- 6 weeks ago
The Great American Recipe (2022) Season 4 Episode 2- Passing the Dish
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Tonight on The Great American Recipe.
00:02We want to see more of the recipes you prepare for friends and family because it's holiday time.
00:11Winner winner, butternut squash dinner.
00:13When I make this at home, it's cooked for two, three hours.
00:17I think I can get it done in time.
00:19Oh, this looks good.
00:20It's fiesta.
00:21I love the flavor combination.
00:23This reminds me of the holidays.
00:25This is banger.
00:26Welcome back to The Great American Recipe.
00:29I was in the bottom last week.
00:46Carlos, your bison ribeye fell a little flat with not having enough seasoning.
00:51But that's not going to stop me.
00:53I'm going to do everything I can to impress the judges this week.
00:59To win last week was an amazing feeling.
01:02Oh, my God!
01:05I got to tell you, Anika, your pushka was so perfect.
01:08You nailed it on all counts.
01:11So this week, I'm walking into the barn with a strong sense of confidence.
01:16Good morning.
01:17Hey, good morning!
01:18Hey, good morning!
01:19Good morning, how are you?
01:20Morning.
01:21Welcome back to week two of The Great American Recipe.
01:26We're back with our fabulous judges, Tiffany Derry.
01:30Good morning.
01:31Tim Hollingsworth.
01:32Hi, guys.
01:33And Francis Lamb.
01:35Hey, everyone.
01:36Good morning.
01:37Last week, you gave us a first taste of who you are and where you're from.
01:42For the coming weeks, you'll be sharing your recipes and your stories with us.
01:46For this season, there's only four weeks to earn your spot in the finale.
01:50And after today, two home cooks will be eliminated from the competition, and you'll head back to
01:56your home kitchen.
01:57This is your opportunity to show the judges why you should stay in the competition.
02:02And ultimately, one of you will be named the winner of The Great American Recipe.
02:08How's that sound?
02:09I'm ready.
02:11Sounds really good.
02:12This week's theme is all about your tried-and-true dishes that serve up comfort and care.
02:19For round one, you'll have 60 minutes to prepare your go-to recipes when you want to show support.
02:25And as always, your dishes will be judged on taste, presentation, execution, and how well
02:30you deliver on the theme.
02:32All right, everyone.
02:34Your 60 minutes starts now.
02:36Woo!
02:37Yeah!
02:38Get it.
02:39Get it, get it.
02:40Let's go.
02:41So I'll make sure I move quickly today.
02:45We asked the cooks to prepare a meal they make to show support.
02:49What are you hoping to see?
02:50I'm looking for this story and why this is the dish that they're making, why it should
02:55be comforting.
02:56And I feel like that's the introduction to how I'm going to feel when I start to eat their
03:00food.
03:00You know, when you want to comfort someone, you want to feed them something that doesn't
03:06ask much of the person eating, you know?
03:08This meal is truly about doing something as an act of love that you feel that they would
03:15appreciate.
03:15Yes.
03:16Yes.
03:17Yes.
03:18Yeah.
03:19100%.
03:20There goes chicken juice.
03:21There goes chicken juice.
03:22Yes.
03:23Yes.
03:24Yes.
03:25Yes.
03:26Yes.
03:27Yes.
03:28Yes.
03:29Yes.
03:30Yes.
03:31Yes.
03:32Yes.
03:33Yes.
03:34Yes.
03:35Yes.
03:36Yes.
03:37Yes.
03:38Yes.
03:39Yes.
03:40Yes.
03:41Yes.
03:42Yes.
03:43Yes.
03:44Yes.
03:45Yes.
03:46Yes.
03:47Yes.
03:48Yes.
03:49Yes.
03:50Yes.
03:51Yes.
03:52Yes.
03:53Yes.
03:54Yes.
03:55Yes.
03:56Yes.
03:57Yes.
03:58Yes.
03:59You're gonna see turmeric, coriander.
04:01Very simple, very classic.
04:03I made this dish for my sister when my nephew was born,
04:06and it nourished her for a week.
04:09And today, my sister's kids love this dish.
04:12While the chicken is cooking in the pressure cooker,
04:14I'm gonna add my carrots and my celery.
04:17Celery is my American spin on it,
04:19and adding that bit of crunch really,
04:21I feel like, elevates the dish.
04:24Smells amazing.
04:29If I can cut my meat a little smaller,
04:36I can get it tender enough.
04:38Colby, what kind of pork is that? Shoulder?
04:41That is a Boston bud.
04:42What are you gonna be making with that?
04:43I'm making jambalaya.
04:45In 60 minutes, is it going in a pressure cooker?
04:48It is not.
04:49That's why I have cut these pieces a little smaller.
04:51My only concern is really the tenderness of this meat.
04:54This challenge takes me every bit of 59 minutes
04:57and 59 seconds to get it done.
05:00I think I probably would have did at least 20 minutes
05:02in the pressure cooker.
05:04Jambalaya is a straight-up traditional Cajun dish.
05:07This recipe was taught to be by a fireman.
05:09I went and helped a fireman cook a massive pot of jambalaya
05:13at a fallen father's funeral, and now that guy's retired,
05:17and I'm that guy that kind of called that
05:19if we had a fireman's funeral to make jambalaya.
05:22Heavy seasoning on there.
05:25All right, I'm gonna get this rolling.
05:31I also used some tasso.
05:32It's kind of like a shoulder, almost like a ham-type meat.
05:35It really kind of brings that smokiness
05:37into the rice when you eat it.
05:39Things are looking so far so good,
05:41and I hope the judges love it, too.
05:45That is risky for 60 minutes, right?
05:47Yeah.
05:48He's using the pork shoulder.
05:49There is some connective tissue in there
05:51that needs to break down, and cooking it with rice and vegetables,
05:55it needs to boil.
05:57You know what I mean?
05:58You know, he's got a big cast iron pot.
05:59He had a lot of steam.
06:00Hopefully, it has enough time to tenderize.
06:02Yeah.
06:03This pot is extremely special to me.
06:06This pot was the first pot my mom bought me.
06:08It's not the prettiest pot, but it does cook very, very well.
