- 3 hours ago
Tournament of Champions All-Star Christmas - Season 1 Episode 3 -
Make It Rein
Make It Rein
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00:00As super duos, to make their best sweet and savory dishes.
00:00:04How do you feel?
00:00:05Feel awesome!
00:00:06Merry Christmas, you filthy animals!
00:00:08In an epic team versus team holiday tournament.
00:00:11Yeah!
00:00:15Last time, six teams went head to head, but only three moved on.
00:00:21Megan Neely!
00:00:24Graham and Giuseppe!
00:00:27Chef Michael Wright!
00:00:28And tonight, TOC titan Britt Resigno and Chicago chef Jonathan Sawyer.
00:00:33Teamwork makes the dream work, baby, let's go.
00:00:35Battle TOC six finalists, Chef Leanne Wong and pastry master chef Zach Young.
00:00:43Let's go!
00:00:45And in the main event, two-time TOC champ Maneet Shohan and Iron Chef Stephanie Izard take on culinary beast, Chef Kevin Lee and Chef Dale Tallday.
00:00:55We good, baby!
00:00:56When we win this competition, we're going to have the biggest dance party to celebrate later.
00:01:00Which team will jingle all the way to the title?
00:01:03The trophy, big bucks for charity, and thanks to Carnival Cruise Line, the $100,000 grand prize.
00:01:10Woo!
00:01:11This is Tournament of Champions.
00:01:13How do you look?
00:01:13I always look fabulous.
00:01:15All-Star Christmas.
00:01:16Parumpa-pump!
00:01:17Bam!
00:01:18Welcome to night three of our jam-packed TOC Christmas Tournament.
00:01:32First up, we have our number two seed team.
00:01:35That is Chef Britt Resigno and Chef Jonathan Sawyer.
00:01:38Age before beauty.
00:01:40A little bit of both.
00:01:41The two chefs have an incredible bond.
00:01:44Let's get you on a nice leg.
00:01:46It all began here at TOC.
00:01:48We met on season four of TOC.
00:01:50We were just like, okay, we're going to be best friends, right?
00:01:54Yeah.
00:01:54And he married my wife and I.
00:01:56Yeah, I was the officiant.
00:01:58We cook all the time together.
00:01:59When you talk about a relationship and whether it's culinary or otherwise, trust is a huge part of that.
00:02:06I'm going to lean sweet and he's going to lean savory.
00:02:09My passion since I was a kid has always been pastry.
00:02:12And I know any meat that he cooks, it's going to be absolutely spectacular.
00:02:17He is so good with meat and fabrication and grilling.
00:02:21Teamwork makes the dream work, baby.
00:02:22Let's go.
00:02:24Their opponent's the number three seed team.
00:02:26Chef Leanne Wong and acclaimed pastry chef Zach Young.
00:02:29This is us.
00:02:30Yes.
00:02:31Both are highly regarded in the food world and they spent a lot of time cooking together over their 25-year friendship.
00:02:37This is when I dog sat for him.
00:02:39I stayed at his apartment by the Empire State Building.
00:02:42We bonded over bacon and chocolate.
00:02:44Leanne, I think, took me aside and was like, we need to be friends.
00:02:47Bacon and chocolate, what?
00:02:48When I think of holidays, I also think of Leanne because we spent so many of the early New York holidays together.
00:02:52We just threw these crazy dinner parties.
00:02:55This feels like an extension.
00:02:56This is Zach's first time in TOC, but I'm not worried.
00:02:59Like, I feel like I've kind of broken the mold for pastry chefs in these competitions.
00:03:03The pastry technique is in my back pocket.
00:03:06Like, that's my advantage.
00:03:08Chefs, they're ready for you.
00:03:09Get it.
00:03:16Are you ready for the first Christmas cook-off of the night?
00:03:19Chef Leon Wong has worked with Jean-Georges Marcus Samuelsson before opening her own Cocoa Head Cafes in Hawaii and Japan.
00:03:37She received a James Beard nod from Best Chef Northwest and Pacific, 2023.
00:03:46And her teammate, Chef Zach Young, is an executive pastry chef who has worked with Thomas Keller and Alex Guarnaschelli.
00:03:53Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Mama Wong and the sweet assassin, Team Leanne and Zach!
00:03:59Did you make your own team t-shirts?
00:04:11We made one for you, too.
00:04:12And you made one for me?
00:04:14Yes.
00:04:14How did you meet?
00:04:15We met when I was at the French Culinary Institute.
00:04:18If Mama Wong gets to pick anybody she wants to work with, I think you're the real deal.
00:04:23I'm just a very simple man who makes very simple, simple, non-complicated things.
00:04:29Like pie-cake-in.
00:04:30You make something called a pie-cake-in?
00:04:32The turducken of dessert.
00:04:34Love the name pie-cake-in.
00:04:36Next level.
00:04:37You're going to need to go next level with who you're going against.
00:04:44Britt Bersigno is the co-owner and executive chef of Fiamma, a four-diamond Italian restaurant in Sun Valley, Idaho.
00:04:53Now, Chef Jonathan Sawyer was awarded Best New Restaurant by Bon Appetit and Esquire, and the James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes in 2017.
00:05:04Put your hands together for the angry Italian and the bearded baller team, Britt and Jonathan.
00:05:10Woo!
00:05:11Woo!
00:05:12Woo!
00:05:13Woo!
00:05:14Woo!
00:05:15Woo!
00:05:16Woo!
00:05:17Woo!
00:05:18Woo!
00:05:19Woo!
00:05:20Woo!
00:05:21Woo!
00:05:22Woo!
00:05:23Woo!
00:05:23Woo!
00:05:23Woo!
00:05:24Woo!
00:05:26Woo!
00:05:26Woo!
00:05:26We're going to battle, but we're having huggy time.
00:05:28Do you want one?
00:05:30No.
00:05:43When did this brother-sister combination take place?
00:05:43Season 4.
00:05:44We made eyes across the bar.
00:05:45Shame on all of you.
00:05:48Santa's watching.
00:05:50And I just kind of looked at her, and I was like, you want to be friends?
00:05:53Yup.
00:05:54This is a step-brothers level relationship, trust me.
00:05:57Yeah, we even finished each other's.
00:05:59Sandwiches.
00:05:59And this is why this is gonna be a super battle
00:06:01to kick tonight off.
00:06:02It's time to take it to the randomizer,
00:06:04right this way, chef.
00:06:12The randomizer will determine the mandatory details
00:06:15of both of your dishes.
00:06:17Now the savory ingredient is for one dish.
00:06:20The sweet item is for the sweet dish.
00:06:22However, the equipment, the style,
00:06:24and the wild card are for both dishes.
00:06:27Sometimes the selections are holly jolly,
00:06:30and other times it's just a resting Grinch face.
00:06:36Let's do this.
00:06:37Going after savory.
00:06:39Oh boy.
00:06:48In the savory category, calamari tubes and tentacles,
00:06:52super sweet, cranberries, stand mixer.
00:06:55The style tonight is boozy, and the wild card ingredient
00:06:59is dried figs.
00:07:00Wow.
00:07:01I've been giving all the chefs this first round 35 minutes,
00:07:03but you know what?
00:07:04I'm gonna give you two extra minutes to confer right now.
00:07:07Good luck.
00:07:09I think that we have to go cranberries in both dish.
00:07:11Yeah.
00:07:12I mean, Christmas is stressful, so why not just do T.O.C. during it as well?
00:07:16Vodka sauce.
00:07:17A boozy in vodka is a no-brainer.
00:07:20Stuff the squid, and then I'll do it like a red wine fig sauce.
00:07:24This is my entry into the Tournament of Champions arena.
00:07:27Luckily, I am with the heavy hitter.
00:07:30Trust me, she's punched me before.
00:07:32I'm very upset, I'm okay.
00:07:34They flip for you.
00:07:35I'm saying, I'm seeing noose.
00:07:37Keep it super simple.
00:07:38That'll work?
00:07:38I love it.
00:07:3935 minutes.
00:07:40Starts now.
00:07:41Go get them.
00:07:4335 minutes for a savory and a sweet dish.
00:07:47This is gonna be a battle.
00:07:49Calamari tubes and tentacles are the two main edible parts
00:07:53of the squid.
00:07:54Great texture, but usually get cooked together.
00:07:56I think that this is gonna be a really creative protein
00:07:59for them to start working with.
00:08:01Cranberries, you can't think of the holidays
00:08:03and not think about them.
