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Chopped - Season 64 - Episode 02: Ted's Takeover
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00:00Lifted up over his head, full reveal.
00:03So whose dish is on the chopping block?
00:07If Ted Allen loved my food, I would burst into tears.
00:11I am taking over the basket.
00:13Oh, god.
00:15And here's the big one.
00:16I finally get to taste the food.
00:19Dreams do come true.
00:21I don't want Ted to eat raw dough.
00:25Ted got me here sweating.
00:27I'm cutting it close.
00:28Oh, my god.
00:29And sometimes you need to pivot.
00:32Ted, why would you do this to us?
00:34Oh, come on.
00:35What could possibly go wrong?
00:41When I fell in love with food, I was definitely determined
00:44to be the best.
00:45I rarely play it safe.
00:47All gas, no brakes.
00:50I'm the executive chef of Gibson's Italia in Chicago, Illinois.
00:54This is not my first rodeo.
00:55I would call my style of cooking punk rock.
00:59Loud.
00:59Woo!
01:01Aggressively seasoned, high acids, big, bold flavors.
01:04I like Ted Allen because both him and I have an absolute hatred for pretentious, uppity food.
01:10I'm just an absolute monster at this because I'm willing to risk it all to achieve my goals, man.
01:15Like Michael Jordan said, I only brought one soup.
01:21There is no chop without Ted Allen.
01:23And for me to be a part of the first time he tries any of the chef's food, I am
01:27jacked out of my mind.
01:28I'm really excited.
01:29I'm a private chef in Brooklyn, New York.
01:32I've always loved food.
01:34My household was lively with Haitian cooks.
01:38My style of cooking is Caribbean Afro with a little bit of an Asian flair.
01:42It's gonna be delicious.
01:43I can still smell my grandfather making delicious soup on a Sunday morning or my mom making codfish and yucca.
01:52I'm gonna come into the competition like you've never seen before.
01:57You're gonna see a lot of fire and you're gonna see a lot of delicious, sexy food on that plate.
02:09Ted, you better be ready for these flavors.
02:12I'm a chef and restaurateur from Milford, New Hampshire.
02:14My style of cooking is contemporary American inspired by food that I grew up eating.
02:18I like incorporating my Haitian influence because it helps tell my story.
02:21And my mom's cooking always inspired me.
02:23I would always be watching her in the kitchen helping out wherever I could.
02:26Tastes just like mom would make it.
02:28Competed at the highest level.
02:29I'm a 2022 nominated emerging chef for James Beard Foundation.
02:332024 nominated chef for Outstanding Restaurant Tour.
02:36I've been featured in Forbes, Cuisine Noir, Boston Globe.
02:40I have the drive, the motivation, the passion, the skills, the competitive edge.
02:43I'm gonna open that basket and I'm gonna win it all.
02:50I'm not feisty, but I am zesty.
02:55Global and whimsical is my style.
02:57I pack a punch and I will not stop.
03:01I will come for you.
03:03I am chef de cuisine and pastry chef at Centralina in Washington, D.C.
03:09So I heard that Ted loves crab rangoon pasta.
03:13And Ted's gonna like my food.
03:15Everybody's gonna be like jump around and say, Mary's...
03:18I grew up in the Philippines and living in America showed me what I'm capable of, what I can accomplish.
03:28I'm so excited to meet Ted.
03:31Boom!
03:35Palms are sweaty.
03:39Hi!
03:41Hey!
03:42How are you?
03:42What's happening, Ted?
03:43What's going on, guys?
03:44Judges?
03:44Hey, thanks for being here.
03:46Too short for this basket.
03:48Hello, everybody.
03:49Hey, Todd.
03:50Hi, Ted.
03:51Chefs, you are in for a chopped battle like never before.
03:55After all these years of hosting Chopped, I finally get to join the judges panel and help choose a champion.
04:03And here's the big one.
04:04I am taking over the baskets.
04:07Ooh!
04:07Let's go.
04:08Ted!
04:09My personally curated appetizer basket is in front of you.
04:14Not only is Ted judging, but he's also picked all the basket ingredients.
04:19I would say that ups the stakes immensely.
04:21Go ahead and see what I chose for your appetizers.
04:28Ooh!
04:29All right.
04:30Cheeseburger in a tube.
04:31Oh, yum!
04:32Ted's favorite.
04:33Ha!
04:34A personal favorite.
04:36Cheeseburger in a tube.
04:38It's so rich.
04:39There's also green beans.
04:41Ham.
04:42Spiral ham.
04:44And sour cream and onion chips.
04:47I actually like the cheeseburger in the tube.
04:49There's a 20-minute time limit to make sense of it all.
04:54Clock starts now.
04:55Go, go, go, go!
04:56Go, go, go!
04:57Let's go!
04:59Get right by Ted!
05:00Yeah, yeah, yeah!
05:01Ted!
05:01Make it for Ted!
05:05Your first basket is not what I thought it was going to be.
05:08You weren't expecting cheeseburger in a tube?
05:10I wasn't.
05:10I mean, I know you are an astronaut fan.
05:12It actually tastes exactly like a cheeseburger.
05:15And that is something that the astronauts take with them for a taste of home.
05:18It has that flavor of fully-formed cheeseburger.
05:20I mean, aioli.
05:21I would take that hamburger paste, and I would mix it with the anchovies.
05:25And I'd make like a little puntero vinaigrette.
