| Sunny Side Apps | |
| Season 12, Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air date | June 5, 2012 |
| Winner | Cory Bahr |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Grilltastic! |
next A Guts Reaction |
The chefs get an unusual wake-up call in the appetizer basket: gummy fried eggs. Will they be able to successfully transform this novelty candy into something that tastes good with corned beef? Then a sweet-and-sour surprise in the entree round sends the chefs running to the pantry to find suitable complementary ingredients. The two chefs who make it to a fiercely competitive dessert round must make do with knodel and almond flour.
Contestants[]
- Tony Kang, Sous chef, Brookville Country Club, Upper Brookville, NY
- Brian Howard, Executive Chef, Comme Ça, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
- Jesse Kramer, Chef and Restaurateur, Brooklyn Taco Co., New York, NY
- Cory Bahr, Chef and Restaurateur, Cotton, Monroe, LA
Judges[]
Meal[]
Appetizer[]
Ingredients: Corned Beef, Gummy Fried Eggs, Black Olives, Baby Corn
Tony prepared Smoked Corn Beef w/ Sweet and Sour Corn Sauce. Tony's presentation is nice, all of the flavors go well together, and his use of the smoking gun is wildly creative. His corned beef is tough.
Brian's appetizer is Corned Beef Taco w/ Black Olive Tabbouleh and Jalapeño Fluff. All of the flavors in the taco and the sauce are great, although like Tony, Brian's corned beef is tough. Maneet would have liked some crunch.
Jesse did Mixed Green Salad with Corned Beef & Gummy Vinaigrette. Jesse makes the best corned beef and the best corn. The ratio of salad to mystery ingredients is off, and there is no creativity.
Cory prepared Pan-Roasted Corned Beef Steak over Root Vegetable Hash. Cory hits points on presentation, taste, and creativity, with a lovely balance between simplicity and complexity. The two issues are that his corned beef is very tough, and the judges don't like his use of white truffle oil.
The judges come to the decision that while Chef Jesse had the best corned beef, he had too much of the salad to the basket ingredients, and there was a lack of creativity, resulting in them chopping him first.
Entrée[]
Ingredients: Striped Bass, Sour Lemon Candy, Jerusalem Artichokes, Cream of Mushroom Soup
Brian did Striped Bass with Sunchoke Three Ways and Carrot Salad. The judges love all three treatments of the Jerusalem artichokes, which lend themselves to the dish nicely. The bass is undercooked and the skin is not crispy.
Cory's entrée is Seared Striped Bass with Sunchoke Purée and Vietnamese Salad. Cory's fish is cooked perfectly, the Vietnamese salad is very nice and fresh, and the sunchoke purée works well. The complaint is his use of sour lemon candy crushed up in the salad, which has no use.
Tony did Pan-Roasted Striped Bass with Cream of Mushroom Fritter and Arugula Purée. Tony's dish is beautiful, the bass is the best cooked of the round with great depth of flavor, and the fritter is the most creative use of the mushroom soup. The only complaint is that the sauce is too acidic.
The judges find it to be an incredible round, and find it a difficult decision to chop Chef Brian, but choose him for his undercooked fish.
Dessert[]
Ingredients: Spearmint Leaf Candy, Knödel, Almond Flour, Raisins on the Vine
Cory made Grandmother's Bread Pudding with Mint Julep Sauce & Almond Crumble. The judges love his bread pudding and julep sauce. The bread pudding is a little underdone, and the judges point out that Cory had pulled the pudding out 5 minutes early.
Tony made Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie with Knödel Gelato and Mint Powder. The judges love the spices in his dessert and the creativity, especially the gelato. There is not enough of the gelato, resulting in lack of moisture.
The two chefs are neck and neck throughout the competition. In the end, Chef Tony is chopped for execution errors in his dessert. Cory is made Chopped Champion.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Tony later returned for chopped redemption.
| Chopped Season 12 | |
| << Season 11 • Season 13 >> | |
| #01 Grilltastic! | #10 Grill Masters: Part Two |
| #02 Sunny Side Apps | #11 Belly Dance! |
| #03 A Guts Reaction | #12 Grill Masters: Part Three |
| #04 Chocolate Challenge | #13 Cake Walk? |
| #05 Pride of New Orleans | #14 Grill Masters: Part Four |
| #06 All-American Competition | #15 Oui, Oui, Confit |
| #07 Orzo it Seemed | #16 Grill Masters: Finale |
| #08 Food Network Stars! | #17 Drawing a Flank |
| #09 Grill Masters: Part One | |