You know, Hunter, there are people in our lives that are so important,
they really shape who we are. You know, I'm talking about parents,
I'm talking about mentors,
-and of course... -Children.
No, I wasn't talking about children,
-I was talking about teachers, teachers. -Oh.
So tonight, we're celebrating teachers,
and we've got three teachers who love to cook,
but would like to learn a little more.
Please grate it until we're done.
So we'll be partnering them up with some of our all-star chefs
in hopes of schooling the competition.
We need to make this little bit
-of a cabbage salad. -Okay.
[Hunter] And one of the teachers tonight
will graduate Triple G with up to $20,000.
[cheering, laughing]
It's Teaching Teams tonight on Triple G.
Here, you'll need this.
Oh, for the teachers, I see, okay.
All right, folks, let's meet our teachers.
Now, first up we have Julie Zanghi,
an E & L teacher out of Plainview, New York,
who uses her food blog as a way to introduce healthy alternatives
to guilty pleasures.
[Julie] I'm from Plainview, New York,
and I teach at the best school ever,
Babylon Memorial Grade School in Long Island.
I love being able to have an impact on the kids.
It's the best feeling in the entire world.
When I'm not in the classroom,
I have an Instagram page called Zangeeats.
It is my favorite thing to do
when I can do it with my three-year-old son, Zackery.
Welcome. Nice to have you.
-What a smile. -[chuckles]
Next, we've got Mike Benbow,
the football coach and high school teacher from Fortuna, California,
who I played football with when I was a kid.
Now he's on my turf to play some grocery games.
[Mike] I've known Guy for a very long time.
We played youth football together.
My job is the best job in the world.
I'm a teacher, I'm a coach, I'm a husband, and I'm a dad.
So I wear a lot of different hats.
The best thing about being a teacher
is I know I'm making a difference.
And tonight, I'm bringing the Friday Night Lights to Flavortown.
Benbow, do you know what you're in for?
-Absolutely. -Let's go for it, Tuna Huskies.
And finally, we have Elizabeth Barrick,
the kindergarten teacher from North Carolina,
who cooks her grandmother's authentic Mexican recipes for her family.
[Elizabeth] I love being a kindergarten teacher.
In the classroom you feel like a rockstar.
I could drop them off in the cafeteria,
and they're all like, "Mrs. Barrick!"
And then when we get back to the classroom,
they're like "I saw you Mrs. Barrick." [laughing]
My nickname is the Latina Martha Stewart
because I love to cook my grandmother's authentic Mexican recipes for my kids.
It feels so amazing to be in Flavortown.
All my culinary dreams
are coming true today. Pinch me.
-So happy. Are you two twins? -[Elizabeth laughing]
-At long last. -[all laughing]
[laughing]
First, let me say, teachers, thank you.
You are heroes.
What you do, what you commit to,
the foundation you do for our communities,
unparalleled.
All right. It's time for you to get some culinary education
because we are giving you a gift today.
Ooh!
We are going to pair you up
with three amazing all-star chefs.
[all laughing]
First, Julie, we are gonna pair you up
with James Beard award-winning author,
culinary legend, my brother from another mother,
the one and only, Chef Rocco DiSpirito.
[laughing]
There he is, looking good.
What's up, everybody? How are you?
-How's it going? You ready to win? -[Mike] I'm good.
Oh, my God, I'm ready!
We're done. It's over.
Mr. Benbow,
we are teaming you up with my sister from another mister.
She is the resident spice guru.
She won the Food Network Star.
This is the one and only Chef Aarti Sequeira!
-[all cheering] -Aarti!
[Guy] Is that a gift for me?
I thought I'd bring a welcome gift.
-For Benbow? -'Cause I'm teacher's pet.
-[Mike] Yes! -Oh!
-Here you go. [laughing] -Thank you so much. Oh, my gosh.
-Yes! Nice to meet you too. -Nice to meet you.
No eating those in class, Benbow.
[all laughing]
And next, Elizabeth, we are teaming you up with another legend.
She is acclaimed. She is a superstar.
She has competed in everything.
And one bad mamma jamma.
-Chef Amanda Freitag. -[all cheering]
Do that.
-I'm ready. Hi, guys! How are you? -Hi. I'm good!
[both laughing]
[Guy] So, teachers,
today I've got two very intense games for you
that are gonna test your culinary skills,
'cause this is like everything is in school, there will be testing.
In the first test, the team with the lowest score at the end of Round 1
will be sent back a grade.
The team with the highest grade at the end of two rounds
will be declared the winner and have the opportunity
to shop Flavortown Market for up to $20,000.
-We really... We really want that. -[all cheering]
That will buy you a lot of number two pencils.
Wow. [laughs]
[Guy] So, for your first challenge,
I want you to take the dish that the lunch lady put on your tray,
and I want you to turn it into a restaurant-quality lunch.
I want you to make an elevated school lunch.
Does that sound good?
-Absolutely, yeah. -[Guy] All right.
My son's tardy, and he's gonna stay after school.
So this better--
-Uh-oh, here he... -I'm sorry.
-Sorry, I was late. -No, no, no!
-You have detention now. -[all laughing]
No, actually, I don't have school anymore.