05:27Interesting.
05:28And I'd toss warm green beans in that.
05:30And a beautiful salad.
05:31The only redeeming quality of this cheeseburger in a tube is actually, like, its texture.
05:36Like, it's kind of smooth and malleable.
05:38I'm thinking I could make some sort of vinaigrette.
05:40For my appetizer, I am making a warm green bean salad with a sour cream and onion cashew crunch and
05:47a cheeseburger vinaigrette.
05:50It's kind of good.
05:52I chose spiral ham because it's so useful.
05:55You can have a ham steak for dinner.
05:57You can have, obviously, ham with your eggs in the morning.
05:59You can have a ham sandwich for lunch.
06:01Couldn't you just do almost like a ham mousse and have a beautiful, like, crostini?
06:05That's a good idea.
06:06With a spread of the cheeseburger in a tube.
06:08Excellent idea.
06:09A little green bean on top.
06:10Nice little hors d'oeuvre.
06:12Just, like, make a clean, simple bite.
06:14I don't think anyone's ever made, like, an omelet.
06:17Well, let's work with milk for eggs.
06:21I have always had a passion for cooking.
06:23Ever since I was a child, I grew up around my mom and grandfather always cooking in the kitchen and
06:28being around food.
06:29I was in retail for over 10 years.
06:31But when I had a health scare, I had to have five blood transfusions.
06:34And that really changed the way I viewed life and what I wanted to do in it.
06:38And I was like, you know what?
06:39It's now or never.
06:40Chef Rashida, what are you whipping up?
06:42I am whipping up kind of like a breakfast-infused dish.
06:46A little sweet potato.
06:48A little ham.
06:49Okay.
06:49Well, remember to focus on the basket ingredients, folks.
06:52We were talking about bringing an egg to this basket because there's so much salt in that.
06:56Really salty cured ham.
06:58Those salty chips.
06:59All right, Chef Chris, what are you making for us?
07:01I'm going simple.
07:02I'm just doing a green bean casserole kind of sort of situation here.
07:06Oh, that's brilliant.
07:07That really is a great plan.
07:09Very much.
07:10We all have memories of that kind of food.
07:12I start by making my base layer, some mushrooms, some peppers, some onions.
07:16Next, I dice up this spiral ham and then a cheeseburger in a tube.
07:21Also, incorporate the cheeseburger in a tube in that pan.
07:24It has a similar texture to like wet bread, so I feel as though it could act as a binder.
07:29Ted is such an idol of mine because he talks about food with a lot of conviction.
07:35He's very serious, but it's also fun.
07:38Chef Mary has a pastry background, so right away she's going to her comfort zone.
07:44Chef Mary, what's your plan?
07:46I am using the pizza dough to almost do like some sort of calzone.
07:52Ricotta sour cream to match the potato chips.
07:56Chives inside to marry all the flavors.
07:58Green bean sauce on the bottom.
08:00Sounds delicious.
08:01Keep your focus on the basket.
08:03Cheeseburger, check.
08:04Ham, check.
08:05Focus, focus, focus.
08:07Chef, just under 10 minutes on the clock.
08:09Mary, you have time.
08:10Mary, you have time.
08:11Don't freak out.
08:15Green beans and ham.
08:17Definitely some of the greatest hits from my mom's kitchen.
08:20My parents are both from the south, and so naturally mom brought those traditions with her.
08:25My mom is southern as well, and it was always pork product, there was always green beans, but she would
08:28boil the green beans until they were nearly just in agreement.
08:33Green beans, thank you, Ted.
08:34One of my favorite ingredients.
08:36I don't blanch them for very long.
08:38Throw them in the ice bath to shock them.
08:39I want to make sure these green beans are crisp, crunchy.
08:42So in a pan, I have shallots and cashews, because I want the oil from the cashews to start coating
08:47the green beans.
08:51Who doesn't love a green bean casserole?
08:53I know it's always at our family table.
08:54My wife and daughter are definitely my motivation.
08:56I want to show my family by competing that I still got it, and all these years of determination, hard
09:02work, all the sacrifices were worth it.
09:05Oh, this is gorilla.
09:08We're still messing around with dough.
09:10We're still messing around with dough.
09:12It's just not where you need to be right now.
09:14No, we're just spending all this time on a non-basket ingredient.
09:17Correct.
09:17And the pizza dough, it's overworked at this point.
09:21All right, Chef's getting close.
09:22Sometimes you need to pivot.
09:26Stop looking at the clock.
09:27Just need to focus.
09:29Time is winding down, and my pizza dough is not cooperating.
09:33It's fighting me back.
09:34But I just got to go.
09:37I just have to roll with it.
09:38All right.
09:39It's a disaster.
09:44Sometimes you need to pivot.
09:46Ted wants to eat.
09:48Time is winding down, and as I'm going to go, I'm going to go.
09:50Because I'm working with the pizza dough, this is not cooperating.
09:53With too much filling, and then I'm trying to pinch it.
09:56It's like, keep, like, spreading out.
09:58I'm going to roll it.
10:01There's a few things going on on Mary's station that I'm just very quizzical about.
10:04Like, the amount of basket ingredients going into the calzone.
10:08Everything.
10:08It's all in there.
10:10Behind, behind, behind, behind, behind.
10:11Mary's made a croqueta, and she's frying the whole thing.
