**Food Network February 2012 Highlights**

Food Network Finds the Worst Cooks in America

and Comes to the Rescue on Restaurant: Impossible

Plus: Chocolate Theme Weekend, Alton Brown Special

and ‘Sandra’s Chocolate Celebration’

 

Food Network takes February by storm with a healthy dose of new programming including new seasons of Worst Cooks in America with Anne Burrell and new competitor Bobby Flay and primetime favorite Restaurant: Impossible with Robert Irvine.  Superstar Chef Bobby Flay challenges two-time champion Anne Burrell in the competition designed to turn disasters in the kitchen into at-home culinary experts in the season three premiere of Worst Cooks in America on Sunday, February 12^th at 9pm.

Weeknight primetime programming gets a boost with Robert Irvine as he’s back on the road to save restaurants struggling to survive in the season three premiere of Restaurant: Impossible on Wednesday, February 8^th at 10pm.  Additionally, on Mondays at 8pm, Roger Mooking and Aarón Sanchez spice up primetime in their quest to find the most delicious, and hottest food in the country in new episodes of Heat Seekers while viewers also get to journey along the overshadowed road of chefs struggling with their weight in new episodes of Fat Chef Thursdays at 10pm.

In the sweet sprit of decadent desserts and Valentine’s Day, Food Network serves up a Chocolate Weekend with new episodes of fan-favorite daytime shows on Saturday, February 11^th from 7am – 1pm and Sunday, February 12^th from 7am – 12pm anchored by Sandra’s Chocolate Celebration hosted by Sandra Lee on Saturday, February 11^th at 12pm.  Alton Brown also gives his tips for the perfect chocolate treats in his Good Eats special Turn on the Dark premiering Friday, February 10^th at 8pm.

FoodNetwork.com also serves up perfect ideas for the big game and great ways to bring Valentine’s Day fun to the whole family.  Join the Food Network conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

 

SEASON PREMIERES

 

Worst Cooks in America Premiering Sunday, February 12^th at 9pm

The hit primetime competition series that turns hopeless cooks into confident kitchen mavens returns for a third season with two-time undefeated series champion Anne Burrell challenged by superstar chef Bobby Flay.  The show pits Anne against Bobby, each leading a team of eight “recruits” in a grueling eight-week boot camp designed to transform these culinary disaster-makers into competent cooks.  A $25,000 grand prize will be awarded to the winning contestant who achieves the most progress and best performance, in addition to bragging rights and victory for their culinary mentor.

• Premiering Sunday, February 12^th at 9pm – SEASON PREMIERE “Best of the Worst” In the season premiere, the sixteen “recruits,” each nominated by family and friends for their atrocious cooking skills, arrive at Base Camp and attempt to impress Anne and Bobby with their own “signature” dish.  The chefs then make their team picks and for their first challenge, the contestants engage in a high-stakes breakfast battle – with Anne’s team attempting Orange Pumpkin Pancakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Cinnamon Maple Syrup and Bobby’s recruits assigned Bobby’s Blue Corn Pancakes with Whipped Orange Honey Butter and Cinnamon Maple Syrup.  But some of these recruits can barely fry an egg, so the chefs go back to basics demoing some simple egg techniques.  The contestant with the least successful dish on each team is sent home, while the remaining fourteen competitors cook on.

• Premiering Sunday, February 19^th at 9pm “Going Global” The remaining contestants take a culinary field trip to Chinatown for a lesson in the ancient art of noodle pulling, and comedy ensues as the inexperienced recruits attempt this specialized task.  Anne and Bobby prep the recruits for battle by teaching them a popular sauce that the recruits must re-create.  With ingredients flying and noodles aplenty, the contestants cook their way through the competition to see who can master this technique and impress their chef mentors.  For the next challenge, the contestants create a meatball by selecting a country’s flag and developing a dish tailored to that country’s cuisine.  From Spanish Albondigas to Greek Keftedes and Danish Frikadeller, each contestant must grind their own meat and create their unique meatball that represents the tastes of that nation.  The contestant with the least successful dish on each team is sent home, while the remaining competitors cook on.

