Feast Your Eyes on This Spicy Cooking Challenge 2013- Round 3 Contestant Videos
This round is sponsored by Texas Creek Products
Our Round 3 sponsor is Texas Creek Products, makers of Pure Evil Capsaicin Drops. Add heat to your food without changing the flavor. Check out their newest formula with 1,560,000 SHU. Try with baked goods, sauces, soups, drinks, jerky or anything you think needs some extra zip. Pure Evil is not an extract and has no nasty extract taste, just be careful because it has some serious extract heat. Click on the banner above to get you some. A big thanks to Ann Simmons for sponsoring the contest again and being our guest judge for the week.
Round 3 Challenge:
This is the CH…CH…CH…Challenge! All food are in play that starts with a CH whether it be chocolate, chicken, chorizo, or Chex mix. Any recipe that starts with a CH like chowder, chow mein, chimichangas, etc allows you to use any ingredient that would normally be found in that CH dish. The contestants were also allowed to use 3 other ingredients outside of the CH to square up their dish. Mike won round 2, so he was allowed to choose any CH food and only he would be allowed to use it. Mike chose CHeese, so only he will be allowed to use cheese. Which means CHeesecake or CHeeseburgers were out as well. All of the remaining 6 contestants are allowed 7 minutes this round.
We have prizes valued over $3,000 this year. Thanks to our great sponsors:
Houston Hot Sauce Festival – Free Booth
Zestfest Midwest – Free Booth
Chile Pepper Magazine – Huge Advertising Package
Endorphin Farms – $400 in cash prizes
Refining Fire Chiles – $150 in cash prizes
Plus our weekly $50 prize sponsors!
Our talented Judges:
Carol Borge
www.HoustonHotSauce.com
Judy Fuhrhop (now replacing Greg Bagarozy)
www.zestfestmidwest.com
Sir McMillan
www.chilepepper.com
Scott Roberts
www.ScottRobertsweb.com
Firehead Thomas
www.ILoveItSpicy.com
Guest Judge:
Ann Simmons
Texas Creek Products
Feast Your Eyes Challenge Calendar: (All Videos will be posted at 9am est.)
February 27 Contestant Intro Videos were released LINK
March 6- 1st Challenge LINK
March 9- Midnight is the deadline for the 1st challenge
March 10- All Contestant Videos are posted LINK
March 13- 2nd Challenge LINK
March 16- Midnight Deadline for 2nd challenge
March 17- All Contestant Videos are posted LINK
March 20- 3rd Challenge LINK
March 23- Midnight Deadline for 3rd Challenge
March 24- All Contestant Videos are posted
March 27- 4th Challenge
March 30- Midnight Deadline for 4th Challenge
March 31- All Contestant Videos are posted
April 3- 5th Challenge
April 6- Midnight Deadline for 5th Challenge
April 7- All Contestant Videos are posted
April 10- 6th & Final Challenge
April 13- Midnight Deadline for Final Challenge
April 14- Finalist Videos are posted
April 17- Winner is announced!
THERE IS A POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE VIDEOS SO PEOPLE CAN PICK THEIR FAVORITES. Now to the videos…
Tina Tillman of Chesterville Pepper Company
Mike Isenberg of Wicked Cactus Sauces
Sam Peters of Patter Fam Sauces
Bo Perkins of Addiction Sauces
Jennifer Reynolds of Sauce Goddess
Kevin Billings of High Octane Sauce Company
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
Did I miss something? I thought the contestants were supposed to use the Texas Creek Pure Evil Capsaicin in their recipie. Did some of them forget?
Nope. They were just a sponsor. Description is above and in the video from Wednesday.
Oops. Sorry.
It’s all good.
Great videos. Everyone’s stepping up their game. Mike, you’re so cute when you’re cheesey! LOL
Clearly Bo is the only one to follow the rules and made an excellent dish!
There are some debatable infractions, but would you think Bo was the only one?
Looks like Mike severely bruised his left thumbnail. That having been said, Mike has the potential to arouse every woman who watches this. And Buddah, too. 😉
While not aroused, I do find it interesting that he made the queso in the microwave! I’ve always made mine on the stove top. Now I gotta go out for goatmilk and try it!
Great job everyone. Bo’s dish made me hungry Cheerios and chorizo who would have thought that.
Yeah, I smashed my thumb pretty good about 2 weeks ago putting down some flooring in my basement. You can see some of it last week’s video.
You can make it on the stovetop, but 2 cups for 4 minutes makes it so much easier – and no scorched milk!
Bo wins hands down!!
Go Bo!
