S12.E06: Good Mythical Morning

[spiderpig]

8 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Who are "Medusa and Kermit"?

Suzy and Bob, former FN executives who would sit in judgement at the infamous Vajayjay Table of Doom.  A lot of us were fond of them - Suzy had this mad mass of curls (Medusa) and Bob looked like a Muppet (Kermit).

[Gregg247]

At least the 3 minute segments with the YouTube guys showed off each contestants' ability to roll with the punches during a broadcast.  I wish we'd go back to having the contestants cook and present to a large group of people (holding the Dials of Doom).  That seemed to separate the true contenders from the wannabees on this show.

In regards to Jennard's grandfather and his 32 kids, Jennard did say that his grandfather was married twice, inferring that all 32 were by his 2 wives.  My grandfather was one of 19 children, back in the late 1800s.  His family was large by necessity-it took a lot of hands to run a family farm in those days.  I'll bet Jennard's grandfather was in the same boat. (Incidently, I don't know how my grandfather felt about living in a house with 18 siblings, but when he grew up, he and my grandmother only had one child-my father!).

[candall]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

Having watched the entire season so far, does anyone think they've kept Joy around just to exploit her mom-style, not-so-sophisticated cooking?  Because all her comments seem to come off as ignorant about certain types of food.  And being grossed out about most types. 

Oh, but that's Joy's cutesy gimmick--Ah've never heard tell of the stuff on that sad of the board.  Sticking her with kimchi bread pudding was nice karma.  (Hush puppies made a smart compromise, though!)

 

Does having nine kids blind you to the fact that fathering 32 kids is likely to be viewed today as appalling and irresponsible?  Is he proud of his family's "fruitful" tradition or does he think Gramps will deflect the risk of someone tsk-tsking about nine?

 

Rob rendered mute about whether his dish worked was just as strange as Ana forgetting the word "asparagus."  Are these people strung out and sleep deprived, like the Project Runway crash test dummies?

[cooksdelight]

No, they have a day between challenges. They get plenty of downtime to rest and relax.

Joy is a former Miss NC USA. There's no talent required. I'll show myself out......

[backformore]

9 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

In regards to Jennard's grandfather and his 32 kids, Jennard did say that his grandfather was married twice, inferring that all 32 were by his 2 wives.

OK, but then when he referenced "Papa was a Rolling Stone"  I think he implied something different. 

Edited June 28, 2016 by backformore
ETA because I really DO know the difference between infer and imply

[Surrealist]

When I think of edible art, none of it looks like anything these contestants put out. 

I would have been fine with a double elimination of Rob and Ana.

[Court]

I'm annoyed Ana and Damiano are still there. They only liked Ana's food in the first challenge. Both of her presentations were bad and she didn't really use radish in the second. That was also an easy combo. Radish and eggs Benedict.

[Aquarius]

When Joy got the kimchi and then bread pudding, I was actually thinking that wouldn't be too hard a combination.  As backformore said, a savory bread pudding with flavors to complement the "spicy sauerkraut" qualities would have worked.  But no!  Yuck!  Ick!  Kimchi!!  What does anyone even USE kimchi for?!  Joy is completely annoying and I was so hoping she'd go home. 

Since when do women wear their boobs on the outside of their bikinis? That plate was something I truly didn't get.  And how hard is it to incorporate radish into an egg benedict?  Why go the full-on crab cake route?  So many mysteries with Ana's performance, none of them fun.  Just like Ana.

The Chef of Love (did he work at South Park Elementary at some point?) can just go too.  Every time I hear 9 kids, 32 kids, even 5 kids, all I can think about is overpopulation and get all judge-y inside.  I don't like when I get like that.

My husband and I used to enjoy watching this show as light Sunday summer viewing.  But sadly, last night my husband informed me he is out.  He will no longer watch, even to snark with me about it later.  :-(  Damn you, Food Network!  Damn you!

I have to say, though, after hearing Bobby Flay give Tregaye props for not letting the "fleek nation pledge" question throw her - "she just made one up!" he exclaimed admiringly - I might have to quit soon too.  It might be too much.

Good Mythical Morning + watchable Food Network Star.  Will it?  The answer is "No."

