Buh-bye, Burrell

The Next Iron Chef is getting down to the wire - and appropriately, the theme for this week's Chairman's Challenge was risk-taking (which in this case, equated to everyone making souffles). Chefs had to bid on 5 ingredients in a bizarre "auction" for who could cook what in the least amount of time. It's kind of confusing to explain, but needless to say,

Alex Guarnaschelli had to cook a lamb leg in 20 minutes. (If what we witness on this show is actually real, our hats are off to her for that.) "Culinary rebel" Geoffrey Zakarian has to cook wagyu beef in 30 minutes. (Not so hard when you just sear it for 2 minutes a side).

Having won last time, Anne Burrell gets the "unprecedented" advantage of getting to serve as a fourth judge in this challenge, whose vote for the weakest plate guaranteed placing one chef in the secret ingredient challenge at the end. Yikes. Ironically, the judges cast Burrell into the bottom along with her pick, Geoffrey Zakarian, who are then forced to square off against each other. Awwwkward. The secret ingredients are provided by the sponsor, natch, which is Kikkoman but (plot twist!) these chefs will have to use ponzu sauce and panko breadcrumbs to make a dessert, not a savory dish. Zakarian makes a souffle because he learned those at Le Cirque in the '80s and Anne Burrell makes a fried zucchini involtini which, sorry Anne, looked really nasty. The judges agreed that her dish was the weaker of the two and shockingly, Burrell, a favorite from the beginning is sent packing. Here are the best quotes from last night:

"I received 20 minutes, a lamb leg, and a dream." - Alex Guarnaschelli being overly dramatic for the judges

"She's done three ice creams and a souffle, what's so risky about that? When's she gonna cook some real food?" - Anne Burrell getting catty about rival chef, Elizabeth Falkner

"Your technique is so good quite honestly sometimes it makes me mad." - Judge Michael Symon to Geoffrey Zakarian

"I am The Next Iron Chef, it's already written in stone." - Elizabeth Falkner

"I wanna be the Next Iron Chef so bad I'm pretty much speechless right now." - Alex Guarnaschelli, being dramatic...again

"The thought of eliminating either of you today kills me, it's almost making me physically ill." - Judge Michael Simon

"It was very Shakespearean, Chef Burrell pulled out her sword today, then fell on it." - Alex Guarnaschelli, being dramatic...YET again