Two of the most feared shows
in food competition history are
Guy's Grocery Games
and, of course, Chopped ,
and tonight, we're combining culinary forces,
as Chopped champions take on Flavortown Market.
Does it get any better?
Does it get any worse?
[Guy] And with the help of my secret weapon,
the one and only Chopped host, Ted Allen!
Four chefs, two courses,
one winner.
The challenge, create an unforgettable meal
from the mystery items in these baskets.
Hey, Guy. There's nothing in the basket.
No, that's it, Ted.
I want you to pick out the items.
Tougher, bigger, better.
That's what I'm talking about!
It's Triple G meets Chopped, tonight,
on Guy's Grocery Games.
Let's meet the Chopped champs here to take on Flavortown.
Now, first up, we have Martel Stone,
executive chef from Washington, D.C.,
who won Chopped Next Gen with his West African flavors.
[Martel] Being on Chopped was
one of the most challenging competitions,
because you can't really have a strategy.
Welcome to Flavortown!
He's got way better hair than me.
Next, we have Tatiana Rosana, executive chef from Boston,
who cooked from her Cuban roots to become
a two time Chopped champ.
[Ted] You are the Chopped champion.
Thank you, guys!
I am first-generation Cuban-American,
and I was classically trained in French cuisine,
so there is not much that intimidates me.
-Nice to have you. I love those Cuban roots. -Thank you.
Then there's Chris Holland,
chef/owner of an upscale New York eatery,
who has won Chopped three times
with his outside the box cuisine,
that includes cooking with tarantulas.
[Chris] There's no food
on this earth that grosses me out.
What is it?
And why don't I want to stop eating it?
[Chris] I won Chopped by breaking all the rules,
and now I'm ready to throw down in Flavortown.
We have a rule about better hair than me, okay?
You guys are already breaking the rule!
And finally, Diana Sabater, a former cop
who became a chef after winning Chopped,
and went on to become
the Ultimate Chopped Grand Champion.
My secret to winning Chopped...
The sofrito was a really nice touch to it.
- [Ted] Congratulations. - Ahhh!
Is just to stick with what I know,
which is Latin cuisine.
I like the shades!
Oh, they're in for it.
Well, chefs, welcome!
I've always wanted the epic mashup between
Chopped and Triple G.
I mean, two of Food Network's favorite shows,
and that's why
- we went and got Chopped champs. - Yeah.
The winner of Triple G will get to shop Flavortown Market
for up to 20,000 bucks.
[Tatiana] I have won $10,000 on Chopped ,
but now I'm trying to go for the big money,
$20,000.
[Guy] The bad news is, since we're combining
the two competitions, the challenges will be
twice as hard. It'll be twice as hard.
Now, usually, in the first round of Chopped,
what do you make?
[all] Appetizer. An appetizer.
An appetizer! Exactly.
I want you to make a Champion's Appetizer.
Feel good about that?
No, wait.
You know what? Something's missing.
'Cause I'm thinking there's one part of Chopped
- that is super essential... - No!
But we need to bring out
- the right guy. - No!
We need to bring out a big surprise for you. Hunter?
- Thank you very much. - [all chuckling]
I just brought some gifts for you guys. It's the first time here.
[Guy] I think these look familiar.
- [Diana] Yes, unfortunately. - [Martel] Yeah!
[Guy] This is a surprise!
I think if you're gonna compete on Triple G,
you got your baskets, we brought you these baskets,
but you know what, folks?
- This isn't the surprise I'm talking about. - You want that one?
[Guy] Get the real surprise.
I mean, you want to talk about massive...
Oh!
The curtain. What is happening?
- Oh! - Oh, hi!
- [all laughing] - [all applauding]
[Guy] The legend himself!
- Oh, my God! - Oh, God!
[Guy] Ted Allen. What do you think of that?
Does he get to eat today?
Chefs, I have selected the items
in your mystery basket
from the shelves of Flavortown Market,
so rather than a Chopped basket
you will have a "Shopped" basket.
-Oh, my gosh. -[Guy] Look at that. There we go.
I thought we were getting away from this. [chuckles]
- Here you go! - Nice to see you, Ted.
[Guy] Chefs, go ahead and open your baskets.
[Ted] Go ahead and open your baskets.
- And your appetizer ingredients are... - Oh, no!
[Ted] ...guanciale, rainbow chard,
prickly pear jelly...
[Tatiana] Freeze-dried durian?
...and freeze-dried durian.
[Diana] Savage.
All right, chefs. The market is yours.
And the clock starts...
Hold it! Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
Ted, Ted, we...
This is grocery games,
We have to have a game.
Oh, right! We gotta give you a game.
- [Guy] So we have a game. - What's the toughest game you've got?
All right.
I know that you don't have
a lot of frozen food in Chopped.
How about a little
Frozen Food Feud?
Oh, dear!
[Guy] You're gonna make a Champion's Appetizer
using your Chopped basket,
and you can only shop for ingredients
- in the frozen section. - [Hunter] That's cold.
- Got something like that? - Does it get any better?
Does it get any worse?
Folks, the market is yours.
The clock starts...
Hold on! Hold on.
- Hold on. - Oh-ho-ho.
- In Triple G, you've seen the show, it's... - [chuckles]
It's not "now," it's the...
Oh, you're talking about, like, "Three, two, one, go."