Edited June 27, 2016 by Aquarius

[GaT]

1 hour ago, spiderpig said:

Suzy and Bob, former FN executives 

Bob Tuschman is gone, but Susie Fogelson is still at FN

[jumper sage]

This show is a joke.  As I look into my crystal ball I see Damiano getting pretty close to the end but will not win.  This is because Giada likes him and needs him to be dependent on her.  Just by the way she looks at him tells me something is/was going on outside the show.

This last challenge was just too stupid.  I don't get what the point was.  Are they saying a chef should lie and pretend his dish is to die for?  I would rather a chef/cook tel me, "Don't eat that".

[cooksdelight]

Quote

The Chef of Love (did he work at South Park Elementary at some point?

OMG, yes!!!!!! He's the school lunchroom chef!! He should have called himself the South Park Chef and came in singing "I'm going to take you down......"

[dahling]

A few have addressed it, but I came here specifically to address the howler monkey laughing by Giada and Bobby.  What the ever-loving hell?  Were they sucking nitrous oxide between takes?  Because I'm here to tell them and the world: it ain't that funny.  None of it.  It makes me feel like either they're not showing me the funny parts, or they're just trying too hard to make me think it's funny. Like a 2-man laugh track. I am dangerously close to being "out", and I have watched every episode of this show that has ever been. It's been fun summer stuff.  Now there are no obvious front-runners, the cooking is meh, and the challenges are insipid. And, knowing that there's really nothing at stake (Justin, Cowboy, many others who never got their "prize") really gives it no sense of purpose. It's a stupid dog chasing its tail and cackling like it's funny.

[HappyDancex2]

Is anyone here a black female between the ages of 25-30?  I just realized I don't have a real life point of reference for the antics of Tregaye.  She seems very cartoony to me as if she is trying to mold herself into an acceptable version of a sassy black woman for food tv.  I would like to know if it is authentic or not.  I just can't get my mind around all of the fleek crap because I don't know anyone who uses this archaic word.  White, black, young, old, broad demographics...it just seems like this is a POV bubble.

[Rick Kitchen]

fleek is a word used in contemporary slang, but it's being used far too much by Tregaye.

[spiderpig]

1 hour ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Is anyone here a black female between the ages of 25-30?  I just realized I don't have a real life point of reference for the antics of Tregaye.  She seems very cartoony to me as if she is trying to mold herself into an acceptable version of a sassy black woman for food tv.  I would like to know if it is authentic or not.  I just can't get my mind around all of the fleek crap because I don't know anyone who uses this archaic word.  White, black, young, old, broad demographics...it just seems like this is a POV bubble.

I was waiting for someone else to bring this up, because it's kind of dangerous territory.  But Tregaye perpetuates the negative stereotype of an overly-loud African-American in-your-face woman.  (I'm looking at you, Sunny Anderson.)  Hell's Kitchen does it too.  You don't have to scream at me to voice your opinion.  I blame the producers for highlighting this over actual cooking skills.  They don't seem to give the same prompting/emphasis to mouthy Caucasians.

ETA the food shows always exploit racial/ethnic/social-level contestants.  Asians whose parents look down on their career choice.  LGBT who were picked on.  The whole SINGLE PARENT thing. It's tiresome.  It exists all over the world, but I hate the talking-head emphasis on the chef's orientation and background above their cooking skills.

Edited June 27, 2016 by spiderpig

[Passing Strange]

3 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

In regards to Jennard's grandfather and his 32 kids, Jennard did say that his grandfather was married twice, inferring that all 32 were by his 2 wives.  My grandfather was one of 19 children, back in the late 1800s.  His family was large by necessity-it took a lot of hands to run a family farm in those days.  I'll bet Jennard's grandfather was in the same boat. (Incidently, I don't know how my grandfather felt about living in a house with 18 siblings, but when he grew up, he and my grandmother only had one child-my father!).

I'm just guessing that his grandfather was an adult well into the 1900s, since Jernard is only 37. He did say his grandfather had been married twice and I understood him to mean all the children were with his two wives. That's part of what made the kind of wink-wink reference to Papa being a rolling stone seem stupid to me. The Papa in that song was a womanizing drunkard and a thief, who didn't take care of his family. Jernard seems to think siring a lot of kids is some kind of accomplishment, which--rabbits.

[candall]

I was going to snark about Giada being so obvious with her crush object, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.  I can't tell how fluent Damiano's English is, maybe she's just being extra encouraging to someone working with a language handicap.

