The Next Food Network Star Crowned

Dark horse Melissa d’Arabian out-cooked nine other competitors on The Next Food Network Star and was declared victorious on Sunday night’s show, winning the coveted prize:  her own Food Network television series.  D’Arabian’s taped pilot program demonstrating her technique and recipe for Rustic Lemon-Onion Chicken put her over the top, narrowly beating runner up Jeffrey Saad, whose sample show featured a grilled sandwich with harissa (a North African spice).

D’Arabian, a stay-at-home mother of four pre-school daughters, has been cooking all her life, but without any formal culinary training.  Week after week she survived challenge after challenge, cooking and presenting some of the most artful and tasteful dishes that the judges had ever seen or tasted.

Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President in charge of all programming and production at the Food Network was one of the weekly judges along with Susie Fogelson, vice president of marketing and brand strategy, and Chef Bobby Flay.  Tuschman, who authored a weekly blog about The Next Food Network Star, summed up the decision to choose Melissa D’Arabian for their next series of cooking programs.  “Melissa’s bottomless trove of tips and tricks kept teaching me things, and I thought viewers would appreciate them too,”Tuschman wrote in his blog.  But mostly, her food kept winning me over. It is exactly the kind of smart, sophisticated but accessible home cooking that viewers constantly tell me they want to learn from us. And her deep knowledge of budget and time-conscious recipes seemed perfect for these times”

Congratulations, Melissa d’Arabian!   Her new show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d’Arabian premieres Sunday, August 9, at 12:30 p.m. eastern time, 11:30 a.m. central time.

Rustic Lemon-Onion Chicken

· 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced in half crossways (butterflied, cut all the way through)
· 1 teaspoon dried thyme, plus 1 small bunch fresh thyme, leaves chopped
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper
· 4 tablespoons olive oil
· 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
· 1 red onion, thinly sliced
· 1/4 cup white wine, optional
· 1 cup chicken broth
· 3 lemons, juiced
· 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
· Spinach “bed”, recipe follows

Directions

Season chicken with dried thyme and salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add the oil. Dredge the chicken in flour, add to the hot oil and saute until cooked through. Set chicken aside to rest on plate tented with foil.

In same saute pan, over low heat, add onions and fresh thyme and cook until aromatic.

In a measuring cup, measure out wine, if using, and broth, and add the lemon juice. Turn the heat up to high, and deglaze the pan with the broth mixture until starting to reduce.

Remove the pan from the heat and finish the sauce by whisking in butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place a bed of cooked spinach on a serving platter, top with the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Spinach “bed”

· 1 bag pre-washed fresh spinach
· 3 tablespoons water
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1 lemon, juiced
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Microwave spinach in a microwave-proof dish with a few tablespoons of water on high for 5 to 6 minutes, or until hot. Drain, and toss with butter, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste.