Congratulations to TOP CHEF Producers for coming up with this challenge. I am a teacher and I have been watching TC for a while. It's nice that this popular show is taking on our serious social problems.

Dear Jantina I think your responce is wrong and irresponsible. I think having the option of a HOT lunch for our children is awesome. for some kids that might be the only HOT meal they recive all day. Comeing from a tax payer and one who does pack there kids lunch. you obviously need to open up your mind of thinking and go outside of your neighborhood and see what is really going on in the world.School is meant to be a sfe haven for kids to get away from all the bad at home have the opportunity to be educated guidance counsler to talk to and if that means be giving a free hot meal then thats what we need to do so your whatever at the end of your comment just goes to show you really dont care about the less fortunate...........

I hope this season's team steps up a bit. After the skills and professionalism shown on last season makes this DC group look like the grade schoolers they were cooking for.

Trivia - who noticed Stephan's "walk through" on Entourage Premier????

Out of the Lunchbox missed the mark by not setting the requirements to actually match those required by the National School Lunch Program. The budget of $2.68 was on target but covers not only the food but also salaries and benefits; equipment; supplies; utilities; and any other cost associated with preparing, serving, and cleanup of meals. Food is typically is 40% or less of the total budget or $1.07 per lunch. Second, the meal must meet certain nutritional (1/3 of the recommended dietary allowances RDA plus follow Dietary Guidelines for Americans)and food items 2 oz meat/meat alternate, 3/4 fruit and/or vegetables, 2 servings bread/grain, and 1 c. fluid milk. None of the meals passed this test.

The lunch challenge was unrealistic. No-one has $2.50 per meal to spend on food in a school district. I have $1.80 for food, paper, payroll, and fixed costs. Give me a $2.50 food budget and I'll create twice the menu they did. We have daily: 4 sandwiches, 2 salads, 2 hot entrees, soup, 2 vegetables, 2 fruits, and Milk.That's just for elementary level. Secondary level menus expand further. And you had to feed 50 students with 4 person teams, try 350-375 meals plus ala carte offerings at our Junior High with 4 lunch ladies.
Come walk a mile in my shoes

Personally, I think serving school meals is letting lazy irresponsible parents off the hook and making taxpayers foot the bill. Secondly, except for primary school where we had a little old grandmotherly lady making homemade food, all the cafeteria lunches I had as a kid were horrible. Thirdly, with everybody being either allergic or picky, who can please the kids and parents anyway? I loved the kid, in this episode, making gagging noises. I always said school food was only good for throwing or pranking.

We should cut out school lunches. If kids don't have a lunch, their parents need to be investigated. Meanwhile, have each kid who has the money to pay the $2 buy from a lunch truck or even better, let a chain like Subway in like some private schools do. I don't even have kids and it ticks me off that I have to pay taxes toward public schools. Whatever!

This cast of chef's is very disappointing after seasons 5 and 6. Not only do they seem to be missing the skills but where's the personality? No question that Angelo tried to get Kenny kicked off. (Maybe Angelo thinks this is Survivor.) Anyway, he blew his goal of winning every challenge two shows into the season. Pretty much pegged Jaqueline to go after last week's performance. She was in way over her head. Hoping future shows will give these chefs an opportunity to show they can cook. Don't have a favorite- where are Kevin (season 6) and Stefan (season 5) when you need them?

Could you please check your science on your yogurt comment? If you do a bit of research you will find that the bacteria in yogurt breaks down the lactose and if the yogurt is live culture can actually serve to help someone with lactose intolerance. I think the use of yogurt by those teams as a healthy extender, binding agent and topping was a great, healthy move.

As someone with lactose intolerance I can tell you that you are dead wrong about the yogurt comment. The bacteria in yogurt breaks down the lactose and can actually be beneficial to those with lactose intolerance. I hate to plug a show on a different network but find the Alton Brown "Good Eats" segment on yogurt making.

For those of us with lactose intolerance yogurt is a great and safe source of calcium and the beneficial bacteria can actually help ease the effects of the intolerance if consumed regularly.

Please check up on your scientific facts before posting things like this again.