Bo has excellent dishes!
Bo wins hands down
Too bad only a couple of you chose to have someone else taste your food….
hey cheesy guy-great video!
I didn’t see where the other contestants pointed out the 3 extra ingredients we were allowed besides all that CHCHCHCHCH. Weren’t we supposed to do that? Maybe I misunderstood the rules on this week.
Jen, I ran my ingredients while I used them – soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Everything else I used started with CH. On another note, wish I were skiing! Hope you had a great time.
Wow! It is getting harder to pick who is the best! I am glad I am not judging this contest. Agree with Thomas in past contests all the cooks had someone taste their food. Would be nice to see that. I remember Johnny had a whole party of people tasting his stuff!
Why? Not like anyone of us would choose someone to taste it that won’t have the same reaction as we do? We are trying to win so why have a person taste it and say “eh, I have had better”. Is me picking someone to try my food any more credible than tasting it myself? Should Guy Fieri have someone else try his on Guy’s Big Bite?
You mean of his friends and family? Again, what is the difference when we would choose people that would help our cause. When you provide references to a potential employer, do you use ones of people that you don’t get along with or would say you suck? Just sayin, I don’t see anymore credibility in picking a friend of family member to taste it than doing it yourself unless you are trying out for the worst chef in America show.
Amen
Where is the “like” button on here? LOL
Kevin,
As a pastor, I have to do my cooking in the morning and there isn’t anyone available to try my dish while I’m filming. My work obligations are in the afternoon and evening in the middle of the week. I’ve had a lot of folks eat it as leftovers, but I just don’t have the luxury to get anyone on camera. It would be nice, just hasn’t been feasible for me to do.
After watching all of the videos every week, I have to congratulate everyone on their improvement. The videos are becoming much easier to watch but Sam’s videos and recipes stand out to me each and every week. His recipes are easy to follow; I can reproduce them at home with items from my local grocery store, he walks me through each and every step, gives me the measurements of every ingredient used, all while following the challenge directions. As far as his videos are concerned… they are overall pleasing to the eye, the sound and lighting aspects are always spot on, the background music is pleasant, the graphics are easy to read, and the food always looks delicious! I tend to agree with Kevin about the tasting though. No matter who you choose to taste your dish… it’s your competition video, they’re naturally going to LOVE it. The pictures and/or video of your food should speak volumes as to how great it tastes. Hence… Feast Your Eyes. It should be pleasing to the eye. This week had 2 hiccups… I agree with Buddah that there appeared to be some questionable infractions this week so with that said… leave NO room for interpretation of the rules when the challenge is specific but complicated. Make certain that the competitors understand the challenge fully before beginning their preparation as they have very little time to prepare and there is a lot on the line this year. And… ensure that the contestants, judges, and general public know whether or not the sponsor ingredient is being provided and whether or not it has to be used in their dishes. I’ve enjoyed following the competition but Pastor Sam really does need his own cooking show! Good luck to all and keep up the good work!
watched all of the video’s and can say they are all excellent. what is the criterion for the recipes and how much time do you have to assemble them? some seems to be professionally done in the video aspect and most seem to be on what I would consider, home budget. how long do you have to make and present. Pastor Sam, do you own your own tv station
No, our video is shot in my house by a friend of mine. His payment is the food I cook that day.
You don’t even want to know what time I am shooting my stuff at. I work a 9-5 and am a single father. My fiancee is a huge help and blessing but I don’t ask her to do “my job” with my boys. I completely get what you are saying. Think you can bless my laptop so that the editing software won’t be so problematic for me next week? LOL
The last 2 years of this competition I made it a point to make sure the contestants have someone eat their food. The idea was to prove that you actually made a finished product. The feedback I received was that it took time away from showing off the recipe. So no demands were put on the contestants this year. It is always nice to see someone eat the food at the end as you would see on a cooking show, but in most cases (that does not have a studio audience), the taster was the actual cook/chef. No matter who it is, you will always hear a positive remark, so what is the difference?
I am a friend of Sam’s and I am doing his video work for this competition. I can assure you that he does not have his own tv station and I have shot and edited every video for this competition, including the intro video, by myself with one camera. This production is on a home budget, we shoot in his own kitchen and my services are paid for with the delicious meals that he has been cooking. We receive the same amount of time as everyone else which means the challenge is received Wednesday morning and finished product must be turned in by midnight on Saturday of the same week.
