-[Geoffrey] Yeah. -[Justin] All right. Let's go.
Let's go.
[Brandon] No idea what to do with alligator hearts.
There's a lot of challenge in this basket.
[Justin] Are you breathing?
[Keis] I'm definitely breathing.
-I love it. -Oh, that pains me.
-Whoo. -You got this.
[Quincy] Time is flying.
[Kayla] Hopefully, these bake in time.
Unbelievable.
[Ted] Three, two, one.
-Time's up. -[Keis] Wow. Right?
Awella.
I am a celebrity private chef.
I live in Los Angeles, California.
I've cooked for Bill Gates, Queen Latifah,
Vivica Fox, just to name a few.
And I just got voted one of the top 25
private chefs in Los Angeles.
I'm very diverse in my cooking style.
I experiment with different cuisine.
These other chefs should definitely be worried
because I'm bringing a lot of flavors,
creativity, and boldness.
I want to show that the sky's not even a limit.
Now that's sexy.
[Kayla] I may not look intimidating,
but when I'm in the kitchen, the competition is on.
I'm executive chef of PJK Neighborhood Chinese
in Naples, Florida.
We make everything in-house every day fresh.
My style of cooking is a fusion
of all different types of culinary concepts
and just elevating it and putting my own twist on it.
I got into cooking with my father
who's owned restaurants his whole life.
I was always helping him in the kitchen,
and that just carried on to me
being in the restaurant.
The competitive streak in me
definitely comes from my father,
and losing is really not an option.
[Brandon] 275 pounds is hard to stop.
If I do run into anybody,
I'm sorry. [laughs]
I'm Brandon Olson. My style of cooking
that would be inspired new American,
really embracing the melting pot
of what America is
and all the cultures that are here.
I've been working in professional kitchens
since I was 16 years old.
I went to the Culinary Institute of Charleston,
started working at fine dining restaurants after that.
I'm very competitive,
and I have the skills to back it up.
[Quincy] I don't know if there's ever been
a coffee shop owner to win Chopped,
but I'm looking forward to being the first.
I'm the chef owner of RND Coffee
and Creme Fresh, Non-Dairy Desserts
in Roanoke, Virginia.
A lot of people now know me for my coffee, donuts.
But what they don't know is that I came up
in some of the toughest kitchens in America
and, really, I'm a savory chef by trade.
My style is taking familiar ingredients
and transforming them in new ways.
Once I have a game plan in mind,
I wanna go straight forward,
let my skills do the talking.
-[Geoffrey] Hello, chefs. -Hello, chefs.
[Ted] Hello, chefs.
-[Brandon] Hello, Ted. -Hey, Ted.
Are you feeling pumped up for this?
-100%. -Ready, baby.
[Ted] Fantastic. There are three rounds,
mandatory mystery ingredients for each course.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
No way.
What's in your appetizer baskets?
Show us.
All right.
[Ted] You have alligator hearts.
Alligator hearts. [laughing]
I see the alligator heart and my heart drops.
Oh!
I've never worked with alligator heart before.
All right.
[Ted] Plus, snow peas.
Pita chips?
[Ted] Za'atar pita chips.
And marshmallow spread.
Marshmallow spread is a very difficult texture to work with.
[Keis] I'm not sure about those alligator hearts,
but we gonna make something shady.
This is the 20-minute round, goes by fast.
-Clock starts now. -[Justin] All right.
-Let's rock and roll, guys. -Let's go, chefs.
[Geoffrey] Twenty minutes.
[Ted] Geoffrey, you are joined by two special guest judges,
celebrated restaurateurs, Chef Esther Choi
-and Chef Justin Sutherland. Welcome back. -[Geoffrey] Welcome.
-It's good to be back. -Thank you for having us.
[Ted] Both of you have excelled
in high-profile cooking competitions.
What's the secret to staying focused under pressure?
For me, it's just do your own thing.
You're here for a reason. Whatever got you here,
-do that. -Trust your gut,
stay focused on, like, what you can cook
and what you can do, and you'll kill it.
Yeah, but that marshmallow spread's freaking me out.
-I mean-- -[Justin] It is.
-[Esther] It's a tough one. -Skin it out a lot
with some soy or something,
just really try and get it to taste
-like something else. -[Esther] Yeah. Yes.
[Geoffrey] Keis, are you okay?
-I am okay. -Are you breathing?
[Keis] I'm definitely breathing.
-[laughs] -[Geoffrey] You gotta breathe.
So what are you making?
I'm gonna do a creamy polenta.
All right.
[Keis] I see the marshmallow spread
and I'm thinking to go well in a polenta.
So for my appetizer,
I'm making a creamy marshmallow
and mascarpone polenta
with seared alligator heart,
and a snow pea and Za'atar chip salad.
Polenta takes about 15 to 20 minutes to cook,
so I knew that I had to get it on first.
She's put the marshmallow spread in her polenta,
and I actually think that's a pretty smart idea.
-[Geoffrey] Totally agree. -As long as it's not too sweet
'cause that can be very overpowering.
Let's see, the alligator heart's here.
I own a coffee shop, but when I was younger,
I was quite the hotshot cookin' in Chicago
with some Michelin starred chefs.