[Guy] Yeah, that's...
[Hunter] That would be it. That's good.
See? He's such a natural!
Hunter, I'm definitely retiring.
- Ted, take it over. - You're in trouble!
Frozen food. Why frozen food?
No fresh fruit,
no dairy,
no vegetables.
What am I gonna do?
Having to use all of the basket ingredients,
and only using ingredients in the frozen aisle is
really throwing me for a loop.
All right, what do we got here?
Some shrimp.
I see the frozen shrimp.
I'm gonna do a grilled shrimp
in a prickly pear agrodolce
over wilted Swiss chard.
We'll chop the dried durian with guanciale.
All right.
I'm feeling good, guys.
All right, all right.
The whammy ingredients, for me,
float around the idea of a soup.
For my Champion's Appetizer,
I'm planning to make a sweet pea veloute.
Basically, it's just a fancy soup.
The soup will be my vessel, and these whammy ingredients
will be used to elevate the Champion Appetizer.
Crispy guanciale,
sauteed Swiss chard,
prickly pear jelly as a pickling liquid
for the chard stems,
and a little layer of funk from the freeze-dried durian.
What do you think about being here?
Well, it's exciting because, you know,
I don't usually get to pick what's in the basket.
[Guy] And you did a great job, by the way.
I mean, that is Triple G level, without question.
- [Ted] Yeah. - [Guy] And what's the other thing?
Uh, I never get to judge.
That's right! You never get to judge.
Never taste the food!
And I'm hungry!
You're in Flavortown, buddy!
- Everything is yours. - I love it.
[Chris] For me, I'm going into this,
and I'm gonna play it like I played Chopped.
I am just looking for things that I can use to complement
the basket ingredients.
Frozen Tater Tots are delicious.
They're precooked potatoes that I know that I can
fabricate into a waffle, and so,
for my Champion's Appetizer, I'm going to make
a charred chard salad
with a prickly pear jelly gastrique,
over a Tater Tot waffle
with a poblano puree,
and a durian and guanciale vinaigrette.
Um, I don't know. Should I go back or not? Ugh!
I'm very excited to be on the Chopped Triple G episode.
It's like Chopped, with a lot more exercise.
I can't use this!
Frozen food is not fun to work with,
because when you're on a time limit,
you can't just grab a big piece of meat.
It takes time to defrost.
Um...
I was surprised to see sweet plantains,
and I'm like, "Okay. This is what I'm doing.
I'm making mofongo."
With mofongo, the main star of the dish is the plantains.
I'm going to use the guanciale,
prickly pear jelly, and the freeze-dried durian
to create a spice blend.
Mushrooms.
I'm just trying to make it to the next round,
so I could actually shop the whole store.
Who better to critique the Chopped champs
than Chopped All-Stars themselves,
celebrated restauranteur and master of Italian cuisine,
my brother from another mother,
the one and only Chef Scott Conant.
Boston restauranteur
and Tournament of Champions 3 winner, the one and only,
call her "the champ"...
- Uh! - [Guy] ...Chef Tiffani Faison!
- Uh! - [Scott] Boom!
And, of course,
the James Beard Award-winning host, the man,
the legend himself,
the one and only Ted Allen.
- Awesome to have the three of you. - [Tiffani] Whoo!
[Ted] Talk about Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games!
Lot of similarities,
but some really serious differences.
Number one, you have so many choices,
except for when you choose frozen food.
[judges chuckle]
It's like I'm stepping in to the news desk.
- [judges chuckle] - [imitating newscaster] Here at Food Network
Flavortown Headquarters,
- and this is Ted Allen with the rest of the story. - [chuckles]
Now, over to my correspondent, Sweet Cheeks' Tiffani Faison.
Sports and clothing, by Scott Conant.
[all chuckling]
[laughs]
They give us a number with this basket, I guess.
Can't get away from the " Chopped champion" label.
[in normal voice] This mystery basket...
- Yeah, man, I know. - compared to the other mystery baskets you've had,
how did he do?
It's better than tarantula.
All right, what are you making?
I am gonna make a Tater Tot waffle
with a durian vinaigrette for it,
with guanciale charred Swiss chard.
- Charred Swiss chard? - Right.
Sounds like that everyday menu
that you see at a fast-food joint!
[chuckles]
First thing I get started on is
my Tater Tot waffle,
defrosting the Tater Tots in the broiler.
Can't get any eggs, so I gotta use
cornstarch and water.
I really, really wish I could go grab a dozen eggs.
One trip to the regular part of the store
would be so helpful.
In some ways, this show is harder than Chopped.
You have to come up with a dish right away.
You have to commit to it.
If you're scrambling around
figuring out what you're gonna do,
you've already lost the round.
This all hinges on whether my Tater Tot waffle
works out, though, so...
If that doesn't work, I'm kind of screwed.
[Scott] I'll tell you, I'm so excited
to see all these Chopped champions
in Flavortown, right?
[Tiffani] They all thought they were showing up
for Triple G, but
"Ha-ha, it's Chopped ."
- [Scott] Yeah. - And Triple G.
[Guy] Twenty-three minutes to cook! Get cooking!
How did you enjoy the frozen foods section
here at Flavortown Market?
It wasn't terrible.
- [Guy] What's on the menu? - [Martel] I'm gonna make pea soup.
