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| Photo Credit: Food Network |
This week’s episode centered around the contestants working
with mystery ingredients. The judges
(only Alton and Bobby this week, since Giada couldn’t be there) wanted to the
contestants to show they could cook using anything given to them, even if they
had never seen the ingredient(s) before.
The quick challenge at the beginning of the episode split the remaining
ten contestants into two groups. Alton’s
group was made up of Chris, Nikki, Lovely, Stacey, and Rodney. Bobby’s group therefore consisted of (my
three favorites) Viet, Russell, and Chad, along with Damaris and Danushka. Alton and Bobby would taste the dishes made
by the contestants on their team and then would each choose a winner from their
team. The winner would win an advantage
for the week/episode.
Each of the ten were given different mystery ingredients to
use as the centerpiece of a dish. I
couldn’t even begin to tell you what these ingredients were named – let alone
what they were! I forget just how little
I know about food until I watch a show like this on the Food Network. I will tell you that I have heard of one of the ingredients, the dragon
fruit (which was Danushka’s ingredient) and I have a strong urge to try it
sometime!
When it came to judging the dishes, Alton was quick and to
the point, which I loved so very much.
In the end, Alton wasn’t overly impressed with a lot of the dishes. He had never seen bitter melon used the way
that Rodney had used it, and he really liked it, so he named Rodney the winner
of his group. Bobby found Damaris’ dish
with the mystery ingredient of mango pickle to have a lot of flavor, so he
named her the winner of his group.
Damaris said that mango pickle is comparable to bacon, so I’m very
intrigued by that, if I’m to be honest.
It was then announced that Alex Guarnaschelli, the famous
judge from the real ‘Chopped,’ would be a guest judge on the panel for this
episode’s Chopped challenge. It was also
announced that Damaris and Rodney, as winners of the quick challenge, would be
safe from elimination for the week and would serve on the judging panel during
their respective team’s rounds. Quite
the advantage, but if not played right, could also be a great way to make
enemies!
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| Photo Credit: Food Network |
The first round consisted of Viet, Russell, Chad, and
Danushka. Their mystery Chopped
ingredients were things found at sporting events: beer, hot dogs, peanuts, and cotton candy. I loved this round of the episode because it
was full of great moments! Danushka was
frying things “out of boredom!” Then Viet
told the story of one of his fondest food memories from childhood – when his
parents would work long shifts, so he would cook ramen for himself and add
chopped up hot dogs to the ramen.
(Note: While I have many fond
cooking and eating memories involving ramen, I cannot say the same about hot
dogs. I once choked (and therefore almost died!) on a hot dog around
age 8 and haven’t eaten one since! Sorry
Viet! #TeamAnythingButHotDogs) Damaris was a pretty great judge overall, and
delivered a great moment when she told Danushka that she didn’t look excited to
be there. This resulted in Danushka being
somewhat offended, but never fear, because Chad was there to back Damaris up!
The second round consisted of Nikki, Stacey, Chris, and
Lovely. Their mystery Chopped
ingredients were kid friendly food items:
chicken nuggets, fruit leathers (I was so confused by this name! They were Fruit Roll-ups!), goldfish crackers,
and apple juice. Overall, I think these
ingredients would be harder to combine all together to make something great,
but hey! I’m not a professional
chef! I wasn’t overly impressed by
anything from this group, besides Nikki’s dish!
Nikki made a chicken nugget and broccoli spring roll and HELLO! I need to try one of these ASAP. There is no vegetable that I love more than
broccoli and lately I have been going overboard with chicken nuggets, after
taking a three year break from them, so this sounds like it was invented just for me!
Now enough of the straight-up recapping, it’s time for some
of the fun stuff! Up first, the
paragraph dedicated to Viet. Why? Because why not. Besides the above-mentioned Viet moment,
there was another great moment when Viet found Damaris’ ingredient in the quick
challenge (mango pickle) to be a bit “unfair” because it was an ingredient packed
with a lot of flavor, whereas a lot of the other ingredients weren’t. I don’t know why, but Viet seems like such a
peaceful person so when he’s feisty, it’s entertaining to watch. (Don’t judge me.) While Viet’s presentation wasn’t as great
this week as it was last week, I still thought he did good. “Literally.” But, Bobby wants Viet to be more passionate
about what he does. I’m guessing this
was just meant presentation-wise though, as Viet’s food was great for the third week
in a row. Another week of Viet’s safety
in the competition is another week void of depression for yours truly! #TeamViet
Because, I like Russell, I will now take you on a
roller-coaster, much like Russell takes us viewers each week with his constant
switching from bottom 3, to top 3, and back to the bottom 3. Since the Viet section was a “good” thing,
now I will give you the things that I didn’t like about this episode. First off, the lack of Chad! He did get some good moments – like having
one of the best dishes of the week and defending Damaris’ performance on the
judging panel, but I feel like the editors are taking a break from building
Chad’s story within the show. This
worries me, but maybe they’re just saving all the good things for once some of
the others have been eliminated? Also,
the Russell thing! I never know what to
expect with this guy on the show, which I guess is almost a good thing since it
keeps things from being predictable. I
can only hope that next week, Russell will continue on, what I am now formally
referring to as, the “Russell Roller-coaster” and will be back in the top 3 – or
at least the middle of the pack! (As per Danushka’s wishes of her own spot in
the group!)
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| Photo Credit: Food Network |
Now, let’s go back to the good moments. Chris had a great moment on this episode when
he shared more of his story. His story being that he was a former drug addict and alcoholic and that food was what helped save his life and get it back on track. He wants to use food to change the lives of others like he used it to change his own. Before this moment, I didn’t feel like there was a lot of depth to Chris, but this showed a lot more about him and made him seem a lot more personable. I can only imagine that it takes a lot of strength to share that kind of story with others, but I’m so glad Chris decided to tell it! It has given me a much better outlook on him and has made him less forgettable. #GoChris!
He also had another great moment during the Chopped challenge when Stacey was
not going to finish, so he spent his free time to help her finish on time. This episode did a great job of showing his
kind and caring side. (Even though I’ll
always believe the main reason he helped her was the fact that she is on
#TeamHannah, as is he. #TeamHannah is a
unified unit, people!)
But, not so unified to remain undefeated in the AustHan NFNS Draft! This week #TeamHannah lost its
first member in Danushka. While I wasn’t
a Danushka fan, as I found her to be less creative than the others in the
competition, I really enjoyed her different personality and confessionals. She added some humor to the show without even
trying, which I loved. I will miss some
of the drama that she brought to the show, but as with most shows, the drama
always has an expiration date and then it’s gone and only the strongest
remain. It’s just unfortunate that today
was the expiration date on the drama brought to us by Danushka!
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| With the elimination of Danushka, there are 3 stars down with only 9 stars remaining to compete for the title of Next Food Network Star! (Original Photo Credit: Food Network) |
Next week’s episode looks rather amazing, as the contestants
look as if they’ll be put into teams for the challenge. They will be making movie trailers for their
food and the audience accompanied by dials will return, which you know I love!
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