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TED: A challenge was made...
and accepted.
Fierce celebrity competitors,
your favorite Food Network Stars,
and our judges battle it out
to win $50,000 for their favorite charity.
This is "Chopped All-Stars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
They say what goes around comes around, and about that,
we have come around to the all-stars competition
featuring our "Chopped" judges.
Two celebrities have already secured a spot
to return to fight for $50,000 for a good cause.
Now we'll see which member of our esteemed chopping-block crew
will also win the chance to advance to the all-stars finale.
First up, Chef Amanda Freitag, an award-winning executive chef
known for her expertise in bold American cuisine.
Don't take it personally, because we're all friends,
but I will destroy you.
TED: Next, Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, executive chef
of the lovely New York dining establishment Butter.
It's not about showing off.
It's about showing up and taking my competitors down.
TED: Then there's Chef Marc Murphy,
owner of sophisticated, casual restaurants
Landmarc and Ditch Plains.
Watching from the sidelines -- not really my thing today.
Let's cook.
TED: And finally, Chef Scott Conant,
famous for his Scarpetta restaurants, now in five cities.
Amanda, Alex, Marc, there can only be one "Chopped" champion,
and you're looking at him.
Chefs, there are three rounds --
appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
Each course has its own basket of mystery ingredients.
You must use every ingredient in the basket in some way.
Also available to you -- our pantry and fridge.
The judging criteria --
presentation, taste, and creativity.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
But if you win, you'll get to be one of the four finalists
in the "Chopped All-Stars" tournament,
where, you may have heard,
the champion will get $50,000 for a favorite charity.
I heard that before somewhere --
that whole spiel you just gave.
I know, right?
SCOTT: This is my first time competing on "Chopped,"
so am I nervous about this competition?
100%.
Chefs, please open your baskets.
You must use...
[ Whistles ]
Exactly 20 minutes for the appetizer round.
Clock starts now.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
AMANDA: Going from "Chopped" judge to "Chopped" competitor
is really nerve-racking.
All of a sudden, you're on the other side of the table,
and there's a lot of pressure.
Okay.
I decide to make a pan-seared diver scallop...
Oh, my God. They're beautiful.
...with harissa beurre blanc, parsley puree,
and a grapefruit speck vinaigrette.
I'm psyched about cooking in this kitchen.
I sit at the judge's table, and half the time I want
to jump in that kitchen and do that basket,
so this is my chance to show off and beat everybody else.
[ Sighs ]
As a chef, it doesn't matter how much skill you have
or how many years of experience.
I am just as nervous
as the first day I stepped into a kitchen.
I'm gonna make seared scallops with white mushrooms
and some harissa grapefruit vinaigrette.
Scallops in the shell are extremely expensive,
so it's really important
that I use both the scallop and the roe, or the coral.
It's a nice way to do some nose-to-tail cooking.
It doesn't matter to me who I'm competing against today.
We're just four competitors like any other competitors,
and that's the way I'm gonna play it.
MARC: I'm nervous about today.
Alex is an Iron Chef,
and I don't usually make appetizers in 20 minutes,
but, as we always say,
the basket is the great equalizer.
Most viewers probably know that I like to eat my potatoes,
so I'm gonna make a potato hash with harissa,
sear the scallops, and finish it all off
with some preserved grapefruit rind.
But the first thing I'm gonna do is wrestle down these scallops.
I know that's gonna take a while.
God, this slows me down.
I think Scott's gonna find out how quickly 20 minutes goes by.
It's his first time in the "Chopped" kitchen,
so he doesn't know what he's doing.
Scott's probably going home first.
How you doing, Scott? Having fun yet?
SCOTT: Not yet, brother.
[ Sighs ]
All of my competitors have competed on "Chopped,"
and I have not, so I'm really nervous,
and I'm saying to myself, "This is happening.
This is really happening."
Diver scallops -- the first thing that pops into my mind
is to roast them in this harissa with some speck
and do a little grapefruit salad.
But first, I need to break down the scallops,
which is gonna take a long time.
I love my competitors today and the judges as well.
But I think they all know
that I can cook much better than all of them.
[ Laughs ]
Pbht! Okeydokey.
And our judges are all brave veterans
of "Chopped All-Stars" themselves --
Aarón Sánchez...
Marcus Samuelsson...
and Geoffrey Zakarian.
