[man 1] Get it together now
The Chopped Pie-Q is off the charts.
[sighs] Oh, boy!
[woman 1] Does anybody have puff pastry?
[man 2] Yeah, I got it.
[woman 1] Do you have some to spare?
I don't think so.
I'm excited about it.
I want some deep satisfaction here.
[man 1] Looks as if Chef Carter
is playing waiting game now
[man 3] Pies are going in.
[man 2] Right now, I don't have a backup plan
and I don't think this is gonna work out.
Oh my God!
[Esther] My name is Esther Stilwell, I live in New York
and I am the owner of May Baby Bakery and Brewery
The beauty of a pie is anything can become a pie.
Often, if I have any leftovers,
you just throw them into a pie, and everything works
I definitely have a focus on crust.
It's the vehicle that holds the rest of it, so...
you need a good foundation.
Bubbling and done.
Pies make people happy and I feel so honored
to be able to give that happiness to people.
[Nik] My name is Nikita Sanches,
and I'm a chef owner of Rock City Eatery,
in Detroit, Michigan.
We are known for our pies.
As a young boy, I grew up in Russia
and pies are a big part of our culture.
Pies take a lot of time and effort.
You know, you gotta put in a lot of TLC into them.
But, the result is amazing.
[Mai] I have made quite a bit of pies in my lifetime
Thousands and thousands of pies a year. [chuckles]
My name is Mai Giffard and I a chef in Chicago, Illinois
I love to cook Vietnamese food.
I just love to work through the recipes
I did with my mom
and cook a lot of food that makes me nostalgic
for my childhood.
We used to make strawberry milk custard.
It just reminds me of childhood nostalgia.
Pies are just second nature to me at this point.
Losing's just not an option for me.
[Carter] I'm Carter Hach
and I'm the executive chef and owner of Hachland Hill.
Hachland Hill, founded in 1955,
is a farm-to-table restauran
bed and breakfast, caterer and wedding venue
just 20 minutes north of Downtown, Nashville.
When my grandmother passed,
came back to pick up where she left off.
I take a lot of my grandmother's
classic recipes and kinda bring them up
into the new times...
to keep it exciting and new.
That's one pie that'll make grandma proud.
[Ted] Hey, y'all.
-Hey! -Hi!
Welcome.
You are here for our pie battle.
-[all cheering] -Bring it on.
[Ted] We want you to make pie of some sort
for every round.
For the appetizer,
the judges are looking for your most creative
and outstanding savory hand pie.
[Carter] Knowing I have to make a hand pie,
I'm thinking something you can walk and eat on the go.
Are you ready for the challenge?
-Bring it on. -So ready.
Let's get to it.
Please open your first basket.
[chuckles]
[Ted] And you'll be making savory appetizer hand pies
with a full blackberry pie,
rotisserie chicken...
Roasted chicken.
[Carter] I'm from Nashville
We have every kind of chicken,
smoked chicken, fried chicken, chicken in dumpling, so...
chicken is perfect to see in the basket.
[Ted] Caper berries
and chili lime seasoning.
Chili lime seasoning, cool.
You will have 30 minutes to execute.
I love pies but I've never made a pie in 30 minutes.
Clock starts now.
-[Nik] Let's go. -Yeah, go, chef! Go, go, go.
Judges, a lot of people automatically associate pie
with dessert.
But pies come in many forms.
Yes, it can be savory. In India, samosas.
Samosas are hand pies.
And I started off as a trained pastry chef.
So, pies are always something very close to me.
[Ted] Maneet, Geoffrey,
you are joined by a special guest judge,
restaurateur and James Beard award winning chef,
Stephanie Izard, who's pie-Q is off the charts.
I love being on this side of the competition.
Although, I know it's gonna make me wanna jump in there
and do some cooking.
With a savory hand pie,
I'm expecting something with many layers of flavor,
tucked into a few bites.
I want some deep satisfaction here, with this hand pie.
[Carter] I learned to make pies with my grandmother,
sitting on the counter with her, at Hachland Hill.
Hachland Hill was founded in 1955
by my grandmother, who hoste the first cooking show in the South.
And went on to write 17 cook books.
She's taught me everything from making biscuits and pie
to frying up some of the bes chicken in Nashville.
The dish I'm gonna make is a Nashville hot chicken
and caper berry hand pie, with a blackberry glaze.
The plan for my filling is,
add a bunch of cayenne peppe
and make this chicken Nashville hot.
[Stephanie] The caper berries, I love them just fresh,
rather than cooking them.
