The World of Scott Mindeaux

Dinner: Impossible 2.0 and TNFNS

Well the new season of Dinner: Impossible did a sneak peek tonite after The Next Food Network Star. Chef Robert Irvine is now replaced by Chef Michael Symon, one of the Iron Chef America stars.

In Food Network Star news, our final three contestants are down to Lisa, Aaron and Adam. They are still in Vegas. They had to come up with a Vegas-Style buffet. First they each had to record a 30 second promo touting their supposed new show and each of them had a different place in Vegas to do their shoot. Lisa was a Wine Angel at Charlie Palmer’s restaurant, Aaron a big shot on the casino floor and Adam as a host of a tried and true Vegas show. For their buffets, the each had to serve a 5 course buffet for 50. The special guests would consist of cast members from Spamalot, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, several impersonators like Cher, Joan Rivers and Donna Summer as well as the executive chef team from the Wynn.

In the end, the judges couldn’t decide who to kick off. If they had it their way, each one would have a part in one show as each of them had positives and negatives. So who was kicked off??

No one! For the first time in Food Network history, all three will compete in the Finale for their own show. They head back to New York and next Sunday we find out who is the Next Food Network Star.

The Next Food Network Star 3 – Finale

Tonite we find out if Rory or Amy becomes the Next Food Network Star. 11 contestants started and now we’re down to the final two. The final two, technically, was supposed to be Rory and Jag, however, something happened. Turns out Jag lied and said he served in Afghanistan and that he graduated culinary school. Turns out he was never deployed to Afghanistan and that he never finished culinary school. He dropped out of the competition and they brought Amy back to duke it out with Rory.

So who am I rooting for??? Honestly, I wish I didn’t have to choose. I can’t see Amy in her own show. Rory has the charm and looks but I don’t think I would be interested to watch what she has to say. I have a feeling that America will choose Rory.

Now it is time to bring everyone back together. Marc Summers, tonite’s host, asks everyone to join them on stage. So everyone shows up and each of the contestants shows up there are TWO people who stand out. Jag shows up way casual while everyone else was dressed up, in jackets, but casual. Nicki shows up in those damn high boots and this “dress” that looks like a big chef’s jacket – it was UGLY!

Columbe is here, of course, and she STILL screams crunchy-granola to me. She reminds me of an actress, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Vivian was there in her very short red dress – REALLY short.

They did a little video montage called “Where are all the shirts”… oh my God…. Paul and Adrian were fuckin hot!

They did a tight show of Nicki and God..that dress is AWFUL!

Just a side note, Marc asked Bobby Flay how he would do if he was a contestant. I miss Bobby’s first show “Hot off the Grill” with sidekick Jacqui Malouf. That was the show that got me hooked onto the Food Network back in the late 90s.

Here it comes America….who will it be!?

Emeril Lagasse is on stage and will name the big prize. Food Network president Brook Johnson is here as well.

Congratulations to: Amy!!!

So I guess we’ll be seeing a show on the Gourmet Next Door… will I watch???

Stay tuned!

This was SO anti-climactic.

The Next Food Network Star 3.5

Well this week our guest judge is Giada de Laurentiis again. We saw the departure of “Crunchy” Colombe last week. Who will it be this week?

Yummy…..they get a wake up call really early in the morning. We get to see “Adorable” Adrian and “Fabulous” Paul with their shirts off! Yumm!

They travel to Fort Dix. The first challenge is to take the MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) to the next level. They can only use pre-packaged food to “dress” up their MREs. Can they do it? “Parisian” Amy is already complaining. They have 20 minutes to prep their dish then present it to the committee.

Parisian Amy: Had a chicken breast MRE, minestrone and cheese sauce. Made Mexican Mac n Cheese and Shrimp Toast. For dessert she had a lemon poppyseed cake and added condensed milk, pineapple and m&ms and mixed it together to make some kind of dessert goulash (she called is Dulce de Leche).

Adorable Adrian: His MRE was the Prok Rib MRE. He turned into Pork with Pineapple and also made a Spicy Shrimp Chowder. He had a chocolate chip cookie MRE, which he left alone and served as is.

