kristl, you need to Google Mediterranean Diet.

You'll find that it has nothing to do with Italian cooking or diets, least of all Southern Italian. That "diet" does encompass Greek, and the coastal African, and indeed Tuscany. Which is right there on the Med sea, vast Med coastline. References to the Mediterranean Diet refer to the entire Med Basin.

Trust me, read and you'll learn for yourself.

The Mediterranean Diet is known to just about everyone who reads about diets and nutrition. (My fiance comes from a family where heart disease is inherited, nearly universal, and kills them all at young ages... I'm marrying into a family where both parents are already deceased. So I stay up on this stuff.)

The Mediterranean Diet refers to the traditional culinary and diet patterns found all around the Mediterranean. The dishes are wildly different from one another, as are ways of cooking and seasoning, but they have some fundamentals in common. And some of those fundamentals correspond to what scientists suspect about healthy eating anywhere. In general, not much red meat, or much animal fat, but lots of heart healthy olive oil and Omega-3 fats. Hence, not much dietary cholesterol. Heavy use of seafood/fish proteins. Dairy products, in limited amounts. But off-set by a heavy consumption of whole grains and legumes. Fava beans, lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos), lupin beans, peas... matched with whole grain wheat foods, barley... Lots and lots of unprocessed foods and fresh fruits and veggies.

Of course, there are some researchers who point out that folks following the traditional Mediterranean Diet are not chubby couch potatoes with a one hand on a remote and the other in a bag of Doritos. They don't need to join Bally's. They're physically active, far more so than Americans. They're the folks who walk, who work hard, who exert themselves day in and day out. The diet may not matter nearly as much as just walking.

HEY PG............411 ON TAKING NOTES ..............

DON'T REALLY HAVE TOO

IT'S ALL HERE IN THE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE WE CALL

BRAVO BOARDS

BUT REALLY LIFE IT TOO SHORT

WILL KEEP WONDERING THOUGH

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Simon....Tuscany is not part of the basin and the first sentence says :

The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional model originally inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of some of the countries of the Mediterranean Basin.




Capish???????

WELL HOT DIGGIDY DOG

MUSTARDING UP ENERGY ISN'T THE PROB THOUGH PG

AND IT ISN'T THAT I WOULDN'T RELISH THE EXPERIENCE

IT'S MORE LIKE I GOTTA KEEP ON PEEPS BUNS

AS WELL AS MY OWN

SO KETCHUP DOESN'T BECOME

AN ISSUE

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Oh, same here!! Add a pair of glasses and I am done for!

NOW THERES ANOTHER CAN OF WORMS PG

OR SHOULD I SAY

HIGHBEAMS OF INSPIRATION

WONDER IF CONFUCIOUS NOTICED

OR DID HE AND HIS BRO

JUST PONDER

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Kristl, I'm very curious what specific definition of The Mediterranean Basin you're using. I need to know exactly how you exclude Tuscany from that region.

Like those researchers writing about the Mediterranean Diet, I'm using the term geographically. To mean, The Mediterrean Basin. How are you using that term? Sounds as if you're giving it The Bertolli.

Did you link to that Wikipedia definition of The Mediterranean Basin without even reading it? It absolutely and clearly and unequivocally includes Tuscany. Includes the entire Italian peninsula, from the Alps on down...

Hiya!!!

Me too... I loved the nerds carrying all the books and dropping papers down the halls....Brains are sexy.
Awwwwww
I mean come on.
Pocket protectors are tres chic and smart too

LSLIBAR (LAUGHIN SO LONG I BUST A RIB )

REALLY PG

I REVIEWED THE REPLIES ON SATURDAY NIGHT

WHEN I CAME TO THIS ONE

WELL..................................

I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD

IT CAUSED MAJOR BRAIN DAMAGE

HAD TO SIGN OUT

SOOOOOOOOOOOO HYPNOTIZING

TOO MUCH STYLE AND GRACE HE HE HE

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

LOL!!!!!!........You are good.
Oy ....I have met my match......Nearly!

We'll wait for Fungi mistress to answer and then we'll throw down like Bobby Flay with a few drinks in him.

