Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[cooksdelight]

I would have made a hearty breakfast .... sausage, bacon, onions that I’d sauté first, then mix in eggs, cheese, whatever else I could find. Make a biscuit crust topping and throw it all in the oven to bake.

Edited August 23, 2019 by cooksdelight

[zillabreeze]

28 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I would have made a hearty breakfast .... sausage, bacon, onions that I’d sauté first, then mix in eggs, cheese, whatever else I could find. Make a biscuit crust topping and throw it all in the oven to bake.

Mmmmm!  Sunday morning work for you?  You cook, I'll clean! 🥰

[gail56]

As I said earlier, I stopped watching the show after Fred left. Could not stand to watch Bri anymore, and said I would watch again if she left. So yay! I will watch this episode and probably will watch the others now that she is gone!

[preeya]

21 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I would have made a hearty breakfast .... sausage, bacon, onions that I’d sauté first, then mix in eggs, cheese, whatever else I could find. Make a biscuit crust topping and throw it all in the oven to bake.

I would love that, but in the inimitable words of Snobby Joe, "this is Season Ten and you're serving me bacon & eggs?" as he did with Micah and Sarah "you're serving steak & potatoes?"

Question for the forum:  Don't they always cook steaks in the cast iron pans? Why was it such a no, no for JoeB that they were cooking filet mignon in those pans? If I recall someone in a previous episode was chastised because he used a non-stick instead of a cast iron pan.

[cooksdelight]

I think Joe just has to come up with something to bitch about.

I learned more about cast iron — how to cook with it, care for it, season it correctly — from Kent Rollins. He was on Chopped a couple of times and the man is an expert. I met him and his wife Shannon when they came up near here for a cooking expo. I got to see him working around Bertha, his old chuckwagon that made the trip. He and his wife fell in love with my dog, Scooby-Doo.

I really think Joe has no clue, as he’s not a chef. He’s just there to raise his eyebrow and make snobby comments.

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, Dbolt said:

How come they constantly push Shari to cook something other than Indian food but rarely say anything to Subha?

This has always been an issue on this show, and there's no consistency.  If you're Indian and you only cook French, they'll browbeat you about not being true to your culinary roots.  If you're not Indian but only cook Indian, why the heck are you always cooking Indian?  

[jewel21]

50 minutes ago, zillabreeze said:

Mmmmm!  Sunday morning work for you?  You cook, I'll clean! 🥰

And I'll just eat, lol. 

[zillabreeze]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

would love that, but in the inimitable words of Snobby Joe, "this is Season Ten and you're serving me bacon & eggs?" as he did with Micah and Sarah "you're serving steak & potatoes?"

Snobby Joe can kiss it.  He can piddle with his single ravioli on a schmear while I chow down on cooksdelight stunning skillet.

I cannot figure out how Lidia is Joe's mother.  She seems so sweet and warm!

1 hour ago, preeya said:

Question for the forum:  Don't they always cook steaks in the cast iron pans? Why was it such a no, no for JoeB that they were cooking filet mignon in those pans? If I recall someone in a previous episode was chastised because he used a non-stick instead of a cast iron pan.

I know I see steaks in cast iron on every cooking show.  I'm sure it's fine.  Here in Texas (we have a cow or two) it's  almost a crime to cook an expensive cut of beef any way except over open flame. 

People will have serious debates over oak, mesquite, apple, charcoal and even gas, but flame is required.   In a pinch, if it starts raining on the grill, you can go under a gas broiler.  

I'd be interested if this is the thinking in other ranching states!

[Brookside]

2 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

I cannot figure out how Lidia is Joe's mother.  She seems so sweet and warm!

Skips a generation, don't ya know?

Edited August 23, 2019 by Brookside

[Rammchick]

Joe BastardBitch used to show up on NYC-centric morning TV all the time -- Today Show, etc. -- generally talking about wine and restaurants, and he used to be quite a bit larger.  But let me tell you, he was just as arrogant then as now.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Rammchick

[El maestro]

3 hours ago, Rammchick said:

This has always been an issue on this show, and there's no consistency.  If you're Indian and you only cook French, they'll browbeat you about not being true to your culinary roots.  If you're not Indian but only cook Indian, why the heck are you always cooking Indian?  

I have seen that in Chopped too. 

[El maestro]

2 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

I cannot figure out how Lidia is Joe's mother.  She seems so sweet and warm!

I don’t know personally Joe’s mother, but I have met many restaurant/bar owners and nice is not an adjective that I would use to describe the vast majority of them. 

It it is a very rough business with many casualties. Many restaurants  close after a few months open or change ownership.