I have to say, though, there's a contestant on Big Brother who speaks unaccented English and whoo-boy, he can switch on the thick, hot Latino accent at the drop of a hat, which is amusing because he's openly laughing at his own flirtation game.

Marteeeta burned me; I have trust issues.

[Totale]

By the by (I'll put this here since no one reads the FN board in the Network Talk section down there on the wrong side of the tracks) did anyone else notice that Duff was described in his onscreen legend as the host of "The Worst Bakers in America"?  First I heard of it, and that's one spin-off I won't be watching.  I don't bake myself, rarely eat sweets and don't get anything out of watching others do either, and Duff sits right up there on the annoying scale next to Fietti and the big blonde with the horror hair who's name I can't summon forth right now.

 

ETA: Anne Burrrell.  I thought of it no matter how hard I tried to block her out.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Totale

[Joe Blow]

I’ve watched every “The Next Food Network Star” from the beginning.

It’s weird when people miss Bob & Susie -- they were the ones that ruined this show!  The forced stories, the forced point-of-views, the forced unrehearsed camera challenges, etc – everything!

When it started, it wasn’t quite as clear the show was just about ratings.  But that became clear pretty quickly.  Even if the contestants haven’t already been on multiple boring broadcast TV shows, they’ve been on boring podcasts. 

It’s the FOOD network.  No one wants to see boxed cornbread muffins with *get this* canned jalapenos.  No one wants to see greens cooked in a pound of bacon grease.  No one wants to see someone boiling a whole lobster (or crawfish) live and pouring some butter over it..

***

I do want to see pretentious hipster guys come up with absolutely nothing entertaining, though..

Edited June 27, 2016 by Joe Blow

[smiley13]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

Kimchee did not have to be paired with a SWEET bread pudding, Joy should have made a savory bread pudding, it could have brought out the tangy/spicy flavor, she could have added a little meat to it, and had a really good dish.   Both Joy and Ana didn't like their task, so they basically tried to do something else.   Damiano has done that on past episodes, but Giada pretty much will let him-a do-a anything-a he wants-a.

What exactly is a "savory" bread pudding?

[smiley13]

6 hours ago, bluepiano said:

I've written about this before. It's annoying that Joy seems proud of the ignorance/contempt she has regarding non-American foods. I get that southern comfort food is her "POV" and what her show would be about. But if you are a food professional you at least show respect for other kinds of cuisines that are eaten and enjoyed by millions of people. And because FN rotates their "stars" through different shows, it's not unheard of for someone to have to cook, or at least be able to talk about, a food that is not in their wheelhouse.

Joy is probably a reasonably nice person, but her "ooh, that's icky" act makes her come across as the entitled prom queen/pageant winner she probably was. And why am I need surprised that she performed on cruise ships. Probably Disney I would guess?

And did you know she has 5 kids? And Jennard has 9?

I see none of that in Joy.  The entitled acting one is Ana.

And I would rather see someone give their true impression of a food than to put on a fake act about it.

[jcbrown]

I thought Joy said she was making a savory bread pudding for the kimchi. I really wanted her deliberately ignorant ass gone this week. I had to keep saying "shut up, Joy" over and over again this episode. A woman who makes a macaroni smiley face and who is afraid of kimchi is someone they think we want to watch?

BTW, one of the things I recently started doing it putting kimchi on hot dogs. Delicious!

[smiley13]

14 minutes ago, jcbrown said:

 A woman who makes a macaroni smiley face and who is afraid of kimchi is someone they think we want to watch?

I would watch her.

A smiley face beats egg boobs anyday.

[spiderpig]

13 minutes ago, jcbrown said:

BTW, one of the things I recently started doing it putting kimchi on hot dogs. Delicious!

Mr. pig and I were in Seoul when panel trucks were all over the place offloading cabbage for the locals to make kim chi.  We both said the same thing:  "Body Snatchers!"  It was like delivering pods to the populace in the movies.

Love the movies (56 and 78 versions).

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, smiley13 said:

What exactly is a "savory" bread pudding?

When you sub salt with sugar in the mix.  It's great to make with leftovers - especially after Christmas or Thanksgiving.

[Pallida]

I think savory bread puddings tend to be eggier too. (I don't like eggs, so I'm biased.)

