If you recall from last week's episode of Bravo's Top Chef, there was no elimination and the chefs were told that they were going to be on probation. Some of the contestants may have been bending the rules about what ingredients they could use in the kitchen, not to mention the lapses in judgment made by chefs in earlier episodes, and others were suspicious enough to create a very tense situation that even the judges couldn't resolve quickly. As such, the chefs in this episode were all on parole, which meant that Tom Colicchio stayed in the kitchen to supervise. The result was that we got to see his reactions to the dishes much more clearly, though the chefs did not seem to be too affected by his presence.

This punishment, of sorts, was leftover from the previous week and coincidentally, the theme of this episode was also leftovers. Don't get too excited, though. The odds are that nothing they made would work out with the leftovers from Thanksgiving next week.

In the quickfire challenge, which was for immunity, the leftovers the chefs were given to work with were offal - the entrails and other leftover parts of the animal that are significantly less desirable than the regular meat, despite the fact that they regularly appear on the menus of high-end restaurants. The contestants had only 2 hours to create a dish that used tripe, oxtail, ox tongue, pig's blood, pig's feet, chicken feet, sweet breads, fish heads, beef cheeks or any one of a number of slightly stomach twisting options, a difficult task as such products are normally cooked very, very slowly for a long period of time. The guest judge was Michelle Bernstein, a critically acclaimed chef (and one-time ballerina!) based in Miami, who seemed to be an expert on offal.

By and large, the dishes turned out well. Most people used sweetbreads, but there was some oxtail, beef cheeks and a few other ingredients that were put to good use, as well. The worst two were Josie and Elia, with a tough oxtail and overly kidney-tasting kidney, respectively. The top three finishers were Cliff, Sam and Ilan, but Sam's dish that combined sweetbreads and some sort of savory beignets won him immunity.

For the elimination challenge, the chefs were asked to prepare a 6 course lunch for 60 Hollywood guests, including Jennifer Coolidge (a.k.a. Stiffler's Mom, as Michael pointed out), with only a short amount of time and using only what they could find in the kitchen they would be working in. The kitchen at Social Hollywood, however, was stocked with untypical leftovers, including foie gras, duck, scallops, soft shell crab and lots of fresh produce. The chefs had to work in pairs, one pair to a course.

1. Marcel and Frank - Duo of Salmon, Tartare & Mousse with Red & Gold Beets
2. Cliff and Sam - Duo of Seared Diver Scallops & Seared Foie Gras with a Fig Gastrique
3. Ilan and Michael - Mushroom Paella & Fried Soft Shell Crab
4. Betty and Mia - Seared Duck Napoleon with Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans
5. Josie and Marisa - Trio of palate cleansers, including Fennel, Apple and Citrus Salad
6. Carlos and Elia - Trio of desserts, including Phyllo & Mascarpone Napoleon

The chefs did not communicate, so there was little flow to the lunch, but of bigger concern to the judges was the fact that the last three courses were very poorly conceived. All three were in the bottom this week. Betty and Mia did not need the excessive amount of undercooked puff pastry that they placed on their plates, yet they did not remove them, and their duck was very overcooked. Carlos and Elia had two desserts, sorbet and a pomegranate juice, that just did not taste very good and they opted to use an old jar of pomegranate juice instead of any of the fresh fruits or juices available to them. Josie and Marisa put out a product that tasted bad, looked bad and in which not a single element of the dish was actually cooked. Both of them were asked to pack their knives and go.

The top two dishes were Cliff and Sam's duo and Ilan and Mike's lovely paella. Both were well executed and delicious, but Ilan and Michael were declared the winners. Ilan was selected for the grand prize of going to cook at the South Beach Wine and Food festival with Michelle, but the bigger opportunity might be for Michael, since he redeemed himself in the eyes of the judges.

By the way, any fans of Anthony Bourdain should tune in next week. It looks like he's set to be the guest judge!

If you're just joining us, check out the recaps from previous episodes to catch up!

• Season Premier
• Episode 2
• Episode 3
• Episode 4