Add a little bit of freeze-dried durian
and guanciale in.
- Got it. - [Martel] And garnish it with pickled Swiss chard.
- All right. Looks like you got it going. - [Martel] I think so.
For my pickling liquid for the chard stems,
I'm gonna use red wine vinegar
and prickly pear jelly.
I chop up some chard stems,
and pour the pickling liquid over them,
and get it cooled down as fast as possible.
I'm on top. [exhales]
I'm gonna move over into the soup.
Next step is rendering out some of the guanciale.
I'll add some of the freeze-dried durian
and the peas to the rendered guanciale.
I kind of love frozen peas.
The cook time is cut in half.
Martel, how is the scent of that durian? Is it bad?
- [chuckling] Yes, it's bad. - [Tiffani] Is it?
[both laugh]
[Scott] He's not even hiding it!
[Tiffani] Yeah!
[Martel] I've worked with durian before.
It tastes like a skunk's tail,
mixed with a diaper,
and a little sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.
So, to the blender I'm adding
my pea-guanciale-durian mixture,
with a little chicken stock,
just to give me a better mouth feel.
Oh, that's nice!
[Tatiana] My strategy is to make sure I get
that shrimp defrosted first.
I'm gonna make a sweet and spicy grilled shrimp,
with a garlic rainbow chard,
and a prickly pear gastrique,
with some crispy guanciale.
Oh, no!
I can't get it open!
Yes, I can!
I have to use the prickly pear jelly,
and I think that I can make a really delicious agrodolce
to glaze the shrimp.
That is sweet.
I put the prickly pear jelly into a pot,
and then I add the blood orange puree,
to make sure that it kind of elevates it,
and brings it to that next level.
All right.
[Guy] Okay. Chef, how are we looking?
How many shrimp are you cooking?
For enough, you got, for an army.
[Tatiana] Well, I know I have...
It's... I'm doing it for you,
'cause it's a Championship Appetizer, okay?
-All right. I'll give it to you. -I got dainty ones.
[Guy] You're just in charge right now!
[Tatiana] You know, I'm always in charge. Come on!
- I don't get it. - Small but mighty.
All right, chef. What's on the menu?
I am making a mofongo.
I'm gonna top it with the guanciale,
and the vegetables, and frozen mushrooms.
I love mofongo.
I wanted to go a little Latin with this one.
Great move.
Argh.
That's not gonna work.
I'm gonna have to take it out.
The chicken stock is frozen completely.
I can't even scrape any out,
so I have to go over and defrost it in the microwave.
- Oh. - So smart.
- For all frozen foods, like... - Oh, yeah.
- [Tiffani] ...get it in chef mind. - [Scott] That's a good point.
- [Tiffani] Let chef mind help you. - [Scott] Good point.
[Diana] While the stock is working,
I'm going to throw
my frozen plantains in the fryer.
Once I defrost the chicken broth,
I put it in the pan, get it going, and then I add
some frozen ginger and garlic to it.
Luckily, there were some spices already in my pantry,
so I added a little cumin, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Pulled the plantains out of the fryer.
I started smashing them, and then, I'm going to add
the broth to it, to add some flavor.
Halfway point, chefs!
Fourteen minutes! Fourteen to go!
Chef, how are you feeling?
How'd the waffles come out?
[Chris] Pretty good, pretty good.
They would have been better with eggs,
but you don't let us use eggs, 'cause you're mean.
Add some vegetables on here, it's just gonna have to do.
I'll get started on my poblano puree,
and I'm gonna use the toppings from this veggie pizza,
and then I add my poblanos.
So, durian is a fruit that I think is grown
somewhere in the pits of hell.
Actually, not bad.
As it turned out, the freeze-drying process
tamed the taste of the durian,
and eliminated the smell of it,
which I really appreciated.
I might start using durian in my kitchen!
For my guanciale, my idea is to make
really nice, crispy, crunchy bits of pork,
and then also, in my durian dressing
utilizing a bit of prickly pear jelly.
The secret ingredient!
Yeah, buddy!
Pork fat makes everything better.
Even durian.
For the pickled chard,
I'm just making a gastrique,
using the jelly along with red wine vinegar.
Pickle the stems of the chard.
Durian dressing is gonna coat all of my Swiss chard
with a nice little bit of funk.
Phew!
Chris is somebody who competed on Chopped four times,
- and won three out of the four. - Yep.
That is very difficult to pull off.
He's ferocious.
The bow tie says "ferocious," all over it.
[Ted chuckling] It does, the bow tie!
[Guy] Ten minutes! Ten to go!
Ten minutes, 10 minutes.
So, after my pea veloute blends, and it's super smooth,
all I have to do is
get the Swiss chard leaves sauteed.
[Tiffani] Chopped is very, sort of, cook the thing,
the best dish wins.
That's not always the case here,
so there's a lot of gameplay.
Gameplay counts here, in a way
- that it maybe doesn't, in Chopped, as much. - [Scott] Yeah.
Bring it together!
[Tatiana] I'm putting this off for as long as possible,
but I'm gonna have to try this durian.
Go, go, go! Okay.
Not very delightful.
Okay.
Yep.
I know I want to pair
the durian fruit with the guanciale,
because they're both such a bold flavor...
...with my sauteed rainbow chard.
