Happy Halloween!
This is bound to be a seriously spooky
and kooky competition.
[cackling]
[Amanda] ♪ Trick or treat Smell my feet ♪
[both] ♪ Give me something good to eat ♪
[Connie] My food is scary good.
She's not gonna finish her plates.
Time?
[woman] You don't have time for much more.
Right behind. Right behind. Right behind. Right behind.
-Why is she running to the pantry with 20 seconds to go? -Where are you going?
-It's all the way up! -This is crazy!
-Oh, sorry! So sorry! -You're scaring me!
I think today's gonna be spooktacular.
[evil laughter]
What's really scary is my skills in the kitchen.
[laughs maniacally]
My name is Robert Alexander.
I am the executive chef at The Foundry Hotel
in Asheville, North Carolina.
So what I'm looking for here is a nice sizzle.
My style of cooking is Americana meets French.
The colors are there.
The herbs are there. The freshness is there.
I love Halloween for the festivities of it.
I want candy.
I wanna dress up and not be myself for a couple hours.
You should expect both tricks and treats.
So good.
[Zach] I am the Halloween chef.
I'm all about the blood and the guts and the gore
in the horror movies.
I'm just thinking about what I'm gonna do to those judges
if I don't win.
My name is Zach Neil
and I am the owner and executive chef
of Beetle House, New York, and Beetle House, Los Angeles.
We celebrate Halloween 365 days a year.
We make a lot of different kinds of scary dishes.
One of them is called the Sweeney Beef,
which is a steak that we serve with a crazy blood sauce.
And it's served with a straight razor.
I also write Halloween cookbooks.
So if the competition is based off of
making your plates look gory and gross, I'm gonna win.
Garlic keeps the vampires away.
My food is gonna have the judges screaming for more
because my food is scary good.
Everything tastes better with tequila.
I'm Connie, chef/owner of Coni'Seafood
from Inglewood, California.
I didn't take a Cordon Bleu class
or nothing like that.
I just learned from my dad's recipes
and I took over his restaurant.
We have three now. And it's all seafood.
You don't have to go through traditional route
to get to where you want to be.
I love all things gore, all things scary movies,
all things Halloween.
My name is Chef Jeana Pecha
and I am owner and executive chef
of Omakase Por Favor in Sacramento, California.
Omakase Por Favor is a fusion between coastal Mexican
and of Japanese cuisine.
You're gonna get the sushi bar, raw bar,
but in coastal Mexican flavors.
Ceviche, aguachile, oysters, octopus.
Bring on the blood and guts.
[chuckles]
Happy Halloween!
-Hi! -Happy Halloween, Ted.
[cackling]
There it is.
Thank you, Robert. Appreciate that.
This is bound to be a seriously spooky
and kooky competition.
The baskets will be inspired by Halloween.
If your dish doesn't cut it,
you will be chopped.
-No. -No, not me.
[Sunny] We got a guillotine right in the back.
[screaming sound effect over speaker]
There's no reason to be frightened of this first basket.
I don't believe you.
I don't know about that.
There's a spider in here somewhere.
You gotta open 'em up anyway.
Oh.
Oh, my goodness.
[Ted] And it's a pasta brain.
It's not the brain I thought it was gonna be,
but it's a brain.
[Zach] It's pretty gross.
Diavolo.
-[Ted] There are also roasted pumpkin seeds. -Pumpkin seeds.
[Zach] That's good. I like pumpkin seeds.
Pepitas.
[Ted] Red jalapeno peppers...
Peppers I can work with.
...and edible eyeballs.
No! Gummy eyeballs.
[Zach] Yuck.
It wouldn't be Halloween without a little bit of brains and eyeballs.
Let's do it.
Twenty minutes to embrace the Halloween spirit,
while also making great food.
Time starts now.
-Happy Halloween, Judges. -[Chris] Yeah!
-Yay! Happy Halloween! -Happy Halloween!
Amanda, Chris, you are joined by the radiant cohost
of The Kitchen on Food Network,
the one and only Sunny Anderson.
-[Amanda] Yay, Sunny! -Welcome back, Sunny.
I'm happy to be here.
Oh, my God.
[Ted] It's brains and eyeballs on the menu.
Are you all scared?
-Nope. I think today's gonna be spooktacular. -Nah.
-Ah! -[Sunny] Okay. Okay.
We're gonna see what's in here.
[Chris] This pasta brain is udon noodles,
which have a very chewy texture.
But encased in this brain
are meatballs that are wrapped in prosciutto.
I think my brain has meatballs in it, too.
[all laughing]
Did you deconstruct your brain yet?
Um, somewhat.
It's pretty disgusting, so.
-[Chris] Zach. -Yes?
You got a plan?
I have sort of a plan, yeah.
I have this pasta thing,
so I'm automatically thinking Italian food.
I'm making eye of the devil
or deconstructed pasta diavolo.
