A classic comedy sketch that stands the test of time.
Masterchef:Feeding An Army and Blueberry Blues
Photo:Public Domain
*It is Masterchef(US) week 3. 20 cheftestants remain. 1 will be eliminated.
*By now we know how this works. They drive the cheftestants to some remote location, let them out, and tell them to walk ahead. Cameras are positioned so we get a nice wide view of them walking on desert terrain waiting for something to happen. Helicopters appear overhead and trucks are closing in. If this were 24 I might be worried. The trucks stop and the Culinary Trio hop out.
*Very quickly the teams are formed. Francis B is captain of Red selects Ahran, Cutter, Christine, Elizabeth, Kira, Tyler, and Victoria. Everyone else forms Team Blue (Christian, Courtney, Dan W, Daniel, Elise, Gordon, Jaimee, Jordan, Leslie, Stephani). Daniel ends up the captain more or less by acclamation of the other team members. Are they doomed as one team member opines to the camera?
*Note that when they disembark later the cheftestants have changed clothes. They are wearing team colored shirts, khakis and military style boots (they had helmets on in the truck since there were live explosions taking place as they drove through the area). If you recorded it, go back and see what they were wearing. Courtney was wearing high heels, which tells me they did not tell them were they were heading. Once again the magic Superman change (you know where Superman manages to change out of his street clothes without anyone noticing).
*Mission Impossible
If you remember the classic television series (not the Tom Cruise movies), the team was sent on impossible missions no one else wanted to do. And this task certainly is in this category. They are at the U.S. Army’s National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California where soldiers learn combat in real time exercises. The task, which the cheftestants cannot decline, is to cook a meal for 500 soldiers. You heard that right, 500. The most ever done on Masterchef. And they may not try it again considering how daunting such a task is. You have 2 hours to prep and 2 hours to serve. I think they ought to have inverted this episode and made this the pressure test!
*Team Red decides to do pork chops with apple-cranberry sauce with macaroni and cheese as the side. Sounds good except the pork chops are very thick and Francis never considers cutting them into smaller pieces. Smaller pieces=easier cooking and less chance of them being underdone. The Culinary Trio wonders how they will pull off mac and cheese without an oven (you do what most do, on the stove top). It does require some work. You have to not only boil up the macaroni but make a cheese sauce. Unless you are dolts who think dumping cold cream, butter, cheese and macaroni together will turn out well. That is what Team Red did. Apparently no one actually has made mac and cheese from scratch. Hence why they thought they could toss it all together. Thanks Kraft!
*Team Blue decides to go with BBQ Chicken and potato salad. Leslie says it would be easier to cook beef, but he is shot down. In the confessional he points out it is difficult to cook on a grill, easily dries out, or undercooked. Leslie was later asked by Gordon about the chicken choice and tells his objection. Sadly it proved true. Stephani was cooking the chicken and Leslie warned they were underdone. She was not amused! They are done, she proclaims and off they go to portable oven to be kept warm. Except when Gordon checks them they are underdone! He gets mad and Stephani looks, well, puzzled. If she could not tell the chicken was not done, how will she fare in a pressure test?
*Team Red has really botched it since the mac and cheese turned out horribly, so they go to Plan B: coleslaw. Except they have to it by hand taking loads of time to prepare. The meat is underdone making it more obvious how Francis B screwed up. Gordon does not think much of his leadership and finally someone realizes you can-gasp-butterfly the pork so it will cook faster. Team Blue is already serving and getting votes. Red plates are going out empty. Cue the dramatic music. It looks bad for Team Red. Is this an impossible mission? They managed to get out pork though and soon soldiers who get portions from both teams can compare. Some underdone proteins are found but many like the pork over chicken. One soldier said it was nothing special about the chicken.
*Team Red wins by 329 votes, leaving 171 for Blue. A stunning turnaround as it looked pretty gloomy for them. And now it is time for…
Dreaded Pressure Test
*This is the first pressure test this season. We have seen what pressure tests can do. They are never easy and rarely forgiving on mistakes. What you cook determines whether you stay or go home.