Serious Jag: He also has the Pork Rib MRE. He added some canned veggies and turned it into Spicy Chipotle Stew. He also took a can of clam chowder and offered his spin on Manhattan Clam Chowder.

Fabulous Paul: Chicken was his MRE. He wanted to up the nutrient factor for the troops. In his dessert he offered M&Ms so they boys could have camaraderie by popping them into their mouths. Hmmm. His meal consisted of Grilled Chicken with sweet potatoes. For dessert, Pineapple Poppyseed Layer cake with M&M garnish. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell!

Wide Mouth Rory: Her goal with re-tooling her MRE was to remind the soldiers of home. She had the beef patty MRE. She turned it into American Home Cooked Stew. For dessert, Orange Cobbler. The judges had NO COMMENTS.

Salmon Mike: Beef MRE was on his platter. He made a Crispy Mac n Cheese with nacho pretzels. In addition he made a Smoky BBQ Stew. For dessert he made a Cherry Applesauce. He kept calling it MRI instead of MRE.

So down to the results. So in the area of the least tasting dish, the award goes to Adrian. The committee felt that he really didn’t change the flavor of the MRE. He essentially added some pineapple to it and served it up. In terms of the vocal presentation, the least successful presentation was Jag. Jag pretty much just spouted out a list of ingredients. He didn’t explain why he did what he did with the MREs.

So who did the best job overall??? Fabulous Paul!!!! Yea!! Paul did a great job of explaining why he did what he did and what the soldier should get out of it. Hope they pop those M&M’s in each other’s mouths!

So what’s next??? Paula Deen is here! everyone loves Paula Deen. The challenge is prepare either a lasagna, pot pie or meatloaf. In addition come up with two sides. The group is being divided up into teams of two and will be serving 75 soldiers at Fort Dix. Paul gets to pick his partner since he won the first challenge. He chooses Jag and they are doing meatloaf. Paul also gets who the other two teams are and what they will be cooking. He decides to put Rory and Amy together to make lasagna and then paired up Adrian and Mike to make pot pies. they ahve two hours to prepare the meal and a 3 minute presentation.

Jag really bothers me. He’s too serious and a little self centered. Amy and Rory seem at odds with each other. Amy wants to make chocolate chip cookies but she can’t find brown sugar. She’s obsessed. So let’s check in on Paul and Jag. They decided to make a bacon wrapped meatloaf with a Cantonese glaze and mozzarella. Ummm…something soy sauce with cheese??? In addition, they are making a sweet potato mash with a tri-medley of vegetables for their sides.

On the Mike and Adrian front, they are making chicken pot pies. They don’t have time to make a crust so they are taking potatoes, slicing them thin and making potato chips which they will top their pies with. The Amy and Rory team are making garlic bread, lasagna and an Italian side salad.

Looks like Paul and Jag are having oven problems and Rory can’t seem to get the water out of the kettle beffore the lasagna noodles over cook. What are they gonna do???

Turns out that the ovens Paul was using weren’t working. So what does Jag do? He says deep fry the meatloaves??? WHAT?!?!? Crazy. Paul is freakin out a bit. Meanwhile on the Adrian/Mike front, they have been focusing on the pies and forgot about a dessert. The fruit they wanna use is still frozen in the bags.

TIME IS UP! First up to present is Amy and Rory. They made a good presenation. Rory is cute and I”m sure that helped with the troops. Next we have Mike and Adrian. Adrian acknowledges the troops in his presenation. Paul and Jag didn’t talk about their presentation. They come out and Paul satart doing push ups with Jag rallied up the troops. So here comes the food! back in the kitchen, Jag is still going off about how he was screwed because of the broken ovens. Everyone had to listen to him go off on it. A comment was made about Jag’s Jekyll and Hyde personality and that it is showing thru right now. So how did it all turn out?? Well back to NYC and the Food Network Lofts.

Jag cried on screen. He was reminded of the military and it made him cry. As for Paul, the judges said he really turned around and was best of show. They didn’t want him to return to old Paul next week. Next up we heard the evaluations on Mike and Adrian. The judges loved the potato chip crusted pies. What the didn’t like was the dessert. They all said they had frozen fruit. Then Susie Fogelson hit upon their presentation and how Mike’s seemed disingenuous. Mike was then asked what his food outlook was and he was a bit vague. So here we come to Rory and Amy. Giada wasn’t impressed at all with the lasagna. Amy was told to get out of her comfort zone. The judges need to see your soul. Oh please..Amy goes off on a comment and it sounded so fake. Then Mike starts to cry. Oh Lord.

