-Happy holidays! -Mmm-hmm. Happy holidays!
-Go get it, Grandmas. -All right.
All right.
Grandmas are the heart of the holiday.
Grandma's cooking is always so nostalgic.
[Merry Graham] They're there to serve, give, make great food.
Come on.
But every one of these grandmas want to win.
Take that to the bank, baby.
There's always a little bit of holiday stress trying to get everything on the table.
A lot's going on now.
Behind you, behind you, behind you!
It looks so much easier from your sofa.
-Grandmas! Grandmas! -Grandmas! Grandmas!
We love you, Grandmas!
I love you all too. You guys should be my grandchildren, you're so young.
I've been cooking for many years, everyday.
-[producer speaking] -Thank you.
[Hayko] I grew up in Mexico.
My parents and my grandparents, they were all Japanese.
My style of cooking: it's Asian, Mexican, Italian.
Smelling like sausage.
I have two grandchildren.
I'm more than overjoyed to be a grandma.
Of course, I'm going to win.
And when you hear who won and you hear my name,
you'll say, "I knew it."
Oh, my God.
[Lisa Thompson] I'm a legal secretary, but most of all, I'm a Gammy.
"Gammy" is the name that my granddaughters call me.
[Lisa] We don't know where it came from.
[laughing] We just made it up!
Yes! Look at that butter.
For the holidays, my family makes soul food.
My grandmother made it like this.
I'm one of six children but I am the boss.
Look at me! All right.
[whooshes]
Look at all this! [laughs]
[Barbara Mitchell-Peten] I am the boss when it comes to holiday food.
Nobody knows how to season food and prepare it as well as I do.
I've been making this recipe about 30 years.
It's the best.
I love my job as a grandmother.
And I have eight grandchildren. It's a lot of love.
Here I come with nana's loved Mac n' Cheese!
I'm going to win because I love to cook
and I love for people to eat my food.
Oh, this is delicious. This-- Lots of Nana-love in this mac n cheese.
[Merry] I have five grandchildren.
At the holidays, I love to ask each one of my grandkids to pick out a recipe
to cook with grandma. That's our tradition.
Yeah!
My style of cooking is California-fresh with lots of fresh produce.
I'm competitive. Of course I want to win.
Am I competitive in real life?
No. I'm a very calm, nice person.
[theme music playing]
[all laughing]
-[indistinct chatter] -[Ted Allen] Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
-That way! -Yeah!
-[Ted] We got trouble! -[all cheering]
-[Ted] Look at this. Morning. -Hello!
-How are you? How are y'all doing? -There you are!
-Happy holidays! -[Ted] Happy holidays.
Yes.
I'm gonna guess you four have some experience making holidays magical, right?
-Oh, yes. So much. -Yes.
As you know, there are three rounds.
-Appetizer, entree and dessert. -Mmm-hmm.
Mandatory mystery ingredients.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
That's not happening, Ted.
Let's see what you'll be cooking with first.
-Okay. -Okay.
[vocalizes]
This is fun.
Open your appetizer baskets.
[all exclaiming]
-Wow! -Oh, my goodness!
Cupcakes for an appetizer?
My grandkids would love it.
[Ted] And it's a lovely cupcake wreath.
[Hayko] Holy moly!
-Ham. -[Ted] You also have glazed ham.
Everybody needs a ham.
Salty.
-[Ted] Pomelos. -Pomelo.
Latkes! Ooh!
[Ted] And Potato Latkes.
[Merry] That is interesting.
Thirty minutes on the clock.
Okay!
[Ted] Time starts now.
[all exclaiming]
[Ted] And they're off.
[Amanda Freitag] Go grandmas!
[Marc Murphy] Go, grandmas, go.
Judges, homecooked meals are what we crave for the holidays,
and the cook we want in charge is no doubt, grandma.
There we go. It's on.
Oh, my goodness. Y'all cooking without me.
Slow down.
Amanda, Marc, you're joined by a special guest judge,
award-winning restaurateur and social equality advocate,
chef Justin Sutherland.
Justin, do you think these grandmas are up to the task here?
Absolutely.
They all got right into it. Like, they knew exactly what they were going to do.
Ooh, you chopping that ham nice.
Yes, I am. Thank you,
-Hey, you could chop an extra ham for me. -[laughing]
-An extra piece for you? -That would just really help me.
Okay.
[Lisa] My favorite time of the year to spend with my granddaughters
is Christmas and the holidays.
Put this in a bowl.
Because they love the lights and the frill
and the fluff in the tree and all that stuff.
Lisa, are you the grandma to beat?
I am the grandma to beat.
Bringing the smoke today.
There's nothing Gammy can't do even in the Chopped kitchen.
I'm familiar with Latkes
and I knew they were like potato cakes.
You know, the latkes, I think they're delicious.
They're just basically a potato pancake.
And then they're just shredded and fried up.
[Amanda] Potato pancakes are a tradition on Hanukkah.
Lisa, what are you making for us?
I'm doing a ham and latke hash.
[Amanda] Ooh!
With a little bit of holiday seasoning.
[Amanda] Yum!