10:14At this point, I just pivot a little bit and get them to the fryer.
10:19I don't want the judges, especially Ted, to eat raw dough.
10:24It's not so graceful.
10:26I'm adding sour cream to give the green beans some body so it can stand up to the main part
10:32of my dish.
10:33Okay, chefs, we're coming up on four minutes on the clock.
10:36You've got plenty of time.
10:37Oh, my God.
10:38No pressure.
10:39First time Ted's ever eating unchopped.
10:42That's true.
10:42It's coming down to the wire, and I'm going to saute my green beans with the cheeseburger in a tube
10:48and incorporate that mustard flavor that was coming through throughout the hash.
10:54Ted, how do we make your sour cream and onion chips shine and not hide in this basket?
10:58What I would do is open the bag and eat the entire bag in one sitting.
11:02I take the sour cream and onion chips, crunch them in my hand, toss them in the bowl with my
11:06green bean salad.
11:08My plan for the sour cream and onion chips, incorporate those as the textural element on the green bean casserole.
11:14How you doing, chefs?
11:15How you feeling, dude?
11:16We're in there. We're in there. We're getting it.
11:17The clock's real.
11:1930 seconds, chefs.
11:20I know what you're doing.
11:21I know what you're doing.
11:23I know what you're doing.
11:23Finish it up.
11:24Get it on the plate.
11:27Now we just press it up.
11:30Okay, chefs.
11:31Do my ingredients proud.
11:3310, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
11:44Time's up.
11:51Ted taking over this basket.
11:52I thought he'd be throwing us a bone here.
11:54He was not.
11:56That was a crazy round.
11:5820 minutes goes by like it's two minutes.
12:00So it was really pressure filled.
12:02But I feel excited.
12:03I'm a huge fan of Ted.
12:04So I'm really anxious to see what he has to say as well.
12:16Chefs, you've arrived at the chopping block.
12:20What ingredients did I pick for you?
12:23Cheeseburger in a tube.
12:25Green beans.
12:26Spiral ham.
12:27And sour cream and onion chips.
12:30We're starting with you, Chef Rashida.
12:31What did you make?
12:32Today, judges, I've made for you a green bean and ham hash
12:36with a fried egg and a sour cream and shallot crumble on top.
12:42You know, Rashida, when you were just getting the dish started,
12:45the first thing I heard you say was that you were going to work with sweet potato.
12:47And I thought, okay, but remember to focus on the basket.
12:50Yes.
12:51Well, your use of sweet potato in this hash is really important here.
12:55I was eating this thinking, what's that little sweet note?
12:57But all of the basket ingredients are right here.
12:59And your knife work here is beautiful.
13:01I love listening to Ted talk about the dishes.
13:04It's so fun.
13:06Chef Rashida, I think it's really easy to kind of overlook the sour cream and onion chips crumble on the
13:10top of the egg.
13:11It's permeating the egg yolk, which is really interesting.
13:14So the egg yolk has this onion-y vibe to it, which is really cool in the context of this
13:20hash.
13:20You know, the cheeseburger in the tube just gives salinity, a little bit of umami, a little richness, but it
13:27needs a little relief.
13:29Maybe perhaps if you made something like a grummelata, parsley, a little garlic, and some lemon zest or something, it's
13:36delicious.
13:37Thank you so much.
13:38Next up, Chef Chris.
13:40Judges, what I've made for you is a green meat casserole.
13:43So I started with the base layer of onions, peppers, and jalapeno, and mushroom, and then built the gravy from
13:49there.
13:49I added the cheeseburger in a tube as a binding agent, and then on top, fried some shallots, crushed that
13:53with the sour cream and onion chips as the crispy element.
13:57Chef, I really love the cook that you have on the green beans.
13:59Is there mustard in the sauce?
14:01There's no mustard in the sauce.
14:02I think you might be picking that up from the cheeseburger in the tube.
14:04Did you use a lot of the cheeseburger in a tube?
14:06I used the whole tube.
14:08I really wanted to make sure that you could taste it.
14:11Okay.
14:12The one ingredient I think that could have been celebrated a little bit more would be the sour cream and
14:15onion chip,
14:15because it does look like it was just crunched up and put on at the end.
14:19Absolutely.
14:19The sour cream is heavy enough and dense enough, and once you reduce it, it's a little heavier on the
14:24palate.
14:25If you had left that out, I think it would have been much better.
14:27Flavors are really good.
14:29I also think the ham in the sauté is great.
14:31And also there was really, really crispy, like almost burnt ham bits on top that I loved.
14:35Absolutely.
14:36I hear what Jeezy is saying about like a little bit of the gloppiness of the sauce.
14:40I think that's fixed by plating, right?
14:42Like I think instead of tossing everything together, placing these beans on the bottom and letting them be a little
14:47bit loose,
14:47and then putting that sauce on top and then finishing with everything crispy.
14:50This becomes like more of a deconstructed casserole.
14:54Next up, Chef Drew.
14:56We got a green bean salad with ham croutons, sour cream and onion cashew chip crunch with a cheeseburger vinaigrette.
15:05So much good stuff in here.
15:07The cheeseburger vinaigrette.
15:09I think there's a really successful use of the cheeseburger in a tube.
15:12Words I've never said before.
15:13Weird sentence, right?
15:14Yep.
15:14Sounds terrible, but the flavor of your vinaigrette is delicious.