*Daniel gets to choose three to get on the lifeboat. He saves Christian, Gordon, and Dan but declines to save himself. Leslie is angry he was not saved and does not like Daniel much anyway. Daniel makes a snide comment about Leslie’s age in the confessional.
*Blueberry Pie. Love it. Never cooked it but love it. The trick, says Gordon, is getting that crust right. They prognosticate on the cheftestants. Joe thinks Jaimee will shine, Gordon thinks Elise will disintegrate, and Graham thinks Stephani will overcomplicate. All three are correct.
Top
Jaimee: Her pie is called awesome by Graham, impressive by Joe, and delicious by Gordon
Courtney: Gordon says it is delicious and wonders if there is anything she cannot do (trust me, we will find out!)
Leslie: Graham loved it and said the spices used brought together both the best of apple and blueberry pies.
Bottom:
Elise: The baker once again flubs. It is too sweet and shockingly raw underneath! Way too much flour and tastes like sand says Gordon. Graham says it is her ticket home unless someone else is worse.
Stephani: Her pecan crust is a total fail. The pastry is undercooked but Stephani claims to Joe that it is better than Elise.
Daniel: He was the last to put his pie in the oven. The lattice looks weird and the pastry has cracked. But the filling is actually okay, which Gordon calls a fluke. It saves him from going home.
Jordan: It was okay though the crust was sloppy.
In the end it came down to Elise and Stephani. Personally I would have sent both home but it probably came to a coin toss. Stephani ends up handing in her apron and leaving. No loss here. She poorly managed the chicken in the team challenge and here did exactly what Graham thought she would do and over complicate a dish making it a disaster.
My 2¢
I doubt they will repeat this particular challenge with so many people again. They really ran the danger, like in Hell’s Kitchen, of neither team winning. Both teams had serious problems right from the beginning, both in planning and execution. Next week someone is going home and they hint it is a early favorite. But as always the promos are often deceptive and who you think is going home does not. Though it looks like aerial dancer Courtney runs into a major problem in forgetting a key ingredient. Could she be the one sent home? Or someone more unexpected like Willie?
Titanic: Death of a Dream
The excellent A&E documentary on Titanic has a wealth of information. It has interviews with historians, researchers, survivors and others to fill out the story. It is quite good but hard to find now that A&E repackaged it under a new title for the Titanic centenary. At any rate part one has been posted to YouTube. This appears to be a licensed version rather than someone just uploading it and violating copyright law. Enjoy. (Note: This is part 1!)
Remembering D-Day(6June1944)
Photo:Public Domain
Today we cannot imagine or fathom the resources and manpower needed for this highly complex operation. It took years of planning, putting together needed resources, and training the men needed. Even then things went wrong right away but despite the terrible odds and the high casualty rate, the Allied forces prevailed. With many junior officers wounded or killed right away, it was the ordinary soldier that won the day.
Masterchef: Meatloaf For All
Photo: public domain
Season 5 is now underway and the top twenty-two are ready to go. And two will be dropped at the end of this episode. One will fall after the Mystery Box and the other in the elimination round.
*No mention of Walmart at all during this episode. In fact there was no Walmart commercial either. I wonder if they ended their sponsorship of the show or they are low balling the shilling this year due to complaints.
*Dessert was the Mystery Box challenge, a change from previous seasons. They were given chocolate, bananas, strawberries,various extracts, ground coffee and of course use of the MasterChef pantry.
*In past seasons they sometimes call down what everyone assumes is the top two only to learn they are the two worst. This time they call down four: Astrid and Cutter, Courtney and Willie. Then after the obligatory commercial break, Gordon announces Astrid and Cutter are the two worst.
