[Ted] It's our nation's best put to the ultimate test.
Four victorious military champs join forces...
[Sunny] It's all hands on deck.
[Ted] ...against three Chopped legends.
[Amanda] These Chopped champions
actually think that they can come in
and beat the judges. [laughs]
There's no way.
[Ted] In this David and Goliath battle,
who has what it takes to take down a Titan?
[Opal] Master Sergeant Opal Poullard.
Advanced Culinary Instructor.
I'm a crier.
It means everything to represent
the Air Force in the finale.
But you don't train for something like this.
[George] Petty officer, first class, Georges Labaki.
Once you get up to this level,
you gotta go big or go home.
They better be very intimidated by me.
[Dustin] Gunnery sergeant, Dustin Lewis, enlisted aide.
Oh, yeah, baby, let's go.
Marine Corps taught me to improvise,
-adapt, adjust and overcome. -Oo-ah!
[Brian] First class, Brian Colvin, enlisted aide.
-This was really delicious. -Whoo!
[Brian] Everything has to be flawless.
God bless America. We have to win this.
Put the crab on it.
[Amanda] If the military chefs
wanna prove how great they are,
they better come. We're the best.
Welcome back, champions.
-Thank you, Ted. -Thank you, Sir.
This is exciting indeed.
We have one returning winner each
from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
We know you all share a common bond
of devotion to your country,
so instead of competing
against each other in this finale,
you will be competing as a united military taskforce.
-Oh, yeah, let's get it. -Oh, yeah.
In this special competition,
your team is guaranteed to cook in all three rounds.
But to win each round you'll have to beat out
our very own Chopped judges.
-Whoa. -Come on. Come on.
[Ted] Taking down these culinary Titans on their home turf
is a tall order,
even for four elite chefs.
Are you ready to accept this incredible mission?
-Go, team, go. Let's go. -[all] Yeah!
Your first competitor is raring to go.
Would you like to see who it is?
-[Dustin] Yes, bring it on. -[Brian] We're ready.
[Ted] She has had a front-row seat
for more Chopped rounds than any of our trio of Titans.
[Amanda] These Chopped champions
actually think that they can come in
and beat the judges. [laughs]
There's no way.
They've got some skills.
And there's four of them. [laughs]
But there's a reason I'm at the top of my game.
I have the experience. I have the know-how.
Lady and gentlemen,
Chef Amanda Freitag.
-Yes! Yeah! -Wow!
That's a greeting! Hi!
Chefs, how are you?
[Brian] She's an absolute monster.
We're gonna have to really get together
and start jiving immediately
if we wanna have any chance against her.
[Ted] At stake each round,
a $25,000 donation to charity.
75 grand is the total charitable prize up for grabs.
-Yes. -Wait till we team up.
-Yes. -Go.
Let's get into these first baskets.
Go for it!
-Oh, snap. -What?
Get out of here. A whole cake?
And your mandatory appetizer ingredients are:
flag cake.
[Opal] Don't drop it.
-[Amanda laughs] -What is this thing?
-What is that? -[Ted] Yampi.
-We'll work it. -We'll work it.
-Yes! -[Ted] Duck breast.
-Good luck with that. -Oh, yay!
[Ted] And baby artichokes.
Wow.
-All right, so who wants to take what? -I'll do duck breast.
[Opal] Okay, nice. So you're getting the oven.
We can do something with this
as, like, a puree of some sort.
-Well, you work that. -Okay, I get the artichokes.
Thirty minutes. Clock starts now.
-Whoo! -Let's go!
-[Sunny] Okay. -[Scott] Here we go!
Take these Titans down.
I'm having this.
[Ted] Scott, you are joined on the panel
by two special guests we've been lucky enough
to spend a lot of time with during this tournament.
Sunny Anderson and Cliff Crooks.
Judges, your esteemed colleague
Chef Amanda Freitag is in the kitchen,
now up against a taskforce
of four amazing military winners.
I'm behind.
[Ted] And they're fine-dining chefs
who entertain diplomats and ambassadors.
[Scott] Yeah, these chefs know what they're doing.
But so does Amanda.
This is gonna be really exciting.
-We know Amanda knows what she's doing. -Yeah.
Let's not forget, Amanda has been a judge
with this competition since day one.
Original gangster.
There's nobody that knows this room,
this kitchen, better than her.
How we feeling over there, chef?
I feel really good right now.
I've competed in the Chopped kitchen
many times over the years.
But there's a lot at stake for me
as a Chopped judge
as far as reputation goes.
I need to represent and not get beat in my house.
I wanna win.
-[Scott] She is ruthless. -Mmm-hmm.
She will do whatever it takes to win.
I'm gonna take these guys down
with my Chopped kitchen experience.
We're sure taking you down, Chef.
Want them as thin as possible so they fry faster.
Looks like our girl Opal has taken this leadership role.
I just need you to get the duck breast in.
[Sunny] She's an instructor.
She comes from a military police background.
