Topic: Hell's Kitchen 10

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On Tuesday, May 29, Chef Ramsay returns for an all-new season of HELL'S KITCHEN (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), followed by the Season Three debut of MASTERCHEF (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). In Season 10 of HELL'S KITCHEN, aspiring restaurateurs once again will be put through an intense culinary academy to prove they possess the right combination of ingredients to win the life-changing grand prize. Beginning Monday, June 4 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the hit cooking series expands to twice per week with all-new episodes Mondays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Tuesdays (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

Following HELL'S KITCHEN on Tuesdays is MASTERCHEF (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). The series will feature Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot, as they challenge a new batch of amateur cooks by testing their palates, knowledge and determination to follow their dreams of making a mark in the culinary world.

[TexasLady]

Yay! Two of my favorite shows returning!! 

[Glamazon Racer]

I love Gordon Ramsay! Haven't watched Hell's Kitchen in a while, though!

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FOX has announced that the start date for Hell's Kitchen 10 and MasterChef 3 has been pushed back on week to June 4/5.

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The week after next is the start of Hell's Kitchen 10. Here are the competitors:

Barbie Marshall
Age: 34
Occupation: Catering Chef
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Signature Dish: Cod and Mahogany Clam Chowder   

Briana Swanson
Age: 32
Occupation: Personal Chef
Hometown: New York, NY
Signature Dish: Duck with Sugar Spice Sauce   

Christina Wilson
Age: 32
Occupation: Chef de Cuisine
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Signature Dish: Molasses Pork Chop with Sweet Mashed Cider Kale

Dana Cohen
Age: 27
Occupation: Chef Instructor
Hometown: River Vale, NJ
Signature Dish: Pan-Seared Scallops   

Danielle Rimmer
Age: 27
Occupation: Saucier
Hometown: Bayonne, NJ
Signature Dish: Bucatini Shrimp Arrabbiata   

Kimmie Willis
Age: 27
Occupation: Personal Chef
Hometown: Memphis, TN
Signature Dish: Fisherman’s Trio   

Robyn Almodovar
Age: 31
Occupation: Executive Sous Chef
Hometown: Hollywood, FL
Signature Dish: Seared Striped Bass   

Roshni Gurnani
Age: 27
Occupation: Executive Chef
Hometown: Boston, MA
Signature Dish: Rack of Lamb   

Tiffany Johnson
Age: 30
Occupation: Sous Chef
Hometown: Warren, VT
Signature Dish: Lamb Schnitzel with Rosemary-Maple Glaze   

Brian Merel
Age: 31
Occupation: Personal Chef
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Signature Dish: Dark Chocolate Molten Cake with Berry Sauce and Cream

Chris Carrero
Age: 33
Occupation: Executive Chef
Hometown: Queens, NY
Signature Dish: Filet Mignon with Mushroom Cream Sauce   

Clemenza Caserta
Age: 41
Occupation: Executive Chef
Hometown: Staten Island, NY
Signature Dish: Stuffed Veal Chop with Sauteed Broccoli Raab   

Don Savage
Age: 44
Occupation: Cafeteria Chef
Hometown: Houston, TX
Signature Dish: Southwest Saltimbocca   

Guy Vaknin
Age: 28
Occupation: Executive Catering Chef
Hometown: New York, NY
Signature Dish: Pan Seared Striped Bass with Chocolate Miso   
Justin Antiorio
Age: 29
Occupation: Sous Chef
Hometown: Lyndhurst, NJ
Signature Dish: Pretzel-Crusted Crab Cake   

Patrick Cassata
Age: 40
Occupation: Executive Chef
Hometown: Lombard, IL
Signature Dish: Seared Broken Arrow Ranch Black Buck Antelope Loin   

Royce Wagner
Age: 29
Occupation: Sous Chef
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Signature Dish: Seared Black Grouper   

Tavon Hubbard
Age: 22
Occupation: Executive Chef
Hometown: Washington, DC
Signature Dish: Seafood Linguine   

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I always consider which chefs have an edge in Hell's Kitchen. I believe the answer is simple - it's the Executive Chefs. They don't always win but they have a good record. There are 5 executive chefs in HK10 and they are my initial favorites.

[TexasLady]

And it's ON!   

[ZBC Company]

dude you exuctie chef at 22 you dont now how cut scallops

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ZBC,

I can't agree. The only way you get to be an executive chef is if you know how to do just about everything. However, being an executive chef does not guarantee success in HK10. That will go to the individual best meeting Gordon Ramsay's concept of who the best chef is, which can only be revealed by the competition itself indicating who has the widest array of skills.

[TexasLady]

The men's team is off to a horrible start, that's for sure!

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ZBC,

Now I see where you are coming from. Javon, an executive chef although only 22 years old, was eliminated after he mangled the scallops preparation and failed to produce a single plate of scallops as appetizers.

