S02.E11: Fry Me A River

[DanaK]

Quote

The remaining chefs must elevate their dish by frying their entree; a process that proves difficult to many. No fast food allowed here, but rather the chef's must use the method of frying to take their dish to the next level. One chef faces the burden of the time token in the all-new "Fry Me A River" episode of Next Level Chef airing Thursday, April 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

 

[DanaK]

Tini eliminated. She has seemed to have a lot of trouble focusing, especially when picking items off the platform by her own admission. It adds to my thinking that she has some undiagnosed version of ADD or ADHD

[mertensia]

Not sad to see Tini go.

I'm not actually surprised that Pilar's mind got locked into her dish; I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen more often.

 

[KeithJ]

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

[tunajune]

Will not miss Tini mooning over Gordon's looks and "muscles."  Can't believe Chef Stretch served raw pork.  He's so beyond that. 

[KeithJ]

14 minutes ago, tunajune said:

Will not miss Tini mooning over Gordon's looks and "muscles."  Can't believe Chef Stretch served raw pork.  He's so beyond that. 

I won't miss her head tilting.  I don't know why but that really really bothered me.

[milkyaqua]

1 hour ago, KeithJ said:

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

I found that odd also.  And the plate looked much to clean after that toss.

Also adding to the chorus of those who won't miss Tini and knew Chef Stretch was going to the bottom when the judges saw that raw pork.  Are these folks not allowed to use a thermometer or know to insert a knife into the protein and check?

I wondered why Tucker didn't go for a paillard or schnitzel with her veal chop?  That thing was too big as it was to fry.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

My cooking capabilities are extremely first level chef. But I do know one thing for sure: if I'm going to cook pork, I'm going to err on overcooking it every single time. No pork tartare from me. So it's sad that Stretch didn't manage to figure that out. He started off strong but seems to be shrinking.

I'm also not sorry to see Tini go. 

 

2 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

Also adding to the chorus of those who won't miss Tini and knew Chef Stretch was going to the bottom when the judges saw that raw pork.  Are these folks not allowed to use a thermometer or know to insert a knife into the protein and check?

I want to say TIni did use a thermometer this episode and she cut into both her backup and actual pork. So Stretch could have done so as well.

[MMLEsq]

50 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

I wondered why Tucker didn't go for a paillard or schnitzel with her veal chop?  That thing was too big as it was to fry.

 

I wondered why Tucker didn't know about dredging her chop in flour before dipping it in eggs and then the coating/bread crumbs/whatever it was.  Her reaction to the suggestion seemed like she had never heard of that before.  Between that and Stretch's way undercooked pork, I'm kind of questioning the qualifications of some of the "professional" chefs.

[milkyaqua]

56 minutes ago, MMLEsq said:

I wondered why Tucker didn't know about dredging her chop in flour before dipping it in eggs and then the coating/bread crumbs/whatever it was.  Her reaction to the suggestion seemed like she had never heard of that before. 

I've actually been to restaurants where I wondered if they did that because I've had fried things where the coating fell apart as soon as I picked it up or put a fork to it.  It probably wouldn't have worked with that thick chop but she could have dredged in flour and then dipped it in the egg and fried it.

[Kaycee]

I knew Tini was the one to go.  She cooked her airline chicken in a skillet, not directly on the open flames like the other two chefs did. 

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Kaycee said:

I knew Tini was the one to go. 

And thank goodness.  I thought she'd never leave.  

6 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

I thought the same.  There couldn't have been much left after what we saw happen.  I was really annoyed that the producers expected viewers to believe that deception.

[jcbrown]

8 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I found that odd also.  And the plate looked much to clean after that toss.

Also adding to the chorus of those who won't miss Tini and knew Chef Stretch was going to the bottom when the judges saw that raw pork.  Are these folks not allowed to use a thermometer or know to insert a knife into the protein and check?

I wondered why Tucker didn't go for a paillard or schnitzel with her veal chop?  That thing was too big as it was to fry.

