Posts from — June 2010

Seriously just as well they didn’t include an Amazing Race twist on this challenge like having to milk a cow to get a bucket of it to put in their cakes otherwise they would still be there.

This is the first time we have seen that they got an extra 15 minutes to complete a challenge. Clearly the whole challenge was a semi-disaster. The only person who fitted the challenge well was Squire Matt Preston whose look is that of landed Gentry. If they could have got him a double barrel shot gun slung over his shoulder and a few pigeons (clay ones, I don’t want PETA hacking in to my blog) it would have been perfect.

Also there is no one in the top ten of the top amateur cooks that did bake. Very disappointing. Poh, and Julie would have rocked this challenge. If they freaked out at this challenge which was all Commonsense Cookery Book. They will immediately get into the foetal position if Adrian Zumbo walks through those doors.

But first they had to pick the teams which always indicates who is “in or out” to quote Kate Perry.

Courtney picked Marion, Alvin, Jonathan and Callum. Whereas Peter picked Adam, Claire, Aaron and Jimmy. I thought it interesting that Jonathan was picked middle of the pack and obviously Callum is out of favour.

The challenge was to cook for 100 members of the Country Women’s Association. Each person of had to take responsibility for an iconic Australian recipe. Thankfully chiko rolls were not on the menu again.

I though it interesting who got which recipe. Peter thinking the scones were the easiest and gave them to Aaron. Also the fruit cake was thought to be one of the harder ones so Claire and Jonathan did it. Marion who has never baked before took the neopolitan cake.

It was ugly from the start, but at least they were not fighting over ovens like at the kids birthday challenge. The first batches of scones were thrown out by both teams.  Aaron was kneading the dough like it was bread. By the way what does Aaron actually cook. I have been back from my holiday for five weeks and I have yet to see him produce a good dish.

Claire was the only one in her comfort zone and even declared “I’m happy”. For the record this euphoric state did not last long.

What was the point of the CWA ladies eating it if they did not get to vote on the dishes, this could have counted as a percentage of the votes.

The special guest judge was Alison Mutton a long time member of the CWA. I liked her and if Donna Hay breaks an ankle because of those stilettos she wears, bring her in again.

First for judging were the scones. Aaron’s scone crunched like a biscuit. “It’s wrong,” said George. Courtney’s was better. Alison said “Not as buttery as I like it to be, but not a bad”.

Claire good mood had dissipated by the time she stood before the judges and she had adopted normal stance where her shoulders  were hunched and head bent forward. Claire’s cake burnt on the bottom, whereas Jonathan’s was undercooked though not as bad as one of his cakes which was raw.

However the judges did like the flavour.

Of course Claire immediately admits defeat saying to camera  ”I think they would have thought Jono’s was better”.

Adam’s lamingtons are quite a good size. Callum’s were uneven. Even though George thought Callum’s were moist, presentation was more important.

Peter went head to head with Marion. Peter’s  icing was running down the side and the batter was uneven. Marion’s layers were much more even but Alison thought the flavour was disappointing.

Matt Preston immediately appeased her. He said to bake in the conditions you have been baking in is very hard so I am impressed you have go anything up at all. I wonder if he said it to the other contestants.

The last to be judged was Jimmy whose  jam was a disaster with water seeping out. Ironic considering he is a food scientist that he turned out this disaster. Alvin’s jam got a very positive response.

Back in the Masterchef kitchen to hear the result Courtney was wearing some sort of snuff necklace. Maybe it was how she was feeling as Gary gave them a lecture on how crap they performed.

He said ”close to a disaster”  and Matt chimed in with “Today we were looking at whose is actually the worse not the best.”

Also I thought it ironic that Gary said “These dishes are all part of our Australian identity.” I bet he had to google neopolitan cake.

Aaron who in recent weeks has been crying a river again welled up again as he was told his scones were worse then Courtneys.  ”I tried and I tried” he wailed.

Adam took out the lamingtons over Callum.