06:12This was gonna take quite a bit of time.
06:19I want to bring a little bit of Thai comfort.
06:22I am less nervous this week than last week
06:26because I know a little bit more what to expect.
06:30I am making padmi korat.
06:33It's a noodle dish, so noodles are always comforting to me.
06:36I'm using pork belly today just because that is traditional meat
06:39that we use.
06:39We eat a lot of pork in Thailand.
06:41Being a military spouse for 22 years,
06:44korat is a dish that I've made for my friends
06:47that have family members that were gone during deployments.
06:52I have garlic, chilies, and shallots.
06:55So I'm using this traditional clay mortar and wooden pesto
06:59to create the aromatics.
07:00This is a special tool that I brought with me from Thailand
07:04when I first came to America.
07:05I grew up in a small leprosy village.
07:08Leprosy broke out in Thailand about 60 years ago.
07:11And looking back, they had nothing.
07:15But they gave so much to me.
07:17Suwani, how are you?
07:18Hi, Samadika.
07:19Nice to see you, Samadika.
07:20How are you?
07:21I'm well, thank you.
07:22What are you making?
07:23I am making pad meat, korat.
07:25Korat is a province near where I grew up.
07:28Pad Thai is so well-known around the world.
07:30Sure.
07:31But this is more spicy and sassy.
07:33So it's like the sassy.
07:34I like a spicy and sassy.
07:35I'm using pork belly.
07:36That pork fat is so good to stir fry in
07:39because it coats the noodles and gives that nice, rich flavor.
07:41Can I give you one piece of advice?
07:42Yes, sir.
07:43When you're stir-frying, do it in batches.
07:45In batches.
07:46Because if you do it all at once, it might start to steam and clump up a little bit.
07:49Yeah.
07:50Thank you for that advice.
07:51Yeah, sure.
07:52I'll let you cook because I know you're getting eager to stir-fry.
07:53Okay.
07:54Sounds good.
07:55Thank you, Francis.
07:56Take care.
07:57I'm just going to brown this first, a little bit.
08:05I like a lot of mushrooms, so I'm going to make some more.
08:09We're going to put the sofrito in, and we're going to let it do its magic.
08:13So today I'm making a sopao.
08:15Some people call it sopao, Puerto Rican cuisine staple.
08:20Stews are very popular in Puerto Rico.
08:22It's a very rich broth with some rice.
08:25It comes with chicken, it comes with ribs, corn, plantains, some potatoes.
08:30Oh, yeah.
08:31That's the sound we want.
08:32I need to be more generous with seasonings, right?
08:35I'm not being careful anymore.
08:36My strategy this week to make sure I'm not eliminated is to apply all the feedback the
08:40judges gave me to put myself in a safe spot.
08:44I make this dish for service members who are heading out for a deployment or a training
08:49exercise.
08:50They're going to be saying farewell for the family for a while.
08:52It's a way for me to prepare them a dish that they would appreciate.
08:56Puerto Rican people are very communal.
08:58So it is my goal always to try to feed as many people as I can with one single cook.
09:0345 minutes, everyone.
09:05Woo!
09:06Oh, my God.
09:07Let's go.
09:08Let's go.
09:09Sorry, guys.
09:10Boom.
09:11Oh, my God.
09:12The kitchen is so loud today.
09:13Woo, yeah.
09:14Y'all are cooking.
09:15Woo-hoo.
09:16First, I'm going to make the puff pastry top, and then I'm going to make the chicken filler.
09:21Today, I'm making chicken pot pie, a family favorite.
09:24This is a dish that I made for my parents pretty often at the end of their lives.
09:30In 2020, my parents passed away.
09:32My dad ended up dying of Alzheimer's, mom from cancer.
09:35But in the year and a half before that time, they both had these challenges that required
09:40they had rich, super nutritious meals.
09:43So I got to bring that same food to the table.
09:45But, you know, under different circumstances, it was nurturing, and it brought lots of memories,
09:51too.
09:52The beautiful thing about cooking, there's joy in all of those good memories around the
09:57table.
09:58That's where all our life happens.
10:00I sauteed the chicken, and then I'm using leeks along with onions, because I think they
10:06give a nice kind of almost herby flavor.
10:12It needs salt.
10:14The thing that binds all these ingredients together is the bechamel.
10:17It's flour and butter, and then milk.
10:20And then I'm going to use my favorite, and it was mom and dad's favorite, which was sherry,
10:26because it imparts a nice sweetness.
10:28Let it cook out.
10:30Okay, you need to do your thing over here.
10:34My broth is boiling.
10:40Yay!
10:41Bish bash is a Bangladeshi comfort dish.
10:46It's rice cooked in chicken broth.
10:50Because ginger has so much curative properties, ginger is like one of the big parts of this
10:54dish.
10:55It's quite a bit gingery.
10:57It's a dish that my mom used to make for us when we were little.
11:01There's nothing as great as something your mom has prepared for you when you're sick.
11:05And now I make this dish for friends when they're sick, because it's very comforting
11:09and nourishing.
11:10This carrot is like an enormous carrot.
11:14Hello, Anika.
11:15Oh, hi, Tiffany.
11:16Wow.
11:17How do you feel after your win last week?
11:21It gave me so much more confidence.
11:22Good.
11:23Good.
11:24I feel a little bit better about my own instincts.
11:26Yes.
11:27Yes.
11:28And I'm trying to remember your advice from last week, which is the chicken breast meat.
11:32I overcooked it.
11:33Yeah.
11:34So I'm gonna wait till a little bit later.
11:36But you know, chicken breast does better simmer.
11:38So when we boil it, it gets really, really tough, all of the muscle.
11:43When it's tender, it relaxes and it stays really tender.
11:47So I'm excited.
11:48Thank you so much.
11:49Thank you so much.
11:50Thank you, Anika.
11:51I'm gonna reduce the heat at this point.
11:5530 minutes.
11:5630 minutes.
11:57We're halfway there.
11:58Wow.
11:59That was quick.
12:00So add some fish sauce.
12:03So for my support dish, I'm making arroz caldo.
12:06It's a Filipino rice porridge dish with chicken.
