Rachael v. Guy, Celebrity Cook-Off, Episode 2

In this episode, both teams had two hours to make four desserts. One of the desserts had to include a savory ingredient chosen by the celebrity leader of the other team. Guy chose anchovies for Team Rachael. Rachael chose horseradish for Team Guy.  The dishes would be judged by a panel of culinary students.

 In this show the celebrities need assistance. In addition to the two hours, they are given a half hour to consult with their other team members and with the team leaders on their game plan. Both Guy and Rachael basically gave their teams the ideas on what to do with the tricky ingredients and instructions on how to do it. It was up to the teams to implement these directions, but they were given a map.

Coolio and Lou Diamond Phillips continue to charm.  For some reason, Cheech's cooking is not being shown on the show. I would love to see more of his process as he is preparing his food, but that is not being shown to us. Joey Fatone is also not getting very much screen time.

I wondered a bit about the structure of the show. Last week one of Team Rachael's member was eliminated, giving Team Guy a one person advantage. What if Team Rachael kept losing and the numbers became more skewed? Would it be that interesting to watch such a lopsided competition?

This week they evened out the teams again by eliminating Alyssa Campanella. After the dessert competition, she competed against Summer Sanders on who could make the best salad. I was actually surprised that Summer won. Serving essentially raw salmon seemed to me a valid reason for elimination. But Rachael and Guy thought Alyssa's salad was sparse and the dressing was simply oil and vinegar. they liked Summer's presentation and thought the other ingredients worked in her dish.

The showitself  to me feels a bit raw.  That might just be the growing pains of a first season. I could watch this season just to see Lou Diamond Phillips. He is that interesting and endearing to me. I feel the same about Coolio and I think I would about Cheech, too, if they ever did show him on camera.