ADAM: You're about to witness
a culinary revolution. Tonight,
five of the most talented cooking prodigies in the world go head-to-head
against executive chefs with years of training
and decades of experience. I've been cooking longer than
they've been alive, so there's no way I can be beat. I don't want to be treated
like a kid. I'm a chef. WOMAN: You just can't
underestimate these kids. I'm gonna crush
that competition! ADAM: It's a culinary showdown
in three rounds, with our final round judged by the world's most critically
acclaimed chefs in a winner-takes-all
blind taste test. It's the superstars
of tomorrow... Way to get in his head. ...against the titans of today. MIKE:
Coming down to the wire. CLOYCE:
I want to show the world that kids can take down
executive chefs. HOLDEN:
This is cutting it so close. ADAM: This is "Man vs. Child:
Chef Showdown." --<font color="#FFFF00"> Captions by VITAC --</font><font color="#00FFFF">
www.vitac.com</font> Captioning provided by
A+E Networks ♪ I'm your host Adam Gertler, and this week, it's a culinary
showdown in three rounds. Our first judge is
an entrepreneur to the core. He's chef/owner
of several restaurants, including Graffiato
and Kapnos -- Mike Isabella. Our second judge is a butcher and private chef to Hollywood
A-listers -- Alia Zane. This Southern California native worked his way to executive-chef
level by the age of 20. -Wow.
-That's big. ADAM:
His cuisine can be described as French-American cuisine
with a twist. He's currently the executive
chef of the Savannah Chop House. CHRIS: When I was
in high school, my senior year, I was having trouble, so my dad
brought me into the kitchen and inspired me
to become a chef. I definitely think
I was a prodigy. I was my father's prodigy. Kids can be talented
like executive chefs. They have really good ideas, but I have much more experience
in the kitchen, so I don't think the kids
can beat me. Please welcome
Chef Chris Tzorin. [ Applause ] Prodigies --
who's it gonna be? He's pretty creative. HOLDEN: Chef Chris knows
his French cooking, so we really need someone that
will have similar experience. We choose Chef Estie.
Yeah. Aside from being cute,
Estie's a formidable chef because she is familiar
with French cuisine and she's really gonna give us
a clear idea of how Chef Chris
works in the kitchen so we can better strategize who
to send in in the next round. Our first prodigy today may
appear cute at first glance, but don't underestimate
her ability to dominate in the kitchen. She prides herself
on her extensive knowledge of French cuisine and considers
this arena her playground. ESTIE: I've been in the kitchen
since I was 3 years old. Adult chefs underestimate me 'cause I look so small
and little, but these chefs have no idea
what I'm gonna do. Please welcome Chef Estie. [ Applause ] Whoo!
[ Laughs ] I think Chef Chris looks like
a very kind person, but also he looks kind of tough. I think this is actually
a pretty good competition. Wow. The kids picked the little,
little tiniest one. And I'm thinking to myself, "How is she gonna compete
against me?" How does she
even reach the stove? ADAM:
Welcome to round one, chefs. Today,
I'm feeling a little crazy, so let's shake things up,
shall we? Today we're gonna do
a culinary mash-app. Mash-app? Why, yes.
Chef Estie, a Mash-app. Mash-ups have been
all the rage as of late -- people are combining
different cuisines, different ethnic backgrounds. Your challenge today is to serve up an original
mash-up appetizer creation. ESTIE: This is the perfect
challenge for me, 'cause I love making things up and I really like
having a yummy dish and another yummy dish
to make a yummier dish. ADAM:
Judges, any advice? Mash-ups are a combination
of two classic dishes combined together
to make something special. You have a ramen burger,
mac and cheese pizzas, there's Philly cheesesteak
egg rolls. So I want you to be very
creative, have fun with this, and put together
the perfect mash-up. All right. I'm a little bit worried
about making this mash-up. How am I gonna
put two things together that I never tried before? Suddenly my confidence
is shaken. ADAM: The judges' critique will
be based on on presentation, creativity, adherence
to the spirit of the challenge, and, of course, taste. Now remember,
our judges will allow the chef with the best dish to choose
an advantage in the next round. Whoever scores the advantage
for this round has a better chance
of keeping that advantage for the all-important,
winner-takes-all third and final round presented and blind-tasted
by a master-level chef. Okay, chefs,
please take to the burners and prepare to begin
your first cook. Chefs, you have 30 minutes
to concoct a culinary mash-up, and your time starts...now. [ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah, Estie!
-Come on, Estie! I never made a mash-up before.
