The women are a little surprised Melissa was cut from the competition last week. Bonnie said it was like a main character dying … it can happen but you don’t expect it. Rock’s sentiments on Melissa being sent home is that he is one person closer to the prize. I am still a little in shock that Melissa was cut myself. She definitely deserved it but like Bonnie, I felt she was in for the long haul. I have never seen someone who came into a game so self assured, calm and collected, fall to pieces as Melissa did. It wasn’t just in the kitchen either but also her personal appearance.

Well Melissa is history and after a nights rest, the remaining cooks stand before Chef Ramsay to find out what is in store for them today.

Chef says it is now back to a battle of sexes. Today’s challenge is working with leftovers (I would be so very very very upset to go to a fine restaurant and be served leftovers. Good grief, I don’t even eat leftovers at home. Who knows what mysterious things might happen to food left in the refrigerator overnight … I sure don’t know what happens when that light goes out … it does go out right?)

The red and blue teams are given identical ingredients and give 30 minutes to come up with 3 dishes. One appetizers and two entrees.

The blue team come off the starting block like a race horse determined to win, and have already started cooking before the red team even decides WHAT they should cook.

When the 30 minutes are up one person from each team goes head to head.
First up are Brad and Bonnie with appetizers. Since we have a food expert who will hopefully follow up this report with what was actually served I will relate this in laymen’s terms, of which I am definitely one. Brad serves a pasta dish with tomato and curry. Bonnie has prepared a rustic chicken stew. Chef Ramsay likes them both and awards both teams one point.

Jen serves the Chef classic steak and eggs while Josh serves a chicken dish. Chef says he expected more from both of them. He tells Jen her dish is something he’d have expected from Julia and Josh he says served acidic and uncooked chicken. Neither team received a point.

The teams will win or lose based on what the final two cooks have prepared. Julia served what Chef called fish and chips which included deep fried sea bass and received a ‘nice’ comment from Chef Ramsay. Rock served surf and turf which was pan seared bass and rib eye. He won the point making the men the winners of the competition.

Chef complimented the men and said “well done” but to the women he said their efforts were dull and their punishment would be dull. They are to clean everything and since this is delivery day they are to unload all the deliveries. They are also to check them carefully for errors.

Mean while the men received the perfect prize. Chef says for weeks now he has been in their faces and now it is payback time. They are going to go paint balling. It will be Chef against the 3 of them. Amazingly he shoots all 3 of them and though Josh claims to have shot the Chef I didn’t notice any paint marks on him …. maybe it was just the thrill of knowing he ‘could’ have shot him or the fact he got to shoot at him. Unless someone saw this closer than I did, I will have to say that Chef Ramsay came out of it the clear winner. The important thing though is that they had fun and got their heads out of the kitchen for a brief time.

Mean while back at HK, the women have begun to open some of the boxes they signed for. What was supposed to be inside wasn’t. On at least the first discovered mistake it was Bonnie’s fault because she didn’t check the order. There were no fillets, just skeletons. As the boxes continue to be opened they soon find it wasn’t just the fillets that were missing.

Due to this error the women were still unloading boxes of food when the men returned from their day of shooting at Chef Ramsay. Bonnie called out to them and asked for help but they just walked on by. Jean Phillipe told them the women could really use some help. He said he would help but he has a bad pain in his back. Rock said well Jean Phillipe I have the same problem and I am going to take it upstairs. With that the men abandon the women to their task and head up to their rooms. [I know this is a competition and all, but I lost all respect for the men when they did this. Of course, Bonnie being the one to ask for help, takes away some of the sting of their lack of chivalry.]

The next morning Chef tells the cooks (to me they aren’t chef’s yet) that this will be the most serious service so far. For the first time in Hell’s Kitchen each team will create their own menu for tonight’s service. (Okay, I admit my memory isn’t what it used to be, but this seemed like a very familiar task … isn’t it something he has done every season? I could be wrong, it’s happened to me at least one other time in my life, but as I said, it just feels so familiar)
Each team will create 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 3 desserts. They are sent back to their rooms and given one hour to come up with their menus.

Back in the rooms Julia is once again left standing out in left field. Jen expresses concern about Julia’s qualifications because she doesn’t know what some of the dishes they talk about are. In the men’s room (you know what I mean) Brad keeps naming dishes and is trying to be way sophisticated. Even wants to call macaroni and cheese something else. Back to the women, and Julia is suggesting steak and shrimp. Bonnie pipes up that steak is a copout. (I guess I am a copout sort of person because I almost always order steak when I go out to eat.) Jen in addition to feeling Julia is out of her element now is upset with Bonnie because she keeps talking and talking and trying to make all the menu decisions. She says she is getting po’d because her name is going to be on this menu. Bonnie calls her a b****.

