Hell's Kitchen Season 23, Episode 11

Hello everybody! 

Let’s talk about another episode of Hell’s Kitchen today!

Today, we will be discussing Season 23, Episode 11!

Before I get into the episode, there’s a bit of information that I feel like sharing with you all. This episode that I am talking about, as well as the entire season, was taped at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. And so were the three following seasons. Yeah, so if I wanted to, I could have gone to a Dinner Service while any of these seasons were being filmed. So, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t. I mean, I love Gordon Ramsay, and I love Hell’s Kitchen enough to write about it, so why didn’t I go see it in person? Well, there’s a very simple reason. It would have been way too much of an ordeal. If you sign up to be at Dinner Service, from what I can tell, there’s no guarantee that you will actually get in, and for the opportunities I had to be in the audience for the seasons that just taped, I would have had to have gotten there at the most inconvenient times imaginable, presumably again with no guarantee that I would actually be selected to get in.

So, with all that out of the way, let’s get into the actual episode!

The episode started off with Chef Ramsay having decorated the Dining Room into The Hell’s Kitchen Departure Lounge. See what I mean by Chef Ramsay kicking off every challenge with something that is completely unrelated to cooking?

Chef Ramsay then explained that for the next challenge, the contestants would be cooking international cuisines, and how it would work is that one chef from The Red Team and one chef from The Blue Team would step up and hit the button, then the TV off to the side would fly around the globe, and land on a country, which would be the cuisine that they would then cook. 

Up first, Kyle chose to go up against Whit, and they had to make a Chinese dish. 

Hannah then chose to go up against Brandon, and they had to make a French dish.

Joe then chose to go up against Amanda, and they had to make a Greek dish.

This meant that Egypt was going up against Ann Marie, and they had to make a Mexican dish. 

After 45 minutes of cook time were up, it was time to taste the dishes, but Chef Ramsay didn’t do it alone. He brought in a guest judge for this challenge. Chef Vikas Khanna, who has a restaurant in New York City called Bungalow. 

Up first was the battle of Greek Cuisine.

Joe presented his dish first, which was a Roasted Lamb Loin with Lemon, Yogurt, and Fried Halloumi, which is a dish that I would absolutely be willing to try. Here’s an image of what it looked like. 

Chef Vikas said that it had all the elements to make a great dish, but Joe could have elevated the way the plate looked, but the flavors were to the point.

Amanda then presented her dish, which was a Pan Seared Lamb Loin with Lemon-Roasted Potatoes and Mint and Dill Chimichurri, which is another dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what it looked like.

Chef Vikas said that you could feel the effort when you have placements done properly, and the dish was beautiful. 

Chef Ramsay then asked Chef Vikas if the point was going to The Red Team or The Blue Team, to which he responded that one dish looked pretty, and one dish tasted amazing, so he gave a point to both dishes. 

Up next was the battle of Chinese Cuisine. 

Whit presented her dish first, which was a Bok Choy Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fried Rice, and Grilled Bamboo Shoots with Sweet Soy Glaze, which is a dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

Chef Vikas said he loved the Stuffing inside the Chicken, he loved the effort in the dish, and he loved the way she took the ingredients to the next level, but the highlight for him was the Bamboo Shoots. 

Kyle then presented his dish, which was a Sticky Glazed Chicken Breast with Chinese Inspired Kimchi Fried Rice, which is another dish that I would consider trying. Here’s an image of what it looked like. 

Chef Vikas said the dish melts in your mouth, but ultimately he did have a favorite dish in this round, so he gave the point to The Red Team. 

Up next was the battle of French Cuisine.

Brandon presented his dish first, which was a Dover Sole with Sauce Meunière, which I am not sure I would want to try, because I have a complicated relationship with whether or not I like Fish. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like. 

Chef Vikas said that it was not overly seasoned and the Fish was cooked right.

Hannah then presented her dish, which was also a Dover Sole Meunière that was stuffed with Capers, Fresh Herbs, and Butter. Again, I’m not sure that I would want to try this dish. Here’s an image of what it looked like.

Chef Vikas said that the Vegetables were cooked perfectly, but the main hero of the dish was the Fish, and it was slightly overcooked.

This meant that the point went to The Blue Team for this round.

Last up was the battle of Mexican Cuisine. 

Egypt presented his dish first, which was a Spanish Style Salsa Borracha, which is a Drunken Salsa, with Don Julio Brushed Grouper, and Masa Triangle Tortillas, and again, I’m not sure I would be willing to try the dish due to how I feel about Fish, but I would be willing to try Masa Triangle Tortillas. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

Chef Vikas said that he was a huge fan of Mexican cooking, and he loved the way Egypt cooked the Grouper, and there was also a touch of Mother’s Cooking from Mexico. 