So who is going home. It comes down to Mike and Adrian on the block. Mike Salmon is going home!!!

Next Food Network Star 3.4

This week’s guest judge is Guy Fieri from Guy Fieri’s Big Bite and his new show Drive-Ins and Dives. We start off this week with alot of boo hoos and crying. People are missing their families. Paris girl is all weepy.

They go to the Food Network Kitchens and with Guy is Darryl Dawkins, NBA legend. His nick name is Chocolate Thunder. In this round, they have 45 minutes to make something with chocolate, sweet or savory.

they will present their dish in front of camera and have 30 seconds, in addition to presenting, they have to offer a chocolate tip.

First up is “Fabulous” Paul: He made a Chocolate Thunder Pie. He used words like Dynamite and FAB U LOUS. Paul…tone it down with the FABULOUS. He had a chocolate filling in a phyllo lined souffle dish. His quick time, use a whisk and flick it with the wrist (so gay…).

“Bigboy” Tommy: Cocoa encrusted Pork Tenderloin. Tip: When making chili add some chocolate for richness. Then there was SILENCE. He had 7 seconds left on the clock and he had nothing to say. He stared into the camera.

“Wide Smile” Rory: her dish was a chocolate mousse. Her tip: bodybuilders take dark chocolate to look leaner.

“Serious Eye” JAG: Mexican Style Tempura. He had tempura style chicken and shrimp on a stick with a three-chile-chocolate sauce. When making mole, use sweeter chocolate.

“Adorable” Adrian: Chocolate BBQ Pork. Grilled tenderloin with a honey-chocolate BBQ sauce. He didn’t really offer up a tip. Susie Fogelson said she couldn’t taste the chocolate.

“Parisian” Amy: Chocolate Apricot Tartlet made in a phyllo shell. She doesn’t finish her intro and doesn’t get her tip in. Guy cut her off at zero seconds. Paris, that, Paris this, blah blah

“Crunchy” Columbe: Chocolate Brioche French Toast Sandwich. She says that chocolate is the food of the gods. Her tip: if it doesn’t taste good, it can’t be healthy. Ummm…what?!? Darryl send his piece back..he doesn’t like it.

“Salmon” Mike: Ummm….he never intro’d his dish, he never looked at the camera. His dish was a toasted Chocolate Banana Magic.

Next up on the challenge, invent or reinvent on crowd pleasing food to be serverd at a NJ Mets game. they ahve to get the NBA fans to like their food. They have $300 each and 45 minutes to go shopping. They will be serving their food in carts throughout the stadium. They are all shopping frantically. Colombe notices she had an extra bag in her cart, she leaves it behind.

“Fabulous” Paul is making a Hawaiian Beef Burger. It was Paul’s bag that was left at the market. Some of his important ingredients for the burgers was in that bag.

“Bigboy” Tommy: Italian style meatballs.

“Salmon” Mike: His take on a lobster roll but with shrimp

“Crunchy” Colombe: She is making healthy cheese nachos. Guy askes where’s the cheese, the cheese was in a jar, the he asks if she is making the chips, the chips were in a bag, she isn’t cooking anything. She is making the pico de gallo. Guy looks at her with skeptism. Witch.

“Wide Smile” Rory: texas Style Cheesesteak sandwiches.

“Serious Eye” JAG: Chili Hot Dogs stuffed in a Pita.

“Adorable” Adrian: BBQ Bacon Wrapped Mushrooms. Interesting choice for a ballgame.