Where's Lee Anne Wong's blog? Is she no longer with the show?

Ronathon -

The contestants said that the tortillas for the carnitas were made of oatmeal, not whole wheat (not sure if that makes a difference when it comes to gluten). No school can do a gluten free menu. It is simply not possible on the budget they are given. They need to rely on bread, bread crumbs, flour, etc. or they could not put out a meal for the money they are given.

Ed would be appalled at being called a New Yorker, given that he's a Bostonian.

I got the impression that Angelo was the victim of editing. He's obviously being made out to be a villain this season, and the rivalry with Kenny is being played up. It seemed like a play off what Angelo knew kids liked to eat, and especially if it had been rendered as a mousse, wouldn't have had too much sugar. Also, given Kenny's self-anointed status as the "alpha male," he really should have objected before they started cooking, as opposed to at judge's table.

Usually when you cook with any type of liquor, the alcohol itself is burned off/evaporates and just the flavor is left. So depending on how Amanda cooked the dish, it might now have been a big deal. More quizzical was her notion that kids would like the taste of sherry, and the fact that she screwed over everyone else's food budget.

I think it is really offensive that Amanda served chicken that was cooked in sherry to other people's children. The fact that the judges only said it was expensive was horrifying. They should all be ashamed, and don't say that the alcohol cooks off. It does not completely cook off and these are ELEMENTARY students. She should have been kicked off before anyone got negative comments for serving too much sugar or spice. Last I checked, serving alcohol to children was illegal. Spicy food was not. Shame on you Bravo.

Team Kenny!

When I was a kid, my favorite dish was chicken with sherry (and cream of mushroom soup, but my taste buds were young then). I used to beg my Mom to make it. Straight out of Better Homes and Gardens, and I don't think anyone thought twice about serving it to kids. By the time it's done, the amount of alcohol is miniscule, and you just have the flavor. However, when Amanda picked up the sherry "cooking wine", I was expecting disaster. The quality of "cooking wine" is usually awful, and it was a terrible use of their team's budget.

I totally agree about Angelo. He was definitely trying to sabotage his team. I do not like his character at all. It's already 2 episodes in and I don't even like any of the contestants! Sad! By this time lsat season, I loved Kevin, Jessie and Bryan V.

UNBELIEVABLE! There have been a few times that I have questioned the elimination decision, but this made me scream! How can Amanda use alcohol in a school lunch, serve it to other people's children, and still be eligible for TOP CHEF? Shame on you, Tom and Padma. You really sent the wrong message with that decision.

what is the deal with chef's smoking. does it not effect their palate-- their sense of taste and smell? i have always wondered. so many of them smoke. any comments from the food professionals at bravo?

This was such an annoying episode. I mean, not in the fact that it was Top Chef's fault but b/c of the contestants. Yes, Angelo was trying to sabotage Kenny (obvious)...and why did Stephen try to interject his opinion on the other team? It was obvious that his team was seriousy flawed so why did he try to get all crazy w/ his two sense? It only caused him to look dumb; which, Amanda gets the dumb award for putting sherry into her dish (and for saying peanut butter is bad for you). She obviously didn't have anything to say when the judges called her out on it being expensive when they had to cut costs. You don't serve children sherry in a school. It just doesn't make sense. If I were Jacqueline I would have been royally ticked that she bought sherry when she had to skimp on hers because of the budget. But then again, I guess she should have stood up for herself & said something.

In what bizarro alternate world do pork tacos constitute a "healthy" meal choice for kids? You might as well just serve them hot dogs. Pork butt is LOADED with fat, not to mention the antibiotics the pigs are routinely fed, and the cruelty associated with the way they are raised in the factory farms in this country. I'm disappointed one of the more imaginative vegetarian dishes didn't win -- if those contestants succeeded in making vegetables appeal to the children, they DEFINITELY deserved to win. Serving pork is kinda like serving popsicles -- OF COURSE they're going to like it!