At Beetle House, our slogan is "Everyday is Halloween."
Coming behind.
Watch your back. Watch your back.
[Zach] Food at Beetle House is a little bit scary.
We have dishes that are served in skull bowls.
A lot of our cocktails catch on fire. They smoke.
Edible eyeballs has a coconut hint.
And I definitely don't want coconut.
My hope is that I can just fold it into a sauce
and melt it down to add some texture.
In goes the eyeball.
[spooky music plays]
Can I have a couple corn tortillas from you?
Yes.
My style of cooking is heavily influenced
by Mexican cuisine.
I spent a lot of time living and working in Mexico
and with those Mexican flavors.
Thank you, Chef.
I like some spice in my life. This is Halloween.
We have some eyeballs.
I'm stoked.
Jeana, what are you making?
I'm doing a tostada.
-Tostada. -And some...
I'm making a coconut jalapeno mayo
-for the base of the tostada. -Ooh, I like that.
Sounds good.
-It's spicy, so I hope you guys are okay with that. -Yes.
I do think the Mexican route is the way to go, though,
-with this. It leans that way. -Yeah.
[Amanda] The red jalapenos, you have the pumpkin seed.
Obviously, the eyeballs,
you can do just about anything with them.
They have a bit of a coconut flavor,
tiny, tiny essence of rum.
But any kind of sweetness you need in your dish,
you can use those.
[Robert] Edible eyeballs staring at me and it's weird.
And I'm like, "Obviously, it's candy
and it's made out of sugar
and probably gelatin.
And the good thing about those two things
is they melt."
Robert, what are you making, Chef?
I'm making my version of a ramen.
-A play on ramen? -Yeah.
Interesting.
For my ramen broth, I add chicken broth,
dashi, soy sauce, a little bit of mirin,
the eyeballs along with the red jalapenos.
[Chris] You know, you don't always have to make something super refined.
I would do a jalapeno popper here.
I would take the meatball that's in the pasta brain,
make a filling with that.
I would make a cheese sauce with those edible eyeballs.
And I would grind the pumpkin seeds with panko
for my breading.
How are you doin', Connie?
I don't wanna think about the time.
My favorite part of Halloween is dressing up
because I'm cute.
I love Halloween.
But us Hispanics, we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos.
We honor and respect the dead.
And we celebrate life.
Connie, what are you making?
I'm making, uh, tacos with chorizo and papa.
I have my potatoes cooking
and I go to get the chorizo...
Cut.
Oh, no! Connie cut herself.
Put that and hold pressure.
[Chris] There's no good round to cut yourself.
But the appetizer round,
you know, it's such a short round
and you lose so much valuable time.
-Okay. -Go, go, go.
-Thank you. -Yes.
[Ted] 10 minutes to get 'er done, chefs.
Oh, my gosh.
Geez, that went quick.
I'm gonna take the noodles from the pasta brain
and then I'm gonna fry them up until they get really crispy.
I'm not looking for them to add any flavor.
I'm just looking for them to add some texture.
[Jeana] I'm using the meatballs from the pasta brain
as my carne in the tostada.
I'm seasoning the meat
with very traditional Mexican flavors,
cilantro, cumin, coriander.
[Robert] I'm going to use the meatballs in the pasta brain.
Just drop them down into the fryer
so it's nice and crispy
so that it resembles what you would get in a ramen.
My favorite part of Halloween is getting all the chocolate
'cause I love candy.
Candy corn. [laughing]
[Ted] Chefs, less than 5 minutes to go here. 5 minutes.
[Connie] No way.
[Chris] So, Connie, she's a little rattled.
And we're watching her now put raw pork chorizo in a pan.
I don't know if that chorizo's just gonna cook.
Connie needs to hustle,
or else she's not gonna finish her plates.
-No. -Honestly. She's gonna scare us
-with empty plates. -Mmm.
[Amanda] Oh, my gosh.
Behind. Behind. Behind.
[Amanda] Connie needs to hustle,
or else she's not gonna finish her plates.
No.
At this point, I really have to get to work.
I add the red jalapenos into my taco meat
so it can give it a little spice, a little kick,
and the pumpkin seeds to add a little bit of salt
and roasted flavor.
[Amanda] I love pumpkin seeds.
-I love them too. -Yeah.
But how do you transform them?
[Amanda] You could make like a pumpkin seed pesto.
[Robert] It's all about the transformation of things.
And why would I just put it on top?
So I'll turn it into puree.
It brings in a lot of complexity.
And it also thickens the broth.
[Amanda] You got three and a half minutes.
You gotta use all four ingredients.
Wanna send a memo to Connie or anything?
Because she forgot the eyeballs.
[Amanda] Connie hasn't touched her eyeballs.
[Chris] She's grabbing them now.
I don't know what she was gonna do with them.
Nothing! She's just putting them on the plate?
