-I do need a lint roller.
I have a lot of lint.
Very upset about my lint.
Oh!
DIRECTOR: Pick up the state.
Here we go.
[slate]
Stuck in their seats,
our judges can start
to feel cooped up and left out.
So we let them cook in the
"Chopped" kitchen after hours.
[clock ticking]
Whoa!
Ah!
I'm so glad to be here!
What are you guys
doing back there?
(IMITATING BRITISH ACCENT)
We're just having a cuppa tea.
TED ALLEN: So
Amanda, Marc, Alex,
what is it that makes this fun
for you, to turn the tables
and cook the basket?
Whoa, back it up.
Whoever said this was fun?
I know.
Well, we have a good
basket for you here.
This is from the appetizer
round for competition
we did with actors who play
sitcom moms on television.
So you may want to channel
your inner June Cleaver.
Hmm.
TED ALLEN: As you
try to figure out
what to do with
portobello mushrooms,
sour cream, spinach,
and a TV dinner.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: This basket
totally leaves me stumped.
Because this is, like,
basket unto itself, Teddy.
What is it?
Is it turkey?
It's turkey and peas
and mashed potatoes.
MARC MURPHY: This
is still hard as a--
TED ALLEN: It's frozen.
AMANDA FREITAG:
Yeah, you're leaving
out the most important part.
This is frozen.
All right, folks, 20
minutes is all you get.
Clock starts now.
-Ah!
Whoa!
Wait!
What are they doing?
[laughter]
He's like an ox.
AMANDA FREITAG: You
know, you're a big guy.
OK.
I'm collecting.
Excuse me.
Pardon me.
Coming through.
TED ALLEN: What
you making, Amanda?
AMANDA FREITAG: OK,
I'm going to make
what I am going to call
deconstructed mushroom
spanikopita.
TED ALLEN: OK.
That's a spinach pie.
AMANDA FREITAG: That's a
spinach pie, essentially.
TED ALLEN: So in
20 minutes, you're
going to brush melted butter
onto individual sheets
of phyllo, and fold them
around a filling and bake it.
Uh-- no.
That's where the word
deconstructed comes in.
Oh, deconstructed.
Yes.
I'm just going to
put it on the top.
TED ALLEN: Really?
AMANDA FREITAG: Yes.
That's nuts!
[laughter]
TED ALLEN: Who are you?
What's happened?
AMANDA FREITAG: Who are you?
Where-- are we on
the set of "Chopped?"
I don't know.
Where are we?
Excuse me, sir?
TED ALLEN: Yes.
MARC MURPHY: Could
you stir that?
Oh, yeah, OK.
I heard there's only 20
minutes on this round.
Got to move it along.
TED ALLEN: Wow, cooking is fun.
Cooking is fun, Ted!
Mm, Chef Murphy,
what makest thou?
I'm going to make an herb
soup with spinach and peas.
Now, this is fussy.
You peel the mushroom cap.
Why would you do that?
Well, I just want to
keep this nice and clean.
The mushrooms are
going to be diced up.
And they're going to be
sitting in the bottom
of the bowl of the soup with
a little bit of goat cheese.
You're not going to use
that freezer-burned turkey?
Nope.
AMANDA FREITAG: Do
you think anybody's
going to use the turkey?
Alex, are you using the turkey?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: No.
TED ALLEN: No?
Alex, you are going old school.
Yeah, I'm going to make
some stuffed mushrooms.
So I've got some white
button mushrooms.
I'm sweating some shallots.
Getting a little sauce from
the gravy from the TV dinner.
TED ALLEN: Beautiful.
And if I have
time, a little pine
nut, spinach, and pea pesto.
TED ALLEN: Piece of cake.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
I'm crushing it.
Isn't it irritating what
she can do in 20 minutes?
I mean, really?
It didn't even-- it
didn't even break down.
Look at that.
[laughter]
MARC MURPHY: Oh,
Lord, what's this?
Here you go, Alex.
Here's your lunch.
It's from mom.
She wanted to make sure
you guys all ate healthy.
And Amanda, here's yours.
Oh, what did I get?
I got an apple.
Thanks, mom.
I was hungry.
TED ALLEN: Less than
10 minutes, chefs.
I don't have time, mom.
I'll eat later.
I promised.
I love the color of what
you're developing there, Amanda.
Oh, isn't that gorgeous?
This is really beautiful.
Get a load of this.
AMANDA FREITAG: I thought
you would like that.
TED ALLEN: I'm going to paint
my living room this color.
AMANDA FREITAG: It's called
portobello mushroom gray.
TED ALLEN: Look at you
go, with that phyllo.
You know what?
This is going to work.
And I'm excited about it.
Because I always want
contestants to use this stuff.
Because it's beautiful.
Hey, get your spinach
off my phyllo!
She's so particular.
TED ALLEN: All right, chefs.
5 minutes left on the clock.
