Serious Eats
Fresh Food on TV: Weekday Edition
With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable--and the inevitable episode repeats--it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels.
Monday (November 30)
Good Eats (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Twas' The Night Before Good Eats." A dark holiday night finds Alton Brown visited by a series of culinary spirits which drive him to prepare long lost yuletide classics. 8 p.m. ET, Food Network
Cake Boss: "Candy, Crash & Crisis." Buddy and company are asked to make a cake for Dylan's Candy Bar. 10 p.m. ET, TLC
Cake Boss: "Robots, Rollerskates, and Relatives." Buddy channels his inner hacker when he's asked to create a moving robot cake. He also has to make a 1970s themed-rollerskate cake and deliver it on skates! 10:30 p.m. ET, TLC
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Comfort Food." Guy goes to a a Baltimore cafe with an impressive variety of French toast, a third-generation family eatery in San Antonio, a bakery-turned-restaurant in south Florida and a West Virginia cafe with homemade cornbread. (repeat) 10 p.m. ET, Food Network
Chef Academy: "Basic Training." Chef Novelli shows his enrollees how to cook risotto, enhanced with his grandmother's full-flavored tomato sauce. The students must then replicate the recipe—but not before a classroom disruption results in one student's dismissal.11 p.m. ET, BRAVO
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (warning, a video plays automatically on site): Chef David Chang is a guest. (repeat) 12:05 a.m. ET, ABC
Tuesday (December 1)
The Best Thing I Ever Ate (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Holiday." Your favorite Food Network stars share in tantalizing detail the best dishes they've ever eaten during the holidays. 9:30 p.m. ET, Food Network
Late Show with David Letterman: Guy Fieri is a guest. (repeat) 12:35 a.m. ET, CBS
Wednesday (December 2)
Throwdown With Bobby Flay (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Feast of Seven Fishes." Feast of Seven Fishes is an Italian holiday tradition where families gather and share a delicious multi-course meal of fish. Bobby Flay challenges the Pellegrino family of Rao's Restaurant in New York City to a holiday Throwdown! 9 p.m. ET, Food Network
Dinner: Impossible (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Candy Catastrophe." Robert visits the world's largest candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City, where he has only eight hours to prepare a party for 250 people, and he must use candy in every dish. 10 p.m. ET, Food Network
Man v. Food (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Tuscon." Adam visits Tucson, Arizona, for a huge platter of Mexican eats: a hot dog wrapped in bacon and covered in all the fixin's, and the O.M.G. Burger Challenge at Lindy's Diner on 4th. 10 p.m. ET, Travel Channel
Thursday (December 3)
Martha Stewart Show (warning, a video plays automatically on site): Chef Jamie Oliver makes chicken tikka masala and Thai green curry. 11 a.m. ET, NBC
Ace of Cakes (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Merry Cakemas." The Charm City crew gets in a holiday spirit by dressing up as Duff. Ben and Anna are challenged by a cake in the shape of a house getting demolished, Mary Smith pipes a Christmas stocking cake, and Duff does a pair of bridal cakes. (repeat) 10 p.m. ET, Food Network
Friday (December 4)
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Burgers, Steaks and Chops." Guy goes to a dive bar in San Francisco, a Harvard Square institution serving burgers piled high, and a meat-market-turned-restaurant in Kemah, Texas. 10 p.m. ET, Food Network