I for one am glad they didn't worry about allergies. Severe peanut allergies are actually rather rare and by middle school, the kids who have them know how to avoid nuts. And gluten-free is a problem for some people, but not most. Except for tiny kids (grade 2 and lower), children can usually manage their dietary restrictions. A middle school kid (approx. age 10-13) with allergies isn't going to eat random foods; he/she knows to be careful.

yeah I agree, Angelo was trying to manipulate the outcome...and it didn't work in his favor. Am no longer on team Angelo, now trying to decide who I want to root for.

Amanda should definitely have been eliminated for using alcohol in her dish. FAR greater crime than using two pounds of sugar. I know that the alcohol cooks off and it's not as if the kids were getting drunk, but come on. Cooking with alcohol or making pot brownies is just insane. She should have been eliminated and I'm beyond shocked and horrified that she wasn't.

I thought this was a good episode all together. I was curious what others thought about judges table. usually the chefs get a chance to defend themselves and their dish, but this time it was just Tom's quick summary of how terrible each person did, in a kind way of course.

The fact that Amanda spent so much of the budget buying alcohol for a dish is more ridiculous than actually serving children sherry braised chicken (skin removed post cooking to boot) and she's likely going home next.

I understand that some people are allergic to nuts. With all the allergies out there now (nuts, soy, dairy, gluten etc.) If you were to make things to cater to every possible allergy out there, what would you have left to make?

Unless the contestants we told of the allergies of the students ahead of time you can't fault them for that. Are you going to fault the winning team for using a tace shell? A child with Celiac couldn't eat that.

OK I said my peace. Only thing I would have like to see is Amanda leave the competition. I near fell over seeing her rant about peanut butter when she used alcohol! She shut up really quick when she was put in her place. Loved it!

I am appalled by Amanda using Sherry in a meal served to children. Her explanation "Its not like I was serving it to them in a glass" was even more appalling. Shame on Padma, Gail, Tom and Eric, and double shame on Sam Kass for allowing such a dish to be served to minors. I wonder how the Obama's would feel if Mr. Kass served a meal containing alcohol to their daughter's. I would probably be upset if I knew the pudding served to my child contained 2 pounds of sugar but I would be hiring a lawyer and suing the pants off of Top Chef if I found out the school lunch was made with Sherry which contains 'ALCOHOL' Amanda.... no two ways about it. Amanda should have gone home vs. Jaquelin as maybe Jaquelin's pudding would have turned out better had Amanda not spent so much on money on her Sherry!!!!!!! SHAME ON YOU TOP CHEF JUDGES!!!!

I agree with EricW - I can't believe they were allowed to serve peanut butter.. or the Sherry chicken for that matter! One would have thought the school would have to approve of everyone's menus.

Using sherry showed that Amanda was more interested in the potential taste of the dish than the concept of the show. There are many good alternatives to Sherry. But her dish was not tasty either. How rediculously insensitve and stupid to use alcohal with children.

The shot of Jaqueline dumping that 2 pound bag of sugar into her banana dish should be an visual for a COOKING FOR CHILDREN "DON'T' or maybe "NEVER'.

About individuals. I lost alot of respect for Angelo. He seems egotistical and sly. Reminds me of our European chef from two seasons ago.

The Kelly team was edited to show that they were carping. Arnold seems concentious and envious. He is not a team player. I agree that Kelly seemed high handed and controlling, but she had a vision and I understand that. She lacked the people skills to pull off the whole process...a good meal and a happy team. But this was not about leadership. It was about cooking and understanding the concept of the challenge.

Until the filming continues, it is hard to figure out if it is the editing or the truthy when we draw conclusions. It is too easy in the series to detect patterns.

I like your writing style and your funny little statements at the beginniing of your blogs. I like being called a "little juicebox." I did not see many exclamation points.Your punctuation makes it breezy and easy to read. That's what a blog is all about. Don't change.

I don't think we are seeing cooks of the stature of the V brothers and Jennifer and Kevin. It is early. I hope I am wrong. The last series was utterly amazing. I watch those episodes with awe. It must be hard to uncover a pool of new chefs of that stature. I think the man who made Borsht (Alex) has promise too. And of course Angelo...complete with ego. This season should be fun.