-You're late. Do you have a note from mom? -Yes, yes, I do.
-I actually have four notes. -Oh, man!
-Pop quiz. -Uh-oh.
[Guy] Here's what's gonna happen.
To get you started
on this elevated school lunch,
we have made you a grocery list that only a teacher would love.
Number one is an item that cost $9 divided by two, plus 49 cents.
What?
The second question is
frozen beans that share their name
-with a South American capital city. -Oh, my goodness.
And number three, condiment weighting exactly 75% of one pound.
So, Hunter, go ahead and hand them out the list.
[Guy] Shop for anything else you want,
but those are three must-use ingredients
that must be in your dish.
Because this is Grocery List, Special Teacher's Edition.
30 minutes to shop, prepare, and plate your elevated school lunch.
And this is all going down now.
How would we say this in Spanish?
Tres, dos, uno.
-Right. We didn't say go yet. -Hang on, hang on.
-[laughing] -Oh, yes you did!
[all laughing]
Nobody was taking anything. I'm like, "Yep!"
[laughing]
Let's figure out our answers really, really quick.
[Rocco] But we also have to figure out what's going on here, right?
Yeah, so this is
$9 divided by two is four and a half.
One item that costs $9 divided by two, plus...
49 cents.
-Four and a half. -$4.99.
-Oh, yeah, $4.99. Oh, my gosh. -[chuckles]
-It's okay, no problem. -This is why you're the teacher!
And then we have...
Frozen beans that share their name
with a South American capital city.
-Lima beans. -Yes.
Okay, and you have to do the math on this one.
Condiment weighing 75% of one pound.
75% of one pound, which is 16, would be 12 ounces, right?
-Twelve, right. What do you want to make? -Okay, good job.
Okay, so I'm thinking tacos.
I always get that at my school when they have it.
How do we make it restaurant-style, higher-end?
-Maybe like a tostada. -Yeah.
An elevated tostada.
-So should we do chicken? -[Elizabeth] Sure, yes.
I think that's a good idea.
What about the Limas?
[Amanda] Oh, that could be the refried bean part.
We're gonna use the Lima beans as a refried bean substitute.
How many ounces is this one?
-12.5 -[Elizabeth gasps]
Come on! What about this one?
-12 exactly!. -Okay. Good job.
Green jalapeno hot sauce.
For the $4.99 ingredient.
$4.99. Red wine vinegar.
We're gonna make a cabbage slaw,
and this is gonna add great acid to it.
Tomatoes, serrano peppers, lime.
-And the corn. -Do you wanna get cabbage? -[Elizabeth] Yes.
[Guy] You know, you don't have to feed the entire school.
Okay, we're done, we're done, right?
-[yelling] -Okay, so what I think we should do
is do a Sloppy Joe like, with wagyu beef
-and chorizo. -Oh, wow.
-Yep. -And we mix it with a bunch of veggies
and everything else. I'm not sure how to use the Lima beans.
We can put them in the Sloppy Joe mix,
or we can make, like, a little bean salad on the side
-That'd be awesome. -Yep.
-And we could also do loaded tacs with that. -What are you guys thinking?
-Sloppy Joes. -We're gonna do a Sloppy Joe with chorizo.
-This was all him by the way. -Wagyu beef.
-Mike can cook, there's no doubt about that. -[Aarti] Yeah.
I'm... I'm not saying nothing.
-Two of them. -[Aarti] Yeah.
[Mike] Lima beans, check.
So there's mayo down here. Are there any $4.99ers?
-Right there. -[Aarti] Oh, great.
And it's $4.99.
[Mike] Twelve ounces of a condiment.
-[Aarti] Twelve is so hard. -[Mike] Twelve is very difficult.
Here we go, Grownups Ketchup.
-[Mike] All right, let's do it. -There we go.
Let's go with these nice big ones.
You are very passionate about Sloppy Joes. [chuckles]
[Guy] Come on, you're burning time.
-We'll come and get it. -We'll come back if we need it.
Let's do it. Here we go.
-Fish. Do you wanna do fish tacs? -Oh, yeah, yep.
I'm thinking fish tacos.
Elevated might be shrimp, lobster, crab.
[Julie] Yeah, let's get some crab.
-We like to put a lot of fresh ingredients. -[Rocco] Yes.
-Mango, red pepper, uh... -Ooh.
That'll go really well with crab meat.
-Then make, like a chipotle and adobo sauce. -Ooh.
-Will that go with this? -Yeah, for sure, for sure.
-Okay. -That could be our base.
-Yes. -Maybe make it a mayo base.
Maybe we'll find a mayo that's 12 ounces.
-Yes, perfect, okay, we put that on the bottom... -[Rocco] Cool.
-...and put the fish on top, the slaw. -[Rocco] All right.
-And we got this. -I love it. I love it!
[both laughing]
-Long Island in the house! -[both cheering]
It's a taco. We gotta get tortillas.
Lima beans. Got them, all right. okay.
Two of our ingredients are gonna go into the salsa,
the Lima beans, and our condiment that's 12 ounces.
-So, like this is 12 ounces. -[Julie] Okay, yeah.
[Rocco] Green hot sauce, condiment that's 12 ounces.
[Julie] Oh, we didn't get a $4.99 item.
