[Ted] Are you ready to play with fire?
-Come on, guys, let's go! -Come on!
-[man] Ready to go? Ready to go? -Hell, yeah.
Your entire station is on fire. Do you have a plan?
Absolutely. I'm doing good.
-[Cliff] Yeah? -[Molly] Plating, yep.
You wanna get that charred, but you don't wanna get that burnt.
[laughing]
It needs, like, a big punch in the gut.
Come on. You can do this.
-[Ted] All ingredients, 20 seconds. -[Tiffani] Come on.
You can do this, come on.
-[Ted] Three, two... -Can you guys take some heat?
-...one. -Oh, my God.
-[Ted] Time's up. -[exclaims]
[Tiffani] Give us flame, don't go down in flame.
[Danny] There's something about cooking over live fire
that brings out the caveman in all of us.
I specialize in Central Texas barbecue
which is salt, pepper and smoke.
Brisket ribs, house-made sausages.
Different types of sandwiches, tacos.
I think barbecue is a craft and I think it takes,
you know, 12, 15 hours to cook.
So, let's see what I can do in 20 or 30 minutes.
We open at noon. Yeah.
[Molly] Working with live fire
definitely makes me feel like a badass.
I am a private chef.
My food is definitely bold and aggressive.
I love working with the open flame,
and I love the char and smoke.
Traditionally, you see a man behind a barbecue,
and I'm here to show I can grill just as good,
if not better than anyone.
[Mateo] I love fire. I love the sound,
the smell, the temperature.
It's the smoke, the char.
It gives a flavor that is just out of this world.
My mother's family is from New Orleans,
and I love Cajun Creole cuisine.
In my opinion, yes, grilling is the best way to cook.
There's no doubt I am here for the win, and I am on fire.
[Roberto] I know how to grill. I know how to start a fire.
You can throw me in the middle of the woods, and I'd be totally fine.
And I'm the executive chef at Bacanora in Phoenix, Arizona.
At the restaurant, we don't have any stoves or ovens.
Everything we have is live fire,
and that adds a lot to the food.
The way it looks, the textures, the smoke,
the experience for the guests,
and the flavors, it's just amazing.
I just wanna tell my competitors that they'd better watch out,
'cause I'm coming in blazing hot.
Hello, competitors. Are you feeling fiery and fierce?
-Hell, yeah. -[Molly] Absolutely.
Turn up the heat.
You are here for one of our favorite kind of battles,
-a grilling competition. -Whoo!
[Molly] Walking into this grilling competition,
I was expecting to be the only woman.
I'm feeling very empowered.
The judges want to see excellent grilling techniques,
superb grill marks and sublime flavors.
-Have we chosen the right chefs? -Yes, you have.
-Hell, yeah. -Hell, yeah.
-Let's do it -[Ted] First baskets.
[Roberto] I grill straight from the heart,
and I'm excited to show off my grilling skills.
Please open them up.
-And you have found top sirloin cap. -Sirloin cap.
[Danny] I'm really happy, we can see some sort of steak in the basket.
Sirloin is usually a little bit leaner than like,
a ribeye or New York cut.
-[Mateo] What is this? -[Ted] A smoked old fashioned.
-[Roberto] I love this one. -[Ted] Poblano peppers.
Thank you.
-No idea. I have no idea. -[Ted] Grilled peach toast.
Twenty minutes to grill up extraordinary appetizers.
Time starts now.
-Let's go, chefs. -Come on, guys, let's go.
[Roberto] Behind, behind, behind.
[Ted] Judges, what are your expectations for this grilling battle?
How would you decide that a chef has succeeded?
I mean, to me, it's about, you know,
using the grill, and using the grill for flavor.
'Cause you wanna get that char,
-but you don't wanna get that burnt. -[Tiffani] Yep.
And how many ingredients can you use on the grill successfully?
What should be grill stars and what should be co-stars?
Tiffani, Marc, you're joined by a special guest judge,
the host of Food Network's Chef Boot Camp, Cliff Crooks.
-Happy to see you. -[Cliff] I'm excited to be here.
I'm even more excited to see what the heck
these chefs come up with of this basket.
Anyone that has a mastery of grilling
with someone who has a higher level of organization
because that's what you need.
You need to be mindful of what you're cooking and how long it takes.
I feel like grilling is definitely a very primal form of cooking,
and, kind of, brings out your inner caveman.
I like to do, like, primal style of cooking
lots of meats and vegetables.
I'm making grilled sirloin nam tok
which is a traditional, like, Thai beef salad,
with old fashioned lime fish sauce
with grilled peaches and poblanos.
Managing heat is a big part of grilling, um,
if it's too hot it could char too quickly on the outside
and be raw in the middle, and if it's not hot enough,
you won't get any color on the outside.
I wanna get it cooked to a perfect medium-rare.
Behind.
[Cliff] So, the top sirloin cap literally
is off of the top of the sirloin muscle.
It's an incredibly flavorful piece of beef.
It's generally extremely tender.
It can get very tough if you don't treat it properly.
