Bella January 10, 2015 Share January 10, 2015 Chef Anne and Chef Tyler test the Recruits' knowledge of food, putting the teams head to head in an effort to gain recipe steps through food trivia. As the Recruits attempt to cut down the competition, they learn and execute knife skills to prepare their dishes. They all make Paella, some ending up with fewer bandages than others. Link to comment
Lillybee January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I hope that Stephanie quickly recovers from what ever ails her. I thought that she was very sweet. 2 Link to comment
howmanywords January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 Argh the stupidity. You dont eat salad, havent had a vegetable since the 70's, but you mix mayo and ketchup for your own thousand island dressing? Ugh. Link to comment
erikdepressant January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I was enraged when "Anne" cut Susie. Viewers must want imitation Jerry Lewis instead of sweet & boring. Link to comment
VillaVillekulla January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I did a little bit of googling and it looks like Stephanie did actually get food poisoning (from food someone else made, not something she made), if her Twitter feed is to be believed. Of course she might be joking, but that's what I could find. Link to comment
GaT January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 (edited) I must have looked away (from boredom), because the first I was aware that Stephanie wasn't there was when Tyler said that she was too sick to continue. Did they spend a lot of time on telling us that? Dear Food Network; I just thought I would drop you a little note to let you know that if you want there to be some suspense about who in your "reality" show is being eliminated, then it is probably not a good idea to show previews for next week's show highlighting one of the people who are supposedly up for elimination before this week's eliminations have been shown. Just a little suggestion. XXXXXXOOOOOO Love, someone who wants to smack you up the side of the head. Edited January 13, 2015 by GaT 8 Link to comment
Lamb18 January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I didn't notice Stephanie was gone until the end, too, when Tyler announced she was leaving. What I have noticed is that the ordinary people - the ones who might not be actors, etc. - are the ones leaving first. It makes me think that the ordinary people really are the worst cooks while the out of work actors are just playing bad cooks. I liked learning about the knife cuts, especially for onions. 1 Link to comment
backformore January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I think "I haven't eaten a vegetable since the 70's" is supposed to be part of a comedy "act". Not very funny, not intended to be a statement of fact. The show is almost unwatchable because of all the aspiring comics who can't get on TV any other way. 2 Link to comment
AngelKitty January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 Watching these people handle knives made me surprised more of them didn't cut themselves. 2 Link to comment
howmanywords January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 I did a little bit of googling and it looks like Stephanie did actually get food poisoning (from food someone else made, not something she made), if her Twitter feed is to be believed. Of course she might be joking, but that's what I could find. I looked at her Twitter today and it doesnt look like she's joking. If you look at the responses she gives to a friend of hers she actually sounds kind of pissed about how the producers handled it because she mentions how they didnt bother to mention that they sequestered her to an offsite location for hours so she can "hydrate" and that while she was puking they didnt seem to care at all and told her to leave the show while she was still at this off site location. Link to comment
Bella January 12, 2015 Author Share January 12, 2015 Ick - I don't like reading about that kind of attitude by the producers. It also sounds like they don't have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong with the cast. Nothing like "eliminate no one this week and two from each team next week," etc. Granted, there's probably expense involved, but there are higher principles than just money, too. Link to comment
cattykit January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 Am I the only one who was just a teensy bit bothered by having each of these people make a giant pan of paella, from which Anne and Tyler took exactly one bite? Not that they made great food, but still a tremendous amount of waste. There's every reason for a wannabe to pretend not to be able to cook, and then miraculously be transformed. That's never been adequately forestalled. You would think that after all these seasons and four different male chefs against the now insufferable Anne Burrell, they could consider making some changes in the format. Like letting the truly worst cooks stay and get better--maybe offer some incentive for winning? And when they pull out yet again, midway in the competition, the "advantage" of winning a team challenge which constitutes swapping out their weakest competition on the team and adding their strongest competitor, I may lose my lunch faster than if I had to eat anything they made. I can't believe I ever was a big fan of Anne's. No mas. 2 Link to comment