So, I wanna make a mousse
to showcase my skillset to the judges.
For my appetizer, I'm making toasted crostini
with alligator heart
and marshmallow spread mousse.
Normally, you would make a mousse with liver,
but in this case, I'm going to use the alligator heart.
[Esther] I've never cooked with alligator heart.
I feel like it would be irony, like the taste.
[Geoffrey] You either cook 'em a long time
or you cook 'em a second flat.
And it's a very irony flavor.
You need vinegar, you need acid.
And then you have a beautiful peas,
which had to be, sort of, top and tailed.
And they have this, like, fiber string on them
and you have to, like, kind of, snip it out
and, like, pull 'em.
I'm going to pickle my snow peas
because I think some acidity
will really help cut
through the richness of my mousse.
[Ted] All right, chefs. You have 15 minutes.
Fifteen minutes. Heard, baby.
-Doesn't time fly? -[Esther] Wow.
-[Justin] Fast in this kitchen. -Come on, baby.
[Justin] You know, some Za'atar spice used
in a lot of Middle Eastern cooking.
You're gonna get sumac in there
that has some bright acidity,
a lot of oregano, thyme.
[Kayla] The chefs that I'm competing against
all seem like they know what they're doing,
so I know I'm up for a challenge.
But I am excited knowing
that I can take that Za'atar cracker
and crust it onto the alligator heart.
-Kayla, what are you making? -I'm going to do
a Za'atar-crusted alligator heart,
deep fried with a snow pea chimichurri.
So I haven't used alligator heart before,
but I have used duck heart,
so I'm gonna use those same techniques
as I would a duck heart.
I'm hoping for those alligator hearts
to be almost a medium
so they still have a texture
and not so chewy.
Brandon, are you putting your heart into this one?
-[laughing] -I am cooking with heart,
for sure, man.
I gotta make sure this is nice and tender,
so where's the hammer?
Alligator heart is a really tough,
low-fat meat,
so I definitely want to tenderize this thing
and try to break down those fibers.
[Geoffrey] Brandon's pounding out his heart.
I think it's a very good idea.
[Brandon] I'm making crispy alligator heart salad
with snow peas.
So, I use the Za'atar pita chips in my dredge.
I'm going to crispy fry my alligator hearts
to add a lot of texture.
-How you doin'? -[Esther] Brandon and Kayla
are both frying their alligator hearts
and both coated in the Za'atar pita chips.
[Justin] I'm just afraid they don't burn those first.
-Away. -[indistinct] Those pita chips
-could get dark really, really fast. -That's the problem.
Pita chips are already cooked.
If you fry something's already cooked, it's very oily.
I wonder how that polenta's coming.
That can take some time,
but if it's quick polenta, they can be great.
[Keis] Although I've never worked with alligator hearts,
I'm gonna sear them because searing
is my go-to for foreign items
because I feel like I have more control.
I grew up in Baltimore, and childhood was hard for me
and I struggled a lot.
But I'm definitely a risk-taker
and I'm always bettin' on myself.
I moved to LA with just a dream
and $1,500 in my pocket.
And I think that's what's gonna make me stand out
in this competition.
Shallots are going in.
Once my hearts are cooked through,
I add them to the blender
and then I add some
of the pickling liquid from my peas.
I also think the marshmallow spread
will create a nice fluffy,
yet smooth texture for the mousse.
A little bit of marshmallow fluff.
[Geoffrey] I'm concerned about Quincy making a pate.
It's not a liver. It's a heart.
-It's a different texture. -Texture.
-[Quincy] We shall see.
I'm a super ambitious young chef,
so I'm hoping that a win will propel me
to be one of the leading faces
of the next generation of chefs.
And one day, I'll be on the other side of the judging table.
You doin' all right over there, man?
It's the alligator heart, man.
-That's in for a loop. -Yeah, it's tricky.
Chefs, 10 minutes left on that clock.
[Quincy] Whoo.
[tense music playing]
I wanna make sure I have a lot of acidity
to, kind of, cut the gaminess of the heart.
So with my marshmallow spread and Za'atar chips,
I really wanna make this nice dressing for this salad
with lemon juice, a little mayo,
and then incorporate this marshmallow spread
right in there.
[Kayla] Brandon and I both fry our alligator hearts.
I start to pull mine and realize
that his is still in the fryer.
Do you want these still in the fryer
-over here? -Coming down.
-[Kayla] Instead of letting those go... -Get out of the way.
-[Kayla] into a nice crouton... -Thank you.
[Kayla] I ask him if he needs me to pull them.
In the kitchen, we always have each other's back.
Thank you.
Thank God Kayla gave me a heads up.
I needed to snag those things out of the fryer.
Brandon, I see you're deep frying those hearts.
But I see the alligator hearts
and I am feeling very anxious.
-You feel good? -It's a little...
A little darker than I expected.
So these aren't cooked properly,
I know that it could definitely send me home.
But I did hear Brandon say
that his heart's got a little darker
-than he wanted to. -[Esther] They were in there
-for a while. -If you cook it too much,
it's gonna be chewier, so.
I mean, let's see.
