Lovin' It Low Carb

 

The Next Food Network Star, Season 6

Episode 6: Retro Palm Springs

The seven remaining finalists were challenged to prove that they have an essential trait for a Food Network star: the ability to entertain.

 

Camera Challenge
Party Bites

Each finalist was given a basket with an event and three ingredients. The finalists were to create party bites, and present their dishes to camera, including a tip about entertaining.

• New Year’s Party Bite with champagne, grapefruit and honey
• Sweet Sixteen Party Bite with peaches, cream cheese and red pepper flakes
• Bachelorette Party Bite with strawberries, vodka and Kalamata Olives
• Poker Night Party Bite with scotch whisky, bacon and peanuts
• Ladies Luncheon Party Bite with almonds, cheese and English Breakfast Tea
• Birthday Party for a 5-year-old Party Bite with apple juice, mustard and carrots
• Pool Party Bite with bread and butter pickles, ginger and pineapple

These “ingredient” challanges can be some of the most difficult to re-write as low-carb dishes. A few of these were more friendly than others, though. Many of the ingredients in this challenge weren’t too high in carbs, almonds, cheese, tea, olives, ginger, mustard, carrots, whole fruit. The real problems would be with the honey, apple juice, the sweet wine, the sweeter fruits and maybe the pickles.

Having said that, I am not a good enough cook to come up with an edible dish, based on these strange combinations… unless I was very lucky!

Most of the finalists made some sort of sandwich, many of which were crustini (toast) with toppings.

 

Several of the finalists had the same challenges with the camera they usually have.

Brianna had a bit of ambiguity in her presentation, so that the selection committee couldn’t tell if she had made her party bite for the 5-year-olds or the moms… She made Chorizo Taquitos with Cheddar Queso that didn’t really look like kid food!

Aarti gave a perfect presentation until something happened, and she just crashed and burned! Her New Year’s Smoked Salmon Canape with Green Olive Grapefruit Tapenade looked fantastic, though, and Bobby sounds like he really would love to have Aarti’s show on Food Network.

Serena worked on slowing down her presentation without losing all her energy. Her poker night party bite was Scotch-Marinated Skirt Steak with Bacon Peanut Crunch.

Aria’s Sweet Sixteen dish, Prosciutto Finger Sandwiches with Spicy Peach Jam, didn’t really strike me as teen food.

Herb didn’t move me at all in this challenge, and I feel like he needs to be going home soon. His Bread and Butter Pickles and Pineapple Ginger Relish for a pool party made me yawn.

Two finalists gave breakout performances.

Brad finally came through as likeable, relaxed and fun. He did not shut down when they said “Action.” And his Bachelorette Party Bite with Strawberries, Kalamata Olives and Vodka was very well recieved by the selection committee.

Tom was fun and playful, and was really engaging. His Ladies Luncheon Party Bite, Almond-Crusted Croque Monsieur with English Tea Bechamel Sauce, looked amazing. According to Tom: “Croque Monsieur is a fancy way to say grilled cheese on French toast. It’s absolutely delicious and so simple to make.”

I wanted to taste these, carbs notwithstanding!!

And the winners are…

Brad and Tom

 

Star Challenge

Special guest, Ted Allen, appeared to challenge the finalists to recreate classic 50′s “retro” dishes: chicken cordon bleu, deviled eggs, tuna noodle casserole, beef stroganoff, pigs in a blanket, lobster thermador and pineapple upsidedown cake.

The cooking and the party are at Frank Sinatra’s estate in Palm Springs where they must present their reinvented dishes to the selection committee, Ted Allen, Maile Carpenter (Editor-in-chief of Food Network Magazine) and Cal Fussman (Editor-at-Large for Esquire Magazine).

 

Herb made a “healthier” version of Beef Stroganoff. I have a couple of objections to his recipe because I love sour cream, and I really LOVE stroganoff. And because non-fat sour cream does not stroganoff make. Never. The flavor and texture of the sour cream are absolutely necessary or it’s not stroganoff.

