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MasterChef Junior Season 3, Episode 4:Knowledge and Confidence

MasterChef-Junior-LogoWatching MasterChef Junior at times makes me think that Gordon, Graham, and Joe missed their calling to be kids birthday planner. They seem to work well with kids and come up with ways to entertain and challenge them. If this were a show on PBS, it would be a an extension of Sesame Street. But alas no, this is a competition in which young children (and we must remember that)are competing to win a coveted prize with real cash money attached to it. And sometimes I wonder if the challenges are really geared to kids or for the judges.

After the usual banter after entering the kitchen (and Graham showing us some dance moves), the three winners from last week (Cory, Jenna and Nathan) are given baskets and a list of ingredients. They have to fill them to win the coveted top honor for the next challenge. They have a huge pantry at MasterChef that is fully stocked with just about everything grown, raised, or farmed. The pantry appears large, almost like one of those supersize hardware stores. But remember that sets can be designed to look bigger than they actually appear. At any rate, our youngsters have to fill the carts with items on the cards given to them. Sounds easy until it is pointed out nothing is labeled. And they have only two minutes. Some things are easy to spot while others are more difficult if you have never seen them before.To add more pressure the other kids follow them into the kitchen if for nothing else to kind of cheer them on (which adds more pressure).

When all is counted up in the end, Jenna gets the win with the most correct number of items from the list. Jenna’s reward is not to head up to the balcony but to choose teams for as yet unspecified challenge. This is a time for strategy but she shied away from that except for Cory and Jack. Jack is concerned about working with Cory. Cory, as we used to say when I was a kid, is a spatz. Now that is not a bad word, it just means the kid has lots of energy. And when the task is revealed, it is a doozy: a sushi boat. Sushi is not just slicing and dicing up fish. It is a very technical and precise way of presenting raw fish and its accompaniments. It takes a lot of training to become an expert. I understand why they throw this at adults but why at kids? It makes me wonder if there is a dichotomy on this show. I noticed it last season. On one hand they want to treat these kids as kids yet they put demands on them same as the adults. In fact I believe they seem them as just little chefs waiting to grow up into the big outfits. They may outwardly treat them as children but many of the tasks say otherwise.

This challenge was a team challenge but tag-team. Which means one person cooks while the other stands watching the other cook. To pull this off you need confidence in each other. And you have to be careful not to talk down your partner so as to loose confidence. Replicating a sushi boat is difficult as it is without causing unnecessary friction. Teams that worked well together produced good to excellent dishes. Those that had problems either in working with each other or just not having the confidence to pull it off, ended up on the bottom. Jenna and Kayla bicker so their confidence was lost and their dish reflected it. Likewise Cory and Jack have problems as well so their dish is not great either. Andrew and Riley really worked well together and their dish reflected it. Ayla and Jimmy did it better. They simply and mostly quietly did their work and produced a dish that won the night. That left Jenna/Kayla and Cory/Jack on the bottom.

And the decision was Cory and Jack left the kitchen. Some out on the Internet are not happy with this decision. Jenna and Kayla’s dish looked worse but the judges decided Cory and Jack were worse. It may have been a close decision or two versus one. The judges tasted both dishes so obviously one was worse than the other. At any rate the group gets smaller and smaller, not unlike taking a trip through the Willy Wonka factory.

There was an interesting bit of side news for the show. At one point, a chimpanzee was used for an episode on the show. What exactly it was doing is unclear and MasterChef says it was all done under the guidance of the American Humane Association to make sure nothing was done wrong. PETA, the radical animals rights group that wants to ban all meat from our diets (along with dairy as well), got mad when the saw a Facebook post. So they let Masterchef know of their displeasure. Now the official word is that they decided to drop using the filmed scenes for “creative reasons.” Perhaps but it shows the almost charade this show is becoming relying on such gimmicks.

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Masterchef Junior Episode 3: Aged Judges and Alligator Meat

American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo, Powell, Ohio Photo:Postdlf(Wikipedia)
American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo, Powell, Ohio
Photo:Postdlf(Wikipedia)

Originally I was going to write your standard boiler plate up or down review of this episode. Here is what it all boils down to: gimmicks and alligator. Every reality show has a gimmick to get viewers to watch. Masterchef Junior (MCJ) has landed on the side of comedy. In this episode, the judges were made up to be 80 year old guys to match the theme of well aged foods. Fortunately most well aged foods are not kept for 80 years (unless it is a very rare wine or the legendary fruitcake of Hogwarts). One kid thought Graham’s eyebrows were scary and asked him to move away. Of course before the judging began, once again they did the Superman trick by walking  out one door as old dudes and then magically reappearing seconds later back as their current selves.