Their hour is up and they take their menu’s down to show Chef Ramsay. He checks the women’s first and asks Julia which items on the menu did she influence. She said ‘none Chef.’ He asked what she wanted on the menu and she said steak and shrimp. He told her to change the menu and add it if she wanted to. She did.

He called the men’s menu very ambitious.
The customers will be given their choice to order out of the red menu or the blue menu. I know I am going to butcher the names of the men’s dishes but I also know there is help out there who will make it all clear in another post.

The women will be serving: Julia’s steak and shrimp; Bonnie’s bacon wrapped rabbit legs; and Jen’s tuna dish. The men will be serving Brad’s lamb chops; Brad’s something mushroom consommé; and Brad’s sautéed chicken breast.

In the red kitchen the women are at each other’s throats almost immediately. Nobody knows how to cook the dish Bonnie fought for … rabbit legs. The women are told they need to work together and Jen says if she makes friends here fine, if she doesn’t that is fine too. She is here to just to win the competition. (Maybe it’s this particular show, but are all the women going to go into meltdown? I care nothing for Bonnie and think she should have been shown the door a long time ago, but tonight Jen is really acting like a witch.)

Once the restaurant opens the orders start pouring in for the red kitchen and after 30 minutes there were still none for the blue team. Finally they got orders and started sending out appetizers which must have been riding a carousel because they came right back into the kitchen. The ravioli was cold (Brad’s doing)

In the red kitchen they have the appetizers moving quickly and start on the entrees, almost all of which are STEAK. The favorite of the diners. When needed Julia has the steaks ready and gets a compliment from Chef Ramsay … good job Julia, keep going, exceeding expectations. (He also said to all the women that it's a shame the most popular entree almost didn't make it on the menu)

Mean while back at the dud ranch … er blue kitchen, they are still waiting for Josh’s lamb. Ramsay says this service will separate the chefs from the donkey’s … to Josh. He tells Chef the lamb is coming and Chef says, and so is your elimination. Chef says he wouldn’t trust him with a hot dog stand. Chef tells the other two men Josh needs help but neither makes a move to assist him in anyway. After his third attempt he finally gets the lamb out perfect.

The women have 53 orders from their menu and the men had 48.

Due to the refusal to work together in the Red kitchen the Blue kitchen has caught up. At one point Chef comes in and can’t find Jen. I didn’t catch exactly what she was doing but I think it was cleaning. She got reamed out by Chef Ramsay for not being at her station.

This next one almost begs an editorial comment, but I’ll use restraint … on second though no I won’t. DUMB BLOND~~~Bonnie is trying to cook without the gas being turned on. DUH! I am not even close to claiming to be a chef but even I know it takes heat to cook something. Poor Bonnie is just plain tired of being told she is incompetent. Now come on girl, you want to run a five star restaurant and you can’t even remember to turn the fire on under your food?

After two hours almost all of the diners have been served … unfortunately some aren’t liking WHAT they are being served and Brad is getting his food back again.

In the red kitchen with the service almost over all the women seem to be trying to work on the same thing … Julia’s station. She says that Bonnie gets flustered too easily and doesn’t work well under pressure … you hit the nail on the head with that call girl.

None of them are talking to each other. One asks a question and is ignored by the others. (in reality Bonnie asks a question and Jen ignores her) Our waffle house girl finally finds a way to pull them together and finish their service. The men also completed their service.

Chef says, ladies none of you have stamina. Men you were not a team tonight

He calls Brad and Rock out for not coming to Josh’s aid tonight.

He tells them there is no winning team but the one person who was the most consistent and impressed him the most was Julia. He tells her to go and choose one woman for eviction.
The men he tells to decide on one person among themselves.

Back in their rooms the men are having a hard time agreeing. Brad wants this to be a vote on overall performance which would leave Josh as the person to be nominated. He doesn’t think it is fair to put him up over one bad night. Rock is really sick and tired of Brad and I have to admit he is getting on my last nerve too.

When they return to Chef he asks for their decisions. Julia says she is nominating Bonnie because even though she has experience she has problems getting things out. He asks Brad who the men have nominated and he says ‘me Chef.’ (Must admit that one surprised me)

Brad said he should stay because tonight he tried to be a leader rather than just waiting in the wings like some people. Rock told him to just call him out because he knows he is saying this about him. Rock says to Ramsay that Brad tried to take the leadership role and did it unsuccessfully. Bonnie pretty much just said she needs more time and experience.