-So I'mma take those orders from her. -Yeah.
[Opal] On the line is our reputation as military chefs.
It would mean the world for us to actually win every round.
Let's just move, let's just move.
We're making pan-seared duck breast
with a roasted garlic yampi puree
and a strawberry reduction.
Duck? Now we're talking.
[Opal] Georges is great on meats and proteins,
so we let him go ahead and spearhead the duck breast.
[Georges] I work with duck a lot.
You wanna get a nice crust on it,
but you need to render it slowly
so it doesn't overcook,
and then it gets extremely crispy.
What I want people to know about the military is,
once you get up to this level,
working at the White House,
the Vice President's residence,
we're cooking on private jets,
it's a different caliber, it's a different pace.
That's going in the oven, all right?
[Cliff] I'm not sure that that fat
that is rendered enough on that duck breast
to start finishing it in the oven.
Yeah, I would finish cooking that duck
on the stove top.
[Sunny] It's not every day you get to donate
$25,000 of someone else's money to charity in your name.
There's a $25,000 prize for each round.
That totals $75,000.
Behind.
-Got your eggs. -[Opal] I'm behind you.
[Amanda] This basket screamed "spring" to me,
and duck goes perfectly with all those spring vegetables.
So I'm making a spring duck
with strawberry glaze and chive yampi puree.
Just under 20 minutes to go, chefs.
Dropping in the rings.
This round, I'm working on the shallots.
We're trying to fry those off to make them nice and crispy.
Keep them under the oil as much as we can.
Between me and Chef Dustin we're knocking it out.
[Cliff] Everyone in their role, right?
Brian does precious.
He loves precious.
And watching him use those tweezers right now
just fits the bill.
-[Sunny] Remember he's bomb squad. -He's bomb squad.
-I was about to say. -Yeah!
-[Sunny] That's right, baby. -Bomb squad.
[Scott] Bomb squad, baby.
[Amanda] With the strawberries from the flag cake,
I'm making vinegar reduction.
The energy in the kitchen is so focused.
How you guys doing?
We're doing good, Chef.
[Amanda] So I'm a little bit overwhelmed,
because I can't do five things at once.
This would be a fantastic time to have four Amandas.
[Scott] The challenge for Amanda is gonna be
the fact that she has eight hands
she's cooking against.
That would be something that would get in my head.
But I think you just can't focus on that at all.
Fifteen minutes to go, chefs. You are halfway in.
Chef Amanda Freitag is an amazing chef.
Going up against her feels exciting, nerve-wracking.
But we can beat her.
[Sunny] Flag cake, right?
If you don't have one at your Fourth of July party,
is it really a Fourth of July party?
I would take the fruit off the top and use just that.
[Scott] The good news about that fruit is
it goes so well with duck, right?
-Agreed. -You wanna be able to create
some kind of a gastrique for that duck.
-You can create a glaze with the fruit from that. -Mmm-hmm.
We wanna give a sweetness to the duck.
[Opal] You can use a fruit component
with the duck breast, and it works out very well.
[Georges] So we're using the strawberries
from the flag cake to make a coulis.
Chef Amanda Freitag, how you doing over there, girlfriend?
I'm all right.
I need you in my kitchen with me.
Absolutely not. I'm from the military. You know I'm a veteran.
-[all laughing] -[Sunny] Come on.
[Amanda] The yampi, once I cut it open,
I realize it's extremely starchy.
[Sunny] Yampi is a root vegetable.
Kinda like a potato, but to me,
it also gives me yuca vibes.
-I got an idea. -What type of idea do you got?
-That way we can steal it. -[laughs]
I take the yampi and mix it with potatoes,
so that I'll get a really nice puree.
Right, chefs, coming up on 10 minutes here.
[Scott] The artichokes are a challenge.
They need to blanch them.
You don't want them to be brown.
You don't want them to oxidize.
[Dustin] With the yampi and the artichokes,
we decide that we're gonna make an artichoke yampi puree.
I take the yampi root,
add it to the artichokes.
So, with the yampi root and baby artichokes,
we add some vegetable stock
and some heavy cream.
We're gonna start blending it down.
Dustin is about to puree that yampi.
[Dustin] As we're pureeing it, I start to question,
is the texture gonna be off?
[Scott] One of the challenges of something this starchy
is those starches in a blender start to break.
It could become kinda like wallpaper paste.
It's glue.
[Opal] It's unfortunately getting a little tacky.
[Brian] It has to be silky, it has to be smooth.
There are two of the main basket ingredients
in this puree,
and there's a massive issue with it.
And time is flying, and I mean flying.
[Opal] This puree is putting a lot
at stake for us right now.
[Brian] If we can't get this puree to work out,
Miss Amanda is going to wipe the floor with us.
-It's glue. -Is it? Tacky.
[Brian] If we can't get this puree to work out,
Miss Amanda is going to wipe the floor with us.
-Stock, stock, stock, stock. -Yeah.