00:08:04Sauces, drinks, desserts, you name it.
00:08:07We can use a stand mixer to mix.
00:08:09We can use the attachments to do meat grinding,
00:08:11to make pasta, boozy.
00:08:13This can be applied in so many different ways.
00:08:15And then dried figs.
00:08:17These are in all different cultures of food,
00:08:18and that is Christmas.
00:08:22Hi.
00:08:23Calamari does not say Merry Christmas to me.
00:08:26Santa doesn't want calamari.
00:08:28Oh, yay, Mom, calamari.
00:08:30Come on along.
00:08:31Hi.
00:08:32What's the plan looking like?
00:08:33We're gonna do an andouya and fig stuffed calamari.
00:08:36I'm gonna do, like, a nice cognac red wine fig sauce
00:08:40to go with it.
00:08:41It'll have acid, it'll have that savoriness
00:08:44to balance out the sweetness of the figs.
00:08:46Perfect.
00:08:47I am definitely here to hold up my end of the bargain
00:08:50with the savory, and Zach is entirely going to be
00:08:53the knight in shining armor with pastry.
00:08:57How do you feel, Zach?
00:08:58Pretty good.
00:08:59Do you have an idea of what you're making?
00:09:00The driving force is the sweet ingredient,
00:09:03cranberry, making that the star.
00:09:05It's like a cranberry upside-down cake
00:09:07and cranberry chocolate, a little, like, boozy mousse.
00:09:10I start with my cake batter, brown sugar, eggs,
00:09:14softened butter, almond liqueur.
00:09:17We love booze.
00:09:18We love booze.
00:09:19We love booze.
00:09:20The stand mixer for me is a friend and an enemy here
00:09:23because it'd be much faster for me
00:09:25to do all of this by hand.
00:09:26Add the cranberry mixture, add the cake,
00:09:30throw it in the oven.
00:09:33Baking slash making sweets in a competition
00:09:36in the same time frame as savory chefs get
00:09:40is really, really hard, and I find it fun.
00:09:46I should talk to my therapist about that.
00:09:47I should talk to you on sweet or savory?
00:09:53Sweet.
00:09:54All right.
00:09:55Wait, so who's shopping for who here?
00:09:56Our plan for savory and sweet is a little bit of tag team.
00:10:01He leans a little savory, I lean a little sweet.
00:10:04This is tough, right?
00:10:05Dried figs is not something I'm super excited about.
00:10:08I mean, they're so sweet.
00:10:10There's a textural component that you also have to think about.
00:10:14There's going to have to be a lot of thought
00:10:15and a lot of process to really make these things make sense.
00:10:19You guys are cooking already?
00:10:20I haven't even said anything.
00:10:22I'm going to braise out that tentacle,
00:10:25get it nice and tender.
00:10:26For savory, I think tubes and tentacles
00:10:28fit right into our narrative.
00:10:30And are we going bolognese over there?
00:10:32I see some pasta sheets here.
00:10:34We might see some sort of vodka sauce.
00:10:36There you go.
00:10:37Vodka sauce.
00:10:38Ding, ding, ding.
00:10:38Pasta is an absolutely high risk, high reward.
00:10:41We're going to finish it with some of the tubes.
00:10:44Sort of bring that sweetness and acidity of the vodka.
00:10:48Right on dessert.
00:10:49Looks like we've got some mascarpone, cream cheese.
00:10:53My deconstructed cheesecake, Italian style, mascarpone.
00:10:57Inherently, when you make cranberries,
00:10:59you have to go sweet with it.
00:11:00And all of the figs and cranberries
00:11:02make sense inside of there.
00:11:03And I feel like the two dishes presented together
00:11:05definitely land at the same family table.
00:11:09I think you're spot on.
00:11:10Like the bowl.
00:11:11This is the holiday season.
00:11:17I got one thing to say about that, Chef.
00:11:19Pa rum, pa pum, pa rum.
00:11:21Yeah.
00:11:22Mama Wong is stuffing her calamari with the enduya.
00:11:27Which is cool.
00:11:28I thought we'd see that coming for sure.
00:11:30Enduya that's spicy and could go with the sweet so well.
00:11:33Also, it'll bind it really nicely.
00:11:35That's the plan with the tentacles, Chef.
00:11:38We're just going to saute the tentacles.
00:11:39Okay.
00:11:40Very lightly.
00:11:41What are we grinding into the?
00:11:43So, cranberries?
00:11:44Yeah.
00:11:45Putting figs in there as well?
00:11:46Yes.
00:11:47And tentacles.
00:11:48All that through the grinder.
00:11:50Savory chefs, by the way, ride stand mixers hard.
00:11:53Like, they are abusive towards stand mixers.
00:11:56This is a public service announcement.
00:12:00Come on!
00:12:01Let's go!
00:12:02Pipe filling into my tubes.
00:12:07And it's calamari and calamari.
00:12:10Smart Chef.
00:12:11You just have to be really careful on the grill.
00:12:13Because the tubes can bust when they're stuffed.
00:12:15And then braising in her liquid.
00:12:17What was it braised in?
00:12:18Port, cognac, and red wine.
00:12:21With a little bit of veal stock.
00:12:23Are you a big fan of freeze-dried cranberries?
00:12:26Or did you just grab them?
00:12:27You know, I'm a big fan of freeze-dried fruit, period.
00:12:29Right.
00:12:30It's an easy way to add flavor without adding moisture.
00:12:32It makes a great powder.
00:12:33Yeah.
00:12:34Cranberries, I think, are a beacon of the season.
00:12:36Like, when you start seeing cranberries, you're like,
00:12:38yes, it's the holidays.
00:12:39However, incredibly tart.
00:12:41Cranberry likes friends.
00:12:43Chef, what's the plan with the white chocolate?
00:12:45I'm going to add the freeze-dried cranberry powder to it.
00:12:48I know I can quickly temper some white chocolate.
00:12:51Real pastry chef moves.
00:12:52Look at this.
00:12:53Woo!
00:12:54Woo!
00:12:55Chef, I'm grinding figs.
00:13:00Okay.
00:13:01I need to get these figs done.
00:13:03Sawyer needs some dried figs for his sauce, and I also need it for my caramel.
00:13:09So I'm just going to bang it out.
00:13:10The teamwork is, again, next to none.
00:13:13We're going to put a lot through that stand mixer, and it's going to start with the grinder.
00:13:17Yeah, we want the figs to bring some sweetness to it.
00:13:19The thing that I love about using the grinder is also you're cutting down the time that you need to sauté.
00:13:24Hey, is three garlics enough?
00:13:26No.
00:13:27No, okay.
00:13:28Hell no.
00:13:29I think it's a pretty exciting move to use tentacles as a grind to kind of simulate the meat in the bolognese.
00:13:34So it's kind of like the dark meat of the squid, as opposed to the tube or mantle.
00:13:38It's where you hang the stockings with care.
00:13:40Grinding cephalopods and shellfish is something I've always done.
00:13:46Or a pasta sauce, it's a great technique for you to use.
00:13:49I'm starting with my figs.
00:13:52Then I add all of my vegetables.
00:13:55Lastly, I'm adding in the calamari tentacles.
00:13:58Oh, it smells awesome.
00:13:59How much vodka makes it boozy?
00:14:01Half bottle?
00:14:02Nothing says boozy like someone who used to be boozy.
00:14:07Formerly boozy here.
00:14:08Quarter bottle?
00:14:09All to quarter.
00:14:10I think that looks good.
00:14:12Lord knows I know how to cook with booze.
00:14:15I haven't had a drink in 39 months and I'm pretty proud about it.
00:14:23This is just another opportunity for me to prove that I'm a better person I've ever been before.
00:14:27I love it.
00:14:29Figs and cranberries.
00:14:31Figs and cranberries.
00:14:32A little sweetness, yeah?
00:14:33Okay, here.
00:14:34Open your mouth.
00:14:35I'm not gonna add any more salt.
00:14:36Yeah.
00:14:37So good.
00:14:38All right, teams.
00:14:39You got 20 minutes.
00:14:4020 minutes to be plated.
00:14:42Savory and sweet.
00:14:43I'm gonna start getting my fig sauce going.
00:14:48I mean, it's supposed to be boozy.
00:14:50Essentially, I want like layers of alcohol red wine fig sauce.
00:14:55So it's a very kind of like Mediterranean feel.
00:14:58Love that.
00:14:59Boozy as anything.