*A Lesson In How To Fail
Cutter presents his Capuchino pudding & biscotti. It looked weird. Making it worse he put the Masterchef logo on the pudding! Gordon is not happy looking at this dish. He is appalled at Cutter putting the logo there. Joe tells him that his biscotti are not even close. Astrid originally was cooking lemon bars but now lemon tarts. They look rather anemic sitting on the plate and worse, raw inside. Gordon was not impressed and sees little potential in her. So it is no surprise that Astrid turns in her apron and heads home. She accepts her fate and realizes she ought to have done more baking. If you want to be a chef, you need to be able to cook everything in your kitchen so you know whether your cooks are getting it right or not.
*A Lesson In Winning
Both Willie and Courtney show great presentation skills and remarkable use of the ingredients on their plates. Courtney made a Honey Cake with mixed berry coules. Gordon calls it balanced and Graham calls it a restaurant dish. Willie has a Gingerbread Cake (in small bites) with mascarpone and berry compote. Joe says it shows finesse and Gordon says it was a party in his mouth! Both look like they could win but only one can so Courtney is chosen who heads back to the pantry to decide on what the others will soon be cooking.
*Ground Meat
She is shown three samples of ground meat: Italian meatballs, meatloaf, and the burger. When they showed these three I thought she would choose meatloaf. Meatballs are tricky but not impossible. Burgers are too easy but meatloaf requires more finesse to get the flavors right. And I was right, she choose meatloaf. She also got exemption from cooking and one more major bonus: she could save half from cooking. So she methodically went through the people chosen for safety. Personally I would have kept my mouth shut about why each person was saved until the confessional. So compared it to chess and using them as pawns in her game. On person not fooled was Elizabeth who probably is just as cunning as Courtney but more discreet in her way of showing it.
*Let The Games Begin!
So the remaining cheftestants now assemble their meatloafs. Dan is proud to say he is a food snob. He is planning an Asian themed meatloaf. Willie,who is the cook in his family, says he has got this. Stephani goes off in a strange direction using couscous and blue cheese. Joe is aghast and cannot believe what he is hearing. You can see the angel of death preparing to lower that scythe soon. Frances B starts off planning cheese inside his meatloaf and Gordon makes him reconsider it. The clock runs down and the judging begins.
The top
*Francis B uses meatloaf with Spanish ingredients and it is a hit. Joe likes it and Gordon calls it bold. Graham says it is the kind of meatloaf he would want his mom to make. Ultimately he gets the win because of his boldness.
*Willie presents a beef and pork meatloaf with creamy mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. It gets rave reviews and Gordon loves it.
The bottom
*Dan presents an Asian style meatloaf Gordon calls disgusting and worst meatloaf he ever had!
*Whitney presents a meatloaf with odd flavors like lemongrass and mango. It also is dry, overcooked, and worse than a tv dinner!
*Stephani’s strange meatloaf with couscous and blue cheese sauce is so bad Gordon spits it out. He tells her it spells H-O-M-E!
*Exit, Stage Right
Dan, Whitney, and Stephani are on the bottom. Dan is saved and Gordon asks Courtney who she thinks they have selected to go home. She says Whitney, for lacking passion. And she was right. Whitney exits and Francis gets the win that makes him a team leader in the next challenge.
My 2¢
At this point it is way too early to see who will make it but Willie, Courtney, and Francis are the strongest right now because they came out top in the first challenges. Courtney gave a kind of evil laugh as she enjoyed talking about how she is playing the other cheftestants like chess pawns and pulling strings. She has the smarts and not unlike Natasha of season 4 in her brashness. As time goes on and we get to know some of the other cheftestants, more opinions will form. I personally hope Willie goes far. This guy has passion and clearly loves to cook. I suspect he will take up any challenge they throw at him and do well. Next week it looks like they visit a military base and cook for a lot of soldiers.
Commemorative Gravestone Restored For Titanic Engineer
Titanic engineer Joseph Bell was 51 when Titanic went down. His body was never recovered so a memorial gravestone was cut into his father’s gravestone at Farlam’s St Thomas-a-Becket Church. Over the years though the area became overgrown and inaccessible. And time and weather had faded the engraving on the memorial as well. So an appeal went out to help restore the grave to its proper condition. It meant cutting away the overgrowth, creating a new footpath to make it accessible, and restoring the memorial to its proper condition. Thus the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal was created to get funds to make this all possible.