[SuperTux]

For the first time ever Masterchef beat Hell's Kitchen in 18~49 ratings! (2.2 vs 2.1)

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HK10, ep. 2

I have not been impressed by HK10 competitors. The men appear to be incompetent and the women only slightly less so. The women won a challenge to cook perfect scallops by 6 to 2 for the men, giving them an award of that day on Catalina Island with Ramsay. The men got to clean the kitchens, shuck, devein and clean shrimp for tableside preparation.

There were some major problems from Barbie cooking scallops and Chris cooking sea bass. Tiffany's decision to cook 6 sea bass without any orders motivated Ramsay to send the Women's team upstairs. The Men had gotten sent out briefly to eat the scallops they had cooked that did not pass muster. Ramsay sent them out permanently slightly after the Women. Neither kitchen had sent out any appetizers in more than 2 hours.

Neither team won and both teams lost, necessitating nominating 2 members of their team each. Chris self-nominated and Royce had not performed well for the second episode. Barbie was a no-brainer. Roshni was the second nominee because the women felt she had no chance at being eliminated and they badly wanted Barbie to go.

I think we will see Barbie switched to the Men's team. Don was talking like he did not want to continue to be part of that team. We'll see.

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HK10, ep. 3 started with a Challenge to cook an all-American menu for newly naturalized United States citizens (or actors impersonating them). The Women's team got together mini-pizza, sliders and Cobb salad faster than the Men did and won. The Men had to saw off all limbs and then pull up a massive tree so it would fit into a dumpster. the women went to a Safari Park in San Diego by private jet. This is another example of Ramsay showing off since it is only 100 miles from Los Angeles to San Diego and not much time could have been saved.

Dinner service revealed a variety of problems, but for the first time the Men finished it and the Women were sent away by Ramsay. The nominees for elimination were Briana and Barbie. Ramsay eliminated Briana

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HK10, ep. 4 started in a corral with lambs to be captured for their collars, which had one ingredient on each. the Women caught one more in 5 minutes than the Men. Those ingredients were added to lamb steak, lamb chops, ground lamb or rack of lamb in head-to-head competition. The Men won when Robyn and Barbie faltered with raw ground lamb that Ramsay was unwilling to eat. The Men got to visit Hollywood Park race track with $100 to use for betting. The Women got to clean and eat lamb testicles, who with proper cooking style can be quite delicious but did not look that way under simple boiling.

Dinner service was a nightmare getting worse as it progressed. Brian, Roshni, Don, Danielle, Robyn, Justin and Royce all were banished. However, performance in the kitchen got much better!

Ramsay judged that both teams lost. Brian and Don were nominated for the Men. Roshni and Danielle were nominated by the Women. Don was eliminated and Danielle and Brian were sent back in line. Roshni had to give up her jacket, but it was for moving to the Blue team. She had better perform there, as she already has 3 of 4 episodes as a nominee for elimination.

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HK10, Ep. 5

It's Mexican Night in Hell's Kitchen. The challenge started with preparation of 5 Mexican dishes from each team selected out of 7 and made with 25 ingredients on balls that were released from the ceiling to simulate breaking a pinata. The judges were renowned Mexican cuisine experts Thomas Ortega and John Sedlar. The Red team won a close one 2 points to 1. That gave them a fine Mexican meal at Sedlar's restaurant Rivera and salsa dancing lessons. The Blue team had to eat tripe, which is an acquired taste (I would not eat it except in menudo when the cooking process makes it a treat. They also had to prep both kitchens for Mexican Night.

Dinner service was a shambles. Many chefs got themselves banished to upstairs by violating fundamental principles.  At the end there were 4 in the Red kitchen and just Brian and Roshni in the Blue kitchen, but both teams did finish dinner service.  Ramsay stated that both team were losers. That meant nominate 2 from each team. The Blue team nominated Patrick and Guy, who had the first major errors. The Red team nominated Danielle and their favorite whipping girl Barbie.

This episode finished with ToBeContinued, not unprecedented but fairly rare on Hell's Kitchen.

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HK10 Ep. 6

At the start, Barbie and Patrick easily argued their case for not being eliminated. Danielle was properly eliminated and Guy was safe. A Fashion Night Challenge involved creating three dishes (one appetizer and two entrees) inspired by fashionistas and present them to fashion world notables David Meister, Amanda Che, and Ina Soltani.  These judges clarified that they are looking for healthy and spicy. They rated the dishes 2-1 for the Blue team due primarily to Tiffany’s fried eggplant, which made the Blue team eligible for the reward. They got to spend the day shopping for new clothes with thousands of dollars at a fancy Malibu boutique and got their dishes on the menu for that evening.  After shopping, they went wine tasting in Malibu. The Red team had to carry in from a truck heavy low-rise panels to form a runway.

Ramsay pulls one person from each team to help him plate, Kimmie for Red and Royce for Blue. Clemenza started some scallops without any order to match them against. It’s another ToBeContinued. Why was this such a content-free episode?

