Author |
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Tntitanfan
Member
08-03-2001
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 2:53 am
Got to see one of the myriad reruns tonight! What is it with using products you don't know? This gig is hard enough when you are in familiar territory cusine-wise - THEN not being able to defend your dish? This is NOT a new show - have these folks not watched it?!?
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:12 am
I've only been to Craft in Vegas (MGM Grand)...we go every year and have never been disappointed. It doesn't seem like any of the contestants are ready to cook for Craft. The best tasting menus I've found have been in New Orleans. When I was in Krakow we were very surprised to find several fine restaurants that have tasting menus. In Vienna we didn't find any place that had a tasting menu option but almost all have a chefs option. This crew seem to have fewer skills than last years crop.
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Bluejaxrock
Member
04-23-2004
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:28 am
Can you believe I still haven't caught what is usually a slew of reruns of this one? lol I gotta know - what and who's food did Padma spit out? tia
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 11:16 am
RE the black rice noodles... they were likely made of black rice. And IIRC, they are best in a cold salad (and nowhere near the type of noodle Patrick thought he was getting).
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 11:28 am
I was curious about options for cooking ostrich eggs. Did you know: One ostrich egg is equal to about 2 doz regular chicken eggs? To hardboil an ostrich egg, it would take almost 2 hours (!!!). One ostrich egg will fill a 12" frying pan TO THE BRIM! And the only recipe I found that that looked decent was: Ostrich egg with tarragon and pine nut tarator Anyways, I'm not sure what Jill could've done to "show off" the ostrich egg.
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 2:38 pm
Good heavens, that is a lot of egg! Costacat, are you a vegetarian or a vegan? I think Jill went over Ariane because of her defense. That really did have to be the lamest defense of a dish I have ever seen. You could see the disbelief on Tom's face about what was coming out of her mouth in response to the judges' questions.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 2:43 pm
Vegetarian. I eat free range vegetarian chicken eggs (I wouldn't eat an ostrich egg or any other animal/bird egg though). I quit being vegan on my last trip to Amsterdam... for dessert after dinner I got a dry piece of oat cake that looked like horse feed while everyone else got cheescake with a lovely cherry sauce. I conned an extra outta the flight attendant and decided I'll eat vegetarian but carefully... I try to avoid cheese made with animal rennet, I don't eat gelatin or Jello products made with animal products. I usually buy fresh, organic, homemade butter from my farmer's market (along with organic fruits and veggies). I'm a bore, huh? I kinda thought Jill went home for two reasons... her horrible quiche which, even if she didn't showcase the ostrich eggs, apparently was not good anyways. AND her really awful defense. You'd think after this many seasons the cheftestants would know that the judges seem to respect those who make mistakes and 'fess up to 'em, rather than those who think they did OK and don't.
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 2:49 pm
I was a vegetarian for about 6 months and I really want to be one again, but I made horrible choices during that time, put on a lot of weight from the carb heavy diet, and fell of the wagon because I was feeling so poorly. Even that brief foray into it made me look at animal meat differently and when I do eat meat now, I have a hard time not picturing what I am eating. My plan is to try it again and make better protein choices to balance out the carbs. If you have any advice, feel free to PM me so we don't take over the thread, lol.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 3:03 pm
Done! Check yer email! 
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Vegaschris
Member
10-13-2008
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:11 pm
Bluejax, Padma spit out Ariane's Lemon Martini because it was too sweet. Two things: 1-Ariane *KNEW* it was too sweet and served it anyway. 2-She asked other contestants to try it, and at least one told her it was too sweet. I know that I'm sitting here and not participating, but come on! If you know it's too sweet, do something about it. Good grief!
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Vegaschris
Member
10-13-2008
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:15 pm
TNT, my thoughts exactly. I wonder how these guys can make the same mistakes others have made. One of my favorite moments: Hosea says he thought he was in the top 3 until they dismissed Fabio, Carla and Jamie. After the bottom 3 go back to the "stew" tank, Tom says he can't believe Hosea would have thought that dish was a winner. I don't remember his exact words, but I laughed my head off. 
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Beth4freedom
Member
10-24-2003
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 11:54 pm
Hosea thought he was top 3--but Fabio won my heart when he thought he was bottom 3 (but didn't know why). I thought it showed a real lack of ego when he turned out this fantastic dish, but was obviously willing to listen to judges' critique. He also was the one who went over to help struggling Jill open her ostrich egg. He seems like such a nice guy <100>
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 7:56 am
There is a segment on Tom during Sunday Morning CBS at 10:00.