Tuscany is not part of the basin where the researchers did those studies.....With any research a guideline must be set
as to where that research will be done.
I am assuming said researchers know what the basin is
that they want to study??
And where that kind of food is eaten and cooked that they consider Med.
So if you do research on a basin...that you deem the basin
to be as a researcher and basin research expert ;

(I dunno MoHob what to do there.. help.. full stop or yellow light )

Do you just throw Tuscany in the parameters of said study...'cause say..you don't want to be wrong on a TV board???

HARD TO GET PAST

WITHOUT WONDERING ...................................

HOW SHE DO THAT ?????????

WHAT MUSCLE CONTROL

THANKS PG

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Simon.... just wanted to let you know I personally apprecieate your wealth of food and regional knowledge; I have learned much from you. I really enjoy your posts and hope someday to be able to identify the dishes you speak of. Thank you for your contributions........

Well, I'm a dork with glasses who looks freakishly similar to Kevin Smith... AND I want to be a cheftestant!

HAUNTINGLY MEMORABLE EH RAD

ESP WITH USE OF SUCH A SMALL CAST



HAVE A CONSOLATION THOUGH

DO HAVE SEVERAL EPS ON TAPE

SOME ARE FROM JAPAN BROADCASTS

THAT WERE NEVER AIRED ON FOODNET

ONES WHERE THE CHEFS GARNISH THIER FOOD

WITH EDIBLE GOLD

AWESOME STUFF

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Aw Ford....That was sterling and I agree.
Simon is a rock star and a big fat KIA
(know it all) and right........most of the time

Awww....... But you are 24.

I must ruuuuuuuuun

I wish you so much luck youngin'.
Your passion is lovely.

Kristl, you didn't read that article on The Med Diet very carefully. You seem to believe the whole thing is based on a single study conducted many years ago. Which you then use, by extension, to argue that Tuscany somehow isn't part of the Med Basin. Well, but that's wrong.

The article specifies how interest in The Med Diet was triggered by one study. Since then, The Med Diet has been one of the most extensively studied, researched, debated things in nutrition. Lots of studies, carried out by Europeans and North Americans and Australians. Among different national and ethnic groups in the Med Basin, etc. LOTS of research on different aspects of ingredients, on what's not in the diet, on lifestyle and activity, etc. Enough new research to sustain endless debate about what the results really show, what's coincidental and what's causal, what can really be inferred...

New findings get published all the time, "The Med Diet" is a staple of "Gourmet" type magazine, the racks at Borders have lots of "Med Diet" cookbooks... Kind of relentless. And the scientists are the only ones who emphasize that no, we don't really know that following the diet will do anything for anyone. One might be better off eating bacon every day but biking to work. And having your Bacon Botty served on whole grain toast....

Well, there was the great coqgate, but Tom claims that it didn't cost Casey the win (and it certainly didn't get her eliminated).

As to the red curry thing, red curry isn't even really red. It's orange. It's the chili paste that it's made from that's red <chuckle>. That's another distinguishing difference between Mark's "red curry" and the "normal" red curry - he just added some spices (a bare minimum), whereas SE Asia red curries are made from a paste. He would have done far better to do what most Americans do when they make a curry - use a commercial curry powder. That's the flavor most "average Americans" expect to see when they get "curried rice" or "curried chicken" anyway.

Speaking of coqgate, it just occured to me that one of the servers at work raises a few chickens. Hmmmmm, maybe I can buy an old bird from him and make a real coq au vin. I would be interested to see what the connective tissue/collagen-rich sauce is all about. I'm guessing that it's the difference between a fresh homemade 2 day demi-glace and a packaged commercial one. Or the difference between a home made chicken broth reduced once and a commercial chicken stock. Or even the difference between veal stock and demi-glace. It probably has a glossiness and silky mouthfeel that a hen-based sauce wouldn't have.

OK I will find out exactly what criteria a
med diet consists of as per them.
Not the Med diet one would follow like Weight
Watcher's.
What Med food is to them...or to most of the world.

Because it is very specific and I know for sure that Tuscany cooking is not considered that and does not meet that criteria..Just like Cajun is not low country.

If I am wrong you may have my second born child.
Seeing as I only have one...I'll find someone.
My 94 year old neighbor needs an adoptive
family.

I am thinking we may both be right in a sense.

I shall cease and desist till futher study.

Tele, your coworker might not want to sell you a rooster, for the real Coq au Vin.