[Brandon] I'm very nervous. I just really hope
that these alligator hearts aren't completely overcooked.
[Justin] All right, chefs. Five minutes. Let's go.
[Brandon] I see the alligator hearts
and they look darker than I expected,
and I am feeling very anxious about this.
So, Brandon, how do those hearts look?
They're... They're gonna be great.
-They're gonna... Good answer. -[Geoffrey] Good answer.
Hey, Keis, how's that polenta workin'
-over there? -It's going.
-[Justin] It's going? -[Esther] It's going.
[Keis] It's definitely going.
I'm gonna keep the snow peas raw
because polenta is kind of heavy
and adding a snow pea salad
would add brightness and crunch.
So I take my snow peas,
I crunch up my Za'atar chips,
put a little bit of olive oil, salt pepper.
-It tastes good. -Hey, Quincy, you feel organized?
-[Quincy] I'm feeling great. -Oh, he's doing
-a little crostini with the pate. -[Justin] I love it.
[Quincy] So, I'm spraying the mousse over my crostini.
I can tell it's a little gritty,
but I don't have time to pass it through a tamis.
I just need to get it on the plate.
[Esther] Did you see the pate?
[Geoffrey] It looks really loose.
-Very loose. -Very loose.
And I'm going to use the Za'atar pita chips
as a crumble on top of my crostini.
[Ted] Less than two minutes.
-Wow! -[Esther] Let's go, chefs.
-[Justin] Should be thinking about plating. -[Ted] Wow. Make sure
you have every ingredient
accounted for.
With my snow peas and then marshmallow spread,
I am making a chimichurri
because the lightness and crisp of the snow pea
with the marshmallow spread
will work really well together.
[Brandon] With the snow peas, I'm gonna use them in a salad
because I wanna get that really nice crisp crunch to it
that keeps it very fresh,
help cut that gaminess of the alligator heart.
[tense music playing]
[Geoffrey] All right. Comin' up on 60 seconds.
[Justin] All right, guys. Closing in final minute here.
Let's go.
Final tweaks have to happen now, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four,
three, two, one.
-Time's up. -[Esther] Whoo.
You did it.
-Wowsers. -That was fast.
I think Kayla's my biggest competition.
I definitely gotta figure her dish and her dish looks beautiful.
She carries herself like a boss, kind of like I do.
But I'm definitely going to the next round.
You know, that was wild. It was really intense.
I just really hope that these alligator hearts
aren't completely overcooked.
I'm just praying that the judges love it.
[intense music playing]
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
We kicked things off with a basket
of alligator hearts,
snow peas,
Za'atar pita chips,
and marshmallow spread.
Chef Brandon, what have you made?
All right. So my first dish
is a crispy alligator heart salad
with snow peas, Za'atar chips,
and then the lemon mayo that's on there.
I added a little bit of the marshmallow spread,
try to balance that out.
Okay. It's actually a very nice-looking appetizer.
I was excited that you shaved the piece.
Really, really good. And, you know, I didn't expect
to like the marshmallow spread
with mayonnaise and lemon, but it actually works,
and the heat is actually very good in this.
The only problem is I can't eat the heart.
It's hammered.
[Esther] I gotta agree with Geoffrey.
The alligator heart was overcooked,
but the salad itself is so lovely.
And I'm actually very surprised
of the marshmallow spread in the dressing.
I... It was... It's so good.
-Yeah. -Thank you.
[Justin] Yeah, I think we're all kind of on the same page here.
Very, very surprised by that marshmallow fluff mayo.
It balances sweetness out with acidity very, very nice.
Overall, very creative way
to get all those ingredients into this dish.
-Yeah. -Thank you, Chef Brandon.
Next up, Chef Quincy.
Today, I have a toasted crostini
with marshmallow and alligator mousse.
Then you have fresh and also quick pickled, snow peas,
Za'atar crumble, and then some herbs on top.
I was very, very nervous about your mousse that you were gonna make.
But I think the sweetness from that marshmallow
actually kind of worked.
The build on it was nice and I think the cook
-on the bread was really good. -Thank you.
I love the creativity of making a mousse
with the alligator heart,
but the hearts,
when you grind it up, can be a little weird
-in texture. Kinda has... -Grainy.
Grainy mouth feel.
The mouth feel is unpleasant.
It is creative, but I want a bit more peas,
more salad, and a lot less of the mousse.
So that you have a bite that's crunchy and vegetal,
with just a hint of the mousse versus the opposite.
Thank you, Chef Quincy. Next up, Chef Kayla.
So I did a Za'atar-crusted alligator heart
with a snow pea chimichurri.
So, Chef, what drives you as a chef
-and a... And a competitor? -[Kayla] It's my passion.
Whatever I have on my plate,
I'm always happy to go to work.
It's not, like, work for me.
-It's my passion. -[Esther] Chef Kayla.
So far I feel like the best cook
on the alligator heart.
Nice chew.
It's not gamey or irony.
It has, like, really nice flavor.
[Justin] Yeah. Because when I bit into that alligator heart,
it was just, like, this sigh of relief.
I was like, "Ah, cooked."
You know, I got through it in one bite, chewed it.