Gentlemen, I know you know how they're feeling right now.
GEOFFREY: You know, you might think they're having fun,
but it's very nerve-racking.
MARCUS: Once the clock starts going,
it's all about the food and the cooking.
TED: So, with these diver scallops,
it's a real challenge to break down this many scallops
to give you an adequate appetizer.
Absolutely.
All right, chefs, you're already down to 15 minutes.
AMANDA: As soon as I'm finished cleaning the scallops,
I begin my beurre blanc.
In the beurre blanc is reduced white wine with shallots,
heavy cream, harissa paste, and butter.
Harissa is of Middle Eastern origin.
It has cumin, peppers, and chili, so it's spicy.
And I want to make a bright, fresh element to pair with it.
Okay.
I'm playing for God's Love We Deliver.
God's Love serves and delivers 4,200 meals per day
in New York and in New Jersey.
They're feeding people who are too sick to shop or to cook,
and I think, as a chef, our job is to make sure
that people who really need food get it.
There we go.
Red-wine vinegar.
As I'm running through the kitchen, I see a red onion,
and I say, "What a great pop of flavor it would be
to have perfectly pickled red onion."
And I know that I'm gonna get grief for this,
because I have opinions about red onions.
TED: So, Scott Conant and red onion
have a little bit of a history here in "Chopped."
I'm glad to see Scott embracing that red onion.
SCOTT: Scott's cutting red onion.
I think he's putting that to rest today.
He's gonna put this myth down.
A raw red onion can really overpower a plate.
If you're working in a deli, I think it's fine,
but we're talking about "Chopped."
We're talking about putting yourself on a different level.
I might be at a disadvantage, because I'm not necessarily
as familiar with the kitchen as my competitors,
but Marc Murphy only has one hand,
so if I can't beat that guy, at least in the first round,
then I don't deserve to be here at all.
[ Laughs ]
MARC: These suck.
I have a fractured bone in my hand,
so it's one hand tied behind my back almost literally today.
I'm having difficulty with these scallops.
They're a lot of labor,
and with one and a half hands, it's pretty tricky.
Man, that's gross.
When I finish cleaning them,
I got to get the potatoes on if I'm gonna make a hash.
If you're using onions, I'm going to get potatoes.
[ Laughs ]
No.
TED: Scott's got red onion. Life is good.
MARC: We had to do it, buddy.
I've been working with Share Our Strength
for the last 10 years.
They're an organization that raises money
to fight childhood hunger.
It's appalling that in this country one out of five kids
don't know where their next meal is coming from.
We got to put an end to this.
And, chefs, we are now halfway out of time.
10 minutes.
ALEX: I love speck. It's like prosciutto.
It's salty, and it browns really nicely,
and it has really beautiful fat.
So, I cook the speck with some white mushrooms
deglazed with cognac and fresh thyme.
20 minutes -- it's like the blink of an eye.
The pressure is so intense,
and I have a lot of things going.
Something could go wrong.
I don't want to get chopped.
[ Clock ticking ]
[ Dramatic music plays ]
AMANDA: Okay.
There's very little time left, and I need
to make this vinaigrette, so I dice the speck.
Oh, I'm sorry. My bad.
And I get it into a super hot pan
with some chopped green onion and some vinegar.
The pressure is on on so many levels.
Alex, Marc, and Scott are super-skilled chefs.
So, I need to kick some ***.
5:51.
Yep.
I really love acidity, so I'm gonna make
a nice, bright vinaigrette for my scallops
with grapefruit juice, lemon juice, juice from pickles,
with a little bit of olive oil blended up.
I add some harissa, taste it, and add a little bit more.
I'm very wary of the spicy flavors.
Too much harissa could spoil the whole party.
All right, chefs, you are now down to five minutes.
AMANDA: Five minutes, guys.
You know, something that I think
that fans may not fully understand
is the awkward position that this puts our judges in.
That makes this extra dramatic for us.
GEOFFREY: Yeah, but all four chefs,
they know that someone is gonna go,
and they have to just play an amazing game here.
It's gonna be very close.
MARC: The grapefruit rind --
what I want to do is take the skin off of it
and take the boiling water with salt and sugar
and drop it in there so it sits as long as it can.
It's gonna lighten the hash
and really give it another dimension.
Then I start to cook the scallops.
