On tonight’s episode of The Next Food Network Star, the contestants are greeted by Cat Cora of Iron Chef America. She presents their next challenge: they’ll have 30 minutes to use the 6 ingredients in their baskets to create a dish. When they’re done, they’ll have to present their dish on camera. The winner will receive an advantage for the main challenge. The contestants are thrown a curveball when they must present the dish of a fellow competitor as the goal of the challenge is to test their ability to describe food. Jennifer continued to show her insecurities while Aaron felt uncomfortable presenting a dish that wasn’t his own. Cat ended up choosing Shane, who probably needed a good confidence boost.

Cat brings along editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit magazine, Barbara Fairchild, to the main challenge tonight. The winning recipe from tonight’s challenge will be featured in the August issue of the magazine. The contestants will have to take a complicated dish and reinvent it into an easy dish that can be made at home in 45 minutes. They’ll be paired up and have to complete a side dish as well. Shayne and Kelsey choose Beef Wellington, and, as the winner, Shayne gets to dole out the other dishes. Adam and Aaron get Coq Au Vin, and Jennifer and Lisa get Turducken.

Aaron was pushed aside when Adam grabbed control of the spotlight in their presentation. Jennifer caused a major blow to her team when she broke a jar in the food prep area. Lisa was forced to throw everything away and start all over again with only minutes to go. Though they barely got the food on their plates, Kelsey and Shane were very confident in their dishes and presentation.

The judges name Shayne and Kelsey the winners for their 45 minute Beef Wellington and the magazine also decides to publish their side dish. They tell Lisa and Aaron that they are safe for the week and send them upstairs. Adam and Jennifer are left in the bottom two – Adam is there for only presenting one dish so far this season that impressed anyone and Jennifer is there for not displaying enough culinary expertise. The judges ultimately decide Jennifer home, who looks forward to getting home and working on her culinary skills.



- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of Food Network)