But he might sell you a nice elderly stew hen, or you can maybe get one from the supermarket or a farm market. That's still not the same thing, but it will produce something closer to Coq au Vin than a Tyson fryer will. A stew hen doesn't have an identical flavor and texture, cause it never had all that testosterone pumping through it, but it does have the same older muscle and connective tissue, the collagen, that melts into your sauce. After all, that poor bird is sold as a stew hen only after a long hard life laying eggs... and they sell the hens as soon as egg production declines.

In the unlikely event that you live near Amish farmers who sell to the public, you can always alert them ahead of time, you want an Old Bird... as Old as they've got. Even a rooster (c*ck), if he's outlived his usefulness.

I'm not that fussy, but there are some Viet dishes that simply can't be made with a supermarket fryer or broiler or roasting chicken. They've met their end too soon, didn't live long enough or well enough in their crowded little cages, so the flavor just isn't there in the bird. So for some things I just use an old stewing hen.

If you want to try a surprising bird sometime, and have money to burn, try roasting a capon. When they "caponize" a bird (castrate) and allow him to free-range and peck and grow big and fat, it produces a poultry that, to me, is better than any other form of chicken. Wildly expensive, but worthy of a holiday dinner.

I think that the answer is somewhere in the middle. I think that when one things of a Med. diet (especially in the context of "diet", not necessarily cuisine), one thinks of light fare. In one respect, Tuscan seems to fit the bill in that they don't seem to use a lot of butter, relying mostly on olive oil. However, their food is a lot more hardy than one might expect from a such a diet. Lots of stick-to-the-ribs meats, sausages and cheeses (and yes, truffles!).

I'm thinking that what Kristy is trying to say (oh lord, help me) is that it has far more in common with continental cuisine (especially rustic parts of it) than Med. cuisine, but I think that you could consider any cuisine that has an extensive coastline on the Med. under the Mediterranean umbrella. That makes my seder Mediterranean! Who knew that dipping boiled egg in the tears of my ancestors part of the Med. culinary tradition?

Simon, you've brought me a blast from the past. My grandmother (who was "chief cook and bottle washer" at our house since my Mom and Dad were both at the office all day) used to buy capons and pullets when I was a kid. These are terms you don't even hear anymore. While so many new terms and ingredients have come into contemporary cooking, I mourn the loss of the old standbys that have disappeared from both modern kitchens and cooks' vocabularies.

Gawd! I'm soooo old!

Interesting that you say that. My family is strictly Ashkenazi, and we've always had hard-cooked eggs in salt water at our seders. I don't think either of my grandmothers had even a hint of Sephardic knowledge or tradition in her background.

Listen here Teleman.
Anyone with a kitchen as pathetic as yours should not be opining on this matter.

Oh wait that was for another argument.

Well when did I say it was ok for you to think for me??





OK you can

And type for me too.....You said it all
magnificently as usual and the last part was very
beautiful.

You can think type and do what ever you like for
me from now on

The part about the meats and heavy is correct.
THAT is what I was trying to say.

(I did note the lack of a smiley face as you went
on about what I was trying to say mister hmmmmph)

PLUS it just ain't part of that basin........CONYO!!!
Umbrella ..yes ..but that is not the criteria for med style cooking.

If you were to assimilate that sort of thinking
then anything up and down the eastern seaboard
would be considered eastern Atlantic cooking.
No such thing.. It would be specific to a certain
region that they deem.... New England lets say.

Cooking seafood in the New England area
and how they do it...Yeah.. New Hampshire could be part of that umbrella.

But NH peeps do not cook like New England
peeps per se.

Capish????


What ancestry are you Tele??

I never asked...Man I'm slipping.

If someone said to me "low country cooking," my first response would be to find out if they know what they specifically mean by that. LOL

Do they mean the Netherlands and Belgium?

Or, hopefully, they mean the cuisine of folks in the tidal plain, estuaries, and islands of the Carolinas, but also extending also to some of the same tidal and soggy parts of Georgia and its sea islands. That they do include Gullah, but do not mistakenly mean Gullah. I know someone who thought "low country" and "Gullah" were the same. To the best of my knowledge, "Low Country" is analogous to what people mean when they say "Tidewater" in Virginia and NC.

EXACTLY!!!!

Sheeesh....... I'm right..lol

Your name was taken in vein? Did people miss Mass too?

Seriously It's good to see you back and glad to hear things are busy.

