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00:00Tonight, on Cutthroat Kitchen,
00:03one chef reaps a whirlwind of cash.
00:07Come here. Come here.
00:10I have $100,000 of cold, hard cash.
00:14Four chefs get $25,000 each.
00:17If they want to leave this kitchen, any of the cash,
00:20you have to survive three culinary challenges...
00:23Get out of the way!
00:24...and each other.
00:26It's a game we like to call...
00:28It's alive!
00:30Cutthroat Kitchen.
00:35Mario Batali called me once his shoe's back.
00:38Hey, you know what? He made it look good,
00:39but I make it look better.
00:40Whatever you tell yourself.
00:43Hi, chefs. Welcome to Cutthroat Kitchen.
00:45Look, we got a really busy day,
00:47so let's not beat around the bush with niceties.
00:49You know how this game works, right?
00:51In this case, you know what I got.
00:53$100,000 cold, hard cash.
00:55Each of you will receive $25,000, two bundles.
00:58However, you will only walk out of here with the money you have remaining.
01:02Chefs, take your money, please.
01:04Two bundles, ma'am.
01:05I'm Chef Shanti, and I'm a food stylist from Los Angeles, California.
01:09I'm here in Cutthroat Kitchen today to prove even cute girls know how to cook.
01:14Chef, two bundles.
01:15Sir.
01:15I'm Chef Johnny from San Francisco.
01:18My skills are unparalleled.
01:19I'm clearly the most cutthroat here.
01:21Chef, two bundles.
01:22I'm Chef Lynette, and I'm an executive pastry chef in Portland, Maine.
01:26Being a female chef in a male-dominated industry is a challenge, but I thrive on challenges.
01:31The last two.
01:32I'm Chef Joshua, and I am a gangsta chef.
01:35I mess with tools, I mess with fools, and I get it done.
01:39Let's get down to business.
01:40Round one.
01:41I'm going to give you half an hour to simply make a cocktail and an hors d'oeuvre.
01:46They must work together.
01:47You probably already know what you're doing.
01:49The question is, can you shop for it in 60 seconds?
01:51I don't know.
01:52Go.
01:54Welcome, one and all.
01:55Enjoy your time here.
01:56To make my hors d'oeuvre, I just want to keep it simple.
01:59I know that I need a base.
02:00I see figs.
02:01Great.
02:01I love figs.
02:02And then I saw the marsala, and I'm like, oh, that's going to work together.
02:0630 seconds remaining before these gates close.
02:08Once you get in that pantry, you forget everything.
02:11Mine goes blank.
02:12Just grabbing anything in sight.
02:14Micro basil, mushrooms, sake, campari, ginger beer, brandy.
02:20151 proof rum.
02:21Yes, please.
02:22Gates close in five, four, three, two, one.
02:30I look at my basket.
02:32I rubbed meat and cheese and bread.
02:34And I wish I would have rubbed, I don't know, everything else.
02:37What was I thinking?
02:39Now, we're going to move into the auction phase.
02:41Here we go.
02:44Chefs, don't you hate having to chase the trays of hors d'oeuvres and drinks at a party?
02:49So do I.
02:50That's the worst.
02:51There's something that you see that you know you want, and it comes by and you can't get at it.
02:55So here's the thing.
02:56Win this, ah, auction, and you can force two of your opponents to give up their baskets
03:02and use whatever they can grab from the trays as the bobs pass them.
03:07They'll never know when they're coming, and they won't know what is going to be on them.
03:11I'm bidding on this because, although I don't know what to do with my awful basket,
03:16I don't know what's coming on those trays.
03:18Who will give me $500 for this fantastic party favor?
03:21$500.
03:21Chef Shanti, do I hear $600?
03:23$2,000.
03:23$2,300.
03:24$3,000.
03:25$3,000.
03:26$3,000.
03:26$5,000.
03:27$7,000.
03:28I stopped bidding on this because Chef Shanti is going crazy.
03:33She's probably going to spend all her money right now.
03:35$7,200.
03:36$7,200.
03:37Now the high bid.
03:37$7,300.
03:38$7,300.
03:38$7,300.
03:40$7,300.
03:42Sold to Chef Shanti for $7,300.
03:44Bring me some money, ma'am.
03:45I stopped bidding because I didn't want to blow all of my money in the first round.
03:49You turn around, take a very good look at your opponents, examine their baskets, and
03:54decide who you will, uh, well, just say, throw under the bus.
04:01Don't be a mean girl, Shanti.
04:04Hmm, I think we'll take care of that.
04:06All right, all right, all right.
04:07Why is she coming after me?
04:08It's got to be the shoes.
04:10She's envious of my shoes.
04:15I choose Chef Johnny and Chef Joshua because I am sick of looking at their faces.
04:22Chef Joshua and, uh, Chef Johnny, if you don't like your current position, don't worry.
04:26Retribution is, uh, coming up right now.
04:30Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
04:32Oh, this reminds me.
04:35Oh, God.
04:36Feathers.
04:37See, I went out last night and I asked a Bob to go with me drinking to be my wingman,
04:43but I don't think he understood the concept.
04:46Bob?
04:47Oh.
04:47Yeah.
04:48Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
04:51So win this auction and you will live to see one chef wear these wings for the entire challenge.
04:59You know what they say, birds of the feather look stupid.
05:02That would be Armageddon.
05:05I'm already missing my basket and to have two arms bound?
05:08No.
05:09$1,500.
05:10$1,500.
05:10$3,000.
05:12$3,500.
05:13Chef Joshua, 35, you're here, 36.
05:15$4,000.
05:15$4,000.
05:16$4,000.
05:16$5,000.
05:18$5,000.
05:19$52.
05:19$7,000.
05:20$7,000.
05:21$8,000.
05:21$8,000.
05:22$8,000.
05:22Chef Joshua takes high bid.
