The Shows of 2016: New Year, New Chefs, Same Sob Stories

[Minicatfall]

15 hours ago, cattykit said:

Ah, Food Network.  Because nothing says Cinco de Mayo like a German guest judge.

During the intro, there should have been the following disclaimer:

For product placement only

I guess they edited it out...

[spiderpig]

4 minutes ago, Minicatfall said:

During the intro, there should have been the following disclaimer:

For product placement only

I guess they edited it out...

Could this have something do do with...CHEESE???

This and Hillshire Farm in the same season.  The humanity!

[potatochips]

The Blind Date: I liked this episode for the fun of it. Since none of the contestants were actually chefs, I wasn't expecting professional cooking. But, they did fine. I was glad the first couple got chopped. He was a real jerk and she deserved to be free of his company. I thought the couple that won deserved it. They were the most creative. While they played nicely together, I don't expect any of them to continue to date. 

[mlp]

I thought the blind date idea was really awkward when it started but I ended up enjoying it after the first couple left.  I thought she was very self-centered and he wasn't taking things seriously so they were a bad match.  Many of the dishes those young people came up with looked better than some I've seen made by pros on the show.  The fellow from Australia and his pretty partner seemed interested in each other.  I'd love to know if anything came of it.

[Bastet]

Quote

The Blind Date

I took one look at my program guide's description and kept on channel surfing. 

[spiderpig]

27 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I took one look at my program guide's description and kept on channel surfing. 

At least the contestants were over 12.

[NikSac]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I thought the blind date idea was really awkward when it started but I ended up enjoying it after the first couple left.  I thought she was very self-centered and he wasn't taking things seriously so they were a bad match.  Many of the dishes those young people came up with looked better than some I've seen made by pros on the show.  The fellow from Australia and his pretty partner seemed interested in each other.  I'd love to know if anything came of it.

I agree all the way around. I thought it was fun as long as they don't do it often at all. I was also thankful they didn't save it for some kind of Valentine's day nonsense. It was like 95 degrees here today and somehow this seemed like good trashy summer fun in cooking form.  I'm curious if anything came of any of the pairings other than the first one, because they were just not good together.  The others seemed like they might at least become friends, and I bet that one pair had an awesome trip to Australia even if nothing came of it after that. They sure had a heck of a time with the cooking though. Overcooked scallops, barely got the meatballs cooked, and wayyyy undercooked pastry dough.

[Wings]

It was fun for a change. Interesting that 2 of the couples are going on a second date.  

[backformore]

I was cringing throughout the "Blind Date"  episode.   I hope it's not going to be an ongoing thing.  The competition is tough enough without having to communicate with someone and negotiate what to make, and splitting the tasks.  But the show was nowhere near as bad as I feared. 

   The guy in the first-chopped team was a jerk.  Model/actor with that bird-like face?   He had an attitude about his partner from the start. 

[xaxat]

Santana looks just like a woman I dated twenty years ago. It was kind of uncanny.

[grisgris]

I was kind of meh about the whole blind date concept. Talk about pressure. Not only are you on a blind date, but on national TV as well as having to cook on the fly. The first couple that got the boot was terrible. I thought the two remaining couples were kind of cute and seemed to have a lot of chemistry. Hope something worked out for them; a celebratory or conciliatory cup of coffee and friendship would be a good start. Pinterest recipe board pals?

[spiderpig]

On 5/18/2016 at 10:13 PM, Bastet said:

I took one look at my program guide's description and kept on channel surfing. 

At least the contestants were over 12.

[spiderpig]

The summer basket episode 5/24/16. Kill me now.

Two female chefs, Penelope Cruz and Rosie the Riveter, with the most annoying speaking affection everrrrrr?  Vocal fry. 

It drives me nuts.

[cattykit]

9 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The summer basket episode 5/24/16. Kill me now.

Two female chefs, Penelope Cruz and Rosie the Riveter, with the most annoying speaking affection everrrrrr?  Vocal fry. 

It drives me nuts.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one irritated by the vocal fry.  And headwrap Rosie said she is the sister of previous winner Corwin.  I only remember him because he, IIRC, was one of the most obnoxious, arrogant cheftestants to win on this show.    Bearded dude might not have vocal fry (do any men ever?), but his delusions of grandeur and sucking up to GZ made me want to slap him.  Sucks that he won.

