foodtvandme.com is the unofficial food network fansite with news, reviews, and my attempts at those great recipes you see on tv.

I tought i’d seen it all.  They made Rachael battle Giada.  They threw a star studded Thankksgiving dinner.  Now, to tie all the chefs together, they have one cook ripping off two other Food Network chefs.  When a stand-up comedian steals jokes from another comedian, rarely does that comedian brag about it.

Leave it to the marvelous Food Network, and the short cut queen herself, Sandra Lee, to bring such a concept to our living rooms.  In today’s all new episode of Semi-Homemade Cooking entitled “Restaurant Remakes: Bobby and Mario,” Sandra Lee takes recipes from these two chef’s famous restaurant menus and turns them into semi-homemade masterpieces.

Is she running out of ideas?  Is there a reason that Mario Batali and Bobby Flay can’t make these recipes on their own shows?  It was such a strange concept.  I felt uncomfortable watching it.

Do you think this is a good idea?  Should we let our favorite chefs re-make other Food Network chef’s dishes?  Something just isn’s righ here.  But maybe it’s just me.

Looks like the grill master won the majority of you guys over with his fancy outdoor grill set up and quick moving tongs.  42% of you, in fact, would rather have Bobby Flay over to an outdoor cookout than the other three chefs.

My fav, Alton Brown, came in a close second with 37% of the votes.  I guess a lot of you, like me, are fascinated by the brining process.  He could also make a fancy smoker with teracotta pots.  Mmmmm planter ribs.

Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee duked it out for last.  Pretty much no one wanted the ladies to BBQ.  I guess they were afraid that Rachel might set herself on fire trying to carry too many things to the grill while Sandra would be set a blaze by one of her cocktails getting too close to the flame.

Here’s a re-cap of the results:

1. Bobby Flay smoked the competition with 42% (49 votes.)
2. Alton Brown blazed into second with 37% (43 votes.)
3. Rachael Ray flickered into third with 16% (19 votes.)
4. Sandra Lee’s flame went out completely with only 4% (5 votes.)

I was craving a cheeseburger last Friday, and unfortunatley decided to drag my brother into the craving as well.  He has a grill so I brought over some hamburger and made cheeseburgers.  I always do this.  I get an idea in my head and think that it will be everything I think it will be, get too excited, and throw the recipe together.  The burgers were bad.  They were like hockey pucks on buns.  Yuck.

I should have been prepared.  I should have looked at the Food Network website.  They have a splendid little section on the front page that’s all about burgers, hence the “Burger Bonanza!”

Burgers aren’t simple.  They take preparation and forethought.  I know Rachael Ray makes it look easy, but she has billions of burger recipes and makes them all the time.  People like me who eat burgers once in a blue moon need help.

The Burger Bonanza rescues the dullest burger by offering creative things to put on the burger such as:

• Pimento Spread
• Tapenade
• Ratatouille
• and more!

It also has step by step videos of burger handling grilling.

It’s a great site to get you in the mood for summer, and burgers!

It’s historic.  I don’t give out many of these, but this recipe gets a 10.  I know I usually wait until the end of the blog to tell you my score, but this one is too good.  You have to try this one.  I mean it.  Father’s Day is this weekend and lots of people will be barbequeing.  This recipe is perfect to take to someone’s house as a side dish.  What is this amazing recipe?  Drum roll please…

Weekly Recipe Attempt:  Corn-Pimento Salad

I know what you’re thinking, “how is that an amazing salad?”  That’s what I thought at first.  I picked this recipe because I had all of those ingredients in my refrigerator.  (Don’t ask me why I had pimentos in my fridge.  Half the things I have in there are from some hair brained recipe gone awry.)

This is one of those great salads where no dressing is necessary.  You just toss it all together and viola!  Instant culinary genius!  It has is all.  It has color, and uniquness.  It uses up stuff you don’t really know what to do with after you make your main dish.  It tastes amazing.  A culinary moron couldn’t screw this up.  And, perhaps best of all, it’s healthy!

Once again, this recipe gets a 10.  This is foodtvandme’s highest honor.  Try it.  I swear it’s good.

Watch Season Three to find out!  And if you missed it, catch the recap on FoodNetwork.com by clicking here.  Ok, I missed it.  I didn’t realize it was on again.  I also have to admit that I like Bravo’s version of this food based competition (Top Chef) better. 

I haven’t been that big of a fan of the past winners (sorry Guy Fieri.)  No one even remembers the “Hearty Boys.”  I think what doomed those two from season one was the title of their show.  The food was catering food, not hearty food.  They were companions, not brothers.  The title misled the viewers.  We didn’t quite know what to expect when we were watching the show.

And, while I like Guy’s (season two’s winner) attempt to match the title with the show, his food isn’t really something new.  I also don’t really like any cooking show that enlists the help of innocent bystanders into the cooking process.  If I cook a meal for someone, I do it for them.  I don’t make them help cook, too.  It kind of defeats the purpose. 

Maybe this next batch of competitors will be up to my high standards of Food Network personalities.  Want to meet the new contestants?  Click here.

Who do you think stands out as a major competitor?