NFNS: Sayonara Shane

First a little confession.  I have not seen this week’s episode of the Next Food Network Star.  I was at a friend’s house, a friend who hates Reality TV and finds Food TV boring.  The DVR is on the fritz so I did what every obsessed fan would do.  I went crazy.  Then I went to the NFNS website.

 

Imagine my surprise when I saw an exit interview with Shane.  Shane who had finally gotten over his awe at meeting the TFN celebs and had really been on a hot streak.  I was even more surprised to see that he and Kelsey were the last two left in the room after the others were given a pass.  I think that more than once I have mentioned that I think Kelsey is by far the best talent in this group.  I was even more surprised when I saw just how bad Lisa stunk the joint up with her performance on Rachael Ray’s show.  She should have been booted off.  Aaron hit a grand slam, finally we saw an Aaron that was fun to watch.

 

The site has a nice string of behind the scenes interviews and previews that really give you an in-depth feel for what the judges are thinking and how the contestants really feel.  There is a vlog with Susie Folgeson in which she reveals that Bob Tuschman just never liked Shane’s youth and inexperience.  I think that Susie has a similar problem with Kelsey, but that is just my own conjecture.  Bobby Flay joined Susie on her vlog and it is clear that if Bobby is actually rooting for anyone it is Kelsey going so far as to say that if he needed someone to baby sit his kid it would be Kelsey hands down.  Even Susie agreed.

Sunny Anderson joins Adam Roberts on FN Dish to break down the episode.  They are both “shocked” that Lisa was not booted.  Sunny even says, “Dead air is deadly.”  She also said that Lisa, “has five seconds of material for a ten minute show.”  Sunny predicts that Kelsey will be the next to go and then Lisa.  If that is true then this year’s winner will be the next Amy Finley or Hearty Boy.  If they have another winner who does their six episodes and then disappears it will be a sign that the selection process is the problem, not the contestants.  Speaking of Amy, did you know she wrote a book?  Yeah, Me either.

 

There are two exit interviews with Shane and in both he seems genuinely grateful for the chance he was given and the experiences he has had.  Like I have said before Shane is so easy to root for that it is sad to see him go.  After watching all of the post show vids I, like most people who watched, cannot believe that Lisa isn’t gone.  This show is a Reality Show and the reality of life is that polarizing characters like Lisa bring viewers flocking to their sets.  When Lisa is good, she is very good but when she is not on her game it is painful to watch.

 

There is a 10+ minute preview of the next episode where Adam takes on Lisa in variation of Throwdown.  That should be ugly as Lisa is by far the best pure cook in the contest and Adam is by far the worst. They each have to prepare a signature dish of their own and then they have to prepare their opponent’s signature dish.  Adam chose macaroni and cheese for signature dish which almost seems like a gimme for Lisa.  Lisa’s signature dish is the classic French Cassoulet a white bean and sausage stew that Adam has never tried in his life.  Paula Deen also joins the Flay and the final four for dinner at Mesa Grill (Las Vegas) and the spoiler show a very interesting conversation that I am looking forward to seeing more of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ground Beef Recall in 20 States

Every time there is another recall it only enforces my desire to eat locally sourced foods, plus they taste better.  Mass producing foods also means a mass of possible things that can go wrong.  Here is a segment from a story at foxnews.com and a link where you can read the full article.

“Fourth of July picnic tables are getting a careful look as familiar hamburgers are feared to be among the tainted ingredients in separate food safety scares.

On Wednesday, The Kroger Co. expanded its voluntary recall of some ground beef products to its stores in more than 20 states, saying the meat may be contaminated with E. coli.”

READ ON

For those who do not know E. coli is bacteria found in the excrement of warm blooded animals and when it occurs in food products it is usually from rodents.  Here is what wikipedia has to say on it:

“Escherichia coli (commonly E. coli), is a bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded animals. Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some, such as serotype O157:H7, can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for costly product recalls. The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2, or by preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine.

E. coli are not always confined to the intestine, and their ability to survive for brief periods outside the body makes them an ideal indicator organism to test environmental samples for fecal contamination. The bacteria can also be grown easily and its genetics are comparatively simple and easily-manipulated, making it one of the best-studied prokaryotic model organisms, and an important species in biotechnology. E. coli was discovered by German pediatrician and bacteriologist Theodor Escherich in 1885, and is now classified as part of the Enterobacteriaceae family of gamma-proteobacteria.”

E. coli is bad, m’kay.  Because ground meats are, well, ground you need to cook them well done, an internal temprature of 160 to 165 will kill the E. coli bacteria.  For solid cuts of meat like roast or steaks you need only get the outside flesh to a safe temperature as E. coli does not penetrate the muscle tissue.  Meaning that a medium rare steak is perfectly safe, in fact medium rare is far healthier than well done since well done red meat is a common cause of colon cancer.  If you are squeamish about blood strive for medium, anything beyond that and you are getting into Cancer Country.  So when it comes to steak, choose your poison - squeamish or dead?

Literary Tapas

Originally Posted by Paper Palate (paperpalate.net) on May 7, 2008.

A collection of small dishes from the realm where paper meets palate.

New Yorker David Gelin publishes a book on Southern BBQ. The 43-year-old Gelin’s opus, BBQ Joints: Stories and Secret Recipes From the Barbecue Belt (Gibbs Smith Publisher, $15.95) is less a book about BBQ recipes and more an exploration of the people who devote their lives to “Que.” Gelin traversed the Southern states in search of the best, most authentic “joints” in the country; he lists 60 in all. According to the author, “They don’t have these kinds of places up North, and I believe we all ought to seek them out and celebrate them.”

Coastal Living magazine has just released its list of the Top 25 dives in the country. The list includes places like Bozo’s Seafood Market in Pascagoula, MS, R&O Seafood in New Orleans, and Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, AL. The list appears in the April 29 issue of Coastal Living.

What is Kindle? Imagine carrying only one book with you the rest of your life. It is a magic book, mind you, that mystically changes its pages to provide whatever book you want to read. Sounds like science fiction, right? Kindle is Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device and it does just that. Kindle allows you to download hundreds of thousands of books in less than a minute, as well as magazines, your favorite blogs, and even newspapers. Available publications include the New York Times (home of the best food and restaurant section in the country), Vineology (a wine blog), and hundreds of books on diet and nutrition.

Photo courtesy of amazon.com