TECH GUY: All right,
standby, here we go.
 I don't have any knives.
Don't they give knives here?
 I usually sit over there.
What am I doing over here?
TECH GUY: And here we
go, guys in three--
 Do you guys need
to do this thing?
This is called the slate.
TECH GUY: Mark it.
 There we go.
And that's how we
start it all off.
 Out of their seats
and at it again,
the judges are always
enthused to take
on the "Chopped"
kitchen after hours.
[music playing]
 Good evening.
 Good evening.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
Good evening.
TED ALLEN: Look at these
crisp, clean chefs coats.
You guys ready to make a mess?
 Yes.
 I don't want to make a mess.
 All right, Alex,
Marc, Geoffrey,
serious business here.
We've got a pickle
problem, namely,
the appetizer basket
we gave to four chefs
in our pickle-themed
competition.
We've got pickled
pork, Brussels sprouts,
clotted cream, and pickleback.
OK, let's explain
what is a pickleback.
MARC MURPHY: A pickleback is
something that you might have
after hours, because you
take the shot of whiskey
and then you take a
shot of pickle juice,
and as it goes down, it feels
like, to me, like a warm BLT.
 That's strange.
 It is strange, but
I've got to tell you,
there's nothing better.
 So, Alex, empress
of acidity, how
do you like these ingredients?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: I mean,
this is right up my alley.
This basket was made for me.
The pickle juice, briny,
acidic, the whiskey
has even got that acidity
to it, and the clotted cream
also has tang.
All of these ingredients fall
under the empress's domain.
 All right.
Well, we gave our chefs
20 minutes to cook this,
so I thought you ought
to have about, eh, 15?
OK, all right, you can have 20.
Are you ready?
- Yes.
TED ALLEN: Are you
seriously ready?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Yeah.
 OK.
20 minutes.
Clock starts now.
[music playing]
MARC MURPHY: All right.
We're going to get some of this.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
I'd like a knife.
I'd like to cut.
Oh, thank you.
 You know what I
think I'm going to go?
I'm going to make it pickled
pork with bacon taco.
I need some tortillas shells.
You know where the
tortilla shells are?
Because Aaron's
not here, I'm going
to use the flour tortillas,
which should really upset him.
What's with these knives?
I don't need these knives.
I'm only going to use
my Chopped cleaver.
Get out of there!
OK, what I'm doing is I'm
going to sweat down some
of that pickled pork
with my bacon here,
and I'm going to make a taco.
So this is my first
order of business,
to get the meat tasting good.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN: OK, I'm
making a cross between a Reuben
and a Monte Cristo.
I'm calling it a Streuben.
I'm taking the pickled pork,
I'm boiling it with bacon,
and then I'm going to
mash it up in a sandwich.
Genius.
With the brine I'm going to make
a Brussels sprout sauerkraut.
I know, it's just
amazing how much
stuff I can come up with on the
fly, but that's why I'm here.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: I'm making
a pork pickleback miso soup.
 Really?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
With a little powdered
dashi and stock and kombu.
TED ALLEN: Hey, Alex, are you
going to just use the pork
to flavor your broth,
then, or are you
going to have pork in the soup?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Oh,
I'm going to definitely
have pork be part of this soup.
Totally.
Yeah.
 Oh my gosh, guys, you've
got 12 minutes and 36 seconds.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Oh my god!
TED ALLEN: Right?
Which you got there, Sean?
That's a really big bottle
of whiskey you got there.
If someone says bring me a
whiskey and leave the bottle,
and the bottle is this big, you
might want to get some help.
Uh, special delivery
for chef Marc Murphy.
Chef Marc Murphy.
 Ah, (BAD IRISH ACCENT)
Boy, my lads, look at this.
- Do you think that's--
- Aye.
 Is that big enough?
 I tell ya.
Mmm.
No, it's staying
right here, baby.
All right then.
OK.
MARC MURPHY: Hold on.
Forgot what I was doing.
Coming through.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN: Hi, Marc.
So we're making a little
clotted cream mayonnaise mixture
for the outside of the
bread, because that's
how you get a nice crisp crust.
So this is going on the outside.
And then what's
going on the inside?
You guessed it.
Butter.
 How's it look to you?
This will be good
meat for a taco.
There we go.
We're going to put a little
chili powder in here.
 I'm putting the pork
mixed with pancetta
and a little bit of whiskey
through the grinder.
[grinding]
I'm going to look to this
pork for the potential
it has for great
texture in this soup.
Mm-mm-mm.
Nothing like clotted cream
and whiskey in miso soup.
TED ALLEN: Yum.
Classic.
MARC MURPHY: By the way, using
my pickle juice right here.
Oh, I need more than that.
TED ALLEN: Pickle juice--
MARC MURPHY: And I need my--
my bourbon is going in here.
 Pickle juice into your
Brussels before they--
MARC MURPHY: A
little [inaudible].
TED ALLEN: Oh boy.
MARC MURPHY: Ahh,
smell that, eh?
TED ALLEN: Guys, I see green.
I see green in the room.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
Thank you very much.
TED ALLEN: Special delivery.
MARC MURPHY: Oh, I could
put some of that in there.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
Oh, you're so cute
TED ALLEN: A little
extra pickle?