05:23I stopped bidding because I already got one sabotage and I don't think another chef's
05:28going to stick me with a second.
05:30$8,000.
05:30$8,000.
05:31$8,000.
05:31$8,000.
05:32$9,000.
05:34Now the high bid to Chef Lynette.
05:35That's a lot of money.
05:36And this is the first round.
05:38$9,300.
05:39$9,300 to Chef Shanti.
05:41Do I hear $9,400?
05:41I stopped bidding because she's not going to give that to me.
05:44$9,300 once.
05:45$9,300 twice.
05:46Sold to Chef Shanti for $9,300.
05:49Shanti, look at this face.
05:50Do you want to hurt this face?
05:53Who wants this, you guys?
05:54You all look like butterflies and angels.
05:56I don't really look good in feathers.
05:58You do, though.
05:59Daddy don't want those.
06:01I love you.
06:02Daddy got them.
06:02Big kiss.
06:03And she does.
06:04She wants to hurt this face.
06:06This party just got a lot more interesting.
06:08I'm looking for a cocktail and an hors d'oeuvre.
06:10You've got 30 minutes starting now.
06:13Enjoy.
06:18Thanks to Chef Shanti.
06:19I'm stuck in this horrible situation.
06:21I have to put these wings on.
06:23I have zero ingredients.
06:25And...
06:26Oh, here we go.
06:27I see the bobs come through.
06:29Here, watch out there, bird man.
06:30These bobs are running around with food.
06:32I can't even tell what it is.
06:34I go swooping in like a big old feathered bird.
06:38Caw-caw!
06:39Caw!
06:40And I grab dried mangoes
06:42and a package of peanut butter crackers.
06:45Flying!
06:46I'm flying!
06:46I'm not feeling so hot right now.
06:48But if anybody can make this work, I can make it work.
06:52Shanti is, uh, making this pretty fun for me right now.
06:55Is Lecage Folle playing in town?
06:57I think he could maybe be part of that.
06:59Oh, it's so clever, so clever.
07:01I'm making stuffed figs with bacon and mascarpone.
07:06Beautiful figs.
07:07I need to cut up my figs.
07:08I need to get them seasoned.
07:09I need to get them on the grill.
07:10And then get my bacon in the pan.
07:12And I need to get that rendered out.
07:14I've got beautiful figs, nice bacon.
07:17I'm just gonna go with something really simple.
07:19Can you step away from me?
07:20You're gonna set me on fire.
07:22Ooh, what do we have?
07:23The next time I see those bobs, I'm flying.
07:26We are fighting for ingredients.
07:28Ooh, don't want to...
07:29But I have wings on.
07:31And Chef Johnny, he's just snatching pristine items.
07:35Take one of these for me.
07:36I get all the leftovers.
07:38And then I see...
07:39Oh, here we go.
07:40Rack of lamb.
07:42I could do amazing things with rack of lamb.
07:44Nice rack.
07:45Ah, this guy's killing me right now.
07:47We got Frankenstein with wings over there.
07:49Of course I'm gonna beat him to everything.
07:51I grabbed everything I possibly could,
07:53whether I needed it or not,
07:54just so Josh didn't get it.
07:56Nice.
07:57Looks like I got some ginger beer over here.
07:59Some chanterelles playing around.
08:01Oh, Shanti, thank you so much.
08:03You're welcome.
08:03How's it going?
08:04It's chanterelles season, baby.
08:06I'm gonna make a Moroccan-style lamb
08:08with a palm ginger fizz.
08:10You know, I'm just gonna go sip on the lamb
08:11with salt and pepper.
08:12Chanterelles, what more do you need to do to them
08:14than saute them in a little oiled salt and pepper?
08:16I'm just gonna saute the dates a little bit,
08:17warm them up, put a little harissa for some spice.
08:20No problemo.
08:22Hey, wait, you had some good stuff.
08:24Holy that was rude.
08:25So now I have to make a cocktail and hors d'oeuvres,
08:28and I really have no idea what I'm gonna do.
08:31I don't even know what I got.
08:33Good times.
08:34I shopped really random.
08:36I got, like, cheese and prosciutto
08:37and random, random things.
08:40So I have eggs and I have bread,
08:42and I'm thinking about making a soft-cooked egg
08:45with a little goat cheese toast to dip it in.
08:48So I grilled the bread, and then I mixed goat cheese,
08:52breer, sun-dried tomatoes, and rosemary.
08:55I hate rosemary.
08:59Caca, caca.
09:00So right now I'm looking at everything I have.
09:03I don't need any of this-ish.
09:05I'm going with that.
09:05Some dried product I don't really.
09:08I may be a little bit scared right now.
09:10Madonese.
09:11Thought that was something else.
09:12Eggs and crackers.
09:14That is amazing.
09:16Yeah.
09:17I am the worst wingman ever.
09:19Why did you let this happen to you, Chef?
09:21You know what?
09:21You did this to yourself by not bidding.
09:22I did judge myself.
09:23Why?
09:24I made a foolish mistake.
09:28Sweating bullets.
09:29Bye.
09:39I have no idea what's going on.
09:41My arms are bound apart.
09:43I have no basket.
09:45Somehow I'm supposed to fly over to these little bobs running around.
09:48But Chef Johnny is only leaving me sloppy seconds.
09:51We have Shanti to thank for all of this.
09:53I'm still trying to figure out what my appetizer is.
09:55Club soda.
09:56Oh.
09:57But I also still have a cocktail that I need to make.
09:59So she took my basket and put the wings on.
10:01That means someone is scared.
10:03Right, Shanti?
10:04You scared?
10:05No.
10:05I just wanted to see you fly away.
10:07I'm so clever.
10:10But I really grabbed, like, the worst things ever.
10:12So I'm making my goat cheese, sundry tomato toast.
10:15And then I want to make a three-minute egg.
10:17But I don't want to do it too soon.
