I'm Bobby Flay.
The holidays are here and it's time for cheer.
Well, not for me.
Happy holidays!
[Bobby] All of my closest Food Network friends
are teaming up to take me down.
Are you ready to get your jingle bell rung hard?
-Fire it up. -[metal clanking]
This battle is gonna shake down in three rounds.
Round one and two,
they must go through each other.
I have waited for this moment.
You're in my head.
[Bobby] Round three, the winner gets me.
-Let's go, Flay. -[laughs]
[Bobby] In the spirit of the holidays,
we're teaming up for a culinary throwdown.
-Go. Go. -I'm going.
-It's like three rounds of sibling rivalry. -Get out of here.
The competition is tougher.
Ah, you guys smell it?
[Bobby] The rounds are bigger...
[screaming]
[Bobby] ...and the surprises...
Ho-ho-ho.
[Bobby] ...just keep on coming.
-Bottom line... - Oh.
[Bobby] ...everyone's out to ruin my holiday.
Come on in, ladies.
Oh, wow.
[laughs]
[audience cheering and applauding]
All right, everybody. Time to rise and shine
because the holidays are right around the corner.
And let's give it up for my favorite person
to spend the holidays with, my daughter, Sophie Flay.
[audience cheering and applauding]
Happy holidays, Dad.
Cheers to the holidays and cheers to my win tonight.
-Oh, is that for me? -[audience cheering and applauding]
-Cheers. -Cheers.
[Christmas music playing]
How are you?
Oh, my God, I'm so excited to be here.
Excited to beat you.
Taking a little time off
from your journalist life?
Yeah, to spend the holidays with you.
Nice. Very nice.
And I thought it'd be fun to challenge you
to one of your favorite meals,
holiday brunch.
[Bobby] When I think of brunch, you're actually
the first person I think of...
-I love that. -...'cause you're a Benedict girl.
[Sophie] Through and through.
You did an eggs Benedict for me on Christmas one year
with shaved truffles on top.
-Oh, yeah. -[Sophie] That was special.
But you know what I liked that we did
that I think is a new tradition,
is the peppermintini.
[audience exclaiming]
I make the honey baked ham
and you make peppermint martinis,
so, like, that's your contribution. [laughs]
We're a good team in that way.
Yeah, yeah.
All right. What are we doing tonight?
-You got some chefs? -[Sophie] Yes.
Our first contender is a regular co-host.
He's never cooked in this kitchen,
but he's no stranger to competition.
Here to toast to his upcoming victory, Eddie Jackson.
-[Bobby] Yeah. -Ho-ho-ho, Bobby.
-Woo! -[Bobby laughs]
[audience cheering and applauding]
Eddie, Eddie.
There's only room for one star on top of the tree.
-That's me. -[laughter]
Yes.
Brunch just got a whole lot sweeter
with our next contender.
Actually, Dad, last season,
you beat him at his own game.
-Hmm. -[Sophie] And now, he's coming
to beat you at yours.
-It's Chef Zac Young. -Oh, yeah.
[audience cheering]
Look at his onesie.
[laughs]
Five o'clock somewhere.
-[laughs] -[Sophie] Yes.
Good evening, guys.
Eddie, nice to see you on this side of the kitchen.
I'm actually doing it.
-Zac, welcome back. -Thank you.
You know, Zac, last year didn't go as well
as you thought it might go.
Damaris beat me.
-Not you. -[Bobby] Doesn't matter.
I was on the winning team.
What's your goal tonight?
Redemption.
Well, but you gotta go through me first.
[Zac] I love Eddie.
He is like a walking hug,
but none of that matters because this is competition.
Here's the way it's gonna work.
I'm gonna put 20 minutes on the clock.
I'm gonna give you something to cook
and you must make it the star of your dish.
Let's see what we got.
-[Christmas music playing] -[audience exclaiming]
[Zac] Oh, no.
I don't like this game anymore.
-[chuckles] -Since it is brunch,
I brought out some egg,
but under the egg, coquito.
[audience exclaiming]
[cheering and applauding]
The best way to describe this is a Latin-style eggnog.
[Zac] Coquito is sweet.
In a pure dessert challenge, fantastic.
But for brunch...
[Bobby] Eddie, you just keep shaking your head, yes.
-[Eddie] Well, I wanna drink it. -[laughter]
Okay, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.
You know what to do.
Go coconuts for the coquito.
-[bell rings] -[cheering]
[Bobby] Okay, coquito, this is definitely
a holiday brunch drink, but with Latin flavors.
-Right. -It's coconut milk.
It's rum, cinnamon.
So what would you do with this?
I would make some sort of bread pudding,
even like a coquito donut maybe.
Maybe like a French toast?
That sounds really good.
-You got the flour? -[Zac] Yup.
-We're both using flour. -[Eddie] Oh. Uh-oh.
That's crazy.
Honestly, there's nothing this elf loves
more than holiday brunch.
Also, you know who invented brunch?
The gays. You're welcome.
Zac, what are you making?
I'm gonna do like a coquito
croissant donut bite,
but, like, cro-quito.
-A cro-quito. -Inventive.
[Zac] I start working on my dough.
I cut butter really thin.