MARC MURPHY: I love a pickle.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: I'm
putting this right in my dish.
This is so good.
TED ALLEN: I'm all
set, thank you, sir.
Delicious.
And judges, less than
10 minutes to go.
[rapid chopping]
Marc, do you mind?
I'm trying to do
a time call here.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN: Yeah,
baby, look at that.
Aw, mama.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama never made a
sandwich like that.
MARC MURPHY: I'm taking
a little chipotle in here
with my clotted cream, it's
going to go on my taco.
There we go.
I think we're there.
TED ALLEN: Alex, you setting
up for a party over there?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
I'm going to do
a very elaborate
presentation for very little.
TED ALLEN: Oh, I like it.
 This is for you, Geoffrey.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
Thank you, my love.
OK, so what we've
done here, we've done
the Brussels sprouts two ways.
One, I made a sauerkraut
for my Streuben.
Here I'm making a fried Brussels
sprouts with pickle cream
and apple salad.
Someone give me an
espresso, please, short.
TED ALLEN: Judges, you're
on your final minutes.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
So I'm putting
all my garnishes for my soup.
Pickles, scallions,
ginger, miso paste,
pork, and just some white
mushrooms for a little texture.
Here I have the classic
clotted cream-soy sauce sauce.
 Here's the espresso, sir.
 Thank you so much.
MARC MURPHY: Stir that
in for me, would you?
- Sure.
- That'd be great, man.
 Putting me to work.
 That's not half bad.
Thank you.
 All right, judges, 10,
nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
Time is up.
Cut it out.
[applause]
 Hold on, wait.
I gotta Snapchat.
TED ALLEN: What
is going on here?
 Yes!
Tacos, look at that.
I just Snapchatted it.
A lot of people are
going to like that one.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
What a bouquet.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
Let's raise our glasses
and lower our expectations.
TED ALLEN: Oh, very nice.
You guys had to work
with pickled pork,
Brussels sprouts, clotted
cream, and a pickleback.
All right, Geoffrey,
what did you make?
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
This is a Reuben
mixed with a Monte Cristo,
and I call it a Streuben.
So what I've done here is
I've taken some rye bread
and buttered it with the
clotted cream and mayonnaise.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Ooh.
 Then inside, I made
a quick sauerkraut
out of shredded Brussels sprouts
with the pickleback juice.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Yum.
 And then I confited the
pickled pork with bacon in
olive oil and a lot of butter.
I put that all together
with Gruyere cheese,
pressed the hell out of it,
and then on the side here,
I made fried Brussels sprout
salad with a clotted cream
vinaigrette and fresh apples.
Bon appetit.
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI: Mmm.
I grew up across the
street from a deli.
This tastes like that.
TED ALLEN: This is so balanced.
You really taste the
Brussels sprouts,
and you really made that
kind of unimpressive pork
taste really bacon-y.
MARC MURPHY: I
got to say, I love
the crunch on the
outside of the bread,
and the inside is
just delicious.
For me, I would have served
the whiskey on the side,
because a bite of that
and a little shot,
that would have been delicious.
 That would be an improvement.
TED ALLEN: Marc, haven't you
had enough whiskey already?
 Oh right, Well, you
know, I was goofing off.
That was actually
tea in that bottle.
 Yeah, that's
what they all say.
 No, I swear.
 Alex, what do you have?
ALEX GUARNASCHELLI:
This is a miso soup.
So Brussels sprouts, ground pork
with pancetta with the whiskey,
miso paste with clotted
cream and the pickle juice,
chopped pickles, scallions,
charred Brussels sprouts,
and a little bit of jalapeno.
 I'm amazed how the
clotted cream works in here.
Very good.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
Unusual flavors, very
comforting at the same time.
All I can say is, me so happy.
TED ALLEN: Oh my goodness.
 He didn't just
say that, did he?
 Oh my gosh,
that's so delicious.
 Like maybe half of
my sandwich with that?
 Oh, I think that'd great.
That'd be a good dunk.
 Chef Marc, what did you make?
MARC MURPHY: I know
Aaron's not here,
but I figured I'd make a taco.
So in the taco, I took the
meat, I just diced it up,
and then I chopped
up a little bit
of bacon in that
as well to bring
a little bacon flavor into it.
I put the whiskey
in there, I shook
a little chili powder in there.
The clotted cream,
I put a little bit
of chipotle in there,
and some cilantro
and a little lime juice.
Then I took red onion,
Brussels sprouts,
pickle juice, and
the jalapeno and I
let that cook nice and slowly.
And then a little cojita cheese
on top, and put it together.
That's it.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN:
That bite is delicious.
You get the pickle, you get
the pork, you get the smoke.
Very tasty.
TED ALLEN: I love the crunch
of the Brussels sprout,
and I like the very
subtle use of chipotle.
 It's good, Tasty.
GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN: Ted,
it just goes to prove
how good we really are here.
 Does it ever.
You did it again, chefs.
You did it again.
Well, some delicious pickleback
pickle apps, thank you judges.
 You're welcome, Ted.
 Cheers.
TED ALLEN: Cheers.
MARC MURPHY: And to you guys.
 Don't forget
where to go to find
more judges' after hours
rounds, foodnetwork.com/chopped.
[music playing]