[Tiffani] What Roberto has done really well,
he's gotten a bunch of stuff on the grill.
-[Marc] Starting the process. -[Tiffani] So, he's getting his prep done. Yeah.
Chef Roberto, what's the plan?
[Roberto] We're gonna do a sirloin taco.
Fresh, kind of, like a pico.
We're gonna use the peaches in there.
And, uh, we're gonna go, like,
uh, Mexico City style with, uh, corn tortillas.
My food represents the Sonoran Desert,
a region in the south of Arizona,
going into the northern part of Mexico.
I grew up in the Sonoran Desert
where my family had a little ranch.
We grill absolutely everything.
There's no recipe book for what I do.
Everything comes, like, straight from the heart and feelings.
[Tiffani] Chef Mateo, how're you doing?
Your entire station is on fire. Do you have a plan?
[Mateo] I'm gonna do a grilled panzanella salad
with a peach and pimento vinaigrette
and grilled top sirloin.
I'm liking Mateo's idea of the salad.
It's not the first thing I thought you would have with grill,
but I'm not mad at it.
I love grilling, 'cause I'm a bit of a pyromaniac.
Got started cooking at a really young age.
I learned to cook with my mother
and my grandfather in New Orleans.
And the impartation of smoke and smoked meat
is a piece of New Orleans' cuisine.
[Tiffani] This smoked old fashioned is boozy, right?
So, it's got a good amount of bourbon in it.
It's got some sugar, but it's also been smoked.
So, you gotta balance this ingredient.
[Mateo] I'm using the old fashioned to make a pickled red onion.
The old fashioned is gonna add a little bit
of smokiness to that dish as well
to pull some of those grilled flavors through.
[Molly] I feel like I'm breaking the norm for grill masters.
You don't see a lot of young independent women out there.
I love grilling. I love working with the open flame,
and if there's a fire you can find me there.
Here to show that I can grill just as good
if not better than anyone else in the kitchen.
I'm making a grilled flatbread with a grilled top sirloin
and a grilled peach and poblano chutney.
[Marc] On this grilled peach toast,
we've got some pimento cheese, obviously, some bread,
uh, some grilled peaches, some parsley
and there's also I think, some radishes in them.
[Tiffani] Radish as well, yeah.
So, you know, you can use any part of that.
I think the easiest thing to do here
is probably just to rip the peaches off.
That's what I would do.
[Molly] I decided to make a chutney
just for a nice fresh component on the plate.
[Ted] Less than 15 minutes left, chefs.
-[Molly] Behind, behind. -[Danny] Behind, coming down.
For my nam tok, I'm using the grilled peaches
from the peach toasts, and I'm using the poblanos.
A few years back, I was traveling through the south
and really fell in love with Texas-style barbecue.
I decided to bring Texas-style barbecue
back to my hometown of LA.
Started in my mom's backyard,
selling one or two briskets then turned into five or six.
And now we have, you know, lines down the block for three, four hours.
[Roberto] I take the poblanos and the tomatillos out of the grill,
and they wait into a pot with shallots and garlic,
and the old fashioned to make a sauce for my meat.
I also threw some tomatillos in there
because I wanted that acidity.
[Ted] Ten minutes, guys.
Behind, behind.
Ten minutes.
[Mateo] The trick to cook sirloin is on high heat
to get a really nice sear
and a crust on the outside and then let it rest.
Next, I'm thinking I can use this toast to make croutons
for a grilled panzanella salad.
Right now, I'm worried about Molly.
She's messing and just fussing with this pizza dough.
Molly, how's it going?
We have eight minutes left. You feel good about a flatbread?
Absolutely, I'm not making the dough, so.
Come on, you can do this.
[sizzling]
-[Molly] Oh. -Fire.
[Molly] I heard.
-Stop. Stop. -[Molly] Okay, okay. It's fine.
Anyway she's gonna finish this, that dough gonna be raw.
Oh, my God.
Twenty minutes, insane.
If my pizza dough is raw, I am definitely going home.
Oh, my God.
Twenty minutes, insane.
Right now, I'm worried about Molly.
She's messing and just fussing with this pizza dough.
I really want beautiful grilled char marks on the flatbread.
Molly, watch your grill.
Are you a judge? Oh, my God.
[Roberto] I'm helping you out.
[Molly] I think I can accomplish that and finish it in the oven
in the amount of time that is left on the clock.
[Ted] Five minutes to go.
I'm making a dressing with fish sauce,
the old fashioned and some fresh lime juice and sugar.
[Roberto] I grilled some tortillas
'cause I wanna showcase as much grilling as possible.
I put the pimento cheese, just smother it.
I'm using the peaches from the grilled peach toast
and pimento cheese to make a vinaigrette.
-Molly, how're you doing? -[Molly] Doing good.
-[Cliff] Yeah? -[Molly] Plating, yep.
Time is moving at warp speed
and I'm just focused on getting
all the basket ingredients on the plate.
-[Ted] All ingredients, 20 seconds. -[Tiffani] Come on.
[Ted] Use every second, chefs.
