MasterChef

[fluff]

I was pleased that Girdin went to bat fit the first contestant tonight and Graham was willing to retaste, rethink and change his mind.
Bastianich is still an arse. The way he stares at them without saying anything after he tastes their food is slightly ridiculous, imo.

[fluff]

I was pleased that Girdin went to bat fit the first contestant tonight and Graham was willing to retaste, rethink and change his mind.
Bastianich is still an arse. The way he stares at them without saying anything after he tastes their food is slightly ridiculous, imo.

[dagwood]

I liked Gordon going to bat for that first lady, too. He had a good point. Graham was looking at the food from a four star chef aspect not just a home cook.

The stare is annoying. It's like he wants to scare them but it just makes me laugh.

[Advantage]

I was pleased that Girdin went to bat fit the first contestant tonight and Graham was willing to retaste, rethink and change his mind.
Bastianich is still an arse. The way he stares at them without saying anything after he tastes their food is slightly ridiculous, imo.

It is total BS that Gordo got to argue that contestant should be let through because her food was good, bad presentation aside. Then he didn't want to pass the next girl because he thought she was too young even though her food was good. I guess Masterchef isn't judged by the quality of the food. And the hippo wearing white glasses just lost what little credibility he had left from the first show by letting Gordo talk him into changing his mind. I thought he was trying to be Paula Abdul the last time, christ, he like the beer/cheese soup, but now he has shown himself to be Gordo's bitch. His opinions don't count any more. Joe B. may be playing the hardass, but his opinions so far are mostly sound and he sticks to his decisions.

[MiaT2]

I think my favorite contestant from last night's show was the mom with 2 special needs kids. I think she really impressed GR with the "fresh" factor and I think the creativity required to prepare food that her kids will eat that is also healthy will serve her well in this competition. My second favorite was the young 22 year old girl who has been cooking for her family since she was 9. I disagreed completely with GR in his assessment about her age. If anything, it's an asset because she hasn't been around so long to become tainted with cynicism for the craft and the industry or become bored.

Oh - we hate "the stare" too. What a pompous a$$ By the way, when did "surf & turf" become a traditional Italian dish? When I traveled Italy, beef was a rare menu item - and certainly wasn't found in a big, hearty steak as Gordon indicated. And finally, my Italian family has been making pasta fagioli for years with chick peas instead of canneloni beans. I never even knew it was made with cannelonis until a few years ago, much less that that was the "standard" way of doing it. Hell, I always thought it was called pasta chi chis. The first time I heard fagioli, I gave a good WTF? However, that dude's dish looked like crap. His sauce looked nasty and totally unappetizing.

[Cornholio]

It wasn't even soup! It looked like some little noodles with a can of tomatoes tossed on top.

Re: the stare - we laugh at it too. It looks like he's thinking about putting a pair of cement boots on the contestant.

I am loving this show so far! Can't wait to see what the competition is all about.

[Rattus]

By the way, when did "surf & turf" become a traditional Italian dish? When I traveled Italy, beef was a rare menu item - and certainly wasn't found in a big, hearty steak as Gordon indicated. And finally, my Italian family has been making pasta fagioli for years with chick peas instead of canneloni beans. I never even knew it was made with cannelonis until a few years ago, much less that that was the "standard" way of doing it. Hell, I always thought it was called pasta chi chis. The first time I heard fagioli, I gave a good WTF? However, that dude's dish looked like crap. His sauce looked nasty and totally unappetizing.

Perhaps it's regional, but Fiorentina (grilled T-bone) is very popular in Tuscany, though lobster is more popular in Sardinia so I don't know about the surf 'n' turf thing. And as professional chefs, they were well within their rights to be horrified by the canned beans, as I was. I wouldn't use canned beans for anything. I mean, how much effort does it take to soak some dried beans and then boil them?

[canuck]

I liked Gordon going to bat for that first lady, too. He had a good point. Graham was looking at the food from a four star chef aspect not just a home cook.

The stare is annoying. It's like he wants to scare them but it just makes me laugh.

And there's NO way for the Mexican gal and her mother could drive to her home and back (to Whittier), get the ingredients she needed, and cook them in a period of TWO hours. Not to mention that her car was conveniently parked right outside the studio on the public street so she can hop in it and get to the freeway.

Aah, but I have no problem with adding stuff on a reality show to get the story across.

[MiaT2]

Perhaps it's regional, but Fiorentina (grilled T-bone) is very popular in Tuscany, though lobster is more popular in Sardinia so I don't know about the surf 'n' turf thing.

That's interesting to hear. I didn't spend much time in the Tuscan region so wasn't aware of the t-bone popularity. I think the meat I saw most frequently (when not in the coastal areas) was pork. We were told beef wasn't as widespread because the govt. didn't have good mandatory quality controls in place to oversee packing and distribution. Perhaps there are more local farms/butchers in Tuscany which makes it easier to get beef. Dang - now I wanna go to Italy!

Looking forward to the egg n onion challenge. Lord knows I'd fail that one already - I can't chop an onion to save my life!!

[Magnum]

The three judges should have been Curtis Stone, Emeril, and Gordon Ramsay.