I love the home cook.
-[grunts] -[Guy Fieri] So, tonight,
is all about them.
-[Antonia Lofaso] No, no, no. -[Hunter Fieri] Hold up. Hold up.
-[Antonia] Hold up, Guy. Guy, really, really quickly... -[Hunter] Stop.
We came up with an incredible idea for the show.
-Just listen. -Okay.
To home cooks, the cookbooks of their favorite chefs
is like the holy grail.
We brought four die-hard Guy Fieri fans
right here to Flavortown
to cook straight from your book.
That was something I always wanted to do. Oh, my God.
[laughs]
Don't worry.
We're still gonna play those twisted grocery games all right?
[Michael Prince] Bam.
[Damaris Phillips] There we go.
He's a great sous chef.
It sounds like I've lost control of my show, folks.
[Antonia] We are cooking the book.
Tonight, on Guy's Grocery Games.
I'm calling my agent.
-Oh, don't. Come here. Come on. -Oh.
-He's so mad. -[both chuckle]
-We've got this. -Okay.
[Antonia] First up, we have Heather Johnson,
a food blogger from Ohio,
who went on a cruise just to try Guy's burgers.
[Heather Johnson] I went on a Carnival cruise
because Guy's burger was on there.
And I'm so excited to be in Flavortown.
Go get 'em!
-I'm going. [screams] -[Hunter] What's up?
So, I'm a home cook.
I'm all about quick and easy
'Cause when I get home, I wanna watch Guy's Grocery Games.
All right. Up next, we have Ross Hardy,
the realtor from Brooksville, Florida,
who has his own food review show,
inspired by Triple D.
I'm definitely a huge Guy superfan.
I filmed an intro to my web show,
where I dressed up as him.
My kids were super, super embarrassed by it.
[giggles]
As much as I enjoy doing real estate,
no doubt, in another life, I would have loved to have been a chef.
And then there's Michael Prince,
an IT manager,
with the dreams of becoming a full-time caterer.
I'm in Flavortown.
This is about to change my life.
But during the day, I'm an IT guy.
-[Hunter] What the-- -[Antonia] What's up?
What's up?
I'm ready to make food a full-time job.
I'm ready to dive in.
[Hunter] So much energy.
And finally, we have Emily Paster,
the blogger, cookbook author and mother of two teenagers,
who are such superfans,
they convinced their mom to compete in Flavortown.
My kids are big Guy fans.
[Hunter and Antonia] There she is.
-[Hunter] There she is. -[Antonia] Oh and Guy.
[Emily Paster] And they've been always telling me,
"Mom, you would do so well on Triple G."
So, I had to do it.
Welcome to Flavortown.
-Oh, thank you. -[Hunter] You guys excited?
-[all] Yes. -Oh, my gosh.
You guys are four super cooks.
You have enough food knowledge
to get the most out of any recipe. Is that true?
-[all] Yes. -Definitely.
Any recipe that we throw at you,
you're gonna be able to take care of it?
Any recipe.
-Any recipe? -[Ross laughs]
[Antonia] But I'm just gonna go out on a ledge and say this,
"You have never cooked like anything you're gonna do tonight."
Since you guys are all superfans of Guy's,
you're gonna be cooking straight from his cookbooks.
-Okay. -[Antonia] Yes.
Tonight, our experienced judges
will be scoring your dishes.
[Antonia] Whoever has the highest score,
after both rounds,
will get to shop Flavortown Market for...
up to $20,000.
-[Michael] Oh, yeah. -[Hunter] For your first challenge,
we want you to make a burger night special. How about that?
-Okay. -You guys don't wanna make just any burger, correct?
[all] No.
Okay, you wanna make a Guy Fieri burger, correct?
-[Heather] Yes. -[Antonia] Okay, good.
So, we have a very special burger melt,
from one of his greatest cookbooks,
Guy on Fire.
I don't have the recipes.
-I thought you had the recipes. -Wait.
-You said you had the recipes. -No.
-Okay, I'm really... It's our first day. -Okay.
-Hold on, I'll just, Dad! -It's our first day.
[Antonia] Why do you look so cranky?
I am not working the salad bar.
-[all laugh] -I'm telling you right now.
I'll work the deli, but I'm not working the salad bar.
This is his recipe
and we want you all to just read this closely.
[Heather] Seems like things are missing.
All the important stuff.
[Antonia] Let me see.
Mmm, yeah, guys.
There's a lot of blacked out instructions here.
Should we ask Guy, like, what he thinks about this?
I mean we could.
-Guy! -Uh, Father!
-Guy! -[Antonia] Guy!
-Hi. -[Antonia] Oh.
-[Hunter] Hey. -What?
Recipe redacted. Have you looked at it?
Mmm-hmm, I did this.
Took out some of the ingredients,
some of the amounts.
I figured I just gave them the basics that they needed to follow
and that they could roadmap their way through it.
[Antonia] You guys have 30 minutes to shop,
prepare and plate your burger melt.
Listen, like, there's three of these things on here, in particular.
No, there's only two right here.
-No, there's that one. -No.
This is the one that you gotta go first,
-to get to that. -Oh, she's ready before--
-She did it so good, I was... -[Antonia chuckles]
[screams]
[Heather] Burger night. Blistered green chili recipe
A burger has to have a few major things in it.
Like, the protein.
-Bun. -Onions and peppers.
The creamy piece of cheese.
But half of the recipe is redacted.
It's, like, the FBI gave me the recipe.
Oh, yeah.
One of the key ingredients that was missing on the recipe,
was what kind of meat to use.
So, I grab some ground chicken,
ground veal and some ground beef.
I grabbed brioche buns. Those are my favorite.
Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese.