• Premiering Sunday, February 26^th at 9pm “Extreme Flavor” The contestants meet Anne and Bobby at a pizza parlor for a lesson in creating dough from scratch, and they also school their malleable culinary recruits in the art of combining flavors that marry together perfectly on top of a delicious pizza pie.  The contestants must then invent and execute a one-of-a-kind pizza from pantry ingredients, and the stakes are high as the winner of the challenge wins a player swap for their chef mentor.  After a winner is chosen, the contestants’ palettes are challenged by making each contestant blindly taste unlikely flavor combinations such as watermelon/feta cheese and caramel/bacon.  The recruits must use one of these out-of-the-box marriages of flavors to spice up a protein for a delicious main dish. The two least successful contestants in executing the perfect blend are sent home.

FEATURED SERIES

Fat Chef

For overweight chefs, working in the food industry is a double-edged sword.  While indulging their love of food has brought them success, money and respect, it’s also the root of a very unhealthy lifestyle.  Fat Chef follows overweight food professionals over the course of four months as they confront their food issues and, with the help of therapists, nutritionists and trainers, defeat their abusive relationships with food.

• Premiering Thursday, February 2^nd at 10:00pm “Rocco/Kim” Cleveland-based chef Rocco Whalen weighs more than 300 pounds and can’t seem to put the brakes on his nonstop eating, while fellow overweight Cleveland caterer Kimberly McCune Gibson samples her decadent dishes all day and binges on takeout at night.  Both blame their obesity on having no time to cook for themselves or exercise, and they need help to take back control of their health.  With the goal of losing 25% of their body weight in sixteen weeks, Rocco and Kimberly will work under the guidance of trainer Brett Hoebel.  Can they conquer their cravings and learn time management, or will their jobs continue to destroy their bodies and lives?

• Premiering Thursday, February 9^th at 10:00pm “Ally/Mike” Ally Vitella is a New York City caterer who is addicted to the delectable party food she serves every day.  Mike Digby is a line cook at a Chicago bistro who can’t get enough of the mouth-watering burgers and fries he churns out every night.  Both chefs weigh more than 300 pounds and can’t control themselves around their own food.  The food industry is killing them but they are determined to lose more than 75 pounds each over sixteen weeks without jeopardizing the careers they love.  With the help of trainers Christine Avanti and Brett Hoebel, these chefs relearn everything they know about food and exercise in order to transform their bodies and save their lives.

Heat Seekers

Aarón Sanchez and Roger Mooking are back to spice things up and see who can handle the heat in this tongue-torching odyssey to discover the most deliciously spicy food across the country.  Over the course of the season Roger and Aarón’s journey to experience the spiciest dishes take them to restaurants in Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, Tampa and Washington, D.C. With a high-stakes challenge at the end, the winner gets bragging rights, and the loser suffers a little public humiliation. 

• Premiering Monday February 6^th at 8pm ET/PT “Nashville” Aarón Sanchez and Roger Mooking head to the Nashville, Tenn. to check out the hottest eats in Music City.  First stop is the Broadway Brewhouse where the guys try the Diablo Shrimp Pasta, a fiery dish loaded with habanero peppers and topped with jalapeno bacon-wrapped shrimp.  Next up is Mad Donna’s, an East Nashville favorite known comfort food with a hefty kick.  Aarón and Roger sample their insanely hot Habanero Mac N’Cheese and a Bloody Mary made with Vodka of Doom.  No trip to Nashville is complete without some hot chicken, and the guys face off with the hottest chicken in town at Scoreboard Bar and Grill.  The Satan’s Tongue Hot Chicken gets blazing heat from a dried habanero paste called gunpowder.  Roger and Aarón are joined by Tennessee Titan safety, Jordan Babineaux, for a fiery face-off to see who can handle the heat. T he loser gets an NFL-style “cool down.”

