-I am ladylike. -I make my own luck.
I'm gonna gamble every single chance I get.
Let's go.
Welcome to Chopped, Casino Royale.
These 16 chefs are all in a giant jackpot...
Ooh, baby...
...adrenaline through the roof.
Oh!
This is truly an ingredient I would not know what to do with.
[Ted] Don't like an ingredient?
Spin the roulette wheel.
-[woman 1] Boom! Yeah, baby. -[woman 2] I'm feeling lucky.
-[Ted] Get lucky. -[man 1] Yeah.
[all cheering]
[Tiffani] This is an incredible ingredient.
Oh!
[Ted] Or lose big.
-[woman 3] Oh! -[Ted] Limburger Cheese.
[gasps]
It's like, what do you even do with that?
You've got to make your own luck in this kitchen.
If you're not taking risks in the Chopped kitchen, why are you here?
Rolling that dice regardless of the ingredients.
Oh!
-Whoo! -We're cooking over here.
You get one bet. This is it.
I'm sweating, honey.
No risk, no reward, baby.
No!
[Ted] Place your bets.
Hope you guys are playing your cards right.
Whoo!
Let the good times roll.
Rolling that dice regardless of the ingredient.
Let's go!
Hen of the woods, baby. Hen of the woods.
I'm a private chef from Miami Beach, Florida.
Well, my first real job that I had
was working at Bouchon under Thomas Keller,
and spent a couple of years working in Michelin star restaurants in New York City.
I'm willing to gamble. I'm willing to put it all on the line.
Looks pretty good to me.
I want to be the best, no matter what.
Am I competitive?
On a scale of one to ten...
I'm a hundred.
My food has a lot of big flavors and of Mexican influence.
I actually think I broke it. [laughs]
I'm trying to teach my kids, fear gets you nowhere.
Sometimes, you have to be willing to take chances.
How can I not be lucky? I'm in the Chopped kitchen.
I'm an all or nothing kind of guy.
Vegas, baby.
I'm the Executive Chef of Krupa Grocery in Brooklyn, New York.
All right, Miguel. Order fire. Buckle out.
My background in training is a little old school.
I dropped out of college and needed a job,
so, I just found myself in a kitchen and fell in love.
I have an extremely obsessive personality.
When I want something, I become determined
that nothing can stand in my way.
The way I see it, everyone here is just to watch me win my money.
[laughs]
I'm gonna win 'cause I'm a queen of hearts.
I'm the Sous Chef at Nobu, Eden Rock in Miami Beach, Florida.
My food tastes like it comes from mama's kitchen
but it looks like it coming from a fine dining restaurant.
I don't make anything that doesn't taste good.
My passion, the love that I have,
gives my food the wow factor.
These other chefs don't have a shot at winning.
Boom! Yeah, baby.
-[Nilou] Are you a gambler? -[Chris] I am definitely a gambler.
[Tiffani] Oh! Chris and I will be like 4 a.m.
Although, you should never overstay your time at the casino.
-[Tiffani] Speaking of overstaying. -Here goes the neighborhood.
-[laughs] -Casino Royale. Here we are.
-[Tiffani] Here they are. -Hello, Chefs.
-How's it going guys? -Hello, hello, hello.
-Yes! -Let's go! [claps]
-Hello, Chefs! -Hi, Ted.
Welcome to Chopped, Casino Royale.
-Yeah, boy. -Let's do it.
The extra special house rules
make the game play here unlike any other Chopped battle.
After you open your mystery baskets,
you do not have to accept the hand you've been dealt.
-[Josh] All right. -Yes.
-Here we go. -[Josh] Love that.
You can ditch one ingredient for the chance to get another
by spinning the roulette wheel.
Win your bet, choose a lucky ingredient.
Lose your bet,
you have to choose an unlucky ingredient.
The winner of this battle gets to come back
-for the Casino Royale finale. -[claps]
Let's dive in.
Let's get those appetizer baskets opened.
-[chuckles] -Oh, my...
[Josh] Oh, my God!
Hell, yeah.
And look at this fantastic foursome.
Stargazy pie.
[Jim] This is fish.
I've got ideas running through my head already.
[Ted] Sea beans.
Mmm...
[Ted] Marshmallows.
Okay. I could deal with this.
Gold chicken wings.
[Ted] And 24 karat gold chicken wings.
Ooh!
Ooh, baby.
I love gold.
Wow!
[Ted] Anybody want to get rid of one of these gems?
I think I'm gonna gamble away the pie.
I do not want to deal with sardines and chicken wings.
It's not a good combination.
-[Ted] Chef Sam? -I'd like to gamble the marshmallows.
-Yeah. -I'm getting rid of that chicken.
-What? -[Jim] Yeah.
[Ted] Okay.
Chef Brittany?
[Brittany] I'm gonna gamble...
the marshmallow.
All right then. We're gonna spin.
-Whoa! -[Josh] Let's do it.
-[Josh] Yeah! -[Brittany] Let's go.
