By Chandra Clewley

The Next Food Network Star begins this week with Giada introducing the cast to their camera challenge. They are to produce a Unique Party Bite using 3 ingredients that are assigned to each person. They get 30 minutes to cook and 1 minute to present their dish to the camera.  Some of the cast is beginning to come out of their shells a bit in this episode, while others stumble a little bit from the momentum they have been riding.

Chef Brad is assigned a bachelorette party with strawberries, vodka and kalamata olives. Brad knows that he needs to smile more, be more boyish and fun and comes up with a crostini bite that goes over great with the judges.

Aarti has New Years Eve and her ingredients are grapefruit, honey, and champagne and jumps a bit with her presentation finishing too early. 

Tom on the other hand, is assigned a Ladies Luncheon with English Breakfast Tea, Aged Gouda and Almonds. He ends up with a croquet monsieur and wins the judges over with his laid back approach.

Herb has a Pool Party, and chokes a bit in his presentation. Brianna is assigned a 5 year olds birthday which is way out of her comfort zone. Aria is assigned a Sweet Sixteen and tries to lose the smiley persona, while Serena attempts to slow her speech in her Poker Party presentation.

Tom and Brad win the competition, each gaining an opportunity for a Tips spot on the Cooking Channel. 

For the Star Challenge, Ted Allen introduces the fact that the stars will be assigned an old school comfort food dish that they will then have to revamp as something more glam and current. They will be cooking and presenting at Frank Sinatra’s Estate in Palm Springs to the judges who include two magazine editors.

Because Tom and Brad won the Camera Challenge, they get first choice of the dishes they want to revamp and they win the chance to assign dishes to the other stars. Brad goes first and picks Chicken Cordon Bleu. Tom picks Lobster Thermador. The dishes are then assigned as follows:

Aria-Pigs In A Blanket

Brianna-Tuna Noodle Casserole

Herb-Beef Stroganoff

Aarti-Deviled Eggs

Serena-Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The group head to Palm Springs, and everyone is excited to see Sinatra’s residence and revamp their food, although Aarti is worried about the taste level for making food that is more refined than her style while Brianna is worried about the opposite, since she can’t stand Tuna Casserole and has never done anything even close to it before. 

Aria presents first, and she takes a huge risk by totally going off the rails of her pigs in a blanket by doing Buttermilk Battered Shrimp with Crème Fraiche and Caviar. Tom is second, and presents a Lobster Fennel Napoleon but gets nervous during his presentation and won’t shut up….no Tom!!! Aarti goes next with a Devil-ish Egg Curry over Red Rice Pilaf. She tastes the curry and thinks it is very strong so she goes light while drizzling her dish which is her downfall, the judges cannot taste the curry at all and her pilaf is dry and boring. Brianna presents a Crab and Brie Casserole which the panel loves, but she talks down about Tuna Casserole and comes at them so negatively that they are put off and wish she would have just let her food do the talking for her. Herb goes next with a Healthy Beef Stroganoff that apparently tastes horrible even though he put 5 different mushroom varietals in the sauce, albeit his presentation is good. Serena goes next, and slows her speech which really helps her as she presents a Pineapple Millefoglie with Maraschino Cherry Sauce which the panel finds under baked and are disappointed by. Lastly, is Brad, who comes out smoothly and presents his Bacon Wrapped Chicken Risotto and the panel instantly likes him and his food.

In the end, Brad wins the competition and FINALLY smiles! He seems to have finally found his stride and relaxed enough for everyone to see his true likeability. Serena, Aria, Tom and Brad are all safe. This leaves Aarti, Brianna and Herb up on the chopping block. In the end, because of the trouble acclimating to the different challenges and the audience assigned to cook for, Brianna, probably the best true chef in the contest is eliminated. 

Catch an all next episode of The Next Food Network Star on Food Network, Sunday at 9/8 c

(Image courtesy of Food Network)

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