Merry, How you doing?
I'm hanging in there.
Uh-oh, the stress level. Are you feeling it?
No, no. I'm going to stay merry.
-[Amanda] Stay merry, Merry. -Stay "ha-ha!"
[Merry] And I'm making pizza, grandkids love pizza.
Grandkids love pizza.
[Merry] Out of all these ingredients,
I really think that I can make an Island pizza.
Glazed ham, pomelos. It'll be kind of like that Hawaiian pineapple-ham pizza.
And, after all, who doesn't want to go to the islands for the holidays?
Sign me up, please.
We're trying to hurry up here.
As much as they all loved the cupcake wreath,
I think that's the hardest thing, right?
You know, that's really tough
to take any kind of full-on dessert
and incorporate into something savory.
[Merry] For the cupcake wreath, I take the cupcake itself,
and chop up the potato latkes,
and then make it into a crumble, add some crunch to the pizza.
Grandma's cooking is always so nostalgic.
I mean, you know, brings back memories, it's about family.
It's always about love.
And I just feel like if grandma's cooking for you, it's comfort food.
It's something you probably shouldn't be eating,
-right? -Right.
My grandma always used to make fresh doughnuts
and then she always made these different flavored chiffon cakes.
Both my grandmas were specialists at banana pudding.
-One of my grandmas is from Japan, so very-- -Wow.
Yeah, so, I mean, our holidays, she made sushi for every Thanksgiving.
-[Amanda] That's so cool. -[Ted] Oh, wow.
I can still remember my grandmother's leg of lamb.
Mmm.
I always made a leg of lamb with a nice ratatouille.
What I usually cook day before a big holiday is collard greens,
cornbread stuffing, turkey with love.
With nana-love or grandma-love.
The latkes that are there, I feel like I can make a Ham and Latke Hash
with pomelo and caper butter sauce.
[Ted] I see Barb's got some ring molds.
-[Amanda] Oh! -Fancy Barb.
-[Amanda] Hayko! -Yes.
What you making?
I'm making shish kebabs with vegetables and the ham.
[Amanda] Wow!
[Ted] All right, that sounds like a new twist on the holidays.
That sounds like a plan!
How you doing?
You know, so, I'm making a cupcake stuffing
with herbs and thyme, pomelos...
Ooh.
And adding some potato latkes as part of my stuffing.
Ten minutes to go, Grandmas.
Okay. Be nice to me, pomelo.
[Barbara] Oh, Pomelos. Don't let me forget those.
Got my pomelo.
The pomelo. It looks like a grapefruit.
I think for an appetizer round I'd just use the zest on the outside.
[Barbara] While my hash is cooking, I go to the creation for the sauce.
I juice some pomelos in a bowl.
I add the green icing for sweetness.
And then I add hot sauce.
Taste this.
Good. Oh, that's good.
[Merry] The pizza crust looks perfect.
I'll add some whole grain mustard, ham and some mozzarella cheese.
I'm juicing my pomelos
so I can make a sweet and spicy sauce to drizzle on the pizza.
[Barbara] I know I'm gonna make a pomelo and caper butter sauce
and I decided to throw in some of the green icing from the cupcake.
Maybe I got a little bit too much.
Well, it's got a Christmas look to it.
And some capers.
Hey, Barb, can I borrow your grater?
-Go right ahead. -Thank you.
All right, Grandmas, less than five minutes to go here.
Thank you, Ted.
Wow. The holidays here at Chopped are nothing like the holidays back home.
Yes, please. Oops, sorry behind you, behind you.
Here you need to work like a crazy chicken with no head.
Behind you, behind you, behind you.
It looks so much easier when you're watching from your sofa.
[Amanda] Make sure those plates look pretty.
Oh, they're pretty. Ooh. Ah!
No. So sad. It looks like Hayko just dropped one of her kebabs on the floor.
[Hayko] As I was plating, my kebab falls out of my hand.
This is not the way I would like last minutes to go.
Oh, she doesn't have much time. There's only two minutes left.
Oh, they're ready. Ooh. Ah!
No. So sad. It looks like Hayko just dropped one of her kebabs on the floor.
And she does not look stressed at all.
Like, I would be panicking if I dropped a dish with two minutes left.
And she just went right in, made another one.
I started making another skewer. Two minutes is a long time. It can be done.
[Amanda] Merry's cutting her pizza. It looks crisp on the bottom.
It looks fantastic.
Hmm, that's good.
Oh, it tastes really good.
[Amanda laughing] She's going in for another bite.
She must really like it or she's really hungry.
So I decided I want to get some eggs to top off the hash.
-Some fried egg on top of that. -What?
[Amanda] It's like waking up at grandma's house and hear this egg sizzling in the pan.
[Marc] And bacon.
It feels like food does taste better when it's made by a grandma.
One minute to go, folks.
Let's do it like that.
I've got to win today because I want to show my granddaughters
Gammy can and always will do it.
Do I need anything else on my plate?
[Amanda] Look at that. Shredded cheese on top of that.
Honestly, I'm not gonna lie, that looks delicious.