[all cheering]
All right. Chef Sam, red or black?
I'm gonna go with red.
[Ted] And okay. You're ready?
-[Nilou] Here we go. -[Ted] Okay. Here we go.
-[Josh] Let's go red. -[all cheering]
Let's go, Sam.
[Ted] Congratulations.
You get to choose from our lucky ingredients.
Cloches one through six.
-I'm gonna go with one. -[Tiffani] Okay.
-Skirt steak. -[all cheering]
-This is a quick cooking steak. -[Sam] Yes. Yes.
It has a nice amount of fat.
You really lucked out here. How are you feeling?
I'm feeling great. [giggles]
And next, Chef Jim.
Well, I'm gonna go on black. Here we go.
-Let's go. Black. -Let's go.
[all cheering]
-Yeah! Here we go! -[clapping]
I'm gonna go with my lucky number. It's two.
[Ted] Lamb leg steaks.
-[Jim] Let's go. -[Nilou] Right?
Incredible ingredient. Really versatile.
-How do you feel? -That's a great cut of meat.
[Ted] Chef Josh.
-I'm gonna go red. -[Nilou] Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.
Let's go red. Let's go red.
[Jim] Let's see. Let's see.
[all cheering]
-Let's go for three. -[Ted] Let's go for three.
[Ted] Opah loin.
-Opah! -Opah!
[Tiffani] A beautiful fish. Nice and buttery. You're feeling good?
I'm feeling great.
Chef Brittany, three out of four chefs have been lucky so far.
I'm gonna go with red.
-[Ted] Come on, red. -[Tiffani] Here we go.
Come on, red. [clapping]
[all cheering]
[all] Oh!
[Ted] Unfortunately, Brittany, you have to choose from our less lucky side.
I'm gonna go with seven.
-[Tiffani] There you go. -[Chris] Okay.
-[Ted] Olive soup. -Oh!
[Chris] There's olives in there. There's bacon in there.
It's basically a salty, nitrating ingredient.
Sounds delicious, doesn't it?
-You need salt to flavor. -That's right.
You've got 20 minutes to cook.
Here we go!
-[Josh] Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. -Let's go!
These chefs are competing for a spot in the Casino Royale finale.
The jackpot there is currently at $25,000,
but that could go higher.
Let's have some fun, huh?
[Tiffani] When the stakes are higher,
you sort of hedge your bets and you play a little safer
or you just take that pile of chips and you go all in.
What I'm seeing here is that they are here to win
and they're gonna go all out.
I gambled away the marshmallows and I got lucky.
I got skirt steak.
I'm first generation Mexican-American.
Most Mexicans marinate their skirt steak in beer,
so, that's what I'm doing.
I'm making skirt steak crostini with a poblano crema.
All throughout my life I've struggled with being confident
but I'm trying to give myself as much encouragement as I can.
I got this. I got this.
I'm gonna make myself proud,
and I'm gonna make my kids proud.
-Jim gave away his bling wings. -[Nilou] Mmm. What?
[Tiffani] They're chicken wings but covered in 24 karat gold paper.
They're pretty neutral fried wings.
[Chris] I'm familiar with the restaurant that invented these,
and they charge a lot of money for it,
-and he just gave it away. -[Nilou] Gave it away.
Gave it away. But he got a great protein.
Got to get me some lean.
It's a beautiful cut of lamb
and I have to make that this other piece.
I'm making seared lamb medallions with sea bean salad
and a marshmallow red wine reduction.
[Jim] I think Chef Sam and Brittany are taking the easy way out
by getting rid of the marshmallows.
Behind. Behind.
[Jim] I'm really looking at making them into a demi-glace,
and then, I take the inside of the stargazy pie,
the Dijon custard and the hard-boiled eggs.
Then I'm gonna make a sauce gribiche.
I'm going to take as many risks.
We're gonna gamble, it's because it's the Casino Royale,
so, I gotta go all in.
-That stargazy pie is a lot to unpack. -[Nilou] Yeah.
-[Tiffani] You got to get in there early, dig around. -[Chris] Yeah.
[Chris] So, Brittany was the only unlucky one.
She got the olive soup, which is really salty, buried in heavy cream.
It's just a tough ingredient.
Oh, that's good.
-Oh! She doesn't even know it. -She loves it.
-Okay. That's great. -[Tiffani] Okay. We're happy with that.
I tried the stargazy pie
and I'm gonna use the egg custard and turn that into a soup.
-[Chris] Brittany, how're you feeling? -[Brittany] Awesome.
I'm gonna make soup that reminds you of home, you know?
-Her energy is my favorite thing. -I love it.
[Brittany] Then I'm gonna add the olive soup
and I'm gonna add the meat from the chicken wings.
[Chris] Josh gave up his stargazy pie
and got that beautiful Opah,
which by the way would make a great sashimi or crudo.
-Or Crudo. -Mmm. And a perfect appetizer.
Exactly.
