Tonight, unusually salty vegetables and Mexican-inspired desserts are on the menu, but which chef will deliver the goods to the tune of $10,000? Let's get this game started!

Your culinary alchemists for tonight are...

DAVID ROTTER New York City executive chef, Campo Mediterranean

JASON ZUKAS Queens, NY chef consultant Discipline unknown

CHERYL PERRY New York City culinary instructor "Comfort food with an edge"

FRITZ KNIPSCHILDT South Norwalk, CT chocolatier Pastry Chef

Three rounds, each one has its own box of mysterious ingredients. Be it a little or a lot, each one must be used. After each course, the plate will be judged on creativity, presentation, and taste. The lowest rung on the pole each round gets chopped. These are timed rounds; strategy is involved. The last chef standing wins $10,000 cash money.

Tonight's judges...

- NYC bistro baron Marc Murphy
- celebrity cooking instructor Alex Guarnaschelli
- rock'n'roller chef Chris Santos

Round 1: APPETIZER (20 minutes). We prepare ourselves for the competition with sea beans, ginger ale, and pork tenderloin...

Twenty ticks on the clock... GO!

David: Pork Tempura with Remoulade Sauce
Jason: Seared Pork with Herb Salad
Cheryl: Roast Pork with Ginger Reduction
Fritz: Curry Pork with Ginger Ale and Tomato Infusion

Sea beans are a saltwater vegetable. They're actually plants that grow upon tropical riverbanks. Their flavor can be best described as "a very salty asparagus." The best way to cook them is to blanch them to a cold crunch. Jason actually tries it out, and while he has the technique down, it doesn't get rid of the saltiness. Fritz decides to add on a Bloody Mary a la Fritz by blending tomatoes with the ginger ale. This could be bad. Meanwhile, David has not cooked his pork. Jason tries to salvage raw pork into a ginger ale glaze. And Cheryl? She's just... overwhelmed.

And... TIME. And David... did not finish. This could be problematic. Oh well. Time to serve.

David's main issue is the lack of portions on several plates. However, the plate was adventurous, though the remoulade failed to impress.

Jason's dish is... salty. It needed some herbs.

Cheryl wins with the heat and the crunch and the texture, but the judges call her on dropping a pair of tongs on the floor, picking them up, wiping them, and continuing as nothing happened.

Fritz's colors work... His saltiness is overwhelming, and the drink does not go over well AT ALL. It was creative, though.

So this first round... didn't do anyone ANY favors. But David did get credit where credit was due. Is that enough to save him from the Chopping Block? Is Fritz going to go down because his drink couldn't? The first person to be chopped is... FRITZ. The dish was good. The drink... wasn't.

Round 2: ENTREE (30 minutes). Next in Ted's little black boxes are... baby artichokes, cashew butter, monkfish, and Thai chilies.

Time... starts NOW.

David: Thai Chili Monkfish with Artichoke Barigoule
Jason: Panko-Crusted Monkfish with Artichoke Ragout.
Cheryl: Asian-Style Monkfish with Pepper Slaw

Cheryl is ignoring the artichokes, hoping that they will go away. David's doing the same thing with the cashew butter. Cheryl's putting cashew butter with a lot of other strange ingredients in a blender, and the judges are thinking "Bloody Mary Part 2." Jason asks her for the blender, and she's not giving it up. Plan B: the spice grinder... 15 seconds before he sees another blender. Food Network is not going to mistreat you, my friend.

And Cheryl has another sanitation issue. Strike two.

And... TIME. Whatever's going on your plate is going to the judges, ready or not.

Jason: Pan-Roasted Monkfish with Panko Cashew Crust. This dish is a GREAT pairing to bolster the flavors. The accompaniment and the heat are all there... and so are a few lemon seeds that Chris swallowed. Oops.

Cheryl: Sesame Monkfish with Sautéed Pepper Slaw. It's succulent and the way it should be cooked, but the artichoke looks like an afterthought. And again, Alex revisits the tasting of the sauce with the spoon... and using said spoon to spoon out the sauce on the plate. Spoon.

David's fish works well, but it's too spicy. Everything's moist, but there's no crunch.

So Cheryl didn't think about the artichokes... Jason didn't think about the lemon seeds, and there isn't anything that David DIDN'T think about. Which probably led to spice issues. But who's got a date with the doorknob next? The next person to be chopped is... CHERYL. There's a little bit of disjointedness, and her attention should've been focused on cooking the artichoke.

Round 3: DESSERT (30 minutes). CIA-trained David and diamond-in-the-rough Jason are about to have a close encounter with... jicama, pepitas, and blueberries.

What can you make with jicama, pepitas, and blueberries? Other than a mess? We'll find out in 30 minutes... from NOW!

David: Candied Jicama with Mole & Blueberry Syrup
Jason: Crepe with Jicama Pepitas & Lemon Ricotta

A light bulb just went on in Jason's head. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for his appliances. David decides to do apples in the same style that he's doing the jicama.

And Jason uses... Not. Another. Machine. But it actually turns out to be a happy accident, as he gets the cream a lot lighter than it was before. It's do or die time, and both chefs are feeling rather confident.

And... TIME. This is for cash money. Let's go to the block.

David: Caramelized Jicama with Ricotta & Chocolate Mousse. It's a blend of sweet and savory. But it's not gelling in terms of texture and taste.

Jason brought about concern with his frequent running to the pantry, but it ends up paying off for him.

David and Jason took two different paths. Jason took hard knocks, while David seems to think that he was much more creative. Jason went from fresh and light to rather simple, staying the course of keeping is safe. David was more daring from dish to dish.

So who gets money and who gets lost? The final person to be chopped is... DAVID. And no one is more surprised than Jason. Evenly matched to the end, but Jason showed steady growth.

Back to Jason Zukas, though, who wins $10,000! And he still can't believe it. And it's not about the money for him, it's about proving himself and his ability.

Next week, four more chefs, three more rounds, and no two ways about it, only one will end up not being... chopped.

To see this episode in its entirety, or to apply to be a contestant on "Chopped", visit the official website at www.foodnetwork.com/chopped.