Neither side won the fruit cake or the Neapolitan cake. Therefore it was down to the jam and Alvin’s won. Therefore the red team won the lunch at Bilsons.

Aaron and Jimmy  were deemed to have had the two worse dishes and will be up for elimination tomorrow night in a save the dish challenge.

And to end I will let readers ponder Aaron’s last comment “I really think I have something to offer the food industry, and I really think I have something to offer that people would like.”

It appears everyone has an opinion on Masterchef Australia and wants to express them in different ways. Here is some kid who is giving his take on the Masterchef Australia theme song. I wonder if this is his revenge for not getting on Junior Masterchef?

Though I must confess I this cartoon made me laugh more:

Also here are a few of the articles that have emerged over the last couple of days:

• Tim Brunero writing for news.com.au says we should feel sorry for the Masterchef contestants who now have seen three come back into the competition.

Personally I think they must of had to have expected it.

• Ben Pobjie on The Punch talks about why he is addicted to Masterchef.

Former The Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester is pitching for the latest big game in town – to be host of Your Own Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star, Winfrey’s new cable network reality show.

When she moved to the US, her dream was to make it onto Oprah’s couch, but this won’t be occurring due to the show finishing. However being a talk show host would be a role that Ajay would think she would perfect at. In fact I am surprised she has not pitched herself as the the Australia Chelsea Lately.

In yesterday’s Daily Telegraph it says she is looking for people to vote for her.

It states:

With her votes currently wallowing at four figures, into Confidential‘s email basket at the weekend lobbed an appeal from Rochester.

“I have till the 3rd of July to get a few million votes in order to be a finalist … easy for some … eeeek … who knows, maybe I still have some loyal followers in Oz?” she confided.

The former host of The Biggest Loser has called her concept show Been There Done Fat.

“Hi, my name is Ajay Rochester,” the pitch starts.

“I want to do a show where I inspire others to step up and keep fighting the battle. They say you have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes to know how they feel, well let me tell you I have walked a thousand miles in those shoes.”

Rochester’s main rivals yesterday were disabled Texan Zach with 8,816,576 votes, a wheelchair-bound man with plans for a travel show, and black teacher Dr Phyllis with 6,795,538.

This leaves Rochester, with 1105 votes, way off the pace.

Click here to vote for her.

Her chances of winning are looking slim at this stage. However if this turns pear shaped she can always pitch to Channel Nine for a spot on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Funnily enough commenters have been on the money for people who may be in the running to be on the rumour reality show. Sophie Monk and Rob Mills have also been mentioned as people who may be try and improve their media profiles by going into the jungles of South America and allowing all sorts of indignities to happen to them.

Thanks Paul and Culinary Boner for sending me the article.

Well if there was any resentment from the top seven contestants to the three who re-entered the Masterchef Australia competition well it must now be magnified even more with Courtney and Peter performing well in tonight’s beat the chef challenge.

Tonight the 10 contestants were up against Young Chef  Mitchell Orr cooking Saffron and Bone Marrow risotto, with prawn reduction, and liquorice dust. They had an hour and 20 mins, which was a 10 minute head start on the celebrity chef.

Mitchell was working at Sepia but he is now working with Adriano Zumbo on a savoury menu.

It was to be a blind tasting, with an opportunity for one of the contestants to get an immunity pin.

Jonathan  went down a couple of pegs in my estimation when he confessed to never making risotto. Anyone with half a brain once they hit the top 50 would have at least practiced the dish. His was a disaster as he tipped two much saffron into it, and once he plated up it looked like spew albeit without carrots.

Claire was having an up  day as she said I am cooking risotto and I am having an awesome day. But then plateaued out with this is a “trainwreck” comment. Also weepiness occurred later as she was waiting for her dish to be judged.

I think the resentment from the contestants has occurred because they are exhausted, whereas Jimmy, Peter, and Courtney have a real energy about them.

Donna Hay, Matt Preston and George Calombaris are judging. I thought Donna showed much more confidence and personality tonight he is she getting over her nerves?

