Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[cameron]

13 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

We've got a local resto called "Leftys".  They buy the lobsters that are culled out and sold cheap because they're missing a claw.  They pull out the body meat, mix with Ritz crackers & spice and stick it back in, then bake!  Heaven!  Just a few years ago, it was $18. for a whole lobster, sides and bread.  Up to $27. now,  but you still can't get a table on Fri/Sat nights.  It's not rocket science.

I thought Jamie's comment about Charleston SC being world famous for lobsters was far fetched.  I live there and believe me it isn't known for their lobsters.  But he does seem nice.

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, mertensia said:

What the hell is a tomahawk cut?

Thanks to the internet:

Quote

Tomahawk steak is a cut of beef ribeye that has five or more inches of extra rib bone for presentation purposes. It's called a "tomahawk" cut because the steak with the long bone resembles a single-handed axe. This particular cut of steak is also referred to as the "cowboy steak" or a "bone-in ribeye".

[Yeah No]

Ughhh, this show is so annoying!  While Renée is by far not my favorite, I think she did have a legitimate "beef" (groan) about being taken off the steak in favor of the guys.  I have been in a similar position more times than I can count and nothing gets under my skin more than that.  But they won and their steaks were generally done correctly, so at least we know the guys can cook.  Her hit or miss performance is probably why she wasn't chosen more than her gender.  I think she has more reason to be unhappy with the absence of the accent over her name on her apron than this.  

Was it me or did some of those steaks they glowed about look overdone for medium rare?  Some of them looked more like medium for me and not just the one that one of the judges pointed out was more like medium.  I just got the impression they were being harder on Wuta because of the fact that he messed up as team leader in the previous challenge.  His steak didn't look any more well done than some of those they said were fine.  I will agree that his plate did not look good, and the mistake of choosing hanger steak was unforgivable so I get it.

[cameron]

3 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Ughhh, this show is so annoying!  While Renée is by far not my favorite, I think she did have a legitimate "beef" (groan) about being taken off the steak in favor of the guys.  I have been in a similar position more times than I can count and nothing gets under my skin more than that.  But they won and their steaks were generally done correctly, so at least we know the guys can cook.  Her hit or miss performance is probably why she wasn't chosen more than her gender.  I think she has more reason to be unhappy with the absence of the accent over her name on her apron than this.  

Was it me or did some of those steaks they glowed about look overdone for medium rare?  Some of them looked more like medium for me and not just the one that one of the judges pointed out was more like medium.  I just got the impression they were being harder on Wuta because of the fact that he messed up as team leader in the previous challenge.  His steak didn't look any more well done than some of those they said were fine.  I will agree that his plate did not look good, and the mistake of choosing hanger steak was unforgivable so I get it.

Thought the same thing about the steak doneness.  Some of the supposedly spot on medium rare looked overcooked to me.

[Dbolt]

Yes in season 10 even time itself is more amazing than previous time. 

[mertensia]

Oh, and once again they act like ONLY medium rare is desirable. Shut up. 

[DaphneCat]

37 minutes ago, mertensia said:

Oh, and once again they act like ONLY medium rare is desirable. Shut up. 

I thought I remembered once on one of his 8,327 shows Gordon saying well done is the hardest to cook.  (You can always put it back in the pan, once it's over, there is no way of salvaging it.)  Some people don't WANT their meat medium rare.  Some people (like someone I know who had a lung transplant) CAN'T eat meat medium rare (doctors advise medium well at the least).   I would LOVE it if they switched it up every time.  You shouldn't even be able to think about calling yourself a master chef if you can't produce a delicious cut of well done beef or lamb. 

[Samwise979]

Don't they ask the home cooks before cutting it what they should expect? They all say medium rare but couldn't they say it's medium or medium well if that's what they want to cook it at? Or is that basically volunteering yourself up for the guillotine. 

[Brookside]

I want to be the intern with the resume that says "I got to iron and fold head bands for a really tall dickhead."

4 hours ago, xcrayon2215x said:

Noah is one odd dude, I see Micah going quite far. Glad to see Jamie redeem himself. I found Joe to be a dick this episode. 

And we got another Joe neologism: "meritous".

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

  I think she has more reason to be unhappy with the absence of the accent over her name on her apron than this.  

Why should she use an accent?  I'd guess most North Americans spell it without.

[Brookside]

The idiocy of some of the people on this show is wonderful.

Gerron praising someone or the other because of their "ability to put lobster stuffing on top of lobster."

