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Last time on "Top Chef": The remaining cheftestants brushed up on their French, starting with a high-stakes quickfire that put escargot at center stage and eliminated the maker of the worst dish. Ashley, Jesse and Robin rounded out the bottom three but were given a quickfire do-over with the opportunity to save themselves by preparing a wow-worthy amuse-bouche. Jesse's under-spiced tuna tartare with sorrel, gooseberries, fried egg and fried bread failed to "amuse" and she was eliminated.

Meanwhile, Kevin's escargot fricassee with mushrooms, brussels sprouts and candied bacon jam was a hit between Tom and guest judge Daniel Boulud and he not only won immunity but got to sit out the elimination challenge. And the EC was a doozy, with the competitors drawing knives named with classic French sauces or proteins, pairing up to prepare a six-course meal for a panel of distinguished French chefs. Bryan V's thoughtfully de-boned and reassembled warm cured trout yielded his second big win, while Hector's poorly prepared/butchered chateaubriand led to his elimination.

Guest judge Tim Love and "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi greet the cheftestants before announcing the episode's quickfire challenge.

Tim Love, chef/owner of Forth Worth-based Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, saddled up for the guest judge slot this week, and introduced a quickfire that challenged the cheftestants to bring cactus to the forefront, or as I'm so glad Padma put it: "Make something succulent with succulents." A high-stakes challenge, there was another $15,000 on the line, but no immunity this time.

A slightly different pair rose to the occasion this quickfire, with Laurine's nicely-flavored cactus salsa with an achiote-glazed pork chop and Mattin's succulent showcase of breaded cactus and halibut with tequila-pickled cactus/red cactus puree (not bad for a guy who grew up in the French countryside and had no prior experience with cactus).

Mike Isabella works on his winning quickfire dish, cactus-tuna ceviche with pepián.

But it was a familiar chef at the top, as Mike's cactus-tuna ceviche with pipián was the best-prepared example and earned him the big money. In the bottom three were Ash, for his too-thick and dry tortillas as bread for a cactus "grilled cheese" sandwich; Ron, for his overcooked and somewhat rancid-tasting chipotle swordfish with mango-papaya crab salad; and, in contrast to his performance so far, Michael V for his un-harmonious red cactus coulis with cactus-coconut ceviche.

Mattin Nobila raids the seafood department in preparation for his trio of ceviches.

For the elimination challenge, the cheftestants were called upon to cater a lunch for the judges and two dozen cowboys. While there were no restrictions with regard to the ingredients, high-end cuisine needed to be on the menu. With a $150 budget, 30 minutes to shop and the warning that they'd be cooking outside on a ranch with a 75-minute time limit, the competitors went shopping.

Arriving at Sandy Valley Ranch, both accommodations and supplies were rustic, but most of the cheftestants made the best of it, sharing stories of camping as children, sitting by the fire — and, in Haitian expat Ron's case, following voodoo tradition of gathering sticks around the tepee to ward off snakes.

Bryan Voltaggio enjoys a TC campfire the night before the elimination challenge.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (you knew that was coming), the cheftestants prepared their dishes over four fire pits, with few more supplies than some cast-iron pans, and served the guests. For the second time this episode, Laurine was called forward for her well-executed dish, this time a sauteed arctic char with tomatillo sauce, corn salsa and grilled potatoes, appreciated for the beauty of its simplicity and effective use of the grill.

Joining Laurine among the judges' favorites were Ashley, who made the best of the cooking environment to serve her best dish to date via a seared halibut with avocado mousse, bacon, tomato and braised romaine, inspired by the club sandwich; and Michael V, whose "Japanese fish fry" of dashi with miso and mirin-cured black cod and watermelon was an happy surprise. But brother Bryan V took his third elimination challenge win with a roasted pork loin, corn polenta, dandelion greens and glazed rutabaga, a dish simultaneously restaurant quality and a perfect example of what the judges hoped to see from the challenge.

Landing at the bottom were a trio of seafood purveyors: Robin, offering a soggy grilled romaine salad alongside possibly-gone bad "drunken" prawns and spicy chicken sausage; Ron, whose coconut-lime-mango tuna ceviche was passable but Haitian coconut mojito was far too sweet; and Mattin, whose ceviche three ways (salmon with apple, spicy tuna, cod with corn) was poorly put together and may have made guest judge Tim sick. From all of the negative commentary heaped on Robin's admittedly disastrous dish, it looked like she would be eliminated, but instead Mattin was asked to pack his knives and go.

It was refreshing to see some new faces getting praise this week, but it would seem that the Voltaggio brothers aren't leaving any time soon. On the other hand, with Penn and Teller on hand next week, maybe some of the other cheftestants will be inspired to whip up something magical.

Chrysta Cherrie is the entertainment producer/copy editor for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at chrystacherrie@annarbor.com or 734-623-2526, and follow her on Twitter @chrystacherrie.