Thank you very much for your input Maria. The complications on this challenge fall on me. I never had such a vague challenge before and my plan was not create confusion but stir creativity. It was a mess and that falls on me. The 3 extra ingredients should have been pointed out by the contestants, but I also did not say they should. I said any item could be used if it was infused with chile peppers as my example like chipotle butter or cooking oil. I did not say it in my video, only in the comments area, so that was my fault. What I should have stated that if you use a CH food like Bo did with his Chestnut Pasta then it would be okay to declare the food as legal under the rules. My judges were equally confused. It all falls on me and I am sorry it did go as smoothly as I had hoped.
Overall this was one of the best cooking rounds ever in this contest. Kudos to the contestants for being so creative with their mouth-watering dishes.
The rules for the challenges are posted on Wednesday morning at 9am est. Each round we announce a winner and a loser. The winner receives a $50 credit gift card and a bonus for the next round. The loser will be eliminated from the contest. Each round the time increases. We had 7 minutes this round, and there will be 8 minutes the next round.
As good as some of the videos look, we also understand that these are not filmed equally. The judges are told to judge the videos in 3 categories-
1- Visually Pleasing – We can’t eat it, so it has to look good.
2- Creative – We want comfort food that is easy to make at home, but we also want them to think of something the others won’t come up with. Out of the box creativity does not mean using food the other contestants or you the viewer can’t find in their local grocer, but putting a dish out that will shock and awe us by it’s sheer inventiveness.
3- Rules – All dishes have to be submitted on time, within the time limit, be spicy, and follow the criteria of the challenge.
so you can have someone else film, edit, and produce the final result. that takes alot of heat off of, no pun intended, the chef. like the lady who took her dish with her to the slope. they all do a great job. time is the key
Re: using the sponsor’s item in the cooking- in one challenge, Buddah sent jellies to the contestants, but the jelly maker did not sponsor the round. Same thing for the peach scorpion from Jim Duffy. Duffy was not the sponsor of the round. It was purely coincidence that Mike had Pure Evil and chose to use it this round.
Having someone taste the food is kind of a moot point, usually all we see it the person take a bite, nod their head and say “MMMMmmmmm!” lol
I agree…I mean about the stepping up the game thing…um, Mike, you I also agree that you are cheezy…lol
Alice must be his mom…lol
I liked the technique…makes me want to try it…easy.
Yes, and he does….and…Guy Fieri is a db. But, I digress. I think you answered your own question, Kevin. I KNOW you will say you love your food, I want to see how someone else reacts to it, since I can’t taste it myself.
But, I would like to taste your food…just so you know..I love your skills.
Its a good point…but politicians have great campaign people, and contestants here have friends with skills.
Take the “have someone else taste your food” thing any way you want. I think it helps me, I see body language, no matter what they happen to say. I am a judge, and I appreciate it, enough said. It is NOT a requirement for me, but I like it. It won’t make you finish first, but it may be that 1/2 point difference between you and the chef you are neck and neck with…that’s all.
I hoped that it wasn’t too much but I am a talker. Lol I’m just an outsider looking in and very rarely do I comment on things I am not a part of but it appears as though you are going to have increased interest in the competition after seeing what some contestants are bringing to the table this year in regards to recipes and video production (and according to the comments below, doing it in the same amount of time as everyone else). This potentially means more sponsors for the competition next year, more at stake for the contestants, but also adds a level of elevated competition forcing all of the contestants to “up their game” in order to be worthy of the sponsors prizes. From a marketing standpoint, in the end, the winner should be the one that has met all of the criteria, consistently produced a quality end product, and is able to represent this competition and its sponsors in the most positive way possible. I have thoroughly enjoyed this competition. Thanks for the soapbox Buddah. lol Keep that great food coming!
I am glad you are so willing to step up on it and voice your opinion. We need more like you to tell us what they would like to see and that they are enjoying what we are doing here. Thanks so much for taking the time to write your sentiments.
I’m replicating Mike’s dinner tonight, carne and queso. Actually it’s tomorrows dinner, prepping tonight. YUM!
Firehead Thomas makes a great point.
You can almost look at it like green garnish in a BBQ competition turn-in box. It may not be required by anybody to include garnish, but it makes things look so much nicer, so every BBQ competition team does it. That little bit of added pizzazz may be the tie breaker in BBQ judges’ eyes.
Same goes for the taster at the end of these vids. I would like to see someone try it out and describe the flavors and sensations. It goes with the whole “feast your eyes on this” concept. If family and friends describe it and make my mouth water and stomach growl even more, then that might put it over the top for me. 🙂 Not a requirement with me either, but just a thought.
Thanks, but like I said. Given the chance to pick someone to taste it, we would all stack the deck.
That’s okay…body language says a lot.