Andrew won the aged foods challenge with his grilled New York Strip with fennel salad and smashed potatoes. It looked delicious. Back in the pantry he is shown three very dangerous animals that are eaten: snapping turtle, rattlesnake, and the American alligator. My mind raced back to images of certain well traveled chefs who ate such exotic things. Andrew has to decide which one to give his fellow contestants to cook. I would have picked rattlesnake. I would bet that not one of those kids had every cooked with one before. He choose alligator and while he enjoys a nice pizza pie on the balcony, the kids get to cooking. But before that they had to go into the pantry to see which creature he had chosen. Mind you that these animals are enclosed. They are not walking about but still you get the obligatory scream. The alligator looks bored and, according to what I have read, the American alligator generally likes to stay away from humans.

Andrew choose poorly because many of them did know enough about alligator to make passable dishes. The trick is to keep it moist! Three ended up in the bottom in the end:Kyler, Jimmy and Mia. Jimmy was there because although his dish was okay, it was nothing that screamed MasterChef. More like Wednesday night dinner at Old Pop’s down the road. Okay but nothing that screamed exceptional. Both Kyler and Mia way overcooked the alligator making it tough and jerky like. No real hard decision here: Jimmy is saved sending Kyler and Mia home.

Next week:the infamous tag-team challenge returns with sushi determining whose team reigns supreme.

Odds & Ends
*Joe trying yoga and failing-priceless!
*Gordon at age 80 still looks good but the bushy eyebrows they gave Graham made him look a creature from a 1930’s movie with Lon Chaney.
*Joe putting a sock he wore on a unused food device was also kind of scary. Now I do not want to eat at his restaurant!

By The Numbers
Due to the State of the Union address, most broadcast networks used repeats to fill the evening. For the 8:00 p.m. hour that meant powerhouse NCIS was on repeat mode. According to TV By The Numbers , MasterChef Junior got a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 age group giving it a win over a repeat of NCIS. But remember those share numbers are funny things. MCJ won with less viewers (5.53 million) compared to NCIS with a share of 1.4/11.96 million eyeballs. Meaning even on a repeat night more people were actually watching a NCIS repeat than MCJ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBB6qP7cYPM

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MasterChef Junior Season 3 Episode 2: Teamwork Pays Off

MasterChef-Junior-LogoIn the last season of MasterChef Junior a team cupcake competition, where team members were literally connected to each  other, produced no unified cupcake. Instead each member produced six cupcakes of their own resulting in two separate entries though being judged as a team challenge. This time around for the sausage competition, there was no wiggle room. Each team had to produce a stunning sausage and its accompaniments. And the only way to do this right was to work together. Most of the teams got it right but some did not resulting in another take your apron and leave the kitchen result.

Before we got to the sausage team competition, once again the producers decide we must have a comedy skit that involves the judges getting dunked, drenched, or covered in something unpleasant. Last season it was maple syrup and this season is the lemon meringue pie. Fortunately the three kids–Jimmy, Ryan Kate and Andrew–did not have to make the pies. There were twelve there and they had to make the meringue for the  pie. I know many out there like to see the MasterChef judges get splattered but personally I think it is just filler for the show. And it is predictable that all of the judges will get splatted. So I would suggest they dump this skit and come up with something else for filler. After three seasons of seeing this, either call in professionals to do it or simply dump it.

Jimmy won the meringue challenge and gets to pick the teams. No exemption for him! He has to cook as well. Probably the one he was most clever about was pairing up Andrew with Cory. Andrew has one way of doing things and Cory another. And they cannot agree on much. Which means producing a unified sausage dish is going to be a challenge. Jenna hates sausage and it makes you wonder if pairing with Mia will work. But despite her dislike of sausage, their pork & chorizo with sauerkraut is delicious. Joe thinks it reminds him of a rustic German dish and even yodels when the girls ask. Gordon is pleased as well.

Jimmy and Kyler though have a split decision, which is rare to see on MasterChef. Joe likes their pork butt & kangaroo dish but Gordon has a totally different reaction. Not only did he disagree with Joe but said they ought to have left kangaroo to the Australians. Which means Graham would be tasting it to break the tie. But no, for some reason it is not shown. Huh? Here you have two judges with two completely different takes on a contestant’s food. Is it not worth it to put in what Graham thought as well?