[Josh] I'm pretty happy with my gamble.
I know right away, I want to do a tartare.
So, I'm making an Opah tartare and pickled sea beans.
[laughs]
[Chris] The Opah and the sea beans will pair beautifully.
-Oh! -But what to do with the marshmallow with Opah?
[Tiffani] Now, marshmallows is essentially a neutral sugar,
so, you can balance it with heat and acid.
[Josh] So, I'm gonna make a curry sauce to go in my tartare,
and the marshmallows, this isn't the worst thing,
because I feel like it could be a good natural sweetener.
And I know that I have those chicken wings.
All right. Let's go.
So, I want to roast those along with the aromatics
to really reinforce that chicken flavor.
Then I'm adding in the marshmallows and coconut milk.
Chefs, ten minutes left in this round.
I incorporate the sea beans in the frisee salad
'cause it's going to give it that crunchiness and saltiness.
-[Chris] God! We got eight minutes left -[Nilou] Oh!
and Chef Sam has not touched her stargazy pie,
and she has not touched her 24 karat chicken wings.
That makes me really worried for Chef Sam.
Chef Sam has not touched her stargazy pie
and she has not touched her 24 karat chicken wings.
-Well, Sam needs to make some smart and fast choices. -Mmm. Yup.
I have to figure out what I'm gonna do with this stargazy pie.
I just throw in that pie crust to give my salad that extra crunch.
Chefs, five minutes to get it done.
With these sea beans, I'm gonna make a sea bean salad.
It's got citrus, cilantro and scallions.
I don't have too much time left,
so, I'm gonna fry my sea beans for a minute to get some crunch on them.
Two-minute warning, chefs. Two minutes.
You know, I mentioned that Josh could go
-the crudo or sashimi route with the Opah, -[Nilou] Mmm-hmm.
-but actually he's doing a tartare. -[Nilou] Smart.
-[Chris] Perfect for the appetizer round. -[Nilou] Yeah.
So, in this dish I have a lot of soft texture.
I need a little bit of crisp.
Now, I understand why he's frying wontons.
Sam has still not touched the 24 karat gold chicken wings.
-[Tiffani] Let's go, chefs! -[Chris] Minute-twenty to go. Minute-twenty.
Minute-twenty. Let's go!
I decide to use the golden chicken wings
and take that gold off to make my dish look pretty.
Oh, no!
But I'm having a hard time.
All four ingredients on the plate, please.
If you can't get 25k you can't get past this round.
-[Nilou] Oh, my God! -[Chris] Don't even look at the clock. Just plate.
[Ted] All right, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
-Time is up. -[all cheering]
[clapping]
Oh, that looks beautiful. [chuckles]
My gold from the wings, that I just threw it on there just to get it on the plate.
So, hopefully, I made it to the next--
I am gonna make it to the next round.
[Jim] I'm feeling great after that round.
As far as I see it today, the rest of the competitors are just here to watch.
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
It's hard to believe everybody wasn't completely crazy
about that first basket of stargazy pie, sea beans,
marshmallows and 24 karat gold chicken wings.
Josh, you made a swap.
I exchanged the fish pie and I got an Opah loin,
so, I made Opah tartare along with a marshmallow curry coconut sauce
and some pickled sea beans.
Lady Luck definitely smiled on you when you got that beautiful Opah.
And you did a really smart thing by doing this tartare.
That said...
the topping could have been a little bit more technically proficient.
[Tiffani] I think the same thing.
When you have a tartare like this,
it's about sizing that Opah the same as the shallot as the sea bean
and letting them all play their roles.
But using the marshmallows in the curry,
great way to fold that neutral sugar into something
that becomes impactful and really meaningful in this dish.
Thank you, Chef. Appreciate that.
[Chris] I think it's a really brilliant use of the basket ingredients.
The heat really balances the sweet.
Really, really, really, really good job.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you, Chef Josh.
Next up is Chef Brittany.
I gambled off my marshmallows for olive soup.
So, I did a spicy soup with fried sea beans and toasted sourdough.
What you've created here is just a big hug in a bowl.
You developed so much flavor,
I keep on getting surprise hits of... of chicken and of the sea bean.
[Tiffani] Yeah. It's really good.
And the big hunk of crusty bread
is exactly the accoutrement that this needs.
Thank you.
[Chris] I'm gonna say something I don't think I've ever said,
and I've been doing this for 14 years.
My goodness.
You almost made the basket ingredients disappear,
which we don't want.
But you created something completely delicious
that doesn't resemble the basket at all and I love it. So...
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you, Chef Brittany.
Next, we go to Chef Sam.
I gambled the marshmallows and I won the skirt steak.
[Chris] Pretty good gamble.
[Sam] In front of you, you have a skirt steak crostini
a poblano crema.
And on top of that is a frisee salad with the sea beans.
What is motivating you to go through this competition?
I've kind of always struggled with believing in myself,
but I have a great family that has always believed in me.
And I feel like, you know, why not?