00:15:02This is the mostarda.
00:15:03Yeah.
00:15:04Mostarda is kind of like a sweet sour condiment.
00:15:07And figs traditionally appear in mostarda.
00:15:10Rum, sugar, cranberries, mustard.
00:15:13Mostarda is also code word for like, whatever's in the pantry.
00:15:18Just has to have a little mustard.
00:15:20Great with upside down.
00:15:22Great with upside down.
00:15:23Not all the recipe.
00:15:25I remember my grandmother used to make that.
00:15:28What do you need?
00:15:29Is there another cutting board?
00:15:31Yes, right behind you.
00:15:32It's literally like...
00:15:33I heard, chef.
00:15:35Microplane?
00:15:37Up top.
00:15:38Up top.
00:15:39Behind.
00:15:41And this poor guy like doesn't know where anything is.
00:15:44Did you get more piping bags, Leigh?
00:15:46Did I get more what?
00:15:47Piping bags?
00:15:48Uh, no.
00:15:49They're over in the corner on the pastry shelf.
00:15:52Chef, we're on the clock here.
00:15:53Well, stressed is dessert spelled backwards.
00:15:57That is actually true.
00:16:00Oh, gosh.
00:16:01Seventeen minutes, guys.
00:16:03Seventeen.
00:16:04You're gonna cut noodles out of the lasagna sheets, chef.
00:16:06I think we are.
00:16:07Like tagliatelle?
00:16:08Thinner.
00:16:09I like it.
00:16:11I'm gonna run it through the pasta sheeter.
00:16:13Checking another box on sand mixer.
00:16:16And we wanna slice them about the exact same thickness
00:16:19as we're gonna slice those calamari tubes
00:16:21to make those two shapes really congruent
00:16:23so that way their textures can sort of complement each other.
00:16:26Love it.
00:16:27I'm Italian.
00:16:28Christmas Eve is our biggest day.
00:16:30Seven fish dinner.
00:16:31I do it every year with my dad's side of the family.
00:16:36Bourbon in the cranberry fig sauce
00:16:38because it's the holidays, baby.
00:16:40We gotta make this thing boozy.
00:16:44Oh, yeah.
00:16:46Brown sugar.
00:16:47Caramel.
00:16:49Mo' butter, mo' better.
00:16:55Sawyer.
00:16:56She's bad and boozy, baby.
00:16:57Bad and boozy.
00:16:59Seasoning, pasta water.
00:17:00Please.
00:17:01Done.
00:17:02Hands in every single pot.
00:17:03He's doing one thing.
00:17:04I'm doing another.
00:17:06Chef, are the tubes gonna get cooked in the vodka sauce?
00:17:08Yes.
00:17:09I've sliced those calamari tubes the same exact thickness as the pasta.
00:17:14Check that pasta.
00:17:15Check that pasta, yeah?
00:17:16It's in the sauce.
00:17:17In the sauce.
00:17:18Let's go!
00:17:20I really gotta make sure I focus on the second usage of the tentacles, which is gonna be a crispy fried garnish on top.
00:17:27Nothing says Christmas like the gift of the TOC title.
00:17:31I think winning together would just mean the absolute world to me.
00:17:35Since it's the holidays, we have even more surprises under the tree, including a special golden gift for the team with the highest score in the first round.
00:17:46Right now, the score to beat is 87.
00:17:48Ten minutes, Chef.
00:17:49Ten minutes hurt.
00:17:50All right, Chef.
00:17:51It's a lot of movement.
00:17:52It feels like being at my house during the holidays and everyone's fighting, but I think I've got it under control.
00:17:58We've cooked together many, many times, but trying to figure out who's going where and where everything's going, and then having two mixers side by side, it's a difficult dance.
00:18:09Making a whipped cream. A lot going on right now.
00:18:14Sorry. I'm good. Um, move anything. I'm just whipping.
00:18:19So I decided to make this kind of quick mousse.
00:18:22I add a little bit of balsamic vinegar and almond liqueur and a little bit more rum to really jack it up.
00:18:30I love this man, and I'm just so happy to be with him and cooking by his side.
00:18:35It's really nice to spend time together, but you know what's nicer?
00:18:40Winning. Winning.
00:18:42Four and a half minutes and you must be plated.
00:18:46Cakes are out.
00:18:48They are finally done. Cakes spring back when I tap them.
00:18:52They're nice and boinky.
00:18:54Hot, hot, hot behind.
00:18:56Boinky is a technical pastry term, by the way.
00:18:58Flip them out onto the plates, spoon the mostarda onto the warm cranberry cakes.
00:19:03Amaretto mousse.
00:19:06Break the cranberry chocolate, throw some on top of the mousse, throw some on top of the cake.
00:19:13I take my calamari, line them up three on the plate, and I spoon my fig sauce around my salad.
00:19:20It's going to go right on top of my squid.
00:19:23Two minutes. Two to go.
00:19:25I am going to start plating my dessert.
00:19:28Red on green, baby, that's so holiday.
00:19:31I put my three dollops, different sizes of the cheesecake mixture.
00:19:36I'm putting my cranberries throughout, making sure that there's a lot of whole berries.
00:19:40I'm putting all of my crunchies, and then I want to garnish everything and anoint it with that beautiful fig caramel bourbon sauce.
00:19:47It's the holidays. If there's ever an excuse to indulge in your sweet tooth, it's right now.
00:19:52And I think the great thing about our team is that we're taking turns, making sure it all lands to the plate, right?
00:19:58Put the utensils up there, put the pasta up there, you start to twirl, it's time for me to go.
00:20:02Oregano, fresh herbs, calamari bits, over the top, one more dusting of that bread crumb.
00:20:08We're garnishing each other's plates. This is the dream team, baby.
00:20:11Five, four, three, two, one.
00:20:15Five, four, three, two, one.
00:20:16That's it, we're done!
00:20:21Back to your trailers, and the Santa judges are going to show up and do their magic.
00:20:25Thank you very much.
00:20:26So much.
00:20:29That was a cook.
00:20:31Man, I'm feeling crazy.
00:20:34That was hard.
00:20:35That was brutal.
00:20:38Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
00:20:39Our judges have been patiently waiting in their trailer, signing Christmas cards,
00:20:42and I really do hope I'm going to get one this year.
00:20:45Let's meet them.
00:20:47Give me someone Italian.
00:20:48First, the winner of the James Beard Awards for Rising Star Chef and Outstanding Pastry Chef.
00:20:54Now, you may have seen her appearance as herself on the bear.
00:20:57No!
00:20:58The one and only Chef Christina Tosi.
00:21:03Let's go!
00:21:04James Beard Award-winning chef and Emmy Award-winning culinary host, famed for her Latin flavors.
00:21:12Oh, this is a spicy one.
00:21:13The one and only Chef Michelle Bernstein.
00:21:19Woo!
00:21:21She's going to love the pasta.
00:21:24And finally, Michelin-starred restaurateur, esteemed shop judge, and legendary Iron Chef,
00:21:29the one, the only, wait, he's just getting done working out.
00:21:33Chef Jeffrey Zakarian.
00:21:38Oh, no.
00:21:40Tough panel.
00:21:41Oh, my God.
00:21:42Wow.
00:21:44Tonight, in the savory category, the chef was given calamari tubes and tentacles.
00:21:50The sweet category used cranberries.
00:21:52Both dishes needed to use a stand mixer.
00:21:54The style tonight is boozy, and the wild card ingredient is dried figs.
00:22:01And here is the ambassador herself, TOC3 champ, Chef Tiffany Faison.
00:22:06Chef, may I present to you two holiday-worthy dishes.
00:22:10On your right, you have your favorite course.
00:22:13Boozy braised squid.
00:22:15The farce in the squid was made with induya, mission, and Turkish dried figs.
00:22:19The farce was then whipped in the stand mixer, and then it was stuffed into the tubes.
00:22:25The calamari was then grilled and braised in a boozy trio of red wine, port, and cognac with braised figs.
00:22:32They haven't stopped eating.
00:22:33That always scares me.
00:22:35Moving you along to your amaretto brown sugar cake.
00:22:38Sugared cranberries were put in the bottom of the cake, and the cake was emulsified in the stand mixer, and then baked to perfection.
00:22:45In front of the cake, you have an amaretto rum mousse that was also whipped in the stand mixer.
00:22:50The sauce is a cranberry rum fig mostarda sauce.
00:22:53Freeze-dried cranberries were worked into the tuile that is both on the cake and also on your mousse.