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As the song goes from one of my favorite musicals, "1776", John Adams laments "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?" I am feeling that way about this thread since there is no dialogue except that which I put here.

[franxaverian]

Hi Apskip!! thank you for the recaps which I enjoyed so much now that I don't have much time watching so that I have to cut some tv shows and series. 24 hours is surely not enough to catch up every episodes of my favorite shows. 

After 6 episodes, this season is starting to get my ire especially after the super boring episode 6. almost 20 minutes of reward challenge??? Ramsay sure knows how to make me cut his shows (I've dropped Masterchef)...should I drop this one too?? hehehe.

Well, consider my reply as a subscription to your recap 

[TexasLady]

I care apskip.. Please keep recapping for us. Right now, no one is impressing me. Several are NOT impressing me... I can't wait to find out what happens tonight when one of the girls steals meat from the blue team. 

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That was the usual misleading advertising from FOX, as nobody from the RED team dared to steal meat from the BLUE team.

[TexasLady]

That was the usual misleading advertising from FOX, as nobody from the RED team dared to steal meat from the BLUE team.

I can't say this happened in other seasons, but I've noticed quite a few deceptions in the previews. It rather irks me to say the least. Which reminds me the finger cut off didn't happen either.

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HK10, Ep. 7

The Fashion Night dinner service continued. Clemenza was given a severe verbal whipping by Ramsay for cooking scallops ahead. Clemenza argued that he essentially had to do so because he was incapable of cooking enough to order. As if to underscore his point, the orders came in for 16 plates of appetizer scallops and he had to ask Brian to assist. The Red kitchen was in chaos too. Barbie was helping Tiffany and Dana on scallops but the first plate to be sent to the pass was judged undercooked by Kimmie. As was frequently the case, nobody wanted to own up to it. Robyn was also trying to help out and not finding any appreciation for that from her teammates, who jealously guarded their turf.

Each course had to be carefully synchronized with the fashion show. The dishes were supposed to be ready to serve when it each of the 3 parts of the show was completed.  The corollary was that no dish could be served until that part of the show was over.

Guy sent cold beef to the pass, but Royce sent it right back. Clemenza during the challenge had earned the right for his swordfish dish to be featured on the Fashion Night menu. However, there were a lot of orders (17 or 18 depending on who you talked to) and he had to make them simultaneously. There was only fish for 11 orders. The Blue team was chaotic throughout. The Red team finished about 10 minutes sooner. They won and Kimmie’s excellence was noted by Ramsay.

The Blue team had to nominate 2. Clemenza had a bad night and was an easy nominee. The other nominee was difficult and Guy got the nod finally. Ramsay gave it the maximum suspense and sent Clemenza back into line to live another day in Hell's Kitchen. Guy was sent packing, with Ramsay’s statement that he proved he was not the guy. 

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HK10, Ep. 8

The challenge is for the chefs to create dishes, from ingredients revealed in five-minute intervals, including from the beginning. Platters are lit from underneath. Every five minutes, the next platter lights up and the chefs are racing for the best ingredients.

Anita Lo, executive chef of Annisa, Douglas Keanne, executive chef of Cyrus, and Michael Cimarusti, executive chef of Providence, judged the teams. Each chef will award the chefs with a number of stars. The most stars will win. Red won.

Christina's winning lobster dish was on the menu for that night's dinner service. The winning team received a day of pampering at the spa. As an added bonus, each of the winning women received a set of cookware. The Blue Team had to clean the dormitories before prepping for the dinner service.

Ramsay invited special guests to sit at his Chef's Tables. Justin of the Blue Team served UFC fighter Tito Ortiz while Robyn of the Red Team served World Champion Sugar Ray Leonard.

Clemenza's demonstrated a disconnect cooking pasta. Christina was going well with risotto, but she and Brian both needed two tries with their VIP risottos.

Robyn screwed up the Wellingtons. Tiffany finally got the Wellingtons done right, but the  Blue kitchen failed to send out a single entree. The entire team is asked to leave the kitchen. The Red team finished their dishes.

Brian explained that he has been nominated for the first ticket slowing them down and Clemenza was the second nominee. Ramsay found this ridiculous, saying, "neither one of you deserve to be nominated." He had his own nominees, Patrick and Roshni. Roshni bit the dust.

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HK10, Ep. 9
The Challenge was to create a dish from 5 ingredients specified by one pull of a slot machine wheel. Competing individuals from each team then received an ingredient basket and had 30 minutes to cook. It was judged by Ramsay head-to-head.
Since they had an extra team member, the Red team had to decide whose dish of Kimmie and Robyn was better. You know how this vote turns out. The team who had that responsibility is always wrong. In this case Robyn’s dish was found better than Kimmie’s:
Red Team v Blue Team
Dana and Patrick - 0 points
Christina and Royce – Christina took the point
Barbie and Brian – both took a point
Tiffany and Justin – Justin took a point
Robyn and Clemenza – Clemenza took the decisive point
It came down to a 2-2 tie before that data point, so that one determined the outcome of the entire Challenge. The Blue team won as Robyn’s dish was not good enough.  Ramsay rubbed salt in the wound by stating that the Kimmie’s dish would have won. I say hindsight is is superior.
The prizes for Blue were to spend a large sum of money at Sur La Table, a store of kitchen accessories. They also got to eat a special lunch at Comme Ca. The Red team had to haul and butcher a huge and heavy slab of beef from the truck.

