All Stars Tournament: Round Four : Chopped Judges | |
Season 6, Episode 9 | |
Air date | April 3, 2011 |
Winner | Aarón Sánchez |
Episode Guide | |
previous All Stars Tournament: Round Three |
next All Stars Tournament: Grand Finale |
The tables turn in round four as frequent Chopped judges compete for a spot in the final round. The chefs encounter a culinary conundrum when they discover smoked fish and powdered strawberry milk in the appetizer round mystery basket. Then, in the entrée round, emotions run high when the three remaining chefs cook up a labor-intensive protein. The two finalists somehow create a sweet dessert concoction for using pork, and one chef advances.
Contestants[]
- Maneet Chauhan, Clinton Global Initiative
- Geoffrey Zakarian, The Kimmins Foundation
- Aarón Sánchez, Greater New Orleans Foundation
- Amanda Freitag, God's Love We Deliver
Judges[]
Meal[]
Appetizer[]
Ingredients: Papadum, Baby Romanesco, Smoked Lake Chub, Powdered Strawberry Milk
Maneet's Smoked Chub with Papadum Two Ways thought she is able to use two of the four basket ingredients in two ways — Chris applauded her idea of using the papadum as a wrapper and Alex liked the romanesco chutney. Despite being able to utilise the strawberry milk for her raita and cocktail; her sauce was deemed too spicy and her drink was heavy.
The simplicity of Geoffrey's Smoked Chub Carbonara with Crispy Papadum impressed in the tasting as he is able to use the fish to flavor his pasta during the cook. Chris liked the papadum as the breadcrumb element but noted that his bacon wasn't rendered enough.
Amanda serve a Smoked Chub Salad with Crispy Romanesco to the judges, earning praise from Alex with the use of the powdered milk for her gastrique. The other judges liked her use of the chub but Chris found one bone in one of his plates.
Aarón also made a salad for his appetizer: Marinated Smoked Chub Salad with Crispy Papadum. Alex liked the papadum to compliment the flavors of his appetizer, but the dish also had bones from the fish.
With all of the appetizers tasted, the other fellow judges had to make a decision to deliver the verdict and so the first Chopped judge who was sent home from the tournament was Chef Maneet as two components of her plate overpowered the entire dish.
Entrée[]
Ingredients: Taralli, Natto, Radicchio, Duck
Geoffrey took the Asian approach of a classic french dish: Chinese Duck à l'Orange with Radicchio Salad. He used the taralli and the natto for the sauce, which Alex praised while Chris and Marc thought that with the extra ten minutes in the second round, he didn't use much of the duck.
Next, Amanda made a Duck Breast with Pine Nut Relish over Soft Polenta. While the judges liked the duck confit, Chris' duck was cooked inconsistently. Marc also found her dish being too heavy and, as found in the final deliberation later on, Alex thought that her natto element derailed the whole dish.
Aarón's entrée of Taralli Crusted Duck with Natto & Ancho Chile Sauce, in tribute to his first food memory, earned overall praise from his co Chopped judges for his sauce which they like.
In delivering the verdict it was the lack of balance in her dish that took out Chef Amanda, leading her to be eliminated.
Dessert[]
Ingredients: Green Plantains, Chinese Bacon, Peanut Butter Puff Cereal, Frozen Lemonade
Aarón is able to take a risk of making a soufflé in a dessert round and it pulled off. His Lemon Soufflé with Strawberry & Bacon Salad was praised by Alex on the taste and Marc liked the bacon and strawberry salad.
Competing against his fellow judge, Geoffrey also made a soufflé (Peanut Butter and Raspberry Soufflé) as well. Chris applauded the presentation of his dessert and while Marc liked the flavor, he couldn't taste the bacon element as it was overpowered by the lemonade.
In deliberating between Aarón and Geoffrey to represent for the finale, their fellow judges made their decision on each round based on the smaller details. As a result, Chef Geoffrey was chopped. Aarón was the last Chopped Champion to secure the final spot of the tournament to compete in the finale against the other three previous champions.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- This episode marked the first time the Chopped judges competed.
- The judge contestants were given 40 minutes in the entrée round rather than the normal 30 to allow time to properly cook the duck.
- All of the competing Chopped judges were previous challengers on Iron Chef America; Sánchez tied with Masaharu Morimoto in the second season, Freitag lost to Bobby Flay in season seven, and both Chauhan and Zakarian lost to Morimoto in season eight.
- Sánchez, Freitag, and Chauhan also competed in the first, second, and third seasons of The Next Iron Chef respectively.
- Zakarian would later compete in the following season of The Next Iron Chef against fellow Chopped judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Marcus Samuelsson and All Stars competitors: Anne Burrell and Robert Irvine (episode 2), and Beau MacMillan (episode 3). He won the coveted title on December 18, 2011.
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 |