00:23:00I'm so nervous. I'm gonna cry.
00:23:03The way that they use the randomizer, it's really cool, especially having the cranberries and then the figs.
00:23:09It's a lot, right? And it could have ended up really sweet, but it didn't, which I really appreciate.
00:23:14So smart.
00:23:15The red wine reduction could have been a little more reduced just because it does have a little bit of that alcohol wine-y quality to it, but it is boozy.
00:23:24It's boozy!
00:23:26Moving over to this pastry, the almond with the fig and then the cranberry and the white chocolate, it's just really smart.
00:23:33This is so clever and so delicious because it totally cut the sweetness of the white chocolate, and it really tastes like a cranberry.
00:23:41Cranberries taste like cranberries!
00:23:43But I think that I'm missing a little bit of booziness.
00:23:46Try the mousse, girl.
00:23:48I love garlic, I love anduja, and I love calamari. So I think it's a perfect bite. I love the figs, I love the red wine reduction. I need some acid here. I would love a vinegar. Overall, really lovely flavors and a great presentation.
00:24:03The cake, I love the flavor. It really is Christmas, holiday, a great use of cranberries, which I'm a big fan of, and I agree that it needs booze.
00:24:10Eat the cream!
00:24:12Eat the cream!
00:24:14I'd say take a big spoonful of the beautiful amaretto whipped cream below, because I had a bite of that and I was like, boozy.
00:24:21You're right, you're right.
00:24:23Yes!
00:24:25Eat the cream!
00:24:26I've stocked all three of your trailers with full bark, yeah.
00:24:31I've definitely hammered home the booze.
00:24:33The dish is very well executed. The calamari is cooked well, it is stuffed beautifully and evenly. I think their decision to keep the figs whole, dried, is tricky.
00:24:43Because it's a little grainy, it's a little gritty, and that is pulling away from the beautiful execution of the texture of the dish.
00:24:50The dessert is actually incredibly impressive. This is cranberry, it's fig, it's stand mixer, it's boozy.
00:24:57For 35 minutes as a pastry chef is not an easy feat.
00:25:00Yeah!
00:25:02We'll take it.
00:25:04A beautifully well-mixed cake. The reduction is just sticky and sweet enough in a way that you want on your holiday dessert.
00:25:12Bravissima.
00:25:14It's Zach Young. He nailed it.
00:25:15Yeah.
00:25:16Great judges, thank you very much. Two scorecards in front of you. We have 50 points available for each dish.
00:25:2325 points available for taste, 20 points available for the use of the randomizer, and 5 points available for the plating.
00:25:31I feel like I got okay spores.
00:25:35On the other hand, maybe you saved me, chef.
00:25:38Overall, they were like, nom nom nom nom nom nom nom.
00:25:40Let's bring out the second team's dish. Here to explain this fantastic dish is the wild card, Justin Warner.
00:25:47Judges, we'll start with the savory portion of these dishes.
00:25:51This is calamari a la vodka. The tubes you will find sent through the standing mixer grinder attachment to form a ragu.
00:25:58A bit of the fried tentacle on top. A heap and a helping of vodka is present in the sauce.
00:26:03In addition to that, some figs were ground into this as well.
00:26:05For the sweets, you have not your known as mascarpone cheesecake. The cranberries met their fate in a pan with white sugar, ground figs, and a big blast of bourbon.
00:26:15A stand mixer was used to grind those figs, also then to craft that whipped sort of cheesecake filling.
00:26:21Praying to the Christmas gods.
00:26:23Visually, both the sweet and the savory, and then the sort of like grandma's china that doesn't come out, it's like hanging on the wall.
00:26:29They both feel like Christmas. This is very Feast of the Seven Fishes.
00:26:34Yes!
00:26:36If you served this to my Italian Nona, she would not believe that someone made it in 35 minutes.
00:26:41The dessert, I think it was smart the way that they used the fig and the sweetness of the sauce.
00:26:46It's very focused, which I love.
00:26:48As a pastry chef, I would have taken it in this direction.
00:26:52I'm freaking out.
00:26:53I think it's cooked beautifully, and I love the rings of calamari that are in there. Really great. The vodka sauce, it's gonna sound strange. I think there's not enough vodka in this.
00:27:03Wow!
00:27:05But I think it's a really, really well done pasta.
00:27:08That was a gut punch.
00:27:10Over to the next course. Just need some more booze.
00:27:13I love figs on Middle Eastern. I have figs all the time. It's delicious, but it's not to me a dessert.
00:27:19He's getting some coal in his stocking.
00:27:22I think it's smart. I think it's well done. And I happen to love the fried crispy tentacles on the top.
00:27:28Mixed with the pasta, I think that it allows you to identify the calamari even more so.
00:27:32Is it a pasta dish, not a calamari dish?
00:27:35I do like the idea of it being like a cheesecake idea with the ricotta.
00:27:40All in all, I think it was really smart, and it was a really good use of the time that they had.
00:27:44I'm not, I'm not feeling good.
00:27:46Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it was delicious. It looked delicious.
00:27:50Great, judges. Thank you very much. Two dishes to score. 50 points available for each.
00:27:55I have no clue.
00:27:57It's anyone's game.
00:27:59It's the best team.
00:28:00Right. We are the best team.
00:28:01We are the best team. I love you so much.
00:28:03I love you.
00:28:05All right, chefs, they're ready for your scores around.
00:28:07Whoa.
00:28:09Let's go see. Let's go.
00:28:11Let's go ahead and bring our chefs back in.
00:28:13Chef Leanne.
00:28:18Chef Britt. Chef Jonathan.
00:28:23Killed it. You killed it. You killed it.
00:28:25I thought that was some fine cookery, and we have a three-point difference.
00:28:29Wow. Wow.
00:28:30One team scored a 37 out of 50 in savory, a 42 out of 50 in sweet for a score of 79.
00:28:42Wow.
00:28:43One team scored a 42 out of 50 in savory, a 40 out of 50 in sweet for a score of 82.
00:28:53Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the TOC all-star Christmas battle between Team Britt and Jonathan and Team Leanne and Zach is...
00:29:02Britt and Jonathan!
00:29:17I love you.
00:29:18Congratulations.
00:29:19I love you so much.
00:29:23I think you both did a fantastic job.
00:29:26I'm sorry this isn't going to go any further, but it sure was great to watch you two cook.
00:29:30I'll be back.
00:29:32Ladies and gentlemen, Leanne Wong, Zach Young.
00:29:38Be super randomizer.
00:29:39It was a beast of a randomizer.
00:29:40What did we say?
00:29:41What did we say?
00:29:42We're going to go rob a bank now.
00:29:47Did you think you'd won?
00:29:48No.
00:29:49No.
00:29:50I thought I was going home.
00:29:51You pulled it off and you looked great doing it.
00:29:52I just got to say for one second, that is the most vodka I've been near in 39 months.
00:30:01Love you.
00:30:02Love you.
00:30:03You have taken control of your life.
00:30:05You did it for yourself, your family, your kids, and look what it's done to your career.
00:30:10Well done.
00:30:11Let's take a look.
00:30:12Chet and Ashley, and that puts us in the quarterfinals with you two.
00:30:23Ashley is a pastry powerhouse.
00:30:25Our teamwork has never been better, and I think that's what's going to pull us through.
00:30:30Congratulations, Chef Britt, Chef Jonathan.
00:30:33Big win!
00:30:34Is this real life?
00:30:35Congratulations.
00:30:36Good to see you.
00:30:37Thank you so much.
00:30:38Happy birthday, buddy.
00:30:40So good to see you.
00:30:41I know you have some trepidations about your execution on dessert.
00:30:42I mean, I'm a chef.
00:30:43Of course.
00:30:44I'm not a pastry chef.
00:30:45Yeah.
00:30:46I don't do this every day.
00:30:47Right.
00:30:48But I can give you really good flavors.
00:30:49And then to take down Zach?
00:30:50I mean, he is a legend.
00:30:51Yeah.
00:30:52And so is Mama Wong.
00:30:53Ladies and gentlemen.
00:31:03Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to meet the teams that will battle for the final
00:31:07spot in the Great Eight?
00:31:10That's what I want to hear.
00:31:12From our A division, we have the number one seed team, Chef Monique Shohan and Chef Stephanie
00:31:18Izar.
00:31:19Their years of experience in the restaurant industry, combined with their long-time friendship,
00:31:24make them one of the teams to beat.