This is kind of my hack for biscuits or pie crusts
for the flaky, flaky layers.
I add buttermilk, coquito, and rum.
[Sophie] This is kind of Zac's wheelhouse.
-He's known for his baking. -Yes, for sure.
[cheering and applauding]
[Zac] I am known for over-the-top,
fun, playful desserts
with some serious French technique.
And I am the president and sprinkle master
of PieCaken Bakeshop.
You might know me from Halloween Baking Championship,
Chopped, Worst Cooks in America,
and, of course, I was here last holiday season.
The winner is Team Bobby.
-[laughs] -Yay!
We lost to Bobby in baking.
What?
This is a personal vendetta
and I am not playing it safe.
[Eddie] Do we have any rum in the house?
Yeah, I got it, babe.
You got the rum? Damn!
If I'm hosting a holiday brunch,
first things first, libations have to be flown,
so I'm gonna play with those flavors
inside of that coquito.
Eddie, what are you making?
I am making a waffle
with a coquito cream.
I love that.
[Eddie] I wanna get some air into my eggs
and that's gonna keep the waffles really,
really light and fluffy.
After that, I add in the coquito,
the flour, and I'm ready to roll.
Last time I was here, Eddie and I were co-hosts,
but this is his first time competing.
Yeah. He's having a good time.
[Eddie] I'm a seasoned competitor.
There's no fear in my blood.
I was a professional football player
and then the winner of Food Network Star.
[cheering and applauding]
[Eddie] After that, let's see, I've been featured
on pretty much every show on Food Network.
Team Eddie, let's do this!
I've been a co-host on Beat Bobby Flay over 20 times.
And now, I'm getting in the kitchen ready to compete.
Let's go.
Bobby, you're getting in Santa's sack tonight.
All right. I'm gonna go check in with them.
All right. Take some journalistic notes.
[laughs]
Just under 15 minutes.
[cheering and applauding]
Eddie, what's going on?
How does it feel to be on this side of the kitchen?
-You know what, I like it. -Yeah.
-You look good. -I kinda like it.
What are we making over here?
So I'm gonna do a coquito waffle
with a coquito cream.
It's gonna be rum flavor everywhere.
Keep adding. Can you make it through Zac?
Who? What?
[laughter]
-Absolutely. -Wow.
Zac, what's going on over here?
Uh, so we're making, like, a laminated biscuit dough
-that we're gonna fry... -[Sophie] I love it.
[Zac] ...with a coquito cream sauce.
And then maybe a coquito caramel.
I just wanna be coquito, coquito, co...
Gosh, that's hard to say.
[Sophie] And what about you?
Do you feel like you can make it through Eddie?
I love him, but doesn't mean
that I won't take him down.
-[audience] Oh. -[Sophie] There you go.
All right. Good luck, you guys.
[Zac] Did I do enough folds?
-We'll do one more. -[Sophie] Okay.
They're feeling pretty strong, I have to say.
Eddie's making waffles.
[Bobby] Okay, that sounds good.
[Sophie] Zac is using coquito
in almost everything.
You know what coquito means?
-Little coconut. -[clicks tongue]
[clicks tongue]
Look at you.
Just over 10 minutes.
He's got rum in the raspberries.
Okay.
I love raspberries
because they have a beautiful tartness
that I think is gonna go well
with the other sweet components on my plate.
More?
Yeah. A little bit more.
[audience cheering]
Strong.
Now, I'm gonna start putting the biscuits
into the fryer, and then I start my caramel.
I put sugar in the pan,
add a little bit of lemon juice,
and let it get dark, dark brown.
-Hello, Zac. -Hey, buddy.
[Bobby] Are you making a caramel?
-[Zac] I am. -[Bobby] Oh.
A coquito caramel.
-[Zac] Coquito-mel. -[Bobby] Looks really good.
I love the cinnamon and the rum smells in this place.
Woo!
What's happening, Ed?
I'm just about to make my cream.
Whipped cream is a perfect pairing with waffles.
And why not add a little bit of coquito?
More coquito?
The more coquito, the better.
Coquito is in the building.
Mm!
[cheering and applauding]
[Bobby] Eddie is making a coquito whipped cream.
-That looks good. -[Bobby] I know.
You're kind of known for a bourbon whipped cream at brunch.
-Yes. -That's your thing.
I gotta get the batter into the waffle maker.
Eddie's putting his waffles in
with, like, less than five minutes to go.
It's gonna be very tight on time.
Come on, baby. Come on.
You have the powdered sugar?
Everything I need you got.
[laughter]
At this point, I don't need to run to the pantry anymore.
I'm just going over to Zac's station
and get what I need.
Brunch is a communal experience, you know?
[Eddie] You sure about that?
[laughing]
Where's the coquito?
-Oh, I took it. I'm sorry. -[Zac] What?
-[Eddie] I took it. I'm sorry. -There's two bottles.
I feel like Eddie's just trying to sabotage me
at this point.
Thievery.
[Bobby] Just under three minutes, guys.
[audience cheering]
[Eddie] I'm waiting for my waffles to get done.
That is the main component to my dish.
I wanna quadruple down on the coquito flavor.
So I make the coquito cream sauce.