I'm into fine dining. I don't usually put
two things together. So I'm thinking I'll just
show off my French cuisine with a little bit
of Italian cuisine. I'm gonna go with the caprese
salad that I'm really known for and I'm gonna mash it up with a pistachio-encrusted
sea bass and beurre blanc. It's an entree
with an appetizer. To me, that's a mash-up. 'Cause I'm a kid, I think
of food that mash-ups a lot. Like, for example,
the first dish I ever made was kind of like a mash-up. It was a Rice Krispie pudding
and whipped cream. I need to make sure I'm not
crazy about what I'm making, but I still want
to be pretty creative. I'm making a lobster
roll/deviled egg mash-up with crispy, buttery panko
and caviar. It's a mash-up with a deviled
egg and a lobster roll. To make my deviled eggs, I put
them into a pan with water, and I boil them,
and I set a timer to 10 minutes. CHRIS:
So I start with my beurre blanc. I grab my garlic and
I throw it into the sauté pan. Then I'm gonna add in
my white wine. Then I reduce a little bit
of cabernet -- I'm just going to mix it
into the beurre blanc so it gives it different flavor, and also the color
just looks beautiful. CLOYCE:
What is that stuff? That is
pre-cooked lobster. Kids are very, very creative, so I'm kind of --
kind of shocked she's using that lobster. I think Chef Estie
has the advantage right now, because nobody's ever told her you can't put two things
together. Is this possibly an example
of a challenge when -- where Estie's age and
relative lack of experience could be an advantage? I think she has it
in the creativity sense, where she's not limited
by the experience and, like, the classic training,
but then also, it's important to have
the experience -- you learn the techniques
to properly execute it. So, making the caprese salad,
I get the mixed tomatoes, I cut them in half
and I add my mozzarella. I chose this dish
because a caprese salad was one of the first salads
I ever learned how to make. So now we know Chef Chris
is a fast worker and Estie -- she's getting it together. ESTIE:
For the lobster filling, I add some tarragon,
some chives, lemon juice, some lemon zest,
crème fraîche, some salt, and some Old Bay. I can't forget
that Old Bay there, because the flavor
is really important. Oh, look at that.
Beautiful. Chefs, 10 minutes have gone by,
there's 20 minutes left. What kind of nuts
are you rolling, there? -Uh, pistachios.
-Ahh! I'm making one of my famous
pistachio-encrusted sea bass. My game plan for this
is to keep it safe. My pistachio-encrusted sea bass
with the beurre blanc -- that's one of my entrees. I'm just gonna go with that. I'm not sure
if that's a mash-up. One of the most important things is adherence to the spirit
of the challenge. He is trying to take
two traditional things and put one on top of another. I think we have this.
I'm very confident. ADAM: 15 minutes remain.
15 minutes. EMMALEE: Chef Estie is making
a lobster roll deviled egg with a buttery panko crust. Who knew that Estie
had this in her? I never
would have thought of that. ADAM: Hello, Estie,
how are you? Do you need help getting
these eggs into the ice bath? No, it's fine. I got it.
-You got it? You sure?
-Yeah. Okay. Now, what's going on
with these bread crumbs here? It's like a garnish
for my lobster roll. I like that
you used the panko, because they're really
nice and flaky. I really want to win
this challenge because that means,
the next challenge, the next person will have
a very good advantage. ADAM: Chef Chris,
how's it going over here? CHRIS: Beautiful. So, tell me, what elements
of, like, two different dishes to make it a mash-up
do you have going on here? I'm doing an appetizer
with an entree. Oh, great, okay.
Cool, so it's gonna be kind of like a caprese meets
a pistachio-encrusted fish. Yes. Oh, excellent.
That sounds really cool. It's super important to get
a menu-board advantage, 'cause either they can use it
to sabotage against me or I can use
one against them. I really want that menu board.
Bring it to me. ESTIE: To put the lobster
into the egg, I have to carefully
cut it in half, so I took out the yolks
so that the white is the cup and I can put the lobster
in top. Basically like a sandwich. HOLDEN: So she's peeling off
the bottom -- they're gonna sit
normally on a plate. They'll be flat.
-That's a really good idea. As I'm peeling the bottoms
of one of the eggs... It broke. ...I ripped one of my eggs,
so I can't use a second one, but I'm lucky that I have
two other really good eggs. So I have to do a smaller plate
than I was planning, so I put in some lobster
into one and put some lobster
in the other. -Smart.
-Very cool. Yeah. CHRIS: So the sea bass is seared
perfect, so I pull it off, add my honey,
then some diced pistachios because it adds a little bit
of a crunch to the sea bass. Then I put it back in the oven
to finish baking it. ADAM: 2 minutes left --
you should be plating. ESTIE: I have to get everything
on the plate, so I add my panko and caviar. I love caviar. I usually like expensive caviar. It's just the best in the world. There's Estie with caviar. Of course she has caviar, it's one of her favorite things
to eat, isn't it? Eggs, lobster, and caviar --
wow. One minute! CHRIS: First, I lay down
the balsamic reduction. it looks perfect. I have to get all of this
plated on time or else I won't have anything
to give to the judges. 30 seconds! ESTIE: So, the last minute, I decide to add celery
to my lobster filling. so, from the fridge, I go
grab some celery leaves and I put it onto my deviled egg
to add flavor. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Step away
from your dishes. CHRIS: I look down at my dish
and it looks really good. It looks sexy, colorful,
very seasonal, and I'm feeling, "I got this." ESTIE: I'm worried
that I didn't make enough, and that's a problem. I think that this is more
of an amuse. So I'm really worried. Okay, chefs, please bring
your plates up to the judges. ♪ Chef Estie,
please explain your dish. This is my lobster roll
deviled egg mash-up with crispy, buttery panko
and caviar. Chef Estie, I like
the presentation of your dish. It looks like two deviled eggs, but I like the idea
of the two classics -- a lobster roll
mashed-up with a deviled egg. I think it's a very smart
mash-up. Thank you. Chef Estie, the presentation
on this dish is very cute. I like that you took
the extra time to put the celery-heart
bushes on top. It's a nice touch,
I think. The panko looks nice and crispy
and I like the caviar. It's very pretty,
I can't wait to try it. Thank you. Let's taste Chef Estie's dish. It's too salty. CLOYCE: The lemon will cut
through that, though. ♪ I made really good eggs.
