Next Foodnetwork Star-Finale

I'm jumping up and down on my couch in protest, can you see me? Boo Hoo, hiss, hiss!! No, no, no...what are the judges THINKING!!!!! Can you tell, the one I wanted to win, didn't? HISS!!! Since the judges couldn't decide on who would be the final two and didn't make the right choice for the winner, but more on that later, we meet up with the final three in New York, Lisa and the two A's, Adam and Aaron. The final challenge will be a short 4 minute pilot of their show, with producer Gordon Elliot at the reins. Doesn't Gordon have that smooth voice over announcer thing going on? Lisa, a woman of apparently many talents, brings in a cart loaded with 3 different presentations. Obviously, this woman is very organized and is very creative, move over Martha! I was impressed, I'm like I don't even need to see what the others are going to do..... you're like hired! Next walks in Aaron, with just himself to do his pilot, where he keeps thinking I'm missing something?? Ya, like maybe a good idea for a new show? Gordon says backstage that Aaron looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Adam goes in with his handwritten notes for his show. Typical, that's exactly what I would have expected from him. They come up with a show idea of a person emailing him their cooking problem. Right then, they cut to commercial where there's a clip for a new show, Ask Aida, based on the same premise. Adam doesn't look too comfortable working the show, cooking and talking to someone online. I think Lisa's pilot worked the best and didn't that cod and zabaglione sauce look scrumptious?! Adam cooked beer can chicken, hasn't that one been done already? In the deliberation room, it seemed like Bobby Flay, in his peppermint tie and gingham shirt, was for Lisa, he knows talent. Ok so it must have been Susie and little Maltese, Bob (tushie)man that made the choice. All we heard was they need someone to star in their own show next week, so whose ready to work? Well, I guess it was Aaron. Aaron wins the crown and his own show. I know at first, I was rooting for Aaron, but became a fan of Lisa's, for her recipes, and because she's a mother, wife, and chef and is so creative and talented, even if she does look comical. In the end, the judges still said her performance was wooden. Well, being Gepetto's daughter and sister to Pinocchio, I guess she should of asked the Blue Fairy to turn her into a human! Interesting to listen to Susie's video after the show. Susie looks more relaxed and real, throwing her wavy tresses constantly and moving her hands around like an Italian mafia princess. Well, another good season comes to a close. Hopefully Aaron won't disappear like Amy Findly, last season's winner. Whatever happened to her? She must have went by way of Jimmy Hoffa and the Lindberg baby!-Single D -- Aaron McCargo's winning recipe-Jerk Ribeye with Honey Plantains and Collard Greens! 1 (12-ounce) rib-eye steak Jerk seasoning, recipe follows Plantains, recipe follows Collard Greens, recipe follows Preheat grill or grill pan on high heat. Rub jerk seasoning on steak. Place steak in a plastic bag to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. After marinating for 1 hour, remove steak from refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes. Grill steak for 12 minutes (6 minutes on each side). Remove from grill with tongs and let rest for 8 to 12 minutes. Serve with plantains and collard greens. Jerk seasoning: 1 tablespoon allspice 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons canola oil In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients with 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Plantains: Canola oil 1 ripe plantain 4 ounces butter 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh scallions 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves Preheat a medium frying pan and coat with canola oil. Slice plantains on bias, then saute until brown. Mix in butter and scallions. Then remove from the heat. Stir in honey and parsley with a large spoon. Collard greens: 12 ounces fresh collard greens, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon butter 1/4 cup finely diced onion Crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 cup chicken stock Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper Wash collard greens thoroughly. In a medium stock pot, place collards in hot water for 3 minutes, remove and drain. In a large saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, then add onions and crushed red pepper, saute. Then add collards and chicken stock to saute pan. Cook on high heat, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

The Next Food Network Star-Vegas Baby!