Chef: Brad take off your jacket. I was looking for leadership tonight but you were just a cook. Of course Brad’s opinion of himself is that he is the best chef there.

Chef tells the remaining hopefuls, that to be successful as individuals you must first be successful at team work.

Chef’s parting comment was that Brad was a hard worker but he worked with his back and not his brain. He lacked what it takes to be a great chef.

So now we are down to five. Who will cook their last meal in Hell’s Kitchen next week?


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With regards to the men helping the women. During all the times that the men had to endure the punishment, I do not recall the women helping them either, so I have no problem with the men refusing to help in this episode.

I continue to suspect that something is awry with Chef Ramsay: concerning the leftovers, even Bonnie recognized that her "Rustic fish chowder" with leftover sea bass was a bit of a dud. For those of you who don't understand the terminology, chefs use the term "rustic" when they are too lazy (or whatever) to cut vegetables and meats into the uniform sized pieces. While there is nothing wrong with that (most of my soups would be considered rustic because I LIKE different sized pieces of things) the dish was far too grandly named for what it was: fish soup.

Brad's curried sea bass with tomato dish was, I thought, phenomenal; the presentation was gorgeous, the ingredients were combined in a very interesting way and Bonnie herself was chagrined when she saw the dish. I was of course concerned that Brad had cooked it properly, but evidently he did. When Ramsay said that was a tie, I almost didn't want to watch the rest. In my opinion, Brad's dish was a standout and was evidently well cooked. Bonnie's was some stuff in a soup, properly seasoned. Brad should have won just on the basis of imagination. It is really hard to come up with dishes like that, especially ones that work. For what it's worth, nouvelle cuisine was always combining things in odd ways and for me, at least, 90% of the combinations either didn't work or were too fastidious. In addition, they never gave you enough food. Brad's dish worked and it was a stunner. Fish soup is ho hum, at best.

When Josh came out with what I thought was either a stuffed boned chicken thigh or leg, I was sure he had a winner. Then Ramsay tasted the sauce and it was too acidic, probably with too much lemon or wine. I couldn't tell but it looked like a cream sauce that had no business having acidity, so I was confused. In addition, the chicken was undercooked: doesn't anyone carry an instant read thermometer in his/her pocket? Cooking like this, I would think it absolutely necessary. Those who want to cook well at home, buy one; it will improve the quality of your cooking significantly. They come with a clip that fits in your shirt pocket and cost less than 20 bucks.

I laughed when I saw Jen come out with steak and eggs: OOOH! Gourmet steak and eggs ala waffle house? Wow! It even had a tomato!! The least she could have done was make a béarnaise sauce for it!! (You guys like béarnaise?) She's the one with most of the imagination usually too! What a downer!

Rock produced a great combo of the sea bass and the rib eye, I think. I didn't catch what he called it, but it had imagination and it was beautifully presented. When Julia presented her fish and chips, I was glad that she did it well, but even fried sea bass (besides being a HORRID thing to do to sea bass!) is just not what one would call elegant. At this point, I thought that Julia had hit her limitations head on...but as is usual, I was wrong.

When they went to plan the menus, for what it's worth I thought Brad had some good ideas. For those who don't get haute cuisine, they were arguing over whether to call macaroni a cassoulet. For the record, I will guess that most of us know what macaroni and cheese is in its various guises; it can be bad or decent, but not exactly fancy. Personally I like the stuff on occasion but it isn't anything fantastic, unless you do it with blue cheese, which some people don't like, but I digress. (Ask me if you want the recipe.) In contrast, a cassoulet has NOTHING whatsoever in common with a macaroni and cheese. I listened three times to them say the word because I thought they may have been saying another word but Brad called it "cassoulet." A cassoulet is a French dish, with country (rustic) origins which depend upon white beans, duck (or goose) and saucisson l'ail, or garlic sausage. Those who have never had this dish, please be advised that you will hardly see it in a restaurant because it takes too long to cook and garlic sausage is a rare commodity in this country, for some odd reason I cannot fathom.

It is a dish practically begging for cool weather and it borders on the divine, if properly prepared. I have also heard of it done with lamb, but I cannot attest to its authenticity. Under no circumstances does a cassoulet ever have either pasta or cheese in it. I was glad to see Rock disagreeing with the idea of trying to disguise something common as something special.

I didn't think the menu that Brad made was bad and it showed ambition which I thought was the right tack to take: show the chef you have some imagination. I liked the lamb, I liked the turbot in consommé'. I also recall Ramsay asking Brad if his consommé had plenty of flavor and Brad said that it did. Unfortunately a half hour passed and the consommé was evidently cold because it was sent back. For those of you who don't know, making a consommé is very difficult as you must subtly add flavor without over-salting. Salt is a cheap way of adding taste to this dish. The flavors are so subtle that it is easy to over-salt, usually as it evaporates sitting on the heat. Turbot is a wonderful fish and this is a great classic if you ever see it on a menu.