I'm worried my dish would be a little too small
for the judges. Chef Estie, you really nailed
the mash-up challenge. All the different flavors
that you'd expect from both of those dishes
came through. It was
a very well done dish. Thank you. I will say that
my only critique would be there's a lot of salt
in it. I think that it was
maybe the mixture itself of the lobster,
which is a touch over-seasoned. Because you had
the caviar on top, that was also very salty -- just a tiny bit less and
it would have been perfect. Chef Estie,
I did enjoy your mash-up. It definitely reminded me
of certain bites, like when I was up in Maine,
eating a lobster roll. I went to Maine
and had a lobster roll. -Is that what inspired you?
-[ Chuckles ] MIKE: So, that was
a very inspiring dish to have those lobster flavors from Maine
with the celery and the buttery bread crumbs...
-Thank you. ...but I thought your dish
was a little small. It was more like an amusé.
You only had two pieces of egg, and if I paid for that
in a restaurant, I would expect at least
four halves of eggs for an appetizer portion. Thank you. Chef Chris,
please explain your dish. I made a caprese salad with
a pistachio-encrusted sea bass and a balsamic glaze,
also cabernet beurre blanc. And, Chef, what two dishes
did you mash-up? I took one of my entrees and I mashed it up
with an appetizer. Chef Chris, you have a lot
going on on this plate. I'm curious to see
how it all comes together. It does look like an entree,
not an appetizer. It looks like a composed entree that I would get
in a restaurant. -Ooh.
-Ooh. Mike, Alia, let's try
Chef Chris' dish. ♪ CHRIS: So, the judges
are eating my dish. I don't think they were
expecting something like that. At this point I'm worried. Chef Chris, I really
appreciated the ambition that you had
in making your dish today. You know, you really showed us
what you're made of as a chef, bringing all these
different techniques. It's a very pretty plate. Unfortunately I don't think
it all came through. I didn't really understand
what the mash-up was. This is just kind of
like an entree that has a lot going on. Being an executive chef
in a high-caliber restaurant, I think I try to out-do myself. MIKE: Chef Chris,
when I looked at your plate, it reminded me of spring. It was nice and colorful,
with the basil and the tomatoes and the mozzarella
and the balsamic. It definitely brought
some of my Italian roots back. But I didn't think,
technically, it was a mash-up, and also, too,
there's a lot of sweetness. With the fish
and the mozzarella, it didn't all fully
make sense to me. But overall,
it was a pretty dish. Thank you. Well, chefs, you both
presented your mash-ups, now we have a decision to make,
so please give us a moment. ♪ Even though Chris' dish is not a
mash-up, it looks really yummy. I'm not quite worried that it's gonna be yummy enough
that it wins, so I'm staying pretty confident. I think I'm gonna win. -We both kind of agree...
-Mm-hmm. CHRIS: Even though my dish
really wasn't a mash-up, I still think I can win with
presentation, flavor profiles, and, just overall,
my culinary swag. Well, Mike, Alia, who gets
to pick an advantage from the menu
for the next round. ALIA: So, at the end
of the day, we've decided
the advantage goes to... ♪ We've decided
the advantage goes to... ♪ ...Chef Estie. [ Applause ] -Yeah!
-Yeah! ESTIE:
I'm so happy that I won. We're hopefully gonna keep this
until the all-important final, winner-takes-all, trios round. ADAM: Chef Estie,
you must now select one of your remaining teammates to compete against Chef Chris with an advantage
in the next round. But before we get to that, you're probably wondering
what round two is all about. For round two,
we've selected a challenge very close to my heart. Mike, Alia...sausages! CHRIS:
The last time I made sausage was in culinary school, 2004. So at this point, I'm thinking,
"Can I pull this off?" What I love about sausages is that you can do
so many things with them. Some of them are fresh,
some are cured, some are smoked. you can have them for breakfast,
lunch, dinner, you can have them in a bun,
you can have them with pasta. Judges, any advice? Sausages have become a lot more
inventive and a lot more exotic. I mean, nowadays you can get a
rattlesnake and rabbit sausage. You can get lobster
and chicken sausages. The sky is the limit. ALIA: Yes, chefs, once
you've chosen your meat, pay attention to the flavors
you're gonna add to it -- the different spices,
the different aromatics -- but then also the technique that you're gonna treat
the sausage with. So, Chef Estie, it's now time
for the big question. which one of your remaining
teammates will compete in round two with control
of the menu board? Chef Holden. ESTIE:
I choose Chef Holden because he has more practice
with meats and grilling, and he knows about sausages
much better than all of us do. ADAM:
He's innovative and ambitious, he's the MacGyver
of the kitchen. HOLDEN: When I am cooking,
it's a competition -- not just with other people --
it's a competition with myself to see how I can come up with
new flavors and new techniques that haven't been
discovered yet. I like to cook anything
I can find a recipe for or create my own recipe for. If I have the ingredients,
I will make it. Please welcome Chef Holden. [ Applause ] CLOYCE: Yeah. CHRIS: My first impression
of Chef Holden -- the kid's confident,
he's got guts, he even walks with his head up.