It's like a giant caper that,
just bite into, is a little snack.
I love caper berries
and the briny profile they have.
I know they'll go perfect in the filling to act as a pickle.
[Geoffrey] The blackberry part is very sweet
but there is a great way to do a sweet and sour sauce for this
or maybe a great dipping sauce would be wonderful.
[Esther] I'm looking at the blackberry pie,
and I think of a cranberry sauce.
I look at the chicken, I'm thinking turkey dinner.
And I immediately decide,
I'm gonna go for a Thanksgiving pie.
I'm gonna make a shredded chicken potato hand pie,
with a caper gravy
and a chili lime blackberry sauce.
I know I have to get my gravy done quickly,
in order to have this filling done.
I add the cut up caper berries,
I add onions and garlic.
Then add stock.
Then I add cream to thicken it up.
[Stephanie] The challenges with a hand pie is,
you wanna make sure the dough is cooked all the way through.
Is it smarter to grab the dough that you've already been given,
or spend almost your whole 30 minutes
making the dough and hoping that it works out?
I think they got phyllo.
[Ted] They have pizza dough.
Empanada dough, puff pastry.
Pate brisee.
Pate brisee doesn't have sugar in it.
It's a very neutral pie base.
Flour and butter and salt. Just so simple.
[Esther] For my pie dough, I'm going with the pate brisee.
I'm confident in my ability to cook pate brisee,
unlike maybe a puff pastry, which might not cook in time.
[Mai] My background is Vietnamese.
So, I love to incorporate Vietnamese
technique and flavors
and growing up with my mom,
we just made everything together.
Looking at these ingredients I think I wanna make a pate choux,
which is a Vietnamese pastry that's filled with meat.
I run to the pantry and see that there's no puff pastry left.
Does anybody have the puff pastry?
[Nik] Yeah, I got it.
[Mai] Do you have some to spare?
I don't think so.
I wish I could share it with you, but it's just not enough.
Sorry.
Mai just asked Nik, to borrow some puff pastry
and he said "No."
[Mai] I decide to pivot.
You know, there's so many flavors in the basket,
that lend well to Mexican food.
So, I decide to use empanada dough.
I am making a chicken and caper berry empanada
and a blackberry jalapeno salsa.
[Geoffrey] I think empanada dough is really smart.
She can just fry them, get a beautiful crust.
Maybe shower some salt and some fresh herbs on top
and just get this...
that perfect bite.
[Mai] I'm filling my empanad with the chicken, caper berr
blackberry pie filling.
I'm feeling really great about my plan B.
[Nik] So, my restaurant is actually built on pie making
About ten years ago, I started selling pies
at an artisanal market in Michigan.
My pies were very popular at the market.
And that's what gave me the opportunity
to transition into opening up a restaurant.
Pies make me think of holidays.
So, this hand pie is gonna be holiday inspired.
I am making a chicken and sweet potato hand pie,
with blackberry and caper berry dressing.
Puff pastry will add a nice buttery and flaky element
to my pie.
I need to cook this filling as fast as possible,
so I can assemble my pie and throw it in the oven.
Chefs, 20 minutes to go.
[Carter] Under the time constraints,
I know I'm going to have to use a premade dough.
I got with pate brisee dough
'cause it's sturdy and when I think of hand pies,
I think of walking around in old London with something
and chomping on it.
I got my pies in the oven.
[Esther] Time's starting to tick down,
and I'm just trying to work as fast as I can.
Esther, how are you doing?
I'm good, just trying to get these pies in the oven,
so that they can bake.
Oh, yes. You guys will need to hustle.
[Esther] Pie filling's come in together great.
The gravy thickened perfectl
and I'm gonna add it with the chicken and potatoes.
As long as I can get this hand pie into the oven soon,
I think I'll be fine.
Chefs, you've gotta get those pies in the oven.
Less than 15 minutes.
[Mai] Looking at the clock,
I realized I don't have time to bake.
But I know if I get my empanadas in the fryer,
I'll definitely get them done in time.
And then I run off, because I'm making a salsa
to go with the empanadas.
It's got the blackberry pie filling,
jalapeno and fresh tomatoes
[Nik] Pies are going in.
Please get it done.
So, I finally get my pies in the oven,
and I realize that I don't have a whole lot of time left.
Guys, I don't know if Nik's hand pies
will be cooked in time.
He cannot resist the urge of opening the oven
and turning it around.
The temperature goes down.
[Nik] Right now, I'm super nervous.
Because I don't have a backup plan
and I'm just praying that the pie
works out for me.
I'll tell you, not good.