[Dustin] The texture is definitely off
but the team agrees the flavor's there.
We're just gonna try to make it work.
Okay, I got chicken stock.
Essentially watching a military taskforce
operate together.
Everyone must work in unison.
There is one leader. Everyone has their task.
You must execute your task 100%
in order to achieve the finished dish.
Hopefully the dish that they're gonna put together
beats out Amanda.
Chefs, just under five minutes left.
Behind.
I love crispy artichokes.
I love texture on a dish.
I want them to be crispy and hot and salty.
Amanda Freitag, how you doing?
I am great, how are you? You look so handsome today.
-Thank you so much. -[Sunny laughs]
Now I'm just pushing the boundaries,
and now I'm just having fun.
So I'm making these little rectangles
with the yampi because I wanna make chips.
I have no idea if this is gonna work, honestly.
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine,
-how we feeling over there? -[all cheer]
[Sunny] Less than two minutes, chefs.
[Ted] The military taskforce
has removed their duck and sliced it.
-It looks really nice. -[Cliff] Great.
The duck is done and it looks fabulous.
[Sunny] It's all hands on deck.
I'm loving this teamwork.
Looking good. Salted. Acid. Basket usage.
All four ingredients, chefs.
Make sure you get it all on the plate.
[Ted] All right, chefs,
this appetizer round
is nearly history.
-Come on, guys! -Come on, Amanda!
[Ted] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four,
-three... -Come on!
-...two... -Let's go, guys!
-...one. -[Sunny] Come on, taskforce.
-Time's up. -Let's do it, taskforce!
-Whoo! -Wow. Wow.
Wow.
[Dustin] It's our first time cooking together,
we're all getting everything figured out,
and I think we're a well-oiled machine. We got this.
I think our teamwork was frickin' awesome.
I could not ask for a better opportunity
to represent the Forces right now.
We're gonna do everything that we can in our power to win this.
-Good job, Chef. -Thank you.
[Amanda] I think that went well.
I've been in this kitchen
since the inception of Chopped,
and we've never, ever done anything like this before.
There's an honor, there's a gratitude,
and I think it's really special.
[Ted] US Military chefs
and Chopped judge Amanda Freitag,
you have arrived at the chopping block.
In that four versus one Chopped round
like none we've ever seen,
you got a basket of a flag cake,
yampi, duck breast and baby artichokes.
Military taskforce, what do we have?
Chefs, today we have prepared for you
pan-seared duck breast, fried garlic yampi puree,
strawberry reduction, and then we garnished it
with a little bit of fried shallot.
[Ted] Chef Freitag, what was it like
going up against our loud and boisterous
military taskforce in the kitchen?
Obviously I'm honored to be here.
I'm representing Team Chopped.
You're in our house, but we welcome you.
[Sunny] But, Chef Freitag,
you do, respectfully, want to take down
the military taskforce, though, right?
Oh, respectfully, yes. [laughs]
Watching the four of you work in unison was amazing.
The duck itself, the temperature is perfect.
The strawberry component
does need acid to counterbalance that sugar.
[Sunny] I thought my duck was rendered
pretty well for the time that you had.
And that yampi artichoke puree,
I thought it was delicious, but...
texturally a little bit like spackle.
[Scott] I think there was a real opportunity
to utilize some of that yampi
as well as the artichoke in the plating.
Even if you took a little bit of brown butter,
tossed those ingredients together
and put them on the plate.
That was a little bit of a misstep
on your part, showcasing those ingredients.
Military taskforce, thank you.
-Thank you. -Thank you, Ted.
Next up, Chef Freitag.
Okay, judges, what I made for you is
a spring duck.
Underneath I gave you a puree
of yampi, potato and chive.
Chef, this is a really well-composed dish.
-Thank you. -I like the textures of it.
The cook on the artichokes are beautiful.
It's really, really nicely done.
And I think the cook on the duck is perfect.
-Thank you. -[Cliff] I also love
the cook on the duck. It is rendered beautifully.
It's seasoned very, very nicely.
The bracing acidity of the strawberry sauce
works very well.
I think it even is a little bit too much acid.
You know, just identifying that balance
of sweetness and acidity.
This yampi chip right here.
It's so good.
I think they'd be great in bags with, like,
-different flavors like ranch. -Yes.
-Barbecue. -Absolutely.
[Scott] That puree is so special.
I mean, it's so much depth of flavor.
It has really nice texture to it.
But it could be a little smoother.
[Cliff] I agree with Scott. It could be smoother.
Maybe if you had another 45 seconds
really to pass that through a strainer.
-Chef Freitag, thank you. -Thank you.
The judges will need a moment
to rank your appetizer plates. Thanks, chefs.
[Georges] I feel like it's pretty tight.
But I'm a little worried about the strawberry sauce
being too sweet. I took charge on that,
and I thought I could have done a better job.
[Amanda] I think I'm gonna win this round. I feel really good
about my flavors and my pairings.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
US Military taskforce.
