[Evan] Take your boots off, get comfortable.
-What are you making? -It's a fritter with testicle filling.
-Didn't see that coming. -Giddy up!
[Xavi] I'm not just a pretty moustache.
You gotta risk it for the biscuit.
Holy smokes.
[Elena] I'm driven, and it's game over.
[Eddie] It feels like you cooked this over an open flame.
Whoo-hoo!
-[gasps] -Boy, howdy.
[Xavi] The pressure is real.
We have never seen this happen in this kitchen.
-I really wish that you had tasted it. -Why? Is it awful?
[Evan] Eating uses all the senses.
Tasting, touching, smelling, seeing,
along with memories.
I'm the ranch manager and co-chef
at Tate Farms in Rockwall, Texas.
I'm the third generation on our ranch.
I wish you guys could smell this.
At Tate Farms, we don't have an indoor kitchen.
We do all of our cooking outdoor in live fire.
Yeah, that's just right.
When I win, the $10,000 will go towards my new kitchen.
Take your boots off, get comfortable,
Chef Tate's at the fire.
[Elena] I am a butcher and a wild game specialist,
and there isn't a piece of meat that I can't process.
I'm the executive chef of Wild Bearies
and I'm from Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.
Wild Bearies is a community outreach non-profit
that works at educating through the use of our indigenous foods.
I'm a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, it's a Native American tribe.
From a young age, we cooked outdoors
and I was able to learn about wild game
how to process foods.
It was our culture,
and I want to show native youth
that we're here and we're representing.
-[Xavi whoops] -[bell dinging]
Come and get it!
[Xavi] Hey, y'all. I'm a private ranch chef from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
And that's a mean-looking bird.
After college, I packed my bags and headed to San Francisco.
I ended up working for some really nice restaurants
that had gone on to get Michelin Stars.
Mojo, chimichurri's dirty cousin.
After 18 years in the big city,
it was time for this ranch chef to come home.
Fresh bird with a cowboy coffee, chili rub.
I'm bringing fine dining technique to a ranch cook-off.
I'm comin' for ya.
[Tana] I'm a Greek rancher who can butcher goat in the morning
and be dressed up in my Louboutins by the evening.
I am the chef, owner of the upcoming Votano Hellenic Taverna
in Walla Walla, Washington
and the chef at Saddleman Ranches.
[Tana] I love open fire cooking.
I've worked on a lot of ranches in Greece and Turkey.
I use a lot of Mediterranean influence
so you might get a lot of mint and tarragon and dill.
If I can dream it, I can do it,
and my dream is to be the next Chopped champion.
Well, howdy.
[all clamoring]
Hello, chefs.
[all] Hey, Ted.
You all share a love of ranch cooking,
the kind that makes you want to gather around a campfire
and clean your plate.
Happy to be here?
-Excited. -Yeah.
-Sure am. -[Ted] That is excellent.
There are three rounds. Mandatory mystery ingredients.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
No, not today.
It's not my day.
Appetizer baskets are in front of you.
Please open them up.
-[Elena] Oh. -All right.
[Ted] And what fine first plate can you make
with Rocky Mountain oysters?
Oh, we love these.
Rocky Mountain oysters are literally the testicle of a cow.
Green beans.
[Ted] Haricots verts.
Oh.
Corn gummy.
[Ted] Gummy corn on the cob.
Candied corn on a stick.
[Ted] And funeral potatoes.
Oh, so I'm not the only one who calls them funeral potatoes. That's good.
Ready.
[Ted] Twenty minutes to get her done.
Time starts...
-Now. -[clamoring]
[Tiffani] Come on! Giddy up!
-Yeehaw! -Let's go!
[judges laughing]
Maneet, Tiffani, you are joined by a special guest judge,
pro football player- turned-Food Network star,
Chef Eddie Jackson. Welcome back, Eddie.
Home on the Range is our theme,
and these are ranch chefs.
They're used to cooking over campfires
with real wood, live fire cooking,
and here in our kitchen, things are considerably different.
You know what's interesting? Like, there's a different style of movement.
Like, they're not moving like restaurant chefs.
They're taking their time a little bit.
I think that they're moving like they would move on the ranch.
That's called boot scootin'.
Yeah, they're boot scootin' around the kitchen right now.
-Okay. -[Eddie laughs]
Oh, they're nice.
What are you making, Evan?
Nuts.
Nuts? [chuckles]
Normally, I would be cooking over a fire.
Since I don't have a live fire,
I'm setting up a grill on the stovetop.