Next was the dinner service, which focused on conflict between Robyn and the rest of her team. Justin's Filet Mignon will be on the menu for Family Night. All went well until Kimmie fired up the burner and got two very serious grease burns.

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HK10, Ep. 10

It was Family Night Dinner Service in Hell’s Kitchen. Each child would receive a complimentary mini pizza for an appetizer. Tiffany never cares so Barbie took over the pizza station. The Blue Team is relying on Brian for appetizers. His blinis look either like medallions or pancakes. Focus on food and not stand-up comedy. Back in the Red kitchen, Tiffany still doesn't care about much. "The only thing I've ever seen Tiffany care about in this competition," comments Barbie, "is a cigarette." Once again, Barbie takes over the station and got the job done.

Entrees prove to be a problem for both kitchens. Patrick of the Blue Team delivered raw rib-eye steaks while Kimmie and Robyn cannot seem to push the drama to the side and coordinate their timing. "Three filet, one hanger!" became the battle cry of the Blue kitchen: Royce called out the order, then Patrick correctly repeated it, but if asked to repeat that he got "Two filet, one hanger!" and caused Ramsay to reconsider Patrick’s future in Hell’s Kitchen. It was just not Patrick’s night. He was temporarily banished but then made the same mistake.

Robyn lied about the time her fish had sat. She said 3 minutes, but he estimated that 17 minutes was closer. A raw steak sent Royce upstairs. The Red team has completely lost control of itself, so the Blue team is sent in to help finish their orders. Clemenza, Justin and Brian finished up service. Ramsay thanked them, but Blue did not win.

The Blue team nominated Patrick and Royce while Red nominated Tiffany and Robyn. Ramsay gave Royce an unearned pass on this one. He also let Tiffany of the hook. Patrick was eliminated. Robyn received her resolution by joining the Blue team.

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HK10, Ep. 11
This episode started with a Challenge to make a dish based on the composite of 5 Hell’s Kitchen Craps with a special extra-large die. The individual had 10 seconds (many clearly took more) to pick an ingredient that started with the same letter of the alphabet as they rolled. The ingredients for Blue were:
Heirloom Tomatoes
Daikon
Dragonfruit
Edamame
Chicken

This meant Blue was going to have a sushi dish that would be Asian and primarily vegetarian. Ramsay said that was not good idea for the Gordon Ramsay Steak House in Las Vegas.

The Ingredients for Red were:

Lamb
Turnips
Chicory
Brussels Sprouts
Truffles
 
The dish they chose was lamb with turnips and the other vegetables.

Robyn had joined the Blue team at the end of episode 10.  She brought order and discipline to lead Blue out of chaos.

It looked to me that Blue was being set up for defeat, but it miraculously pulled out a victory. The prize was a 24 hour visit to Las Vegas with accommodations in a High Roller suite where CarrotTop gave some personal advice. The Red team had to do 24 hour pork patrol when an alarm went off.

On return to Hell’s Kitchen, there were going to be VIPs at Chef’s Tables. Lee Dewyze, winner of American Idol 10 came to Blue with American Idol 9 runner-up Lee Farrah. In the Red Chef’s Table, they got David Beckham with his young son.

Clemenza messed up the first scallops of the night. Tiffany twice served cod instead of sea bass.

The evidence of which team won was overwhelming. Only Robyn had a good night in the Blue Kitchen while all of the Red team did. All 6 had their performance praised by Ramsay. It was time for nomination of 2 men.  Clemenza and Royce were selected. Clemenza must be liked by Ramsay because his performance was marginal and he needed to clean up his act. Royce’s time had run out. When both had their jackets taken, Clemenza got a new one back.
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[franxaverian]

Waiting impatiently for next week's episode....

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HK10, Ep. 12

There are 5 members of the Red team and 4 members of the Blue team. This episode starts with Ramsay challenging a combined 4 chefs to a wing-eating contest.  However, he pulled out at the last moment and in came Joey Chestnut, the world wing-eating champion. It was Joey against the 4 chefs for first to 60 wings. Guess who won easily? With about 7 wings left from the chefs, Joey was done and excused.

Ramsay went straight into a blind taste test. He had one Red team member (Kimmie once again) sit out and then it was 4 groups of one on one. This went all the way to the last possible moment with Dana failing on sunchoke and Justin winning on that. Justin earned a perfect score on the Blind Taste Test, the first ever on Hell’s Kitchen. The Blue team got to visit Raging Waters amusement park and the Red team got punitive hard labor unloading trucks.

