Masterchef US Season 5 Episode 18

It is the final 3, and also the semi-finals!  The top 3 are Courtney Lapresi, Leslie Gilliams and Elizabeth Cauvel.

Pictured: Smugness, excitement, and "i-totally-got-this"

I thought it was always quite clear that these 3 were the top 3 among all the contestants.  while i was rooting for Leslie to win, i felt he could only go as far as 3rd as he lacked the versatility that Elizabeth and Courtney had.  My fears confirmed in the opening teaser where they showed the celebrations when the winner was announced - Ahran was clapping but not celebrating, meaning that her good friend Leslie had not won.

The first challenge was to cook an entree for 50 chefs from around the country, including famous personalities such as Cat Cora, from Iron Chef America.

As it is difficult for one pax to cook for 50, the cooks got help from 2 sous-chefs, made up of other contestants that had already been eliminated.  The allocation was done by chance, through the picking of fortune cookies. Elizabeth got Victoria and Jaimee, Leslie got Ahran and Christian, Courtney got Willie and Daniel.

Elizabeth cooked pan seared  red snapper with cauliflower trio, Leslie cooked a filet mignon with herb gnocchi while Courtney cooked a pan seared halibut with beet dashi vermicelli.  It was interesting to see Leslie in full control of the menu as well as the actual cooking process,  given that in his previous partnerships with Ahran and later Elizabeth,  he had ceded full control to his team mates.  it really showed his progression, especially as he was trying a seldom heard combination of beef and gnocchi.

Leslie is on fire

Courtney on the other hand seemed to lose control of her team and it seems that while she is good at cooking, leadership is not her forte, given that she had also struggled as team leader in episode 15.  Instructions were not clear, Daniel and Willie didnt know what to do and the team struggled to get  their plating done in time.

Still, the food was well received and but it seemed that Elizabeth and Leslie were ahead. it was important for both to win, as it would not be easy to defeat Courtney in an elimination challenge. Leslie in particular appeared desperate to avoid another elimination challenge,  having already been through (and survived) a record number of 6 challenges. 

It was Elizabeth who emerged as the first finalist in front of her idols, much to her delight, meaning it was time for Leslie to face his seventh elimination challenge.  He looked pretty downcast, as if he was a cat who knew that he has used up all of his 9 lives.

The challenge was announced and the cooks had to make 3 desserts- New York Cheesecake, Florida key lime pie and Boston cream pie.   Courtney's strength was in baking, but Leslie seemed to be familiar with  the key lime pie and wasnt ready to go down without a fight.

Leslie tries his best Tom Cruise impression

The stress of the moment seemed to get to both contestants,  who started talking to themselves. Courtney as usual was remarking how beautiful her dishes looked while Leslie seemed to be all over the place, muttering to himself instructions and trying to find his utensils.  In his own words, he is "always on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but never going there".

While Courtney appeared the more composed of the two, her food was not without flaws. In particular, her cream for the cream pie was runny which meant that it better taste good or else she would lose on the dish.

Sloppy seconds, anyone?

Time was soon up and Courtney easily had the better cheesecake.  However, Leslie stormed back to win the key lime pie. It was down to the wire and you couldnt have scripted this better. Although Courtney's last dish wasnt visually appealing, Leslie in his state of disarray had used salt instead of sugar.   This basic (and not uncommon- Courtney had also used salt when making donuts in episode 4) mistake eventually led to his elimination.  

What a pity, for if he had taken his chances, he would have made it into the top 2. Nonetheless, i
am sure not many would have expected Leslie to go as far as he has, especially in the early episodes when he was known more for mouthing off instead of his culinary skills.

Spring Onion

Fresh, Crunchy and Tasty, like a healthy version of pop corn 

I never knew how spring onions were grown until recently.  I was whining to my colleague about how anytime i wanted spring onion, i had to buy one whole bag from the supermarket.  I would end up with 6 or 7 big stalks when 1 would be more than enough.  It was not a very good use of my $0.80.

Imagine my surprise when she said that she planted her own spring onion, and this can be easily done by planting shallots (also called scallions)!

Wok Stars Episode 10 - Grand Finale

After episode 9 which turned out to be just a prelude, its finally time for the grand, grand, final finale, for the final cook-off between Kenneth and KS.  

The final episode started with the camera crew catching the contestants at home on the day of the final cook-off.  Kenneth was shown demonstrating his awesome Microsoft Office skills, having planned out his steps to finish 30 minutes ahead of time.  He also shared that he was out to prove that CIA graduates trained in Singapore could cook good food, in an effort to show that the local US-trained intelligence community could do more than just cook up stories about Mas Selamat.

The CIA trains its operatives to kill using all objects shown in this photo, including the chef whites

KS was shown mumbling repeatedly about wanting to beat Kenneth, having invested in a canning machine and a donkey's butt to later open a can of whoop-ass over the walking CIA apron.  He then proceeded to make himself breakfast and left home without finishing it.  It must have been pretty alarming for KS fans because 1. there was still no list, 2. he didnt finish his breakfast, which could mean that the food maybe didnt taste too good, or he had stolen a bite of the donkey butt.