[Nik] So, I finally get my pies in the oven,
and I realized that I don't have a whole lot of time left.
And I am praying to oven gods to make sure it bakes
all the way through.
[sighs] Oh boy!
So, I'm using the caper berries
and blackberry pie filling
to make the dressing for my pie.
I also add a little bit of a chili lime seasoning
to give the sauce a little bit of a kick.
Chefs, less than five minutes on that clock.
[Esther] How you doing?
Trying to survive.
Carter's got his pies cooked
and he's glazing them with a sauce now.
[Stephanie] Yeah.
I wonder if he's gonna put them back in to get that glaze all caramelized.
I really wanna feature the basket ingredients.
So, I add some chili lime seasoning
to the crema for some extra taste.
[Esther] For my sauce,
I add the chili lime seasoni
to the filling of the blackberry pie.
I think that those two are going to complement each other really well.
I want another component to go with my empanadas.
So, I decide to grab some Mexican crema
and just add it to the side with the salsa.
[Nik] So, I checked my pie
and they look nice and golden brown
on the outside.
So, I am hoping that they baked through.
[Geoffrey] Take an inventory of your basket,
make sure everything you've used.
-And we want baked pies. -Yeah.
Get it together now, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four
three, two, one,
time's up. Step back.
[all applauding]
I'm pretty sure my pies are baked through, but...
who knows?
[Mai] You know, I really wanted to use puff pastry.
But you just have to pivot and you adapt
to whatever goes on.
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
We challenged you to make appetizer pie,
using a blackberry pie,
rotisserie chicken, caper berries,
and chili lime seasoning.
Chef Mai, what do we have?
My pie is the Chicken and Caper Empanada,
with a Blackberry Jalapeno Salsa,
and some crema.
Mai, this is absolutely delicious.
-Thank you. -I think, the amazing part about...
pie is that the crust needs to be nice and flaky,
while the filling needs to be juicy,
and that's what you have done.
You were not shy using the chili lime seasoning,
which gives at that wonderful tartness.
But...
The raw dough in the inside of the empanada
bothers me a little bit.
[Geoffrey] Maneet said it well.
It's a little dough-y inside.
But what's inside is really good.
I would go so far and say that,
I wouldn't even need the sauce,
It's such a complete representation of a hand pie.
[Stephanie] Mai, I agree. The filling is delicious.
I would say the one thing for me with the crema,
maybe adding a little something to it,
to just bring out a little more creativity.
But overall, really great flavors.
Thank you.
Next up, Chef Carter.
So, I made a...
"Not so Nashville Hot"
Blackberry and Tequila-glaze hand pie.
And then, a crema on the sid
What kinda food do you make?
I make southern food in Nashville, Tennessee
at a family-owned business
that was founded in the '50's.
My grandmother founded the business.
Did you grow up in the kitchen with your grandma,
learning how to make all of those old recipes?
[Carter] I absolutely did.
And carrying on legacy,
it's exciting and brings me joy.
The flavors here are spot on.
The glaze is necessary.
It gives a nice pop of sweetness.
It's hard to not eat the whole thing.
Thanks, Chef.
To me, the filling could've come together a little bit more.
Definitely needed a little bit of moisture.
But, I love the spice, I love the heat.
[Maneet] I mean, Carter, the pate brisee,
is a great, great choice.
It's got that flakiness and it just melts in your mouth.
But...
I wish that you had cut the chicken
and the caperberries smaller.
Because then, you would be able to stuff a lot more in it.
'Cause I got one small caper berry
and it was delicious.
So, a little bit more of that would have been great.
Next up, Chef Nik.
Please tell us about your appetizer pie.
So, I made a Chicken and Sweet Potato Hand Pie
with Blackberry and caper berry dressing.
Chef, what would winning Chopped mean to you, personally?
I immigrated here from Russia when I was 12.
Had the whole like, immigrant experience.
So, I'm actually starting a charity that focuses on helping
Immigrants and refugees cook the food of their land,
and then, the diner gets to experience it.
Winning the $10,000 would give me an opportunity
to start this charity.
I love how it is reminiscent a little bit of chicken pot pie.
Just something very comforting about this.
And, I love a little bit of sweet and salty together.
So, taking the black berries and the caper berries and putting them together
was a really great idea.
This blackberry caper berry dressing,
is absolutely fantastic.
But, the puff pastry,
you know you have to give puff pastry the time to rise.
Yeah.
-And the time wasn't given to this. -Fair.
Yeah, it is undercooked,
and you just forgot to season this.
