Exactly!

Except that it's really not. Caramelizing can sweeten things, but not in a sticky, gooey way as something like a butterscotch does. Now, if you seared the scallops in a thin layer of hot butterscotch in the bottom of a hot pan, it would probably work just fine. But let's save the butterscotch sauce for a nice sundae, or a hard candy. Or, if you MUST use butterscotch sauce, maybe just a very light drizzle of some thinned out sauce as an accent, not a pool of the stuff.

*waving fan* you ok, brillke?
LOL! I had to put on a sweater...

I loved it when Bourdain refered to Team Woodstock and Team Altamont.

When Spike was seating his guests he was telling them he thought his team would win. At the end of service Spike is asking his guests "What did you say about me?" while Richard and Antonia were asking their guests if they enjoyed the meal!!!

"Sticky Rice" is short grain glutonous rice and can be used in a main dish or as a dessert (cooked in cocoanut milk w/sugar added).

Good Evening... Is anyone else tired of team challenges? Or maybe y'all have discussed this before but of the 11 episodes 7 have involved teams. Some have been fun like Improv, but Restaurant Wars seemed like Wedding Wars revisited.

If they didn't have team challenges there is no way they could justify keeping Lisa and Spike around. That's why they do it.

If anything is going to turn people off of this board, it will be the absolutely vile personal attacks on the cheftestants that went on after this episode. Yes, I know that people will say it is their RIGHT to say whatever the "F" they want, but there are better ways to express oneself. Save that bile for whenever you hit your thumb with a hammer or in a locked (preferably padded) room!

Fixed that for you.

Yep. Team challenges seem to produce more gamespersonship (like Spike's strategizing, and Lisa's refusal to take responsibility). We have seen the "team" sabotage the leader more than once on this program. IMHO Lisa and Spike sabotaged Dale.

"The worst part is there are online rumors swirling about -- SPOILER ALERT -- all three females in the finale. Please, please, please let it not be true. I'm cool with Stephanie. I'd even be OK with Antonia. But Lisa? Before Richard? Even before Spike? No, no, no!"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracke...hef-lisa-s.html


You've got to be friggin' kidding me.

OK,caught up reading,I skimmed for the most part. If it started with "Im pissed","I cant believe Dale is gone",or "Why is Lisa still there",I agreed and skimmed.


Dale,I cannot believe you got the boot. Yes,you were the Executive Chef. Yes,you tried to run your kitchen. Yes,it was your ass on the line. Was it just me(I know its not) or were you totally ass-[expletive deleted] by your teammates? Every time you tried to take control of your kitchen,Lisa shouted louder and whatever she wanted to do. When you told her it was too early to be drinking,she kept pouring the beer anyways. Dude,there was nothing you could have done. You are a far better chef then Spike,Lisa and even Antonia,IMO.

Lisa,what a worthless piece of [expletive deleted] youve turned out to be. I dont care if youre hot as Heidi Klum or as ugly as homemade sin on the outside,its whats inside that counts and you my dear,are ugly on the inside. You set Dale up and knew what you were doing would get him sent home. How anyone would want to work with you after seeing how you are on the show is beyond me. Karma is a [expletive deleted] and so are you.

Spike,I think youve played the game better then any reality show contestant has ever played the game. I must say,you cleaned up very nicely and I never thought you looked that dirty to begin with. You ran the FOH very well. Loved the concept. Pretty shitty how you let Dale take a beating. Standing there at JT,allowing Lisa to destroy Dale wasnt cool. Smart,yes. Cool,no.

Antonia,STFU already. So tired of you bitching about Dale cooking Asian all the time. Um,you cook comfort food on a regular basis.

Richard and Stephanie,job well done,as usual. I do feel your team played it safe but with such a dysfunctional team to compete against,its a moot subject. Yall could have served Big Macs still in the wrapper from McDonalds and it would have been a triumph.

Nikki,I bout pissed myself when you were chosen but then I remembered,you only had to roll the pasta,not make it.

Jen,was very glad to see you back. Still think you got screwed.

Andrew and Mark,great seeing yall,wish you could have been chosen.



Bourdain,I worship the ground you walk on and it was great seeing you back. I think Tom is hot and all but Id take you over him any day.