15:18Some really great ingredients here.
15:20I love the crunch.
15:21Green beans are done good.
15:23I'm getting all these components.
15:24I want to eat the salad together, you know?
15:26Got it.
15:26It's like the bowl is, you know, it's hard to eat it.
15:29And the ham is great, but it just needs to be composed better.
15:33Got it.
15:33My primary problem with it was just the bowl.
15:36It's really hard to cut green beans from that angle.
15:38It would have been much better for you to have plated this on a plate.
15:40But good flavors.
15:43Finally, Chef Mary.
15:44So I made a cheeseburger ham potato chip fritter with green bean sauce on the bottom.
15:52I used pizza dough for the outside.
15:56I was a little bit skeptical when I saw you putting green beans in the blender.
15:59But you taste them.
16:01And it lends this really gorgeous green color to the dip.
16:04So I think that was a power move.
16:07You were really under the gun.
16:09You were planning to make a calzone, which we all know is really difficult to pull off in 20 minutes.
16:14Smart that you pivoted to the fritter.
16:17You got the sour cream chip flavor in there.
16:19But it just, that pizza dough was like, it was hard.
16:23There are little pieces of ham that met the outside of the fryer.
16:27And it got this beautiful caramelized ham with a little bit of pizza dough on the outside.
16:31I think that play is really smart.
16:35I was so looking forward to this being full of ham.
16:38But I think it got a little lost with the ricotta and the cheeseburger in the tube.
16:44So where are you from, Chef?
16:46I'm from the Philippines.
16:47And I've been watching you since I was 12.
16:50And growing up in the Philippines, like, it's a very conservative society.
16:53So watching the show, it's like a symbol that you can be yourself and live life and not be judged.
17:01Thank you, Chef Mary.
17:04Chefs, it's been an honor not just to watch you cook, but to taste the results of your hard work.
17:09Now the judges and I have a tough decision to make.
17:13I feel like I could definitely be on the chopping block, mainly because of the plate decision.
17:18Now we'll see what happens.
17:20After hearing what the judges said, I felt like, oh, I have a chance because I've provided layers of flavors.
17:27At the same time, I'm scared. Am I excited? Am I scared that I'm going home?
17:30I'm scared for the next round. Who knows?
17:40So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
17:55Chef Mary, you've been chopped. Judges?
17:59Chef Mary, unfortunately, that pizza dough just was a little bit tough.
18:03There wasn't enough ham in there. And so we had to chop you.
18:08Thank you for your story.
18:11Although I didn't move forward, I'm happy for this experience.
18:15It's so exciting for me to meet Ted because he is a beacon of hope for people who want to
18:21be themselves.
18:23Everyone had their triumphs and troubles in that first round.
18:26Take what you've learned from the judges' critiques.
18:29Remember to focus on the basket ingredients.
18:35Chef Chris, Chef Rashida, Chef Drew, the entree baskets are in front of you.
18:40Oh, God.
18:41Please open your second basket.
18:43Oh.
18:46What is this?
18:48Ted, why would you do this to us?
18:50What's in this bowl?
18:52I picked Thai curry.
18:55We all share a love for Thai food.
18:57A little radicchio.
18:58We'll play with that.
18:59Radicchio.
19:00Okay.
19:02Skirt steak.
19:03And then the largest crab I've ever seen in real life.
19:07An Alaskan king crab.
19:09This is huge.
19:11That is insane.
19:1230-minute round.
19:15Starts now.
19:16All right.
19:17Come on.
19:18Do it for Ted.
19:19Come on.
19:21This is a challenging basket.
19:23This is a great basket.
19:25What I find challenging about it is what's going to be the star protein here.
19:28I say crab.
19:29No, I say beef.
19:30Let's just have surf and turf.
19:32I don't think you have to pick the star protein when you have crab and steak.
19:36I think you could easily do like a crab Oscar.
19:39You could do like a steak Oscar.
19:43This basket is leading me straight old school steakhouse.
19:48Chef Drew, what are you making?
19:50I'm going to do a little grilled skirt steak.
19:53I season that with salt pepper and some mushroom powder.
19:55Then I'm going to do like a king crab Oscar kind of deal with this green curry like hollandaise grilled
19:59radicchio and some vegetables I'm thinking.
20:01We'll see how it all turns out.
20:02I might mess it all up.
20:04All right.
20:05Let's see what you're about, buddy.
20:06I started with the king crab because I love Alaska king crab.
20:10There's a bit of labor involved in extracting that meat, particularly if you never cook with it.
20:14Ted has really put us to the test in this one with this whole crab.
20:16If you don't know what you're doing, this could take 30 minutes.
20:19The secret in that leg is just to crack it open gently and just put it in butter and let
20:24it just settle there.
20:24And you could actually add some tarragon or some curry, something really subtle and then attack the rest.
20:31So now that I have the crab cleaned, I let that just marinate in that Thai curry.
20:35Already cooked, so there's not much that need to be added.
20:39Hey, Chef Chris.
20:40Yes, let's hear it.
20:40Is Ted kidding with this king crab?
20:42It's a massive crab, but we're going to make something real nice with it.
20:45Do you have a plan?
20:46I do. I do have a plan.
20:47I'm kind of going to go a Caribbean curry route.
20:50Okay.
20:50I'm going to incorporate a little of my own heritage.