This begs for heat, but I'm digging the flavors.
It's like if a certain coffee shop
decided to come with a hand pie,
and called it pumpkin spice late chicken hand pie.
That would be a winner.
-[Ted] Chef Nick, thank you. -Thank you.
Chef Esther.
Today, I made Chicken Potato Pie
with a Blackberry and Chili Lime sauce.
When I saw the chicken and I saw the blackberry pie,
I kind of wanted to do like a Thanksgiving dinner hand pie.
When you said Thanksgiving, I'm like, "Oh, I got it."
This is like the sandwich the next day
with the leftover cranberry almost.
But I think that it needs some more salt, pepper, it needs...
crunch, piece of celery.
Yeah, the filling just needed a little bit more attention,
a little bit more seasoning.
But the dough did come out great.
This is, I think, to me, one of the best
textures of dough that we've had.
[Maneet] I agree with Stephanie.
This is my favorite crust.
And the blackberry pie sauce with the chili lime seasoning
is delicious.
But the filling, is muted.
So, it needed more spice to it.
It needed more of the caper berries.
[Ted] Okay.
Gotta hold tight for a few minutes
to see who is moving on.
Thank you, chefs.
[Mai] I am slightly worried about my dough
being undercooked in the middle.
But I'm hoping that
my flavors will carry me through to the next round.
[Carter] After hearing the judge's comments,
I'm nervous about the filling for sure.
I think I might be on the Chopping Block
with Chef Nik.
His puff pastry just wasn't the right choice.
But we'll see.
So, who's dish is on the Chopping Block?
Chef Nik. You've been Chopped. Judges?
[Geoffrey] Nik, you had a lot of good things about that dish.
However, the dish really lacked seasoning.
And the thing that really brought that dish down,
was the cook on the puff pastry.
Unfortunately, it's very undercooked.
And so, we have to chop you.
-[Ted] Thank you, Chef. -[Nik] Thank you.
[Nik] I think time got to me
The hardest thing is not being able to showcase
more of what I can do, but...
it's not gonna stifle me from accomplishing my goals
[Ted] Chef Mai, Chef Carter, Chef Esther,
in this entree round, the judges expect to see top crusts
on the savory pie.
Let's get to it.
Open them up.
Woah!
You'll be creating entree pies, using a bratwurst pie.
I'm excited.
[Ted] Thin sliced steak...
I'm not sure what this is.
[Ted] Bitter melon and gazpacho.
Once again, half an hour to showcase your skills.
Clock starts now.
[all cheering]
[Ted] Judges, pie must be the main dish here.
Is that a tall order?
I think that the person that makes the crusts,
separately,
is going to do very well.
Because, there's gonna be more volume.
So, you've gotta have that crust, fully cooked.
[Maneet] I agree.
If I was doing a top crust,
I would do that first, throw it in the oven.
[Stephanie] It looks like Mai got the puff pastry this time.
So, this is her puff pastry redemption from not getting to use it last time,
[Mai] I really wanted to us puff pastry for my appetizer
But Nik beat me to it.
So, this time I'm making sure that the first thing I do is,
to get started on that puff pastry.
I'm making a tomato and beef pot pie,
with a sauteed bitter melon
For my filling, I start off with a roux
and I'm using beef stock in the gazpacho.
So, the bratwurst pie, I decide to pick out
the bratwurst pieces
And then I just chop that u and throw it into the fillin
[Stephanie] I just wanna see some creativity in the top crust.
Put some seasoning on top of it, put some cheese on it.
Add something to it that makes it...
your own.
[Esther] I'm going with the crumble for the entree round,
because I don't think anyon else will think about a savory crumble
and I think that will set me apart.
My entree dish is a steak and potato pie,
with a bratwurst and bitter melon crumble.
And a creamy gazpacho sauce
I taste the bratwurst and the crumble,
and it's adding some really nice sweetness.
And I think will be a reall good balance with the melon
Yum! I love a crumble topping.
All about texture and crunch.
Me and my boyfriend are in the very foundational stages
of starting a business.
Right now, we are baking ou of our apartment in New York
So, it would be amazing to w $10,000 and get an actual space.
[Carter] I'm very proud to be carrying on
the legacy of my grandmother and the tradition
of Hachland Hill.
I did not think I was going to work there.
I went to school and triple majored in everything
but food and hospitality.
But, when she passed away,
I knew I had to jump in and fill my grandmother's shoes.
am going to make a steak and minced bitter melon pie
with a gazpacho and bratwurs biscuit top.
I really wanna impress the judges with my biscuit.