You've been chopped. Judges?
[Sunny] Chefs, it just kind of felt like that strawberry
was just too cloyingly sweet.
And for the yampi and the artichoke puree,
the texture was off. And so we had to chop you.
[Ted] But don't go anywhere,
because in this special competition,
your team is guaranteed to cook in all three rounds.
-Congrats, Amanda. -Thank you.
A donation in charity is going in your name
-to Blue Star Families. -Fantastic. Thank you so much.
[Amanda] Blue Star Families.
It's an incredible military organization
for families that have lost loved ones
or they're struggling.
The Titan took you on this one right here.
So expect the next round
for you guys to really fire on all pistons.
[Dustin] We're upset.
We may have lost the battle
but we didn't lose the war.
There's still a lot more to prove.
Military taskforce,
in the second round you'll be facing off
against another Chopped Titan.
He's known for his West African roots
and global cuisine.
[Eric] I've done Tournament of Champions,
I've done Top Chef.
I compete. I... This is what I do.
It's extremely important for me
to put these military chefs to the test.
They have round one under their belt.
But they're in my arena.
I don't wanna lose, ever.
[Ted] Michelin trained,
Chef Eric Adjepong.
-No! -Whoa!
Get out of here.
-How are you guys? -Good, how are you, Chef?
I'm good, Chef.
[Dustin] Wow. When I see Chef Eric,
I am just in awe.
His food speaks very much to my food.
It's from the heart, it's from the soul.
It's gonna make me step my game up.
I've watched this guy cook a lot,
so I'm ready. I know the secrets.
[Eric] This is my domain right here,
so I'mma take you guys down, respectfully.
Okay, here are the entree baskets.
Open 'em up!
-Oh, snap. -Oh, yeah, baby.
Okay.
[Ted] How about Alaskan king crab?
You've also got purple spinach.
-All right, that's spinach. -Good strip.
[Ted] New York strip steak
and durian mochi.
[laughing] Durian mochi.
The Chopped guys have done it again.
I know durian to be one of the stinkiest, nastiest fruits
ever to grace the face of this Earth.
Thirty minutes to crush main dishes.
-Clock starts now. -[Sunny] Let's do it!
Know your teammates. Let's get this done.
[Scott] In the last round, one of the things
that we saw with the military taskforce was
a lot of people were doing things together.
I think that can't happen.
I'm gonna take care of the greens here.
I can make a nice steak sauce. I can do that.
Right, someone can handle the meat station,
someone can do the veg, someone can do the prep.
So divide and conquer actually can work.
[Cliff] You know, Eric is by himself right now
and he's laser-focused on his task at hand.
[Eric] It's really important for me to win this round
because I wanna keep the momentum going for the Chopped judges.
I mean, Amanda won. Why not me for the second round?
I'm looking to take them down, all four of them.
Listen, there is nothing as humbling
as a loss in the Chopped kitchen.
[Sunny] And these people have a lot to represent.
When they go back to their home base,
-my goodness. -[Scott laughs]
Everything is on the line. We have to win this
for all the military services.
These steaks are, like, ready to go.
For the Marine Corps, surf and turf is a morale booster.
We get this on special holidays, special events.
[Dustin] We are making surf and turf
with saffron beurre blanc and durian mochi steak sauce.
[Opal] Chef, I'm gonna help you out.
-I'mma sear off these edges. -Got it, thanks.
[Dustin] Chef Brian has an amazing steak sauce recipe...
Banging.
...so he takes the forefront on that.
All right, coming in with mochi.
We decide to use the durian mochi in a steak sauce
as a sweetener to help balance out
the tart, crisp bite from that vinegar.
[Sunny] They're really finding
their strengths and weaknesses,
and moving people around that battlefield, if you will.
[Eric] My style of cooking is definitely global.
I love food from all over the world,
specifically from West Africa.
So I'm doing a green curry surf and turf
with a spinach and panko crumble.
-[Scott] Chef Eric! -[Eric] Yo!
How are you gonna take down this military taskforce, sir?
I gotta come through with all of my tricks I got up my sleeve.
I have the utmost respect for these military chefs.
But I'm still trying to win this round.
Chef Eric, how we doing, man?
-It's rocking. -We didn't forget about you.
We just gotta focus, you know?
Chefs, 20 minutes left on that clock.
[Brian] The steak sauce is beginning to reduce,
and now with the durian mochi, we decide to make
a saffron durian mochi beurre blanc as well.
Get in there.
[Sunny] I love durian.
There's nothing sweet or tart about it.
It's creamy, buttery fruit.
[Brian] I'm looking down at
this saffron mochi beurre blanc,
and I am happy with it.
This dish? We're gonna win this round.
[Georges] So, while the steak is cooking,
Dustin's taking on the crab meat.
[Dustin] Seafood is my specialty.
It's delicate. I can put so much flavor into it.
I'm nailing this one. This is mine.