Ah! My egg yolk broke.
Ah, so Barb just broke one of her eggs.
We love you, Grandmas.
I love you all too. You guys could be my grandchildren, you're so young.
There's always that little bit of holiday stress
trying to get everything on the table.
A lot's going on now.
[Ted] All right, Grandmas, round one is ticking away.
-All right. -[Ted] Ten,
-nine, eight... -My goodness.
-Okay. -...seven, six...
-Right. -...five, four, three...
-Oh, I think I'm going to stop. -...two, one.
Time's up.
-Whoo! -All right.
-Ooh. -[Ted] Thanks for the help, Lisa.
Yes.
Good job, Hayko.
Ooh, Hayko, that looks good.
Oh, that's beautiful, Barbara.
-I don't know. -Grandmas, we did it. Come on.
-Come on. -Yeah!
-Good job! -Grandmas rock. Yeah.
Grandmas, you've arrived at the chopping block.
Yes.
For the first round of our special holiday celebration,
you cooked with a cupcake wreath,
glazed ham, pomelos and potato latkes.
All right, Lisa, please tell us what you made.
Okay. Judges, for you, I've made a potato and ham hash.
And for your enjoyment, I made a pomelo cupcake hot sauce.
[Ted] Sounds good to me.
I had to put my fork down because I'm just gonna keep eating this.
-Okay. -It's so delicious.
-Thank you. -So comforting.
And I'm not gonna lie, I was a little afraid of that green sauce.
-Because it was cupcake icing. -Mmm-hmm.
But you found a way to make it taste like a spicy-sweet hot sauce.
-Yes, -I maybe want the cheddar to melt a little more on top.
-Okay. -For me, Christmas starts early in the morning.
I mean, you're in the kitchen, you know, cooking right away.
And this is almost a fun, little breakfast hash plate.
-We're starting right when we get up. -Thank you.
Like Amanda, I do like my cheese melty.
At first, I saw the green sauce and I thought you'd put a bunch of herbs in there.
-But it was the frosting. -Yes.
Which was a little disconcerting.
Uh, but it does taste pretty good.
-Thank you, Lisa. -Thank you.
Next up, Merry. Please tell us about your appetizer.
My appetizer is a Take Me to the Islands Pizza.
Because don't we want to go to the islands for the holidays?
Yes, please.
We're always asking the chefs to taste
and we don't usually see that with our professional chefs.
-So thank you for doing that. -Uh-uh. Some of my bites were a little big.
-That's okay. -[laughs]
We also have chefs struggle with the pizza dough.
Typically it's undercooked or not crispy.
And this one is cooked through.
I love the fact that you thought about all these different unique flavors.
-That mustard goes well with ham. -Mmm-hmm.
That pineapple and pizza, you know, and ham.
But this time, pomelo.
And I think it all went really good together.
I think that the most successful part of this was actually the mustard.
-Mmm-hmm. -The mustard, I feel like,
sort of brought everything together.
I love the crumble on top.
I think the cupcake and the potato latke gave it a little extra crunch.
-Uh-uh. -I mean, the crust is really crunchy.
And then you get through some of the soft cheese
and , you know, the crunch on top.
-Thank you. -Just wonderful.
Thank you, Merry. Next up, Barb.
Well, what I made for you chefs
is a ham-potato latke hash with egg on top.
And a pomelo-capers sauce on top,
with a slice of tomato on the side.
[Justin] I've gotta say, Barb,
this is one of the most well-seasoned dishes.
I mean, even from professional chefs.
-I mean, this is very delicious. -Oh, thank you.
And where was the cupcake used?
-I put the cupcake in the reduction sauce. -[Justin] Okay.
And you said there was capers in the sauce as well?
-[Barbara] Capers as well. -Yeah, I think that balanced out lovely,
-and all around I think it's very creative. -Thank you, Chef.
Yeah, I completely agree with Justin.
The seasoning is so delicious on here.
-Even down to the tomato. -Thank you.
[Marc] The most impressive thing I thought
was actually the sear that you got on it in that ring mold.
And I love the addition of the egg,
unfortunately it broke, but it was a very tasty bite.
[Ted] Thank you, Barb.
And finally, Hayko.
I prepare for you a holiday ham kebab
over a bed of cupcake stuffing
with latke, pomelos, pomelo juice.
So can you tell us, uh, what kind of cooking you like to do?
Or do you have any special favorites?
Comfort food.
Cinnamon rolls, chicken pot pie,
pot stickers, gyoza,
because I have three boys and husband, so that's four.
-And boys eat a lot. -[Amanda giggling]
A lot, for a while.
I mean, they are, like, half human half elephant.
[all chuckling]
[Amanda] I think your dish is really creative, to make the kebab.
I know that was a lot of work,
but it's time-consuming.
It was really pretty,
and I like that you used poblano pepper and the mushroom.
They were really juicy and they had a nice char on them.
The cupcake was sweet,
so it's a little bit on the sweet side.
For me I think, as far as a holiday appetizer, I think you nailed it.
The stuffing and dressing is synonymous with the holidays.
