Masterchef (CA) - General Discussion

[cooksdelight]

There was another episode on, just the other day at a weird time, so I'm surprised I caught it. I didn't get it from the very beginning, but Line was there, looking like nothing ever happened. I think the guy's name is Cody who won the first challenge which was to create a pizza.... and he got to pick the ingredient they were to use in the elimination challenge. Choice of truffles, lobster and a fish I don't remember. He picked truffles.... and opted to compete, instead of going to the balcony. THAT was stupid as hell, as it turns out. He wasn't eliminated, but he came damn close.

[susannot]

Right, Cody won the mystery box challenge with pizza.  He then got to choose what ingredients his competitors would cook with.  He chose truffles.  He loved cooking with truffles so much that he decided to cook instead of taking immunity.  His arrogance then did him in and he proceeded to cook a dish that was described as a "trainwreck" and contained beef, beets, bitter arugula, plus black and white truffle oil and finally, truffles.  Judges: I don't understand why you used truffle oil when you had actual truffles.

 

However, another contestant was eliminated.  He had the right idea in preparing eggs which go well with truffles, but his egg was sadly hanging off the side of the plate.

Edited November 22, 2015 by susannot

[cooksdelight]

The guy eliminated was the one I liked, who looked like a nice guy.... a little messy and lost in the kitchen, but he was kind. I am bad with names, sorry.

[susannot]

Binge-watching 3 in a row on Sat. evening.  First--pizza challenge: Kevin eliminated on truffle pressure test.   Second--poutine challenge: Kwasi eliminated on tortellini pressure test. He said, pointing to his huge hands: "no way are these hands making something delicate like tortellini."  He was right.  The judges did not like his N. African flavors very much. and his tortellini were poorly formed.  Third--birthday cake challenge:  John eliminated on odd-couple salmon and licorice pressure test.  He did not get licorice sauce on the plate.  Everything else was perfect.  Sad.

 

PS:  if anyone cares, David is my pick for the win.

Edited November 22, 2015 by susannot

[caci]

I thought John was saved and the one blonde woman was sent home. However, I was flipping channels back and forth and may have missed something.

Edited November 24, 2015 by caci

[susannot]

You are correct!  Blonde Kristen was eliminated, not John.  I must have fallen asleep/passed out.

[susannot]

Double elimination challenge in French fruit tart cook-off.  Cody and Andrew eliminated.  Cody was a smug asshole who claimed he knew everything about French cooking.  I liked Andrew, though.

 

David and Lynn had the best dishes.  Those two are great cooks.

[cooksdelight]

I bet Cody is wishing he had saved himself a few episodes ago, instead of taking on the truffle challenge. He was pompous, no doubt. I am glad Jon was saved, I love an underdog.

[Bella]

I was impressed with Michael's leadership of the Red Team - I wasn't expecting him to be such a good manager. He also chose well. I won't miss Cody.

[shok]

 

I won't miss Cody.

 

Hee hee.

[susannot]

I think David is running away with this thing.

[mjc570]

I just watched the episode with Graham and the snail/conch challenge.  Wow, I just cannot understand why they sent Tammy home instead of Jennifer.  

Another mystery to me:  Michael, the gap between his smugness and reality.  For a guy who presents himself as stylish, he produces some of the clunkiest plates around.  His plate fore Graham was awful (was that a waffle?), which I guess is why his food does not get a lot of camera time.  While his use of the conch shell to contain his seviche was clever, that fried thing on the other side of the plate was hideous. 

 

Edit:  I think you're right about David, although I also like Christopher. 

Edited December 2, 2015 by mjc570

[cooksdelight]

Is it a Canadian thing to pronounce conch with the CH prominent at the end? And "conches"??? Down here, we call them KONK and KONKS. That's what the locals call them in the Bahamas also.

I want Michael and his little hat-head hair to go. He reminds me of a guy I had a bad date with once. UGH

I also want Line gone, her voice drives me nuts.

[cooksdelight]

Nooooooooo!! I loved Jon. Dammit.....

[Rammchick]

To me, those were welks. Conchs are something completely different.

Yay, Cody is back. Ugh.

[cooksdelight]

Did you see Line turn her head away and not clap when the 3 guys came in, especially Cody? She cannot stand him, and now she's stuck with him for at least another week.

[mjc570]

Ugh, I can't believe all the kudos Jennifer got in the seafood mousse challenge!    It was her own fault she forgot the eggs, and if it hadn't been for judge Michael calming her down, she would have completely melted down.   I almost feel that she got an unfair advantage, since, as far as I'm concerned, she should have had to deal with her mistake herself.