This is what they had to say:

• Marion’s had crunchy rice , but Donna said it had good flavour. Matt thought it was 2 minutes off being a good risotto.
• Callum’s not as good as plate one
• Aaron – “Not one of my favourites” said Donna
• Alvin – Not bad said Donna.
• Courtney – “This is aldente” said George and Matt said it  ”has set the bench mark”.
• Claire  - “a really good attempt at that dish” said Donna
• Adam – “Risotto has good flavour, but that prawn is impeccable” said George.
• Jonathan – ” It would be impossibel for it to taste worse then it looks,” said Matt. But by the looks on the judges faces it did.
• Jimmy – silence
• Mitchell Orr – “Taste fresh parmasen and butter, absolutely delicious,” gushed George.
• Peter – by the presentation they thought it was Mitchell’s, however I think that was just to create suspense.

Courtney, Peter and Mitchell were the top three, with Mitchell winning, so there was no immunity pin for anyone.

Before I canonise Jonothan Daddia for being a nice guy and welcoming the three contestants back into the house (see yesterday’s blog post), Courtney Roulston has a different view.

In the Daily Telegraph she states:

“I don’t think they were annoyed at us. I think they were just annoyed at the fact that they thought the show was coming to an end but then realised maybe it wasn’t,” Roulston told Confidential.

“Jonathan [Daddia] especially because he has not long been married and I think he was looking forward to seeing his wife again.”

Courtney apparently makes the most of her re-entry into the competition.

By the way I think any of the contestant’s are going to have a hard time from taking the title from Marion, if my poll is anything to go by. She is by far and away the most popular contestant.

It’s official Jonothan is not getting the worst edit on Masterchef Australia, Claire Winton Burn is. Tonight her likeability factor plummeted. She was very negative on the judging of the dishes and did not bother having a welcome back drink with the three returning contestants.  Nor did Aaron who was channelling his inner Gomez Adams. So either both of them are having an affair or they are totally pissed off. Poor form from both of them.

Anyway I was a bit disappointed the seven remaining contestants picked it they were tasting the eliminated contestant’s dishes. Was that why Jimmy got back in as they knew for certain who it was behind the dish?

His soft shell crab with Roti Chanai got big positives for the crab, but not so much for the sauce. Marion  said “something in the sauce that make it bitter, but  kudos to the soft shell crabs”.  She said  she has had some shocking soft shell crabs in restaurants, which I would have to agree. I also thought it was bold of Jimmy considering the dishes are normally served cold.

I thought Courtney’s BBQ prawns with a fennel, orange and apple salad, looked fabulous and fresh. Also I thought her tactic of not doing anything too tricked up was a good strategy. Jono gave it the thumbs up and said “I am not a big salad person but I quite enjoyed it.” He also thought the prawns were cooked well, his only negative comment and I think they had to stay something positive and negative about the dish was “maybe the marinade could be stronger”.

Claire was the opposite and said the salad did not hang with the prawns. She said it makes the prawns woody.

Matt was positive and said he would be happy to eat this in a cafe. I don’t know what cafe’s he eats but my locals wouldn’t stump up anything that fancy.

Devon who I was kind of hoping to get back in dish of John Dory and cauliflower puree was not well received because of an acidic reduction. Devon deserved not to get picked as he did not taste the reduction before he put in on the plate.

Peter’s pan fried John Dory with smashed potatoes and prawn bisque was well received with a few criticisms.

Claire said “I like where the flavours are coming”.  But she wasn’t sure about the skin and thought the bisque was  bit lumpy.

Aaron did like the combination when tasted together.

I know George Calombaris was sceptical about Phil doing a dessert, however I think it meant Phil had the opportunity to stand out from the pack. However I just find Phil a bit thick and he would not be out of place on Jersey Shore. Why would you use a caramel technique you had never done before. It was like some revelation to him when George told him to do it the way he knew it. No one like his lavender cream that he served with the poached pear. And Alvin thought the pear was under cooked.

