Susie’s Answers – Episode 4 by FN Dish Editor in View All Posts, July 3rd, 2009
Thanks for another great week of questions! I’m traveling sans video camera this week, so blogging answers to you instead. Back up vlogging next week (promise), so post all your questions for this Sunday’s Episode 5 over here.
Onto my Episode 4 responses…
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Of course Teddy is the talk of the town this week! Courtney specifically wrote in wanting to know, “Was the decision to send Teddy home unanimous? If not, who did each judge vote to send home and why?”
I was really on the fence at first about whether we should let Teddy or Katie go. But Bob, and especially Bobby, really liked Katie and wanted to see more from her. I came down pretty hard on Katie for the under-cooked food, but Teddy just could not overcome being so forced and fake on camera. You saw in the challenge he had notes on his hand! So even though both of them were almost equally at the bottom for me, in the end, it was unanimous for us that Teddy needed to leave this week.
Jeffrey definitely had a tough episode this week. Debby asked me in the comments, “What the heck was Jeffrey supposed to do with blueberries and lobster? Since the baskets were chosen for them, are you trying to make Jeffrey fail?”
Bobby was actually very excited about Jeffrey’s basket and was looking forward to seeing what he would do with it. Look, I think it was a very, VERY difficult pairing of ingredients, but I’ve seen harder combinations on our show Chopped. This is where ingenuity, creativity and survival all come into play. The blueberries and taste of the dish weren’t his downfall; it was actually the consistency and preparation of what was, in fact, a failed pot pie. Jeffrey performed pretty poorly on this challenge, which is not typical for him. But his dish didn’t fail because it was blue; it failed because it was bad.
Megan wants to know, “Who is to blame for Debbie catching a pan in the face? Michael or Debbie? As a chef… if you are behind, say BEHIND!”
You are right. It was definitely Debbie’s call to let Michael know she was behind him. He had no idea that someone was there, especially with the pace and intensity of the clock ticking away. Just like when you’re passing someone on a bike, you should say, “on your left” or “behind you” – it’s more than just courtesy; it’s safety in a situation like that. Nonetheless, we felt terrible that Debbie got hurt, and we were absolutely worried about her. What you wouldn’t have known just by watching Episode 4 was that Debbie’s bruise was so severe, she had to keep applying and reapplying make-up as the bruise proceeded to grow and change colors. However, with all of that said, I feel a situation like this either makes you stronger, or you recoil in the face of obstacles. And in the end, I was disappointed that Debbie recoiled.
Dee, Susan, Brian, and Jennifer were all curious about the faulty equipment on this week’s episode. Dabney said, “It appeared not all of the stoves on the Intrepid were calibrated, resulting in some really bad dishes. Was this by design to see how the contestants would compensate?”
We didn’t plan to send the finalists into a faulty kitchen as a part of the challenge. However, I think cooking in different environments always presents different obstacles, so you have to be prepared to improvise. I was recently at a festival in San Francisco in which Guy Feiri, Aida Mollenkamp and Anne Burrell all performed culinary demos in the same outdoor kitchen. The wind was blowing hard that day, and it was very hard to keep the flame going. I noticed each one of them working through it, and even though they all handled it differently, everyone overcame the challenge with grace. These are very real situations the finalists are facing, and it tells us a lot about how they may face adversities as a Food Network star.
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Remember to send in your questions for this Sunday’s Episode 5 in the comments section of the Ask Susie – Episode 5 post.
Thanks!
Susie
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Tags: Ask Susie, Next Food Network Star, NFNS, Susie Fogelson
Please give us fans an opportunity to vote who we would like to see as the next Food Network Star. We can vote for who we would like to see eliminated, but as far as I can see, no option to vote for our favorite. After all, we as your viewing audience, are the ones you want to please. Thank you. Love the Food Network!
You judges do an excellent job! I know it’s impossible to please everyone, but I think you guys have been spot on every time! I would love to meet Bobby Flay sometime. He is a genuinely likable person in spite of his popularity. Not everyone handles their fame as well. I watch food network whenever my husband is working (and sometimes when he’s home!)It’s my favorite channel on TV! Keep up the good work! Rhonda
Get a grip here, Susie!!! A range that doesn’t function correctly and wind blowing out a flame are two different things! One can compensate for the wind! One cannot compensate for a range that doesn’t heat correctly unless you are an electrician or have a knowledge of repairing gas stoves… On top of that to be working within a time frame makes it impossible! There are times when I think this show verges on being mean spirited – and this is another one of those!!!! If I taught school in this same manner, I wouldn’t be considered a good teacher… Everyone at least deserves the same opportunity to succeed regardless of what they bring to the table… Faulty ranges for some and not others dies not provide an even playing field…
I agree w/Rick. Sometimes the show appears mean spirited. In t.v. “land” the show would already have been edited before the “viewers” would even have the chance to see what went wrong.
Rick….get a grip yourself. Did you not read what Susie said??? They DIDNT know about the faulty kitchen. And I’m sure stars go into demo situations all the time with messsed up stoves and have change up their game plan, happens on top chef too when they need to cook on location.
Susie there’s no time stamp on your answer so I don’t know if it was posted before or after an earlier one of mine, but glad to see you did answer some of the questions.
You mention that Debbie’s bruise kept getting bigger and was changing colors, does she bruise easily?
In watching the accident it did not appear that she got hit that hard,
Mitchael was turning to his left she walked into the sheet pan, **NOW TO ME HERE’S THE KICKER** Mitchael didn’t dance with the pan like he was going to drop it, no food came flying off, from that perspective it didn’t look that bad, if she had really hit it hard he would have been fumbling around trying to keep from dropping that whole thing on the floor and I saw none of that.
You referenced Chopped in referring to Jeffery’s ingredients, remember those are professional Chefs trying for a big prize, using equipment that works and a pantry to choose various ingredients from.
If I’m not mistaken Jeffery in his comments stated that he originally had something else in mine but the equipment would not function for that to happen in the time frame provided.
Even though I’m not a fan of Katie both times her food came up raw was due to the equipment not working correctly and trying to remedy that on the fly within the time frames allowed, which this year have really been short, considering the locations.
It will be interesting to see what your remarks are following Rachael’s show has it appeared that you were not pleased with what had occurred.
I wish you would put us all out of our collective misery and get rid of the health food girl and Debbie.
In reference to Jeffrey’s situation in Chopped they have professional equipment and most importantly all the contestants have the same ingredients. I would have loved to know what the housewife would have made with Lobster and Blueberries??????
I want to see a format change in Season 6. I’d like to see something like what you guys did in Season 2. It seemed like the contestants and the FN stars had a lot of fun and you guys seemed more …human. To me, Season 2 is what FN is about getting together with friends and family, cooking and sharing a dish and enjoying each other. I’m tired of the ICA format.
You judges really have a tough job! LOVE THE SHOW. Watching this past week, I really thought Katie would go..mainly because of her raw food she has been serving…but I was torn between her and Teddy….something about him wasn’t quite right for a network TV show…can’t wait for the next episode!