School Chefs Compete on “Chopped”

Three cafeteria workers will cook for the

A new episode of the hit Food Network show “Chopped” next week will feature some local faces.

Three cafeteria workers from schools around Connecticut will be competing with each other to win $10,000.

But it’s not all about the money for the four contestants: They are hoping to help raise awareness about healthy meals for school-children.

On the show Cheryl Barbara, a chef in the New Haven school system, will be joined by Deborah Houlihan, of Waterford Public Schools, and Rhonda Deloach, head chef at the Common Ground magnet school in New Haven.

The ladies were challenged to create an appetizer with dill pickles and canned tuna, followed by an entrée using quinoa.

Once the two finalists were selected, they were put to the test one more time to make a dessert out of cream cheese and grapes.

The Food Network put out a casting call in January for school chefs wanting to compete. The station promotes the show as a test of “skill, speed and ingenuity where four up-and-coming chefs compete before a panel of three expert judges and take everyday items and turn them into an extraordinary three-course meal.”

White House chef Sam Kass will be a guest judge on the episode, to decide if these local lunch-ladies have what it takes to win “Chopped”.

The episode will premiere on The Food Network on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 10 p.m. ET.

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