So we have to find the ingredient that's $4.99.
Something that costs $4.99.
-Maybe some Alaskan salmon? -Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, what else was there?
Folks, 22 and a half minutes, let's go!
Let's get cooking!
-[Julie] Okay. All right. -[Rocco] We should get started.
We've got chicken.
We have ingredients to make Pico de gallo.
Okay, so we're doing Sloppy Joes.
-All right. -Okay. So we have scallions.
-Scallions. Peppers. -Peppers.
-Who better to judge these teaching teams... -[chuckles]
...[chuckles] than three chefs whose favorite school period was lunch.
[chuckles]
Executive chef and first Southern Top Chef winner,
Kelsey Barnard Clark.
Hey, thank you.
Rockstar restauranter and cutting-edge culinary innovator,
the one and only bolt from the west, Chef Michael Voltaggio!
An executive chef who's opened countless restaurants
and won countless prize money on Triple G,
mayhem himself, Chef Aaron May.
All right, judges, nice to have you.
I think this is a great challenge.
I'm so proud of this competition.
Teachers really are these unsung heroes.
And for these teachers to show up,
and go to battle,
and win some money. Good stuff.
I agree.
We need the, um...
Chicken, I'll season it.
For our elevated school lunch,
we're making chicken tostada
with cabbage slaw,
and refried Lima bean.
All right.
I've been a teacher for 14 years.
I love being a kindergarten teacher.
Every day is a party,
and I just really love making an impact
in my kids' lives.
My cheffy-competition brain
really wants to get the chicken cooking first.
I grate some fresh garlic and a little bit of olive oil,
and I really get those thighs seasoned.
And I want them to be super flavorful
'cause I know the rest of the dish is fresh and light.
-What am I doing? What do we need to do? -Okay, so,
chicken's working,
-We need to make this little bit of a cabbage salad. -Okay.
I want this cabbage slaw to be bright, and crunchy,
and add just another level of texture.
I know that I need to add the vinegar as an acidic component,
and for the gameplay.
[Amanda] This is a little different than your normal
-kindergarten-teaching day. -Just a tad.
Would you turn the chicken with tongs, please?
The hot grill, that looks beautiful!
How many kids do you have in your class?
-Twenty-one. -[gasps]
[chuckles]
[Elizabeth] I think I need to go with, uh, more tortilla.
[Amanda] That's why you're so good at multitasking in the kitchen.
-[chuckles] -That's good for competition.
Yes. [chuckles]
When I think of school lunch, I think of square pizza.
-Yeah. -[Kelsey] Yes.
-I think of, uh, corn dogs. -[Kelsey] Fish sticks.
Fish sticks. [chuckles]
My brain went straight to sandwich.
[Aaron] I think there's so much to draw from.
It's just gonna depend on how these chefs and teachers really relate.
[Guy] Twenty minutes left!
I wouldn't say that, like, elevated and school lunch go hand in hand.
But I definitely think you have to use
one of those dishes that we remember in school,
and just lift it up a little bit,
make it a better version of.
If someone delivers me a plate
with a note from mom on it, I'm dead.
I feel going back to their students is gonna be a relief
-after dealing with chefs. -[Kelsey] Oh, for sure.
[laughing]
We don't need that many, but that'll do.
-Perfect. -[Aarti] What else can we get going?
-Start getting the hamburger going... -Oh, yeah.
...and getting the base done.
I just saw you on TV,
-and guess what I'm doing now? -[laughing]
I get to be with you on TV.
Hey, kids, today I'm cooking in Flavortown.
An easy way to elevate a cafeteria special
is to elevate just the quality of the ingredient.
You wanted to do wagyu
-'cause you thought it'd be upscale. -'Cause I... Upscale, right?
I've been teaching for about 29 years now.
And I get to help young people figure out their lives
as they become adults.
-It tastes good. -Yeah.
Fortuna is a pretty special place.
We're gonna add in the peppers and the onions,
add our 12-ounce item, the ketchup.
Pour it in, and I let it have fun.
Hey tater tots, do you wanna jump in the fryer?
I sure do.
[Mike] I'm gonna start the tater tots.
Get those things in the fryer, Benbow.
Yeah, I'm working on it, coach.
No, it doesn't matter, you don't have to divide them. you're fine.
-All right. -And a one.
[Mike] If I were to win the money today,
my wife and I actually would use it to travel,
-to spend time with our children... -Aw!
...who are, uh, out of the house now.
We're empty-nesters, so enjoy those little ones.
[Rocco] We've got beautiful julienne onions.
Some bell pepper.
-Who doesn't look forward to school lunch? -[both laugh]
[Rocco] For our elevated school lunch, we're gonna make seafood tacos
with a tropical salsa, and fresh veggie mango slaw.
I hope these teachers know we expect them to show their work.
You always have to show your work, Aaron.
-No work, no credit. -[Michael] Extra credit if it tastes good.
[laughing]
Okay, I'm putting some cilantro in.
And we're doing, like, a Caribbean salsa too.
We're gonna take your palate on a vacation.
-Oh, you wanna win the $20,000? -I... I'm here to win.
I'm looking for a spicy, smoky flavor to add to our dish.