I found several recipes for savory bread pudding with sauerkraut so I'm sure another person could have done far better on this challenge. 

[RHJunkie]

Treygaye's onscreen presence is annoying to me when she's dealing directly with the camera. It seems too put on. Funnily enough, I enjoy her as a reality cast member seeing her in her element of reacting to what's going on around her. I find her reactions and commentaries are enjoyable but her personality doesn't translate as authentic to me in her selling segments. Not sure I'd watch a show featuring her.  Though I do think she does well in a format such as in this challenge where she was bouncing off the energy of the others on screen. She's quick witted and vibes naturally. Liked it much better than her 'fleek' segments. I felt that Anna and Jernard lucked out most with their ingredient combinations. 

Anna's cooking saves her each week but at some point you're going to near the end of this show and end up a contestant that can't cut a promo to save her life. What then? Others have gone home for far less than Anna's consistent screw ups in front of the camera. A great chef having a bad week is likely to rebound than someone who each week shows the same flaws in her presentations. Not sure how Anna improved as Bobby suggested. She still lost her train of thought, had a lot of dead air and was cold as usual. For the second challenge, I thought it seemed awkward because it seemed obvious that she was just relying on her womanly experience of talking to men. 

[Aquarius]

2 hours ago, smiley13 said:

What exactly is a "savory" bread pudding?

Ever hear of strata? 

http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/savory-bread-pudding

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/savory-bread-pudding-with-mushrooms-and-parmesan-cheese-236494

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/85714/savory-rosemary-bread-pudding/

[smiley13]

7 minutes ago, Aquarius said:

Ever hear of strata? 

 

Strata is an egg dish though, not a bread pudding.

[Aquarius]

5 minutes ago, smiley13 said:

Strata is an egg dish though, not a bread pudding.

As Pallida said above, savory bread puddings are eggier.  Strata is considered a savory bread pudding.  Certainly more of a bread pudding than a hush puppy.  Which if Joy knew anything about cooking, she would know.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Aquarius

[grisgris]

It won't.

What the fresh hell did I just watch? It seemed like a mash-up of "Chopped," "Cake Wars" and "Cutthroat Kitchen."

First of all, with the exception of "The Kitchen" (and I'm really stretching here) none of the existing FN shows address food trends, which I guess now involve food art. My point being, other than throwing a few presentation tips here and there, none of the other show hosts go to great detail to create masterpieces on the plates. I also thought that having Duff as the judge was an odd choice. I've watched many of his cake shows and it seems to me that all of his employees do the hands-on creative work and Duff just delivers the final product as his work. So for that challenge, FAIL.

Next, those two hipster doofuses could leave at any time. It make me a bit weepy that Matthew didn't survive the comeback show to throw him in with those two losers. They could have all tried to out-douche one another. Yeah, I also didn't get what was causing Bobby and Giada to giggle so hysterically during the assignment of the horrible food combos. Giada's squeaky giggle is working my last nerve.

The disappointment on Bobby's face that Rob wasn't the second coming of Guy Fie"dd"i after all was truly heartbreaking. Dude deserved to go. It was the second week in a row that it was clear that he was disgusted with and lacked enthusiasm towards whatever he made. If Sandra Lee could taste some of her horrible concoctions with a straight face (most of the time) and proclaim "sodalicious," then the big lug could have sucked it up and at least pretended that whatever he made was worth trying.

I fail to understand why Ana keeps sliding by. Bobby seems very enamored with her cooking (and maybe her ... she's blonde after all.) She has zero camera presence and I'm still shocked that she was on a Real Housewives franchise show. Those women have some moxie and are major fame whores. Not this one.

Seriously. Joy had never heard of kimchee? It seems like she has a very narrow exposure to food as well as major fear and disdain of anything new, especially them "fer-in" ingredients. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a "food authority."

Damiano is an arrogant jerk. It was pretty funny (and embarrassing) to watch him interact with the YouTube dudes. He either doesn't have a good enough grasp or English to comprehend the challenge or he's just dumb. Either way, he doesn't belong in front of the camera hosting a show, especially if nobody can understand him.

"On Fleek" can go at any time. The problem is, she actually seems pretty good on all fronts. She just needs to tone the cutesy sass and catch phrases WAY DOWN. "Love Chef" and his not-so-subtle sexual innuendos can also hit the door any day now. I really don't care to watch somebody prepare food where every dish comes across as having aphrodisiac potential. Thirty-two kids? No thanks and I don't want to get started by following one of his recipes.

