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It's such a simple idea, it's hard to believe no one thought of it before. Take two teams of chefs and turn them loose in a farmers' market to shop for the freshest ingredients, which they then turn into a gourmet meal to be served to the show's judges – random market- goers. The winning tandem takes home a $5,000 prize. That's the premise of the recently premiered Cooking Channel competition series "Farmers' Market Flip," airing Thursdays. And its host, Jeff Mahin, thinks setting a culinary competition show amid the energy of a farmers' market is a stroke of genius. "It touches on so many great things," the Los Angeles-based chef, restaurateur and cyclist explains. "You know, you're outside, you're at this market and you're intermingling with people who are going there just to buy food for the week, for the day, and also restaurateurs and chefs. It's such a great epicenter of culinary creativity." For any chef, a visit to the local farmers' market is a required part of the job. Not only do they find the highest quality meats, fruits and vegetables there, they can also meet the people who produced them and can tell them all about it. They'll learn where the merchandise came from and whether it is at its peak, and also get a feel for who regularly has the best wares. For this, developing relationships with the farmers is critical. "All the farmers want to be able to educate," Mahin says, "so we saw a lot of the chefs (on the show) using ingredients they've never used before and taking risks because the farmers said, 'Hey, this is amazing.' They were able to taste it right away and then that inspired them to go a different direction or a totally new direction." Jeff Mahin What book are you currently reading? "I'm a cycling coach and I'm reading 'Finding Flow.' It's a really interesting book and the (author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) ... he's sort of the father of the word 'flow.' And as I get older and I realize this application with cooking, this idea with flow is really synonymous with cooking in a kitchen or just life in general. So that's what I'm reading." What did you have for dinner last night? "I had baked salmon, because I like baked salmon, and then I had a beet wild-green artichoke salad." What is your next project? "I'm opening another doughnut store this summer. That's my next brick-and-mortar project. I just filmed another pilot for Cooking Channel, which hopefully will go through – a little more decadent than 'Farmers' Market Flip' on the food. So I'm excited about that as well." When was your last vacation, where and why? "I wish I knew that answer (laughs). I think the last real vacation I took was almost two years ago, September ... and I went to Kauai for my birthday. That was awesome." BY GEORGE DICKIE Meats, produce and competition are in season on Cooking Channel's 'Farmers' Market Flip' Page 8 May 8 - 14, 2017 Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier. From Dallas. (N) 8:00 p.m. FX UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2 - Prelims Chas Skelly vs. Jason Knight; Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier. From Dallas. (N) Rodeo SUNDAY 4:00 p.m. WSBT 6 PBR Bull Riding From Las Ve- gas. socceR MONDAY 2:55 p.m. NBCSN English Premier League Soccer Chelsea FC vs Middles- brough FC. Chelsea has won six consecutive Premier League matches against Boro without con- ceding a single goal. (N) WEDNESDAY 2:40 p.m. NBCSN English Premier League Soccer Southampton FC vs Arse- nal FC. Arsenal is winless in five PL matches at the Saints, but won at St. Mary's in the FA Cup in January. (N) FRIDAY 2:55 p.m. NBCSN English Premier League Soccer West Bromwich Albion FC vs Chelsea FC. From The Hawthorns in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. (N) SATURDAY 9:30 a.m. SBT2 Bundesli- ga Soccer RB Leipzig vs FC Bayern Munich. From Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Saxony (Sachsen), Ger- many. (N) 9:55 a.m. NBCSN English Premier League Soccer Teams TBA. (N) 12:25 p.m. NBCSN English Premier League Soccer Stoke City FC vs Arsenal FC. From Bet365 Sta- dium in Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom. (N) 4:00 p.m. LIFE NWSL Soccer Sky Blue FC at Houston Dash. From BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. (N) 9:00 p.m. ESPN2 MLS Seattle Sounders FC at Chicago Fire. From Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. (N) On or Off-Site Catering All Occasions Dine under the glow of gas lanterns Breakfast and Lunch Meals also available Open Tuesday through Saturday RETIRE WORK Take Control of Your Future 64825 County Road 31 Goshen, IN 46528 1-866-764-1601 www.QualityDriveAway.com See America and Supplement Your Income!! Get Paid to Deliver Vehicles Throughout the U.S. & Canada Retiring Doesn't have to be Scary We Have Vehicles for Every License Type! Call Us Today! J U N E 2 TO HONOR GRADUATES! COMING SOON!

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