That is pungent.
[Guy] Seven and a half minutes!
And this.
Now I'm gonna use this freeze-dried durian.
I'm thinking of making a spice blend.
I'm gonna add some cumin, and a pinch of cayenne.
So I'm thinking I'm gonna candy this guanciale,
and cover it with the prickly pear jelly.
I still haven't used my rainbow chard.
I'm thinking, just a quick little salad,
and I'm gonna coat it with the durian spice blend.
Bring it up a little notch.
Four minutes, chefs!
Four minutes!
[Chris] First thing I plate is the poblano puree.
Then, my Tater Tot waffle.
The Tater Tot waffle, I'm really happy with it.
It's staying together, it's crispy.
Next, charred chard salad, with the durian dressing.
And then, finally, a little bit of pickled chard.
[Guy] Three minutes! Three minutes left, chefs!
[Martel] I start off by adding two ladles of the soup.
Add into the corner...
The corner of a bowl.
Some of the pickled chard stems,
a couple pieces of the crispy guanciale,
and finish off with some of the sauteed chard.
Two minutes! Two to go!
I am not mad at it.
The first thing I do is put the Swiss chard
with the garlic and guanciale and durian fruit
on the bottom of the plate.
Next, I top the Swiss chard with the glazed shrimp.
Sixty seconds!
[Diana] I put the mofongo on the center of the plate.
Next, I add the durian rainbow chard.
Then, I put the mushrooms and the peppers
on top of the mofongo.
Last thing that I add is
the guanciale prickly pear glaze.
With seconds left, I get everything on the plate.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
That's it, chefs! Nice job.
- Look like they're done! - [Guy] Well done!
- [all clapping] - Rock on.
[Chris] Great job, chef.
[Tiffani] Nice job!
[Guy] All right, champs!
Let's take your appetizers to the Chopped judges!
Chop chop!
Right this way!
[Guy] All right, judges, here we are.
This is Round One of Triple G meets Chopped special,
and our chefs had to make a Champion's Appetizer.
Chef Chris, you are up first.
Please, tell us what you made.
I have a charred, charred, charred chard salad,
with a durian and poblano puree,
a durian and guanciale vinaigrette,
and a Tater Tot waffle as a base.
Tater Tot waffle!
[Scott chuckles]
[Scott] We get to smile here.
You know, at Chopped, they don't let us smile.
- [Ted] That's right. - [all chuckling]
- I'm really not... - [German accent] No smiling!
No smiling, yeah. [chuckles]
[in normal voice] This dish was clearly as an appetizer,
and clearly is beautiful.
You have effectively
beaten that difficult,
funky ingredient, durian, into submission.
That guanciale,
the crispness on it, is absolutely perfect,
on top of the tater...
nugget.
Chef, your tater nuggets are delicious.
It's balanced, and it's delicious.
The plating is really elegant and beautiful.
I need to ask where the prickly pear jelly is.
So, I used it in the vinaigrette.
It works really, really well.
I will say, Chris,
I think the chard could have been
cooked a little bit further.
There's some that feels a little bit raw to me.
Excellent. Well, there you have it, folks.
Come on out to Flavortown Market,
where you can also get the tater nugget waffle!
Available in the frozen food aisle.
All right, up next, chef Tatiana.
What do you have for us?
Chefs, today I prepared for you
a grilled shrimp and prickly pear agrodolce,
over wilted rainbow chard with guanciale,
and the freeze-dried durian fruit inside.
Tatiana, cooking the guanciale until it's crispy
was a really good move.
The shrimp were cooked really beautifully.
-[Tatiana] Thank you. -[Ted] "Are" cooked? "Is" cooked?
The shrimp...
- They is be cooked. - The shrimp be cooked...
- [chuckles] - [Ted] ...uh, very nicely.
[chuckles]
I really enjoyed your prickly pear gastrique.
Where is the durian here?
Um, the durian is crumbled up
and cooked with the rainbow chard.
I think this is really great.
- [chuckles] - The vinaigrette is bangin'.
It's super delicious.
I will say this.
It's a lot. It's an entree.
And we can say it's big enough for a champ,
but it's an entree.
Heard.
Up next, chef Martel. What do you have for us, chef?
So, I just did a snow pea veloute
with a little bit of the durian mixed in,
and guanciale.
There's some crispy guanciale,
and some pickled stems,
along with some sauteed chard.
The gameplay is bananas.
Like, I don't know how you went
into the frozen food aisle, and, like, got this out of it.
An appetizer, for me, is always a road map
for where the entree is going, and I want more.
The consistency that you made that guanciale,
the crispness on it. This is a delicious soup.
- Jelly is with the stems of the Swiss chard? - Yep, in the pickle.
It really adds a nice acidic sweetness.
What you've done with that freeze-dried durian
is spectacular.
Chef Martel, with your soup, it's too thick.
I think the texture of the soup is really
the only thing that I've got here to ding you on.
Not to be outdone, though,
next up, chef Diana.
Chefs, um, so what I made for you is mofongo.
I made mushrooms with peppers on top,
rendered-down guanciale,
seasoned the Swiss chard with the durian spice blend.
I love that you went in that direction
with the frozen plantain. That's spectacular.
Really smart move.
The treatment of the guanciale,
um, with that sweetness, is really wonderful.
