Beat Bobby Flay - General Discussion

[Ancaster]

I'm staying in a hotel,  so I have no idea how old this episode is, but one cook who just boasted of having worked at the French Laundry made what he proudly called Toad in the Hole.  Sorry mate. What you made was a piece of  bread with a hole in it and a fried egg in the hole.  Maybe somebody who knows him watched this and was able to take him down a peg or two.

[Bastet]

I just realized I never finished the holiday episodes, so picked up where I left off.  I didn't care for the frosted episode, so barely paid attention, but I liked the Feast of Seven Fishes episode a lot. 

I've had the squid ink calamari Antonia made in the first round at her restaurant and it's delicious, so I'm not surprised she won, and she might well have even if Christian had properly cooked his pasta; it sounds really simple, and it is, but it doesn't taste like everyone else's calamari.  I love her helping him plate so he'd finish in time. 

Michael Symon was talking a little more trash in the second round than he usually does with anyone other than Bobby, so that was fun in the second round.  So was Bobby saying let Antonia have Michael in the final round, because he's whiny for a while after he loses.

The food in that final round had me drooling, but I most wanted to eat Antonia's so I'm glad she won.

I wanted all the food in the first two rounds of the last episode.  I don't love caviar, but I like it, and would happily consume both first round dishes, especially Brooke's.  And I'm with her that the meat needs to be cooked on the bone, but a steak that thick in such a short amount of time??  She's as great a competitor as she is a chef, so I figured coming into the second round she had this in the bag against a guy who never competes, but there was just no way she was going to get that cooked properly, so that was a rare error in judgment from her.

The final round, though, not my jam.  I love salmon (I don't love the color of poached salmon, but the flavor of salmon any which way is great), but I hate latkes (because I hate potatoes) and I don't much care for chicken liver.  Andrew's salmon and, especially, his grandma's sauce sounded great.  The broth with Bobby's sounded really good, too, I would just prefer the green sauce from Andrew.  I'd try both chicken liver dishes and be surprised if I liked one or both.  I obviously wouldn't eat either latke, but Andrew's looked better.

[AZChristian]

Just watched the 3/14 episode.  Michael Voltaggio looked different - actually smiling broadly several times, and looks less gaunt than usual.  Both good changes!

[Bastet]

I'm glad you posted, as I didn't realize a new season had started -- I haven't come across any commercials for it while watching ToC (the only thing I've been watching on FN lately) and it's not on Discovery+.  So I just watched the three episodes that have aired so far via the regular Discovery app.

The one with English peas in the first round and steak Oscar in the second was possibly the least suspenseful episode I've seen.  The editors didn't even try to disguise that neither round was close.

I loved the second one, with jicama in the first round and moquecas in the second.  I was really impressed with what both challengers did with jicama -- very creative.  I use it in salads and slaws, but that's about it, and mostly for texture because of its bland flavor.  So I'd have been at a loss to make it the star of a dish.  And I love moquecas (I won't order them anymore, though, as I avoid palm oil as much as I can), so I'm glad the challenger's traditional version won.

The one with the mentor vs. protege did not do it for me in the first round with the dueling bean toasts, as I hate beans, but OMG I wanted both shrimp tostones in the second round.  Especially Bobby's, so I figured he was going to win.

[Bastet]

I like dandelion greens, but don't use them a lot so have only ever sauteed them, made a salad with them, and used them in a pesto, so I laughed that the last two are the ways the contestants went -- a lot of times, they make things I wouldn't have thought of.

Kaleena is currently on Top Chef, and she won Beachside Brawl the first season, so she's making the rounds.  She was my favorite on Brawl, so I was rooting for her here (especially now that I know she suffers from anxiety, since I do too).  Melissa showcased the greens more, but clearly Kaleena's was the much better dish, so they were going to go with her.

Both seafood boils looked great, but I thought they both made mistakes with their sauces, especially Bobby.  I disagree with the judge who criticized Kaleena for including andouille, so was glad she won.