Mayo, and chipotle, and adobo into the food processor.
-For sure, for sure. -I love my job
because in my classroom I like to encourage my students to take risks.
There's gonna be a lot of good heat in here.
Teacher teams, you got 10 minutes, 10 to be plated!
Can you see if the Limas are cooking at all?
-Oh, they're looking good. -[Elizabeth] Yeah.
Lima beans has that same texture as a pinto bean.
When you refry it, it gives it a little extra flavor.
I think my students will be proud of me that I'm here,
but like I said, I'm already a rockstar in their eyes. [laughing]
[Amanda] We're putting our 12-ounce condiment,
the green jalapeno hot sauce
in the refried Lima bean.
[Guy] I like where you're going.
What have we got working right now?
We've got the chicken going.
We have corn that's going to go into the Pico de gallo.
We have a cabbage slaw that's gonna go on top of the tostada.
Nice!
Nice, nice, nice.
Seven minutes. Seven to go.
-Okay. Go team. -[Amanda] Go team.
[Elizabeth] Everybody remembers their kindergarten teacher.
I just recently had two kids who were graduating college
come by and surprise me,
and it was really so inspiring.
Did you want to fry the tortilla?
-The tostada? -If it's a tostada, yeah.
We are so far from the school lunch at this point,
which is good because we're supposed to elevate a school lunch.
Oh, those are beautiful!
Do you have a vision of what kind of plate you wanna do?
-A royal blue. Yeah. -Royal blue.
-It's... It's our, you know, our school colors. -Okay.
Aarti and Mike, they're, like, an an Hawaiian school Friday.
-The matching shirts. I'm not kidding you. -[Aaron] Yeah.
They look like they're doing a cooking demo, or a cooking show.
They're making Sloppy Joes.
I was gonna do the mayo.
-And the Lima beans. -[Aarti] Lima beans.
Let's make this Lima bean crema.
I throw in the $4.99 ingredient,
the Lima beans.
I add cilantro, for fresh herb flavor.
-It's pretty, good, huh? -It's good.
[Guy] Five minutes! Five minutes left.
Oh! There's always not enough time.
I think melting cheese on the tater tots
will make them feel special.
Okay.
This slaw is really good.
There's a lot of sweetness, there's a lot of crunch.
-We have so much flavor. -[Rocco] Sounds great.
I start making the base for our salsa.
Grilled tomatillos,
gives it some char that adds to the flavor.
Two of our ingredients are gonna go into the salsa.
Jalapeno sauce, our Lima beans.
So I have to say that taco day was one of my favorites when I was at school.
-I think we're gonna use Dungeness. -[laughs]
-Oh, crab tacos. Yeah, yeah, yeah. -[Aaron] Nothing better.
Oh, my God, that is incredible.
Where were you when I was growing up?
-I needed you as my teacher. -[Julie] You're amazing.
I would have been so much more confident.
Now it's time to combine the crab,
and the chipotle, and double crema.
You're gonna have to move quicker than that, Rocco.
Cooking is a lot like teaching,
you're always... you're watching the clock.
I was behind, watching the clock.
Well, not behind, but just making sure
-you got it all... -Yeah.
...in the timeframe that you're given.
[Rocco] And then we add the salsa to the veggie mango slaw.
I think it's gonna be a lot of heat, a lot of acid.
I think it's gonna be a perfect bite.
[Guy] Ninety seconds! Gotta get plated!
[Elizabeth] First, crema.
[Amanda] The tortilla.
Lima bean, refried bean puree.
The chicken looks delicious.
Then we add our slaws,
and our Pico.
This is definitely something I would make for my kids.
[Guy] One minute!
[Aarti] Buns go down.
Spread that Lima bean crema.
Okay, here we go.
And then I ladle on the Sloppy Joe mix.
Okay.
Hot, hot, hot. They're right here, okay?
[Rocco] Add the cheesy tots to the plate.
[Guy] Thirty seconds to plate!
[Julie] We have this julienned wild Alaskan salmon
'cause that's our $4.99 ingredient.
[Rocco] The flavors are gonna marry well with the crab.
Grilled tortillas.
[Julie] Chipotle, and adobo, Dungeness crab.
You mix with the Alaskan salmon.
Top it with Caribbean salsa.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Chefs, that's it, stop working.
[both laughing]
Wow!
-[both laughing] -Thank you!
-[laughing] -This is our day. This is great.
-This is very good. This is very good. -We did it. We did it.
-We got it. -[Rocco] The winning dish right here, guys.
-[Aarti laughing] Good job. -[Mike] Thank you so much.
-You just cooked in Flavortown! -[squealing excitedly]
[both laughing]
All right. It's time to find out the winners and the losers
in this school lunch food fight.
Let's take it to the judges. Right this way!
Judges, here we are, this is game one of Teaching Teams.
Teams had to make an elevated school lunch
that included three items on my teacher-themed grocery list.
-Actually, Hunter made it. -[all laughing]
First up, Chef Elizabeth and Amanda.
-Tell us what you made. -So who does not love taco day as a school lunch?
We decided to take that and elevate it by making it into a tostada
with limas in place of refried beans.
I hope you enjoy.
[Aaron] Elizabeth and Chef Amanda,
I think it's quite, quite delicious.
