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Sixteen of the country's best amateur cooks arrive in New York for their chance at $50,000 and the title of America's Best Cook. But first, they must compete to represent their region, in one of two spots on a Superstar Chef Mentor's team. Iron Chef Michael Symon will be choosing from the North, Iron Chef Cat Cora takes the South, Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli is heading up the East and Food Network star Chef Tyler Florence is representing the West. The Mentors will be choosing wisely, as they will also be out of the competition if both of their cooks are eliminated.

Now that the mentors have selected their teams, the real competition begins. In their first challenge, the cooks are tasked with elevating kitchen classics. Guest judge Chef Anne Burrell will decide which cooks will go to the elimination challenge, The Pressure Cooker, where they must turn a plain chicken breast into an amazing dish if they want to stay in the competition.

This week, the seven remaining cooks face the most dreaded challenge in cooking competitions — dessert. Chef Ron Ben-Israel will join as a guest judge, but one cook's trip to the emergency room may also determine who is going home.

This week, the cooks face the hottest food trend, brunch, and their most intimidating judge yet, Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. One of the mentors has a very strong reaction when a cook ignores their direction during the challenge.

With just one week before the finale, the five cooks remaining in the competition are challenged to cook with intimidating ingredients that can stump even professional chefs, like quail, octopus and chicken livers. Guest Judge, Chef Marcel Vigneron will determine who faces elimination.

The final four cooks will compete in three challenges to determine who is America's Best Cook and will win the $50,000 grand prize. After each challenge, guest judge Chef Bobby Flay will eliminate a cook until just one cook and one mentor stand victorious.