-She's just putting them on the plate? Oh. -[Chris] Ooh.
[Connie] I'm thinking about a salsa, but time is almost up.
I just place them on the plate
because I figured it's Halloween.
-[Ted] 2 minutes, chefs. -[Sunny] Come on, y'all.
[Ted] Come on, chefs, get it done.
We want a treat, not a trick in this basket.
Did you taste everything?
Uh, I think it's pretty fire. I ain't gonna lie.
-Ooh! -Okay, Robert, okay!
-How much time? -[Ted] Wrap it up, chefs.
You're running out of time here.
-It's stormy. -[Ted] Ten,
nine,
-eight, seven... -Hustle, hustle, hustle!
six, five, four, three, two, one.
-Time's up! -[Sunny] Oh!
Zach's just standing proud. You saw Zach, right?
That was fun.
I ain't gonna lie. That was great.
That looks good.
-Thank you. -Dude, that's a miso replacement?
-Bro. -It's gonna be great.
It's gonna be great.
How do you think you did?
[Zach] I don't know. We'll see.
I made it up as I went. How do you think you did?
-Oh, my gosh. After this... -I'm sorry about the cut.
-How bad is it? -No, it's not that bad.
-Just a little nick? -I just poked me. Yeah.
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
For the first round of this Halloween-themed battle,
your basket contained a pasta brain,
roasted pumpkin seeds,
red jalapeno peppers
and edible eyeballs.
So, Chef Jeana, what'd you make with that?
Today, I made for you guys a carne tostada
with a coconut-jalapeno mayonnaise
and chili lime pepitas.
[Amanda] I really like what you did with the eyeballs.
That bite with the mayonnaise, the meat.
The tostada is a really nice bite.
And I like the fact that it's petite.
-Thank you. -And you did such a really good job
of seasoning the meatball.
The cumin, the coriander, all of those Mexican flavors.
-Thank you. -I think it's perfect.
There's like this really fun lime vibe that goes on
when you bite into it.
The pumpkin seeds, just spot-on.
My one big note is
I would've loved for those meatball moments
to be a little bit smaller, instead of boulders, you know.
-Maybe like pea size. -Yeah.
It's a surprising really complex fun bite
that my brain can't quite make sense of
but my palate loves.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chef Jeana.
Next up, Chef Robert.
I made my version of a ramen.
The broth is chicken stock with the eyeball.
And then I made a puree out of the pumpkin seeds.
Robert, I think this is really creative.
It gave me warm toasted nutty.
But at the very end, a nice spicy note
from the red jalapenos on my tongue.
The pumpkin seed puree
gave me tahini vibes.
If this were mixed into the broth,
it would've just brought a whole another level.
[Chris] It's delicious. It's flavorful.
But the meatballs themselves are quite salty.
Um, and that's coming through, unfortunately...
-Okay. -...in this dish.
[Amanda] Well, Chef, I think this is really creative.
I would've never thought to make ramen out of that,
pasta brains and eyeballs.
The broth itself is delicious.
And I like the pumpkin seed puree,
but it's not pretty.
-Okay. -Halloween scariness is happening in this bowl
with that pumpkin puree.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef Robert. Next up, Chef Connie.
This is a chorizo, potato and pumpkin seed taco.
I love the way you cooked these potatoes
and then added the chorizo
so the potatoes actually sucked in, like,
that beautiful fat from the chorizo.
And the potatoes are super crispy. I love this.
This almost has like a breakfast hash kind of feel,
like a Tex-Mex breakfast taco.
What I'm eating is delicious.
It's just not finished.
Really good use of the meatball
because it does not taste like a meatball,
I'll tell ya that much.
But the pumpkin seeds just kind of hanging out in here.
It's almost like an afterthought.
And then just the eyeball. Just...
It's just poor thing.
Here's lookin' at you, kid.
I didn't have time to do work with it.
-So I just... -I'm looking at you. I'm looking at you.
[judges chuckling]
I wanted to use it on my salsa
to make it like a sweet and spicy.
[Amanda] Halloween is fun. I think you could have had more fun with it.
Chef Connie, thank you.
Thank you.
Finally, Chef Zach.
So I opted to kind of make a deconstructed pasta diavolo.
Toasted the pumpkin seeds. And the eyeball, of course.
We're calling it Eye of the Devil.
-Okay. -Where do you work now, Chef?
I'm the owner of Beetle House,
which is the "Every day is Halloween" restaurant.
We have one here in New York and one in Los Angeles.
And so we do Halloween 365.
I write horror cookbooks
that are all based on slasher films and horror movies
and I recreate dishes around movie titles.
-[Sunny] Wow. Dude. -Really? That's cool.
I mean, I would have never highlighted mushrooms here.
But I like that you did, because they are delicious.
If you're gonna highlight the diavolo, bring it.
Bring us more of those red jalapenos.
