Rachael Ray Dog Food

So it appears that Rachael Ray has come out with a new line of frozen dinners inspired by dishes she has featured on 30 Minute Meals. Nah, just kidding.

Apparently ol' Rach is coming out with a real line of dog food called "Nutrish." And yes, the name of the dog food is every bit as annoying as her Rachael-isms (and the ol' gal herself). But, it is for a good cause-the proceeds from the sale of Nutrish go to her rescue organization, Rachael's Rescue. I can't say I understand her love of Pit Bulls, but to each her own. I have to say, though, that the bags (above) with her cooking, really do look a bit like frozen bag meals.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I hit the quarter-century mark today. I don't feel old, but my niece told me this week that she thinks I'm ancient. That makes me feel great! I'm celebrating tonight with some friends by going to my favorite Fayetteville restaurant, Bordino's, for some great food and a good bottle of wine. All this will be followed by a little fun at Willy D's Piano Bar. I can't get too rowdy, though - I have the Arkansas bar exam coming up next week and I can't let a hangover get in the way of my last minute cramming!

NFNS Week 8 (a/k/a the Worst Episode Ever)

Shoot me in the face. We're down to three contestants remaining in Week 8 and it's time for them to put up or shut up. Going in, my ranking was Lisa, Adam, then Aaron. Coming out, it's still the same since the judges didn't have the balls to kick anyone (Aaron!) off.

The first challenge faced by the contestants is to film a 30-second commercial spot, in motion and interacting with other people or objects. Lisa had the coolest role and was filmed playing the part of a wine angel ascending the Aureole's 4-story wine tower. Adam was the one who stole the show in this challenge though, performing on a show stage with a couple of showgirls.

On to the main challenge, the three of them have to cook for and present to a bunch of Vegas types - showgirls, cast members, a few drag queens and some chefs from the Wynn Hotel. Long story short, Lisa's presentation was amazing and the food was pretty average, which wasn't great for her. Adam's presentation was so-so, though Susie called it "boring" but his food ("Adam's Las Vegas Smoketacular") was the best overall - his smoked pork chops were chosen as the best dish. Finally Aaron. Poor, pathetic Aaron. I don't even know what to say about his presentation - fake crying, eating disorder, forks in his pocket...lame, lame and more lame. Plus, his food apparently sucked - the best thing he made was crab cakes and it's really not that difficult to make good crab cakes.

So, we get to the final judging phase (you know, where Aaron should have been kicked off?) and the judges can't screw up the courage to put him out of his misery. It's getting painful to watch him - he's a fine enough cook, but a thick tongue does not a good TV star make. If, by a horrible stroke of luck, he wins the competition, I really hope they get that man into speech therapy. In the end, the judges were the ones who lost this week's battle.

NFNS Week 7

Here we are in Week 7 and we have Lisa, Kelsey, Aaron and Adam left. This week, they are flown out to Las Vegas to stay in the fabulous Caesars Palace and, yes, I did see Kelsey and Lisa jumping on the bed in their sweet suite.

Paula Deen is the guest judge for this episode and the contestants start the week with a sit-down dinner with Paula and Bobby Flay to talk about their strengths and weaknesses and what the judges really need to see out of them in the Week 7 challenge. The challenge itself is quite interesting - the contestants are pitted against each other Bobby Flay "Throwdown" style on their signature dishes: Lisa and her cassoulet, Adam's lobster mac 'n cheese, Kelsey's chicken parmesan and Aaron's pork loin with apple.

First is Lisa vs. Adam. Adam hit a home run with his lobster mac'n cheese, even with Ms. Paula who said she'd never liked the dish before. I can't say, though, that gourmet mac 'n cheese is something made for the Food Network. Lisa's attempt was a flop. How can you screw up something as simple as mac 'n cheese? Paula even said she "hated it." Winner of battle mac 'n cheese: Adam.

Likewise, Lisa hit a home run with her duck confit cassoulet - it may have even been a grand slam. Tusch called it a "truly masterful dish." Paula said it was "truly wonderful" and Bobby said it was probably the best cassoulet he'd ever had. Adam only managed a "beginner" stamp for his attempt at the dish. Winner of battle cassoulet: Lisa.

Next up is Kelsey's chicken parmesan vs. Aaron's pork loin with apple glaze. Kelsey had a tough go with the judges. They had a problem with the deconstruction of the dish because the chicken and sauce didn't come together. Paula hit Kelsey on the petite-ness of the dish and gave Aaron good marks for the heartiness of his dish and his adherence to the status of chicken parmesan as a familiar comfort food.

On to Aaron's pork dish, which isn't as much a signature dish as it is a cut of meat that can be done in any number of ways. Aaron came out fine and the judges liked the way his sweet and spicy glaze worked with the pork. Kelsey got hit again by Paula for the small portion size but not didn't get much feedback.

