MKR – Mon, Feb 29

It’s the Newcastle Dads’ turn to cook, and we find out one is a physio and the other a dietitian. Nice to see two blokes who have maintained such a strong friendship since they were sprogs.
This is the first time I’ve seen contestants stroll to the shops on MKR – should have got one of those handy granny trolleys so they don’t have to lug it all home. Then the physio picks up a carton of eggs and shakes it.

Why!?
I’m baffled by the egg shaking.

Who the heck does that? I want to shake him at this point. They are advertising Coles Free Range Eggs (well, alleged free range – according to Choice “For eggs to be labelled free range, the Model Code of Practice says there should be a maximum of 1500 hens per hectare. But many commonly available “free range” brands do not adhere to this, with some brands keeping as many as 10,000 chooks per hectare.” And guess how many Coles has?)
The menu
Entree: “Double the fun”: Twice-baked cheese souffle
Main: “Sweet Swine” Prosciutto-wrapped pork fillet with potato puree and honey sage jus.
Dessert: “Crunch Time” Chocolate mousse with hazelnut praline and raspberry coulis
Discussing the menu, the judges are looking fab – as always- and The Fass is thrilled by the main: “You had me at pork.”
Can't we just keep these two? Who needs Pete and Manu
Can’t we just keep these two? Who needs Pete and Manu

The guys are cruising through the shopping, stopping to taste test prosciutto, and buy decent dark chocolate for their dessert (Zana, I still haven’t forgotten your shameful use of Cadbury Dairy Milk). Last stop is for booze at Liquorland and this episode is much more blatant in its advertising than some of the previous ones.
Whose genius idea was it to walk?
Whose idea was it to walk?

At home (looks like a rental for the show) they quickly set up “Sand and Steel” and the guests get some kinetic sand to play with. It’s fun stuff so I’m hoping The Fass will give it a go.
They are in the kitchen as the clock starts at 3:00 and are straight on to the dessert elements that need time to set. But Cookie (the dietitian) scrambles his first anglaise for the ice cream but gets it right second time round (no four goes to make mayo-type disaster here).
Then they get on to both the entree and mains prep – Hazel and Lisa could learn some time management skills off these guys. Both seem to be capable cooks, whereas the other teams have had an obvious chef and sous chef vibe (except the Italians).

Here come the guests and what the hell is Mr Chops wearing?

Shirt stolen off an 80yo man at the local RSL.
Shirt stolen off an 80yo man at the local RSL.

Inside, Lauren is the most chipper we’ve seen her since she bombed, and actually compliments the decor and plays with the sand.
But Hazel and Lisa don’t have much time for new Lauren, based on their view she is scoring strategically. “I don’t have much time for cheaters,” Lisa says. Hmm, has she learned yet there was a whopping big hair in Lauren’s meal?
In the kitchen the Mates are happy with how the souffles are looking – what a shame they only brought 12 ramekins with them and can’t test one. And since it looks like a rental, they can’t just grab any old dish to do a tester in.
Here come The Fass and The Khoo, the latter looking like he’s off to a picnic in the Italian countryside.
10/10 for this skirt.
10/10 for this skirt.

The lads start plating up the entree and it looks delish. There’s a minor hiccup of getting a plate stuck in the saucepan – yep, that’s as close as these fellas come to a tense moment in the kitchen.


It’s chew o’clock … And The Khoo establishes her claim to be a cheese expert by saying she lived in Paris for eight years. She is happy with their use of parmesan and cheddar, but wanted more flavour from their side veg – and she tells them to roast the tomatoes next time. Colin says they should have sprinkled cheese on top for cheesey crunch, but he still praises their effort.
The guests are enjoying their souffles, except Dee reckons hers is overcooked. Lauren has been bodysnatched by aliens and replaced with a nice Lauren who hails the souffle as “the dish of the competition so far”.
The Stepsies are baffled by the MKR equivalent of doing this:

I'm crazy enthusiastic for no reason, like my friend Lauren.
I’m crazy enthusiastic for no reason, like my friend Lauren.

But they console themselves in their confessional to camera by cackling that Lauren should go eat her spaghetti in a bag: “No-one else did.”
Twinning at insults.
Twinning at insults.