The group is still in Las Vegas for the second half of their challenge. This time it's a 30 second promo and they have Lisa strung up on cables at the wine tower where wine angels pluck bottles of wine for the diners, only in Vegas baby! Seems like Lisa can't fly and talk at the same time. Out of all the promo spots, this one should have been cake, but I guess it takes coordination to talk and be hoisted at the same time. Lisa could have been Tom Cruise's accomplice in Mission Impossible which was more like promo impossible. Not to mention that Lisa's coach was Guy Fiere. What better lay back personality can you get? He's just like one of the cast, which he was only a short two seasons ago and now he's a food network staple. Aaron has to walk through a casino and stop at a craps table then shoot the dice, much more harder to make it look natural but he manages to bring out that personality. Adam didn't fare too well as he did his shtick with two Vegas showgirls on stage. He looked like a clumsy Pee Wee Herman, with two left clodhoppers. Next they are told to bring their A game and cook up a monster buffet for their food challenge, so it's off to Whole Earth. While there, Lisa buys two packages of monk fish and accidentally drops one out of her cart as the camera pans to it on the floor. I just wanted to scream, Lisa your fish! Adam's buffet will be as he says a smoketacular and Aaron is making pasta 7000 different ways, ok maybe 5 different ways. Not only do they have to cook it all and thank goodness they had the help of the other cast offs, but they have to entertain and serve it up to Vegas personalities. Lisa and Kelsey start cooking when Lisa realizes that where's the second half of her monk fish? It's now fish rot on the floor of Whole Foods. Thank goodness she had her crown roast pork which looked impressive but unfortunately she managed to burn half of it. Hey haven't you heard of rotating the meat in the oven? I even know that! I would just like to see her cook something flawless for once, I know she can do it. Lisa makes her presentation by singing a song, which surprises everyone, since she does have a great voice. Who knew the lady chef could belt? The chain male cast of Spamalot were in love! Next it was Aaron's turn on the mic and all he managed to do was to embarrassed himself and the entire audience. He mumbled something in audible in the mic cue the crickets! His food was the plain step sister of the three buffets. They said make something over the top and all Aaron made was picnic food. Adam's smoketacular was the crowd favorite. What's not to like about BBQ? Smoked chicken wings and smoked pork chops, am I making you hungry? But does that show that he can really cook? I think this was the quandary when it came down to the judges. Who would they get rid of? Each one of them has major flaws, Lisa can't pull it all together to create a masterpiece, Aaron's food and persona don't quite hit the marks and Adam, Mr. Personality, but can he cook? I guess it remains to be seen next week as this week the judges throw out the rules and keep all three of them, where someone next week will be name the Next Food Network Star.-Single D

