'The Next Food Network Star' Episode 4: The Face Whacking Edition
If you pulled yourself away from True Blood and the BET Awards on Sunday night, maybe you made time for The Next Food Network Star. With only seven contestants left, this begins the season's turning point where we start to feel borderline attached to the strangers. The moms in people like Melissa, the calorie counters in people like Katie, and everyone can't help but have a little friend crush on Michael. But this episode was especially memorable because...someone got walloped in the face with a sheet pan.
[Warning, spoilers ahead]
Burger Challenge
Bobby Flay introduced the burger-themed opening challenge, naturally. Everyone had to create a regional burger and the winner's would be added to the menu of Bobby's Burger Palace in Connecticut, which opened around the time this episode was filmed.
With only twenty minutes on the clock, Katie's predictably healthy San Francisco farmers' market-themed turkey burger had no time to actually cook (this was her second time serving raw meat for the record—remember the lamb incident?). Teddy went for Pennsylvania. (What does that even mean for burgers?) Melissa's Vermont burger looked awesome with cheddar and turkey chili (meat liquid on meat solid!), and Jeffrey's California burger was another chance for him to do the "sweet heat" thing with fire-roasted chiles and avocado.
But New York City native Micheal won the challenge with his Mulberry Street burger, an ode to the heart of Little Italy: a mozzarella-stuffed burger with pancetta on garlic bread. He was pretty happy when he won. "I want to make out with Bobby. I'm so excited." Hm, don't think 9 p.m. is late enough for that kind of television.
Homecoming Dinner on 'The Intrepid' for Soldiers
The show's second season winner Guy Fieri introduced the challenge: create your own all-American home-cooked dish using three assigned regional ingredients for servicemen and women who have just returned home. They were all sitting around tables with family and friends on the ship The Intrepid, which was originally built during World War II but is now the Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. Definitely a jump from Ina Garten's dinner party last week.
The winner's dish would be on the cover of USA Weekend, which apparently has a 49 million circulation.
Teddy: New York (apples, cream soda, duck breast)
Dish: "DLT" with duck instead of bacon and apple chutney
A ball full of nerves. Looked at his hand for notes like a kid cheating on a science test.
Jeffrey: Maine (blueberries, lobster, smoked sea salt)
Dish: Lobster pot pie with more of his signature "sweet heat" touch in the blueberry chipotle sauce
Awful. Sad. He's been smoking the last few weeks culinarily speaking, but this one was a trainwreck and the judges are getting tired of his zen flatness in personality. Even if his hair is still great.
Katie: Georgia (Vidalia onions, catfish, molasses)
Dish: Catfish crusted in panko and almond cornmeal with sweet Vidalia greens
Ehhh. That's all I get from her is one big ehhhhh.
Melissa: New Mexico (skirt steak, honey, chiles)
Dish: Marinated skirt steak on a tostada with black beans and mango salsa
Whoa, her mother was a lieutenant commander in the Navy who died when Melissa was 20-years old? OK, you can't really top that story. Plus her food was good. Cha-chiiing.
Jamika: Wisconsin (cheddar cheese, kielbasa, beer)
Dish: Baked potato casserole
A gluey mess. But she sounded like a party when she introduced it! A plus and a minus. Net zero.
Michael: Hawaii (Kona kampachi fish, macadamia nuts, pineapple)
Dish: Macadamia nut-crusted kampachi with pineapple sauce
"Macadamia nuts were like gold," he said, reminiscing on his days as little Michael in the Bronx, noshing on peanuts at the ballgame.
Debbie California (chicken breast, Zinfandel wine, almonds)
Dish: A pretty bland-sounding chicken dish with green beans
She got blasted in the right cheek bone by Michael's pan! That's all you really need to know. There were plenty of instant replays in case you missed it live.
The Judging Panel
Michael (cheek whacker) and Debbie (cheek whacked) were commended for their dishes and named the safe finalists.
It seemed like nutri-girl Katie was going home (evidence: the raw meat, the tears, the voice cracking) but poor Teddy was the loser tonight. As a former D.C. resident, I was a big fan of his mussels, frites, and Belgian beer at Granville Moore's so a part of me was a little woebegone. Hey, maybe he gets all herky jerky on screen but his food is gooood. The only one I can actually vouch for. (Plus the gastropub is in a converted doctor's office. C'mon, that's pretty sweet.)
Melissa won, which made lots of sense. She had the food and the story about mom. I give Katie one more week.
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24 Comments:
Can I just tell you how relieved I am that Teddy is gone? I think he is pond scum.