Guest Judge,wow,you were kinda pissed. Padma was touching your arm,trying to calm you down at JT. Nice to see a judge with a bit of passion.

The QF was kinda a joke. Theyve been getting more and more lame,IMO. We need some new,good ideas.

The show itself was OK,I guess. Not happy with its turn out but how boring would it be if the judges got it right each week? Yawn! They gotta keep the fans all riled up otherwise we will get bored and go elsewhere.

As for the boards here,Ive been very surprised at certain behavior by certain people and STUNNED they were not called on it. I know for a fact that the boards were all up in arms before because we didnt welcome n00bs like a few thought we should. That no n00bs wanted to stay because a few were accused of running them off. I also know when it was suggested before that certain people had more then one ID and were posting crap to support their cause,all hell broke loose. To me,this just proved its who says/does the bad behavior not the bad behavior itself,thats acceptable/unacceptable to certain people on these boards.


Also,why do people need to remember "its just a show?" I hate that. They,some of the posters,might have high stress jobs and maybe they watch this show and choose to vent on these boards rather then smack their kids or animals around. Im not talking about trolls,just the ones who registered to vent. They might post a few times but I doubt it. They come here and spew for all its worth then poof,back to their daily lives. Much healthier then drinking or getting high,IMO.

Damn,I better stop. Im coming off as either responsible or board mommy-ish,I cant tell. either way,I dont wanna be either.


Oh well,thats it for now.

Hey, here's a question for everyone:

One of the reasons that I've found the judging to be pretty fair on previous challenges is that Tom goes into the kitchen and checks out the dynamic, what each person is doing, etc.

With Tom gone last for last night's challenge, that didn't happen, did it?

Bravo had already decided what was going to happen, so there was no point.

Bourdain talked about the dishes like he'd done a walkthrough, but I don't think they showed it. They wanted to make room for Lisa being Lisa and Spike being Spike.

Hi!

I completely agree though a great many people were called out for it. Thing for me is that I see very little benefit to calling out people who register directly after the show with IDs like bite_me_judges who will come here to spew their poison and eventually and quickly leave. We all know who stays and who are regulars here or who appears not to be trolling for 2 hours only to go away on their own.

The world and the net is full of some exceptionally awesome people and some exceptionally borderline illiterate slobs. As for someone else commenting on people being run off these boards, I watched it happen last year and left myself as I found this no longer any fun. There are folks here, who shall remain nameless, who seem to scare the bejezus out of some folks. This is not always the most welcoming place and last year it was downright hostile.

I call them as I see them. I am a straight shooter and speak from the mind and heart. Folks always know where they stand with me and I am no board mommy. I do have my own set of personal standards and sensabilities and when those are offended I will darn well speak out whether on behalf of me or someone else. In fact, I just happened to read a ''novella'' here and talk about the pot calling the kettle, whoa!

My Two Cents, Be Well,

Hajar

LOL

Ok so I am new to the boards and I just watched my DVR'd episode of TC...and I will say that I am absolutely mad that Dale got the boot. I thought he was a great chef (although the butterscotch thing was a bit odd) and that it was Lisa's time to go! Her attitude stinks and she really has made a mess out of the last two challenges. Nothing she has ever done has truly inspired me....but hey! I don't claim to be a culinary master...just someone who enjoys good food and I know that there hasn't been a single thing Lisa has done that has made me want to go to the restaurant she works at.

But I will say that I am happy that two females (Antonia & Stephanie) are getting close to the finish line!!! Women are definitely not represented like they should be in the food world. And I think it should honestly be Richard, Stephanie and Antonia in the final three.

AND....it was really nice to see Anthony Bourdain (my culinary hero) on this episode..."the whole baby vomit with woodchips" was awesome....

I saw it coming. I think the judges thought that they had to be consistent..., after all they sent the best chef packing last year for the same reasons. He was the Executive Chef and he screwed up a dish..., the dish from last year was bread pudding.

I like diverse postings. As for the personal observations, comments, allegations about the contestants, well the contestants themselves set the tone for those. We make personal observations about Lisa and Spike and (less so) about Antonia because they have made plenty about their peers. You don't see anyone trash talking Richard or Stephanie. It's because those two contestants don't themselves trash talk anyone.