A little bit of rum, a little bit of cinnamon.
Oh, only two sauces?
Double your sauce, double your fun.
[laughter]
[Zac] I chuck my dough in the fryer.
Oh, yes. Their layers are pulling apart.
I'm so happy. But there is a lot of sweet going on,
so I actually sprinkle a little bit of salt.
Zac has a lot of sweetness in his dish,
but Eddie has those raspberries
-to kind of balance it out. -[Bobby] Yeah.
[Sophie] One minute and 30 seconds.
[cheering and applauding]
So no time to spare.
My waffles come out.
-Oh, Eddie's building it. -He knows.
And it comes out perfect.
Stack 'em, spread the macerated raspberries
around the plate and then top with the coquito cream.
Twenty seconds.
[Zac] I put the caramel in one pot,
I put the coquito cream in another.
Throw my coquit-nuts onto the plate.
[all] ...six, five, four,
three, two, one.
[cheering and applauding]
I am thrilled with my dish.
It is a little sweet,
but coquito is a little sweet, so...
Looking down at my plate, it looks amazing,
but I know Zac is a pastry chef.
So we'll see.
[audience cheering]
So Eddie and Zac, holiday brunch
is a pretty big deal in the Flay household,
but I'm ready for someone to take the crown off his head,
and I'm hoping one of you can do it.
Chef Zac, what'd you make?
I made coquit-nuts, [chuckles]
which are coquito-infused croissant donut bites
with a coquito caramel and a coquito cream sauce.
You definitely made coquito the star.
I love the layers and I love the crispiness on the outside.
They're also very flaky, which is super nice.
There's a lot of sweetness going on,
but I love that you did two sauces.
The cream one has a lot of rum,
but the coquito really comes forward.
I think I'm tasting some lemon in this one.
It makes it maybe a little bitter.
Chef Eddie, what did you do with the coquito?
Uh, I made a coquito waffle
with a coquito cream
and macerated rum raspberries.
I think that the flavors really balanced each other out,
the coquito in the whipped cream,
the waffle, and then that raspberry.
And we saw that you put a lot of rum in the raspberries,
but I think it worked out really well for me.
For you.
[laughter]
The waffle to me is a little heavy
and I wish I was tasting a little bit more of the coquito.
Thank you.
Now, I have a very important decision to make.
Do you want some more rum?
[laughter]
The chef moving on to round two is...
Chef Zac.
[groans]
-Go hang out with Sophie. -[groans]
Can I get a mimosa, please?
Well, Zac, you really made the coquito the star,
and that's why you won.
-Thank you. -But it's not over yet.
We're gonna need you to head back to your station.
And, Dad, you gotta come over here.
Can't we just skip to the good part?
[laughter]
Well, Dad, we have another friend
ready to slay you at holiday brunch.
Here to toast to finally beating you tonight,
Chef Maneet Chauhan.
-Yeah. -[cheering and applauding]
-Hi. -[laughter]
Bobby, this holiday brunch,
I am going to be serving some egg on your face.
[laughter]
[Zac] Maneet is one of my favorite people in the world,
yet I have no problem trying to beat her.
Small glass.
Hello, Maneet.
-Hello. -[Bobby] Welcome back.
I feel like it was just yesterday
that you were here in the kitchen
competing for the holidays.
Yeah. I think it was, uh, completely rigged.
-Oh, yeah. -[laughter]
Yes, I hear that all the time
from the people that don't win.
[exhales]
Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room.
Don't cry after I beat you, okay?
I always cry when I win.
-[Eddie] Oh. -Oh. Wow.
-[Bobby] Wow. -Fierce.
Okay. So just to remind you, Maneet,
I'm gonna put 20 minutes on the clock.
I'm gonna give you an ingredient of my choice
and you must make that ingredient the star of your dish.
How big of a dish are we using?
Well, I mean, hey, listen,
since it is all about holiday brunch...
[audience exclaiming]
-Is that a gigantic bagel? -Yes. [laughs]
[Bobby] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
-I'm only just beginning. -Okay.
The ingredient is...
hot-smoked salmon.
-Ooh, yes! -[Zac] Oh.
Y'all went through all of that
just to give us hot-smoked salmon?
[laughter]
You get it, the salmon on the bagel?
Actually, no, I didn't.
-[Bobby] Okay. -[laughter]
Smoked salmon, perfect brunch dish.
Bobby thinks I'm all sweet,
but I have some serious savory tricks up my sleeve.
All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.
Do not get smoked.
Make salmon the star.
-[bell dings] -[cheering and applauding]
[Christmas music playing]
[Sophie] That's a whole lot of salmon.
-Whole lot of salmon. -Hot-smoked salmon.
Usually when you get smoked salmon on a bagel,
it's cold-smoked.
It's cured and then smoked.
This is smoked, but with heat.
So it's cooked all the way through. It's meatier.
But it's also very salty.
I mean, I would've loved to see a smoked salmon Benedict, personally.
[Bobby] You could definitely do that.
You can make a hot-smoked salmon omelet,
a version of a crab cake, but with salmon.
You could put it in a dip.
Just don't plan on kissing nobody for about a week.