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Kc103
Member
07-13-2004
| Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 1:14 pm
I hope that they cut Ariane loose soon. She doesn't seem to have the drive to be there. For some reason I keep thinking of Stella from last season's Project Runway every when I watch her. Wonder if they're distantly related. LOL
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Thorandtara
Member
09-15-2008
| Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 10:41 pm
About Carla's eye thing...when the white shows all the way around the pupil like that, it is often a thyroid problem. I forget if it is a hypo- or hyper- problem. Medications used to treat the problem often do not correct the eye problem, which is the smallest part of the problem..."cosmetic," if you will. I finally got to watch the whole episode. I think they should have sent Ariane home because she tasted, and asked everyone else to taste, her dish, and never tried to correct it. She went into it knowing it was bad, with no effort to correct it. Either her refusal or her denial should have sent her home. But, Jill was equally as deserving. The idea behind the Craft restaurants is "well-crafted american food." There are a lot of concepts wound into that, but I think the foundation is american arts and crafts. Think Stickley. Use local sources and and infinite variety of techniques and influences to produced a beautiful, crafted, result. It's not about the tasting menu (and I LOVE tasting menus and "taste of the town event!) but about the skill and techniques applied to excellent ingredients...the craft. Finally, I read a spy/murder mystery once, many years ago by Trevanian. In the end, the spy had to visit a "superspy" in Italy. The "superspy" had stomach cancer or something so he could only eat in small volumes. The author raised the question, "Is it better to be able to eat an unlimited amount of one thing you truly love or is it better to be able to eat ONLY ONE MOUTHFUL of everything that is offered? (But you MUST have one mouthful of everything that is offered.) For anyone looking for dinner conversation on Thursday, try this question...the results are always fascinating!
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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 11:47 pm
Thor, bulging eyes is hyperthyroidism - overactive thyroid, which means fast metabolism, sweats, shakes and bulging eyes. I have an underactive thyroid and take meds to correct it. I have a super-stupid stepsister who is hyperthyroidic (real word?) and doesn't take meds so she can have a faster metabolism. It's ridiculous, because there's far more riskier side effects and symptoms to contend with (than having a faster metabolism - you are right about the cosmetic stuff), and she's somehow overweight anyway. I am all over Fabio. As of right now, I want him to win. My heart melted for him during judging.
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Alisons
Member
01-10-2003
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 6:36 am
I would go with the one mouthful thing, as long as they offered enough different dishes! If I could only eat one thing, though, I would probably go with brussel sprouts.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 8:32 am
The problem with "one mouthful" (and this is the same problem with may prix fixe menus) is that they do NOT cater to vegetarians. For example, there's a lovely dinner for Turkey Day at one of my fave restaurants. I checked the menu for the four course meal and the only thing that's vegetarian-friendly is the dessert. Yes, I could probably call and request a substitution, but really, why should I? If you can't accomodate vegetarians on your regular menu? So the "one mouthful" thing would be great if I could skip the dishes that have animal products and just concentrate on ones that I can actually eat.
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Dannysgirl
Member
08-09-2007
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 11:29 am
I hope I didn't offend anyone about the statement I made about Carla's eyes. Sorry
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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 12:19 pm
Danny, don't worry about that - we all say much worse things about contestants. I kind of like Carla...I don't know about her food, I'm talking more about her personality. She just seems like a really nice, warm woman.
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Sportygirl
Member
06-14-2005
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 12:39 pm
Sorry if someone mentioned this above but I also think Jill was the one to go this week because she didn't make a hot dog in the Quickfire challenge. She just cooked real hotdogs and wrapped them like sushi. Ariane at least tried to make a hot dog.
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Jodie75
Member
08-26-2004
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 1:38 pm
Totally agree, Sporty. She should have tried harder than she did in that challenge, and it's why I think she went and not Ariane.
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 3:18 pm
I don't see a female winner this season and during the Sunday morning segment, Tom said he cooked for the patron not himself. I know he's asked that question a few times.
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Vegaschris
Member
10-13-2008
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 6:47 pm
I like Tom even more after seeing the Sunday Morning segment. Question: I saw him interviewed somewhere last season, and he said that he doesn't grill steak. . . .He fries them in a very hot pan. Did anyone else see that?
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Tntitanfan
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, November 24, 2008 - 7:25 pm
Makes sense as it gets a much faster char on the meat which seals in the juices - But "REAL" men grill! And Bobby Flay certainly makes that work for him!
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