The Sweet to Savory Star Challenge features the Next Food Network Star finalists creating savory party bites out of classic carnival sweets: funnel cake, churros, candied apples, lemonade, caramel corn, cotton candy, lollipops, circus peanuts, a root beer float, a banana split and an ice cream chocolate covered waffle cone!
The Next Food Network Star, Season 6
Episode 2: Sweet to Savory Carnival
Camera Challenge
Cooking and talking at the same time
“You have to be able to cook while still engaging the audience.
If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be here.”
~Giada De Laurentis
11-Step Vegetarian Lasagna Camera Relay
Each finalist will have 60 seconds to “demo” one step of the recipe on camera.
I call this a “relay” because there can be issues with what you start with. Your success can be derailed if the if the person before you failed to finish his task, because you have to catch up to your beginning point before you can do your step.
In this challenge, Aria was given the advantage of handing out the tasks. After asking if anybody had a strong preference, she handed them out randomly.
I think Aria missed an opportunity to position herself in the slot that offered her the best chance for success. (She also could have used the advantage to do a little friendly sabatoge… by assigning one or two people a task that, shall we say, minimizes their chances of success.)
Aria seems to be a kind person, who isn’t very shrewd about sabatoging others… overall, a good thing!!
If I was competing in this competition, I would be go as early as possible in the lineup, unless there was a significant advantage to presenting a specific task.
Going first sometimes involves an introduction of sorts. If it wasn’t a dish I could dish about, I might choose to go second or third. That way, I’m not too far behind, maybe I avoid chopping onions, and I get to get out before somebody really goofs it up…
As usual: somebody always freezes partway into their time (Aarti and Tom); somebody talks too fast (Serena) or comes across as scattered or frenetic (Dzintra); at least one finalist cannot finish his step (DAS).
Some of Giada’s comments were aimed at important on-camera details, like facial expressions (Doreen frowning) and word choice (Brad said “nice” four times), or talking like the audience is children (Aria).
Though no winner was announced, Paul and Herb received the most praise from Giada.
Star Challenge
Sweet to Savory Carnival
Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes) appeared with a table full of carnival sweets, and challenged the finalists to make savory party bites inspired by the carnival sweets.
“Tomorrow I’m closing down the Santa Monica Pier and we’re throwing a party for 100 of my closest friends. And you’re gonna cater it.”
~Duff Goldman
The finalists were given $300, 45 minutes to shop, 2 hours of prep time in their kitchen, and 1 hour of prep time at the pier.
This is a great challenge for a low carb cook. Many low carb cooks are moving away from making supersweet dishes with a lot of sugar substitutes. So, creating savory dishes inspired by sweet ones is one of the great passions of many low carb cooks.
A few of the finalists included a sweet element in their savory dishes. As a flavor, I love the mix of sweet and savory very much, but I question if a sweet chili meatball, root beer pulled pork or a salad with caramel corn garnish are really “savory dishes” in the spirit of the challenge. These are all filled with sugar.
Still, the selection committee did not seem to object to the sweet elements in the dishes.
This was a fun challenge!
Scallion Blini with Chicken in Tandoori BBQ Sauce
Aarti Sequeira
inspiration: funnel cake
Aarti started with the probably the biggest disadvantage because she had never had a funnel cake, and depended on the other finalists to describe it for her.
After getting a little information, she settled on a savory pancake topped with sweet and savory tandoori bbq chicken. Even thought there is a sweet component in the tandoori sauce, tandoori chicken certainly qualifies as a savory dish!
Asian Chicken Wrap with Chili Sauce and Caramel Corn
Paul Young
inspiration: caramel corn
Bobby Flay told Paul that his dish was like “whatever you wanted, garnished with caramel corn.” Gotta say I totally agree… It seemed like a cop-out to me.
The surprising thing was that Paul looked shocked, as though an Asian Chicken Wrap was obviously something that caramel corn could inspire. go figure…
If I had this item, I might have tried a corn fritter on a stick, or maybe a small french fry bag with a few fritter balls in it… If it tasted good, I might season the fritter with jalepeno or pepper jack cheese, and a slight maple overtone, but not too sweet.
Cheese Mousse in a ‘Cone’ with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Arugula Pesto
Serena Palumbo
inspiration: ice cream chocolate covered waffle cone
I would have been stumped for this one…
When Serena started talking about her dish, I thought it didn’t sound very inspired by the waffle cone. But I guess I didn’t really get it. Looking at the finished dish, or the photo, it does look like a dish inspired by a waffle cone sundae!
Serena mentioned a few times that the marinara sauce would be the key to her dish. Not only was her dish a success with both the guests and the selection committee, but selection committee liked that sauce so much, they joked about bottling it and selling it.
Great job, Serena!!
Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings
Darrell “DAS” Smith
inspiration: lemonade
I really liked this dish for its simplicity. Chicken wings are great party food, and well suited to the lemon pepper flavor. A nice savory rendering of lemonade.
So many of the party bites, ended up requiring careful plating or special handling. The lemon pepper wings are fantastic party food, a great dish in the challenge, AND LOW CARB. Probably the lowest carb dish in the challenge.
Mahi Churro with Jalapeño Slaw and Cinnamon Aioli
Tom Pizzica
inspiration: churros
Initially, Mahi churros looked like a great idea, but I am not too sure about the toppings. They seemed to make the dish “plate and fork” food. I would have liked seeing a savory churro that was still finger food, served in the paper wrap that churros are typically served in.
Another problem with this dish is that in the kitchen and to camera, Tom was calling it a Mahi Churro dish with a garnish…
To Bobby Flay and the selection committee, he referred to his dish as a sort of fish taco… And Bobby totally zeroed in on that. Two or three times Bobby said that if you call a dish a taco, it has to have some sort of wrap… “even if it’s just lettuce.”