[laughter]
I am one step away from beating Bobby.
In this round, I wanna show some baking technique
that's not just pastry, that is brunchy, too.
[Eddie] Oh, it looks like, uh, Zac is gonna do something
with that skin.
Zac, what are you doing there?
[Zac] I'm gonna do, like, a little smoked salmon
cornbread situation with a little salmon mousse.
Smoked salmon cornbread.
This is gonna be a first for me.
-What, you've never done that? -[laughter]
I wanna use different parts of the salmon.
So first thing I do is take the skin
and throw it in the oven to dry it out.
Then I start working on my cornbread batter.
I love cornbread.
I never had it with salmon in it before.
I mean, if Zac pulls off the cornbread,
I mean, he definitely has a shot.
I mean, that's a very cool concept.
You're already frying?
[Maneet] Yes. Some deep fried capers.
-[Zac] Wow. -I'll show you how it's done, Zac.
-It's okay. -[Zac] Okay.
[laughter]
Holiday brunch is one of my favorite meals of all times.
The entire family is together,
and there is always an abundance of food.
Maneet, what are you making?
I am going to be making
some smoked salmon cakes.
-Oh. -Cake?
-It's only because of you. -[Zac] Oh, my God.
[Maneet] The strategy is to make sure
that the traditional accompaniments
that go with smoked salmon are present,
and then put my own Maneet twist on it.
For the salmon cake, I take some panko,
put some mayonnaise in it. Little bit of curry powder
not only adds smoke, but also a little bit of heat.
The curry with the salmon is delicious.
-Yup. -[Sophie] Last time Maneet was here,
-you beat her. -[Bobby] Yeah.
But I think she wants to change that tonight.
[Eddie] Hey, uh, Maneet,
what's that measuring technique right there?
It's an ancient Indian way of...
[laughter]
...measuring.
I am a chef, restaurateur based out of Nashville, y'all.
My cuisine takes all of these different
beautiful spices from India
and assimilating it into my new home America.
You might know me from Chopped...
Maneet Chauhan!
[Maneet] ...or maybe winning Tournament of Champions.
You must have seen me around.
Last holiday season, Bobby beat me.
We were robbed.
Not happening again.
-Zacky-poo. -[Zac] Yo. Yeah, babe.
I don't know if I should talk to you.
-You just beat me. -[Zac] What?
We're good, right?
[Eddie] So you're actually baking over here, huh?
-[Zac] I am actually baking. -[Eddie] Yeah, okay.
So you gonna beat Maneet though, huh?
-Oh, hands down. -In your dreams, buddy.
[laughter]
[Zac] I need butter and eggs.
[Eddie] Zac, you got 14 minutes left!
You don't got no butter. You ain't got no eggs.
Everyone calm down, all right?
[laughs]
-[Eddie] Maneet, what you... Mangoes? -Why not?
And ginger? Wait. What are you doing?
[Maneet] Cucumber, mango slaw.
Wow. Deep fried capers?
I'm here for that.
So Zac, no problem, huh?
Who? Zac?
[Eddie] I don't think Zac knows what he's doing.
-What? -Come on, Zac.
You have 13 minutes and 50 seconds left.
[cheering and applauding]
Next thing I do is portion out salmon cakes to fry them.
[Eddie] Maneet is doing like a croquette.
I'm a bit concerned,
there's a lot of salty components
-in Maneet's dish. -[Sophie] Right.
You're still working on that cornbread, Zac?
All right. Everyone calm down.
[Bobby] Just over 10 minutes.
I have all of my dry ingredients,
and I add the buttermilk,
maple syrup, another handful of salmon.
I like the concept of it.
It's gonna be hard to get those done.
All right. It's in the oven. Is everyone happy?
[cheering and applauding]
[Zac] At this point, I'm wondering can I actually make this cornbread?
We're gonna find out.
What'd they say, a Christmas miracle?
-[laughs] Right, yeah. -[laughs]
Coming up on nine minutes.
[cheering and applauding]
Looks good, right?
[Eddie] So, Maneet has some cucumbers,
some mango, and some pomegranate.
[Bobby] What's happening there?
I'm just making a slaw.
Maneet uses a lot of Indian flavors.
Mango is a big component, has a cooling effect
to go along with the heat of the curry.
It'll probably help balance out
-the saltiness of the salmon. -[Bobby] Yup.
[Maneet] I am hoping that all together,
this will be the perfect bite.
[Zac] Uh, what else?
-Zac, do you need some help? -[Zac] Yeah, sure.
Now that my cornbread is in the oven,
I'm going to start working on my mousse.
Does Zac have salmon in the blender?
[Bobby] He's definitely using the ingredient.
-All right, I'm going in. -[Eddie] All right.
[audience applauding]
Zac, we were freaking out
about how, uh, late you put in the cornbread.
-[Zac] Sure. -What's going on here?
Are you feeling okay about it?
Yeah. Got the oven cranking.
-I know what I'm doing. -And what's this?
I wanted to do, like, a smoked salmon mousse.
[Sophie] Never had that before.
So, I'm intrigued.
Little heavy cream, little salmon,
little salt, little bit of buttermilk,
little maple.
Just to counterbalance the salty salmon.