You had to use the Lima beans.
I couldn't think of a more perfect way to use them.
The 12-ounce hot sauce that you put in those refried Lima beans,
I think it was a great use of it.
It's giving it a lot of flavor
and breathing life into what is normally
kind of, like, a stale, refried bean.
I think you guys did a dynamite job.
Thank you.
It's incredible. Everything is very familiar
of, like, what you would get in a tostada or a taco at school.
You made something delicious and nutritious.
For me, the tortilla part definitely got a little bit soggy.
It could have been fried just a little bit longer.
It wasn't crispy all the way through.
But I am a very happy child right now.
[both laughing]
I love how bright and light it is.
And if I had this at school, I probably would have actually gone.
-[both laughing] -So, thank you.
The plating, I love the color,
It makes me wanna eat it 'cause it's just so colorful.
[laughing]
All right, up next, Chef Mike, Chef Aarti,
what do you have for us?
We elevated the Sloppy Joe
with wagyu beef, and we used chorizo, of course.
The Lima beans, we made a cilantro.
lima crema.
And we also used our mayo with our sauce.
I think the final thing was ketchup and that is also in your sloppy joe.
I love messy food.
I love it. I love picking things up with my hands.
I kind of want it to go down my elbows.
Then the tater tots... Like tater tots. Of course. School lunch.
I love the lima crema.
It's got that good acid that is completely missing typically with a sloppy joe,
and it makes it messier which is even better.
And lastly, plating-wise, it reminds me of a school lunch tray.
Like all kind of perfectly perfect so we can just kind of mess it up.
Yes.
I thought the tater tots by themselves with the cheese and stuff were cool
and good, but like when you mix all the flavors together,
it just became incredible.
I know it was a sloppy joe, but I feel like you could've elevated the presentation
of this dish a little bit as well.
The flavors though were right there.
My biggest complaint
is I would've liked to have seen a little more with the lima bean.
You had to use the lima beans,
and I wish you would've given us a little more lima bean action.
Okay.
All right, not to be outdone, chef Julie, chef Rocco, what do you have for us?
Chefs, today for our elevated school lunch,
I wanted to give you a fish taco.
So what you have today is a nice Dungeness crab
in a chipotle lime crema,
and we topped that with a fresh mango salsa,
and for our ingredients we used the lima beans and the 12-ounce salsa.
So, enjoy.
[Aaron] I think the way the tortillas are grilled,
given a little bit of that char, a little bit of that bitter,
it's really nice against the creamy crab.
I think the smoked salmon adds a really nice seafood flavor.
And it's nice and bright on top of it with the fresh mango.
I think you used those frozen lima beans in the mango salsa.
I would've like to have seen a little more prominent.
They were an ingredient you had to use
and I think they could've stepped up the use of that just a little bit more.
Thank you, chef.
I think what you guys managed to do here is elevate a restaurant dish.
This would be something I would expect to see
like when the professional chefs are here cooking.
You guys did a really good job there.
Thank you, chef.
For me, I mean, the 4.99 smoked salmon thing
I feel like was a bit of a stretch.
I think we just maybe found something that had a 4.99 price.
You could've gotten something that would've been a little more appropriate for the dish.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
Julie, I love the tacos.
I think that the mango with this 12-ounce hot sauce is the perfect amount of acid
with just a touch of sweet,
which is just so complimentary to this taco.
I'd say my only complaint is when I get something like Dungeness crab,
I want to taste crab,
and the smoked salmon sort of overwhelms that flavor.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
All right, thank you very much, judges.
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens, we're going to deliberate,
and we will decided who's staying and who's going.
I think y'all did a great job in the first round.
Well done.
-Good job, guys. -Good job.
[Guy] Twenty points available in game play.
Twenty points available in taste, 10 points for plating.
Was any team's school meal out to lunch?
Teams, great job, but unfortunately we've got to send somebody home.
Let's start off with Julie.
Twenty points available in gameplay.
Fifteen.
Twenty out of taste.
Seventeen.
-Out of plating, eight. For a score, 40. -[Kelsey] That's a good one.
[Guy] Forty is a good score.
If you just do the math as quickly as I did, as a kid, that's a B.
-That's a B. -[others laugh]
I'll take it.
[Guy] My brother, Mike.
Sixteen out of 20 in gameplay.
Seventeen out of 20 in taste.
Seven out of 10 in plating for a 40.
-What? -Oh, my.
Good job.
[Guy] Elizabeth.
Seventeen out of 20 in gameplay.
Eighteen out of 20 in taste.
Seven for plating for a 42.
-Wow. -[others cheer]
-Good job! -Good job!
[Guy] Two tying in the bottom.
This has never happened, just so you know, in the history of Triple G.
-I'm not sending them home. -I knew it.
I knew it.
If you don't think I was just doing that
to torture Benbow a little bit, you're crazy.
[exclaims]
There's no way we were going to send you home.
Because your students want us to continue to torture you.
All right, chefs, anybody's game.
Back to your carts. Good luck!
All right, teams, here we are.
This is the second and final round of Teaching Teams.
Chef Elizabeth and Amanda, you are in the lead.
But a high scoring final dish for either team
could put you on the course to win up to 20,000 bucks.