10:19How much time do we have?
10:20You've got 13 minutes.
10:21Because I don't want to overcook it.
10:23So I'm going to make a cocktail.
10:24I have the most random ingredients,
10:26because I clearly didn't plan it out very well.
10:29So I have orange liqueur, ginger beer, vodka, tonic, some weird cherries.
10:34And I'm just going to mix it all together and keep my fingers crossed.
10:38Woo!
10:38But it is so strong, it kind of takes my breath away.
10:41So I'm just thinking I'll just, you know, add some more tonic.
10:46What can I do at this point?
10:47Everything with a full basket.
10:49The next time I go up to find the bobs, I'm swooping in.
10:52Flying, baby, flying.
10:53I'm beating Johnny this time.
10:55I find some buns, I see a bag of sausage.
10:58Whew!
10:59There we go.
11:00I can put out a legitimate slider.
11:03I have perfect little buns.
11:05I have sausage.
11:06I have eggs.
11:07Whoa!
11:08Looking good, baby.
11:09I use sriracha to make a nice spicy aioli.
11:12The only impossible part is to make that look sexy.
11:15Chefs, you have eight minutes.
11:17Eight minutes.
11:18I'm doing some roasted figs with pancetta.
11:21I've got no sabotages here.
11:23The only problem is that I don't have enough liquor to make a really great cocktail.
11:26So I'm making reduction of pomegranate juice, brown sugar, and marsala.
11:30I reduce that down until it's a sticky syrup.
11:33I'm making a marsala reduction.
11:35I'm going to try to put a little CO2 in there so that I can put a little bit of
11:38fizz in my cocktail.
11:39I like the fact that Chef Lynette didn't bother weighing down her basket with carbonated water from the old pantry
11:45because she knows she's got all the water that she wants over at the sink, and we've got CO2 siphons.
11:50So all she's got to do is fill that bad boy up, stick in a CO2 carbon, instant seltzer.
11:55This seltzer is marsala reduction, pomegranate reduction.
11:59Actually, it's not bad.
12:00Chefs, listen up.
12:01You've got five minutes.
12:03Back.
12:04Chef Shanti sabotaged me by taking away my basket.
12:07Joke's on you, Shanti.
12:09Holla.
12:09Coming through.
12:10Coming through.
12:11Not only did I source the right amount of products, I got the best out there.
12:14This dish is going to be amazing.
12:16Going a little Moroccan with this one.
12:18Got some grilled lamb.
12:19Got some nice chanterelles.
12:20Cooked the dates a little bit down with some pomegranate juice.
12:24For my cocktail, I grabbed everything I possibly could.
12:27Maraschino cherries, orange liqueur, ginger beer.
12:30To go with this lamb, my cocktail is a pomegranate ginger fit.
12:34I got this great ginger beer.
12:35A little bit more pomegranate juice so I can get right in there.
12:38Hit it with some bourbon right at the end.
12:40A little bit of thyme and blueberries.
12:41This is a match made in heaven.
12:43Thank you so much, Shanti.
12:44I really appreciate it.
12:45How are you doing?
12:46I think I'm good.
12:46It actually looks really good.
12:48I like it, you know.
12:49Uh-oh.
12:49Who's the shoemaker now?
12:51Time is running out so I just spread my goat cheese mixture on the bread.
12:56And then I take the tops of my eggs off and realize the whites are still a little bit
13:02of runny.
13:02I'm hoping that the judge really likes runny eggs because everybody does really.
13:08Right?
13:12Drop this bad boy down.
13:13I bring the omelet back to the station.
13:14Check my buns.
13:16Boom.
13:16Done.
13:17I put a gastric of aioli on the side of the plate.
13:21I have to just build my slider and then I'm making my cocktail.
13:24I have whiskey and I have sparkling cider.
13:28So I decide to make sparkling whiskey.
13:31Sparkling cider came through.
13:33I'm feeling the inner bird inside me.
13:35Ca-caw!
13:36Ca-caw!
13:37Ca-caw!
13:3810...
13:399...
13:408...
13:407...
13:426...
13:435...
13:444...
13:443...
13:462...
13:461...
13:48Time is up.
13:48Challenge is over.
13:49Woo!
13:50Just back away from the food.
13:53Simon.
13:53How are you, sir?
13:54I am very well, sir.
13:56Very well indeed.
13:57Ladies and gentlemen, this is Simon Majumdar.
13:59He is an author, a noted food expert.
14:01Now, I thought we'd get things off to it.
14:03I start with a cocktail and hors d'oeuvres.
14:06Wonderful.
14:06Well, you know I love my cocktails, but those hors d'oeuvres better complement each other.
14:11Good, good.
14:11So, keep in mind, Chef, Simon here has been locked away in his sound crew chamber.
14:15He knows nothing about the horrors you may have endured or dosed out.
14:19And to be quite honest, he doesn't care a lick.
14:21He only cares about three things.
14:22Tell him.
14:22Does it look great?
14:24Does it taste great?
14:26And do they remind me of great hors d'oeuvres and great cocktails?
14:29Well, let's find out, shall we?
14:32Chef Shani, what have you done?
14:34Um, I did a three-minute egg, and then I did a little goat cheese and pancetta toast
14:39with a ginger cherry spitzer.
14:47Cocktails, I would expect to have just a little more alcoholic oomph,
14:51but I love the ginger coming through.
14:53I really like this element of the hors d'oeuvres.
14:54I think the prosciutto works very well.
14:56The saltiness against the ginger in the drink works very well indeed.
15:00Unfortunately, the egg is too soft.
15:02It looks slightly kind of snotty, and that's never a good thing when you have it.
15:06I actually just don't want to eat it because I know what it's going to be like.
15:09Yes, Chef.
15:09Thank you very much.
15:11Thank you, Chef.
15:11Let's move on down the line, shall we?
15:13A three-minute egg.