BITTER at 12:36AM on 06/29/09
If I'd had beer, cheddar and sausage, I would have made a cheddar soup. No brainer.
Bunnee at 1:16AM on 06/29/09
Erin Zimmer on Michael: "I want to make out with Bobby. I'm so excited." Hm, don't think 9 p.m. is late enough for that kind of television.
Why's that? Let me guess, this wouldn't have even earned a comment had Michael been a women, right?
bojo14 at 1:54AM on 06/29/09
When, oh when, will we see Debbie gone? The one challenge so far she couldn't parlay into yet another Korean dish, and it didn't cut it. And the "I am Southern and Korean" schtick gets a little old, especially considering we have yet to see anything Southern from her.
Getting whacked into the face after sneaking up on someone in a kitchen is a good way to be reminded to say "behind" when behind someone. Cooks learn that the hard way (or by spending time locked into the proof-box), kitchens aren't a playground. She got cut slack for her injury, so I guess it worked out to her advantage in the end.
jluster at 2:42AM on 06/29/09
@Bojo - I'm glad I wasn't the only one who raised a brow at that comment from Erin. Tsk.
As for Katie, I can't imagine why she's still there. She's shown zero personality and zero culinary skill. While its great that she's promoting healthy eating - there are lots of folks who are doing it better and with tangible passion.
PheenieMarie at 3:49AM on 06/29/09
The whole show is just silly... and the contestants are even more so! I Haven't seen a lick of culinary talent amongst all these assmunches! Am I the only one to notice the guy who has won the most is in F!@#$*% real estate?! TVFN is so wrapped up in the "faux drama" aspect of the show, trying to find a "personality"
They forgot what TVFN was once about... oh I dunno, what's that stuff called again?!.... FOOD you dumbasses!!! Hell your crappy network even has FOOD in the title, you would think someone would notice. Like for instance the VP of programming who was there tasting the shit food and making sure to have his face on TV for half the show!
I got sucked into watching two of these crappy shows last night and today I feel like I may have actually lost I.Q. points because of it! Holy shit, where's the asprin, and what does an aneurysm feel like?!
Pavlov at 5:03AM on 06/29/09
Seriously, have you seen a soap opera lately? At 1 pm there is copious undulating under sheets, curse words followed by face-eating.... but then it's all of the heterosexual variety.... Jamika's comment about "slaving in the kitchen would be the LAST thing on my mind if my husband was coming home" (or to that effect) was for more uncomfortable to me. Micheal was joking! She is serious, and shlepping! The gluey potatoes were a disgrace!
i8alot at 5:46AM on 06/29/09
You folks that think these people, and this type of cooking are interesting, really need to get a life.
Fred Rickson at 9:18AM on 06/29/09
Teddy is the type of cutthroat who'd stab his grandmother to advance. I've known many such types in the legal profession. They are typically genial until the "right" time, when they use all information they've gathered (and created) against all competitors. And they usually do advance. Good for the judges, they finally ousted him. He's deplorable.
lambowner at 9:49AM on 06/29/09
I want Melissa to cook my friends and me a snack when we get home from school every day. Seriously, she’s the heiress to the Sara Moulton (one of my all time favorites, fyi) crown.
@bojo I had a similar exchange with someone on the FN blog, and to be fair, some people found Michael's comment a bit racy and even disrespectful to Bobby. I couldn't help but find that a bit homophobic, but ultimately I think some people are just easily taken aback, and not nec bigoted.
And to all you haters out there (Fred, Pavlov), you give us flak for talking about this stuff but you're on here talking about us talking about, not sure which one of us really needs a life. You also dont get it obviously, trashy tv is fun precisely because its trashy.
nikonratm at 10:16AM on 06/29/09
BITTER and lambowner have Teddy pegged right. He should have been out way back when he and Eddie colluded to get Melissa in trouble with the judges. (Tossing people for unethical behavior would break that crap up.) The constant snark about not being able to trust her because she's not a trained chef is just churlish. Dumb too, means he wouldn't trust Charlie Trotter to be in the kitchen with him.
This is not the attitude you want represented by your network. And, his screen presence sucks. He couldn't talk his way out of a cab.
It's about more than making decent food.
I vote Melissa to win it all. Personality plus good food that home cooks can identify with.
zak822 at 10:40AM on 06/29/09
@bojo14: I did not intend for that comment to be offensive or bigoted-sounding, and apologize if it did. I was just noting that Food Network probably loved that soundbite -- as they would if any female contestant said it -- but might wait for after-hours to show the more intimate content, just like any other channel.