This is just a high-tech version of calling bulls__t on people who are themselves boastful, bullying, or conniving.

I like it all.

LOL.....I am smiley face QUEEN!

I shouldnt have been egging the troll, but it was SOOOO much fun! LOL

Oh good Lord.....will someone milk him and put him in the barn for the night?

From one KS to the other:

I couldn't agree more. I won't be surprised if there isn't another repercussion as well for the particularly vile nature of some comments on this thread -- having the whole darn thing wiped out. If I remember correctly, that happened on the Supermodel boards earlier this year, and it may have happend with PR as well.

I hope it won't happen here since there have also been some very valid, well-considered posts on this episode's threads. But BBB has shown repeatedly that s/he is more likely to just wipe out everything rather go through the detail separating the civil from the offensive.

well...you keep dreaming sweetie.....its nice to have dreams....

I agree with this, although for the winners, they gave the win to stephanie and not antonia, who was the executive chef. So i think it's unfair that Dale got the boot when Lisa is obviously the problem on the team. It seems that Lisa was being a horrible teammate and a huge part of the reason they lost is because of her. I think kicking off Dale is a BIG MISTAKE. If they didn't give the win to the executive chef, he doesn't have to be the one who gets kicked off.

Message boards, newsgroups, etc. can all be volatile places. It's safe to say there have been some trolls here, but a good portion of the newbies made some pretty innocuous vents as well. I was once accused of trolling on a low carb message board because I was skeptical of the Atkins diet at the time, but there's a big difference between showing skepticism and just posting to rile people up constantly.

I am still watching the show even though I have disagreed with some eliminations. We're always going to disagree with some choices, but I know that some good chefs still remain in this contest, so it isn't a total loss. I always enjoy the final competitions in particular because they are even more involved..if Lisa and Spike are as bad as most of us think they are, then they will not be able to advance past the other chefs when held under the same lines of scrutiny. Things will calm down and there will still be plenty of Top Chef viewers. That's my prediction.

Hi Hajar,
Good for you! Your courage to say what so many think is encouraging and very refreshing.

Thank you!!!!!

So, off on a tangent.......

In honor of Spike and Lisa being the only Round 1 matchup still in the competition, I have come up with collective names for each pair, based on the dish they had to cook:

Richard & Andrew: Crab Masters

Antonia & Nimma: Scampi Sisters

Dale & Manuel: Sultans of Steak

Zoi & Erik: Soufflé Squad

Nikki & Jennifer: Ladies of Lasagne

Lisa & Spike: Eggs Benedict Arnolds

Stephanie & Mark: Duck Duo

Valerie & Ryan: Piccata Pair



See what happens when Jim stays up later than is good for him?????

Unfortunately, that's something that's creeped into our culture--if you don't like something, no reservations, you're automatically a "hater".




I honestly don't think I'll be one of them, however--not on Bravo, anyway. Every episode this season has been available on several sites within 24 hours of being broadcast, and by watching the episodes there, I lose the commercials (including the incessant pimping of Bravo's other shows), and I can fast forward to the quickfires and elimination challenges, thus avoiding a good chunk of the "drama". And from there, it wouldn't be a large step to dropping the show altogether.


In fact, O Magical Elves, if you're reading this, keep this very firmly in mind:

I gave up watching baseball--I can give up watching Top Chef.

Hajar or others,
I guess Simon must leave the keyboard sometime in the afternoon so hasn't seen my question yet, so I'll ask some of you regulars. What is Simons connection to TC? I don't see that name on any sites as a producer, staff, or coordinator, so I was just wondering.

I have to say that after watching this show since the beginning, season 4 is my least favorite. Restaurant Wars only highlighted the character flaws, yet again, of some of the most pessimistic and childish of chefs. Lisa was on the chopping block, AGAIN, and skated by. I believe, wholeheartedly, that she needs to go. I find it funny that she has mentioned on a couple of occasions that other people's bad attitudes bring her down. I have only seen foul-mouthed vitriol and anger from her with never so much as a glint of personality. I truly hope she leaves soon so that the true talent is left....

Now I could be wrong, but I think his remark was addressing the fact that he knew that stepping up as Executive Chef, with those two would lead to his dismissal and it did. In "Restaurant Wars", the EC of the losing team will almost always fall.