Just lettuce, Bobby???
I can see his point, but most low carbers I know are quite content calling their unwrapped tacos, “tacos.” I eat naked tacos all the time. And I also eat hamburgers wrapped in JUST LETTUCE!
I don’t know if the taco thing was a simple misunderstanding or what, but it seemed to detract from the success of his churros. Bobby did say they were dry, and lacked flavor, so maybe the dish was not executed as well as it could have been.
Meatballs with Sunday Gravy, Whipped Ricotta and ‘Cherry’ Tomato Salad
Aria Kagan
inspiration: banana split
A meatball sundae was a fun idea. But Aria had to make so many meatballs! In the show, she was shown designing her sundae with 3 or 4 meatballs! That looked like too much and too elaborate to me. The way the sundae came out in the photo looks quite nice, though.
It really does look kind of like a banana split…
When it was time to pack up and take all the food to the pier, Aria left one tray of meatballs behind in the studio kitchen. So, when she got to the pier, she had to make 50 new meatballs, which cut into her time for tasting and seasoning. Bobby thought her meatballs lacked flavor.
Meatballs are such great party food, I would have loved to see a simpler, finger-food version of the banana split meatball, say a single meatball on a stick, together with a rectangle of garlic toast and dipped in sauce.
Maybe that’s still too elaborate…
Peanut Smoked Pork Loin with Peanut Butter BBQ Sauce and Carrot and Pickled Onion Salad
Brad Sorenson
inspiration: circus peanuts
Peanut smoked pork loin was a fantastic idea! Smoking in less then two hours is risky. Smoking is one of those methods that frequently fails to deliver in previous NFNS challenges.
In spite of the vast experience Brad has with smoking food, his dish was a failure due to something in the smoker getting scorched.
The selection committee thought the dish was inedible. Brad said he had never heard his food referred to as inedible. He was visibly upset.
Root Beer Pulled Pork in Shallot-Root Beer Jus with Tangy Onions and Jalapeño Creme Fraiche
Doreen Fang
inspiration: root beer float
I had two equal and opposite reactions to Doreen’s Root Beer Pulled Pork:
1. What an intriguing concept. Root Beer Pulled Pork topped with a Creme Fraiche to capture the ice cream element, has serious potential to be an interesting and quirky savory take on a root beer float. This was one of the more interesting dishes in the challenge.
2. Warning! Warning! Two hours is not enough time to cook pork to the right level of tenderness for pulled pork. Pulled pork has to be so tender it melts in your mouth. Are you forgetting who is going to eat this?
It was a train wreck. Both the party guests and the selection committee said the pork was tough.
Mistakes like this almost make you think the finalists have never seen the show before…
Smoked Salmon Mousse Lollipops with Wasabi Creme Fraiche and Baked Wonton Flakes
Herb Mesa
inspiration: lollipops
I loved Herb’s lollipops! Great idea. Great execution.
He designed a dish that didn’t take too long to cook, and spent his time in presentation, rolling up the lollipops. The picture says it all.
The party guests and the selection committee loved herb and his lollipops.
Sweet Chili Asian Meatballs
Brianna Jenkins
inspiration: candied apple
Brianna’s meatballs looked really good, and were a fantastic expression of a candied apple! Guests and selection committee all liked the dish.
Several of the guests indicated that they didn’t like her personality as much as her meatballs. The selection committee told her that she can be a little offputting.
Trio of Flavors on a Stick: Duck Mousse, Duck Breast and Meringue-Berry
Dzintra Dzenis
inspiration: cotton candy
So many finalists on NFNS are trying so hard to prove themselves to the selection committee, that they tend to really overdo it…
Dzintra is the over-doer in season 6.
Her trio was overkill. The selection committee didn’t get what the elaborate meal had to do with cotton candy. However they did like the Duck Mousse, and Duff thought it sort of captured the essence of cotton candy.
Maybe if she had just served twirled dollups of that on a stick…
Overall, a pretty creative bunch.
In one of the bonus videos on FoodNetwork.com, Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman agreed that this season has the most talented finalists they’ve seen on NFNS.
There were a few problems, as there always are:
Aria left some of her meatballs in the oven in the studio kitchen, and had to make 50 additional meatballs at the pier, when she should have been putting the finishing touches on her food.
Doreen’s pulled pork didn’t have time enough to cook to tenderness, and virtually everybody thought it was too tough.
I found it fun to watch Duff Goldman in this context. I don’t really like his show, Ace of Cakes, but his knowledge of food seems to be excellent and his laid back personality was enjoyable to watch on NFNS.
Best in show: Aarti, Aria, DAS, Herb, Serena
Week 2 Winner: Aarti Sequeira
Aarti’s winning recipe
Scallion Blini with Chicken in Tandoori BBQ Sauce
inspried by funnel cake
Worst: Doreen, Dzintra, Paul
Eliminated: Doreen Fang
This season, so far, has less mishaps and turmoil than previous seasons. The only real drama so far has been about Dzintra’s injury and trip to the ER. But most of us have recovered from that already.
I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!!
This is one of my favorite TV experiences of the year…
Don’t forget to vote for your FAN FAVORITE!
Check out:
Episode 2 Videos
Episode 2 Recipes
The Next Food Network Star is on Sundays at 9 p.m.
Tune in next week for episode 3 of The Next Food Network Star, Season 6.
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
in this series
The Next Food Network Star, Season 6 Episode 1 (Premiere)
The Next Food Network Star: Season 6, Episode 2
The Next Food Network Star: Season 6, Episode 3
The Next Food Network Star: Season 6, Episode 4