Aside from the sweetness in that stuffing,
-love the direction that you went. -Thank you.
Okay, you all should be very proud of your work in round one.
But remember, only three competitors can move on to the entree round.
If I get points taken,
it will be because of the stuffing.
I should've used a lot less cupcake.
[Merry] Hayko's use of the cupcake
was a little bit, mmm, not quite right
because it made it too sweet.
I think that I'm close behind Hayko,
as far as getting chopped
because the other two dishes were amazingly beautiful
and sound like they were very well balanced.
[Ted] It's been lovely to have all of you here for the holidays,
but one grandma must leave us before the next round.
-Aw. -[Lisa] Man.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Grandma Hayko, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Grandma Hayko, we loved having you here so much.
On your dish, we loved the idea of the kebab.
It was just the cupcake that was too sweet.
We had to chop you. I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry too.
-Thank you. -Thanks for coming.
-Thanks for being here. -Thank you.
-Been an amazing opportunity. -Our pleasure to meet you.
-Bye. -Bye, Hayko.
I'll have one also.
-Yes. -Good luck.
[Hayko] I feel a little disappointed.
Teeny bit sad that I got chopped.
But I'm gonna learn from my mistakes
and continue cooking and learning
and doing my very best.
-Come on, girls, let's do it, do it. -Yes.
Can you tell I was a cheerleader?
[both laughing]
Grandma Lisa, Grandma Merry, Grandma Barb.
The holiday entree baskets are next.
Please open them up.
-[gasps] -[Ted] All righty.
-It's a fruit cake. -Wow.
[imitating crying]
Oh, my goodness. A fruitcake.
What on earth am I gonna do with a fruitcake?
This is not dessert.
I like the nuts on the fruitcake.
[Ted] You've also got beef tenderloin.
Okay. We'll make some delicious stuff with this one.
Ooh. Fancy.
-Wow, beets. -[Ted] Beets.
Beets are hard to cook in 30 minutes.
Eggnog.
-[Ted] And eggnog. -[Barbara] I'm ready.
I got an idea.
30 minutes to make festive, fantastic main dishes.
-Clock starts now. -[gasps]
Let's go, come on.
[judges cheering]
All right, honey?
[Ted] Judges, we have given our grandmas the much maligned fruitcake.
What should they do with it?
Dip it in the eggnog and take a bite.
[giggling] I mean...
I think that Marc loves fruitcake.
I heard this. I sent you one. Did you get it?
[Marc] Fruitcake gets a bad rap.
To me, sitting down with a little slice of fruitcake
and a cup of tea in the afternoon, it's, like, perfect.
Fruitcake has a lot of elements to it.
I mean, there's all those dried fruits in there.
But if you look at it, there's always a lot of pecans or nuts on top.
Take some of these nuts off of here.
[Marc] And to me, I would make, like, a nut beet top pesto.
[Lisa] I see the fruitcake
and I say, "Oh, no, not this."
[chuckling]
You've got this, girl.
I am definitely not gonna use a lot of this.
I decide I'm going to combine the pecans from the fruitcake
with the beet green.
I'm making pepper steak over rice...
I need some rice, hold on.
...with beet greens and pecans.
[Amanda] Lisa's gonna make some rice,
but she did choose arborio rice.
I'm not sure if she realized she did that.
-So that's traditionally a risotto rice. -Yeah.
It's short grained, it takes longer to cook.
[Lisa] My biggest joy in life are my granddaughters.
If I win Chopped I'm going to take my granddaughters
on a wonderful vacation to a magical amusement park.
How you doing down there, Barb?
I'm doing great. How about you?
Okay, good. I'm hanging in there.
Barb is always doing great.
Yeah, she's grace under pressure.
-[Barbara giggling] -[Merry] Yeah.
[Barbara] Yeah, I worked in ICU for many, many years.
-[Lisa] Oh, okay. -So that's why you know how to do this.
Keep the patients calm.
Oh, this is nice.
I feel absolutely fantastic knowing that I'm one of the grandmothers
left in this next round.
I'm making a beef tenderloin with medley of vegetables
with beet greens and fruitcake pecans.
I grabbed some mushrooms,
I throw them in with my beef tenderloin.
I know they're gonna get some good flavor.
Oh, my goodness.
Fruitcake isn't a friendly word in our family.
But, hey, I can pick off those pecans,
chop them up, toast them.
Oh, I know. They can be a topping on top of a beef tenderloin.
For my entree, I'm making beef tenderloin with sauteed beef.
and also some blue cheese pecan crumble.
I love to have me some beets.
[Amanda] Grandma Merry.
She came back from the microwave with her beets,
where she cooked them.
-[Justin] Wow. -[Amanda] Is that not brilliant?
-That is genius. -[Amanda laughing]
I wanna leave a legacy for my grandkids
that they can do anything they want.
And I also wanna build an outdoor kitchen in my backyard
so I can have community kids come,
and grandma can teach them.
-Lisa. -[Lisa] Yes.
What's happening over there?
Honey, we're doing it.
Oh, well, good.
Come on. Let's go.
[Ted] Lisa. She's got green apple.
