Food Network Star Read online

  SPOTLIGHT ON

  BATALI BOOT CAMP

  For the next competition, original Food Network star Mario Batali dropped by to make snacks for the newbies: bruschetta (pronounced “broos-ket-ta”—take it from Mario). Bruschetta is “a fancy Italian way of calling toast,” and Mario simple adorned his with sautéed red onions and red and yellow peppers. Chef Mario has been appearing on the Food Network since its foundation, and he knows what it takes to make it on TV. His Point of View? “Simplicity and Classicism with a Personal Tweak.” Which is easy to say when you’re Mario Batali.

  “The knowledge of food is crucial. [As is] the ability to present it in a way that seems either interesting or intriguing. And then just basically an effervescent, lively personality that makes something fun to watch.”

  —Mario Batali

  Molto Mario

  Who better than Molto Mario Batali to show finalists how to make a pizza? A pizza is a blank canvas, something on which you can express yourself and the all-important culinary point of view, Mario explained. A pizza shouldn’t be a “big gavonne [gluttonous] thing with a whole mess of ingredients on it.” Mario floured his dough and tossed it expertly, adding marinara, Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved fennel, and a mess of chiles. The master made it look so easy.

  Finalists had thirty minutes to prepare a pizza for a demo. As Susannah Locketti sliced her healthy ingredients, she cut off the nail of her left index finger. She had it treated and returned to the challenge with ten minutes to go.

  “Aside from being cut from Next Food Network Star, that was the worst injury I’ve endured in the kitchen. I’m used to cutting with my old knife at home, and it is so dull compared with the beautiful new Food Network knives, which were so sharp. The first thing I did when I got home from New York was buy a proper set of knives to avoid a take two of that incident.”

  —Susannah Locketti

  In the end, a few of the pies were positively sophisticated—Steve and Dan’s Caramelized Onion-and-Garlic Pizza Topped with Goat Cheese and Duck Confit; Hans’s Pizza Topped with Calamari, Anchovy Oil, and Cheese. Other dishes were salvage jobs: Eric couldn’t roll his dough, so he made a rectangle and called it a sandwich. Was Michael’s uneven dough a way to satisfy both thick- and thin-crust lovers, or just uneven dough?

  Harmony asked us to use our senses, touch the dough, feel it. “Do you need a roller? Can you toss it in the air?” Mario Batali didn’t care. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “And it’s perfect.”

  what is CONFIT?

  A confit is a dish of meat or poultry (duck, goose, pork, turkey) cooked in its own fat and often preserved in a jar. It is a French specialty and a time-honored way of storing food, for months if necessary.

  what is A CHIFFONADE?

  Chef Mario Batali made a chiffonade of basil—long, thin strips—to garnish the bruschetta. To make a chiffonade (chiffon is French for “rag”), stack leaves of an herb or vegetable, roll the stack into a tight cylinder, and cut crosswise to make narrow slices.

  RUSTIC PESTO PIZZA

  Recipe courtesy Harmony Marceau

  Yield: 1 pie, 1 to 2 servings • Prep Time: 20 minutes • Cook Time: 25 minutes • Ease of Preparation: easy

  FOR THE PESTO

  2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

  1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

  ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

  2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  FOR THE PIZZA

  1 small red ripe tomato, about 4 ounces

  7 ounces prepared pizza dough

  All-purpose flour, for rolling

  Cornmeal, for dusting

  ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced (¼ cup)

  ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

  ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  ¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

  5 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced ¼ to ½ inch thick

  1. FOR THE PESTO: Place the toasted pine nuts in a bowl or mortar and crush with a wooden spoon or pestle until they resemble coarse bread crumbs. Add the garlic and combine. Mix in the basil and Parmesan. Stir in the olive oil and season with pepper.

  2. FOR THE PIZZA: Lay a pizza stone on the floor or lowest shelf of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

  3. Thinly slice the tomato and place the slices between paper towels. Knead the dough on a floured surface, then stretch it into a disk about 8 inches in diameter. Dust a wooden pizza paddle with cornmeal and carefully transfer the dough to the paddle. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving 1 inch around the edge to form a crust. Add the onion and tomato slices and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the olives over the pizza and top with the sliced mozzarella. Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake until the crust is golden and firm and the cheese is melted, about 25 minutes.

  Summer Celebration

  After the pizza making, and working on their POVs, in their second elimination challenge, finalists demo’ed a dish to camera for a “summer celebration.” One of the many salads was a standout, as was one dessert. According to Eric Warren, “When you go to a picnic, one thing always remains at the end of the day, and that’s the potato salad.” Not if it’s Eric’s potato salad. Eric struggled with the TelePrompTer but knocked it out of the park with his dish. The two key ingredients: celery, the “green goddess of potato salad,” which brings the flavor to life; and mayonnaise.