Jake’s thai inspired cuttle fish salad looked like the worst dish of the night – Alvin looked like he had been served up dog pooped. Adam said he did not know how to eat it. Marion said the flavours were unbalanced. And they all thought it was too salty.

They then had to decide which were the best three dishes. Claire didn’t like the curry which indicated she did not want Jimmy back in.

She thought the best was Peter’s dish.

Apparently the decision of who to let in was unanimous. When they saw who the contestants were Claire looke unhappy, and Aaron teared up.  Jono hung back on the hugs maybe that is what a typical IT dude does. Adam looked geniunie in his delight in seeing them.

The dish of the day was Jimmy’s curry and soft shell crab.

Courtney was back in as was Peter. Phil said he was shattered and he looked it. Gary said thanks for giving it a red hot go, which must please former NSW Premier Nathan Rees that a popular reality show had picked up his mantra.

Claire said she had mixed feelings about the contestants coming back in and looked like she had been bawling her eyes out.

I didn’t quite understand Matt Preston’s farewell maybe he should have stolen the two Ronnie’s goodbye.  ”It is goodnight from me and good night from them.” as he gestures to Gary and George.

I am happy with the three that are back in and think Peter could make the final week.

At last Jonathan Daddia is getting some good press, apparently there was fear and loathing in the deluxe Masterchef Australia house, when the three former contestants re-enter the competition.

The three returning contestant’s say their comeback well and truly divides the once-friendly group.

In an interview in TV Week they talk about what it was like to re-enter the house.

“Because they were tense with the process, they took it out on us,” one contestant explains. “Jonathan, Alvin and Marion were unbelieveable from the get-go, but the others didn’t take it too well.”

The three said it took a good week for all seven of their peers to come around – and Jonathan says he prompted the change of attitude.

“A week went past and people still hadn’t got over it,” he explains. “I was actually the one who said, ‘Listen, it’s about time you got over this – they’re here now. Just focus on your cooking – it’s not nice to make people feel awkward in the house’.”

Ok so he won’t get nominated for a nobel peace prize but it does indicate he is showing some maturity about the not unexpected re-entry of competitors.  Maybe Jono, Marion and Alvin are confident in their cooking abilities unlike the other four.

By the way a friends husband knows Jonathan, and when asked what he was like I was told he was “a typical IT dude”. So interpret that as you will….

For Australia’s Next Top Model fans, good news, as the sixth season will be premier on Tuesday 20 July at 7.30pm on Fox 8.

Sarah Murdoch will return as host, but with Josh Flinn, who has joined the cast as Model Mentor.  He has worked in the fashion industry for 10 years. Clearly I don’t as I have never heard of him. Also Jez Smith, one of Australia’s leading fashion photographers, is returning to the popular reality series as a regular cast member.

Charlotte Dawson and Alex Perry will add the snark and the botox.

It will  be interesting to see if any of the contestant’s can be as controversial as last year’s runner-up Cassi Van Den-Dungen who looks like she will have a promising modelling career.

Well Joanne Zalm is certainly getting a lot of publicity this week (Claire Winton Burn may want to send her some flowers for taking the heat from her) regarding the fact there was a Facebook hate site and the fact she was eliminated last week amongst the cyber-bullying controversy. Coincidence I think not. Well if it is if I was head of publicity at Ten I would be taking credit for it…..

TV Week states that Joanne wants to protect her family. But to be fair she does not really say that she fears that they have been targetted. I think it is what is called a good old beat up something all the gossip magazines appeared to have done this week in relation to this yarn.

TV Week said:

Joanne Zalm was elminated from Masterchef last week as the fan backlash against her reached fever pitch. But while the 37-year-old endured personal insults and even death threats via an online hate campaign, her only concen has been for her family.

“My daughters are quite young and it’s my responsibility as a mother to protect them from bullying – I don’t want them to have a part in that,” she tell TV Week. “I’m not worried about my safety, but I’m  a very protective  mother and I’m always watching out for my children, no matter what.”

