Anybody Watching 2023?

[schnauzergirl]

Is anybody watching this season?  

[mlp]

I've been wondering the same thing.  I still watch, have for years and years, but I find myself paying less attention during themed episodes.  I also tend to skip watching if I see Tiffani Faison on the judging panel.  I know she has the credentials but I just can't stand her.  

[AAEBoiler]

Yeah, still watching but only because I'm too lazy to remove it from my DVR scheduler.

[Gramto6]

Still watching, but it is more background noise than must see TV.

[Rammchick]

I'm also still watching 

[schnauzergirl]

Am I hallucinating or was Matthew, last night's winner, the irritating "hashtag" guy on NexT Food Network Star some years ago?  If so, he seems to have calmed down, but I still was rooting for anybody else to win.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

Am I hallucinating or was Matthew, last night's winner, the irritating "hashtag" guy on NexT Food Network Star some years ago?  If so, he seems to have calmed down, but I still was rooting for anybody else to win.

It sure was but somehow his last name has changed.  I think they said something like Jordan but it used to be Grunnewald (not sure of spelling).  In any event, I recognized him right away.  He has certainly grown up since FNS and I thought he deserved to win.  He didn't do or say anything at all offensive and his dishes were the best AFAIWC.  I enjoyed the episode and all the judges.

[Maverick]

YOLO!

[Rammchick]

Unbelievable.  If you were to find a ghost pepper in a Chopped basket, what would your go to be?  Use the tiniest tiniest amount, or chop up the whole honking thing and add it to your dessert, of all things?  I think they should have both lost on that alone.

[ZoqFotPik]

I mean who doesn't want the equivalent of 700 jalapeno peppers in their desert? 

[Psychobunny]

Dear Food Network, please stop trying to make Matthew happen! I was hate watching this hoping he would leave in the first round or if not at the very end to cause maximum pain. He seemed almost genuine at times but it looked like it was an effort for him and the creepy smirk is still there. At the end , he was acting like “I hope the judges realize that I deserve to win”. Did I mention that I really really dislike him. I don’t care if he can cook. I just want him off my TV.

[ZoqFotPik]

I was sick of Braunda after a few minutes. Glad she was the first one gone.

[mlp]

1 hour ago, ZoqFotPik said:

I was sick of Braunda after a few minutes. Glad she was the first one gone.

Me too!  I was sick of her before she even finished her introduction.  

I was surprised the other woman won.  I thought she made more mistakes overall than the French chef.  

[krat61]

Did I hear Tiffani Faison say she prays to Satan on the Gluten for Punishment episode?? 

[kirklandia]

Abalone is the most delicious food I have ever eaten, the star of an unforgettable meal from decades ago.  A sea-to-table feast, harvested and prepared by friends, enjoyed alfresco on a small island in Puget Sound.
 

Edited March 16, 2023 by kirklandia

[RealityCheck]

A five-part tournament, CHOPPED: MILITARY SALUTE, premieres Tuesday, April 25th at 8PM with host Ted Allen and a rotating panel of judges including Air Force veteran Sunny Anderson, Scott Conant, Cliff Crooks, Alex Guarnaschelli and Marc Murphy.

Quote

Then, it’s a twist in the grand finale, as the finalists, each representing their branch of the military, join forces as a team to cook against a different Chopped judge in every round including, Eric Adjepong, Tiffani Faison and Amanda Freitag.

[AAEBoiler]

I watched the 03/21/2023 episode ... is that the first time ever a contestant 

Spoiler

has injured themselves so bad they were essentially self-eliminated?

 

[schnauzergirl]

13 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

I watched the 03/21/2023 episode ... is that the first time ever a contestant 

  Reveal spoiler

has injured themselves so bad they were essentially self-eliminated?

 

I wonder if she'll be invited back at some point.

[ZoqFotPik]

I think this was the first time that time expired while the chef was being treated. There have other times where they had so little time it didn't matter. I can't remember the episode, but there was one where the chef's entire station was contaminated, so he had to effectively start over with only a few minutes left.

Edit: Episode was "Cauliflower Power" aired July 21, 2020.

Edit 2: This got me curious so I looked through the episode guide. This is the second time this happened. First was in the episode "Want a Gnocchi Sandwich?" that aired September 29, 2020.

Edited March 23, 2023 by ZoqFotPik

[torontomeridith]

I live in Canada, so it's really a crap shoot when we get the episodes, but I just stopped watching the pizza competition episode and it's the first time in a long time that I actively loathed a contestant: the authentic pizzaiolo that detested pineapple on pizza and, eventually, vegan pepperoni. OK, I don't eat pork and these two toppings are among my usuals, but saying you don't like pineapple on pizza is the 21 century of a hack mother-in-law joke. It's so overplayed that it's fallen into the "You know, 'Die Hard' is a Christmas movie." levels of lame. Pizza can be anything to anyone and to say it's only one thing is just snobbery.