And it has been done. The re-dedication of the memorial was recently done and John Lightfoot, chairman of Solar Solve Marine, laid a wreath representing seafarers and maritime organizations globally. Lightfoot had become personally involved after reading a news story about the appeal for funds. He made the maritime industry aware of the appeal and getting their support. They hope to get some additional funds to add other improvements and a notice board detailing the history.
Sources:
1. A Day Of Pride At Titanic Memorial(3 June 2014,The Shields Gazette)
2. Joseph Bell Chief Engineer of Titanic(Family website)
3. Joseph Bell (Encyclopedia Titanica)
Tuesday Titanic News
1. Premier Exhibitions recently reported its fourth quarter results along with full year 2014. Total revenue fell by 7% ( $6.2 million compared to $6.7 million last quarter) and gross profit decreased as well. Exhibition days also decreased to 1,278 from 1,150 in last quarter. Attendance was down in fourth quarter (357 per day compared to 399). Ticket prices did increase slightly by 1.3% Overall revenue decreased 25.6% to $29.3 million and gross profit while gross profits decreased 32.5% to $14.0 million. Premier’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Michael Little says:
“We are resolved to improving the performance of Titanic and Bodies from current levels which we think can best be accomplished by updating the exhibition content and by bolstering our exhibition marketing efforts. To accomplish these changes, we will invest in both exhibitions. In addition, we have augmented our in-house marketing team and partnered with Crossmedia to re-envision and re-launch highly creative and collaborative campaigns and bring these stories to life across paid, owned, and earned media. We think these efforts should positively impact these existing properties over time and complement our broader plan to evolve and diversify our portfolio.”
In other words, the exhibitions have become stagnant and need to be revitalized and re-marketed to get more people buying tickets. As for the Titanic artifacts that were supposed to be sold per a salvage award, not a word in the press release.
Source:Premier Exhibitions Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Results(27 May 2014,Globe Newswire (Press Release)
2. Despite having powerful wireless telegraphs aboard Titanic, it was not able to summon help as quickly as it should have writes Ronald Yeaple in Daily Messenger. Over on California, its wireless operator retired for the night so he and no one else aboard heard the fateful telegraph call from Titanic. They did not learn of the tragedy till the next morning. Carpathia heard the message and resulting from that was Captain Rostron immediately heading to the scene arriving around 0400. Compounding the problem later was how messages got terribly garbled and mashed up resulting in inaccurate news being reported. Yeaple writes: “The spark coil transmitters of the time broadcast a wide range of frequencies and were not finely tuned like today’s radios, so messages often overlapped.” That does explain why, unfortunately, early reports were so terribly wrong. [Today we are experiencing something of a decline in getting it right. Today many reporters have gone backwards in their attempts to get the headline by relying on Twitter, other social media, and dubious sources not properly vetted.]
Source: FROM TELEGRAMS TO TEXTING: Why Didn’t Wireless Save Titanic’s Passengers?(1 June 2014,Daily Messenger)
3. A Mediterranean theme park in China which will include a replica of Titanic (the Titanic Sinking Simulator) will also have a man-made beach much like the movie Truman Show. Construction, if on schedule, began on 30 May. According to CNTV: “The 16-billion RMB ($256 million) model ship and interior man-made beach will be two of the key attractions at the Romandisea Seven Star International Cultural Tourism Resort, which will also feature a Venetian church, Turkish baths and what is being called a “6D cinema.”
