So after last week’s, uh, interesting outcome, I was dying to see who would go next … and also a little nervous. All spoilers about winners and eliminated contestants are in the comments.
1. Sushi. Drool.
Sushi sounds like a fairly specialized skill, so I was surprised to see it get a turn as a Quickfire challenge. But this challenge definitely got me hungry for a meal at our favorite sushi restaurant.
Quick note: Josh, just because Sheldon cooks Asian food, that doesn’t mean he’s a “sushi master.” Good god.
2. Fried chicken challenge
I know this makes me a huge weirdo, but fried chicken isn’t something I really crave. I think too much of the fried chicken I’ve had is crummy KFC-style stuff that makes me nauseous with its grease. (I haven’t had KFC since I was 13. It gave me a horrible stomachache and pretty much put me off KFC for life.) I’ve only loved fried chicken when I’ve had it at high-end restaurants (I know, I know, there’s something wrong with me).
I’m not sure if it was my fried chicken indifference, but I didn’t love this challenge. It just seemed … monotonous. Everyone was making chicken fried in a deep fryer. Yawn.
3. Very well, Stefan. You may stay.
Stefan’s crack about 365 bottles of Terlato wine lasting him three months made me laugh out loud. I am also very proud that I translated “Ich gehe nach hause” before Stefan did it for us. (This is the extent of my German.)
4. Congrats Stefan!
Glad to see Stefan get the $5k in the Quickfire. I was rooting for Brooke, of course, but Stefan’s dish looked awesome.
5. Speaking of Stefan, why do the judges hate chicken cordon bleu?
I … actually like chicken cordon bleu! Sure, it’s pretty cliché (and, as Emeril pointed out, an airplane favorite), but it’s breaded chicken with cheese and ham in it. What’s not to like?
It sounded like Stefan’s interpretation was not so great, but the judges seemed to have really strong feelings about the fact that he did CCB at all. Is it really that unforgiveable?
6. Credit where credit’s due
Josh, who is not my favorite contestant, won me over a bit this episode, first by challenging Josie on her attempt to claim Total Southern Cooking Expertise, and then with his chicken. Hot sauce, blue cheese, and celery isn’t exactly imaginative, but hey, the dish looked delicious. I’d rather try Sheldon’s, but I think Josh was a deserving winner.
7. Oh no, not Brooke, not Brooke …
This was a rough episode for Team Brooke members – our favorite remaining contestant was having the day from hell, and her dish looked so sad. I cringed when she said she was going to re-fry the chicken to make it crispy again. Aaack!
Also, Padma, did you really have to tell poor Brooke that she’d interviewed the guys from Son of a Gun and hadn’t given them jobs? You didn’t remind Josie that Michele Bernstein helped eliminate her last time around. I’m starting to wonder if there’s something to the theory that Padma doesn’t like attractive young female contestants. (Idea: replace Padma with Kristen. Except that means Kristen doesn’t cook as much. Never mind.)
8. … huzzah, it’s Josie!
And of course she thinks her elimination was unfair and tells Tom that all of her competitors said her dish was delicious. Ugh.
9. And of course Kristen kicks Josie’s butt.
Aw yeah, Kristen. One down, two more wins to go! You can get back in the competition!
First, thanks for calling out Josh. The other thing that’s been annoying me is the reference to Sheldon (and his cooking) as Hawaiian. I understand the inclination, just like we call people from California, Californias, but Hawaiians are their own indigenous people, with their own food traditions, none of which is reflected in Sheldon’s cooking. Sorry, getting off my soapbox. :)
I didn’t understand the chicken cordon bleu hate either. The whole bit just seemed a bit food snobbish.
I was happy to see Sheldon make chicken “momofuku” style, or what locals here having been calling Korean fried chicken long before David Chang came around. It’s pretty ubiquitous.
Josh’s chicken looked great too.
I’m glad Brooke was safe. I was scared when they started saying her chicken was dry but Josie’s had flavor.
I agree with all parts of your analysis! Everything after the sushi was a downhill ride in this episode. I happen to really like chicken cordon bleu, and found myself feeling ashamed of this as they went on an on about it. Kayce’s right, they sounded like snobs.
In fact, I was more than a little annoyed with all the judges this episode – did anyone else get the feeling that they were all more than a little drunk, and kind of being dicks? Wolfgang was dropping F bombs all over the place, Emeril’s jokes were awful, Tom was legitimately laughing at them, and I felt that those other two dudes (who Brooke didn’t hire?) were useless.
I love fried chicken, but watching people eat it over and over was boring television. It all looks somewhat the same, and the only variation went punished.
Chicken cordon bleu for everyone! Huzzah!
@kayce — Sometimes it feels like Josh is deliberately attempting to fulfill every negative stereotype about Oklahoma.
@kerry — I know! They were acting like a table of obnoxious drunk investment bankers at some NYC hot spot. “We want FRIED CHICKEN! And MORE TERLATO WINE!”
A fried chicken challenge would have been a good Quickfire, but with only 6 contestants left, it just wasn’t interesting enough for an Elimination. If Josie hadn’t finally gone home I would have thoroughly hated this episode.