The Next Food Network Star-Rachel Ray

Five down, five to go. This time it's a full on demo on how to whip something up in four minutes, this time before a live audience and with the help of an assistant, a brownie and not the chewy fudgy kind. I mean the little girl scout kind. Finally Kelsey has someone her size to help her. Each contestant is asked to cook something to appeal to the taste of their little brownie. Lisa is trying to convince her brownie that she likes horseradish cream sauce and flat iron steak. Poor kid, no wonder she had such a perplexed look on her face, what's horseradish? Lisa says you don't have to dummy down the food. I guess she's never been a mother. Yes you do have to dummy down the food or they won't eat it. Shane's girl doesn't like to eat anything and about the only thing she does likes is ham so Shane decides to make chicken cordon blue coated with puffy rice cereal, good choice. Aaron decides on meatball and broccoli pizza, good kid food, while Kelsey does a breakfast meatball sandwich with yogurt fruits and Adam decides on BBQ chicken pita. First up was Aaron on the Rachel Ray live audience show. The first thing Aaron says to his kid is that they need to wash their hands and turns his back to the cameras and audience, wrong! He immediately knew that was the wrong thing to do and quickly tried to recover by engaging his over zealous brownie to roll out the pizza dough. In the end he did pretty well and what kid doesn't like pizza? Kelsey makes the huge mistake of asking Rachel Ray to cook the only thing that needed cooking, the eggs, while Kelsey gave directions like she was the one hosting the show, hello whose show is it? You could tell Rachel was not happy cooking Kelsey's recipe. Shane was robotic like in his dealings with his brownie. You could so tell he's not into kids. Adam really did a great job hosting and handling the cooking with his kid showing high energy and making smooth transitions winning the judges over and their votes as the best hosting audition. I think the worst one was Lisa as she totally blanked out two minutes into it. Her mouth stopped working and Rachel had to carry on the show, you could almost hear the crickets in the audience and she had the look of Pinocchio caught in the headlights. Poor Lisa, you just wanted to scream snap out of it! The judges narrowed the field of elimination down to Shane, Kelsey and Lisa. Shane for his lack of personality, Kelsey for her too much personality and Lisa for her blank personality. I so totally think that Shane has no life experience to contribute at his tender age of what 21? Same with Kelsey except that her personality saves her life every time. You can tell Lisa has the most culinary experience out of everyone of the group, now if she can just pull it together in front of the cameras she would be great and someone I would watch for the recipes. My vote to go this week was Shane and I think the judges heard me as they send Shane back home for some more life real experiences and a little more culinary practice .-Single D

The Next Food Network Star-Coast Guard Feeding

For this episode it's Tyler Florence as guest judge. Did I mention I saw Tyler Florence eating at an outdoor cafe in Sausalito? Yep, he was just sitting there eating a salad (alone, no entourage or anything!) looking out onto main street. As I passed by with my sister in law in tow, we walked by the table and I said, he looks familiar, but I couldn't place the name. Then my sister in law, whose as subtle as a pink elephant said that's Tyler Florence! She made me walk back and forth several times so she could get a good look at him. After it became obvious we were walking back and forth, we then hid in the hedges to watch him eat. Ok, sounds stalkerazzi, but we only did it for all of 10 seconds ok, ok, 10 minutes, thank goodness my husband called me or we'd still be there! Tyler does have very soft looking hands (he doesn't do his own dishes, ummmm? And he looks exactly the same in person) . This first challenge involves a 60 seconds teaching video with a food item. Aaron's item is a pineapple, but he's more interested in showing how to display the top than cutting the prickly skin. Shane's is a coconut, but he has no idea how to get it open. Hasn't he ever watched Survivor? Nipa was totally flipping out, she hates to touch fish, in this case squid. OMG how ever does she cook? SIU! (suck it up!). Kelsey wins the challenge with her lamb boning. The major challenge involves cooking a dish for Red Lobster, but with a twist, cooking two dishes one for the Red Lobster menu and then one with a uncommon ingredient, fish with stuff like, coffee, chocolate, marshmellow creme, fruit loops, grape jelly, what the? I definitely don't like my fish tasting like a flutter nutter! How's Nipa going to do this challenge when she hates to handle fish? Nipa pares down her fish to one tiny bit and throws away the rest, doesn't she know there are people starving in India? The crew then takes their dishes aboard a Coast Guard cutter to give a short presentation of their dish to the 30 men and woman aboard. Adam decides that he will do his Dick Van Dyke falling over the ottoman prat and falls on the floor but that stunt falls flat on it's face-cue cricket sounds. Next Nipa thinks she might win over the audience with a lesson in Bollywood dancing. Well heck, if her career peters out in cooking she could become a Bolly dancer, hahaha! I slay myself! Lisa's meanwhile is in the kitchen as we watch her take a huge fall dousing herself with sauce on her $300.00 shirt. Yikes, a $300.00 shirt? My whole closet is probably worth $300.00! She does manage to remain cool and collective and gave a very heart felt presentation, even if she still looks like Gephetto's daughter. Kelsey again wins the challenge. She's managing to rein in her bubbly and looks like a front runner to win this thing and Nipa is sent packing, if you can't handle the fish better get out of the kitchen!-Single D