I would say this is an appetizer, but it's kind of a big one.
Durian is definitely there in the plantain mixture.
I think it's a little more pronounced than I would like.
Chef Diana, the chard on the side,
it's getting kind of, like, a rough julienne of chard
as a salad on the side.
We throw you in the freezer aisle, give you nothing fresh.
The fresh ingredient that we do give you,
it really needs to be handled with care and love.
[Guy] Chefs, thank you very much.
Judges, great job.
Between the two shows, you have battled it all.
This could be a very difficult decision
for the judges.
We're gonna send you back to your kitchens,
and we'll call you when we have a decision.
Thank you very much.
So, which Chopped winner
is on the Triple G chopping block?
- Ooh! - Ow!
There is the question.
Remember, we've got 20 points available in taste,
20 points available for gameplay,
and 10 points for plating, for a possible of 50 points.
[Guy] Well, I can see why
you are all Chopped champs.
Unfortunately,
someone's gonna be on the chopping block.
We'll start off with Martel.
Seventeen out of 20, for gameplay.
Taste, 18 out of 20.
And plating, nine out of 10,
for a 44.
- [clapping] - [Guy] Nice score.
Tatiana.
Fifteen out of 20 for gameplay,
16 out of 20 for taste,
seven out of 10 for plating,
for a 38.
Thirty-eight.
Chef Chris.
Sixteen out of 20 on gameplay,
17 out of 20 in taste,
eight out of 10 in plating,
for a 41.
Diana, gotta beat a 38.
Fifteen out of 20 in gameplay,
15 out of 20 in taste,
seven out of 10 in plating,
for a 37, by one point.
Uh, chef, unfortunately, you missed it by one point.
In Flavortown, we say you're checking out,
and it was great to have you, chef.
- Thanks for playing. - Thank you.
- Bye. - [all applauding]
[Tatiana] I got freezer-bombed in Flavortown.
- Nice job. - I love that, when people come and say goodbye.
Most of 'em just run for the door.
I got chopped
in Flavortown.
[Guy] This is the final round
of Triple G meets the Chopped champs.
Ted has done another fantastic job
of filling the baskets.
They are already in your cart.
Chefs, you can go ahead and open that up.
[Ted] Well, the final round of Chopped is always
- a dessert round, okay? - [Tatiana] Okay.
[Ted] I gave them some great dessert items.
Your mystery ingredients are
carrots,
crushed pineapple,
cream cheese,
and walnuts.
All the ingredients for carrot cake.
I really like carrot cake.
[chuckles]
[all chuckling]
[Guy] Besides dessert,
what is your favorite dinner?
I have to say, a really fancy, high-end meal.
I like it. Let's play "Flip This Dish,"
to incorporate all of those ingredients
into a high-end dinner.
Chefs, you have 30 minutes where you can shop
for anything else you want in the store.
- Are you good with that? - [contestants] Yes. I'm good.
- What do you think? - They're basically making
three courses, because this is, in fact,
- two courses in one. - [Guy] Exactly.
And so, what you gotta think is,
you can go, get anything else you want.
[Tatiana] Whoo-hoo!
- Yeah! - Ahhh!
[laughs]
Guy is having, like, the time of his life.
Exactly.
Great job, brother. Glad to have you!
[Tatiana] In order to incorporate
these four sweet ingredients into a savory dish,
I want to go really bold,
so I head straight for the lamb.
[Chris] The first thing I grab is a rack of lamb,
because it's a high-end protein,
and I know it's gonna go really well
with the carrots that I'm preparing.
[Martel] Rack of lamb is the first ingredient I go to,
but I also notice that all my competitors
are also using lamb,
so it's gonna be a lamb jam cookoff.
[Tatiana] For my high-end dinner,
I'm gonna make a walnut-crusted lamb chop
over spiced, grilled carrots,
with a cream cheese and bleu cheese sauce
for freshness.
With the pineapple, I know I can cook it down,
and get a ton of flavor,
and then, I'm grabbing champagne.
What's more high-end than that?
This was much more difficult
than Chopped , because I had an entire grocery store
I had to run through in order to get my ingredients.
Sometimes, too many options is just overwhelming.
Okay, am I bugging, am I bugging, am I bugging?
I'll be able to use these whammy ingredients
to my advantage, because I feel like
they play into
a lot of the flavors that I already love.
I love North African cuisine,
so I'm planning on making a dukkah spiced lamb.
Um, ooh, I want to do that.
For the walnuts,
I'm planning on making a dukkah spice crumble.
I grab the harissa,
the berbere, which is an Ethiopian staple.
So, I'm planning on using the cream cheese
alongside a little bit of labneh,
for a smoked carrot labneh.
The most intimidating ingredient
will probably be the crushed pineapples.
That sweetness is gonna be a task to handle.
[exhaling] All right!
My strategy in this round is to focus
on the one ingredient that I know I can work with
in the high-end dinner, and that's the carrots.
The carrots are gonna drive the direction of this dish.
I'm going to make a pineapple-crusted lamb chop
over curried carrot puree, and cream cheese,
I could use it in place of heavy cream.
Everything that I'm shopping for right now,
I'm trying to stay in the area of the Middle East.
The thing with walnuts,
I decided that I want to kind of do
a gremolata, to go along with some acid and some herbs,
to help cut through the lamb.
