The fifteenth episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on June 19, 2014. In that episode, the teams cooked dishes on a budget, and for the first time, competed in an individual challenge for the first black jacket of that season.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Jason said it was cool to see Anton leave due to the latter’s cocky and arrogant attitude. While Melanie was surprised about Anton’s elimination, Jason was not. However, Joy told Rochelle that she would have rather seen Scott go home instead as she felt the latter was not a team player and would not grove in the red kitchen. While Scott felt the red team had something against him, he knew he was a good chef and was trying to win for a better life for his family.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the chefs awoke to the phone ringing, and Sous Chef Andi told Scott to have everybody dressed and downstairs immediately. As the chefs waked to the SUVs, Gabriel had no idea what Ramsay had in store for them. After their trip to Bristol Farms, Kashia realized what the next challenge was going to be. After Ramsay explained how every restaurant had a budget and limited resources, he announced the Budget Challenge. Both teams had a budget of $35 to shop for their ingredients and use them to create three entrées. Then, Ramsay would invite a panel of judges to help him decide the dollar value of those dishes. The team with the highest amount of dollars was the winner. Before the challenge began, Joy felt she could feed her entire community with $35.
Both teams had 15 minutes to shop for their ingredients. Melanie felt they were all racing inside the grocery store, and Gabriel suggested they grab trout. The blue team then grabbed lamb, but Gabriel got concerned when Melanie bought a whole Cornish hen. For the red team, Scott decided to get Chilean sea bass despite it being an expensive item at $10, but Kashia knew she and Joy would have to use what was left for their dishes. Eventually, time was up, and both teams checked out their items within their budget.
After returning to Hell’s Kitchen, both teams had 30 minutes to cook their dishes with their bought items. Melanie took the leadership role for the blue team and told her team what to cook with, but Gabriel knew the Cornish hen would take a while to cook as Jason struggled to string it. Scott explained that they were focused on their own dishes in the red kitchen, but he put Joy’s pork loin in the oven when she asked him. Five minutes left, Jason took out the Cornish hen and threatened to punch himself if he ruined it, and in the red kitchen, Joy feared that her pork was raw after taking it out of the oven. Then, Jason discovered that the Cornish hen was raw and was forced to sear it as Gabriel knew they were fucked if they send it out raw to the judges. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time, but Joy was not in a great mood as she felt the pork was raw and complained that it did not matter if she was late to plate it. Blaming herself for that mistake, Joy was about to walk out of the red kitchen while upset, but Ramsay told her that she was showing bad manners by ignoring him and urged her to compose herself. Scott hugged Joy in comfort over the latter’s turmoil and reassured her that it could still be a great dish if the pork rested.
Krista Simmons, Anita Lau, and Brent Berkowitz came in as guest judges, and Melanie called it an honor to have them taste her dish. Jason presented his fresh game hen and feared that it was still raw even after searing it, with Gabriel praying that it was cooked perfectly. Fortunately, the dish was praised for a moist protein but criticized for small portions as Ramsay asked Jason where the other half was. Still, when Jason said he did not want to crowd the plate, Ramsay took the piss out of that comment. So, Jason scored a $20 average, making him pissed off. After, Kashia’s top sirloin with bourbon sauce was praised for having a perfect sauce and a nicely cooked steak, having a strong crunch. She scored a $24.67 average, giving the red team the lead at $24.67 - $20. Rochelle presented her and Gabriel’s trout dish in the second round. It was criticized for having a sloppy texture due to the compound butter, and they scored a $21 average. Then, Scott’s pan-roasted sea bass and jumbo shrimp were criticized for overcooked fish but praised for a spot on shrimp and having well-respected proteins. He scored a $23.67 average. The score was $48.34- $41.33 for the red team, and on the final round, Melanie presented her seared lamb chops with lemon sage couscous. While Simmons found the amount of meat to be plentiful, Lau felt the meat was a little rare, but the flavors were there despite that. After, Melanie scored an average of $28, and she boasted that it was why she was there. Finally, Joy reluctantly walked up her seared pork loin with spicy apple sauce but was still not confident about her chances despite Kashia having her back. To Joy’s surprise, the dish was praised for a beautifully cooked pork, she scored an average of $24.67, and the red team won the challenge $73.01-$69.33. Joy was shocked that they won, but Kashia knew the former had it and was over worrying herself for nothing.
