I know it has been a week since the finale of the Next Food Network Star, but I just had a chance to watch it this weekend. I was away on vacation last week and after watching it, I see that I did not miss much. All I have to say is this season was extremely disappointing. We will see how well Amy does with Backyard Bistro.
The good news is Ace of Cakes is back. I will be writing about that and Hell’s Kitchen so stay tuned……
I know everyone has to be talking about last night’s episode of the Next Food Network Star. The drama with Jag definitely overshadows the challenges of this show. However, I think it is worth mentioning that Rory did not really do well in the media challenge. Both her and Jag gave “negative” comments on the radio talk show and then she totally ignored Rachel Ray while on her show. (I have to say her steak did look good though.)
I think Amy, really did the best overall on both challenges. She went a little overboard with the French talk during her demo on the Rachel Ray show, but other than that, she really did a great job. I still can not believe they would let her go. But then again, last week she was the favorite and this is typical of the panel to cut the obvious choice.
At first, I thought the Food Network might have know about Jag towards the end of the taping of the show. (And I know the show has been pre-taped and I know it was over several months ago.) I just feel that it is way too easy to do a background check on someone to believe that a major TV network would not think of it. I think they let Amy go so then Jag would have to resign and Amy would therefore be reinstated. I think they wanted Amy in the final two all along. This way the ending was so much more dramatic, was it not????
I do think that Jag should be held accountable if he embellished his background. I am surprised that an ex-marine would lie about his service. It was the right thing to do for him to resign. I just do not believe that the Food Network does not check contestant’s backgrounds before they are on the show. That would be a liability for them. It makes the Food Network look bad. They are only dealing with a handful of contestants here, it would be easy to check them out. It is just a theory. What do you think??????
I am a big fan of iron Chef so this was my favorite episode of the Next Food Network star this season. Bobby Flay and Cat Cora joined Bob and Susie as judges for the mock kitchen stadium battles. Alton Brown was in his usual role as the witty moderator.
Michael, Tommy, Adrien and Colombe returned to act as sous chefs for the remaining contestants. Paul picked Michael, while Amy decided on Tommy. Rory chose Adrien and that left Jag stuck with Colombe.
The first battle – Paul vs. Rory. Alton did his best imitation of the chairman and zealously unveiled the secret ingredient…..striped bass!
Even though Rory’s cooking station was a mess, she managed to make a good impression on the judges. They all liked two out of her three striped bass dishes.
Paul, on the other hand, did not perform as well. The judges said his food lacked flavor and Bobby Flay said he would “send him home with a spice rack”. Ouch!
Jag and Amy were the floor reporters during this battle. Jag did not want to compete with Alton’s food knowledge and really did not answer any of the questions he was asked. Amy did a great job and went out of her way to find out information.
Battle 2 – Jag vs. Amy. The secret ingredient was chicken.
Jag basically had a breakdown. He tried to limit his use of ingredients and appeal to the home cook, as the panel told him to do. It did not work. His food ended up lacking flavor and just not being very good. Jag loves Iron Chef and greatly admires Bobby Flay so this was particularly hard to watch. He was so upset at his performance.
Amy really excelled at this challenge. The judges loved all of her dishes. I have to say her Casbah chicken lollipop looked great. What a great idea for a party!
Paul and Rory both just did horribly as floor reporters. Rory was actually being sarcastic to Alton. Paul did not know what Sam Maranon tomatoes?? At least attempt to respond Paul.
In the end Paul was sent home and I was very wrong about him. He really could not handle this challenge. After this week, I thing any or Jag are going to win.
I just have to say, as a food network fan?!, I can not imagine cooking in front of Booby Flay and Cat Cora, let alone Bob and Susie. (and Alton Brown!!!!).
I give everyone so much credit for completing the task and just being able to cook. Anyone who watches food network understands what I am saying…. it would be so intimidated to cook into front of these people. All I can say is good luck next week to all the remaining contestants!
Last night I made a delicious zuppa di pesce. My inspiration came from a recipe in the Rao’s cookbook. (Even though I grew up in NJ, I have never been to the restaurant in New York. It is next to impossible to get a reservation because there are only ten tables, so I have to make their recipes myself!) Rao’s is also now open in Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas.
¼ cup olive oil
5 or 6 garlic cloves
½ cup diced onion
½ cup white wine
1 cup clam juice or fish stock
2 (28oz cans) imported Italian plum tomatoes (crush tomatoes by hand and reserve the juice)
½ tsp dried oregano
5 or 6 fresh bail leaves
1 pound spaghetti
3 dozen clams
1 pound shrimp
1 pound scallops
Salt and pepper
I usually add a pound of mussels but my local italian market only had very large mussels and I prefer the smaller size.
Also, I like to put my zuppa di pesce over pasta, but most recipes leave it, as the name suggests, as a fish soup.
Heat olive oil in the large sauce pot and add the garlic and onions. Add white wine, clam juice, clams, shrimp, scallops (and mussels, if using) to the pot. Cook until mussels and clams open and then remove all seafood and set aside. Be sure to discard any that do not open.
Add the crushed tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, bring salted water to a boil for the pasta. Make sure to cook the spaghetti al dente.
Return the seafood to the sauce and heat through. Add the oregano and basil.
Drain spaghetti and put into a large serving bowl. Pour sauce over the top and serve with a loaf of crusty Italian bread.
The best thing about zuppa di pesce is that you can really make it your own recipe. You can add any seafood that you like and you can use different herbs in the sauce that you prefer. I hope this inspires someone to go off their diet and cook! Buon Appetito!
This week on the Next Food Network Star, Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats and the moderator for Iron Chef, was the guest judge.
During the first challenge, each contestant had to pick three random ingredients from a bag of rice. The challenge was to make a dish using these ingredients and present their dish to Alton.
All the contestants struggled with this task. They had a hard time relating to the ingredients and many of them did not even really do the cooking during the presentation. Not good!
Next, the contestants were given the food they dislike the most. They had one hour and $50 to shop. Then they had to write down the points of their 5 minute demo.
After the shopping trip, Jag, who was given Tofu, again grew angry when he discovered he was missing an ingredient. The judges felt his dish utilized too many ingredients (over 20) for the home chef (even though it did look good).
Paul, who was given lima beans, made a lima bean soup with parmesan bacon crisps. His dish looked good but he talked about too many different things. He was all over the place and it was confusing! Paul really needs to calm down because I really believe he is a good chef. He just needs to focus his energy.
Goat cheese was the ingredient that Rory hates the most. She felt she did not have enough time to prepare her dish, so she did not cook at all during her demo. She had the dish already prepared and this is not what the judges want to see. It is the Food Network, you need to cook.
Adrien was not at his best during this demo. He gave the wrong information about some things (remember you must be an authority on food!) and in general just looked stiff and uncomfortable.
Amy, who I think did the worst during this challenge, went completely off her demo script and just looked miserable. She was missing her family and feeling insecure and it showed.
Ultimately, Adrien was the contestant to be let go. Despite hosting a local cooking show for three years, he did not look comfortable on camera and his personality did not come through at all. He did look shocked at the judges’ decision. I think he really thought he did a good job.
I predict that Amy and Paul will be the final two. They both have a strong culinary point of view and if they can let their personality come thought, they both have a chance to win. But, who knows? There are still four finalists left. Stay tuned…………
