I'm Bobby Flay.
The holidays are here and it's time for cheer.
Well, not for me.
-Happy holidays! -[crowd cheering]
[Bobby] All of my closest Food Network friends
are teaming up to take me down.
Are you ready to get your jingle bell wrong, hard?
Fire it up.
The battle's gonna shake down in three rounds.
[bell dings]
Round one and two, they must go through each other.
I have waited for this moment.
You're in my head.
[Bobby] Round three, winner gets me.
-[crowd cheering] -Let's go, Flay!
[laughs]
[Bobby] And 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. -Alright, you guys smell it?
-[Bobby] The rounds are bigger. -[bottle pops]
Yeah!
-[Bobby] And the surprises... -Ho, ho, ho, ho!
...just keep on coming.
Bottom line, everyone's out to ruin my holiday.
Come on in, ladies!
Oh!
[laughing]
[Christmas tune playing]
Yeah.
[audience clapping]
All right, guys, who's ready to go
all out for the holidays?
[audience cheering]
We're here to celebrate in style
Food Network's Jeff Mauro.
[audience cheering]
♪ Oh, Bobby Flay ♪
♪ You're going down today ♪
♪ It is the day That you will be destroyed ♪
[laughs]
♪ Oh, Bobby Flay ♪
♪ You're going down ♪
♪ Today ♪
[audience cheering and clapping]
[playing guitar solo]
Nice.
Happy holidays.
I like that wolf fur coat you got.
It's faux snow leopard.
Yes, it is spectacular.
It's just like this set. How pretty is this?
All these Christmas trees.
What are your holidays like at home?
I host every year, Christmas eve.
Is it kind of over the top?
Over the top, about 35 people.
-Really? -Last year we did full Chicago steak house.
-Ooh. -Tomahawk ribeye, skirt steaks.
-Oh, Tomahawk ribeye? -Yes.
-Bringing the big meat in. -Bringing the big meat.
So tonight, Bobby, we're gonna class this place up.
-Really? -Yeah, tonight is gonna be an over the top
holiday celebration.
[audience cheering and clapping]
All right. Are you ready to see who's here
-to ring your jingle bell? -Can't wait.
-[audience laughing] -Our first contender
holds multiple world records.
So you know he doesn't shy away from going big.
Come on out, chef Jet Tila.
All right!
[audience cheering]
Bobby, I'm here to ruin your holiday, brother.
Quite a look.
All right. Our next contender is one of your triple threat titans.
Let's deck the halls for chef Brooke Williamson.
Yes.
Oh, wow.
You got a win under that tree for me, Bobby?
Yeah!
[laughing]
-Tough first round. -Yeah, right?
Good evening, Jet, Brooke.
What up, Bob?
Let's talk about the history here
'cause I know you guys have some.
So you guys have competed against each other before, right?
-Three times. -Yeah.
And what's the record so far, Brooke?
-I'm gonna answer that for you. -Okay. You go.
It's a big old holiday goose egg, Bob.
So you 0-3 against Brooke?
So you know, on my phone, she's kryptonite.
-[laughs] It's what my name is on your phone? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Listen, there's a chance you can have a break out night here.
Of all the places, Bobby, this is where I wanna do it.
[Bobby] Okay, just to remind you guys, I'm gonna give you
an ingredient of my choice and you must make that ingredient
the star of the dish. I love this round.
-Why are you smiling already? -I know.
-I love this round so much. -I've not seen him this happy in a long time.
And that ingredient is...
It's just a glass of wine.
Oh, my God, I was kidding,
but it was real.
-What? -Champagne?
-Please, I'm not done. -Oh.
It's caviar.
-[both] Oh. -[crowd exclaiming]
Switch-a-roo!
You like this, Jet?
Dude, I love caviar.
Who doesn't love caviar?
So Jeff, the snow leopard back there,
he'll decide which one of you goes up against
the next competitor in round two.
Twenty minutes to go all out.
Make sure you make the caviar the super star.
-[bell dinging] -[crowd cheering]
I mean, wow.
So I would say that the over the top holiday celebrations
theme is spun on tons of caviar.
You stole my scallops.
-Oh, no. I'm so sorry. -That's cold.
That's so messed up.
Can I have three of those?
I think I need them all.
Ay, yah, yah, no way.
They're yelling at each other already.
So caviar, fish eggs, the more expensive ones comes from Sturgeon.
[Jeff] It's a topper.
It is, or you can fold it into something
at the very last second, a sauce, scrambled eggs.
It's really what you pair it with.
Hey Jet, what are you thinking about?
