Diving deep into 'Hell's Kitchen,' and making moves in silence
Remember when I was on top of my grind and sending newsletters out every Sunday at 12 p.m. on the dot? I will get back to where I once was! This weekend, my parents took Etta for some Nana and Papa time, which freed up my Saturday for whatever I so desired. That ended up being a four hour nap that was a system reset, kind of like when you hold the power button down on your computer after it freezes because you haven't properly shut the computer down in months. I'm sure there's a metaphor in there somewhere.
After I Ctrl+Alt+Deleted my brain, I had a productive evening that involved lots of garage sale prep, sans a lot of writing time.
A few months back, I wrote about chef Laura Cole and her time on Top Chef, which was cut short due to a sudden death quick fire challenge. She was the second contestant eliminated during her season. I've covered a few other food-related shows like Man v. Food and The Great Food Truck Race, but the in-the-kitchen competition factor is different. Hell's Kitchen is another one of those shows that I had spent no time watching prior to the newsletter.
The first season of Hell's Kitchen premiered in 2005, but it's not until season 20 that an Alaskan makes their on screen debut. Ava Harren from Anchorage was the first of three Alaska chefs who competed on the Fox show. Her first task was to cook Gordon her signature dish.
I run a meal prep business, Ava said in her confessional. Normally when you think of meal preps, you think of like, frozen chicken and broccoli, and you're like, bleh, but my sick dish is Ava's flava orange chicken.
Gordon scores on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being disgusting and 5 being fantastic.
So the rice is undercooked, your broccoli can be so much tastier than that, Gordon said. You're the Ava's Flava, and right now it's lacking flavor, young lady. I'm going to give it a 2.
During another cook, Ava makes a bourbon marinated grilled pineapple with soy, olive oil and Worcestershire salmon.
How did you get the pineapple looking so knackered? Gordon asked.
So naked? She replied.
Knackered, as in screwed, he said. That doesn't look appetizing for a pineapple. The salmon is undercooked. You can see that is raw salmon there as well. And you're from Alaska, right? You know if there's one thing I think of Alaska, it's salmon.
Unfortunately, Ava was first out of the competition, but is still running her meal prep business. Hell's Kitchen took a brief hiatus from casting Alaskans for two seasons, until Brittany Fanning came back for season 23.
Brittany's first cook for Gordon was interrupted when she cut her thumb making pasta and had to be seen by a medic. She still had time to remake her dough, blood-free, into a pasta de la mare – which received a very strong four.
The last four months, I've lived on a peninsula, opening up what was supposed to be a fine dining restaurant, Brittany said. But I ended up coming here instead.
Brittany is just a joy to watch. She has a personality that fills up a room and is witty and pretty and tall, everything I love in a woman. I went down a rabbit hole, as I do – she is married with kids, living in New Zealand and is the owner of her own private chef services. Her food page is sooo worth checking out.
The Homer chef came in 9th during her season, making it through eight dinner services before getting the chop.
Carlos Walker is the executive chef at South Restaurant + Coffeehouse and was on the most recent season, 24.
Being from Alaska, last night I only had one hour of sleep, so the jet lag is hitting me very hard, Carlos said during his first confessional.
He makes a cashew-crusted halibut with a cherry apple beurre blanc and a basmati rice pilaf.
How did you cook the halibut? Gordon asked.
I crusted it, and then I shallow-fried it and finished it off in the oven.
The big problem I've got here is it's just so overcooked, Gordon said. It's such a shame. And don't forget that crust will absorb moisture, so if anything it should be undercooked. It's a 2, Carlos.
Carlos was the first eliminated during his season. Hell's Kitchen comes back at the end of September, and the cast list is still TBD. I wonder if any more Alaska chefs will make an appearance.
(total watch time: 1 day, 9 hours, 21 minutes)
I'm about to make some moves in silence again, just letting y'all know I'm about to be moving silently, and to clarify what I mean by that is that I am giving you guys a heads up that I am about to make big moves but with little to no sound.
