The Kitchen is tailgating bright and early with a breakfast of champions! Sunny Anderson kicks things off with her Breakin' the Fast Burger and Katie Lee brings her breakfast MVP, a Slow Cooker Hash Brown Casserole. Jeff Mauro turns up the heat with his Crispy Buttermilk Popcorn Chicken and Waffle Bowl, then former pro football player Nick Mangold makes his touchdown dish, Ultimate Tailgate Steak and Egg Tacos. The hosts build some fully loaded Walking Cereal Bowls. Plus, we gear up for the game with a Double Duty Dessert Display and a game-changing Pull-Apart Cinnamon Roll Football.
Southern hospitality at its yummy best! Four chefs who hail from down South aim to up their games against talented peers, all dreaming of the title of Chopped champ. The judges love the appetizer basket, which includes a questionable take on fried chicken, but they worry that the Southern chefs need to pick up the pace to get their dishes plated in time. Then, the chefs must get creative with a casserole in the entrée basket. In the dessert round, when one of the chefs grabs the puffed pastry from the pantry, it's uncertain whether there will be enough time to cook it through.
The Kitchen hosts celebrate a Southern culinary tradition by serving up a delicious plate of food with meat and three yummy sides. To get things started, Geoffrey Zakarian makes his porch-worthy Bourbon Peach Iced Tea, and Katie Lee Biegel uses that tea in her family's recipe for Classic Sweet Tea Oven Fried Chicken. Then, GZ makes his version of Squash Casserole with an herby breadcrumb topping, and Jeff Mauro honors his mother-in-law's Kentucky roots by sharing her recipe for Skillet Cornbread with Pepper Relish Honey Butter. Finishing off this Southern meal, Sunny Anderson puts her twist on mac and cheese with an Easy Paccheri and Cheese.