Back in the kitchen they get on to mains and things are going well until the power goes out, but it’s only for a minute. Talk about an anti-climax.
Cookie is feeling the pressure a bit and dithering over how well he should cook the pork.
Emotions ... feelings
Emotions … feelings

Cook to please Pork Ambassador Colin, I say. At least they have enough to do a tester. They struggle a bit with the timing – this is where a meat thermometer would be handy.
Cookie moves on to the potato and you can tell he’s a serious cook because he’s using a drum sieve, which is painstaking work but gives super smooth mash.
They’ve obviously put a lot of thought into the plating up – it looks great.


It’s chew time … and The Fass is impressed by their gutsy effort in cooking 36 medallions or pork, and doing it well. “The dish is actually like something I’ve had on the menu before.” The only fault he finds is that the sauce soaked into the mash. The Khoo is happy, too: “You couldn’t have done a better job.” She wanted a bit more butter in the puree (perhaps dietitian Cookie let his professional knowledge stay his hand).
Dee and Lauren both say their meat was overcooked – looks like the aliens brought original Lauren back.

Back in the kitchen the lads are making praline, while at the table Dee explains she doesn’t like choccy mousse, which is a shame for Husband of Dee, as he loves it. However, every night Dee confines him to a cupboard under the stairs, Harry Potter style, so no mousse for him.
They Mates are plating up and Cookie is a bit heavy handed with the dusting cocoa. The plating looks great and this is a much more complicated dessert than the last few we’ve seen.


Time to chew … The Khoo is happy (apart from the heavy layer of cocoa powder) but The Fass wanted more of his promised crunch. It was good, but not as delish as the main.
They’ve done well and deserve high scores. Apparently the dessert was confusing to Dee but it made her backflip on her claim she doesn’t like chocolate mousse.

Team scores: Dee and That Guy 8; Lauren and That Guy 8; Zesty Stepsies 8; Tarq and Joke Dad 7 (not wanting to relinquish top spot); Mr and Mrs Chops 9.
Judges: Entree Khoo 8, Fass 7; Main Khoo 9 (note how she pronounced the dish “fillay”), Fass 9; Dessert Khoo 7, Fass 7 (with the comment: “A lot of cocoa powder- must have got it on special”)
Total 87, which puts them at the top of the leaderboard, seven points above Tarq and Dad. Hooray – at least two pairs this round can cook!

Tomorrow night: It’s Dee Day! And we get to see poor Harry Potter fail spectacularly at pouring wine into a container with a very large neck.
wine2

Missed it by that much.
Missed it by that much.


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MKR – Sun, Feb 28


Chat here for Sunday MKR.

It’s the turn of step besties – stesties? – Hazel and Lisa tonight and we don’t know much about them other than they like twinning their outfits. Oh, and they do a good Kath & Kim impersonation and have been fair and non-catty in their commentaries. Which makes them likeable, but can they cook? Given the performances in this round so far, a half-arsed job will see them safe anyway.

It’s kind of nice to see a stepmum and stepdaughter who get on so well. Hazel is a fitness instructor, of the annoyingly upbeat variety, and even though I rewound it twice, I could not catch Lisa’s profession – is flooring finance a thing? Or did she say boring finance.

Their menu is:

Entree: Salmon croquettes with lime aioli

Main: Beef Wellington with potato gallete and green beans

Dessert: Citrus polenta yoghurt cake with pistachio ice cream

The croquettes sound simple but so much could go wrong with the Wellington, from the pastry to the doneness of the meat – made all the more difficult by the number of people they have to cook for.

As she peruses the menu The Khoo is looking as divine as always – if her cooking empire crumbles she could definitely start a makeup and fashion house.

The Khoo in all her glory.
The Khoo in all her glory.

Shopping goes smoothly and it’s home to decorate their restaurant, the aptly named Zesty. There have been a few celebratory hip bumps so far by “Daughtie” and “Steppie” – will these lessen as the night goes on?

With the clock at 2:40 they head to the kitchen, so 20 minutes late already. Wisely they start with the icecream but I don’t know why Lisa is starting with mayo when someone needs to make pastry. It’s not that hard to make mayo once you’ve done it a few times – just add some hot water to it, Lisa! But, no, she’s trying again and it’s flopped again. Did she forget the salt? are the eggs not room temp?