[Zoe]

On 8/20/2019 at 12:12 PM, cameron said:

And is food is a stretch at that.  Last challenge featured undercooked rice and burnt and burst sausage.  Also, he overcooked his lentils.  Lentils and rice are indigenous to his country and a mainstay.

Still have to take into account, his undercooked rice, burnt sausages, over spice desert, and overcooked lentils.

He cooked all of those things (sausage aside) appropriately to the cuisine. Joe views all food through an Italian lens.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Zoe

[zillabreeze]

I know it's freaking cutthroat.  Just yesterday, Andrea Zamperoni, big deal in NYC, was found dead.  Not looking like natural causes either.

I know from friends and ID Channel that chefs are crazy temperamental and the long hours make the resto business pretty drug friendly.

8 minutes ago, El maestro said:

It it is a very rough business with many casualties. Many restaurants  close after a few months open or change ownership.

Even under the best circumstances, the public is very fickle.  In our big market (DFW), the current darling resto with lines out the door and waiting lists can be a ghost town next week.  The food, service, decor can be lovely, but a new shiny bauble will crash it all overnight.

[El maestro]

5 minutes ago, zillabreeze said:

I know it's freaking cutthroat.  Just yesterday, Andrea Zamperoni, big deal in NYC, was found dead.  Not looking like natural causes either.

I know from friends and ID Channel that chefs are crazy temperamental and the long hours make the resto business pretty drug friendly.

Even under the best circumstances, the public is very fickle.  In our big market (DFW), the current darling resto with lines out the door and waiting lists can be a ghost town next week.  The food, service, decor can be lovely, but a new shiny bauble will crash it all overnight.

One friend is an architect who mainly works as a interior designer in bars and restaurants and he told us that 75% of new restaurants close in a few months. Not sure if he was talking about just the Houston area or the whole country.

When I was living in the Spain in the 90s some night owners told me the same story about those business, very difficult to succeed for a  long time. 

[cameron]

38 minutes ago, Zoe said:

He cooked all of those things (sausage aside) appropriately to the cuisine. Joe views all food through an Italian lens.

Don't think so.  Overcooked lentils and undercooked rice doesn't garner points in Indian cooking.

Edited August 24, 2019 by cameron

[cooksdelight]

43 minutes ago, El maestro said:

If you're Indian and you only cook French, they'll browbeat you about not being true to your culinary roots.

Giada did this to a woman on Next Food Network Star who wasn’t cooking only Latin-inspired dishes. I never wanted to punch someone as much as I did Giada for the way she browbeat that woman into submission to become the “Fiery Latina!”

I would really piss Gordon and Joe off with my cooking. I am not a strictly Southern cook, I do all kinds of dishes.

[Zoe]

23 minutes ago, cameron said:

Don't think so.  Overcooked lentils and undercooked rice doesn't garner points in Indian cooking.

Joe thinks they were over/under. You really think he's the end-all, be-all?

Every time I've had lentils in Indian cuisine, they've definitely skewed more towards the softer end rather than being able to separate out each individual lentil.

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

Joe BastardBitch used to show up on NYC-centric morning TV all the time -- Today Show, etc. -- generally talking about wine and restaurants, and he used to be quite a bit larger.  But let me tell you, he was just as arrogant then as now.

 

Like this?

JoeB reminds me of someone who grew up very privileged and turned out a boorish snob.

Edited August 24, 2019 by preeya

[galaxychaser]

Lidia isn’t nice. She kept a woman as a slave.

Yep Joe was obese. Maybe he is nice to his relatives? I believe that that’s his real personality. 

Lidia isn’t nice. She kept a woman as a slave.

Yep Joe was obese. Maybe he is nice to his relatives? I believe that that’s his real personality. 

Andrea was all over the news. Looks like an overdose. His poor family. 

[zillabreeze]

1 hour ago, El maestro said:

One friend is an architect who mainly works as a interior designer in bars and restaurants and he told us that 75% of new restaurants close in a few months.

It's a thing.  Not for the faint of heart. Childhood friend had the most avant garde, happening, "be seen"  place- Celebs, D Magazine, The Chef, yada.. for about 6 months.  Gorgeous interior, prime address.  Then Boom.  Next week, There was another place to overpay for little artsy dabbles of food...

Overnight, he couldn't fill the dining room on Saturday night With coupons.   Insane rent, notes on the "architectural remodel", didn't stop.

Makes me appreciate my glamourus world of road building.  It's concrete, we have a bright orange barrel decor, dust at no charge,!   Deal.  Where else you gonna go? 🤔

15 minutes ago, galaxychaser said:

Lidia isn’t nice. She kept a woman as a slave.