Source:Replicated Titanic To Anchor In Mediterranean Theme Park In China(30 May 2014,CNTV)
New Titanic Sinking Theory:Bilge Pump Opened Hastened Sinking
Captain David Brown, who teaches at the Maritime Academy of Toledo, believes that Titanic stoker Frederick Barrett’s actions on the fateful night contribute more to the ship’s demise than previously thought. Barrett had been sent down to reconfigure the bilge pumps. However the valve quickly filled the boiler room with water causing the downward tilt to become severe and catastrophic. Brown does not believe the gash doomed Titanic as previously thought, nor does he believe that water rose over the bulkheads until human intervention made it possible. He believes Barrett hid that fact to avoid being labeled as the one who sank Titanic. Brown argues that until that valve was opened, Titanic was not sinking and that this singular act not occurred the ship would not have sunk.
Frederick Barrett survived and gave accounts of what happened when the iceberg struck. He was in boiler room 6 at the time, felt the impact of the collision, and heard the sound of it as well. However his account given to the British enquiry and then given to Walter Lord (for A Night To Remember) is not the same. As noted at Encyclopedia Titanica entry on Barrett:
According to the account given in A Night to Remember when water suddenly began to gush through the forward bulkhead Shepherd urged Harvey and Barrett to get out but Harvey rushed to save his colleague, the last thing Barrett noticed as he clambered up the escape ladder was the two engineers disappearing under a torrent of ice cold water.
Barrett’s testimony to the British enquiry does not mention this scenario and actually indicates that Shepherd had already been carried to another compartment before that in which he was injured became flooded and therefore Barrett could not have seen him as he made his escape. The truth remains a mystery.
Barrett also contributes to the Coal Fire Theory. During the British enquiry, he described a coal fire in one of the bunkers. Lord Mersey pressed him on this as to whether the bulkhead that gave way (which forced him to evacuate) was due to the coal fire. Barrett said it “would be hard to say.”
Brown also believes Titanic captain Edward J. Smith got a bad reputation from the sinking. He says that Captain Smith did not ignore the ice peril, instructed officers to be vigilant, and made at least two course corrections based upon ice warnings.
The problem with this theory is that we know slits were cut by the iceberg allowing water to enter multiple compartments. Because of this, the volume of water entering Titanic was fatal. Too much water was already entering causing it to sink at the bow. Keeping the bilge valve closed would make no difference but I will defer to more educated minds to further look into this claim. As for his claims about Captain Smith, the problem is that he decided to speed up Titanic on a moonless night through an ice field. More prudent ship captains stopped for the night rather than taking the risk.
Sources:
1.Seaman Floats Theory Of What Really Sank Titanic(2 June 2014,Toledo Blade)
2.Frederick Barrett (Encyclopedia Titanica)
Welcome To June
Les Roses by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840)
Photo:Public Domain (US Library of Congress: lccn.loc.gov/50049695)
MasterChef(US) Returns
Photo: Fox
You know summer is about here when Masterchef (US), returns to Fox. Now it is time for America’s best amateur chefs to step up to the plate and impress three important people: Joe Bastianich, Graham Elliot, and Gordon Ramsay. This is season 5 so we all know the drill by now. First they have individuals cook a meal for the judges to taste. Those that pass get an apron for the next level, the others leave. Then they assemble those that passed and make them do a challenge. It might be a cooking challenge or it might be a test of your basic culinary skills. Then they cut more leaving usually around 20 to compete in the Masterchef competition. Last year we saw Luca, who had been rejected a year before, pass muster and go all the way to the end and be crowned winner.
This is 2014 and things have changed. The powers that be decided to cut right to the chase so we do not see the first round and go directly to the final 30 awaiting the challenge to get the coveted white apron. And that is not all that has changed. Chef Graham Elliot has lost a lot of weight and looks great. He did it because of his family (he has a few little ones running underfoot these days). Good for him! Now it is time for some serious cooking and learning who the cheftestants are. The go to their assigned spots and strangely find a mirror under the cutting board. While one looks approvingly of himself, they are told put themselves on the plate. Time for the signature dish.