Meanwhile, Hazel starts on the puff and puts it away for the first rest, before moving on to the entree. Earlier, The Fass and The Khoo had said they wanted bechamel or mash holding their croquettes together but Lisa – or is it Hazel? – sees these flavoursome binders as “unwanted carbs” (thinking of you, Jessica!). Uh oh. Hazel is boning the salmon, so Lisa is definitely the sous chef in this kitchen.

I hope everyone likes mushrooms.
I hope everyone likes mushrooms.

Here come the guests and the girls look lovely in their frocks – not a white knee sock in sight – but poor Tarq’s Dad has been lumbered with a navy double-breasted jacket.

Off to a wedding?
Off to a wedding?

The other guests ooh and aah over the decor but Lauren is ready for a war and can’t even muster up the manners to say something nice in her confessional.

Ready to stab someone if they dare insult her inedible food.
Ready to stab someone if they dare insult her inedible food.

Here come the judges and, sadly, The Khoo is not wearing one of her signature vibrant prints.

The Khoo looking rather Sandra Dee.
The Khoo looking rather Sandra Dee.

Unfortunately the Steppies can’t open the door as Lisa left the tap open on the fryer while she filled it up, and the Exxon Valdez is happening in their kitchen. Just what they need. Eventually it all gets sopped up with reams of paper towel and the croquettes look golden and crunchy, but they are serving them with a fennel and strawberry salad … Colin is going to go off his nut!

But before the judges can taste, this happens:

Special garnish for Lauren.
Special garnish for Lauren.

Now Lauren has something to justify the low score she already planned to give them. Hair in food doesn’t bother me much and it was bound to happen on a show where the contestants can’t wear hair nets or chef’s hats.
Cue the chew … The Fass finds, as foreshadowed, the croquettes are too dry due to lack of moisture and there was not enough aioli to compensate (insert your own memory here of Manu asking: Where’s the soz?). The Khoo tries to soften the blow by saying the aoili was zesty and the croquettes had crunch. But basically the filling and the salad sucked.
And what do the guests think of the strawberries in the salad?
Mate/Dad No. 2 speaks for everyone.
Mate/Dad No. 2 speaks for everyone.

Back in the kitchen Hazel and Lisa think Lauren was just being her snooty self by not eating her entree. Again, Hazel shows she is the cook of the pair by doing all the work for the Wellington, but they are not wrapping everything in a crepe, as is traditional, which means the moisture from the mushroom duxelle could make the pastry soggy. They are in trouble with timing, as those are huge pieces of meat that will take over an hour to cook, and Stepmum already spent time searing the meat and assembling the layers. And then they need to rest it at the end.
Wellington in the oven, Hazel gets to stirring her thimbleful of sauce on the stove. Lisa has to convince her they need more than spot on each plate. How can you be a contestant on MKR and not know the first rule of MKR is: More soz.
So, they add cream to what looked like a jus. And then red wine. Bleaurgh.

Pink soz.
Pink soz.

Hazel:It’s actually a nice colour; it’s really interesting.” Interesting – it’s what you say when you aren’t convinced but don’t want to see rude.
Look at moi, soz.
Look at moi, soz.

In the dining room the guests are so delirious with hunger they’ve started singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Remember these guys from 2012 MKR? It was three hours between their entree and main, and they served dessert after 1am.
Villains BL (Before Lauren).
Villains BL (Before Lauren).

The Steppies use the time spent waiting for the Welly to prep their dessert. Finally the Wellies are out but OMG they have not cooked the galletes. Why didn’t they shove them in at the same time? And after all that some of the pastry is cracked, the bottoms are soggy (that’s why you use the crepe, girls) and one of the fillets looks to be overcooked. They could break the record here for longest MKR wait between meals. Colin is going to tear them a new one.
They rightly decide Lauren will get one of the dodgy pieces.


It’s chew time … and the first thing The Fass does is notice the soggy bottom, so he gives them a lesson in where they went wrong. The potatoes and green beans are a bit undercooked and they did not cook out the wine in the sauce. The Khoo struggles to provide constructive criticism.
It’s a fail and it will be interesting to see if the guests score it higher than it deserves because they want to keep Lauren and Carmine out.
Back in the kitchen the Steppies are getting dessert out quickly, but have they allowed enough time for the syrup to sink in to the cake? Nothing worse than stodgy, dry polenta cake. Why didn’t they also serve some syrup on the side?
Lisa seems unaware of how much trouble they are in. “We’ve had an okay entree, a good main; we really need a great dessert.” No, you need a time machine, Lisa.

