Episode Report Card Daniel: C | 1 USERS: F YOU GRADE IT You’re All Winners, In The Loosest Possible Sense Of The Word
By Daniel | Season 11 | Episode 17 | Aired on 06.27.2013
On the other side, Paul and Christian appear to be flirting with each other, which I assume is making everyone queasy. Paul's confident that with five champions on their team, they're going to dominate.
The cheftestants, though, are having trouble with the duck confit. "I knew this was going to be the case!" says Susan. It's taking too long to prepare, and they run out of time and have to give Ramsay the duck without the confit.
First, though, they've got a steak tartare with ribeye and filet and a quail egg seasoned with a truffle vinaigrette and shallots. Ramsay says it needs a little more heat but it's got that wow factor. As for the entrée, the pan-seared duck breast with celery puree and Ramsay calls it "fucking ridiculous" that the confit isn't ready. "Is that the best you can do?" he asks, and says the duck isn't even cooked properly.
Over in the former winners kitchen, they've got a rendered duck breast with toasted pistachio. Ramsay likes it. The entrée is a veal loin chop with collard greens and ham hock. Ramsay declares it delicious and reminds them that people in L.A. don't like it too pink. That true, Couch Baron?
The cheftestants take another crack at their duck entrée. Ramsay says it's really good with nice flavor, and tells Jean-Philippe to open the restaurant. Susan vastly overestimates what's at stake by declaring that if they beat the former winners, they'll go down in history.
The cooking gets underway with Jon, at least, trying to find a balance between working with people he hasn't cooked with before in order to win, but also standing out. He appears to be disappointed when Mary starts shooting out excellent scallop appetizers, especially as it's supposed to be his station.
Nona, meanwhile, is on hot apps for the champs and her risotto is not quite up to snuff at first, with a minor seasoning problem. Ramsay tells Dave to jump in and back her up, and the two of them blame each other for not knowing how to make risotto. Or something. Regardless, they get out risottos that meet Ramsay's approval.
And only now do we get the segment on how the other cheftestants find Mary's high-pitched squeaking annoying. He's given her a little bit of leadership responsibility, which means she's jabbering away. Susan's annoyed that Ja'Nel seems to have it easy by babysitting a couple of risottos while she's knocking out fifteen tartares, but Jon's impressed at how Susan's supporting Ja'Nel on apps and the appetizers are getting out tickety-boo.