Michael Symon explores the delicious world of sweet and salty flavors. He perfects this taste combo with his Pretzel Fried Pork Sandwich with Hot Honey and Pickles, Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese in Bacon Brown Butter Balsamic Sauce and some Toffee and Peanut Popcorn for some sweet snacking. To cool down in the summer heat, Liz shares a Frozen Strawberry Salty Dog with vodka, pink grapefruit juice and a salted rim.
Michael Symon grills up a feast of summertime staples, starting with juicy Barbecue Chicken slathered in a Kansas City-style sauce. Then, he gives fresh coleslaw a twist by adding pickles, mint leaves and poppy seed. Plus, Liz puts a spin on a summery cocktail by replacing the vodka from a Moscow Mule with sweet bourbon to make a refreshing Kentucky Mule -- perfect for washing down a delicious meal outdoors.
Few fruits are as sweet, succulent or downright sexy as a peach. So why is it so hard to find a good peach at the grocery store? Alton Brown trades commercial convenience for farm-stand flavor and discovers what he’s been missing. Perfect for pies, pastries or peel and eat, orchard fresh peaches are nothing short of a miracle and, come summertime, closer than you might think.
Host Maneet Chauhan welcomes three teams to the first qualifying round, where they learn that this year, Santa's reindeer are taking the holidays off and he's holding open auditions to replace them! Each team of cake and sugar artists must showcase an unlikely understudy who dreams of winning a spot to pull the sleigh. Judges Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira decide which two teams move on and which team heads home.
A great food show host has to be able to interview a featured chef while highlighting their food. To put the remaining prospects' interview skills to the test, Guy Fieri, Alex Guarnaschelli and Mark Dissin bring them to Las Vegas, the city where Guy got his start. He puts them through a hilarious but educational exercise that involves interviewing different types of chefs, and one prospect is sent home.
Eric Adjepong welcomes chefs Kelsey Barnard Clark, Carlos Anthony and Crista Luedtke, who set their friendships aside for a cutthroat culinary competition with an impressive $15,000 pot of their cold, hard cash on the line. Throughout each battle, underdog Carlos tries to prove he belongs in the kitchen with two of the fiercest chefs in the Food Network universe, until one of these frenemy chefs emerges to take home the win.
On Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri travels around the world eating the best food he can find. Now he's bringing together top prospects to find the best concept and host for the next big food road show on Food Network. For their first exercise, Guy gets help from Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and producer Mark Dissin to road-test the prospects' ideas, asking each prospect to make a pitch tape explaining who they are and what their show is about. Then the prospects head into the kitchen to see who can back up their show idea with the necessary cooking chops before one prospect is sent home.
Ina shares her foolproof formula for the perfect cocktail party. There are canapes -- homemade, store bought and assembled, cocktails with the help of cocktail expert and friend Glenn Laughton from Red Bar and tips on setting up a cocktail bar at home. Then it's time for cocktails in Ask Ina when she answers everyone's cocktail party dilemmas. Recipes include Blinis with Creme Fraiche and Smoked Salmon, Turkey Tea Sandwiches, Grilled Lemon Chicken and an Ina-Tini.