Jan. 05--Two Chicago boys will fire up their skillets Tuesday on Fox's "MasterChef Junior."
Jack, 12, and Philly, 9, were chosen for the third season of the competition in which kids ages 8 to 13 cook for celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot and restaurateur Joe Bastianich.
Fox Broadcasting representatives would not provide last names because the contestants are minors.
Philly, who has been cooking for just two years, is among four 9-year-olds in the group. His favorite item to cook is chicken, and he lists his signature dish as chicken Marsala with mushrooms, pasta and Brussels sprouts.
Jack already has been cooking for half of his life, having started when he was 6. His favorite food to cook is fish, and he serves sweet and sour Chilean sea bass with Asian noodles, shiitake mushrooms and bok choy as his signature dish.
He has been mentored by Chicago chef Michael Taus, himself a former protege of the late Charlie Trotter.
Both youngsters said they would most like to cook with Season 1 winner Alexander Weiss.
The group of 19 is competing for a $100,000 grand prize and a trophy. This season is to kick off with a mystery box challenge in which the kids cook a dish using only the ingredients they find in their box.
The winner of that challenge will pick which pasta the remaining contestants will prepare in the elimination round.
The 14 kid cooks with the highest-rated dishes will advance to the next round of the competition.
Season 3 of "MasterChef Junior" premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Fox.
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