Top Moments of Chopped After Hours: Holiday Cooking

After Cooking Channel's star chefs took on the holiday-themed mystery baskets, Scott, Aarón and Geoffrey tried their hand at transforming beef tenderloin, gingersnap cocktail, potato latkes and tzimmes. "I don't know what that last thing is, by the way," Ted Allen said. The judges explained that it's a stew traditionally made with carrots and dried fruit. 

"You know how to use that? It's very dangerous," Ted said as Aarón started preparing the mandoline. "See, now you're getting me nervous — is the medic close by?" Aarón said. When the medic asked if he was OK, he said, "I am. I have all 10 digits, I can count — I'm like Safety Sam!"

Geoffrey told Ted he was planning on making both beef tartare and beef carpaccio. "What do you say to people who haven't ever had carpaccio or tartare about the idea of eating raw beef?" Ted asked. "They haven't lived," Geoffrey replied. 

As Scott cooked his beef tenderloin, he set the pan aflame. "Am I OK?" Ted asked the crew after the flames came close to his arm. "Every time I'm here, I do something," Scott observed. "It's still going!" Ted said as the flames reignited. 

As expected, all the judges used the tenderloin as the star of the dish, but they all turned out very different entrees. They all especially liked Aarón's stuffed option, because of the creative way in which he used the latkes. "You put that inside the meat, which is very unfatty, and you gave some fat to the inside of the meat — that's really smart," Geoffrey said.