Quinoa, quinoa.
Not here.
Originally in the first round, I was upset
that we only had frozen foods.
Where the hell's the quinoa?
Now I realize that it was actually quite nice,
being able to shop
in only a little, tiny portion of the store.
- What are you looking for? - Quinoa.
Quinoa should be over on five.
Shelf five.
[Ted] I'm very impressed you know where the quinoa is.
[Guy] You want to know what's so sad?
Is that I go to grocery stores,
- and thinking that I'm in Flavortown Market... - [chuckles]
[Guy] ...and I walk down aisle five,
and it's, all of a sudden, I'm in cat food,
- and I'm like, "This is not quinoa." - [laughs]
[Scott] These are really good competitors.
Not only are they competing against one another,
they're competing with the same protein,
three lamb dishes,
as well as the other basket ingredients.
It's... It's just...
This could be really [bleating] baa-a-a-ad.
[chuckles]
All I want to do, really, is I just want
- to come over, and just... - No, don't touch my hair, man!
- You gotta touch his hair for us! - I just wanna touch it.
- [all chuckling] - I just wanna...
I'll be nice to you.
I'm not gonna touch yours,
'cause I don't want to cut myself.
- It's gonna get so weird. - [Tiffani] It is.
- I just want to, I mean, it goes, look at it. - [Tiffani] You want to.
- It's nice, right? - It's so soft.
- It's velvety soft. - Velvety soft. Mess it up!
[all laughing]
I've lost the show completely.
Twenty-five minutes!
What's the game plan, chef?
So, I'm gonna crust these lamb chops with the walnuts,
and then I'm gonna make a brown butter-walnut-carrots,
make like a, kind of a champagne gastrique.
- Okay. - With the crushed pineapple.
And then, the cream cheese I'm gonna melt down,
with some goat cheese,
and kind of use that on the plate as a sauce.
So she's really having
a hard time figuring out what to do.
- Good luck, chef. - Thank you.
I coat the lamb with the walnuts,
and get it in a ripping hot cast-iron.
I'm gonna put the basket ingredient,
cream cheese, in a pot with the goat cheese,
and make a super smooth sauce,
because that just screams "high-end."
That is delicious.
[Guy] Twenty-two minutes left!
All right, talk to me, chef. What's on the menu?
[Chris] We're gonna have a coriander-crusted lamb,
with a pineapple sauce...
Everybody went lamb.
[Chris] ...curried carrot puree...
- [Guy] Okay. - [Chris] ...and a little bit
of carrot top and walnut gremolata.
Like that!
[Chris] Oh, actually, I'm gonna do this first.
First thing I get started on is my quinoa,
beginning to toast it,
so I can get a little bit of a nutty flavor.
I add the carrot tops, toasted walnuts,
along with a little bit of vinegar
and oil to my food processor.
Like this.
Next thing I'm gonna tackle is this canned pineapple,
and my idea is to make a caramelized pineapple crust
to go on top of the lamb.
Strain out the pineapple, and get it back into the pan.
I'm gonna make it.
- [Guy] Martel! - Sir.
Talk to me.
[Martel] So, a little dukkah spice lamb.
- [Guy] Okay. - [Martel] I'm gonna finish it off
with a roasted and smoked carrot labneh.
- Okay. - [Martel] I'm also going to
make a compressed pineapple with the carrot tops.
Very nice.
[Martel] The first thing I'm starting on
is my lamb, rubbing the lamb
in the dukkah,
with cumin, some berbere,
harissa, and some tumeric.
For the walnuts, I'm planning on making
a little toasted walnut dukkah crumble...
That's hot.
Then, the same spices, just as I did with the lamb.
I'm gonna do a little bit of funk here.
[sings] ♪ Coming from here ♪
[fate motif from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5]
[singing]
[ Symphony No. 5 continuing]
[in normal voice] It's a real pivot, now.
[ Symphony No. 5 ends]
Twelve minutes.
I'm good. We're good.
Everyone's fine.
[Tatiana] With the basket ingredients carrot,
I'm throwing them on the grill to bring out that char,
and really helping out
the flavor of the lamb as well.
And then, I have fennel seed and cumin seed that I toasted,
and added it to some brown butter walnuts.
I'm gonna use that with my spiced carrots.
[Guy] How are you feeling, chef?
I was feeling a little nervous,
- but I'm feeling like... - Why would you be nervous?
- No, it's no big deal. - What, potentially 20,000 grand on the line?
No big deal.
And, you know, other Chopped champs,
- winners here, you know? - You're not helping!
Oh, I'm sorry.
All right, all right, all right!
And then, I had this canned crushed pineapple.
This is so sweet, it's gonna be hard to fit it in
with the rest of the dish.
I'm gonna drain it, and just use the liquid.
Because this is a high-end dinner,
I've got to bring the champagne.
I know I can cook it down, and get a ton of flavor,
and use it in my couscous.
So, since you've seen me last, I have actually been
writing a children's book.
It's called Arlo and the Secret Ingredient,
and I really hope this dish comes together,
so that I can win that money,
and finally finish my children's book.
Chefs, eight minutes! Eight to go!
[Chris] So, I need to get started on my carrot puree,
and I throw them
in the blender with the cream cheese.
The cream cheese is gonna give me that unctuousness,
and that fattiness, that just makes food better.
