Tag: TV

MKR Sun, Feb 14 – The Italians

I have high hopes for tonight after the letdown of the Miners.

Italian BFFs Sans Hat and Hat (Luciano and Martino – not sure which is which). One is a flight attendant, the other a former teacher who now works for a jewellery company – perhaps he and Jess can discuss the biz.

Here it is, finally:
And here we are at Season 7, episode 8 – it feels like it’s been much longer.
The Italian BFFs are cooking and I want to see them do well, but I also want to get the high drama Channel 7 has been flogging over and done with.
Luciano the flight attendant and Martino who works in the jewllery industry – so cryptic; is he an international jewel thief? Martino is not wearing his usual hat today, making it harder for me to tell them apart. They have an easy bickering manner that comes with being friends for a decade. Oh, it’s ok – once they hit Coles Martino is back in character as the hat wearer.
Their menu is in Italian – as it should be – and translates roughly as follows:
Entree: Fettucine with sausage and porcini mushrooms (yum)
Main: Osso bucco (veal stew) with risotto (yummo)
Dessert: Ricotta cheesecake (that’s a yum hat-trick because I know they won’t ruin it by putting something stupid like white chocolate in it)
Their restaurant decor is meant to evoke Italy in the 60s and the lads get emotional thinking about their mamas.
In the kitchen, Sans Hat is surprisingly making pasta with Coles flour (or maybe it’s just for dusting) while Hat gets on to their dessert, which was apparently invented by Italians two centuries ago. It’s going well, so cue impromptu round of “It’s Amore” and Hat is beside himself with joy at the aromas – so much so his BFF has to ask: “Are you cooking or are you making love to that dish?”
The shortcrust pastry looks love and buttery but turns out it’s TOO buttery and breaks when he tries to line the tin. Having a problem this early is usually a sign of victory.
The guests rock up and I’m not a fan of the matchy matchy outfits of the miners.

Your man bun looks nice, but when can we unbutton these shirts?
Your man bun looks nice, but when can we unbutton these shirts?

Yet again Jess is strangely dressed – her scarf is more Pink Ladies from Grease than 1960s Italy.

Altogether now: Look at me, I'm Miss Bitch-eeee.
Altogether now: Look at me, I’m Miss Bitch-eeee.

And again the editors remind us of her unhealthy relationship with food. “Deep-fried food scares me. I’m not joking; it makes me feel nervous.”

The Italians look lovely in their snappy shirts and, presumably, cashmere sweaters – but poor things must be hot cooking dressed like that, with the TV lights on them. They are so friendly and welcoming – wish I had a gay Italian uncle.

Hugs and kisses all round.
Hugs and kisses all round …
... except for you. Nev, because I'm not sure how you'd react to a bloke kissing you hello.
… except for you. Nev, because I’m not sure how you’d react to a bloke kissing you hello.

One Italian decides they need to up the stakes and add a coffee semifreddo to their dessert. I’m pro coffee-flavoured anything, but they’ll be pushing to get it frozen in time. However, they are smart to portion the mixture into small bowls so it will freeze more quickly. These guys know what they are doing.

The judges arrive and they are men of the world, so get the traditional triple kiss greeting. None of Pete’s tan rubs off in the process; perhaps he’s just been eating a lot of carrots.

It’s time to read the menu and, of course, Jess is scare by human food: “I normally don’t eat pasta.” But one of the sisters is salivating: “I love carbs; I’m so excited!” That’s the attitude you want on a cooking show – it’s not called My Deprivation Rules.

Jess is especially worried both entree and main have carbs, and yet she seems to be drinking white wine again rather than water – surely that’s 120 empty calories right there? However, she says she’ll give the pasta a go and will offset it with a run in the morning.

The pasta is done and man it looks so good I wish there was an app where I could press a button and have it delivered to my door.

Cue the chew and the Italians and stressed as, but Pete forgets he is a robot and makes bedroom eyes at Manu.

Paleo? What paleo?
Paleo? What’s paleo?

Pete: “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for real Italian food on My Kitchen Rules?” (Sucked in, Nic and Rocco!) “Boys, you delivered … the first bite was heaven.” Manu agrees it’s the best pasta in the history of MKR, and the happy tears are flowing.

The guests are happy, too, and even Jess is damning in her praise of it being a worthwhile “cheat meal”, albeit the sausage is too salty for her taste.

It’s almost mains time and the girls are showing their Asian heritage by pronouncing it “ossko booss-ko”.
And now it’s time for the evening’s entertainment … Nev asks Jess what she would serve friends for dinner, given her eating habits. “I eat very healthy. I know that everyone else doesn’t eat very healthy and I’ll cater for everyone,” she replies in a manner that gets everyone’s back up. What does this mean? She prepares a salad and then adds a deep-fried chicken leg and some fries to it for visitors with more than 2 per cent body fat?
Awkward.
Nev’s parter is no annoyed she does a “talk to the hand” gesture.