So, from what I could tell,
there is Monterey Jack chees
Mustard and Worcestershire were also on the list.
It seems, like, from the recipe,
that there were definitely some peppers and onions involved.
I'm gonna lean into those south western flavors
I think the judges are gonna think,
"This is a really cool twist."
Chipotles and adobo, baby.
Smoked paprika.
Just wanna get it that smoky flavor, you know?
-Oh, my God. Sorry. -Coming in hot.
-Nope, you get it. -[Emily laughs]
[whistles]
[banging]
Always wanted to do that.
Ground pork.
So, this redacted recipe, there's ingredients missing.
I first go to the protein.
Bacon.
So, I've used a beef and bacon blend.
'Cause I love me some pig and some cow.
Then it just said, "Four bun
and I didn't know what to grab.
Buns, buns, buns.
Went for brioche because I know they're soft
But they get a little crunchy on the edges.
Okay, what else do we need?
I'm trying to read this as I'm running through the grocery store,
so I can figure out what I have to get.
I feel, like... No.
Okay.
It didn't say what color pepper,
but I love brightly colored pepper,
so I went for red and green
I know there's Worcestershir
and I know there's Dijon mustard.
Jack cheese.
[Guy] What are you thinking, chef?
I'm thinking that I'm gonna make an awesome burger.
-I'm looking forward to this. -[Heather] Yeah.
Beef and bacon.
Since you know your dad's recipes the best.
-Of course, yeah. -Okay, we're gonna throw you
into the judges' table first.
-Sounds good. I'll see you. -All right, go judge.
Come on, baby.
So, how can you follow a recipe that's been redacted like that?
How do you, what?
I'm a take some bacon and beef.
That's gonna give me the fat
They got about 50,000 breads over there.
They don't tell you which one?
Gourmet regular white. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
I gotta use Monterey Jack cheese.
But you don't know how much.
We got Worcestershire sauce.
Dijon mustard.
I wanna make sure that I get a little srirach
because I wanna take a chanc
I want this burger to be my own.
Onion. Onion.
You don't know what kind of peppers you use.
I just grab some serrano jalapeno.
I gotta go in here and make a burger,
that's gonna define its own street in Flavortown.
That's at the corner of Spice Street
and Jalapeno Avenue. [chuckles]
Yes.
Ooh, chicken.
Don't eat that chicken.
-Just checking. -[Antonia] Don't.
-Don't eat the chicken. -Everything's fine here.
[exhales heavily]
Hard part about going off a recipe that has redacted stuff,
is your mind's working overload.
It's basically missing every single useful
piece of information that I would need.
For the burger, I'm grabbing ground turkey and ground pork,
just to bring that fat back into it.
I'm grabbing the Monterey Jack.
I'm also gonna grab some Pepper Jack
for that little bit of spice
Going to lean on the Indian influence
and I'm gonna go for a garam masala burger.
Let's do it. It's gonna set me apart from everybody else.
Let's go with the brioche.
I'm also gonna grab some Dijon mustard.
Worcestershire sauce, red onion.
I'm grabbing red and green bell pepper.
Picking up the poblanos, the serranos, jalapenos, red chilis.
I just wanna get as much heat packed
into this thing as I can.
This is pretty legit.
Come on, come on, come on.
So, here to weigh in, in our cooking the books competition,
-our judges with cook-- -No, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
-♪ No, no ♪ -Shouldn't he be cleaning?
Ridiculous!
Okay, joining Hunter at the judges' table,
Food Network star and cookbook author,
who literally wrote the book on southern vegetarian comfort food,
Miss Damaris Phillips.
-Everyone? -[Hunter] Yes.
I like to do snap sometimes.
Um, and Food Network star and cookbook author
of The Laws in Cooking: And How to Break Them.
Five time Triple G winner,
Sir Justin Warner. [claps]
And, of course, my co-host, Hunter Fieri.
-Thank you. -[Damaris] Woo!
So, these four cooks.
They've cooked his recipes for a while.
And now, to be able to, like, spend a little bit of time
in the kitchen with Guy
and cook his recipes, is a big deal.
Putting the egg on Guy's burger.
-No, oh, my God. I hope no one does that. -[laughs]
[Guy] Twenty-five minutes.
Oh, my gosh, it's five minutes down already.
I've never seen this recipe before, but I am gonna tackle it.
All right, I have everything. I got my peppers.
For my blistered green chili burger,
I'm gonna make a beef and bacon burger.
Are we following the recipe to the tee,
or how are you veering off?
[Heather] I, kind of, wanna go by the recipe,
but I'm sure, once I get going,
-I'll just go. Yeah. -Okay, take a deep breath. Go.
First up, we're gonna stick our chilies on here and blister.
I've watched enough Guy's Grocery Games,
that I know, "blister the chili" means get them on the grill
and get that skin blistered
-[Guy] Chef, how you feeling? -I'm feeling great.
I'm feeling, like, these blistered peppers
are looking foul.
[Guy] Doing a great job with those.
The further you take them,
-the easier those skins are gonna come off. -Okay. All right.
Here I am, in Flavortown Market,
with a Guy Fieri recipe,
with Guy Fieri.
Like, who does this?
Whoa!
I almost burned down the kitchen.
Ahhh!
Twenty-two minutes to go.
We've got some superstar superfans.
We've got one of, uh, Guy's signature recipes.
The challenge, of course, follow a redacted recipe.
It allows the chefs to, kind of, take it in their own direction.
You know, have some fun with it.
Oh, my gosh.
So, now it's time to start on the meat
for the blistered green chili burger.
I look at the recipe, because I'm being a good recipe follower.
What do you put in your burgers?
The recipe says to put the charred poblano's in the burger,
but there's amounts missing
So, I'm going for it. They're going in.