Grab my beet greens.
-[Amanda] Oh. -[Justin] 'Cause she's wilting the beet greens
with a little bit of green apple,
and I saw some white onion go in there.
When I looked at this basket,
the biggest challenge for me is probably the eggnog.
[Amanda] I think you could take that eggnog,
or make some cauliflower, and make a puree.
You know, you use a little cream.
[Lisa] Whoo. That's great.
I taste my rice,
and I'm like, "Uh-oh, rice is undercooked. Oh, God."
[Barbara] I look at the eggnog,
and I think I might have to make a mushroom reduction sauce out of it.
I start combining my horse radish with eggnog and some lemon.
[Amanda] You know, I'm watching Merry cook right now.
She has a thermometer.
She's checking the temperature of her beets.
[Justin] She's got that thing swimming in garlic,
and it looks delicious.
[Merry] The mushroom eggnog sauce is too sweet for my tongue.
But if I just simply remove the mushrooms,
it'll be like they've poached an eggnog.
I need to get this rice out of here,
or else I'm gonna be in trouble.
-Okay, guys. -Okay.
Plating the best way I can.
[Ted] Two minute warning, folks.
If I don't win this, then I won't be able to take home the title
as Grandma Chopped champion.
or the $10,000.
-[Marc] Go grandmas. -[Justin] Let's go grandmas.
-You've got one minute left... -[Amanda] Come on.
...to make sure all four ingredients are on the plate.
[Merry] Grandmas are the heart of the holidays.
They're there to serve, give, make great food.
So, it sounds all sweet, right?
But every one of these grandmas,
we wanna win that $10,000.
Come on. Come on.
[judges chanting and clapping] ♪ Grandmas, Grandmas
-♪ Grandmas ♪ -Let's do it.
-[judges clapping] -Oh, Lord.
[Ted] All right. Don't let up on the gas now, grandmas.
Ten. Nine.
Eight. Seven.
-Six. -[Marc] Come on, Grandma Merry.
[Ted] Five.
-[Amanda] You got it. You got it. -[Ted] Four.
-Three. Two. -Finish you.
-One. Step away from the pan. -[Ted] One.
-[Amanda] Yeah. -[Ted] Step back, please.
-[judges clapping] -All right. We did it, girl.
-We got it. [exclaims] -[Amanda] And she's killed it.
-[Amanda] Killed it. -We did it.
Oh, that's gorgeous.
-[Barbara] Lisa. -I'm gonna peek at your stuff.
-[gasps] -It's all good. Yours is good too.
-Very good. -It looks really good.
-Did you have rice? -[Lisa] I did.
-[Barbara] Oh, get outta here. -Yeah, I made rice.
[Lisa] The only thing I'm worried about is the rice
because I may not have had enough time to get it done all the way,
but we will see.
That's real good.
Take that to the bank, baby.
Grandmas, you just made holiday entrees using the fruitcake.
Beef tenderloin, beets, and egg nogog.
Let's start with you Merry. What have you made?
I have made today a blue cheese pecan
beef tenderloin with some eggnog mushrooms,
and some sauteed beet greens with beets.
[Marc] First of all, I think you did an amazing job
in unlocking the mystery of this basket.
The nuts and the blue cheese, what a great move.
-Oh, good. -I think it's fantastic.
The greens, I love the freshness of it,
but I think you could have probably seasoned those a little bit more.
The eggnog sauce is still a little sweet.
Merry, I have to tell you,
the beef tenderloin is just outstanding.
It's cooked so perfectly.
-Yeah, it's beautiful color right there. -[Amanda] Beautiful sear.
And I have to say, I'm fully impressed with your beet technique.
-Oh. -Cooking them in the microwave.
[Justin] Eight minutes to the perfectly cooked...
-Mmm-hmm. -...microwaved beet. [chuckles]
-Same for potatoes too. -[Justin] I've learned something today.
This is such a smart dish,
and it's a great holiday meal.
I love the idea of the mushroom eggnog cream sauce.
I would have just maybe added something to spice it up.
[Merry] Okay, Sonny, you don't like beets?
I mean, I've gotta eat it up.
-Oh, you're in trouble! -[Justin] Yes, grandma. Sorry.
-Grandma wants you to eat your vegetables. -I gotta eat my beets.
-Just one beet. -[judges laughing]
-Bravo. -[Amanda exclaims]
-Now you're allowed to have dessert... -Thank you.
...now that you ate your vegetables.
[Justin] That was wonderful.
-[laughing] -Thank you, Merry.
Moving on to Barb.
Well, chefs, I made for you a beef tenderloin,
a medley of vegetables
with an eggnog mushroom reduction sauce.
The steak to me is cooked perfectly.
It's seasoned.
It's a nice rare... which...
It's very festive-looking.
I think even your vegetables are very festive-looking,
colorful, and very tasty.
[Amanda] But I think something happens
when you put horse radish and eggnog together.
I guess because it maybe kind of curdled a little bit in the pan.
It's just extra sweet, you know?
-[Ted] All right. Barb, thank you. -Thank you.