-[Ted] Ten, nine... -[Cliff] Come on.
-[Tiffani] Get to the plate. -...eight, seven...
-six... -Get it out.
...five, four...
-You can do it. Come on. -...three, two, one.
-[Ted] Time's up. You can step back. -[exclaims]
[Danny] No way.
[Molly] I got some really beautiful char marks
on my flatbread, peaches.
This was a challenging basket
just having such a large piece of meat to cut down, but...
hopefully the judges really like what I made and put out there.
[laughing]
Hit it.
-Good job, good job. -I'm convinced that clock isn't real.
[Danny] Roberto, good job, really.
I'm feeling good. I think I got everything
touching the grill at one point and everything was incorporated, and...
Doesn't look as pretty as my competitors',
but I think the flavors and everything is there.
[Ted] Chefs, you've arrived at the chopping block.
Time to taste the appetizers you made
with top sirloin cap,
smoked old fashioned, poblano peppers
and grilled peach toast.
Chef Mateo, tell us what you made.
Chef, today I made for you a grill top sirloin,
a panzanella salad and grilled poblano.
[Cliff] The panzanella plate was really, really smart.
Love the amount of char on the top sirloin cap.
The temperature is a little bit under.
-I have a couple uneven pieces. -[Marc] I agree.
The poblanos, I would... not a very major part of my dish,
and that was a basket ingredient.
Um, I think the vinaigrette is a good idea with the pimento cheese.
It almost gives you, like, a ranch vibe.
And I think smoked cocktail pickled onions
are just a really smart touch on top.
Do you have any thoughts about finding a way to use up 10k?
Yeah, I would put, uh...
the majority of it would go into our non-profit model Cisiny.
It's around bridging rural and urban use
around food, sustainability, farming and entrepreneurship.
I've got an acre of land about 20 minutes
from our restaurants that we bring kids out,
um, show 'em where their food comes from
and then teach 'em what to do with it.
Incredible. You've got a lot on your plate. You know a lot of good stuff.
-Thank you. -[Ted] Chef Mateo, thank you.
Chef Danny, what have you served us?
Judges, what I made for you is
a sliced top sirloin nam tok salad.
[Marc] For such a big guy I feel like you could've picked a bigger plate.
[Tiffani laughs]
-[chuckles] -Uh...
you know, it's hard to eat
when you got to use a knife and fork, but, um,
flavors are great, char, the steak,
I think it's cooked perfectly.
So, the peaches, did you grill them more?
The peaches were grilled in the basket already,
so, I just, uh, just sliced them a bit it thinner.
The peaches, I think, could have cooked a little bit more
to get a little more char on the plate.
The challenge was to grill, and you met it.
Yes, the peaches could be grilled,
impart a lot more smoke flavor into them,
but it's represented in the poblanos,
and it's represented in the top sirloin cap.
The vinaigrette has so much pop.
-It's delicious. -[Ted] Chef Danny, thank you.
Chef Molly, tell us about your dish.
I've made you a grilled flatbread
with a grilled sirloin steak
and a poblano and peach compote.
Where do you work, Chef?
Uh, right now, I have a catering business in Portland.
I've had it for about two years
doing private dining over live fire cooking.
-Dope. -[Molly] Yeah.
I love fire because I think it's really empowering.
I think it's one of the most rustic and true things
that we can do for humanity, and just,
-get back in nature. -Well said.
Obviously, you know, we saw what happened,
you were trying to grill the pizza dough with...
You know, you were rolling it out with seven minutes left.
-Totally. -[Marc] And you know,
the idea of these grill marks on this pizza dough,
I mean, it's fantastic. I mean, it's a great way to go
but, you know, it's not cooked all the way through.
-Clock bested you at that point. -Okay.
[Cliff] I do love that you went at the peach toast
and then just decided to take the peaches
and then roll them into your chutney.
It's just really good.
Thank you.
The top sirloin is grilled really, really nicely.
-Chef Molly, thank you. -Absolutely.
Finally, Chef Roberto. Tell us about your appetizer.
Judges, I made for you
a sirloin taco and grilled peach and tomatillo pickle.
[Ted] Chef, why do you love grilling?
[Roberto] It brings back so many memories.
I grew up in a huge family
and every occasion was about grilling.
It's a form of celebration, a celebration of life.
-[Tiffani] Very cool. -Your movement...
on both grills was really excellent,
-so, I just want to point that out, first and foremost. -Thank you, Chef.
I think the treatment of the beef was excellent.
What's missing for me is more of that
inherent grill flavor
in the rest of the elements in the dish.
-It needs, like, a big punch in the gut. -Yes, sir.
-Understood. -[Marc] I think you just needed more time
to develop some flavors.
So, from the grilled peach toast, you used the peaches,
and I see you used the radishes.
[Roberto] And the cheese as well.
[Marc] I think it was a mistake
to put that pimento cheese on the tortilla.
Flavor wise,
it's not... I don't think it's something that really goes with this taco.
-I mean, I don't know-- -[Roberto] I just wanted it to
like, resemble, kind of, like, a crema or something.