Josh kept screwing up the lamb chops. Frankly, I think they would have done well if he hadn't done that. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the dishes. When Ramsay asked the others to help Josh, Rock said he was too busy preparing something else. Brad appeared to only be prepping the lamb but he didn't move to help Josh. Once again, if you have trouble with getting chops done properly, use the INSTANT READ THERMOMETER!! Don't just send it out! Chefs usually use the touch method but evidently they get confused in this kitchen. You didn’t see Ramsay cutting the chops open to check them, did you?

Jen turned into a biotch, ostensibly because no one wanted to use her ideas. Once again, Bonnie's strong point of imaginative cooking took over. Jen seemed to get even worse! When Julia asked what Ahi was, I thought she was proving how far in over her head she was; if you don't know grades of tuna and you are a chef, go get some more training. The job is for an UPSCALE restaurant. She should have learned this by now.

I liked the rabbit wrapped in bacon but when I heard that Bonnie had no idea how to cook it I was floored! I was glad to see she figured it out and that means she has the chops (slang term for ability) to be able to figure things out. When Ramsay asked Julia's input and she said "Steak and shrimp" I nearly laughed. When Ramsay told her to put that on the menu, I was really upset!! He keeps saying that they need to show imagination and he allows steak and shrimp? Nothing the matter with the dish, but one can get it anywhere. In addition, I didn't see what was taken off to put that in. Does anyone know?

When all the orders started coming in, most were ordering Julia's steak. So much for haute cuisine!! Besides not talking and being a biotch, Jen made some nice looking Ahi. Bonnie was cooking in a pan with a ten mile stare and no heat on the pan. This shows you how tired one can get. She isn't used to doing this for a long period of time and I don't think she has the stamina deep inside her to do this. I will give Julia credit for knowing how to tell how a steak is done and preparing them properly, evidently matching the shrimp for a nice presentation. Did Bonnie tell Julia how to cook the rabbit? I saw Julia cooking the rabbit too, so I give her credit for being able to follow directions and figure things out. You don’t get that benefit, however, when you are in charge.

I still think that Josh screwed up the whole trip for the guys, barring Brad's cold salty mushroom consommé. I would have thought Brad could have pulled it off and I have give him credit for almost making it. Most of the dishes were a success. I tend to agree with Ramsay that Josh has not been able to cook. I didn't see the chicken dish with the macaroni but it sounded ordinary. I loved the gnocchi. If anyone has ever made those, now THEY are hard to prepare properly as they turn gluey in an instant. Never heard a complaint, did we? Thus I would disagree that Brad lacked finesse and instead made a mistake with the consommé period: everything else was Josh’s fault, as I see it, although Brad SHOULD have helped Josh out. I would have kicked out Josh, but evidently Brad nominated himself because he felt that he wanted to take responsibility. I would have canned Josh as I think he functionally ruined the men’s entire performance with the one exception mentioned.

Steak and shrimp! Who would have guessed that it would save the day, even after the women started melting down? Wow! Bonnie is too emotional to run a kitchen. She can’t take care of herself when she thinks someone is mad at her. It was funny when Jen complained that she didn’t always stand with her hands in the air and then they showed footage of her doing just that: denial isn’t only a river in Egypt!

Actually Bentley the guys VOTED to nominate Brad .. I guess I didn't make that clear. Rock mentoned it in an aside to the cameras.

As for what came off the ladies menu to make room for the steak and shrimp, they never showed what was on the menu, they just announced the final choices.

As far as the steak being a bla addition to the menu, for this time only I disagree. I have had steak in some of the finest restaurants in the country and they are the best I have ever eaten. I am squimish about trying things I don't know, so for me steak is a saving addition to the menu. In Atlantic City I had the best seven pepper steak at one of their best restaurants and have never regretted the choice.

Then don't order the special. "Our special tonight" is our way of saying, "Yeah, this didn't sell as well as we thought and we have too much left, so we're trying to unload it before it goes bad."
Personally, I order it anyway sometimes, if it sounds creative to me. But then, I eat leftovers at home all the time, and in general I continue to eat in restaurants despite knowing what goes on in them.

BTW, thanks for the excellent recap, chairo. Missed the show last night (Order of the Phoenix at the IMAX took precedence, and I didn't get home to set the VCR), and I feel all caught up now.