So, Chef Evan over here, as any rancher would do,
he's walking around with his own pocket knife.
-He's using that to break down the Rocky Mountain oysters. -Love it.
[Evan] I'm making fire-roasted Rocky Mountain oysters
with a lime, gummy corn sauce.
Oh, this corn.
So, we've given our ranch chefs gummy corn on the cob.
-It is neither corn, nor cob. -Nah.
It is, kind of, buttery corn flavored on the top, kind of soft gummy,
and then that green on the bottom
is like a really pronounced fake lime flavor.
[Maneet] I'm almost thinking of going in the route
of making a kind of barbeque sauce
by taking the corn on the cob, melting it, using that sweetness.
This is so horrible.
[Elena] Oh, man, that's membrane.
I'll just have to get 'em cleaned
and then I will feel a lot better about 'em.
Elena.
-Yes. -It looks like you have worked
-with Rocky Mountain oysters before. -[chuckles]
I have, I have,
They're not my favorite, but we try to really use all parts of the animal,
so I know how to treat 'em.
So, with Rocky Mountain oysters, you have to manipulate them.
It's kind of like the texture of, like, a gizzard.
Some people soak it in buttermilk
to try to kind of tenderize it a little bit.
[Elena] I know I want to take both of these membranes off.
I cut them into bite-sized pieces
and into a buttermilk, sriracha marinade.
I'm making potato and corn-crusted,
deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters,
gummy-corn-pickled haricots verts
and pan-fried funeral potatoes.
[Xavi] I used to eat these as a kid.
I didn't know what they were and I loved to them.
I'm making pan-seared Rocky Mountain oysters
with haricots verts in a gummy corn, brown butter sauce.
Serious?
I'm most worried about the gummy corn because it's super sweet.
All right.
But I've worked with a lot of ranchers on a ranch,
everybody works hard.
There's no easy on a ranch.
Evan, how are you bringing the ranch to the Chopped kitchen?
You're like, "I'm here, aren't I?"
-I'm here. -[Maneet laughing] Yeah, exactly.
[Tana] I've lived all over the world,
but ranching and farm-kid life
it's foundation of who I am.
What have we got going on in here?
I'm either thinking I can make a version of kibbeh
where I use the funeral potatoes
as part of my dough
with gummy-corn-pickled haricots verts.
I feel like this incorporates the ranch element,
but in my own, personal Mediterranean style.
Yup.
-Behind. -When you think about ranch-style cooking,
the first thing that comes to my mind is, like, comfort food.
I think, the funeral potatoes, it's that ultimate comfort bite
because it's got that creaminess.
[Tiffani] They're called funeral potatoes
because they're often brought to funeral celebrations.
It's a casserole, essentially,
so it's, like, got a ton of potatoes in it,
it's got cream, it's got cheese.
-Sorry. -[Elena] You're good.
[Elena] I add chili sauce to the funeral potatoes.
I'm hoping to get a good sear on it
and be able to have a creamy component to my dish.
Chefs, ten minutes left!
-[Eddie] Let's go, chefs! -Less than!
[Xavi] I'm starting on my funeral potato cake.
I'm gonna put them in a skillet and sear them in butter.
-All right. -[sizzles]
-Hey, Tana. -Yeah, tell me.
What are you making?
Um, I'm making, kind of, a play on kibbeh,
but it's a fritter filled with, kind of, kibbeh testicle filling.
[Tiffani] Didn't see that coming.
-You okay with time? -[Tana] I'm okay.
I hope.
Five minutes to go.
Five minutes, hut.
Oh, my gosh.
Wait, Tana has to pick up the pace on those kibbeh
or they are never gonna cook in time.
I wish I had more time.
Tana is making me really, really nervous.
Behind, behind. Oh, shoot.
Oh!
[Maneet] She dropped the kibbeh on the floor.
-The sun is setting on this round, y'all. -I know.
-[Maneet] It's not a lot of time! -I'm cooking 'em.
I know.
Tana is still forming those dumplings.
[Eddie] You gotta get cooking, Tana!
Yup. Got it.
[Tana] I wanted the plates to each have two to three kibbeh each...
Behind, behind. Oh, shoot.
Oh!
...but on my way to the fryer, I bump into my food processor.
[Maneet] She dropped the kibbeh on the floor.
-Tana has no room for error right now. -[Eddie] No.
None. No time and no room.
-Yup. Behind, behind. -Thank you.
One dumpling each.
Two-minute warning, chefs.