That was the route that I was thinking.
Yeah, there's probably something in there you could have found
-that would've resembled that. -[Roberto] Yeah.
I don't think you would ever do that at your restaurant.
No, I wouldn't. [chuckles]
But the tomatillos are a really good move in this.
I think it adds a lot of acid
that the taco needs in a really creative way.
-Thank you. -Chef Roberto, thank you.
You all brought the heat to that round. Unfortunately,
one chef will not be heading back to the grill.
[Molly] I'm definitely nervous.
The judges said that they could definitely see
the route I was going.
So, hopefully they could see
that the clock just got the best of me,
and my intentions were good.
I'm feeling good, but I'm also nervous.
I should stay in this competition
just 'cause I still have a lot to prove.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[Ted] Chef Molly, you've been chopped.
Judges...
[Cliff] Chef Molly, this is a grill competition
and we love the direction you went
with the grilled flatbread concept.
Unfortunately, the flatbread was undercooked and raw.
And so, we had to chop you.
Absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity.
-[Cliff] Thank you. -[Molly] Thank you.
Bye.
[Molly] I mean, I'm obviously disappointed.
I came here to win,
but I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew,
and it just didn't work out.
I'm a much better cook than what I put out today.
Chef Mateo, Chef Danny, Chef Roberto.
Feeling on fire, ready to rock the second round?
-Sure, we're gonna feel the heat. -Hell, yeah, we got this.
[Ted] Mandatory entree ingredients inside these.
Open them up.
-All right. -[Ted] You'll be working with a barbecue sundae.
[Danny] Mashed potato, barbecue sauce sundae.
[chuckles] It's weird.
I like beans.
-[Ted] Boneless pork loin. -Just me and the pork loin.
And a beautiful pork loin.
You can do a lot with this guy.
[Ted] Broccoli steaks.
Nice. Love broccoli on the grill.
-[Ted] And honey butter corn ribs. -[Roberto] Roasted corn.
Thirty minutes.
Time starts now.
-Let's go, chefs. -All right, guys. Light it up!
[Ted] Judges, the chefs should not be overconfident here.
This is one of those baskets
that could definitely trip you up.
The only thing you're confident about
is the pork itself, but then,
what sort of method are you using
in order to attack the pork?
I mean, pork loin, it's a perfect protein
for a grilling competition.
[Cliff] 'Cause it can be, it also can be broken down swiftly.
[Tiffani] Yeah, it loves a really hard sear on it,
like, it can also be marinated.
You can impart a lot of flavor, just keep it juicy.
[Mateo] In my appetizer round,
the judges said that my meat was a little under done.
And so, I wanna make sure
that I cook the pork perfectly in this round.
I'm making maple-glazed grilled pork loin
with charred broccoli, corn and tomato salad
and a white bean mashed potato puree.
Pork loin is very lean
and so keeping it a little thicker
will hopefully help it stay a little juicier.
[sizzling]
As I did see Danny run into the pantry,
and he went and got the meat grinder.
And if he is gonna grind this, you know, boneless pork loin,
It's pretty lean. So, he's gonna have to add some fat.
-Add fat back. -Some bacon or something into it,
if he's making meatballs or something.
[Danny] When I see the pork loin, I'm thinking
I'm gonna grind this up and make it into a burger.
Pork loin is really lean,
so I'm adding bacon and pancetta.
Chef Danny is about to kill his grinder by shoving it in there.
Take it easy, buddy. Like, take it easy.
[Danny] The pork is not grinding the way I want it to.
[Tiffani] Danny has decided that the grinder
is not the direction that he wants to go in quickly.
He was, kind of, caveman...
-coursing it through. -[Marc] Pounding it through.
Yeah, and so I think he's decided to take a different direction.
[Danny] Can't waste any more time messing with the grinder.
So, I have to move on. Go to Plan B.
I'm making a grilled pork loin sandwich
with corn and broccoli succotash
with a buttermilk mashed potato ranch.
I'm really gonna have to hustle this round
to get it all done on time.
[Marc] You know, we've got Roberto here
who's cut himself some nice
boneless pork loin steaks
and seasoned them very, very aggressively.
[Roberto] We actually sell pork loins
with the bone in at the restaurant.
So, I know how to cook it.
So, I'm making a grilled pork loin over beans
and a corn and charred broccoli salad.
I get the broccoli on the grill with the corn ribs
to get a little bit more depth of flavors
and the smoke and the char.
I think Roberto is attempting to remember the notes
from the appetizer round
where everything needs
a grill flavor throughout the dish.
Chefs, less than 20 minutes to go here.
You got these, these corn ribs,
it's sort of dainty,
but then there's the rib which you can eat.
So, what are you gonna do with that?
If you're going to try to take it off of the rib which usually--
[Tiffani] The rib is the corn cob. It's hard.
I wanna be able to taste that char.
[Mateo] You cannot recreate the flavors that you can get
from a grill anywhere else.
Being able to impart that smoke or charcoal,
broccoli lends itself to grilling really well
because it chars really nicely.