Worcestershire.
Recipe says there's Worcestershire
and I know there's Dijon mustard.
Make a little dent in the middle.
[Damaris] Heather, you're doing great.
[Heather] Damaris is right there.
-Chef Damaris is totally one of my favorites. -[laughs]
So, to be able to have Chef Damaris
taste my food today, best day ever.
I'm literally putting the poblanos on the grill, now.
Really important element of this recipe are the poblanos.
I knew they had to go on the grill.
The next step is my meat mixture.
Gotta get some patties going.
And the fact that the meat was redacted,
freed me up to make a super juicy southwestern style burger.
Ground chicken going in.
Some ground veal
and some ground beef.
So, the recipe calls for Worcestershire in the meat mixture.
How we doing, chef?
I'm gonna give you guys a little bit of a mix of different meats.
So, it's gonna have that extra fat.
Fat is flavor.
-You know what I mean? -Are you charring those peppers?
[Emily] Yeah, baby.
-Are you gonna flip those for me, chef? -I am.
-Thanks. -Yeah, I'm not the host today.
[Emily] Another key element of the recipe
is the sauteed onions and peppers.
That is a nice way to top your burger.
Beautiful.
Watch out, 'cause that grill is super, super hot.
-Get those chilies and throw them in there. -[Emily] Yes.
Yeah, give those a toss.
He's a great sous chef.
How did you find everything?
-Good? No? -[giggles]
-[Ross] We'll see. -I like that.
I just get a giggle.
I'm really, really happy about recreating a Guy recipe,
but just with my own little spin on it.
I'm making a turkey and pork burger, with garam masala.
I'm following Guy's recipe.
Start blistering my poblano on the open flame.
Put a little bit of heat on these.
Next, I definitely need to work on my burger patties
All right, pork's going in, turkey going in.
So, when I'm looking throug the redacted parts of the recipe,
I'm really trying to work out how much
of the missing ingredient is supposed to be in there.
I'm adding the Worcestershire sauce,
uh, garam masala.
Getting the warmth and the heat from the garam masala.
My own little spin.
The difficulty with ground turkey and ground pork
is if you overcook ground turkey, it becomes dry.
And if you don't cook ground pork far enough, you can't eat it.
So, are you gonna cook them separately?
-Now I'm gonna try-- -Maybe you should do separate patties.
-Yeah. -Like a double decker? Sounds good to me.
-I like this part of not having to be the host. -Yeah. [chuckles]
-I get to go around and be the kitchen angel. -The fun part, right?
The ground beef with some bacon in it.
Oh, really?
They had Dijon mustard in the recipe, redacted.
What am I gonna use?
So, put a dollop of Dijon mustard.
[Guy] Chef, what's the dish?
We're gonna have a sriracha bacon burger.
Put my own little spin on though.
Jalapeno and a red bell.
Got it?
[Michael] Once I get that ch on the pepper,
you're looking at the recipe and it's, like,
"Okay, so take redacted onions." What?
Do what I gotta do to stay in this game.
So, I'm gonna put them in some olive oil and the red onion.
I think this is amazing.
We about to roll.
Bam! Pop these on the grill.
One day, I'm at home, chilling.
Come on, baby.
And the next day, I'm in Flavortown,
with Hunter, with Guy, with Antonia.
This ain't real. Let me pinch.
This ain't... [chuckles]
[Hunter] Sixteen minutes left.
Oh, my God. These burgers are a disaster.
They're just falling apart.
It's not holding together.
I think I put a little too much Worcestershire sauce in there.
But, that was what was redacted.
I knew I had to pivot.
My hometown makes, uh, something we call a "maid-rite."
It's a loose meat burger.
This is how you tweak a recipe and make it your own.
That's how I'm selling this.
So, I get that Jack cheese and I put it on top of the burger.
That's exactly what the recipe calls for.
Cheese helps everything.
[Guy] Fourteen minutes.
I gotta recommend, with 14 minutes,
-you start cooking these. -[Emily] You're totally right, Guy.
Whoo!
I'm cooking in Flavortown now.
You guys heard about butter burgers?
Just gonna put a little pat of butter
in the center of these babies.
This is, like, my big spin on Guy's recipe.
Basically getting juicy from the inside.
Put the cheese right onto the patties, true to the recipe.
-I can't wait to eat burgers today. -Oh, I'm so stoked.
-I haven't had a burger in a long time. -I love a burger.
[Ross] Next, following Guy's recipe,
need to work on the onions and the peppers.
[Guy] Eight minutes. Eight to go.
Go on, cook, cook. Woo!
[Heather] Hey, Ross. How you doing, bro?
[groaning] If I could get these burgers to cook,
I'd be doing a lot better.
Looking at my burgers, at the pork patties are done
They look great, but the turkey burgers just are not getting there.
I don't think these burgers are gonna make it in time.
[Guy] Six minutes.
[Michael] I went and checke on my burgers
and they were not done.
[Antonia] How's it going over here?
-They're so big. -Wow.
That's just so big.
Maybe put them next to each other.
You could put the pan on top of it
and, kind of, let them cook on the inside.
Flip it over. There you go.
[Guy] Three and a half.
So, I take my burgers out of the oven.
They look perfect.
I'm gonna take the sauteed onions and peppe
and put them on the bottom.
We're just gonna do this.
'Cause I want that melty, cheesy burger
to be the first thing that the chefs see.
The recipe also called for Dijon mustard.
I like a lot of Dijon mustar
So, I put my Dijon on the bun.
That's a lot of Dijon, sister.
-[Heather] Well-- -That might kill people.
-[Heather] You think? -It's not called a Dijon burger.
[Heather] Gotta listen to Guy.