On the other hand Ayla & Reilly got raves for their version of bangers and mash. Gordon’s only complaint was that the sausage was too small. But at least they got it right unlike Andrew & Cory and Alexis & Micah. Andrew & Cory was a sad dish to look at. The sausage was dry and bland which is not a good thing when it is supposed to be the star. Alexis & Micah had a promising dish with white bean and Swiss chard stew but both the sausage and stew were under seasoned. Meaning the sausage sat in a watery dish that gave it no help. Not good at all.

The winning team was Jenna and Micah, remarkable when you recall Jenna hated sausage. It was no surprise that Andrew & Cory and Alexis & Micah ended up on the bottom. After the usual drama, Alexis & Micah were sent home.

I liked the sausage challenge which took them out of their comfort zone. Most people do not make their own sausage. It is a lot of work to do but gives you control over the meat and spices being used.

Odds & Ends
*Andrew really has to learn that yelling at inanimate objects like stand mixers will do no good. Unless you are on The Muppet Show and only with the Swedish Chef.
*Always watch your flame on a gas burner. Once it goes out precious cooking time is lost.
*As always those who over salt their food will get zinged but those who under season their food will always end up on the bottom.

By The Numbers
TV By The Numbers final results for Tuesday night are in. For the 8:00 p.m. hour, NCIS (CBS) won 1st place with 19.87 million, SharkTank(ABC) came in second at 7.48 million, and in third place MasterChef Junior with 4.93 million viewers. MasterChef was 5.26 million last week so it lost viewers, which is not unexpected, after the premiere. Fox has renewed it already for a fourth season and replacing Joe is Christina Tosi, the owner of New York’s dessert-based restaurant Momofuku Milk Bar.

Next week: We see aged versions of the judges and there are some scary reptiles and snakes in the house. (Note: The U.S. State of the Union address will be shown at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on that day. So it is likely the east and central timezones will have their showing pre-empted for its coverage).

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MasterChef Junior Season 3: The Kids Find Their Aprons

MasterChef-Junior-LogoHere we go again with another season of MasterChef Junior season 3. Are you ready? Too bad because here we go!

*The kids arrive and told they are the best kid cooks around. But they need one thing to complete the image, an apron. Treasure hunt! They race into the pantry to search food bins, containers, refrigerators and even large objects shaped like chocolate eggs for aprons with their name on it. Fortunately the clock is not ticking. Trust me if they do this again they will give them 5 minutes and then they wear the apron of shame (one that has a picture of Gordon laughing).

*The mystery box is chocked full of ingredients including a nice piece of salmon. So many ways to cook this nice bit of fish or something else. Ultimately Kayla, Jack, and Jenna are called up for their dishes to be sampled. And in a first for Masterchef, a tie. Seems the judges could not make up their minds who would win. So they all do! They go back to the pantry to select one of three pastas for their fellow cheftestants to cook. Joe likes ravioli, Graham lasagna, and Gordon pappardelle. Pappardelle is a wide pasta not unlike fettucine and is served with a hearty sauce. Delicious but complicated to get the pasta just right.

*While the three head up to the balcony with ice cream sundaes, someone hopes they get brain freeze. Perhaps said in jest or perhaps not!

*It really comes down to who made not only the best pasta but a flavorful sauce as well. Underdone noodles, too little sauce, missing salt are all things that the judges notice when they taste the results. However there are enough delicious ones to pass muster and keep them in the competition. Ryan Kate, Jimmy, and Andrew are the winners but sadly AJ, Philly, Quincy, Jianna, and Parker are sent home at the end. Wow that is a big chop sending five home the first night. This season is starting off fast and will go by quickly if the usual pace of about two per episode dropped is kept from this point on.

*First ever major kitchen incident. Up till now most injuries are simple nicks but unfortunately Kayla Mitchell (age 11) sliced two fingers during the mystery box challenge. Yikes! Medics are quickly dispatched and make sure the wounds are not serious. They quickly bandage her and and put a glove on the hand to protect it. She then resumes the competition and of course was in the top three winners of the challenge. It was pretty bloody reports Radar Online

All I remember seeing was, like, part of my nail was gone and there was just blood everywhere. It was horrible. Honestly, I didn’t really know what to do. You want to keep pushing and you want to keep going to cook and finish. I was just really nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to finish the challenge.