 

I was very sorry to see Jon go, he seems like such a likable guy who was able to move past the grill master role.   Not as sorry as I was to see Cody's smirk back, though.

[mauras]

I'm still reeling from Tammy being eliminated instead of the awful, untalented Jennifer. When I saw that they were bringing back eliminated chefs, I was sure Tammy would be among them...but no, we get Cody (ugh), along with Kevin and Andrew, both of whom I liked.and Cody stays. Ugggghhhh.

At the beginning, I thought Jon would be annoying, but he won me over with his attitude and cooking chops. Sorry to see him go. I loved that he picked Sabrina to win--she's my pick too, and I think the others underestimate her.

[shok]

 

I won't miss Cody.

 

Hee hee.

 

Sorry for laughing at you guys a month ago but I couldn't help it knowing what was coming up on the show.  It's still hard to bite my tongue about what's going to happen but I'm going to enjoy your reaction to it.  *snerk*

[susannot]

I also want Line gone, her voice drives me nuts.

Me too; she sounds like Sarah Palin.  However, she can definitely cook.  To me, her seafood mousse looked the most perfect.  I guess Christopher's tasted better.

[MajorWoody]

Once again, this episode proved when it comes to keeping a character over a normal person, the character almost always stays. Michaels plate looked worse than his hairdo, but I knew they would claim his plate o' slop tasted wonderful. John's plate looked better, but he did have some issues. But Michaels plate was basically soup,and totally at odds with the other contestants presentations. Line might be a good cook, but she has repeatedly shown that she is lacking class and is very annoying. The preview for next week shows a female contestant taking a header to the floor, and it appears that it is Line going on the disabled list once more.

The returning contestant challenge also was not too impressive. Kevin, nice guy that he is, presented a terrible trio. His omelette did not look good at all contrary to the malarkey they said, his poached egg was a disaster, and his soft boiled was decent at best. Andrew had the best looking dishes, but it seemed Cody was who they wanted. Interesting that they didn't have any female contestants on 2nd chance.

Edited December 11, 2015 by MajorWoody

[mauras]

Oh, thank heavens, Jennifer is gone.

[backgroundnoise]

The judges didn't talk about or even taste any of the scones on the tray.  Was that part of the challenge?

[susannot]

Oh, thank heavens, Jennifer is gone.

I fail to understand why she couldn't make whipped cream.  "It just wouldn't whip."  Really?  If it was actually cream, and you were using a stand mixer, it would have whipped.  The only thing I can think of is that she got rattled and used milk.

[beverlyoc]

The judges didn't talk about or even taste any of the scones on the tray.  Was that part of the challenge?

I wondered the same thing.  We didn't see them making the scones either, so I guess they were provided.

[Bella]

I always assume that the judges taste everything and that the actual judging lasts far longer than what we see on TV. If low-drama tasting cuts into the story line, production won't show us the tasting.

[cooksdelight]

Scones are like biscuits. Do them right and they're delicious. Do them wrong and they are bricks. I was really surprised they weren't tasted at all. Nor do I remember seeing anyone making them.

[susannot]

Re-watching the English tea challenge while waiting for new episode.  I'm really amazed at the level of skill on display.  Could anyone on American MasterChef have accomplished this challenge?

 

I've attempted many times to make choux for profiteroles.  It is not easy.

[susannot]

Fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans!  Is to die for.

[mjc570]

FInally, Jennifer is gone.  That tea challenge was insane.  I'm not sure if I liked the tag team approach - it really ratcheted up the stress and intensity, which was interesting to watch, but I really felt for the cooks. 

 

I like Line a lot, but she is the absolute worst person at picking team members (for the restaurant takeover).  Sabrina and Michael over Christopher and David?  Wow.  Speaking of restaurant takeovers, I was amazed that the "home cooks" managed to do so well.  Those plates looked wonderful. 

 

I don't know why they even had the elimination, it was obvious that Michael would be going home rather than Line or Sabrina. The undercooked leg made it easy. although it looked like his gravy was a fail, too.  

 

I try not to comment on contestants' appearance or personality, but I really hate Sabrina.  I don't think it is a case of editing, she seems smug and arrogant to me.  To be fair, though, she was right about the restaurant plating.  I had to laugh how taken aback she was when Michael didn't like her gravy.

[Rammchick]

Sabrina is a mean girl and a bully. We've seen her behave that way a few times now. She was simply awful to Jennifer. She may have been right about Line but surely there are better ways of getting your point across. I have to say, I was pleased to see her taken down a peg.