How many kids do you have?
I have two. My son is two-years-old
and my daughter turned eight months today.
Wow!
Chef Sam, the bread is really nicely toasted,
the steak is cooked perfectly.
It's all the things that you want to see in a steak crostini.
And the sea beans on top,
add a little bit of salinity and freshness. That's really smart.
Chef Sam, if I got this dish while I was late night gambling,
I would feel very, very happy.
There's so much technical proficiency here.
[Chris] I agree. I think this is a great vehicle for an appetizer
but a lot of times we want to see more.
You know, not just like crumble something over the top of something.
And you did that with two of the four basket ingredients.
You did it with the chicken and you did it with the crust from the pie.
But I don't mind because of these pops of crunch and texture
it goes so well with the skirt steak somehow.
Thank you, Chef Sam.
And finally, Chef Jim.
I decided to gamble away my 24 karat gold chicken and I got, uh, lamb.
So, I made seared lamb medallions with a sea bean salad
topped with a sauce gribiche and a marshmallow red wine reduction.
Chef, outside the kitchen, would you say you're much of a risk taker?
Yeah. I'm an adrenaline junkie.
I like to just always be on.
I really give 110 percent. I'm obsessed with everything.
It's either all or nothing.
And right now luckily it's food.
My lamb is perfectly cooked,
-[Tiffani] Mmm. -[Chris] very well-seasoned.
[Chris] And I love the way this sauce gribiche links up with the sea beans.
It's a really delicious bite.
Yeah. And it's visually beautiful.
Like, the plating is really lovely, very like casino vibey.
The thought process of your dish is... is solid.
Where I hit pause was on the intense marshmallow flavor.
That kind of fought with the lemon flavor of your salad dressing.
I agree. That marshmallow is just really cloyingly sweet for me.
[Tiffani] Yeah. It is the marshmallow that's tough.
But it's-- The construction of the dish is nice
-and I... and I like the way you think about food. -Thank you.
[Ted] Okay.
It's been a very interesting first round in our Chopped, Casino Royale.
Thank you, Chefs.
Going into this first chop, my biggest worry is that my sauce being too sweet
is going to be the thing that gets me Chopped.
Oh, man! I feel it. [laughs]
There's definitely some ingredients that I could have used more of.
But I'm manifesting those positive vibes.
So, I'm gonna make it to the next round.
[gasps]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[gasps]
Chef Jim, you've been Chopped. Judges...
Chef Jim, you cooked that lamb perfectly.
However, there was just too much marshmallow in that red wine reduction
and it was cloyingly sweet and we just couldn't get past it.
And so, we had to chop you.
[Jim] I'm a little bummed.
We come here to win,
so, that's... that's of course what I came here to do.
But all in all it was an amazing experience.
I'm lucky to have it.
Chefs, it's time to make some decisions about what's in these.
Open up you entree baskets.
-Okay. -What the hell?
[Ted] And here we go with cured tuna heart.
Oh, man. [chuckles nervously]
I don't know why y'all gonna give us this.
Elk medallions.
[Ted] Elk medallions.
That's interesting.
[Ted] Concord grapes.
Cream of spinach.
[Ted] And creamed spinach.
All right. Who wants to gamble?
Chef Brittany?
[chuckles] I'm definitely gambling the tuna heart.
-[Ted] Chef Sam. -Same.
Let's go. All three with the cured tuna heart.
All right. Back to the gaming table.
-Here we go. -Here we go.
[all cheering]
Here we go.
All right. Chef Brittany, red or black?
I'm gonna put my money on the red.
[Ted] Okay.
-Let's go. Spin it to win it. -Here we go!
-[Tiffani] Go, red! -[all cheering]
-Let's go, red! -Let's go, red! Let's go, red!
Come on. Come on.
[all] Oh!
-[Nilou] It's okay. -[laughs]
[Ted] Chef Brittany, I'm afraid you lost your bet,
so, you must choose from our less lucky side.
So, I'm gonna pick the number ten.
[Ted] The number ten.
-[Ted] Freeze dried ice cream sandwiches. -Okay.
[Chris] This is a very difficult ingredient.
It's essentially dehydrated ice cream.
But when you try to cook with it,
it just basically disintegrates.
Let's go.
All right. Chef Josh.
Let's go red.
[Ted] All right. Fingers crossed. Just toss.
[all cheering]
Yay!
Here we go, guys!
Here we go! Here we go! Bring the filler.
I'm gonna go for number one, huh?
Let's do it.
-[Ted] Pork belly. -All right.
-[Tiffani] He's happy -[Nilou] Yes.
[Josh] Thank you.
Okay. Let's see what happens with you, Chef Sam.
-I'm gonna bet on red. -[Ted] All right.
[Ted] Please put your marker down.
[Nilou] Rolling, rolling, rolling.
Here we go. Let's go red. Let's go red.
[Tiffani] Oh! Oh! Oh!
[all] Oh!
[Ted] So, Chef, which number would you like?