I want you to make the judges...
-...a graduation dinner. -Wow.
Here we go.
[Guy] Before anyone graduates,
we gotta make sure the all-stars know the ABCs.
Oh, gosh.
[Guy] Hunter!
Hi.
[Guy] The name of the game is ABC.
You can only use ingredients whose name begins with the letter of the alphabet
that I'm just getting ready to pick out.
You're A-plus teachers, I know that, so I'm going to let you use two letters
to make this graduation dinner for the judges.
I like it, I like it, I like it.
Now, if I remember correctly from my days of school,
they were often A and B.
Uh...
Let's just pipe down, okay, B and C.
-Let's use the letters... -There you go.
-Let's go with the letters B and C -That's more...
[Guy] You have 30 minutes to shop, prepare, plate your graduation dinner
with items whose names begin with B and C.
Yes, Rocco, you have a question, I can tell.
Yes, I was just wondering if you were going to say, "Three, two, one, go"?
You scared your own team mate.
No, we don't say, three, two, one, go until the clock starts.
[others laugh]
[Julie] So we got the B and C.
You know, at least, we got two letters. Usually, it's only one.
What are we going to do? What do you think? What's the graduation meal?
-We usually go for steak. Bone-in ribeye, okay. -[Rocco] Bone-in ribeye.
-Something C... Brussels sprouts. -[Rocco] Yeah.
-Cacio e pepe we could do. -Yes, cacio e pepe.
Okay, it's a lot of grating, we gotta go.
If we're gonna gonna do it, let's go.
So when I think about graduation dinner,
I want to go to a fancy steak house, I want the most expensive steak.
But then I'm also thinking, "Mmm, I want pasta."
[Rocco] Cacio e pepe is a famous Roman dish.
What makes it great as the three ingredients that are in it.
The pasta, cheese, the peppercorn.
[Julie] I'm gonna grab black peppercorn.
[Rocco] We grabbed brussels sprouts.
You need a sauce, right?
-To go with the brussels sprouts. -Yes.
I grab balsamico because it starts with a B.
I make cacio e pepe all the time,
and I'm hoping that it comes out perfectly creamy and delicious.
-Okay, so... -Okay.
-So you wanted to-- -I was thinking a beef and chorizo enchilada.
I'm thinking how I grew up celebrating.
When the enchilada's came out, there was going to be a party.
We have to use the corn tortillas.
Is it corn tortilla with a C or tortilla with a T?
Begins with a C.
[Elizabeth] I grab the corn tortillas.
-[Amanda] We need some protein. Some ground beef. -[Elizabeth] Okay.
-It's a chicharron. -[Amanda] Oh, great.
Cheese, gets in the C. Crema.
Guajillo and ancho.
We're grabbing cheddar cheese.
So we need cilantro.
I can't believe that I actually get to cook a recipe
that my grandma taught me for this graduation dinner.
All right, what are you thinking?
-You've had two children graduate. -Two.
Plus all of the kids graduate.
So what is a graduation dinner to you?
I'm a big steak fan.
So a big beef guy.
We could do like meat and potatoes which I know you love.
We could do the ribeye, start it on the grill, throw it in the oven,
and then pray that it gets cooked.
If we do the boneless, I think we have a good chance of that.
We could do that and instead of potatoes,
unless we can find a C potato...
-Right, because of the letter. Or carrots? -We can do cauliflower.
-Or cauliflower. -We can do cauliflower.
We have to get around the S in steak.
So let's do a boneless ribeye.
Should we make the cauliflower puree a little bit cheesy?
[Mike] Well, I'm a blue cheese guy.
-Cream cheese. -[Aarti] Yeah, get it! There's caviar.
We can grab some crab meat.
We should do some crab cakes, I think.
Here's berbere, let's get that.
Brown eggs.
Breadcrumbs.
-Cauliflower? -[Aarti] Yeah.
-[Mike] Chives? -[Aarti] Chives, yes.
You put Buffalo and blue cheese on anything, then it's amazing.
-Five minutes to grate enough pecorino. -Oh, that's gonna be quick.
-And then we'll cut and reserve some for the top. -This is the pepper?
-Also on the steak, -Yep.
I wanna see something fancy, I wanna see something...
Luxurious.
Just off the top of my head, champagne, caviar, beef
are all in that category.
If that doesn't say "Let's Party," I don't know what does.
If the cheese is not grated fine enough,
I am going to be in trouble.
What are y'all all making, Julie?
-[Julie] I'm making cacio e pepe. -[Kelsey] Nice.
-Okay. -[Julie] Which is very daring.
-You ever made that? -Yes, I've made it many a time.
So I know it breaks very easily.
For my cacio e pepe it's a really easy dish
and it's really easy to mess up,
so I'm super nervous about this one.
It's not that simple, she's being modest.
It's kind of a complicated dish.
The cheese has to be like dust.
It cannot be shredded, it cannot be chunks. It won't work.
I am freaking out about grating my pecorino Romano into the perfect dust.
[sighs]
[Guy] Eighteen minutes.
If I have a B and a C, I'm gonna make a big bellini
from buckwheat flour and put a big ol' dollop of...