15:14I think she only cooked it for two.
15:16I'm flying around the whole kitchen.
15:18What was she doing this whole time?
15:20Like, damn girl.
15:21Chef Johnny, tell your tale, sir.
15:23Here I have a grilled lamb with chanterelles and a little harissa date.
15:28And then the cocktail is a pomegranate ginger fizz.
15:34The cocktail looks good.
15:36I really like the taste.
15:37Ginger with lamb is a great idea.
15:40I think they complement each other very well.
15:41I think the cooking of the lamb is perfect.
15:44Thank you, sir.
15:44It's got that absolute medium that I want, a little bit more of a rare side pink.
15:48The flavors are very, very good.
15:50Thank you, sir.
15:51Hey, Chef, best ingredients.
15:53See you in the second round, guys.
15:55Chef Joshua, please tell Simon about your dish.
15:57All right, so what I prepared for you today was a sausage and bacon omelet slider
16:02with a sriracha aioli on the bottom, and I paired it with a sparkling whiskey.
16:06Well, I've never heard of sparkling whiskey before, Chef, so that's the first one on me.
16:12I actually really like that.
16:14I think that works very well.
16:16I might have to try that myself.
16:17And I do like the idea of a breakfast slider.
16:19Unfortunately, I think some of the execution is not there.
16:21The omelet is very dry.
16:23It's also missing a great deal of seasoning.
16:24It needs a good hit of salt.
16:26Thank you, Chef.
16:27I was wearing wings, for God's sakes.
16:30Wings!
16:30Chef Lynette, go.
16:32Today I made roasted figs with bacon and a marsala cocktail.
16:38Chef, I can understand why you've chosen the marsala.
16:42It's not something I've seen in cocktails very often.
16:44I think it's probably something that just needs a little help, a little bit more sweetness.
16:47I think the idea of a grilled fig is a really good one.
16:51Unfortunately, I can tell as soon as I pick it up that you've over-grilled it, it's gone very soft.
16:59Having said that, it works.
17:00There's a little crunch on there from the bacon.
17:02And I think the idea of it works very well, but you have overcooked that fig.
17:06Thank you, Chef.
17:07Thank you very much, Chef.
17:08Simon, this way.
17:09No one wants to go home first, including me.
17:12I don't want to go home at all.
17:13All right, Simon, now that you're all liquored up, time to crash somebody's party.
17:18Chefs, you all did a terrific job of giving me cocktails and hors d'oeuvres that paired well together.
17:23But I think you all know you had some flaws in your execution along the way.
17:28I do have to eliminate one of you, and that's going to be Chefs.
17:41I do have to eliminate one of you, and that's going to be Chefs.
17:48Shanti.
17:50No.
17:51Chefs Shanti.
17:52Wow, I'm going to need the rest of that cash here in this case.
17:57Thank you, ma'am.
17:59Today I made something that I'm embarrassed about, and I'd like you to destroy all film.
18:05Don't let my mom watch this, please.
18:12Well, Chefs, you made it to round two.
18:15Tell you what, how about you take half an hour and make a perfect cashew chicken?
18:20I'm talking about a stir-fry dish featuring, oddly enough...
18:24Cashew chicken.
18:25Cashews and chicken.
18:26Yeah.
18:26I see you already know half of the recipe.
18:28That's fantastic.
18:30Hallelujah.
18:31I make cashew chicken more than I eat cereal.
18:33I got this one in the bag.
18:36Unfortunately, the shopping time remains 60 seconds.
18:39Go.
18:41Welcome back to the pantry, kids.
18:43Cashew chicken.
18:44Oh, man.
18:45How many late nights have I ordered that up?
18:47I need cashews, chicken, a few standard vegetables.
18:51It doesn't even matter what the mix is.
18:52That's it.
18:5330 seconds remaining.
18:55My plan is to make traditional cashew chicken.
18:57It's all about the sauce.
18:58It needs to be thick.
18:59It needs to coat the chicken.
19:00I grab hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, rice, cashews, of course, and chicken.
19:08Five, four, three, two, one.
19:17So I'm looking in my basket, and I realize I didn't grab a starch.
19:20No rice, no noodles.
19:22I am definitely going to have to come up with a plan B fast.
19:26Let's have a look at our first item, shall we?
19:29I was up really late thinking of this.
19:34A horseshoe and a nutcracker.
19:39Cashew nuts.
19:40You see it.
19:41A nutcracker and a horseshoe?
19:43What am I going to do with that?
19:45Win this auction, and you can force both of your opponents to cook their entire dish on or in one
19:52of these two items.
19:54I cannot stir fry in a nutcracker.
19:57Can you?
19:58$2,000.
19:59$2,000.
20:00Chef Joshua's in for two.
20:01Sorry?
20:01$5,000.
20:02$5,000.
20:03I don't want to mess with this challenge.
20:04I just want to make my chicken and focus on my dish.
20:07Shuffling that's in for five grand.
20:08$55.
20:21$55.
20:22I'm just going to keep bidding.
20:23I'm not using these.
20:24$85.
20:25I got the $85.
20:25$86.
20:26$86.
20:26Anybody want to go to $86?
20:28Too rich for me.
20:29Sold to Chef Joshua for $8,500.
20:32Bring me some money, sir.
20:34Take these two fabulous devices and assign one to each.
20:37I really hope that Chef Joshua gives me the horseshoe over the nutcracker.
20:42Let's see here.
20:43So you have a lot more produce.
20:46So I'm going to go ahead and give you this because you're going to have to fit all that in
20:49this little guy.
20:51Enjoy and I'm going to give you this.
20:53Here.
20:54Dodge the bullet on that one.
20:56Thank you very much.
20:58You know what?
20:59He's going down.
21:01That was bad.
21:03This is worse.
21:04Oh, no.
21:07A scoop.
21:08Okay.
21:09One of you is going to need it for this.