You've upset me so much I'm gesticulating like it's 1995.
You’ve upset me so much I’m gesticulating like it’s 1995.

Manu says it’s okay to enjoy flavour and he balances his diet: “I go on run as well.” And in return, gets this look:
You so fat, Manu.
You so fat, Manu.

It appears she’s looking at his waistline, although it’s possible it’s the editing. Burn!
After the ad break it’s back to the kitchen … What, there’s a kitchen on this show? It’s not just about drama?
Uh oh – they don’t have enough sauce jugs so have to use china spoons that don’t hold as much liquid. And now, the biggest shock of the night: The boys are wearing gloves to plate up. Is this allowed on MKR?
My Hygiene Rules.
My Hygiene Rules.

It looks tasty but will they get in trouble for trying to be fancy by separating all the ingredients?


It’s chew time and the boys are worried about the scarcity of sauce. The meat falls apart and Manu happily sucks the marrow from the bone: “The flavours in this deesh are amazing.” But he reminds them to serve it in a traditional manner – one big bowl – so the meat can swim in sauce. Pete agrees the meat was a little dry without the saucy perfection. The risotto was perfect: “Fellas, just cook how you normally cook.”
It’s dessert time and the boys are second guessing their decision to add the semifreddo, because Nonna wouldn’t do it. But then they decided it IS Italian after all to have espresso after a meal, so it will work.
At the table, Jess is worried the dessert could have icing sugar on it (cut to the cheesecake being adorned with a snowstorm of icing sugar) and it gets the guests’ hackles up. We’re reminded again she doesn’t eat chocolate (cut to boys making choccy sauce).


The judges go the chew … The boys are worried the flavours clash but all is well.
Pete: “I think you finished as strong as you started.” Manu is impressed by their use of candied fruit and he’s never eaten this type of cheesecake before. Hooray for the Italians!
The guests are delighted except New Villain (Zana who?), who rudely removes the chocolate from her dish. She doesn’t even try it first, which is discourteous. And then she scrapes off the icing sugar. It’s a food autopsy.
Nellie (the Nice Girl) questions whether she will score them fairly, given her dislikes. But it’s ok; Jess hates all desserts equally.
Non-Man Bun Miner calls her on her attitude and she gets feisty, saying he’s not listening to her.
“I’m listening and I’m not liking any of it,” he replies. “And I really hope that your food tastes better than your attitude.”
Jess wants to stab him with a fork and the other guests secretly applaud Miner No. 1.
And then it’s all over because it happened while Pete and Manu were off camera and couldn’t stir the pot further.
Now for the scoring.

Jess and Whatisface 9; Nev and Mrs Nev 8: Miners 8; Nice couple 8; Sisters 8. T0tal: 41/50 To Jess’s credit she is scoring fairly and the others are being a bit strategic, because they know the judges will mark the boys highly. The Italians are pleased anyway.
Entree: Pete 10 (cue round of applause), Manu (more clapping); Main Pete 8, Manu 7 (ooh – harsh, Manu, given you loved everything but the scarcity of sauce); Dessert Pete 10, Manu 9 (due to wanting thinner pastry).
That’s it. Total: 95.
Tonight the sisters serve up a Balinese feast and it looks like the chilli factor could be troublesome.



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MKR Ep 4 Sunday recap

Chat about tonight’s episode here. I hope to have a recap up later. And here ’tis:
Here we go, it’s my home team and I have high hopes, judging from the ads, that we’ll see some tasty food.
I love trying to spot the SA landmarks when the contestants are from Adelaide. We get Colonel Light’s statue, views of the revamped Adelaide Oval, the tram at Glenelg (at the beach). The voiceover guy refers to the “cottage suburb of Plympton”. I have no idea what that means. It’s a decent enough suburb but not at all fancy.Rosie and Paige stop for a coffee at Froth & Fodder cafe, which is behind behind my local Kmart.
Rosie gets the happy family montage while Paige is a single gal with a dog who didn’t finished high school “they asked me to leave”. Rosie is mum to two girls and studies tourism part time, while Paige does some safety type job for a gas company (I think). But that doesn’t really matter because in MKR land they are “SA Best Mates”.
They dash into Coles and I’m pretty sure last time I was inside that particular supermarket there were several shoppers with whom I was scared to make eye contact. The shelves are looking far more fully stocked than usual.
Their menu sounds delicious.
Entree: Lamb backstrap with pickled beetroot ad creme fraiche
Main: Chicken, leek, zucchini pie with mushy minted peas
Dessert: Grandma’s gingerbread with rum and raisin ice cream
Back home and it’s a lovely old character place – wonder if it’s really Rosie’s?
Their theme is “Big Love Grub” and they’ve made a terrific crafty-looking sign to for it but – oops – part of it falls off when they hang it up. and now we know it must indeed be Rosie’s house, because she runs straight to the shed and finds her hammer and craft glue. However, they’re down to 2 hours 8 minutes and they have yet to pick up a knife.

