Tonight on Chopped, Ted Allen introduces the four chefs that will be competing for $10,000 and the title of “Chopped Champion.” The chefs must use poultry intestines, red miso, kombucha and candied nuts in their mystery baskets to get the $10,000 tonight.
The judges for tonight’s competition are as follows;
- Amanda Freitag
- Geoffrey Zakarian
- Mark Murphy
The Chefs competing for the title and $10,000 tonight are as follows;
- Chef Steve Luttrell – N.Y.C.
- Chef Fatima Ali – N.Y.C.
- Chef Robert Magsalin – Food Truck
- Chef Kerenza Napoles – New Orleans
Ted Allen told the Chefs that they will be judged on Creativity, Taste and Presentation and they must use all of the ingredients in the basket in some way.
APPETIZER ROUND
He tells them that they have 20 minutes to complete the round and has them open their baskets which includes the following ingredients;
- Chicken Intestines
- Red Miso
- Savoy Cabbage
- Clementines
After the Chefs completed their dishes they were presented to the Judges and given the following critiques;
Chef Steve prepared Chicken Intestine Chartreuse w/ Salad. The judges said his dish was creative with a good presentation but the cabbage needed salt and should have been de-veined. The dish had technical flaws and the cabbage needed salt.
Chef Fatima prepared Chicken Intestine Pate w/ Miso Cabbage. The judges said she gave them a delightful presentation and the pate was a bold move and successful.
Chef Robert prepared Bulaklak Chicharon w/ Slaw. The judges said his dish was well balanced but needed more seasoning.They thought Robert played it safe.
Chef Kerenza prepared Spicy Fried Chicken Intestines w/ Savoy Cabbage Salad. The judges said the cabbage was a bit spicy but good but one got a big chunk of miso on their plate. They liked the crunch of her intestine.
After careful deliberation the judges chopped Chef Kerenza for the flaws in her dish.
ENTREE ROUND
Ted Allen told the Chefs they have 30 minutes to complete the round and has them open their baskets which includes the following ingredients;
- Duck Breast
- Red Malabar Spinach
- Olive Loaf
- Cherry Cola
After the Chefs completed their dishes they were presented to the Judges and given the following critiques;
Chef Steve prepared Pan Fried Duck Breast w/ Cola Barbecue Sauce and Sauted Spinach and Olive Loaf Puree. The judges said his duck was perfect, but the puree did not work and his spinach felt disjointed with the duck.
Chef Fatima prepared Pakistani Spiced Duck Breast w/ Olive Loaf Croutons and Spinach. The judges said the duck fat was not rendered but the croutons were the best thing on the dish. They loved the spices she used.
Chef Robert prepared Pan Fried Duck Breast w/ Cherry Cola Gastrique w/ Potato’s and Blanched Spinach. The judges said the potato’s were raw to cooked. The duck was nice and crispy but the plate was a bit salty. They liked his gastrique.
After careful deliberation Chef Robert was chopped for the reasons above.
DESSERT ROUND
Ted Allen told the Chefs they have 30 minutes to complete the round and has them open their baskets which includes the following ingredients;
- Kombucha
- Rambutans
- Egg White Powder
- Candied Nuts
After the Chefs completed their dishes they were presented to the Judges and given the following critiques;
Chef Fatima prepared Rambutan Ice Cream w/ Kombucha & Apple Bread Pudding w/ Nuts. The judges said her bread pudding was raw in the middle and the ice cream was a bit icy but overall the dish had good flavors and she did a tremendous job with the time allotted.
Chef Steve prepared Kombucha Pudding w/ Rambutan Brittle. The judges said his presentation was good but the pudding was tasteless and not sweet and overall disappointing.
After careful deliberation Chef Steve was chopped for the reasons above. Had he been more successful with dessert he would have won.
Chef Fatima Ali wins the $10,000 and title of Chopped Champion. If you watched the show let us know what you thought of the show as we always welcome comments.
images courtesy of foodnetwork.com
Arizona Time
Good show, fair decision, and, well, chef Fatima Ali is drop-dead gorgeous. Jus’ sayin’…
Well Done Fatima…! You proved that Pakistani Women can do it.
Keep up the hard work…
Great job Fatima. My wife and I were very excited to see a girl from Pakistan competing. We even recorded the show. We know how hard it is to prove yourself. Once again you made us proud by even making dishes that you could not taste…….Thank you for being a torch bearer.
What a great show! I was very impressed with how Chef Fatima, proved she could handle any ingrediants at a given time with any given competition! She examplified ‘can do atitude’!
This was the best chopped ever!!! I mean it. You guys got it right for once… even if you do have amanda as a judge. lol just kidding.. Chef Fatima will be a great chef someday. The one that got away. Someone will build a restaurant around her. She is not only a great culinarian but a great person who happens to be bright and articulate, strong young lady. Tha passion just poors out of her. Oh and she happens to be as beautiful inside as she is outside. I can tell….
Highly disagree with the judges’ decision…Steve was the all around better chef. Of corse, I did not taste his food but he had more highs than Fatima.
Awesome job, Chef Fatima! You proved that Pakistani women can do anything!!! We were literally jumping up and down when you won! Inspirational!
Unfortunately the show is edited and we do see all of the judges comments or do we taste the food. The competition is about 4 hours long and we see an hour show. Based on what we heard I thought that the competition was pretty even going into the dessert round and Fatima clearly won that round.
Chef Fatima’s success didn’t go unnoticed back home:
The judges may not have had it spot on this time. Steve was a better chef however Fatima seems like a real nice person.
I think both Fatima and Steve have the potential to host their own cooking shows on Food Network in the future. Each chef had great focus, positive attitude, and great presence on tv. I’d like to see them again on Food Network shows, perhaps as a team or competing against each other.
You got that from a one hour Chopped episode? Interesting!
I do think the two chefs were even at all, clearly Steve had won 2/3 plates so I did not think winning the dessert was enough- not to mention her bread pudding was raw in the middle so how could that be better than his superior other two dishes? She was just lucky.
I really hate when they cry at the end…obviously the judges are going to pick her! I wish there were less talking and just more about the food. Personal factors shouldn’t determine who wins…its supposed to be about the food
This result was a disgrace….Fatima’s starter course (chickens intestines) was ‘by her own admission’ a disaster – she had never cooked chicken’s intestine’s before and had no idea how to cook them. Fatima’s entree course (the main feature was the Duck), was not even cooked properly (it wasn’t even edible), and yet she managed to reach the final! Her bread pudding desert was raw inside – but she won on presentation….Come on man!!! I love this show – but his episode was a total joke!!!! She shouldn’t have made it past the first round of starters….