The third episode of Chopped's Teen Competition throws a few curveballs at four young and eager chefs.
The Food Network's Chopped Teen Tournament was back Tuesday for episode three of five, during which four different teens competed to win.
Each winner will move on to the final round to compete for $25,000 and the title of Chopped Teen Champion.
The high-intensity cooking competition featured four eager young chefs all under the age of 15. Alexina, 14, is a confident Greek competitor who likes to incorporate her heritage into her cooking. Allison, 13, loves to cook and repeatedly talked about her preparation for the event during the episode. Eliza, 13, takes cooking very seriously, but her ultimate dream is to be a marine biologist and be the first woman to go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Jarren, 14, loves to create meals to keep him occupied in his small town.
The four contestants began the appetizer round, during which they received vegan chicken legs, golden beets, pea leaves and a tortilla chip lunch kit to incorporate into their dishes.
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Allison decided to go the salad route, which she later regretted once she finished her dish and saw Eliza’s masterpiece of vegan chicken curry with crispy beets meal.
“Why did I spend 30 minutes making a salad?” Allison said, unsure if she would move on to the entree round.
Jarren seemed slightly flustered when he decided to make a golden beet and pea leaf pesto with vegan chicken, which was supposed to be encrusted with pine nuts and tortilla chips until he burned the first batch of crust and forgot to include the chips on the second tray.
I watched and worried, knowing that leaving out an ingredient is a mortal sin on Chopped. The judges said his chicken was very dry. These two mishaps led to Jarren being chopped in the appetizer round, and he and I both grew emotional over the whole thing.
The three girls remained in the challenge to compete in the entree round, which included venison roast, butternut squash, fruity cereal macaroons and okra.
Alexina felt confident going into the entree round and decided to make a Greek bamies dish with seared venison. While making her dish, she grabbed roughly a dozen different spices, which concerned the judges. However, despite her dish not being visually appealing, the judges were pleasantly surprised with the flavor she was able to create.
Allison was very confused by the venison, as she has never cooked the meat before. She decided to go with a pickled okra and a butternut squash mash to pair with her sliced venison. Both decisions were not received well by the judges; however, they did like the flavor. When asked what she would do with the prize money if she won, she said she’d save most of it but would splurge on a stand mixer. I loved her dedication.
Eliza loved the girl power in the kitchen and decided to make a tostada and salsa dish. She had some problems with her tostada shell and felt very dissatisfied with the outcome of her dish, which she displayed to the judges. Her displeasure with her overall meal left her unsurprised when the judges decided to chop her. The judges left her with words of encouragement and admiration for her overall skill. Judge Scott Conant told Eliza, “Don’t beat yourself up.”
After a fierce face-off between Allison and Alexina, the two began on their 30-minute dessert challenge. The ingredients in this round included walnuts in honey, assorted cookies (which oddly looked like generic Insomnia Cookies), plums and French toast cereal.
Allison decided to make a cheesecake with a cereal and cookie crust and raspberry-plum compote. Allison appeared to have this round in the bag, until she started cooking and havoc wrecked the Chopped kitchen. Her compote bubbled everywhere and her crust burned and crumbled, leaving her to make a “deconstructed” cheesecake. She had a few problems mixing up her cheese, and at one point she actually yelled, “No cheese die!” I feel your frustration, Allison.
Alexina chose to take the cookie route and maked a snickerdoodle cookie with plum compote. This was the first dish she maked without any Greek influence, but she was confident in her cookie-making abilities. The judges commended Alexina for controlling her sweetness, but they did not feel as if the basket ingredients were well represented in this dish. Alexina remained confident, however, and didn't seem to sweat the negative comments.
The judges praised Allison for making a cheesecake, though they were not huge fans of her crust. Allison, rather than making excuses for her poor crust, blankly told the judges that she ruined her crust. Her honesty was admirable.
The two competitors departed to a room while the judges made their final decision. In order to pass the time, the girls decided to arm wrestle. After the brief match, both young chefs decided that either one of them could end up a winner.
Alexina ended up winning with her snickerdoodles. Being a cheerleader, she celebrated by kicking a foot in the air and cheering.
Alexina will return to Chopped to compete in the final round against other teen competitors, which should turn out to be a very interesting competition to say the least.
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