A lot of salmon.
-That's the strategy, you know? -[Sophie] Yes.
I like it.
Maneet, what's going on?
[Maneet] The smoked salmon cakes are here.
I'm just thinking of all the traditional accompaniments
-to smoked salmon. -[Maneet] Mm-hmm.
Like capers and...
-I love capers. -...creme fraiche and dill.
And then, of course, there's a little bit of a fresh salad.
-Last time, my dad beat you, or... -Yes, he did.
...is that gonna be different tonight?
-Oh, yeah, absolutely. -[Sophie] Oh.
That's because you're here, right?
Exac...
That's it.
There we go.
[cheering and applauding]
[Sophie] Four minutes to go.
I have to say, everything is tasting really good.
Maneet put it in the fryer.
It's crisping up really nice.
The mousse, I didn't get to try.
[Eddie] He's really working on it.
Doesn't seem too happy with the texture.
It seems broken.
[Zac] As I blend it,
the cream is starting to break a little bit,
almost turning to butter.
[Eddie] How does it taste, Zac?
Mousse-y?
Mousse-y, baby.
It's a little broken, but time is running out.
[Sophie] Maneet is already platting.
Wow.
[Maneet] The salmon cake look great.
They go on the plate
with a little bit of creme fraiche,
and then the cucumber mango slaw.
[Bobby] Two minutes to go.
[audience cheering and applauding]
[Zac] I checked the cornbread.
I pull it out.
Okay. All I'm saying, by the way...
-Oh, wow! -Oh, see, they look good.
It's a miracle!
-It's a Christmas miracle! -It's a Christmas miracle.
Woo!
[Zac] To plate, I piped the mousse into glasses,
then my cornbread.
[Maneet] I do the deep fried capers, salmon roe,
and then finish it with a little bit of dill.
[Eddie] One minute!
[Zac] I topped the cream with my crispy salmon skin.
[Maneet] What are you looking for?
Dill!
-Here. Dill. -Oh, thank you.
[all] Six, five, four, three, two, one.
-[bell dings] -[audience cheering and applauding]
Zac is making me nervous.
[Zac] Did the cornbread in 20 minutes.
Take that.
Doubt me again, guys, all right?
[Maneet] This is the perfect brunch dish.
It's my time to shine.
We're only one smoked salmon dish away
from seeing who gets to take on my dad,
the king of brunch himself.
Oh, please.
[laughter]
All right, Chef Maneet,
why don't you tell us what you did.
So what we have in front of you
is a hot-smoked salmon cake
with a cucumber, mango slaw,
and fried capers.
This plate is absolutely beautiful.
The cake itself is nice and crispy on the outside.
Tons of that smoked salmon on the inside.
The slaw has a little bit of tartness,
a little bit of sweetness,
a little bit of heat in there as well.
My only, uh, issue is that
when you get the capers and the roe,
it's teetering on the edge of being just a little salty.
This is an ideal brunch dish for sure.
The curry and the salmon go together perfectly.
Maybe a little dry on the inside
and it is maybe a little salty,
but the slaw balances it out.
Thank you.
[Eddie] Chef Zac, what'd you make?
[laughs]
[Zac] Hot-smoked salmon cornbread bites
with a salmon cream and the crispy salmon skin.
You got some kind of cornbread wizardry going on?
[laughter]
These are about as perfect as you can get.
They're light, they're fluffy on the inside,
it has a little bit of sweetness,
then you get these pops of saltiness
from the smoked salmon itself.
I love this little crispy salmon skin.
The mousse itself,
I think the texture of it is a little bit off.
It seems broken,
but the flavor is definitely there.
They are so good.
The maple syrup complements the salmon
and the cornbread perfectly.
Salmon mousse, it's delicious,
but a little light on the salmon flavor.
I actually think I would've liked a little bit more.
But overall, I mean, these are two fantastic
smoked salmon dishes.
[Eddie] Me and Sophie have a very tough decision on our hands.
Uh, give us a minute.
Maneet is a powerhouse,
but also, you know, I kind of pulled something out
that I don't think the judges had seen before.
The chef moving forward to challenge Bobby is...
Chef Maneet.
[audience cheering and applauding]
[softly] Thank you.
Ah, this feels good.
[grunts]
[chuckles]
Chef Maneet, we felt like you made the smoked salmon
more of a star
and it was extremely delicious.
Thank you.
Maneet, you've been here before.
How are you feeling?
I'm so ready.
After this, I'll have a T-shirt made.
You know, "Beaten Bobby Flay."
-[Sophie laughs] Yes. -[Eddie laughs]
[audience cheering]
All right, Maneet. Congratulations.
Are you feeling extra ready
'cause you didn't win last season?
-I've trained all last year. -[Bobby] You've trained?
[Maneet] Yeah.
[Bobby] Interesting. So what is your signature dish?
So my signature dish,
which is a holiday brunch favorite...
egg curry vindaloo...
Ooh. Egg--
[Maneet] ...with paranthas.
Oh, he's definitely losing.
[Zac] Yes!
[Eddie laughs]
I make this with Sophie all the time.
Have you made this before?
No.
But I can see it in my head.