Time for the judges to chew … The Khoo is happy with the cake (the syrup must have sat for a lot longer than the editing indicated), but not the ice cream, as it’s more vanilla than pistachio. The Fass must really like them as he’s been a lot more brutal in the past. He’s glad they had a comeback with the cake. “That was your dish of the night.”
The camera cuts from a glowering Lauren (gotta keep the villain edit going) to a stoked Lisa.

"Fail, fail, fail." "We didn't fail!"
“Fail, fail, fail.”

Mr and Mrs Chops enjoy the cake. They are too normal and pleasant to make the edit much, so here’s a reminder of what his hair looks like:

No drama, just weird hair.
No drama, just weird hair.

Team scores: Mr and Mrs Chops 5; Tarq and Dad 5; Dads/Mates 5; Dee and That Guy 5; Mr and Mrs Villain 2.
Judges: Entree Khoo 4, Fass 4; Main Khoo 6, Fass 6 (he’s definitely mellowed); Dessert Khoo 8 (very generous), Fass 7.
Total: 57. They’re safe.

Being likeable goes a long way with the scoring – take note, Lauren.
Tonight we’re off to Newcastle to see if the childhood mates can cook. There hasn’t been much promo for them, so perhaps they can.



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Site Maintenance Completed

Site maintenance is now completed – we have migrated to a new host that can handle the increasing load. The cutover took a little longer than expected as we had a bit of a hitch with the uploaded photos transitioning across.

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Site maintenance

Hi Talking TVers, IT Sidekick has to do some work on the site tonight so we can move it to a new host, as our current one can’t cope with its popularity.
If the colour bar at the top your Talking TV page is black you are still on the old site. You should still be able to comment BUT your comments may be lost in the migration to the new site.
If, however, you get a blue Talking TV bar at the top of the page, you are on the new site and can comment away.
The transition from old to new depends on your internet provider, but you should all have the new, “blue” site in time for Sunday night TV chat.
Cheers – Admin Juz



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Suvivor BBB – episode 2

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And it’s back to the beaches of the Brawns, Brains and Beauties for episode 2 of season 32.
Hopefully we’ll see no more of this critter tonight.

Urgh - it's still icky.
Urgh – it’s still icky.

It’s night time and the Brawns are arriving back at their camp, after the tribal council which saw Darnell voted out (and just for the record, everyone of Survivor poos in the ocean – that wasn’t why he was voted it. It’s just that’s how we’ll now remember him). The Brawns try and convince hapless Alecia she had their support all along. She is rightly suss but mostly “really confused at this point”. Her tribemates have earmarked her for an easy elimination next time, it’s easy to see why with comments such as “We almost had an embryo and then it went out” in relation to making fire. Oh, Alecia. I really want you to blitz a puzzle and prove everyone wrong – especially tatts Jason, who refuses to call you by name – but it’s not likely.

Over at Beauty, gardener Tai is back looking for an idol near the dead trees he spotted last week. He glances up and spots a bright yellow package in a hole in another tree. It’s a clue! Sadly not of the variety we saw in Second Chances, which told contestants they had to snatch an idol in the midst of a challenge, leading to nailbiting scenes with the tenacious Kelley Wentworth and eventual winner Jeremy Collins.
No, this clue is simply that the idol is at the foot of the same tree. Um, world’s most boring clue, but I speak too soon – there’s actually another scroll saying Tai needs to use a tool he’s uncovered to reach for a key in another tree, then use it to unlock the box containing the idol. This is convoluted – bring back Second Chances-style idols!
Tai monkey man tries to shimmy his way up a coconut tree and he does well, but he’s not this guy.

Me Ozzy, me half monkey but me never win Survivor.
Me Ozzy, me half monkey but me never win Survivor.

Feet bleeding, Tai realises he needs to bolt before his tribe spots him and try another time. Could this lead to him teaming up with someone else so they can retrieve the idol together?

Over at Brains they are lighting a fire with kero won at the reward challenge. Debbie refuses to drink the boiled water – straight from the well is fine for her as she has a strong constitution. The others are more wary of microscopic parasites (wait till they hear what happened to Jen) and her know-it-all attitude is rubbing some the wrong way. Still, I’m-A-Doctor-Not-Obama comes across as a tool when he does a confessional claiming she’s a crazy cat lady.