An important side note here: You have to know when you've got Paula Deen as your judge that she's not going to be impressed by pretty little dishes. The woman who stuck her tongue under a chocolate fountain wants a pile of food on her plate so you better give it to her! Paula in her own words: Mmmm, Southern Cooking is like a long walk in the meadow, you just can never seem to fill up enough on it.

After all this we get to the judging. The judges are still concerned with Lisa's intensity when she's trying to cook in front of the camera. The judges found Adam uncharacteristically cold during his presentation. They didn't have much bad to say with Aaron except to point out his obvious lack of knowledge about ingredients, but please please get that boy some speech therapy!

I predicted, not too long ago, that this season would come down to a battle of youth - Shane vs. Kelsey. I was way off base because Shane was eliminated in Week 6 and Kelsey in Week 7. In the end, the judges must have though Kelsey lacked the real life experience they wanted in their Next Food Network Star. I have to go back to a point I made earlier in the season - the judges obviously put personality over skill in the kitchen. Adam has some kind of hold on the judges because he has been at the bottom of the barrel as far as knowledge and skill for a while now.

So we say goodbye to Kelsey this week, but surely not forever. She's young and already has a great deal of skill. Once she gains some real life experience, we'll doubtless see her back on the Food Network in some capacity.

Lisa Garza, Drama Queen Extraordinaire

So this is the image of Lisa Garza that we have become accustomed to every week on Next Food Network Star. Ms. Glamour Girl and drama queen. I saw a bit of normality the week she fell in her high heels and splashed sauce all over herself (Found at 1:55 - 2:00 in the Season 4 Recap Vid). Before and after that incident, she's really not shown much of herself, certainly not a person the Food Network viewers can relate to. She's still one of my favorites, but she's got to make some changes if she wants to keep moving on in the competition.

After her big shut down in Week 6, she emailed The Food Network Addict blog to complain about being "censored" and overall unfair treatment. While the segment shown on NFNS may not have told the entire story, NFNS is aired to a national audience to get viewers and sell advertising time. Lisa is a successful restaurateur, see her restaurant Suze in Dallas, but if she doesn't loosen up a bit, she's going to lose her chance at her own Food Network show. Who knows, maybe she just needs to get laid but seriously, loosen up a bit! Maybe if she changed out of the thousand dollar duds and put on something that looked more Main Street cafe than Paris runway? Something like this, perhaps (no idea where the pic came from, just found it on a GIS):

Wine of the Week

I've had a couple of wines this week, but only one anyone else will get to enjoy. A friend is an amateur vintner and bottled his batch of Pinot Noir this week. I was absolutely shocked at the quality for something made from a kit bought at The Home Brewery in Fayetteville. Once I get my own place, I'll probably invest in some wine and beer making supplies. I found out that, after the initial investment, the cost is about $2 per bottle and each batch will make about two and a half cases. You pay off the initial investment time and time again with the savings reaped from every batch.

That said, my other wine of the week is the Kuentz-Bas Alsace 2006 (the only label I could find was the 2005, but no difference in the artwork - and it doesn't help that their website hasn't been updated since 2002). The color is amber, rather deeper than the usual white wine. On the aroma, I pick up hints of pear but not much more because my allergies attacked the day I opened the bottle (and I didn't see the need to not drink the entire thing and save some for the next day). The taste makes me think of a tart, slightly sweet Granny Smith apple with just a hint of effervescense. It would make for a great aperitif wine or paired with a salad or similarly light dish. It's a great chilled summer wine. Since I'm still prejudiced toward reds, I can't give it a great score. This one will get a 6/10.

NFNS Week 6

So we go into Week 6 of the Next Food Network Star. 5 are gone and 5 remain: Shane, Kelsey, Lisa, Aaron and Adam. Unfortunately, to watch this week's episode, I had to endure Rachael Ray's idiocy. God I can't stand that woman...but the challenge is to prep and cook with some young Girl Scouts (maybe 10 years old?). The meal is supposed to be kid friendly and each pair is given 4 minutes to present their dish in front of a live studio audience on the Rachael Ray show.

Aaron was first up and did a pretty dang good job. He seemed like he was in his element, far more so than last week's disaster in front of the camera.

Kelsey was second and didn't do very well. She didn't do much of the cooking, but seemed very comfortable and very in control. She even got away with calling her "Rach."

Shane forgot his Girl Scout's name and the entire presentation was rushed. Not only did he forget her name, he also didn't let her do much in the presentation. But the judges seemed to like his dish.

Lisa annoyed me off the bat. She really hopes her Girl Scout has a sophisticated palate. She started off really strong in her presentation, but then halfway into it she totally loses her cool and freezes. She shuts down and doesn't come back so Rachael had to step in and save the day.

Finally Adam goes and (also finally) he does a great job. He looked comfortable, meshed really well with Rachael (that anyone can is a miracle) and cooked a good looking BBQ chicken and spinach pita sandwich.

So I totally didn't see Shane's elimination coming. Maybe being a kid star hurt him in the end because the judges didn't feel he was being genuine enough. In the end, though, I think he got screwed because everyone else was having a great week.