Hillsborough Girl Competes On Chopped Junior

Megan Norz of Norz Hill Farm in Hillsborough will be competing on Food Network’s new show Chopped Junior on Dec. 8 for a chance to win $10,000.

Norz, who is 12, will compete against three other kids for the title of Chopped Champion. The episode will air at 8 p.m. on Food Network.

Growing up on a farm, Megan -- who is a sixth grader at Auten Road Intermediate School in Hillsborough -- is no stranger to food.

“I know where food comes from,” Megan said.

Using her farm knowledge in her application video to Food Network, Megan’s mom Debbie Norz said the family ended up changing their slogan for their farm to mimic that.

“Our new slogan is, ‘We know the food because we grow the food.’” Debbie said.

Megan first learned to cook when she was 8 years old, from her neighbor, Helga Hill.

“I learned to make pasta and pretzels from scratch,” Megan said. “It was fun.”

From there Megan began cooking regularly for her family.

“She always had her foot in the kitchen,” said Debbie. “She makes pierogies from scratch every year for Christmas.”

Involved in her community, Megan also cooked for her church’s coffee hour, the South Branch Reformed Church in Hillsborough.

Megan even joined the Somerset County 4-H Masterchefs Club. The club meets twice a month where kids learn to cook.

“This lets the kids know about diffrent styles of cooking,” Harry Brochinsky of Bridgewater, the club’s leader said. “Each member runs a meeting with a theme.”

The most recent meeting was an Hor D’oeuvre party.

“It teaches them skills too, such as chopping, whisking, folding,” Brochinsky said.

Once a month the club hosts a MasterChef Challenge where the kids have to cook a dish in 15 minutes using a secret ingredient. In the past, ingredients included Eggo waffles, Ritz crackers, hard boiled eggs and more.

This practice came in handy for Megan on Chopped Junior, where contestants had only 30 minutes to create each dish.

“It was nerve wracking,” Megan said of the show. “But it was a lot of fun.”

The show was filmed in August and as of last week, Megan and Debbie were sworn to secrecy. They were not allowed to tell anyone about the show or even that she was on it. Megan couldn’t even tell her siblings.

Now that everyone knows, Megan is excited to watch the episode with her family.

(Photos by Alexis Tarrazi. Photo 1: Megan Norz chopping broccoli. Photo 2: Megan and her mother Debbie Norz. Photo 3: Members of the Somerset County 4-H MasterChef Club)