[ Chuckles ] To me, he's a young chef. All right, chefs, the menu items
for round two are... Oh, that'll be hard.
[ Chuckles ] Okay, Chef Holden, what is
the menu item that you select? I choose one stop shopping. One stop shopping. You really got me good. CHRIS: I don't even know
what I'm gonna make yet with this sausage,
or how to make the sausage, and then I can only go
to the pantry once? I'm in big trouble. Okay, chefs,
take to the burners and prepare to begin your cook. You have 45 minutes to make a sausage dish
is truly the worst.
[wurst] -[ Chuckles ]
-And your time starts...now.. [ Cheers and applause ] CHRIS: So, for this round,
I'm gonna make a pasta marinara
with veal sausage. My only thing is -- how am
I gonna make this sausage? I hope it's all
gonna come back to me. I'm a chef.
I can do anything. Take your time
with that one stop shop, Chef. You don't want to be
regretting something. I'm in the pantry, I'm starting
to get all of my things 'cause I only got one time to do
this, but I overthink things. HOLDEN:
For this round, I'm planning
to make a bratwurst crépinette, sauerkraut mashed potatoes,
fried cabbage, and an apple slaw. The first thing I do is
my mashed potatoes. For this dish, I'm really taking a German sausage fest approach,
but mixing the flavors. Like, sauerkraut mashed potatoes is not something
you will normally see. ESTIE: [ Singsong voice ]
Still at the party, still at the party
over there. CHRIS:
I'm taking way too much time. I can't afford to forget any
type of ingredient or equipment. Rosemary. EMMALEE: One stop shopping isn't just
a time disadvantage, though, it's also if you forget
something. -You're screwed.
-Hey, don't you say that word. -Don't use that language.
-Don't you say that. I can get a lot done
while he's at the pantry. I'm already getting started
on my meat. Bratwurst is traditionally
veal and pork. And now mush the meat! Mix that up and that's going
to go inside of a crépinette. Grab more than you need,
Chef Chris! CHRIS:
I keep looking at the clock. I need to get this started
right now. All right,
you can't go back. [ Chuckles ] I spent 9 minutes
of my 45 minutes. That's too much time. I decide to use the ground veal.
I love veal. I can make something special
with it. Then I get the sausage casing. Chef Chris has lamb casing.
Much more narrow sausage. Advantage to that is
it will cook a lot quicker. It's a lot more difficult to
work with, though, definitely. So, to make sausage,
you get the lamb casing, slide it over
the end of the grinder, add in your ground meat,
and it just comes out and you just roll it up as long
as you want the sausage. But I can't get my casing
to open. My fingers are too big
for the casings. I wish I had
Chef Estie's fingers. I already wasted time in the
pantry, now I'm wasting time trying to put the casing
on the end of the grinder. It's not my day. HOLDEN:
With my bratwurst crépinette, I'm going to be making
fried cabbage. Cabbage is something that you
really see in German cuisine, so it should bond really well. I start out with mustard seed
and caraway seed, and then I add in onions. Get some color,
and then I put in cabbage. It's gonna be great. CHRIS:
So I go to try to put the casing under a little bit
of running water. It opens up. Boom. And there we go,
let's make this sausage. So I'm adding in my ground veal, ready for the casing
to come out. He's having a little bit
of trouble. That doesn't look like
it's going to well for him. It looks really thin. So I'm over here
pushing the veal through it, pushing it,
and it's not coming out. I'm already wasting time and I
can't let this kid chef beat me. So I take the grinder apart. I'm seeing
what's going on with it. HOLDEN: Caul fat
is the lining of the stomach, usually from a pig, that is the traditional
French way to make a sausage. Wrapping it in the caul fat and then searing it
will turn into a casing. I hope that using this technique will give me an edge
in the competition. ADAM: Holden is kind of like
a walking encyclopedia of food knowledge,
but then at some point, he went from being just
interested in knowledge to really getting passionate
about the actual cooking itself. MIKE:
And I kind of did the opposite. Holden started
with knowing a lot more before he started doing it,
I was more hands-on. It will be really
interesting to see how his sausage comes out,
because sausage, on paper, is something really simple
to make, but, in effect, it can be
very complicated. CHRIS: So I put everything
back together and it's not coming out
right again. It looks like a weak sausage --
too thin. I really need to get
this sausage made. I'm super frustrated. There's less
than 20 minutes left. I'm just gonna make
sausage patties instead because patties
don't have any casing. So I start my sauce
and start my pasta right away, but now my biggest fear is I'm
making a dish way too simple, so I decide to put everything
into my marinara sauce. Shiitake mushrooms
and vegetables, a little bit of red wine, and
then I hit it with tomatoes. Mwah!