I get the impression that having one's own show is no longer a done deal, so why not make the hoops to jump through as ridiculous as possible?  I can also see on the other side why people like Ana, aren't trying that hard to win. As somebody else mentioned, this show just seems like entertainment these daysand injects a huge much needed boost into FN's summer ratings and advertising revenue. Seriously, this year there is not one rootable contestant.

[akr]

I thought kimchi & bread pudding would really work! My only concern would have been the moisture content of the kimchi - probably either squeeze it out some, and/or fry it for a bit first, like you would for kimchi fried rice. Kimchi pancakes are standard, but I didn't even remember that when I was thinking about how good a kimchi bread pudding would be. 

And then Erin pronounced quesadilla with the "dill" just like the herb...expertise, eh? Makes me think she just knows how to decorate cakes, & would find Taco Bell to be exotic and unfamiliar territory.

[bluepiano]

5 hours ago, Joe Blow said:

It’s weird when people miss Bob & Susie -- they were the ones that ruined this show!  The forced stories, the forced point-of-views, the forced unrehearsed camera challenges, etc – everything!

I'm with you to a point, as I used to post on the forums how Bob and Susie were driving me nuts with their insistence on some family or human interest story for every dish, and especially trying to force contestants to stay in narrow (usually ethnic) boxes.

But the sudden nostalgia for B&S, which I'm guilty of too, shows you just how bad this season is. For all their faults, Bob and Susie did at least maintain the illusion that this show was serious about finding a qualified "food authority"  And that it wasn't just about filling a 60 minute summer time slot with a bunch of reality TV fame whores doing dumb food-related stunts for the amusement of the judges. (Bobby and Giada with their non-stop guffawing have become completely insufferable.)

And like someone wrote earlier, it's a touchy subject, but Jennard and Tregaye seem to be intentionally playing to white stereotypes of the sassy black woman and the "smoove" jiving black man. I can't blame them, as long as Bobby and Giada keep eating up the act. And this week Bobby decided to actually participate in and encourage it. But I still can't help feel that they are laughing "at' rather than 'with' them. It's like Bobby wants Jennard to be his comic sidekick. Kind of weird

I think that Bob and Susie would've at least told them that all the fleekin' and poppin' was hurting their chances to be taken seriously as a potential FN show host.

Edited June 28, 2016 by bluepiano

[cattykit]

I have loathed the smell of kimchi since I first encountered it the year I spent in South Korea.  But I know I am finicky--probably 95% of what is produced on cooking competition shows is food I'd never be willing to try.  Doesn't stop me from watching but almost never makes me hungry.  :)   I don't like kimchi for the smell and I don't like bread pudding for the texture, so the only thing that sounded more disgusting to me was the octopus mac and cheese.  Reminds me of that guy who claims to cure obesity by having you mentally associate disgusting things with food you actually like.

I didn't like Ana at first and now I don't actually mind her.  She doesn't act like this is the be-all and end-all of her universe and therefore isn't playing silly games.

BF's laughs look about as real as Ed McMahon braying at Johnny Carson's jokes (for those old enough to remember).  I.e., he got paid to laugh, phony as a three dollar bill.  And all the personality traits that he and LBH are demanding of the finalists (I refuse to call them cheftestants) are traits neither one of them demonstrates on their own shows.  BF does not laugh or tell stories; he just goes out and competently cooks.  While I am glad we're not constantly hearing about POV or demands for personal stories, we're also not getting any consistency from any of the participants.  They're just adapting as best they can to the wacky challenge of the day.  I have no idea what any one of these people could contribute.

And how fair is it to compare a fucking tuna melt, which even I can do, to someone who had to make cantaloupe spaghetti or octopus mac and cheese?

Maybe Rob would have had a longer tenure if, say, he didn't always look like he just rolled off a park bench?

[Kenz]

I fast forwarded through this mess. All of these contestants are boring or act fakey. I'll delete the remaining shows from my DVR.