Erin Zimmer at 10:45AM on 06/29/09
@nikonratm.... check your facts... I never said anything about anyone commenting on this show. My comments were all observations regarding the show itself. Now go take care of your cranial rectal inversion.
Pavlov at 12:07PM on 06/29/09
Folks that comment here just to trash the show and the rest of us commenting on it really need to get a life. This is still Tamika's to win. There's at least four chefs that need to get eliminated before this even starts getting to be a contest. It will take a miracle for Katie to last another week.
DJ Dedd at 2:51PM on 06/29/09
Not to start a flame war but FN is not going in a good direction with this and some of their more recent shows, IMO. I think this show is ABSOLUTE DREK. This is supposed to be a network about cooking. It's so sad to see what had the potential to be a great network succumb to the depths of crap TV once again. There still may be time to turn it all back before FN loses all the quality viewers. Mr. Tuschman, if you're reading this, remember that WE are the home cooks buying the products you advertise. Those advertisers aren't stupid and will eventually figure out that you're better off peddling items that appeal to viewers of lowbrow reality shows. Get your act together and go back to your roots and cater to the audience that made you successful in the first place.
jrambonnet at 3:04PM on 06/29/09
My point was/is that if FN sees all you folks getting gooey about their offerings, guess how much more of the stuff they are going to produce (sic).
Fred Rickson at 3:15PM on 06/29/09
I don't care for reality TV either, but I absolutely cannot stand crime shows like L&O SVU that make violence into entertainment, and it seems these days it's either one or the other. FN is definitely going in the wrong direction with it's over-saturation of competition shows!
But, I hate to admit that I'm addicted to FN Star. It's so fun to watch!
Katie makes me cringe and so does Teddy - what a slime! I'm so glad they dumped him!
yayfood at 5:12PM on 06/29/09
Melissa rocked this episode. Michael did great too. They're my two favorites at this point. I'd love to see a show with either of them cuz they feel authentic, and they make stuff I feel like I'd want to make.
Debbie should *know* better than to walk up behind someone in a kitchen without announcing herself.
As for Jeffrey's "disaster" - I'm curious what others would have made with his ingredients? I mean, what kind of dish would you expect with blueberries and *lobster* and salt.
Combining blueberries, which have a really strong flavor, with lobster, seems really hard. I think he got a much harder combo than the other folks.
FWIW - one thing I thought of was a lobster and cheese-filled Monte Cristo sandwich with blueberry dipping sauce.
annaraven at 8:27PM on 06/29/09
@ jrambonnet, I agree. Advertizers of major appliances and high quality cooking utensils and foods will (and are) changing to processed cheese food companies and the like. Not buying. But many people must be.
lambowner at 10:51PM on 06/29/09
@DJ Dedd: Jamika. With a J.
RegrettableFoodie at 11:07PM on 06/29/09
@RegrettableFoodie Oops! I knew a Tamika, so I think that's messing me up... Jamika FTW, then...
DJ Dedd at 10:46AM on 06/30/09
Jeffrey was a total idiot. Here is what he should have done and it would have been great, and won the challenge.
Red, White, and Blue Lobster and Blueberry Salad American Flag
Boil and shell lobster, slice into into half inch thick strips with some red "skin" on each strip.
Prepare a simple lemon creme: Beat heavy cream to soft peaks, fold in lemon zest and powdered sugar.
Arrange lobster strips on a rectangular plate like the stripes on an American flag.
Fill the upper left portion of the plate with the lemon creme, about half an inch in depth.
Arrange a solid single layer of blueberries on the creme, and press them into the creme so creme comes up between blueberries like white stars on a blue field.
Make a sauce of fresh orange juice, smoked sea salt (the third ingredient in Jeffrey's Maine basket), and tarragon. Reduce by a third, strain and mount with butter over heat. Pour over lobster portion of the flag.
I'm going to make this for 4th of July. What a great photo for USA Today Weekend!
Howard N
howardn at 8:00PM on 07/03/09
I made the lobster and blueberry flag salad. It came out pretty great. The one big change I would make would be to place the blueberries directly on the plate, then dot with the lemon creme. The flavors were fantastic and not overwhelming for the lobster at all. I got the idea for the orange, tarragon, ginger sauce from a lobster dish I once had at Girard's Place in Washington, DC. I ended up using the strained shallots and tarragon as foliage around the edge of the flag.
howardn at 4:08PM on 07/04/09
Debbie is a phony and she need to go home .If she is not sent packing tonight we can be assured that the fix is in.Hopefully they will get rid of Melissa she grins too much. she is not is not believable I agree with that female judge early in the season she would make me crazy watching her through an entire show
piecandy at 6:52PM on 07/12/09