By Stephen Ur
In Episode 10 of Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States, the remaining chefs competed in a challenge where they had to determine whether a steak was actually steak or a cake.
Texas chef Henry missed for the blue team, mistaking a steak for cake. When it came to Delaware chef Anaiya, she correctly identified a cake shaped as a wellington, but inside the cake was the words BLIND TASTE TEST, the real challenge for the last nine chefs.
In addition to the fan-favorite challenge, other teammates were placed under buckets that would dump different concoctions on them if the chef tasting the ingredients got it wrong.
With the blue team down 7-4 in the final round, Texas chef Henry and California chef Lisa went against one another with Henry needing to guess both of the final ingredients right to tie. Unfortunately, he was unable to, and the red team clinched the victory.
The red team were rewarded with a jet-skiing trip with the blue team cleaning the entire dining room. Chris used his punishment pass to join the red team on their reward while Ellie was chosen to replace him in the punishment.
At dinner service, award-winning singer Jordin Sparks sat at the red team’s VIP table with photographer Nigel Barker sitting at the blue team’s VIP table.
While Massachusetts chef Jayden aced his first scallops, North Carolina chef Cyndi struggled with not just her risotto and carbonara, but also asking for help. Despite this, her first orders went out perfectly. As time went on, however, Cyndi started struggling on appetizers with chef Gordon Ramsay telling her the blue team was already on their third ticket while she was on her second.
With Anaiya’s help, she was able to regroup and both teams finished appetizers in a much faster pace.
As entrees started coming in, New Jersey chef Chris got bombarded with meats. He started off with a rare steak that was to be cooked medium-rare.
In the red kitchen, Lisa on meat got them off to a fast start, delivering a perfect New York strip. Meanwhile, Chris cooked Wellingtons all the same, confusing Iowa chef Anthony on which to bring up to the pass. Chris brought two up to the pass himself, but one of them was still ice cold in the middle.
While Lisa continued to shine on the meat station, Ellie on fish also cooked everything to standard. The blue kitchen continued struggling as Chris brought up a burnt chicken to the pass.
The red team finished their dinner service with no mess-ups and ended it with a group photo with Sparks. The blue team couldn’t finish without another mess-up, sending up raw chicken on the re-fire.
The red team was then sent into the blue kitchen to help them finish service, making them the clear-cut winner.
Immediately after service, Ramsay said instead of having them nominate two chefs for elimination, he said he knew it was the end of the line for Chris, ending his dream of becoming the head chef at Foxwoods Casino and Resort in Mashantucket, CT.
In Episode 11, the challenge had each team make up a menu consisting of Chinese dishes. Two chefs in each kitchen started all four dishes and after 10 minutes, the teams would switch and the other two chefs would continue the dishes where the first two left off. All eight chefs were in the kitchen in the final five minutes, meaning they could all work together on all four dishes.
Budda Lo joined Gordon Ramsay in tasting all the dishes to determine who would win the challenge. Jada and Cydni faced off first in the battle of the dumplings, and it was Jada who came out on top for the first point.
Next up was the battle of the duck, pinning Henry against Lisa. Lisa bested Henry to tie the challenge at one point apiece.
After Jayden and Aniya each got a point in their matchup, it all came down to Ellie vs Anthony in the battle of the noodles. In this challenge, it was Ellie who came out on top to give the red team another challenge victory.
For their reward, they took a tour of a museum to get to know the history of Mashantucket, CT which Ramsay said would be key to become head chef at the resort. For their punishment, the blue team had to separate recycling and trash. Unfortunately for Jayden, this was how he celebrated his 27th birthday.
At dinner service, a charity night, each chef were responsible for their own dishes, then all chefs were to work together on a passion fruit souffle dessert. Both kitchens were able to successfully put out the first dish, scallops, led by Aniya and Henry.
The second dish was cappelini, led by Lisa and Anthony. At first, it was dropped too early by the blue team. It was then dropped too late. The red team sent theirs out first as the blue team only had 11 of 12 plates ready to go. After getting a 12th plate up, they were able to serve their cappelini.
Led by Cyndi and Jayden, the third course was duck. After calling two minutes to the pass, Jayden ordered Henry to start cutting. Ramsay advised them to not cut too early because they’d “sit there and die”.
Once again, the red team served their dishes before the blue team, although this time, they weren’t far behind. The fourth course was filet mignon, led by Jada and Ellie, who agreed on getting their dishes to the pass in 11 minutes.
Despite being a little behind on carrots, both sides were able to get the dishes out at the same time. With the apps and main dishes being served, it was time for both sides to work on their souffles.
It was the red team who struggled to get off to a good start as their mixer wasn’t working. Despite this, once again, they served their dishes before the blue team.
The blue team lost service again, and Ramsay tasked Henry with choosing two nominees. He chose Anthony and Jayden. In the end, it was Jayden who was eliminated , ending his dream of becoming the head chef at Foxwoods Casino and Resort in Mashantucket, CT.
Episode 12 will air next Thursday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. The episode will be available Friday, Dec. 19 on Hulu.