(WITH FUNNY ACCENT)
Mark, what are you doing?
MARC MURPHY: Well,
I've got some-- what
do you call this, goat cheese?
Goat cheese.
You're going to use that
to thicken your soup?
No, I'm going to put
this in the bowl, I think.
That's [inaudible] good enough.
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
[laughter]
TED ALLEN: Alex, these
people are driving me crazy.
What are you up to?
I am making these
mushroom stuffing.
I've got some pine nuts that
I've toasted in here, Teddy.
Thyme, shallots, pickle juice,
champagne vinegar, portobello
mushrooms and sour cream.
Beautiful
With the mashed potatoes and
the gravy from the TV dinner.
This just looks and
smells like something
that would happen in 1968.
Yeah, but maybe,
like, 2018 too, Ted.
TED ALLEN: Right on.
Coming back around.
TED ALLEN: All
right, chefs, you're
down to your last minute.
I'm going to finish.
But it's going to be a
photo finish for sure.
OK, I'm going to back up.
Because Murphy's got hot soup
in a blender, which we tell
the contestants to never do.
Ah!
Go get your plates.
AMANDA FREITAG: Those
got a little brown.
That's OK.
I think they look beautiful.
TED ALLEN: All right, 10,
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up.
Please step back.
Let's eat.
Look at that.
Is this just for me?
Is that all mine?
You guys had to
work with portobello
mushrooms, sour cream,
spinach, and a TV dinner.
All right, Alex,
what did you make?
I made stuffed mushroom
caps with breadcrumbs,
pink peppercorns,
arugula, and I made
a pesto of spinach and peas.
Can we get in this thing?
I don't think there's
anything wrong--
Thank you.
 --with stuffed mushrooms.
I think they're
so out of fashion
that they're back in fashion.
AMANDA FREITAG: Is
there wine in there?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
There's champagne vinegar.
-Mm.
-Ooh, yum.
But it's sweet.
And you don't feel any
sour cream here at all.
But you taste richness.
MARC MURPHY: The nice
thing about this, Alex,
is that I am not
reading TV dinner here.
I mean, I know the
ingredients are in there
and you used quite
a bit of them.
But I'm not tasting TV dinner,
which I'm very happy about.
Nope.
AMANDA FREITAG:
This is the thing
that sometimes I think
the chefs who compete here
are afraid to do.
Just go right at it.
Look at it.
There's a mushroom.
Stuff it.
And that is so good.
I mean, who-- if we were
sitting there, eating that,
who would not love that?
OK, Chef Marc, what do we have?
MARC MURPHY: Well, I made
a spinach and pea soup.
And then I cooked the mushrooms
and with a little cognac.
AMANDA FREITAG: Wow.
I thickened it up, also,
with the sour cream.
TED ALLEN: So it's
a hearty soup?
MARC MURPHY: It's a hearty soup.
TED ALLEN: Wow.
AMANDA FREITAG: I
want to get in there.
-Get in.
-She wants to get in there.
I love the presentation.
Can we talk about the
mushrooms a little bit?
Because you really, to
me, you transformed them.
They almost feel like
a turnip or a potato.
MARC MURPHY: I just
cooked them with olive oil
and salt and pepper and then
deglazed with the cognac.
AMANDA FREITAG: So good.
Mushrooms absorbed
a lot of flavor,
which I love to get in there.
-You get it.
Yeah, you really get it.
You kind of breathe
the cognac at the end.
AMANDA FREITAG:
Yeah, I like that.
It's really finessed with
that finish of cognac.
Well, thank you.
Amanda, look at that.
What do you got?
You know, I too was
inspired by retro dishes.
And I came with a mushroom
spinach spanikopita.
MARC MURPHY: Mm.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Mm.
So there's feta cheese.
There's spinach.
There's mushrooms, shallot.
And that phyllo I wanted
to use because nobody
ever really uses it.
Especially nobody ever uses
phyllo in the appetizer round,
which I thought was bold.
Ready?
On 3.
1, 2--
[phyllo crunches]
ALL: Ooh.
AMANDA FREITAG: Yes.
TED ALLEN: Nice.
You've got to do it
with authority, Marc.
MARC MURPHY: It's all about
that sauce on the bottom, right?
AMANDA FREITAG: I wanted
you to taste the mushroom.
I wanted you to be
able to taste it.
There's peas in that
filling as well, herbs.
So good.
AMANDA FREITAG: I
hope you guy liked it.
I mean, I was--
-It was delicious.
 --I was kind of
baffled by that basket.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
It's really delicious.
AMANDA FREITAG: Because there
was so many ingredients.
TED ALLEN: Well,
and if this is what
you produce when you're
baffled, really good.
Picture-perfect appetizers.
So tasty, y'all
never cease to amaze.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ted.
It's our pleasure.
You know where to find
more after-hours judges
rounds right?
Go to the
foodnetwork.com/Chopped.
[clock ticking]
