Gordon Ramsay

SERIES Survivor: Nicaragua: Two tribes of 10 — one made up of players 40 and older, the other 30 and younger — try to outwit, outplay and outlast their rivals in a series of challenges (8 p.m. CBS). America's Got Talent: Special guest stars perform; the winner is announced on the season finale (8 p.m. NBC). MasterChef: Gordon Ramsay has shepherded this group of amateur chefs in their quest to become a culinary master, and in tonight's season finale the winner is announced (8 p.m. Fox)

There's no shortage of cooking shows that put chefs on a pedestal, with their gastriques, foams and gelees. But perhaps it's time to celebrate the most unheralded and hardest-working chef of them all: The home cook. Chef Gordon Ramsay says "MasterChef" — his newest cooking competition on Fox — will do just that as it plucks 50 amateur cooks from across the country, average folks who have a passion for cooking, but no formal training. And, in the spirit of Fox's "American Idol," it's Ramsay's job to see if he can find "a little gem" among them, someone who can go to the next level with the right guidance and grooming.

Gordon Ramsay, the foul-mouthed, short-tempered and yet still somehow lovable English chef, restaurateur and television star, whom Fox will apparently exploit until there is no cut of him left unused, raises his tousled head yet again in "MasterChef," which may be easily and completely described as "American Idol" with food, or "Top Chef" with amateurs. There are no great claims to be made for this series, the American franchise of a format already popular in Australia and the U.K. and more than a hundred other countries.

SERIES Who Do You Think You Are? Intrigued by a rumor that his paternal grandmother had white ancestry, Emmitt Smith explores his family roots in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). Supernanny: In the two-part season finale, a single mother of two, who is a student and works full time at a bank, needs Jo's help in regaining her household from her little ones (8 p.m. ABC); then at 9, the series celebrates its 100th episode revisiting some of the show's more memorable families, to see how they are doing since Nanny Frost's original visit.

SERIES NCIS: When the enlisted son of a retired colonel-turned-preacher (Joe Regalbuto) is found dead, the team thinks he may be the victim of a hate crime. Ralph Waite guest stars as Gibbs' dad in this new episode (8 p.m. CBS). Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal: This series revolving around kids with alleged psychic abilities opens a new season with an episode in which teenagers Travis and Vicki team up with an investigator to try to shed new light on a missing-person case (9 p.m. A&E)

Gordon Ramsay has opened an informal addition to the London West Hollywood, just inside the front dining room of his eponymous fine-dining restaurant. It's called Boxwood Cafe by Gordon Ramsay and it features a streamlined menu of simple comfort fare created using seasonal ingredients and local produce. Prices are lower too, with the average entree hovering around $16. Executive chef Andy Cook helms both restaurants. Boxwood serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu includes organic egg dishes, waffles, hot cereal, fruit and yogurt for breakfast; and pizettes and salads alongside more involved dishes such as sake miso-marinated Pacific black cod, steak au poivre with pommes frites and baked artichoke tarts for lunch and dinner.

Gordon Ramsay's pasta roller is falling apart. Because I've broken it. The Scottish-born chef on Fox's reality show "Hell's Kitchen" is trying to show me how to cook salmon-stuffed tortellini. But we've barely started rolling the egg-white dough into long, appetizing, chamois-width garlands of pasta when the machine's handle comes off in my grip. Twice.

There's not a lot of sympathy for contestants on the world's most punishing job interview -- a.k.a. Fox's "Hell's Kitchen." After all, they volunteered to be Gordon Ramsay's abused acolytes in the race to win a $250,000 prize and a job working for the Michelin-starred, foul-mouthed chef.

They may be light as air, but these tender souffles -- flavored with fresh pineapple puree and topped with a small scoop of spiced Thai curry ice cream -- are rich in color and flavor, and make for a dramatic presentation. The dessert, from Gordon Ramsay at the London in West Hollywood, recently caught the eye of assistant Food editor Betty Hallock. "These souffles have such spectacular flavor. I love the contrasts of the textures too, light-as-air souffle with the rich, creamy ice cream."