All Stars Tournament: Grand Finale | |
Season 6, Episode 10 | |
Air date | March 27, 2011 |
Winner | Nate Appleman |
Episode Guide | |
previous All Stars Tournament: Round Four |
next A Cornish Mess |
The four finalists, each representing a charity, duke it out with hopes of winning the ultimate Chopped All-Stars title. The chefs face an awfully-challenging first round when they find offal and a crunchy snack in the appetizer basket. Then, a wild combination of trail mix and goat legs in the entrée round makes an intense battle even more difficult. When the two remaining chefs find a tangy fruit and canned legumes in their mystery baskets, one whips up a championship-caliber dessert and walks away with the $50,000 charitable prize.
Contestants[]
- Anne Burrell, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
- Nate Appleman, Kawasaki Disease Foundation
- Michael Proietti, The Jed Foundation
- Aarón Sánchez, Greater New Orleans Foundation
Judges[]
Meal[]
Appetizer[]
Ingredients: Rabbit Kidneys, Baby Beets, Merguez, Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips
Nate's appetizer (Beet Soup with Grilled Kidney and Merguez) is able to utilize the three central basket ingredients. Both Marcus and Alex applauded him for the use of the beets, but they didn't like the bitterness from the dish.
Anne use those ingredients to make her Trio of Crostini which earned overall praises from the judges for it's flavors and the cooking of the kidney.
The ingredients given to Aarón is what he wanted to make his taco and display his Mexican identity, inspired from one of his restaurants. Marc liked the flavors of his Merguez and Kidney Taco with Salsa Cruda. Alex liked the salsa and the julienned beets from his salad, though she wanted more of it.
Lastly, Michael earns praise from the judges in the cooking of his Sauteed Rabbit Kidneys with Pickled Beet Salad and the use of the beets paired with the apple but became frustrated with his aioli that had the merguez which was split from the blender that Marcus noticed. Marc noted during the final deliberation that the heat from the blender caused his sauce to break the viscosity.
With Anne deemed safe in the appetizer round, the others faced the chopping block. And against some strong competition, Chef Michael's technical error to his sauce was enough to send him home.
Entrée[]
Ingredients: Goat Leg, Dried Hibiscus Flower, Pattypan Squash, Trail Mix
Despite struggling throughout the cook, Anne's Goat Leg Lettuce Wrap with Squash Gratin won out the judges for the concept of her entrée. But while they applauded her butchering of the meat, they struggled in tasting the dish as it was overpowered with her excessive use of the tomato paste.
Next, Aarón served his Hibiscus-Dusted Goat with Salsa Verde to display the usage of the meat. Alex liked the texture of his beans pairing with the squash. The salsa and the cooking of the meat earned praise from Marc and Marcus respectively, but in the opposite side; it just lacks sauce and the goat on each of the judges's dishes was cooked unevenly in different temperatures, leaving the dish too dry as a whole.
Nate chose to showcase the use of his goat in two different ways paired with his squash risotto. After tasting his Duo of Goat with Pattypan Risotto, the judges praised the creativity of his dish but they couldn't detect the hibiscus while his goat was cooked inconsistently.
All three of them had errors in their entrées. But the verdict came down to the taste itself and Chef Anne's unnecessary use of the tomato paste costs her chance to compete in the final round as she was eliminated.
Dessert[]
Ingredients: Sesame Candies, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Chayotes, Chickpeas
Cooking against Nate in the final round, Aarón decided to make a Chocolate Cake with Chayote Salad. Alex and Marcus liked the chickpea cream and the salad which balances the richness of his dessert. However, Marc found the cakes was slightly dry.
Nate's Grapefruit Semifreddo with Chickpea Caramel had mixed reviews from the judges on the caramel but Marc thought when they ate it altogether with the other elements, the dish worked.
Deliberating the final result, both of them had delivered with their dishes in each round despite technical issues. But the killer for Chef Aarón is that his cake was just a little dry which couldn't outmatch Nate's innovation of his dishes in each round. In a gut-wretching decision from his fellow judges, they had to chop him. Nate Appleman became the first All-Stars Tournament grand champion on May 27, 2011, winning him the grand prize $50,000 which will be donated to his chosen charity, the Kawasaki Disease Foundation which his son Oliver, who had appeared on studio after his win, suffered.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- The All-Stars Chopped champion finalists returned to compete in the finale for the grand prize to their chosen charity.
Chopped Season 6 | |
<< Season 5 • Season 7 >> | |
#01 Victory on the Brain | #07 All Stars Tournament: Round Two |
#02 Prove it on the Plate | #08 All Stars Tournament: Round Three |
#03 Marrowly We Row Along | #09 All Stars Tournament: Round Four |
#04 Doughs and Don'ts | #10 All Stars Tournament: Grand Finale |
#05 Step Right Up! | #11 A Cornish Mess |
#06 All Stars Tournament: Round One | #12 Chefs on a Mission |