Scoring[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
| Chef | Amount | Total | Chef | Amount | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason | $20 | $20 | Kashia | $24.67 | $24.67 |
| Rochelle and Gabriel | $21.33 | $41.33 | Scott | $23.67 | $48.34 |
| Melanie | $28 | $69.33 | Joy | $24.67 | $73.01 |
| Results | $73.01-$69.33 | ||||
Reward[]
The red team were rewarded with a $1000 shopping spree at the Grove district and lunch at Hatfield. As the red team left to get changed, Joy felt they all pulled their weight on that challenge, especially Scott. During the reward, Kashia said she could not remember the last time she shopped for herself and thanked Ramsay for the reward, while Scott bought some stuff for his wife as thanks for taking care of the kids. At Hatfield, the red team met with Quinn and Karen Hatfield, who hosted their lunch, and Joy said she never went to a Michelin star restaurant before now. Scott explained how argumentive the blue team was and how nice the change in perspective was. At the same time, Kashia said she was driven to win despite never going to culinary school. Then, Kashia said it was nice to get to know Scott personally, especially since the red team came together in the challenge.
Punishment[]
The blue team was punished by participating in spring cleaning day in the dorms. Gabriel was upset as everybody were slobs in the dorms. Rochelle was disgusted over the state of the toilet during the punishment and threw up, calling it disgusting.
Individual challenge[]
The next day, everybody was up a different levels of mood as Scott knew that a day in Hell’s Kitchen was never the same as the other, before feeling that the competition took its toll on everybody. When everybody came downstairs, they were surprised to see many people from the press waiting for them as Ramsay led them to the stage. Gabriel felt like he was getting the red-carpet treatment, and Ramsay announced that after eleven seasons, he decided to feature the best looking and tasting dishes in the brand-new Hell’s Kitchen calendar. Melanie said that it would be awesome to have a dish on the calendar. As Ramsay showed the dishes from previous seasons, he revealed that three previous contestants had their dishes on the calendar. Representing March, it was Season 3 winner Rock with his buttermilk fried lobster tail, star-striking Kashia as she had a crush on him when his season aired. For September, it was Season 9 winner Paul with his eggplant involtini with mascarpone and ricotta, and Jason recalled competing with him briefly before being forced to leave. And for October, it was Season 10 contestant Dana with her bacon-wrapped mini meatloaf with sweet potato, shocking Rochelle as she wanted to hug the three former chefs and hoped they hugged them back for understanding their plight. After, Ramsay revealed that December was still blank, and one of the seven chefs would have their dish featured in the calendar, making Gabriel hope he would be called Mr. December if he won, and Jason said he was going to rock his dick off.
When the chefs went back into the kitchen, Ramsay revealed that to give them extra motivation, the chef who won their spot in the calendar would earn the first black jacket of that season, making it a Black Jackets Challenge. Melanie said they were all waiting for that moment as she wanted one. Ramsay explained that the winner would wear their black jacket in the final team dinner service with immunity, which Gabriel deemed badass.