Let's hope there's a challenge involving juggling.
Let’s hope there’s a challenge involving juggling.

At Beauty, Caleb and Tai are making an unlikely pairing, with Tai being a protector of all living things and Caleb a country boy hunter type. But Caleb lets little Tai snuggle up for warmth and they tease each other like brothers – it’s fun to watch. Come on, Tai – ask Caleb to help you reach the idol.

The Brains aren’t happy because some of their kero leaked and their matches are wet. Ex-FBI hostage negotiator Joe somehow cops the blame for this because he’s old and he’s finding Lizzie a whiny know it all. He’s happy to drink the water as is. “Pathogens my butt,” he tells her – and I’m having Rudy flashbacks here. Did they not get a flint?
Off by herself, Lizzie is getting teary and feeling the effects of dehydration. Drink the water, Lizzie!

At Brawn they can’t make a fire and Jason is ridiculously sunburnt, even though I know they are given sunscreen. He’s philosophical, though: “I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I can live with this.” Alecia tries to redeem herself and spends hours trying to spark the flint while the big boys sleep. And she does it! Go, Alecia! Maybe Jason will stop calling you Blondie.

Come on in, guys – it’s challenge time. Jeff has the orange and white cap on again. It’s one of those elaborate carry a log through water, knock down a target deals.

Hurry, up Jeff.
Hurry up, Jeff.

Reward is fishing gear and a boat; runner up gets a smaller fishing kit.
Brains sit out full-on Debbie; Beauty some blonde named Julia.
Brain quickly fall behind in the log challenge and several times Aubry (who had the mini meltdown last week but then proved herself a puzzle champ) seems to be the only won dragging the 300-pound object through the water – the ice-cream entrepreneur is noticeably hands off, bringing up the rear. Several contestants take hard tumbles climbing through the wooden structure. Eventually, though, they are all pretty even at the end but Beauty takes the win and Brain comes second. Brawn will head back to tribal for the second week in a row and Alecia knows she’s in trouble.
I'm in so much trouble.
I’m in so much trouble.

She heads off into the trees to look for the idol and back at camp NBA player Scot and bounty hunter Jason love to badmouth her for being “dumb”. It’s over the top and contractor Buggsy Jen – who looks to have gotten beaten up in the challenge – is getting sick of it. She has a chat to Alecia about voting out one of the big boys via an all-girls’ alliance. Hmm, dunno if the bodybuilder will go for that but she hasn’t had any screen time today. Alecia is crazy enthusiastic and Jen tries to calm her down “Listen, you’re absent minded as [bleep] and you drive me crazy, but at the same time I also like you. And not only that, this game is also about big moves.”
However, Jason is getting ansty that Jen is chatting to Alecia. Jen starts having second thoughts about turning on her alliance with Scot, and her second thoughts about the all-girls’ alliance are giving Cydney second thoughts about Jen.

At tribal, that bug must have eaten some of Jen’s brain, because she is revealing way too much, lulled into complacency by Jeff. She tries to dig her way out but just makes it so much worse. Alecia doesn’t even have to fight to stay – Jen is doing all the work for her. Jeff is loving how this tribal is going, especially when Jen climbs up on her stump and pleads with her alliance to stay true. I’ve never seen anyone make a literal stump speech at tribal before.
It’s vote time and Jenny is gone.

Bye, Jen - bet that tribal was tougher to watch than the bug incident.
Bye, Jen – bet that tribal was tougher to watch than the bug incident.

Alecia delighted reaction has no doubt already been made into a gif. OMG – is Alecia going to make the team shake-up?


Afterwards the votes are revealed and we see Jen and Scot voted for Alecia, the rest Jen.
I’m hoping that next week Brains or Beauty will lose so we can get to know another tribe better.
Now, let’s see what former players are saying on Twitter:


But Fishy is sticking up for his mate Lizzie:



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Big Brother winner wants to try again

Look who is desperate to get back in a Big Brother house.
Story at http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/fame-hungry-tim-dormer-tries-out-for-canadian-big-brother-after-cashing-250k-in-aussie-win/news-story/a6bfa3ca7ed1f2a2e7d5e9988acaec9b



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