Yep Joe was obese. Maybe he is nice to his relatives? I believe that that’s his real personality. 

Oh! Oh! That's a juicy rathole I didn't even know existed!

[galaxychaser]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2011/08/18/celebrity-chef-lidia-bastianich-enslaved-employee-lawsuit-charges/amp/

[DoctorK]

1 hour ago, zillabreeze said:

Makes me appreciate my glamourus world of road building.  It's concrete, we have a bright orange barrel decor, dust at no charge,! 

Funny and a lot of truth. I have worked in penthouse offices (only because of corporate politics), in cube farms, and in a construction trailer on a construction site as site manager (and safety officer) for my company. Admittedly it was in Miami in record heat and humidity but it was interesting and I knew that what I was doing was important in getting the job done. Plus I got sort of fond on the hard hat (six strap suspension, not the Home Depot four strappers), steel toed boots and the high visibility vest. Even more fond of going back to the condo, changing shoes and walking to a great German bar with Warsteiner on tap every Friday for happy hour.

[zillabreeze]

3 hours ago, DoctorK said:

hard hat (six strap suspension,

Your forum GF (HeeHee) rocks her $100. Skullgard with the appropriate PC stickers- cause that's the Jimmy Choo of infrastructure designer fashion, I gots street cred.

We could wax on for hours about the right safety vest and the whole phone/pocket conundrum. Boring everyone else to tears.

The point is, if you are a good hard working kid at a fancy schmancy resto, begging for tips and Sucking up to idiots that think two carrots and a beef fart is worth $75 bucks.  Think again.  If you AREN'T the chef (or his BFF). Quit fooling around.  Quit being broke.  Either own the damn place or get gone.

The resto business is like Broadway.  If you're not a star now, you're probably never gonna be onel

Look out the window.  That guy building the road.  He's a dumbass?  Haha. He's probably pulling down 90k and change. Guess what?  Nobody needs those silly scallops on pruree.  Everybody needs a decent street..  Quit being a snob.

That's my preach to millennials and beyond

[Gramto6]

You go girl!! I am so sick of this prissy/sissy chef culture of three peas and a shrimp resting on a smear of something I think my cat may have hacked up and was put in a blender with a squeeze of lemon, I just want to puke. I can afford their “food offerings”, but never would darken their doors. Nothing appealing there at all!

[zillabreeze]

54 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

You go girl!! I am so sick of this prissy/sissy chef culture of three peas and a shrimp resting on a smear of something I think my cat may have hacked up and was put in a blender with a squeeze of lemon, I just want to puke. I can afford their “food offerings”, but never would darken their doors. Nothing appealing there at all!

Like seriously, I'm gonna ring up Gramto6 and say '"ok, GF, let's go meet for a drink and a girlfriend yakfest" and while we're at it... find a place that we can throw down $50 each for some silly little prissyplate.  I don't know who you hang with, but my BFFs would (rightfully) leave my stupid ass in the parking lot while they left to have 'ritas and nachos.

Edited August 24, 2019 by zillabreeze
For the inspiration of "prissyplate". G

[zillabreeze]

Shit.shit! "Prissyplate"! Kudos to Gramto6

 It's fucking genius.  It is forewith a part of MasterChef lexicon 

[Brookside]

Why are they wearing yarmulkes?

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Why are they wearing yarmulkes?

Not yarmulkes but some sort of light reflecting on their heads. I originally had the same thought.

[Brookside]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

Not yarmulkes but some sort of light reflecting on their heads. I originally had the same thought.

Yes, thanks!  (I was being silly, but didn't know what emoji to use to make myself clear!)

The only time Joe will wear a "yarmulke" (zucchetto) is when he's officially appointed Pope, not just in his own mind.

Edited August 24, 2019 by Brookside

[galaxychaser]

8 hours ago, Brookside said:

Why are they wearing yarmulkes?

It’s their shiny balding heads 😂😂😂.

[El maestro]

Noah or Shari may be eliminated next week.

I wonder if there will be a redemption with a previously  eliminated  contestant.

Micah and Dorian could put a turd in a plate and the judges still would find something good to rave about it.

[galaxychaser]

I noticed Gordon called Subha young man 🤣🤣🤣. 

[mlp]

5 hours ago, galaxychaser said:

I noticed Gordon called Subha young man

He's done that a number of times.  Aaron has picked up on it and called someone "young lady" a couple times too, even though he's in his early 40s.  I think it's demeaning unless it's an adult talking to a very young child.  It's especially annoying and demeaning in the case of Subha because Gordon is only a few years older.