Uh-huh? [laughs]
Well, Maneet, you also get to pick your teammate.
So who's it gonna be, Zac or Eddie?
Oh, that's going to be a tough one.
I am going to go with Zac,
because Eddie has already called you a wizard.
Come on.
Ladies who brunch have come to play.
What are we making?
[laughter]
-[Bobby] Come here, Ed. -[Eddie] Oh, yeah.
All right, Eddie, you get my dad.
Two world-class athletes ready to go.
-Yeah, you know. -[Sophie] Oh, my God.
You wish.
This is really revenge for both of you.
Uh-huh.
[Sophie] And you'll each have 45 minutes
to cook vindaloo egg curry and paranthas,
and one additional side of your choice.
-We're ready. -Let's go.
[cheering and applauding]
-[woman speaking] -Yay!
[Sophie] So Maneet has challenged my dad
to a traditional Indian Christmas brunch.
Egg vindaloo is a tangy, spicy, tomato-based curry
that traditionally includes red chili, vinegar,
ginger, garlic, and some garam masala.
And the egg is hard-boiled.
They're also making some paranthas,
which is basically flatbread.
So, Maneet, why did you choose egg vindaloo?
You know, it reminds me of during brunch
when people like to have Bloody Mary spicy?
-Yeah. -This is the food version of Bloody Mary, brunch.
-[Sophie] Ooh. -Perfect.
We are making egg curry vindaloo
with paranthas and poha potato hash.
I have been making it all my life.
-We got it. -We got it.
I start off by making the parantha dough.
So parantha is an Indian bread.
It's usually layered or stuffed,
which is whole wheat flour
and some ajwain which is carom seeds.
And make sure that it comes together as a soft dough.
Yes!
How many hard-boiled eggs?
Let's do 10.
[Maneet] Zac starts working on eggs, onions.
[Zac] Thin slice?
-[Maneet] Thin slice. -Yes, Chef.
Whatever my queen needs, I'm there.
Love it.
[Sophie] Dad, what's your take on this dish?
Uh, it's gonna have some eggs in it, some flatbread.
[laughter]
[Bobby] This cilantro and mint chutney,
I'm gonna serve it with some coconut rice.
All four things that I know about Indian food,
we're making it right now.
-Okay. -Egg curry vinda-who?
-Yeah. Exactly. -[laughs]
[Bobby] We got this.
I'm gonna make the base of the curry,
shallots, ginger, garlic.
I have a vindaloo spice blend.
I have a garam masala spice blend
and I have a curry blend, and I let that kind of toast.
You got the paratha bread?
-Yes. -[Bobby] All right. Let's go.
[Eddie] I take some wheat flour,
a little bit of avocado oil,
and pulse with some lukewarm water
until the dough starts to form.
Yeah. That looks good.
[Eddie] And then just let it sit.
Let those... The gluten and all of that good stuff come together.
We're just gonna try to cook good food,
and hopefully, Maneet messes up.
[both laugh]
Even though my dad might not be familiar
with this type of curry,
he has made a lot of curry in his day,
and he's always gonna bring the flavor.
We know that.
So I'm excited to see what they make.
If you can fry the onion and garlic.
-Sliced, diced? -Sliced.
I start working on the paste for my vindaloo,
so there's mustard seeds,
fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, whole red chili.
Once the spice start emitting the wonderful aromas,
that goes into a blender along with some vinegar
and fried onions and the fried garlic,
and we blend that entire paste.
[whirring]
Such a great shortcut, by the way.
I'm telling you, that's how you make curries on the fly.
-[mimicking explosion] -Curry in a hurry.
Oh, my God.
Bobby, I don't think your station
is smelling like that.
Smells pretty good to me.
[chuckles]
Bobby definitely is known as the king of brunch.
But I don't think that Bobby is very comfortable with curries.
[Zac] You know that I've never heard Bobby this quiet.
I know.
Do you think he's nervous or something?
[Zac laughs]
Now, we're bringing out the evil laugh.
Please keep it down.
[audience exclaiming]
I can't be distracted.
My dad is in trouble because he doesn't use
Indian flavors that often.
Bobby, you're going down.
[laughs]
-I love this game. -I know.
Coming up on 34 minutes.
[cheering and applauding]
All right, Maneet, Zac, what's going on here?
So right over here, I have the vindaloo paste.
Zac is, uh, doing the eggs, uh, parantha dough is ready.
So, yeah, I think we are doing good.
What'd you say? I'm sorry.
[Sophie] No cheating, Eddie.
Do you want to know how it should taste like?
[laughter]
What's happening over here?
[Eddie] Whole lot of good stuff.
Who's doing what on your team, Dad, here?
So, um--
-[Sophie] What are you doing? -Eddie--
-[Eddie] I'm just looking good. -Get to work.
Eddie's making the paratha bread
and he's got the eggs.
I think traditionally they do 'em hard-boiled...
-[Eddie] Yeah. -...but I want 'em a little jammy.
[Sophie] All right. Jammy eggs.
Getting the mangoes caramelized for the rice.
-What are you doing? -[Bobby] I got some coconut rice working.
I'm gonna put some lime.
Make it a little crispy situation.
I got the base of the sauce working,
tomato and some coconut milk.