Dude, I swear I was making scallops in my head,
and then she jacked my scallops.
Well, then, just make 'em in your head.
So-- [laughs] Wow.
-[Jeff laughs] -I'm gonna do oysters
crispy maitake and caviar.
I like oysters and caviar too.
Makes perfect sense.
Oysters, caviar, natural pair, still ocean.
So first thing I'm gonna do is pickle my Fresno chilies.
Add red wine vinegar, sugar and then I gotta start on my mushrooms.
Maitake mushrooms when fried
are like meat.
Remind me of these mushrooms.
All right?
I'm Jet Tila, co-owner of Dragon Tiger Noodles and Pei Wei
and all together, we're like 155 restaurants.
Got three best-selling cook books,
five culinary Guinness world records.
Everything is big in my life.
Except my stature.
So I've gone up against Brooke on Tournament of Champions
on three occasions and I've lost all three times.
[man] Chef Brooke WIlliamson!
[Jet] Tonight can be my night of redemption though.
And then one of the things on my bucket list
is to beat Bobby Flay.
That's my mantra. Beat Bobby Flay.
There's not a lot of time here, you guys.
But you jacked me up 'cause now I gotta open a bunch of oysters.
Are you still harping about this?
Yeah, hell, yeah.
[Brooke] Jet does not seem real happy that I've taken the scallops.
But there are some high stakes here.
I came here to beat Bobby.
I'm not gonna let Jet get in my way.
So I'm gonna do a seared scallop
with bacon creamed leeks,
a caviar butter sauce and some crispy potatoes.
Scallops are brine-y, they're also rich.
All of the qualities that highlight flavor profiles of actual caviar.
I'm first starting on my wine caviar butter sauce.
I'm gonna reduce the white wine with shallots.
This brings me back to the late '90s
when I really started professionally cooking.
You would see caviar in butter sauces all the time.
I'm Brooke Williamson.
I have a restaurant in Playa Del Rey called Playa Provisions.
I'm a judge on BBQ Brawl.
I am also one of the titans on Bobby's triple threat.
And I'm the first ever champion of
Tournament of Champions.
[man] Chef Brooke Williamson!
You could say I like competition.
Last holiday season, I found myself
competing against Bobby.
Thank you.
I was a little shocked when I didn't win with my cheese souffle.
-Team Bobby. -[laughing]
So I'm here to show Bobby that he cannot beat me twice.
Careful, careful, careful.
Ooh, wow. Flames.
I know you're in the thick of it here, Brooke.
How're you feeling though? You're confident?
I'm never confident.
You got three wins on this little guy over there.
He's having such a nice time.
We're just here for fun.
Exactly.
[Brooke] I get a pan on for my leeks, render the bacon fat out.
Add my leeks with a little bit of white wine.
[audience] Mushroom.
Mushrooms. They're screaming mushrooms.
Oh, mushroom.
[audience laughing]
I'm like, why are you calling me mushrooms?
So I grab my mushrooms out of the fryer,
I salt them really quick, I'm gonna get to them later.
There's so much I gotta do to beat Brooke.
So I'm moving on to my dashi.
I need to burn off some sake,
add soy sauce, and some bonito granules.
Next, I'm mandolining radishes.
I need this for the bitterness.
So obviously, no caviar being used.
The caviar's gonna come in the last second.
That's probably the smart thing for both of them.
Brooke is using the osetra caviar.
Little bit of a nutty, brine flavor.
-Jet's using a kaluga caviar. -Oh, kaluga.
[Bobby] It's a little more rich. It's the more buttery flavor.
[Jeff] Nine minutes to go.
[audience cheering]
Of course, I gotta shuck oysters with nine minutes.
That sucks.
Ay-yah-yah.
I take my oyster knife and I just start popping oysters.
So I'm gonna do some small diced potatoes,
throw those in the fryer and then to my leeks,
I'm gonna add some creme fraiche
which is gonna add that creaminess.
[Bobby] She got leeks and creme fraiche.
My only concern is, is it all one rich note?
Yeah.
Guys, don't let me forget about those potatoes.
[Jet] Don't help her.
-You asked for help. -Don't help her.
You guys are my friends.
[laughs]
[Brooke] The fun thing about scallops in competition is
they cook really quickly
and you can get a beautiful dark, round sear.
Oh, Brooke, must be nice to be able to cook.
Instead of shucking all day.
-Are you still complaining? -Oh, heck, yeah.
Heck, yeah.
I feel so bad.
[Jet laughs] You clearly don't.
-So raw oysters... raw oysters. -And then what?
Um, gotta do the maitakes.