Bon appétit. For the potatoes,
I strain them, then put them into a food mill,
put them back into a pot, add heavy cream,
butter, and sauerkraut. All right. I see you've got
the, uh, caul fat out, you're going
crépinette-style. HOLDEN: Yes, I am. What kind of spices
did you put in there? Ground nutmeg, ground allspice,
and ground ginger. There's a lot of stress, because
we really need the menu board for the third round
and they're all relying on me. ADAM:
I can tell you from here, that looks like
it's coming out really nicely. It's holding its form
and it's not breaking apart. I think you should be
happy with that. All right, good luck. ♪ All right, Chef, I'm not gonna
take too much of your time. How are you doing over here?
-Perfect. I see you've had to do a little
bit of course correcting. I think the mark
of a great chef is how when things don't necessarily
go your way, you adapt. So I see you got
some spaghetti going, we have mushrooms going. what kind
of a seasoning profile did you put
into the sausage patty? A little bit of oregano and
little bit of onion powder -- pretty simple.
-All right. Well, this is a very exciting
sausage battle we have going on here. We have 13 minutes left.
Good luck. CHRIS: So I make 2-ounce
little patties, put it in a hot sauté pan, get that nice carmelization
on the outside of it, flip them over
and throw them in the oven. I need to win this round, because I cannot let
another kid beat me. I'm looking
for a little bit of redemption. That menu board is mine. HOLDEN:
My sausage is in the oven, so I decide I'm gonna make a
garnish on top -- an apple slaw. Slice the red apple
into almost matchstick sizes, and then I put them in a bowl
with lemon juice, dill, chive, and a bit
of extra virgin olive oil. The apple slaw is really going
to tie everything together. Five minutes left. CHRIS: At this point,
everything's coming together. The pasta's cooking,
my sausage patties are cooking, so I grab the cheese
and start grinding it. Chef Chris, what kind of cheese
are you working with there? Parm?
-Uh, cheddar. -Cheddar.
-He said cheddar. Great. It's cheddar.
I grabbed the wrong cheese. I got to have cheese with
my pasta, but I cannot go back to the pantry again,
so I have to use cheddar cheese. I think
I totally failed this round. I'm ruined. ♪ Okay, we are coming up,
shortly, on two minutes. We want
to start to think about getting some stuff
on some plates. HOLDEN: I start plating,
everything looks great, I pull the sausage
out of the oven... That looks pretty. ...and I cut it in half. It is overcooked. But I have no time
and I have to serve it. 1 minute left.
1 minute -- 60 seconds. MIKE:
Make sure food's on the plate. I'm freaking out.
There's less than a minute, I have nothing on a plate,
and I have the wrong cheese. I just need to plate right now. Finally plating --
30 seconds left. ♪ 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Step away from the plates.
Stop cooking. I think this is one
of my nightmare challenges. Wow.
I almost didn't make a dish. I'm feeling way off my game. ♪ ADAM: Thank you, chefs.
Please remember, the menu board will not be taken
into consideration. The judges' critique will be
based on presentation, creativity, adherence
to the spirit of the challenge, and, of course, taste. Chef Holden,
please explain your dish. Here, I have
a bratwurst crépinette with sauerkraut mashed potatoes,
fried cabbage, and an apple slaw. Chef Holden, I'm interested
to try your crépinette. Hopefully we have some
really fun flavors today. ♪ HOLDEN: I'm really hoping
my flavors are good enough and my sausage is moist enough to compensate
for the overcooking. ALIA:
Chef Holden, I really liked where you were going
with this dish. You have a lot of classic
flavors going on here. When I got everything together,
it worked for me. Kind of the sweetness
from the apple, a little of the creaminess
and richness from the potato, and the crépinette itself
was seasoned very nicely. However, I do think that
the crépinette was overcooked. I agree with Alia.
It was definitely dry. I needed a little bit
more fat in there. It was a little bit too thick. I would have maybe pattied
it out a little bit more. You know, with that being said, I like a brat
with kraut and mustard. It's a classic.