TED: Two-minute warning.
Whoa.
I don't know where the time went.
It literally went from six minutes
to about a minute and a half.
So, I put the scallops in the pan.
I add thyme, harissa, and the speck.
TED: One minute, chefs.
AMANDA: My heart is racing,
and I realize I got to cut the grapefruit.
One.
I'm trying to go as fast as possible.
Four. Okay.
20 seconds.
Oh, my Lord.
Come get it on. Get it on.
Ugh!
TED: Ten...nine...eight...
seven...six...five...
four...three...two...one.
Time is up.
MARC: I'm looking down at my plate, and I think, "This is good.
I would be happy having this as my appetizer."
SCOTT: I look at my plate, and suddenly,
I realize I forgot the red onions.
I'm not happy with myself.
Chefs, this, as you very well know,
is the chopping block.
And these three people sitting where you normally sit
will be judging your food.
For the first course, you had to work with diver scallops,
harissa, pink grapefruit, and speck.
Chef Amanda.
Today, I made for you pan-seared diver scallops
with a harissa beurre blanc, parsley puree,
and crispy speck over grapefruit with scallion.
AARóN: Amanda, I was little concerned of it being too rich
with the beurre blanc and the scallops,
but you tamed it with the grapefruit
that you put in there.
There's nothing better than bacon in vinegar to me,
and it really cuts the scallop, which is cooked perfectly.
I agree with Geoffrey, but the one thing here
that gets a little bit challenging
is the natural fat of the speck,
because it becomes a pool that is a little bit greasy.
In hindsight, of course, I would have loved to have had,
maybe, a beautiful little crouton in the middle
to soak up some of that deliciousness.
All right, Chef Amanda. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next up, Chef Alex.
I made for you today seared scallops with speck
and some grapefruit harissa dressing.
MARCUS: I love this dish.
You really seared the scallop nicely,
and the mushrooms are great,
but the one thing that I'm not sensing so much is the harissa.
If you didn't tell me there was harissa in here,
I wouldn't have tasted it.
There's a lot of very strong flavors going on here,
and I love vinegar,
but I think this is one vinegar *** over the line.
TED: So, who are you cooking for today?
I'm playing for Alex's Lemonade Stand,
which tells the story of a little girl
who had the misfortune of having childhood cancer
and decided that she would set up a lemonade stand in her yard
to raise money for cancer research,
particularly childhood cancer, and wound up creating
the charity that has raised over $50 million.
I have a 4 1/2-year-old who is healthy,
and I think about that and how lucky I am.
Absolutely.
Next up, Chef Marc.
I made you a speck-and-harissa hash with a seared scallop,
and to flavor the hash,
I did a quick preserve on the grapefruit rind.
GEOFFREY: Well, I think that the scallop's cooked perfectly,
and I like the grapefruit essence.
It really works.
And I like the hash,
but some of the potato is, like, not cooked enough --
just a little crunchy.
So far, you're the one that used the harissa the most.
You didn't stay away from it.
The spiciness works really, really well.
But for me, Chef, I think it needs a little moisture
to help sort of offset the amount of potato.
Thank you.
Last but not least, Chef Scott. We finally got you.
It's been a long time coming. They finally invited me.
I made a speck-and-harissa roasted scallop
with a small salad of grapefruit and orange.
The thing is is that 20 minutes went very fast.
Perhaps most tragic of all is that you pickled red onions,
and we didn't get to see them on the plate.
Yeah.
Well, you were very successful in searing off your scallop.
AARóN: And you really made the harissa come out.
This is chili the way I like it,
but I do think it needs a little moisture.
I'm sure the onions had what you needed.
So, Scott, who are you cooking for today?
Today, I'm here for Keep Memory Alive.
It's a foundation for people
who suffer from brain-related diseases.
I had a family member who had Alzheimer's,
and it was terrible to watch.
It becomes a very sad
and difficult thing to deal with.
Thank you.
Now let's see how you like waiting in a room
while your fate is decided.
Thank you, chefs.
AMANDA: I don't know.
I think that it's anybody's game.
I will go on record saying that I think I'm gonna go.
If I had to give a menu-item name,
it was The Incomplete Thought.
Dude. It's anybody's game.
I think as chefs, we're our own worst critics.
I think that's why we make good judges.
Well, this is the good thing about today.