[Bobby] Like crispy or something?
Yeah, you know what, these are a little too crispy.
Yes, very crispy.
Thirty seconds.
And you got some-- This is just the bed?
[Jet] They're just the bed.
The caviar is just gonna go on top?
It has to.
-It has to be the first thing to hit your palette, Jeff. -Yes, exactly.
To the hydro cress, I add olive oil,
yuzu and salt to make a simple dressing.
That's a lot of caviar.
There's no such thing.
-That looks great. -Thanks.
What is this, like, a beurre blanc?
Yeah.
Taking it back to your days.
-I was just gonna-- -Wow.
Bobby, she called you old. Remember that.
I call him old all the time. He's used to it.
Two and a half minutes, chefs.
-Looking good. -[audience cheering]
My hydro cress is already on the plate.
I top that with two oysters.
I add dashi over the oyster.
I put maitakes on the side.
I add my radish brunoise.
Then a big dollop of caviar.
I wonder about Jet's dish because he's got the salad underneath the show.
-Mm. -So are you supposed to eat the slurp
and the salad? Wait, how to--
Kinda little awkward.
So to plate, I put my leek mixture on the base of the plate.
My scallop directly on top of that.
I sprinkle my crispy potatoes.
[Jeff] Ten, nine,
-eight-- -[Brooke] And then top the whole thing off
with my caviar butter sauce.
Four, three
two, one.
-[bell dings] -[crowd cheering]
This dish to me screams decadent, over the top.
It's perfect for the holidays.
[Jet] My flavors are solid.
I think it's gonna be pretty close.
Brooke, Jet, I don't know about you guys,
but I'm ready to celebrate beating Bobby Flay tonight.
-Whoo! -Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Chef Jet, tell me what you made.
An oyster, maitake mushrooms and I put the caviar on top.
Didn't want anything to overwhelm.
Wanted it all to work together.
Are you still talking?
It's 'cause he's eating. That's it. I--
I'm taking the opportunity.
You know, I feel like I'm in the ocean,
just slurping that beautifully shucked
oyster topped with that caviar,
which just pops in your mouth.
Very indulgent.
I love that crispy maitake mushroom.
I wish, like, the green element was
incorporated more into the bite.
Understood.
-Overall, great dish, chef, thank you. -Thank you, chef.
All right, chef Brooke, what'd you do with the caviar?
A seared scallop with bacon creamed leeks,
crispy potatoes and an osetra butter sauce.
This is a perfectly cooked seared scallop.
I mean, it's melt in your mouth.
I love the texture from those little potatoes
and just the silkiness of the sauce,
just lets the caviar shine.
I wish there was another fresher element.
I don't know, a herb, even some micro greens,
something to kinda give you a little break from all that richness.
Overall, it is a flavor bomb.
Two very good dishes, chefs.
Give me a moment while I confer with the little voice in my head.
[laughs]
[laughing]
[Jet] She's beat me way too many times.
This would be the place to beat her 'cause
I can beat Brooke, I can beat Bobby
and really have a phenomenal holiday season.
So the chef moving forward to round two is...
So the chef moving forward
to round two is...
Chef Brooke.
[audience cheering]
Congrats, you got it.
Come to daddy!
I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready.
Oh.
With scallops, I would've beat Brooke.
Brooke, your dish was awesome.
I mean, the caviar was the star of the show,
but all the supporting players just sung on my tongue.
[chuckles]
All right, Brooke, we need you back at your station
'cause there is one more obstacle
before you get to the big man.
All right, Bobby, do you care to guess
who's coming out next to spoil your holiday fun?
Is it Santa himself?
We couldn't afford him actually.
[all laughing]
And this is a very big moment 'cause
the next contender, we rarely, if ever
see compete in the kitchen.
He's eaten the strangest foods on the planet.
-Got it. -Come on out
chef Andrew Zimmern.
[audience cheering]
Uh, wow.
Is that a cat?
He's doctor evil.
It's so bizarre.
I love Andrew to death.
and he's very well versed in any ingredient
that could possibly be thrown at him.
Good evening.
[all laughing]
Andrew, it's nice to see you inside of the kitchen.
I'm excited.
What's more fun than cooking with your friends?
Nothing.
There you go.
[Andrew] Brooke is an incredible chef.
We've been friends for 10 years.
She's also a battle tested competitor.
So I'm just...
Are you guys ready to find out what you're cooking?
Time for a disco party.
-What? -Hmm.
[all exclaiming]
Nice.
Prime rib.
-What? -[audience cheering]
Brooke, you okay?