I've got the different toppings, sort of, down on the bun,
with sauteed onions and peppers.
Kind of, like, put my own spin on it.
Quick chop on those. So much easier to spread on my burger.
Then the burgers go on last
-These came out good. -[Emily] Right?
I would eat that.
[Antonia] Two minutes, chefs.
Burger came out absolutely perfect.
I got my toasted buns, got my peppers on top.
I take my nice juicy burger and I put it on the top
with Pepper Jack.
Put my own little spin on the recipe.
It's gotta be spicy.
Take a little sriracha
and I put it all on the top of the bun.
[Antonia] Less than a minute, chefs.
[Ross] Following Guy's recip the Dijon mustard.
What a great condiment to go on a burger.
Put my pork patty down on there.
I'm starting to plate the turkey patties,
but there's just no way these things are done.
From watching the show, I know, don't put stuff on the plate,
just to have it there.
You go with what's gonna be good.
The very last second,
I get the blistered, sliced poblano peppers on there.
Five, four,
three, two, one. Chef, it's over.
-It's over. It's over. -[Damaris screams]
-[judges clapping] -[Antonia] Everyone, take a deep breath.
I need a deep breath.
That was literally, the crazies thing I've ever done.
[Ross] When I'm done plating
I realize that I'm missing some of the paper on one of them.
My plating let me down.
It's time to find out
who's version of Guy's burger is baller.
Let's take it to the judges.
All right, judges. This is game one of cooking the books.
-Recipe redacted. -[Antonia] Wait.
-Hold, hold, hold, hold on. -[groans]
Need you to scooch. Scooch, scooch, scooch.
-[Heather giggles] -[Antonia] You can stay right here?
-I'm not staying right there. -[giggles]
-Everyone say, "Bye, Guy." -[all] Bye, Guy.
[Antonia] Okay, our chefs had to make
a version of Guy's burger,
using a recipe from one of his cookbooks
that had several key instructions blacked out.
Up first, Chef Emily. Tell us what you did.
For my redacted burger,
I really leaned into the southwestern flavors.
For my own spin, I used a mixture of different meats.
So, there was some chicken, some veal, some beef.
You've got your sauteed onions and peppers.
You've got that sauteed poblano, that's the green chili.
In the parlance of Flavortown,
this burger is stacked and jacked.
It has a huge punch of peppery flavor,
[Antonia] Wait, I'm sorry, Justin.
-Oh, you can keep talking. -[Antonia] Are you sure?
-Yeah, checking on things. -[Antonia] Oh, good. Okay.
[Antonia] Sorry, Justin. Go ahead.
[Justin] As you can see, talk about leaning in,
I had to hunch over to protect myself
from the flavor works dripping from this.
That's awesome.
[Hunter] It's got a crust on it. It's got flavor.
It is juicy and it's cheesy
Well done. Nice job.
Phew.
When it comes to gameplay,
when we're thinking about taking a Guy Fieri recipe
and then adding our own special twist to it,
I think that you absolutely nailed that.
I think the burger is juicy.
I think you've got great spice in there.
I think that burger is spot on.
-That's awesome, thank you. Thank you. -[Guy] Dynamite.
-Oh, my God. -All right. Up next, chef Michael.
I love a big burger first of all.
So, I made you a sriracha bacon burger.
That's very spicy.
That was my spin on the recipe.
Once you take a bite, you'll taste the bacon
and some juiciness of the charred vegetables.
Great, great char on that burger.
And it's got some juiciness. You killed that, for sure.
-Thank you. -You really decided to take it in a heatwave.
And I love it.
[Justin] The plating, uh, maybe a little scary.
But if this were the burger Olympics,
your sport would be discus.
I didn't even know that I had the fortitude to lift.
I had to prop myself up.
I don't even understand the physics of how it's staying together.
So, whatever sorcery you've brought,
uh, you know, it's great.
[Guy] I tell you what I love about that burger.
For that big of a burger, it's juicy.
I think you're lacking a little bit of salt, unfortunately.
Fat always needs salt.
-Thank you, chef. -Up next, Chef Heather.
Did a beef and bacon burger.
And then you've got some poblano peppers inside.
My spin is, I'm from Iowa,
and we have a thing called, "a loose meat sandwich."
So, it's a little fall apart,
but I seal it all together with that thick slice of cheese.
Is that a real thing? Should we Google that?
"Loose meat sandwich." It's on my blog.
-Google it. -[giggles]
I can't say that I'm familiar with the old loose meat sandwich.
Although, it sounds like a great ska band.
I'm a convert, man, by their discography,
because this thing eats really nicely.
I could've used a little bit more uniform cuts on the peppers.
Because, like, this onion, perfectly melty.
Uh, this pepper, uh, practically still has a heartbeat.
Got it. Thank you, chef.
I feel, like, gameplay wise, you gave us Guy.
-Made it your own. -Thank you, chef.
What I really like about it, it is loose.
It's not super hard and compact.
I thought you put too much Dijon mustard in it,
when I saw you preparing it.
But, I think, for the level and that flavor profile of that burger,
with all the strong flavors, you hit just the right amount.
That's excellent.
[Antonia] You're gonna make her cry. Look at her.
It's the best day ever.
Oh, that's great.
All right, finally, Chef Ross.
So, judges, for my burger night,
I've made a garam masala pork burger,
getting the heat from the garam masala.
Some cumin and some cayenne to put my own spin on it.
[Justin] Ross, I can't say that I've ever had a burger with garam masala.
But it works. The burger itself has good texture.
But I think I have two bottom buns,
which feels weird.
And also, I didn't get a paper.
So, the plating for me, will probably be dinged.
[Damaris] You took some of the vegetables right to the edge, like,
almost burnt, but you get a ton of that caramelization.