We just have to cook.
We don't have to worry about the judging.
It's their problem right now. [ Laughs ]
All kidding aside, this is really tough --
judging chefs that you know so well.
GEOFFREY: We just got to talk about the food.
Let's start with Amanda.
The scallop was really perfectly done,
and everything on her dish was delightful, in my opinion.
MARCUS: But there was too much of that speck fat
that, for me, it was too greasy.
I thought Chef Alex's appetizer was great,
but it was too much citrus.
She had four acids going and battling against each other.
But the way she roasted the scallop --
that's really what saved that dish for me.
But I do feel the best-cooked scallop of the day
was actually Scott.
The way he chiffonaded that speck,
and the harissa was forward,
but then there was so many things
that didn't work in that dish.
I agree with Marcus.
That dish seriously needed that pickled red onion.
And I wish it was there,
but the clock really got the better of him.
And I thought Marc's had some issues, too.
He had a lot of potato, sadly.
There's nothing wrong with potatoes.
It's just I think they were somewhat undercooked.
But I love what he did with the flavors --
the grapefruit citrus, the harissa.
But the bottom line is
there was no sauce to bring it all together.
Agreed.
At this point, you know, we're talking about all-stars,
so the expectation is extremely high.
Yes, but somebody has to leave.
MARC: That appetizer round went pretty well for me,
but I think there's a chance any one of us could get chopped.
SCOTT: I am my biggest critic,
and I am very disappointed in myself.
The clock played me.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
[ Clock ticking ]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Marc, you've been chopped. Judges.
Chef Marc, we really appreciate the way that you were able
to extract all the flavor that was inside that hash,
but, inevitably, what was missing
was just a sauce to really bring it all together.
But there's nothing that is more important than feeding kids,
and I don't know what our industry would be without you.
Thank you very much, Aarón.
Good luck, buddy.
Have fun.
MARC: I think it was anybody's game,
but they have to choose somebody.
It's definitely disappointing that I won't be able
to get that $50,000 for Share Our Strength,
but talking about hungry kids in America
is the most important reason for me to be here today.
Congratulations, Chef Amanda, Chef Alex, Chef Scott.
You have made it to the second round
of this all-stars competition.
Please open your baskets.
And for the entrée course, you must use...
AMANDA: Why is there pizza sauce in the basket?
And what is pizza sauce, exactly?
TED: You will have 30 minutes to cook your entrées.
Clock starts now.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
This is some crazy [bleep] right here.
GEOFFREY: This is a great basket.
You could make, like, a riff on like a Bolognese.
But I think these chefs are gonna do
something much more sophisticated.
Let's talk about capon.
TED: Well, it's a castrated rooster,
and because of that, it has no sex drive,
and it's lazy, and it just sits around and eats --
the result of that being a lot more fat.
SCOTT: I feel lucky to make it into the second round,
but I know I need to step it up.
So, I decide I'm gonna make a poached capon breast,
a roasted leg with a burrata-and-ramp puree.
Sometimes people mistake my confidence for cockiness,
but I've been doing this a long time.
I was 11 years old when I took my first classes,
and I've been cooking full-time in different kitchens,
internationally, since I was 15.
So I'm very confident with who I am.
ALEX: [ Sighs ]
I can't imagine when the stakes have been higher, honestly.
I really want to raise some money for Alex's Lemonade Stand,
and that's motivating me today.
I decide that I'm gonna make a roasted breast of capon
with a grilled tomato pizza sauce.
So I go get a grill pan,
'cause I know I want to grill my ramps and grill some tomatoes
to add to that canned pizza sauce
to just give it a nice freshness.
This is definitely the stiffest competition I've ever faced,
and now that someone's been chopped --
the ice has been broken -- it's a different ball game now.
AMANDA: Aah!
Last time I was here,
I got chopped in the entrée round,
and this time I am here to make it all the way to the finale.
The difficulty with capon
is the fact that it has to cook a long time,
but, of course, you only have 30 minutes.
And you never, ever want to serve rare poultry.
So I've got to get a butcher.
I'm thinking of making roasted capon thigh and breast
with a pizza sauce infused with capon livers with a crostini.
There's a lot of love in the room today
from the judges, the competitors.
We're all a family,
but they don't get how competitive I actually am.
It's my time to win.