Heard!
You really should be plating right now!
[Elena] For my sauce, it's gonna be the gummy corn
some hot water and a little bit of chili crisp.
[Xavi] I look at the clock and realize
that I need to get started on my green beans.
I put the haricots verts in with the Rocky Mountain oysters
and a brown butter sauce.
I'm feeling confident and I'm gonna prove
that I'm not just a pretty moustache.
One minute on the clock!
-One minute. Heard. -[Eddie] Finish, finish, finish, finish.
Let's go, Evan.
[Evan] I'm gonna use just the topping of the funeral potatoes,
which is just the crispy potato chips.
I seasoned it with some chili powder
to give it another level of flavor.
[Maneet] Did he just take--
-[Eddie] The chips off, yeah. -Yes.
[Eddie] Thirty seconds.
Fry a little faster. Uh.
Come on!
[Tana] Coming through with a leaky fryer.
Right behind.
[Tiffani] This is it, y'all.
Get these plates together, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one...
-[Elena whoops] -Time's up.
-[judges applauding] -[Tiffani] Whoa!
Boy, howdy.
I'm a mess. [chuckles] I'm feeling like a mess.
The pressure, compared to cooking at the ranch is just pretty opposite.
[Evan] Ranch time is a little bit more laid back,
but I'm excited to serve this to the judges.
This is... This is something I feel real good about.
[country music playing]
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
Your round-one challenge was to make appetizers that included
Rocky Mountain oysters,
haricots verts,
gummy corn on the cob
and funeral potatoes.
Chef Evan, what have you made?
I did a fire-roasted Mountain oyster
with charred haricots verts
and a drizzle of lime, gummy corn
with a little chili-powdered potato chips on top.
Evan, my favorite part about this dish
is the way you have charred the haricots verts.
It has this lovely smokiness to it
and just the right amount of gummy corn on the cob,
because that was really, really sweet.
The Rocky Mountain oysters, I don't think have been executed as well.
They needed to be cooked a little bit more.
Thank you very much.
This is my first time eating Rocky Mountain oysters, ever.
They're soft. They're like sweet bread.
For me, I want a lot more, like,
assertive kind of spice and char on those.
If you blindfolded me and said, "Who made this plate?"
-Sir, I would not have chosen you. -[Maneet laughs]
It's so delicate and petite.
-Well, I wanted you guys to save room for dessert. -Fair.
[Eddie] So, you just took the potato chips off of he funeral potatoes.
I actually wanted you to kind of
get in there with the potato, find some of that creaminess and create a sauce.
I understand, yeah.
Chef Evan, thank you.
Next up, Chef Tana.
I've made for you a Rocky Mountain oyster kibbeh
with gummy-pickled haricots verts
and some minted yogurt.
You have a lot of eastern-Mediterranean spice in there, too.
I've spent a lot of time in Lebanon
-and also, I lived in Greece. -[Tiffani] Really?
Okay. How did you find your way to the ranches?
I grew up on a ranch, a farm,
and, like, we grew all of our own meat and our own vegetables,
so I've been doing ranch stuff since I was, like, a teenager.
I used to rodeo and stuff like that.
Awesome.
I think that you have been extremely creative
with making this dish,
so much so that you've kind of basically transformed
the Rocky Mountain oyster.
Almost to the point to where...
Like, I would have believed that this was, like, lamb
before I would think that it was
-a Rocky Mountain oyster... -Yeah.
...because of the spices that you associate it with.
I think the use of the funeral potatoes in the dough was really smart.
-You've almost created, like, a fried pierogi. -Yeah.
Using the Rocky Mountain oysters as your filling, dicing it up
and incorporating other ingredients and spices in there, very, very smart.
You definitely have a very deft hand with using spices,
but I am not a fan of the haricots verts.
Yeah.
And it is for two reasons.
The first reason, that it has lost its snap.
The second is that the gummy corn,
a little would have gone a long way.
Thank you.
[Ted] Chef Tana, thank you.
Next up, Chef Xavi.
Judges, I've created a pan-seared Rocky Mountain oysters
and a funeral potato cake
with haricots verts,
and a weird corn jelly
sauce noisette.
So, I grew up in a ranch, but then I moved to San Francisco
after culinary school in Albuquerque
and cooked out there
in San Francisco and the Bay Area for 18 years, you know.
So, my twist is like a big-city twist
to ranch cooking or home-style cooking.
The use of the funeral potatoes is so smart.
I love that you've taken it and understood
that it's creamy and it brings a lot to the table on its own.