Maybe I'm just in a mood.

[Grizzly]

Last night was a fry episode and there were actually 2 fryers in the kitchen.

[nitrofishblue]

I watched this episode and felt that there should have been no winner.All three made really bad mistakes and from the comments from the judges a lot of the food was not all that great. It seems they made some good sauces but that was about all.

[Rammchick]

18 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Last night was a fry episode and there were actually 2 fryers in the kitchen.

I know, right?!  I figured for sure we would see a battle to the death to get into the fryer first.

[ZoqFotPik]

They always add more equipment if the terms of the contest require a certain method of preparation.

[Grizzly]

Chef Sieger is hot and not a jerk. I was rooting for him really hard.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Chef Sieger is hot and not a jerk. I was rooting for him really hard.

I was too and I was worried.  It seems to me that, when the last two standing are a male and a young female, the female usually wins, especially if she's cute.  I was glad he won.

I don't know how Joe Sasto suddenly started showing up all over FN but I'm always glad to see him.

[pdlinda]

On 3/20/2023 at 1:40 PM, RealityCheck said:

CHOPPED: MILITARY SALUTE, premieres Tuesday, April 25th at 8PM with host Ted Allen and a rotating panel of judges including Air Force veteran Sunny Anderson, Scott Conant, Cliff Crooks, Alex Guarnaschelli and Marc Murphy.

I watched last night's episode and was surprised at the mediocre level of ability of all 4 chefs from the Navy. 

I seem to recall many previous shows with military chefs (including that grand finale lady winner who bought a food truck with her huge winnings!!) and the contestants were among the most expert and creative ever to appear.

Hopefully, the abilities of chefs from the other military branches will improve on the performance shown last evening. 

I will continue to watch because I simply love the theme!

Edited April 27, 2023 by pdlinda

[Leeds]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:53 AM, ZoqFotPik said:

I was sick of Braunda after a few minutes. Glad she was the first one gone.

I just watched a repeat of this episode, and yes, Braunda was awful.

I haven't watched for ages because I keep seeing Tiffani Faison is a judge and I can't stand her.

Anyway, it came on tonight and I couldn't be bothered to change channels.  It was totally the Tiffany Faison Show.  Jeffrey Z seemed completely checked out, and the third judge barely spoke.  Yuck.

[Grizzly]

Watched the military finale. Chopped really cracked opened the piggy bank, 75k (to a military charity). The hardest part had to be having 4 people at 1 station. First round, there was a lot of standing around. Glad to see they figured out how to utilize everyone.

[Rammchick]

Are military personnel not allowed to win money?  Googling turned up ambiguous results.  I don't remember Ted announcing at the beginning that the winnings would go to charity, but I thought it was sad they didn't personally get anything.

When they did this competition before, didn't the four winners of their service branches square off against each other in the finale?

[Gramto6]

3 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Are military personnel not allowed to win money?  Googling turned up ambiguous results.  I don't remember Ted announcing at the beginning that the winnings would go to charity, but I thought it was sad they didn't personally get anything.

When they did this competition before, didn't the four winners of their service branches square off against each other in the finale?

I think the 4 did face off before, but I don't recall what the prize was that time around. The way they did it this year guaranteed all the proceeds would go to the fund for military families (forgot the name).  Even the chopped winner donated her winnings to the same fund. I don't think any of the service members begrudged the $$ going to that cause.

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, Gramto6 said:

I think the 4 did face off before, but I don't recall what the prize was that time around. The way they did it this year guaranteed all the proceeds would go to the fund for military families (forgot the name).  Even the chopped winner donated her winnings to the same fund. I don't think any of the service members begrudged the $$ going to that cause.

Oh no, I didn't mean to imply they would have, or should have.  But I know that these folks don't typically have much (although these particular chefs may be better off, due to their positions with high ranking personnel), and I was sad that they didn't benefit from the winnings.

[AZChristian]

Just wanted to ask whether I'm just too fussy.

Yet again in an episode we watched last night, the contestants had to use liquor which was in the basket in an unopened bottle.

Two of the three contestants took a swig right out of the bottle to determine the "flavor profile" of that ingredient.  The other contestant poured a little into a glass and tasted it that way.

It makes me not want to eat out to think that the chef might be in the kitchen drinking straight from a bottle of stuff that will end up as part of my meal.  There are many diseases (hepatitis for example) that can be spread by ingestion from an infected person.  

So is anyone else grossed out by this?

[Gramto6]

Yessss! When they took a swig out of the bottle I was totally grossed out. I really thought GZ would not taste that food. Surprise, he did! Does make you wonder if that is more common in restaurants than we want to know!! I think the components were heated, but does that destroy all possible pathogens that could be there? Yuk!!