  “My godmother gave me that wonderful potato salad recipe and taught me how to make it in 1985. Her recipe had so much flavor and POP that it has become a favorite for so many! I am still making the potato salad the same way, always adjusting the level of mayonnaise so that the finished product has the right amount of creaminess! It sure is good! Oooo Weee!”

  —Eric Warren

  POTATO SALAD

  Recipe courtesy Eric Warren

  Yield: 6 to 8 servings (10 to 11 cups) • Prep Time: 20 minutes • Cook Time: 25 minutes • Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours • Ease of Preparation: easy

  4 pounds Idaho potatoes

  4 jumbo eggs, hard-boiled

  2½ cups mayonnaise

  4 scallions, white with some green, finely chopped

  3 stalks celery, finely chopped

  1 tablespoon yellow mustard

  ½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

  1 teaspoon kosher salt

  Place the potatoes in a large pot, and add water to cover. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until fork-tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and cool. Peel the potatoes, cut them into small chunks, and place them in a large serving bowl. Peel and finely chop the eggs and add to the potatoes, along with the mayonnaise, scallions, celery, mustard, white pepper, and salt. Mix until just combined. Cover and chill for 3 hours before serving.

  Bob: That could be the best potato salad I’ve ever had.

  Susie: It’s really good. I’ll have another bite.

  Bob: I’ll just have one more too.

  Tofu Is Your Friend

  The Summer Celebration Challenge also produced Michael’s pie. When cooking, Michael worked hard to disarm everyone, including his ingredients. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Tofu is your friend.” Chocolate was also Michael’s friend, and he had a conversation with it. “I’m the most delicious flavor in the whole world,” said Chocolate. “Well, Chocolate,” said Michael, “that’s a little presumptuous. There are a lot of flavors . . .” “Yeah. But everybody loves me.”

  Chocolate and Tofu didn’t just talk a good game. “I never thought I would be ecstatic about something with the word tofu in it,” said Bob Tuschman. “And this is actually delicious.”

  “Living in Southern California I am constantly surrounded by tofu-loving, lactose-intolerant, protein-focused folk, so it ends up being a flexible, rich, and decadent dessert for a diverse set of folks. It’s great mixed with a bit of orange zest and Grand Marnier, or raspberries and Chambord or thin mints and crème d
e menthe. . . . Come on, it’s chocolate, it goes great with everything!”

  —Michael Thomas

  TOFU CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

  with Raspberry Sauce

  Recipe courtesy Michael Thomas

  Yield: 8 servings • Prep Time: 10 minutes • Cook Time: 5 minutes • Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours • Ease of Preparation: easy

  1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips

  1 (12-ounce) package silken firm tofu, drained

  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  2 egg whites∗

  1 (6-ounce) store-bought chocolate cookie crust (recommended: Oreo) or graham cracker crust

  Whipped cream, for serving

  Raspberry Sauce, for serving (recipe follows)

  RASPBERRY SAUCE

  2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

  2 teaspoons water

  1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

  1. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring often. Purée the tofu in a food processor. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and blend, stopping the food processor once or twice to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Remove to a bowl.

  2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Using the spatula, fold the egg whites into the tofu-chocolate mixture. Scoop the filling into the pie crust and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.

  3. Serve the pie with whipped cream and/or Raspberry Sauce. Don’t say tofu, say terrific.

  RASPBERRY SAUCE: Whisk all of the ingredients together until smooth.

  ∗ Raw-Egg Warning: The American Egg Board states: “There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of foodborne illness. Healthy people need to remember that there is a very small risk and treat eggs and other raw animal foods accordingly. Use only properly refrigerated, clean, sound-shelled, fresh, grade AA or A eggs. Avoid mixing yolks and whites with the shell.”

  The Second Elimination

  If anyone needed reminding about the importance of on-camera presence in the competition, the judges reinforced the point in elimination. Eric had a charming gift but he needed to be able to get information across; they needed more of Hans’s charm and of the real Susannah. And although Deborah’s demo had fallen apart, Harmony’s nerves on camera were too much for her to overcome and she was eliminated.

  “I seemed so calm and natural on the show because I developed a terrible cold on my trip from sunny Los Angeles to the cold weather in New York. The Food Network staff was there to help me along the way with lots of hot tea and makeup continued to keep me dry between scenes. Typically I am very energetic and full of joy!”

  —Eric Warren

  Paula Cooks!

  Episode four of Next Food Network Star brought in network favorite Paula Deen, who showed finalists how to cook and chat at the same time and make it look absolutely effortless. Paula made a Black and Blue Burger and Sloppy Joes—“elbow lickers,” she called them. There’s a lot of butter. “Butter’s my friend,” said Paula, even though it killed her grandmother . . . at ninety-one.

  Each finalist had to demo two of Paula’s peerless southern dishes, such as Fried Green Tomatoes, Country Ham with Redeye Gravy, Tugboat Turnips, and Oyster Casserole. If anyone could cook it like Paula, the real question would be whether that finalist could do it with half as much personality.