See Kelsey's winning receipe below:

Macadamia Crusted Tilapia with White Chocolate Beurre Blanc Recipe courtesy Kelsey Nixon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs 3 cups macadamia nuts 6 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil White Chocolate Beurre Blanc, recipe follows Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place flour in shallow bowl. Whisk eggs in small bowl to blend. Finely grind nuts in processor. Transfer nuts to another bowl. Season fish with salt and pepper. Coat fish with flour. Dip fish into eggs, then macadamia nuts, coating completely. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium heat. Place 3 fillets in each skillet; cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer fillets to large baking sheet. Bake fish until just opaque in center, about 7 minutes. Top with White Chocolate Beurre Blanc and serve. White Chocolate Beurre Blanc: 1/3 cup shallot, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 2/3 cup dry white wine 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup coconut milk 2 tablespoons white chocolate Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Cook shallots in olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes, adding garlic in the last minute. Deglaze with wine and reduce by half. Add cream and coconut milk and reduce by half once more. Remove sauce from heat and mount with white chocolate until sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper A viewer, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.

The Next Food Network Star

As in the previous blog on the Next Design Star, I can't resist a good cooking show. I am coming in the third episode of this food competition to find that surprise, surprise, Martha Stewart is going to be on it. Love, love, love her! I've been a Martha fan way before she even went to jail. Only Martha could leave jail and still be on top of her game smelling like french perfume and pork roast. Bobby Flay gives the chefs a very Iron Chefseque task-your mysterious ingredient-the russet PoTaTo! Make a dish representing your culinary point of view and give a one minute TV presentation, definitely not for the camera shy. I love this kind of challenge, it's so food network stuff. I think Aaron's potato wrapped bacon thing looked so scrumptious I just wanted to sleep with it and apparently the judges thought so as well, as Bobby said he would put that on his menu. Now that's high praise. And Adam's bacon cheese fries, need I say more?-ok I'm getting hungry! Jeffery looked like a deer caught in the headlights when he went on to his presentation. I thought he was going to be totally prepared, he was writing a book in the green room. Lisa was all confidence before she went on, but when she went on, she must have misunderstood the directions (what's there to misunderstand?) and she used only 15 seconds of her time explaining her dish and point of view, something to this effect, "This is my dish and I made it, " with the other 45 seconds standing in stone silence as she stared at the judges (they stared back) with the TV camera rolling-can you say-awkward! And hey what's up with her makeup and hair style? Does she have a father named Ghepetto and a brother named Pinocchio? She has a very marionette look about her (where's her strings?) and would be perfect if she were auditioning for ringmaster for Cirque de Soliel.

The next challenge is to make a product for branding and packing. What's up with Nipa and her sugar and cayenne powder for peanuts? She kept saying that the portions is what makes it special, wooooo! It's two ingredients. Hey Nipa, it's not rocket science. And there's Kelsey-ok maybe she's a little young and not experienced any hardship, has not known the brutal cruel world, where you had to work and scrape your fingers to the bone. Maybe she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had everything handed to her on a silver platter, can you tell I'm jealous of her sunny disposition? Can anyone be that happy? Even when she cries she still looks happy! The surprise judge was as I said Martha Stewart, love, love, love her! She sampled everyone's dish, liked Aaron's vinaigrette dressing the best, although he kept whining that it would have been better with cayenne pepper in it. Hey blame Nipa for buying out all the cayenne. Martha kinda of looked down her nose at Kelsey's saucy sloppy joes, which Martha says she doesn't eat much of that kind of food, probably reminds her too much of her prison days! ha! I wanted to cringe when Adam started singing to Martha, hey Adam, stick to cooking the bacon cheese fries! In the end, it's so long Jeffery he needed to put a little more soul or spice into his cooking and definitely lacked TV charisma. -Single D