Wait I thought it was the "worst food goes" theory? It's certainly not "all about the food" as I could gon on and on about with casting past eliminations etc...

Yes I agree "offputing" could be a something that simply inspires a subjective responce, such as your aversion to Dill. However in Stephanie's case the dish was poorly executed as even the cous cous was overcooked, the flavor combination seemed to be disgusting, it was visually nausiating and also Padma "Detested" it, backing up the point that it was nasty. So I'd say that when Tom says "offputting" he's being kind and using a bit of Damage control for someone who has excelled in the past.

Your example of Casey Mole' at latin Lunch is close but Lia's food was poorly cooked, didn't taste good and wasn't latin and she deserved to go.

And Clearly Tom was fishing for any reason to eliminate Mark when he played the protien card. I talked to a friend of mind who is a nutritionist and the the only thing she could find that why people would think it was "unhealthy" was the coconut milk simply for the sautrated fat but also noted that the type of saturated fat in coconut milk also offers health benifits and is the subject of medical research for it's benefits. Between the vegetables and the coconut milk there was enough protien for a healthy meal as part of a balaced deit, that is unless your looking for some reason to eliminate someone on a Reality TV show.

Couple the coconut milk with the Sweet Potato, Squash and other vegetables and your assertion that his meal did not provide a semblance of Protien is wrong and your notion that it lacked vitamins is even more wrong.

Again this was another contestant being scapegoated to save two others who had worse food for various reasons.

Doga, it's very sad, but Capons just don't pay for most growers to produce. They're simply too large for most restaurant trade, who are all about speed and portion control. And Capons will be priced too high for most people at home. (Though that might change if more people asked for them.)

I didn't know much detail about them till last summer, when we obtained one from a local poultry guy. It was for a large day-long party, held during the Live Earth concerts. We were trying to very deliberately build the menu around what was available locally and in season, no problem in July down there, and especially not a problem with the sea at one's door. (Yes, there were Sea Beans.) But we ran into a stump when it came to Local Meat. We wanted to offer some meat, but what? The place crawls with wildlife but no one down there eats it, despite my own temptations. I kept offering to get the car keys and go get some local deer. Housemates went over to a local poultry guy to see what he had, I expected them to come back with some of his chickens or some rabbits, but they had a huge capon instead. He had been a big, happy, peaceful bird who'd free-ranged at liberty, feasting on grain and seeds and bugs and worms and grubs, etc. And never knew what he had been missing, sex-wise. Then we ate him.

Oh my. Can't say enough nice things about it. Just like a chicken, only more so.

Doga, regarding the Capons... there's an old custom among Vietnamese, for the First Day of the New Year, that places a great value on serving family and guests a dish made with a virgin male chicken. Myself, I think any customer who believes a Viet merchant who is promising you that this rooster is a virgin, if you believe that vendor... What, it's wearing a little chastity belt?

But my friend Hung and I were trying to compose a menu for First Day, and talking about the virgin male chickens, and I suggested we use a Capon. Hey, it's male! It's a virgin! He didn't think that was really following the spirit of the thing... The idea of the virgin male rooster is a bird that hasn't sapped or diminished its "vigor." Has not yet dispensed any of its Strangelovian "precious bodily fluids." We used a big fat roaster instead.

That's my friend Hung, not the TC Hung...........

Uh your missing the point. The Producers and Judges aren't going into a show and saying "We have to eliminate so and so". They let the show play out and see what the contestants give them. They have production meetings and probably discuss story arch for the contestants. The challenges play out and they get three contestants to chose from to eliminate. This season has been rife with team challenges and that gives Tom and the Producers even more targets to pick from and more chances to let people that are good for the show to skate by.
And as far as the Guest Judges go, Tom has said in an interview that his opinion as head judge is enough to get his way so obviously the guest judges are following his lead as it is his show. And Tom has also said that he has given contestant's "breaks" before so dispite what he claims certain personal elements factor into Tom's judgement.

Just look at what is happening in this upcomming episode and tell me that people who create drama aren't perfect for that?