So, I'm gonna make them homemade,
with lots of butter, of course, 'cause I'm from the south.
Then I have to start dicing up the bratwurst
and working it into my dough.
Carter has made a biscuit dough from scratch.
That is such a great idea.
Chefs, 19 minutes remain on the clock.
[Maneet] I mean, bitter melon is a vegetable,
It belongs to the squash family.
As the name suggests, it is really bitter.
The bitter in the outside is shocking.
So first thing is, you gotta peel it.
[Mai] With the bitter melon I want to peel it.
But I can't find my peeler, and so,
I decide to just small dice the bitter melon
and get it into boiling water with lots of salt, immediately.
-Mai, did you taste the bitter melon? -[Mai] Yes,
No, but I grew up cooking it with my mom.
So, I'm pretty confident I can work with it.
My mom would cook every single day.
No matter what our financial situation was,
there was always a homecooked meal.
Besides myself, I would love to win for my mom.
My mom is a Vietnamese refugee.
And I just feel like my family's made so many sacrifices.
So, to win and...
to seize this opportunity would be really meaningful.
-[Maneet] Carter... -[Carter] Yes.
Did you taste the bitter melon?
I did, it's quite bitter.
I am going to...
incorporate it into my filling on the pie.
[Ted] How are you gonna tame the bitterness, Chef?
[Carter] With some apple cider vinegar and...
I think some honey too.
I'm feeling good about my filling.
But I wish these biscuits we in the oven five minutes ago
[Stephanie] The gazpacho, you can use that either,
in the filling if you thicken it properly,
or saving it for vinaigrette.
Add a little bit more olive oil to it.
Maybe a little more citrus for acidity.
I tried the gazpacho and it just doesn't have enough tomato flavor.
So, I grab some tomato paste and put it in.
Chefs, less than ten minutes to go here.
[Ted] I am super worried about Esther's time.
She's really pressed for time to get that crust cooked through.
[Esther] Time is ticking down and I gotta hustle.
I gotta get it in the oven, ASAP.
I taste my bitter melon and it is way too bitter.
So, I decide to throw in tomatoes for acid,
and some sugar.
It looks as if Chef Carter is playing the waiting game now.
[Carter] I'm starting to thi there's no way these biscuit
are gonna get gone.
I'm freaking out.
I look over at Esther...
I don't know if it's gonna bake.
I think she's playing the same waiting game.
[Esther] There's not much left for me to do.
Really, I'm just watching these pies,
and praying that they bake in time.
[Ted] Get it done, get it done.
[Geoffrey] Get it out of the oven. Get your stuff done.
Not much time to finish what you started, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one, time's up. Please step back.
[all applauding]
[Esther] I am pretty worrie about my pie crust.
I don't think I had long enough to bake.
But I think the filling was good
and I think all the flavors were there.
It's just about the baking time for me.
[Carter] I think Esther and are in the same boat right now.
It comes down to whether these pies are baked or not.
Chefs, we watched you make entree pies
from a basket of a bratwurst pie,
thin sliced steak,
bitter melon and gazpacho.
Chef Mai.
My entree is a tomato-beef pot pit.
Very smart to go with doing the puff pastry on the side.
It has to have the right amount of cook time to really
get those layers to expand when the...
butter's letting off all of that steam.
So, I appreciate that you end up with all of those flaky layers.
What I love about this dish is...
the way you took the bratwurst pie,
the thinly sliced steak and then,
cooked it in the gazpacho.
You just very seamlessly integrate these three ingredients together.
The bitter melon, what did you think about it?
So, I am ashamed that my mom is gonna be watching,
and I should have peeled it.
I tried adding different things to cut that bitterness.
The bitter melon...
is not successful at all.
It's fighting with the rest of the flavors.
You should have peeled it.
[Geoffrey] I like this dish very much.
Although, it's a little one-note.
I think this needed some umami.
-Yeah. -Some miso, but...
really good job, getting the crust done.
Thank you so much,
Thank you, Chef Mai.
Chef Esther.
I made a Steak and Potatoes Pie
with Bitter Melon and Bratwurst Crumble,
and a Gazpacho Tomato Sauce on top.
[Geoffrey] Sitting next to Maneet, I learned a lot of things.
One of them is the bitter melon.
You really need to peel that sucker.
And then salt the hell out of it for a long time.
Almost like ammonia.
[Maneet] I have to agree, the bitter melon...
not successful at all.
But this just reminds me of a nice, hearty,
rustic dish.
The meat and potatoes, not only is it a great idea,
but you've executed it well.