• Premiering Monday February 13^th at 8pm ET/PT “Tampa Bay” In the city by the bay, Chefs Aarón Sanchez and Roger Mooking head to Eats American Grill to check out their legendary Midwest BLT.  A fiery twist on the classic, it’s piled high with crispy bacon, fried green tomatoes and a seriously spicy house hot sauce.  Next, the duo heads across the bay to Crabby Bill’s on Indian Rocks Beach for the Volcano Gator Nuggets with hair-singeing ghost pepper mayo.  Last stop on their journey is Nitally’s Thai-Mex Cuisine in St. Petersburg.  Aarón and Roger experience new levels of extreme heat as they tackle Nitally’s notorious Inferno Soup.  It’s so hot no one has ever finished an entire bowl, but with a thousand bucks on the line, both try to avoid their picture on the wall of shame.

 

DAYTIME SEASON PREMIERES

 

Sandwich King

• Premiering Sunday, February 19^th at 11am As an Italian-American from Chicago, Jeff’s heart pumps red sauce.  Good thing Italians are also known for their spectacular sandwiches.  Jeff’s friend Paula from Danny’s Café makes his all-time favorite Italian-style sandwich: The fried meatball hero.  The Sandwich King soaks in some inspiration before heading home to have a whack at this special sandwich himself.  When he’s done with that, it’s on to another slice of Italy: a cheesy eggplant parmesan hero, before rounding things off with a simple chopped salad.

• Premiering Sunday, February 26^th at 11am Jeff doubles up on the coziness by creating dishes that exemplify comfort food.  He heads to the Palace Grill to get the scoop on a couple of classics from his friend, George.  Gooey grilled cheese is on the menu, and Jeff takes some of that inspiration home and does it one better with his grilled cheese two ways.  Next up is meatloaf, and the Sandwich King pairs it with crispy onions and slips it onto a soft potato roll.  He finishes his meal with a warm bowl of roasted tomato soup.

 

FOOD NETWORK SPECIALS

 

Turn on the Dark

• Premiering Friday, February 10^th at 8pm Alton Brown serves up a new special on chocolate just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Sandra’s Chocolate Celebration

• Premiering Saturday, February 11^th at 12pm Sandra Lee takes viewers to her favorite spots in New York City to share her most beloved chocolate treats. Then, she travels back to her kitchen to whip up some decadent chocolate creations inspired by her favorites sweets.

 

THEME WEEKENDS

 

Chocolate/Valentine’s Day

• Premiering Saturday, February 11^th from 7am – 1pm and Sunday, February 12^th from 7am – 12pm Whether viewers want a fresh take on a chocolate treat or have plans for a romantic dinner for two, Food Network presents two \ weekend cooking blocks to help satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth with new episodes of 30 Minute Meals, The Pioneer Woman, Paula’s Best Dishes, Barefoot Contessa, Giada at Home, Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d’Arabian, Guy’s Big Bite, Down Home with the Neelys, and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef plus an all-new one hour special hosted by Sandra Lee.

 

NEW EPISODES

 

Chopped:

• Premiering Tuesday, February 7^th at 10pm –  “I’m your Huckleberry” In the first round four competitors try to make octopus and huckleberry into dishes that will make them stand out as Chopped winner material.  Then in a high-energy second round, champagne corks and hammers go flying.  After two finalists create desserts with a Peruvian drink and a Mexican cheese, one walks away with all the dinero while the other gets nada.

• Premiering Tuesday, February 14^th at 10pm – “Chewing the Caul Fat” As the clock ticks down on the first round, one chef gets into a pickle with the pickle juice.  Then in the entrée round, the chefs must figure out something savvy to do with Savoy cabbage and a curious web of fat before a very competitive final round – featuring edible flowers – results in a daring dash for the ice cream machine.

• Premiering Tuesday, February 21^st at 10pm – “Good Chop, Bad Chop” With canned spiced ham in the first basket, the chefs must stay determined if they want to elevate their dishes.  Then, lake perch is the catch of the day in the entrée round, and one chef makes an unorthodox decision with the avocados.  Finally, a French bakery staple makes for a buttery surprise in the final basket.