12:10Add some of these onions.
12:13When we arrived from the Philippines to Columbus in 2005, it was kind of close to winter.
12:19And I feel like, oh, when can we have some rice?
12:22So this dish reminds me of daco.
12:25There you go.
12:27We make this dish to welcome new Filipinos coming in Columbus because it's a comforting dish.
12:33You got this, Rex?
12:35Yeah.
12:35How's it going?
12:36All right.
12:37All right.
12:37We're cooking.
12:38Good, good.
12:39So growing up, my biggest influence in cooking has absolutely been my Belize
12:43and grandmother.
12:44I'm making a turkey potato and rice soup.
12:47Ground turkey has always been a go-to for soups.
12:50And this was always one of my favorite ones that she would make, whether it was for us not
12:54feeling good or it was just cold outside.
12:56I use a potato masher because it moves so much faster.
12:59My husband's been in the United States Air Force for almost 17 years now.
13:03So food trains are standard in the military.
13:06We have to be our own community for each other because you're usually far away from home,
13:11far away from family.
13:13There's something about soup, you know, being a comfort food that it just feels like somebody cares.
13:18We're seeing a lot of soups, a lot of stews, a lot of dishes that actually do require time.
13:24And that's the one thing they do not have here in this kitchen.
13:27In terms of flavor development, some you really need to brown and simmer down.
13:31And other soups you can do really fast.
13:33So it's really just about like, were they strategic and what they chose?
13:36Mm-hmm.
13:37There's lots of shortcuts you can take, right?
13:39You use a wider pot, you can reduce something faster.
13:41You can cook vegetables or meat in different ways and add them together at the end.
13:45So hopefully they've taken all that they can to adapt their recipe in the best time.
13:51Yeah.
13:5115! Final 15!
13:55Oh my gosh, clear some space here.
14:01Wow, my chicken is cooked perfectly.
14:03So next, I'm using Afghan naan to create my own croutons.
14:07You want it to be rustic pieces because you get the crispy edges that way.
14:11I season them with summa, coriander, salt, and pepper.
14:15Gonna really bring it together and give it that extra flavor.
14:20Potatoes, come on.
14:23All right, man. Come on, man.
14:26It's not getting there, it's not getting to a temperature I wanted.
14:29And I don't know if it's the heat, I don't know if it's the bowl, I don't know if I overcrowded it.
14:32You know, hopefully it gets to at least to tenderize those potatoes and those carrots.
14:38The trickiest part of this dish is getting all the contents inside the pot to a boil
14:43to get those vegetables soft and allow the ribs to become tender.
14:47Don't give up on me.
14:51Carlos, how we doing?
14:52Doing fine. We're just having some technical issues here with bringing this to boil.
14:55Okay. Maybe we need a bigger pot that's wider, huh?
14:58I feel like you need to concentrate that flavor a little bit more too, right?
15:00A wider pot is going to reduce faster.
15:03I trust Chef Tim, so hopefully he has enough time.
15:06Let's put the lid back on so that make sure those vegetables steam.
15:10Everything was crowded.
15:11I feel like this is a little bit better technique.
15:12That was great feedback, yeah.
15:13Yeah, for sure.
15:13Good luck.
15:14Appreciate it. Hey, you better save me today.
15:15Who knows?
15:16Thank you, Chef. Appreciate it.
15:16Best of luck, Carlos.
15:18I'm not even going to look at this anymore, man.
15:19We're just in the waiting game right now.
15:31There's not much time left, but I really want to use all the parts of that chicken.
15:36I'm going to try to make something out of this liver.
15:39So adobo is a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, a lot of garlic, and I am hoping it's going to elevate the dish.
15:45It looks so pretty, and I haven't even added any seasoning yet.
15:49I do a little taste test on my turkey soup, and just because the true Caribbean in me,
15:54I added some of my Jamaican meat seasoning, because why not?
15:57And at this point, I have to make sure this dish is perfect for the judges, and I'm hoping that the
16:05flavor in my soup is what's going to keep me here, because two of us are going home at the end of this week.
16:10Spicy food is so good.
16:13We're down to the last three minutes.
16:15Hurry up.
16:16Okay, Smokey.
16:18Time just goes so fast.
16:20It's crazy.
16:22Here we go.
16:22All of my elements to this chicken pot pie are ready.
16:26My puff pastries are nice and crisp.
16:29The filling is beautiful and full of flavor.
16:33At this point, I need to just assemble the dish and top it with the puff pastry.
16:39Pressure's on.
16:45Francis gave me some really good advice on not overcrowding the pan and frying things in batches.
16:50I'm definitely going to take his advice, because stir frying will require some special technique,
16:56as he suggested.
16:57Ready to plate.
16:59All right, everyone.
17:01One minute left.
17:02This is it.
17:03One minute.
17:06I'm gonna shred this for our judges.
17:09Let's see where we got.
17:13Yes, we're there.
17:14Everything is coming along.
17:15I'm trying to get all the plates out, and I need to make sure everybody has some ribs,
17:19everybody has some chicken, some contains, corn.
17:22Finishing touches, get it on the plate.
17:24Look at these beauties.
17:26Oh, my God.
17:30It's tender.
17:31Want a little bit of the ginger?
17:35Make sure they have ginger.
17:36Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
17:50Time's up!
17:51I got it out.
17:59I got it out.
18:00I got it out.
18:08We gave you an hour to prepare a dish.
18:10What do you share with the people you care about the most?
18:13First up, Rex.
18:16Hi, Chefs.
18:17Hi, Rex.
18:18What I made today is arroz caldo.
18:21It's a Filipino rice porridge, and we normally make it for people who are new
18:25Filipino immigrants here in the U.S.
18:26Well, Rex, I love all of the different accoutrements on the top because every bite
18:33is a different experience, right?
18:35The only thing I would say is, like, cook your chicken a little bit slower so that you don't
18:39have, like, dry chicken.
18:41Yeah, I totally agree.
18:42But the fact that you broke down the chicken, and then I love that you made a little adobo,
18:46really respecting the whole animal.
18:48I really appreciate that.
18:50Thanks so much, Chef.
