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The Great American Recipe Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
9 Episodes 2023 - 2023
Episode 1
Episode #2.1
Mon, Jun 19, 202354 mins
As their introduction to the nine new contestants, Alejandra and the judges want to get a sense of who they are on a plate. The first challenge for which the contestants have sixty minutes, the judges want to get to know them as a person by asking them to make what they consider their signature dish. The second challenge for which the contestants have ninety minutes, the judges ask them to make a dish representative of place, namely where they live, meaning that it is their spin on something they consider local. Alejandra and the judges have a surprise announcement to the contestants after the conclusion of the two challenges.
Episode 2
Episode #2.2
Mon, Jun 26, 202354 mins
After last week's surprise announcement that no one would be eliminated at the end of week one, Alejandra and the judges provide the contestants with further surprise announcements before this week's two challenges. First, Michael Thomas has dropped out of the competition and thus will not be returning. And second, all the remaining home cooks will stay for the duration of the competition up until the finale in a different format for this season. In an effort to make the contestants' recipes even better, the judges want to provide their critiques and expertise to all the cooks' dishes which the cooks will hopefully take to heart to improve their cooking week to week. However, Alejandra and the judges will rank each cook in each challenge with the finale solely to consist of the three highest ranked contestants over the entire course of the competition. This week's two challenges focus on the pantry. For the first challenge, for which they have forty-five minutes, the cooks are to make their last minute go-to weekday dinner, namely what they would make with what is routinely stocked in their pantry. For the second challenge, for which they have sixty minutes, the cooks are to make a dish tied to who they are centered on a pantry staple, namely noodles.
Episode 3
Episode #2.3
Mon, Jul 3, 202354 mins
This week is all about the warm feeling of home, family and love. The cooks will have sixty minutes for their first challenge, to cook a classic comfort. The judges are interested to see what comfort means to the different cooks. And they will have ninety minutes for the second challenge, to cook a dish proverbially for someone they love.
Episode 4
Episode #2.4
Mon, Jul 10, 202354 mins
This week's challenges are all about portability. The cooks have sixty minutes to make a grab and go dish for the first challenge, the judges who will focus on that ability to eat the meal on the run which usually means with one's hands. And for the second challenge, the cooks have ninety minutes to prepare something for the first ever Great American Recipe bake sale.
Episode 5
Episode #2.5
Mon, Jul 17, 202354 mins
The kitchen is down one person this week with Alejandra under the weather, leaving Tiffany to do double duty as judge and host. This week's challenges are all about festive occasion meals. The first challenge for which they will have sixty minutes, the cooks are to prepare a dish that they have made in the past for a special occasion. The second challenge for which they will have ninety minutes, the cooks are asked to make a holiday dish that showcases their specific cultures and family traditions, the added caveat being that the dish is to be served family style.
Episode 6
Episode #2.6
Mon, Jul 24, 202354 mins
The home cooks are thrown for a loop right out of the gate this week as the dishes they were going to prepare for the first round, those dishes which they were to present written as a recipe, will be cooked by one of their competitors instead in a recipe swap, some who may not only have never cooked that dish before in any form, but may not even know what it is. The cooks will not only have the recipe submitter as a resource during the challenge, but will have to put their own spin on it. They will have sixty minutes to complete the cook. And the second challenge for which they have ninety minutes, the cooks will have to present a dish that has been handed down over the generations within their family. The judges will look beyond the regular judging criteria in wanting an interesting story behind the recipe.
Episode 7
Episode #2.7
Mon, Jul 31, 202354 mins
The home cooks know that they have two challenges left to impress the judges before the judges make their decision of which three will make it into the finale, leaving five with only the memories of cooking within this group. The first challenge this week, for which the cooks have sixty minutes, is to prepare a dish that was given to them by a friend or inspired by a friend. And the second challenge, for which the cooks have ninety minutes, is to prepare a dish for an extraordinary time in their lives or transformative to their lives in some way. While the judges deliberate before making the announcement of the three, each of the eight cooks generally believes he/she has a good a shot of making it into the finale as any of the other seven as each has been named the best cook in at least one of the challenges over the fourteen dishes they have been asked to prepare.
Episode 8
Episode #2.8
Mon, Aug 7, 202354 mins
After eight weeks, the finale is here and the final three contestants standing are Salmah Hack, Brad Mahlof, and Leanna Pierre, who have two more chances to impress the judges before they name the winner whose recipe will be featured on the cover of the Great American Recipe cookbook. Receiving letters from home, the cooks in their first sixty minute challenge will prepare a dish requested by the letter writer which is to reflect something typical as to their family cooking. And for the final cook of the season on which the judges will largely make their decision of the winner, the cooks will have three hours to prepare a full meal which must include an entree, a side dish and a dessert. Because of the magnitude of the cook and the fact that most such meals are not usually done alone, the three finalists are each provided a sous chef who should be familiar with who they are as cooks.
Episode 9
The Great American Recipe After Show
Mon, Aug 7, 202330 mins
In the finals just having aired, host Ernie Manouse welcomes the three season 2 finalists Salmah Hack, Brad Mahlof, and Leanna Pierre to discuss the final results and their experience on the show, the chat in the setting of a meal devised jointly by the three but cooked by professional chefs who placed their own spin on the recipes which is what the Great American Cookbook is all about. The three talk about among other things the announcement of being in the finals after the seven weeks of unofficial score-keeping, the connection between the contestants and their food, the affect of the judges and the competition on what they cooked and how they cooked, the food that they are enjoying at this meal, and what they took away the most from being on the show. They also view the cookbook for the first time, and answer viewer questions.