You guys didn't pick it up?
-No. -I got some. But--
See, I'm weak. I am so weak. It burned me.
I tasted it, and I was like, "Too much."
-Are you feeling the spice? -No.
-Not at all. -Wow, I am so weak.
-Lame. -[Sunny] Not at all.
For you to use the prosciutto that was wrapped around the meatballs
in that pasta brain,
I would expect it to really come through with enough salt.
-Hmm. -Uh, but I found myself wanting more salt.
-Okay. -[Chris] The pasta is really oily and greasy.
I want it to be crunchy, but it's still really soft.
Okay.
The judges said that my noodles didn't get crispy.
But I don't think I'm on the chopping block yet.
I didn't have time to make anything with the eyeball.
But hopefully I can get another chance.
Which three chefs are about to open a second Chopped Halloween basket?
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Connie, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Connie, the edible eyeball was just on the plate.
And we ask you to take those four ingredients
and make a cohesive dish.
And so we had to chop you.
Thank you.
Thanks.
I was hoping that I would get to the next one
just so that I could show the judges that I'm capable.
But I'm okay.
We are here, so we won.
Chef Zach, Chef Robert, Chef Jeana,
let's see how this goes.
[spooky music plays]
Please open your entree baskets.
[laughing] What is...
And you're looking at a sausage head.
[Zach] It's like Pinhead from Hellraiser.
[Ted] Squid ink risotto.
-All right. -[Jeana] I like that. I like that.
[Ted] Butternut squash.
-Okay. -All right.
[Ted] And poison candy apples.
[Jeana] What?
"Poison" apples.
[Amanda] Thank you for those air quotes.
Welcome to my nightmare.
Thirty minutes on the clock for this round.
Time starts now.
-[Amanda] Come on, chefs! Let's go! -[Sunny] Let's do it!
-Freezer. -Scary!
Judges, well, it's been nice knowing you.
I mean, poison apples, it's a rough way to go.
Well, the antidote is kissing your first love.
-[Amanda] Aw! -Um, and as long as you've got some bacon here,
I'll be just fine.
[Ted laughs]
The nasty peel is coming off.
-[Ted] What is this thing? -[Sunny] It's just a candied apple.
It's blue and black
to make it a really deep scary color.
-[Amanda] It's beautiful. -It's really beautiful.
[Amanda] I think they're really pretty and dramatic, again.
Like, this whole basket is really dark.
-Right? Evil-looking. -[Ted] Yes.
Okay, there we go. Here we go.
Get out, get out, get out.
I need all of it.
Squid ink risotto is made with ink from the squid,
which is black.
There's a little bit of squid in the rice as well.
[Chris] You could make a great pasta dish with this
and use the squid that's in the risotto.
[Amanda] Chef Zach, what are you making?
I'm making a butternut squash seafood risotto.
You're making fresh risotto?
Yes. I'm just gonna dig the squid out of this mess
and reuse.
So he's taking a real risk making risotto,
which is very tricky to get done correctly
and on time in this kitchen.
Okay, I'm gonna start dealing with this.
[Sunny] I love a butternut squash halve and roast it.
-[Chris] Mmm. -Mix some rice in there.
You got a lot of time. You get extra time in this round?
You're right. I don't have a lot of time for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.
For you, Sunny, we'll give you extra time.
[Zach] How you doin', Robert?
[Robert] Oh, I'm Gucci, like they say, no?
[Zach chuckles]
[Jeana] Coming down line.
Chef Robert, what are you working on?
I, um, am making a foam out of the rice from the risotto.
I have a gastrique going with the candy
along with squash puree
and a little crostini.
[Sunny] Does it look good, though?
'Cause, you know, that was an issue.
We're gonna make it looks fire, okay?
-Okay. -I learned from the first round.
[Robert] With the sausage head and the risotto,
I'm going to make a foam.
Air opens up things without diluting the actual flavor.
Since the sausage is a little salty,
that air will help balance out the salt level.
That tastes so good.
Lime juice.
The judges seemed to really like my appetizers.
So I'm hoping if I just cook the same way I did round 1,
I can keep it up.
[Amanda] Uh, Chef Jeana, what are you makin'?
Um, I'm making a candy apple aguachile.
Ooh!
And then I'm gonna do a little ceviche.
Ceviche.
[Jeana] I take the squid from the risotto
and then I get that soaking in lime juice.
The lime juice will kind of help get rid of
some of that like bitter flavor
that the squid ink has on there.
[Ted] 20 minutes left, chefs.
-[Zach] How long? -[Jeana] Aah!
[Ted] 20.
Oh, my goodness.
Judges, I bring for your dining pleasure
your very own sausage head.
-[Chris] Oh, my goodness. -Isn't that just gorgeous?
-This sausage is a dried snacking sausage. -[Amanda] Salami. Yeah.
You know what I mean?
