Padma barges in on breakfast and brings a guest, John Besh, and the words nobody ever wants to hear on Top Chef: Please pack an overnight bag. It’s a day in the country, and that country is a farm. It’s where the Creole tomato is grown, which are pretty much just like the beefsteak tomato.

The chefs have twenty minutes to make a dish that showcases a the Creole tomato. Very quickly it’s time’s up and spatulas down. There’s Bene’s tomato soup. Carlos’s poached tomatoes in olive oil with raw flowers, Stephanie’s tomato steaks, Nina’s chilled watermelon tomato soup, Nicholas’s caramelized melon with tomatoes in there somewhere, Justin’s tomato skin tartare with squash blossoms, Travis’s seared tomatoes with steak, Louis’s tomato seed bouillon, Brian’s toad in the hole, and Patty’s roasted tomatoes marinated in olive oil.

John’s least favorites are Patty’s mess, Stephanie’s lack of imagination, and Travis’s safe tomatoes. John’s favorites are Nina’s chilled soup, Carlos’s tomato salad, and Louis’s big, bold flavors. The win goes to Nina, who is safe from elimination. Again.

For the next challenge, the chefs must bring the farm to the table in only ninety minutes. They will be cooking at La Provence and must prepare one dish that for who knows what reason must incorporate a certain brand of cream cheese that is not at all fresh or local.

There are limited ingredients in the pantry, basically whatever is in season plus UNLIMITED CREAM CHEESE. So that’s like a challenge within a challenge. The chefs unlucky enough to choose the entrée for their dishes have it tough. There’s really only so much you can do with cream cheese, plus there’s no butter in the pantry.

For the appetizers, Patty made snapper crudo with cream cheese vinaigrette (fish and cheese?), Brian much more wisely made summer squash and zucchini with poached oysters and emulsified cream cheese (oysters and cream cheese?), Carlos prepared poached beets and pickled carrots with peach, habanero and cream cheese sauce, Nina fried up some crispy zucchini blossoms with eggplant and cream cheese puree, and Sara cooked lamb rack stuffed with cream cheese. Sara’s lamb was everybody’s least favorite because it was undercooked and wrongly seasoned. Otherwise, the dishes seem to have passed muster.

For the entrees, Bene made roasted chicken breast filled with caramelized onions and tarragon cream cheese, Carrie cooked vinegar-braised chicken in cream cheese sauce with chilled cucumber, Justin prepared roasted duck breast with eggplant vinaigrette, mushrooms, and corn puree, and Travis made seared lamb chops with succotash and cream cheese aioli. Carrie’s dish is called “loopy and soupy,” and Bene’s dish confused everyone. Travis’s lamb is inconsistently cooked, and Justin’s dish was good but no one could find the cream cheese.

Padma looks like she’s ready for dessert. You know what makes a good dessert? CREAM CHEESE. Louis made graham crackers with blackberries and cream cheese mousse, Nicholas fried funnel cake and carrot cake with peach flavored cream cheese, Shirley baked a steamed egg custard with macerated blueberries, and Stephanie prepared a cream cheese, peach and cherry mousse with cream cheese short dough. Stephanie’s custard is “broken on many levels,” and Louis’s graham crackers were beyond soggy. The judges think that Nicholas’s funnel cake showed off the cream cheese the best.

Nina, Nicholas, and Justin had the best dishes. The winner is Nina for her delicious fried squash blossoms. This is Nina’s fourth win which I’m guessing is a lot. The worst dishes are from Bene, Sara and Travis. Sara’s excuses fall short, Bene’s vegetables were steamed which apparently is a huge no-no, and Travis’s plate was just plain sloppy. Bene is eliminated for his unforgivable vegetables.

Next week, it’s musical chairs in the Top Chef kitchen.