One of the reasons I was pleased HBO Max became just Max is because I have regained access to the Food Network. Don't get me wrong; most (of that network's recipes are way more complex than they appear on TV.

Then again, I don't have a cadre of behind-the-scenes staffers ready to provide me with every single implement or ingredient I would need at a moment's notice. But that's likely beside the point regarding my favorite Food Network series. I doubt I'd EVER use most of what it gives its contestants to work with.

Kentucky Chef Heads Into Food Network's 'Chopped' Kitchen

So no, I won't be taking any meal suggestions from this particular game show; I can't imagine ever preparing--or even FINDING--goat brains. And who knows? If Chopped reuses ingredients--I'm sure it does--then Kentucky chef Brittani Ratcliff might be faced with quite a challenge. Of course, she will be anyway. Chopped knows how to go out of its way to shock its players, judges, and audience with some pretty strange food. And when we see Chef Ratcliff on the next all-new episode of the popular competition series, she'll likely be in "strange food" mode, even if very little of what we see on Chopped would ever be something she might use in her position as the executive chef for Aramark Food Services at Morehead State University.

Kentucky Chef Brittani Ratcliff Has Cooked on National TV Before

And as far the spotlight is concerned, Brittani has been there and done that under much more rigid circumstances. At least, that's how I would describe being a contestant on Hell's Kitchen and having Chef Gordon Ramsay breathing down my neck.

Chef Ratcliff appeared on the FOX Network hit series in 2021 after recording her episode in 2019. According to e-paper The Daily Independent, it was her Instagram posts that led to her appearance. These are more recent ones, but if they are any indication, I totally get it.

How Chef Brittani Ratcliff Landed the 'Hell's Kitchen' Gig

Chef Brittani Ratcliff's Chopped episode will air Tuesday night at 7 PM Central on the Food Network, after which it will be available on demand.

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