Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT You're Just Cooking Like a Zombie!
By Monty Ashley | Season 7 | Episode 4 | Aired on 06.15.2010
Autumn wants to slice the duck, but Chef Ramsay sticks his nose in and says not to slice it too early. All the other chefs take Ramsay's side, which is understandable, but Autumn wants to plate now. Dishes get brought to the pass.
The men have made a pan-roasted halibut with a bacon, pea, and crab ragout and a salsify puree. Chef Ramsay seems to like it a lot, except for the salsify chips. Nilka introduces the women's dish as a mango-glazed pan-seared duck with pureed turnips and some other stuff. The turnips look boring but taste good, and Autumn's idea to put duck fat in the turnips turns out to have been a good one. Nilka's duck looks good, although it's a little fatty. Both dishes are quite good. The blue team wins, because there was some fat on the duck.
The red team's punishment is to clean the entrance hall and prep both kitchens. The men, meanwhile, will be going skydiving. Jason is afraid of heights, because it's a reality show and there's always one.
JP introduces the women to the cleaning supplies, and they don't do a lot of complaining. They mostly just clean stuff. Maria would rather be doing prep than cleaning, which I approve of. Doing prep isn't a punishment! It's more experience working in the kitchen with each other!
The men arrive at one of those wind tunnel tubes that simulate skydiving. I feel like I should be making fun of it, but I think those are really cool.
JP goes around with a white glove. The men fly around in a plastic cylinder. The women finally get to do prep. Maria is now complaining about how long it takes to slice mangoes. I think the more they work with the food during prep, the better they'll work with it during the dinner service. When the men get there, Maria tells them they're "really sorry in advance." They don't like the sound of that. It turns out that they haven't prepped the men's stuff yet. Sous Chef Andi tells them to snap it up because they only have an hour. Maria starts crying a little from the stress, and Fran tells her to get out of the kitchen before she makes them all cry. She goes off and has a brief breakdown.
Sous Chef Andi takes her into the patio (where I guess there's a little sunlight visible after all) and listens to Maria panic. Will she give helpful advice? "You need to stop being emotional. It's gonna kill you." Well, thanks a lot. She knows that. "It's simple. It's food." Well, it seems to have worked on Maria since she's back in the kitchen. Chef Ramsay refers to her "lovely face" and now she's in a good mood again.