I like it.
Thank you.
The char on the peppers was delicious, the caramelization,
it's a great contrast to the garam masala.
Boy, I just picked up a garam masala
pork burger idea, going on in my mind.
-Well done, just one more... -[laughs]
Mmm. That's how you do it on Triple G.
[Antonia] The best part of this entire day
is that you guys are true super fans of that man,
so to hear him, like,
talk about your food, eat your food,
-it must feel good. Yeah. -It's unbelievable.
It's like a dream. -[Antonia] That's good.
Happy tears.
Okay, we have a new... [laughs]
-Hi, Mom. -[Antonia] Um, Hunter's cameraman?
-Why don't you go ahead? -Hey, Dad! I'm on TV!
[all chuckling]
[Guy] No, folks, there is not an earthquake,
I am running the camera, all right...
Thank you, chefs! I'm gonna ask you to leave the kitchen,
so the judges can deliberate and score your dishes.
And there he goes...
[yelps]
-[laughs] -This thing is so heavy!
All right, super cooks, you guys did a phenomenal job.
[Guy] Let's take it from the top.
20 points available in gameplay,
20 available in taste, and 10 in plating. Heather!
17, 17, 6!
-for a total of 40, nice score! -[clapping]
Ross, my man.
16 out of 20 in gameplay,
15 out of 20 in taste,
Six out of ten in plating for a 37.
Michael! 15 out of 20 in gameplay,
14 out of 20 in taste,
Six out of ten for plating, for a 35.
Ross, you just got saved!
[exhales in relief]
[Guy] Emily, you gotta beat a 35 to stay in the game!
16 out of 20 in gameplay,
17 out of 20 in taste,
Seven out in plating for a 40, a tie at 40!
Michael at 35, there you have it.
And this is where I'll step out, and say, uh, adieu, adoir,
good night, arrivederci, ,
-see you later, uh, goodbye. -[laughing]
Now I have the mean job. Oh, God, okay.
-Chef Michael... -It's all right.
Let me just say, it was an absolute pleasure watching you cook today.
-Thank you, thank you, chefs, I appreciate y'all. -[Antonia] Thank you, guys.
-Everyone say goodbye to Chef Michael. -Good luck, thank you!
-Awesome job-- -Hold up, hold up, hold up!
-Oh! He's back. -Executive order!
-[Damaris] Yes! I love it! -You get to stay!
-Yay! -[all exclaiming]
There you go, great job! Chefs, back to your carts!
Sorry, I just had to do what I had to do!
All right, super cooks,
in this final round of Cooking the Books,
-the problem is that Guy has so many cookbooks... -Right.
...and so many great recipes,
-it's hard to pick just one. -Time out. Why just one?
-Let's just let them decide. -I mean, here's the thing... oh.
-What? -[chuckling]
-[Hunter] Hi! -I mean, let's just get to the point.
You two are out here just having
-namby-pamby tatter time. -We're talking to them!
-Okay? Trying to... -I understand. I'm here to save you.
-Thank you! -Who's got you? Right here.
-G money! -Over here, lurking in the aisles!
-[laughing] -We have four great recipes,
from Guy's various cookbooks.
Guy's Italian nachos,
dirty bird sketti,
Tex Wasabi's koi fish tacos,
and Hunter's Hero.
-That's right, Hunter's Hero is a national favorite. -[laughs]
[Antonia] Look them over and pick your favorite one,
whatever recipe speaks to you.
All right, Chef Heather! What did you choose?
-Hunter's Hero. -Hunter's Hero!
-[Antonia] Chef Ross? -Got the same one!
-[Antonia] Hunter's Hero? -Respect!
-Chef Michael? -[Hunter] Show us what you got!
-Dirty bird sketti! -[Antonia] And Emily?
-[Hunter] Emily? What have you got? -Tex Wasabi's koi fish tacos!
All right, you ready to buckle up for this?
We're gonna give you...
three minutes!
To shop for all of your ingredients!
-No... -There will not be any opportunity
to go back into the store to get any missing ingredient.
Since you're gonna have to be on your toes,
I think these big shopping carts are just gonna get in the way.
[Hunter] Ah, you're probably right.
[Antonia] They're just gonna get in the way, so let's just get rid of 'em.
-Stand in front of them. -This sounds like a trap.
-This is sounding like a... -[Hunter] A trap?
-Hunter, do we have anything else that they could use? -We do--
-Anything else-- -[Guy] Wait, wait, wait.
I know exactly what they're doing to you.
They're trying to get you to shop what you can carry in your hand.
-You get to have baskets to shop. -Thank you!
-Thank you, Guy, thank you! -I cannot leave...
-You know what, it is so lucky that I am here... -You're a hero.
-Thank you. -...keeping an eye on things.
-Ridiculous. I got things to stock. -Wait, I was, like--
-And I printed the recipes! -Don't touch anything else in the store, please!
All right, chefs, you have 30 minutes,
three minutes to shop, in your tiny little baskets.
Wait, whoa, we gave 'em three minutes?
Three minutes to shop.
-I thought we were talking about two minutes. -When you and I came together,
we were talking about the challenge,
-you said three minutes. -It was, like, one minute, to, like--
-[Guy shouting] Go! -[others laughing]
Who can shop in three minutes?
Pasta... yeah.
[Michael] I'm gonna make Guy's dirty bird sketti.
There we go!
[Michael] And you gotta have marinara,
but what makes it dirty is, you got your cumin,
you have your oregano, you have your smoked paprika
-you have your cinnamon. -I need white wine!
[Michael] Going into the next round, I know I'm in last place.
-I don't know how I'm gonna do this, but... -Three minutes?