Drop the hammer and turn on the stove, Rosie.
Drop the hammer and turn on the stove, Rosie.

Not a lot of time to sort out their ice cream and puff pastry.
The girls shred their pie veg in the food processor to save time.
The guests are here and Cougar is hoping for a Steven Bradbury – is cub old enough to know who that is? “I just want to smell the smell of burnt something.”
Everyone thinks the room looks awesome except, of course, Zana and Plus One turn up their noses at the word “grub”.
They butter their guests up by giving them slippers and a lot of thought has gone into them, even finding flamingo ones for Jordan.
mkrslippers1

mkrslipperspugs

mkrslipperszana
Guests pass the time doing a poetry slam, while Rosie perfects the pickled beetroot and it looks divine.
The judges arrive to the strains of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” to show they are funky, followed by The Doors “Roadhouse Blues”.
Cougar is a little embarrassed to have to see them so soon after her food fiasco: “I almost felt like we artistically insulted them. And I desperately don’t want them to think that we don’t take it seriously.” That’s the most genuine she’s been in a week of shows. But then she reads the menu and reverts to delusional form: “I don’t think it’s a menu that could beat ours. If we did the right thing and we were on form and got our plating right, I think our menu would have beaten this menu.”
Yeah, caesar salad with both burnt and undercooked bacon is way fancier than lamb backstrap with pickled beetroot.
Zana loves lamb but screws up her nose at the pickled beetroot.

Beetroot? Isn't that poor people food?
Beetroot? Isn’t that poor people food?

Dramatic music for the cutting of the lamb and, yes, it’s perfectly pink.
Rosie doesn’t know how to plate up but they do a great job of making a meat dish look pretty and light enough for an entree.
But, here we go with the faux derogatory comments: Cougar is “underwhelmed”.


Uh oh, and so is Pete. They didn’t season the dish or dress the leaves. Rookie mistakes! But both judges agree the lamb was cooked perfectly and Manu loved the beetroot. Still, it’s a far cry from last episode’s “one spoonful was enough for me”.
The teams think the dish was ok but they are feeling hungry.
Jordan is looking forward to mains, and he hopes the pie is as good as Mum’s, who apparently writes his name on top in pastry. Awwww.
Zana and Plus One “don’t not normally order pies; we’ve never made a pie”.
In the kitchen the girls have not even started the ice cream machine, which is a real worry.
Manu pops into the kitchen to suggest one of them cook something instead of both shelling peas – the pressure is getting to them.
It gets worse … there is not enough pastry to make individual whole pies for everyone. What were they thinking? I know teams throw a lot of recipes at the producers in advance and see what sticks, but it’s common sense you’d need to at least triple your usual recipe. So it’s a pot pie instead and at least they are doing a taste tester.
And they’re learning from Cougar’s mistake by washing their hairy carrots thoroughly. Tester pie’s pastry lid collapses but it’s because they haven’t pinched it.
The guests are getting hungry while they wait for pie dramas to be resolved and the girls know they will be marked down for it.
Cougar is hungry but delighted.
In the ad break there’s a promo for the new teams, so they must start Wednesday night, as Mama and Son cook next, then the Lawyers. And there’s one girl who doesn’t like chocolate. Yep, she’s the Zana of the group. I have a friend who doesn’t eat chocolate but it’s because it gives her migraines. So unless I see a medical certificate from this girl’s doctor, I’m barracking for her to fail already.
And the pressure continues to fluster the girls – they’ve overcooked the carrots. I’d have chucked them in a tonne of butter and maybe some honey to see if I could save them, but they decide not to include them on the plate.
They are worried the pies aren’t quite cooked but are scared to keep the guests waiting, so it’s on with a plop of peas and away we go.


The pastry layers on the judges’ pie look awesome, but Manu eez sad that the pie filling does not have much texture. And Pete says the flavours are out of whack, with salty peas and too much wine in the filling.
Zana and Plus One have never made a pie yet with typical modesty still know they would do it better.
Time for dessert. And they are yet to cook the gingerbread, which will take a while to bake.
Zana is big noting her ability to stay calm in the kitchen as she and Plus One have very stressful jobs with people’s lives at steak. Umm, hello – you’re sitting at a table with two police officers!
The gingerbread is ready and it’s a cake, as per Paige’s gran’s recipe. Surprise, surprise the ice cream isn’t set, so they anchor it on the plate with some chopped macadamias “for crunch”. If you want crunch, you don’t pick macadamias, and certainly not untoasted ones.