lilacgirl January 12, 2015 Share January 12, 2015 Am I the only one who was just a teensy bit bothered by having each of these people make a giant pan of paella, from which Anne and Tyler took exactly one bite? Not that they made great food, but still a tremendous amount of waste. There's every reason for a wannabe to pretend not to be able to cook, and then miraculously be transformed. That's never been adequately forestalled. You would think that after all these seasons and four different male chefs against the now insufferable Anne Burrell, they could consider making some changes in the format. Like letting the truly worst cooks stay and get better--maybe offer some incentive for winning? And when they pull out yet again, midway in the competition, the "advantage" of winning a team challenge which constitutes swapping out their weakest competition on the team and adding their strongest competitor, I may lose my lunch faster than if I had to eat anything they made. I can't believe I ever was a big fan of Anne's. No mas. I too was shocked on the size each person made. Hopefully they fed the crew with all that food. This season is so wacky. I wish they would let people cook and not act silly so much. If this show returns for another season, I may not watch the first episode. I miss how they did the first 2 season. 1 Link to comment
howmanywords January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 Here is her Twitter btw if anyone wants to take a look or tweet her. Yeah this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth too. The only thing the situation does do is make believe that some of this bad cooking has to be real for someone to actually cook something that caused food poisoning. Link to comment
grisgris January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 I have a very hard time believing that Sarah (on Tyler's team) is only 33 and doesn't know how to cook at all. The captions say that she's an "art teacher." Hopefully, not to kids. She sure loves the wine. Link to comment
NikSac January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 I liked learning about the knife cuts, especially for onions. I did too. I haven't tried that yet but onions are my nemesis even though I'm a fairly decent cook, at least according to my family and friends. I haven't tried the technique yet but I'll have to give it a shot. I've also always kinda sucked at mise-en-place. I am a "clean as you go" and "as little cleanup as possible" cook which I am starting to realize might be really slowing me down and explain why something takes me 3 hours that should take 1, so I'm going to give it a try. I'm enjoying learning new tricks from this show, especially since I never expected it. I'm glad there are useful tips in between the caricature comedy skits. On a separate note the guy (forgot his name) who was talking about cutting with the dull knives because it was safer? Yikes! Link to comment
NikSac January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 Am I the only one who was just a teensy bit bothered by having each of these people make a giant pan of paella, from which Anne and Tyler took exactly one bite? Not that they made great food, but still a tremendous amount of waste. This bothers me a lot on many of the cooking shows, but no, you weren't the only one bothered on this one. I really, really hope they give the food to the crew, or homeless, or whoever might want it. I really hope all that wasted food goes to a good cause instead of into the trash. I was thinking that for this particular challenge maybe the quantities given in the recipe and the method for making the crispy rice 'crust' on the bottom may have required this much quantity, but I still hope it went to someone who needed or wanted the uneaten food. Here is her Twitter btw if anyone wants to take a look or tweet her. Yeah this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth too. The only thing the situation does do is make believe that some of this bad cooking has to be real for someone to actually cook something that caused food poisoning. Except... why was she the only one who ate it? Or is she just the only one who got food poisoning? Don't get me wrong I feel very bad for her, and I tend to be that person who gets food poisoning in a group when almost no one else does so I get it, but I thought it was strange. Link to comment
phoenix780 January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 It also sounds like they don't have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong with the cast. Nothing like "eliminate no one this week and two from each team next week," etc. Granted, there's probably expense involved, but there are higher principles than just money, too. It would be nice if they added an online competition so someone could conceivably cook their way back in, not just for situations like this. Other shows do it, why not one that's supposed to celebrate improvement (though I realize it's mostly about laughing at incompetence, hence challenges like, "get the question right and we'll show you a step in the recipe" instead of, y'know, just doing a demo)? They could also do a point system, like on their show with the kids. Although...the other side of FN is sob stories. If this show weren't the way it is, it would probably more of that. Would that be any better? Also- I just realized that I watch way too much of their programming. That's...terrifying. About the wasted food- I emailed FN a few months back after seeing one of their ads encouraging me to donate to their anti-hunger charity. I suggested they maybe look at the amount they seem to throw away along with asking viewers for money, because it does seem like they're tossing a lot. 2 Link to comment