[Eddie] So, Chef Xavi, uh,
after listening to you, this plate makes a lot of sense to me.
So, I can see kind of, like, this ranch-style cooking,
but it's still very refined.
When it comes to the Rocky Mountain oysters,
you have some that are delicious,
almost just kind of melt in your mouth,
and then you have others that basically went too long.
Understood. Thank you.
Chef Xavi, the utilization of the gummy corn on the cob,
fantastic.
The sweetness works great with the brown butter.
Uh, appreciate the feedback. Thank you.
Chef Xavi, thank you. Finally, Chef Elena.
Judges, I've made for you today
funeral potato and corn-crusted Rocky Mountain oysters,
gummy-corn-pickled haricots verts
and pan-seared funeral potatoes.
Chef Elena, you knew exactly how to butcher the Rocky Mountain oysters.
-You've done it before? -Yes.
-I have done it before. -Okay.
I'm a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation from Wisconsin.
I grew up learning how to butcher wild game from my great-grandmother
and then my grandmothers,
and they really taught us to appreciate their spirit
and that they gave their lives for us.
So, we try to use
as much of that animal as possible.
-It's beautiful. -Amazing.
Your preparation of the Rocky Mountain oyster
is my favorite.
You want to keep on going back and having another bite.
I almost think that the funeral potatoes,
that was an afterthought.
You could have done so much more with it.
I agree. I agree.
Chef Elena, the haricots verts are fresh,
they're cooked just enough, got some snap.
Uh, I assume this is the corn on the cob gummy
-that's on the bottom with the heat. -Yes. Yeah.
[Tiffani] Super great.
It's zippy and delicious.
Thank you.
[Eddie] Yes, um, Elena,
my only concern is that this doesn't really seem like an appetizer to me.
This seems like I was going through a buffet line,
and I've only gone through the first three stations
and I got, like, five more to go.
We'll have news soon about who has made it to the next round.
[Evan] The judges said I should have upped the spice a little bit
on the Mountain Oyster,
but I think I got a fair shot.
[Xavi] The judges said that my Rocky Mountain oysters were inconsistent,
but I'm hoping to get to the next round, you know.
Didn't fly all the way out here from Albuquerque
to... to half-ass it.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[suspenseful music playing]
Chef Evan, you've been chopped.
-It's all right. -[Ted] Judges.
Chef Evan, it came down to the Rocky Mountain oysters.
They were not seasoned properly and they were undercooked.
And so we have to chop you.
It's been an honor.
Well, of course I'm disappointed that I didn't get a chance
to compete and win,
but I'm leaving here with my head held high
and I know that my family's proud of me
for being here.
[Ted] Chef Elena, Chef Xavi, Chef Tana
y'all in this?
Yippee-ki-yay.
You gotta risk it for the biscuit.
Bring it.
Let's get to these entree baskets.
Check 'em out!
You have prime rib roast...
Ooh.
Oh, isn't this beautiful?
Strawberry tart.
[Ted] ...strawberry slab pie...
Oh, that's gonna be fun.
[Ted] ...rutabaga...
Waxy rutabaga.
Wow, I'm excited to figure out what that is.
[Ted] ...and cow foot seasoning.
[Elena] I have never tasted this before.
[chuckles]
Thirty minutes to get it done.
Time starts now.
-[Eddie] Giddy up! Let's go! -[Tiffani] Alright, good job!
-Lasso that rib roast. -Let's get scootin'!
[Xavi] Uh... [laughs]
-[Tana] I'll give you one. -Thanks. Do you need one?
-[Elena] Yeah. -All right.
Here. Takes a second. Right behind.
Guys, we have a three-bone rib roast.
All right. [groans]
[Tiffani] So, prime rib roast, it's prime, which means it's marbled
and it's got a really nice fat cap on the outside
and then a fat eye that runs through it.
So, lots of flavor here.
Obviously, the trick of this basket is that they are thick.
You really want to start working on that first.
[Xavi] It's gorgeous.
[Xavi] I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
and I want to show the judges a little bit about the southwest
and where I'm from.
I'm making a southwest-spiced roasted rib-eye
and strawberry, cow foot vinaigrette.
I am gonna put a nice, dry rub on it.
Keeping the steaks thick
so that you can get the flavor from the bones.
-Here we go. -It's risky to leave my steaks so thick,
but I'm doing it to keep the integrity of the cut.
It's beautiful.
I look at the prime rib roast
and see the three bones
and know that I have to take them off,
so I start butchering and get them in the hot pan.