Number nine.
[Ted] Gummy sushi.
-Chef Sam... -[laughs]
two of my favorite things in the world have combined to your demise.
So, it's obviously not sushi.
It is gummy, so, it's a whole lot of sugar.
Thirty minute entree round...
-starts now. -[Chris] Let's go, guys.
-Come on, great, guys. Bring it. -Good luck, everybody.
-[Chris] Let's go. -Whoo!
All right.
Judges, are these chefs cooking like they've bet their reputations on it?
[Tiffani] They better be.
-I saw Sam's face when the gummy sushi was presented. -[Tiffani] Yeah.
I'm not sure that she had it in her mind
that there's gonna be another sweet component for her to deal with.
[Tiffani] Right.
In the first round I did pretty good,
so, I'm definitely feeling a little more confident.
But I'm definitely second guessing my gamble.
I'm feeling sad.
I'm not gonna lie.
But when you make a decision, you take it all the way through to the finish line.
No regrets, baby.
I'm making seared elk medallions over bacon and chorizo
and a cream of spinach puree.
In the first round, the judges told me that I did not highlight
my basket ingredients as much as they wanted,
so, I need to show, I know what I'm doing.
Sam's a great chop but I'm the only one with the lucky ingredient.
I am very happy about this braised pork belly
but what am I gonna do for the starch?
I saw a quick-cooking polenta,
so, for my entree I'm making roasted pork belly
with cream spinach polenta,
roasted winter vegetables
and I'll concord it in elk.
Yeah.
Josh is making polenta,
-a dish that we often see go very badly in this kitchen. -[Nilou] Ow!
[Chris] You don't pay attention to it, it's generally a heavy mess.
[Josh] It would mean a lot for me to move on in this competition
'cause I still feel like I have a lot to prove.
You haven't seen the the best of Chef Josh yet.
[Ted] So, Chris, the freeze dried ice cream sandwich,
you've made clear it's a little more challenging than it appears.
Yeah. Like, you-- Like, see what happened.
She just-- she tried to even cut it.
[Tiffani] What-- what does it taste like?
Good.
I'm not sure how I'm gonna incorporate the ice cream sandwich
but the elk says fall to me,
and then, Chinese five-spice mixed with cinnamon and garlic,
it's definitely go big or go home.
I'm making Chinese spiced elk
with spinach puree and sweet potato vegetable hash.
Chefs, 15 minutes to go here.
There's plenty of sweetness in those concord grapes.
-[Tiffani] Mmm. -The problem is they've got seeds.
Yes. I hope everyone does understand that there are seeds in these grapes.
[Sam] For my demi sauce, I'm adding my concord grapes,
my gummy sushi and veal demi-glace.
This elk medallion is a really lean and dense meat,
and you do not want to overcook it,
so, I'm happy to see that my elk has a great cook on it.
I think both Sam and Brittany are using that creamy spinach as the base for a sauce.
-Pre-made practically. Perfect. -[Chris] Yeah. Yeah.
Josh is going full in on the... on the pork belly.
I got pork belly but I also have elk medallions,
so, I'm thinking I kind of want to incorporate
the elk medallion into my sauce to reinforce it.
I want some more depth into my sauce,
so, I added in a little bit of demi-glace,
and then finish it with some concord grapes.
[Brittany] I take my elk out the pan because I don't want to overcook it.
I want this to be a perfect medium rare.
Has Brittany used the ice cream sandwich?
I don't know if Brittany's used the ice cream sandwich yet.
[Ted] Thirty five seconds.
I have less than 30 seconds
and I still have to get this dried ice cream sandwich on the plate.
Twenty seconds.
Oh!
-Oh, Brittany is just now hacking in. Ten seconds left. -[Nilou] Oh, no. Oh, no.
Clock is ticking down.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
-three, two, one. -[Chris] Oh, that just might have ruined it.
-Time's up. Please step back. -[Nilou] That just went so sideways.
I'm feeling okay.
I mean, the ice cream was an afterthought
but I think once you put it with all the sauce
it's gonna be pretty damn good.
Chefs, your original entree baskets contained cured tuna hearts,
elk medallions, concord grapes and creamed spinach.
But we gave you the option to change out an ingredient
and everybody rejected the cured tuna heart.
So, Chef Sam, what did you end up with?
[Sam] I got the gummy sushi.
So, in front of you, you have seared elk medallions
with sauteed bacon, chorizo and cream of spinach puree.
I incorporated the gummy sushi into the demi sauce.
I really like the direction that you were going.
It's like steakhouse eat.
You know, the sort of creamy spinach with the potatoes,
-and the elk is cooked really nicely. -Thank you.
[Nilou] This is beautifully composed.
I think the gastrique is actually my favorite part.
I think you managed to use a very dangerous ingredient
in that technicolor sushi gummies in a beautiful way
and you got the concord grapes in there.
Personally, I might have done away with the bacon and chorizo.