The chefs were given 45 minutes to cook a dish of their choosing and had multiple ingredients to choose from. Rochelle said that the amount of variety made her mind wander and got stressed, while Scott had scallops already in his mind. However, Joy struggled to choose a protein, and to push herself, she picked duck breast as it was a protein she never cooked before, even though she knew it could go both ways. Jason decided to make a seafood pasta dish to change it up. In contrast, Gabriel and Melanie decided to do lamb, making the former feel he needed to make his dish colorful and resemble Christmas. For Melanie, she felt the Christmas route was too cliché, while Scott decided to go outside the box and add crab to his scallops. Eight minutes left, Kashia overcooked her squash and hoped her lamb was good enough without it. Then, Melanie decided to try and thicken her mashed potatoes with flour, but Rochelle instantly knew it was a bad move as you could not just add raw flour to cooked food. Two and half minutes left, most of the chefs began platting their dishes when Gabriel feared that his lamb was still raw. Still, when Gabriel put it in despite not having a lot of time left, Melanie said he always made that mistake. So, Gabriel decided to plate the two lamb chops he had cooked, and everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Rock, Paul, and Dana were called in to help Ramsay judged the challenge, each judge would score the dishes on a 1-5 rating, and the person with the highest score was the winner. However, Rochelle was shocked about that as the three judges knew Ramsay’s standards. At the same time, Melanie was more focused on getting a black jacket. Jason was the first chef to have his dish judged and presented his stuffed halibut with goat cheese crab, and shrimp. Dana noticed that he had capellini on his dish, which Paul did not understand as it was only used to add starches to the plate and called it boring. However, Jason said that Paul was a dick because of that comment. After tasting his dish, Dana felt the entire dish was coated in butter, Jason scored 8 points, and he told off Paul after the latter gave him a one. Then, Kashia presented her rack of lamb with pistachio demi sauce, but her stumbling and nervous description confused Ramsay. Rock praised the color of the dish but said it lacked contrasting flavors, Dana said the lamb was undercooked, and Paul and Ramsay felt it was missing something. Kashia explained that she pulled off her burnt squash from the dish, and she received 11 points. Rochelle’s seared New York striploin over cilantro lime chilli sauce was praised for vibrant colors, strong flavors, and a great chimichurri sauce. Still, Paul felt the plating was a little sloppy, and Ramsay saw that the steak’s fat was not rendered down. So, Rochelle scored 13 points, and even though she felt a 65% was not good, she still scored higher than everybody else so far.
Scott was the fourth chef to have his dish judged, but he small talked with the previous contestants for having a life outside of Hell’s Kitchen before that. However, Jason called him a kiss ass and that it was getting on his nerves. Scott’s seared sea scallops with crab and tarragon purée were praised for a vibrant presentation, having well-cooked scallops, and having the balls to pickling carrots in 45 minutes. While Scott felt he was in a shoo-in to win, Paul said the pickled carrots only tasted like regular carrots, it lacked seasoning. Scott scored 11 points, with Jason showing fake sympathy. For Melanie, she felt everybody was getting beatdown and that the judges were not joking around before presenting her red wine rosemary marinated rack of lamb with creamy basil-infused mashed potatoes. The dish was criticized for having gluey potatoes and an inedible purée, which Rochelle knew would happen when Melanie added raw flour to them and feared that it was not good for the latter. Then, a pissed Ramsay told Melanie that he could tolerate so many things, but that was embarrassing. Melanie scored 5 points, and after, Ramsay reminded the chefs that the dishes on the calendar were the best he saw in the past before calling it a disaster. Melanie felt terrible and knew they had to step it up as Gabriel walked up his dish confidently. However, his roasted rack of lamb dish was deemed incomplete due to the two chops, and Gabriel was forced to show them the other half he left behind. Ramsay was disappointed as he reminded Gabriel that he pushed them to plate their proteins in every challenge. To make things worse, Paul and Dana deemed it overcooked as Gabriel seared it after slicing it. Unfortunately, the part that Gabriel failed to serve was cooked perfectly, and he scored no points. Afterwards, Joy feared that it got serious, and being the last person up meant that if her dish were not good enough, it would make Ramsay look bad. Joy presented her seared duck breast with oven-roasted figs and mushrooms with Swiss chard, but when Rock asked her for the inspiration, she said she cooked things she never made before now. Ramsay was dismayed by that comment, but before her dish could be judged, the episode ended as a cliffhanger.
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode to use the Black Jackets Challenge. However, it is the only time to use a format like this as the challenge would use an entirely new format come Season 16.