Just when I thought that damned red neck scarf is gone, the remaining chefs decided to wear them in honor of Mattin, the French chef who couldn't cook French food. All of the chefs seemed a bit bitter that Mattin went home last week and felt that Robin should have gone home instead. Now, not that I particularly care about Robin, but Mattin never really proved his place on the show either, so I don't get why the chefs are so down on Robin this week
Onto the Quickfire Challenge - this week without the high stakes. Michelle Bernstein (who I am actually quite fond of) was guest judge, and the chefs were asked to make a duo representing the angel versus demon. Padma gave them a huge clue by suggesting that a good idea would be to pair a healthy, "angelic" food with more demon-like food, i.e. one that is tasty but not so good for you. With the way they were featuring Robin at the beginning of the episode, my initial guess was either she was going to tank or soar in this challenge.
The results: Robin won the Quickfire for listening to Padma and creating a healthy/unhealthy duo of arugula salad and apple crisp. She gave some explanation about how when she was diagnosed with cancer she couldn't eat the foods she wanted (like apple crisp) and had to learn to create tasty, healthy dishes (like arugula salad). Eli, also in the top for his brown butter scallop (which looked more like baked beans), made a snarky comment about how she won for pulling the cancer card. Michael was also in the top while his brother, Bryan (I still can barely tell them apart) was in the bottom three for a tragic-looking white/dark dessert duo. Ash, who couldn't get his custard to set (didn't he just have the same problem with ice cream?) and Laurine rounded out the bottom three.
Penn and Teller were introduced as guests before the elimination challenge was announced. They did a magic trick, which was good fun (I really love Penn and Teller), but I am getting a bit sick of their shameless self-promotion on several of the shows I watch... OK, I'm not sick of it at all. I kind of love it.
The chefs were told that they had to deconstruct a classic dish. They pulled knives with dishes like fish and chips, shepherd's pie, lasagna, and so on. Ron pulled the paella knife and a sharp, nasty pain in my side brought up horrible memories of Season 2 winner Ilan. Gag me - and they haven't even cooked yet.
While prepping Bryan called his brother Michael a show-off because he chose to bake his own bread. I really enjoy the bitchy competition between the two of them! Jennifer seemed like she might cry because classically trained chefs apparently can't cook meat lasagna (?!?). Eli made more snarky comments, this time about Ron, and I started to wonder what gives him the right when he hasn't won a single challenge yet.
Back at the house the chefs picked on Robin some more -- especially Laurine, who was angry because Robin wouldn't "shut the f*ck up" in the kitchen. Rochester girl's got some bite! Kevin and Eli tried to council Ron on how to deconstruct paella. As usual, Ron looked totally befuddled.
Toby Young was back and the show, simulating the Quickfire challenge that kicked off the show by first giving us guest judge Michelle Bernstein (always an angel) and now the demon, er, devil himself: Toby Young.
Michael and Jersey Mike served first. Michael deconstructed Caesar salad by serving encapsulated dressing that "oozes" onto your lettuce; Mike had eggs Florentine (he didn't know what it was) and made an egg emulsion - two words I am pretty sure should never go together. The judges liked Michael's take on the Caesar salad but didn't care for the barfy emulsion. Laurine and Bryan served next: Bryan made a tuna Reuben and Laurine made fish and chips (which was really just poached instead of fried). The judges liked Bryan, not so much Laurine. Jennifer and Ash were up next: Ash made Shepherd's pie without mashed potatoes (what?) and practically raw lamb chops while Jennifer, after all her worrying, actually impressed the judges with her deconstructed meat lasagna. Ron and Eli went next. Ron had trouble "crisping his rice," but served it on time; regardless, the judges felt the rice was dry and not crispy enough. Eli deconstructed sweet and sour pork and the judges liked it, except that Toby felt it looked like bull testicles. Padma jumped in and corrected him (I love you, Padma) -- apparently bull testicles are much smaller. Ashley and Kevin served next: as expected, the judges loved Kevin's mole (in terms of screen time, he's really the unsuspecting winner of this whole show) and, unexpectedly, they also loved Ashley's deconstructed pot roast with carrot foam (yuck). Robin went last serving a fennel flan that was supposed to be deconstructed clam chowder. The judges compared it to congealed soup that sat out overnight.
Winners table: Jennifer, Kevin, Ashley, and Michael. The judges commended Jennifer for keeping it simple, but Kevin ended up winning for his mole. He really seemed to deserve it. And while I love the V. brothers, I was happy to see someone else win this week.
Losers table: Laurine, Ron, and Ash. No real surprises here. Ash was critiqued for his inconsistently cooked lamb chops; he defended himself by saying egotistically that he felt he could give all of the chefs a run for their money. Laurine admitted her faults before the judges had a chance to (again); she was mostly picked on for serving too few chips. Ron, who admitted that he had never deconstructed a dish, seemed to be the most likely to go home.
At the judges table, Michelle and Toby had a minor battle about how to correctly pronounce paella; Michelle actually stood up brilliantly to Toby - this round goes to the angels!
In the end, Ron was sent home. It really was his time, so I wasn't too upset with the outcome. Plus, I think the poor guy was getting more and more confused each episode, so it's probably best this way.
Next: I'd love to tell you what will happen next week, but my DVR cut out before the preview. You tell me in the comments below, please!