“Parisian” Amy: Chicken Quesadilla and Mango Bites. She bought the chicken already cooked

Amy confronts Colombe about her leaving Paul’s bag behind at the market. They get into it at the loft. The next morning they get up early to prep their carts/stations at the stadium. They have 45 minutes to finish up prep. Oddly, Columbe finishes her prep and offers to help Paul. Paul gets hit bad. In a food temperature check, his burgers are regisering at 110, not the 165. However, in his defense, the burgers were already cooked. Paul had to bring the meat back up to 165 and had to cook each patty for each order. Dude..if I could have stepped in to help, I would. Jag had a hit with his pitas. He even had cheese nachos with cheese he made from scratch! Tommy was looking sad at his station. The committee liked Adrian’s dish, no utensils needed. Rory had a low cut blouse on….the committee said she dressed for the crowd.

So back to the studios for evaluation. The winner of the chocolate challenge went to JAG. They were pleased with the presentation and presence. The winner of the NBA challenge was Adrian!! Yea for the cutie! Now were down to six. Two contestants are going to go home today. My guess? I think it will be “Crunchy” Colombe and possibly Tommy. Tommy said he missed his family and that is bringing him down. The committee told him his life in the Food Network world would only be just as bad with being on the road for weeks at a time. His meatballs at the game were HUGE. He offered the dish as a sandwich and the meatballs were too big to bit into in sandwich style. Colombe will be in trouble with not bringing anything to the nachos except for her pineapple pico de gallo.

So how did it turn out? Colombe was sent home. Next was Tommy. The goodbyes were a bit strange. I don’t think anyone felt bad that Colombe was leaving. Adrian was really affected by Tommy’s departure. Tommy got a group hug, Colombe didn’t. Adrian vowed to keep Tommy’s spirit alive by winning.

The Next Food Network Star 3.3

The second week, yet technically the third episode in the Food Network’s search for their new star. This week’s guest judge is Giada deLaurentiis (my fave!).

As you recall, last week we said goodbye to Patrick and Vivien.

This week we start off our episode with a tag-team episode of Everyday Italian. Between the 9 of them they divided a Chicken Florentine recipe into 9 parts. They will each take a part and tag-team the recording of this “episode”. It was kinda funny watching them .

The next part of the competition was to win the cover of Bon Appetit Magazine. The theme was New Grilling. The editor in chief, food editor and head photographer were there to judge the dishes.

The Next Food Network Star 3.1 and 3.2

Season Three is finally here. It will be interesting seeing this show pit against Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen all in the same season.

We have a new set of rules and a more fast-paced show. I felt the last two seasons were very TV/Network focused. This year, they seem to focus in more on the food and the people. We get to see more of the “off-camera” time in the “Food Network Dorms”.

They start off the season with 11 people. Almost half the crew is from California.

Vivien: From Manhattan Beach, CA. A caterer (aren’t we all). So far in these first two episodes she isn’t showing her “fire” and “passion”.

Amy: Homemaker from San Diego, CA. She kinda reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld. Amy makes you feel like she is the only person on this Earth who visited France. She’s kinda snobby about it.

Josh: JAG is what he likes to be called. He starts off the show being all tough, but I thought he was a butch lesbian! He hails from NYC.

Tommy: A financial planner with cooking skills from growing up and entertaining for his friends and family. A real Guido.

Colombe: A Yoga instructor from NYC. Hummmmmm….. Kumbaya…..

Paul: From Los Angeles and the cute gay boy from the West Coast. Lots of energy and his food is interesting. A caterer by day and cute boy my night.

Patrick: Is a Sous Chef and the blandest of the bunch. No personality, and his food seems “OK”.

Michael: “Salmon” as the group calls him. He’s a food buyer/distributor. Certainly powerful but is he powerful in the kitchen?

Rory: lives in Texas and opening a restaurant. Kinda a tom-boy , but she kinda reminds me of Peter Burns from Dead or Alive (circa 2003). She luvs to make excuses – no excuse for bad food.

Adrien: From Michigan. Ok…I think cuter than Paul, but not gay. He is a “former” uniformed delivery guy (FedEx or UPS). Seems to know his way around a kitchen. Host of a local cooking show called “Home For Dinner”.

Niki: From Hermosa Beach, CA. Yet another caterer from Southern California. Quiet and sweet.

Tonght’s two hour season premiere had them cook a potluck dish, decorate a wedding cake and then cater a wedding for 100 people (mostly vegetarians).

Patrick and Vivien went home tonite. Food Network hosts Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible, Duff from Ace of Cakes and Bobby Flay were on hand tonite.