Noah: "Pick your lambs."

Pretty much everyone: "Woila

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Why should she use an accent?  I'd guess most North Americans spell it without.

I don't know about that.  A big chunk of Canada is French-speaking and they like their accents.

[preeya]

Tomahawk Steak with Grilled Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Purée

https://tinyurl.com/y5kummca

Master Chef Season 10 contestant Sarah Faherty tapped her Texas roots to masterly prepare this beef Tomahawk Steak recipe. This recipe pairs the steak with grilled vegetables and a silky Sweet Potato Purée for an upscale presentation.

ETA:  IMHO this does not look like an "upscale presentation."

Just noticed her recipe called for a cup of soy sauce and 1.5 teaspoons of salt (Sodium content 2741 mg). I'd say that was a bit much, and for anyone on a low sodium diet, this Tomahawk is not for you.

Edited July 19, 2019 by preeya

[DaphneCat]

11 hours ago, mertensia said:

Why do people prop their steak/lamb chip over the veggies? It doesn't look appealing.

I'm so sick of chimichurri sauce. 

4 minutes ago, preeya said:

ttps://tinyurl.com/y5kummca

Master Chef Season 10 contestant Sarah Faherty tapped her Texas roots to masterly prepare this beef Tomahawk Steak recipe. This recipe pairs the steak with grilled vegetables and a silky Sweet Potato Purée for an upscale presentation.

This does NOT look upscale to me.  I should be capable of deciding what I want in each bite.  If I want to taste the steak by itself it should NOT be smeared with sweet potatoes.  Same with the vegetables or the sweet potato.  And to the poster who said something along the lines of "why do they think a little smear of mashed potatoes is sufficient?" I completely agree.  Why go to the trouble of adding 2 tablespoons of meat-infused mash potatoes to a dish?

[preeya]

12 minutes ago, DaphneCat said:

I should be capable of deciding what I want in each bite.  If I want to taste the steak by itself it should NOT be smeared with sweet potatoes. 

Years ago I worked with someone who was very finicky about his food. He insisted that all the foods served to him would never touch each other. If any of them did (touch) he would refuse to eat.

I too do not like smears of veggies or sauces on my plate.

[joanne3482]

I'm sad Keturah left. I liked her. Since I'm sick of hearing about Wuta being a vegetarian I wish he would have gone. 

I am not a fan of purees.  They're like baby food. I don't get it. 

3 hours ago, Samwise979 said:

Don't they ask the home cooks before cutting it what they should expect? They all say medium rare but couldn't they say it's medium or medium well if that's what they want to cook it at? Or is that basically volunteering yourself up for the guillotine. 

That's volunteering yourself up for the guillotine. Gordon et al have gone on time and time again about how medium rare is the correct temp. Don't go rogue and go with a well done. 

[DEL901]

I hate to defend Gordon, but I wonder if he's adamant about Medium Rare for two reasons:  1) It's easy to mess up and over cook.  2) If they are all shooting for the same target, it is easier to compare results.

ETA:  Agree about puree.  It looks like baby-food to me.

Edited July 19, 2019 by DEL901

[mlp]

12 hours ago, mertensia said:

Why do people prop their steak/lamb chip over the veggies?

That seems to be the thing to do right now.  I heard someone on some show talk about the presentation "adding height."  Personally, I do NOT want mashed potatoes or anything else all over the bottom of my steak.  I also don't want a smear of anything at all.  Those mashed potatoes looked awful to me.  Apparently, I'm not in the target audience for "fine dining."

So far, I like Jaime, the cute college boy on the other team and the housewife with an Indian husband.  I don't know that any of them are the best cook but they all seem like nice people.

[Brookside]

"Confeeted" is not a word, Noah.

[ML89]

As someone who is not a grillmaster - if you get steak to medium rare (which a lot of those cuts didn't look like on TV), doesn't it rest and "cook" further so that's why Noah's wasn't medium rare? (Not that I didn't enjoy seeing him taken down a bit).

31 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

I'm sad Keturah left. I liked her. Since I'm sick of hearing about Wuta being a vegetarian I wish he would have gone. 

Me too. We haven't heard much from her but I swear every episode I've heard about Wuta's vegetarian drama.

[preeya]

8 minutes ago, ML89 said:

As someone who is not a grillmaster - if you get steak to medium rare (which a lot of those cuts didn't look like on TV), doesn't it rest and "cook" further so that's why Noah's wasn't medium rare? (Not that I didn't enjoy seeing him taken down a bit).