Ann Marie then presented her dish last, which was Grilled Grouper Fish Tacos with Handmade Tortillas and Corn, Jicama, and Fresno Relish. I’m not sure how I feel about this dish, as while I’m not the biggest fan of Fish, I feel like I would want to try a Fish Taco. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

Chef Vikas then asked Ann Marie if she tried her dish before plating it, to which she said that she did after she plated it, to which he then told her that it was so good, and the seasoning was very authentic. 

From there, Chef Vikas gave both Egypt and Ann Marie a point, which meant that the challenge ended at a tie. 

This meant that the winning team would be determined by who had the most outstanding dish of the challenge.

Chef Vikas then said that the best dish of the challenge belonged to Egypt, which gave The Blue Team the win for the challenge. 

For winning the challenge, the reward for The Blue Team was that they got a private tour of The Mashantucket Pequot Museum, which is the world’s largest Native American museum, and after the tour, they were treated to lunch from Chef Sherry Pocknett, who is the first female Indigenous chef to win The James Beard Award. Plus, when they returned to the dorms, there were a bunch of Spices for them from Spiceology, as well as a $500 gift card. 

The punishment for The Red Team was that they had to make Cupcakes for all the VIP guests that were going to be at Dinner Service that night, which was going to be Charity Night. This obviously proved to be an exhausting and tedious task, so much so that Whit got so annoyed by having to do this that she walked out of the kitchen. I will admit that I have never baked before, so I don’t know how stressful it would be, but compared to some of the other punishments the show has had, this one in my opinion is one of the tamer ones. 

After that, it was time for the Charity Night Dinner Service to begin. The Red Team would be cooking for The American Heart Association, while The Blue Team would be cooking for The Special Olympics. For those of you wondering how Charity Night Dinner Service works, allow me to explain. Each chef would be responsible for their own course, so they needed to supervise the preparation and the execution of their course. 

From there, Service had started, and soap opera legend Susan Lucci from All My Children was in attendance.

Much like all the other times Charity Night Service had been done, Chef Ramsay created a special Five Course Meal for the occasion, and not only was one chef from each team responsible for each course, the goal was that every dish left both kitchens at the same time. 

Here is what the menu was for this service.

The first course was Potato Gnocchi with Goat Cheese Béchamel, Asparagus Tips, Brown Butter Sage Sauce, and Fried Prosciutto, which absolutely a dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what it looked like.

The second course was Pan Seared Scallops with Purple Cauliflower Puree, Cauliflower Relish, Caper-Raisin Puree, and Lemon Vinaigrette, which is another dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what it looked like.

The third course was Crispy Skin Red Snapper with Coconut Green Curry Broth, Spring Peas, Tokyo Turnips, Thumbelina Carrots, and Furikake Rice Croutons. Again, as you all know, and probably sick of me saying, I would probably not be willing to try this dish because of my weird bias against Fish that I have most of the time, except for special instances when I don’t for some reason. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

The fourth course was a Filet Of Beef with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pomme Puree, Caramelized Red Pearl Onion Petals, Fried Quail Egg, and Red Wine Jus, which is yet another dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

The fifth course was a Yuzu Key Lime Soufflé with Dulce De Leche Ice Cream, which is another dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what it looks like.

From there, it was time to start the first course, which was headed by Egypt for The Blue Team and Amanda for The Red Team. They both agreed that they would have all the Gnocchi dishes completed in eight minutes, and from there, cooking had started.

Honestly, the more that I think about it, the more I realize that I am feeling drained and defeated just writing essentially the same things about Hell’s Kitchen, so I’m just going to jump right to the very end.

Both teams made so many mistakes that Chef Ramsay named both teams losers.

The Blue Team nominated Egypt and Joe, while The Red Team nominated Amanda and Ann Marie.

Chef Ramsay eliminated Ann Marie, and then in a shocking twist, also eliminated Joe, making this a rare Double Elimination.

I’m sorry that I rushed right through the end of this post, but I was honestly just done with it, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I want to broaden my horizons and write about episodes of other Gordon Ramsay shows. So, while I will continue to do write-ups of the current season of MasterChef, I will be doing write-ups of other Gordon Ramsay shows for my other blog posts. I will probably still do write-ups of old Hell’s Kitchen episodes, but I will try to mix things up enough that I’m not writing about just one show. I hope you all enjoyed what I had to say, and I’ll see you all soon when I continue my journey in deciding what shows to write about!