It was very, very tender.
-Thank you. -[Esther] The crust was good.
I wish that it was maybe breaded a little bit more
so when you fried it, it didn't fall apart.
And love that chimichurri with the lemon, so bright.
-Thank you. -I saw you adding
that marshmallow spread into the chimichurri.
So that's where some of the sweetness is coming from,
that cuts through some of it, that acidity...
-Correct. -[Justin] and oil in there.
So, yeah, so very, very-well-thought out
-and composed dish. -Thank you.
It was surprising in how tasty it was.
And I put honey in my chimichurri,
so it's sort of, like, did the same thing.
[Esther] One thing is that
the snow peas were not handled properly.
So I have, like, all of these, like, stringy bits in there.
But overall, I think the flavors' really nice
-and I enjoy it very much. -Thank you.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Kayla.
Finally, Chef Keis.
So today, I've prepared for you guys
a creamy polenta with herbs mascarpone
and marshmallow spread,
a pan-seared gator heart,
and then a snow pea,
and Za'atar chip salad.
[Geoffrey] I'm just gonna clean this...
-Your peas for you. -Yeah.
Okay. So you see that? You can't eat that.
Everybody, shame on you all.
But I like the rest of it. I really like the salad.
The peas are good. The salad's good.
The polenta is good. The heart's overcooked.
It's a shame because I really like this dish and I like the preparation.
I love polenta and I think
you put the marshmallow spread in the polenta
was a little bit of genius right there,
because the fat in the marshmallow works with polenta.
[Esther] I agree with Geoffrey.
The polenta, so delicious.
I didn't mind the alligator heart, actually.
I thought the cook was okay on it.
It had, like, a texture.
-Thank you, chef. -[Justin] Yeah, I agree.
But the use of this Za'atar chip
felt like a little bit of an afterthought.
There's almost, like, whole pieces of chip in here
that were just been tossed in that salad,
so they got really mushy.
But, as far as overall concept and flavor,
I think you did a pretty good job.
-Thank you, chef. -[Ted] Okay.
The judges must decide who stays and who goes.
[Brandon] Overcooking of the heart,
it's something that's super technical and easy,
so hopefully, they can look past that.
To be sent home on the first round
would really, really suck.
[Kayla] I think I was up against some great competition,
and there's a few mistakes that I made,
but I'm feeling good.
The first basket tripped up one of you.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[intense music playing]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[intense music playing]
Chef Quincy, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Quincy, we really love the creativity
and idea around the dish.
However, your alligator heart pate,
the texture was really grainy
and so, we had to chop you.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm not feeling great, obviously,
but I was serious about endin' up
on the judging side of the desk one day,
and this just makes me more hungry
to be back in the Chopped competition
competing with the bright lights.
Chef Brandon, Chef Kayla,
Chef Keis, are you confident
that you can make outstanding entrees?
-Absolutely. -[Kayla] Of course.
-100%. -[Ted] Great.
Let's see what these next baskets have in store for you.
[intense music playing]
Get in there.
[laughing]
-[Brandon] What? -[Ted] Your mission,
make the most of birthday babka.
[Keis] What is this?
[Ted] Italian puntarella.
-I like that. -What's this?
[Ted] Beet hummus.
-Squab? -[Ted] And squab.
Squab?
Squab is a fancy pigeon, right?
Whose fancy pigeon? [laughs]
Thirty minutes to serve up your main course.
[intense music playing]
[Ted] Clock starts now.
-[Geoffrey] Ooh, yeah. -Yes, chefs.
-[Justin] All right. Let's go. -Let's go.
Judges, a squab is just a nicer way of saying pigeon,
but these birds are not sure
a commonplace for city dwellers.
They are farm-raised,
very tasty, and tender.
What I like about this is they cook very quickly,
but can also be overcooked very quickly as well.
Mid-rare to medium tops on the squab.
But I would be happy if I got that in my basket.
I do love how calm and collected Kayla moves.
I've made squab in the past at some of the restaurants,
so I know that I'm gonna make a rocking dish.
I'm making roasted squab with a beet
and goat cheese puree with a savory crouton
and then sauteed puntarella.
[Geoffrey] I just saw Kayla do something great.
She opened the birds up, seasoned inside, outside.
Lot of herbs on top. Really smart.
[Kayla] I'm gonna roast my squab.
In the time that we have, it's the easiest
and most efficient way.
I've worked with squab once or twice,
so I kind of have an idea of where I want to go with it.
And I think I can use this babka
to make a great stuffing for the squab.
So we have this birthday cake babka.
You know, it's made of a yeast dough.
It's sweet, traditionally.
I mean, it can be, I think, a crouton.
[Keis] For my entree, I'm making roasted babka-stuffed squab
with puntarella and beet puree,
and crispy truffle Brussels sprouts.
So it really looks like Keis is making some
sort of stuffing for the squab
with that birthday babka. It's very smart.
[Keis] I get my squab stuffed. I get a nice sear on them
to render down some of that skin,
and just let it continue to cook.
In total, I have 11 siblings,
and we lost our mom at a young age.
So, I've raised them from the time that I was 11.
My siblings are my backbone. Comin' down.
