Watch Ted Allen Cook in Chopped Kitchen on 'Chopped After Hours'

Photo - Facebook

Ted Allen has been hosting Chopped for hundreds of episodes and has yet to cook in the Chopped kitchen until the latest episode of Chopped After Hours.  While it is not a competition like Chopped All-Stars or anything, you still get to see Ted cook under the same conditions.  The other judges cooking with Ted Allen are Marc Murphy and Maneet Chauhan, while Chris Santos hosts the episode.  They all tackle the same ingredients that were on Chopped last night, which include crab legs, sweet vermouth, asparagus, and Mexican wedding cookies.


Video of the Chopped After Hours episode is after the jump:

Food Network In The News

Nothing too exciting going on right now to write a story about, so I will leave you with some news and links involving Food Network personalities.

• Bobby Flay's new restaurant will be called Gato and not Bolo, and will have a mix of Spanish and Mediterranean dishes. (Eater)


• Duff Goldman will be on E! tonight at 9pm on a special called LA Sugar, where he makes a cake for Joey Fatone of Rachael Vs. Guy:Celebrity Cook-Off fame. (E! Online)

Food Network Star Episode 9 Elimination and Recap

Tonight on Food Network Star, the remaining contestants first had to use Special K cereals and snacks to make a dish for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  After that first challenge and the plug for Kellogs products, Robert Irvine showed up for the second challenge.  The contestants had to remake failing and outdated dishes on a restaurant menu, with the least successful dish sending somebody home.  Robert Irvine already came to Stacey Poon-Kinney's restaurant on Restaurant Impossible, so we will see if that comes up at all during this episode.

Continue reading to see who was eliminated from this episode as well as a quick recap of how well the remaining contestants performed:

Restaurant Impossible - Benner Street Update

Photo - Food Network

Tonight on Restaurant Impossible, Robert Irvine and crew are going to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to makeover Benner Street Restaurant.  Owners Dorothy and Thom should be close to retirement, but the restaurant has put them too far into debt.  The restaurant has outdated decor, a lack of alcohol at the bar, and Dorothy is constantly fighting with her husband, who is also the chef.  For added drama, the fire department had to come during the makeover, and Robert Irvine said there were 'fire and hospital visits.'  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Benner Street Restaurant to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant Impossible):

Alton Brown's Podcast - The Browncast Updates

Photo - Nerdist

If you follow me on Twitter, I have been giving out link to the Alton Brown Podcast's when they are released.  However, if you aren't on there, below are the links to the first five Alton Brown Browncast's.  The 5th one just came out today and has Hugh Acheson on it.  Alton Brown usually talks about food news, answers some phone and email questions, and also interviews someone on each Browncast.

• The first Browncast had Sandy Waddell on, who is a Broadway actress known for making cheese dots. (Link to Podcast)
• In the second Browncast, Alton had Bobby Flay on, where they did a lot of talking about horse racing.  (Link to Podcast)

Food Network's August 2013 Programming Highlights

The Food Network has put out a press release detailing the programming in August on the channel, which includes a lot of new and returning series.  Some of the highlights include: 

• The season finale of Food Network Star on August 11th, where a winner is crowned.  
• The series premiere of The Shed on Monday, August 5th at 10pm.  There will be 6 episodes of this series, and it seems to be Food Network's attempt at 'Redneck Programming' which has been successful on other channels like Duck Dynasty, Swamp People, Honey Boo Boo, etc.
• The series premiere of Bubba-Q on Monday, August 19th at 10:30pm, which is like American Chopper, but instead of custom bikes, it is custom BBQ grills.

Paula Deen Cancels NYCWFF Event

Paula Deen was scheduled to appear at the New York City Wine & Food Festival this year for a Saturday October 19th event.  The event was a Classic Comfort Brunch hosted by Paula Deen and tickets to the event were $150.  Tickets were still available for sale on the NYCWFF website after her scandal broke, so I took a screenshot (below) as I figured it would get cancelled.

Now if you look at the event site, this is what you see:

Food Network Star Episode 8 Elimination - Plus Star Salvation Winner

Tonight on Food Network Star, the remaining contestants had to create an Italian themed dish from Buitoni products.  They were put into groups of two and in a twist, had to present their opponents dish rather than their own.  After this challenge, everyone was divided into two teams of three to film a three minute food story show.  One team did a show about a pizza place, while the other did a show about a donut shop.

This was also the episode where the winner of Star Salvation re-entered the competition as well.  Continue reading to see who won Star Salvation and also for a quick recap of tonight's episode along with the contestant that was eliminated.