Cooking sherry? Are you serious?? When I saw her put that on her list I literally said out loud to the TV "OMG". Let's get the little kids all liquored up then add a sugar buzz and send them back to class . . . .

Unless the school was peanut free, it was not wrong of Angelo to use peanut butter as an ingredient. The chefs were not told "no peanuts" and the freaking anti-peanut lobby is making us all a little crazy! These are middle school kids and the peanut butter was not a hidden ingredient.

I do think Angelo's dish was crappy and designed to sabotage his team.

Ms. Monica! Too! many! Exclamation! Points! In your writing!!!!!!

Ecto Cooler! That was the stuff! Thanks for the thoughts, Monica. This elimination challenge looked at first to be the kind that makes contestants grumble, but actually many seemed to dig it. I wonder if the editing left out any gripes about cooking for children so as not to undermine the seriousness of the issue? Anyway, the winning two lunches looked healthy and great. I remember buying fluff and peanut butter sandwiches from the caf in middle school! Imagine that... (for non-New Englanders, Fluff is marshmallow spread). Angelo definitely seemed a little dodgy with his weird choices and "secret" (though camera-ready) slanders. The sherry choice was also whack. Padma's hugs were cute.

First, I'm ALL Team Kenny.

Angelo (although a cutie) just seems pompous; however Kenny's confidence has made him lackadaisical so really they both need to check that. The "gold leaf" was a crispy celery leaf - Angelo described it that way when he was describing his dish.

There is NO WAY I would serve sherry to a bunch of school kids. It's really inappropriate. I'm sure Amanda felt that whatever alcohol in it would cook off, but the taste of alcohol remains. And I don't think I would want to be the one to introduce that taste to a bunch of kids.

- Susan in Seattle

Trying to give Angelo the benefit of the doubt. Really, really trying.

"...Tiffany's sweet potao and sherbert..."

Sherbert? I don't mean to be a grammar cop, but come on....

While Angelo shouldn't have spoken smack behind Kenny's back, we only know what the editors allowed us to see. It's possible that Kenny has been less than hospitable to Angelo as well, but possibly a bit more subtle.

Editor's Note: BE a grammar cop -- thanks for the catch!

Sherry-braised chicken might be delicious, but it's not appropriate for a school lunch. Besides that, Amanda should have been eliminated for hijacking a lot of budget for a school-inappropriate ingredient!

Peanut butter and celery? I've never known a kid who likes that. I'm glad to see that Tom raised the question of sabotage because it's well known that the judges judge based on the food. They don't see the personalities and actions until the shows are edited and air. Angelo might be a great chef but as a person, he leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion.

Thanks for beating me to the punch, EricW! Yeah, I was going to make the same point. In a challenge that is all about health and nutrition for kids, it's surprising that no one (not even the guest judge) noted how serving food with nuts (especially peanuts) is a bad idea in this day and age given the prevalence of food allergies. The fat and sugar content of school lunches are really not the only practical concern that school administrators have to consider. For that matter, the whole wheat tortillas that were made to go with the pork carnitas tacos were a bad idea because of the possibility of wheat (gluten) allergies.

This is the first time I have seen someone try to lose on Top Chef. Angelo is the villian, but I have not found anyone to root for this season. Last season I loved Kevin from the start, same with Fabio the season before. Hopefully I will find someone that is a great chef and can be entertaining to cheer on this season.

I can't believe that Amanda thought that using sherry wouldn't raise any eyebrows in a school. Can you imagine the parent phone calls about that????? She needed to be taken down a peg as well.....

I (and many others I think) am bothered by the fact that the objections to the chicken are more about the taste and the cost of the sherry. I wish the producers and judges had made a stronger comment about the bad choice of a contestant using alcohol in a dish for a public school and the bad choice of her teammates in just going along with it. It undermines the good choices and meals made by the two top teams.

Even though he had immunity, Angelo should have been kicked off for serving peanut butter. He should consider himself lucky that none of the students had a nut allergy.

I totally think Angelo sabotaged his team. I don't have a doubt that he was hoping that his biggest competitor, Kenny, would go home. I have absolutely NO RESPECT for Angelo, and will be Team Kenny all the way!