Evanston native wins Food Network’s ‘Chopped’
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Chef Donna Lee never imagined she would participate in a fact cooking show, but then she got an Instagram immediate message from “Chopped.” The present has been on the Meals Community considering that 2009 and with almost 700 episodes, the sequence has observed a system that sticks.
Four cooks are pitted towards each individual other as they compete for a prospect to earn $10,000. There are three rounds: appetizer, entrée and dessert. The chefs are specified a basket made up of mystery components and must develop dishes that include them. Every round usually lasts 20-30 minutes and then competitors are critiqued by the judges.
Lee, owner and founder of Chicago-based Brown Bag Seafood Co., has based her career on generating high-quality food on the takeout and delivery model.
Born and elevated in Evanston, Lee has usually been in the restaurant market. She moved to Chicago and opened the initially spot of Brown Bag Seafood in 2014. The brand name now has much more than 10 areas, with expansions in Atlanta and quickly, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Lee was scouted and began the interview course of action for “Chopped” very last calendar year and filmed her episode in October in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her episode did not air right until March 15, so she had to hold it a secret that she was the $10,000 winner for just about six months.
Lee said she practiced before filming with good friends and loved ones users and brainstormed the themes of the thriller bins.
The levels of competition and filming began at 6 a.m. and lasted long into the night. Whilst Lee has viewed the display in advance of, she said that cooking with dozens of cameras was a new working experience.
“There are so lots of curveballs you are not automatically anticipating,” she claimed.
The concept of Lee’s episode was “Takeout Takedown,” and included chefs that experienced takeout and supply options at their enterprises to clearly show that takeout and shipping and delivery foods can be just as very good as great eating.
In the appetizer round, Lee employed her thriller component of Detroit-style pizza as croutons on a broccoli cobb salad. In the next spherical, she noticed a acquainted beloved of hers, branzino, which she established with a negroni sauce and peanuts and peppers from Kung Pao rooster.
For dessert, she made a sponge cake with the mystery substances getting crème brûlée bubble tea, doughnuts and a McDonald’s apple pie.
“You’re just resting on what your autopilot unconscious tells you to do due to the fact you never have time to program or imagine,” Lee stated. “I knew it was heading to be as mentally demanding as it was physically, so I tried using to continue to be as tranquil as feasible.”
Lee wore her blue bandanna while cooking, a staple at Brown Bag Seafood. She explained when she gained, she felt like she was winning for Brown Bag as very well and will be using element of her winnings to give back again to her crew.
“It felt great to win since you are enjoying for your staff,” she reported. “For us at Brown Bag, the blue bandanna does truly suggest a large amount to me individually and to our crew. Each and every single particular person wears one each day and to be ready to make them very pleased, I definitely wanted to win for them.”
Lee hosted a watch bash the evening her episode aired. Her episode of “Chopped” can be seen on Amazon Primary or the Food Network channel.
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