[cattykit]

 

I like Line a lot, but she is the absolute worst person at picking team members (for the restaurant takeover).  Sabrina and Michael over Christopher and David?  Wow.  Speaking of restaurant takeovers, I was amazed that the "home cooks" managed to do so well.  Those plates looked wonderful. 

 

I think it would be amazing if people without restaurant experience could work the line at an iHOP, much less at a fine dining establishment.  It's hard enough for Top Chef cheftestants, who are all chefs, to manage the line during Restaurant Wars. 

 

Line's personality doesn't bother me as much as it did in the early challenges, but her orange skin and Palin-esque accent still drive me crazy.

[WescottF1]

Line's personality doesn't bother me as much as it did in the early challenges, but her orange skin and Palin-esque accent still drive me crazy.

 

Agreed.  I think Sabrina's quite pretty but her accent?  Not so much.

[cooksdelight]

I'm glad Michael is gone. I didn't like him from the beginning.

[susannot]

Cody's crepes look too thick. He or Christopher--out.

Christopher's pork patty--NOT.  It was too dry.  Do not cut the fat off your meat.or else run bacon through with your ground pork.

I can only say that I want to eat David's food. That dessert looked divine.

Edited December 30, 2015 by susannot

[cooksdelight]

Why on earth does Cody compete wearing a tweed jacket? He's frazzled enough as it is....I would think that would just make it worse.

[susannot]

Both Linn and Sabrina's desserts looked divine.  Congrats to them both for being great chefs.

[mauras]

I so wanted it to be Sabrina and David in the final. Sabrina is a little too cocky, but she's so talented--more creative than Line, and though Line is obviously an excellent cook, I felt like she barely squeaked through a few times, so she was lucky to get all the way to the semifinal. I'm okay with either Line or David winning, but I also don't care as much about the outcome now.

[cooksdelight]

I'm just glad Cody was ousted so we don't have to see him wearing his sport jacket under his chef's coat.

[Lamb18]

Congratulations to David! I was hoping Line would win, but David was deserving. At least the final two were decent people and good cooks.

[backgroundnoise]

It sounded like they both brought their A game for the finale.  I would have been happy with either one winning.  Line was quite imaginative with her plating.  David's dessert looked a little strange with that slab of meringue(?) sitting there on the roll of ?  I couldn't figure out where the lemon was in that. 

 

Olives and chocolate are not two tastes I would think go together.

Edited January 13, 2016 by backgroundnoise

[mjc570]

I've been on Team Line (since Tammy left) for a while, because I totally like her as a person, and I think she really showed tremendous improvement in her cooking - the cooking itself, as well as her plating, clearly evolved.  I liked David, too, and think he is an excellent cook who deserved to win, but I didn't see all that much improvement in his cooking, because he was so good to start with. 

I thought Line made a HUGE mistake with her "magical forest" - it was so gimmicky to me, didn't look good to eat and really diluted her attention from the rest of the plate.  I think if she had picked something else for the main course, she might have won.

Did they really have separate cheering sections for Line and David?

[susannot]

I thought Line's dessert was a big fail, though individual components looked good, like the mascarpone mousse.  When I order dessert, I want a cohesive dish,not a bunch of random items on a plate.

 

Congrats David. I thought he would win almost from day one.  He really stood out the whole season.

[mauras]

I thought Line's dessert was a big fail, though individual components looked good, like the mascarpone mousse.  When I order dessert, I want a cohesive dish,not a bunch of random items on a plate.

 

Congrats David. I thought he would win almost from day one.  He really stood out the whole season.

I completely agree--it seemed very close for the first two rounds, and then Line's dessert sunk her. David's dessert sounded like much more of a "wow."

I would have been fine with Line winning. She kept getting stronger and stronger throughout the season, which was cool to watch. But I think David was just a notch above everyone else all season, and he earned the win.

[Singingflutist]

No season 3 discussion? It started being air yesterday

[The Crazed Spruce]

It premiered this past weekend, so let's talk about it!

[xcrayon2215x]

Glad to see this show back. So far I like Terry and Vince, I could see Veronica be grating later on.

[xcrayon2215x]

Glad to see this show back, Alvin seems a little harsher this season. I like Terry and Vince so far, Veronica could end up grating later on.

[Ciarrai]

I already really dislike Veronica. I'm sure she'll make the final 14, but I hope she crashes and burns quickly after not having years to perfect a recipe.

[Singingflutist]

I really liked Vince and Terry too