And the tomato sauce on the top, it's delicious.
[Stephanie] I mean, I can see on your face
when you walked up
that you're a little disappointed in maybe what
happened on the top of the pie.
Definitely.
[Stephanie] Too much flour, not enough butter.
But the filling is delicious.
And really have that nice moisture to it.
Really great creativity and really great flavors.
All right. Chef Esther, thank you.
-[Maneet] Thanks, Esther. -Thank you.
[Ted] Finally, Chef Carter.
So, I made a...
Gazpacho and Bratwurst Biscuit Crust Pie
with Bitter Melon, Minced Meat Filling.
What inspired this dish for you, Chef?
Biscuits are a huge part of obviously the south,
and my growing up with my grandmother.
I think you cracked the code of the bitter melon.
The apple cider vinegar, I think that really helps.
The acidity along with the heat and...
the savoriness is fantastic.
I get a shepherd's pie vibe going over here.
And I like it.
However...
I was so excited when I saw those biscuits that you were making
and I think that they
would have been much better, cooked separately.
couple read very undercooked.
[Stephanie] Takes so much guts
to sort of make your own biscuit dough, so,
I applaud you on that.
It just seems like it didn't have enough time to cook.
[Ted] Okay.
A second Chop is coming up.
We'll let you know soon.
Thank you, Chefs.
I don't know, they seem really underwhelmed by my fillings.
So, I mean, I don't know.
I think it really depends on like, what...
they think is good, the most important.
You know, like, underdone, you know, bitter melon.
The judges had critiques about all of our dishes.
So, I think any of us could on the Chopping Block at this point.
My gut tells me I'm going to squeak by.
Winning that $10,000 would mean the world.
I have business to look after.
There's plenty of places for it to go.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Carter, you've been Chopped.
Judges?
Chef Carter, you were the most successful with the bitter melon.
So, you should be proud of that.
But unfortunately, the biscuits weren't cooked.
And so, we had to Chop you.
Thank you, all.
[Carter] Getting Chopped sucks, but...
I'm excited to get back to Nashville and...
play around with more bitter melon
and make a lot more pies.
You're about to get some more flour on that jacket,
Chef Esther.
Uh-oh!
Mai, I don't know how you stay so clean, but...
I don't know either.
-Anyway... -Don't compare us.
[Ted] Chef Mai, Chef Esther,
after two rounds of making savory pies,
are you psyched to make a sweet one for dessert?
1,000%.
Absolutely.
Final baskets are yours to conquer.
Open them up.
[chuckles]
[Ted] You've got pie bites,
rambutan...
Very excited about that.
[Ted] Fish-shaped pretzels..
Salty and delicious.
[Ted] ...and mayhaw jelly.
I have not worked with this, but I am excited.
You've got a full 60 minutes to show us what everything you've got.
Clock starts now.
[all cheering]
We want some delicious pies.
[Ted] Judges, it sounds like Mai and Esther are competitors
with a capital C.
They are not holding anything back.
And look at their faces right now.
They're getting ready, they're getting serious.
I mean, an hour seems like a long time
but not if you're trying to make...
... we've learned that pie crust is challenging.
The trap of the basket is not the basket ingredients,
it's that you need to go to the pantry
and figure out how to get a center that makes sense,
'cause you can't make a rambutan pie.
[Maneet] So, rambutan is a tropical fruit,
which is found in South East Asia.
It's got all of these fibers on it,
and when you cut into it,
the flavor is beautiful, it's floral, it's sweet
and just refreshing.
I think breaking these down is the more time consuming
part of the process.
Rambutan is really common in Vietnamese households,
and growing up, we'd eat it fresh.
So, I immediately think to just use it in a fruit pie filling.
I am making a berry rambutan pie,
with a coconut crumble.
I know I need to blind bake this pie dough.
Blind baking just makes sur that the crust isn't completely raw,
so that when you go to bake it,
it holds up better with the pie filling.
[Esther] Behind.
I am confident in my ability to make a sweet pie,
and while Mai is an excellent chef,
I'm definitely in my wheelhouse.
I'm confident that I can beat her.
So, I'm gonna go to my favorite classic,
an ice-box pie.
The pie I'm gonna make today is a rambutan custard
with a mayhaw whipped cream
and a pretzel caramel sauce
The pie bites seem to be filled with some sort of jelly.
I am going to cook them in the custard.
One of the things I'm gonna do for this round
is make my own pie dough.
I make a mean pie dough
and I haven't been able to show the judges that, yet
[Geoffrey] I love that Esther's getting vodka.