 I'm sure that people have mentioned this before, but Giada's body size confounds me. How do all of her organs fit into that teeny tiny space? I feel the same way about Kelly Ripa. They both wear skin tight dresses, and I swear that their spread out hand size matches their waist size, and it's kind of disturbing. I'm sure they are proud of their tininess, though, so I probably shouldn't comment.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Kenz

[BW Manilowe]

12 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Suzy and Bob, former FN executives who would sit in judgement at the infamous Vajayjay Table of Doom.  A lot of us were fond of them - Suzy had this mad mass of curls (Medusa) and Bob looked like a Muppet (Kermit).

Bob's definitely gone; he left earlier this year & it was reported in the entertainment-related media (I think I posted the article link about him leaving FN in the Media thread). Do we know for sure Suzy's gone too? I know I've never read anything about it or I'd have brought the link to the Media thread, like when Bob left.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 6/27/2016 at 1:46 AM, spiderpig said:

I detest Tregaye's shouting, pointing, fleeking and gyrating.  She's a grown woman and it isn't cute.  Bobby and LBH seem to think she's the bee's knees, though.

The cooking gimmicks continue to get more ridiculous. When the two youtube guys said they didn't think fish and cheese were supposed to be served together - um duh! - Jernard's dish was supposed to combine ahi and a patty melt.  What was he supposed to melt - candlewax?  (Actually, I thought his sandwich looked the tastiest of all the drivel that they were forced to come up with.)

Joy had to bring up her five kids, of course.  At least she's not in MasterChef/Chopped territory with "single-mom syndrome".  Yet.  But kim chi bread pudding was just nuts. No win situation.

I thought Ana was Most Improved this week.  Her eggs benedict bikini showed she had a sense of humor, even if it doesn't come across much on cam.

Italian speakers: is Damino's exaggerated accent legit (ending every other word with ah, like food-ah and meatball-ah), or is he exaggerating it as a stereotype.  Italian's a beautiful language, but I keep wondering if Damiano is playing us a bit.

The first week we thought Lunch Lady Rob was a shoo-in, but he really choked in the past couple of weeks.  I just checked on the FN website (it's 10:45pm Pacific) and Salvation isn't up yet.

 

On 6/27/2016 at 3:58 AM, Suzy123 said:

I CANNOT stand Damiano. I feel like he has no sense of humor and takes things way too literally. I honestly still think he is in the game because of Giada. She has this creepy Cheshire cat grin every time she sees him. 

Erin can go, too. Her "cutesy" act is getting old and yes, we know you are a baker.

Damiano and his cartoon character accent are driving me to drink. I don't think he's good looking or charming, and his accent reminds me of the kind of comedians who were big in the 60's who made ethnic jokes.

Erin I can forgive for always saying she's a baker, since she gets dinged if she doesn't. Same with Joy's five or Jennard's nine kids. You just know that the judges are whining "we want a story! why didn't you tell us about your famileeeeeee!" Gag.

21 hours ago, allypenguin said:

I thought Joy was incredibly immature and ignorant when working with the kimchi. The way she was gagging at the kimchi smell had me rolling my eyes, you'd think it was the worst thing on earth. If you're on this show purportedly to be a "food authority" can you really poopoo foods that you haven't tried before, doesn't that seem pretty close-minded? Also kimchi is basically a staple in so many households. I'm not even Korean, and my family makes our own kimchi. Walk into any Korean sushi place, or KBBQ and they'll give it to you before the main course. While I've never tried kimchi with sweet combinations, like bread pudding, and understand it would've been an extremely hard challenge, it's not like kimchi doesn't mesh well with other flavours. Personally, kimchi fries is one of my favourite snacks, and is super trendy right now. I've never met anyone in my life who had such a visceral, over the top reaction to kimchi in my life.

 

14 hours ago, smiley13 said:

What exactly is a "savory" bread pudding?

I make savory bread pudding all the time, usually for breakfast/brunch on Sundays. Same principle as dessert bread pudding, only I make it with bacon/pancetta, leeks or onions, greens like spinach or kale, and cheese. Its a great "clean out the refrigerator" dish, since you can pretty much use anything you have lying around. I use an 8" baking pan and soak half a loaf of stale bread cubes in 6 eggs mixed with 2 cups of milk or cream or half and half, whatever's on hand. I've never made it with kimchee but I season it with berbere or red pepper flakes, its better if it has a little bite. I was amazed that Joy was so squicked out, I thought she had the easiest task by far!