It's a winner. I like the mashed potatoes
that you put in there. I like the flavor
of the cabbage. All together,
it was a tasty dish. HOLDEN: Mike and Alia
say my sausage is overcooked. Yeah. They're right. I just hope that Chef Chris'
is slightly worse. Chef Chris,
please explain your dish. We have a pasta marinara with veal sausage patties
and mixed bell peppers. Chef Chris, you've got a lot
of different stuff going on. I'm curious to see if all those flavors
go well with one another. CHRIS: After I hear them talking
about Chef Holden's dish, I'm feeling much more confident. Right now I'm hoping that
my veal sausages are on point. They taste good. I think
this one's gonna save me. Chef Chris, you have a lot
of flavor in the veal patties. They're
seasoned perfectly. I really taste the oregano,
it comes through. There were a little bit
on the overcooked side. Maybe
if you had incorporated maybe like a little bit
of back fat or something to help add some richness
and some moisture to that. You spent a lot of time
making the sausage, trying to stuff it. I think, as soon as you were
starting to have problems, you should have nixed it
right away and changed routes. Chef Chris, it was kind of
all over the place. You know, you have pasta, then
you have a lot of vegetables, then you have cheddar cheese, it
was a lot of different elements that you weren't able
to kind of marry together. I did like the carmelization
on your patty. It gave it a nice crust
on the outside. The patties had a nice seasoning
to them, you balanced them very well, but, overall, it didn't really
fully work for me. You know, sometimes
in competition cooking, certain things
don't always come together. Today was one of those days. The sausage competition wasn't really a highlight
for either one of you today. That does not sound
so good. HOLDEN:
Even without a disadvantage, I did not do too well
in this round. Sausage is not my forte. CHRIS: I got the one stop shop,
equipment failure, time against me, and I still
was able to finish this dish. I think my flavors
are gonna save me. So, Mike, Alia, who's gonna
get to pick an advantage from the menu
for the next round? You know, chefs,
in this round, we're really judging
on the lesser of two evils. That being said, we've decided
the advantage goes to... ♪ You know, chefs,
in this round, we're really judging
on the lesser of two evils. That being said, we've decided
the advantage goes to... ♪ ...Chef Holden. [ Cheers and applause ] Congrats, man. HOLDEN:
Yeah, this was a victory, but it's not like a victory
that I'm proud of myself for. ADAM: Okay, Chef Holden,
that means that, by a hair, you've maintained the advantage
for the third and final round. So now you have to decide
which of your fellow teammates is going to bring it home for
the prodigies in round three. As always, the third and final
round is a trio challenge. Meaning you will have to prepare
three dishes that will be tasted blindly
by our master-level chef. Today we're gonna mix it up.
-What? Today, there will be
two master-level chefs to present and judge
round three. -What?
-Ooh. This dynamic duo met when they both worked at Spago
in Hollywood, and now they're responsible for Los Angeles' latest
hot spot, Odys + Penelope. Please welcome chefs
Quinn and Karen Hatfield. [ Cheers and applause ] CLOYCE: Quinn and Karen Hatfield
have won Michelin stars and it's really cool to have
our food be tasted by them, so we have to make sure that we really execute
all of our dishes perfectly. Today, you're really
gonna have to step out of your comfort zone. As a chef, you have to be
skilled at preparing proteins like beef
and chicken and pork, but there are so many
other options out there. ♪ When we want to really impress or put something fun
on the menu, I think that game meat
is often where we go. And that's what your challenge
will be today. CHRIS: Since I always work
with game meats, this is my home ground. This is a challenge
I've been hoping for. Game presents
interesting challenges. Typically,
it's a little more lean. When you work with game,
you want to make sure you're not covering up
the flavors, but just learning to sort of
work with those flavors. This is a very difficult
challenge. ADAM: All right, chefs,
thank you very much for your help in presenting
round three. We'll call you back in just as soon as our chefs
have completed their cook. -Good luck, we can't wait.
-Good luck, chefs. All right, chefs,
there you have it. It's a game trio. It's time, now,
for the big question, Holden. Which one of your teammates
do you trust for the big game in round three? ♪ I choose Chef Cloyce. HOLDEN:
I picked Chef Cloyce because he knows his meats
and he knows how to cook them. He's got this. ADAM: This kid is hungry. He's a competition carnivore. CLOYCE: I learned how to cook
because of hunger. One morning I decided
I would get up, and I went downstairs
and made myself food. So, through that,
I found my passion for cooking and that has started a whole
lifelong learning process. And that's what keeps me going. Please welcome Chef Cloyce. [ Cheers and applause ] Yeah! CLOYCE: Chef Chris has been
cooking for 15 years, but cooking meats
is one of my strong suits and I'm definitely up
for this challenge. For round three,
the menu items are... Wow. Chef Cloyce,
it's time for your decision. You know, last round, we won just by some
slight technicalities. If I win, I want to know
that we earned it, so...let's just go
head-to-head. You got it. CHRIS: I can't believe
he just denied the menu board. It's on. Bring it. All right, chefs. Please take to the burners
and prepare to begin your cook. Chefs, you have one hour to make a trio of dishes
using this wild-game meat. And remember,
this round is for the win. Your time starts...now! [ Cheers and applause ] CLOYCE: The first thing I see
is the venison tenderloin. I love venison, it can be
prepared lots of different ways. It's definitely
not easy to cook, but I'm definitely not afraid
of taking a risk. For my trio, I'm gonna do
venison three different ways. I'm gonna do a venison carpaccio and peppercorn-crusted venison
over a butternut squash puree. And the final portion of my trio is going to be a coffee
and cocoa-crusted venison. CHRIS: So I run up to the table
and I grab the elk. I'm roasting this bad boy. I'm gonna make a roasted elk with a mustard-seed rub
and fingerling potatoes. I also grab ground buffalo
and rabbit. I'm making a stuffed rabbit with panchetta, goat cheese, and
encrusted with pink peppercorn. And poached buffalo
with a marsala reduction with sun-dried tomatoes
and mushrooms. So when it comes down
to gamey meats, you really need to know
how to cook them properly. Most game meat should be cooked
medium rare. For my venison carpaccio,
I get it onto a nice, hot pan, I sear it on all sides, then
I put it in my plastic wrap, I roll it really tightly
so it retains its shape. Then I'll put it
in the blast chiller because I want to really draw
out all that moisture. And then I'll thinly slice it
just like traditional carpaccio. So to make my roasted elk,
I decide to make a wet rub. I use mustard seed so it gives
a nice spice on the outside, but the inside you still have
that flavor. I'm going to slow-roast the elk
in the oven. Then, towards the end, I'm gonna
crank up the temperature. That way it gets a nice crisp
on the outside. Chef Emmalee,
how do you feel about Chef Cloyce
giving up the advantage? I feel like that was
a pretty good move, so this is more like
a fair game --"game." Bye, menu board! MIKE: What do you
got there, Cloyce? Some parsnips, some onions,
some garlic. The parsnip puree is going to go with the coffee
and cocoa-crusted venison with the chocolate sauce. And my butternut squash puree is going to go with
the pepper-crusted venison. Oh, my God.