And I'm here to show them
that, like, we can conquer this world if we wanted to.
Chef Keis, did you like the ingredients in this basket?
A lot better than the last.
-[laughing] -Perfect. Perfect.
Chefs, you've got 20 minutes to do this.
Going into the second round,
I'm just very grateful to be here,
and I wanna make the best of this opportunity.
So I've never cooked squab,
but I know that a squab is a dark-meat bird
that is similar to duck.
You wanna cook it to mid rare or rare
to keep it from getting that livery, gamy taste.
I'm making babka panzanella salad and crispy squab.
So with my squab,
I'm going to do a quick roast in the oven,
and then finish it in the fryer
so you got nice, crispy skin.
Working in the Chopped kitchen
is definitely, like, pushing my boundaries.
I've never cooked with these ingredients before.
It's a lot harder than I expected.
But if I win $10,000,
I wanna take my wife on a nice honeymoon that she deserves.
[upbeat music playing]
[Geoffrey] Hummus is Arabic for chickpeas
and in beet hummus,
-it will be beets. -[Esther] Yes.
-As well as chickpeas. -Yes.
[Geoffrey] I think it's great. It's very flavorful.
[Kayla] With my beet hummus, I decide to make a beet
and goat cheese puree,
because I think beets and goat cheese are something
that's very familiar for people.
I look at the clock,
halfway through the competition,
and I'm feeling really good.
I'm gonna use my birthday babka
to make a crouton
because I can relate roasting the squab
and Thanksgiving with stuffing.
I'm hoping that all of that sweetness gets taken away
with that heavy olive oil, garlic presence.
I am a chef based in Naples, Florida.
Naples to me means a lot, because it is a place
that I've been able to grow in my career.
So, I'm here in this competition,
not only for myself, but to put Naples on the map.
[Ted] Chefs, 10 minutes left on the clock.
[upbeat music playing]
[Justin] The key with that puntarella
is gonna be blanching it first,
getting some of that bitterness out,
because being in the chicory family,
it can be really, really bitter.
[Esther] Bitter.
[Geoffrey] Soak it in cold water first
and then make a great anchovy vinaigrette
with that hummus and toss it with that,
and you're done.
I went to the Culinary Institute of America
and I studied in the South of France.
When I lived in the South of France,
we would make a puree cream of spinach,
so my first thought was to do that with a puntarella.
[Geoffrey] She's creaming the puntarella.
She didn't blanch it first,
so I'm gonna approximate it to be very bitter.
[Keis] It's comin' off kind of bitter,
so I add a little bit more cream.
I transferred it to a blender,
and I'm thinking, I can merge the hummus
with the puntarella.
I check on my squab,
and they seem to be a little bit underdone,
so I figure the best way to make sure
that they're at the right temperature
is to cut them in half.
Chef Keis, how you feelin'?
I am feelin' awesome.
I'm just hoping that this squab is cooked properly.
So I saw you started them with them whole
-and then cut them in half. -[Keis] Yes.
I didn't think that I would have enough time
to cook them all the way through whole,
especially with the stuffing on the inside,
so I've had to think quick on my feet
and hope for the best.
Comin' down.
[Brandon] So, panzanella is a nice red salad.
Normally, it's used with dried red.
So I have my croutons in the oven,
and I've never worked Italian puntarella.
Whoa.
It's very bitter, kind of, like, chicory.
I wanna make sure I add that into my panzanella salad
to help create some balance with that bitterness.
I've been watching Chopped since I was 14 years old.
And I learned how to cook by watching Food Network.
Winning Chopped would show,
not only myself, but also for my love ones around me
that I am doing what I'm called to do.
[Ted] Less than five minutes to go, chefs.
[intense music playing]
Chef Kayla, how's your squab?
-Checking it right now. -[Ted] It's browning.
Yeah. The skin got color on it.
[Esther] Her squab looks really nicely cooked inside.
I'm just worried about the skin not being crispy.
I decided I'm going to saute my puntarella.
It's the most traditional way that it's served.
Everyone loves a little anchovy,
red pepper flakes, and garlic together.
Chefs, three minutes to go here.
[Keis] I think my dish needs another component,
so I grabbed some Brussels sprouts.
I fried them and I'm gonna toss them
in a little bit of truffle oil and salt.
[Geoffrey] Is that white truffle oil?
Oh, that pains me.
Brussels sprout and white truffle do not go together.
All right, Brandon. Time's getting down there.
How you feelin', brother?
[Brandon] Uh, we're getting there, baby.
So I checked the squab,
and it's still raw in the middle,
so I'm gonna put it immediately to the fryer.
[Justin] That's actually a really good idea.
Maybe that would actually crisp off the skin.
It will. It will.
[Brandon] So with the beet hummus,
I'm gonna make a nice sesame dressing.
I think it's gonna pair well with the squab
and tie that panzanella salad all together.
[Geoffrey] You got this. Let's go. It's a minute.
[intense music playing]
[Justin] Brandon's still in the fryer.
Forty seconds.
-Chef Keis, you got this. -[Keis] I got it.
[Justin] Come on, 18 seconds.
I see a lot of last-minute moves happening, guys.
