All Stars Tournament: Round Three : Notable Chefs | |
Season 6, Episode 8 | |
Air date | March 20, 2011 |
Winner | Nate Appleman |
Episode Guide | |
previous All Stars Tournament: Round Two |
next All Stars Tournament: Round Four |
Four renowned chefs push their culinary limits in round three beginning with an appetizer mystery basket featuring spicy sausage and exotic mushrooms. Then, it seems like a cinch when the chefs find a delectable fish in the entrée round baskets, until they spy one of the other ingredients – a popular childhood snack. And, with a Chinese spice and Mexican sugar in the dessert round basket, the two finalists must think globally if they want to advance.
Contestants[]
- Nate Appleman, Kawasaki Disease Foundation
- Anita Lo, SHARE
- Jacques Torres, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- Beau MacMillan, Space Coast Early Intervention Center
Judges[]
Meal[]
Appetizer[]
Ingredients: Fresh Pasta, Dried Papaya, Bluefoot Mushrooms, Chorizo
Nate decided to puree his pasta sheets into a soup. Alex thought his Vellutata with Apple, Caraway & Chorizo Oil show innovation in this round, though her fellow judges disagreed the starchiness of his dish.
Anita ran out of time to finish plating one of her appetizer plates: Stuffed Raviolo with Lemon Paprika Sauce after struggling in the prep. That error is proven enough to result it's elimination, and while Marc didn't have his pasta, the flavors are delicious.
But while prepping his appetizer, Jacques brought along cocoa nibs from his pocket to pair his chorizo which was not found in the pantry. Although they liked the creativity of his Fettucini with Mushroom Ragout and Cacao Chorizo, the judges ding him for bringing his own ingredient during the cook apart from burning his chorizo.
Beau presented the last appetizer of Pappardelle with Spiced Cream Sauce. The dish earned praise of glazing the mushrooms with the papaya. However, his serving size was too big for the first round due to the chorizo.
While both Nate and Beau's dishes lacked balance, the deciding factor came down to Jacques and Anita. And despite the latter failing to complete all of her four plates, the judges decided to disqualify Chef Jacques for his illicit stunt in the first round prior to the show's rules and guidelines.
Entrée[]
Ingredients: Cobia, Salmon Jerky, Chinese Spinach, Animal Crackers
Having survived the chop from that mistake in the first round, Anita thrived in the entrée with her Animal Cracker Cobia & Orange Salmon Sauce. The judges praised for her redemption with her dish, especially the acidity of the sauce to pair the fish.
When they tasted Beau's Roasted Cobia with Soy Vinaigrette and Salad, Marcus liked the balance of the dish as he did in the previous round but the animal crackers and the salmon jerky weren't showing through as he'd expected. Alex admitted that he went overboard with the soy sauce as they were left searching for the elements in their plates.
The judges applauded Nate's Milk Poached Cobia with Chipotle Vinaigrette ― the poaching of the fish with the milk, chipotle, and salmon jerky delivered the right balance of the dish.
Ultimately, Chef Beau's undoing with the soy sauce overpowered the entire entrée basket ingredients that saw him eliminated.
Dessert[]
Ingredients: Granola Bars, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Chinese Five Spice, Piloncillo
Nate presented his Five Spice Frozen Yogurt with Lime Tomatoes, which he once again delivered technicality as he did with the first two courses. While Marcus and Marc thought his dessert was disjointed, Alex liked the balance of the burnt caramel flavour from the piloncillo and the tomatoes.
Competing against his stiff competition, Anita made a Napoleon with Peanut Butter Cream. While she admitted that she didn't utilise much of the basket ingredients during the round, the judges liked the presentation of her dish and the different textures from the ingredients. Marc and Alex applauded for the balance of the dish from the five spice for her peanut cream and the use of the pepper on the tomatoes.
Although Chef Anita had redeemed herself in the last two rounds, it is not enough to make up for her earlier failure to plate all of her four dishes in the appetizer round as she is chopped. Nate then advances to compete for the finale after he was named the Chopped Champion.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Nate Appleman, Anita Lo, and Beau MacMillan have recently competed on Iron Chef America; Appleman cook against Michael Symon in season seven while Lo and MacMillan beat Mario Batali in season one and Bobby Flay in season three, respectively.
- Appleman also competed in the second season of The Next Iron Chef, alongside Chopped judge Amanda Freitag.
- MacMillan would later compete in the fourth season of The Next Iron Chef against All Stars Tournament judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Marcus Samuelsson, alongside fellow Chopped judge Geoffrey Zakarian who later won the 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 |