-[Sunny] Yeah. -Ow.
[Ted] Maybe you just wanna dice them up or something?
Or rehydrate them and just use the liquid
from the rehydration for the base of something, you know?
[Amanda] That's a really good idea.
Just to make a sausage broth.
[Zach] I'm gonna take sausage, throw it in with the squash and the apples
to hopefully add a little bit of smokiness.
I would love to win Chopped
and show my daughters that even when something is scary or challenging,
you should do it anyway.
[Amanda] I'm worried about the fact that chef Robert has a purée,
a foam, and a gastrique.
-This does not make a dish. -I do like sauces.
[Robert] This sausage head is pretty terrifying.
When I think of sausage I think of peppers,
so they just kind of, like, triggered
"I'm back at home" memory.
My mother is my everything.
Every time I go to a different place to work,
she wants to meet my boss and take pictures.
She is, like, my biggest supporter,
so if I win this $10,000,
I'm going to treat my mother like the queen she is,
and take her on a nice vacation.
Ten minutes to get it done, chefs.
What are you doing, Jeana? Jeana, what's happening?
I am making a burnt orange, juniper and beef link seasoning.
[Sunny and Ted] Okay.
[Jeana] My childhood was pretty normal,
but when I went into high school,
things kind of fell apart with my family.
I ran away from foster care and I went down to Mexico.
I fell head over heels for Mexican cuisine, Mexican culture.
I came back to the States to attend culinary school.
I started reconnecting with my family,
and then they were there for me
when I wanted to open a restaurant.
I put my house on the line,
my father's put his house on the line,
and we need this thing to work.
Five minutes to go, chefs.
[Amanda] You gotta think about plating.
[Zach] I taste the risotto,
and it seems like it's done enough.
I'm confident that it's gonna finish in the bowl.
Robert, how you feeling over there?
Uh, I'm sledding a little bit, but that's probably the game though.
Is this a trick or a treat?
[Robert] It's a little bit of both, you know?
Go big or go home, right? And I ain't trying to go home yet.
[Ted] Two minutes!
Let's see, do I have a cracker?
Oh, there's rice paper out,
are we gonna get some kind of egg rolls?
Oh, no, she's just frying 'em.
Oh, she's seasoning right as they come out. I'll take it.
-Oh, with her seasoning blend, I think. -Mmm! I'll take it.
-[Amanda] Interesting. -Break those things up and put 'em on the plate, honey.
-[Robert] Time? -One minute, seven seconds.
Speeding up the clock?
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
[Ted] All right, get it done, get it done, chefs.
Very little time left.
-[Sunny] Ah, you only got 10 seconds. -[Ted] Ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two,
one, time's up!
[Robert] This, uh, round was a lot more intense than the first one.
You're putting yourself out there,
you're open to vulnerability.
I am worried about it being
not substantial enough for an entrée.
Um, but I do know the flavor profile is there.
[clock ticking]
Chefs, in your Halloween entrée basket
you found a sausage head,
squid ink risotto, butternut squash,
and so-called poison apples.
Chef Robert, you're up first.
Today, judges, in front of you have
sausage and peppers with a butternut squash purée,
a apple gastrique,
and a risotto and sausage head foam.
And what would it mean to you, chef, if you were to win this competition?
It takes a, uh, village to build a person.
-[Ted] Mmm-hmm. -[Robert] And I still have all of my mentors in my phone,
and it'll give them affirmation that they did due diligence by me,
and investing into my knowledge,
and, you know, allowing me to be creative and expressive, so...
-[Ted] Cool. -I really like this.
[chuckles] Thank you.
I feel like a kid, I feel like it is Halloween.
-I've got, like, weird squiggles going on. -[Amanda laughs]
Good.
[Sunny] I love the nod to sausage and peppers.
Your culinary point of view from basket to basket
has been so completely different.
I think it's a great dish, but all the sauces are too sweet.
And also the sausages are sweet Italian sausage.
If you just used the hot, it would've balanced out the sweet of all these sauces.
I wanted more of the squid and sausage head foam...
-[Robert] Okay. -...because that is more savory.
-Mmm-hmm. -And the butternut squash is sweet,
apple gastrique is sweet,
-so we end up with a lot of sweetness. -Got it.
-Okay. -And I also think some of the sausage head
should have been in your sausage and peppers.
But, chef, this is wildly creative,
um, visually stunning plate.
Thank you, chef Robert, next up, chef Zach.
So, I made a butternut squash and seafood risotto.
I wanted to incorporate a lot of flavors of the fall,
so I added some coriander and cinnamon,
all spice, fresh sage.
[Amanda] I do like the creaminess,
I really like the warm spices in here.
Very autumnal dish.
-Yup. -The flavors are excellent.
[Chris] I really love the sausage.
The smokiness, it, it works really well within this composition.
A bite with the apple and butternut squash
and the sausage is a really delicious bite,
but the risotto is simply not cooked.