I definitely think our military taskforce
have taken the critiques from round one to heart,
and are really putting everything into play
in the second round.
[Sunny] We're being tough for a reason.
We really want them to have a quick uptick,
learn it, and get it done in the next challenge.
-Really? You want them to win? -That's right.
Chefs, just under 15 minutes left.
[Eric] So, while my crab is cooking,
I wanna get a head start on my spinach herb oil,
to serve a nice earthiness.
So the durian mochi, I let that marinate
a little bit 'cause I wanna grill it.
I set up a flat top
and I let that go super-hot.
It's melting!
His durian is sticking to his grill top.
[Eric] That's the thing about the Chopped kitchen.
The time cares not
about what you have to do
or what your plans are.
I think Eric is a little behind right now.
[Scott] There are 10 minutes left on this clock
and Eric still doesn't have that steak in a pan.
[Eric] I'm running out of time
and obviously I need to get started on the steaks.
[Dustin] Chef Opal takes the lead on the spinach,
adding bacon and stock,
really bringing the spinach forward.
I trust her judgment, so she's got it.
I gotta tell ya, when I go get a steak,
I do love a creamed spinach.
[Dustin] I think we need some sort of a crunch element,
and I get this weird idea,
and I look at Chef Georges and say...
Can you fry mochi?
And he says, "Yeah, why not?"
So then we get a breading station.
[Ted] Eric has just put those steaks on the fire.
With seven minutes to go?
Is he crazy?
I don't understand.
[Eric] Ideally I like to cook these steaks medium-rare.
It's gonna come down to the wire.
I think these are done, Chef. Let's pull 'em.
Their fried mochi comes out
and we're amazed at how good it is.
Fried mochi. Fire, bro.
Chefs, we are down to five minutes.
-Curtain. -We are.
The energy in this kitchen is organized chaos.
[Scott] The military taskforce team
is slicing their steak right now.
Look at this beauty.
And it is cooked beautifully.
[Ted] In the meantime Eric has an enormous fire
on his station that he's not even paying any attention to
-because he doesn't have time. -[Sunny] I mean...
-[Scott] It is billowing. -[in sing-song voice] Fire!
[Ted] Eric has an enormous fire on his station
that he's not even paying any attention to
because he doesn't have time.
You want me to bring marshmallows, Chef?
[Sunny] You got 30 seconds!
Military taskforce, let's go!
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
-Make sure every item's on that plate. -This is nuts.
Perfect those plates, chefs.
Put the crab on it, put the crab on it.
[indistinct chatter]
Let's go, chefs. Let's get it done.
-Ten, nine, eight... -Let me get in there.
-...seven... -Three apiece, three apiece.
-...six, five... -I have goosebumps you can't see right now.
-...four, three, two... -Yes!
...one.
-[Sunny] Come on now! -Let's go, let's go!
[cheering]
Yeah!
That fire is not stopping.
[Eric] It was intense, as advertised.
Thirty minutes comes and goes so quickly.
And winning is always my number one thing.
I gotta win. I have to win.
-It's good. Awesome. Amazing. -We're feeling good. We're pumped.
Definitely tough opponent, but I think we got this in the bag.
I think we had him nervous.
He tried to set the kitchen on fire
to get us out of here, so I think
that was his last gameplay, so I think we got this.
US military chefs
and Chopped judge Eric Adjepong,
Adjepong. In the basket, you had
Alaskan king crab, purple spinach,
New York strip steak, and durian mochi.
Chef Eric, please tell us about your dish.
Judges, what you have in front of you is a surf and turf.
You have the demi-glace with a little bit of green curry.
And then there is a panko breadcrumb tossed with a little brown butter
to dress the crab itself.
What does it feel like to be one man up against four individuals?
Extremely humbling.
What we do as chefs- it's pretty noble ourselves. We feed a lot of people.
But to compare it against these four individuals- it pales.
I'm always thankful for you guys, for sure.
-Appreciate it. Thank you. -Appreciate it.
I can't even believe you got steak on the plate.
-Thank you, Chef. -It was a photo finish, right?
-I mean, it was a fire finish. -[Eric] For sure.
-It was. -[laughter]
And yet somehow, you have this gorgeous, perfectly-cooked steak.
I think your flavors are really tight.
Interesting use of that durian mochi.
But it's kind of becoming a little bit gelatinous and melted on the plate.
I agree with Scott, but the king crab is great. The beef is great.
The textural elements with the breadcrumb are delicious.
This is just a beautiful and elevated surf and turf. Delicious. Come on.
-Thank you, Chef. -Chef Eric, thank you.
Thank you.
Military task force, please, tell us about your entree.
Chefs, today, we made for you a surf and turf.
The sauce is a durian steak sauce.
The king crab is butter-poached.
Chefs, do you feel anything was different in round two for you?
The way you worked together?
I think in round two, we had a better flow with each other, right.
We had more cohesiveness,
so now we're able to put out the best plates that we possibly can.