So, judges, what's it like watching these chefs at work?
AARóN: You know, you're talking
about some of the best chefs in the world cooking for us.
This is such a privilege.
They're under the pressure of the time limit,
but I expect huge things from them.
And, chefs, you've got 15 minutes left on the clock --
halfway in.
My use of acidity in the last round was really off-kilter,
so I'm gonna measure the balsamic vinegar and the oil
to just kind of keep it in perspective,
and then I add some burrata cheese --
which is just mozzarella finished with heavy cream --
to thicken it.
And for crunch, I want to do grilled radicchio
with caramelized honey, and then some bread and some almonds --
kind of like a panzanella or a bread salad.
And, chefs, you are now looking at 10 minutes on the clock.
Burrata -- this is in my wheelhouse,
but I want to transform this product,
so I put it in a blender.
I add some olive oil, basil, ramp greens, anchovy juice,
and a little bit of caper juice, and then I let it go.
There's a traditional sauce in Sicily
which is made with orange juice and crushed red pepper.
It's just delicious,
so I'm gonna make that sauce using the pizza sauce.
I'm really passionate about Keep Memory Alive.
I've had different people that have been close to me
throughout my life with brain-related diseases
that haven't necessarily been offered the help
that something like Keep Memory Alive offers.
AMANDA: I'm tasting the pizza sauce
because I've got to get familiar with this ingredient.
That's nasty.
It tastes like the aluminum can that it's been stored in,
so I have to really transform it.
I'm creating this fortified chicken broth
using garlic, celery, and herbs.
I pour that into the pizza sauce.
While I'm cooking that, I'm gonna grill the tops
and pickle the bottoms of the ramps.
Gorgeous!
TED: And, chefs, five minutes left on the clock.
I touch those legs. They were raw.
Oh [bleep]
I got to get the bones out of those birds.
I would never, ever do this, ever.
You got to do what you got to do in competition.
I know that if I don't get those legs on the plate,
I'm gonna get chopped.
Behind, behind, behind.
I'm just racing against time here.
I'm grilled off bread so that I can present
the burrata on a crostini,
so I cut the burrata into four.
I add the extra curd that spilled out from the inside
to a blender that has grilled ramp tops,
mint, and basil for a pesto.
TED: Two-minute warning.
I don't think there's anything under the sun
that I have pushed myself harder to do
than try to get all this food on the plate.
SCOTT: I take the poached capon breast from the oven.
I slice them up, and I start to put them on the plate
with the spicy orange tomato sauce.
AMANDA: How much time?
TED: One minute. 60 seconds.
ALEX: [ Sighs ] [Bleep] me.
AMANDA: You got this, lady.
I smear the crostini with the pesto,
but I can't stop looking at the clock,
because I want to have enough time
to make this plate beautiful.
How much time? How much time?
30 seconds, guys. 30 seconds. Let's go.
ALEX: I really feel like I could actually end up
not finishing my dish.
[ Sighs ]
It's an out-of-body experience when you're cooking like this.
It's so intense.
Got to get everything onto those plates.
Ten...nine...eight...
seven...six...five...
four...three...two...one.
Time is up.
[ Sighs ]
AMANDA: I'm looking down my plates,
and I feel like it's a large portion,
but all I can think about is how delicious it's gonna be.
ALEX: I step back, and I look at my dish,
and I think some of these slices of capon
are a little undercooked.
I think it's passable, but we'll see.
Let's serve up the second course of this all-stars meal.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
[ Clock ticking ]
The tables have been turned on three great chefs.
For the entrée round of this all-stars competition
featuring "Chopped" judges, the mystery ingredients
were capons, ramps, canned pizza sauce, and burrata.
Chef Alex.
I made roasted breast of capon
with a burrata-and-balsamic dressing
and roasted tomatoes and ramps.
AARóN: Alex, this is absolutely delicious,
and I love the ramps.
Yeah, and that pizza sort of burrata-juice sauce -- really good.
My favorite part is the garnishes.
I love the honey with the bitter radicchio.
I think that's absolutely fantastic.
But this bird -- I have two pieces that are perfect
and one that is a little bit under.
Yes, it was a very tough deal
to get this thing cooked in a short amount of time.
Next up, Chef Scott.
Gentlemen, I made a poached capon breast
and a roasted leg with a burrata crema
and a tomato-orange-peperoncino reduction.