I'm making seared prime rib
with sauteed rutabaga and purple potatoes.
Chef Elena, how's that rib roast treating you?
Oh, so far so good.
How you doing, Xavi?
[Xavi] Ooh-whoo!
-Good? How about you, Tana? -[Xavi] Yeah.
-...you doing good? -I'm all right.
-[Xavi] Smells like you got a little hot iron here today. -[Elena] Ha-ha.
[Elena] I really want to win,
but I'm rooting for my competitors, too.
We're all so uniquely different
that, I mean, how can I not cheer for them?
Judges, what are you learning about life on the ranch
from these unique cooks?
Well, Ted, the one thing which these chefs have definitely taught us
is that there's no lacking in flavor.
They're using all of these deep flavors, spices.
I think, the first round, we actually learned
-how refined ranch cooking can be. -[Maneet laughs]
[Tana] I see the rutabaga and think,
you know, when I'm on the ranch, I always make
these root vegetable waffles.
I'm making an eye of rib roast
with a rutabaga and root vegetable waffle
and a strawberry, cow foot demi-glace.
[Tana] To make my demi,
I take my scrap from the tray and,
try and use the strawberries and get those working in my sauce.
I taste the cow foot seasoning
and it's like, super umami.
Here we go.
[Eddie] So the cow foot seasoning
is just like a cross between soy sauce and Worcestershire
but then it has a lot of a Caribbean aromatics in there.
[Maneet] The entire basket is beautiful.
They have rutabaga.
-Rutabaga is such... -[Eddie] I love rutabaga.
-...an amazing root vegetable. -I grew up on that.
[Xavi] I love rutabaga.
It's sweet, a little bit earthy
and somewhere between a potato and apple.
While the steaks are cooking
I'm starting on my bacon rutabaga hash
'cause I think it signifies ranch cooking.
I wanna win Chopped to fund the money to open a restaurant
in honor of our father J. Don and my brother Shawn.
My brother tragically passed by heart attack.
Our father passed now for 11 years.
He was going to help my brother and I open up a restaurant.
So I'm completely determined to make this a reality.
[Elena] The cow foot seasoning
tastes like a sweet steak sauce.
So I decide I'm going to
use it as well as the strawberries from my slab pie
as a base for my steak sauce.
Five minutes to go.
[Tana] With less than five minutes on the clock,
I oil and put my rutabaga
and root vegetable
mixed into the waffle maker.
I don't have a lot of time left to cook these
so I fill up both sides and hope for the best.
Guys, we gotta get to the play.
[groans]
Less than three minutes.
-Let's go! -[Maneet] Let's go!
So chef Xavi has just cut into his prime rib roast
and it is raw!
[Xavi] I can't serve it to the judges like this.
So I get the steak on to the grill
and hope that I can achieve medium rare.
[Tana] I open my waffle iron and it's certainly
not a waffle.
It's not crispy enough.
Tana's waffles are falling apart
with less than a minute left.
All three chefs are about to give me a heart attack.
Behind, behind, behind.
I scrape out the filling and make some hand quenelles.
Tie up any loose ends quickly, chefs.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time's up.
[applauding]
Holy smokes.
[Tana] I would've really liked the rutabaga waffles to turn out
but I think this represent, like, definitely my ranch cooking.
[Xavi] Rib eye tomahawks
are huge so I tried to cut 'em down.
so like my steaks are rare but if that's your poison, then pick it.
Chefs, we gave you half an hour
to make main dishes that included
prime rib roast,
strawberry slab pie
rutabaga and cow foot seasoning.
Chef Elena, what have you made?
I made for you
a seared rib eye steak,
sauteed rutabaga with purple potatoes
and a strawberry slab pie Jamaican cow foot sauce.
[Tiffani] Chef Elena,
I love what you've done with the cow foot seasoning and the strawberry pie.
The cow foot seasoning kinda has,
like, Worcestershire and soy and those vibes
and then the sweetness of the strawberry pie
allows it to kind of become what you use for steak sauce
and I also like the rutabaga paired with purple potatoes.
Just that the steak needed to be cooked a little longer.
There is nothing more ranch cooking than getting meat and potatoes.
Uh, so I love the idea.
The hard sear that you did on the rutabaga,
that's delicious because it adds to the caramelization that already
sweetness of the rutabaga.
Thank you.
Elena, this cow foot sauce with the strawberry slab pie,
I love the consistency of it
but once you get into the steak, you can just see
how my steak is completely
raw on the inside.