  “It was Paula Deen who really pushed us to talk to the viewer at home. Paula immediately put me at ease because she and I noticed that the demo was set up with ‘city ham’ (boiled ham) instead of the country ham that her recipe called for. Our shared Georgia background made us connect instantly. There are a good number of Paula Deen wannabes, but there’s only one Paula Deen!”

  —Hans Rueffert

  what is RING TUM DITTY?

  Paula’s ring tum ditty recipe (made by Eric) has been in her family for generations. It’s the kind of dish with origins in the mists of time. Home Science magazine from 1906 describes “Rink-tum-diddy” with the same basic ingredients Paula uses—tomatoes and cheese—but served on toast. As for its southern heritage, the magazine says the dish was perhaps invented “by a Brooklyn woman.”

  “Try not to take yourself too seriously and for goodness’ sakes, whoever gets a show, don’t become a diva.”

  —Paula Deen

  “I have never been anywhere in the world where people do not light up when they see Paula Deen.”

  —Bob Tuschman

  In elimination, finalists heard many of the same points again. Michael’s demo had never got going and according to Gordon, other finalists were improving faster than Michael. Despite his potential, that was enough to finish his competition.

  “I had as much fun as it looked. I try to picture each person watching and try to leave them hungry, interested, and laughing. I hope it worked. I think that everyone is weird and bizarre in their own way. Really. I just happen to wear my goofballness right out front.”

  —Michael Thomas

  Meet and Eat

  The remaining challengers had to face the media, demo’ing their dish while answering questions from writers from Time, TV Guide, Food & Wine, People, and other magazines. Media consultant Bill McGowan offered this advice: Think of three or four things you want to say, and don’t slavishly follow the question—address what the journalist asks, then bridge back to what you want to talk about.

  To the crowd of journalists, Deborah Fewell exuded confidence. “I just took control of the room and I said, You know what? It’s about me right now.” She fielded questions from Dana Cowin of Food & Wine like a pro.

  “I first cooked my Trinidadian Stewed Chicken with my dad, who’s from Trinidad. He calls it Sugar Brown Chicken, and he taught me how to make it. It represents wonderful memories of special times spent with my family, of comfort and love. I still make it and I’ll continue to make it. I’ve cooked it for a few of my celebrity clients, and the only variation that I would ever bring to this dish would be to change the protein to short ribs, pork, goat, or lamb. This dish really represents the cuisine of Trinidad—it’s soul-satisfying food carrying with it taste and a passionate sense of culture.

  “I love creating dishes. Recently I’ve discovered a couple of sauces that give a dish a pop of flavor. First, a bacon, garlic, shallot, sherry, and mushroom cream sauce (served with chicken, beef, or salmon), and a honey chipotle sauce. Crispy prawns tossed at the last minute with this sauce are ridiculously good!”

  —Deborah Fewell

  STEWED CHICKEN

  Recipe courtesy Deborah Fewell

  Yield: 6 servings • Prep Time: 20 minutes • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes • Inactive Prep Time: 8 hours • Ease of Preparation: intermediate

  ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1½ lemons)

  4 scallions, white part and some green, sliced into ½-inch pieces

  4 fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced

  1 onion, thinly sliced

  1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

  ¼ cup ketchup

  ¼ cup cider vinegar

  3 tablespoons sesame oil

  3 tablespoons ground cumin

  1 tablespoon West Indian curry powder

  1 tablespoon herb blend (ground oregano, thyme, rosemary, black pepper, and basil) (recommended: My Daddy’s Herbs)

  3 tablespoons garlic powder

  3 tablespoons onion powder

  ⅓ cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil

  Kosher salt

  Freshly ground black pepper

  1 (3½-pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

  ¼ cup sugar

  Rice or mashed potatoes, for serving

  1. In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, scallions, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, ketchup, vinegar, sesame oil, cumin, curry powder, herb blend, garlic powder, onion powder, and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken to the
marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 8 hours.

  2. In a Dutch oven, heat the ⅓ cup olive oil and the sugar. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and brush off and reserve the marinade. Stir the sugar until it caramelizes and turns golden brown, about 10 minutes. (It may smoke some.) Carefully but quickly add the chicken to the pot and let it brown, turning the pieces as you go, for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the vegetables and reserved marinade, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the chicken stew until cooked through and tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Halfway through cooking, season with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Serve over rice or with mashed potatoes.

  Schnit . . . zel

  Before the Meet and Eat Hans was crazy nervous, but he quickly settled in. With a name like Hans, he said, he is genetically predestined to like schnitzel. He grew up on the stuff, “which means I’m full of schnit . . . zel.”

  Dana asked if Hans was really going to do an all-German show. No, that would be six episodes. He was raised in the South and loved southern food. Lori Powell of Ladies’ Home Journal said Hans was natural and sincere and she wanted to see more.

  In the elimination segment, Bob told the finalists, “You are six stars.” But only five could move on, so it was good-bye to Eric.

  PORK SCHNITZEL