Ted Allen introduces the four Chefs that will compete for the $10,000 and title of Chopped Champion. The judges for tonight’s competition are as follows;

• Scott Conant
• Maneet Chauhan
• Marc Murphy

The Chefs that will be competing tonight are as follows;

• Gina Rodriguez,  Philadelphia
• Michael Moroni, Long Island
• Rob Evans, Maine
• Justin Bazdarich,  N.Y. City

Ted explains the rules to the Chefs and has them open their Appetizer basket which included the following ingredients;

APPETIZER ROUND 

• British Piccalilli
• Soft Shell Crab
• Biscuit  Dough
• Watercress

The Chefs prepared their dishes and presented them to the judges with the following critiques;

• Gina prepared a Soft Shell Crab Sandwich with a piccalilli relish. The judges thought that when she rolled out the dough for her sandwich it made the dough tough.
• Michael prepared a Crab In The Weeds. The judges thought that little thought went into the biscuit preparation and his tartar sauce did not go with the dish.
• Rob prepared a spice encrusted Crab with a Panzanella Salad. Scott remarked that it was not a true Panzanella.
• Justin prepared Soft Shell Crab Crostini. the judges thought his Crab was overcooked and his salad was not dressed.

After deliberation Michael was chopped for lack of creativity.Also he was called out for adding tarter sauce to his dish.

ENTREE ROUND

Ted has them open their entrée basket to expose the following ingredients;

• Wild Boar
• Shisitoto Peppers
• Organic Roses (1 dozen)
• Posole (hominy)

The Chefs prepared their dishes and presented them to the judges with the following critiques;

• Gina did a pan seared boar with a posole ragu and sautéed rose pedals. The judges thought her rose pedals were bitter.
• Rob did a grilled chops with posole pancakes and salad. The judges thought he should have trimmed the fat from the chops.
• Justin did a grilled boar chops and boar sausage, with a posole sauce. He made rose salt for his dish. The judges found his chops almost raw and he failed to dress his salad for the second time.

After deliberating the judges chopped Gina who made the least mistakes through two dishes. They told her that her rose pedals were bitter and her competition was more creative. 

DESSERT ROUND

Ted had the remaining Chefs open their Dessert basket which included the following ingredients;

• Falooda Glass Noodles
• Graham Crackers
• Armenian String Cheese
• Oranges

During preparation Rob screwed up his dough for his Beignets. Justin could not make a crepe correctly and decided to fry his string cheese.

The Chefs prepared their Desserts and presented them to the judges to the following critiques;

• Rob prepared string cheese Beignets with fried noodles and glazed orange slices. The judges said that his noodles were bland and they could not taste the cheese in the Beignets.
• Justin made an orange sorbet with deep fried string cheese. He failed to plate the noodles that he deep fried. The judges liked his dessert better than Robs but he failed to plate the noodles.

After deliberation and dish comparisons Justin was chopped for failing to dress two salads and failing to plate an ingredient in the dessert round.

Rob Evans from Portland, Maine is the Chopped Champion and wins $10,000 in cash for his effort. Rob is the Chef and owner of Hugo’s in Portland Maine.

I did request the recipe for the Fried Posole cakes from Rob for the readers that requested it but the recipe must be patent pending because he did not answer my request. Sorry!

images courtesy of fooodnetwork.com