Make sure everything's on the plate.
[Geoffrey] Ten seconds left.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two,
one. That's it.
[Justin] That's it. Hands up. Hands up.
[applause]
-Wow. Nice job, chefs. -That was a fast round.
I like this panzanella salad,
but I'm just praying that I have a better cook
on the squab compared to the alligator heart.
[intense music playing]
[Keis] Ah, man, I had a little trouble cooking the squab,
so I'm a little nervous about the temperature on it.
That round was very intense. [laughs]
[tense music playing]
Chefs, for the second round,
you've dug into entree baskets
containing birthday babka,
Italian puntarella, beet hummus, and squab.
Chef Keis, please tell us about your dish.
I've prepared for you today birthday babka-stuffed squab
with a Italian puntarella puree
with a little bit of the beet hummus
and crispy truffle Brussels sprout.
So chef, what's your motivation for competing here?
What motivates me is how far I've come.
Um, I grew up in West Baltimore,
definitely not the greatest, uh, surroundings.
However, I've made it out of growin' up in the hood
to now working
for one of the biggest comedian actors in the world,
so that's what motivates me.
You get a lot of laughs while you're working?
Oh, definitely a lot of laughs, yes.
Chef Keis, I really love the direction
you were heading towards when you stuffed the squab.
That's exactly how I would've headed.
And my cook on the squab was quite nice.
Mine, too, was cooked nice, but I do wish
the skin would've been a little bit crispier.
I'm not a stickler on crispy skin.
It's really hard to get this crispy
and keep it medium rare.
And you got lucky with the puntarella,
because it's very bitter, and you braised it with milk
and it really came out nice.
But forget the Brussels sprouts.
They're not even in the basket.
And please, try not to reach for the truffle oil ever.
It destroyed more good plates
than it's made better,
but a really good effort here.
-You did a very good job. -Thank you, chef.
Thank you, Chef Keis. Next up is Chef Kayla.
So, I did a roasted squab
with a beet root and goat cheese puree,
a little bit of puntarella and a savory crouton.
So, chef, how did your cooking career begin?
So, I started my career
because my dad was a chef,
and he really showed me everything
to this day of what I know, and that passion.
[Geoffrey] We got a lot of goodness going on here.
It's a striking plate.
You have managed to turn this beet hummus
with goat cheese into something that's quite good.
A sort of anchovy vinaigrette with the puntarella,
it's really good.
I love the anchovy and the garlic.
When it comes to the squab, you made a clear error there
in putting in an oven that's not hot enough
to give it the sear it needs
so it stays moist and, um, medium rare.
So it got overcooked.
I actually love the cook on the squab.
Mine was, like, really well-cooked,
mid-rare, so delicious, like really well-seasoned.
But the birthday cake babka,
the sugar caramelized.
They got, like, a caramel coating almost,
and, um, I can't really eat it.
Understood.
But my favorite thing on the plate is the puntarella.
This was executed so perfectly.
This was a beautiful plate, so thank you.
And I saw it, like, with your eyes
and it was... It was wonderful.
It was a really good dish, so, nice work.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Kayla.
-Finally, Chef Brandon. -All right.
So I have a crispy squab
and then I have
a babka panzanella salad.
I used some of the greens in there as well.
[Justin] Conceptually, I really like
where your head went with this.
The panzanella salad was really fun.
Well, your panzanella is beautiful to look at,
but not very good to eat.
It's so sweet.
The squab is lovely to look at,
and I actually like the Asian flavors
with the fish sauce and the sesame, but it is overcooked.
Yeah, my squab unfortunately was well-done,
but that sauce, phenomenal.
Where did the beet hummus come into play?
It's in the sauce.
I think that was very smart, that might have been
one of the best uses of the... Of the beet hummus.
I actually love the glaze as well on the squab.
It's nice, it's sweet.
There's a, like, little bit of soy in there.
Overall, I think it was a fun dish.
-Chef Brandon. Thank you. -Thank you.
We know all of you would love a shot at dessert,
but only two chefs will have that chance.
We'll let you know soon.
[Kayla] Not nervous, but skeptical
if I'm gonna make it to the next round.
I think that sweet crouton
really doesn't help my chances.
[Brandon] We'll see if I make it any further,
but I think I'm on the chopping block...
[laughs] to be honest with you.
Two rounds into our three-course meal,
another chef has to go.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[Ted] So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[suspenseful music playing]
[Ted] Chef Brandon, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Brandon, I love that sauce and glaze
that you put over there with those Asian flavors
worked really well.
For us, it really just came down
to the extremely overcooked squab
and then the babka panzanella salad
was extremely sweet.
So, we had to chop you.
Thank you guys for this opportunity.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for being here, chef. Good luck to you.
[Brandon] I feel disappointed that I'm going,
but since I was 13, I said I wanna go Chopped,
and I did.
I wish the results were a little bit different,
but here we are.
[intense music playing]
[Ted] Chef Keis, Chef Kayla,
do you think you can impress our judges one final time?
Absolutely.
I've made it all the way from Baltimore
to the Chopped kitchen. There's no turning back now.
No sugarcoating it.
-I got this. -[Ted] All right.