Because the alcohol will keep the moisture level
higher in the flour,
so when you bake it, it retains moisture.
[Stephanie] Hey Esther, you're making your own crust?
I am.
Do you feel good about that?
I do, I like making crusts.
I make it a little bit butterier than the ones we have here.
[Mai] I'm making my crumble with pretzels,
the pie bites and flour.
And I'm really trying to lean into the fact that,
rambutan's a tropical fruit and I'm using coconut.
45 minutes to go, chefs.
[Maneet] So, mayhaw jelly is made from
hawthorn berries,
which are grown in Georgia, and it's harvested in May.
So that's why, "May", "Haw".
[Mai] Mayhaw jelly, I have never heard of before.
That's not quite tart of too sweet
and I know it's going to go great in the filling
with the rambutan...
and berries.
I take the pie crust out of the oven,
and it's lumpy.
It's just not working.
I can't use it.
Hey Mai, what's happening?
It's lumped. I wasn't happy with it.
So, I'm starting with a new crust.
I'm gonna roll it kind of thin,
egg wash it, and pray for the best.
[Stephanie] Halfway through the challenge,
she's just thrown away her pie crust
and is starting over, that's like...
cutting the time in half.
I have to get this new pie dough filled and in the oven
right away.
30 minutes, Chefs.
These fish-shaped pretzels are very familiar food
to Americans, certainly to me.
[Esther] I'm making a caramel sauce.
I combine butter with sugar
and chopped up pieces of pretzel.
Esther, she's trying to make some sort of caramel, sort of
pretzel sauce going on over there.
[Esther] Pretzel matches perfectly with caramel,
and caramel, I can pipe over my whipped cream on my pie.
I don't have any time.
I gotta get this pie dough out of the oven.
It's looking a little bit underdone,
but at this point, I don't have any other option.
I fill it with the custard and put it in the blast chiller to set.
Hey Esther, what are you working on?
[Esther] I am making a caramel.
I am just waiting for my pie to be done.
This caramel is starting to thicken
much more than I thought it would.
I'm getting really nervous,
this caramel isn't coming together,
so I'm starting to freak out a little bit.
[bleep]
Esther, do you need this to work to get the pretzels in?
[Esther] Definitely.
[bleep]
[Esther] I am getting really nervous.
This caramel isn't coming together,
so I'm starting to freak out a little bit.
I'm gonna do something else.
And then, I get a great idea for this.
I'm gonna make a small pivot and make a brittle.
Esther, what are you pressing on your sheet tray?
It was supposed to be caramel, got a little thick.
So, I'm gonna chill it really quick and then, make like,
a crunchy thing to go on top of my pie.
Chefs, less than five minutes on that clock.
I gotta get my pie out of the chiller,
because I have to top it with the whipped cream,
and then, I wanna get the pi back into the fridge
for as long as possible to make sure it's set.
Mai is so nervous about her pie.
She keeps on opening the oven.
Leave your pie alone.
[Mai] I turn my oven up to 4
so that it has a better chance of actually baking.
Okay.
And now there's nothing left to do, but...
pray to the dessert goddesse
-[cheers] Come on, Chefs. -Wow!
You don't have any extra jelly you can lend me, do you?
[Ted] Here comes Esther
and she's gonna pipe some of the mayhaw jelly
on top of her whipped cream.
And dancing while at it. While she's at it.
[Geoffrey] Let's go, let's go.
Come on, come on, Chefs. Let's do this!
[Ted] Final seconds of the final round, Chefs.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one, time's up.
[all cheering and applauding]
[indistinct chatter]
I wish I had a little bit more time in the oven,
but I'm proud that I got something on this table.
It better be a $10,000-pie.
[Esther] My worry is that the pie dough might not hav
cooked all the way through,
because I needed the custard to set
so I pulled it a little earl
So, this has been a whirlwind and I'm excited to see what they say.
[Ted] Chef Mai, Chef Esther,
in the third round, you finally got to make sweet pies.
We gave you pie bites,
rambutan,
fish shaped pretzels,
and mayhaw jelly.
All right, so Chef Mai, tell us about your pie.
I made a Berry Rambutan Pie
with a Pretzel Coconut Crumble.
Okay, Maneet, why don't you slice that pie up?
I got my pie, where is yours, guys?
I need to share it with you? Really?
[Ted] Mai, is this making you nervous?
A little bit.
Not gonna lie.
[Stephanie] I'm seeing a little difficulty
and I don't know if it's Maneet's cutting,
or if the pie is just a little bit not set.