Can somebody check the time? [chuckles]
Three minutes is not a lot of time.
I actually feel bad. Should have given 'em, like, five.
This is a big store.
Tempura, tempura, tempura...
[Emily] Tex Wasabi's koi fish tacos.
Who doesn't like tacos?
Tempura mix? Yes!
But it is so crazy and overwhelming.
Why am I going down this aisle? This aisle is useless!
The most important thing is to get my cod.
[Emily] Tortillas.
This aioli actually has some sour cream as well.
Do not forget the mayo!
Did grab cilantro,
have that crunchy slaw,
that is gonna add that crunc
and that fresh element that I wanted.
The recipe doesn't call for avocado.
It's not a fish taco without avocado.
All right, I've gotta get tequila,
it's a major thing!
All right chefs, you got 90 seconds to shop! 90 seconds left!
[Ross] I'm picking Hunter's Hero,
because I've actually made it at home before.
Big, juicy meatballs,
tons of sauce, and tons of cheese.
I'm going for the parsley and basil.
I'm not really trying to mes too much with this recipe,
Guy knows what he's doing with Hunter's Hero.
[Antonia] Um, you're snacking?
-Guy Fieri? -No, I'm not snacking, I'm inventory-ing.
I never get to peruse the market,
and really appreciate the finer goods that we have available, like,
-what an amazing cheese selection! -Oh.
'Cause I'm usually busy doing the work part.
-[laughing] Goodbye, I'm gonna go... -[chuckles]
[Heather] I'm gonna do my own little tweaks
on the Hunter's Hero.
Instead of making meatballs
I'm gonna go with Italian sausage,
because that has all those seasonings already in it,
everything else will be the same.
Sauce, and cheese, and herbs
Think I'm good.
All right, chefs! Eight! Seven!
Six! Five!
Four! Three! Two!
One! All right, chefs! To your kitchen!
-[exhales] -It's time to cook!
[Guy] 27 minutes!
So we've got these super fans.
They got a recipe for inspiration,
and only three minutes to shop.
That's not easy.
[Michael] I'm gonna make the dirty bird sketti.
Let's do this. Oh...
I didn't get that bacon!
[Michael] The bacon, that would've gave me
some smoky flavor that I was looking for.
Well, we gonna have to figure that out.
That's all right... Looking at the recipe, I got the cinnamon, oregano,
that smoked paprika, cumin...
With all those spices, this is going to be dirty.
-The dirty bird sketti, I like the move, buddy! -Hey, hey!
-You think you got everything you needed? -I did not.
What are you missing?
Uh, bacon. [chuckles]
-Yeah, bacon, that might hurt a little bit. -[laughs]
[Michael] I take the spices and I put all the spices on the chicken,
and then I put it in my pan It's starting to cook.
To know that you last, in last place...
I gotta do what I gotta do to stay in this game, man, so...
Ah! Oof!
So we're just doing sweet Italian sausage.
I'm making Guy's recipe for Guy!
I took Hunter's Hero and I'm putting my own twist on it,
so I'm changing Hunter's Her
into an Italian grinder sandwich.
I'm just switching the meat up a little.
Going from meatballs to Italian sausage.
Just has all the herbs and all the seasonings that those meatballs had,
'cause I think that'll be a time saver,
and still have that same feeling and flavor.
You did get marinara.
[Heather] I found out that there is a Guy Fieri marinara,
and I missed it, I couldn't find it!
-You didn't get the Guy Fieri marinara? -I couldn't find it!
I already had a marinara,
but I wanted Guy's marinara!
-Chef, you have 20 minutes to go! -[Heather] Okay!
[Heather] Next, I'm gonna pull out some of the bread innards.
So we have a little pocket of love.
[Heather] Then I'm gonna garlic butter the inside.
Okay, I'm gonna let that cook.
All right. Let's see if we can make this work.
[Ross] For my recipe pick, I'm going to make Hunter's Hero.
Pork and the beef.
[Ross] First thing I get started on is the meatballs
I'm a meatball lover myself,
so, uh, this kind of spoke to me.
-[Guy] How we lookin'? -Well... [exhales]
-Did you get everything you need? -No, I did not.
-What'd you miss? -How about mozzarella?
-Did you get any cheese? -Yeah, I got Parmesan.
You got the Guy Fieri tomato sauce at least!
[Ross] Making meatballs, it's all about the texture,
and you need to make sure that they don't fall apart
when you get them in the pan.
So the sauce is already grea
but I just wanna add some extra flavor to it.
So I'm gonna put the rind from the Parmesan cheese in there,
bring out some different flavors.
-[sizzling] -[exhales] Come on, we gotta go, gotta go.
All right.
Tequila!
[Emily] For Guy's fish taco recipe,
first thing I'm doing is getting the cod in a marinade.
I add tequila and the lime juice.
We're gonna marinate this fish for as long as I can.
I'm gonna make my tequila lime aioli.
[Emily] One of the really awesome parts of this recip
is the tequila lime aioli.
My favorite.
[Emily] So it's mayonnaise,
tequila, sour cream, and the lime.
And I did not grab enough limes.
I was always thinking if I came on Guy's Grocery Games,
I might wanna make a taco.
They're super delicious, tons of flavor,
I feel like Guy's pretty famous for his tacos,
so that was something I always wanted to do.
Oh, my God! [laughs]
Just checkin' out what's goin' on!
I got almost everything I wanted,
I didn't grab enough limes.
-[Guy] Okay, good luck! -Thank you!
[exhales] All right...
[Guy] 18 minutes to cook!
I mean, gotta kitchen angel them a little bit.
They're home cooks, they need a little love!
One kitchen forgot mozzarella,
one needs more limes,
somebody wanted the Guy Fieri tomato sauce,
and one needs bacon.