*Needless to say MasterChef immediately alerted the media that the set is well staffed with medics and a safety class is held so the kids know kitchen safety basics. Accidents are going to happen and thankfully this was not something requiring a trip to the hospital and requiring stitches.

*One writer out there said it is really hard to know what makes these kids tick. We get hardly any background about their lives at home. Just some bits and pieces dropped here and there. It is a valid point. How do these kids get this good? Be nice to see them at home to add more to their backstory.

*So how did the show fare in the ratings? According to TV By The Numbers, MasterChef Junior earned a 1.8 rating for adults 18-49, even with fall season premiere and up 6 percent from the last season finale. But NCIS was 2.7 with a 17 percent gain from its most original episode. ABC’s Marvel’s Agent Carter got a respectable 1.9 putting MasterChef in third place for the 8:00 hour. It means 19. 49 people watched NCIS, 6.88 million for Agent Carter, and 5.26 million for MasterChef Junior.

Next week we go vaudeville or old school comedy with the old fashioned pie-in-your-face skit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISrBsDQaRmM


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MasterChef Junior Season 2 Finale: Wrapping It All Up

MasterChef-Junior-LogoSeason 2 of MasterChef Junior concluded with its finale Tuesday night crowning the bow-tie wonder Logan as Masterchef Junior for 2014. It was quite a ride though the season was short (unlike the full run of regular Masterchef which spans six weeks or more). They really had some very talented kids this year making it worth watching. Once again there was no one really to hate and most of the kids were adorable. And once again many are amazed as to how talented these kids area. More on that later. In the finale we saw two very talented junior chefs take the stage, each cooking the best meal in their lives. They just had to convince Gordon, Graham, and Joe they were worthy of the title.

And it was not so easy at all. Both of them were exceptional so it came down to very fine technical points in the end. Was the sauce right or wrong? Did the flavors go well together or did the olives make it too strong? It was those kinds of things that the judges had to sort through because both, quite frankly, could win the award. They were that good. In the end they awarded the win to Logan. I have to admit he was my underdog in the challenge.When he decided to do the salted fish I was both amazed and shocked at his decision. It is not for the faint of heart but is something you see in Sicilian dishes and elsewhere in Italy. If you ever attend an Italian Christmas Eve Dinner you probably will see a large fish that was likely cooked that way. It is very delicious and worth the effort. But not for the squeamish either. The fact he pulled it off shows Logan’s boldness and it paid off.

This season had a lot of  bright, creative kids doing things in the kitchen that astounds many and raises questions I see all the time on the Internet. Is it staged? Do the kids get coached? Is it faked? My answer is no but these are not your normal kids either. If you go into any elementary, junior high, or high school and select a random number from each and ask them to roast a chicken, many might not know what to do. The reason for this success of this show is that they pick kids that are cooking at home. The parents may be foodies or old fashioned families that want the kids to learn how to cook (in the old days that is how cooking was learned). And so at an early age they are shown how to cook. Think about how that helps out down the road. You open up a cupboard and find canned beans, spam, tuna, and rice. In the fridge are some mushrooms, bell peppers and in the pantry some onions. A clever cook or chef will make use of those ingredients to produce a decent meal while someone else might just pop open a can of beans and warm it up.

The show is enjoyable to watch and clearly is winning viewers but it not toppling the competition either. According to TV By The Numbers Tuesday’s finale had 5.5 million viewers (live plus dvr recording) while a new episode of NCIS on CBS had 17.21 million viewers. Masterchef Junior came in second place. It beat out A Charlie Brown Christmas on ABC, another Christmas show on NBC, and a rerun of The Flash on CW. It will need to get a lot more viewers to topple CBS from the perch it now has on the 8-9 p.m. time slot. But the producers and schedulers are very confident in the show. So confident that season 3 will literally start on the heels of the last one and premiers on 6 Jan 2015 at 8 p.m. That seems odd to bunch them so close together like this. It is certainly a risky move and could backfire if people find more interesting things to watch.

There is also the danger of what I call déjà vu programming, When you run reality shows so close together, people might get tired of it thinking they are seeing the same thing all over again. After all, the danger for shows like Masterchef Junior is becoming formulaic lacking depth and breadth. Libby Hill over at Grub Street had this to say on this point:

The thing about both Logan and Samuel is not that they’re bad chefs or uninteresting boys. But the fascination they exhibit with the cooking process seems to be just that: a fascination with the process. It doesn’t seem like either of them really like food all that much. In other words, the finale of MasterChef Junior was missing any sense that the people involved loved food, and so a certain level of warmth was lost, too.