Any use for $10,000?
I'm gonna let my kids pick a charity.
They're huge Chopped fans and they're huge Halloween kids,
and they also are big into giving back,
so they're like, "Dad, if you win the money we're gonna donate it,
but we get to pick the charity," and I was like, "okay, fair."
-[Amanda] Aw. -Okay.
-That's cute. -All the money?
They're gonna probably take a little bit out to the side for some shopping, I bet.
Okay.
Thank you, chef Zach. Finally, chef Jeana.
For you, judges, I have made a squid and butternut squash ceviche
on top of a poison apple aguachile with a fried rice paper.
And if you lift up the rice paper,
it's kind of like a spooky surprise.
This is also wildly creative, and also very bold.
[stutters] I don't generally view ceviche as an entrée.
-Hmm. -[Chris] But with the addition of squid here and the squash,
I'm good with it.
The issue for me here, this is abrasively salty.
Ooh.
-Do you agree, or am I, am I crazy? -You're not crazy.
Um, I think the rice paper is really salty.
-Yeah. -[Amanda] And I think when you,
uh, intentionally burnt the sausage links,
it just intensified.
I love the spice, don't get me wrong,
I just wish there was less of the salt level.
But when you get into the ceviche and the pieces of squash and cucumber,
that to me is not salty.
-Yeah. -Chef Jeana, I think this was a really exciting
and elaborate plate.
The poison apples that you used in your sauce, it does bring the acidity.
The butternut squash is delicious.
Yeah, thank you.
-Okay, chef Jeana, thank you. -[softly] Thank you.
I'm feeling pretty stressed.
I really think it's gonna come down to my over-salted dish
and Zach's undercooked rice.
If I make it through to the next round,
I have to make my dessert really shine.
So, who's dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Zach, you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Zach, your risotto truly did embody the comfort of fall cooking,
but your rice was undercooked, and so we had to chop you.
-[Amanda] Thanks for being here, Zach. -Thank you.
[whispers] Good luck, guys. You've got this.
I think if I had started my risotto five minutes earlier,
I would've been fine. But I am proud of myself for being here,
for competing, and I always love to represent Halloween.
Chef Robert, chef Jeana, who's ready to make Halloween history
with this final basket?
-I'm ready, Ted. -I'm down with the get down, Ted.
I think the biggest curveball is gonna be, like,
something spicy and garlic.
I've made it this far without candy corn,
and I am just praying that there is not candy corn.
[creepy, evil laughter]
Open 'em up!
[scoffs]
[Ted] And you're looking at skeleton cookies,
-candy corn. -I hate candy corn.
Why did you do this to me?
-[Ted] Snake fruit. -Ooh.
I have no idea what that is.
[Ted] And a Shirley Temple syringe.
Smells like grenadine.
I don't know if I like any of it.
Thought it couldn't get worse. [scoffs]
Half an hour to make dessert.
-Clock starts now! -[Chris] All right, here we go.
-Trick-or-treat, let's go! -Sweet tooth, baby!
[Amanda in sing-song voice] ♪ Trick-or-treat, smell my feet♪
[both in sing-song voice] ♪ Give me something good to eat♪
[Amanda chuckles]
All right, judges, so, does this basket spook you?
[Amanda] It is a little spooky because everything's sweet
and there's no center of the plate here.
The candy corn has to be melted down, right?
-Like, that's the only way to do it. -[Sunny] Yeah.
Candy corn is literally just colored sugar.
[Amanda] I would actually take that ginger hint,
and you've got the Shirley Temple,
which is grenadine and ginger ale.
You've already got that cookie in there,
so I'd punch it up with some ginger.
[indistinct]
[Chris] I think we're gonna get a no-bake cheesecake from Jeana,
which is actually smart. She's good.
-Cream cheese going into... -[Amanda] My favorite!
-...a mixer and she also took white sesame seeds... -[Sunny] I'll take it.
...graham crackers and sugar cookie and butter.
-[Sunny] I'll take it. -[Chris] Jeana, so what are you doing?
I am making a lemon and snake fruit no-bake cheesecake,
with a sesame and skeleton cookie crumble.
I'm grinding the cookies with graham crackers with sesame seeds
because the sesame will add a nice muddiness to it,
and the graham cracker will add some body that isn't overly sweet.
I'm a wizard. Perfect.
I think Jeana came out smoking
-in that first round with the tostada. -[Amanda] Oh, yeah.
[Chris] And Robert was very creative doing that ramen approach.
-Except the presentation was not great. -[Amanda] Yeah.
-[Sunny] Oh, yeah. -And then I think he took the second round
-with that playful play on sausage and peppers. -[Sunny] I would agree.
-[Amanda] That was so good. -And she struggled a little bit
-with the salt content in her dish. -[Amanda] Salt level.
