Keller mom Melissa d’Arabian continues to charm in third episode of Next Food Network Star

by Teresa Gubbins

Week three of The Next Food Network Star, Season 5, and local contestant Melissa d'Arabian of Keller continued to impress the judges, thus prevailing one more week despite her lack of "professional" cooking skills.

Not that such a thing matters, as the judges seemed more wrapped up in the contestants' ability to gracefully share personal tidbits that revealed the inner them.

This week's challenge was right up Melissa's alley, as it involved shopping at a supermarket on a budget and preparing a meal in which the cost per person was $5. She does that all the time, she proclaimed jubilantly, because she's a mommy with four kids, in case you've forgotten. After the shopping spree, the contestants were bused out to the plush East Hampton spread of the Barefoot Contessa, where they would feed her and her friends.

But first they had to give the camera their personal testimony that it was sooooo exciting to actually stand before the Barefoot Contessa. Really? Rachael Ray is one thing, but do everyday people seriously tremble in the mere presence of Ina what's-it? This is one of the most annoying rituals of this god-awful show, is that every time the network trots out one of their "stars," the contestants are forced to drool and slobber. If they want to become one of them, they must show their willingness to lie prone and worship the very concept of Food Network Stardom. Tell us how jiggly your insides become at the very sight of Tyler Florence. Come on, show us ya really-really want it.

Anyway, Bobby Flay teamed up the contestants, so Melissa got paired with strange ill-tempered self-taught cook Eddie, who spent the entire time displaying his scorn for his housewife partner by rolling his eyes every time she asked him a question and answering her as curtly as he could. He'll regret that!

The team of previous winner Jeffrey and weirdly-bearded Michael won because their food seemed the most upscale (it had broccoli di rabe, etc.) and the least budget-y. But Michael was nervous, and he had one line that the Food Network showed over and over and over -- him saying he ran around "like a madwoman." OK, we get it already, he's gay.

The judges didn't love Melissa's chicken but they liked her; the Barefoot Contessa (gasp!) said she "glowed." They sent Eddie packing. Karma strikes! They didn't like his watermelon-onion-feta-cheese salad, and they practically blanched when he revealed that he'd taken the recipe from a Paula Deen cookbook. Taking recipes from other Food Network stars is not how a Food Network star behaves, and it's a double foul when it puts the judges in the awkward position of dissing the recipe. They couldn't banish him fast enough.