Host-Turned-Competitor Ted Allen Joins the Battle — Chopped After Hours
Susan Magnano
Although he's overseen hundreds of rounds of Chopped, Ted had never before cooked in the kitchen, and he didn't know the experiences of manipulating mystery ingredients, running through the pantry or competing against the clock firsthand. Until tonight, that is. In his first foray into battle against the Chopping Block, Ted went head-to-head-to-head with Marc and Maneet in an After Hours competition, while Chris filled his hosting shoes for the day. Ted and the judges watched three chef-competitors attempt a basket of crab legs, sweet vermouth, green asparagus and Mexican wedding cookies, before they, too, tried their hands at those ingredients with only 30 minutes on the clock.
Ted may have been the rookie contestant in the kitchen, but that didn't stop him from tackling an ambitious dish of crab cakes, especially since the crab was frozen at the start of the battle. He quickly boiled it, making the meat easier to work with, before getting started on a vermouth vinaigrette. As is often the case among the chefs, he faced a potentially damning problem with just minutes left to cook, when his vinaigrette broke in the blender. Per the advice of peer and guest host Chris, however, Ted remade the mixture, and in the end, "it totally made the dish," according to Chris.
What did you think of Ted's first-ever attempt at cooking in the Chopped kitchen? How did his efforts compare to his peers', and which of the competitors do you think made the most ambitious dish? Click the play button on the video above to watch the entire After Hours battle, then browse these behind-the-scenes photos to see Ted, Marc, Maneet and Chris in action.