00:31:27Why are you all a team?
00:31:29Because we are fabulous.
00:31:31Top Chef, Iron Chef, the OG of competition is right next to me.
00:31:36And then we have Manit.
00:31:38Not only has won tournament champions once, but twice.
00:31:42We are the team to beat.
00:31:44We've been doing this for such a long time.
00:31:46Let's say in comparison to us, Kevin and Dale, they are newbies.
00:31:51We've got insane flavors, and our chemistry is incredible.
00:31:57Both Stephanie and I, we are incredible savory chefs, but we are also incredible pastry chefs.
00:32:03I am taking savory.
00:32:04I'm going to take sweet, and my number one goal is just don't let my partner Manit down.
00:32:09Our culinary language is the same, and our dance language is the same, right?
00:32:15They're going up against Chef Kevin Lee and Chef Dale Tallday.
00:32:19They're coming in at the number four seed.
00:32:21Since meeting on TOC 5, they've become fast friends.
00:32:25You know, we met in TOC Season 5, and when you see someone that has a little bit of you and them, you know, he's a little younger than me, we have a lot of similar POB.
00:32:35We're Asian Americans.
00:32:36So we've cooked together very recently at an event.
00:32:40It was amazing how much we really didn't have to communicate.
00:32:43We just really understand each other's food very well.
00:32:46I've taken down some big dragons in this arena before, so it's nothing new going against the number one seed for me.
00:32:52Anytime you're up against a two-time champ, an Iron Chef, you're going to be nervous, but Randomizer treats everybody the same.
00:32:59I'm going to tackle the sweet side, and then Kevin is going to tackle the savory side.
00:33:05Chef Dale over here has a lot of restaurants and never had a pastry chef.
00:33:09Chefs, they're ready for you.
00:33:10Let's go!
00:33:11We got this!
00:33:18Are you ready for the final first-round battle of our Christmas tournament?
00:33:23Give it to me!
00:33:24The Let's Light This Up!
00:33:26Kevin Lee is a successful restaurateur who has earned the title of Best Chef from the Oklahoma Gazette and was a James Beard semi-finalist this year for Best Chef Southwest.
00:33:44Now, Dale Talday was a James Beard nominee for Best Chef New York in 2022, and his restaurant, Goose Feather, was named Best New Restaurant by Esquire Magazine.
00:33:57Give it up, ladies and gentlemen, for the Dragon Slayer and the Boogeyman, Team Kevin and Dale!
00:34:04Let's go!
00:34:05Let's go!
00:34:06Come on!
00:34:07Merry Christmas!
00:34:08What was your handshake?
00:34:09You had some, what was this?
00:34:10Oh, we got you.
00:34:11Pepper grinder, salt, LeBron.
00:34:16You're going to need all of that and then some going against these opponents.
00:34:22Chef Monique Chauhan made her name in elite restaurants in New York and Chicago and Nashville.
00:34:29She was crowned TOC2 champ, and three years later came back and took the belt again, making her
00:34:35the best.
00:34:36You're going to need all of that and then some going against these opponents.
00:34:39Chef Monique Chauhan made her name in elite restaurants in New York and Chicago and Nashville.
00:34:44She was crowned TOC2 champ, and three years later came back and took the belt again, making her
00:34:51the winningest chef in TOC history.
00:34:56Her partner in crime, Chef Stephanie Izard, is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Great Lakes.
00:35:05And she is the only chef in history to hold the title of both Iron Chef and Top Chef.
00:35:11Make some noise for the Dancing Spice Queen and the GOAT, Team Monique and Stephanie!
00:35:18Powerhouse, Powerhouse, very scary.
00:35:34What do you think gentlemen?
00:35:35Up for the challenge.
00:35:36Up for the challenge.
00:35:37Let's go.
00:35:38Tough match, tough match.
00:35:39Well chefs, it's got to start with the randomizer.
00:35:42Let's take it this way.
00:35:43Let's go.
00:35:44The randomizer will determine the mandatory details of both of your dishes.
00:35:55The savory ingredient is for one dish.
00:35:57The sweet item is for the other dish.
00:36:00The equipment, the style, and the wild card, all of those are for both dishes.
00:36:05All right, let's get into this.
00:36:07Let's go for the savory.
00:36:08Let's go, Randall.
00:36:09For savory.
00:36:10Turkey breast.
00:36:11For sweet.
00:36:12Plums.
00:36:13Panini breast.
00:36:14Layered in chocolate orange.
00:36:15Wow.
00:36:16How do you feel?
00:36:17Good.
00:36:18Dale, you liar.
00:36:19I got my dad for Christmas and his birthday every year chocolate-covered orange peels.
00:36:36So you have some comfortable nature with that?
00:36:38I never liked them.
00:36:39That was the problem.
00:36:40Okay, good.
00:36:41That's good.
00:36:42Well, listen chefs, I'm going to give you two minutes right now to confer and discuss
00:36:46your menu.
00:36:47And right after that, it will launch into the 35 minutes you have to prepare your award-winning
00:36:53savory and sweet dish.
00:36:54And your two minutes starts now.
00:36:56Good luck.
00:36:57Okay.
00:36:58What do you think?
00:36:59Right.
00:37:00Sort of a butter pie with plum filling, if it's possible.
00:37:02I was thinking of a roulade.
00:37:03Do you think a roulade will be layered?
00:37:05Okay.
00:37:06Individually, we are really, really strong competitors.
00:37:09But together, I would suggest to the rest of the guys, you know what?
00:37:13Just go.
00:37:14Just go.
00:37:15We got this.
00:37:16We got this.
00:37:17Leftover.
00:37:18Leftover.
00:37:19I'm going to do a leftover.
00:37:20Then layer the sandwich and make it stack.
00:37:22Watch out!
00:37:23The boogeyman and the dragon slayer is coming.
00:37:26Then I'm going to do shaved ice, plums, grate the chocolate into there.
00:37:31The pressure's off of us.
00:37:32The pressure's not on the fourth seat.
00:37:33They're the ones who have the target on their back.
00:37:35We're the hungry kids that are trying to go after that.
00:37:37And that's what makes us dangerous.
00:37:39Three, two, one, and good luck.
00:37:44Oh!
00:37:45Seth Kevin has scored major upsets in the past.
00:37:47Will the dragon slaying duo take down two culinary giants?
00:37:51They're off to the races.
00:37:53Grab some plums for me also.
00:38:00Plums.
00:38:01Got it.
00:38:02The turkey breast, super popular as a Christmas dish.
00:38:06Plums.
00:38:07This is going to be a really fun one for them to work with.
00:38:10It's going to work into sauces, work into desserts.
00:38:12It'll be fantastic.
00:38:13The panini breast, this is working with heat and pressure.
00:38:17Remember, they've got to use it layered.
00:38:19This is really going to be a visual component.
00:38:22And chocolate orange, it's chocolate that is orange flavor.
00:38:26Oh!
00:38:27That's a whole different story.
00:38:30I know we got our headbands and wristbands on our Hawaiian shirts going on,
00:38:35but we're taking this tournament seriously and we're here to win.
00:38:39The plan of attack here is that I'm going to tackle the sweet side plums
00:38:44and that Kevin is going to tackle the turkey savory side.
00:38:47Chef Dale Tali here, he's been a great mentor.
00:38:50Chemistry wins championships and there is a great chemistry here.
00:38:53I mean, we went on vacation together with our families and our kids.
00:38:56That's how much this relationship has blossomed over like the last three years.
00:39:00It's good to have someone to lean on when you come to these things.
00:39:04You guys are working too fast. Chef, what's the plan here?
00:39:06I'm making a bingsu.
00:39:08Korean layered shaved ice.
00:39:10Got it.
00:39:11It's this dirt that Kevin and I have actually eaten together.
00:39:14For me, tradition is important because my parents are immigrants.
00:39:17They took a chance to come to America and if you keep food traditions alive,
00:39:21people will continue to understand what their culture is.
00:39:24And I want to keep that tradition alive. I want my kids to kind of see me doing it.
00:39:27First thing I need to do is get some plums roasting on the panini press
00:39:31so I can make plum liquid to freeze.
00:39:34Once my plums are roasted, I add it to my prune juice.
00:39:36Prunes are plums that are just dried.
00:39:39I had no idea a prune was a dried plum until now.
00:39:43What kind of knowledge the boogeyman has over here?
00:39:51Got a good game plan?