And there's almost nothing better
than charred broccoli florets.
I'm using the corn ribs to make a salad
with broccoli and tomatoes.
Behind.
[Danny] I run to the pantry
and grab the baguette to use as my vessel for the sandwich.
As I'm slicing the baguette, I cut my hand.
Yeah, I'm already behind in the clock.
This is the last thing I need to have happened.
Guys, Danny now has also cut himself.
He's, he slowed himself down
by changing directions with the grinder,
and now he's got himself a little cut,
which he's got to get fixed up. It's just slowing him down.
So based on the appetizer round,
we all have high expectations for Danny's food.
-[Danny] We're good to go? -[nurse] Yeah.
-[Danny] Okay. -[Cliff] Whether or not Danny can get out of Danny's way,
with the setbacks that he's had so far,
remains to be seen.
[Danny] I lost a lot of time,
but I like to always challenge myself
and push myself, that's why, you know, I started my own business.
I want to win Chopped because I'm ready to expand my business
into securing a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
-Yeah. -Danny, how are you feeling? Head still in the game?
-It's going all right, yeah. -You recovered?
-[Danny] I recovered, I think. -Okay.
[Roberto] When you come to my restaurant,
there's no ovens, no stoves, just a giant grill.
I wanna put Arizona on the culinary map
because we have such a beautiful region.
We have such talented chefs.
We can really highlight the flavors of the desert
and winning Chopped will be amazing for my family,
for the restaurant and my team.
Behind, behind.
Judges, this barbecue sundae
is a curious mixture of sweet and savory flavors.
Too strange or just strange enough?
I think it's just strange enough.
If we were having barbecue,
it's really everything that would be available.
It just happens to be piled on top of each other.
There's a lot of choices, but you're gonna have to supplement.
I mean, I would say you take those beans,
you go get more beans in there.
Maybe make, like, sort of, like,
a cassoulet base or something like that.
When I saw the barbecue sundae,
I knew I was going for the beans right away.
I'm adding black beans, a little bit of oregano,
a little bit of chicken stock and chili flakes.
Less than ten minutes left, chefs.
[Mateo] I'm gonna use just a mashed potato part
of this barbecue sundae, and try to make
a mashed potato and cannellini bean puree.
[Cliff] Looking at everyone's pork,
Mateo's pork looks the best.
-Can I borrow this micro plank? -[Mateo] Yeah.
[Marc] We've got a situation here.
He's now slicing it,
and it's not cooked all the way through.
He's got to put it back on the grill.
Mateo, how's that pork?
[Mateo] It's right there.
I don't have any time to waste at this point.
I need to get back on my [bleep].
-You got this. -Let's go, chefs.
Beautiful plates.
Use every second, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...
-[Marc] Come on, Roberto. -...four, three,
-two, one. -[Tiffani] All right.
-[Ted] Time's up. Step back. -[Tiffani] All right.
[judges clapping]
[Tiffani] Whoo!
Good job, bro. What a go.
It could've gone much better for me, I think.
[Danny] I was originally planning on making a burger
but the grinder wasn't working,
so I decided to make a sandwich
and then I cut my hand, and then,
you know, just gotta keep moving.
But, you know, I think I came together
and made something that's gonna be tasting pretty good.
[Mateo] Little worried about my pork might be just a little bit under,
which is not good
'cause that's what I did in the last round.
Chefs, we asked you to grill again in round two
and gave you a basket containing a barbecue sundae,
boneless pork loin, broccoli steaks
and honey butter corn ribs.
Chef Danny, what do we have?
Judges, I made for you a grilled pork loin sandwich
with a buttermilk potato ranch bread
with a broccoli and corn succotash.
Okay, what inspired this, Chef?
Oh, it wasn't my first choice, I was gonna go with a burger,
um, you know, I'm known for making burgers and sandwiches, so...
having some issues with the meat grinder,
had to pivot really quickly,
had a little cut there and then kept moving, so,
ended up with this, and I'm pretty happy with it.
For what you just went through, you,
I was worried about you getting
-nothing on the plate, period. -Yeah.
[Tiffani] We've been where you're standing,
and there's never a time
where it doesn't feel like your heart isn't not in your throat.
So, I commend you for, like, fighting all the way through.
This succotash on this
with the broccoli and the corn ribs... it's spectacular.
The mashed potato ranch, so, so smart.
I'm gonna hit the technical things 'cause I have to.
The pork was over
and really just not as juicy as we want it to be.
[Marc] It was a little dry, yeah.
And I think that for this sandwich,
it needed something a little more unctuous...
to help carry through here.
[Tiffani] I think it needs a different cheese to it.
This pork needs some, like, ooey-gooey love.
That thing that's, you know, seduces you about a sandwich.
-[Ted] All right. Chef Danny, thank you. -Thank you.
Next up, Chef Roberto. What do you have?
I've prepared a marinated pork loin.
I serve it over cazuela beans,
and then I topped it off with a salad,
with roasted broccoli and roasted corn.
