Masterchef – Gordon took off his shirt!

As we join our amateur cooks on Masterchef in the second hour, they are again split into opposing teams of four each, to cook for a wedding of 230 people in Malibu. The judges really lay on the importance of this challenge. “It’s a WEDDING!” my Gordon reminds us over and over. A day no one ever forgets. The most amazing day of anyone’s life.

So the pressure’s on. Lee won the last challenge, so he was able to handpick his Blue Team. He chose Jake, Mike and Tracy. Lee took a gamble by not including Sharone, but hey, they are bitter rivals. And as Lee points out, if Sharone ends up on the losing side, he could possible be eliminated. Thus, no more competition for him. Crafty! Cagey! I like it!

The Red Team, by default, is Sharone, David, Sheetal, and Whitney. Each team will cook for 115 people. The Reds for the bride, and the Blues for the groom. The menu is pretty classic and expensive: Caesar salad and surf and turf. They have three hours. Ready? Go!

Sharone takes the lead on his team, and promptly messes up hundreds of dollars of salmon by filleting it wrong. On the outside is Tracy, who can’t trim romaine and leaves moldy leaves on. After a good cry, it’s David. David seasons the food to perfection and pulls his team ahead. But wait!

In midstream, we have a new horse joining the race. Yes! I think it is… Gordon Ramsay!

See, being such an important occasion, and with each contestant showing signs of disorientation and fatigue — Gordon decides he and fellow judge Graham Elliot must step in. Well. All I can say is … fabulous! I’m so glad they were all messing up as my Gordon had to change his shirt on camera. Yummy. I since I have a DVR now, I can pause this whenever I want. Cue a rousing cheer!

Anyway, the wedding comes off fine and dandy. The Red Team wins by a hair, because of exceptional seasoning of the dishes by David. Who really, really looks like Pee Wee Herman.

Swarthy Lee and oh-so-confident Jake are pissed. And on we move to the Pressure Challenge.

Gordon lets us know that of the four standing, two will be eliminated this week. At this point, without the challenge even beginning, I blew a kiss goodbye to Tracy. And I was right. The gal can bake up a storm, but that’s about all she wrote. She can go back to being a doctor now.

Maybe it was Jake’s attitude that made him the next to get gutted. After all, the judges pointed out that if you cook when you’re angry, it will show in the taste. Which I never knew. No wonder my dinner was always horrible as a child.

But that’s not important. Back to the challenge. It was to cook a “stunning” pasta dish from scratch. Most of them didn’t look that good to me. Although I have to say, Mike is consistent with lovely presentations. I believe that’s what saved him.

Buenos Tardes Jake. It’s OK. Your attitude was beginning to chafe me anyway. You were getting a bit too big for your already big britches.

Next week, we wheedle it down to the final four! Who do you think has the best chance of winning?

Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Sep 02, 2010 @ 17:02 EST5EDT