AARóN: You seem a lot different, Chef,
in your demeanor in this particular round.
Being aware of the time frame -- it's something
that I wasn't really comfortable with walking into this.
I feel fortunate to be in the second round at all.
Well, Chef Scott, the spicy salsa de tomate was wonderful,
and the grilled ramps --
all of that is just uplifting the flavor of the capon.
But I just would have liked a starch
to sort of constitute a little bit more of an entrée.
I agree with Aarón.
Maybe a polenta would have made it more a main course.
I disagree with other judges.
This dish is a knockout in sophistication.
Thank you, Chef.
And finally, Chef Amanda.
Judges, here you have a roasted capon breast and thigh
with a capon-liver pizza sauce, pickled ramp bottoms,
grilled ramp leaves, and then a grilled crostini
with an herb pesto and burrata.
AARóN: Well, I have to say, Chef, that I think your dish
has the most profound flavor of poultry,
and I like the ramps done two ways,
'cause I'm getting the smokiness,
I'm getting the acidity.
And I think that really takes it over the top.
That was my goal.
MARCUS: There's some childish nod to pizza here
with the sauce and the burrata and the bread,
but then it's also very, very sophisticated.
It's how I would want to eat,
so that's usually how I cook -- how I want to eat.
GEOFFREY: My one concern with this dish was the capon.
One piece is a little overcooked.
And it's a bit, you know, clunky.
Okay. Thank you, chefs.
[ Sighs ] They gave us a beautiful basket.
SCOTT: That was good basket.
Oh, it was a hate crime against fresh food
to have that pizza sauce in there.
Fresh, gorgeous burrata,
ramps straight out of the ground,
and a can of tomato -- are you kidding me?
Pizza sauce, no less.
I have no feeling one way or the other
about who's gonna go.
I feel like it's pretty even.
Yeah.
Well, unsurprisingly, this is getting complicated.
I didn't expect this to be easy at all,
and I thought some of our colleagues
Yeah.
You know, first of all, Scott's main course
was probably one of the best main courses
I've ever had at this table.
GEOFFREY: The breast was luscious.
That was just an almost perfect entrée.
But Scott had nothing else going on
to constitute a main course.
I do agree.
I felt there could have been one more thing added in there.
What I had today that was really, I thought,
magnificent was Alex's radicchio with the honey.
Absolutely.
That's my favorite garnish all day.
But you gentlemen had a real issue with the capon.
I did.
For me, two pieces of my capon was undercooked.
But I thought Alex used the tomato
the best of all three chef/judges today.
And I go to the plate of Amanda -- I was very impressed
in the fact that she used ramps two ways.
Absolutely.
But there was some clunkiness in Amanda's presentation.
I was not such a big fan of that crostini.
I thought it was too big.
So, only two "Chopped" judges get to face off
in the all-stars dessert round.
Okay.
AMANDA: It's anybody's game.
I could go home for staying simple
and being a little too clunky.
SCOTT: Needing a starch and having an incomplete dish --
I think those are legitimate concerns,
but it's hard to get it all together,
so we'll see what happens.
Only two chefs can go to the dessert round.
[ Clock ticking ]
[ Dramatic music plays ]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[ Sighs ]
Chef Alex, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Alex, just the slightest mistake can be the difference
between going on to the next round and being chopped.
And today, with the capon being a little bit undercooked,
we have to chop you.
Thank you. Good luck, guys.
TED: Thanks, Alex.
See you soon.
Of course I'm upset, but even if you're a really good cook,
if you have an off day, you get chopped.
I will continue to support Alex's Lemonade Stand
in any way I can
to further awareness about this amazing charity.
Chef Amanda versus Chef Scott. Neither of you is a pastry chef.
Can you handle the dessert round?
Yeah. I'm more than ready.
All right, then.
Chefs, please open your baskets.
You must use...
30 minutes for the dessert round.
[ Sighs ]
SCOTT: Amanda's fierce, and she's knowledgeable,
and she's an amazing chef,
but if I could pull off this dessert,
I have a good chance to win.
[ Sighs ]
I have no intention on baking,
so the first thing that pops into my mind is topfenknoedel.
Topfenknoedel is very similar to a ricotta dumpling,
but they're sweet, not savory.