I was so worried about overcooking it and I saw it.
But I agree. I agree.
Chef Elena, thank you.
Next up, Chef Xavi.
Uh, we've got a southwest spiced seared rib eye,
a rutabaga and bacon hash
and then a strawberry and cow's foot sauce.
So, Xavi, this rutabaga sauteed
with bacon,
it is delicious.
But I think if this prime rib roast
had time, this would have absolutely been deliciously cooked.
Yeah.
The few pieces that I'm getting
which are nice and medium rare, they taste good,
the seasoning is really good.
[Tiffani] Chef Xavi,
go to the steak and make sure that you're, like,
digging through and giving us
the best possible cooked pieces you can.
So, Xavi, as I eat the dish
because you have so much char, and like, smokiness going on.
It truly feels like you cooked this outdoors.
Like you cooked this over an open flame.
And, like, that's what today's all about, like, ranch cooking.
And you someway somehow
kinda transformed me from being in the studio
to being outside. Which I really appreciate.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Chef Xavi, thank you.
Next up, Chef Tana.
So we have a eye of rib roast
with a strawberry cow foot demi
and a rutabaga root vegetable hash brown-ish.
All right. So, Tana,
uh, again you've come back and kinda give us this refined-looking plating.
I think you got a beautiful sear on the outside of the steak itself
and the steak is seasoned perfectly.
I love the idea of the rutabaga waffle kind of creative.
But I know you blanched the rutabaga
but I'm still kind of getting like this raw kind of taste.
I think these are the cow foot seasoning
and the strawberry together in the sauce
with the demi and the bones and the wine and the bourbon, really smart.
Lot of work has gone into the sauce,
like we saw that from bourbon to wine to demi.
And you can taste the depth of flavor.
But my steak is really overcooked.
-All right. -Right, so...
[Ted] Chef Tana, thank you.
All right. Two of you are not done yet.
Standby to find out who gets to make dessert.
Thank you, Chefs.
[Elena] I know that my cook was off on that rib eye.
But I think that
if I make it into the next round,
I mean, it's game over.
I love pastries.
[Xavi] I'm worried that my steak was unevenly cooked
but having made it through two cooking rounds,
winning this competition would mean everything to me.
[Ted] It's been an outstanding competition so far.
But now we have to part ways with one chef.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
-Oh, baby. -[Ted] I'm sorry.
Chef Elena, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Elena, unfortunately, your prime rib roast was raw on the inside.
And for that, we had to chop you.
Well, thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate it.
-We love you, Elena. -Thank you.
-Mm-mmm. -Thank you.
I definitely wish I could've cut that steak a little differently. [laughs]
-Thank you, guys. -Thank you.
You're such an inspiration.
But I'll definitely will take away three great friends.
And I can't wait to see what the next adventure brings.
[Ted] Chef Tana. Chef Xavi.
It's clear both of you want this victory but who's on the winning path?
I am.
I didn't come this far to go home with or without a W.
The contents of these baskets could affect that.
See what you've got.
All righty.
Mmm.
And your final task in the Chopped kitchen
is to make desserts using cured duck yolks.
Oh, heck yeah.
-Mm... -[Ted] Huckleberries.
-Yeah, nice. -And...
Are they just regular pancakes?
-All right. -Corn pancakes.
[Ted] Hoe cakes.
I'll tear it away up here.
[Ted] And Montana Bourbon cream liqueur.
That's some bourbon cream liqueur. Does anyone have coffee?
[Xavi] Sounds pretty easy.
30 minutes to get her done.
Time starts now.
Let's go, Chefs!
-Let's go! -All right.
Whip up something sweet.
You need the sugar, love?
-I do, please. Thank you. -Yeah.
[Tana] The cured duck yolks.
They're fatty, they're salty,
I'm thinking what perfect salt component
when you make pastry.
Wherever there is sugar there has to be salt for balance.
What you making?
I'm making melopita.
It's actually like, kind of like a Greek cheesecake.
Interesting. It looks like
Chef Tana is using that hoe cakes inside of her cheesecake.
[Eddie] So a hoe cake is very, very simple.
Three ingredients. You have cornmeal,
you have water, and you have salt.
[Tana] In melopita, we use corn flour.
And so instead of using corn flour
I have these corn cakes and I can just blend it in with ricotta,
sugar as well as some of the cured duck egg.
[whirring]
Wow, what a luxury, we're getting vanilla beans.
