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The competitors have opened their baskets and had to cook a delicious appetizer using some very unusual ingredients. The judges, chef Marc Murphy, chef Alex Guarnaschelli, and chef Chris Santos, were given a chance to taste for themselves what the chefs came up with.

Chef Marc Murphy starts by saying that he wouldn't normally make a dish like this, but he's glad he did. He mentions that he usually makes dishes with salt cod, but today he decided to use potato crisps instead. He poaches the eel and then peels it, making sure to remove as much of the toxic blood as possible. He also adds some butter and lemon to give the dish richness and acidity.

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, on the other hand, is very particular about his ingredients. He uses a little bit of time and some lemon to bring out the flavor of the eel. He also adds some butter to make it richer and creamier. Chef Alex believes that technique makes a big difference in cooking, and he likes to add butter when in doubt.

Chef Chris Santos is making a crouton salad with the potatoes, but he's also cooking up some panko breadcrumbs and anchovies to use as a topping for his dish. When asked what he's going to do with the bat candy, Chef Chris says that he'll put it on top of his brandade, which sounds like a classic French dish.

The chefs have 20 minutes left on the clock, and they need to get their dishes ready. Chef Ryan is having trouble with his eel appetizer, as the Akande bats are giving his potatoes a special flavor that he's not sure about. He asks for some help from Mark, who suggests using them in a different way.

With only one minute left on the clock, the chefs need to get their dishes ready and present them to the judges. The time is up, and the judges start tasting the appetizers. Chef Marc Murphy explains that he made an eel brandade with potato crisps as a thickener, which turned out to be his favorite part of the dish.

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli has created a little bistro salad with eel, pig's blood, mint, and golden raisins. He blended pureed potato crisps into the sauce to give it a creamy texture. When asked how he made the sauce, Chef Alex explains that he cooked the potato crisps in water with pepper and vinegar until they were soft and blended them.

Chef Chris Santos has created a simple chickpea salad with potatoes, but also made a smoked paprika salt with panko breadcrumbs and anchovies to use as a topping. The judges praise him for his creativity and simplicity in making the dish.

The judges are impressed with all three dishes and can't pick a favorite. They enjoy the challenge of cooking with unusual ingredients and appreciate the chefs' creativity. The special Halloween round has been a success, and there will be more rounds like this on Food Network.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthree rounds done but we're still going we're turning the tables on our judges giving them a chance to get their hands on some of our most intriguing infuriating and just plain weird baskets judges special Halloween treat for you we all squirmed a little when the competitors open these baskets and had to cook a delicious appetizer well now it's your turn chef Marc Murphy chef Alex Guarnaschelli chef Chris Santos you've tasted for appetizers made with potato crisps eels candy bats and congealed pig's blood now you'll get 20 minutes to see what you can do with the exact same ingredients this haunting competition spooked our competitors a little bit remember the one guy who served you raw eel so that you have toxic eel blood on your plate whatever you do please don't do that all right 20 minutes on the clock time starts now okay hey Mark platform so we're gonna have some potatoes that is a shotgun part where it is isn't it I wouldn't try to do like a bra ah usually make that with salt cod but I right this is a good way to bury this this eel so what I'm doing is I'm poaching it and I'm gonna peel up after that oh this way I make sure I can't rid of all of that blood well I was absolutely delicious I stood slimy toxic blood okay Alex we would be devastated if we didn't see you using some butter a little bit of time some lemon well I'm gonna butter close the ills head in a very classically French way give it a lot of richness cuz he'll is actually surprisingly lean and so when in doubt add butter so does your technique make it easier to get the skin off of this bugger I believe Ted that you should cook it and then just take that skin right off I like the way you work that night burner Shelly okay crouton you makin a salad Chris I am what's this black stuff you're cooking in this pot that is just a little sherry vinegar the pig's blood and the bat candy that sounds delicious or something Sarah or something Oh bat-trap no bats raffle what are you gonna do with that I'm gonna put some panko in some anchovy and do like a little breading for the top of my a brandade panko anchovy and candy that crushed me you know this is what they make his classic classic all right chefs you've got eight minutes left on the clock perfect 10 I can't be Ryan has time to kill mark the Akande e bats really give your potatoes a special something they're not in there yet Alex that clicking is really bothering me I know that's why I'm doing it oh is it really annoying you know Dan all right chefs you got one minute left on the clock gotta get that plate it up all right Chris Alex how you guys doing on time awesome marks done whatever I gotta tell you if I was sitting over there in the judges chair I'd stay ready to eat delicious ten nine eight seven six five four three two one time's up please step back all right time to taste alright mark so this is a tough basket what did you make well you know I went back to an action was working in Paris because it's the one place where I actually made an eel dish that I liked a lot and we used to do an eel brandade and these potato crisps I wanted to bring them into this dish as a as a thickener when I was making the brunt Dodd turned up that's the most delicious potato in pig's blood dish I've ever had you have not been chopped mark talked to us about how you decided to use the congealed pig's block when we shot last time used by the contestants it was mixed into a lot of things and it can really ruin the look of the dish so what I did was I dotted it after I made my brawn Dodd and then I wanted it just to bake in there so if you really want a piece you can grab it and go in with it and if you don't want a piece you know pig's blood perfect perfect yeah okay chef Alex what do we have I'm gonna call this a little Bistro salad of eel and pig's blood with mint and golden raisins and pureed potato crisps so when you grab a piece of the eel the idea is you drag the eel in there and you get the creaminess and the heels bend butter-poached with lemon nine-time delicious how did you make the tray I put the potato crisps in straight water with pepper and vinegar and I just cooked them down and blended them I didn't learn I think part of being true to the basket is sometimes cooking with an ingredient and leaving it as it is mmm and I wanted a potato crisp to be unmistakeably that that sort of fake toasted taste that we kind of secretly liked and I wanted the eel to have both acid and creaminess that's delicious nicely done alright Chris tell us what you made I should made a simple basically chickpea salad with the Olympics but I also made a little gastrique or caramel with the pig's blood back candy and some sherry vinegar and with the potato crisps I made a smoked paprika salt basically that's great yes smoky transformed that's so you I liked it I liked the fried herbs this is simple it's just lemon olive oil garlic little toasted garlic Oh once again this basket we saw you know you really pulled the chickpeas and the herbs for your dish this dis basket needed things as Alex and brought all those chilies and mint chili and then the salad on top of it yeah this was definitely a basket Lee needed serious pantry assistance alright well I have to say I really think you've all succeeded beautifully in turning very tough ingredients into fine Halloween dining all three dishes really were delicious I don't know how I could pick one this was fun had a good time absolutely cheers guys yeah we've all been chopped Ted know you've none of you have been chopped did you like this we've got more special judges rounds on tap this year just go to foodnetwork.com / chopped\n"