Manu says the booze is missing from the ice cream (which Rosie was worried about) and Pete feels the cake lacks spice.
Paige is gutted; she’s let grandma down.
The Curlies love the cake but no one likes the vanilla ice cream with raisins, sans rum.
The girls are crying on the floor of the kitchen, for fear they were “Cheryl and Matt bad”.

I should have listened to you about the raisins.
I should have listened to you about the raisins.

Surely they can do better than 30?
Team scores: Mama and Son 6; Cougar Town 4 (to be expected); Cops 4 (bit strategic there); Zana and That Guy 5; Curlies 7 (they must really want Cougars to fail)
Total: 26/50, so they know they’re safe.
Judges: Entree Pete 6, Manu 7; Main Pete 5, Manu 5; Dessert Pete 5, Manu 5.
Total:59
Tomorrow night it’s off to Perth and what looks to be some delicious Maltese food and a snappy shirt from Jordan. Yum.



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ABC – What’s On

Just a heads up about a few shows returning to the ABC this week, with Wednesday being a busy night.

At 8pm Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery has a chat with TV icon Kerry O’Brien, delving into his childhood and journalism career.
Also this Wednesday at 8.30pm, Charlie Pickering returns with The Weekly, aided by Tom Gleeson and Kitty Flanagan. And then at 9pm, it’s a new series of Black Comedy.
On Friday at 8.30pm, Craig McLachlan returns in The Doctor Blake Mysteries. The synospisis: “Dr Lucien Blake returns home to find Ballarat hosting a very public stopover in a round Australia motor race – and a very suspicious death.”
drblake
I still can’t believe Henry Ramsay grew up to be Dr Blake as well as another famous doctor, Frank N Furter. You must go see him in Rocky Horror – he’s hilarious.



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Are you ready for the onslaught?

For the past month it’s been nothing but cricket and tennis on TV (I’ve been making the most of Stan’s 30-day free trial) but now it’s time for the annual bombardment of  premieres of shows old and new.

Channel 10 is attempting to get ahead of the pack by launching the second season of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! – a whole 24 hours ahead of the other channels. It premieres Sunday, January 31 at the family-friendly timeslot of 6.30pm (check your local guide).

There’s meant to be an after-show on Eleven, hosted by Bachelor reject Heather Maltman and jungle reject Joel Creasey, but it’s not showing up as yet on Sunday TV guides.

The following night the other channels join the party.

Nine kicks off with Australia’s Got Talent and a new panel of judges: Kelly Osbourne (daughter of Ozzy and fashion commentator), Eddie Perfect (beloved by Offspring and Play School viewers) and Sophie Monk (remember when she was an unknown on one of Australia’s first reality shows, Popstars?). Hughesy is hosting.

The Farmer Wants a Wife, also on Nine, starts the same night at 8.45pm.

I suspect Channel 7 is where most of us will land on the Monday night for the return of My Kitchen Rules (with the first part of much-promoted Molly telemovie looking likely to air on February 7).

Backtracking a little here, but if you have time the previous Monday night (January 25) turn to the ABC for the Australian of the Year Special. Four finalists have been selected for each state and territory in the categories Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia’s Local Hero.

If you’ve missed it no doubt you can catch up on iView or read more about the nominees at http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/

Other shows due in February are Nine’s scripted comedy Here Come the Habibs! and the Australian episodes of If You are the One on SBS2. Wanted, the TV series Rebecca Gibney developed and in which she stars, starts in February on Seven. Over in Pay TV land, the excellent Selling Houses Australia returns February 3 on the Lifestyle channel.

Here’s a link to a Channel 7 ad for the MKR premiere and a few other shows that start the same day:

So, what will you be watching?

UPDATE: The Celeb after show is now appearing in the TV guides. It’s called Get Me Out of here now, runs 9.30-10.30pm this Sunday (check your local guide) on Eleven  and is rated M for “Adult Themes or medical procedures, Coarse language”.

 



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Put down the remote and have a chat

Welcome to a new site about watching TV. Whether you love a show or loathe it, this is the place to talk about it. Reality TV – especially Australian content – is my guilty pleasure but those with more highbrow tastes are also welcome. However, if you’re a fan of Two and a Half Men you may want to slink away to another corner of the interweb … Bear with me while I find my feet with this new-fangled technology.

Cheers

Admin Juz

PS: You no longer need to register to comment. If the spambots attack this may change. If you want to email me, check out the contact page.



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