-[Aaron] Caviar and? -Creme fraiche. Done.
I am freaking out about grating
my pecorino Romano into the perfect dust.
[Kelsey] Hey, put that into that food processor.
-You think so? -Oh, yeah.
All right, let's do it.
Yes! Put it in the food processor. Hello?
Please grate into a dust.
[mimic angelic choir]
I am never wasting five hours grating pecorino into a dust ever again.
I want to win $20,000 so I can upgrade my kitchen
and get me a good processor to grate me some pecorino.
[Elizabeth] For my graduation dinner,
we are making beef and chorizo enchiladas.
I need to start reconstituting these chiles.
If your tia showed up and had a platter of enchiladas,
-you were through the roof? -It was going down.
-Through the roof. -That's what you were happy for?
-[Elizabeth] Yes, yes. -I buy it, I buy it. Good luck.
[Amanda] To start the enchilada filling, I put beef in one pan
and the chorizo in another.
If I put all the beef and all the chorizo in one pan, it's not gonna cook as fast.
-[Aarti] Chop it into florets. -[Mike] Okay.
For our graduation dinner, we are making a ribeye steak...
[Aarti] ...buffalo blue cheese cauliflower puree with crab cakes.
It's a cool way to do a surf and turf.
Berbere has like a strong curry powder
but with more personality flavor.
-Grill master, you keep an eye. -Grill.
[Guy] Twelve minutes, 12 minutes to go.
[Julie] We have to grind up the black peppercorns.
All right, they need to go in here.
We shove those nice peppercorns into the pot with some pasta water.
[Rocco] The grill is super-hot so I move the steaks to a tray
and put them in the oven, I'm gonna finish in the oven.
The sauce for cacio e pepe is an emulsification of pecorino Romano
and pasta water.
Okay, this is the moment of truth.
This is where it's worked out for me or failed me in the past.
All right, it turned into a sauce.
-You definitely know how to make cacio e pepe. -That's the biggest compliment
-I've ever received in my life. -Don't worry anymore.
Let's start the brussels sprouts.
-Cut them. -Then drop them in the fryer.
[imitating frying] Right in there.
The steak is gorgeous.
[Elizabeth] Oh, my tortillas.
While Amanda is working on the meat filling,
I'm working on the chili sauce.
I add it to the blender with cilantro, and I blend it all up.
I became a teacher because I really love making an impact.
I actually teach the kids how to read.
It's amazing and super rewarding.
[Amanda] Fry up those chicharrons, so we have that ready.
[Elizabeth] The chicharrons only take a minute to fry.
-Kind of interesting, right? -They're cool. They're super cool.
We have to assemble the enchiladas.
[Elizabeth] Dip the tortillas in the chili sauce,
Amanda's putting the meat down,
I'm rolling and sticking them into the cast iron.
We have to put cheese on top, we have to put them in the salamander.
So, we still have a lot to do.
[Guy] What are you doing with that cauliflower, Mike?
Blend it up and mix it in with some blue cheese and some buffalo.
-So creamy buffalo blue cheese? -Yeah.
Interesting. I like it.
Seven minutes.
I'm very passionate about teaching and coaching.
-[Guy] Blue cheese in there? -[Mike] Yes, we are.
You can actually see your impact.
I call it the 10-year plan.
In 10 years you can look back and Mr. Benbow was able to make a difference,
that's success.
Once it got the nice char marks,
we went ahead and stuck it in the oven.
[Aarti] For the crab cakes, I add cornstarch,
so that will hold all of it together.
I really treasure good teachers 'cause I have little girls.
When I drop them off at school, I leave them in the hands of this person.
-So, thank you. -You're welcome. Thank you.
[Guy] Three minutes, three to go.
[Julie] What better pairing than brussels sprouts and balsamico?
I'm twirling the bucatini.
-[Rocco] And then the cheese grated... -[Julie] ...right on top.
[Rocco] I sliced the steaks so they looked perfect.
Pink, coast to coast, exactly what we're looking for.
[Julie] We put our brussels sprouts in a little side dish.
[Rocco] We drizzled the steaks with aged balsamico.
[Julie] It's cacio e pepe, you need that little extra cacio on the top.
[Guy] Two minutes, two minutes flat.
[Amanda] The enchiladas are very, very hot.
[Elizabeth] I love plating things.
I grab the black and white checkered paper for graduation.
[Amanda] And the chili sauce.
[Elizabeth] Cilantro crema on top.
My grandmother would be so proud.
One minute!
[Aarti] Buffalo blue cheese cauliflower puree.
[Mike] So I slice the steak and put them on our puree.
[Aarti] So I just put a crab cake to the side,
top it with chives and caviar.
Five, four, three,
two, one, that's it! Stop working!
-[contestant cheer] -Whoo!
-Yes! -[exclaiming]
All right, let's see who's graduation dinner is worthy of a $20,000 scholarship.
Let's take it to the judges. Right this way!
All right, judges, this is it. Game two of Teaching Teams.
Our teams have made a graduation dinner using only ingredients
that began with the letters B and C.
Team Mike, Team Aarti, tell us about your dish.
So we prepared for you grass-fed beef,
some humble crab cake,
a blue cheese buffalo cauliflower,
and we're hiding the cauliflower under the meat
so the kids will eat it.