Cupcake Wars:

• Premiering Sunday, February 5^th at 10pm – “Year of the Cupcake” The Year of the Dragon is about to begin, as four bakers battle to have their cupcakes at the Los Angeles celebration of the Chinese New Year.

• Premiering Sunday, February 12^th at 8pm – “Cupcake Love Story” Four bakers compete for their cupcakes to take center stage at a VIP party for the biggest opera stars.

• Premiering Sunday, February 19^th at 8pm – “Monster Truck Jam” It’s monster truck madness as four bakers battle for a place at the VIP Pre-Race Pit Party for Monster Truck Jam.

• Premiering Sunday, February 26^th at 8pm – “Screamfest” Director Eli Roth is special guest judge, as four cupcake bakers try to scare their way into the closing night VIP party for Scream Fest at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Iron Chef America:

• Premiering Sunday, February 19^th at 10pm – Morimoto vs. Bogle
• Premiering Sunday, February 26^th at 10pm – Flay vs. Hastings

Restaurant: Impossible:

• Premiering Wednesday, February 8^th at 10pm –  “Moss’ Prime Rib and Spaghetti House” When Chef Robert Irvine gets to Moss’ Prime Rib and Spaghetti House in Elyria, Ohio, he soon realizes that the problems of this restaurant go beyond the subpar food.  Owners Robert and Sandi are bullish and stubborn, refusing to accept the help that their struggling business needs.  Can Robert and his team rebuild this struggling restaurant and the family behind it in two days?

• Premiering Wednesday, February 15^th at 10pm –  “Chatterbox” Chef Robert Irvine often sees restaurant owners with little experience and lofty ideas, but Lynn, the owner of Chatterbox in Windham, N.H., takes the cake.  A former stay-at-home mom, she used her late husband’s life insurance policy to open up a restaurant, hoping to provide for her five children.  Robert has just two days to give the family the tools and skills the need to run a successful restaurant.

• Premiering Wednesday, February 22^nd at 10pm –  “Anna Maria’s” Chef Robert Irvine has seen many dirty and neglected restaurants, but none have made him physically ill like Anna Maria’s in Scranton, Penn.  The Italian eatery’s glory days were 25 years ago, and owners Jack and Mary, with their son Tucker, are in over their head trying to keep the doors open.  Chef Robert Irvine’s biggest challenge will be getting the kitchen up to code with only $10,000 and two days.

Daytime: 30 Minute Meals, Barefoot Contessa, Down Home with The Neelys, Giada at Home, Guy’s Big Bite, The Pioneer Woman, Paula’s Best Dishes, Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Sandwich King and Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d’Arabian

Primetime: Chopped, Cupcake Wars, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Fat Chef, Heat Seekers, Iron Chef America and Restaurant: Impossible

 

DIGITAL CONTENT

Big Game Bash

Beginning January 6^th, gear up for the biggest game of the year with Food Networks chefs. Get the best chili, wings and potato skins for the big game parties, as well as easy cocktails the whole gang will love.

New for 2012:

• Exclusive online video of star chefs Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay’s nacho cook-off– Italian vs. Southwest
• Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell’s individual videos on how to throw the perfect game day party
• Anne and Bobby’s top ten game day tips on how to impress any football fanatic

Award Winning Eats

Plan a perfect awards night party with treats, sweets and movie munchies from Food Network chefs.

• Fun recipes for any mood including action and adventure or romantic comedies
• How-to videos from fan-favorite chefs on how to make the perfect party snacks

Valentine’s Day

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Food Network’s great ideas and recipes whether it’s a delicious meal for the whole family or a romantic night for two.

• Pat and Gina Neely share the perfect way to cook for two
• Recipes including Chocolate Molten Cake that are perfect to make with the whole family

Food Network heats up February with fiery primetime programs and creative competition cooking shows!

Thank you for reading Eatnlisten.com foodie blog.

Brad