The White House Garden will be getting some major publicity this weekend with all us “foodies” who “Iron Chef America”. The episode will air on Jan. 3, 2010 at 8 p.m. on the Food Network. First Lady Michelle Obama will make a cameo appearance on the show, which was filmed at the White House. She’ll reveal that the ‘secret ingredient’ for the competition is anything grown in the White House garden. The chefs will harvest ingredients from the 1,100-square-foot garden before facing off in Kitchen Stadium. The challenge will be a cook-off between two teams. Iron Chef Bobby Flay will team up with White House Chef Cristeta Comerford in the battle against Iron Chef Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse. Celebrity judges for the event will be Jane Seymour, Nigella Lawson and Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.

According to the New York Times, the White House approached the Food Network about filming “Iron Chef America” at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as a way to reach those people who haven’t heard yet about the first lady’s efforts to curb childhood obesity through healthy eating and exercise.