20:52So I'm going to do a curry with the crab, buttered rice, and a warm cabbage salad with the radicchio.
20:56I love that.
20:58It's a traditional side dish that you typically see with a lot of Caribbean cuisine.
21:03To get started on my sauce, I'm using flavors from my Haitian background.
21:07Some curry powder and turmeric and a little bit of coconut milk.
21:11Then I'm going to go ahead and incorporate that Thai coconut curry sauce in there.
21:15It does make me nervous to think that someone in the competition is cooking very similar flavors.
21:19So the pressure really is on.
21:21Chef Chris, what are you making for Ted?
21:24I'm going a little bit Haitian spice bold on this.
21:26So I started with a piece marinated skirt steak.
21:29And I'm going to take this radicchio and turn it into a piklis, which is our spicy cabbage slaw.
21:33Oh, I love piklis.
21:34Oh, nice.
21:35We're going to have a lot of Haitian influence here today.
21:37Love that.
21:38Looking at the radicchio, I know that I can substitute for cabbage in our spicy cabbage slaw that's called piklis.
21:44I'm focusing more on my Haitian heritage as I feel it's a great way to connect my story with others.
21:49And I want Ted to be able to appreciate and see that as well.
21:54Chef's 15 minutes left on the clock.
21:58I really love what Drew is doing with radicchio.
22:01He really seems to be a steakhouse chef.
22:03Obviously, he's going to make some sort of hollandaise.
22:05This should be really in his wheelhouse.
22:07I think you're onto something, Jeffrey, and you see someone who feels like he's really in control and totally on
22:12the right page.
22:13I started making tortillas in a basement kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee, and now I'm the executive chef of Gibson Natalia
22:19in Chicago, Illinois.
22:20I'm here to win shop today to prove to myself that every long shift, the burns, the scrapes, you know,
22:25this has all been worth it.
22:28Drew took dried shiitakes and ground that in the spice grinder to make the mushroom powder.
22:31It's really great for the steak. It brings this sort of like next-level earthiness against the sweetness of that
22:36crab.
22:37Hey, listen, the marinade on Chef Chris's steak looked really green and bright and beautiful.
22:43I deeply adore skirt steak. It's a cut of steak that if you know how to cook it properly, it's
22:47one of the most delicious things on the whole animal.
22:52I've only been in the industry for four years, but about a year ago, I started my small business, The
22:5723rd Bite,
22:58and winning $10,000 would truly change everything for the business.
23:02It'll allow me to nurture it more.
23:04I want to win really bad.
23:07Chef, just under 10 minutes on the clock.
23:14I'm making a Thai curry coconut creole sauce.
23:18I want to enhance the seafood flavor of this creole sauce. So I begin by torching the body of the
23:23crab and really getting some heat on there.
23:25Get some nice char marks before adding that to the creole sauce.
23:28You smell that like burning iodine quality?
23:30I don't like it.
23:30That's the shell of the crab.
23:32The problem is anytime you burn crustacean shell, it starts to get really bitter and weird.
23:37And that's why it smells like burnt hair in here.
23:39Okay.
23:41Picking up on the nuances of coconuts being used often in the Caribbean, instead of using just coconut milk, I
23:48add the Thai curry to this creole sauce.
23:50I feel like that works really well with the tomato, a piece, and peppers and onions.
23:57Ted got me in here sweating.
23:59No one wants to make a Hollandaise during competition, but this Thai curry Hollandaise, it is a statement piece.
24:05The trick is here to slowly cook the eggs, whisk it in the fat.
24:08You know, you can make scrambled eggs in a heartbeat here.
24:10If it breaks, I do not have the time to make it again.
24:15Behind, behind, behind, behind.
24:20Just remain focused and I will be finished.
24:22Time is winding down and I really need to get this meat out of to my sauce to highlight the
24:27sweetness and tenderness of the crab legs.
24:31Is that skirt steak on the fire?
24:33Yes.
24:33It's going to take rear to medium rear, not further, or else it gets really chewy.
24:36Cut it against the grain.
24:38Got to be on the plates, chefs.
24:40Everything on the plate.
24:41All four ingredients.
24:43You got this.
24:45Chefs, the countdown is happening.
24:47Ready or not.
24:4810, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
24:58Time's up.
25:00Dinner for 10.
25:00It was intense.
25:01It was intense.
25:04Honestly, this is such a huge moment for me.
25:07It was just like, Rashida, don't let yourself down.
25:10Keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing, because this is all you on a plate.
25:13I love making coconut curries.
25:15I think that's really going to sink to who I am.
25:18I knew they were sweating just as much as I was, but the food looks great, and I'm worried.
25:22You know, it's going to be, it's going to be a tight round for sure.
25:35Chefs, my takeover of the Chopped Kitchen continues.
25:39For the entree round, I gave you Thai curry, radicchio, skirt steak, and Alaskan king crab.
25:47Chef Drew, please tell us about your entree.
25:49We have a grilled skirt steak, Oscar style, with some of the Alaskan king crab on top, with a Thai
25:56curry hollandaise, and some grilled radicchio on the bottom there.
26:03I like what you did with the radicchio.
26:05That had some great flavor on it.
26:07But I do think the steak, it's a little bit dry in some parts.
26:11Okay.
26:11But I think I lucked out on the pieces that I got, because mine are nice and thick, and it's
26:15all medium rare, which is just how it should be.