21:14Yes, this is a giant nut.
21:19Zach, win this auction and you can force one chef to swap out their cashews for whatever cashews they can
21:25find in this sack.
21:26There are a lot of nuts in here.
21:27Just not, not too many cashews.
21:30No, no, no, no, no.
21:33It's called cashew chicken.
21:35I need to have cashews.
21:36This will be like finding a needle in a nut sack.
21:39Come again?
21:40Ha, ha, ha, ha.
21:55Who will give me $500?
22:00$1,000.
22:01$1,000, Chef Joshua.
22:02Do I hear $1,100 or $1,100?
22:03$1,100.
22:03We're going to be struggling for time cooking on a nutcracker.
22:06If I get this, I am screwed.
22:08$1,100 to Chef Johnny.
22:09Do I hear $1,200?
22:09$3,000.
22:10$3,000.
22:11$3,000.
22:11You know what?
22:12If I get this, at worst, I'm going to lose some time.
22:14$31.
22:15$31, looking for $32.
22:16$3,200.
22:16Anybody want to go to $32?
22:17I already got $32.
22:18I already spent a lot on the first sabotage.
22:20So...
22:21Really?
22:22Really?
22:22Fine.
22:22$31 once, twice.
22:24Sold to Chef Johnny for $3,100.
22:26Wow, I would have paid like six times that.
22:28But then I know how many cashews are actually in there.
22:31Ha, ha, ha, ha.
22:33It's payback time, baby.
22:35You got all the utensils back there, so...
22:39The second nuts is for you, baby.
22:41The second nuts, baby.
22:42Hey, Johnny, thanks.
22:44Ah.
22:46So, chefs.
22:47It's a cashew chicken.
22:4930 minutes.
22:50Go.
22:55Garlic.
22:56Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun.
22:58Mmm.
22:59Would you like a cashew?
23:00Uh, yeah.
23:01You got a couple I can borrow?
23:02Too bad.
23:02No, I need all of them.
23:03Chef Josh sabotaged me with these horseshoes.
23:06My plan now has changed.
23:08I don't have a way to cook rice.
23:09I don't have a way to reduce the sauce.
23:11So, Chef Lynette, what's the plan?
23:12Uh, I am going to do a grilled cashew chicken
23:16with a julienne vegetable salad with cilantro cashew dressing.
23:20Uh-huh.
23:20So, in other words, you're going to cook as little as possible.
23:22That's correct.
23:23Cashew chicken, traditionally served over rice.
23:25I have no way to cook rice.
23:27So, the first thing I need to do is get my horseshoes on the stove.
23:30They're made of iron.
23:31The grill is made of iron.
23:33I'm going to make this into a little mini grill.
23:34And then I'm going to marinate the chicken in predominantly rice wine vinegar and a little bit of soy
23:39and get it cooked on those horseshoes.
23:41I chose to go with the salad.
23:43So, I julienne up white onion, bell peppers, serranos, and green beans.
23:47I'm going to let them marinate in the dressing,
23:49and the acidity is going to take some of the raw flavor off of those vegetables.
23:52If I can get enough chicken on the plate and have all my components,
23:55that'll be true to the dish for the most part in salad form.
23:59Oh!
23:59Right!
24:00Another one.
24:00There we go.
24:01Oh, no!
24:02No!
24:03Man down!
24:04This guy nuts over here?
24:10I'm going to make a straight, classic cashew chicken.
24:13But Chef Joshua sabotaged me with these nutcrackers.
24:16So, everything I'm going to cut a little finer,
24:18just because everything has to fit on there.
24:20So, it's going to be small.
24:22Chef Johnny, of course, stuck with one of the worst sabotages
24:24that I've ever seen here at Cutthroat Kitchen,
24:25having to do all of his cooking inside nutcrackers.
24:28Luckily, we gave him nutcrackers that were, well, cheap
24:32and easy to break in half.
24:34So, now he's kind of just lined up the halves,
24:35and he's using them kind of like a very, very tiny little wok.
24:39I'm going to start with the veg first.
24:41Of course. Cashews.
24:43At least a little toast on it. Bring some oils out.
24:45Now I'm going to break down the chicken.
24:46I'm going to do a little mixed white and dark,
24:48just so it doesn't dry out too much.
24:50The sauce is going to be hard.
24:51That's my biggest worry at the moment right now.
24:54Chefs, we've got 21 minutes.
24:56Come on, come on, come on, come on.
24:57Complete this sentence, Chef Joshua.
24:59Yes.
25:00Sometimes you feel like a nut.
25:02No, sometimes you feel like a fool for not spending more money
25:05in the sabotage phase there.
25:07Yes. I'm freaking out right now.
25:08I thought it was going to be easy to pick out the right nuts,
25:12but oh, right?
25:13Almost pushed you away. Sorry about that.
25:14Yes, another one. Gentle.
25:16Woo! Another one.
25:18Oh, yes.
25:19Okay, I'm done.
25:20There's not a lot of time.
25:21I have seven cashews, drop them in the fryer.
25:24Full flavor, nice and crunchy.
25:26Are you going to chop those cashews up or serve them whole?
25:29I was actually thinking about serving them whole.
25:31If I chop them up, you won't even be able to tell there's cashews at all.
25:35Huh.
25:35I forgot the rice noodles.
25:37So I'm making stuffed bell pepper cashew chicken.
25:40So I deep fry a whole bell pepper, and then I get a wok smoking hot
25:46so I can start putting a nice sear on my chicken.
25:48Loving life over there right now?
25:50Not as much as I have in the past, but it could be worse.
25:53The vegetables aren't cooking fast enough,
25:54so I'm just going to warm them up a little bit more with these blowtorches
25:58and get my chicken on the nutcrackers as fast as possible.
26:01With the time that I have, it's the best I can do at this point.
26:04Chefs, if I may have your attention, I have here in this swirling vortex $50,000.