 

Agreed on all counts. That was a stunt plate, not the one she threw, and that is insulting to the viewers. Also thank goodness Tini is done. Get off my screen, unpleasant weirdo (nothing against weirdos--my best friends are weirdos, but not unpleasant ones). And I was also telling Tucker to make schnitzel. It was dumb of her not to break that meat down further. If there was a rule saying that was not allowed, it would have been nice to know.

[cmahorror]

Also not sad to see Tini go. The minute she used the pan on the grill, I knew she was done. You have a grilling challenge, they want that charcoal flavor and searing on the protein. A good chef can make a great meal with great ingredients. A great chef can take the most basic ingredients and create an incredible meal. Tini gave up when she got the chicken breast because it wasn't what she wanted to cook. Instead of looking for an opportunity to elevate it, she let the chicken get the best of her.

Again, the mentor gave up on her. Gordon should have been saying to her "Why are you putting the chicken in a pan for a grilling challenge?" Instead he let her do it without saying a word about it. Sure, he whispered encouragement but even he knew that he might as well stick a fork in Tini because was done.

[SHERMDOG]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:48 AM, KeithJ said:

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

OMG!!! I was thinking the same damn thing! Don't like her!! Lol!

[jabRI]

4 hours ago, SHERMDOG said:

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

I seem to recall Chef saying something like 'this is what i could salvage' when she presented it, which to me I thought put in a bit of effort to get it to a presentable point, which again, shenanigans.  I did not know 'airline chicken' was a thing and had to google it.  Yeah, she was pretty ridiculous pan frying on the grill heat.. sheez.  Next to go for me is Stretch then Tucker. I'd rather the more amateurs got a shot.   I like Omi and Pilar, I find them pretty down to earth.

[blackwing]

Good riddance to Gollum Tini. So funny that in last episode’s thread, I said that the finale was going to be Nuri, Tucker, Tini (one from each mentor) and then it this episode, all three were in the bottom.

Let me try to work my juju again and say… Chris will win because he’s the most awesome ever! Hahaha

I’m not a fan of pork tenderloin, I always find it dry, so I was happy to see that Toni’s was awful and dry.  
 

I found out that “airline chicken” isn’t because it’s fit for airplane meals, it’s a boneless breast with a drumette.  She acted like such a spoiled brat, disgusted she got it and just throwing the plate onto the counter.  Then she cut herself and lost more time, serves her right.  
 

it does seem a bit interesting that there is salmon, ribeye, and chicken.  I mean obviously chicken is the least desirable. Why wouldn’t they try and make things more fair?  Everyone gets salmon or everyone gets steak or everyone gets chicken.  But Tini is gone so good riddance

[oliviabenson]

Tini cooking videos are showing up on my Facebook. I don’t like it. I don’t like Tini. She is annoying and can’t cook.

That was not pillars plate. Producers suck for trying to trick us.

Nuri is not winning. He lost his winners edit.

Finally Tucker wasn’t mugging and smiling like a joker…

 

[gaPeach]

I finally got a chance to watch this and yes, Tini needed to go.  She did well at the beginning but has crashed and burned that last 3 weeks.  She did not handle losing out on the steak very well and spiraled downwards after that.

On 4/21/2023 at 12:14 PM, milkyaqua said:

I have to call a little bit of a foul on Pilar's dish.  There is no way that much of it survived her throwing it onto the platform.  If you watch closely you will see that her plate goes vertical after she threw it so, techincally, nothing of it survived the throw because it all fell off of it.

That plate did not have any food left on it when it hit the platform and slid down.  This show, like so many "competitive realty" shows are fixed.  Well, fixed to a point.  They obviously wanted Pilar to move forward regardless of her plate not making the platform.

And it was very obvious that Nyesha was pulling for Pilar vs Tucker.  She made no bones about it while they were cooking their dishes.  I think that can also throw a contestant off their game.  I like Tucker and hope she goes far.  Don't have a favorite to win yet.

Pilar taking the 10 seconds from Tucker really messed her up.