I had the same thought about "resting" and yes it definitely cooks during the rest period and beyond.  I'm also wondering how long in minutes did it take to taste his steak because besides being overdone it would also not be as hot as it should be.  This not only applies to Noah and yesterday's challenge but everyone who presents last.

[bluepiano]

Keturah was becoming my favorite contestant, so of course she's gone. I thought she brought a touch of class and elegance to the show. I loved her lilting speaking voice and accent, and she also had nice personality. When Dorian went back to her station after the judging, crying, Keturah said to her "those are the tears we like, tears of joy." It was a sweet thing to say, especially since she was worried about her own dish and knew she was likely going home.

Keturah was the only one who sliced the meat and tried to use it as a component in a dish, instead of just throwing the steak on the grill. Big mistake. I attribute it to her be the only contestant who's not an American. She just didn't understand the whole American mystique around steaks and grills.  She might've thought that just grilling the entire steak was taking the easy way out. I mean, how hard is that? (Seems like a pretty simple challenge for the amazing, incredible Season 10).

I'm calling BS on the dessert thing. I believe that when GR announced they had to make a dessert the clock showed 25 minutes. And by 15 minutes they were all done. And they were fairly sophisticated, composed deserts, not just grilled fruit, using ingredients like phylo dough and rum. (Where did the liquor suddenly come from?) We saw a couple of people slicing fruit, but never saw anyone actually working on their dessert. They just magically appeared. And how could they focus on fairly labor intensive desserts while still keeping an eye on the grill? I'm sure they made the deserts before or after the grilling challenge.. It was all a contrived piece of nonsense to try to show that the amazing Season 10 contestants can do anything.

Edited July 19, 2019 by bluepiano

[cameron]

I don't mind the bridging of ingredients with the steak but not a fan of sweet potatoes with steak.  If you're going to go the mash route, would have prefer plain potato mash instead.

[zillabreeze]

10 hours ago, cameron said:

I thought Jamie's comment about Charleston SC being world famous for lobsters was far fetched.  I live there and believe me it isn't known for their lobsters.  But he does seem nice.

Doesn't every resto on a coast claim to be "world famous" for some kind of seafood?  Fish and shellfish aren't that hard, but I've seen them screwed up.   I've had a rubber calamari in Boston and a cat food flounder in San Francisco.  Both "high end" places.  

Give me a $10 chowder in a breadbowl...

[OoogleEyes]

22 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

I have never understood what is so appealing about a smear of something across a plate.

Especially when it's a smear of chocolate 

[Tatortot]

On 7/18/2019 at 3:13 AM, mertensia said:

I always have this suspicion that deep down inside Gordon doesn't really believe allergies can kill.

Why is Dorian's bun slightly to one side? It drives me irrationally crazy.

Yes, Renee, you were right. Now be an adult about it.

LOL, I know it was bothering me too.   She did say it was a wig a while ago but FIX IT

[OoogleEyes]

Whelp, I was going to watch this tonight, but thanks to my friends here, there is no need. Thank you thank you. I am forever in your debt 

[PhoneCop]

8 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I don't know about that.  A big chunk of Canada is French-speaking and they like their accents.

I do too, but that's just my residual high school French showing. I don't think any of the Americans I've known named Renee (or Rene) really use the accent aigu, and I feel like a lot of people just don't know how to make diacritics on keyboards. Which is annoying with a word like résumé, but outside of professional or academic writing, it doesn't seem like a big deal here, generally. IME/MMV.

Anyway, add me to the list of Keturah fans. I was hoping she'd buck the montage curse, but alas. Meanwhile, except for Kenny going out early, everybody whose full audition was shown is still in play—now that we're down by a third, here's an updated scorecard:

Audition unseen: Bri, Renee, Wuta
Audition featured in a montage: Jamie, Nick, Sam
Battle round: Micah
Full audition shown: Dorian, Fred, Noah, Sarah, Shari, Subha

No way Subha wins with that edit. They've shown Dorian's uglier side but I wouldn't say she's 100% out of the running...yet. Septic Burger hasn't always been shown in the best light, though I think his chances are still better than Dorian's. Micah feels to me like the traditional "goes out in fourth but gets a fantastic career/educational opportunity from Gordon" contestant. Which leaves Fred, Sarah, and Shari. It could be worse? At least Glitterboots is very unlikely to win.