Yeah, I think you guys crushed this. Like, crushed this dish.
This is spectacular.
I applaud the four of you.
The technique and treatment of each individual item is absolutely fantastic.
The durian garnish, I was a little worried eating it,
but it tastes great, and it gives the surf and turf that onion-ring quality.
[Scott] I agree with Cliff. I really like what you did with the mochi.
Love the cook on your steak.
The king crab- the garlic butter with saffron- delicious.
I think the seasoning was on point.
The steak is cooked perfectly.
I think the only misstep would be a little salty on the spinach
and maybe some uniformity in those croutons would have been nice.
Thank you, armed forces folks.
[all] Thank you.
Last round, the Chopped judge outcooked the military task force.
We'll see if this round, things turn out differently.
[Eric] I'm not too sure how this is gonna go.
The mochi I knew wasn't the most successful thing on my plate.
I'm hoping the rest of the dish can really, like, pick up for those flavors.
The team did phenomenal. We definitely leveled up and stepped up our game.
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Eric. You've been chopped. Judges.
Chef Eric, what separated the two dishes is the use of the durian mochi.
Military task force team edged you out, which, at the end of the day,
is why we had to chop you.
I totally understand. It's been a complete honor to cook alongside you guys.
[all] Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Since the military chefs won that round,
a $25,000 donation is going in your names to Blue Star Families.
That's amazing. Thank you so much.
Blue Star Families, they empower military families to thrive
while their loves ones are deployed or gone.
Being able to have money donated to that is just awesome.
All right, Chefs. One more round to go.
We have army, navy, air force, and marines teamed up
to face off against one final Chopped titan.
Let's see who it is.
She is the winner of season three
of Food Network's grueling Tournament of Champions.
[Tiffani] I'm only one human. I'm one chef.
I'm about to go up against four of the best chefs in the military.
They know how to win, but it doesn't matter.
I am a Chopped boss.
[Ted] The incomparable Tiffani Faison!
[all cheer]
Tiffani may think she's the boss of this kitchen, but not today.
Are you ready to do dessert against this boss of a competitor?
-We're the bosses today, Ted. -[Opal] Absolutely.
-[chuckles] -We'll see. Okay.
All right. The dessert baskets are right there.
See what you got.
[all exclaim]
Oh, God. Come on, now.
Guys, who in the world?
[Ted] We have apple pie a la mode.
-[Tiffani] Powdered eggs. -[Ted] Powdered eggs.
Okay.
[Brian] Powdered eggs. That's an army favorite.
We'll find a way to get this one done.
And there's some star fruit.
[Ted] Star fruit.
This is where I live.
[Ted] Hot dogs.
Can I eat these now?
The final round starts right now.
[Tiffani squeals]
-Let's do this! Bring it home! -Final round, Chefs.
Here we go.
We have to incorporate the hot dogs somewhere.
Do you know what? We could sweeten it up.
Yeah, turn them into bites.
-Yep. -Give it everything we got. Teamwork.
Look at the way they've gelled,
the way they've come together as a team. It's amazing.
-Is everybody feeling good? -Good, feeling great.
The team is gelling. We know we have one more. We gotta go big, or go home.
Out of the four of us, I have the most experience with desserts.
I feel more confident taking on a leadership role.
Hey, can you crack the eggs in a little bit of water, too, please? Thanks.
Okay.
[Georges] For our dessert,
we're making an all-American apple turnover,
with egg powder anglaise, candied star fruit,
and caramelized hot dogs.
So, Opal's taking the star fruit, cutting them into small pieces
and then candying them.
[Opal] Candying the star fruit is going to sweeten it
a lot more than its original flavor profile.
[Scott] These are the moments where you look at those ingredients
and you realize it's really daunting, right?
-Yeah. The hot dog. -Like, the hot dog.
You could chop that hot dog into itty-bitty little pieces
and candy it and put it into a brittle or make it disappear.
[Georges] Hot dog. My favorite part.
So I decided to treat it like a bacon and candy it...
Yeah!
...to take away the salty element.
The score is one to one, and team military has to bring it home.
Chef, how are you doing over there?
[Tiffani] Oh, you know, living the dream, guys. How are you?
Man, same here.
[Tiffani] If the military chefs wanna prove how great they are,
and they are great, they better come for the best first.
-Chef Tiffani. -Oui?
How are you with the pressure
of representing all the Chopped judges?
Well, I was fine until you said that.
-[laughter] -[Tiffani] Thanks, Scotty.
[Scott] I have judged Tiffani multiple times.
She is a fantastic cook.
-I have cooked against Tiffani and have fallen to her. -[Scott] Yeah.
[Cliff] She is no joke.
Chefs, 20 minutes on the clock.
-Armed forces, can I steal some bourbon? -Please, do.
[laughs]
I love hot dogs. I eat them all the time.
I'm gonna caramelize the hot dogs
in a little bit of bourbon and brown sugar.
Let that ride.