[jcbrown]

The voices didn't bug me so much but I hated every contestant anyway. What a bunch of egomaniacal unpleasant people! The men both proclaimed themselves the greatest chefs on the planet, the woman who went to the dessert round talked about how beautiful she was, and the head scarf woman thought she was incredibly cute. I wanted all these special snowflakes to lose.

[spiderpig]

catty & jc, you're right on the money. I couldn't tell you what any of the four cooked because they all had such grating personalities.

I hope Ted got hazardous duty pay.

Geoffrey - that jacket/tie combination was all sorts of NO!

[GaT]

19 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The summer basket episode 5/24/16. Kill me now.

Two female chefs, Penelope Cruz and Rosie the Riveter, with the most annoying speaking affection everrrrrr?  Vocal fry. 

It drives me nuts.

Did you notice that during the first round Rosie drank directly from a straw in the basket ingredient drink, & in the final round Penelope double dipped her spoon into a bowl of something. And they both used them in the dish. Not a word from the judges.

[spiderpig]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

Did you notice that during the first round Rosie drank directly from a straw in the basket ingredient drink, & in the final round Penelope double dipped her spoon into a bowl of something. And they both used them in the dish. Not a word from the judges.

Yes!  Annoying, gross and not talented - what more could we ask for in Chopped 2.0?

[backformore]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

Did you notice that during the first round Rosie drank directly from a straw in the basket ingredient drink, & in the final round Penelope double dipped her spoon into a bowl of something. And they both used them in the dish. Not a word from the judges.

I did notice the Penelope woman stirring with a fork, tasting from that fork, and then putting the fork back in to stir some more.  That bothered me. 

I agree that they were all unlikeable.  The one guy who complimented Geoffrey's STYLE - when he was wearing the worst outfit I have ever seen him in. (Geoffrey, are you colorblind?)  Ugh.  

We had spicy Latina cooking Latin food, bearded overweight hipster dude, and squeaky-voice woman who only makes desserts - Are they only taking contestants who can fit a stereotype? 

[spiderpig]

Since I believe in equal opportunity snark:

First guy to get eliminated - what was with all that weird glassy-eyed grinning? Had he been tapping the Chopped pantry bar?

As for Chopped Champion, two words:  BEARD NET.

[cooksdelight]

I quit watching Chopped, all version, except the old reruns that come on at noon each weekday. That is why I fell in love with this show, and today's shows are why I fell out of love. I want to see real chefs create food that looks interesting and tastes good. When I saw it was a blind date episode, I just shook my head.

[Maverick]

 I'm glad I missed the blind date episode.  When Trading Spaces went all gimmicky in its final days, one of the last (possible THE last and definitely the worst) ideas they tried was blind dates.  I think Chopped is about done for.

[paramitch]

On 5/28/2016 at 8:42 AM, cooksdelight said:

I quit watching Chopped, all version, except the old reruns that come on at noon each weekday. That is why I fell in love with this show, and today's shows are why I fell out of love. I want to see real chefs create food that looks interesting and tastes good. When I saw it was a blind date episode, I just shook my head.

I thought the episode was honestly surprisingly fun and tasteful. The couples had clearly (through their video packages) been linked up through real genuine potential to find common ground -- the couple with the military/ambassadorial childhoods, for instance, etc. All the couples even had taste preferences and culinary approaches in common. (Compare that with the "Bachelor/ette" shows, in which everyone is... young, and hot.)

On the "blind date" approach -- while I do not want them to do this constantly, I was impressed with the amount of prep and research and overall, the contestants came off as nice people. It was fun to watch some of them find common ground, and I came off wishing 3 of the 4 couples well, and even that 2 of the 4 might find real relationships. So I didn't mind it.

[justjen]

I just recently started watching Chopped (my cooking can best be described as "chemical warfare," but I recently made a pot of edible chile so I'm all about Food Network now).  Is it REQUIRED that all contestants introduce their food with the same basic stilted sentence "I made for you today..."/"Today I made for you..."? Even the kids use that sentence! Also I automatically root against anyone who says "flavor profile" or who cooks for celebrities and name drops. 

Edited June 8, 2016 by justjen

[Grommet]

When I feed my cats now, I say "Cats, tonight I have for you Weruva Funky Chicken with a garnish of Blue Buffalo kibble." I then tell them my inspiration for the dish, which is usually to get them to stop meowing at me to feed them.

[justjen]

3 hours ago, Grommet said:

When I feed my cats now, I say "Cats, tonight I have for you Weruva Funky Chicken with a garnish of Blue Buffalo kibble." I then tell them my inspiration for the dish, which is usually to get them to stop meowing at me to feed them.