Finally, Lisa, please tell us about your plate.
Okay. I have for you an eggnog pepper steak with beet greens.
and I have the pecans from the fruitcake in the beet greens.
[Amanda] So, you had some stress with the rice.
-Oh, God. -[Amanda and Barbara laughing]
I kept checking it to make sure it was gonna get there in time.
And so, I hope it got there a little bit.
I mean, the rice is miraculous, honestly.
It worked. It really has a lovely texture.
It absorbed that sauce almost too much
'cause I really feel like that sauce is delicious,
and I want some of it on its own.
-I got you. Got you. -You know what I mean?
[Justin] I thought this was delicious.
You did a really good job of masking that sweetness of that eggnog.
I think... I love the direction that you went.
If I had, you know, one critique for the dish, I think you, you know,
-a little bit of salt across the board. -Okay.
Especially when you're working with rice.
-It just kind of muted a lot of stuff. -Got it.
[Marc] I've never sauteed vegetables
and put apples in it before like that, but this is great.
-[Lisa] Mmm-hmm. Okay. -And I might have to start doing that.
Um,
to me the big downfall... It's the beef tenderloin itself.
The way you cooked it,
there was no way to keep it rare.
-Okay. Okay. -So it is... It feels a little dry and overcooked.
-[Ted] Lisa, thank you. -[Lisa] Thank you.
Okay. Well, from what we've seen from the three of you,
we would love to have you all make a holiday dessert.
But even in the most wonderful time of the year,
rules are rules.
I feel like there's a slim chance I'm gonna scoop right through there
to that dessert round.
But we all had a few negatives and a lot of positives.
[Barbara] I'm worried a little bit about my sauce.
It was a little sweet, but I think I can get past that.
And I'm looking forward to the next round.
Two grandmas have secured spots in the holiday dessert round.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Barb, you've been chopped.
-Judges. -Aw.
-Barb. -[Marc] Barbara, this is tough.
You guys all have been cooking really, really, at a high level,
and it's been... it's been a pleasure to watch you.
-Thank you. -[Marc] Unfortunately,
it really came down to your eggnog sauce with the horse radish.
It curdled. It got grainy.
And unfortunately, we had to chop you.
Thank you. The pleasure has been all mine.
-Awesome -Thank you.
-Thank you so much. -[Amanda] Amazing job.
-Oh, my goodness. -[muffled speaking]
-Thank you. Thank you. -Good luck both of you.
-Wow. -[Ted] Best to you, Barb.
-Thank you. -Ooh.
[laughs]
[Barbara] I'm a little sad that I'm not gonna be able
to bring the Chopped championship home to my grandchildren.
But I was certainly proud of the work that I produced here today.
Next time.
[Ted] Merry, Lisa...
-Yes. -...you made it all the way to the final round of Chopped.
-Yes. -Sweet.
-Sweet. Sweet.
And what's this final basket going to be like?
Let's find out.
And the final four ingredients needing your tender loving care
-are marshmallows... -[chuckles]
Marshmallows. Okay.
Marshmallows. What am I gonna do with these marshmallows?
[Ted] Spritz cookies.
-That's awesome. -[Merry] Oh, my goodness.
-Okay. Here we go. -Thank you, Chopped.
-[Ted] Cranberries. -Cranberries. My favorite.
And creamed honey.
Creamed honey. Oh, my goodness.
30 minutes back on the clock.
Go get it, grandmas.
-All right. All right. -[Amanda cheers]
-Go sweet grandmas. -I can't wait
-to see what they come up with. -Third time.
[Amanda] I'm expecting for a grandma dessert,
like warm pie right out of the oven,
-a pile of cookies... -[Justin] Mmm-hmm.
...some whipped cream, ice cream sprinkles, candies.
They only got 30 minutes.
Cake with a glaze on the top,
-or Bundt cake. Bundt cake! -Bundt cake. A very grandma cake.
-Oh, my God. -Oh, I love it.
Judges, a gift from Scandinavia.
These spritz cookies are a perfect holiday treat.
What's their story?
[Amanda] A spritz cookie is like a sugar cookie, a little bit lighter.
Spritz cookie is traditionally made with the spritz gun,
where the dough is packed into this machine,
that just makes these little perfect cookies.
[Merry] I love spritz cookies.
This basket really inspires me to do fun Christmas s'mores.
I'll go ahead and add Graham cracker to the spritz cookie.
I'm gonna add some pecans for some texture
and some little extra crunch.
I get my cookies in the oven and begin on my cranberry relish.
-I'm going against Lisa... -Almond and vanilla extract.
...and she's really shown that she can bring flavor, bring creativity,
and she presents really well.
Lisa, what are you doing with those marshmallows?
-Oh, wait and see. -[Marc] Oh, wow.
Oh!
-It's a surprise. -[Ted] It's a surprise.
[Lisa] I wanna be the last grandma standing.
I came to win after all!
Looking at the ingredients,
the first thing that comes to mind is cheesecake
and a spritz cookie crumble.
I taste this creamed honey and I think, "This is way too sweet."
So I immediately added mascarpone...