I really gotta get started on my lamb.
I gotta get it cooking.
I'm seasoning my lamb pretty simply,
with salt and coriander seed.
[Guy] How are you feeling, chef?
I'm struggling right now.
I blame Ted.
[Guy] Poor Teddia!
[Chris] As soon as the lamb was
to the temperature that I want,
I put the pineapple on top of them,
then I quickly put them under the broiler.
Winning this round would be great.
$20,000 is a lot of money, and it could do a lot of good
for my family.
I know none of this will get in, but if I can just
say hi to my son, that would be really good.
Hi, Max!
[Guy] Five minutes, chefs!
You got five minutes to be plated. [claps]
I'm gonna get started on my carrots,
and I get them sauteing on the heat
with some butter...
Argh.
Dang it.
Some berbere spice,
a little bit of the lamb fat, so it can add
some of that roast flavor onto those carrots.
Once my carrots are finished cooking up,
I'm gonna add that to the food processor
with labneh,
some cream cheese,
and a little bit of salt.
Oh! Got it. Thank you!
Now, I need to figure out
what I'm gonna do with these crushed pineapples.
Argh!
So, I want to make a chimi.
Some mint, cilantro, and some of the crushed pineapples,
parsley, lemons, and limes.
And I'll blitz that down
until it's a nice, bright, green paste.
Ooh!
All right. Mmm.
I'm really starting to cook things that you like.
There's $20,000 on the line.
If I win that money,
I'm going to start an amazing supper club,
and travel around the country,
cooking with the chefs that I really admire.
Three and a half minutes, chefs!
Three and a half to go!
[Tatiana] The first thing I do is put down
the pineapple and champagne-spiked couscous.
Next, I lay down the charred carrots.
Then, I plate the savory cream cheese sauce.
I top it with the lamb,
and finish it with the brown butter spiced walnuts.
This looks so high-end.
Ninety seconds left in your high-end dinner!
[Chris] For my high-end dinner,
I start off with a schmear of the sauce
on the side of the plate,
a dollop of the carrot and cream cheese puree,
and then my lamb on top, which looks perfect.
And then, I'm gonna top it off
with the fresh element
of the carrot top and quinoa gremolata.
Thirty seconds!
[Martel] First thing down on the plate
is the smoked carrot labneh.
I slice the grilled lamb,
and I love the doneness.
So, I add a couple slices to each plate.
The very next component is
the dukkah on top of the lamb,
and I finish
the entire dish off with the pineapple chimi.
Button it all up, make it beautiful.
- Five, four... - [Tiffani] Here we go.
[Guy] ...three,
- two... - [Scott] Get it done!
- [Tiffani] Where's your garnish? - [Guy] ...one,
-That's it, chefs! Stop everything! -[judges applauding]
- Whoo! - Very nice!
Phew!
My Chopped champs, way to finish
on a high-end note.
Let's take it to the judges!
Right this way!
[Guy] All right! This is Game 2
of Triple G meets Chopped.
We had them flip the famous carrot cake
into [drums on counter]
a high-end dinner,
and up first is chef Chris. What do you got for us?
I flipped the carrot cake into
a pineapple-crusted lamb chop
over a curried carrot puree,
and a little bit of walnut quinoa,
and carrot top gremolata.
[Tiffani] Well, I didn't think carrot cake ingredients
were gonna become lamb slam, but they did.
- Here we are. - [chuckles]
[Tiffani] Spectacular.
Those roasted walnuts on top of that pineapple glaze
with your lamb, were just such an extraordinary addition.
It's remarkable that you can plate a dish
in which a curry carrot puree
works with anything containing cream cheese product,
and somehow, you make them harmonious.
The sauce that you have with the pineapple,
and the exterior of that lamb is great.
Slight overcook on the lamb itself.
It's medium when it should be medium-rare.
Up next, chef Martel.
Um, in front of you, it's a dukkah spiced lamb.
I served it with a roasted carrot labneh,
and a pineapple-and-fresh-herb carrot top chimi.
This looks like a high-end dish.
The chimi with the carrot tops in it, really, really smart.
You took these walnuts and spiced them really well.
Love the labneh,
with the cream cheese and the carrots inside there.
I appreciate your use of the pineapple in the puree.
I do find that it reads a little sweet.
Last but not least, chef Tatiana.
Chefs, I flipped this dish by making
a walnut seared lamb chop,
with a spiced and grilled carrot.
On top is a brown butter and spiced walnut, as well.
And then, it's on top of a couscous,
and on the side, you have a sauce
of cream cheese, goat cheese, and tarragon.
Tatiana, if someone said,
"Here are ingredients for carrot cake,"
and you gave me this, I'd be like, "Girl, sit down."
- [chuckles] - [Tiffani] "Like, that is not a thing."
And this is a thing. It's really, really beautiful.
That walnut brown butter is
the most effective use of the walnuts,
of any of the three of you.
I thought it was a really clever idea to try
to get the pineapple flavor into the couscous.
I just think it wasn't strong enough.
[Scott] You have some really good stuff here.
Really love your usage of the cream cheese,
with this sauce that you have on the side.
Love your usage of the carrots.
My biggest issue on the plate is just
the overcooked lamb itself. It just...
I think it got away from you,
and it's too bad, because it needs some of that juiciness.