Her concern is that the show is more concerned with process less about the food itself. She has a point in that but regretfully in cooking shows of this kind, process is going to be desired. This is not a food science or food cooking show like on the old Food Network but a competition. Perhaps competitors will try to get that into their shows. Fox probably knows or expects that other networks might be looking at their own kids food shows to compete with Fox. Food Network probably has someone working on it right now and planning either Booby Fool or Gina Italian to handle it (Alton Brown is too grizzled looking like someone out of a Friday The 13th movie). Again people watching television make decisions: do I want to watch my favorite comedy/drama or watch kids cook like adults? So far millions are making the choice not to watch Masterchef Junior so running the shows nearly back-to-back makes little sense to me.  Time will tell on this one.

A problem I see is that fine line between adults and kids seems to becoming blurred on this show at times. I get the impression that while Gordon, Graham, and Joe treat these kids on one level as children, that it changes as the competition goes on. There is a shift and often comes as the challenges get more difficult and more suitable for adults. Like running a professional kitchen. It is one thing to have the adult contestants do a restaurant shift (and it is very tough on them)but to throw 8-12 year old kids into a professional kitchen seems unwise to me. I just wonder if some child experts out there will eventually start criticizing the show on these lines.

Masterchef Junior Season 2 Winner Logan Guleff Photo: Fox
Masterchef Junior Season 2 Winner Logan Guleff
Photo: Fox

At any rate, we wrap up this season with big congratulations to Logan. The bow-tied wonder proved he was the best. And more importantly shows bow ties are not a bad thing to wear anymore. And I look forward to eating in his restaurant one day (even if it is underwater!).



MasterChef Junior: King Salmon Decides Winners(Episode 6)

MasterChef-Junior-LogoThe MasterChef Junior Semifinal had Adaiah,Abby,Logan and Samuel fillet a king salmon but then also cook the portions into one stellar dish. None of the kids had ever done this before so Gordon demonstrated the proper way. Say what you want about Gordon, but he is a master of his trade. The kids try to match but only Adaiah and Samuel do the best job while Abby and Logan struggled. Adaiah had the most portions so she got the win. Her prize was to select the number of ingredients her fellow cheftestants would use. Which brings us to to the product placement chapter of this episode titled “Selling the Fridge.” After a glowing description of the fridge, Adaiah looks into the fridges since they are not tagged. I wondered why and then realized it was all part of the advertising. Without her opening them, we would not see the insides!

She gives Abby 100 ingredients,the fussbudget Samuel 25 (“pedestrian” ingredients),herself 50,and leaves only 5 for the bow-tied wonder Logan. Logan produces a good moist salmon by poaching in olive oil though stumbles with the raw broccoli rabe. Samuel overcame burning his salmon and produced a good dish as well. Sadly Abby had an overooked salmon though the puree is good. Adaiah had a lot of ingredients that mostly went well and her salmon was decent. What sealed her doom was burnt garlic. I know from personal experience how this can totally ruin an otherwise good dish. The smell hits your nostrils but it also dominates the dish. Whatever goodness you have on the dish will be overshadowed by the burned garlie.

Which is sad because it sends Adaiah home along with Abby. I really liked Adaiah and think she is more talented than Samuel. No surprise with Abby going on, she was unfocused. Logan is a surprise. I think early on many wondered if he would make it this far. Not me, this kid has talent and is serious challenge to Samuel. So it is the fussbudget versus the bow tied wonder. Bow ties are oft ridiculed but it really comes down to the person who wears it and Logan wears it well. It ought to be a good match between these two and I hope Logan pulls out the win if nothing else to prove that someone wearing a bow tie is not the comic nor fool many think they are.


 

Masterchef Junior:Six Becomes Four After Pop-Up Problem(Episode 5)

MasterChef-Junior-LogoThe most challenging part of Masterchef is the restaurant (or similar) challenge where you cook either for the public or invited guests. On Masterchef we have seen cheftestants run breakfast in a major hotel, do weddings, and take over a restaurant to serve a meal. It has been on Masterchef Junior as well and this year they decided to do it with a pop-up restaurant. These are the will-o’the-wisp of the restaurant world: restaurants that magically appear for a moment somewhere and are gone. Unlike the mythical will-o’-the-wisp that  lure you off safe trails at night, these attract those who have been invited to partake of these meals. Often social media or a telephone call alerts you to its upcoming existence. And it no doubt they get the ire of local oversight agencies who can neither regulate them nor get any fees paid for them to operate.