-[Sunny] I would agree. -[Chris] So, it's pretty even.
[Robert] In order to beat chef Jeana, I need to put
as many techniques as possible on this one plate.
Skeleton cookies are cookies nothing but four and sugar,
so let's break it back down and incorporate that into my cake.
[Chris] Robert just made a batter of some sort and put it in the oven.
-Oven? Wow. -Already? Yes. Come on, Robert.
Robert, did you just put something in the oven?
Yeah, baking a cake with the cookies.
[Chris] And what are you working on now?
Candy corn ice cream.
-Candy corn ice cream. -[excitedly] What!
[Robert] Then I'm gonna do a, uh, snake fruit, uh, liquid gel.
And then a, uh, Shirley Temple coulis.
-Wow, okay. -[Sunny excitedly] Oh!
That sounds really good.
[Tim] Fifteen minutes to go, chefs.
[Jeana] There's candy corn and Shirley Temple.
Both of them are really sweet, they don't have a discernible flavor,
so I add some crushed red pepper to add some spice and kick.
Ten minutes to get it done, chefs.
[Robert] Cake is almost done, we're good, we're gucci.
I'm gonna use this snake fruit for a liquid gel
because snake fruit has a lot of pectin,
and taking the natural pectin in conjunction with the agar
makes a pretty seamless liquid gel.
[indistinct]
[Sunny] That snake fruit is super funky,
like the funkiest cheese ever.
But it has a fruity,
-pineapple vibe, if you will. I like it. -[Amanda] Yeah.
-Mmm! -The outside, um, looks like snake skin.
[Jeana] I'm thinking that this snake fruit can be used just like a berry,
macerate it with a little bit of, like, mint and basil and lime juice and sugar.
I feel good, I'm, I'm excited.
Chefs, less than five minutes to go here.
Chef Robert, he just checked on his ice cream, it's still a little bit runny.
-[Chris] Hmm. -He's got a lot going on.
He's got ice cream, he's got a cake in the oven, he's got sauces.
You know, if one of these things doesn't work,
his dish isn't complete.
The pressure this final round is very, very intense.
-[Jeana] Right behind. -[Robert] There's a lot of moving parts right now,
and I am running out of time.
I hate candy corn.
-[evil laughter] -[clock ticking]
[Robert] I go and check on my ice cream, and it's not done.
Come on!
So, I just give my ice cream a little bit more time to churn.
Chef Robert, how are you feeling over there?
[Robert] Uh, as long as that time doesn't get away from me, I'll be good.
So, I go to check on my snake fruit liquid gel in the blast chiller...
[laughing]
Robert, you liked it or you didn't like it.
[Robert hurriedly] I'm just surprised it set so quickly.
[Ted] Two minutes!
[Jeana] The crumble's looking golden.
-[sizzling] -[Jeana] My glace is a really bright pink color
that I think is perfect for Halloween.
All I have to do is plate.
Oh, yeah, boy!
I have to taste the candy corn ice cream.
But this isn't as bad as I thought it would be,
but I needed something to cut the sweetness of the dish.
You have one minute and thirty seconds.
That's all you got, you don't have time for much more.
-[Sunny grunts] Unh. -[Robert] Yup.
-[Sunny] Hello, hello, hello. -Hello.
He's just setting up a stand mixer
-with a minute to go. -[Sunny] What?
-[Amanda] You're scaring me. -What is happening? Push it in, twist it.
-[Ted] Can't make whipped cream in less than a minute. -[Amanda] Fifty-six, 56.
That's great, that's great,
-keep counting down for us. -[Amanda] It better be crucial.
-[Amanda] Better be-- -[Robert yells] It's all the way up!
This is crazy!
-[Robert] Who's got the mint? -Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Sunny] Is it-- Oh, my God.
-They're running into each other for herbs. -I'm sorry, so sorry!
[shouts] He's scaring me!
-[Ted] Thirty seconds! -What is happening!
Stop it, it's 27 seconds.
[Sunny] What is going on?
Oh, my God, it actually set up.
[Ted] All right, chefs, here we are.
Final seconds of the final round.
-Ten, nine, eight... -[Amanda] Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!
-All four ingredients. -...seven...
-Oh, my God. -...six,
-five... -[Sunny] Look, she's just getting stuff out of the pan.
-[Amanda] Hurry! -...four, three,
-two... -[Chris] Wow.
-[Amanda] Come on, come on, come on! -...one!
-Time's up! -Unbelievable.
-[Chris] Well, that was fun. -[Amanda] What!
-[groaning] -Can you come over to my place for Thanksgiving
and help me out with the whipped cream?
[both laughing]
[hoarsely] Sorry about that.
[Jeana] I feel like I made something that I knew how to make.
I just hope it wasn't too simple
after watching, you know, chef Robert run circles
and do all these crazy things.
That was rough.
I feel like this can be a $10,000 dessert.