That's way too high. ALIA: It kind of looks like
it might be working. No way.
The consistency -- it's still not going
to be perfect. ♪ CHRIS:
This is ground buffalo. I'm gonna roll it up in Saran
wrap and put it to poach. I roll my ground buffalo
in plastic wrap. Just like a sausage. I got inspired
from the last round. Then I drop it
into the boiling water. Now it's just going
to be poaching. CLOYCE: I'm gonna make
two different sauces. I'm gonna make
a blackberry sauce to go with
my peppercorn-crusted venison. And then I'm gonna make
a chocolate sauce to go with my coffee
and cocoa-crusted venison. Let's reduce, guys. When you reduce port or wine,
once the alcohol is burned off, you really have, like, this
sweet, concentrated flavor, and I think that's gonna go
really well with both my blackberry
and my chocolate sauces. Is that a common thing -- this
idea of chocolate and meat? You know, venison would go great with, like, a dark chocolate
sauce and red wine. They complement each other
as you build up flavors. CHRIS:
So my plan with the rabbit -- I'm looking to stuff it,
then I'm gonna finish it off with a little bit
of pink peppercorn. Game meats
are very easy to overcook, so I decide to put the panchetta
and the goat cheese in the middle of the rabbit, that way
it can come out nice and moist. I put it on that nice,
hot sauté pan for that nice sear
on the outside, turn it around and I throw it
in the oven. -Chef Cloyce.
-Hey. What do we got going on,
brother? Uh, I'm gonna do
like a venison trio. I got a venison carpaccio, the next one's gonna be
a peppercorn-crusted venison. That's gonna go
in the blackberry sauce. And finally? Coffee and
cocoa-crusted venison. That's gonna go
with the parsnip puree and it's gonna have
a chocolate sauce. Great, okay,
so peppercorn crusted, coffee/cocoa crusted,
and a carpaccio. Yeah. We won rounds one and two, so if we win this third round,
it's a clean sweep. So there's definitely
a lot of pressure. All right, Chef Chris,
how we doing? Beautiful. All right, so talk to me
about what you going on. Now you are -- you are poaching,
uh, the buffalo, here? Yeah. Okay, so now what's
the plan with that? Okay, on that one, I'm gonna
slice it, lay it out, Okay. and then with my rabbit, I'm gonna put a little bit
of brown stock reduction. And then I have
cabernet reduction. Great. CHRIS:
I'm not gonna lose again. The judges --
they're gonna love it because me using three different
types of game meats is going to give me
an advantage. Chef Cloyce is only using one
type of meat for his trio -- get out of here with that. CLOYCE: So, I need to start
working on my venison. So the first one I do is my black
peppercorn-crusted venison, then I start on my coffee/cocoa
crusted venison. I roll that in the coffee
and the cocoa powder. I'm gonna pan-sear both of them and then finish them
in the oven. I'm choosing only one meat because I think it's gonna allow
my flavors and my techniques to shine through more. Less than 15 minutes left,
chefs. CHRIS: Now that I have
my rabbit encrusted, I put it right back in the oven so the pink peppercorns can have
that nice oven roast. Now it's time to make
my Brussels sprouts. I chop them in half,
add a little bit of butter, salt, pepper,
they're good to go. The next thing I need to do is
check on my fingerling potatoes in the oven
and they look perfect. This is my round. CLOYCE: I'm gonna sauté
some Brussels sprouts to add some extra color,
some flavor. Once they start to get
golden brown on all sides, I set that aside
and I check on my venison. It feels fine
and it looks great, so I pull it out
and I let it rest. It's important to let game meats
rest, because they're very lean. So if you were to cut them as soon as they come
out of the oven, all that moisture, all that
juices is just gonna run out and your meat's gonna be dry. Chefs, there are five minutes
remaining in the final round. You want to be thinking
about plating. CHRIS:
So it's time to plate, and I'm just thinking,
"Make it your best dish." ♪ CLOYCE: I put the butternut
squash on the plate, it seemed a little thin to me,
but I didn't really have time to go back
and cook butternut squash again. It's better to just make sure
everything gets on the plate than to not have it at all. One minute, chefs,
one minute. -You got this, Chef Cloyce!