Since we are going to drop two at the end, this episode will really put the kids to the test. The question you have to ask is whether you want them to run a meal service. Remember these kids have never worked in a professional kitchen which means lots of pressure and stress to get the food out. It is one thing to help out in the home kitchen but quite another to have customers waiting for your food to arrive at their plates in a timely fashion. It is an intense experience that is very hard for adults to do and just as tough for kids to do as well. Even the best and brightest of this bunch is going to find this challenge difficult.

And it was. Both teams–led by Samuel (Blue) and Abby(Red)– both had major problems getting food out. Gordon was expediter and we all know how he fiery he gets with poorly made food. You could see Gordon really struggling to not let loose. Oona had problems with deep frying, Adaiah had never cooked filet mignon, Logan made multiple mistakes in seasoning. Gordon had to take time and counsel them to do better. Graham had to step in at one point to show how to step it up. The good news is that in the end both teams delivered good meals. The bad news is that one team had to loose and that was Samuel’s. Usually when a team loses on Masterchef, you face the dreaded pressure test where you cook some fiendish dish the judges have decided for you to cook. The cooking challenge was the elimination challenge so they merely had to decide which two of the losing team to send home: Samuel, Oona or Sean.

It was inevitable the decision to send Oona and Sean home since Samuel was the better of the three. However it was hard to see Oona go. She was really impressive and I thought it possible for her to be in the semifinal or top two. She has the drive, passion, and creativity. But this challenge showed that none of these kids were ready to work in a professional kitchen yet. This episode, like last week, had an odd feel to it. Again something was missing like the usual magic and sparkle the show has. It was like half a show really, as if a lot was chopped and edited out. Sean’s comment that working with Gordon was “traumatizing” will no doubt raise concerns about the pressure of the show on kids. At any rate we now move on to the semifinals which has Abby, Adaiah, Logan and Samuel now competing for the trophy and money. My concern is, especially watching Gordon having a talk with Logan in this episode, that the fine line between treating them as kids as opposed to adults is becoming harder for the judges.


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Masterchef Junior:Perfect Eggs and Signature Dish (Episode 4)

egginpanIt is Thanksgiving week but not on Masterchef Junior season 2. Nope, no turkey and all the trimmings here. I am surprised they did not have one. It would be a great challenge to have these kids come up with an upscale turkey meal for Thanksgiving. Instead we get a fried egg challenge and have them cook their signature dish. This was an underwhelming episode and perhaps one of the reasons Joe “the stare” Bastianich has decided to move on from the Masterchef franchise in 2015 (except for filmed episodes of the next season already in the can). Really this was one episode you could miss and come back later to watch. Or not at all.

So the kids all line up to learn they will cook perfectly made sunny side up eggs. They have done this on Masterchef but not on the junior side of the show. Oh and they have ten minutes to cook as many as they can. Perfectly. Off they go to get the pans nice and hot, and cracking those eggs into the pans. If these kids saw what happened on that Masterchef episode, they would have doubled their efforts to do it right. In that episode three former contenders were cooking eggs for the chance to return to the show. It was brutal as the judges tossed any egg and its plate into the trash that did not measure up. Nor did they mention the number of eggs cooked perfectly would have a very important impact on the next challenge.

Now I suppose the lesson here is consistency. In restaurants, each meal has to be perfection on the plate each and every time. And mastering how to perfectly cook sunny side up eggs is one way to do this. The adults did not fare well in the challenge and most of the kids end up overcooking them or worse. Abby got only two eggs correct while the others got four to ten eggs right. Sean got ten for the win.There was no trip to the pantry tonight and no selection of foods to be done by the winner. Instead the number of eggs successfully cooked meant the number of ingredients in your signature dish. Great for most but it left Abby with just 2 ingredients. Oh boy. Gordon tried to console her but it came out kind of flat to me. In fact he was smiling way too much about it as if he was happy it occurred.

We learn the various restaurant dreams the kids have. Abby wants to have a combined veterinary and restaurant. Bring your animal in for care and then sit down for a meal! It will be called Horses and Courses. Logan wants to have an underwater bistro! Moving on….Graham decides to reveal he started out at 17 as a dishwasher in a restaurant. And it turns out his mentor to get into the business back then was none other than Gordon Ramsay. Moving on again….Abby is limited to two ingredients and decides to do salmon & asparagus done five ways. Samuel is going to do a blood orange glazed duck breast with zucchini and pasta. Just be careful to select the right fruit. His restaurant will be called Le Samuel with a French-Asian theme. He even has drawn what the restaurant will look like and describes it. Ah filler can be interesting in an episode that is well, boring. At least he has thought out his restaurant but he needs to work on recognizing his fruits and vegetables first like cucumber and zucchini. Now that is a trick question since both cucumber and zucchini are fruits but treated as culinary vegetables. It is easy at first glance to make the mistake but they are not that hard to distinguish upon close examination.

