Sunny Anderson, Jeff Mauro and Marcela Valladolid are showing you everything hot in the food world right now, from loaded potato tots to the latest veggie craze to an over-the-top milkshake. Plus, two New York City food trends are highlighted as Lazarus Lynch visits chef Joe Isidori at Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer to sample their insane milkshakes and Troy Neal from the Doughnut Project stops by.
Hold on to your ham hocks as celebrities and Food Network Stars plead their cases for their favorite decadent dishes! Jaleel White satisfies his craving for Chinese with a pastrami eggroll in New York City, Joey Lawrence fires up dessert with a baked Alaska in Beverly Hills, Fabio Viviani confesses to a poutine burger fix in Austin, and Jeff Mauro goes German with a pork schnitzel sandwich in Chicago.
For the final challenge, the last two teams standing must imagine the hilarity that ensues when a pet takes on the family Christmas tree! All three team members will be in the spotlight, and both teams must add lighting effects to their scene. Jeff Mauro, Shinmin Li and Kardea Brown must make their toughest decision yet: who will be crowned Holiday Wars champion and take home the grand prize of $25,000?
Host Jeff Mauro asks the teams to imagine what holiday hijinks unfold when another holiday icon fills in for Santa on Christmas Eve. And this week, the teams must highlight their cake artist's skills by making the main character entirely out of cake and incorporating the tasting element into that character. Judges Shinmin Li and Kardea Brown will determine which three teams move forward and which team is sent home.
The Kitchen celebrates cheese with Jeff Mauro's Ultimate Cheese Enchiladas and Sunny Anderson's Cheesy Cornbread Muffins with Jalapeno Glaze. David Burtka stops by to make a Four Cheese Pizza and the Kitchen Helpline is open for all of your cheesiest questions. The hosts play Try or Deny with some new cheese products, then grilled cheese is taken to the next level for an incredible Grilled Cheese Pull contest.
Get ready to pile it on thick as we're talking layers of goodness that are stacked to the ceiling. We take a trip to Chicago where we meet up with Jeff Mauro to discover all the magic colors hidden inside the Rainbow Cake. We find Monti Carlo over in Seattle cutting right to the middle of a plantain lasagna. And we indulge in every delectable layer of Geoffrey Zakarian's grasshopper dessert.
Sometimes the best dishes are in the last place you'd ever expect to find them. We've scoured the globe, searched far and wide, and the hunt stops here. Alex Guarnaschelli ends the debate over where to find the best bagel -- it's in North Yarmouth, Maine! Jeff Mauro finds a game-changing falafel in the back of a jewelry store, and Geoffrey Zakarian unearths hidden Mexican treasure in Buffalo, New York.
We're going back to school to learn once and for all what the ultimate nostalgic dish is. We're joining Chef Beau MacMillan in the cafeteria with his Supreme Boffa super-sub sandwich and heading down to homeroom where Jeff Mauro teaches us all about the best pepperoni pizza creation on the planet. And we're sticking around after class with Tregaye Fraser to learn about her irresistible ricotta cannoli.
For the first time, The Kitchen hosts are sharing the ultimate menu for a Christmas Eve tradition filled with impressive seafood dishes. Sunny Anderson's Easy Smokin' Haute White Fish Dip and Katie Lee Biegel's Mussels Arrabiata kick off the holiday feast. Then, Alex Guarnaschelli makes "Fresh" Cod Brandade, Jeff Mauro prepares a decadent Shrimp and Lobster Risotto, and Geoffrey Zakarian's Salt Baked Whole Fish is a showstopping grand finale.
Geoffrey Zakarian starts off with his Grilled Lobster and Shrimp Tacos, then Marcela Valladolid and Jeff Mauro show different ways to make summer favorites last all year round. Sunny Anderson and Katie Lee make two fresh summer salsas, and actress and food blogger Sasha Pieterse joins in on the fun with her Peach Filo Bites. Later, the gang demonstrates how to preserve herbs and tries out the summer's trendiest beers.