The next task was a Blue versus Red Menu Challenge. Each team had to design and execute a menu in less than 18 hours.

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HK10, Ep. 14
This episode began with a Challenge involving southern cuisine. Each pair of Blue and Red team members was to select a random entry from placards of a gospel chorus with the Blue choice revealing a protein ingredient and the Red choice revealing a side ingredient. Then each of the 4 pairs cooked 30 minutes head-to-head, with judging by Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious.com. The choices and winners were:

Clemenza Catfish Barbie Collard Greens, won by Barbie
Brian Pork Chop  Kimmie Grits, won by Kimmie
Justin Fried Chicken Christina Mac and Cheese, won by Christina
Robyn Meatloaf Dana Sweet Potato, won by Dana

That gave the victory to the Red team by 3-1. Their reward was a photo shoot followed by lunch at the Beverly Hills 4 Seasons restaurant. The punishment for the Blue team was to churn butter and bake a huge quantity of rolls, both very tedious tasks.

The teams were informed by Ramsay that it was going to be the first-ever Southern cuisine night in Hell’s Kitchen. There was good performance initially from the Red team, as they leaped ahead to finish all appetizers. Then it was time for catfish to mess it up. Kimmie could not get that right after multiple tries. The Red team was fortunate that the blue team was messing up a bit too and not getting ahead of them. Brian made a critical error with raw chicken (the only worse error I know of is raw pork) and that got the entire Blue team tossed out of the kitchen. Ramsay showed the same attention to detail as Kimmie continued to demolish Southern cuisine. The Red team was also tossed out.

Ramsay mandated that each team nominate 1 (not the usual 2 so that the guilty could more easily be punished). It was Robyn (quite undeserving in my opinion) and Kimmie (who was a bully and not a very high performer) who were nominated. Ramsay selected Kimmie to depart.

[TexasLady]

Honestly, I cannot see anyone capable of running anything for Ramsay. At least that person hasn't shown up yet for me. I was glad Kimmie was given the boot by Ramsay, all she did was complain about someone else.

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TexasLady,

I am speaking here without having seen last night's episode yet, but I doubt that anyone I see as a potential winner will now be out. I see these individuals as potential winners:

1. Barbie
2. Christina
3. Dana
4. Justin

That means that Clemenza is being kept around for the buffoon role and Robyn  and Brian are not winner material either.

[TexasLady]

I agree with your list and I can see Barbie having the potential to win. I like Clemenza, I think for the most part he is an asset in the kitchen, but easily rattled. (And way overweight which I think is something that Ramsay considers as well.)

I don't like Dana and to a smaller degree, Christina. Dana is not a team player. Christina has more ability to lead but still not a team player for me. Justin could be in the finale, we haven't seen much that would disqualify him, unlike Robin who is always in the trouble limelight.

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HK10, Ep. 15   

Ramsay had a Communications Relay Race ready for the teams. It teams got to cycle 3 participants (1 Blue had to sit out) through 5 minutes cooking- 1st team member, 15 seconds to transition, then 5 minutes cooking-2nd team member, then 15 seconds transition, then 5 minutes cooking-3rd team member, then repeating that cycle to reach 30 minutes total. Ramsay selected lamb, risotto and cod as the 3 items to be cooked based on having dramatically different cooking times and properties.

Red’s risotto is burnt; The blue’s is crunchy. The red team’s cod is under-cooked; Clemenza forgot the broth. Tasting of both lamb dishes revealed sub-standard one.  The reward Ramsay had planned went unclaimed and both teams scrubbed up the front entrance to Hell’s Kitchen. The Ramsay told the teams that there would be a dinner service that evening and they would be cooking for a Black jacket (meaning combined final team).

For Christina's first risotto, she delivered a perfectly cooked dish, but she serves too much of it. Then just after the positive reinforcement, she almost mixed old left-over risotto with fresh risotto. Ramsay quickly insists on only fresh risotto.

On a blue team order for 5 risottos for one table. Clemenza placed risotto prepared in different pans. Ramsay set him straight. Barbie’s offer to help Christina, killed Christina’s focus. Christina burned risotto as a result.

In the blue kitchen, Brian serves raw Beef Wellington. Because Brian has to start over with the meat, Robyn’s garnishes have to be pulled. She places them in the oven, to hold them. Ramsay gives her hell for putting the old garnishes in the oven instead of making them fresh. Robyn went beserk in response. Justin has reheated the same fish that was JUST on the pass. Dana may have needed to be shown how to use one large pan as opposed to three small ones for her fish station.

The red team completed their dinner service. Meanwhile, the blue team does, in fact, lose some guests. Ramsay ordered Barbie to the blue kitchen to show Brian how to cook Wellingtons.
 
The red team won the night. Ramsay gives Dana, Christina, and Barbie black jackets. The Blue team had to consider which 2 to nominate. It could not accomplish that task, as Robyn was again #1 and Brian and Clemenza split the vote for #2. Ramsay had the answer anyway. He elected to give black jackets to all but Brian, who was the victim that evening.