26:11If you win, you will be able to go into this machine for 20 seconds
26:16and grab all the cashew can hold.
26:19Cashew.
26:20See, it's a pun.
26:22Whatever money you catch, you'll be able to take out and add to your stack.
26:27With these nutcrackers, I need to focus on my dish.
26:29I have no time to play around in a cash machine.
26:31Who gave me $500 for a chance at $50,000?
26:34$500.
26:35$3,000.
26:35$3,000 to Chef Lynette.
26:37Will anybody give me $31,000?
26:38At this point, I don't feel like there's going to be enough time.
26:40I don't think it's going to be worth it anymore.
26:42I let her have it.
26:43Sold to Chef Lynette for a measly $3,000.
26:46Chef Lynette, come on over, ma'am.
26:48$50,000.
26:49How could I not bid on that?
26:51I'm going to make so much money.
26:58It's like being in a human hair dryer.
27:00I can't get a hold of anything.
27:01I might not be able to make my money back.
27:03Five, four, three, two, one.
27:07And your time is up.
27:09There you go.
27:11You walked out of there with $3,000.
27:14So in the end, you just lost yourself 20 seconds.
27:17I just lost 20 seconds.
27:19Welcome to Cutthroat Kitchen.
27:22Flying high.
27:23I'm making my cashew chicken with all the vegetables essentials,
27:26ginger, garlic, bell peppers, snow peas, cilantro,
27:30with some delicious hoisin sauce.
27:32All that's left to do is finish off my stir fry,
27:35and we are home free.
27:38Cashew chicken, baby.
27:39Come on, cashew.
27:41That's what it looks like, huh?
27:42Chefs, you've got five minutes.
27:44Five minutes remaining.
27:45So I pull the chicken off.
27:47I'm getting ready to assemble my salad.
27:49I've got hoisin, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil,
27:51olive oil, fresh ginger, cilantro, parsley,
27:56julienned white onion.
27:57There's not a lot of chicken on the dish.
27:59I shredded my chicken because I cut out the cooked chicken
28:02so that I wasn't serving raw chicken.
28:03I got what I could on the dish.
28:06I'd be worried, except I see Chef Johnny.
28:08It doesn't look like he has enough, really,
28:10to put together a dish.
28:13How is the cooking utensil?
28:15Is that really helping you right now, or?
28:16Oh, not at all, baby.
28:18Got the vegetables and the chicken on cooking.
28:21Now, oh, I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with this sauce.
28:24I could make a slurry, but I'm not going to be able to get this hot enough in that.
28:27To make my sauce, I'm just going to throw some poison,
28:29a little soy, a little rice vinegar.
28:31Almost make like a vinegar in and out of there,
28:32because I have no time and no way to reduce the sauce.
28:35I like the flavor.
28:36You know, I feel confident.
28:38I'm the only chef up here that looks like I have cashew chicken on my plate.
28:41Didn't stuff a pepper.
28:42I didn't make a salad.
28:43I made a traditional Chinese-American dish.
28:46Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
28:55Time is up.
28:56Challenge is over.
28:57Hands off the food.
28:57Put that knock down.
28:59Don't mess with me.
29:00Hi, Simon.
29:01Good to be back.
29:02How are you?
29:02I'm very well.
29:03How do you feel about cashew chicken?
29:05I actually really love it.
29:07Chicken better be juicy.
29:08And a lot of cashews.
29:09A lot of cashews.
29:10And it should have that kind of luscious sauce.
29:13Let's see what you got.
29:15Hello again, Chef Johnny.
29:17Helton.
29:18Talk about your dish.
29:19This is just a bite of a classic cashew chicken,
29:21just like you would have in a traditional Chinese restaurant.
29:25The first thing I can see as I pour out this rather small portion
29:28is there's not enough sauce.
29:34The chicken is actually nice and juicy.
29:36The nuts give it that crunch that I'm looking for.
29:39I'm not so keen on the peppers.
29:40That raw pepper they probably needed just cooking a little bit more.
29:43But you have got some of the aspects I expect in there.
29:46I just want a lot more sauce.
29:47This really needs to be coated.
29:49But some good flavors there, Chef.
29:50Thanks, sir.
29:51Thank you, Chef.
29:51Let's move on.
29:53Simon, you remember Chef Lynette.
29:55Chef, tell your tale.
29:56I have a cashew chicken salad here.
29:58I made the dressing out of the traditional accompaniment,
30:01sesame oil, hoisin, a little bit of rice wine vinegar.
30:04Chef, when I look at the dish,
30:05it doesn't remind me of a traditional cashew chicken,
30:07but a salad, I think, works very well.
30:10Okay.
30:10I think some of the flavors there are really, really good.
30:12You've kept the cashews whole, and that's given it a really good crunch.
30:16The chicken strips that I can find in there are very juicy.
30:18Okay, thank you.
30:19Thank you, Chef.
30:20One to go.
30:21Chef Joshua, tell your tale.
30:23All right, so what I prepared for you today is I did a cashew chicken stuffed bell pepper,
30:28roasted the bell pepper, and I accompanied it with spicy ponzu ale.
30:34Chef, I actually quite like the idea of putting it in the bell pepper.
30:37It's an interesting kind of delivery system.
30:39In the cashew chicken itself, you've got all those flavors that I'm looking for.
30:42You've got a little bit of soy.
30:43You've got other flavors.
30:45You've got all the textures that I'm looking for.
30:47But I would like a few more cashews in there.
30:49But a good try.
30:51Thank you, Chef.
30:52Simon, let us stroll.
30:54You know what, Simon?
30:55I would have liked a few more cashews, too.
30:57Why don't you talk to Chef Johnny about that?
30:59So, Simon, odds are really good you're going to get two desserts out of the next round.
31:04Do you not want to cook you one?