[Tiffani] Chef Roberto, it's really nice
when everything we tell someone out of first round,
they hear and do.
The idea of getting enough on the grill
is represented on the plate, for sure.
Thank you, Chef.
[Tiffani] The pork's cooked really nicely.
The char on it is really nice.
The grill on it is great.
Using the marinade with a boneless pork loin is really smart,
because it allows the caramelization
to happen on the pork loin without overcooking the pork.
-Salad was tossed too early. -[Roberto] Yeah, since the beginning.
Yeah. So, you can leave that salad and then dress it
at the end, so that we have really crispy beautiful salad.
I'm gonna mirror everything that Tiffani just said.
My pork, it's textbook pork.
-The only knock is the greens. -The salad.
I'm gonna have to agree. I think my pork's tasty.
I think you really went for the grill,
and you used a lot of the grill.
Plating wise, I mean you did a nice job of, sort of,
getting a nice, sort of, elegant main course here.
-Okay, Chef Roberto, thank you. -Thank you, guys.
Finally, Chef Mateo.
Chefs, what I've made for you is a maple-glazed
grilled pork loin
with a charred broccoli, corn and tomato salad,
and underneath that,
is a white bean and mashed potato puree.
I mean, I absolutely love the char you got on all this broccoli.
That's the highlight right here.
The char on that broccoli, which's a great basket ingredient, I think.
Thank you.
[Marc] But I think your biggest stumble was obviously the pork.
-The way you butchered it, it's just too thick. -Yep.
And, you know, the slice, re-cook, it got tough.
My pork is cooked beautifully. I mean, there's,
I'm now looking at the other two plates,
and there's a huge difference.
It's beautiful. It's seasoned well.
It's grilled aggressively.
I think the rosemary is really smart.
I get the basil with the tomatoes and the broccoli.
And it's all the things that you love about summer that grow out your garden.
Thank you. [chuckles]
You guys are grilling like you mean it.
We hate to break up this fierce group of chefs,
but we must.
[Danny] This round I had some mistakes.
Despite the circumstances, I was able
to put something out there, that's still really good,
and if I'm here to stay
then I'm gonna really prove it in the final round.
[Mateo] The judges said that my meat was inconsistent.
I think there's a potential for me to be on the chopping block.
I know that Danny had some stumbles that might
actually help in my favor.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[Ted] Chef Danny, you've been chopped. Judges...
[Tiffani] Chef Danny...
-You're a really good chef and that's super, super clear. -Appreciate it. Thank you.
Unfortunately, you had some stumbling blocks
that really kept you from getting your head
fully back in the game.
As you know, the pork was over
and was cut too thin and ultimately dry.
And so, we had to chop you.
-Appreciate it. Good luck, guys. -[Mateo] Yeah.
-Good luck. Good luck, man. -Thank you, boy.
-[Ted] Good meeting you. -Thank you.
[Danny] This didn't go the way I wanted it,
but this experience was great.
I met some good people, and I'm pretty proud of what I did.
Unfortunately, it just came up a little bit short.
[Ted] Chef Mateo, Chef Roberto. Last chefs standing.
Dessert basket awaits your expertise.
Let's see what's in them.
Can you create sweet real perfection
with gummy watermelon?
What in the world is this? [chuckles]
This guy, which I don't know what it is.
-[Ted] Star fruit. -Well, star fruit.
-I got some star fruit. I like it. -[Ted] Toffee chips.
And empanada dough.
-Empanada dough. -Empanada dough.
Don't know how empanada dough's gonna go on the grill,
but we'll figure that out.
Thirty minutes back on the clock. Final round starts now.
-Final fire. Let's go. -This is it.
Come on, guys. Here we go.
[Mateo] Cream...
[Cliff] Chef Roberto and Chef Mateo
are both fast and very sure of themselves.
We all have high expectations for it in this round.
[Tiffani] They have deep roots in their community,
and taking this win and this money back to their team,
you can feel it. It's interesting, like,
Roberto is very centered in his heritage and growing up,
and, sort of, uh, technique focused around fire.
Mateo is really, sort of, playing for bringing awareness
to a charity to help out his community.
[Mateo] Roberto has surprised me a little.
Behind you.
He definitely is bringing his desert flavors,
the judges seem to really like it.
-[laughs] -[Roberto] Grilling?
[Mateo] But I'm bringing my farm to table.
Louisiana-style grilling,
and I am pretty confident that I'm gonna win.
I'm making grilled star fruit Napoleon
with a Chantilly toffee cream,
and a star fruit and raspberry,
and gummy watermelon compote.
[Cliff] So, here's what I know about star fruit.
The flavor profile of it is floral,
it is slightly aromatic.
[Mateo] I'm grilling the star fruit to try to concentrate
some of the sugars that are there
and hopefully get it a little bit sweeter.
[Cliff] Though, you have that empanada dough, and,
you know, texturally,
it's just full of lard, and it's very difficult to grill.
[Mateo] I'm worried about the empanada dough,
because, traditionally, it's cooked in the fryer.