Also I have to add that is not the first time we have seen this behavior...

Edited May 31, 2023 by Gramto6
added on to post

[Grizzly]

Let's hope the alcohol kills whatever.

[AZChristian]

I don't see a lot of difference between them refusing to taste something because there's blood on a plate than tasting something that you know has potential backwash in it.  I don't think a little bit of alcohol and/or heat (not boiling water, just cooking heat) make what they're doing sanitary.

[Gramto6]

10 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

I don't see a lot of difference between them refusing to taste something because there's blood on a plate than tasting something that you know has potential backwash in it.  I don't think a little bit of alcohol and/or heat (not boiling water, just cooking heat) make what they're doing sanitary.

Totally agree!!

[AZChristian]

5 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Totally agree!!

Thanks.  What's the difference between serving spit and serving blood?

AZC (aka Gramto3)

[Bastet]

11 hours ago, AZChristian said:

So is anyone else grossed out by this?

Nope, but I understand those who are.  So it should be a factor in judging.

[Rammchick]

17 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Yessss! When they took a swig out of the bottle I was totally grossed out. I really thought GZ would not taste that food. Surprise, he did!

Didn't he say something about that?  I could've sworn he did, but I was half asleep, watching.

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

Didn't he say something about that?  I could've sworn he did, but I was half asleep, watching.

I don't recall him saying anything, but I easily could have missed it. Thing is, he ate the food anyway...

Edited June 1, 2023 by Gramto6

[kirklandia]

Never mind.

Edited June 7, 2023 by kirklandia

[Grizzly]

The super fans tonight were cute and could really cook. Very pleasant ep.

I'd freak out if I were that close to Ted Allen too.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Grizzly

[Gramto6]

46 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

The super fans tonight were cute and could really cook. Very pleasant ep.

I'd freak out if I were that close to Ted Allen too.

They cooked as well or better than many of the professional chefs that have been on the show. It was an enjoyable episode to watch.

[Leeds]

On 5/31/2023 at 6:57 PM, AZChristian said:

I don't see a lot of difference between them refusing to taste something because there's blood on a plate than tasting something that you know has potential backwash in it.  I don't think a little bit of alcohol and/or heat (not boiling water, just cooking heat) make what they're doing sanitary.

What makes me laugh/cringe is when chefs/judges refuse to eat poultry they've cut into because it's bloody, but continue to use the same contaminated knife and fork to cut into another component that they do eat.

[AZChristian]

Does anyone else dislike Tiffani Faison as much as I do?  She seems to be VERY full of herself.

[mlp]

7 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Does anyone else dislike Tiffani Faison as much as I do?

Me!  I can't stand her.  I'm actually less enthusiastic about watching Chopped since she became a regular.  

I did enjoy last night's episode.  The two chefs I liked made it to the dessert round and the guy I thought should win did.  The young woman was good but the guy edged her out.  I was happy with the judges' decision.

[RealityCheck]

A new tournament, CHOPPED: ALL AMERICAN SHOWDOWN premieres Tuesday, July 11th at 8PM.

Quote

Chefs from four corners of the country - north, south, east, west - represent their region.

Week 1 (07/11/2023): West
Host: Ted Allen Judges: Gregory Gourdet, Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian

Week 2 (07/18/2023): North
Host: Ted Allen Judges: Eric Adjepong, Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli

Week 3 (07/25/2025): South
Host: Ted Allen Judges: Gregory Gourdet, Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian

Week 4 (08/01/2025): East
Host: Ted Allen Judges: Scott Conant, Cassidee Dabney, Alex Guarnaschelli

Week 5 (08/08/2023): Finale
Host: Ted Allen Judges: Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, Alex Guarnaschelli

I may actually watch this series since Tiffani Faison is not one of the judges.  I stopped watching Chopped when she became a regular on the judging panel.

Edited July 8, 2023 by RealityCheck

[buttersister]

What do you do when 3 out of 5 weeks only have 1 judge you can stomach?

 

[buttersister]

So I tuned into see Gregory and of course, he delivered. Charming. Intelligent, insightful comments. Thank you, GG.

So did Alex and Geoffrey--the obnoxious duo I know them to be (to clarify, they're that way independently). "It's a privilege to cook from that basket." Oh, Alex, shove it. And Geoff pulled out the chopsticks (not for dessert, surprisingly) and looked as stupid as I recall. Also, badda-bing? STFU. And step away from Mauro.

Was that Hosea from season 5 of Top Chef? Why, yes, it was. I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter, dude. Does this means he gets the $50K?

Edited July 12, 2023 by buttersister
Good advice for Zakarian