Hell’s Kitchen Coverage: Peace Josh

It was time for the chefs to prove they’re Black Jacket worthy in a two hour special of “Hell’s Kitchen.” That also meant that it was time for Ramsay to pull out the maggots and awesome prizes.

In the first hour, the chefs found a series of lockers in the dining room. Their challenge was to cook a steak entrée. But first, they had to get the steaks from out of the lockers. Ramsay then threw an entire fish bowl full of keys into the air for the chefs to use. They also had thirty minutes to do this. As expected, these chefs scrambled like crazy trying to find a key that would open a locker that had a steak.

At tasting, Ramsay judged the steaks via “King of the Hill.” Meaning the chef that’s left sitting on the throne wins it for his/her team. T was the first in the throne with her rib cap. Josh, Alison and Milly didn’t get close because their steaks were either over or undercooked. Meghan almost won it for her team, but Michelle won with a flank steak, considered one of the lowest cuts of steaks.

The Red’s reward was a day at “Catalina Island,” where they went in a submarine and lunch at Catalina’s members-only beach club. If that wasn’t a great reward, it got better. Once again, the winning chefs got their own “Vitamix.” “Vitamix” must really love FOX because they keep buying them every year.

The Blue on the other had to prep for steak night by butchering a side of beef. As we all know, a side of beef by Ramsay’s terms means a quarter of a cow. Milly complained that since he is the biggest out of all the remaining Blue, he had to carry most of the weight.

At dinner service, Ramsay said that he was giving out black jackets that night. Since this dinner was steak night there were plenty of mistakes, mostly from the Red.

In the Blue, Nick made dry salmon. Meghan had it rough with the steaks. Not only did she have a ton of them, but she brought up a raw NY strip. Besides that, they all got their black jackets.

Michelle started things in the Red by making a watery capellini. Later, Alison cooked not only a raw steak but two raw salmon. Josh would then be backed up on his salmon garnish when two steaks for the same table were ready. Ramsay had no choice but to send out the steaks. At black jacket time, something like time management should not be an issue. This continued to be an issue throughout the service. It got so bad that the Blue in their black jackets had to help them.

At elimination, the Red chose Josh and Alison for elimination. Alison got eliminated while the rest got their black jackets.

In hour two Ramsay was standing next to a chemistry set. This was to show that chefs are like scientists in that they mix different ingredients to make something. There were even numbered beakers that had flavors of different dishes in them. That’s pretty amazing that science can capture a flavor of something in its purest form.

Of course, that wasn’t the challenge. The challenge was to form pairs and make Ramsay’s dish in another “Hell’s Kitchen” staple “Taste It, Now Make It.” The pairs were T and Milly, Josh and Meghan and Nick and Michelle.

Everyone except Josh and Meghan chose sea bass (cod,) on the sauce everyone except Nick and Michelle chose sake (soy) and on the dumplings everyone except T and Milly chose lobster (shrimp.)

The pair that got it right was Nick and Michelle. Their award was a tour of Long Beach and a day on the “Queen Mary.) Now that was a great prize. It got better when they toured the ocean side on a water car. Ramsay really put out all the stops on this prize.

The rest of the chefs had to suffer through recycling day, and you all know what means. For some strange reason “Hell’s Kitchen’s” dumpster is always filled with maggots. And, of course, Josh wasn’t pulling his weight. Also, part of the punishment was to cook 200 pounds of mashed potatoes which was to be donated to the “Midnight Mission.” That right there proves that Gordon Ramsay is an awesome person.

Milly got very emotional about cooking for this charity. He said he was homeless almost his entire life and this charity helped him. That emotion was gone by prep because Josh was being Josh again. Milly even called him “Uncle Randy” because he kept asking the same question over and over again. Why is this guy still here?

The first dinner service as one team went pretty well. There was also a VIP in the chef table: Academy Award winner Tatum O’Neal.

To start off, Michelle plated two Caesar salads in plates instead of bowls. Nick would then make a cold lobster for a risotto. Michelle would then make cold tuna. Again, Josh was causing trouble. He wasn’t communicating and even started a big flare up. He even had the nerve to say he didn’t know T was ready, causing him to need two minutes on his lamb. To top it off, he sent up pink chicken. He really needs to go. Ramsay even called him a baboon. Truthfully, that doesn’t have the same punch as a donkey.

It needs to be said that Tatum O’Neal was a rough critic. She criticized every little think on every dish. She even sent back her Wellington because it was “still mooing” and asked for a halibut instead. This had to be a first on this show.

At elimination Josh and Michelle were chosen for elimination. Josh was eliminated.

It was about time Josh was eliminated. He really crashed and burned these past few episodes. Well, it’s black jacket time and now it’s time for the final five to start to show what they’re really made of.