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TCM4, Ep. 16

This episode started with the arrival of master chefs Quinn Hatfield and Ludo Lefebvre in Hell’s Kitchen. Each had made a special dish for the chefs to figure out its components. This was difficult and nobody did very well.

Ramsay told the competing chefs that they were about to enter the world of Taste It and Make It. He (or the Sous Chefs) made a dish that the chefs had to deconstruct. The first choice was meat and all chose veal, which was correct. The second choice was wrap and Dana/Clemenza chose prosciutto while Robyn/Christina and Justin/Barbie chose Serrano ham; prosciutto was correct. The puree was white bean, which all got right. Dana/Clemenza missed with horseradish/wasabi as the other 2 teams were correct. Finally, the sauce for Dana/Clemenza was based on madeira while for the other 2 teams it was based on port wine. That final component gave Dana/Clemenza the victory. It was worth a private picnic on a lake plus use of jet skis. The losers got to clean the dining room, with polishing, ironing and dusting.

Ramsay had a surprise for the new Black team. It was competing against a team made up on former 2nd place finishers:
HK8 Russell
HK7 Jay
HK6 Kevin
HK5 Paula
Hk3 Bonnie
HK2 Virginia

This was a formidable team if they jelled as a unit, which they did. Hell’s Kitchen was open and the usual challenges presented themselves. Robyn failed to put sufficient salad dressing on her first set of Caesar salads. Clemenza again was caught working ahead when there is no order for what he is cooking, a basic violation of Ramsay’s cook-to-order system. The 2nd place finishers rolled through appetizers rapidly and were intent of doing the same to entrees. Dana needed help on the fish station and asked both Clemenza and Robyn to help on scallops, but both of them prove to be worthless. Paula won kudos for her beef Wellington entrees.  Basically, the Black team made more mistakes and appeared to me to finish after the 2nd place finishers.

The usual opportunity to nominate two for elimination was presented by Ramsay. The team got it right, Robyn for her lack of skill in helping out others and Clemenza for his problems with scallops. Ramsay sent Clemenza back in line despite this being his 7th time nominated for elimination by his peers. Ramsay gave Robyn the boot. She deserved it, but so did Clemenza. He should not let the door hit him on the back side as he stands out as the next one likely to be sent home.

It’s time for me to reveal who I expect to be the final two. Next out will be Clemenza, leaving 4 chefs remaining. Barbie and Christina will follow. The final 2 will be Justin and Dana. We’ll see.

[TexasLady]

I have been surprised by Clemenza and Barbie, particularly Barbie. She's done much better than I thought she would. She would be an asset in any kitchen. I agree with Justin, but perhaps not Dana but Christina.

Really none of the are exceptional this year, at least that's the way I see it. 

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Hell’s Kitchen, Ep. 17

The Challenge brought in Miss Teen USA winners from 2005 to 2010, all stunning 19 to 25 year old beauty queens with presumably little home cooking experience, and paired each one with a remaining chef. The task was to have the winners make chicken parmesan under the guidance, direction and supervision of the chef. The catch was that the chef could not actually touch the food in any way. All the actual manipulation of chicken and the cheese sauce had to be by the beauty queens. The winner of this Challenge was Barbie, with Dana a close second.

Barbie’s reward was a chauffeured ride in Ramsay’s Maserati plus luncheon at Ado Restaurant in Venice Beach under the tutelage of chef/owner Antonio Mure. She got to invite one other chef to join her and she chose Justin. They also paddled kayaks in Venice Canal. The losers had to prep for the first-ever Italian Night in Hell’s Kitchen.

In prep for dinner service Clemenza pounded the chicken into unnecessary thinness. Sous Chef Scott expressed that only a small amount of it could be used. Dinner service began with Barbie and Clemenza on Appetizers, Justin on Fish, Dana on Meat and Christina on Garnish stations. Clemenza was in trouble from the start, particularly when he failed twice to prove to Ramsay that he was listening to appetizer orders being called out. Barbie had a run of 3 failed butternut risottos before she mastered the art of cooking that. Both of them were in danger of getting thrown out of the kitchen. With 1.5 hours gone, only one table lacked appetizers, which they finally got. They almost immediately after received their entrees. The kitchen was in a hurry to close. Dana had burned 2 hunks of beef in her pan. Barbie failed to get the ratio of crab in capellini right and Ramsay was upset at her again.

Ramsay asked the Black team to nominate one. The team was split and nominated both Clemenza (7th time) and Barbie. Barbie’s good luck continued and Clemenza’s ran out.   I believe he was brought in as the buffoon character; since he had served his purpose he could be jettisoned. Of course you could also say that Barbie was being kept around so she could be eliminated in a showy way. I think she’s next out, but we’ll see.