-Whoo! ♪ Push it out, Chris, push it out,
baby, push it out. Ohh. ♪ CLOYCE: Holy Jesus. 30 seconds, chefs. CLOYCE: For this trio, I was
really coming down to the wire. I need to get the sauces
on the plate or the whole dish
won't come together. CHRIS:
I'm down to the last seconds. I don't have any time
to mess around. ALL: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Please step away
from your dishes! [ Chuckles ]
That was good, man. Oh, yeah. I went above and beyond, using
three different types of game. Winner takes all -- I'm gonna
make them go home really sad. ♪ Chef Cloyce,
what have you prepared for chefs Quinn and Karen? So I have a venison trio. The first one
is the venison carpaccio, and it has lemon zest
and fried capers, micro arugula,
some parmesan cheese. The one in the middle is
peppercorn-crusted venison with butternut squash puree and sautéed Brussels sprout
with a blackberry sauce. The one on your right is a
coffee and cocoa-crusted venison with a parsnip puree
with a chocolate sauce. Thank you, Chef. Chef Chris,
what did you prepare for chefs Karen and Quinn? Today's trio, I have a stuffed rabbit with
goat cheese and pancetta, encrusted with pink peppercorn
and Brussels sprouts. In the middle is elk roasted
with mustard seed and herbs with mixed
fingerling potatoes. And, at the end,
I have ground buffalo with a marsala reduction, shiitake mushrooms,
and sun-dried tomatoes. Thank you, Chef. -Best of luck, chefs.
-Thank you. Chefs, please welcome back
guest judges Karen and Quinn Hatfield. [ Cheers and applause ] Wow. All right, as you know,
this is a blind taste test, meaning that you have no idea
which chef prepared which dish. You are judging these dishes
based on creativity, presentation, adherence
to the spirit of the challenge, and, of course, overall taste. Chefs, please try the trio
on your left. ♪ CLOYCE: At this point, I'm not
really sure what to think. Their facial expressions seem like they might be
enjoying the carpaccio, but, you know,
they're very deceiving. All three meat preparations
were cooked to perfection. The coffee and cocoa-dusted
venison was fantastic. The parsnip puree
was perfect. Yeah, it was certainly
a stand-out on the plate. The carpaccio was sort of
a surprise for me, it had almost an aggressive
seasoning with the cheese and the lemon
and the capers. In the end,
I think it worked. I, unfortunately, did think
that the butternut squash puree was a little bit watery and the Brussels sprouts
a little bit too al dente. I agree with Karen. The meat was cooked
just as nicely. I found that the flavor
in the puree didn't really come through
that much for me. I thought it was
a very nice trio. Definitely something
that you could find in an upscale restaurant
and want to come back for. CLOYCE: There might have been
something wrong with the butternut squash puree
and maybe the Brussels sprouts, but it did seem like she really
enjoyed the parsnip puree and the coffee
and cocoa-crusted venison. I'm feeling pretty good. All right, chefs. Please try
the dish on your right. ♪ So the guest judges
are trying my dish. They're liking it. I'm feeling really, really
confident, good about my dish. This dish was kind of
full of surprises. Really, everything
was very, very flavorful. The rabbit didn't quite
come together for me. I mean, I found that the Brussels sprouts
weren't cooked enough, the rabbit itself
was a little tough and a little heavy-handed
with the pink peppercorn. Kind of threw me
a little bit. I like bold flavors, and I thought that
the rabbit was great. I love goat cheese,
bacon. The pink peppercorns were
a little bit overbearing and the Brussels sprouts
didn't get any color. The elk dish
was really juicy. Kind of the sleeper hit. I thought it was going to be
tougher than it was, but it was very nice. The potatoes were delicious. the buffalo was so good. Really, really flavorful. It had this hominess
that kind of reminded me of stuff my mom
used to make for me. I thought it was a really
interesting trio. It was good. Quinn said my buffalo reminded
him when he was a child at home. Wow. I got this.
It's in the bag. The culinary muscle.
I got it. Thank you so much, chefs. Prodigies, would you join us
in the kitchen, please? CHRIS:
So it's down to the wire. The guest judges had lots of compliments for me
and Chef Cloyce, but I'm very proud of the dish and I'm about to do
my victory dance. I chose not to use the menu
board, because if I win, I want to know that I earned it,
and if I lose, I want to know that it was truly
because his dish was better. Well, chefs, who is the winner
of tonight's "Man vs. Child"? I thought both dishes
were great. We really enjoyed
both of them. Do we know
who the winner is? [ Chuckles ] Yes. ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ESTIE:
You did a really good job. Thank you.
You guys all did a good job. I am awestruck. Just by so many close critiques
and so many hard-fought battles throughout rounds one and two, we were able to bring it home
in round three and get another win
for the prodigies. Chefs, did you know which dish
that you had chosen? -No.
-Honestly, no. Are you at all surprised that you chose the dish
of the prodigies? -Yes.
-Amazed. Like, unbelievable. We proved prodigies can cook
with or without the menu board. ADAM:
Thank you very much chefs. Thank you, Chef Chris.
Congratulations, Chef Cloyce, and we'll see you next time,
on "Man vs. Child." CHRIS: With this experience, I learned that anything
is possible. There's no dream too big
for any kids. I hope one day that somebody can inspire
my little boys like that. Love you, Armani.
Love you, Kris.