[galaxychaser]

Wuta now can’t make deserts because daddy has diabetes. And mommy is a nurse and health nut. Whatever excuse boy. Now I know this show is fake. How can someone get picked if they can’t cook steak and bake ?

Wuta looks up to Gerron since both teachers and black.  Is that all you need to be Wutas hero?

can you tell I’m sick of vegetarian boy? 

Noah the balding sanitation engineer is the second contestant I can’t stand. 

[Such A Flirt]

On 7/19/2019 at 1:37 AM, preeya said:

Verbatim:

Noah:  "I've been grilling my whole life.  Being a proud southerner, I feel this is my wheelhouse. Are you kidding me, you're giving me a grill? I'm a grill master.  This is like Michael Phelps in a fricking lap pool, okay? This is a natural habitat. It's not the right herb. Silverback gorilla in a rainforest, okay?  This is my jungle and I own it.  We're rolling right now."

Wow. Methinks Noah's head bands are too tight.

[theatremouse]

17 hours ago, ML89 said:

As someone who is not a grillmaster - if you get steak to medium rare (which a lot of those cuts didn't look like on TV), doesn't it rest and "cook" further so that's why Noah's wasn't medium rare?

In theory if they're cooking it with the intention of serving it medium rare, they should be accounting for the additional cooking that happens when it rests. If it's sitting significantly longer because of show-reasons, it could be residual cooking more than they expect (ie normally it'd been totally eaten by then) so it does make it harder, but in theory they should know "if I take it off the heat now and rest for X minute, then I've got what I want".

[preeya]

6 hours ago, theatremouse said:

In theory if they're cooking it with the intention of serving it medium rare, they should be accounting for the additional cooking that happens when it rests. If it's sitting significantly longer because of show-reasons, it could be residual cooking more than they expect (ie normally it'd been totally eaten by then) so it does make it harder, but in theory they should know "if I take it off the heat now and rest for X minute, then I've got what I want".

While on this subject, why don't they just use meat thermometers to measure doneness , or are they not allowed?

I use them all the time and it is a practical failsafe solution particularly if all the eaters don't want it cooked the same way.

Edited July 20, 2019 by preeya

[Totale]

On 7/18/2019 at 2:39 AM, GaT said:

Um, can Gordon marry people? Legally?

Yes, by "the powers vested in him".  He didn't say by who.

[LennieBriscoe]

On 7/19/2019 at 6:34 AM, displayname said:

Well, the show just isn't working with this two episode format for me, even though I thought it might. It works much better as a one episode deal.

ITA. Came here to say just that.

[DoctorK]

2 hours ago, Totale said:

Yes, by "the powers vested in him".  He didn't say by who.

Michelin perhaps? How many stars before you can marry people? Or pilot an F-16?

[Samwise979]

Why do the home cooks call Gordon and Aron "chef" but Joe "Joe"? Is he not a chef? Or he doesn't like the term?

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, Samwise979 said:

Why do the home cooks call Gordon and Aron "chef" but Joe "Joe"? Is he not a chef? Or he doesn't like the term?

He’s not a chef. He’s always been front it the house/business side of the restaurants first with his mother, than his own and than he and Mario Batali built an empire that he bought Mario out of when all the allegations about him came out.

[Samwise979]

@biakbiak thanks for the info! I had no idea, totally thought all of them were chef's. 

[Yeah No]

On 7/19/2019 at 12:29 PM, Brookside said:

Why should she use an accent?  I'd guess most North Americans spell it without.

Because it's a French name and without the accent it would be pronounced Ren-EEEE, not ren-ay.  My grandmother's name was Renée and she was part French.  Most Americans aren't used to putting accents on names so it's mostly left out on forms and drivers' licenses, which bugged my grandmother no end.  Even some of her own family called her Reenie.  I understood how she felt, so I guess that's why I care.  If it doesn't bother this contestant that her accent is left off of her apron, good for her.  But we really don't know how she felt about it.

[Yeah No]

On 7/19/2019 at 10:17 PM, PhoneCop said:

I do too, but that's just my residual high school French showing. I don't think any of the Americans I've known named Renee (or Rene) really use the accent aigu, and I feel like a lot of people just don't know how to make diacritics on keyboards. Which is annoying with a word like résumé, but outside of professional or academic writing, it doesn't seem like a big deal here, generally. IME/MMV.