00:39:52I'll make a leftover turkey cutlet sandwich.
00:39:55Layer it with stuffing, some cranberry sauce.
00:39:58Make like a spiced chocolate gravy to dip it in.
00:40:01So my favorite thing to eat during the holidays is really making a sandwich out of the leftovers.
00:40:06What's more perfect than a sandwich when it comes to layer?
00:40:10You're literally stacking one thing after another.
00:40:12Sandwich in this round is the go-to move.
00:40:15You've got to cook turkey, make stuffing.
00:40:18That is a daunting task.
00:40:20I'm going to pound out the turkey breast and fry it to really get that nice crispy in there
00:40:24to speed up the process.
00:40:26I'm going to pound the thinly sliced turkey breast.
00:40:33I got my egg wash.
00:40:34Also adding the orange chocolate in there.
00:40:37Adding the chocolate is going to add a nice sweetness.
00:40:39Also going to add a nice zesty orange flavor.
00:40:43I'm quickly coating the turkey breast with some panko.
00:40:46I'm going to do a first fry on it to make sure I know I'm going to finish on time.
00:40:50And right before we plate, I'm going to drop it down for the second fry.
00:40:55The dancing spice queen over here, manhandling, ladyhandling some turkey breast.
00:41:00Have you seen the number of titles sitting over here?
00:41:02I mean, the best part is that we're going to have the biggest dance party to celebrate later.
00:41:06It's double the talent.
00:41:08It's double the dance.
00:41:09And double the celebration when we win.
00:41:12It's true.
00:41:13Turkey breast can be a little bit dry.
00:41:15It's a dense piece of protein.
00:41:17Plums with turkey breast, I think, works really well together.
00:41:20What's the plan, Monique?
00:41:21Almost like a turkey roulade.
00:41:23I always do a turkey in the holidays, and usually it is with an Indian flair.
00:41:27It's a tandoori turkey.
00:41:28Making the marinade right now for the turkey.
00:41:30For the turkey? Okay.
00:41:31Along with some plums, garam masala, ginger, curry powder, salt, and red Thai chili.
00:41:37And I put the chocolate orange in the marinade.
00:41:41Lots of depth of flavor.
00:41:42I love the use of the plum in there.
00:41:44There's no way we're not getting flavor on this station.
00:41:47This is panini turkey skin.
00:41:50I wonder if that can get it as crispy as you'd want it.
00:41:53It can take a long time.
00:41:55They have a lot more skin in the game.
00:41:56You know what I mean?
00:41:59How we doing, goat?
00:42:01Good.
00:42:02I'm trying to make this butter pie, grape cracker crust.
00:42:05Sweet lands on plums.
00:42:06Plums are full of acidity.
00:42:08They've got sweetness.
00:42:10I'm thinking holiday pie layered.
00:42:12Sort of a butter pie with plum filling.
00:42:15To make the filling, add in the egg, add in the cream.
00:42:19And when it's baked, it's sticky, gooey.
00:42:22And nothing says the holidays like a pie.
00:42:25Exactly.
00:42:26That's it.
00:42:27Do you need anything?
00:42:28I don't think so.
00:42:29I'm trying to make these little crusts real quick with some plums inside.
00:42:32Yes, chocolate orange.
00:42:34Is it hollow?
00:42:36There you go.
00:42:38Well, that's satisfying.
00:42:40This is just going to be a super quick ganache.
00:42:46That's delicious.
00:42:48What is this roulade going to be?
00:42:50I marinated it in a plum and an orange chocolate marinade.
00:42:54And then I am going to roll it up.
00:42:56We do not want boring turkey because turkey is already boring by itself.
00:43:00Primary turkey that I'm excited to eat.
00:43:0320 minutes, chefs.
00:43:0520 to have both dishes plated.
00:43:0720 to go.
00:43:08Next, I make the filling for the turkey roulade.
00:43:14Plums, pistachios, cream cheese, sage.
00:43:16Sage, yeah.
00:43:17I've also put the chocolate orange in the stuffing.
00:43:20The cream cheese is really going to add fat and give it the turkey, which is always so dry.
00:43:25Some lusciousness.
00:43:27Mini, how are you feeling?
00:43:28I think okay, Stephanie.
00:43:30I feel like I maybe put an extra egg or something's going wrong.
00:43:38My butter pie filling is, like, completely broken.
00:43:41Pie filling is, like, broken looking.
00:43:42Put it in the KitchenAid.
00:43:44I've tried the whisk.
00:43:45I've tried the mixer.
00:43:46I've tried the blender.
00:43:47This filling is just fully broken.
00:43:50This isn't going to work.
00:43:52Seth, did you buzz out that butter filling?
00:43:55It just looks broken.
00:43:57I just feel like I'm going down in flames because it's, like, my worst Christmas nightmare is to let you down.
00:44:03I'm struggling to eat.
00:44:04I'm not going to lie.
00:44:09Sixteen and a half, Seth.
00:44:10I feel like I should just be pleased and make a decision after that.
00:44:13I need to take a moment to just regain composure, and my thought process always is, when you need to pivot, just keep cooking.
00:44:21It's okay.
00:44:22You got it.
00:44:23It's okay.
00:44:24We got this.
00:44:25I have something in the oven.
00:44:26Remind me in a couple minutes.
00:44:28Goat, how we doing?
00:44:29I've been better.
00:44:30How are you doing?
00:44:32I look at Mineet.
00:44:33She's got all this stuff going on, and my thought is, like, how do I pivot?
00:44:37Seth, what's the pivot?
00:44:39Ice cream, maybe?
00:44:40Okay.
00:44:41I go from trying to make a pie filling that doesn't work to deciding to make an ice cream, because pie not a la mode, why eat pie?
00:44:47I agree.
00:44:48Chocolate orange ice cream?
00:44:49Yeah.
00:44:50Love it.
00:44:51Then some orange zest and a little bit of orange juice.
00:44:53Cook the egg yolks just enough.
00:44:55Is this not what you think when you have 15 minutes in your life?
00:44:57I think I'll just make an ice cream.
00:44:58Only if you're Stephanie.
00:45:00Okay, I'm going into the ice cream maker.
00:45:07Go like this.
00:45:11That's nuts.
00:45:12That's actually good.
00:45:13It's orangey, but it's not really polarizing orangey.
00:45:19Let's talk about something that's on my Christmas list.
00:45:22This little snow maker.
00:45:24Chef, do you want to build a snowman?
00:45:26Yes.
00:45:27Chef Dale's seemingly no stranger to this sort of machine.
00:45:29He's doing all the right stuff here.
00:45:31Making sure he's got the right amount of sugar so this stuff doesn't freeze like jagged ice crystals.
00:45:35Have you used this before?
00:45:37Oui, Chef.
00:45:38I have one at my restaurant.
00:45:40It's amazing.
00:45:41We have this beautiful machine here that can take fruit, puree, and make a shaved ice dessert.
00:45:47Shaves it nice and fine and thin.
00:45:49And let the shaved ice thing do what it needs to do and keep it moving.
00:45:54Seems like it's maybe this liquid is not chilled enough.
00:45:57Right.
00:45:58Because you see it kind of melting off of it.
00:46:00Yeah.
00:46:01The blade, it's supposed to shave it.
00:46:02It's actually just dumping just ice.
00:46:05And I don't have the time to adjust it, but it's just turning into goop.
00:46:08I don't have my sea legs underneath me right now.
00:46:10The pressure comes fast and furious, even though it is the Christmas edition.
00:46:16Smart little insurance policy here.
00:46:18He's got a vein of liquid nitrogen going underneath.
00:46:21It's making a slow stream of stuff.
00:46:24Being a chef is being flexible.
00:46:26You have to be able to pivot and you have to do it quickly.
00:46:29If you've ever been to the mall and you've had the ice cream of the future, Dale just made it on a microscopic level.
00:46:35Kevin, you good?
00:46:36I'm good.
00:46:38For my stuffing, I'm adding all the aromatics of the holidays, like rosemary, sage, thyme.
00:46:43I'm deglazing with some chicken stock and adding the sourdough croutons, tossing them together,
00:46:48throwing it in the oven to make sure that gets nice and moist stuffing for my perfect sandwich.
00:46:54What's the plan with brown sugar and butter, chef?
00:46:56Making a little orange chocolate bark.
00:46:58This is a real homey thyme kind of dessert.
00:47:01Like, my friend's wife makes this kind of bark.