-It makes your dish more confused than it needs to be. -Got it.
I agree completely.
Choose bacon or choose chorizo. You don't need both.
As it is, it's... it's a bit heavy.
Thank you, Chef Sam.
Next up is Chef Brittany.
I gambled off my heart and I got some dried ice cream sandwich.
Yay! [laughs]
So, I did a Chinese spiced elk.
Beneath it is a sweet potato hash and then creamy spinach.
[Tiffani] The cook on this elk is great.
I think the sweet potatoes are such a good addition to this.
Like, the hash and the creamy spinach puree link up
and I think that's such a really lovely moment.
[Chris] The elk is cooked great.
I like the sweet potatoes
but this creamed spinach,
you know, you didn't do anything to it, except blend it,
and we got to talk about the dehydrated ice cream sandwiches.
It's like this beautiful autumnal dish with crumbled cookies on top of it,
-it just doesn't make any sense. -Right.
Thank you, Chef Brittany.
Finally, Chef Josh.
-[Ted] You ended up with pork belly. -[Josh] That's correct.
So, for you guys today, I have some roasted pork belly,
spinach polenta, a little bit of winter veg and concord jus.
[Tiffani] For me the pork belly is kind of tough.
We gave you cooked pork belly and you seared it.
It's like turning in someone else's homework and calling it yours.
I love that you used the creamed spinach in the polenta.
I think that was by far the most creative use of that ingredient.
But while the flavor is good,
it's just that it's very heavy.
How did you prepare the... the grapes?
I wanted to leave them whole.
I did get a couple of seeds.
[Nilou] Well, you can't chew through them.
You don't want to because they're so tannic.
Yeah. Agreed.
So, Chef, what would you do if you won a large sum of money?
So, I lost my mother a couple of years back.
And you know, it's been really hard on my father and my sister.
They've never really been to Europe,
so, I think it'd be really cool to take them around,
go to a couple of Michelin star restaurants,
anything I can do to help.
That's... that's what I want to do.
Okay. Chef Josh, thank you.
You're all competing for a spot in the Casino Royale finale.
But you've got to get to the dessert round first.
You know, the judges definitely roasted me.
I think I kind of saw an easy basket and an already braised pork belly
and I was just like, "Okay, I'll take my time."
I definitely did not put out something I'm proud of.
I did make that ice cream an afterthought,
but the chefs see my vision.
And I just hope that that dish kind of pushes me to this last round.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Brittany, you've been Chopped.
Judges...
Chef Brittany, your meat was beautifully cooked
but you just didn't transform two basket ingredients,
the cream spinach and the ice cream sandwich,
-and so, we had to chop you. -Thank you.
-[Brittany] I think I did a great job. -You did a great job.
And although I wasn't successful to the end,
like, I... I was successful getting here.
-Good luck, Brittany. -[all clapping]
Chef Sam, Chef Josh,
you must have done something right,
you have made it to the dessert round.
-[Ted] Pumped up? -Yes.
I'm gonna have a full house on this one.
Ah! We'll see. All right.
Deep breaths. Last basket.
Take a look.
All right. Pork and gelatin.
How are you gonna incorporate pork into a dessert?
All right. I love the figgies.
[Ted] Figs.
Long peppers.
-I just want to eat this right here. -Ice cream.
[Ted] And a Vegas ice cream sundae.
All right. Do you love all of these ingredients?
Or do you want to give one of them the boots?
I love all these ingredients.
I'm gonna give it a shot.
-Oh! Interesting. -Okay.
-Yes, -All right.
-Chef Josh? -No. I think I'm gonna go for the pork gelatin.
-Not a bad plan. -Yeah. [laughs]
Let's go back to that wheel.
All right this is the double down dessert round.
If you don't win your bet at the roulette wheel,
we're gonna give you a chance to double down by playing slots.
If you win at the slot machine,
you will, in fact, get a lucky replacement.
But if you lose,
we're going to give you, possibly, the worst ingredient
that you could ever imagine.
All right. Chef Josh, how you gonna bet?
Ted, we already know the answer to this.
I'm going red. Keep the luck going.
-All right. -[Josh] Let's go red. Let's go red.
[Tiffani] Rolling in the sweet vibes.
Let's go. let's go red. Give me red.
I'm seeing red. I'm seeing red.
[all] Oh!
All right, Chef. So, now you have a decision to make.
Do you want to double down and play the slots?
-Gotta double down. -[Ted] All right. Come on.
What you're looking for is any two symbols.
They don't have to match directly on the pay line here.
-[Nilou] Here we go! -Go, guys!
-[Nilou] Yes! -Come on, come on, come on, come on.
[all] Oh!
-Oh. no! -It's going to be bad.
Well, Josh, unfortunately you have lost.
And so, you must face...
A whole chicken...
-[laughs nervously] -...in a can.
-Oh! -[Ted] No!
[laughing]
Oh, no.
Are you kidding me? Chicken in a can for dessert?
What kind of show is this?