IMO, people shouldn't be told how they should write their name or how big a deal it should be to them.  We don't know how this Renée feels about it but the point is that often nobody cares and presumes that the accent can be left off, and IMO that's just not right to presume.  IMO there is often a double standard when it comes to foreign things in the U.S.  Foreigners and immigrants are often given the respect to write their name according to foreign usage, but often Americans are not.  JMHO.  BTW, I remember seeing another shot of her name and there was an accent, but it was over the wrong E, LOL.  I forget if it was on an apron or what, but I do remember seeing it written "Reneé" instead of "Renée" somewhere (maybe in a talking head).  I thought to myself, at least they tried but they still couldn't get it right!  It does make a difference which "e" the accent goes over.  I have met people with that name that don't even know which "e" the accent should go over.  Well, it's their name, they can write it whatever way they want, but the accent is there for a reason, not just for decoration, so my opinion is that it's either correct or incorrect based on French grammar.  In this case, I think the show is probably getting it all wrong and that's on them, not her.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

On 7/19/2019 at 3:40 PM, ML89 said:

As someone who is not a grillmaster - if you get steak to medium rare (which a lot of those cuts didn't look like on TV), doesn't it rest and "cook" further so that's why Noah's wasn't medium rare? (Not that I didn't enjoy seeing him taken down a bit).

Actually, when cooking steak resting should be factored into how long it's cooked, so you cook it a little underdone so that after a few minutes of resting it comes to proper temperature.  So it having rested is still no excuse for how overdone it was.

[preeya]

10 hours ago, Samwise979 said:

Why do the home cooks call Gordon and Aron "chef" but Joe "Joe"? Is he not a chef? Or he doesn't like the term?

Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, winemaker, author, and television personality.

He is not a chef.

[eel21788]

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 9:42 AM, preeya said:

While on this subject, why don't they just use meat thermometers to measure doneness , or are they not allowed?

In the last episode, they did show some of the contestants stabbing their steaks with a meat thermometer. Noah my just have been too cocky to think he needed a thermometer.

[Dbolt]

I feel the need to point out that Chefs/restauranteur should not be calling what they were doing Barbecuing. It is grilling.  Barbeque is meat cooked low and slow not quickly over open flame. It is bad enough when I hear ordinary people make that mistake, for professionals to do so is inexcusable 

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

Food does not photograph well, especially on TV, which is why the industry of Food Styling sprang up.  We as viewers can never truly know how much time passes between the end of the challenge and the tasting and even a few minutes under those lights will kill that food. And don't forget, the Producers have to photograph and taste the food to sometimes "sway" the judges as to who stays and who goes.

[bluepiano]

On 7/19/2019 at 9:57 PM, galaxychaser said:

Wuta now can’t make deserts because daddy has diabetes. And mommy is a nurse and health nut. Whatever excuse boy. Now I know this show is fake. How can someone get picked if they can’t cook steak and bake ?

Wuta looks up to Gerron since both teachers and black.  Is that all you need to be Wutas hero?

can you tell I’m sick of vegetarian boy?  

Wuta could've easily been sent home over Ketura. Not knowing a NY strip from a flat iron in a steak challenge, and therefore cooking it the wrong way, is  a big deal. On top of his total failure as a team captain, which is why he was in the challenge.

But I believe that Wuta is one of the chosen ones, so he's safe. After the last few seasons (especially with Gerron's win) I'm convinced that the whole season is scripted out before they even start filming. The winner and finalists are "cast," and even at least roughly the order of elimination is predetermined. 

So going out on a limb, I'm saying that the final five will be Wuta, Dorian, Sarah, Micah, and Fred, with Noah being the "shock elimination" at 6 or7 spot.

Edited July 22, 2019 by bluepiano

[preeya]

S10E12 King of The Crabs

Summary:  The Top 13 endure an immunity challenge fit for a king when they are tasked with breaking down Alaskan king crabs. Special guest Chef Masaharu Morimoto enters the MasterChef kitchen, where the contestants will have to craft something magical for him in under 60 minutes. Halfway to the finale, the judges expect nothing but legendary meals from the home cooks.

Who will survive the challenge and receive a special surprise?

[Maximoose]

$500 for a crab! 🤤

[OoogleEyes]

I would love to be inside Morimoto's head right now 

[Samwise979]

Oooh we're on page 10. The most epic page yet!! 😂😂😂

(I guess the joke doesn't go over as well if the page number changes depending on what device you're using but hey, I tried 🤷)

[spaceytraci1208]

How the fuck do you fairly judge food you haven't tasted???