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1-16 of 16
- The ten home cooks from across the US arrive in the communal kitchen in Ruther Glen, VA knowing that one will only have this one opportunity to impress the judges in being sent home at the end of the first two competitions. With only an hour for the cook, they are asked to put themselves forward in the first round called "If I Were a Recipe", namely to cook anything they want that demonstrates who they are as a cook and a person. With the judges' comments provided to them from round one, the cooks go into round two with ninety minutes to prepare not only a dish that represents them, but their home community, they who probably had to adapt whatever family recipes, many not native to the US, to use ingredients they could source where they live.
- This week's theme is the daily dish: that go-to recipe that the cooks turn to when they're in a time crunch, that they don't even really have to think about in not having the time to pre-plan including having everything in their pantry and refrigerator, and that satisfies the cravings of the people they're feeding. They are given forty-five minutes to complete the challenge. With this challenge, the judges want to get a good feel for what it's like in the cooks' kitchen on a proverbial Tuesday night if they were a part of the family. For the second round for which they have ninety minutes, the cooks are asked to make that crowd pleasing dish that everyone always asks for, and/or that the cook him/herself adapted for that theme meal, such as meatless Monday.
- This week is all about love in the cooks' food. In the first round, the cooks will have sixty minutes to prepare a dish that exemplifies when they want to show a little love to themselves, namely that dish that is their go-to when they want to treat themselves to feel better. In round two, they will have ninety minutes make a dish that is an expression of love for someone else, it either something that they prepare for someone else, that someone else has prepared for them, or that someone else prepared in general as some expression of love.
- This week is all about portable meals. In round one for which the contestants have sixty minutes to prepare, they will each be making their go to hand held dish that can be eaten on the go. And for round two for which they will have ninety minutes to prepare, they will be making their go to dish to feed a crowd at an outdoor event, such as a garden party, a barbecue or a tailgate party, which usually means being cooked outdoors and/or being portable in being cooked elsewhere and brought prepared to the event.
- This week is all about celebrations. In round one for which the cooks will have sixty minutes, they will each make a dish that celebrates a specific event in their life. Round two will literally be a celebration. Having an extra thirty minutes more than usual in having two hours in total, they will each make something for the holiday of their choice to feed a crowd. That celebration will be the fact that they must make enough not only for Alejandra and the three judges, but also for the all six cooks, the ten who will share the meal family style around a single table.
- Up to this point in time, the contestants have largely been asked to cook food that is familiar and personal to them. They are taken out of their comfort zone in round one where in a random draw, they, with an hour to do so, are each asked to prepare a dish from a recipe submitted by one of their competitors. They will have said recipe submitter as a resource, but the judges are also looking for each cook to put his or her own spin on what they are preparing. Each cook has generally not ventured too far away thus far from their ethnic background (with two Italians, a Vietnamese, a Mexican, and a Syrian remaining), but for round two, they have ninety minutes each to prepare a dish that is a fusion, that may be a combination of their own ethnic cuisine with that of a spouse or close friend, with where they currently live or in their travels, or anything else that may be personal to them in some way.
- This week's dishes are all about family. In the first round for which the cooks will have sixty minutes, each will prepare a dish that has been passed to them by someone who they consider their chosen family, namely a friend. The judges will expect that each cook will have placed their own spin on that recipe, some who are also asked to put a judge's spin in suggestions provided by a judge during mid-cook. For the second round for which they will have ninety minutes to prepare, each will prepare a dish that has been passed down through the generations from their own family, those recipes which have a special place in the heart in that family connection. This collection of a new cooking family brought together for the show will be losing yet another one as the three cooks of best dishes of round two will be moving onto the next week's finale.
- It's the finale, and the final three home cooks standing are Robin Daumit, Silvia Martinez and Foo Nguyen, the winner named after these last two rounds who will have his or her recipe featured on the cover of the Great American Recipe Cookbook. In round one for which they will have sixty minutes, they will each prepare on their own a dish that they always otherwise cook with a loved one. And in round two for which they will have three hours, they will each prepare a complete meal including a dessert which they feel highlights their story of the Great American Recipe. While their entire meal will be judged, it is the entrée which will be given the most weight. For this final round, they are each provided a special sous chef, however each "head chef" will be responsible for what is placed in front of the judges.