Uh, I baked and made ice cream, you know?
But with great risk comes great reward,
and so leave it all out on the table and,
and hope for the best.
[lightening thunders]
[Tim] Chef Jeana and chef Robert,
in your final Halloween basket you got
skeleton cookies, candy corn, snake fruit, and a Shirley Temple syringe.
Chef Jeana, you're up first.
I have made a lemon cheesecake with snake fruit compote,
and a sesame skeleton cookie crumble,
and Shirley Temple candy corn glace
with a little bit of chili peppers.
Chef, there is a lot going on in this little package of dessert.
I love the idea of that no-bake cheesecake.
That cream cheese tang goes really well
with the spice that you created
with the candy corn and the Shirley Temple sauce,
but I'm missing something.
I think it may be I love the skeleton cookie crumble so much,
I just want more of it.
[Sunny] I have to agree.
I love the sesame seeds, uh, more of that.
And it just kinda comes through and crushes the building
of that funk of the snake fruit.
I really like what you did with the maceration.
Maybe a little bit more sugar since it's so tart.
I'm a sucker for a really good graham cracker crust,
and I wish that you had just
baked this graham cracker, like, in ring molds and made, like, a thicker crust...
-[Amanda] Hmm. -...that this cheesecake could then sit on top of,
'cause I think you really do needed the extra texture.
Thank you, chef Jeana. Finally, chef Robert.
You are presented with a skeleton cookie cake
with a Shirley Temple coulis, snake fruit liquid gel,
a candy corn ice cream,
and a skeleton cookie crumble on the bottom.
[Sunny] I like the cake, I like the texture of it.
That jelly that you had in the center from the snake fruit
was just brilliant.
I actually like the candy corn ice cream.
And I don't like candy corn at all.
When you pulled out the stand mixer with 57 seconds left,
we thought you were out of your mind,
but I'm glad that you got that whipped cream on top of here as well,
because the rest of your dish is very, very sweet.
The Shirley Temple, it's almost got, like,
-a cough syrup type flavor. -[Amanda] Hmm.
Okay, one of you is about to take on
the hallowed title of Chopped Champion.
Thank you, chefs.
Judges, what was the single most frightening ingredient?
What... I think the sausage head was the scariest.
[Amanda and Sunny laughing]
Jeana came out swinging in the first round with that tostada.
-[Amanda] It was so good. -[Chris] And it was so interesting
'cause she took the meatball and she added cumin
and other warm, Mexican spices,
and it worked.
[Amanda] Chef Robert's ramen had great flavor.
-The broth was excellent, um... -[Sunny] I wanted more.
[Amanda] And then he gave us the schmear of the pumpkin scene.
It wasn't pretty.
-Yeah. -In the second round, he was able to make
three sauces with great viscosity, good flavor.
[Sunny] Love the creativity of it.
[Amanda] Chef Robert's entrée leaned a little sweet with the candy apple sauce
-along with the butternut squash sauce. -[Sunny] Yeah.
But then Jeana, it's hard to even
talk about her dish without addressing salt first.
[Amanda] I really wanted to taste what she made
and the salt got in the way for me.
But once I mixed it all together,
then I thought it was balanced.
-Very close battle between two wildly different chefs. -Ooh.
But really high level of cooking today.
I feel like it's really close.
It is.
[thunder crackles]
[Robert] Being this close to being a Chopped Champion
is going to speak volume on my career.
I presented a lot of different techniques
and I really pushed the limits.
[Jeana] I feel like I represented
the basket ingredients the best out of everybody.
I'm gonna win this competition for my restaurant,
for me, and for family.
So, who's dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Jeana, you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Jeana, both of you made so few mistakes
that it really came down to, like, who made the biggest mistake.
And quite frankly, the egregious use of salt
in the entrée round was ultimately the difference between the two.
-All right. -And so, we had to chop you.
-You just got beat by this much. -Thank you, judges.
Thanks for making it hard. [chuckles]
-[all laughing] -[Sunny] Aw.
-Great job, really great job. -Best of luck with everything.
I wanna, like, curl up in a bed
and watch a slasher with a bowl of popcorn and candy.
But it's not the last you've seen of me, there's more to come.
And that means chef Robert Alexander, you are the Chopped Champion.
You beat out three other Halloween-loving chefs
and are walking away with a frightening $10,000.
-Congratulations, chef. -[Robert] Thank you.
-Well done. -Congratulations.
-[Ted] Well done. -Thank you so much.
Mama's going on vacation.
[giddily] She's going on vacation. Wow.
-I've been waiting for this moment... -[Ted] Then come on up!
-[cheering excitedly] -[Chris] I'm coming to you.
-Great job, man, great job. Really great job. -Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Being a Chopped Champion feels so great,
it's so surreal.
I worked very, very hard in my career
and winning is just solid affirmation I did choose the right career.
It feels great. This is awesome!