00:47:05So I'm taking crackers, butter, sugar, and the chocolate will go inside there.
00:47:09Chocolate orange, I had no idea what that was.
00:47:12Of course, Mr. Encyclopedia of Culinary over here knew exactly what it was.
00:47:16You go to grandma's house and that chocolate orange has been there for maybe five or six years,
00:47:20or she just got it like, you know, yesterday. You don't know.
00:47:23I also zest some oranges on top of it to reinforce that orange flavor.
00:47:31The turkey skin just came off the panini press and has gone into the pan with some plums.
00:47:35I make a plum chutney. I let the turkey skin render. Then I put some plums in it and just let that reduce.
00:47:42That's what the turkey skin in the pan was.
00:47:44Uh-huh.
00:47:45Yeah.
00:47:46It's going to be served on a chorizo stuffing.
00:47:51Put some raw plums so that there is some of that freshness which comes through with the bread.
00:47:58Grill on the panini press.
00:47:59Panini press.
00:48:00Chef, you need to cook the roulade in the panini press.
00:48:06Cook through, Chef?
00:48:07No.
00:48:08It's raw in the center, so it's now going to the deep fire.
00:48:11And with very little time, like 12 minutes left.
00:48:16I keep saying this to myself with everything that I'm doing.
00:48:18Maybe I shouldn't do this.
00:48:19Maybe you should, though.
00:48:20Maybe I shouldn't do this.
00:48:21But maybe you should.
00:48:22So once I make the ice cream, now I've got the layers.
00:48:24I've got graham cracker crust. I've got plum on the inside for tart.
00:48:27So we've got a pie.
00:48:29And then we have the ganache sitting on top.
00:48:31I think if I add this ice cream, I can add a little bit of marshmallow
00:48:35and then another graham cracker on top that's cooked in the panini press.
00:48:39It appears I have made a delicious layered s'mores pie.
00:48:43And I think, why don't I just make an Italian meringue,
00:48:45which basically is a marshmallow, it's not set.
00:48:48Because why not?
00:48:50How do we look, Stephanie?
00:48:52I look okay.
00:48:53Good.
00:48:54How do you look?
00:48:55I always look fabulous.
00:48:56Ten minutes to go.
00:48:59Ice cream?
00:49:00Check it.
00:49:01It's the testament of this teamwork.
00:49:04That's what it's all about.
00:49:05Supporting each other when you need help.
00:49:09It's not really working out the way I need it to.
00:49:11Just tossing stuff.
00:49:12Basically, I'm just going to have to take the ice out of this liquid nitrogen,
00:49:15put it in a food processor, and blend it.
00:49:18I want fluffy snow.
00:49:21When you're a four seed, it's the best position to be in.
00:49:25Because no one expects you to win, right?
00:49:27We've got the two-time champ.
00:49:28We've got an Iron Chef to go up against us.
00:49:30There's no pressure on us.
00:49:31The pressure's on them.
00:49:32What's the holiday leftover sandwich without a cranberry sauce?
00:49:36Grabbing the frozen cranberries.
00:49:38I'm adding orange juice, a little bit of sugar.
00:49:41You still have some chocolate orange I can use?
00:49:42Yeah, get this chocolate in your cranberry sauce, bro.
00:49:45Now I'm using that orange chocolate to reinforce that chocolate flavor.
00:49:50Put that.
00:49:51Chef, what do you got in here?
00:49:53Gravy?
00:49:54Gravy sauce made with chocolate and some chilis.
00:49:57For a holiday turkey leftover sandwich, you need a nice grape to dip it in.
00:50:07What's going on here?
00:50:08Cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.
00:50:10Mascarpone.
00:50:11Yeah, like a light, airy mousse, so I can layer it.
00:50:14And I just get it whipping in a stand mixer to get it nice and fluffy.
00:50:17How are you doing on time?
00:50:18Start building my sandwich.
00:50:20Turkey cranberry sauce, proper amount of stuffing, and pressing it in that panini press nice and crispy and have the nice ridges.
00:50:29So when you dip it in that chili chocolate gravy, it picks up all the sauce to make that perfect moist holiday turkey leftover sandwich.
00:50:37We got it, baby!
00:50:39Five minutes left.
00:50:42Five minutes left for the competition.
00:50:47To plate my turkey leftover sandwich, I have my sandwich cut in half.
00:50:52And on the top of the sandwich, I'm garnishing with some extra cranberries and some fried sage to really reinforce the holiday season.
00:51:00Then I'm gonna put the chocolate gravy and a little small cup on the side for dipping of the sandwich.
00:51:08It worked.
00:51:11Four minutes, chef. How are you feeling?
00:51:12It's good. Really good.
00:51:14So I have these beautiful little coupe glasses that I'm ready to plate, and I just start layering.
00:51:18Plums, the orange chocolate bar, mascarpone cream.
00:51:22Layer it up!
00:51:23Plum, ice, and then repeat.
00:51:25Just keep building this thing up and up and up.
00:51:27I'm hoping the judges just understand this dessert.
00:51:32I know it's not traditional, and I know it's a little out of the box, but that's my food.
00:51:38How much time?
00:51:40Three minutes.
00:51:41I take the roulade out of the fryer. It's evenly cooked.
00:51:44I actually am really happy because I know that this is delicious because I've tasted each and every component.
00:51:49I put the stuffing at the bottom, put the turkey roulade right on top of it.
00:51:54A little bit of the cream cheese filling right on top.
00:51:58A little bit of the chutney and that crispy, crispy turkey skin that looked so good.
00:52:04Sprinkle it with some of the rosemary. It's almost like a confetti.
00:52:10One minute to go.
00:52:12So I put the little pie into the bottom, try to leave it as in layers as possible.
00:52:17It's got the ice cream on top.
00:52:18Then I take some of my Italian meringue that's just been finished so that I can scoop it out, torch it, and it's like a marshmallow on a spoon.
00:52:25I don't know who the judges are, but I'm just hoping that at least one of them appreciates a dessert that isn't necessarily a showstopper in its presentation, but you take a bite of it and you just can't stop taking more bits.
00:52:41One, four, three, two, one.
00:52:45Stop!
00:52:50Go!
00:52:51This is the chaos of Christmas morning.
00:52:54That's exactly what this was.
00:52:57Great job, both teams.
00:52:58Thank you so much.
00:53:00We're getting the judges.
00:53:01We got the work cut out for them, for sure.
00:53:07Oh!
00:53:09It looked great.
00:53:10It tasted absolutely fantastic.
00:53:12It tasted good.
00:53:13The ice cream's good.
00:53:14There's chocolate in that.
00:53:15We didn't have to talk a lot.
00:53:16We knew what we were doing.
00:53:17I think that's what happens when you have really good chemistry between two people.
00:53:20Five minutes after you walk out of there, you have, like, five ideas that are better.
00:53:22Yeah.
00:53:23Or I do.
00:53:24It is what it is.
00:53:25It is what it is.
00:53:26Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back our judges, Chef Christina Tosi, Chef Michelle Bernstein, and Chef Jeffrey Sicarian.
00:53:33Christina Tosi likes casual and malicious.
00:53:36Oh, my God.
00:53:37Michelle, we used to have a restaurant in the same hotel.
00:53:39Okay.
00:53:40Jeffrey Sicarian, a very fair judge, right?
00:53:42Yeah.
00:53:43That's a powerhouse, huh?
00:53:44Well, you should have seen what was going on here.
00:53:47Tonight, the lovely randomizer served up in savory turkey breast, in sweet plums, the panini press, style was to be layered, and the wild card ingredient, chocolate orange.
00:54:01Here to explain this fantastic dish is the wild card, Justin Warner.
00:54:05For your savory course, we have a Black Friday sandwich with a chocolate-infused gravy for dipping.
00:54:12In the very center of this layered contraption, you will find the turkey breast, which has been fried.
00:54:17The panini press was utilized to craft the sandwich.
00:54:20Now that gravy, it's been finished with that chocolate orange.
00:54:23Onto the sweets, this is a frozen plum trifle with an orange chocolate and buttercracker bark.
00:54:30The plums were panini-fied.
00:54:32The layers are as such, fresh plum, mascarpone cream, the pulverized frozen plum, orange chocolate chunks, and orange chocolate bark.
00:54:40Dip.
00:54:41Dip.
00:54:42You got to dip.
00:54:43Dip it.
00:54:44Judges, I want to remind you the chef's intention was for you to pick the sandwich up and dip it into the gravy.
