Quickfire

Our guest judge for this week is Mark Peel, a chef from California who prides himself on being Wolfgang Puck's vegetable beeyotch. Peel flexed his cred by saying he was on "Top Chef Masters." Didn’t he know the season was over and he didn't have to plug the show anymore? Neither of us recognized him because we, like the rest of America, didn't watch it.

To honor Peel's past of "peeling" vegetables (clever, huh?) they have 45 minutes to make a potato dish that is "out of this world." Jesse loves potatoes so she's excited. We hoped that meant she would finally redeem herself with her sweet potato soup, but she was heavy handed with the cayenne and made Peel's eyes bug out of his head when he tried it. (Justine wonders if soup leaks out of her lip piercings? Inquiring minds want to know.)

Also, who caught Jerkface Mike really living up to his moniker by patronizingly describing what a risotto is to the viewers at home?

We get our first taste of real kitchen drama (other than railing against the establishment of marriage last week) when Preeti accidentally uses Ashley's boiling water for her gnocchi to cook asparagus. Ashley was mad, but Jennifer mentions she wouldn't be as nice if someone stole her water. We wouldn't be nice, either.

Fun ingredient of the week used in a quickfire: sunchokes. Bryan (of Maryland brothers fame) used them, but we're not sure what they taste like. Anyone out there a huge sunchoke fan? Are they like artichokes, only happier?

Even with Peel's generally complimentary disposition it was hard to tell during the tastings whose dishes were good and whose weren't, Jennifer came out on top with her mussel and potato dish. Earlier in the episode, her competitive side was beginning to rear its ugly head by complaining about not being in the Top 4 in last week's elimination challenge. Her win gives her immunity but no $15,000 gambling chip! Are the producers getting sick of reminding us the chefs are in Vegas?

Elimination

The cheftestants get their marching orders to be ready to cook for 300 airmen at Nellis Air Force Base. The catch: They don't know what products they will have to cook with or what the kitchen has for supplies until the day of the challenge. Seems kind of early to have such a hard challenge, but it's good to weed out the losers early in the show.

Mike takes it upon himself to propose the cheftestants work in pairs and will be responsible for one dish between then. In a surprising turn of events, Maryland's brothers Michael V. and Bryan don't work together! Michael works with Jerkface Mike, which upsets us. And because she's got immunity, Jennifer takes on the executive chef role to direct everyone in the kitchen and help where needed.

When they get to Nellis, surprise! They're working with a lot of canned food! We hate when they're all upset about cooking with canned ingredients and say they only get the freshest ingredients in their kitchens. A real Top Chef can make anything taste good, no matter if it came from a can or a vending machine. And they have limited cooking equipment, which is sure to cause some tense situations in the kitchen. Jennifer keeps the cheftestants in line by showing she has the chutzpah to be a leader in the kitchen.

Some of the dishes seemed like risky choices. Clam chowder on an uber-hot day -- what were you thinking, Jesse and Ron? Pasta salad -- who wins with pasta salad? Who even remembers the pasta salad at a family barbecue?

We have to pause to comment on Padma's outfit this week. Liz loves leopard prints, actually any animal print, but Padma looked like she had joined the USO and was going to be entertaining the troops rather than judging the food. But she's still gorgeous.

Padma, Tom, Gail and Peel all seemed impressed with the variety of dishes the cheftestants came up with even with limited resources and a tight time crunch. Kevin and his beard showed they can really sell a dish. (Liz, while stroking her face, lamented, "I wish I could grow a beard like you, Kevin.")

Judges' Table

If you paid attention to nuance like seasoned (hah) Top Chef recappers, you'd be able to tell that Jerkface Mike, Michael V., Eli and Kevin are the best this week. Tom is very impressed with Jerkface Mike and Michael's bacon cooked like pork belly. Jerkface Mike doesn't take enough credit (remember, he wanted them all to work in teams) and lets Michael bask in the glory of his delicious dish.

And the win goes to: Michael! And Baltimore! The brothers are tied with one elimination challenge each. The rivalry is even for the time being, but we know that's not the end of their competitive nature.

In a shocking twist, Jerkface Mike is brought back to the judges for having a losing dish with a bland Greek salad with shrimp he threw together while Michael was perfecting his pork belly-esque goodness. JFM is super upset and looks like he's going to punch someone out. Preeti and Laurine join him for their lackluster pasta salad. Laurine said she wanted to provide a vegetarian option and actually admitted she forgot about the competition! Word of advice: Always seem hungry and competitive to the judges. Make them think you want to be there.

And the elimination goes to: Preeti, for not understanding what was wrong with the pasta salad. She blames her loss on the competition being tougher this season than in seasons past and doesn't seem too upset about packing up her knives. ("She couldn'tve beaten Richard," Justine said.)

The predictions

Who's going home next: Liz thinks Laurine is going to forget about the competition again and get the ax. Justine thinks it'll be Jesse. Her head hasn't been in the game for the whole competition. She wasn't entirely redeemed because she hasn't been doing well in the individual challenges – she's making mistakes like overcooking and overseasoning.  

We'd both love to have Jerkface Mike go home, but neither of us think it'll happen.

(Unrelated: Liz has a red scarf from Virgin FreeFest she tied around her neck to be like Mattin, not because she likes him, but because it makes her feel "jaunty." She wore it for the whole recap.)

(Photo of Mattin's jaunty scarf from bravotv.com)