[Xavi laughing] Cost is not your worry right now.
So this round I'm not sure which direction I wanna go
but I'm comfortable working with the liqueur
and I think I'm going to make a caramel sauce with it.
[Tiffani] The Montana Bourbon Cream Liqueur
literally tastes like chocolate milk
and a bottle of bourbon had a baby.
I'd be very happy with some sort of like
a hot chocolate bourbon pudding with huckleberries.
I think some of the cured egg yolks on top.
It's literally a duck yolk that's been put into a sugar salt solution
and buried in it until it becomes completely dry.
I grabbed Greek yogurt. The huckleberries are very sweet
may pair well with Greek yogurt
and I torch them to get a little charred smokiness to 'em.
Huckleberries are in, like, blueberry family.
It's essentially what you see 'em in the Pacific North West.
Chef Xavi, what are you making?
Yeah.
Yeah? You're making "Yeah"?
[laughing] Yeah.
Um, it's to be determined still.
It's in the head. Don't worry.
Is there any direction that you have?
[Xavi] Yeah, got a caramel and some Greek yogurt.
[Tana] Ooh, Greek yogurt.
-[Xavi] Yeah. -Speaking my language.
I know, just taking a page out of your book.
[Tana] I'm from Pacific North West.
And huckleberries, they're in my backyard.
It could not have been a better basket for me.
Adding a bit of bay leaf and some sugar and salt
to make a huckleberry preserve.
[Ted] Chef Xavi and Chef Tana
have really showed us a unique perspective
on what cooking on a ranch is all about.
I think one of the biggest things about our ranch chefs is
you see that the techniques might be strong
but the heart and the soul behind cooking,
that's what shines through.
[Xavi] All right.
Dated lots of cowboys back in my youth.
[Xavi] Yeah? Oh, boy.
-What are you, a roper? -[Tana] Uh, I was.
-Ah... -Barrel racer of course.
All right. Were you a buckle bunny?
Oh. First of all, I take offense to that term.
-Only for Halloween was I ever a buckle bunny. -Oh, sorry.
[laughing]
Xavi is really pushing it on figuring out a plan.
I'm taking that... hoe cakes to make grilled cake
and put something in between them.
Grilled cakes are ranch stable.
They are any type of cake that you can grill in a skillet.
[grunts]
The competition and the pressure
is real.
Oh, my gosh. I'm so used to using a different style.
I want to get some whipped cream going.
And as I'm walking the bowl into place...
[gasps]
-No. -You all right?
-[Tiffani] Tana just cut herself. -Oh, no!
-[Eddie] Did Tana just cut herself? -[Tiffani] Yeah.
[Tana] My hand slides directly into the broken edge.
I think it's not good.
Chef, go to the sink. Go to the sink
[gasps]
-No! -[Ted] Oh, my gosh.
Tana has just cut herself on the broken glass from the stand mixer bowl.
We have never seen this happen in this kitchen.
I think it's not good.
I think it might be a cut cut.
Tana, you okay?
I'm fine. I don't feel it. I just wanted to get it...
-Okay. -Put pressure on it.
She is losing a lot of time getting that cut patched up.
I've literally given myself stitches multiple times.
-You can do it, Tana. -Tighter.
Out on the ranch, you gotta duct tape that thing and get going.
Grab some more cream and get my cream going again.
Paddle my cheesecake
into the heavy cream
and some Greek yogurt.
[grunts]
Whoa! Now Xavi's pulled wontons from the pantry.
[Xavi] I need to add a little texture to my dessert
so I julienne them and I throw 'em in the fryer.
[Tana] I decided to turn the bourbon cream liqueur into a caramel.
I'm also adding cognac.
Ugh!
Finish strong. Keep pushing.
-Thirty seconds, chefs. -All right.
[Eddie] Come on, 30 seconds. 30 seconds.
[Tiffani] Come on, chefs, finish strong.
You've got this.
[Eddie] Think about what you're doing.
Get these plates together, chefs.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
-Whoo! -Time's up.
-[applauding] -Please step back.
And the sun has set on our ranch.
-Hey, you all right? -Yeah, I'm good.
Oh, as if that's the worst cut I've ever had.
I cut my hand but I'm feeling good.
I think I got everything out there, so, yay!
[Xavi] Tana's a hell of a cook but looking at her dessert
doesn't say ranch to me.
Mine says ranch.
[Ted] Chef Xavi and Chef Tana,
you've conquered a dessert basket of cured duck yolks,
huckleberries, hoe cakes,
and Montana Bourbon Cream Liqueur.
