Fearless Chefs Ditch Kitchen For 'Extreme' Culinary Competition On Season Two Of Extreme Chef

NEW YORK, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Network takes seven of America's most fearless chefs out of their kitchens and drops them into some of the most extreme locations in the second season of Extreme Chef premiering Thursday, August 16th at 10pm ET/PT. Over the course of five episodes, from the scorching deserts of California to the exotic jungles of Thailand, the chefs test their physical prowess, mental toughness and culinary skills as they compete in grueling and seemingly impossible culinary challenges including pulling out needles from a cactus pad to create a tasty dish, and creating a meal in 60 minutes on a floating dock, while the chefs rescue their ingredients from a capsized fishing boat in the ocean. Hosted by TV veteran and seasoned world traveler Marsh Mokhtari, each episode features the chefs competing in challenges judged by a rotating panel of notable guest judges, with the bottom two chefs facing off in a final showdown challenge to determine which chef goes home. In the end, one chef is able to consider themselves the most Extreme while taking home a $50,000 grand prize.  Special guest judges this season include Simon Majumdar (Next Iron Chef judge, food journalist), Ben Sargent (host of Cooking Channel's Hook, Line & Dinner), and Troy Johnson (host of Crave, food critic and journalist).

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Episodes include:

"Doomsday Survival" - Premieres Thursday, August 16th at 10:00pm ET/PT

Seven chefs begin their culinary adventure of a lifetime when a helicopter drops them into Salton City, California, an abandoned post-apocalyptic wasteland, where they're left to scavenge for ingredients and tools. The chefs have only 60 minutes to raid a deserted tent village for non-perishable ingredients, build their own cooking stations, and use items like steel wool, batteries and tumbleweed to start a fire. After a tough round of judging, two chefs are sent into the Final Showdown, where they must create the perfect bite - only one will survive the apocalypse and advance to the next location.

Competitors: Scott Brandolini (Mass.), Susanne Dillingham (N.C.), Terry French (N.J.), Lance Knowling (N.J.), Viet Pham (Utah),  Isadora Sarto (Vt.), Tiffany Ward (Hawaii)

Judges: Simon Majumdar, Mykel Hawke (survival expert)

"Coast Guard Cook-Off" - Premieres Thursday, August 23rd at 10:00pm ET/PT

The remaining six chefs head to Los Angeles to join the U.S. Coast Guard for a cooking adventure in the Pacific Ocean. In the first challenge, they create a dish using military MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat) and a seafood protein that they pull up from traps in the water. Then, for the first time ever, the winner gets to assign teams for the second challenge, where the chefs have 60 minutes to not only rescue their ingredients from a capsized fishing boat in the frigid ocean, but also cook two cohesive dishes on a floating dock. After the tasting and judging, two chefs will cook for their lives in the Final Showdown, enduring rocky waves as they cook one perfect bite in the cramped galley of a Coast Guard Cutter.

Judges: Ben Sargent, Brandon Langdon (head chef of the Coast Guard "Cutter Halibut")

"Desert Survival" - Premieres Thursday, August 30th at 10:00pm ET/PT

The remaining five chefs go back in time to cook like the Native American Indians. For their first challenge, the chefs hack off spiny cactus pads from the desert, pull out all the needles and create a tasty dish for judge Graywolf of the Yoeme Indian Tribe. In the second challenge, the chefs gather local ingredients and tools from a Native American village to create a gourmet meal, all while building their own fires and constructing knives using nothing but an obsidian rock. Two chefs are then sent into the Final Showdown, where they cook indigenous desert ingredients on hot rocks to create the perfect bite to stay in the competition.

Judges: Troy Johnson, Graywolf (Curator of the Chumash Indian Museum)

"Off to Thailand" - Premieres Thursday, September 6th at 10:00pm ET/PT

The final four chefs head to one of the culinary capitals of the world – Thailand. In the bustling capitol city of Bangkok, the chefs obtain ingredients from the Damneon Saduak Floating Market, negotiate with vendors, and begin cooking right on the boat. As if that's not tough enough, the chefs also face a flash rainstorm, gusty winds and the dreaded Southeast Asian jackfruit. For the Final Showdown, two chefs face off on a coconut plantation, where they climb a tree to retrieve coconuts and cook the perfect bite using the same methods as the locals.

Judges: Simon Majumdar, Nok Chalida (Thailand TV personality, host of Living in Shape, former Miss Thailand)

"The $50,000 Bite" - Premieres Thursday, September 13th at 10:00pm ET/PT

The final three chefs battle in the remote jungles of Thailand for $50,000 and the title of Extreme Chef. The chefs begin the biggest culinary adventure of their lives by cooking a vegetarian dish while standing in the middle of the flowing river in Chiang Mai. Then, for their next challenge, the chefs head to a native Thailand Hill Tribe village, where they work with villagers to source ingredients and tools from inside their huts. In just 60 minutes, the chefs create a family-style meal from a whole pig and a mystery ingredient. After an emotional elimination, the final two chefs head to one of Chiang Mai's most important temples to create the winning bite in the $50,000 Final Showdown, but only one will survive the world's toughest cooking competition and be crowned the Extreme Chef!

Judges: Simon Majumdar, Yui Sriyabhaya (owner of "A Lot of Thai," Thailand's top cooking school)

Extreme Chef is produced by Smart Dog/Valencia Productions LLC.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.45 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com),  is the manager and general partner.

SOURCE Food Network

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