[smiley13]

16 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

 

I make savory bread pudding all the time, usually for breakfast/brunch on Sundays. Same principle as dessert bread pudding, only I make it with bacon/pancetta, leeks or onions, greens like spinach or kale, and cheese. Its a great "clean out the refrigerator" dish, since you can pretty much use anything you have lying around. I use an 8" baking pan and soak half a loaf of stale bread cubes in 6 eggs mixed with 2 cups of milk or cream or half and half, whatever's on hand. I've never made it with kimchee but I season it with berbere or red pepper flakes, its better if it has a little bite. I was amazed that Joy was so squicked out, I thought she had the easiest task by far!

That sounds like a breakfast casserole to me.

[Aquarius]

Re: Damiano, I am also developing an outright dislike of him.  He does seem either arrogant or stupid - he certainly didn't "get" the challenge or the joking - and on a shallow note I want to shave that stupid James Dean wave off the top of his head. 

A couple of times, I swear I heard some of the other contestants call him "Dumb-iano."  I want to believe that's his nickname on set.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Aquarius

[Pepper Mostly]

32 minutes ago, smiley13 said:

That sounds like a breakfast casserole to me.

I got the original recipe on Epicurious and its called parmesan bread pudding:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/parmesan-bread-pudding-with-broccoli-rabe-and-pancetta-51155230

and last Thanksgiving I made leek bread pudding as a side dish, from Thomas Keller's recipe: (and this thing is KILLER, by the way!)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/leek-bread-pudding-356429

I mean, potato, potahto, bread pudding can be made savory and Joy's horror was misplaced imo.

[srpturtle80]

I didn't totally dislike Rob, but I have to say that him and his capri pants drove me bonkers. I just don't think they look right on men. I'm glad I no longer have to look at them. 

[backformore]

3 hours ago, smiley13 said:

That sounds like a breakfast casserole to me.

Breakfast casserole, savory bread pudding, strata, thanksgiving stuffing casserole -  all variations on a theme.  Bread, soak in some sort of egg/milk mixture , add meat or veggies, spices, whatever, and bake.  More eggs than milk = strata or breakfast casserole.   More milk/cream than eggs = bread pudding.  Butter and stock instead of milk/eggs = stuffing casserole.  They are all ridiculously similar. 

[Moncheechee]

Table for 1 here, but Ana is my favorite by a Cuban mile. 

As the weeks have gone on, I've gotten the sense that she's playing the part of a pseudo-serious competitor in a piece of performance art designed to mock reality TV and the fame whores it attracts.  She always scrapes by on good-enough food and the 2nd or 3rd worst in the presentation segment.  As the weaker players are eliminated, she gets just enough better to not be the weakest contestant.  Her interview segments are filled with cliches about finding her voice and needing to win because this is her dream, despite her career as a lawyer (which, granted, is hard and not always prosperous) and being a past participant on a different reality show. 

Meanwhile, Bobby and Giada scratch their heads every week, kind of wanting to eliminate her for reasons they either don't or can't articulate, but they keep her because there's always someone just a hair worse.  And every week is a repeat of the same, as if to demonstrate the banality of the process.  I hope Ana's doing this on purpose (and I think she is) because it's both brilliant and hilarious. 

[PRgal]

3 hours ago, srpturtle80 said:

I didn't totally dislike Rob, but I have to say that him and his capri pants drove me bonkers. I just don't think they look right on men. I'm glad I no longer have to look at them. 

I call them MANpris. LOL!

 

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program.

[SoCal Mema]

23 hours ago, Aquarius said:

Quote

Good Mythical Morning + watchable Food Network Star.  Will it?  The answer is "No."

Made my day.

[backformore]

4 hours ago, srpturtle80 said:

I didn't totally dislike Rob, but I have to say that him and his capri pants drove me bonkers. I just don't think they look right on men. I'm glad I no longer have to look at them. 

Yeah, that red and white outfit looked like he bought it at Lane Bryant.  (women's plus-size store).

[SoCal Mema]

Quote

Yeah, that red and white outfit looked like he bought it at Lane Bryant.  (women's plus-size store).

Those pants.  SIT. DOWN. SIR.

18 hours ago, grisgris said:

It won't.

What the fresh hell did I just watch? It seemed like a mash-up of "Chopped," "Cake Wars" and "Cutthroat Kitchen."

