Episode Report Card Daniel: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Steak Me Home Tonight
By Daniel | Season 11 | Episode 7 | Aired on 05.01.2013
Nedra and Susan bring up their filet, up against Zach and his Chinese and pink peppercorn with lemon zest and mustard seed... his list of ingredients grows to comical levels. Ramsay praises his perfect medium rare but asks if it's supposed to be that sweet. It is, says Zach. Nedra and Susan's raspberry chipotle filet is also cooked perfectly but doesn't taste like a Skittle. Ramsay likes both of them though, and awards points to each of them.
New York strip: Amanda's smokehouse barbecue (she forgot salt and pepper, Ramsay tells her) versus Michael's truffle-crusted. Ramsay doesn't like Amanda's, and Michael cooks his to medium. No point for either side.
Ribcap: Anthony's shallots and dried banana ("That actually works," says Ramsay, looking surprised and disgusted with himself for thinking so) against Jacqueline's black garlic, lemongrass and lemon rub. Ramsay thinks they're both great. A point apiece.
Hanger steak: Ja'Nel's Argentine chimichurri with orange versus Barret's black garlic. I'm not sure I've even heard of black garlic before tonight, and half the steak dishes have used it. Anyway, Barret overcooked his steak, and Ja'Nel gets the point, Ramsay praising her dish. The score is tied at three.
So it's down to the ribeye: "The butcher and the senior," says Ramsay. Michael notes that Ray has been doing this for longer than most of them have been alive, so hopefully he earns them the point. Ray's sauce is made with... Grand Marnier? Yep. I have to go to the closed captioning because his pronunciation seemed a little weird to me. Ramsay notes that it's not the kind of thing you usually see with a ribeye. Plus it's overcooked a little. However, Ramsay says it's nice, and he's amazed it works. He tries Mary's blackberry vanilla ribeye -- cooked perfectly, he notes -- and he likes it, but "there's a lot of blackberry in here." Too sweet versus too cooked. The point goes to...
...Mary. Red cheers, and Mary is ecstatic, partially because she beat Ray. Ramsay tells Ray that if his steak had been medium rare as requested, they would have won.
So Red's reward is a day by the pool, a 360-degree view of the city, and manicures. After a gratuitous shot of Susan getting dressed, Ramsay tells Blue that tonight is steak night, and he uses only the freshest ingredients possible: meaning a special side of beef is going to be delivered. They'll have to break it down and prep every station.
"Oooh, that's a big bitch," Zach says when they see the side of meat in the truck. They're still carrying it in when the cackling women pass by on their way to their rooftop pool. Mary the butcher is actually a little conflicted since she enjoys hacking up meat. I presume her qualms were quashed when they arrived at the pool and its gorgeous view of the city.