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HK10, Ep. 18

This began with the Maximize Profit Challenge to create and cook the highest value meal. They were each given $15 to spend on ingredients at Bristol Farms and then 10 minutes to cook. The chefs took different approaches to get high-value ingredients onto their plates.  Ramsay brought in this team of judges to value the meals:
David Lefevre of Manhattan Beach Post restaurant (1 star)
Hugh Garvey - West Coast editor of Bon Appetit
Christian Philippo, General Manager of the Patina Restaurant Group

The dishes and average value from what the judges would pay for that dish were:

Justin – shrimp, white beans, jalapeno, garlic, mango                                                                                                $28.33
Dana – halibut, grapefruit, tangerines, garlic, olives                                                                                                   $34.00   
Christina – swordfish, shrimp, garlic                                                                                                                         $33.00                   
Barbie – pork chop, garlic sausage, onion, mustard                                                                                                   $33.67

The winner was Dana, who won the reward of a trip to Lefevre’s restaurant and cooking tips from Lefevre. After preparing mussels with him, she discovered that the only other diners for it were her parents. The other 3 chefs had to sort through Hell’s Kitchen’s garbage and they were not happy campers.

The dinner service involved each of the remaining 4 chefs being tested running the pass and particularly tasting everything to make sure that no tricks were being played. Present among the diners was David Hoenemeyer, President of the Las Vegas Paris restaurant. Ramsay gave the pass to Justin first. He passed his quality control test of crab placed by Sous Chef Scott in the lobster spaghetti. However, Dana gave him a hard time by trying to sabotage him on the timing of her component. Dana was next Dana missed the sugar that was put into risotto, but she otherwise did a good job. Christina was next. Her quality control test was arugula substituted for spinach, but she passed this without trouble.
Barbie was the last. She had to discern that a garnish was celeriac mash and not the mashed potatoes expected. She also had to resolve a coordination issue between Dana who failed to communicate and Justin.

The 4 chefs were directed by Ramsay to prepare to enunciate why they should stay in Hell’s Kitchen. They did so with the usual trite phrases. Barbie was eliminated by Ramsay. As he was starting to state who would be going to one of the coveted spots in the finals, time ran out and we got To Be Continued, postponing the remainder of the reveal until the next telecast.

So, who will be in the finals and who eliminated? I think Justin is a high probability for the finale. I don’t know between Christina and Dana. Dana helped herself with her Maximize Profit win but hurt herself a great deal by playing timing games to disrupt other chefs running the pass.

[Alkini]

New to the forum but not new to Hell's Kitchen.  Thanks, apskip, for the great recaps!

I am sorry to see Barbie go.  She has a positive outlook and shows more maturity than all the other contestants combined.

[apskip]

Tonight the chef being eliminated from the top 3 is revealed at the top of the telecast. Then it appears that the banners from above will be lowered to split the dining room into 2 equal halves. The final two chefs will plan their menus for a special challenge with world-class chefs as the judges. I bet this takes place in Las Vegas, following HK tradition. The winner of that will then have first pick (as well as 3rd, 5th and 7th) from the eliminated chefs. My guess is that the order of choosing those chefs will be:

1 - loser of Dana/Christina/Justin, probably Dana
2- Barbie
3- Patrick
4 - Kimmie
5 - Brian
6 - Clemenza
7 - Tiffany
8 - Robyn

We'll see how close my hunches are to what really happened.

[TexasLady]

New to the forum but not new to Hell's Kitchen.  Thanks, apskip, for the great recaps!

I am sorry to see Barbie go.  She has a positive outlook and shows more maturity than all the other contestants combined.

I liked Barbie too, I think she is an excellent cook and I was hoping she'd make it to the finale.

Welcome to RFF Alkini!

 

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HK10, Ep. 19

Ramsay announced the two finalists as Christina and Justin. Dana was out. Christina and Justin got a brief period of time to celebrate and then had to develop a 5 course menu for the final dinner service. They were told they were going to Las Vegas for a little enjoyment before the last 24 hours started. They went to poolside cabanas to discuss their menu with the Sous Chefs (Scott with Justin and Andi with Christina). Then they got the surprise of their families waiting to greet them. Ramsay gave them tickets to the Penn and Teller Show. One of the early acts was Penn sawing teller in half. They showed how it was done, with 2 boxes each holding one person. Teller, 5’10” (I was shocked to learn this, since he appears tiny in contrast with Penn's 6'7") was in the part with the head showing. The feet in the other box were revealed to belong to Gordon Ramsay, who is 6’1” and must have been squeezed in there. Ramsay directed Christina and Justin to join him on stage and sent them off to prepare in 1 hour in the Paris Las Vegas kitchen 5 dishes to be served to 5 special judges back on the live stage of the Penn and Teller Show. Those dishes were:

Christina – wild asparagus, cheese crumble, fried egg salad
Justin – heirloom tomato, haricots verts, vinaigrette
The judge for the salad course was Francois Payard. He awarded the point to Justin.