Well, these baskets will set the tone.
Open them up.
And what is...
[Kayla] Look, this is my dessert.
[Keis laughs] Yeah.
[Ted] And you are looking at a croquembouche...
Kumquat?
[Ted] kumquats...
What is this?
[Ted] licorice root,
and aged balsamic.
I can make it work, for sure.
Once again, 30 minutes.
Time starts now.
[Justin] All right, guys.
-Go chefs. -Final round's here.
-You made it this far. -I love how calm they are.
-[Justin] I know, right? -[Esther] I'm excited...
[Justin] Just unfazed.
She's just... She's sauntering.
Judges, a lot of strong competing flavors
in this basket, what would you tackle first?
[Esther] I feel like you have to decide what to do
with the croquembouche
before you go into the other ingredients.
[Geoffrey] I studied in France for over a year.
I made a lot of these.
It's just pate a choux, the light pastry
and they stuff it with whipped cream.
It's basically just stuck together with sugar,
which is brought out in a big celebration,
birthdays and Christmas.
The bigger they get, the more fun they are.
[Keis] This basket screams cheesecake to me.
It's one of my family's favorite dishes,
but I don't have time to make a full cheesecake.
So I'm thinking deconstruct it.
For my dessert, I'm making a deconstructed
kumquat cheesecake mousse
with a licorice balsamic reduction,
macerated raspberries and a croquembouche crumple.
I really wanna concentrate my kumquat flavor,
so I get that in a saute pan with some butter,
sugar, and cream.
-Steal some of this... -Yeah.
If you don't mind.
I've been saying all day
that Kayla is definitely my biggest competition,
and here we are, face to face.
I feel like Chef Keis can taste her spirit
in her cooking.
And Chef Kayla is very focused on execution.
She's calm. She's very to the point.
[Justin] At this point in the competition,
-they're neck and neck. -[Esther] Yeah.
So, I think this is gonna be the one that tells it.
[Esther] Right.
[Kayla] At this point in the competition,
what I have to do to beat out my competitor
is stay true to what I was the prior two rounds,
deep breaths, and I'm ready to go.
Chef Kayla, what are you making it for dessert?
[Kayla] A take on a monkey bread.
[judges] Ooh.
I'm infusing a cream with some of that licorice.
Little bit of balsamic in there
and then bake it off.
It's really important that I cook this monkey bread
to the proper time and temperature.
If not, it's gonna turn out to be a soup-like bread.
Monkey bread needs the right amount of time to bake,
which is more time than you think.
All right, chefs. You have 15 minutes.
[intense music playing]
[Geoffrey] Licorice root is tough.
You need a lot of it and you gotta, like, cook it a bit...
because it's a very mild flavor.
But surprisingly very sweet.
I think the licorice and the balsamic
will pair really well together,
so I'd let it reduce into a reduction sauce
for my cheesecake mousse.
[Justin] Aged balsamic is just gonna have that deeper flavor.
It's a lot thicker than just a normal balsamic vinegar
that you're gonna make a salad dressing with.
Chef's, 10 minutes left on that clock.
-Boy, oh, boy. -Wow.
[intense music playing]
I love kumquats because they're little
and they're concentrated in deep orange flavor.
Sliced really thin, it looks really pretty.
I decide I'm going to candy my kumquats
with sugar and that aged balsamic.
I love that bitter, acidic component
that they add to dishes.
Chef Kayla,
you think that monkey bread's gonna bake in time?
My fingers are crossed...
[laughs]
The judges make me second guess myself
whether my monkey bread is gonna be done in time.
So, I keep going back to my oven,
checking the monkey bread.
Chef Kayla keeps opening the oven
to check on whether it's baked enough.
Just close the oven.
If this monkey bread doesn't come out
like I think it's going to, I'm definitely losing.
Just let it go.
I keep going back to my oven,
checking the monkey bread.
Chef Kayla keeps opening the oven
to check on whether it's baked enough. Just close the oven.
Chef's, three minutes to go here.
[Kayla] At this point, I'm running out of time.
So, I take a cake tester
to make sure that it is warm all the way through.
And I think it's good.
And then I brulee the top
so it kind of gets a creme brulee crust.
That flame she's doing, that's beautiful.
So she must feel confident that it's cooked
all the way through and she just needs
to get a little more color on the top.
Two-minute warning, chefs.
[intense music playing]
-Chef Keis, how you feelin'? -[Keis] Amazing.
I'm going to use the croquembouche
as a crumble in place of a cheesecake crust.
Time is ticking away, and I'm thinkin',
"I have to get my food on the plate."
Chef Keis' cheesecake looks a little loose.
As I'm piping out my cheesecake mousse,
I am not happy with how it looks,
but I gotta get it on the plate.
Under a minute, chefs.
It's 10Gs, but only one of you goes home with it, guys.
-[Esther] Let's go, chefs. -[Justin] Let's go.
You got this.
[Ted] All right, chefs. Final seconds
on the final round here.
-Ten... -[Justin] Last 10.
nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
Time's up.
[applause]
[Justin] Nice work.
Good job.
[Kayla] Feels good.
Competing against Keis was a great competition.