- You know? - Yeah.
Judges, thank you very much.
Chefs, you again impressed.
We are gonna send you back to the kitchens,
let the judges deliberate.
We'll call you back when we have a decision.
- Guys, nice job. - Thank you.
Thank you.
So, judges, which Chopped winner
deserves to be a Triple G winner?
[sighing] There is the question.
[Guy] We've got 20 points available in taste,
20 points available for gameplay,
and 10 points for plating,
for a possible of 50 points.
Only one chef can win,
so the other two will be chopped,
or checking out.
Uh, let's start with chef Chris.
Forty-one points in the first round.
Seventeen out of 20 in gameplay,
17 out of 20 in taste,
eight out of 10
in plating, for a 42 for a score
of 83.
Tatiana.
Sixteen out of 20 in gameplay,
17 out of 20 in taste,
seven out of 10 in plating,
for a 40,
for a score of 78.
Martel.
Right now, Chris is in the lead.
Chris we're gonna have to see Martel
take a nosedive on this.
Gameplay, 16 out of 20,
taste, 18 out of 20,
plating, nine out of 10,
for a 43.
- Congratulations to our winner, chef Martel! - [all applauding]
[Guy] Super strong score, by the way.
Unfortunately, we'll say good night.
Thank you very much, chef Chris, chef Tatiana.
- Wonderful to have you. - Congratulations.
- [all applauding] - [Tatiana] Coming here as a Chopped champion,
and getting the opportunity to be on Triple G
has been so much fun.
[Chris] I might have lost the competition,
but I'm going home with my head held high.
- Ted, good to see you, buddy. - You too.
Meet our Triple G Chopped champ,
- chef Martel! - [judges applauding]
Yes! Whoo-hoo!
There's two ways you can make money tonight, okay?
The first way is something we call "the shopping spree."
Okay, now that's where you will have
a very specially curated
Chopped shopping spree,
and that's where Ted will read you a list
of 10 of the worst items
that have ever appeared in a Chopped basket,
one coming from each aisle of Flavortown Market.
Okay.
Every item that you put in the basket,
you would get $2,000.
Whew! Okay.
You have that,
or, behind those sliding doors there
is a check...
[Martel groaning] Oh.
[Guy] ...with your name on it.
- Argh. - [Guy] Now, that check could be anywhere from $5.00
to $20,000.
Okay.
So, you could go right to the check...
- Yeah. - We could call it a day,
- start the celebration... - Okay.
Or we can go on the shopping spree.
Ugh. Okay. Yeah!
All right, um...
Shopping spree it is! [chuckles]
So if you're gonna go on the shopping spree,
let's just take a look at what the check says.
Okay.
See what I had.
- Ah-hah! - [Guy] Ten thousand bucks!
Argh!
[Guy] So, here's what's gonna happen.
Ted's gonna read the list to you.
Okay.
I got a lot of faith in you, buddy.
- Okay, here we go. - [Tiffani] You got this.
- You got this. - Do it, brother, do it!
- Yeah. - [Tiffani] You got this.
Ted, do a normal kickoff here.
[clears throat] Okay, uh,
your time starts now!
- Okay. I got it, Ted. - [all chuckling]
[Martel] Kumquats.
- [Tiffani] Come on, come on, come on! - [Scott] Let's go, chef!
[Ted on PA] Aisle 1, Kumquats!
Ha!
Mmm! Do I put them all into bags?
They just kind of...
Oops! Argh!
So, for some reason, I put 'em in the cart,
and they start falling through...
- Hah, got it! - and a voice in my head tells me
- to just put 'em in my pocket. - Yes.
- [Tiffani] Yes! Keep going! - Yes!
- Keep going! - Go, go, go!
Got it!
Aisle 2, pickled garlic.
There we go! All right.
Yes! Go, go, go!
- All right. - Aisle 3, olive juice.
Olive juice!
[Ted] Three.
Right there.
- [grunts] - [Guy] Let's go!
Aisle 4, canned haggis.
- There you go. - Got it!
Aisle 5, rattlesnake in a can.
Oh, I know where that one is! [chuckles]
Got it!
- [Guy] Well done! - [Martel] I have five items now.
That $10,000 is mine,
and everything else is just bonus.
Aisle 6, jar of baby food.
- [grunts] - [Guy] He's got it going!
Aisle 7, lollipop.
Got it!
You've got it licked!
- Aisle 8, fruit cereal. - Whew!
This money will be instrumental in starting
- my supper club. - Ah!
I want to get back to constantly innovating,
and constantly creating and sharing.
It's here!
Aisle 9, corn dogs.
-[Scott] Come on, chef! -You got two more! Go, go, go!
- [Ted] And Aisle 10... - Yes! Here we go!
...quail eggs.
- [Martel] No! - You got this!
- Get the eggs! - I don't know where it's at!
- [Guy] Six! - Got it!
Boom! Boom!
- Double winner, two time champion... - Nice job!
...I won $20,000.
This is amazing.
$20,000! Congratulations!
- Yes! - [Guy] He's won Chopped!
- Good job, chef! - Thank you!
- He now just won Triple G... - Yes!
...and he's rolling out of here with 20,000 bucks.
- Great job to my buddy, Ted Allen. - You won $10,000!
- [all exclaiming] - We'll see you next week, on Triple G.