First of all, with the exception of "The Kitchen" (and I'm really stretching here) none of the existing FN shows address food trends, which I guess now involve food art. My point being, other than throwing a few presentation tips here and there, none of the other show hosts go to great detail to create masterpieces on the plates. I also thought that having Duff as the judge was an odd choice. I've watched many of his cake shows and it seems to me that all of his employees do the hands-on creative work and Duff just delivers the final product as his work. So for that challenge, FAIL.

Next, those two hipster doofuses could leave at any time. It make me a bit weepy that Matthew didn't survive the comeback show to throw him in with those two losers. They could have all tried to out-douche one another. Yeah, I also didn't get what was causing Bobby and Giada to giggle so hysterically during the assignment of the horrible food combos. Giada's squeaky giggle is working my last nerve.

The disappointment on Bobby's face that Rob wasn't the second coming of Guy Fie"dd"i after all was truly heartbreaking. Dude deserved to go. It was the second week in a row that it was clear that he was disgusted with and lacked enthusiasm towards whatever he made. If Sandra Lee could taste some of her horrible concoctions with a straight face (most of the time) and proclaim "sodalicious," then the big lug could have sucked it up and at least pretended that whatever he made was worth trying.

I fail to understand why Ana keeps sliding by. Bobby seems very enamored with her cooking (and maybe her ... she's blonde after all.) She has zero camera presence and I'm still shocked that she was on a Real Housewives franchise show. Those women have some moxie and are major fame whores. Not this one.

Seriously. Joy had never heard of kimchee? It seems like she has a very narrow exposure to food as well as major fear and disdain of anything new, especially them "fer-in" ingredients. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a "food authority."

Damiano is an arrogant jerk. It was pretty funny (and embarrassing) to watch him interact with the YouTube dudes. He either doesn't have a good enough grasp or English to comprehend the challenge or he's just dumb. Either way, he doesn't belong in front of the camera hosting a show, especially if nobody can understand him.

"On Fleek" can go at any time. The problem is, she actually seems pretty good on all fronts. She just needs to tone the cutesy sass and catch phrases WAY DOWN. "Love Chef" and his not-so-subtle sexual innuendos can also hit the door any day now. I really don't care to watch somebody prepare food where every dish comes across as having aphrodisiac potential. Thirty-two kids? No thanks and I don't want to get started by following one of his recipes.

I get the impression that having one's own show is no longer a done deal, so why not make the hoops to jump through as ridiculous as possible?  I can also see on the other side why people like Ana, aren't trying that hard to win. As somebody else mentioned, this show just seems like entertainment these daysand injects a huge much needed boost into FN's summer ratings and advertising revenue. Seriously, this year there is not one rootable contestant.

They're interjecting too much influence from social media into this season.  I don't care that everyone is Instagram'ing pictures of food.  There's also a lot of IG posts with people's feet in a pool but that doesn't mean I need a food show built around it.

[lh25]

Quote

fleek is a word used in contemporary slang, but it's being used far too much by Tregaye.

She uses WAY to much slang I think is too young for her.  When I hear my teenage niece and her friends use those terms.  Popping, and her reference to her hubby as her "boo" just grate on me.

[Snarklepuss]

This show is so fake and bad anymore,  I just haven't been able to say anything about it.  the cooking is only slightly better than "Worst Cooks in America" and the contestants are just about as fake.  At this point, I'd give anything to have just about any of the final 5 contestants from last season back, and that's saying a lot because I didn't love all of them either.  What a bad joke to play on the audience.  I wouldn't be surprised at this point if little miss "fleek" ends up in the finale.  Ugh.

[Lura]

When this season began, my first instinct was to throw up my hands in despair and have a good, red-faced hissy fit.  Out of nowhere came one contestant after another, each one a little bit crazier than the last.  And I LIKE humor!  But this was over the top.  It was almost a copy of an old show called The Gong Show.  Pathetic people, desperate to appear on television, would do anything to be a star!   I never did have that hissy fit, but I've really had it with the FN.  Their programming is lazy, repetitive, boring and unfunny.  One show spawns six more shows like it.  They even come out with copies of successful shows from other networks.

The FN is now a network without brains, without creative types, without a POV.  It's time to start over.  I want a new network with a new name, one that focuses on serious cooking and baking shows.  I know.  I'm asking for too much.