Chef Mike and chef Aarti, gave us crab cake and caviar.
They gave us creamy cauliflower puree. You've got the steak.
The buffalo sauce gives like this really nice vinegar hot sauce.
I really like it a lot,
and I think it compliments the steak.
Thank you, chef.
That sauce is so good.
If I was not on camera, I'd just be licking the sauce right now.
There's a lot of complexity in this dish.
That crab cake with that sauce is so good together,
and everything works really well together,
but I don't think you would've needed the beef.
-Okay. -Thank you, chef.
Up next, team Elizabeth and Amanda. What do you have for us?
Today we made beef and chorizo enchilada.
On the top, you have a cilantro crema
and then you have a chicharron on the side to dip in the chili.
This is so beautiful.
And this plating, I love the little paper you have here.
It kinda of tells you it's a party, keep it a little bit casual,
but so cute.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
First of all, gameplay, I think you guys hit it out of the park.
There are plenty of Bs and Cs in here.
-And I am giving this an A. -[both] Yes!
I'm not the biggest chorizo fan,
but I think you guys killed it here. the way you combined with the beef,
The way you combined it with the beef, the chili,
that cilantro crema you talked about on top.
If I have a complaint, it's I would like to have seen more salt.
-[groans] -I know salt doesn't begin with B or C,
but it is on your station.
It's waiting for you, it's cheap, I recommend using it.
Julie and Rocco, what'd you make us?
Okay, chefs, when I think big, I think pasta, and steak.
So I decided, let's do both.
And is it really a party without brussels sprouts?
[all laugh]
Please enjoy.
You definitely delivered on the portion here.
This is a mound of steak.
I love the plating, I like that you kept it separate,
you didn't try to make it one big mountain.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
I think the gameplay, again, great.
You got the B for the beef,
the B for the brussels,
the cacio e pepe, the bucatini.
I can't find much wrong with it.
I liked the beef, I liked the pasta, I like the brussels.
Thank you, chef.
You cooked this bucatini perfectly.
It's al dente, it's toothsome, it's exactly the way I like it,
but I've never have seen whole peppercorns like this in cacio e pepe.
I'm not a huge fan of the whole peppercorns.
Thank you, chef.
All right, we're gonna send you back to the kitchens,
and we'll call you back when we have a decision.
Job well done, thank you.
All right, judges.
Who's gonna be graduating to the shopping spree?
These are super teachers that go way above and beyond,
and they set great examples for our kids, so thank you.
-[Michael] Yes, great. -Good job.
-[Michael] Couldn't agree more. -Thank you. Thank you.
Let's take a look. Julie coming in at 40 points in the first round.
Seventeen out of 20 in gameplay.
-Eighteen out of 20 in taste. -[Julie] Wow.
Plating, seven out of 10 for a 42.
Congratulations. Eighty-two points.
-I'm proud of that score. -Proud of us.
Benbow, out of gameplay, 17 out of 20.
Eighteen out of 20 in taste.
Seven out of 10 for an 82. Another tie!
Oh, my gosh, you guys!
What?
Elizabeth, in gameplay, 17 out of 20.
Eighteen out of 20 in taste.
-Nine, equating for a 44. -[others gasp]
-Congratulations. 86 points. -Yes!
[others cheering]
Yes!
[Guy] Congratulations for the win.
Well, let me say this to you, we're gonna say goodnight,
but I do want to offer you something.
The Guy Fieri Foundation is all about taking care of our community.
One that we really work a lot with is kids.
The Guy Fieri Foundation is gonna give $2,500
to Fortuna High, and $2,500 to your school.
-Thank you so much. Thank you. -Thank you.
You don't go away empty handed.
Awesome, well, listen.
You did a great job, but we're going to say good night.
[general chatter]
We tie again, but we didn't get the win.
But technically we didn't lose.
Good job, Benbow. I'm proud of you, man.
All you kids out there that want to take a chance on something, do it.
[Julie] I didn't win, but I won.
Showing my students that you need to take risks,
-put yourself out there, and have fun. -[Rocco exclaims]
-Let's go shopping, you ready? -Yes.
Chef Elizabeth,
I'm gonna give you a couple ways that you could win up to $20,000.
-You could do a shopping spree. -Okay.
This is an ABC spree filled with alphabet-based clues.
[exclaims]
So if the clue was "This Z vegetable
is a type of squash." You would grab what?
-Zucchini. -[Guy] Zucchini. Right.
-It's not gonna be that easy. -No.
Or there's a check made out to you already,
valued at anywhere between $12,000 and $20,000.
-Whew. -Do you want to go shopping spree
or you wanna take the check?
-I'm going the check. -Bring her out the check!
$20,000. You're a winner.
Yes, oh, my gosh!
[Amanda] Oh, my God!
[Elizabeth] I'm like, "What just happened?"
This is amazing.
-$20,000! Come on! -Oh, my God.
Kids, we just won!
Congratulations, team Elizabeth, team Amanda.
We'll see you next time on Guy's Grocery Games.
-Adios. -Oh, my gosh.
Right?
-We're a good team. -Yeah, I want that enchilada right now, actually.
-I know. Me too. -I'm starving.