SkimIt
Seafood can be either simple or complex to cook it seems - not much of a middle ground there. It sure challenged the home chefs tonight and made for some exciting viewing.
Do not touch
Christine can hear something making clicking sounds under the lid of her Mystery Box, so she knows not to touch it before Gordon tells her not to do it. The contestants are stunned to find sea urchins. They are beautiful, but spiky and yeah those spines can be poisonous. Gordon demonstrates the most humane way to scoop out the sea urchin meat called "uni."
The cooks will have an hour to prepare a dish using uni and David is worried about even being able to work with the live sea urchin. Monti freaks about getting the meat out humanely and I heart her more.
Here's uni in your eye
Joe says that the winner will be chosen on what ingredients are chosen to accompany the uni meat. This does not look good for Tali as he is mostly just adding tequila to make a drink. Gordon calls Tali "brave." Christine and Becky are asked who is going to lose this Mystery Box challenge and they both answer "Monti" which inspires Monti to try even harder.
Top three
Felix is picked by the judges to present her dish. She's made a delicious looking Uni and Pea Risotto which all three judges taste and love. Josh surprises the others by being picked next. He's prepared handmade pasta with a uni cream sauce. Joe is impressed that Josh knew enough to make a thin pasta so as not to overpower the delicate texture of the uni. He tells Josh that this is similar to what he makes with uni in his own restaurant. Stacey is picked for her sushi which Gordon says looks like she had three hours to make rather than only one. Felix wins.
Something fishy
Felix will have to participate in the Elimination Challenge, but she will also get to choose what kind of fish each home cook gets to have. Felix says she likes Christine, so she gives her the simplest fish - salmon. Felix decides she wants halibut over salmon for herself even though it goes against Joe's advice.
Monti is given the very flat fish called John Dory. It's cute when Monti says it "sounds like a dude, but is a fish." Yes, John Dory - it sounds like that bookish neighbor next door. Anyway, Becky gets the rock fish, while David is given yellowtail tuna by Felix. Frank gets catfish.
Backfire
Everything backfires for Felix. Monti and Becky made wonderful dishes, while Felix's halibut dish sank. Graham calls Felix's halibut "pretty crappy," while Gordon says it's really dry. Monti's John Dory fillets have almond sauce and Gordon praises the food. Frank's catfish in coconut sauce is also praised by the judges. Frank and Monti will be team leaders on the next episode.
Bottom three
Tali's fish is cold and ruined even though he keeps referring to himself as a genius. Christine's panko crusted salmon turned out soggy and Joe called the idea of the dish, served with rice, too "pedestrian." David just made a big mess out of expensive yellowfin tuna.
With Tali, Christine and David in the bottom three, I'm glad when Tali is chosen to leave. He is not at all humble and has had many chances to improve his cooking. What do you think about Tali being sent home?