26:17Also, I appreciate you doing very little to that crab, because I don't think there's much that should be done
26:21to it.
26:22I think I did a good job.
26:23Ted, like, the simplistic approach I took with just cooking the steak right, not overpowering the crab.
26:28The crab is pretty, I really like what you did with the Thai curry.
26:31Putting it in your butter and kind of letting it infuse with the crab, I think that's really, really smart.
26:36To me, the hollandaise is a little, it's raw to me.
26:38I don't think the yolks are cooked all the way through.
26:41The hollandaise, it's tough, and it is eggy, but it's good. It's well-seasoned.
26:46Just some technical errors here.
26:49Yep. Next we go to Chef Rashida.
26:51So I cook Haitian food. It's like more of a Caribbean Afro cuisine.
26:54And today I've made for you a coconut curry with a little bit of the crab meat in there,
26:59wilted radicchio and Napa cabbage, and some buttered rice to go with it.
27:06Very nice to do the rice.
27:07Rice is done well. Radicchio is done well. The sauce is excellent.
27:10I don't have any trouble picking up the curry.
27:12I appreciate the spice. I appreciate the heat.
27:14What I'm having a little bit less success with is the steak.
27:18I mean, it looks carved with the grain.
27:20It's mandatory to carve it against the grain.
27:23I agree. I'm struggling with the steak a little bit just the way that you cut it.
27:27Chef, where did you put the crab?
27:29The crab, I folded it into that curry sauce at the very end.
27:33I'm having a hard time finding it. I don't have any pieces.
27:36Sorry about this, Chef.
27:38I got a lot of crab. Thank you. I shared none of it. I'm sorry.
27:42King crab. That's crab that can stand up to the spice and the richness of this curry.
27:46It's delicious.
27:47Thank you so much, Chef. I appreciate that.
27:49Next up, Chef Chris.
27:50Judges, for your main course, I prepared a piece marinated skirt steak with Thai curry coconut creole sauce and a
27:58spicy cabbage slaw called piklis.
28:06The sauce is dynamite. What I get is a lot of brightness, a lot of very measured heat. I wouldn't
28:12even mind a little more, to be honest, but it just pops.
28:15You got a lot going on on this plate. A lot of flavors. I actually really love the bracing spice
28:23and acid of this slaw, the radicchio, but I'm kind of tasting that burn from the shell.
28:32Crab has little hairs, right? And so when that goes directly on the flame, that hair burns and we're getting
28:38just a little bit of that flavor in here.
28:39I think the cook on the steak is really great. I think it's a perfect medium rare.
28:43I really like that. It's cooked well. It just has no flavors. It needs serious salt. It needs to be
28:49seasoned.
28:50Okay. Unfortunately, only two of you will get to see the ingredients I selected for dessert. Thank you, Chefs.
28:56I feel like it might be a toss on who could be on the chopping block. Chris's steak was under
29:00-seasoned. Rashida's steak was cut wrong.
29:03Chef Rashida might have put too much attention into her rice. The steak was just a bit of an afterthought.
29:07I think that might be a cause for her being chopped.
29:15So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
29:26Chef Chris, you've been chopped. Judges?
29:31Chef Chris, the steak had some issues in seasoning.
29:35I think the most issue came with the Alaskan king crab. Within the sauce, we felt the burning of the
29:42shell. It was bitter. And so we had to chop you.
29:46Absolutely. It was my pleasure. Thank you all, judges. I appreciate it.
29:48Thank you, Chef. Thank you, Chef. Good luck to you. Thank you.
29:50Thank you, Chef.
29:51I mean, it's tough to hear, but we're here. I'm proud of the dishes that I did present. Walking out
29:57of here, I definitely feel as though I celebrated my culture and I did the best that I could to
30:00represent who I am.
30:01My wife and daughter will definitely still be proud to be able to get to the entree round. I mean,
30:05that's a feat in itself.
30:09I think at this point in the competition, it's neck and neck with Chef Rashida. I just got to sell
30:13one more dish to these judges and it's all mine.
30:15I'm a pint-sized badass. Just to be in this third round means so much to me. Everything is on
30:22the line in this final round.
30:24Chef Drew, Chef Rashida, if I do say so myself, I think I've designed the best chopped dessert basket ever.
30:33See what I've packed for you. Let's take a look. We got peaches.
30:39Ooh.
30:40You've got white peaches.
30:42Delish.
30:43Bourbon fennel dried chilis.
30:46Bourbon fennel dried chilis. Durian extracts.
30:49Oh, yum.
30:50Ted's favorite. Brushes his teeth with him.
30:52That's why nobody will go out with me.
30:54And my partner's favorite dessert, a tiramisu.
30:58And a tiramisu.
31:00This basket is very interesting.
31:0430 minutes to make sweet final plates.
31:07Clock starts now.
31:09Yeah!
31:10Yeah, the frozen!
31:11Teddy's sweet treats.
31:13Well, judges, how do you think my Ted's takeover is going so far?
31:17Kudos to the basket king.
31:18I've been really impressed with your choices.
31:20Great, great basket.
31:21How are you feeling? Are you full?
31:22I'm a little full. Yeah, I'm much fuller than usual.
31:25I'll tell you that.
31:25All right, let's see what this tastes like.
31:29Definitely spicy.
31:30Okay, that's actually pretty delicious.
31:32Lately, I've been using those chilis on top of ice cream.