Restaurant Impossible - Edible's (Hurley's American Grille) Update

Photo - Food Network

Tonight on Restaurant Impossible, Robert Irvine and crew are going to Horsham, Pennsylvania to help out Edible's Restaurant.  The restaurant has been open for 26 years and Robert needs to motivate the owners and family to fix their restaurant.  Besides the family issues, there is also bad food and missing money.  During this makeover, the restaurant was renamed to Hurley's American Grille.   As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Edible's/Hurley's American Grille to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant Impossible):

Bobby Deen Marries Claudia Lovera at Paula Deen's House

Photo - Twitter

Back in April, Bobby Deen got engaged to his girlfriend Claudia Lovera, and now just three months later, they are already married.  People.com reported over the weekend that they married on Saturday at Paula Deen's Savannah home.

There were about 75 guests at the wedding including Jamie Deen, Paula Deen, and Uncle Bubba.  The ceremony was performed in both English and Spanish as his wife Claudia is from Venezuela.

With the quick engagement and a wedding soon after, I am sure a lot of people are speculating about a baby on the way, but I guess we will have to wait to find out.

Food Network Being Sued by 'Giving You The Business' Winner

Photo - Multivu

Giving You The Business was a show that premiered in April on the Food Network, where contestants unknowingly 'vie for the chance to win their own food franchise' and 'based on their actions and decision-making and judged by their company’s CEO, one winner will be awarded their own franchise.'

The winner of an episode is now suing the Food Network claiming that he did not receive his prize of a franchise.  Kris Herrera won the episode featuring the 16 Handles Yogurt franchise and claims that he received stock in the parent company rather than a franchise.  Both the Food Network and the Yogurt City Inc. have not yet commented on the matter.

Jeff Mauro is the New Hot Pockets Spokesman

Photo - Businesswire

Nestle, who currently owns the Hot Pockets brand, is trying to make Hot Pockets seem classier, and plan to use Food Network's Jeff Mauro as their Spokesperson to do that.  They are going to start using better ingredients in certain types of Hot Pockets such as angus beef, hickory ham,'signature' pepperoni, and flavored crusts.

Jeff is going to be plugging Hot Pockets, and might possibly design his own Hot Pocket for the company.  The Hot Pockets website has Jeff's face all over it, as well as a video with him in it.

See the promotional video of Jeff Mauro pushing the newer Hot Pockets after the jump:

Mad Cactus From Restaurant Impossible To Close

The Mad Cactus restaurant in Strongsville, Ohio, which was featured on season two of Restaurant Impossible will be closing after business on July 21st.  The restaurant has been open for 28 years and has decided to close two years after appearing on Restaurant Impossible.  It had a lot of bad reviews, as well as recent rumors that it was going to close.

You might remember on the episode that the owner and Robert Irvine did not see eye-to-eye on a lot of things.  The owner also pretty much got rid of all of the changes that Robert put in place and brought back the old menu and things such as $3 steak night.

Food Network Star Episode 7 Elimination - Star Salvation Episode 4

Tonight on Food Network Star, the remaining contestants had to use a unique ingredient to create a dish, and then had to auction off their dish to a room full of 'adventurous eaters.'  The finalist who sells their dish at the highest price is safe from elimination for this round. 

Continue reading to see who went home tonight.  Also, after the jump is the fourth and final episode of Star Salvation, where Lovely will compete against the eliminated contestant.  I will also have who was eliminated from Star Salvation:

Restaurant Impossible - Kalico Kitchen Update

Photo - Food Network

Tonight on Restaurant Impossible, Robert Irvine and crew are going to Douglas, Michigan to help out the Kalico Kitchen.  The owner Catherine has a potty mouth, which has been turning her staff against her, including her son.  The restaurant is suffering from bad staff, average food, and the kitchen is filthy.  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Kalico Kitchen to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant Impossible):

Nikki Dinki Trademark - What It Reveals

Photo - Food Network

Food Network Star's Nikki Dinki recently filed for a trademark, which leads me to a conclusion that may be a spoiler for some, so do not read on if you don't want to know.

The trademark Nikki filed for was "Meat on The Side," which is her POV on Food Network Star.  It was filed in the category Education and Entertainment which has a description of "Educational and entertainment services, namely, a continuing program about food and cooking accessible by radio, television, satellite, audio, video and computer networks."

So, what does this mean?

Cutthroat Kitchen To Premiere August 11th - See Video Preview

When the Food Network announced its new and returning series for 2013, we knew that Alton Brown would be hosting a show called Cutthroat Kitchen where chefs can spend money on themselves or sabotage other chefs in a competition.  Despite being originally slated to air in September 2013, it seems the Food Network moved it to August 11th, and will premiere after the finale of Food Network Star.

