Hell’s Kitchen Season 19 episode 2 recap: Do you know your ingredients?

In this Hell’s Kitchen recap, the chefs learned the important less that ingredients matter.

Before heading into their first dinner service, this Hell’s Kitchen recap tackles a very baffling scenario. Did one of the chefs really not know an ingredient in his dish? It might have been a potato caper, but the outcome had dire Hell’s Kitchen consequences.

As this Hell’s Kitchen recap opens, the chefs are called out to learn their first individual challenge. Like all individual challenges, these dishes are a way for Gordon Ramsay and the sous chefs to learn the chefs’ palates, their creativity and their approach to ingredients. While it might seem like just another challenge, that plate is another step towards working for the Gordon Ramsay empire.

With some dramatic flare, the ingredients drop into the Hell’s Kitchen parking lot. The chefs learn that shrimp will be the main ingredient in this individual challenge.

More interesting is the facts that Las Vegas serves 60,000 pounds of shrimp a day. While the buffet might be closed now, there are still plenty of shrimp cocktails to be served.

The chefs had all types of shrimp to use. While the episode didn’t describe the flavors of all the different shrimp, it would have been interesting to hear why some chefs picked one shrimp over another for the dish. For example, why would a white shrimp be better than a tiger prawn in a pasta dish?

For the first individual challenge, the chefs are feeling immense pressure. Winning this challenge not only brings a punishment pass reward but also the winning dish goes on the opening night menu of Hell’s Kitchen. Even more pressure filled, the worst dish will send one chef home.

If the chefs were smart, the second component of the challenge should have guided their dish choices. While the Hell’s Kitchen menu and food is delicious, the dishes are not complicated. It doesn’t require 20 carefully plated items to finish a dish. It isn’t that the recipe isn’t complex, but the plating is approachable.

Before getting to the bad news, the top plates were creative. Representing the top dishes from the Red Team were Amber, Syann and Lauren. The Blue Team had Declan, Cody and Josh. If those names sound familiar, they should. Declan received five stars for his first dish in episode one. Amber had a top dish last week as well.

As Gordon tasted each dish, he would compare flavors. In the end, Siann’s take on shrimp and grits won the challenge. Although it was really shrimp and polenta, the dish would easily fit into the Hell’s Kitchen menu and all the chefs could execute this dish. Those factors pushed her to the win.

While Siann was happy, one chef didn’t even see that excitement. Since the worst dish was getting sent home on this challenge, the worst dish was probably one of the most unlikely events in Hell’s Kitchen recap.

As seen in FoodSided’s preview clip, Potato Gate changed Kenneth’s fate forever. After last week’s early finish on his chicken dish, he had another unfortunate turn of events in Hell’s Kitchen. When Gordon tastes his dish, the “mysterious” potato turns out to be a big piece of Parmesan.

Now, many people are wondering how could this happen and why Kenneth didn’t catch the error. It could be a simple mistake or it could be the pressure. FoodSided has reached out to Kenneth for comment. Hopefully, he can give some insight.

In the end, Kenenth’s mystery ingredient faced off against Eliott’s under seasoned sauteed shrimp with vegetables. The outcome seemed obvious and Kenneth had to give up his jacket.

After the potato caper, the chefs started to learn the Hell’s Kitchen menu. Truthfully, these scenes are real. The chefs learn the menu; it isn’t just more camera time. That dinner service has real diners and they are hungry for a good meal. Even though Christina quips – don’t forget the lamb sauce. All the chefs need to pay attention.

For the first dinner service, it is clear that the chefs are nervous. Cooking a new menu under pressure is never easy. It is more than just one dish by one chef. Everyone has to work together to get all the chefs served.

Unfortunately, the Red Team gets off to a difficult start in this Hell’s Kitchen recap. The women chefs learn quickly, there is no crying in the kitchen. Whether or not they cry in the walk-in is another story.

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Still, the Red Team eventually found their grove. Although there was a hiccup with the steaks, the recovered and finished dinner service. It wasn’t perfect, but perfection wasn’t expected on the first dinner service.

The Blue Team had a strong start but then hit the wall. After boasting how they knew how to cook meat, the meat station had too many misses. From a blue lamp to over-cooked duck it was a miss.

To cap it off, Eliott looked like a deer in the headlights. It seemed that he was on garnish and he had no clue what was happening in the kitchen. If a chef isn’t engaged in the process, the team is going to fail.

In the end, Gordon shut down the Blue Kitchen and finished the dinners for the VIP table. Unfortunately, the other Blue Kitchen dinners might have only received appetizers and wine. The wine is always flowing in Hell’s Kitchen.

Up for elimination in this Hell’s Kitchen recap is Eliott and Drew. Given the mistakes on the meat station, Drew deserved to be in the bottom. One rule on Hell’s Kitchen, don’t boast about your meat cookery if you can’t execute.

Eliott made a big mistake that sealed his fate in Hell’s Kitchen. When Gordon asked him if he felt that he was a better chef than Drew and Eliott answered no, it was clear that Eliott would be eliminated.

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Anyone who does not fight hard to be in Hell’s Kitchen will not stay. That concept has been a staple in the culinary competition. Chefs have to want it and be passionate about the opportunity in order to win the prize. The response “yes chef” isn’t just a call back. It is a mantra to get ahead in Hell’s Kitchen.

At the end of this Hell’s Kitchen recap, two chefs, Kenneth and Eliott, have left the culinary competition. Although the Blue Team will be down two chefs, it might not negatively impact the next challenge. Everyone will have to watch the next episode to see what happens.

What did you think of the double elimination? More importantly, can you believe the potato gate story?