I'm hoping I can grill it 'cause this is a grill competition.
[Roberto] Making it to this last round, making it this far,
'cause when I go home with a victory, you know,
and, so, in this round, I'm just ready
to throw it all on the grill and see what happens.
When I see the empanada dough,
I immediately thought about bunuelos
which is a traditional Sonoran pastry.
I'm making, it's a bunuelo
with a watermelon and ricotta cream,
grill star fruit and orange salad.
Guys, the nervous energy for me coming out of the kitchen,
might have something to do with that watermelon.
That gummy watermelon.
-[laughs] -[Marc] I mean, you know, well, these are chefs.
What are they gonna do? Melt down some gummy watermelon?
-[Cliff] Yeah, you melt it down, exactly. -You melt it down.
You seem to like this stuff. What does it taste like?
Okay, Marc Murphy.
-[Marc] What does it taste like? -[Cliff] Yeah. Oi!
[Tiffani] It's dense.
And it feels like it might be like a cup of bounce,
actually, of gelatin and watermelon flavor.
-It's like that kid candy... -That kid candy watermelon version.
-There's no watermelon in it. -So, how do you deal with that?
-I mean, you have to melt it down. -[Tiffani] You melt it down.
But you need to add something real to it.
[Roberto] I tried the watermelon gummy
and I immediately think that I need to melt it.
There's no other way of using this thing.
In a stand mixer, I started whipping some heavy cream
with some powdered sugar
and a little bit of condensed milk and ricotta
to have this, sort of, like cream for my bunuelo.
I noticed really quick that I needed, like, a binder.
So, I put some of the charred star fruit
into my watermelon to make it a little bit thicker.
And then I fold it into my cream.
[Ted] Twenty minutes to go, chefs.
These toffee chips are essentially like a pretty famous candy bar
that's known for its toffee inside and its chocolate outside.
You see them in large bags typically in, like...
-[Cliff] In my living room? -In your living room,
sometimes next to my bedside table.
[Roberto] Toffee is basically caramel
with heavy cream. Very sweet.
This one happened to be crunchy.
I grabbed the food processor and I threw my chips in there
to fall into my sugar and cinnamon
for my bunuelo topping.
Bringing a win to the community
in Arizona will be amazing,
because I have a lot of people that support me.
Anything I do in my life, I have my family,
and there's never been a moment where, like,
they would not support me
so not doing a good job here would
feel like letting them down.
Behind.
[Cliff] Mateo, what elements are you grilling?
[Mateo] We grilled the star fruit.
What are you doing with the watermelon jelly?
[Mateo] It is in my raspberry star fruit sauce here.
I'm hoping that gummy watermelon
will add a little bit of sweetness to the compote.
But it seems really heavy and dense.
Five minutes left on the clock.
[Mateo] I tried to grill my empanada dough,
but it's not grilling how I want.
It's getting grill marks, but it's still completely raw.
Mateo's struggling with how to cook his empanada dough.
He started to grill it, it wasn't working.
It's gonna cost him a little bit of time.
I'm wondering if he's gonna be able to figure this out
in order to have any success with this.
[Marc] You, kind of, want to scream to him.
"Just throw it in the fryer, It's the best way to do it."
[Mateo] This is not a fry battle. This is a grill battle.
But I look at the clock and realize I'm running out of time.
[Ted] Five minutes left on the clock.
[Mateo] I tried to grill my empanada dough,
but it's not grilling how I want.
I'm gonna have to switch to plan B.
Mateo's struggling with how to cook his empanada dough.
He's finally trying to fry it.
It seems like it might be working out a little bit better,
but it's gonna cost him a little bit of time, and I'm just stressed, yeah.
[Roberto] I pulled the star fruit out of my grill and I feel good.
I think it had a good char,
so that's gonna add the char element to my dish.
But I knew I needed another element to be grilled.
So, I ran to the pantry.
I went for the citrus route right away.
Roberto has now got some oranges on the grill.
I'm extremely happy to see that.
-You know, grilled citrus works really nicely. -[Tiffani] It does.
[Mateo] I'm using the toffee chips to make a Chantilly cream.
I add a little bit of cocoa powder
to enhance the flavor of the chocolate toffee chips.
Empanada dough are frying up nice.
They're creating nice little pockets
and they seem light, airy and buttery.
-All right, guys. Here we go. -Let's go, chefs.
-[Cliff] Oh, boy. Oh, boy. -[Tiffani] You can do it. Come on.
[Cliff] Let's go. Everything on there?
-[Tiffani] Clean those plates. Make it perfect. -[Ted] The final round, chefs.
-[Ted] Ten, nine, eight... -[Tiffani] Beautiful plate.
...seven, six, five,
-four, three, two, one. -[man] You're done. You're done. You did it.
-All right. -[Ted] Time's up.
-[judges clapping] -[Marc] Nice.
Oh, that was great.
-Brother. -Cheers.
We'll be fine, don't worry about us.
[Roberto] I feel like the basket was challenging,
but I was able to do a couple of things
that we actually do back home, so...
that makes me feel good.