And I look at the apple pie a la mode,
and I think I can make a really delicious ice cream
and fold that apple pie part of it in with my ice cream.
I'm making a candied hot dog sundae
with star fruit relish and apple pie ice cream.
So, powdered eggs are dehydrated eggs
that you can fortify with water and turn back into eggs.
It's really, I'm using it as, like, a stabilizer for my ice cream.
I was that kid that grew up in the military.
So my father was in the service for 22 years.
So this competition is super personal to me.
Yo, task force, we've invited some of your closest family
-to watch you compete via a remote feed. -Hey, Mom.
-Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad! -Hello!
Team Buck Shack.
Thank you so much.
I see my daughter and my wife. The rock for 15 years.
They pushed me, and I'm gonna make them proud.
[Opal] Cheering me on today is my girlfriend, Devon.
I'm just so thankful that she's here for me through this.
-How are we feeling, Chefs? -I'm feeling good.
Chefs, 15 minutes on the clock.
-Nothing is more American than apple pie a la mode. -[Cliff] No.
-Do you know what I'm saying? -So delicious.
Make sure it's fully sealed.
We dropped the apple pie turnovers into the deep fryer and asked Brian to watch them.
So, Dustin's taking charge of egg powder anglaise.
I've worked with powdered eggs multiple times in the Marine Corps,
so I'm making creme anglaise.
It's gonna pair beautifully with the turnover.
That's delicious.
10 minutes left, Chefs.
-[man] 10 minutes! -Why do I feel so nervous?
Tiffani is uncharacteristically on edge.
[Sunny] These are military members This is an honor. She gets it.
And it's a little nerve-wracking.
[Tiffani] My plan for my hot dog buns is to make French toast.
My hot dog buns are soaked in the custard.
They're in the pan with a good amount of butter.
-Tiffani is burning her hot dog buns, honey. -That's concerning. Yeah.
[Sunny] That is not good.
Nobody ever wants to burn a hot dog bun, honey.
Tiffani is rattled.
[Tiffani] I'm here to represent my Chopped family.
They're killing it next to me.
Beautiful.
[Tiffani] There doesn't seem to be any trouble in paradise.
Not good for me.
Nobody ever wants to burn a hot dog bun, honey.
She's flipping it over so we don't see the burned side.
[Tiffani] I'm in trouble.
The military chefs. They're, like, one team, one dream, one vision.
But it's up to me to take this home for my Chopped family.
-[Scott] Military task force team, question. -[Opal] Yes, Chef.
How are you guys gonna take down Chef Tiffani?
With everything we got.
Yeah, give it everything we got. Teamwork.
[Opal] Everything we got, Chef.
You gotta bring it all!
Five minutes, Chefs.
[Opal] We wanna give the dish an extra component.
Apple turnovers go well with whipped cream.
Let's do espresso powder into the whip.
As we get the whip started, I realize this has to have espresso on it.
I think with the whipped cream, it's gonna be a great balance.
Georges is adding what I think is instant coffee.
-Brian just whisked it already. -Already got it.
Give me a whisk, and I shall make it happen.
-This is teamwork, guys. -[Scott] That is teamwork.
We have two minutes!
[Tiffani] I'm turning the super savory hot dogs into something sweet,
and I need to add some contrast to it.
So I take my star fruit, and I see the cherries on top of the sundae,
and I think I can make this look like relish.
These chefs really need to wrap it up here.
-Let's go, Chefs. Let's go. -Come on, guys. Let's do this!
Come on! Everyone's watching. Your family is watching!
[Ted] All right. Final seconds of the final round, Chefs!
Ten, nine...
-Wow. -[Sunny] This is intense.
-[Scott] Wow. -...eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
-Time's up! -[Scott] Good job, Chefs.
Wow.
Did the military take it?
-That was so good. -Thank you.
Oh, thank you. That was good.
-Amazing. -Thanks, guys.
[Brian] Winning is everything.
Getting that pride, getting that you're able to beat some Chopped titans.
Whoo, buddy.
This is our reputation.
And we just wanna pull through.
[Tiffani] I feel like I did a fun dessert.
Like, very sort of, like, celebratory hot dog sundae.
I will say, the military's dessert looks super good.
[Ted] The dessert basket- apple pie a la mode, star fruit, powdered eggs,
and hot dogs.
Task force, could you please tell us what you made.
For the dessert round, we made for you
an all-American apple turnover,
candied star fruit, bourbon-caramelized hot dog,
and we used the egg powder in a little bit of anglaise.
[Scott] Chefs, I feel like you really stepped up your game.
Your flavor profiles are really on point.
The most impressive thing on the plate has to be this hand pie.
The way you filled it. It's cooked perfectly.
-The hot dogs mimics bacon candy. -[Sunny] Yeah.
I was gonna tell you. I went to the bacon first.
It's not bacon.
This is just blowing my mind.
This dessert is banging.
The caramelized hot dog that's sweet and salty.