And another thing, he adds the mushrooms last, and sautes them for only about 2 minutes. When I make stroganoff, I cook the mushrooms in butter, and then in beef broth, and then in wine, and spend the time to do all the reductions so all that flavor is in the mushrooms, before you add the sour cream at the end.

I guess the selection committee liked his dish, but I would not dare to call anything healthy, that was filled with non-fat-sour-cream-flavored chemicals… but that’s me!

After such a passionate rage about the stroganoff, I have little to say about Tom’s Lobster and Fennel Napoleon with Herbed Lobster Cream, inspired by lobster thermador. I don’t eat lobster. And I’ve never had thermador… Tom was excited about it, and I think the selection committee liked the dish, but Tom’s presentation was unfocused, and they were distracted by hat.

When Aarti was assigned the deviled eggs, I was very happy because I thought that deviled eggs would go so well with the Indian spices she likes. I love deviled eggs, and make several varieties, depending on what I have around. Curry is a very good deviled egg ingredient!! But she went a little more reconstructed than that, and made Coconut Egg Curry with Red Rice and Crispy Shallots, and it didn’t shine. I would have preferred the finger-food variety of deviled eggs.

A couple of the finalists completely ditched the essence of the dish they were trying to recreate.

I felt like Serena’s Pineapple Mille Sfoglie with Maraschino Cherry Sauce totally missed the point of a pineapple upsidedown cake, as Bobby Flay said, which needs to have the caramelized pineapple syrup in the bottom of the pan. She didn’t have any cake and she didn’t have any upsidedown.

Aria’s pigs in a blanket without any pork (Buttermilk Battered Shrimp with California Sturgeon Caviar and Creme Fraiche Over Pea Sprout and Tomato Salad), and Brianna’s tuna noodle casserole (Crab and Brie Casserole with Wild Mushroom Crumb Topping) with no tuna were “misses” in my book. Though both dishes were flavorful, and well-liked by the selection committee, they felt that they didn’t exactly fit into the spirit of the challenge.

Brad’s updated chicken cordon bleu, Crispy Bacon-Wrapped Chicken with Three Cheese Creamy Risotto and Arugula Fennel Salad, looked great, and his presentation was a home run.

And the winner is…

Brad Sorenson

 

Best of show: Brad and Tom

Worst of show: Aarti, Brianna, Herb

Eliminated: Brianna Jenkins

 

Aarti is my favorite, and the only one whose show I would be likely to watch. She had a bad time of it this week. Bobby Flay said “My concern about Aarti is that I just don’ know if she really wants it. She either has the killer instinct or she doesn’t.”

I think she has the star quality they are looking for without the obnoxious arrogance some of the other FN “stars” have. And she has a solid culinary point of view that she is really able to deliver to the audience. Something that no other finalist has.

Bobby warned Brad that his concept “PRO” is a hard show to pull off. So, Brad might need to set his sights lower. Aria has a fairly clear culinary POV with the family dining, fresh ingredients thing, but it is a little bit vague. Tom’s is something about bold flavors, which isn’t much of a cPOV, but it is the same type of thing Aaron McCargo Jr. won with two seasons ago, so ya never know…

Now there are only six finalists left. And two weeks to the FINAL FOUR.

My prediction for the FINAL FOUR?

Aarti * Aria * Brad * Tom

I think these are the best contenders for the win!!! So, I’m expecting to see Serena and Herb go home next. It is also possible – maybe even likely – that Brad or Tom will have another reversal with Herb, and go home next.

 

Don’t forget to vote for your FAN FAVORITE!

Top 3 Fan Favorites: Aarti 27%, Aria 19% and Brad 12%

 

The Next Food Network Star is on Sundays at 9 p.m.

Check out The Next Food Network Star’s Recipe Gallery or Video Gallery.

Tune in next week for episode 7 of The Next Food Network Star, Season 6, when last year’s winner, Melissa d’Arabian, visits to challenge the finalists!

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
The Next Food Network Star: Season 6, Episode 5