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| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | WEEKEND | PRIMETIME | SCHEDULE | ARCHIVES: 30 90 | WLTI | STATE OF PLAY | ABOUT | |||||
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Home cooks take on professional chefs for $100,000 Recaps by Chico Alexander, GSNN
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Copyright Statement Web design by Jason Elliott. Logo by Chico Alexander. Full Copyright Statement Powered by 1&1 Internet |
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I'm Bringing The Spice
Season Premiere July 2 |
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"Food Fighters" was one of last summer's
surprise hits. Now it's back for seconds. The premise is simple. You choose a chef, you choose your recipe. The chef will have to duplicate or elevate said recipe. Both dishes go to a blind panel for tasting. Win, and you move one step closer to $100,000. Lose, and watch your money go up in smoke. Yes. It's Gordon Ramsay's recipe challenge turned into Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Our first cook of season 2 is Jacky Herrera, a reporter from Orlando (orig. El Paso, TX) who is the youngest in a large Mexican family. She gets all of her recipes from her mom, whom she wants to make proud tonight. She wants to take the money and go on a bucket-list trip with her parents to thank her parents for raising her right. But it won't be easy. Because you will face five seasoned pro chefs. Each chef you defeat adds money to your bank. Beat 1 Chef: +$5000 Beat 2 Chefs: +$10,000 Beat 3 Chefs: +$15,000 Beat 4 Chefs: +$20,000 Beat ALL Chefs: DOUBLE THE BANK Any money won is banked for keeps, but do it right, and it is worth $100,000. But if you lose to a chef, you continue the fight, but you lose the cash for that round. But it's not just about cooking, it's also about strategy, because each home cook that comes into the arena is equipped with their own menu. JACKY'S MENU - Cheese Enchiladas - Spicy Meatballs - Pan-fried Salmon - Berry Sponge Cake - Homemade Beef Empanadas ROUND 1 for $5000 vs. RAY LAMPE (barbecue) Lampe is a competition pit smoker. He can cook meat, but how can he do against... CHEESE ENCHILADAS? They were the first thing Jacky learned how to cook from mom. You each have 20 minutes... Food Fighters... FIGHT! Lampe has never cooked an enchilada before, while Jacky has a secret ingredient... bitter chocolate. Jacky's enchiladas have an Oaxaca cheese (think Mexican mozzarella) and sharp cheddar. Her topping is a jicama slaw with cilantro and lime. Lampe has jack, cotija, and queso fresco. WINNER: 4-1 in favor of JACKY! ($5000) ROUND 2 for $10,000 vs. DANIEL SHEMTOB (food truck) Shemtob is used to cooking high-end street fare under any condition. If she wants to win the money, she'll have to give him something that ISN'T on the street... BEEF EMPANADAS. He... has never made empanadas before. 20 minutes... Food Fighters... FIGHT! Jacky's mom has a beef mixture with shallots, shimeji mushrooms & golden raisins. She puts a little of herself in there as well... TEQUILA! Her dipping sauce has crema with cilantro & lime juice. Meanwhile, Jacky's dough is breaking. Shemtob is using beef brisket with chili flakes & sambal with a spicy chimichurri sauce. WINNER: 4-1 in favor of JACKY! ($15,000) ROUND 3 for $15,000 vs. STUART O'KEEFFE (international) O'Keeffe studied in France and makes his way in Ireland. He has a ton of recipes stored in his head (and in his upcoming cookbook). Is one of them... PAN-FRIED SALMON? He says he's okay with this. 20 minutes on the game clock. Food Fighters... FIGHT! Jacky's going to bread her salmon and top it with a tropical salsa of pineapple, tomato, cilantro & mango. Stuart cooks salmon about three times a month. He'll top it with a basil butter... with a side of potatoes. Remember, you want that skin to be nice and crispy, and you want to put it in the oven to finish. WINNER: 4-1 in favor of JACKY! ($30,000) ROUND 4 for $20,000 vs. DANIELLE SAUNDERS (soul food) Saunders has cooked for the biggest names in Hollywood, with an elevation of traditional soul food. How much soul can she put in... SPICY MEATBALLS? She really wanted to make a fight out of this. Hope she doesn't live to regret it. 20 on the clock. Food Fighters... FIGHT! Jacky has chorizo, turkey, and a secret blend of parmesan, garlic salt, red pepper, oregano, and caldo de tomate.... not to mention a square of mozzarella. Saunders is making a jerk-spiced meatball with beef, veal, allspice, clove, thyme, and cumin. Jacky will serve her meatballs on a creamy polenta. Saunders is planning on "keeping it simple". A reminder that the dishes must be plated for the dinner party in time. WINNER: SWEEP in favor of JACKY! ($50,000) FINAL ROUND for DOUBLE vs. ANTONIA LOFASO (global) She has two LA restaurants specializing in American and Italian cuisine. Her style features good flavors, but she'll need more than that in a battle of BERRY SPONGE CAKES. Good thing she already made the meatballs. For the last time tonight... 20 minutes on the clock... Food Fighters... FIGHT! Jacky's secret is a layer of blackberry sauce and a cinnamon-sugar crumble on top. Lofaso is making a deconstructed extra-eggy crepe instead of a cake. A traditional crepe would be a lot thinner. The dinner party could penalize her for not making a traditional sponge cake. On the other hand, she forgot butter until the 5-minute mark. She needs to have that cooked and plated before time runs out! And half of Jacky's cakes did not set. This could be a game changer. FOR $100,000.... WINNER: 3-2 SPLIT in favor of... Chef Lofaso. But Jacky will leave Food Fighters with $50,000. But who dares to come out against the culinary world next week and how will the pros fight back? Five more fights NEXT TIME! To see this episode in its entirety OR to apply to be a contestant, go to nbc.com/foodfighters. |
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