I didn’t recognize any of Cooking Channel’s team, but I liked Iron Chef Symon. Nadia, OMG. That woman has a cooking show??
Team Morimoto with Robert Irvine and Ted Allen was my fave. I’ve never seen Irvine or Allen really cook much. It looked a bit like they were taking it easy on Ted.
Nadia G.'s show is pretty damn funny. She’s playing a character and she actually toned it down for this challenge. I wouldn’t put her on Iron Chef level though; her show is more about herself than her cooking.
I think the judges made the right choice, however difficult.
I agree that Falkner’s head seemed to be getting a little on the large side, regarding critique of her dishes. That said, I was a bit sad to see her go; she was incredibly creative last season, and it was enjoyable not only to see the things she would come up with, but also the reactions to her food, of the judges and her fellow chefs as well.
At least it seemed that her judgement of Appleman to be sent to the Secret Ingredient Showdown was likely concurrent with the assessment of the actual Judges.
Freitag has continued to impress, but damn, that chick needs help opening things.
I think about Nadia G.'s show everytime Sandy and Bob tells a Next Food Network Star contestant that they need to be their real selves.
<cue Seth Myers & Amy Pohler> Really?!
Summary of the December 9th episode:
Mehta loses to Appleman in the bottom two. Vigneron gets slightly edged out by Freitag for the top spot this week. Maybe she’ll get a real advantage this time.
I’m happy enough with this outcome, but overall, this season is not going the way I thought that it would.
As long as Mehta’s gone, I’m happy. But yeah, the season has not played out as planned.
Seconded. Guy had a unique blend of arrogance and just plain creepy. Great chef though.
Bub-bye!
It’s going pretty much exactly as expected for me. Appleman, Alex, and Freitag on top. Only missing link is Elizabeth, whom I don’t miss, so it’s win-win.
It’s all a set up for Alex to win. She is Zakharian sous on ICA and doesn’t get horrible notes on her food. I predict Alex to win…
I thought Alex was headed for the bottom two and am increasingly suspicious that Zakarian is protecting her. Their close relationship makes this show seem less a competition than an extended job interview televised for dramatic effect, but whose outcome was decided well in advance.
Ignoring all that though, very impressed with Appleman knocking out Faulkner and Mehta in consecutive weeks.
Maybe NEXT week we’ll find Marcel beaten into dust.
(I can hope, can’t I?)
~VOW
Also, I remember last season, she was the only other chef not to have been beaten on a challenge, she was simply voted out by the judges without having lost a mystery ingredient challenge
Marcel doesn’t seem to know that he is supposed to loose! It would be a travesty if he actually became and Iron Chef. But he does seem to be cooking great food recently.
I’m going on record for predicting Freitag for the win. This is mostly based on watching an episode of ‘Chopped’ where she was introduced as “Amanda Freitag,an, a… verrrrry well respected chef.” I swear Ted Allen wanted to call her an Iron Chef!
In the same week Top Chef and TNIC use the same ruse - give them shitty ingredients and then criticize the shitty food they make. Ted Allen said something along the lines of “Iron Chefs have to be able to deal with curveballs.” Bullshit. They get one ingredient and have an amazing pantry to pull other ingredients from. Maybe they’re given rutabagas, but there is Kobe Beef in the pantry, along with caviar and champagne and duck livers.
Mehta is gone. Good. What an arrogant dick.
Vigneron is petulant, and far too immature of attitude to be an Iron Chef.
I liked the exchange between Majumdar and Zakarian when Majumdar felt the need to reiterate that he was in disagreement with him, and Zakarian let him know what he thought of that. It was nice to see, as I’ve had the feeling, just from Zakarian’s demeanour and style of critique, that he has been a bit of a shrinking violet at the judge’s table.
Freitag? I think she has the personality to be a great Iron Chef, but I wouldn’t have guessed from her resume (she’s not a restaurateur, unlike other Iron Chefs), nor her critique-style on Chopped, that she has such acumen, quick-thinking and creativity under pressure.
Not so sure I agree with the opinion about the Zakarian/Guarnaschelli connection, insofar as Alex winning this contest.
Appleman was awfully nice, to help Freitag with her pressure cooker; I guess she not only has problems with opening things, but also with getting them closed.
Marcel is GONE, Halleluia!
~VOW
I was VERY surprised with this weeks ingredient cookoff. When I saw Alex just grated the chocolate over everything, I thought for sure they were going to call her on that. You can’t just use the secret ingredient as a freaking garnish. But the fact that they just loved it, it didn’t make any sense.
I don’t think they showed well where Alex used the chocolate. Yes, she was grating the white chocolate over the top of the one area, but I got the impression there was also dark chocolate in the coating for the fried duck heart, and I think there was dark chocolate elsewhere in the duck. They had to use two types of candy; the only one they really showed her grating was the white.
Alex used the dark chocolate all over the duck. She deserved the win.
Now it gets bloody. I would be happy with any winner, but I really want Freitag to get it after the way she has come through each week. If she makes it to the very end, the judges had better take into account that she has won more challenges than anybody else. The other two aren’t even close.