Enter The Next Iron Chef Pantry Cook-Off Challenge

Pantry Challenge

EPISODE2_INNOVATION

Rival Chef Amanda Freitag hugs fellow safe Rival Chef Elizabeth Falkner after the for the "White Bread" as seen on Food Network's Season 5.

Photo by: Eddy Chen/Creel Films ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Eddy Chen/Creel Films, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

How many times have you been caught without a plan for dinner? It can happen, right? You end up scrounging around in the pantry or the cupboards looking for something you could turn into a meal. Oftentimes you may even find yourself cooking with canned foods. Take, for example, a can of tuna — it can become a pretty good pasta puttanesca with the right recipe. Food Network is challenging you to a pantry cook-off challenge to find out what you can make.

On the latest episode of The Next Iron Chef, the Chairman's challenge had the chefs cooking with canned foods with the goal of transforming the ingredient into something worth plating for the judges. Some of the cans available were properly labeled and others had question marks — just to throw the chefs a curveball. Though the chefs didn't seem very keen on the challenge, they took it in stride. Now it's your turn: Which canned food would you choose and what would you make out of it?

In the poll below, choose the ingredient that you would transform into a meal. Then, in the comments, describe the dish you would cook. The FN Dish editors will judge the entries and announce the winner on Wednesday, December 5.

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