18:51Fran, tell us what you made.
18:54I made chicken pot pie.
18:56It was inspired by the cooking that I did for my parents in the last year of their life.
19:02Chicken pot pie is also something that I grew up with.
19:05You were very smart separating the puff pastry because a lot of times it's baking for 45 minutes
19:09in the oven, just trying to get everything cooked on time.
19:11I like the fact that you incorporated different vegetables, and I feel like the sherry is
19:16a nice note, but I feel like it comes through a little strong.
19:20I was heavy-handed.
19:21Fran just likes a little booze.
19:23I actually like that nutty flavor of the sherry, so I don't mind it at all.
19:26But I thought it was very nice.
19:27The chicken was nicely cooked, but it is quite sherry-forward.
19:30The dish I made is chicken yakni, and yakni is just the word for broth, essentially.
19:37We make this dish whenever someone's sick, or it's very popular as a postpartum dish.
19:41You made a delicious chicken soup.
19:43The chicken itself is beautifully cooked.
19:46I would love to see some golden brown color on the skin, but the crouton flavor, texture,
19:53everything that it gives to the soup is wonderful.
19:56Thank you, chef.
19:57To me, the revelation is there's something about the way these carrots and the celery,
20:02which has absorbed that turmeric that makes them feel like I've never eaten carrots and celery before.
20:09It's really delicious.
20:10Wow.
20:10I made pork jambalaya.
20:15It is the ultimate comfort food in South Louisiana.
20:20Every year, we cook for the Fallen Firefighters Memorial.
20:23Farming from all over the country gather.
20:25It's really something when you hear those bagpipes, buddy.
20:28I kind of hear them now.
20:30Yeah.
20:31It's touching, but it's an honor to go there, and it was an honor for me to cook this for y'all today.
20:36Colby, thank you for sharing that story, the importance of remembering people.
20:41You know, it's just a beautiful thing.
20:42That's what food is all about for us.
20:44Absolutely.
20:45You know, I was worried about the pork, so I kept checking it, but it got just tender enough for me.
20:49There's so much depth of flavor in this dish.
20:51It's really, really good.
20:53If I had to critique anything, I think jambalaya is a rice dish, and you put a lot of meat in there.
20:59But I'm not complaining.
21:01Thank you, chef.
21:02Oh, Colby.
21:04I love it.
21:05You can tell that this is a dish that you've made many of times.
21:10I agree.
21:11I want a little bit more rice.
21:12That being said, it's delicious.
21:16Anika.
21:17Today, I made for you pish pash.
21:19It's a Bangladeshi dish that my mom used to cook for us when we were sick.
21:25I'm really enjoying seeing what constitutes comfort food in so many different parts of the world.
21:30And this is really interesting because you really cook the rice down, almost like a polenta kind of texture.
21:35The seasoning is really nice.
21:37And maybe this is just unlucky.
21:38My first bite had like a big old chunk of ginger, and it kind of like .
21:41I don't know if that's intentional.
21:43It is actually.
21:44Okay.
21:44Ginger is supposed to be so curative that you put big chunks of ginger.
21:48Yeah, there's definitely some chunks of things.
21:51I think I had a black pepper or something with a little bit of numbing.
21:56But I also like the fried shallots that give it a little bit of sweetness.
22:00Carlos.
22:02Today, I made for you guys a sopao.
22:06This is the ultimate comfort food in Puerto Rico.
22:10Carlos, I've been waiting for you to bring the flavor.
22:12Yeah.
22:13You brought the seasoning.
22:14I taste the salt.
22:15I love the squeeze of the lime.
22:17Good.
22:17All of those things are working.
22:19My pork ribs are very tender, so I'm happy to see that you did a really good job.
22:24There's a lot of flavor from the chicken and the pork.
22:26The only thing I'll say is that the carrots are a little crunchy for me.
22:29If you want to cut them a little bit smaller,
22:31that way they have a little bit more time to cook.
22:34That's great.
22:34Bri.
22:36So I made a turkey, potatoes, and rice soup, aka one of my grandma's soup.
22:45I love the brothiness of the soup and having the turkey in there,
22:49like all the little vegetables.
22:51That being said, the soup itself needed more time to reduce
22:56because when things reduce, the concentration of the flavor comes through.
23:00Yeah, I totally agree with Tiffany.
23:01You have good flavor on the top end.
23:03You get a little bit of lime, you get a little bit of that spice,
23:05but then it kind of drops off after that.
23:07You don't have the depth.
23:08And I think that concentration is where that depth comes into play.
23:11To help amp up that flavor more, I think would have been really nice here.
23:14Mm-hmm.
23:16So, Ani, this dish is called Padmi Korat.
23:19It's more of a spicy, sassy cousin of Pad Thai.
23:23So it's less well-known.
23:26Suwani, last week we talked about your salmon being under-seasoned.
23:30And the seasoning here is...
23:33Mm-hmm.
23:34Whoo!
23:35I taste that tamarind.
23:37I taste the sugar.
23:38I taste the fish sauce.
23:40Everything is like really like bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing,
23:43but like still very balanced.
23:44Perfect.
23:45Beautiful job.
23:45I love the chewiness of the noodles.
23:48My critique, though, is the pork belly.
23:50The skin didn't really render and tenderize.
23:53So when I'm eating it, the skin part is actually very, very hard.
23:56Okay.
23:57But the flavor is really spot-off.
23:59Yeah, I agree with Francis.
24:01I love the interactiveness and customization of being able to add
24:05as much lime or as much chili as you like.
24:07And I like the extra spice.
24:09Overall, an amazing dish.
24:15Cooks, thank you for sharing your dishes filled with love and comfort.
24:26Judges, whose dishes were on top this round?
24:30Our first top dish was...
24:37Kobe.
24:41Your jambalaya was delicious.
24:43I was so impressed with the amount of flavor that you had developed in such a short time.
24:47That was one of the best jambalaya's I've ever had.
24:51I feel fantastic.
24:52You got my first top two right there.
24:53And I went in over to Judges with a recipe passed down to me from a fireman.
24:57It is absolutely amazing.