We were speaking of attacks directed at specific posters. About the cheftestants, not so much. Though even when those comments stray into personal attacks on someone's illness and/or things we could never possibly know as we don't know them which cross the line and offend more than one poster here. Perhaps you should read the entire thread if you haven't already and even perhaps go and read episode 10 board to get the idea. When people log on to troll and present comments regarding sex with ______ well just read back.

Be Well,

Hajar

I was very disappointed to see Dale leave. I really believed he would make it as one of the top four. Unfortunately, repeated team ups with Lisa and the exposure to her negative energy just wore him out and he lost sight of what he came to accomplish. Unlike most people here, I started off really liking and advocating Lisa, believing her to be a talented and assertive chef. The last few episodes, whether real or by design, have revealed her weaknesses in cooking and her very unsportsmanlike conduct.

I cannot believe she has survived the last two judges tables??!! Apart from the repeated hostility and condescending attitude towards her fellow contestants and judges, her craft is coming across as inferior. Were Andrew's and Dale's performances really worse than the uncooked shrimp stir fry and the poorly prepared Laksa, sticky rice, etc, etc? What's worse is that she keeps missing the mark on cuisine/dishes that she is presumably well versed in cooking.

While I hated seeing Dale leave, I am pleased that the understood sentiment among contestants and judges alike, is that Antonia (yeah!!! you go girl, you are my FAVORITE!!!!), Stephanie and Blaze are the leading contestants. Stephanie is a class act and Blaze is a very talented chef. The creativity of these three chefs amazes and delights me.

I just hope these THREE WINNERS make it to the final, as I am very excited to see what they will continue to create.

*HE* DID buy the rice. Watch the episode again. I don't care for Lisa and won't defend her but I will defend untruths and this has already been established that he picked the rice. It was up to her to say whether or not the dish could be done with this type of rice and he shouldn't have pulled it off the stove either; to which he replied ''okay'' when she told him to relx and stop pulling things off the stove.

Ah, you're welcome though many many have said about me that I always dare to say what everyone else is thinking. I can't say though that it hasn't gotten me into huge trouble at times in real life!

Be Well,

Hajar

Bravo! Very well said.

The threads getting yanked had nothing to do with people posting vile comments concerning any contestants on any show. The threads went poof due to many personal attacks made by many board regulars,including myself. In fact,there is one remaining thread that has some pretty vile post and none of it has anything to do with the show.

Well you may not have to worry about that..., according to the Wikipedia information, she's not working. Wonder why...

Simon,please feel free to correct me if Im wrong.


I dont think Simon has any connection with the show other then being a fan.

I wholeheartedly (sp.) agree with you. However, to be honest, if they treated Dale any differently than they did Tre last year, I think there would have been an uproar with racial connotations, although they are both "persons of color". I think they need to address this issue and change the ruling for future episodes and seasons.

Though some of us are in the ''business'' in a peripheral sort of way. A few pages back I believe Simon stated knowing television producers and ad strategies. Perhaps one day I will come clean regarding myself though I doubt to the entire board as a whole. So, until then I am jokingly Hajar the Masked Foodie!

After seeing the promos for next week 100 times, it ''appears'' that Richard is in some trouble. Tom is telling him to step it up, that he is killing him (Tom) and Richard is almost audibly wincing as he reaches for something.

LOL, love it! Has anyone set a theme for next week's food on the porch? And Hajar, I'll pull the extra comfy rocker out of the basement and put a "reserved for Hajar" sign on it. Deal?

Wait a minute.....I missed something here? Scotch in the butterscotch? Say it isn't so! That's beyond panicking a bit.....that's full fledged hysteria!

Your pumpkin awaits my love... ...

'

Hey....it's legal now in Cali.....if you guys do have a virtual fake illegal marriage, you can do it here and we'll have the virtual fake reception on my porch!
*busily visualizing wedding decorations on the porch*

Uh, calm down. I laughed because that was Lisa's POOR excuse. I equate it to someone "supposedly" making hot chocolate (and calling it hot chocolate), although someone handed them a box of Lipton tea.

*points to rocking chair* Before you head out to the Mediterranean (SP???yikes!) stop by the porch, we'll share hospitality Jazzie style!