[HappyDancex2]

Manny from the latest season of Top Chef was just on BBF.  I was really quite surprised that he didn’t win the preheat given his pedigree.  But then I thought maybe Katie Lee didn’t put him thru because he is a top cheffer lol and Carson Kressley shouldn’t even be a food judge.  I wish he would have made an aquachile just for old times sake.

[chessiegal]

5 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Carson Kressley shouldn’t even be a food judge.

They have plenty of initial "judges" who are celebrities with no connection to the food world. That's nothing new or unusual.

[KLovestoShop]

I absolutely despise Demaris.  She’s such a big mouth show off with all her immature antics.  It’s obvious she thinks very highly of herself  

 

 

[MerBearHou]

Fun tonight with Ina as guest judge on BBF.  Aarti, Amanda, Duff competing.  Great atmosphere.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.  

[Grizzly]

I loved how awed they all were by Ina. Felt bad for her when she had no one to talk to at the judge's table and had to speak right to the camera. Always kind of satisfying when the chef not chosen in the final round is the reason Bobby wins. Aarti with her spices made a great dish.

[HappyDancex2]

These holiday episodes are cute and entertaining.  Can’t wait for the reruns!  Looks like I missed some good competitions.

[AZChristian]

12 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

These holiday episodes are cute and entertaining.  Can’t wait for the reruns!  Looks like I missed some good competitions.

Scott Conant had me laughing so hard!

[Grizzly]

5 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Scott Conant had me laughing so hard!

Love me some Scottie. And the ballet dancers were pretty good.

[Bastet]

I love the holiday throwdowns for the interaction among the FN family of chefs.

I LOL at Christian getting shit throughout for his cranberry carbonara disaster.  And at everyone freaking out over Ina, and Bobby saying "This is what you do to people" and that she's the person he is most asked about.

I love Adrienne (one of my favorite Top Chef cheftestants), so was glad to hear her get her props (from Eddie) that she's the reason Bobby won, as her cabbage gratin is what the judges all raved about.

I hate both shepherds pie and pumpkin pie, so that final round didn't do it for me, but Aarti's flavors in Bobby's shepherds pie sounded really good -- if not for the potatoes, I'd have tried that one.  Like Adrienne, she's the reason he won -- the judges preferred Amanda's pumpkin pie, but the shepherds pie on Bobby's side was so good it gave him the win.

I despise Scott Conant's wage-thieving ass, but I love Tiffany and Tiffani so that was fun.  Their other two sides in the final round were what I most wanted to eat.

[Grizzly]

The problem with these holiday eps is the chef I like the best ends up cooking with Bobby. So I end up rooting for Bobby. 

[Salacious Kitty]

I haven't seen last night's episode yet, but I understand Bobby won, so he swept the season. That's not fun. 

[Bastet]

I hate Geoffrey Zakarian's wage-stealing ass, too (what is it with Chopped hiring judges who don't pay their employees?), so I was very happy for Bobby to win that one, even though it meant rooting against Antonia, which I'm not sure I've ever done before.  I cracked up at all the commentary about that really being a win for Jet, since he did all the work.

[Bastet]

I almost noped out of the last episode, as Jeff and Damaris both annoy me, but then Eric came out and I had to stick around.  I did make my drink a double, though, and it seemed to work.

My dad grew up with the black-eyed peas tradition on New Year's Day, and my mom - who does almost all the cooking as she's so much better at it than him - is nice enough to make them for him each year even though she hates them, but I hate them, too (I've never met a bean I didn't hate, other than edamame).  So the first round did nothing for me in terms of the food (even visually; no one got presentation points that round).  At least Eric won.

The second round, I was going to be happy no matter who won -- I always root for Brooke, but if Eric has the better dish, I'm in no way going to be disappointed.  Crab, I love, and I really wanted Brooke's dish.  I hate egg yolks, so Eric's bernaise wasn't speaking to me -- although I admit I've never tried it, and maybe it has enough other flavors in it (unlike hollandaise) I could tolerate it -- but his dish was very appealing visually, it just didn't scream "crab!"

I understand Brooke's strategy in choosing Damaris, but I'd have liked to see her and Eric work together.  I did laugh at "Eric and his sous Flay".  I wanted all the food in that final round, so was glad to hear it was a split decision and for one judge the closest ever.