24:59Our other favorite dish of the round was...
25:06Wagau.
25:06Wagau, your dish was delicious.
25:14We love the flavor.
25:15Who knew that carrots and celery could be the star of the dish?
25:20And we can see why that dish comforts the souls of so many.
25:24I'm so proud right now that this simple dish that I thought was so normal to me growing up
25:29seems to be extraordinary all of a sudden.
25:31It's just a great feeling.
25:32Congratulations, you two. But remember, no one is safe from elimination this week.
25:39So you all have to give your best in the next round.
25:47In the last round, we asked you to prepare your go-to recipes when you want to show support.
25:52In the next round, we want to see more of the recipes you prepare for friends and family,
25:57because it's holiday time.
26:04You have 60 minutes to prepare a favorite dish from a holiday that's special to you.
26:10And we want you to prepare your dish family-style,
26:13so we can enjoy a multicultural spread on our holiday table.
26:17And as always, your dishes will be judged on taste,
26:20execution, presentation, and how well you did with the holiday theme.
26:25Make these dishes extra festive, because at the end of this round,
26:29we will be saying goodbye to two of you.
26:32All right, your time starts now!
26:34Yeah!
26:35Okay, rock and roll, everyone!
26:38We got this, we got this.
26:39So we've asked our home cooks to create their favorite holiday dish.
26:43I mean, that can mean so many different things, because it can be any kind of holiday.
26:47Yeah, you know it takes days sometimes to prepare for the holiday meals.
26:52We gave them 60 minutes!
26:53So what a nerve of us!
26:55I know!
26:56Winner, winner, butternut squash dinner!
27:01Coming into round two, I need to keep the momentum going.
27:04Getting eliminated is always possible.
27:05We got to prey on that one.
27:07Being in a Muslim household, we never celebrated Christmas.
27:10Therefore, my mom went all out for Thanksgiving.
27:12When you think of Thanksgiving harvest, you think of pumpkin, squash,
27:15so I decided to go with this classic Afghan dish.
27:18I'm going to be making kadu burani with a cranberry, walnut, and barberry topping.
27:25Burani is a type of dish, and kadu is the vegetable we are using.
27:28It's pumpkin or squash.
27:29The barberries are my own addition for the topping, because it adds the sourness.
27:34So this dish is like a battle of flavor profiles.
27:40First thing I'm going to do, I'm going to get those ribs seasoned.
27:43We're going to render that fat and use that fat to cook rice.
27:46Food is such a big part of so many holidays in Puerto Rico,
27:49and that's definitely true in my house as well.
27:52My favorite holiday is Christmas,
27:53and there's no better dish for Christmas than arroz con gandules.
27:58Rice with pigeon peas.
27:59A pigeon pea is like the cousin of a bean.
28:01I've been making this dish for at least 15 years.
28:05When I think about Christmas, one of the core memories I have
28:08is my grandma cooking this and me helping her.
28:12Now my kids wake up in the morning to the smell of arroz con gandules as well.
28:17When I finish rendering the fat with my sofrito,
28:20I want to make sure those pigeon peas absorb all that flavor.
28:23So we're going to let that cook for a while.
28:25Carlos is rendering pork ribs to get that fat for his arroz con gandules,
28:29which is maybe not what you would always do, but it's not unheard of.
28:32Like my mom has made it, you would say it's costillas, which are ribs.
28:35So we're definitely hoping he keeps the ribs in the pot.
28:36Yeah, I was going to say, I'm going to run into the ribs just for the fat.
28:39It smells like Christmas here, man.
28:47Everybody, happy holidays.
28:51First round, I was one of the top dishes,
28:54so that gives me a tremendous amount of confidence for this round.
28:57Colby, what is that?
28:58Sifu gumbo.
29:00I chose this dish because every year, Colby's house, December 25th, is our Christmas meal.
29:08But unfortunately for my wife, her parents died young. So me and her have taken on that tradition
29:15for our family.
29:18This is a jar roux that I used. I would not have time to make a traditional roux from scratch.
29:25Wow, that's risky. I have not done a gumbo in a competition, just because you cook it and
29:31you're almost to the point where you're toasting that dark brown roux. It's the basis of what makes
29:36gumbo gumbo.
29:37You want to get as much flavor in your gumbo as you can.
29:41So to me, that one thing that really just jumps out and make this thing right is the claw meat over
29:46the lump crab meat. It just has that extra oomph in it. That just makes it even better.
29:50Look at this beautiful gumbo right here. There's no way a cajun can come on here and not make gumbo.
30:02Okay, let's see. Cinnamon sticks. Round one, I didn't make it into the top two. So there's a ton of
30:09pressure on me to do really well in this round. Hmm, I can smell the fragrance of cinnamon, the cloves,
30:16and the cumin seeds. For me growing up, our biggest holiday celebration was Eid al-Fitr, which came at
30:23the end of Ramadan. And one of my all-time favorite dishes is Bangladeshi chicken roast. It's a family
30:30style chicken and rice dish. I already toasted the spices so I get the aroma and now I'm browning my
30:36chicken. While that's frying, I'm going to start making short grain rice. It cooks fast because it's
30:44short grain, but it also has a beautiful flavor and aroma. It's going really well today.
30:53All right. One of the favorite memories I have is during fiesta in the Philippines. Fiesta in my
30:59language means a celebration of your patron saint of our town or city. So if you go to Bohol, my province,
31:06in the month of May, you won't get hungry. For this challenge, I'm making pancit bihon loaded with
31:12lumpiang shanghai, the Filipino rice noodle dish in our version of spring rolls. So the pork needs to
31:19be in a pressure cooker for at least 20 minutes to tenderize the meat. I'm really putting pressure
31:24on myself. I should not have done this, but it's fiesta. This week, two home cooks are going home,
31:30so I really need to stand out. And I know this is the strongest dish I have. Okay. For my lumpiang
31:37shanghai, I'm adding some garlic, onions, and I'm going to mix it with ground pork. Next, I'm going to
31:44get my rice to paper wrapper and then roll my lumpiak. So you want to really push and also make sure to
31:51tighten it up before rolling it.