31:34It's a layup for ice cream.
31:35I also think you can probably dose a little bit of the durian extract
31:38into the ice cream.
31:40Guys, I see a couple pounds of cream cheese being whipped
31:42on Chef Drew's station, and to that he's dosing in some of the tiramisu.
31:46Doing a cheesecake, like a no-bake cheesecake, is kind of smart.
31:49Very good idea.
31:50Chef Drew, Teddy treats.
31:52What's in there?
31:53What are we doing?
31:54We're doing like a whipped tiramisu cheesecake with grilled white peaches.
32:00And then we're doing a brown butter bourbon crumble with some of the chili fennel things.
32:06Nice.
32:06All right.
32:07I toss peaches in a little bit of olive oil, some salt, and I get them on the grill.
32:11That's bring out some of those sugars, caramelize some of it.
32:14And I want to marinate them in a mixture of fennel bourbon dried chilis and some dark brown sugar.
32:20I love, love, love, love, love peaches.
32:22They are so great.
32:23These need some manipulation for sure.
32:25And I think you can embrace those chilis and that bourbon idea with the peaches.
32:31Ted is really forcing us to be creative with his baskets and think outside the box.
32:36Don't take a guess in circles.
32:37Okay.
32:39Chef Rashida, tell us your dessert plan for Ted.
32:42I am actually making you panna cotta with a little bit of warm peaches with some of the bourbon fennel
32:49chilis.
32:49And then I'm going to incorporate some of that durn extract in there to really incorporate those flavors.
32:54You're making a panna cotta, which takes 18 to 20 minutes minimum to set.
32:59I just don't think it's going to happen.
33:02Oh, perfect.
33:03The gelatin sheets play an important role.
33:05This is what's going to allow it to set and have that velvety thick texture.
33:10Since the tiramisu already has a little bit of that espresso and that mascarpone,
33:13it's just going to make my panna cotta even more velvety and delicious.
33:18So once, you know, you put that panna cotta in, that's it.
33:20You've rolled the dice.
33:22I just hope it works.
33:25Chefs, 10 minutes on the clock.
33:28Is anybody in the lead here, judges?
33:32You know, I think the main course kind of might go to...
33:35Drew?
33:35Yeah.
33:35But we'll see.
33:37It looks like her dessert is going to be great if that panna cotta comes out right.
33:40Hell yeah.
33:40Hell yeah.
33:41She has not even looked at her panna cotta, which is kind of good.
33:44And luckily...
33:45Although, she doesn't have time to change anything if it's not right.
33:48No matter how you look at it, this round is going to be critical for both of these chefs.
33:52The durian extract, it's not as intense as I thought.
33:55And I feel like it could definitely go in the ground butter to add to this crumble
33:58without being crazy overpowering.
34:01The durian, I'm not really quite sure how I'm going to defend durian extract.
34:04I think the bottle tells you a lot of how you should deal with it.
34:07That dropper is saying, go slow.
34:10All right, chefs, getting close to four minutes on the clock.
34:14They're both really focused.
34:16Well, they know there's 10 grand.
34:17One of them is going to get 10 grand, and one of them is going to not.
34:19What if she takes the panna cotta out and it's not set?
34:24Three minutes on the clock.
34:26I go and check on my panna cotta, and the center is not set.
34:30And I have only three minutes left, and I'm panicking that I won't get this done.
34:40Time is winding down fast.
34:42Making panna cotta is a risk in the kitchen.
34:45Are they setting up or no?
34:47They're setting up a little bit, but I'm cutting it close.
34:50I'm going to take them out at the very last minute so they can set up as much as I
34:53can.
34:54One minute to go, chefs.
34:55A little bit under a minute.
35:00Ah, this is nerve-wracking.
35:02You think it's nerve-wracking for us?
35:04Uh-huh.
35:07I really feel like my flavors are coming together.
35:10If I was to win the $10,000, I'd invest it in the cooking class business my partner and I
35:14started.
35:15I want to be able to give other cooks the opportunity that I didn't have and have some sort of
35:19education.
35:20Whoa!
35:2235 seconds!
35:23Chef Rashida, she's got to get him out of the glass dealer.
35:26I don't know if my panna cotta's have fully set.
35:29I have no more time to wait.
35:32All right, chefs.
35:33Final seconds of the final round.
35:3510, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
35:46Done!
35:47Time's up!
35:50Two up top.
35:51Three, two, three, four.
35:53Oh, your food looks good.
35:54Ah.
35:55Mm-mm.
35:56Oh!
35:57That was too close.
35:58My dessert is concise and straightforward.
36:02I'm feeling nervous but thrilled to see what the judges have to say.
36:08I'm pretty happy with dessert.
36:09I feel like I did nail it, but it all tastes good and it's on the plate.
36:11If Chef Rashida's panna cotta didn't set, I won this.
36:23Chef Rashida and Chef Drew, I hope you've enjoyed my takeover as much as I have.
36:29After careful thought, I came up with a dessert basket of durian extract, white peaches, bourbon fennel dried chilies and
36:36tiramisu.
36:38We'll start with you, Chef Rashida.
36:39Please tell us about your dessert.
36:41Judges, today I have for you a tiramisu panna cotta,
36:44dusted with a little bit of cinnamon and the bourbon fennel chilies.
36:48And on the side, you have like a little warm peach jam.