There we go. Come on.
...a little almond extract, a little vanilla.
A little bit of that honey.
Come on, get in there.
There we go. All right.
To make my cranberry compote,
I decide to add cranberry, sugar, and raspberries.
I'm gonna do somethin' else, hold on.
I got it. Mmm-hmm.
And here comes Lisa with the rum.
It is Christmas, you gotta get a little booze in here.
All right, send, send some this way Grandma Lisa.
-[Lisa] Gotta get a little booze in here. -Happy holidays.
-Mmm-hmm, happy holidays. Yes. -[Amanda laughs]
[Merry] I put the marshmallows on top of the cookies
and I'm hoping for nice toasty brown.
You sure can't have s'mores without chocolate,
so I am goin' to make just a quick chocolate ganache.
Taste the chocolate.
It needs a little sweetness, but the creamed honey is the perfect trick for this.
-[Lisa] I get a pie crust from the pantry. -Yes.
As I'm putting the cream cheese
in the mold,
it begins to crumble and fall apart.
Oh, no.
And at this point I don't have enough time to try again,
but I decided that I will make a deconstructed cheesecake.
So we're seeing more grandma pivots over here.
-Yeah, she is going moderne, -I love it.
so, it's, it's a moderne look.
It's a little deconstructed.
How are my cookies though?
These are takin' a long time.
Keep checkin' on the cookies, they're just not baking.
It's interesting because Merry is definitely getting frustrated over these cookies.
They're just aren't baking.
She doesn't seem as confident in this round about what she is making.
The beginning of the s'more.
Oh, man!
Just like campin'.
Merry is looking at her marshmallows that she had in the oven
and it looks like some of 'em might gotta a little burned.
Argh.
I can't wind between cookies and marshmallows.
All right, Grandmas, five minutes to go.
Merry is looking at her marshmallows that she had in the oven
and it looks like some of 'em might have gotten a little burnt.
Oh, I mean a little, a little toasted marshmallow is kinda nice.
-[Merry] It's real easy to redo it though. -It got a little suntanned?
-[Amanda] We like it toasty, we like it toasty. -Yeah.
Maybe a little more than the judges would like.
I think the marshmallows are too toasty.
This time I will stand there and stare at 'em.
This is definitely the most concerned I've seen either one of 'em all day
and you can tell that, you know, that they're starting to really feel it.
Come on, speak to me.
-[Amanda screams, laughs] -If we have all four ingredients on the plate,
it's gonna be a Christmas miracle.
-It's a Christmas miracle, all day long. -[Amanda laughs]
Grandma's praying for a miracle, okay?
That's what Grandmas do.
Grandmas pray.
[Ted] One minute left, Chefs.
All right, one minute. Come on, Merry, you got it.
[panicked vocalization]
I am a sticky mess, but I gotta keep pushing.
-[Judges claps] -30 seconds, Grandmas.
[Marc] Final touches, get it done.
Ooh.
[Ted] All right, Grandmas, final seconds of the final round.
-All right, all right, all right. -[Ted] Ten, nine...
[Lisa] Yes.
[Ted] ...eight, seven,
six, five...
-Yes, tick tock. -[Ted] ...four, three...
-[Merry] Two, one. -[Ted] ...two, one.
-Finish, time's up. -[Lisa] Time's up.
-Times up. -[Amanda] oh, yeah!
-[Marc] Incredible. -Whoo!
-Let me see your beautiful dessert. -Beautiful.
-Ooh, that is fabulous. -Thank you, thank you.
[Lisa] I'm just overwhelmed with,
with joy because this has been great, it really has,
it's like a dream come true.
[Merry] Well, I have a dessert.
Not everything turned out exactly how I would like,
but all I can say is a Christmas s'more sounds really fun.
Grandma Lisa versus Grandma Merry.
Your holiday dessert basket contained marshmallows,
spritz cookies,
cranberries,
and creamed honey.
Okay, Merry, please tell us about your dessert.
I have for you, a Christmas Cranberry S'more.
Every summer I go campin' with my grandbabies and of course we have s'mores.
I want a bite.
[Marc] Right off the bat, what a great idea.
You kept a Christmas theme, balanced the flavors,
the tartness is just tart enough to sort of
fight that marshmallow sweetness.
That's what I was hoping for.
I've just been waiting for dessert all day.
[both laughing]
I have such a sweet tooth and so did my grandmother.
Tartness of the cranberry against the chocolate
that's a really sophisticated flavor.
But the cookie probably could have baked a little bit longer.
[Justin] Unlike Amanda, I do not have sweet tooth,
-so for me this was like the, the perfect dessert for me. -[Merry] Oh good.
-Like, I like desserts that, that have some acidity, -Mmm-hmm.
-that if you generally have some fruit in them... -Mmm-hmm.
...some, some amazing textures in there.
Such a smart dessert and absolutely delicious.
Thank you.
Thank you, Merry.
Finally, Lisa.
I have for you, Chefs, a Deconstructed Cranberry Cheesecake.
-You did use the deconstructed word. -[Lisa] I did.