The anglaise is sweet, and there's this wonderful foil, which is that cream,
laced with espresso. This is great.
The course correction that you as a team put together
for this dessert round...
Giving someone a correction and having them immediately instill it is very rare.
It is a tribute to what you do on a day-to-day basis
-and what you are able to do as a team. -Thank you.
Yeah, the one thing I could say, though.
You know, this cocoa powder that you have on the plate, it's unnecessary.
-[Ted] All right. Task force, congratulations. Thank you. -Thank you.
Chef Tiffani, what did you make?
[Tiffani] I made a French toast with the hot dog bun,
finished it with a star fruit and maraschino cherry relish
and then apple pie ice cream.
Those buns are a little burnt, but I wanted to get, like some texture to them
so that you crunched into them.
So, Tiffani, how was it for you to compete against all four of them?
I mean, intimidating. They're all really good chefs.
But my father was in the army. I grew up on army bases and army schools,
so it feels like I'm cooking with my family right now.
-[Scott] What did you do to the hot dog? -I split the hot dog.
I then put it in the pan with a good amount of brown sugar,
sweetened condensed milk, bourbon, and a little bit of salt.
Oh, you really did not shy away from that ingredient at all, did you?
Ted, I'm a hot dog fanatic.
Like, I love hot dogs.
You'll find me in the local gas station,
loading up my hot dog with the accoutrements available to me
-at any given time. -[Ted] From the roller grill.
-Absolutely. Yes. -[Ted] Okay.
[Sunny] Mmm.
Your restaurants are all right around Fenway anyway,
-but, you know-- -Yeah. Hot dogs galore, guys.
I don't shy away from hot dogs in my life.
-Well, Chef, I appreciate the char you put on that dog. -[Tiffani laughs] Thank you.
For this, it needed to be kind of charred and caramelized and candied.
-What's the flavor of the ice cream? -It's apple pie.
So it's apple pie a la mode,
so essentially, I just did a really normal creme anglaise base.
A little bit of cream cheese in there for some texture.
And then folded in the apple pie top, like, the crust, in there,
with a little bit of the pie filling.
This is really clever.
I love the relish. Such a clever approach
to be able to utilize those ingredients in a way that are so familiar
but completely different.
Tiffani, I never thought I would have a sweet hot dog and say, "This is delicious."
-[Cliff] It's a hot dog. -It's super weird.
-Yes. Yeah. -[Tiffani laughs]
[Cliff] No, it is super weird.
If anyone was gonna go right at the hot dog, it's you.
-It's super weird and super good. -I'll say it.
Now, when you're talking about the French toast, it's a little bit burned.
And for your ice cream, less apple pie.
Just wanna indulge in some of just the creamy parts
and then allow the apple pie to flavor it,
but it's just such apple-pie-forward.
But I think all the hot dog people across the land
are gonna look at this and say, "Let me give this a try."
-Chef Tiffani, thank you. -Thank you.
The air force has given me so much.
It would just be amazing to come out with a win as a military team.
It means everything.
During this last round, I feel like we left everything on this kitchen table.
Win or lose, we came here, we did what we had to do,
and we brought honor to the DOD as a whole.
[Ted] So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Yes.
[Ted] Chef Tiffani, you've been chopped.
-Judges. -[Scott] Chef Tiffani,
your pain perdu was a great idea, but in the end,
honestly, the dessert that these military chefs put together
was just nothing short of flawless.
And so we had to chop you.
-Thank you, guys. Congratulations. -Thank you, Chef.
Thanks, judges. Thank you.
Walking away from this competition and this tournament,
there are no losers.
It's just an honor.
Since the task force was victorious in that round,
another $25,000 in your names
is going to Blue Star Families. Congratulations.
[man] Well done, guys. Good job.
Go, team.
[Ted] Now, task force, as you know,
some of your closest family members were cheering you on
via a remote feed.
Thank you so much. It's an honor seeing you.
Ugh, man. Hold on.
-Aww. -[laughter]
I see my wife and daughter on the monitor, and I instantly lose it.
That's my baby girl up there and my wife, Ashley,
the rock who has supported me.
Being able to see them was incredible.
My two sisters, Dominika and Francesca, are over there.
Love you!
It means so much for them to be cheering me on and witness this.
[Opal] My girlfriend, Devon, has just been such a support when it comes to my career.
It's really awesome to have her be able to see this process.
My mom and dad.
Love you, Brian.
They've supported me my entire life.
Having them here means the world.
All the efforts of these incredible chefs have raised $75,000
for a very deserving cause.
This can't be real.
Getting to know you through your cooking
has been a tremendous experience. Well done.
-[clapping] -[Scott] Great job.
We won this. Joint culinary task force won.
[Brian] Winning with my brothers and sisters from the navy,
the marine, and the air force, it is full circle.
This is awesome.
It was so good. Congrats. It was such an honor cooking with you guys.
-Awesome. It was so great. -Thank you.
This is incredible.
[Ted laughs]