'Alex vs. America': A 'Chopped' Judge Showdown

In Season 5 of Alex vs. America, Alex faces some of her toughest competition to date … her fellow judges! When host Eric Adjepong breaks the news that she will be competing against three of her friends and colleagues, Alex confesses, “Tonight is going to be ridiculously hard.” Boasting James Beard awards, successful restaurants, best-selling cookbooks and, most importantly, a very healthy competitive spirit among them, this episode will test Alex's kitchen limits. “It’s a Chopped judge showdown,” Alex says.

Marcus Samuelsson is the first competitor to enter the arena, causing Alex to squeeze her eyes shut and exclaim, “Oh gosh!” Chef Marcus became the youngest executive chef to receive a New York Times three-star review; owns 12 restaurants across four countries; is the author of eight books, including multiple cookbooks and his award-winning memoir, Yes, Chef; served as guest chef for the first state dinner during the Obama presidency; and won Season 2 of Chopped All-Stars and Season 2 of Top Chef Masters. And with eight (EIGHT!) James Beard awards under his belt, Alex knows that chef Samuelsson is going to give her a run for her money. “I like it better when we sit at the table together,” Alex says of her longtime friend.

The next chef introduced is Maneet Chauhan. Chef Maneet graduated at the top of her class from India’s premier culinary and hotel management school, became the executive chef of Vermilion restaurant in Chicago at only 27 years old and earned Food & Wine’s Best New Restaurant in the US award. She's also a James Beard Award winner, a winning BBQ Brawl Season 6 team captain and a two-time (!) Tournament of Champions winner. Not only that, but she's been judging Chopped alongside Alex for more than 17 years! Using their close friendship as an advantage in this showdown, Maneet confidently tells the cameras, “I know Alex pretty well, and I think I know how to beat her.”

Next is the only chef here who can actually claim to have beaten Alex in past cooking competitions, chef Scott Conant. “He’s competed on Chopped five times,” Eric tells Alex, “and he beat you two of those times.”

“I’m aware,” Alex says before mischievously adding, “but it’s a new day!”

Chef Scott Conant began culinary school when he was 15 years old. He opened his first restaurant in New York City and earned a coveted three-star review from the New York Times, as well as a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. He currently owns restaurants in New York and Atlanta, and is the author of four cookbooks. He's also appeared as a judge on Chopped over 200 times!

If you thought the cooking was going to be the hardest thing about this episode, clearly you haven't considered the judges. Imagine trying to decide between four of the best chefs in America! Sitting in those hot seats today are judges Jonathon Sawyer and Antonia Lofaso. Both of them can claim major bragging rights themselves, with Jonathon winning 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing (Season 2) and Antonia winning Tournament of Champions (Season 6), two of Food Network’s most difficult cooking competition shows.

On Chopped, one of the ever-present techniques used to challenge the chefs is the Mystery Basket. Chefs are given ingredients, usually four, that they are required to use in their dish. Eric brings the Mystery Basket to Alex vs. America; this episode’s Mystery Basket element is not exactly different, but it isn’t exactly the same either.

Eric opens the first cloche to reveal the protein options they will have to collectively decide to work with. Their choices are pork shoulder, capon (male chicken), pork belly and guinea hen.

“I think the capon,” chef Marcus says quickly.

“Excuse me, do you not know he has a fried chicken concept!” Alex tells the group. Despite his potential edge, the group agrees on the capon.

Under the next cloche are the vegetable choices, and they quickly choose Okinawan potatoes. Alex, the seasoned Chopped veteran, has a sense that the third (and usually final) cloche will throw them a culinary curveball. “I’m ready for the gummy turkey candy,” she tells Eric. She’s proven correct when Eric reveals the next ingredients: canned fruit cocktail, Jordan almonds, fortune cookies and chicharrones (fried pork skin). The chefs immediately agree on chicharrones, not realizing that this will not be the last time they see the ingredients they rejected.

Eric introduces a twist … a fourth cloche that contains four liquid ingredients that the chefs will have to choose from: rose water, root beer schnapps, cremé de menthe and tamarind soda.

Chef Maneet doesn’t even let Eric finish listing off the ingredients before shouting out her preference: “Tamarind soda!”

Alex agrees. “It’s the only thing that isn’t disgusting.” The timer is set for 45 minutes, and the chefs run to their stations to begin.

Chef Maneet gets to work figuring out how to pack her dish with flavor to combat the capon’s “ability to become very dry.” She decides on a capon roulade stuffed with a chicharrone-flavored filling that she serves with a side of Okinawan potato pilaf that Jonathon, during the blind judging, describes as “totally craveable.” A small pitcher of brightly colored coconut tamarind sauce is served on the side and meant to be poured over the chicken. “It’s visually stunning,” Antonia says, admiring the dish in front of her.

Chef Scott stays true to his Italian heritage and uses the Okinawan sweet potatoes to make gnocchi. “Oh my God, it’s beautiful!” Alex says as she walks past Scott, mid-gnocchi rolling. He serves the potato dumplings floating in a tamarind and capon broth that he hopes balances the sweet and savory flavors of the two very different ingredients.

