Master Chef: Season 2 - Top 18 Chosen

Update 7:35 AM:  An episode of Master Chef aired last night, and two more were eliminated.  You can find out here, or wait for my review.

Last night Ryan and I finally had the chance to catch up on Master Chef.  We were behind one episode, but have finally caught up.  Last week the top 18 amateur cooks in America were revealed, and will be attempting to win 250,000 in cash, and a cookbook deal.

Ryan and I started watching Master Chef last summer when the first season premiered, and we really enjoyed it.  I worked for several restaurants as an assistant head cook, baker, and a line cook, over a period of 7 years before I got into the healthcare field, so I'm familiar with most of the foods, and techniques the cooks use while performing their challenges.

If you've never watched the show, the last 3 weeks you have missed Gordon Ramsay from "Hell's Kitchen," Joe Bastianich (restaurant and vineyard owner,) and chef Graham Elliot, whittle through 100 amateur cooks to get their top 18.   

This season, the amount of contestants were pushed up to 38, with each contestant having to cook their signature dish, and present it to the hosts.  If 2 out of the 3 hosts liked their dish, they would receive a master chef apron, and move forward to the next round.  In the following episodes, the chosen few went from 38 to 24, and by doing this, they were given the challenge of properly coring, and slicing apples. Afterwards, the 24 remaining contestants then moved on to the chicken test, which gave them an hour to prepare any type of chicken dish they wanted.

"This is America's most popular meat.  "If you can not cook the most amazing chicken dish, there is no way on Earth you're ever going to call yourself a master chef," Ramsay said.

"The chicken should be the headline act, but make use of the supporting cast of ingredients [in the pantry]," Bastianich explained.

"We have everything you can think of, from infused oils, spices, herbs, vegetables [and more]," Bowles added.

After tasting the resulting dishes, the judges then eliminated six more finalists: Seby Joseph, an 18-year-old student from McAllen, TX; Albert Necaise, a 51-year-old truck driver from Kiln, MS; Kyle Manning, a catering account manager from Maysfield Heights, OH; Joey Stasolla, a 27-year-old business owner from Colorado Springs, CO; Rhonda Sweet, a 46-year-old produce company owner from Claremont, FL; and Aaron Thomas, a 22-year-old student from Jackson, MS.

The eliminations left 18 home cooks to compete in the competition, all listed after the jump...

- Jennifer Behm, a 34-year-old realtor from Wilmington, DE

- Erryn Cobb, a 26-year-old publicist from Chicago, IL

- Christian Collins, a 31-year-old stay-at-home dad from Gloucester, MA

- Christine Corley, a 27-year-old single mom from Sopchoppy, FL

- Esther Kang, a 28-year-old lawyer from Los Angeles, CA

- Jennie Kelley, a 37-year-old musician from Dallas, TX

- Tracy Kontos, a 32-year-old sales consultant from Coral Springs, FL

- Max Kramer, an 18-year-old student from New York, NY

- Angel Moore-Soukkay, a 37-year-old property manager from Columbus, OH

- Giuseppe Morisco, a 38-year-old granite salesman from Chicago, IL

- Adrien Nieto, a 28-year-old server from Ventura, CA

- Derrick Prince, a 33-year-old web designer from Long Island, NY

- Mark Raffaelli, a 35-year-old real estate broker from Chicago, IL

- Alejandra Schrader, a 37-year-old architect from Playa del Rey, CA

- Alvin Schultz, a 28-year-old retail manager Houston, TX

- Tony Scruggs, a 51-year-old truck driver from Grant Park, IL

- Suzy Singh, a 27-year-old neural engineer from Chicago, IL

- Ben Starr, a 33-year-old travel writer from Dallas, TX 
[source]