NikSac January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 About the wasted food- I emailed FN a few months back after seeing one of their ads encouraging me to donate to their anti-hunger charity. I suggested they maybe look at the amount they seem to throw away along with asking viewers for money, because it does seem like they're tossing a lot. Yeah I've had a problem for a long time with many of their shows and wasted food. Their latest "No Kid Hungry" campaign drove me nuts because I was thinking "so feed the kids even half of what doesn't get eaten on your shows!" Between all the shows and the half-a-bite bites the judges take, plus all the wasted pantry ingredients, they've got to throw away a ton of food. I enjoy the shows obviously, and I support the idea of "No Kid Hungry," but the two just seriously don't fit together to me unless they're putting all that leftover food to good use. Link to comment
chessiegal January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 I saw a little clip awhile back showing a FN employee driving unused food to a local food bank. I think it might have been when they were doing weekly Iron Chef shows. 1 Link to comment
Bella January 13, 2015 Author Share January 13, 2015 I've also always kinda sucked at mise-en-place. I am a "clean as you go" and "as little cleanup as possible" cook which I am starting to realize might be really slowing me down and explain why something takes me 3 hours that should take 1, so I'm going to give it a try. I'm enjoying learning new tricks from this show, especially since I never expected it. I'm glad there are useful tips in between the caricature comedy skits. I started doing mis-en-place when I had a tiny kitchen, about the size of a walk-in closet. I would prep everything first, clean for space, then cook. It really does make everything go faster. Now that I have a normal-sized kitchen, I'll do the prep early just to have everything in one spot. There's also the concept of the "magic triangle" (or something like that) of the stove, refrigerator, and sink. You'll be moving among those three while you cook, so your prep space should be somewhere in there. This is why large kitchens are often so inefficient, btw. Right now, my best prep space is with the refrigerator behind me, the dining room to my right, the stove to my left, and the sink a bit further to the left. That's not a triangle, though it does make serving easier, so gathering everything I need beforehand is even more important, since my best storage space is above the sink. I saw a little clip awhile back showing a FN employee driving unused food to a local food bank. I think it might have been when they were doing weekly Iron Chef shows. I have to think this is standard. We viewers can't be the only ones appalled by waste. 1 Link to comment
Lizzing January 13, 2015 Share January 13, 2015 Not to go too far OT, but I was glad to learn that the unused groceries on Guy's Grocery Games do go to charity. I know Fieri is reviled in most parts, but food going to food kitchens is nice. Back on topic, did anyone else wonder how the younger gal from NOLA made those clean knife cuts through the avocado seed? I know how to treat avocados, as I'm not an idiot. But to slice through the seed? That's either a super strong knife or some crazy strength! 5 Link to comment
RockShrimp January 14, 2015 Share January 14, 2015 Argh the stupidity. You dont eat salad, havent had a vegetable since the 70's, but you mix mayo and ketchup for your own thousand island dressing? Ugh. But that is how you make thousand island (plus relish). I was more annoyed that they made a vinaigrette for a Cobb salad. Obviously they wanted them to make an emulsion, but that's plain wrong. 1 Link to comment
howmanywords January 14, 2015 Share January 14, 2015 Ha I know,but what I rolled my eyes over was the fact that he even makes any type of salad dressing in the first place despite never eating salad or vegetables. 3 Link to comment
JunebugTx January 14, 2015 Share January 14, 2015 Back on topic, did anyone else wonder how the younger gal from NOLA made those clean knife cuts through the avocado seed? I know how to treat avocados, as I'm not an idiot. But to slice through the seed? That's either a super strong knife or some crazy strength! My thought was, "Wow, she must be using a really sharp knife!" Link to comment
Fostersmom January 17, 2015 Share January 17, 2015 The obsession with their knife cuts is already annoying. Sure, teach them to make sure things are going to cook in the same amount of time, but seriously, these are come cooks, not chefs. I don't know of many home cooks who agonize over making sure every single potato cube is the exact same sized dice. 1 Link to comment
Lillybee January 17, 2015 Share January 17, 2015 But that is how you make thousand island (plus relish). I was more annoyed that they made a vinaigrette for a Cobb salad. Obviously they wanted them to make an emulsion, but that's plain wrong. He probably used that thousand island dressing as a fry sauce. Link to comment
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