Christina – ceviche, jalapeno, ginger, cilantro
Justin – Ecuadorian ceviche with shrimp poaching liquid + orange juice + ketchup
The judge for the appetizer course was Michel Richard. He awarded the point to Justin. 

Christina – pan-seared halibut, potato puree, grilled spinach
Justin – Dover sole meuniere, wild asparagus
The judge for the seafood course was Julian Serrano. He chose Christina’s dish.

Christina – port wine ribeye
Justin – ribeye, onion rings, with creamed nettles
The judge for the ribeye course was Stuart Gillies, a long-time associate of Ramsay’s and Managing Director of Gordon Ramsay Holdings overseeing all of Gordon’s worldwide restaurants. He awarded the point to Christina.

Christina – filet mignon, haricots verts, Gorgonzola mashed potatoes
Justin – charred filet mignon, poached lobster, glazed carrots
The judge for the filet course was Wolfgang Puck. He chose Christina, which gave her overall victory.

What was that worth? First pick in the choice of eliminated chefs for the “brigade” of each finalist. That meant that Christina got from 8 choices to pick the numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 chefs for her team. Her picks of Dana and Patrick while Justin picked Barbie and Brian had to be expected but then the picks got harder. Christina took Kimmie, Justin choose Royce (what was he doing there?; Tiffany must not have been available), Christina chose Robyn (although she did not want her) and Justin was left with Clemenza. Clemenza was pissy about being selected last.

That attitude boiled over as the finale competitors shared their menus with their brigades. Clemenza decided to walk out, leaving Justin one position short. Is that likely to last through dinner service the next evening? No, this is the daily manufactured drama of Hell’s Kitchen!

The menu was composed of 4 appetizers, 4 entrees and 3 desserts. Some of the items Christina presented to her brigade were:
Grilled peach salad with peppers
An unusual combination of scallops and a small portion of risotto
A 14 ounce veal portion

What Justin presented to his
 brigade was:
12 ounce bone-in steak
 Dover sole
Microgreen salad
Marmite? of ravioli

[apskip]

I believe that Justin has a slight edge over Christina in the finale, but either could win it.

[TexasLady]

I also think Justin could/will win it.

[Polaroid]

I think Justin will win it, but I don't think either him or Christina were standouts in the season. Actually, no one really stood out for me.

[franxaverian]

This could go either way but I think Christina would win it...

[apskip]

I think Justin will win it, but I don't think either him or Christina were standouts in the season. Actually, no one really stood out for me.

Polaroid,
My feelings are that HK10 is much more memorable than the finalists of the two prior seasons:
HK8 Nona vs. Russell
HK9 Paul vs. Will

[franxaverian]

The weakness of this season is that it is really dragged until 20 episodes instead of 15-16 episodes like the previous season....but in terms of the cheftestants, they are better than last season's

[apskip]

Polaroid,
I agree with you, but that is the by-product of having multiple preliminary rounds and a total of 18 competitors. You have to have at least 17 rounds just to eliminate one of them each episode.

[apskip]

HK10, Ep. 20, Finale

This was decision time for Justin and Christina. The time from selection of the brigades was punctuated by Clemenza deserting Justin but returning, although how much help will he really provide in crunch time? 10 hours of prepping proceeded. The finalists had to present all their final dishes to Ramsay, but only three were shown on the telecast. Just before that, Clemenza was shown burning crostini and having to redo it quickly. Those were:

Christina – scallops, asparagus risotto, charred corn, crabmeat salad, jicama, jalapeno, ginger, coconut, pork loin, braised collard greens
Justin – cod with basil beurre blanc, rib-eye withcrispy kale, salmon Sambucca
Ramsay gave both of them specific suggestions to improve their dishes or presentation.

Once dinner service started and Hell’s Kitchen was opened for the 140th time, production of appetizers was limited in both kitchens by the screw-ups of individuals helping Christina and helping Justin. Dana could not get scallops right, which meant that Barbie’s perfect risotto was wasted (after she had botched one). Dana overcooked halibut and Royce had trouble with his crabcake undercooked in the middle.

At the end of the entrees, Barbie overcooked 5 rib-eye and then ran out of steak to make replacements. Justin had to decide to substitute, with customer agreement, 2 filet mignons for rib-eyes.

Overall, there was no turmoil related to the production of Kimmie or Patrick.  Royce had some confessional room admissions indicating that he had a bad attitude. Clemenza also had one as well as raw salmon and raw ravioli. Dana got into one verbal altercation with Christina when she refused to cook what may have been halibut over again. Sous Chef Andi intervened and told Dana off before Christina could. For the final table, Dana had a raw center on pork and Christina made the right decision to redo the entire set of orders.

The performance in the final dinner service appeared to be even to me. If true that means that Ramsay made his decision based on prior episodes. He acknowledged Justin’s superior palate and Christina’s leadership skills. The nod went to Christina, who won the bonus of $250,000 (anyone who believes that’s a viable first-year salary is deluded) plus the job of head chef at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris in Las Vegas.