I adore this! Tonight I may tell my cats, "Tonight I have for you a play on Iams Mature Adult Hairball Care because I bought the wrong thing. I realize it is (probably) missing an ingredient and you are professional cats, but I don't think you'll notice."

[cooksdelight]

To my dog: Tonight, I have for you a bowl of Mighty Dog beef pate. Because I know you will eat anything put in front of you. Even squirrel tartare.

To my cats: Tonight, you have before you Friskies Shreds with Cheese. Because I know never to give you the pate. Never the pate.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

To my dog: Tonight, I have for you a bowl of Mighty Dog beef pate. Because I know you will eat anything put in front of you. Even squirrel tartare.

To my cats: Tonight, you have before you Friskies Shreds with Cheese. Because I know never to give you the pate. Never the pate.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

[Grommet]

So true about the pate!

[cattykit]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

To my cats: Tonight, you have before you Friskies Shreds with Cheese. Because I know never to give you the pate. Never the pate.

If I give mon petit chat Friskies Shreds with Cheese, he licks the sauce and leaves the shreds.  Because he is dentally challenged, always the pate.

This week's episode had no gimmicks, twists, drama, or sob stories.  I say, I say, WTF is wrong with FN?????  Where's the Chopped I've learned to love to hate?

[Bastet]

To really emulate Chopped (or Top Chef) contestants, I'd have to present food to the cats by saying, "Tonight, we've prepared for you ..." even though I had no help in opening the can.

What the hell is that?  I've just watched them cook alone from start to finish, so who comprises this "we" stuff?  Maybe a holdover from their restaurant kitchen, where it's a group effort, but it sounds so stupid.

[cooksdelight]

I'm waiting for someone to do a Jimmy (Seinfeld reference).

"So, Jimmy made this delicious plate of food for you. Jimmy knows you'll love it. Jimmy can cook."

[Bastet]

Quote

 

I'm waiting for someone to do a Jimmy (Seinfeld reference).

"So, Jimmy made this delicious plate of food for you. Jimmy knows you'll love it. Jimmy can cook."

 

I'd like a "George likes his chicken spicy" retort to one of the judges complaining about the heat level.

Quote

This week's episode had no gimmicks, twists, drama, or sob stories.

Damn, I should have watched.  The last time I tried tuning in, it was the blind date thing, and I tuned right back out.

[Darth Nigel]

Seems like the last few episodes have had episode-specific opening credits.  I think that the only chefs we see in the opening montage are the chefs on that night's show.  Certainly true for the "scotch egg" one and the one before that.  Wonder why?

[mlp]

^^^ I've noticed that too.  Also Ted's voice over introductory comments are slightly different.  I just figured it was a new "season" and they'd changed things a bit.

[spiderpig]

When they say "I made for you today..." I so long for somebody to say "I made for you last week, and thawed off-camera..."

[Totale]

On 6/9/2016 at 4:08 PM, cooksdelight said:

Because I know never to give you the pate. Never the pate.

We must never speak of the Shreds famine of early 2016, where for several weeks all flavors of Shreds were inexplicably missing from many local stores.  It never got so grim that we had to sink so low as pate, but as you well know Bits and Flakes are no substitute.  We patiently explained this again and again to no avail.

[cooksdelight]

Look for Sourpuss Seymour on FB, my finicky cat. Would YOU feed him pate?

[cattykit]

Given that the producers have assigned shellfish to cheftestants with shellfish allergies, strawberries to cheftestants with strawberry allergies, and meat to vegan chefs, I'm stunned and amazed that they not only didn't make the rabbi cook with bacon, but that the baskets were kosher/pareve (although the kitchen was not).  And the pastor had to have the patience of a saint to agree to be the rabbi's taste tester, each and every time.  They were all ready to take her out, too, when he was short on salt but he admitted she told him the dish needed salt.

The rabbi was annoyingly sure of himself.  And Hava Nagila in a kitchen?  How stereotypical.  I was surprised they chopped the nun in the second round since it really seemed to me as if they liked what she had produced.  Another casualty of not seeing their deliberations.  Do they not get that they are boring their viewers away?

Edited June 23, 2016 by cattykit

[Wings]

I missed that show, not sure why...hmmmmm

Do not apply to go on Chopped if you can't eat certain foods for any reason!   Arrogant self involved man to assume another would taste for him.   