Coconut kind of chills out all the spices, you know.
Dad, is coconut milk traditional in this?
-Nope. -[audience laughing]
Well, listen, I... Oh.
-[audience exclaiming] -[chuckles]
[Bobby] I like coconut milk, so I'm using it--
-So you're just doing whatever you want? -[laughs] Exactly.
All right, you do that.
[Bobby] I add a can of tomatoes,
some chicken stock,
and I'll let that cook down to develop flavor.
[Sophie] Coming up on 24 minutes.
[cheering and applauding]
Maneet has her vindaloo paste going,
which is gonna be for her sauce.
So many spices up there, almost too many to list.
Peel the eggs.
And then the marinade, I kept right next to you.
Maneet put Zac in charge of the hard-boiled eggs.
I like a jammy egg,
but it's really gonna all come down
to what our judges are used to.
-[Eddie] Good right here? -[Bobby] Perfect.
Dad, what are you working on now?
[Bobby] I'm pickling some onions.
I got some coconut rice working.
I have the coconut rice in the cast iron pan.
I take the caramelized mangoes that Eddie gave me.
I'm gonna start to make it crispy.
Crispy rice, kind of a signature of his.
Every time I come home at the holidays,
it was always, like, a crispy rice dish of some sort.
And if the judges like something a little bit
outside of the box, he could have it.
So, Maneet, what are the potatoes for then?
It's for flattened rice dish, poha.
It'll be like a hash.
Yum.
This is a traditional Indian breakfast, brunch item,
which is spices and turmeric
along with some red sliced onions.
I'm putting my twist on it by adding a lot of potatoes
and peas to it.
Then I finish it with some flattened rice
and let it cook.
[Sophie] Fifteen minutes to go.
[audience cheering]
Eddie's rolling out some of our amazing
-traditional flatbread. -[Eddie chuckles]
I take my dough.
I'm gonna roll that out.
Little coating of ghee.
And then, basically, I'm gonna make like a cinnamon roll.
Eddie, have you made those before?
-Absolutely... not. -[Sophie laughs]
[Eddie] I know the gist of it, though.
We just hope that it works.
We are professionals.
[laughing] Oh, my God.
Maneet, how are you making your paranthas?
Layering it with some fenugreek leaves and ghee.
I roll it out,
fold it, roll it out,
and then fold it again.
It's almost like making a puff pastry.
It takes a lot of skill.
It's all about the layers.
[Sophie] Ten minutes on the clock.
So I have cast iron skillet with my bread
going right in there.
And at the same time, trying to peel eggs.
-Peeling eggs takes a while. -Yeah, it takes a minute.
I'm putting this in the fryer.
Mm-hmm.
[Maneet] In India, we deep fry the hard-boiled eggs.
It gives it a chewy exterior, which mimics meat.
[Bobby] To go with our meal, I'm gonna make a chutney.
I wanna bring some brightness to it
and a little acidity.
I have an idea to mess with my dad.
I think this will do the trick.
So I'm gonna go in.
Hey, Dad, in the holiday spirit,
I wanted to do something a little special for you.
-Okay. -[Sophie] Take a look.
-Oh, nice. -So sweet, right?
Flay Family Memories.
-Look. -Oh, yeah.
-That's me and you. -[Sophie] So sweet.
-It's me and you. -Look at us
on our nature walks.
-[Bobby] Yes. -[Sophie] Yeah.
Wait, what?
How did that get in there?
Whoa.
-Maneet, take a look. -Aw!
[Sophie] Look at all that red hair.
[chuckles]
Unfortunately, we don't have a holiday photo together,
so I think we need one
'cause we have a missing page.
-Okay. Let's do it. -Okay.
So on the way over here, I stopped at the mall
and I picked up a friend that I think will be perfect
for this holiday photo.
-Okay. -Yeah.
All right.
Come on out, Kris Kringle.
Kris Kringle?
[Christmas music playing]
Ho-ho-ho.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
[cheering and applauding]
It's Santa.
Dad, we need to get a picture.
-I can't wait. -[Sophie] Then perfect. Let's go.
[audience laughing]
Have you been a good boy this year?
-[Sophie] No. -[Bobby] Clearly.
Unfortunately, you're on the naughty list.
[laughs]
-For the Flay Family Memories. -Oh, very nice.
[camera shutter clicks]
Let's get a picture with the winners.
Back to work, sir.
[Zac] I really hope that Santa gives us
what we really want, which is a win.
Say, "Beat Bobby Flay."
-Beat Bobby Flay. -Beat Bobby Flay.
Beaten Bobby Flay.
-Yes. -[camera shutter clicks]
Merry Christmas, everyone. And some coal for you.
[laughs]
[Sophie] Four minutes to go.
Beautiful.
[Zac] I take the eggs out of the fryer.
I cut them.
Oh, yeah, I think they are perfect.
-Booya. -[Maneet] The paranthas,
they have this beautiful golden brown color.
You can see the different layers.
I'm going to finish them with ghee.
Maneet's parantha looks so good.
I would die to get my hands on those.
-How you doing, Ed? -[Eddie] I'm good.
[Bobby] You got any eggs ready yet?