Chef Tana, what have you made?
Judges, I've made for you a melopita.
It's like a Greek cheesecake with a huckleberry preserve
and a bourbon caramel.
Did you taste it together?
I had not.
Is it awful?
I really wish that you had tasted it.
Why, is it...
Because it's so good.
-Yes! -Thank you so much.
I'm loving the play of the salt, tart, sweet.
It just comes together as a very luscious bite.
The only negative I'll say is that I wish you had given me more.
Thank you.
Tana, this is spectacular.
You have this caramel but it has
the Montana Bourbon Cream Liqueur in it.
But then on top of that you get this huckleberry preserve
which is very tart
right on top of this very sweet caramel.
And it balances everything so beautifully.
Everything about this makes sense.
What's interesting is this is really sophisticated
in way that, like, ranch cooking
is not and probably should not be.
The texture of the cheesecake is sublime.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Chef Tana, thank you.
Finally Chef Xavi.
Hi, I made for you today
griddled hoe cake with huckleberry Greek yogurt
and a bourbon caramel and salted duck yolk.
Xavi, I think this is such a good use of the hoe cake.
I don't think I've ever seen it before in the Chopped kitchen
taking something and kind of retaining the integrity of it
and totally changing the texture
and the way that it presents
and I thought that is so, so smart.
And Montana Bourbon Cream Liqueur is
so sweet in making a caramel out of that. Smart.
I love this. And it does feel really ranchy.
I was wondering what you was doing with the torch with the huckleberries.
But now it makes sense.
'Cause I get these little pops of, like, smoke and char.
You have the tang from that yogurt
that you folded in the huckleberries that has this tartness to it,
and you scoop a little bit of that caramel which has the
cured egg yolks which is really salty and it creates this beautiful bite.
The only thing that I wish you would've done differently
like, one less layer.
Mm.
It's delicious.
But I do think that the proportion
of the Greek and huckleberry yogurt
to the hoe cake is too much.
Okay. Thank you for all your hard work.
You'll know the winner soon.
Thank you, chefs.
Good job.
Judges, three rounds and rugged western cooking,
did you have satisfying meals?
-We started the appetizers with Rocky Mountain oysters. -Yum.
[Tiffani] I think Tana did the best job of all the four chefs in the round.
Just cutting up he Rocky Mountain oyster
and seasoning that with the spices that she choose, so good.
-But Tana's haricots verts were also really overcooked. -They were overcooked.
[Maneet] For Xavi's dish, the Rocky Mountain oysters were slightly overcooked.
Xavi gave us this delicious potato cake.
So that's what stands out to me more so than the Rocky Mountain oysters.
Looking to the entree, we have a three bone prime rib eye.
[Maneet] Tana gave me an overcooked piece.
The rest of the ingredients on the plate were delicious
but it was really hard to overlook.
When I think back to Xavi's entree,
his dish really transported me to a ranch.
I had smoke. I had char.
But when you look at Xavi, his protein was raw on the inside.
Only one of these competitors can ride off into the sunset
with the $10,000 prize.
I'd like to win and go on a little break with my family
but Xavi is a worthy opponent.
[Xavi] Tana's a hell of a competitor.
But I think I did a better job at showcasing ranch cooking.
So whose dish is on the chopping block?
[grunts]
[Ted] Chef Xavi, you've been chopped.
-You did an awesome job. -Yeah, you did too.
[Tiffani] Chef Xavi, the appetizer round,
unfortunately, the Rocky Mountain oysters were really overcooked.
We got to the entree round
and we thought your prime rib roast
was just really raw on the inside.
And frankly, we thought you guys were pretty neck and neck
in those rounds until we got to the dessert round.
And I will tell you frankly, Tana just took it away in the dessert round.
And so, we had to chop you.
Understood.
Thank you for the opportunity. It's been great.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
-Congratulations.
-Thanks. -Thank you.
I'm walking out of here head up.
I know that I gave it my best.
I just showcased myself as a private ranch chef.
Thank you, Chopped, will see you down the ranch.
[Ted] And that means Chef Tana Mielke
you are the Chopped champion.
For winning our home on the ranch competition,
you're going home with $10,000.
-Congratulations. -Whoo!
-Well done. -Thank you so much. Thank you.
It feels great to have won.
And, you know, I feel like
we're all out to support the ranching communities.
So nice to meet you.
And I feel like that was achieved.
And our work can continue to move forward.
And I feel like I've made some really great new friends.