31:57Get all my cheeses out. Going into this next round of holiday favorites, I'm making baked mac and cheese.
32:03Thanksgiving is the main holiday I make this for, but part of the military journey. For military
32:09spouses, we move around every few years. And now we are the host house. It's one of the reasons why
32:15the holiday season is so important to me now. What makes my mac and cheese special is the use of
32:22two cheeses that most people would not think to use, and that is Asiago and Romano.
32:27Asiago and Romano adds a sharpness. It balances out the creaminess and sweetness of a lot of the
32:35other cheeses, like mild cheddar to Colby Jack, which is going to give the creamy. Knowing two people are
32:41going to be eliminated changes the game. So the pressure is definitely on, because I absolutely
32:47do not want to go home. So that's why I'm bringing the A-game and going with a recipe that everybody in
32:52my family loves, including both my children. They are my biggest supporters all day, every day,
32:59and it would mean so much for me to win today. I'm confident it'll land well.
33:05I have never seen so much duck in my whole life. This round, I chose a dish for Lunasa,
33:12which is a Gaelic harvest festival. These smell so good. This holiday resonates with me because
33:19my family are largely from the British Isles and Scotch-Irish Gaelic heritage. One more for
33:27good luck. I'm making duck breast with an apple bourbon and rosemary glaze. When my dad was first
33:34married to my mom, my grandmother always used to make this dish. So the first thing I need to do is
33:39get the duck ready. And that means trimming it and scoring it because the skin must be crisp.
33:46Hi, friend. Hello, Tiffany. I love duck. I have a franchise based off of duck fat fried chicken.
33:55I'm coming to visit and I want a good table. Oh my gosh. So just one thing that I would suggest.
34:01Thank you so much. Make sure that this silver skin is off because silver skin does not get tender when
34:09it's cooking. Oh, okay. Instead of trying to get it here, I'll go underneath it. Then you can just
34:14kind of pull it and peel it. Yep. This is a duck master class. You're going for like a medium rare medium.
34:20What are you going for? I'm medium rare because I figure even if I do it slow, it'll still get crispy
34:27if I just leave it in there long enough. You just need to let it do its thing. Really concentrate on
34:31nailing the cook of the duck because we're doing a double elimination. I am absolutely taking every tip.
34:36Thank you, Tiffany. I appreciate it. But now the pressure's on because I have to execute it.
34:46You have 30 minutes left. Thank goodness. I'm going to go ahead and pop these in the oven.
34:55This is the tedious part, but it's important to get this out. With my American family, our holiday
35:02tradition is to have seafood for New Year's Eve. I am making tiger prawns with tamarind sauce.
35:11It's called gung namakam. I'm preparing it with a very thick, sweet, tangy, sour, salty sauce.
35:23So I'm going to be using fish sauce, a little bit of oyster sauce for the saltiness,
35:28and then for the tanginess tamarind to get that deep flavors in there. For this round,
35:33I feel a little bit nervous because I know I could be sent home. And I have so many recipes,
35:39so many more things I want to show the judges. Ooh, my eyes are watering.
35:48There you go. While waiting for my pork to just cool down a little bit before I slice it.
35:52So I start to make the sauce for the pansit bihon. I'm going to add some kalamansi juice. Kalamansi is
35:59like our lemon here in the U.S., but it's a little bit of a lighter taste. And then I'm going to be
36:05putting some cabbage and broth from the pork that I use in the pressure cooker before I start adding the
36:11rice noodles. It's a little rooty, but you know what it needs? You can get some Cajun seasoning.
36:25Shake. The shake. The shake. I know that shrimp doesn't cook that fast. Chef Francis,
36:31can you come for one second? Okay. I have a question. How can I help you? I know y'all really
36:36like your shrimp a certain way, so what is the ideal time for me to put this shrimp in there? Oh,
36:39you know what I would say then? I think three minutes is fine. Okay. Perfect. That's what
36:43I'll do then. And then if it gets undercooked, then you'd be like, it's Francis. It's all good to
36:48blame it on me. Thank you, Chef.
36:56This is going to be a chili crisp with jalapenos, coriander, a lot of dried mint. I want to top this
37:02with my own favorite signature chili oil. Serrano chilis are a spicier cousin of a jalapeno.
37:09This is my ghost chili crisp. Trademark that.
37:14Ten minutes, everyone. Ten minutes left. Ten minutes. Oh my God. I got time in ten minutes.
37:20I got time in ten minutes. Friend, how's that skin looking? Oh, this looks good.
37:24Gentle heat on the breast side. Thank you, Chef. Oh, that's pretty. So now for my sauce,
37:31I'm going to put in the bourbon so that all of the alcohol could cook down. I learned from the
37:37previous challenge with the sherry forward, I'm going to make sure that the bourbon is prominent,
37:42but not overpowering. So I'm just going to put the rosemary in to, like, infuse the liquid.
37:48I'm adding my aloe buccara. Aloe buccara is a relative of a plum, but it has a very unique
38:01taste. It just adds that extra luxury to the dish. Okay, so my palau is done in the rice cooker. I'm
38:09going to just try to remove the whole spices because it's not, um, fun to bite into the spices.
38:18Seven minutes left. Seven minutes? A minute and a half to take it out the oven, so I'm going to let
38:23it cook. Okay. Next, I'm going to be cutting the lumpia in half. That way I can cook it faster and
38:30crispier. I have a lot of time left and I need to get those in the deep fryer. All right. Okay,
38:37waiting for the flavors to work together. Once I have the sweet, tangy tamarind sauce all ready to go,
38:44I'm going to add everything into a wok. Ooh, really good. So at this point, I'm confident about
38:52my flavors. I feel like I have a shot at winning the judges over. Okay.
39:00We're down to the last three minutes. Oh my god.
39:04I'm just going to cut some slices of peppers, which are going to give us a little Christmas
39:09color. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm very happy with the texture of the rice. I'm feeling confident,
39:13but I'm thinking to myself, I'm not going to put the ribs on the dish because they might not be
39:17tender enough and I don't want to compromise the rest of my dish because I want to make sure that I'm
39:21not one of the first ones to go home. One minute left. Whoo. It's almost time to set that table.