Joanne says her girls, Faith, seven, and Archella, three, are unaware of the backlash against their mum thanks to their “close-knit” community and limited TV and internet exposure. “I feel very lucky,” she says.

Describing her reunion with her husband, Richard, and daughters as “emotional”, Joanne says she’s now relying on family and friends for support during this trying time.

“I’m a pretty strong person but it is concerning and upsetting,” she admits. “I just have to remember how much my family and friends love and respect me, and how proud of me they are.”

Regular commentator Melba Toast came up with the best conspiracy theory yet about Joanne’s absence last night. She said that these episodes may have  been filmed prior to the UK ones. Due to the tight filming schedule and the fact the judges could not fly out this does have legs, but it would have been unfair for the person eliminated in the UK.

Obviously Melba Toast is not the first one to raise this as on Nine MSN they deny Joanne will return at another time.

I like Pamela Anderson, she sat through over 2 and half hours of the show and managed to look like she was interested. Come on Channel 7 you have got to cut down on all the filler it just goes on far too long.

The stars either had to dance the Cha-Cha or the Viennese Waltz and they did that with varying degrees of competency.

George Houvardas did what looked like a Nick Giannopolis dance in Wog Boy, which I was not sure if that was what he was trying to achieve, but hey it made me laugh.  Helen was overcome by all the pelvic thrusts and gave him a six.

Did Jo-Beth Taylor have a music single, she did a vienese waltz and Todd criticised her for trying to pull the sexy mother thing off. She didn’t look very happy at that. BTW Jo-Beth was competing with Sonia Kruger with who has had the most plastic surgery.

Melinda Schneider did the cha-cha. I thought she was going to be a disaster, but she actually had some rhythm and she was awarded a very respectable 21. She also looked like she was really enjoying herself on stage.

David the WA AFL player I thought had rhythm except he looked so damn nervous he had a worried look on his face the whole way through. I thought Mark was harsh only giving them a three.

Esther Anderson is so very skinny, but has an amazing pair of legs. She is one of the favourites to win, however I thought she was a bit stiff, but that could be first week nerves.

Former NRL player Jason Stevens had the misfortune to lose his partner this week, however he lacked in both personality and rhythm.

Blair McDonough  has returned to his reality TV roots, he looks like he will be a contender, but I did not think he needed to flash the chest this early in the series.

Alex Fevola was next.  Is she on the  show because  she is a celebrity photographer, or because she was married to an AFL footballer. Pammy was looking encouragingly at her as she was dancing probably seeing a younger version of herself.

Tamara Jaber – to camera pieces came across well she was much more natural then I thought she was going to be. However it looked like she had previous dancing experience and her Wiki page reveals she has been dancing since the age of three and represented Australia in singing and dancing. So a bit more then the little bit of tap and jazz she told the judges.  Rumours of troubles in her and Kyle’s marriage won’t be helped with her kissing her partner on the neck whilst judging was going on.

Here is what her wiki page said:

She started singing and dancing at the age of three and always stole the limelight at family functions. By the age of eight, she started formal tap, jazz and ballet lessons. Tamara then auditioned for the “Newtown Performing Arts High School” in which she did successful in and studied dance and drama. At the of 14, Tamara represented Australia in the “America Song and Dance Championships” and won first prize. Tamara also won a scholarship to the “Australia Institute of Music for years 11 and 12, completing a Diploma of Music at the same time completing her HSC.

Also just found her bio and it states she used to train up to six hours a day and has won trophies for dance. This is ridiculously unfair on the other contestants. I thought they were meant to have limited dance experience or has that changed as they have struggled to find stars?

Robert Palmer from Better Homes and Gardens, ok I had never heard of him, wasn’t the worst of the evening, but he kind of blended in with the  footy players. I don’t think he will be the new Tom Williams.

Rachael Finch who is making a career in reality shows post her Miss Universe gig is stunning, and did a passable rendition of the cha cha.There are rumours she is on with her partner which have been denied.