Meat-free Fridays get some small screen glamour as local chefs who have starred on the Food Network show Chopped lend their cooking prowess to this week’s Lantern Light Ministry’s (1803 Gravier St.) Lenten fish fry. Chopped winner and owner of Irish House, Matt Murphy, is heading the fry for his second year with the help of a dozen other renowned chefs, some of whom you may also recognize from their appearances on the Food Network.

Matt Murphy probably wished Fireman Mike made a return to the studio when his pan caught on fire. But the flames didn't stop him from bringing home the Chopped Championship. The Irish House chef, who undertook a training regimen the likes of which the Food Network show has never seen, is the third New Orleans winner of the show this summer. His path to the podium required managing a particularly tricky second round that saw carrot jam, rutabagas and grenadine syrup among the required ingredients. Then there was that most offensive canned pumpkin in the dessert round. The episode isn't on the Web yet, but Game Show Kingdom has some more highlights here.

Today, the Food Network turns the spotlight on a local, Paula Deen arrives to talk to medical types and more. On this day in history,  jazz guitarist Davy Mooney was born in New Orleans, Congressman F. Edward Hebert completed the longest term of office for a Louisianan at 35 years, 6 months and 28 days and local rapper Warren Mayes was murdered in New Orleans at 33-years-old (1999)

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

After featuring a quartet of New Orleans chefs that included Miss Linda "The Ya-Ka-Mein Lady" Green in a late June episode and Fireman Mike around the 4th of July, the Food Network’s Chopped is going for the Crescent City trifecta on Tuesday. Local chef Matt Murphy is one of four competitors in the episode. The Irish House (1432 St. Charles Ave) will have a viewing party for the event, and Chef Matt is excited to celebrate the city’s positive publicity.