My Favorite Things: Chopped

I love the Food Network show, Chopped. Love it. I record all the episodes, and when I have a 45 minute or so down time, I watch it. Here is what Wikipedia says about the show. They can explain it better than me: C hopped is a reality based cooking television series created by Michael Krupat, produced by Daniel Kay, and hosted by Ted Allen that pits four chefs against each other competiting for a chance to win $10,000. New episodes air every Tuesday at 10pm EST on Food Network.

In each episode, four chefs compete. The show is divided into three rounds: Appetizer, Entrée and Dessert. In each round, the chefs are given a basket containing between three and five ingredients, and the dish each competitor prepares must contain each of those ingredients. Generally speaking, the ingredients are ones which are not commonly prepared together. For example, in "Yucca, Watermelon, Tortillas," the episode which originally aired on February 10, 2009, the appetizer course boxes contained watermelon, canned sardines, pepper jack cheese, and zucchini. The competitors are also given access to a pantry and refrigerator stocked with a wide variety of other ingredients. Each round has a time limit: twenty minutes for the Appetizer round, and thirty minutes for the Entrée and Dessert rounds. The chefs must cook their dishes and complete four platings (one for each judge plus one "beauty plate") before time runs out. After each round, the judges critique the dishes based on presentation, taste, and creativity. The judges then decide which chef is "chopped," who is then eliminated from the competition. Thus, by the dessert round, only two chefs remain. When deciding the winner, the judges consider not only the dessert course, but the entire meal presented by each chef as a whole. The winner receives $10,000.

I just love how these chefs have to be so creative in such a short amount of time. I've said for a long time, they need to get some "real" people on there. Not professional chefs; just mamas that cook every day for their families, and see how they do. Well, evidently the producers heard me because on the Food Network website, they are advertising for Amateur chefs to apply to be on the show. A part of me really wants to apply. But then I think, what if they give me rattlesnake or gooey duck or lamb testicles- all things I've seen in those baskets. No, I think I'll dream at home of what I'd make when they open those baskets. If you want to do it, here's the web address:http://images.foodnetwork.com/webfood/pkgs/2011/chopped/pdf/casting.pdf

My favorite episode is one I can't bring myself to erase from my dvr. It was an episode where they invited previous losing competitors to come back and try again. The last two standing were a young woman and a young man. The young woman, whose grandmother from Italy was her inspiration, desperately wanted to win the money so she could travel to Italy to see her grandmother before her grandmother died. The young man was a chef for a Christian camp of some kind. He won. Usually they announce who is chopped, they leave, then they celebrate the winner's victory. This time, as the young woman was getting ready to leave, the young man said," wait. I wasn't counting on the money anyway, and I really want you to go and see your grandmother, so I am giving you the plane ticket." She, of course, melts into tears. Before that day, they were total strangers, yet he generously gave her her heart's desire. Ahh. It was sweet. Anyway, I really like this show. It's one of my favorite things.