Episode 3 of The Great American Recipe was all about bringing the love to the table as they dived into food as a “Love Language.” And while each of the home cooks was tasked with creating dishes inspired by a loved one, there were different ways that this could be interpreted.
In the first round of “Love Language” it was all about creating a dish that was about comfort. Think about this as a dish that is both comforting and feels like a hug on the plate. Then in round two it was all about creating a dish that symbolized love. In this round, it was about taking inspiration from a loved one (whether we are looking at romantic love or familial love).
For our comfort food round, we were pretty excited to see what each of the cooks would make. The three dishes were really finding comfort in came from Foo, Nikki, and Bambi.
With Bambi’s dish it was all about making the Ultimate Nachos. These nachos were loaded with things like chicken thighs, ground turkey meat, and even bacon. For Nikki’s dish it was all about bringing a true bowl of comfort in the form of a chicken thigh Pho. And finally, we were really invested in Foo’s Banh Mi that he made using a canned ham.
The Great American Recipe channels food as a “Love Language” in episode 3
During the judging for round one, it was truly amazing as the judges had nothing negative to say about any of the dishes. But in the end, the top two dishes came from Silvia, who went with a sweet dish, and Tony, who opted for a savory one.
Then it was on to round two, our dishes of love. In this round, there was a lot of sentimentality in the kitchen, with memories and nostalgia helping to bring these meals to life.
For this round, the three dishes we were in love with came from Dan, Brian, and Robin! For Dan, it was his Pasta e Fagioli which was inspired by his grandmother. Then it was Brian’s Chicken Paprikash with spaetzle, that was passed down to him by his grandfather. Finally, we were fascinated by Robin’s Tahini Custard Pie, which was inspired by her mother.
And while the judging this time did see a few cooks get some feedback about what could have been better, it was once again a relatively positive round of critiques. At the top of the pack we had Nikki and Silvia. But ultimately it was Silvia’s Albondigas that won the show.
Sadly that leaves us with our bottom two and the cook who would go home. In this case, the bottom consisted of Tony and Bambi. And while Tony was likely saved by the fact that he was one of the top dishes in the first round, it was ultimately Bambi who ended up going home by the end of episode 3 of The Great American Recipe.
We were sad to see Bambi go and we hope to see Tony bringing back his more consistent dishes. But what did you think of this episode of The Great American Recipe? Which dishes got your attention?