Author: Mike Farley (Page 44 of 117)

Top Chef Las Vegas: final four revealed

You don’t realize how long the season is of any reality show until they roll the intro showing all of the contestants, including the ones who were eliminated in the first few episodes. Then you think to yourself, “Self, this has been going on forever!” And so it is with Bravo’s “Top Chef: Las Vegas,” which is essentially the sixth season of the extremely popular show. It’s also, at this stage, maybe the most competitive yet.

Last night they began with host Padma Lakshmi and Gavin Kaysen, who competed in a global cooking competition known as Bocuse d’Or, which they say is the Olympics of the culinary world. Kaysen made something for his entry in the competition called a “ballantine,” which was in essence putting a protein inside of a protein inside of a protein. So Padma asked them all to make their own version of a ballantine for the quick fire challenge. Jen joked that she was going to make a turducken…but the thing is, that’s sort of exactly what they had to do…the catch was, they only had 90 minutes to do it.

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The Biggest Loser: moving right along…

It’s hard to believe we’re just a few short weeks away from the finale of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” but there it is. Last night we went from six contestants to five, and either they are going to have a final 3 again, or they are going to throw us another curveball and let someone else back in….these tricky producers have done it before, and I have a funny feeling it’s coming.

Meanwhile, last night the six hopefuls were treated to makeovers, led by “Project Runway’s” Tim Gunn, and a TV Guide sponsored event that had each contestant share their personal journey wth their families and an audience of about 300. Most of them looked pretty good, but I’m not sure why they insisted on cutting Rebecca’s hair so short…both her and Amanda were made to look like ten years older.

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Food Network tries to transform hapless cooks into something on “Worst Cooks in America”

We’ve seen all sorts of new shows come down the Food Network pike lately, including the exciting “Chefs vs. City,” the hilarious “What Would Brian Boitano Make?” and now a show that tests the very mettle and reputation of two professional chefs, Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan.

The show is called “Worst Cooks in America,” and it takes twelve of the country’s most hopeless cooks and puts them under the tutelage of Burrell and MacMillan, after which they compete in a weekly show on Food Network beginning January 3 at 10pm ET/PT/9pm central. There will be five episodes, each week with challenges to see who will move forward.

“Watching the Worst Cooks in America struggle to become great cooks, makes a show that is very funny, dramatic and moving,” said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network. “Ultimately, it offers hope for even the most kitchen-challenged of our viewers.”

The final two will compete in the finale on February 1, and for their final task they will have to create a 3-course meal which will be judged by restaurant critics. The catch? The critics believe the meals have been prepared by the tutors, which means reputations are clearly at stake. Also at stake for the winner is a $25,000 grand prize.

Now this is a show that is set up to be a train wreck from the start, but it also should be fun to see just how fast bad cooks can be transformed into good ones under the right supervision. Maybe it will give hope to many of you whose favorite cooking utensil is the telephone to order takeout.

The Next Iron Chef: we have reached the finals

I admit to not loving “The Next Iron Chef” on Food Network, but yesterday’s show excited me more and I’m looking forward to the final round next Sunday. Last night, the final three were still in Japan, and were asked to show their integrity and tell a story with a Kaiseki, or multi-course meal. They would be judged on taste, creativity and presentation, and the judges would be the regulars Anya Fernald, Jeffrey Steingarten and Donatella Arpaia, as well as Dr. Hattori, the commentator of the original Iron Chef series in Japan.

After having an hour to shop at the fresh market for fish and produce, chefs Garces and Mullen were laughing at chef Mehta, who bought a crazy amount of flowers in which to use as garnishes. Say what? I hope he remembered that presentation was only a third of the points.

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Top Chef Las Vegas: breakfast in bed

Last night on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Las Vegas,” the six remaining contestants were greeted in the kitchen of the Venetian Hotel with a phone call from host Padma Lakshmi. Padma was hanging out in a hotel room with cookbook author and TV personality Nigella Lawson, and the quick fire challenge was to cook and deliver to them breakfast in bed.

Robin went first (how is she still here?) and made blintzes with goat cheese and pineapple. I don’t like goat cheese, but either way, that sounds disgusting. Eli made a reuben benedict with thousand island hollandaise sauce. Since they were staggered in groups of two, next was Mike and Kevin. Mike made a huevos Cubana with banana puree, and Kevin made steak and eggs. Then it was Jen and Bryan–Jen went with creamed chipped beef and Bryan made a 4-minute egg over corn polenta.

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