I start to make this knoedel batter,
I put the French-toast sticks into the food processor,
and I just let them go.
I add ricotta to mascarpone cheese, eggs,
and all that buzzed French-toast-stick crumbs.
This is fun.
AMANDA: I've competed a lot, and I work best under pressure,
so I'm absolutely gonna win today.
My first thought is that I'm going to make profiterole
filled with apricot olive-oil gelato and a ruby port sauce.
First of all, I grab the olive-oil gelato
and get it into a pan...
This is crazy.
...so I can melt it
so that I can turn it into an apricot ice cream.
And then I begin the dough for the profiterole.
I want to win so badly
because I played for God's Love We Deliver
the last time I competed on "All-Stars,"
and I don't want to let them down again.
TED: So, judges, ruby port is delicious,
as opposed to tawny port.
It's a little younger, very, very sweet.
This port is just spectacular, and I'm thinking to myself
I could do a sauce with it, so I start to reduce it.
A traditional accompaniment for topfenknoedel
is something called a rote gruetze,
so I add some raspberries and strawberries,
balsamic vinegar, and then I'll take that ruby-red port,
which is now reducing,
and I add a touch of that to those berries as well.
And, chefs, we have reached the 20-minute mark.
AMANDA: I keep looking at the clock,
and I keep thinking there's no time for anything.
I add dried apricots to the melted olive-oil gelato,
and then I blend it.
I run to the ice-cream machine.
As I'm pouring it,
I realize that I've made it a little too thick.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
I don't know if it's gonna freeze,
but I'm not gonna stop.
Get as much into the machine as possible,
and then I leave it alone.
SCOTT: I kind of panic,
because I don't know what to do with the olive-oil gelato.
It's already a perfect ingredient,
so I'm just gonna use it as a sauce --
add some mascarpone cheese to it and add some heavy cream.
TED: Amanda's making profiteroles.
Never been done here.
If she pulls off profiterole, that will be absolutely amazing.
AMANDA: I put the profiteroles in the oven,
because I need to leave them in there a very long time.
TED: 15 minutes.
AMANDA: I bite into the French-toast stick.
Nasty.
French-toast sticks are not my favorite.
TED: French toast has become a joke here,
because so many chefs have tried variations on it.
Well, we're not gonna get French toast,
That's true.
I dice some of the French-toast sticks,
put them in a pot with butter and maple syrup,
spread them out onto a sheet pan,
and put them in the oven.
I'm hoping they transform into more of a pudding-like candy.
TED: And, chefs, you're now down to 10 minutes.
Okeydokey.
As I'm doing this, I feel like I used to feel
when I was working in kitchens way back --
just, like, in control
and having fun and being so deep in the moment.
[ Laughs ]
Is there, like, two things of Scott Conant here?
GEOFFREY: It's a sort of chef bipolar syndrome here today.
He just looks so comfortable
in the role of being a "Chopped" contestant.
SCOTT: I think to myself, "Wouldn't it be great
if I deep-fried some of these things, as well?"
Because they'd have a completely different texture.
Taking these, too.
How much time, guys?
TED: Four minutes left.
My heart's pounding, and I know that I have
to get these profiteroles out of the oven right now.
The ice cream.
I truly can taste that $50,000 for God's Love.
Two-minute warning, chefs.
I have to get food on the plate really quickly.
I grab the boiled knoedels,
roll them in the French-toast crumbs,
and I put those on top of some apricot puree.
TED: One minute left.
AMANDA: Oh [bleep]
The profiterole is not cooked enough,
but I'm going for it.
This dessert means a great deal to God's Love We Deliver.
TED: Keep on fighting until the final second.
BOTH: Wow.
TED: Ten...nine...eight...
seven...six...five...
four...three...two...one.
That's it. Time's up. Step back.
[ Applause ]
AMANDA: I'm looking at my dish, and I'm just thinking
all of those flavors together are delicious,
but I'm a little worried, looking at Scott's plate.
It's beautiful. It's anybody's game.
SCOTT: I look at my plate,
and I think this actually looks pretty good.
I think I got something here.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
[ Clock ticking ]
TED: Ruby port, olive-oil gelato,
dried apricots, and frozen French-toast sticks.
Chef Scott.
I went way back to some time that I spent in Germany.
I made a topfenknoedel two ways -- boiled and fried --
with apricot puree and marinated berries.
