Kevin's Blog

Well it has been a while since my last post I am sorry and will not let that happen too often. As you can imagine the last few weeks were a bit crazy.

Let’s just dive right into it shall we. I will start with Ariel. The show seemed to depict a feud being started with myself and Ariel. I would have to disagree on my part. I do not know Ariel’s full point of view but I will tell you mine.

FOX made it seem that Ariel was bringing me several Lambs that were all wrong. I would like to say yes there was a few but not to the extreme you saw. Ariel did not do to bad but was a bit less consistent than Dave. That is not what bothers me the most. The “scallop incident” is where I get a bit uneasy. I wish you all were there to see what was happening; I will tell you in my own words. Ariel was not a strong communicator.  Both I and Dave kept asking each other, “what did she just say” and  ”what is it that she wants”.  We had a hard time together, understanding where she was and what she was picking up. I do want to stress, it was only for one brief time that we were confused and after that she was ok. But during this time I wanted to get the food out so I started to ask Scott and Heather if they knew what she said, and of course they had nothing. At this point I just looked the tickets and started to tell everyone where we were and to pick up in that order. Chef Ramsay did not like this and well you saw his reaction.

So the scallops fall right in the middle of what I was just saying. Yes I have been very good on the fish side so for the subpar scallops, it happens!! I did have more but again she confused both me and Dave as to pick up and orders. Sabotage, I think not. I will not cheat to gain an edge. If you saw a lot of the behind the scenes and reflect back to some scenes you did see. You will find I was always helping and organizing our team. Not always solo but the blue team knows what was what. The end of the day you work as a team but need to show individual strengths. Just to clarify a bit more, chef has many cameras and people telling him everything he cannot see, and he does get information and uses it. So remember it is not just Ramsey’s eyes there are ALOT of eyes.

So of course Ariel wants me on the block and I wanted Ariel. Dave was the deciding factor. As Dave said the communication was the issue. No one said anything about the lamb or scallops and in the end Chef Ramsay made the choice of me and Dave in the finals.

I think Ariel has a very bright future and I hope we stay in touch. I hope this clears a bit up but in the end there was six of us in the Kitchen and we are the ones who saw it all!! Until next time,

Happy cooking!!!! Chef Kevin

Well Suzanne is finally gone!!

I would like to say one nice thing about Suzanne. She had the perfect risotto in the back from something else and really helped save me and Tennille.

The challenge we all faced this week was pretty cool. I mean really Bon Appétit is a really cool magazine. It has been around for some time and well six million readers a month that is a lot of eyes.

I am a bit nervous going into this challenge, as it’s an opportunity to be in a widely respected magazine. I immediately go to my strength; and well if you have not noticed by now, it is fish. I quickly think colors (as it’s an appearance then taste challenge) and center of the plate dish. I do cook with fruit and vegetables a lot and so far that has worked for me so, here I go. I want all elements to work but stay light and true to the ingredients integrity. Citrus, beans, tomato, papaya, fennel and parsnips, yeah this will work!!

 Off I go to make this crazy concoction. As I am prepping Chef Ramsay is flying around the kitchen asking us what we are doing and giving his criticism/critiques, who knows the difference at this point, and of course he immediately does not seem thrilled by my fruit and fish idea. I stay true to what I want and dismiss his comments!!

As the editors are asking us all about our dishes I feel very confident that I have a really great looking dish. I am looking at everyone’s plates and I think Dave and Ariel have nice Bon Appétit style plates and they may give me a run.

Well here it is. I received a large number of first place votes which puts me in and now one more. Ariel and Dave had an extremely close second place race with Ariel squeezing out the victor, so me and Ariel up to the front and lets now taste and name a champion.

Well I know my dish looks good but will it pass the Chefs immediate disapproval of all that fruit. Barbra Fairchild names me the winner!! Oh but wait, this is Hell’s Kitchen so Chef Ramsay is not finished he has one more thing to say. He really likes the way I made the fruit work but he is equally impressed with Ariel’s dish so BOTH of you win. Hey cool as long as I am part of the victory. I better enjoy this win because dinner is another story…..

RISOTTO: Italian rice specially made by stirring hot stock into a mixture of rice (and often chopped onions) that has been sautéed in butter. The stock is added ½ cup at a time and the mixture is stirred continually while it cooks until all the liquid is absorbed before more stock is added. This labor-intensive technique results in rice that is delectably creamy while the grains remain separate and firm. This is the “Food Lover’s Companion” version, verbatim.

I have cooked this many times and cooked it well; today was not one of those days. I guess I disappointed Chef because he just would not let it go. Oh well it was my time. But after that dismal start I was back cooking at the garnish station, which also is the team expo person. Suzanne and Ariel put up raw food and well you saw the show Suzanne was sent packing.

Well Kevin, Dave, Ariel and Tennille  are the Fantastic 4.

I am however disappointed to learn I and Ariel will NOT be in a Bon Appétit magazine. I was told it will be online only. Hell’s Kitchen strikes again!!!! What a disappointment!!

Well until next week!!

 Happy Cooking Chef Kevin