Edited June 23, 2016 by wings707

[nitrofishblue]

The rabbi was a pain in the a** with his "not a kosher" kitchen. Glad that the pastor lady won. She seemed like a really nice person. You could tell right away that the father was going to be gone in the first round.

[spiderpig]

^Agree with everything said above.

Every time the rabbi opened his mouth (not to condescend to taste, of course) I groaned "Oh, shut UP!"  If you want to keep kosher in your home or restaurant or cave or whatever - fine.  But don't go on a competitive cooking show and whine about the kitchen.

[justjen]

I'm Jewish(ish) and every single time the Rabbi spoke I was like, "This is why people hate us." Does he realize he's not 80 years old?

I decided I only like when actual chefs compete and there isn't a weird gimmick, but I don't like when one of the chef's can't taste an ingredient for some reason. Aren't there forms they have to fill out within the casting process? I'm sure that chef's with some specific food allergy can be moved to a different episode.

[cooksdelight]

2 hours ago, justjen said:

I'm Jewish(ish) and every single time the Rabbi spoke I was like, "This is why people hate us." Does he realize he's not 80 years old?

I decided I only like when actual chefs compete and there isn't a weird gimmick, but I don't like when one of the chef's can't taste an ingredient for some reason. Aren't there forms they have to fill out within the casting process? I'm sure that chef's with some specific food allergy can be moved to a different episode.

Yes, having applied a couple of times for their home cook version, they specifically ask if you have food allergies. I think they put out the stuff people are allergic to on purpose just to fuck with them and see how they'll handle it. If I ever do make it on the show, I hope Scott Connat is there and I can toss around some raw onions with truffle oil, then not serve it, but make him think I might.

[spiderpig]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

Yes, having applied a couple of times for their home cook version, they specifically ask if you have food allergies. I think they put out the stuff people are allergic to on purpose just to fuck with them and see how they'll handle it. If I ever do make it on the show, I hope Scott Connat is there and I can toss around some raw onions with truffle oil, then not serve it, but make him think I might.

Throw in some red bell peppers for me, Delight.

[MajorWoody]

I thought the religious episode was not that bad. I'm not even a religious type, but what I enjoyed was the lack of snark and the fact that it seemed like they actually cared about each other. I did think they had rather easy baskets for the most part. It's funny how three of the four stated they would donate their winnings to charity if they won, and the eventual winner was the only one who said she would spend it on a vacation. 

 

Much better than a kids edition, or some of the other cheap competitions they have dreamed up.

[justjen]

This just occurred to me on my way into work, but prisoners would probably do really well with all of the mystery ingredients. Maybe they could do a cross-over show with Lockup on MSNBC!

[Wings]

The religious episode just showed up on my DVR.  As an atheist I probably should have skipped this one.  LOL!

Believe as you choose and keep it to yourself, I do.  You never (rarely) hear those who believe in law of attraction (etc) throw that in the face of others.  Throw, you might argue is too strong a word.  Not for me.  They had to make comments at every turn.  

Very easy boxes.

Tom said it was refreshing to see everyone so nice to each other or something like that.  I have seen MANY episodes where the chefs were helpful and kind to each other. It is the norm, not the exception.  That comment was nonsense.   

Yes they were nice but it came across as saccharine and forced to me.  

I am thrilled that the woman who was going to vacation won!  No sanctimonious donation to charity for her! 

Oh and the nun who said she did not marry because she would not be able to do charity work.  On come on, no one asked you!  I raised 2 boys and worked tirelessly rescuing dogs.  

On 6/24/2016 at 7:20 AM, justjen said:

 

I'm Jewish(ish) and every single time the Rabbi spoke I was like, "This is why people hate us." Does he realize he's not 80 years old?

 

Ha ha ha ha ha!  I don't hate you but I hated that rabbi!  Taste your own food or stay off cooking shows.  What as ass. 

[backformore]

Yeah, I want to be on the religious version of Chopped and proclaim myself to be a high priestess in the Church of Secular Humanism.  

[mlp]

First episode of the new BBQ competition............................ I wish we could have seen more of the Napa venue.  Wherever they are is absolutely gorgeous.

I never would have recognized Chad from FNS a few seasons back if they hadn't said his name.  He's a good-looking guy without that long, greasy hair.  I ended up rooting for him because the other finalist was just too weird and sweaty.  He must be good to have won all those major accolades but yuck.

I was delighted when they eliminated the red-haired girl.  She just couldn't talk herself up enough.