[Ted] That's a really, really clever move here
to make something like that.
You add the marshmallow into your cream, into your cheesecake base as well?
[Lisa] The marshmallow, it's like a little bit of sauce on the side.
-Ooh, that tastes really nice, all right. -[Lisa laughs]
-And you used almond extract in here? -[Lisa] I did.
I put a little almond extract,
a little vanilla,
and I put the creamed honey.
[Marc] The almond extract, I would've probably liked it if you had left that out
-and maybe turned up the honey. -Okay.
'Cause it was a basket ingredient.
But it's a good dessert. Um, the, the cookie,
you just crumbled that on the top, right?
I had a piece of that, that was good.
I would have loved the cookie to have been the base of this dessert.
-I love the almond extract flavor, um, I... -[Lisa laughs]
...and cheesecake is my favorite dessert, um,
-so thank you for making cheesecake. -[Lisa] You're welcome.
[Amanda] Lisa, there's so many things I, I love about this dessert.
-There's, there's so many things. -[Lisa] Okay.
Um, I love the fact that this has a,
-a chicness to it, you know, in this... -Okay.
-...deconstructed thing going on. -Mmm-hmm.
Which, you know, these high end chefs do when they,
they break up a dessert and they say, "I did that on purpose," you know?
-And you did that. -Thank you.
-And both of you put so much love into what you did. -Thank you.
You both did, such a, such a terrific job.
-[Amanda] Thank you guys for being here. -[Lisa] Wow.
You two gave it your all through three exhilarating rounds,
thank you for all that you shared with us.
We'll name a winner shortly.
[both] Thank you.
This looks like a difficult decision.
Both Grandmas brought love, they brought holiday flavor.
-Creativity. -They brough so much creativity, you know,
it just comes down to who executed better.
The salsa Lisa made for appetizer,
it was, like, if you've ever had a sweet,
-like, hot sauce. -[Justin] Right.
[Amanda] It, it was going that direction.
Just needed a little bit more hot and she could've nailed it.
But I have to say, her hash was very good.
She used the latkes in there and then she put that cheese on it.
I wish Lisa had melted the cheese.
Speaking of cheese, can we talk about Merry's pizza then,
'cause I thought that was so smart,
I mean, the crust was perfectly crispy,
yeah, and all those toppings on there.
[Marc] That mustard sort of brought that dish together,
-I would say. -Yup.
And then moving on to the main courses.
-Merry really shined with her meat cooking skills. -[Justin] Yes.
She made a beautiful medallion,
seared perfectly, medium rare,
and she put blue cheese on top.
How fun it that?
But then that eggnog just, I think ended a little bit too sweet
-in her mushroom sauce. -Yes.
Lisa, I think she sort of was able
to sort of sweep the eggnog under the carpet, so to speak.
Because she poured it over that rice, that was just cooked just enough.
But she used fillet in, like, as, as a saute
and, and that wasn't the right cut of meat for that 'cause the meat did dry out.
[Amanda] Agreed.
So, which Grandma is the Chopped champion?
We know.
[Lisa] I could be the Chopped champion
and I, I don't know if I'm gonna run, scream, cry
or dance around the floor, I really don't know.
And that's how I feel, so excited.
[Merry] I feel like it could go either way
because I did okay in that second round,
but Lisa did great in the first and the third round.
I don't know how it's gonna end up,
but I really wanna be a Chopped champion.
[Ted] So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
-Oh, my God, you're scaring the heck out of me. -[Merry laughs]
[exclaims] oh.
[Ted] Lisa, you've been chopped. Judges.
Grandma Lisa, I just wanna say,
having you in this kitchen today was, was amazing.
I loved your dessert, uh, cheesecake is, is absolutely one of my favorites.
We'd have loved to seeing those cookies incorporate d a little bit more,
you know, we move on to your entree,
compared to Merry's very perfectly cooked beef, yours was just overcooked.
Unfortunately, we're gonna have to chop you.
I won just bein' here and so I am glad,
I'm happy and thankful for the experience.
-Thank you so much. Congratulations. -Thank you, thank you.
Yes, congratulations.
-Bye-bye. -Bye, Lisa.
[all applauding]
[Lisa] This was a great experience.
My grandchildren are gonna be over the moon proud of their Gammy.
They're gonna see me on TV and say, "that's my Gammy."
And so, that in and of itself,
I think they'll be pleased with that.
And that means, Merry Graham, you are the Chopped champion.
-Congratulations. -Oh, my goodness.
-[Justin] Congratulations. -I did it, whoo-hoo!
[Justin] You did it.
Oh, my goodness.
-Crazy, crazy, that was hard competition. -That is--
You did it.
-[Amanda] You did it. -[Marc] You did it.
I can't believe I just won Chopped.
-Jump in between Marc and Amanda. -Here, come on over here.
[Merry] Oh, my goodness, my grandkids are gonna go wild.
-[all] Happy holidays! -[Merry] Merry Christmas.
-You got a great grandmother! -Amazing Grandma.
-See you guys soon. -And she just won Chopped.
-Yeah. -I did it for you.
Whoo-hoo!