I think I can help 'em all out.
You wouldn't believe this. We're overstocked on limes.
[gasps loudly] Guy, you're my hero!
Chef, you wouldn't believe it, we're overstocked on bacon.
Hey, man! I thank you, Guy!
Crazy, we're overstocked on cheese,
-I brought you some. -What a saint!
-[gasps] -I didn't know if you wanted the tomato sauce,
or the pepperoni tomato sauce.
[Heather] Thank you, sweet pea!
[Guy] 15 minutes!
That's coming along...
[Michael] While my chicken is cooking,
I'm looking around for the bacon,
he already got it, and just dropped it, boom.
He just come here, oink, oink, ah,
oink, oink, oink, and he just...
Pow!
That's my dude! That's my dude.
So while my pasta's cooking
I go ahead and start workin on the marinara sauce.
I can smell the wine!
If I win the $20,000,
I am going put it into my barbecue sauce company.
I would really like to take
my barbecue sauce to the next level.
It needs $20,000 to get it where it needs to go, so...
He's so pretty! Look at that hair!
Guy's my little sweet pea.
[sighs in pleasure]
Stir...
[Heather] My sausage and peppers,
they're looking amazing.
They're crispy on the edges
there's big chunks, little chunks.
It's time to build that sandwich.
I'm gonna lean in on the fall-apart again,
and I'm gonna make it a loose meat sandwich.
I'm getting excited, thinking that this sandwich is gonna be good.
And I work seven days a week, so I need a break.
If I win this money today,
priority number one is beach vacation,
because I need a beach in my life.
We're going in the grill.
[exhales in exasperation] Come on, cook, cook, cook...
[Ross] Next, I'm shredding this mozzarella that Guy brought me.
Some Parmesan for that...
[Ross] Just for a little bit of different flavor in the cheese.
You like it saucy, right?
-Always saucy! -All right.
[Ross] I really wanna win this so bad.
I'm picturing myself with the check in hand,
surrounded by Guy and the judges,
confetti falling from the sk
Now I just need to get this sandwich under the broiler.
One of the big things on this,
on these fish tacos is, there's, like, a crunchy slaw.
To save time, I grabbed the coleslaw mix.
It has my own spin on it.
Little extra cumin.
So I'm gonna hit this with a little of that red wine vinegar as well.
I'm happy with that.
I've gotta fry this fish.
[Emily] The recipe calls for tempura batter,
that I've seasoned with some salt, some cayenne.
Time to get that fish in.
[Guy] You got about ten minutes,
-let's go ahead and get some of those dropped, okay? -I agree, I agree!
It's a small fryer, so maybe about three on each side.
Okay...
-[Emily] One, two, three... -[Guy] Okay?
[Guy] Get those tortillas going!
[Emily] Guy gives you advice? Take it.
It's a little intimidating
to have to cook one of Guy's recipes in front of Guy!
But, it's honestly, like, a dream come true.
I've probably been dreaming about going to pastry school for, like, ten years.
So, if I were to win,
I do wanna go to pastry school.
I love baking,
and I know there's a lot of science involved,
so, that's kind of my dream.
[Justin] Tempura route is a smart, smart move.
I'm not even worried about the crunch on that.
[Guy] Four minutes to be plated and finished!
[clears throat nervously]
[Michael] We took the pasta, and we added it to the marinara.
We added the bacon to it.
Thanks, Guy! [laughs]
[Guy] There we go, chef, looking good.
Nice nesting of that,
get that chicken up on top, beautiful.
Wow!
[Heather] I get the basil on and put the sandwich togethe
It's a lot of bread.
I gotta put a little spin on it,
so I took some garlic butter and I poured it on top,
because I know that's gonna give a little bit of extra buttery goodness.
[kissing]
[Guy] One minute and 30 seconds left!
[Ross] Hero's done, and it looks like the cheese has melted,
I'm really happy with what I'm putting on the plate.
-[Guy] Lookin' good, buddy! -Here we go.
[Guy] Thirty seconds!
[Emily] Two tortillas, and then my aioli,
and then the golden-brown fish, perfection.
Top it with that crunchy slaw,
and lots and lots of lime juice.
-[Hunter] Five! -Four!
-[laughing] Three! -[Antonia] Two!
[Hunter] One!
-Chefs, that's it! Stop cookin'! -[clapping]
[Antonia] Great job!
[laughing]
-Looks great, buddy! -[Michael] Thank you.
All right, it's time to find out
whose recipe was a smash hit.
Let's take it to the judges! Come on!
This is game two of Cooking the Books.
Chefs had to pick one of Guy's recipes,
and shop for the ingredients in three minutes.
Up first, Chef Emily, tell us what you made.
I made Tex Wasabi's koi fish tacos.
You also have a crunchy slaw
and plenty of lime juice.
One of the things that I did add to the recipe
was some delicious, buttery avocado.
I think that you've probably picked the smartest recipe.
The protein cooks the fastest,
-you have a ton of fresh vegetables on there. -Thanks!
I would have loved to see some heat.
Like a Fresno, even a jalapeno or serrano, something like that.
[Justin] To me, a fish taco is, like,
a gluttonous thing that you want on the beach,
-and this is that. -Thank you.
Fish is cooked perfectly, avocado's a great addition to it.
You put a good amount of acid, and gives you that acidic...
-[fizzing] -...tongue tingle that you're looking for.
-Tongue tingle. -[laughs softly]
All right, Chef Ross!
Judges, I made Hunter's Hero.
I am a real fiend for a meatball.
Obviously, a good meatball has to have super, super amounts of cheese.
So please, enjoy.
This is not just a hero.
This is, like, a submarine with a cape.