You can tell that he is a Willin Low fanboy from the cap

Wok Stars Episode 9

Face-Off!
Screengrabs from XinMSN

Its the grand finals! But its a 2-part special so thankfully we still get to savour Wok-Stars goodness for one more week!  It’s down to Kenneth against KS, and they will cook their signature dish for 30 guests.  Up for grabs is the grand prize of S$30,000, and the opportunity to run their own hawker stall in a Koufu foodcourt without rent for a year.

Each of the resident judges was paired up with one of the finalists; Chef Willin mentored KS while Chef Alvin was with Kenneth.  KS shared his dream of turning his passion for cooking into a career, and I guess this is really everyone’s dream, to be able to do what you love for a living :)  for me, thinking about it further, I enjoy cooking but I do not think I will enjoy cooking the same dish everyday because it will become too routine.  I think this is also why Master Chef US Season 4 winner Luca Manfe hosts “Dinner with Luca” sessions instead of working in a mainstream restaurant kitchen?

Anyway, back to Wok Stars - Kenneth discussed with Chef Alvin on how to enhance the flavour of his bak ku teh risotto dish.  Building on Kenneth’s idea of using beef instead of pork ribs, Chef Alvin suggested using chocolate to go with the dish, as well as stuffing tau kua with cheese in place of you tiao.  This turned up the “fusion” factor in Kenneth’s dish and in my opinion made it a lot more unique than KS’s, in terms of concept.

Kenneth’s motivation was to find a short-cut to owning his own F&B business.  While he enjoyed cooking, he felt that cooking for $2,000 a month as an employee was too little, and hence wanted to use the $30,000 prize money to start his own business.  Sad to say, money is necessary for many things, be it eating, accommodation, paying bills, and so while it doesn’t sounds very idealistic, it is a realistic statement.  I am sure that there are those who are happy to just to be able to cook and not worry about the cash, and these are the people I respect most.  They also say that money follows the passion, but it really takes a big leap of faith to be able to do so.

And they say for those with the balls to take the leap, they land in a giant wad of cash
Screengrab from Hubspot

Wok Stars Episode 8

Battle of the Top 4
Screengrab from XinMSN

Its down to the top 4 competing to be the next Wok Star, and they are one step away from the Grand Finale.  Episode 8 kicked off at Emily Hill, where contestants had to show off their creativity once again by coming up with an egg dish within one hour.

Wok Stars Episode 7

The Wok Stars series is clearly getting more exciting, as the cooks demonstrate their improving cooking abilities as well as their creativity.

**Warning: Spoiler Alert**

Episode 7 of Wok Stars began at the JEM Koufu foodcourt, where the challenge was to be a hawker's apprentice for a day and handle lunch service.  To me this was very thought-out, as the cooks got to practice being the real deal and at the same time get experience from established chefs in the business.  Viewers also got the benefit of catching a glimpse into the work that goes into preparing food in the different stalls.  It was really interesting to learn that there were three pots to cook fishballs which cooks have to juggle during service, and to watch the techniques involved in braising chicken :) :)

Two Choppers to mince meat - Karen Mok Style (below)

Screengrab from XinMSN and Youtube

Wok Stars Episode 6

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Take #54 and counting.. @#$% cameraman
Image from XinMSN

This Wok Stars episode featured the first ever team challenge, which also made it seem more like a Master Chef clone. Wonder if they will be introducing a revival episode too, where contestants who were previously knocked out have a chance to return?

In any case, I like Master Chef so i am not complaining.  The team challenge, held at the kitchens of Shangri-La Hotel, was to cube potatoes with both speed and precision.  This meant having as many potatoes that were cubed shaped as possible within the allocated time of 1 hour.

Reality TV means drama, and so they showed Kenneth proclaiming how he was so good that he would pick himself if he was a team captain, and Sen telling his teammates that safety was a priority, before proceeding to cut his own hand.

Getting Saucy with Apples

it's basically what it sounds like - apples in the form of a sauce.  

think the great taste of apples, but without the crunch.  you may laugh and think that its for babies and old people, but if Snow White had made applesauce from the red apple instead, she might not have gotten poisoned so easily.  Plus, it does taste great and is a good way to use up left-over apples that are about to go bad.

photo from livingingtheiceage.co.uk

What The Fish

Picture from veryfunnypics.eu

The basa fish, also known more elegantly as the bicourti, is a catfish native to the Mekong delta in Vietnam and the chao phraya basin in Thailand. According to wikipedia, the fish is commonly sold in the UK as a cheaper alternative to other white fish such as cod or haddock. Some retailers have even gone as far as selling basa as cod.  It is great credit to the basa that it can be passed off as more "refined" fishes in terms of appearance and taste, so much so that when these cases went to court, DNA evidence had to be used to tell these fish apart.

Closer to home, basa is actually also rather common and can be found in zhi char stalls,  cooked together with ginger and spring onion.  I am sure now it sounds familiar, and also brings to mind it's creamy white and oh-so-succulent flesh *drool*