B&B if you were a Producer of a Reality TV show and you wanted to keep Mark instead of Lisa to manipulate the ratings, you'd be fired before the episode aired. Lisa is exactly what makes reality TV go. She creates conflict & strife and is very easily cast into the villian role. Name any famous reality tv shows and more often than not the villians of those shows will be the most famous people form those season. Just look at the first two seasons of this show. People tune in to see the villian lose! Just read the boards lol. For every one person who says Mark is cute there are many many more calling Lisa a bI#(h and can't wait for her to go.

And if you read any of the interviews the has said it was a joke when he said that Tom didn't like him. So you can edit it to appear like a confrontation but even Tom's smirks during the exchange betrayed it for the editted bit that is was.

Uh if you food gets panned by a pot head with the munchies its pretty much hopeless.

No, the points only tell you who's done well so far--Sam was leading throughout most of the competition, but he didn't make the final two. Likewise, Marcel was in the middle of the pack for most of the competition, and only got into the top slots towards the end (almost by default).

And, just to refresh, the scoring system is:

+4 per elimination win
+3 per elimination honorable mention
+2 per quickfire win
+1 per quickfire honorable mention
-1 per quickfire dishonorable mention
-3 per time on the chopping block
-4 when eliminated

I am definitely a Four-eyed dork - but have NO desire to be a cheftestant. I would love to tech for the show. That would be sweet!

WOW cool list. Aside from the Beach challenge Sam dominated that season. Seeing that Betty was pretty solid as well get lost in the whole Betty vs. Marcel thing that kept getting rehashed.

And yeah it was funny listening to MC Foamy trying to justify his alienation of the rest of the cast by simply saying he wasn't there to make friends like this was a month long sequestered social club and not a reality competition for 100K.

Oh and I found Padma's quote about Stephanie's food:

"It's disgusting. I really detested it. The couscous was awful."

But her opinion doesn't count lol.

Quick Question:

Did Antonia win anything?

Nope, but then again you may not want to rely on my memroy as my brain sorta short circuted when Andrew made his little comment at the end of the show.
I will say it again... Ewwwwwwwww!

I believe Antonia won a $10 Gift Certificate for Whole Foods.

No, they didn't show us Antonia winning anything, which might not be odd, the challenge was for a charity. Nice if they did give some prize to Antonia's lil' cheftestant helper though.

OK.... Got it.... almost

As Psh would say...tawk math to me.

Richard to win baby!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOO RICHARD

He's my guy..............He wishes

From Mark's Blog! I didn't even know he had one!

"An Entree for 4 people with a $10 budget--I actually asked if we could shop at a bodega as opposed to Wholefoods just to give us a fighting chance, but no luck. I suggest we rename Wholefoods- "Wholepaycheck"; simply because it's an expensive place to shop and unless I win the lottery, I will continue to shop at my local green market.

A vegetable curry is my go-to for a cheap and easy-to-make meal. I love that dish and stand by it. The judges commented on lack of protein, but the truth is the rice counteracts the lack of vegetable protein as it contains essential amino acids, and thereby creating a complete meal.
Tom stated that I didn’t spend my money wisely at Wholefoods. Well the truth is that the only ingredients not included in my $10 was salt and a cup of rice.I felt the other competitors relied heavily on the ingredients that were supplied in the kitchen and their dishes did not reflect a meal for $10.

There were obviously a few things about the challenge that made it frustrating for me, for example, when we were presented with the challenge initially, it was for a family of 4, then it became a table of 4 kids. Had I known this I would have made the curry a lot more child-friendly.

Andy’s breaded chicken with fennel salad was the best meal that day. It was well-balanced and well-received.

There was always a lot of banter between myself and Tom at judgement table, and when I said "he just doesn’t like me" it was just a joke. He's a great chef and its totally irrelevant whether he likes me or not. But I am holding him to that beer he mentioned as I got my marching orders.

Watching last night’s chopping block, it could have been anyone of us and I was surprised it was me. Having that been said, I didn’t have a great exit speech lined up like Ryan did.

Well, that’s it for me. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity and experience, and I met I a lot of awesome people. I am looking forward to the reunion!

Thanks for all your support and well wishes through the competition."

The show not making any refrence to the Rice is a huge problem for me. As is the fact that Mark asserts that the TC pantry was used far more than people thought before.
I tlooks to me like they deliberately left out the fact that Mark used rice to give formulate the protien argument.

He never mentioned it being rigged
either or that he dislikes Tom or felt it was unfair.....Funny.... few do.

Nice guy though...Nice exit...A good way to go.