00:54:49There we go.
00:54:51Nice.
00:54:52Such a more fulfilling bite.
00:54:55This is a beautiful celebration of leftovers.
00:54:58Look at those beautiful layers.
00:55:00Come on.
00:55:01We love that.
00:55:02I love the turkey being breaded.
00:55:05I love the gravy as the dipping.
00:55:07I don't know that I'm getting any chocolate orange.
00:55:09I think it was really brilliant to make a milanes out of the turkey.
00:55:14Really, really smart.
00:55:17I mean, they did a beautiful job with the panini press.
00:55:19I don't know if I needed the gravy with it.
00:55:21I agree, a milanes is a great way to treat it.
00:55:24This is like a Thanksgiving, Christmas gift package.
00:55:27I love the panini.
00:55:28But it's unfortunately dry.
00:55:30I don't taste the chocolate orange, but I love the concept.
00:55:33Creativity is off the charts.
00:55:34The dessert.
00:55:35Check.
00:55:36We got the layers.
00:55:37I don't know about the panini press on the plum.
00:55:40Is it my favorite dessert?
00:55:41No.
00:55:42Do I think it's a nice execution?
00:55:44Yeah.
00:55:45I'm not really sure what I'm eating.
00:55:47But it's fun to eat.
00:55:49I do love when I find a little something tart and a little something sweet and a little crisp and then creaminess with the chocolate orange.
00:55:55It's definitely like a treasure hunt.
00:55:57This is Willy Wonka.
00:55:59It's a beautiful presentation.
00:56:02But the problem with it is it's one texture.
00:56:04It's all frozen.
00:56:05But it is fun.
00:56:06Judges, thank you very much.
00:56:09Let's go to the scoring card.
00:56:1050 points available for each dish, 25 available in taste, 20 in the use of the randomizer, and 5 points for plating.
00:56:19That was a rough one.
00:56:20But you know what?
00:56:21I feel like I just don't understand what we're doing.
00:56:25Sometimes, culturally, I think, if you had never had something like a shaved ice dessert, which we grew up eating that, then it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to some people.
00:56:33That's hard, because honestly, like, each of the three judges seem to have a very different opinion.
00:56:37I am not worried about your dessert. I'm worried about my dish.
00:56:40It looked like a Christmas tree. Like, looks like your earrings on a plate made out of turkey.
00:56:46All right, here we are for the second team's dishes. And to present that to you is Chef Tiffany.
00:56:50We have a layered plum and chocolate orange marinated turkey breast roulade grilled on the panini press.
00:56:57This was layered on a stuffing of panini press grilled ciabatta that was sautéed with spicy chorizo, plum, rosemary, and pistachios.
00:57:05We then have a panini grilled turkey skin and plum chutney.
00:57:09And finally, this is layered with a grilled panini-style grilled turkey skin.
00:57:14On the left side, we have a layered plum and orange chocolate s'more.
00:57:18We have butter-roasted plums. We then have an orange chocolate ganache and freshly made meringue,
00:57:23finished with the roasted plum sauce, and a little bit of the chocolate orange ice cream.
00:57:27The turkey roulade is definitely layered. It's very hard to do this kind of thing,
00:57:32because it's a lot of cooking, but they got it right. And you can see how beautifully moist it is inside.
00:57:37But it definitely needs an acid, and it needs salt and pepper, like basic stuff. It's really an oversight.
00:57:42I do get enough saltiness, personally. It's a little messy because of the raw big chunks of plums.
00:57:48Oh, gosh. It maybe could have been a little cleaner.
00:57:51I thought the spiced skin was actually really well executed.
00:57:55I'm shocked at how this chef did so many things in the amount of time that they had.
00:58:00I'm with you. I loved the stuffing of it. There was layering. I did not like the cream cheese topping.
00:58:06I don't want cream cheese anywhere near this dish. Is the orange chocolate here? Isn't it here? I don't know.
00:58:11There's a little bit of clumsiness here, but overall, this dish was delicious.
00:58:15The fact that your turkey was cooked perfectly is pretty freaking impressive. And you did like 25,000 things on that plate.
00:58:22This is probably the best thing I've eaten today. Chocolate and orange with meringue goes delicious.
00:58:28So I really like this dessert a lot. And I think it's very playful and beautiful and simple, but it's very understandable.
00:58:34The fact that they made the ganache, you know, with the chocolate orange and the ice cream and even the spice on the crisp is great.
00:58:40But I just need like something to cut through a bit of that sweetness. I just feel like it was sweet on sweet on sweet.
00:58:47This chef really leaned into the chocolate orange of it.
00:58:50I like that. This plum's really like the sweet flavor here.
00:58:53It's not the star of this dessert, but it's layered. It checks all. I'm going to keep eating it because it's very delicious.
00:59:00Come on. Come on.
00:59:01All right, judges. Thank you very much. Let's go to the scoring card.
00:59:04That was amazing. If we go, it's going to be because of my messy, this thing.
00:59:08I'm proud of what we did and we're drinking something like bubbles after done.
00:59:13No questions about it.
00:59:14I feel like Kevin got the upper hand on the savory and then I feel like Stephanie might have got the upper hand on dessert.
00:59:20We put up a fight, right? And now at this point, I feel like it's a toss up.
00:59:25Cooked our heart out. That's all you can say.
00:59:27All right, judges, you've been fantastic, entertaining. Thank you very much for an awesome job. Good night.
00:59:32Well done. Let's go.
00:59:37Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
00:59:40Ladies and gentlemen, time to welcome the chefs back. I've got the scores. We've got the totals.
00:59:45Let's bring them back in. Chef Kevin. Chef Dale. Chef Monique. Chef Stephanie.
00:59:51Well, well, well. Dancing Spice Queen and the Goat.
00:59:59Boogeyman and the Dragon Slayer. One team scored a 41 out of 50 in savory, a 36 out of 50 in sweet for a total of 77.
01:00:12We have a three-point difference. The winner in the battle between Team Monique and Stephanie and Team Kevin and Dale is...
01:00:30Kevin and Dale!
01:00:40Kevin and Dale!
01:00:45What?
01:00:48Well done. Congratulations.
01:00:51Congratulations. Well done. Congratulations.
01:00:55Chefs, I will say you're a dynamic duo. It was wonderful to watch you compete. I'm sorry we're saying goodbye.
01:01:02We need to give other kids a chance also. That is the benevolent one that you are sharing during the holidays giving to others.
01:01:09I know!
01:01:10Thank you so much.
01:01:11Thank you. Good job.
01:01:12Iron Chef.
01:01:13POC champ. Thank you very much.
01:01:16Okay. Come on.
01:01:21I wish I could go back and like do things, yeah, with more finesse.
01:01:23Yeah.
01:01:24Is it done? Where's the wine?
01:01:26Yeah.
01:01:27Aww.
01:01:29The only thing I'm sad about is that we won't be cooking more.
01:01:31I know.
01:01:32And we have so many cute shirts.
01:01:33I know. It's true.
01:01:34I know.
01:01:35Ooh, baby.
01:01:36Gentlemen, one thing you do not lack and that is enthusiasm, creativity, dynamite teamwork.
01:01:42This is the only upset that has happened in the competition the entire time.
01:01:48Yeah!
01:01:49A big win and you're going to the great eight.
01:01:51Yeah!
01:01:52Let's go!
01:01:53Let's go!
01:01:54Chef Kevin, Chef Dale, big win tonight.
01:01:57Yeah!
01:01:58Let's go!
01:01:59That was wild. What an upset.
01:02:05You know, at some point you got to take a loss, so why would it not be us?
01:02:08So clearly his dragon slain capability is rubbing off on you now.
01:02:11Hey, I'll take it.
01:02:12That's team chemistry right there.
01:02:14Trusting each other and working together as a team and that's how we got the W.
01:02:18Congratulations, guys. Good luck in the next round.
01:02:20Good job.
01:02:21Thanks, bud.
01:02:22The final two sweet and savory super duos have taken their place in our quarterfinal brackets.
01:02:27Join us next time when the great eight teams of elite chefs return to the TOC Arena.
01:02:32Yee-hoo!
01:02:33I'm definitely behind.
01:02:35This is a one-point difference.
01:02:39And continue their Christmas quest to take their division and go on to win the championship.
01:02:44This is what TOC holiday dreams are made of.
01:02:47Let's go!
01:02:48See you next week.
01:02:49Adios!
01:02:50See you next week.
01:02:51Adios!
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