It certainly seems to work because Jonathon takes one bite and says, “I just want to drink a bowl of it.”

"No one is stopping you, chef,” Eric tells him as Jonathon tilts the bowl directly into his mouth.

Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef Marcus stays true to his roots and concocts a high-end version of Swedish meatballs served with a tamarind sauce, a rustic potato mash and a salad flavored with the chicharrones. Judge Jonathon takes one bite and declares that this is his “favorite capon.”

Alex settles on a menu that she hopes will be “craveably delicious,” featuring deceptively simple-sounding “chicken fingers” made from buttermilk-fried capon served with a tamarind dipping sauce and a side of fried Okinawan sweet potatoes. The chicharrones were used to bread the chicken a second time because, as I think we all know by now, Alex does not do anything simple. Judge Antonia declares Alex’s chicken “the best chicken nugget you’ve ever had,” and Jonathon says, “the flavors are through the roof.”

After tasting all four of the dishes, the judges certainly have their work cut out for them. Ultimately, chef Marcus is on the chopping block first and graciously accepts the judge’s feedback that the skin on the capon “wasn’t as rendered as they wanted it to be,” before hugging his fellow judges/competitors and exiting the arena.

Eric announces the winner of the first round as Alex, who looks genuinely surprised as she jokingly shrugs her shoulders and says, “Chicken fingers.” Jokes aside, this moment is big for Alex, as it marks the first time she has ever beaten Scott in a cooking competition.

Normally on Chopped, the contestants are given an entirely new set of ingredients for their second round, but not so in this episode.

Eric shocks the chefs with a twist that even Alex did not see coming … for this round, Eric tells them, they will have to select their ingredients only from the “unused choices from Round 1.” Eric can barely keep a straight face as the chefs gasp.

“You,” Scott says with deadpan scorn.

The chefs quickly decide on the lamb shoulder, dandelion greens and fortune cookies, but come to a standstill on the liquid ingredient. Alex and Maneet lean toward rose water, but Scott thinks the mint would be a better choice.

Alex gets the final vote and surprises them by choosing the root beer schnapps, explaining, “It’s the only one that’s remotely manageable.”

“You’re the boss,” Scott agrees.

While most people might stare blankly at this disparate array of ingredients, Eric calmly tells the cameras, “If anyone can make amazing food out of this, it's going to be these guys.”

He’s not wrong, as almost immediately, Alex has her dish formulated. “I'm going to make a white lasagna with lamb and fortune cookies in the dough,” she says while racing around her station, not even stopping to look up. “If you go online and you look for a lasagna recipe that takes 45 minutes, call me, because there isn't one, but I'm going to do it.”

Despite her concerns about time, Alex is soon pulling fresh fortune cookie pasta dough out of the pasta maker, joking, “Fortune cookie dough, you never heard of it? It’s all the rage!”

Eric heads over to chef Maneet’s station to see what she has come up with. “I will be making a Middle Eastern feast with lamb shoulder broth and lamb pita sandwich[es],” she tells him as she hurriedly chops vegetables. Her plan includes using a pressure cooker, which will be great for time but potentially risky for flavor.

“You’re essentially cooking blindly. You don’t know how it turns out 'til it’s done,” Eric explains.

This round is proving to be very globally inspired. Chef Scott cuts the lamb shoulder into bite-sized pieces. “I’m making Turkish kefta," seasoned meat kebabs that Scott will serve alongside a dandelion green yogurt sauce and Turkish basmati rice. He grinds the lamb and adds the root beer, “because I have to!” The fortune cookies act as a binding agent, similar to breadcrumbs. Genius or tragic? Time will tell.

The finished dishes are nothing short of amazing. Alex successfully created her fortune cookie dough lasagna with dandelion, anchovy, lamb and root beer, jokingly telling her co-competitors, “It’s an old Italian classic!”

Perhaps it should be, as Jonathon digs in and drops the mike: “Well, that’s perfect."

Maneet presents a Middle Eastern version of soup and sandwich, with lamb pitas served with a root beer and dandelion dipping sauce, and soup flavored with root beer schnapps.

“I’m wildly obsessed with the flavors,” Antonia says after the first bite.

Scott’s dish looks like it just came out of a Michelin-starred restaurant. There are lamb kebabs served over a bed of charred dandelion greens, and bright red charred tomatoes flavored with root beer schnapps.

“So pretty,” Eric says about the colorful Turkish feast.

“It’s one of the most beautiful dishes I’ve ever seen on the show,” Alex says nervously.

It appears unanimous, as Antonia also agrees, saying that Scott’s plate has “so much flavor, [it's] so delicious.”

Did we mention how much we would hate to be one of the judges on this episode? If we didn’t in Round 1, we definitely would not want to judge Round 2.

In the end, the judges know they, reluctantly (but also, likely, contractually?), have to pick a winner.

“I mean, you're eating your heroes' food and then judging your heroes' food, and none of them are ever going to talk to me again,” Jonathon jokes.