The dishes went from really good (Abby, Adaiah and Samuel) to not that good (Logan, Levi, Sean, Oona and Sean). On the bottom were Josh, Levi, Oona and Sean. Both Oona and Sean were saved sending Josh and Levi home. Levi said the best part was meeting Ramsay. Josh says Samuel or Sean will be the winner.

As the credits rolled by, I really thought this episode just lacked the punch of the previous episodes. Something was very off here. Libby Hill over at Grub Street says that the elimination challenge was flat.

There was a certain winning quality about watching the kids talk about their imagined restaurants and showing off their elaborately planned layouts, some meticulously colored. And sure it was darling to see a little girl extoll the virtues of her future restaurant — called “Horses and Courses” — complete with ride-up pony parking, but the rhythms of the episode were a complete disaster. The entire thing was so ill-timed that dish-tasting and judging began halfway through the episode, since it means the show had to devote an entire 20 minutes to the criticism of hardworking children.

Her criticism is that the judges do the good cop/bad cop routine too much. Meaning while they praise they good efforts, they continually ding you for the mistakes. She cites Logan as an example of this. Joe said his meat was good but that his rice was overcooked and lacked salt. And that was that. Gordon praises the meat and knocks the rice as well and then spends more time explaining his critique:“I just expected you to be a little more elaborate. And I have to be honest with you because we are looking for the best youngster. And you’re normally up there. So I am just slightly underwhelmed.” He goes on later to say he took seven ingredients and made them look like three. Others clearly get that Gordon is unhappy. Samuel even whistled. Logan looked rattled from the experience.

Gordon thinks Logan is so much better and was clearly disappointed in what was presented. So he gave him a more stinging rebuke in order to light a fire under the kid. It did succeed in knocking Logan down; he looked pretty down afterwards. Gordon never raised his voice, never cursed or said anything obscene. Perhaps that is what disturbs some who watch it. The message is clear enough: you can do better so do better! It is drill instructor light. On the other hand, the continued harping seems pointless. Logan got the message so why did Gordon keep beating the dead horse? Because I think he was frustrated with what he saw with his dish and probably other ones as well. He had enough and decided to vent. It was at the expense of a child who may have felt brow-beaten by the time it was over.

At any rate I felt this whole episode was pointless. Other than learning the kids restaurant desires, it is neither here nor there in the entirety of the show. This is that episode, and every show has one, where they know it is something to fill the schedule and nothing more. Pun intended, this was a turkey of an episode that ought to have been scuttled. I would preferred to have seen the famous WKRP episode with now classic turkey drop in it.


MasterChef Junior:Cupcakes and Shepherd’s Pie (Episode 3)

Photo:Whitney(Wikipedia)
Photo:Whitney(Wikipedia)

This episode saw the kids to pair up to cook gourmet cupcakes and the elimination challenge was Gordon’s favorite foods as a kid with his mom on hand to deliver them personally. And we said farewell to some junior chefs as well.

The theme of this episode was working in teams and creativity. Cupcakes were the mystery box challenge. Not the pale imitations you find in grocery aisles but upscale version of what was once a classic treat at school food sales or church socials. Sadly cupcakes are banned now in many schools thanks to the nuttiness of new food rules (and it even limits or excludes natural or organic ones-vegan might be okay but who wants a vegan cupcake?) Each kid got to try one and were enthusiastic about eating them. However the challenge to make upscale cupcakes was a team challenge and partners were formed randomly by having a similar cupcake. So that gave us the following teams:

1. Mitchell & Abby
2. Josh & Oona
3. Sam & Adaiha
4. Logan & Sean
5. Levi  & Samuel

And since Masterchef hates to be predictable, it was a three-legged partnership. A goofy but fun way to learn teamwork, which is required in many places of life and not just a working kitchen. Oona is partnered with Josh, about the same size as her, and she worries they might be walked over. Getting stuff from the pantry is more challenging this way and a hoot to watch as they get what they need tethered to the other person. This is the first time Masterchef has done this but did it result in teamwork? Usually a team pulls together to get a common project done using all their combined efforts. Yes all the teams produced cupcakes but not one team produced a combined cupcake. Instead each team member produced six cupcakes of their own to present with the other person’s six cupcakes. Now they had to work together to select the pantry items and helped each other out in the preparation and cooking process. But in the end though judged as team it was two individual efforts rather than a unified cupcake that both worked on to perfection.