The description of the show in a press release states:

"In each episode, four chefs are greeted by Alton with a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cold hard cash and each contestant receives $25,000 to spend wisely over the course of the game on auction items to help themselves or sabotage their competitors.  After each cooking challenge is given, chefs have sixty seconds to gather ingredients in the pantry and then regroup for an auction to bid on culinary curveballs such as the exclusive use of salt or not allowing their opponents to taste their dishes.  A chef will be eliminated after each of the three rounds, and the last competitor to survive wins the money they have left in their bank."

 
The video preview of Cutthroat Kitchen and press release is below, so let me know what you think.  I doubt anyone will win the full $25,000 as they will probably need to spend some money to compete.

Food Network Star Episode 6 Elimination - Plus Star Salvation Episode 3

Tonight on Food Network Star, the remaining contestants had to come up with two products that represent their brand and style.  They present their two ideas to the judges, who help them narrow it down to one, and they then have to pitch this product to a panel of food executives from Target, Kellogg's, and Kraft.  It kind of reminded me of a low budget Shark Tank.

Continue reading for a quick recap and to see who went home tonight.  Also, after the jump is the third episode of Star Salvation, where Lovely will compete against the eliminated contestant.  I will also have who was eliminated from Star Salvation as well:

Nigella Lawson's Husband Files for Divorce

Photo - Sunday People

Last month, paparazzi in London caught Nigella Lawson's husband Charles Saatchi putting his hands around Nigella's neck several times while at a restaurant (pictured to the right).  I didn't have a post on here about it, but you may have seen it all over the news.  The day after the 'choking' incident, photographers caught Nigella leaving her home with luggage and her children with her.  Charles stated that it was a 'playful tiff' and voluntary went to police regarding the incident.

The Daily Mail UK is now reporting that Charles Saatchi is filing for divorce, and gave a statement to them.  He said he "made the ‘heartbreaking’ decision to formally separate from the television chef because she refused to defend his reputation after he was pictured with his hand around her neck at their table."  Since the incident, Nigella has refused to answer his calls or texts.

Here are some other things noted in the Daily Mail Story:

Food Court Wars Premieres Sunday - First Winner's Restaurant Is Already Closed

This Sunday is the series premiere of Food Court Wars on the Food Network.  The show is executive produced by Gordon Ramsay and hosted by Tyler Florence.  The premise of the show is that two teams compete against each other with the winner getting a space for their restaurant in a local mall rent-free for a year, which is valued up to $100,000.

The series actually had a pilot episode filmed in Huntsville, Alabama, which aired on the Food Network in December 2012.  I guess they decided the ratings were good enough to film additional episodes, which start this Sunday.  The winning team of the pilot episode was Kettle n' Spouts, and they won a year rent-free in the Madison Square Mall.

Mama Lee's From Restaurant Impossible Has Closed

Photo - Food Network

Mama Lee's Soul Food in San Antonio, Texas, which appeared on season three of Restaurant Impossible has closed.   In a story from WOAI in San Antonio, the owner stated that business seemed too improve, just not enough.  They were losing too much money and decided to shut down on June 16th.

Mama Lee's also recently (6/11/2013) had a restaurant inspection that received 42 demerits.  Anything over 30 demerits is considered poor.  The link to the inspection with the violations is here and included things such as:

The Neely's Close Their Memphis Restaurants For Good

Photo - The Neely's Twitter

Pat and Gina Neely have decided to close their two Neely's Bar-B-Q restaurants in Memphis for good.  Both restaurants have been closed since October of 2012 for supposed renovations, but the Neely's posted a message today on their Facebook page stating:

Gina and I want to thank you, our followers and fans for your continuous loyalty. We want to say from the bottom of our hearts how much we appreciate you. We want to share with you that we have closed the Neelys Bar B Que restaurants in Memphis Tennessee indefinitely. We want to invite you to continue to support our New York location. Again we want to thank you for your continuous support.

Sticky's Finger Joint Owner From '3 Days To Open' is Being Sued

Photo - Food Network

Here is some random news related to the Food Network.  Remember Sticky's Finger joint, which appeared on 3 Days To Open with Bobby Flay?  During the episode, Bobby butted heads a lot with the owner Paul, and Paul came across as not caring about what Bobby had to say.  Paul wasn't very professional and after the show replied to every negative comment about him or the restaurant (link to original update).

Well, now the owner Paul Abrahamian is in the news again for all of the wrong reasons.  He is being sued by a former employee who said he tricked her into eating shrooms by telling her it was a new recipe he wanted her to try according to the NY Post.  He "had her shut her eyes to taste the dish in front of the entire staff" and "shoved a handful of hallucinogenic mushrooms in her mouth, then slapped his hand over her lips."  The complaint was filed yesterday in court and the other co-owner of Sticky's denies the claim.

This will probably be hard to prove in court, but does this surprise you at all if you saw the Sticky's episode?