This episode’s opening minutes made us anxious. No, the show’s producers didn’t do anything crazy, like adding a fourth contestant or a third challenge—it was the same blue-menu blandness we know and love. Host Jesse Palmer, though, wracked our nerves a little. He dropped into his pre-“batch-up” spiel with his standard brand of reality show host gusto, but then, all of a sudden, he said “President’s Choice product” instead of “prestigious President’s Choice lineup.” We nearly spat out the apparently-no-longer-prestigious President’s Choice snack we were eating. Okay, that last bit didn’t really happen; but still, we were shocked. We watched the rest of the episode, the Savoury Snacks challenge, with justified trepidation, but thankfully, the well-worn formula delivered, and Palmer deviated no further from the standard script. Phew.
Stephen Childs, a civil engineer from Victoria, was the first to put his product in front of the judges. He offered a deep-fried polenta pocket stuffed with chili, which was inspired by his dislike of cleaning sticky chili remnants off the bottom of dishware (and, we assume, his profound love of the spicy bean-based medley). Childs, ever the engineer, methodically makes the chili, portions it into molds, freezes them, stuffs the puck into polenta and deep fries the whole package. The approach clearly paid off, as he, and his chili, moved on. Calgary’s Jennifer Innis, on the other hand, did not. Judge Dana McCauley called the whole wheat pastry in her Cornish Chicken Pasties “a triumph,” but that wasn’t enough to carry her product through to the next challenge. Instead, the competition came down to Childs and Ladysmith, B.C.’s Lyndsay Wells, who presented scallion pancake-wrapped Asian Snack Wraps. Both received new names—Chipotle Chili Slams and Wrap Attack—before a teenage boys hockey team entered as the episode’s focus group. Naturally, the cheerleaders smartly recruited to market Childs’ chili snack hit them square in the hormones. The whole team walked past Wells and went straight to the Slams. Wells eventually lured them back with a marketing bit that featured a rapper rapping about her wrap (get it?) and a graffiti artist. But it didn’t matter. The numbers favoured Childs, and so too did the judges. The Chipotle Chili Slams, the most aggressively named Recipe to Riches product since last year’s Chicken Grenades, received the final nod.
The More You Know: Cornish pasty is a protected term. Who knew?
15g of fat PER PIECE?!
The show is as lack lustre as some of the winning recipes. Tried most from last year and the much ballyhooed Chicken Grenades were disgusting. The BBQ sauce was way too smoky and the bacon was slimy. Also, I can’t seem to find the grand prize lemon dessert here in Edmonton. As for this weeks Chipotle Chili Slams…really? Another frozen pocket? Was certain Jennifer would have taken it back to Leduc. Her product actually looked good.
Chipolte Chili Slams were okay. I like the quick snack burrito type presentation. They are too spicy for my liking and almost 300 calories each! I won’t buy them again.
Chipolte Chili Slams a disappointment…too mushy…the pastry the only thing I liked,will not buy again. I wonder, without the Cheer Leaders , if those teenage boys would have been soooooooo biased . Sorry judges,think you missed on this one.
I bought these today and my family and I loved them!!
They have a bit of a kick to them but not to much!
The chili is tasty and the pastry is perfect! I cooked them for 24 minutes at 350 degrees!
I served them with salsa and my family cleaned up the plate!
Didn’t like them at all found them quite bland.
They are just OK. What bothered me was the obnoxious “Gotta win” attitude of the winner. He hijacked his opponent’s public effort, and showed his total lack of class. Judges missed that? Or bought into it. Teenage boys, folks, would eat anything.