39:27Mac and cheese is coming out of the oven now. How's it looking, Bri? It's looking good,
39:34especially for this time. We are ready. Okay. All right, everyone. Time to celebrate.
39:42Woohoo. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Time's up.
39:55Woohoo. Happy holidays.
40:08In this round, we ask you to prepare a dish from a holiday that's important to you.
40:13Look at this feast. It's incredible. Everything here is so different and fun,
40:19and it just looks delicious. All right, Kobe, come and join us.
40:25I made seafood gumbo. We do seafood gumbo every Christmas. I have never done gumbo in a
40:32competition just because I'm not sure that I could get the flavor, but I think you achieved a legit,
40:39real deal gumbo in an hour. It is just so deep. This is the essence of Cajun food, and this shrimp
40:50is beautifully cooked. I would just say the amount of seasoning is so good, but if I were eating the
40:55whole bowl, it might start to feel like, wow, that's a lot of seasoning. You know, Francis,
41:00I know what you mean like concentration, but I like a little spice in my gumbo. Maybe just take
41:05it down just a little. Thank you. Suwani. Okay. I made tiger prawn with tamarind sauce. It's called
41:16We eat this for New Year's Eve. This is incredible. It's got the perfect amount of heat for me,
41:22and you still taste the sweetness of the shrimp, but also that tamarind. It's really good. This is
41:28banging. The flavor of the shrimp shell is really imparted in there, and I like the doneness of the
41:35shrimp. I do think, though, it could have been maybe slightly less cooked. Yeah. I think it'd be a
41:40little bit even at the next level. Okay. I love it. Thank you. All right, Brie, come join us.
41:47I made baked mac and cheese. Thanksgiving is the go-to holiday for this particular dish. I make mac
41:56and cheese at least once a week for my kids, so I'm a connoisseur. I feel like there's a couple
42:00different kinds of cheese in there. You get a different experience kind of with each bite.
42:04There's like pockets of cheese, right, in little areas, and the spice on there is really, really nice.
42:09Thank you. The only thing I can really say is that whenever you bake a mac and cheese,
42:14you know, you're continuing to cook it, and like the noodles, you know, you could have maybe
42:18cooked them a little bit less. I agree with Tim. Would love a little more of a crust, too. So we're
42:23kind of saying, cook it less, but cook it more. But you know what I mean, right? Maybe cook a little
42:29less on the soapbox, but bake it a little bit more, so you have a little more crust. Yes. Thank you.
42:32Thank you, Chad. Anika. I made Bangladeshi chicken roast, and we have it traditionally for Eid. There's
42:42alu bukhara, which imparts like a sweet flavor to it. I hope you didn't get the seeds. I think it's a
42:49very good dish. A lot of flavor in there, but it's also very, very homey. I think the rice is cooked
42:53perfectly. Unfortunately, I did get one of those seeds. Oh, no. It's like coated around the seeds,
42:58so there's no way to take the seed out. Yeah. Anika, I love this dish. The doneness of the chicken,
43:04I think, is really, really good. It's tender, but still has some chew and has some bite. I really
43:08like that. Cinnamon, all those sweet spices. I think it's very, very tasty. Thank you. Rex,
43:14come join us. Today, I made pancit bihon, a rice noodle dish with lumpiang Shanghai. The rice
43:22noodles have so much flavor. Is it pork belly you used? I did use pork belly. Very tender. Thank you,
43:27chef. The spring roll itself, the mixture inside is a delicious mixture, but I find it to be a little
43:33dry. I wonder if it was fried whole, if the juice would have stayed inside. Stayed in, sure. So maybe
43:38that's the trade-off. You have more of the brown flavor cutting in half, but keeping it whole, maybe
43:42the juice stays inside the filling a little bit. I mean, mine's gone. Fran.
43:48I made duck breast with an apple bourbon rosemary glaze, and this is in honor of the Gaelic Harvest
43:59Festival Lunasa. Oh. A little sherry in the first round, a little bourbon. Second round, I mean.
44:06It's a theme. It's a theme. I love the flavor combination. Apples, onions, bourbon, all those
44:12things really go well together. Thank you. Thank you. I feel like the duck is something that reminds me of the
44:17holidays, but I wish that you would spend a little bit more time on the skin side,
44:22because I have a piece here that's a beautiful skin. Another one could have been rendered a little
44:26bit more. Okay. Yeah, rendering it a little slower, but I think to be able to do duck, very difficult.
44:32I mean, the degree of difficulty is there, and so I think you did a really good job. Thank you very
44:37much. Thank you very much. Carlos. I made arroz con gandules, which translates to rice with
44:44pigeon peas, and it's for Christmas. It's very, very, very tasty. The amount of flavor that the
44:50bean has soaked is really, really, really terrific. Ah, yes. Yeah. The rice is also perfectly cooked.
44:57I can taste so much of your sofrito. I'm so happy you said that. This is really delicious. I feel like
45:03you started with some pork. Right, right. But I didn't see it now. So I didn't want to add the pork in
45:08there because I didn't want to distract from the main character of the story, which is the rice. Okay.
45:13So what happened to the ribs? The ribs, uh. Oh. We ate them.
45:19So they were good enough for you. No, no, no, no. I cannot disclose that.
45:26White gall. So this is Khadu Burani. This is for Thanksgiving.
45:35Oh, he's giggling. I love a giggle.
45:37Jesus. A Francis Lamb giggle.
45:40Yes. It's so good, dude.
45:44It's so good.
45:47The soft, sweet squash, but with like the pops of brightness from pomegranate,
45:52barberries, cranberries, the nuttiness of the walnut, tying it all together. And it just makes me feel
45:58so happy to eat it. Thank you.
46:01What I also love is the texture of the butternut squash. It's cooked, but not mushy. You have the
46:08spice with the chili oil. You have the sour notes. If anything, I would love just a little finishing
46:15salt on the top. Yes.
46:17Would make the butternut squash sing even more. It's a really delicious dish.
46:22Thank you so much, White Gall. Thank you. Thank you.
46:27This was a happy holiday indeed, but we have a lot to discuss today. And sadly,
46:34we will be saying goodbye to two of you.