The top three selected were:

Adaiah & Sam: Orange Honey Blossom and Vanilla with Raspberry
Wow. They do look stunning. Gordon raves about their flavor and lightness. Joe says they are the type of cupcake he would spend money on.

Abby & Mitchell: Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
Graham likes both but notes that on the peanut butter the topping is not over the entire cupcake. Delicious and I want some!

Logan & Sean: Joe wants a bam (channeling Emeril Lagasse) and gets it with the Lemon Basil and Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes. They even put a sugar candy icing on top. Joe raves and notices the raspberry one has a filling. Gordon is wowed as well saying it represents teamwork.

Mom is in the House
Logan & Sean win it and head back to the pantry to learn what the elimination challenge is. The good news is that they do not have to cook. Now for the task: they must select one of Gordon’s favorite foods as a kid. And his mom shows up to deliver them!  His favorites were fish finger sandwich, chicken curry, and shepherd’s pie. Right away I think the shepherd’s pie would be the most difficult. It is a great rustic dish that has become more upscale in recent years. Usually it is beef or lamb though combining meats is not uncommon along with potato mash on top. You can view a basic easy to make recipe at Martha Stewart’s web site. Sean and Logan head up to the balcony for tea and treats while the kids learn what the challenge will be from Gordon’s mom-shepherd’s pie.

It is pretty clear from the reaction that not one of them have ever made it. Fortunately they can call home thanks to the magic of Skype and a tablet. The moms give their advice and then the kids get to work making an upscale dish. Oona is missing some ingredients like tomato or cream and asks around for them. Sam screwed up his mash and starts sobbing about it. Graham comes down to show how he can fix it by making it a pea and mash potatoes. That is the difference between a novice and a chef. Every chef has something go critically wrong  and has to fix it fast. And Graham knew exactly how to fix it. And it works for Sam. Meanwhile Gordon and his mom visit Oona. Oona is using garam masala in her version. Gordon teases her about dating his son Jack. She is not interested! They seem to like teasing her because she comes across as both funny and serious. Samuel is working on a “deconstructed” shepherd’s pie. Joe is concerned about that as am I.

Deconstructed?  As he explains what he is doing, it clearly is not simply throwing the pie’s components on a plate but a sophisticated version. Okay this might actually work out. Time goes by fast and the aromas are really getting the judges excited. On the balcony, Logan and Sean say Oona is not doing so well. A thunderous crash of glass breaking in the kitchen area (where the gadgets are) indicates something has broken. Sam comes out and he is okay. But call the clean-up crew, broken glass in the aisle!

The judging showed most got it mostly right but Oona, Mitchell and Sam are on the bottom. Oona was sure it would send her home. Gordon and his mom try it. It did not look upscale but rustic, the mash was good as was the meat but Gordon notes it was greasy. Oona is tearing up at this point but Gordon reminds every chef makes mistakes and his mom reminded him to not to give up. Joe says he makes mistakes and you learn to get over it. He thought it was mostly okay but not her finest dish. Mitchell’s does not look good and Gordon says it was strange like a chopped burger. And the meat is dry. Sam’s pea and mash is good but the beef is also dry. Meanwhile Oona back at her bench is sure she is heading home.

The favorites were Samuel for his Moroccan Shepherd’s Pie, Levi with his lamb with parmesan mashed potatoes. But Adaiah tops them all with a Napoleon style Shepherd’s Pie. When I saw it, I realized how good this girl is. That takes finesse and confidence to pull it off. And the judge’s were impressed as well giving her the win for the night.

Sadly Oona, Mitchell, and Sam are called down to face the chop. Oona, who of the three had the better dish, is spared. She is relieved and says she won by the skin of her teeth. Though she admits there is no skin on her teeth! Actually the phrase comes from an English translation of the Geneva Bible (1560) specifically Job 19:20 (Phrase Finder)which says “I haue escaped with the skinne of my tethe.” It is used to describe barely escaping from disaster.

Next time on MasterChef Junior: the infamous sunny side up egg challenge and they cook their signature dishes.