Chef Aaron Sanchez loves Super Bowl season.

"It's one of the few times that it's quiet at the restaurants," the 'Chopped' judge confessed to me in a phone interview. "This is an opportunity for me to get together with my parents, family and people that I love that I don't get to see very often because of my work schedule."

When Sanchez isn't at one of his restaurants in New York City, Centrico and Paladar, he's judging 'Chopped' or filming something else for the Food Network. While 'Chefs vs. City' has come to an end, he teased he's working on some new show concepts.

Read what he had to say about 'Chopped,' his upcoming Food Network projects and that infamous battle with Masaharu Morimo on 'Iron Chef America.' Plus, Chef Sanchez gives us three Super Bowl recipes.

Even though I watch a lot of programming on the Food Network, I have to admit I missed almost all of the The Next Iron Chef in season one. Last Sunday, the second season of The Next Iron Chef blasted off with the best ratings for a series opener in Food Network history. Over two million viewers, a 1.1 rating among adults 25-54.

Why the big jump? Well, I think a lot of other people are like me. On Sunday, before I switched over to watch pro football, I clicked on Food Network where they were showing a marathon rerun of the first season of The Next Iron Chef. It only took half an episode for me to kick myself for not having watched the whole first season when it aired. It was terrific.