The brightness of the sauce
cuts through all of that cheese,
and to think that you got this much flavor
out of that tiny basket, high marks for gameplay.
-Awesome, thank you. -[Antonia] It reminds me of, like,
growing up in New York, where you would get, like,
a meatball sub and they would wrap it in parchment paper...
-[Ross] Yep. -...and then in aluminum, so it kinda steamed,
-and then you expected the bread to be soggy. -Mmm-hmm.
So, there's some nostalgia there for me.
Great, okay.
[Damaris] It really is very delicious.
The recipe calls for one cup of sauce,
and you clearly sauced
-much more than that. -Not a one cup of sauce guy.
[Guy] What I'm most impressed with,
that you cooked 'em in the pan,
-and you built a really nice crust on 'em. -Yep.
-[Guy] A little bit over-sauced. -[others agreeing]
And I would like double the amount of cheese.
To pull off a meatball that impromptu is delicious.
-Awesome. -[Hunter] Uh, thank you, Ross.
All right, up next, Chef Michael!
[Michael] I made the dirty bird sketti.
We took bacon and put it in the recipe as well,
so it crisped up, which is amazing. Enjoy!
I am hyper-critical of pasta cooking,
because, obviously, like,
-I was born in a womb of spaghetti. -[laughing]
[Antonia] I think the pasta's cooked really beautifully.
-[Michael] Thank you. -[Antonia] There's, like, a perfect bite to it.
The chicken is overcooked, though.
-Okay. -I thought that it was a really smart choice
of you to make pasta, because everyone loves pasta.
The spices that you added are nice and warm.
[Justin] I'm looking at this,
I feel like this looks like a paint swatch of delicious colors, you know?
They all kind of bleed into each other, delightful
-Thank you. -This is perfect cooked pasta.
Everything was going right for you in this dish.
[Hunter] And not to be outdone,
the one and only, Chef Heather!
Well, I'm a big girl, and I like a big sandwich.
[laughs] So, I love a grinder sandwich.
My big swap on the ingredients
was the meatballs for Italian sausage,
and I browned the bread a little bit
ahead of time with some garlic butter.
I want you to just focus, from here on out,
on these loose meat sandwiches.
[all laughing]
[Justin] I don't care if it's not your calling.
The world's just gonna be a better place
with more of Heather's loose meat sandwiches.
We'll workshop the name.
I really enjoy the use of the sausage
in lieu of the meatball-ification.
See a little bit more gameplay points coming through there.
[Antonia] What I thought was really smart,
you somehow kept true to the recipe
that, obviously, that you love,
but at the same time, did something that you really wanted to.
[Damaris] For me,
the problem all comes down to this bun.
It's too big to eat, but it's also too much bun to filling ratio.
That's it.
Garlic butter drizzle, game on.
That's a change for me,
but I'm also a garlic junkie, I brush my teeth with it.
-I like that better than my recipe. -Oh!
You're gonna make her cry again!
You should be very proud of yourselves, you've all won.
So I'm sorry that we have to send you back and let the judges deliberate.
If I was running the show today, everybody would win.
But, you know, I guess I can't,
-these two just can't be givers like I can. -[Hunter] Okay...
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens,
and they will call you back when they have a decision.
Okay? Great job, chefs!
-Thank you! -Great job, chefs! Thank you!
[Hunter] Now it is time to find out,
who will be rocking Flavortown...
for up to $20,000?
All right, in the first round, we had Heather at 40,
a 16 in gameplay...
a 16 in taste...
seven in plating, for a total of 39.
Grand total of...
79!
That's a great score.
Chef Ross, 37.
Gameplay, a 16, very nice.
Taste, a 16.
Plating, a six,
for a score of 38.
Which is going to give you a 75.
All right!
Michael at 35, 16 in gameplay.
Wow! All high gameplays!
A 16 in taste, whoa!
Seven in plating, for a score of 39 as well!
And that gives you a 74, just below Ross.
Heather, you are still...
in the lead, oh, boy.
Emily, you need a 40 to win!
A 16 in gameplay!
A 15 in taste!
You need a nine in plating!
Seven in plating, for a score of 38!
-By one point! -Oh!
-[Hunter] Heather takes the win! -[all clapping]
-[Hunter] Wow! -[Antonia] Congratulations!
[Guy] Congratulations! Well done!
-[Hunter] Congratulations! -[Antonia] So amazing!
It was an honor to have all four of you here competing tonight,
-so thank you very much, really appreciate it. -[Hunter] Thank you!
-[Guy] Nice to meet you, chefs! -[Antonia] Thank you, guys!
-Really good! -Nice to meet you!
The experience today was just once in a lifetime,
truly unforgettable.
[Michael] To be here, Flavortown,
Guy's Grocery Games...
Money.
[Emily] I only missed by one point.
I think I did myself and my kids proud today.
Okay, so giving you a couple of ways to win your $20,000.
-Are you ready? -Yeah!
Okay, there's a shopping spree.
-[Heather] Yep. -It's also called a recipe spree,
where you get two minutes to grab ten ingredients of a specific dish.
Or, you can just skip the shopping spree completely,
and pick the mystery check that's behind the doors,
worth anywhere between
$8,000 to $20,000.
-Or, or! -Or? [laughing]
We can just step in and say you've done a fantastic job,
and I'm gonna give you $20,000!
-[all yelling in surprise] -[Hunter] Yes!
[Guy] There you go, congratulations!
[Hunter] That is what I'm talking about!
Say hi to our big winner, $20,000!
This is the best day of my life.
Totally.
She took my recipe and took it to the next level!
And we'll see you next time,
on Guy's Grocery Games! Adio
-That's how you wrap the show out! -Yes, well done!
Just give her the 20 grand!