She's a fierce competitor,
but, uh, hopefully I get the win.
[exhales]
A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. [laughs]
My mousse didn't set, so the plate doesn't look
as beautiful as I would want it to,
however, I know that the flavors are there.
[suspenseful music playing]
Chef Keis and Chef Kayla.
The judges are eager to taste the desserts you've made
with croquembouche, kumquats,
licorice root, and aged balsamic.
Chef Kayla, what have you made?
I did a take on a monkey bread
with a balsamic-candied kumquat
and licorice-infused cream.
The kumquat is beautiful in there.
Just love that orange flavor.
Yeah, those candied kumquats on top were my favorite bite.
Like, every time I got a bite of that,
then I was, like, excited again to go back for more.
I really get the licorice.
It's very distinct and deep,
and you really sort of blended everything
in a... In a really very deep way, very satisfying.
However, I would love to have
a little something on the side to mitigate all the sugar.
[Esther] I agree with Geoffrey.
I really wish there was something refreshing,
and my center didn't cook through.
Mine also wasn't cooked all the way through in the middle.
But the flavors, you were able to develop with this
-was pretty fantastic. -Thank you.
Thank you, Chef Kayla.
Finally, Chef Keis.
So, today, for dessert,
I made you guys
a deconstructed kumquat cheesecake
with a cream puff and graham cracker crumble
and a balsamic and licorice reduction.
I love the flavors that you have going on here.
Your cheesecake mousse is really nice.
[Esther] I agree with Justin.
I feel like the flavors here are so delicious.
I love the flavor of the kumquat
in the cheesecake mixture.
[Justin] The texture of the crumble is good,
but I think the balsamic was...
It's already a reduced aged balsamic.
I think you reduced it down even more,
which kind of turned it a little bit bitter.
Keis, I'm not gonna lie to you.
-I didn't like this dessert. -Oh, no.
Well, I disagree with my judges a bit.
I find it greasy, this sort of crumble.
And I mean, I wanna love deconstructed desserts.
Is it tasty? Yeah, the cream is tasty.
Vinegar is tasty,
but it just... It doesn't really come together
as a cheesecake as it should
because you're a really good cook.
-Chef Keis, thank you. -Thank you.
Okay, chefs. Please take a break.
The judges will talk this through and select our winner.
-Thank you, guys. -Thank you.
Well, judges, dessert is fresh in your minds.
But could this all come down
to those alligator heart appetizers?
You know, it's startling to open a basket
-and get alligator hearts. -[Justin] Right.
[Geoffrey] Keis made a polenta.
And she whipped that marshmallow spread
into the polenta, very smart.
But it was clunky. The snow peas,
they weren't cleaned properly.
And there's Kayla's chimichurri.
[Justin] That I thought was a very smart use for those.
Those snow peas,
and I think we were all surprised
by the way she emulsified that marshmallow spread.
And her hearts were my favorite preparation
out of the four.
Nice and crispy, cooked properly.
In the second course, we really saw
another killer ingredient, which is squab.
They both kind of understood though
that it had to be cooked medium rare.
[Geoffrey] I think that Keis did a really good job
on the puntarella.
Very bitter.
She smartly put it into pan with some cream.
She reduced it. She pureed it.
I think the cook on Kayla's squab was actually quite nice.
You know, it was just hit that medium rare.
And I loved what she did with the greens on that,
the garlic with the anchovy and the olive oil.
Really smart use of the hummus.
She put goat cheese into it.
Of all things, she sort of transferred it
into this silky vegetal thing.
I really loved it.
But the biggest miss on her plate
-were those birthday babkas... -Oh, my God.
-croutons that just... -[Esther] Like why?
caramelized and became sweeter.
Is this a difficult decision?
It definitely is, but I think we've made it.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Kayla] Winning would mean a lot,
and I'm more than nervous.
I wanna win this for Naples.
[Keis] Winning would mean the world to me.
My siblings are really what I'm doing it for.
I'm feeling very nervous, excited, and confident.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Keis, you've been chopped.
[dramatic music playing]
Keis, we had a delightful day here with you,
but your first course, you had a little problem
with the snap peas
because they had some string in it
and they were kind of clunky.
Going to your main course, you really took something
that's really hard to cook, a squab,
and you got a really good cook on them.
But dessert was very greasy
and the balsamic reduction,
it got very, very overpowered.
And so, we had to chop you.
-[Keis] Thank you, chef. -[Geoffrey] You're welcome.
[Keis] I feel great. I really, really do.
I didn't win, but I think that my siblings
are very proud of me,
and I'm going to continue to put my best foot forward
and be the best chef that I can be.
[applause]
And that means, Chef Kayla Pfeiffer,
you are the Chopped champion.
You've earned 10 grand
and that sweet, sweet sense of accomplishment.
How's it feel?
Nothing better than a win. [laughs]
[Geoffrey] Right.
-Go spread the word to Naples. -Thank you so much.
I really appreciate the opportunity.
I'm a Chopped champion.
I absolutely can't believe it. [chuckles]
Thank you so much.
It truly is a humbling experience
to be able to take home the prize.
I certainly believe that I made Naples look good.