But there is a catch, of course, for the angel of death will walk by and taste their food. Those found wanting will go home. They did this last year but this time they stop the clock and tell Gavin to leave for his under seasoned food. Then the clock stops again and a gal who had a broken sauce also exits the kitchen. The clock runs down and the cheftestants are nervous. So after tasting the food as they passed by each station, the Culinary Trio pronounces judgment. Those called are given the coveted aprons. One of them is Courtney, who cooked an Italian style dish that Gordon liked. In her confessional, she tells us working many jobs led her to work in a gentleman’s club and is billed as an “aerial dancer” in the official bio. She has a lot of spunk and confidence. Hopefully she will be around a while on the show.
Fake Out
After handing out the aprons, there is a small group standing waiting to be told farewell. They look saddened by the prospect but fortunately it was a head fake. The competition is still on! Now they must cook using the exact same ingredients with the protein being chicken. We are off to the races again as they all frantically have to cook a meal that will judge whether they stay or go. Once again there is a catch for one of the Culinary Trio will be picked to cook alongside them. Astrid wants Gordon and so he suits up (so to speak) and joins them in the competition. He makes a minted Asian style dumplings dish that looks not only good but likely has terrific flavors as well. The nine are called up in threes to present their dishes.
First up we have “Little” Gordon whose dish is fine though not extraordinary. Leslie (the oldest of the competitors since he is 50 years old and stay at home dad), presents a stuffed chicken. Except it is a very large portion that Gordon chides him about. It passes muster and on we go to Corey. He made fried chicken with a potato souffle. Souffle! This kid is nuts to try that and the camera shows a rather poor looking specimen, Gordon tries to get it out but has to bang it hard on the plate breaking it in the process. The chicken tastes bad. No hard decision here so Corey heads out of the kitchen.
Astrid, Amy, and Michael are next. Astrid already has a knock against her for being unsanitary at her work station. For some reason she has a problem putting discards into the garbage bin nearby. So her floor area is covered, and I mean covered, with food scraps. She seems to think this is totally okay. In a real kitchen, they would toss her out for being filthy. Aside from attracting rodents, it can cause slips and falls. Yeah, just what a restaurant manager needs is a lawsuit from a server or cook staff slips and is hurt because some idiot decided to drop food scraps in the floor rather than the bin. Joe takes her to task and for a moment looks like she was going home. But she stays for the moment and then says that cleaning up is what staff is for. Astrid, learn from this quickly or Joe will send you home for real the next time.
Astrid’s seared chicken breast and hash are good. So she appears safe. Amy’s shrimp and chicken tacos look okay but the chicken is dry. Major ding for that. Finally Michael’s roast chicken is too salty so no brainer here either as to which two go home. Astrid takes her apron up to the balcony. The last three are Frances, Chandace, and Elise. Frances makes a spinach pasta with, Chandace a potato rosti, and Elise chicken pot pie. Chandace’s potato dish has raw potato in it. So she heads home while Frances and Elise get aprons. Gordon was not sure of Elise’s chicken pot pie at first. It did not look that great. And lets face it, a lot of people screw it up with mushy vegetables and dry chicken. Gordon liked it! So with a bit of head fake again making her think she was leaving, those on the balcony come down to join her as the final 22 is now complete.
Next week it is the competition for real with mystery box challenge and a double elimination. The previews show Leslie and Elizabeth getting heated during cooking. Leslie got into banter with Christian on the balcony during his cooking. And when they showed Leslie getting the apron, the camera panned up to show Christian and Victoria looking none too pleased. One of the early contestants last season (who did not make into the final cut) said that many of the cheftestants do mingle before the competition which would explain why there is already some animosity before the show gets going. Interesting to see how this develops over the season.
It is being shown on Monday night at 8pm as a lead into the latest 24 episode. Despite great promos, the ratings have not as good as hoped for that show. So they are hoping Masterchef will be a good lead in. Last year it competed with American Baking Competition on CBS. That show got mixed reactions and its ratings were mediocre. While not officially cancelled, it is not scheduled to be shown against MasterChef.