46:45Usually, we get to take a nap after a big meal like that.
46:48Unfortunately, we have some work to do. As you know, we're saying goodbye to two home
46:54cooks this week, so we have a lot to discuss. Let's start with your favorite dishes of the round.
46:58Wagga. Oh, yeah.
47:01I was giggling like a fool eating that one. It was good, though. The butternut squash,
47:06along with the cranberries. Barberries. Oh, my God. And then you top it off with that little chili.
47:12And like to imagine that on a Thanksgiving table. I did. It's on my Thanksgiving table.
47:16Another one of my favorite dishes from the round has got to be Kobe. That gumbo. I mean,
47:23in one hour, he was able to create the depth of flavor. And we've seen that from him time after
47:28time, right? All the different seafoods that he put in there, all coming together and like
47:32marrying nicely, but also cooked perfectly. Yeah, yeah. He's obviously made that a thousand times.
47:36He was able to adapt his technique to get the depth of flavor he wanted. Yeah. And another one of
47:41my favorite dishes was Suwanee with the tiger prawns and that tamarind sauce. That sauce. Are you
47:48kidding me? It was very balanced. Yo, I wasn't ready for that. Like Suwanee, in the beginning,
47:52it was like a little timid with certain things. But now, like the way she's cooked today, it's a glimpse
47:58of like who she is as a cook and where she's from. What were some of the least successful dishes of the
48:04round? I really was looking forward to having Breeze Mac and Cheese. But even with all those different
48:09cheeses, which, you know, I think the flavor came through. Having overcooked macaroni, for me,
48:13that was one of the dishes that didn't quite make the mark. Another dish that I wanted to be so good
48:19was Fran's. That apple and bourbon sauce, that was very, very good. But the duck itself had some
48:25inconsistencies. So I just think she needs to settle in and concentrate on the techniques. We know she can
48:29cook. We know. But the technique has to be there. I agree. Another dish that I felt mixed feelings about
48:35was Carlos's arroz con gandules. The gandules were very well seasoned. I thought the rice was
48:40really well cooked. But to me, I kind of felt like, you had an old rack of ribs and you didn't give them
48:45to us. My mother always puts like chorizo or like chunks of ham. Yeah. And I'm thinking like,
48:49this is a festive dish. Like, oh man, if he had a beautiful pile of ribs to go with it, I'd feel like,
48:54hey, this is a party. Yeah. It's hard to say goodbye to anyone, but we're saying goodbye to two home cooks
49:00this week. So are you all in agreement on your decision? Yeah, I think so. I think so. Yeah.
49:07All right. Let's bring back our home cooks.
49:14In this round, you made us a favorite dish to share at a holiday celebration. And I know
49:21I speak for all of us when I say the dishes were so good. Yes, they were. All right. Let's start with
49:27the judges' top two dishes of the round. The first dish that stood out today was
49:34Kobe.
49:38Kobe, we loved your seafood gumbo. It was not just the depth of flavor and how the seafood was perfectly
49:44cooked, but what really impressed us was seeing you cook a dish that you've made a thousand times
49:48before, but pivot to get to the same result you wanted, but in just 60 minutes. Thank you.
49:55Our other favorite dish of the round was wagal.
50:01Wagal, your kadu barani with the cranberries, the barberry, the pomegranate. I wouldn't take
50:07anything off of that dish. And I think it might be on a few of our Thanksgiving day tables just like it
50:13is yours. Wow. Thank you.
50:15Thank you. Both of your dishes would be a standout in any holiday table. But the winner of the round is
50:25Wagal.
50:27Wagal, we just love the combination of the flavors. I mean, you gave us something new and exciting to
50:37experience, and it was just a delight to enjoy. Thank you. And as always, Nosha John, may it nourish
50:43your souls. Winning means the world to me because I want to represent Afghan cuisine and be a culinary
50:49voice in this space for my country. Congrats, Wagal. Well done. And this means you're one step closer to
50:56earning your spot in the finale. But as you know, today, two home cooks will not be continuing in the
51:02competition. Judges, please tell us the two home cooks that will be leaving us today. The first home
51:08cook leaving us today is Carlos. Your rice with pigeon peas overall is delicious. The problem is that
51:19last week with your bison, we talked to you about doing a little bit more, bridging all of it together.
51:25We feel like you could have done a little bit more in this round.
51:28Beautiful. The other person who will not be continuing on in the competition is Brie.
51:38Brie, your mac and cheese was super tasty, but there were little elements of it. Like,
51:43the macaroni was a little overcooked, and we hoped that we'd see you, like, rock it this week. But
51:50I think it just got away from you a little bit. Thank you. It was such a pleasure getting to know you
51:57and having you here with us on this journey. Please say goodbye to your fellow home cooks
52:02and head back to your home kitchen. Group hug. I'm feeling a lot of emotions. I'm happy because
52:09some of these great cooks are going to stay, but one of my main goals was to leave here
52:13better than I came, right? So I am doing exactly that. This experience was amazing. I learned in this
52:20competition that cooking with love translates in so many different ways, and I'm taking away new friends.
52:27To my fellow home cooks, I'm rooting for you guys, and y'all can call me whenever.
52:35Lots of my best friends. I know, right? It's hard for us too, you know, but I tell you what,
52:40we're very much looking forward to having more of your recipes and dinners and lunches and many other
52:47things from y'all. There's so much more cooking to do. We'll see you back here next week for more of
52:54your Great American Recipes. Good night. Thank you.
53:05Next time on The Great American Recipe. It's time for the Great American Recipe bake sale.
53:11I would buy all of them. I just want you to know.
53:15Commando, we're going to work. The cornbread pan. This was my grandmother's. Hey, popped up!
53:22This is a bake sale, so we need it to be pretty. I'm not a baker. I don't like to be precise.
53:26You have to cook with love. Our favorite bake sale item was...
53:33...
53:34...
53:35...
53:38...
53:40...
53:42...
53:44...
Recommended
54:06
|
Up next
1:10:45
2:26:29
2:18:35
1:35:18
2:28:07
Be the first to comment