Top Moments of Chopped After Hours: Pub Food

Amanda, Marc and Alex are challenged with a basket of house-cured bacon, deviled eggs, fish cheeks and housemade pickles. "I think Scott or Geoffrey would struggle a little bit more with this basket," Alex says. "We would need the caviar, we would need the sea urchins and the abalone, but you know, we're kind of the down-home types."

"I just realized I have a lot to do," Amanda says when Ted comes over to check in. When he asks what she's making, she stumbles a bit and finally decides on poached fish cheek. She's saving the pickle juice — which she says is very underutilized — to use as a brine for pickled jalapenos. 

While Alex's frito misto platter — an array of fried foods — is coming together, she notices Marc and Ted taking a little breather. She comes over with a bottle of wine and two glasses: "Ted, I think that you two deserve a break." Ted and Marc sip the wine and chat about Marc's fish-cheek cakes.

"We're looking for an appetizer here. I want something small, dainty — a little publike, maybe," Marc says of his rendition of crab cakes using fish cheeks. Even with a break, he still gets his dish done with time to spare. While everyone else is frantically plating, Ted mentions, "Marc doesn't look especially alarmed."

Alex's plate of fried foods gets great remarks from the group, with Ted mentioning, "This is like 'Alex Guarnaschelli goes to the state fair.'" When Amanda asks Marc what he seasoned his food with, he responds, "Mostly with authority."