The judges called this week “midterms” for the finalists!   So everything that has happened in the past few weeks was taken into consideration.  This was THE week for the cast to shine and really show the judges they have made any improvements or adjustments to stay in the competition as The Next Food Network Star.

This week’s theme was all about “Kid Food”.  So there was lots of mac n’ cheese, chicken fingers, and grilled cheese.

Cooking Demo Challenge: The first of the challenges was in honor of Rachel Ray’s organization dedicated to kids and food called Yummo.  The finalists were instructed to cook up a kid-friendly dish with not-so kid-friendly ingredients: brussels sprouts,  squid, and tofu!  Which sounds like quite a challenge if you ask me since I don’t have kids just yet (but I’ve got 3 more months until that all changes!).  Each finalist was given an ingredient and one hour to create a kid-friendly dish.

Prep Time: 1 hour 

Presentation: Cooking demo to camera                                                                     

The Twist This Week: The Judges panel includes Rachel Ray and 3 kids

Rachel Ray Show Challenge: The finalists got paired up with each other and were given kid food ingredients and were told to make them into a more adult-friendly dish.  The ingredients: hot dogs and baked beans, grilled cheese and tomato soup, chicken nuggets and mac ‘n’ cheese,

Prep Time: 45 minutes to shop for ingredients and 1 1/2 hours to prepare the food            

Presentation: Live studio audience; 5 minute cooking demo that was nationally televised on the Rachel Ray Show.

The Pairs:

Katie and Debbie – Baked Chicken Nuggets and Shrimp Mac ‘N Cheese with Fontina, Gouda and Swiss                          

Jamika and Jeffrey – Chorizo and Shrimp Hot Dogs with Rice and Baked Beans                                                                                    

 Micheal and Melissa – Grilled Cheese Skewers and Tomato Soup with Bacon Lardons

The Loser this week:

Katie Cavuto

I am actually sad to see Katie go home.  She really showed improvement over the past few weeks and I really loved the idea of her cooking style because it matches my own so well.  I cook with organic products and whole wheat pastas, and yes I bake (not fry!) my chicken fingers.  Which is something she did this week that did not win over the judges.

Cooking Demo Challenge: This is where I thought Katie did pretty well.  She was given squid, and even with her healthful approach she made something that both the kids and the judges seemed to enjoy:  Calamari Fruit Salad with Quinoa in an edible bell pepper bowl.

What she did not do so well at was her presentation.  Even though the kids liked it, and I didn’t think it was so bad, the judges did not and unfortunately they were who mattered most.  They felt she was almost condescending during her presentation, which I could see, but it was most likely due to the fact that there were kids there.  Her presentation skills changed, however, on the Rachel Ray Show, which the judges found to be better but inconsistent for a TV host.

Rachel Ray Show Challenge: Katie was paired up with Debbie, and while the two did work well together, Katie had some problems on her own connecting to the camera and audience.  She hardly every looked up while she was cooking, which is a big thing for a TV chef!

The food the pair cooked up also was a miss this week: Baked Chicken Fingers and Shrimp Mac ‘N Cheese.  The judges found the chicken to be flavorless and really dry, and I couldn’t quite tell what they thought about the Mac ‘N Cheese.

Katie’s inconsistent presentation skills and inability to prove that healthy food can still be tasty is what got her the ax!

Remaining Finalists Scorecards:

Jeffrey Saad

Jeffrey, welcome back to the top!  He did a fantastic job at the first challenge with his Tofu Chicken Nuggets and Spaghetti.  He gave a killer presentation that was not only entertaining but super creative!  The kids panel not only laughed, they liked his food and liked to watch him! Jeffrey also did very good on the Rachel Ray Show.  He was paired up with Jamika and while their cooking style didn’t quite match up (AWKWARD!),  it showed in the kitchen and on camera, he proved on live national TV that he’’s got the chops to make it as The Next Food Network Star.  He was a little harassed by Bob that he took over the talking on the RR Show but Debbie felt differently about the takeover. See comments on Jamika to get the jist of this.

Jamika Pessoa

Jamika was not doin’ so hot this week.  She actually was the only one to not get any sort of positive feedback for the first challenge.  Though her “Sweet Corn Snack Wrap” was tasty to the kids panel, she didn’t finish her cooking demo, which is crucial on TV.  She talked way too much, almost as if she was trying too hard to butter up the judges.  On the Rachel Ray Show she completely froze! She just stood there and let Jeffrey do all of the talking, and when she did finally speak up she was void of any emotion, she never smiled, and it was evident she had lost her confidence!  She ended up being on the bottom 3 for the panel evaluation, but somehow the judges have given her another chance. I don’t think it’s looking so good for this contestant.

Debbie was up and down this week.  She made a tasty dish for the Cooking Demo Challenge, Oven Baked Calamari Rings and Sweet Potato Chips but tanked during the presentation by completely running out of time as well as some embarrassing technical difficulties.  Even though the judges liked the food, not completing the demo did hurt her a little bit.  Her presentation on the  RR Show soared though!  As usual she was calm, collected, poised and completely at ease in front of a live studio audience.  Even though the judges didn’t like the baked chicken nuggets, they could clearly see it was Katie’s idea, it did not hold her back in the evaluation round.

Melissa D'Arabian

Melissa is definitely proving that she’s got the chops to make it, but she still needs some fine-tuning.  She got that same frantic glazed over look she gets when she’s nervous or frazzled.  And we didn’t see it last week so it was a little disappointing to see a touch of it come back this week.  Her Smashed Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts were liked by the judges panel.  She pureed some of the sprouts with cream cheese (points from the judges)  but left some of them raw in the dish, which confused the judges.  She didn’t get to explain that in her demo which left them uneasy about her dish.  On the RR Show she did well explaining her dish, but this is where that frazzled look came in; she seemed rushed and even though that may be on TV you can’t let it affect your performance or the audience will notice. Well the judges did.  Still she did well enough to keep her in the upper 3 this week.

Michael Proietti

Michael did alright this week.  Which really bums me out because he is my favorite.  He again showed amazing energy during his presentation during the Cooking Demo Challenge.  He made Brussels Sprouts Tomato Soup and Brussels Sprouts Puppets which won over the kids and judges.  But he was a bit hurried through the presentation which left him extra time to kill. The sad thing is the judges and kids really enjoyed watching him, but he still has to find his camera self.  On the RR Show he kind of froze up like Jamika did.  His personality came through the last bit of the presentation and it’s what got him on the bottom 3 this week.  The judges however felt he was safe after considering how well liked his camera presence is even if he can’t get it right just yet.

Be sure to tune into The Next Food Network to catch next week’s episode where the crew goes to MIAMI!

To catch up on any episodes you missed including last week’s, click here!