Well, I have to say, Chef, this is unreal.
They're airy and fluffy,
and I think you got great texture.
GEOFFREY: This is such a deft use of very few ingredients,
Thank you.
MARCUS: One of the bright points that's here is actually
how you worked in the port with the fresh fruit,
but my note on criticism would be
that the gelato disappears a little bit.
Chef Scott, thank you. And, finally, Chef Amanda.
Today, I have for you a profiterole
that is filled with an apricot olive-oil gelato,
caramelized French toast, over a ruby port reduction.
AARóN: There's a big yum factor of this, I think.
It reminds me a lot of an ice-cream sandwich, almost,
and I think the profiterole was a wonderful vehicle for that.
GEOFFREY: Honestly, the idea of a profiterole is genius.
I take my hat off to you.
It's just terrific that you did it.
But I think it's a little undercooked.
I agree with Geoffrey that it is a little bit undercooked,
so it's a little bit of raw dough.
I agree.
But it's a successful dessert if you only would have had,
maybe, one or two more minutes.
Okay. Thank you, chefs.
Ohh.
That is just tough.
Either one of us --
we're gonna be representing all of the judges on "Chopped,"
so there's a huge expectation that goes along with that.
That's right.
One of the judges is gonna take the win.
It has to be. This is our house.
This is our house.
[ Sighs ]
So, no more dishes to taste -- just one big decision to make.
We expected great cooking. We got it.
At the dessert course, I think we really have to look
at the creativity of these topfenknoedels from Scott.
There was texture,
the fruit was marinated in balsamic and port,
a lot going on, but all harmonious.
But the olive-oil gelato -- I couldn't find it,
and it just made me think that he didn't want to use it.
GEOFFREY: I thought Amanda's dessert was spectacular
in that she risked making profiteroles,
but they were undercooked.
But that sauce with the ruby port and the orange --
I thought it was brilliant.
I think in Scott's appetizer
there was some glaring inconsistencies,
'cause it was not pulled together the whole way.
Yeah, and he left off the onions,
which would have really improved that dish.
However, he had perfectly cooked scallops.
I do agree.
I do think that with Amanda,
we learned she has so much guts in her cooking.
The scallop that she did with the speck
and the grapefruit was sublime.
Let's look at Scott's main course.
For me, it was perfection, almost.
Making that canned pizza sauce taste good --
it's with these type of ingredients
where Scott Conant really shows us
that he is this incredible chef.
But a glaring issue for me in Scott's entrée
was the fact that there was no starch.
I disagree.
I don't need to have a starch
when the degree of cooking is that delicate and refined.
Amanda really did the classic main course.
She had what Aarón is talking about.
And it was a heavier plate, and it had all bold flavors,
and the way she treated the ramp,
I thought, was very creative.
Yes. I'm with you.
I would feel very proud of any one of these two
representing us in the all-star $50,000 charity event.
And I definitely think they're both champions in my book.
AMANDA: It's a tight race --
one I've got a great chance of winning.
I want to be in the finale
and finally give the money to God's Love We Deliver.
SCOTT: I think I cooked well enough today to earn a win.
That $50,000 would really mean a lot to me
and to Keep Memory Alive.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[ Dramatic music plays ]
[ Chuckles ]
Chef Amanda, you've been chopped.
That's okay.
Unfortunately, I have to do this,
but we just had a blast watching you today.
You smoked the first course. You really did.
The second course --
your capon was cooked a little touch over,
and we thought that the profiterole
needed a few more minutes.
I'm very sorry, but we had to chop you.
[ Chuckles ] It's all right.
[ Smooches ]
It was a blast. Thank you, guys.
[ Applause ]
AMANDA: It's rough getting chopped, no doubt,
but I feel proud that I was able to put the message out there
about God's Love We Deliver, and I'm so glad
that Scott's gonna be here to represent the judges,
'cause he's an incredible chef.
TED: And that means, Chef Scott Conant,
that you are the "Chopped" champion
and that you will be back here to represent the judges
in the $50,000 all-stars finale competition.
Congratulations.
[ Applause ]
I'm actually kind of speechless.
Proud of you, baby.
Thank you.
I am proud, and I am flattered and honored.
It's one step closer to being able
to hand Keep Memory Alive a check for $50,000.
It's a dream come true.
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.