[Lindz]

BAHAHA! Bri, FINALLY, ran out of lives!! Crazy how many times she bombed & wasn't eliminated. Hilarious when contestants think their dish is amazing & the judges think it's awful. 😂😂

[MartyQui]

Subha’s recipe looked good until I saw the cup of ghee!  Even if you only fry everything in it, that’s a lot of fat.

[El maestro]

17 hours ago, Lindz said:

BAHAHA! Bri, FINALLY, ran out of lives!! Crazy how many times she bombed & wasn't eliminated. Hilarious when contestants think their dish is amazing & the judges think it's awful. 😂😂

We only know what the judges or producers let us know. Sometimes they are gushing about mediocre dishes (cough, cough, Micah, Dorian) while they rip apart other cooks.

Edited August 26, 2019 by El maestro

[susannot]

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 3:21 PM, mlp said:

He's done that a number of times.  Aaron has picked up on it and called someone "young lady" a couple times too, even though he's in his early 40s.  I think it's demeaning unless it's an adult talking to a very young child.  It's especially annoying and demeaning in the case of Subha because Gordon is only a few years older.

Gordon is 52 and Subha is 54.

[DoctorK]

2 hours ago, MartyQui said:

that’s a lot of fat.

You say that as if it is a bad thing LOL. Fats carry flavors, and we are now seeing that just about everything we have been told about fats and carbohydrates over the last 50 years is wrong. The best things in life are free (and fried).

[mlp]

4 hours ago, susannot said:

Gordon is 52 and Subha is 54.

I thought Subha was a bit younger for some reason.  That makes it even worse on Gordon's part.  

[El maestro]

I need my Masterchef fix

Even if it is the Millennial Girl Scout cookie makers edition.

it used to be easy to watch before: you had people you loved, and contestants you hated. Now everybody is so soft...

Edited August 28, 2019 by El maestro

[preeya]

Another amazing, SEASON TEN, episode of EPIC proportion for Wednesday, 08/28/2019. The INCREDIBLE replication challenge.

S10.E21 Family Reunion

Summary:  The Top 7 take on another immunity challenge when family members and loved ones make a surprise visit. Three of the chefs will secure their spots in the Top 6, while the remaining chefs must replicate one of Gordon's Michelin Star-winning dishes.

[Such A Flirt]

I know he's ridiculous with his showing off, but I still love to watch Gordon cook. I wanted to taste that chicken pot pie SO badly!

Noah's dish did indeed look like crap. And, at long last: bye, fake plastic Bri!

[mamadrama]

On 8/22/2019 at 10:46 PM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

I got all my Indian spices (including the cool spice box) on Amazon.  They have EVERYTHING.

Yes, I order from Amazon as well. Even out here in the wild we still have access to Prime. 

[cooksdelight]

Anyone notice that tropical storm Dorian is heading toward Puerto Rico? Would be funny if Dorian crashed and burned this week. The contestant, not the storm. Would be GOOD for the storm to die out.

[Eolivet]

I don't understand family visits on this show. I get them on Survivor (deserted island, starving, forced to compete, live with strangers who you have to vote out -- i.e., a big psychological toll on someone). This is more like ... jury duty, with a competition element. Aren't they going back to a hotel afterwards? They don't seem like they're being deprived of much.

And if the show feels like family visits will make me like someone more, that never works either. It usually makes me hate them (or hate them more).

[cooksdelight]

And they don’t make the family member help them fix a dish, do they? They just hang out on the balcony. At least on Survivor they get their hands and knees dirty.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Eolivet said:

I don't understand family visits on this show.

I don't either, especially when the contestants get all weepy and act like they haven't seen whomever for several years.  I live in Illinois.  My son and his family live in California and my younger daughter lives in south Florida.  We all see each other only every two or three years and we don't act like that.  Of course, we're not on TV.

[preeya]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I don't either, especially when the contestants get all weepy and act like they haven't seen whomever for several years.

No reason whatsoever for these uncredible, unamazing, not awesome, family visits. The one interesting aspect of tonight's is, will there be a family member appearing for Micah OR will GR have adopted him as his?

Edited August 28, 2019 by preeya

[Zoe]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

I don't either, especially when the contestants get all weepy and act like they haven't seen whomever for several years.  I live in Illinois.  My son and his family live in California and my younger daughter lives in south Florida.  We all see each other only every two or three years and we don't act like that.  Of course, we're not on TV.

Well these are almost always family members whom they live with, and all of the contestants are highly stressed by this point.