Pride of New Orleans
Four chefs from the Big Easy take on the big challenge of excelling in the Chopped Kitchen. In the first basket, half of the ingredients are very familiar, while the other mystery items just might throw the competitors off their game. In the entree round, the chefs make some very original choices with chai tea powder, and a judge makes a very surprising discovery on one of the plates. When both finalists take similar approaches to the dessert course, whose dish will the judges prefer?
More from Season 12
Episode 1
Sunny Side Apps
The chefs get an unusual wake-up call in the appetizer basket: gummy fried eggs. Will they be able to successfully transform this novelty candy into something that tastes good with corned beef? Then a sweet-and-sour surprise in the entree round sends the chefs running to the pantry to find suitable complementary ingredients. The two chefs who make it to a fiercely competitive dessert round must make do with knodel and almond flour.
Episode 2
A Guts Reaction
The chefs need to have guts when they discover poultry intestines and red miso in the first basket. The ingredients are less daunting for the entree round, but some big technical flaws are disappointing to the judges. And two talented competitors advance to the dessert round with something to prove with candied nuts and kombucha as mystery ingredients.
Episode 3
Chocolate Challenge
It's a chocolate lover's dream competition: Chocolate in every course! Will the chefs take well to this sweet challenge? The appetizer round is a heart-stopping affair with a romantic gift as the centerpiece of the basket. The three chefs who advance to cook the second course have a love/hate response to the thematic ingredient. And when the chefs are given a molded chocolate novelty item in the dessert round, they battle to prove who can finish strong.
Episode 5
All-American Competition
It's a special all-American Chopped! Fierce competition is a matter of national and personal pride, as four chefs face off to see who will be the champ. From apple pie in the appetizer basket to bourbon for dessert, the patriotic theme makes for some yummy, original dishes. And 10,000 American dollars will go to the one chef who bests the others.
Episode 6
Orzo It Seemed
Three of the chefs go in a very similar direction with the first course, and yet the judges find creativity in the variety of flavors in their seafood sausage appetizers. In the entree round, the chefs must integrate tiny pasta and a powerful liqueur into their dishes. In the dessert round, when one competitor's plans fall apart, will there be enough time to redirect?
Episode 7
Belly Dance!
When the chefs confront the first basket, their degrees of expertise with tuna belly come into play. Lamb top round is round two's mystery protein, and it's a mystery whose dish the judge like least, until the cloche is lifted. With cayenne pepper and canned pumpkin desserts in the works, one chef has some serious difficulties and races to get everything onto the plate.