31:07Well, chefs, when I order cashew chicken, which I do quite often because I love it,
31:11I'm looking for three things.
31:13I'm looking for perfectly cooked chicken, I'm looking for lots of crunchy cashews,
31:17and I'm looking for beautifully finished, full-flavored sauce.
31:20I do have to eliminate one of you, and that's going to be Chef.
31:37Johnny, you know, I just wanted more sauce with that chicken.
31:44Chef Johnny, sorry, sir, that means I'm going to need that cash back in this case.
31:48Oh, pleasure. Thank you.
31:51I definitely didn't think I was going to lose to these guys.
31:55I'm the only real chef up here.
31:57Stupid nutcracker.
32:07Chefs, welcome to round three.
32:09One of you will be walking out of here with some cash.
32:11Who that is and how much remains to be seen.
32:14It's just me and Lynette.
32:17Here we go, baby.
32:19I want to win this so badly.
32:21My son and I watch Cutthroat Kitchen together all the time.
32:24Losing isn't an option.
32:25So, round three.
32:27I'm going to give you half an hour to make Tres Leche cake.
32:30We're talking about a sponge cake, typically soaked with not one, not two, but three types of milk.
32:34It's one of the most delicious desserts on the planet, and I'm sure you know how to make it.
32:38But as always, I'm really wondering if you can shop it appropriately in 60 seconds. Go.
32:46My plan is to make a financier cake, because it bakes very quickly.
32:51To make my cake, I need eggs, flour, powdered sugar, almonds, raspberries, dark rum, and three different kinds of milk.
32:57Chefs, you've got 30 seconds, and these gates will close.
33:00Daddy got everything.
33:02Oh, got my cream.
33:03Got my milk.
33:04Got my flour.
33:05What?
33:06What?
33:07Leavener.
33:07Eggs.
33:07Everything that I need to make this a success.
33:11Five, four, three, two, one.
33:15Your half hour begins right now.
33:18The first thing I have to do is put together the Tres Leche part with three different kinds of milk.
33:23But I realize that I forgot sweetened condensed milk.
33:26But I can mimic the flavors with the coffee liqueur and the heavy cream.
33:29Chefs, I'm a basketball fan, and I like to shoot trays.
33:33Is that a sports falter?
33:35If you win this auction, you can force one opponent to shoot baskets for their ingredients.
33:40And they can only keep what they make.
33:43Let's see if Chef Joshua's got a game.
33:45Five hundred.
33:46Three thousand.
33:46Three thousand dollars.
33:47Five thousand.
33:48Five thousand dollars.
33:49My goodness.
33:49Eight thousand.
33:50Eight thousand.
33:51Ten thousand.
33:51Ten thousand.
33:52Oh, my gosh.
33:53The spending, it's just making my heart throb.
33:55Ten thousand dollars.
33:56Eleven thousand.
33:56Fifteen thousand.
33:57I only have sixteen thousand five hundred.
34:00That would leave me with a G and some change.
34:03Not worth it.
34:04Fifteen going once.
34:05Fifteen going twice.
34:06Sold.
34:07Chef Lynette for fifteen thousand dollars.
34:09I can drop some trays from downtown, baby.
34:12Strawberries.
34:13Shooting for strawberries.
34:14Rick.
34:15Hit it.
34:16Yes.
34:17Buttermilk.
34:18I got more.
34:19I got more.
34:20I need cream.
34:20It's okay.
34:21Got more buttermilk.
34:21Let me get my buttermilk, baby.
34:23Get that buttermilk.
34:23There you go.
34:24There's your buttermilk.
34:25He's doing okay.
34:27He's doing much better than I would've, which is why I had to win that challenge.
34:30To make my cake, I need to get my almonds crushed up, my flour in the bowl, and my powdered
34:34sugar, and a little bit of salt.
34:37Next, I crack my egg whites.
34:39I need to get that into little chiffon pans, because it's going to cook in the center and cook
34:42on the outside, and it's going to give me a very fast rise.
34:44I'm trying to keep my head down with this and just push through.
34:50Yes!
34:50You get to keep that.
34:51So there I am.
34:52I'm at the three-point line.
34:53Boom.
34:54Pop it up.
34:54Swish.
34:55Drain another one.
34:57Drain.
34:57After that, I was draining.
34:58On fire.
34:59Hit it.
35:00Yes!
35:00And then it came down to the leavener.
35:02Come on, come on, come on, come on.
35:03Baking powder is what helps your cake rise.
35:07Otherwise, I'm making pancakes, baby.
35:10Pancakes.
35:11Nothing but that.
35:25Nothing but not net.
35:27I get back to my station, I start unpacking, missing my leavener.
35:31We are looking rough, but hey, I can work with rough.
35:35That was impressive.
35:36You did better than I thought you were going to do.
35:37First step for my dish is I have to get the cake in the oven.
35:40So I'm going in with my flour.
35:42I got my eggs.
35:43I'm going in with my buttermilk, my sugar, whisk it up, throw it in the pan, straight
35:48into the oven.
35:49Chefs, as long as we're playing basketball.
35:51Oh, good lord.
35:52Win this auction, and you could force your opponent to hold this hand and keep the ball
35:56spinning for the entire challenge.
35:59Oh, by the way, if it stops moving, I will find that person.
36:01I cannot take another sabotage right now.
36:04I'll give you $2,000.
36:05You'll give me $2,000.
36:06$3,000.
36:07I'm going to give you $5,000.
36:08$5,000 for this thing.
36:10I've already got a lot of my process going, so if I only have one hand to work with,
36:13I'll be okay.
36:15Sold to Chef Joshua for $5,000.
36:17If that ball stops spinning at any given time, I will find you $100.
36:21Yay, sports!
36:23I was always the kid that got picked last, to be honest.
36:26The next thing I need to do is I need to have a garnish for this plate, so I want
36:29to
36:29do white chocolate ganache.