- As their introduction to the nine new contestants, Alejandra and the judges want to get a sense of who they are on a plate. The first challenge for which the contestants have sixty minutes, the judges want to get to know them as a person by asking them to make what they consider their signature dish. The second challenge for which the contestants have ninety minutes, the judges ask them to make a dish representative of place, namely where they live, meaning that it is their spin on something they consider local. Alejandra and the judges have a surprise announcement to the contestants after the conclusion of the two challenges.
- After last week's surprise announcement that no one would be eliminated at the end of week one, Alejandra and the judges provide the contestants with further surprise announcements before this week's two challenges. First, Michael Thomas has dropped out of the competition and thus will not be returning. And second, all the remaining home cooks will stay for the duration of the competition up until the finale in a different format for this season. In an effort to make the contestants' recipes even better, the judges want to provide their critiques and expertise to all the cooks' dishes which the cooks will hopefully take to heart to improve their cooking week to week. However, Alejandra and the judges will rank each cook in each challenge with the finale solely to consist of the three highest ranked contestants over the entire course of the competition. This week's two challenges focus on the pantry. For the first challenge, for which they have forty-five minutes, the cooks are to make their last minute go-to weekday dinner, namely what they would make with what is routinely stocked in their pantry. For the second challenge, for which they have sixty minutes, the cooks are to make a dish tied to who they are centered on a pantry staple, namely noodles.
- This week is all about the warm feeling of home, family and love. The cooks will have sixty minutes for their first challenge, to cook a classic comfort. The judges are interested to see what comfort means to the different cooks. And they will have ninety minutes for the second challenge, to cook a dish proverbially for someone they love.
- This week's challenges are all about portability. The cooks have sixty minutes to make a grab and go dish for the first challenge, the judges who will focus on that ability to eat the meal on the run which usually means with one's hands. And for the second challenge, the cooks have ninety minutes to prepare something for the first ever Great American Recipe bake sale.
- The kitchen is down one person this week with Alejandra under the weather, leaving Tiffany to do double duty as judge and host. This week's challenges are all about festive occasion meals. The first challenge for which they will have sixty minutes, the cooks are to prepare a dish that they have made in the past for a special occasion. The second challenge for which they will have ninety minutes, the cooks are asked to make a holiday dish that showcases their specific cultures and family traditions, the added caveat being that the dish is to be served family style.
- The home cooks are thrown for a loop right out of the gate this week as the dishes they were going to prepare for the first round, those dishes which they were to present written as a recipe, will be cooked by one of their competitors instead in a recipe swap, some who may not only have never cooked that dish before in any form, but may not even know what it is. The cooks will not only have the recipe submitter as a resource during the challenge, but will have to put their own spin on it. They will have sixty minutes to complete the cook. And the second challenge for which they have ninety minutes, the cooks will have to present a dish that has been handed down over the generations within their family. The judges will look beyond the regular judging criteria in wanting an interesting story behind the recipe.
- The home cooks know that they have two challenges left to impress the judges before the judges make their decision of which three will make it into the finale, leaving five with only the memories of cooking within this group. The first challenge this week, for which the cooks have sixty minutes, is to prepare a dish that was given to them by a friend or inspired by a friend. And the second challenge, for which the cooks have ninety minutes, is to prepare a dish for an extraordinary time in their lives or transformative to their lives in some way. While the judges deliberate before making the announcement of the three, each of the eight cooks generally believes he/she has a good a shot of making it into the finale as any of the other seven as each has been named the best cook in at least one of the challenges over the fourteen dishes they have been asked to prepare.
- After eight weeks, the finale is here and the final three contestants standing are Salmah Hack, Brad Mahlof, and Leanna Pierre, who have two more chances to impress the judges before they name the winner whose recipe will be featured on the cover of the Great American Recipe cookbook. Receiving letters from home, the cooks in their first sixty minute challenge will prepare a dish requested by the letter writer which is to reflect something typical as to their family cooking. And for the final cook of the season on which the judges will largely make their decision of the winner, the cooks will have three hours to prepare a full meal which must include an entree, a side dish and a dessert. Because of the magnitude of the cook and the fact that most such meals are not usually done alone, the three finalists are each provided a sous chef who should be familiar with who they are as cooks.