I got one ready.
I need four.
I'm waiting for the eggs.
And so, I put the chutney in all the little bowls,
and then ladled the curry.
The first thing that we do is we put the sauce on a plate
and then the paranthas.
Take the hard-boiled eggs and just arrange it around.
This is a brunch feast.
It just needs to look beautiful.
One minute and 30 seconds, teams.
How many eggs you got?
[Eddie] Two.
[Bobby] We get a couple of eggs going.
Red onions on top.
A little of the cilantro chutney.
And I'm frantically peeling this egg,
but we're behind.
[Sophie] Dad, are you gonna finish?
No idea.
It's making me very nervous.
[Maneet] The poha is in a small bowl.
Then fill all the space with some fryums
which are these tapioca wafers,
and voila!
It's done.
[all] Ten, nine, eight...
With 10 seconds left,
we need to get one more egg peeled.
[all] Seven...
[Bobby] And then, literally, you notice
that the bread is over at Eddie's station.
Oh, my God.
[all] ...four, three, two, one.
[all] Six, five, four...
[Bobby] Literally, with two seconds left,
the bread is not on the plate.
[all] ...three, two...
[Eddie] I'm putting the egg down
and I see this bread flying in the air.
[all] ...one.
And it totally missed the plate.
You threw 'em over there?
I was throwing 'em to you, but you weren't looking.
-[laughs] -[Eddie] I was putting the eggs...
We did good.
It is a sexy brunch. Sexy brunch, sexy brunch.
[laughs] What happened?
I realized that Eddie wasn't a wide receiver.
-He was a defensive back. -[laughs]
[Bobby] So he didn't catch 'em.
We have some good flavors though.
So, uh, we'll see what happens.
[Maneet] Last year, both of us got beaten by Bobby.
Not this year.
So tonight, we are celebrating a holiday brunch.
Team Maneet, Team Dad.
[laughter]
I'd like to introduce you guys to the judges,
the chef and owner of Pig & Khao, Leah Cohen.
Culinary director of Sona, Hari Nayak.
James Beard Award nominated chef,
Adrienne Cheatham.
[audience applauding]
So, judges, our challenge was egg vindaloo and paranthas.
Please start with the first meal in front of you.
Don't mind if I do.
This is something that I want to wake up to
every holiday morning.
The sauce has a really great depth of flavor.
It's really well-balanced.
The eggs are cooked really nicely.
They have that beautiful yellow yolk.
But for me, the outside of the egg
is a little bit dry.
The paratha is amazing.
The layers, the flavor, and the poha hash,
the flavor was great.
Maybe a little less peas.
This is such an amazing treat.
The flavor of the sauce, it's the spice,
the sourness, and the sweetness,
it's just perfectly balanced.
The char on the egg itself, um, I was not a big fan of.
It's a little chewy for me, but the... This paratha,
paratha is, it's the star.
It's comforting for me.
It's so convivial and fun on a holiday morning.
I thought the paratha was amazing.
The different layers, the lamination on that.
The sauce of the vindaloo,
well, it's well-seasoned, beautiful flavor.
I thought the egg was cooked beautifully,
but the skin on it was a little chewy.
Overall, this is a truly beautiful holiday meal.
Please try the second meal.
So the cook on the egg is perfect.
That jammy egg yolk consistency.
I think the sauce is great as well.
I love the heat and I love the crispy bits in the rice.
I think it adds a lot of texture.
I think all the flavors are there.
But where's the paratha?
Right.
This is the best egg curry and rice that I've had.
It's beautiful.
Um, the sauce is so flavorful
and, uh, would love to have some parathas.
It would make an amazing dish.
I think the colors are beautiful.
The pickled red onion adds a nice pop.
The green chutney adds a lot of flavor
and the rice is very comforting,
but it leaned a little bit sweet.
I actually would've liked more crispy bits on the rice.
I would've liked a little bit more texture overall.
And, gosh, I really wanted a paratha. [laughs]
Thank you for your comments.
And now we're gonna have you guys vote.
I wanna beat Bobby so bad.
We both do.
If this won't do it, I don't know what will.
-We are not coming back. -No.
[Sophie] So for this Indian holiday brunch...
the winning team is...
Team Maneet.
[cheering and applauding]
[Bobby] Good job, dude.
The paratha won, and it was a holiday feast
for us to enjoy.
Thank you.
Team Maneet, how do you guys feel?
Redemption.
This year we came, we conquered.
[Bobby] Just wanna say one thing.
Eddie Jackson's paranthas were amazing.
I threw 'em at him and he didn't catch 'em.
[laughter]
All right, you guys, give it up for Team Maneet.
[Leah] Yes.
[audience cheering]
Can we just, like, stay together?
Actually, Bobby can just go home.
We'll take over the whole thing, you know.
-[Bobby speaking] -Oh.
[laughs]
I think the only one thing we can say is happy holidays,
for us at least.
Enjoy your coal, Bobby.
We did it. We won.
Maneet and Zac, they crushed him.
What's left to do?
Brunch?
[glasses clink]
[both] We are Team Maneet and we just beat Bobby Flay.
-Yeah! -[audience cheering]
[camera shutter clicks]