36:56Chef Rashida, I don't think I've ever had a panna cotta like this in the chop kitchen.
36:59It is texturally perfect.
37:02It's light.
37:04It's got the right bounce to it.
37:05In 30 minutes.
37:07That's quite a feat.
37:08Had I not seen you put like half a bottle of the durian extract in your dessert,
37:11I would not believe that it was there because I don't really get it.
37:15We were worried.
37:15I was worried.
37:16I was too.
37:17But it works.
37:17It's okay.
37:18This dessert is delicious.
37:20That's a good thing.
37:22The peaches definitely need to be highlighted.
37:25And I think because you put the tiramisu in there, it overwhelmed the peaches.
37:30So we're not getting the fresh brightness of the fruit, you know, and that would be so good with this
37:34panna cotta.
37:35You're clearly aiming for refinement here.
37:38I can taste the bourbon fennel chilies.
37:39They're great.
37:40I could use more.
37:41But this reads like a fine dining dessert.
37:43Thank you so much, Ted.
37:44Finally, Chef Drew.
37:45We have a no-bake whipped tiramisu cheesecake with some grilled white peaches and a bourbon chili crumble.
37:56Okay, so now that I've got some of the peaches in front of me, they're not that ripe.
38:00They are not that ripe.
38:01I wanted to grill it, try to bring out some of the sugars, and then I realized it wasn't stuck.
38:04That's where I started adding brown sugar.
38:06I love brown sugar and peaches.
38:08The sugar should have been applied before you cooked them.
38:10Right.
38:11So that you could have made some caramelization on the outside.
38:14Do you think they actually needed a cook in order to make them softer?
38:17Because right now they're in that in-between place where they're not crispy, crunchy, fresh, but they're not soft and
38:22baked.
38:23Yeah, I know they hit the grill, but not enough.
38:26Got it.
38:27It's a good dessert, peaches with tiramisu cream.
38:29I like that idea.
38:30But you needed to fold some chocolate whipped cream to lighten it up.
38:34It tasted more like a dense cream.
38:37It really wasn't a mousse.
38:38But this crumble is so delicious.
38:41I love the bourbon chilies in it.
38:43I love the heat in it.
38:45Chef Drew, thank you.
38:47Just like that, my work as executive in charge of mystery ingredients is almost over.
38:53And now to decide on a winner.
38:55Thank you, chefs.
38:58Those are really skilled competitors.
39:00Both chefs did a pretty good job.
39:02I think the first basket, Ted, that you provided was quite interesting.
39:06The green bean salad that Drew did, he made an interesting vinaigrette out of the cheeseburger and the tube.
39:11I thought he had a great idea taking ham, crisping it up.
39:15That was so delicious.
39:16When you cook ham that aggressively, it turns into a little bacon bit.
39:20I liked Rashida's hash.
39:22I loved the crispy ham.
39:23The way she pulled sweet potatoes from the pantry and cooked those down such that they got really crucial to
39:29the success of that hash, I thought it was a really delicious start.
39:32And then we got the sour cream and onion chips on top of the egg yolk, and it flavored the
39:36whole egg, which I thought was fabulous.
39:38So fun to be discussing the food, having tasted it.
39:42And actually, I'm lucky because our food today has been really, really good.
39:45For me, Rashida won the second round.
39:47She had giant chunks of meaty, sweet crab in this gorgeous curry.
39:52But Rashida's dish was overcooked and cut with the grain, which is like chewing elastic.
39:58And Drew did know that you have to cut it across the grain.
40:02I liked Drew's preparation a lot.
40:03I know it was very simple.
40:05I thought his steak was really good.
40:06The crab was touching a little crab butter.
40:08I really liked that.
40:09The problem was the egg and the hollandaise wasn't cooked enough.
40:12I completely agree with that.
40:13Yeah.
40:13That was a bit of a fail for me.
40:19I am feeling excited.
40:21I feel confident.
40:23I really think my panna cotta came through.
40:25So I really think that's going to put me above Chef Drew.
40:27So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
40:32Making panna cotta, that's a ballsy move, but losing is not in my vocabulary.
40:36I came here for one reason, and that was to win.
40:48Congratulations.
40:49Chef Drew, you've been chopped.
40:51Judges?
40:52Drew, your first course, you did a beautiful green bean salad.
40:55The second course, the hollandaise looked really good, but at the end of the day, it just needed some more
41:00cooking.
41:01It was eggy.
41:02The dessert.
41:03We like the idea of a cheesecake tiramisu mousse.
41:06However, it's very dense.
41:08And so, we had to chop you.
41:11Thank you for being with us.
41:12Nice to meet you.
41:14So nice to meet you.
41:15You are.
41:16What I'm taking away from this experience is just keep cooking.
41:19Keep your head down.
41:20Keep working.
41:21Now it's not the time to give up.
41:23Now it's time to step on the gas.
41:24Like, just keep it moving.
41:27And that means Chef Rashida Woolley, you are the chopped champion.
41:33Well.
41:33For turning my Ted's Takeover ingredients into the best meal, you scored 10 grand.
41:39Congratulations, Chef.
41:39Well done.
41:41Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
41:42Woo-hoo!
41:43Get it!
41:44Woo-hoo!
41:46I am more than thrilled and overwhelmed with emotion.
41:50But more than anything, I'm really proud of myself.
41:52Today was a pleasure putting it to you.
41:55I miss one!
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