-Good job, man. -You too, bud. That was good.
[Mateo] The empanada dough threw me for a curveball, I think.
So, I went straight to the fryer,
just cut it down a little bit.
So, I think I did okay.
[Ted] Chef Mateo. Chef Roberto.
In that last test of grilling greatness,
we asked you to make desserts
from gummy watermelon,
star fruit, toffee chips and the empanada dough.
Chef Roberto, what do we have?
For you today, I prepared a traditional Sonoran bunuelo.
It's gonna have a ricotta-watermelon cream.
Bunuelos are very traditional Sonoran dessert.
When I was a kid,
my grandma used to cook for us on the holidays.
And when you have leftover tortillas,
she used to, like, hand-press these, fry 'em,
and then she would actually toss it on the sugar.
So, I really wanted to represent my region,
and I think that was, like, spot on.
Chef Roberto, this by far
is not what I was expecting.
I am pleasantly surprised.
I'm super impressed with the empanada.
The gummy watermelon is not overpowering.
One note, though.
Half of my bunuelo is beautifully crispy and charred,
and the other's burnt.
And it's distracting
from all of the other beautiful flavors in here.
Yes, Chef.
[Marc] Did you sprinkle toffee chips at the end?
-[Roberto] No, Chef, the toffee is just on the... -Just on the--
...on the powder for the bunuelo.
Yeah, I feel like if you'd had some leftover
to put a little crispy crunchy on top of this,
could have been represented a little bit more.
But I think you did a good job. I think this is a proper dessert.
Thank you, Chef, appreciate it.
The bunuelo is such a great idea.
I think the grilled star fruit on the side makes a lot of sense,
'cause I'm just getting bites of char.
And it reminds me that this is a grill challenge.
Okay, finally, Chef Mateo.
Chefs, what I made for your dessert today is a
grilled and bruleed star fruit Napoleon,
with a chocolate toffee Chantilly cream,
and a star fruit raspberry citrus compote.
Well, I'll start with the gummy concoction.
It's so tricky. You have to tamp it down
for it not to do what it's inevitably gonna do.
-It just wants to hurt you. -Yeah.
[Tiffani] It's like a brick.
But the flavor's really good.
[Marc] You really nailed the star fruit.
Just getting those grill marks and then,
bruleeing, it was a really, smart, smart move.
Presentation, really nice dessert.
The Chantilly was good.
I would've liked it quite built into the dessert.
Okay.
What did you dust the empanada dough with?
-Cocoa powder. -Cocoa? Okay. Not toffee.
That really would've nailed it.
Neither of you really leaned hard into the toffee.
And a really heavy hand
with crumbled toffee over the top
would have elevated this in a way that's next level.
Thank you, Chef.
So, who is the winner?
The judges need to talk that through. Thank you, chefs.
Judges, did these chefs tame the flame
or did they leave you wanting more fire?
I think everybody did a great job of getting that grilled, charred flavor.
Roberto started with the top sirloin cap
and made a good taco.
We got a lot of grill on the top sirloin cap.
[Cliff] But it just needed a little bit more
grill flavor in the rest of the elements in the dish.
And then on the other side,
Mateo giving us his version of the panzanella salad,
it's delicious.
Where he stumbled for me was the top sirloin,
it was a little bit under.
Also, Mateo did not really showcase
the poblano at all in his appetizer.
No, it was an afterthought.
Roberto's entree was such a surprise.
He made this incredible marinade for his pork, right?
But for me, that salad was really overworked.
The broccoli florets on Mateo's dish
represented itself well.
[Marc] One of the highlights of today,
- was the way he charred that broccoli. -[Tiffani] Mmm-hmm.
The only problem with Mateo's dish,
pork was not cooked evenly.
We have two chefs here
who have stayed true to themselves.
Which one has used the grill... the best?
[Roberto] We're very tight on dessert and appetizer,
and my entree really, like, stepped it up.
[Mateo] With our non-profit,
I need this $10,000 to stay on the programming.
Just chomping at the bit to be able to say that
I'm a Chopped champion.
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
-Good job, man. -[Ted] Chef Mateo, you've been chopped.
Chef, it was a pleasure watching you compete today.
The main course, the boneless pork loin,
it was inconsistent on all of our plates.
And then, in the dessert,
the watermelon gummy just got too tight.
And so, we had to chop you.
Cool. Thank you so much.
I'm a little surprised, but feeling really good about my performance...
and my non-profit organization.
I'll go back and get back to work.
And that means Chef Roberto Centeno,
you are the Chopped champion.
You have grilled your way to the $10,000 prize.
-Congratulations. -Thank you, Chef.
-[applauding] -Whoo!
-[Marc] Well done. -[Roberto] Oh, man.
-So, how're you feeling? -I'm very emotional. [voice breaks]
[sniffles] I have so much people behind me, supporting me.
I just wanted to represent, I feel like...
we did it from beginning to end and...
it's crazy.
Doesn't matter where you come from,
as long as you stay true to flavors,
you can always impact no matter where you are.