You guys are right: The problem with The Next Food Network Star is that it challenges the contestants with tasks that I can't imagine them having to face if they actually win. I watched last night with a friend who had never seen before, and he was pretty much laughing out loud. That said, I still kind of really like it. Agree? Disagree? Read on.For their first challenge, Iron Chef America Cat Cora asked the contestants to take 30 minutes and 6 ingredients to compose a dish. Then, the contestants went before the camera to describe another contestant's dish -- a task that they did not perform very well. The chefs who described the dish before tasting it incorrectly described the flavors and ingredients, and those who described it after tasting spent too much time eating and too little time tasting. Shane won, which I thought was smart decision. At least he correctly identified the dish, and managed to say a few words about it.
For the second challenge, the chefs worked in pairs to create 45-minute versions of classic dishes -- beef wellingtons, coq au vin, and turducken. The task is one that would be difficult for any chef, and it was clearly beyond the culinary capabilities of the contestants. It wasn't clear how much time they had to plan, but it didn't seem like much. All three teams encountered problems while cooking, but Lisa and Jennifer clearly had the roughest time with their turducken, owing mostly to Jennifer's mistakes. She broke glass all over the side dish and the duck confit, causing the pair to discard everything in the area. She additionally was the reason that the dish's sauce did not make it onto the plates. The other teams suffered from not having enough time as well, but managed to finish their dishes. As always, they didn't look beautiful, but appeared as though they might have taste pretty good.
At the judges table, Shane and Kelsey got rammed for their beef wellington presentation, though the judges definitely enjoyed the taste. The turducken team -- Jennifer and Lisa -- were scolded for leaving out the components that they left out, though clearly they had no choice. The judges liked that Jennifer was confident during the presentation, and Lisa cried because she can be too harsh. Team Coq Au Vin was praised for the flavors in the dish, but criticized because it didn't resemble the original.
Kelsey and Shane won, probably because their recipe was the easiest to recreate. Their recipes will be featured in Bon Appetit. Lisa was also safe immediately, because she's among the best contestants. Jennifer was sent home, to no one's surprise but her own.
In my opinion, it's still between Shane, Kelsey, and Lisa. I think the show will most likely heat up once these three are the only ones remaining. Lisa's still my favorite, though I found Shane more appealing this week than in previous episodes -- he's clearly becoming more comfortable in front of the camera, and may be able to give the girls a little more competition than they anticipated. Your thoughts?
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