36:31I put my white chocolate in the microwave.
36:33You know, if you overcook that stuff, it goes all grainy and gritty, and then you can
36:36never save it.
36:37You know that, right?
36:38It will never be ganache if you do that.
36:40I'm trying to keep the ball spinning and operate the microwave at the same time, and so I
36:45can't get the timing right.
36:47I get too much heat on the chocolate ganache, and it seizes, so I have to throw it out.
36:51And I remember, I've got my tres leche on the stove reducing down, so I can melt my chocolate
36:55with some of that mixture.
36:57Really?
36:58Are you sure?
36:59Spin it, baby.
37:00Spin it.
37:01Oh, I owe you $100.
37:02You don't owe me anything.
37:03I just take it.
37:04It would have been an easy win if I had just gave that sabotage to Chef Joshua.
37:09Ah!
37:11What was I thinking?
37:13Houston, we have whipped cream.
37:14You know, we have power tools for that here.
37:15Yes, yes, yes.
37:16I am a power tool, sir.
37:18So now I'm making a delicious, flavorful strawberry whipped cream.
37:22So I add my strawberry coolie into my whipped cream, which is just heavy cream and sugar.
37:27Whip air into it.
37:29Nice and fluffy.
37:30Yeah!
37:31Cool it down, baby.
37:33Four minutes.
37:34Four minutes.
37:35How we doing over there?
37:36How's that ball?
37:37Slam dunk!
37:39I put my white chocolate ganache down.
37:40I get my cake on the plate.
37:42It's got a nice little hole to hold the tres leche sauce.
37:45And I've got these beautiful berries.
37:46I can just put them in with my one good hand, which is all that it took.
37:51I look over Chef Lynette's dessert.
37:53It doesn't look anything like tres leches cake.
37:56It's like a donut with evaporated milk next to it.
38:00I know you're a pastry chef, but I got something for you.
38:04What is that?
38:05That right there is not your traditional-looking cake.
38:08Pretty sure that bricks are more fluffy than that cake.
38:12Oh, ring molds? Ring molds?
38:14I don't know if the ring molds will help you.
38:15So what I do is I cut ring molds out of my cake from the pan.
38:19I then split the cake right in half, and I add my tres leches.
38:23Then it's time to construct cake, cream, pecans.
38:28Cake, cream, pecans.
38:31And then it hits me.
38:34Yikes. That is not good.
38:36Too hot to handle.
38:37I did not cool my cake down.
38:39Come on, baby. Hold together. Hold together for Daddy.
38:42The only way to save this is add more whipped cream, baby.
38:45All right, cream, hold in there for me. Hold in there.
38:48I believe in the cream.
38:49I believe in the cream.
38:51This kind of looks like my daughter did the piping work, and she's two.
38:56Five, four, three, two, one.
39:01Time's up. Challenge is over. Have a nice day.
39:10Welcome back for the third round, Simon.
39:13I've decided today on probably my favorite cake of all time, tres leches cake.
39:17Oh, well, part of a tradition of soaked cakes with, like, trifles and rum cake,
39:21but it's got to be nice and airy as well as having all those toppings that we expect.
39:25Chefs, please bring your offerings forward.
39:27I deserve to win because I worked hard and because I was better than everybody else.
39:31I was more cutthroat. I did good with my sabotages, and I made better food.
39:35Excellent. Thank you very much.
39:37This cake, it looks like something I would make 12 o'clock at night when I'm really hungry,
39:41and only I see it, but I know it tastes good.
39:44It just doesn't look so good.
39:46Chef Joshua, please describe your dish.
39:47So what I made for you is a tres leches cake.
39:50It has two layers with a strawberry whipped cream and finish it off with some strawberries.
39:56Chef, from a presentation point of view, it's a bit of a mess.
39:59It kind of looks like you've been juggling with it, and it's just landed on the plate.
40:02It's actually surprisingly tasty, though, once you break your way through that.
40:05The strawberry whipped cream actually works very, very well.
40:07I love the acidity of the berries.
40:09It's not too sweet, and often tres leches cake can be over-sweet.
40:13I think the structure of it is a little bit wrong.
40:14It is very, very dense.
40:16One thing about tres leches cake is you're really looking for something that's a little lighter than that.
40:20Thank you, Chef.
40:21Let's slide right on over.
40:22For Chef Lynette, please tell Simon about your take on tres leches.
40:25I made an almond financier cake with a tres leches sauce and a little white chocolate ganache.
40:31Chef, as you have throughout the competition today, your presentation is terrific.
40:35It actually looks like a great dessert.
40:37If I was presented this in any restaurant for dessert, I'd be very happy.
40:40I think the cake itself has gone a little bit tough on the outside.
40:44Once I break through that, and you can hear it's rather too crisp on the outside.
40:48Once I break through, it has actually got absolutely the right texture.
40:52But I do think it would have benefited from having much more of this sauce on top of it.
40:57The sauce on its own is actually a little bit too sweet, a little bit cloying.
41:02I shouldn't have put the white chocolate ganache down, because what he's getting that's cloying
41:05and sweet is the white chocolate ganache with that other sauce.
41:10You know, Simon, at any decent party after dessert, I would expect a little dull beverage,
41:15you know, a little scotch maybe or something.
41:16Have you got any?
41:17No, we don't, because instead, you're just going to decide who gets to go home with some cash
41:21and who just leaves the party.
41:24Chef Joshua, I really love the flavor of that strawberry whipped cream,
41:27but I think the cake itself was very, very dense.
41:30Chef Lynette, you gave me a great cake, but it needed much more of that sauce.
41:34I do have to pick a winner, however, and that's going to be Chef.
41:40Lynette.
41:41Chef Lynette, $9,800.
41:49Here's all the pastry chefs!
41:51Hungry for more Cutthroat Kitchen?
41:53Go to foodnetwork.com slash cutthroat.
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