Episode
Chopped: No Pain, No Shame
Overview
The chefs get a special tool in the basket to help them bust apart a challenging ingredient: a giant jawbreaker. The judges hope the shards-of-candy appetizers do not cause them any harm! Then a trendy pastry meets a North African stew in the second basket. And rosemary and ginger must be combined in the desserts.
Details
- Series
- Chopped
- Season
- Season 18
- Episode
- Episode 1
- Air date
- 2013-11-26
Episode context
No Pain, No Shame is Episode 1 in Season 18 of Chopped. It aired on 2013-11-26.
Previous / Next
More episodes from this season
Episode 3: Tapas Time
Time to shake things up in a big/small way as the chefs find out that this competition has a tapas theme. In the first round, the baskets contain some beautiful Spanish ingredients, including gazpacho. In the entree round, one chef makes an alarming choice after accidentally starting a small fire. And the two competitors who move on to the dessert round, featuring catalan creme, try to make mini creations bursting with flavor.
Episode 4: Waste Not
The chefs must make use of ingredients that are usually thrown out, for being imperfect, overripe or stale. For example, the first basket includes juicer pulp and tea bags. Then in the second round, the competitors have to get creative with a little bit of salad dressing and some paltry scraps of poultry. And the finalists get some often-tossed portions of a fruit and the peels of a veggie to work into their desserts.
Episode 5: Firefighter Chefs
Chopped: The firefighter competitors get the meal started with some hearty meat-and-cheese appetizers that would be a hit back at their firehouses, but will the judges enjoy them? Then in the entrée round, some big errors with a non-basket-ingredient gets one of the judges inordinately upset. And playing with fire is part of the challenge in the final round.
Episode 6: Hoofin' It!
When the clock starts ticking down from 20 minutes, the chefs must rush to make appetizers with pickled pigs' feet and sweet potato chips. And one chef doesn't realize they've made a potentially costly mistake until it's too late. Then in the entree round, the competitors must try to make pie work with venison. And the two finalists come up with similar ideas for their desserts, but which dish will the judges prefer?
Episode 7: Pizza Perfect
The chefs learn they will be expected to make a pizza perfect meal. In the first round one of the competitors takes a loose interpretation of the theme: How will the judges react? Then some unusual toppings must make their way onto the entrée pizzas. And the finalists must make pizza for dessert, with candied mushrooms and salted caramel sauce.
Episode 8: All-Burger Meal!
The chefs learn that they will be making hamburgers, in some shape or form, for every round, starting with veal burgers for appetizers. Then in the entree round a little quail egg causes a big headache for some of the competitors. And who's ever heard of a dessert burger?
Episode 9: Chocolate Competition
With chocolate in every basket of this themed competition, the chefs must figure out how to make this perennial dessert favorite work in the first two savory courses. Then the two competitors who make it to the end must find a way to combine two chocolate ingredients with cherries and a German layer cake.
Episode 10: Bacon Baskets!
The chefs get some great news before the cooking begins: bacon will be in every basket! In the first one, they find Mangalista bacon and apple chips. Then in the second round, the judges watch to see if the competitors will be able to make dried cherries work with their pork entrees. French toast and bacon are a breakfast classic, but can the final two chefs manage to transform these mystery ingredients into dessert?
Episode 11: Beer Here!
Chefs are brewing up as all three rounds are devoted to beer. Chefs must make sausages work with toasted lager for appetizers and a tasty tripel ale's in the basket for the entree round. The iconic beer & pretzels must be made into dessert.
Episode 12: Burn For The Worse
Two starchy ingredients, Chinese dumplings and Middle Eastern noodles, are used in the appetizer round. Later, one chef burns two of the mystery ingredients when making a lamb entrée; and pawpaw desserts are made before the winner is named.