Yeah, it's got a lot of moisture in it.
[Stephanie] Pleasantly surprised to get in there,
and see that there was really big pieces of rambutan throughout it.
The filling, the flavor of it's delicious.
The crumble's delicious.
The one mishap of course, if you dig down the crust,
just...
It's just kind of stuck to the bottom and not cooked,
and rambutan probably leeches out a lot of liquid when you bake it.
You got a little swimming pool going on there.
But the flavor is outstanding, and a great use of...
the ingredients and plan B, you did this twice.
You cooked two pies.
This is not too sweet. It's balanced beautifully.
The crumb on top, I think is great.
The utilization of the pretzel fish like,
it's that saltiness I think is so required.
Thank you.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Mai.
Finally, Chef Esther.
I made a Rambutan Custard with a Mayhaw Whipped Cream
and Pretzel Brittle.
I think it's great that you made your own crust.
I think...
Texturally, it has a great flakiness.
If it had been baked just a little bit longer,
that would really have shined through.
And then, yeah, I love the whip on top.
[Geoffrey] I think...
It's a beautiful country fun presentation.
I think it's exactly what yo want in a pie like this.
I taste the rambutan and the mayhaw,
because you've put it on top.
The brittles on top, delicious.
To me, it's the custard,
which is a challenge.
Because the eggs have been overcooked in this.
And that is where we're getting the graininess,
when you expect this lusciousness
coming from a custard.
[Ted] Thank you, Chefs.
You know, I definitely am happy in terms of...
flavor, throughout the three courses.
I am disappointed when it comes to techniques.
Right, I mean, I was kinda shocked
at this dessert course, where both pies weren't really set,
both crusts weren't really cooked.
So, I think we really have to go back to the appetizers
and start, like...
With those two very successful hand pies.
I mean, Esther's chicken hand pie,
with blackberry jam,
was really delicious and she said,
this is a turkey hand pie.
It tasted exactly like that. It was really good.
I think if we look back to beginning to...
Mai's hand pie,
you can see her refinement, that has been throughout the day,
throughout all of her dishes.
I keep thinking of her cooki with layers of flavor that she put
inside that tiny hand pie,
it was really fantastic.
I mean, the entree round,
Mai's dish was so well thought of.
The crust, the puff pastry, she cooked it separately.
And it made it flaky, and delicious.
And on the inside,
she was smart to put her sliced beef in
at the end,
knowing that it didn't need to be in there for very long.
Esther had these beautifully melting potatoes in it,
with that gazpacho sauce tha she made and the beef.
I really gravitated toward Esther's flavors more.
Just because it had that yummy factor.
But Esther really suffered with her crust,
that she was trying to make on top.
Too much flour and not enough butter.
I think Mai has really shown us that she knows how to build flavor.
And she can maybe execute things well
but she's had a couple of missteps.
Then, Esther, she was trying to push the envelope a little bit, I think.
Making her own crust, making her own crumble topping.
Doing things that maybe are little risky on Chopped.
So, did they work out all the time?
No, but I think she was really...
giving it a try and giving it her best.
[Esther] I think both, me and Mai had
a few different issues.
But I think making my own pie dough
should give me an advantage.
[Mai] Winning this competiti would mean so much to me.
It would make my mother so proud.
You now, I think I actually have a good shot...
at winning.
So, whose dish is on the Chopping Block?
Chef Esther, you've been Chopped.
Judges?
Esther, you started off very strong.
And in the second course,
the thinly sliced beef along with potato,
one of our favorite bites.
But we thought that the crumble that you made
on top of it, did not have enough fat.
It was undercooked.
And then finally, in the dessert round,
hats off to you for making a pie crust.
Unfortunately, the custard was curdled.
And so, we have to Chop you.
Thank you.
[Esther] I'm a little disappointed, of course.
But...
I don't have any regrets.
I'm excited to start May Bab my business,
and learn about every aspect of food that I can.
And that means, Chef Mai Giffard,
you are the Chopped Champi.
-Yay! -Your prize, a very sweet $10,000.
Congratulations, Chef.
[all cheering]
-Congratulations. -Thank you so much.
Thank you.
I have chills, it's so surreal.
Thank you, so much.
It's really beautiful to...
to be able to have these opportunities,
for my mom, my ancestors and just...
I'm proud of myself for seizing opportunities like this.
It's amazing that you are honoring them this way.
-It's absolutely incredible. -[Mai] Yeah, I know.
Thank you so much.
[Mai] It feels so good to be the Chopped Champio
It doesn't feel real, yet. [chuckles]