[laughs]
All right. Best of luck to you both.
Thirty minutes. Clock starts now.
-This is it, guys. -Let's go.
-[Nilou] Twenty five grand. -[Chris] 25k.
Let's go.
Oh my God, oh god!
[Tiffani] So, interestingly, different trajectory of these two chefs.
You know, Chef Sam had come in kind of, like, quiet
and not really sure of herself,
slowly gaining a little bit of confidence.
-Whereas, Josh came in feeling really confident, -[Nilou] Mmm.
had a great appetizer round.
Tanked the entree round, he came within a hair of going home.
[Chris] If he's able to make that chicken in a can
-a real addition to a really great dessert, -Mmm-hmm.
that will go a long way in wiping away the memories of round two.
And I think Sam feels really focused in this dessert round.
-I think she's understanding, she's close to $25,000 -[Nilou] Yeah.
I'm feeling more comfortable because I really stuck to my gut.
I had a vision and I'm gonna go through with that vision.
I'm making coconut cake, coconut sauce and pork and fig sauce .
So, Sam is definitely making cake.
[Chris] Like a little sponge cake, maybe.
This is based on my dad buying me a sponge cake
every year for my birthday.
So simple but so delicious.
Sam, how you feeling about this?
Um... nervous as always.
Hey, Chef Josh,
you've got a whole chicken in a can.
-[Chris] Any regrets? -[Josh] Not one. I played the game and I lost.
-[Josh] It's all part of it. -I mean, he's a good sport.
[Chris] Here he goes.
-[Chris] It's a big reveal. -Oh!
-[Nilou] Oh!
Oh!
-[Chris] How you feeling? -Feel great, Chef.
[all laughing]
It stinks. It smells like feet.
It's-- it's like 40-year-old feet.
[Chris] This just makes me go to maple or honey.
Like, fry little niblets of it,
-Mmm. -coat it in honey or maple syrup,
and then builds everything else around that.
[laughs]
Chef Josh, what do we have working for the chicken in a can?
[Josh] Basically, just gonna stew it with the figs,
-make a compote. -[Tiffani] Okay.
[Josh] Basically, gonna do like a nice little mille-feuille.
I'm making a chicken and fig mille-feuille
with whipped honey yogurt and a pistachio crumble
with the candy necklace from the sundae.
To make my mille-feuille,
I punch out my phyllo dough into small rounds
and I throw them in the oven.
Chefs, ten minutes left in this round.
[Nilou] What is a Vegas ice cream sundae?
It has candy in it. It has gumballs in it.
-[Chris] Lollipops. -Everything you can imagine in a candy store,
all put together, Vegas style.
So, for my coconut sauce, I'm using the ice cream from the Vegas sundae,
throw in some coconut milk and melt it on the stove.
Now, I'm going to use my pork and gelatin, my figs
and make it into a sauce.
Chef Sam has started stewing her figs with the pork and gelatin.
-Mmm. Interesting. -Very interesting.
[Nilou] The pork and gelatin is from eastern Europe,
and it's preserved pork.
It's like ground lightly, seasoned, and then, it's covered in gelatin.
All of my components are coming together.
The saltiness from the pork and the sweetness from the figs,
and then, a little bit of heat from the long pepper.
[sighs] Now I'm just waiting on this cake.
Oh, no.
Sam, how are you feeling about your cake?
-Not so good. -Why?
[Sam] It might not be done on time.
Oh, my gosh.
It's not cooking.
If Sam's cake does not come out of the oven in time...
All we have is components.
-[Nilou] Yeah. -There's no real dessert.
[Sam] Oh, no.
If this cake is not fully baked,
I could be Chopped.
I'm thinking, "I need to make another dessert,"
but then I'm thinking, "Stop that self-sabotage."
It's gonna be ready. It's gonna be ready.
"Be patient. You got this."
With the rest of my sliced figs,
I decide to do a soft caramel
to bring out more of the sweetness from the figs.
Two-minute warning, chefs. Two minutes.
I know that I'm doing this mille-feuille by making a couple of layers.
I have all of my components ready,
and now, I am ready to build.
And I start with my yogurt.
I feel like that tanginess and the sourness of the yogurt
-will really pull out the... that sort of... -Saltiness.
Yeah. The fermented quality of that chicken.
I try this long pepper and it is a lot spicier than I expected.
So, I add it little by little into the yogurt mixture.
All right. Get it done, chefs. You got a minute to go. You got this.
I pull my cake out and it's perfect.
-Okay. Okay. -Good. Good. Good.
-Push. Push. Push. -Oh, my gosh!
-[Nilou] Come on, guys. -[Tiffani] Okay. Come on!
All right, chefs. Final seconds of the final round.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
-[Ted] Time's up. -[Nilou and Tiffani] Whoo!
-I mean, congrats. [clapping] -Whoo!
My decision not to gamble paid off.
It might be a little funky but I like it and it's different,
so, hopefully, I win.
Chopped Casino, you double down, you lose,
you get a chicken in a can for dessert.
It's a hard thing to do.
This is a lot harder than it looks. I'll tell you that.
[Ted] Chef Sam and Chef Josh,
the dessert baskets you opened contained pork and gelatin,
figs, long peppers,
and a Vegas ice cream sundae.
Tell us, Josh, uh, what was the ingredient you swapped out?
[Josh] The pork and gelatin.
[Ted] Then you doubled down...
[Josh] And I got chicken in a can.
And I made a fig mille-feuille with whipped honey yogurt and a pistachio crumble.
I have to tell you...
that this chicken in a can is actually quite tasty.
The sweetness with the fruit gives it a really nice brightness.
You got somewhere here with a very difficult ingredient.
Thank you. Appreciate that, Chef.
Chicken in a can with the figs is pretty good.
The phyllo dough is the problem.
It needs to be brushed with sugar syrup
or some sort of something,
-and then, layered and baked, right? -[Josh] Yeah. Definitely.
Um, this is like a little underdone but the flavors are really good,
so, it's nice to see you kind of come back from that entree round.
Appreciate that, Chef.
Thank you, Chef Josh.
Finally, Chef Sam.
-[Ted] You chose to hold with the basket ingredients. -Yes.
[Sam] So, judges, in front of you you have a coconut cake
with a pork and fig sauce.
[Tiffani] Coconut cake, I thought,
"Okay. Coconut cake with pork."
It's like a dessert luau.
And I am here for it.
Um, the cake is a little dense.
I don't think I care.
This is delicious.
I think it's a great dessert. Very, very pretty.
I love everything about this except for the pork sauce.
The pork sauce for me is still a little too canned porky,
but the rest of the dish is a knockout.
Okay. Once the judges think back on all three courses,
we will have a champion.
Thank you, chefs.
Judges, who was the luckier gambler?
Right out of the appetizer round,
-Josh got rid of the stargazy pie. -[Nilou] Right.
[Tiffani] He got beautiful, fresh Opah, made this gorgeous tartare.
It was a beautiful dish. Beautiful dish.
-Well, another great gamble was Sam in the first round, -[Nilou] Yeah.
gambling her marshmallows away
-and getting beautiful skirt steak. -[Nilou] Mmm-hmm.
She cooked it expertly, she made a nice little crostini.
[Tiffani] For me the issue was
three out of two of the basket ingredients just lovingly placed on top.
[Chris] Sam's entree, she cooked her meat perfectly,
and then she had the chorizo and the bacon,
-it was like, choose one. -Right.
Josh's luck again, he gives away the cured tuna heart
-and gets beautiful pork belly. -[Nilou] Mmm-hmm.
[Chris] But he just seared it.
[Tiffani] And then he just laid it on top of a polenta.
The polenta was a miss
but the use of the creamed spinach in the polenta
-was kind of the highlight of the entree around it. -Yes.
-[Tiffani] Being honest.
So, which one of these chefs has clinched a spot in the finale?
So, the appetizer round goes to Josh.
Dessert, clearly goes to Sam.
Entree becomes the pivotal round.
We know which one.
I've grown throughout this competition
with having a little bit more self-confidence in myself,
and I'm ready to be in that finale.
I'm so close to possibly being a Chopped Champion.
I could taste it.
And I want that money.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Josh, you've been Chopped.
Judges...
[Tiffani] Chef Josh, the decision was tough.
Start with the appetizer round.
That tartare was stunning.
It was so delicious.
then we get to the entree round,
really lucky to give away the tuna heart and get the pork belly back.
But we thought you really needed to transform that pork belly,
and so, we had to chop you.
[Josh] Guys, thank you so much, Chef.
-Great job. -[Josh] Thank you, Chef.
-Honestly, so good. -[Josh] Thank you so much, Chef.
-Appetizer was delicious. -[Josh] Thank you so much, Chef.
-Thank you. Thank you for cooking hard. -Thank you, guys.
I may not have won today
but you know I had a lot of fun doing it.
There's always next time, you know.
[judges clapping]
And that means, Chef Sam Quintero,
you are the Chopped Champion.
-[Ted] Congratulations. -[judges cheering and clapping]
-Well done. Well done. -[clapping]
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I-- You know, I gave it my all. I cooked with my heart.
And I'm ready to win.
I started this competition very quiet.
[Chris] Congratulations.
But I won.
And I'm gonna win hat Casino Royale finale.
[screaming]
The stakes are high!
[Chris] Action, flashing lights.
I'm running like hell.
Oh, my gosh.
The glamor, the glitz. That's what changed my life.
Oh, my hands are shaking.
Trinkets. People winning, people losing.
[Tiffani] Black, black, black.
I need all of yourselves to be the best that they have ever been.
Don't even look at the clock. Just plate.
There we go.
I'm not going to fold under pressure.
Chopped isn't about playing it safe.
One of you will be the Grand Champion.
[woman 4] This is crazy!