Twenty minutes?
-Yeah. -With prime rib?
What's wrong with you?
Also, this has nothing to do with disco.
You weren't there at the time.
We were there. Prime rib is very disco.
[all laughing]
All right, guys, twenty minutes on the clock.
Make sure your prime rib is a cut above the rest.
[bell dings]
[all cheering]
-Yeah. -Wow.
-This is a gift. Sorry. -I agree with you.
Cut it into steaks.
I would do, like, a Korean barbecue sauce on this thing.
Big time.
And like, I would deli slicer out,
get it as thin as possible.
I think you would make a sandwich.
Ribeye's the one steak for me that needs to go beyond medium rare.
Yeah. Especially bone in.
There's so much connective tissue and fat,
and everything that needs time to kind of get melty.
Brooke, what are you making?
I'm gonna do a bone in rib chop
which I gotta, like, start now.
I'm making a rib chop
with an apple brown butter sauce
and some crispy onions.
Have you ever done this?
Have you ever added milk to butter and make it extra brown?
No.
[Brooke] The milk itself will brown,
which is gonna amp up the brown butter flavor.
The bone lend so much flavor
to the actual steak.
It feels like a crime to me to cut it off the bone.
So I'm gonna salt and pepper the rib chops.
Whoo!
Throw them directly into the pan
Is something smoking?
Hmm?
[blows]
Andrew's cooking the egg carton.
-[laughing] -Andrew, what are you making, sir?
Sort of a riff on yakiniku,
a Japanese dish.
Seared, thinly sliced prime rib with a miso sauce.
That sounds great.
[Andrew] My strategy is to go into the Japanese playbook
and pull out inspiration from a classic dish.
And so, I'm gonna pair it with a miso sabayon
that I think is the best complement to beef.
So I just combined sugar, eggs, rice wine,
dashi and miso, and whisked that together
until the egg yolks set.
I gotta say guys, this is pretty epic to see AZ in the kitchen.
Andrew has literally traveled the world multiple times.
Tried every cuisine in the most esoteric little place,
but not competed.
He usually doesn't compete.
I'm Andrew Zimmern, chef, author, entrepreneur.
The TV guy.
The thing that I'm best known for is
being a globe trotting culinary adventurer.
Do you wanna try a live frog?
[woman] Not really.
Bizarre Foods was my first television program
and lasted for 13 years.
I've judged hundreds of episodes of
dozen different cooking competition shows.
[man] Chef Andrew Zimmern!
But I've been cooking since I was 14 years old
and while I never compete on camera,
I hate to lose.
So if I was cooking against Bobby,
I might be a little bit of a wild card
because I have nothing to lose.
Just under 16 minutes.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Yakiniku, excellent thin sliced, marinated.
I really don't have time to do a full marination,
but I didn't come here just to roll over
and play dead, so let's see what happens, right?
-All right, chef, best of luck. -Thank you.
AZ, everybody. Wow.
Pretty epic.
He's roasting the bones.
[Andrew] My intention with the bone is that they can get that intense
fatty prime rib flavor and that smell of charred bone
and I'm hoping they appreciate it.
That's a big ass rib chop
-for 13 minutes, my friend. -I know. I know.
You don't have to remind me.
It is a gorgeous crust, isn't it?
I just feel like, presentation wise, you can't beat it, right?
Yeah, and it's holidays, and it's over the top.
Over the top. That's what I'm going for.
Let's wish her some luck, guys.
-[audience cheering] -Wow.
-Best of luck, chef. -Thank you.
I wanna make sure that I'm serving a steak
that not only highlights the ingredient,
but it's cooked enough to wanna eat.
So I add some garlic in there and straight into the oven.
[Jeff] You gotta really tow the lines.
You're not over searing it too.
So you got an inch of over cooked meat and a cold center.
You know, it's quite possible. Not enough time.
[Brooke] Yes, my rib chops are very large
for a 20 minute cook.
It's high risk, high reward at this point.
Ooh, nine minutes left on the clock.
[audience cheering]
Now that my prime rib is in the oven cooking,
I'm gonna get started on crispy onions for texture,
toss them with some corn starch
and get them into the fryer to brown.
[Andrew] So I'm gonna sear my scallions.
It's the traditional iconic complement
to this yakiniku.
I'm worried. Are you worried that AZ hasn't sliced the meat?
He's just basically got scallion sauce
and roasted bones.
Coming in! Coming in, hot.
I don't wanna bother you too much.
No, please don't.
Now how did our brown butter turn out
with the addition of the milk?
[Brooke] Beautiful.
For my brown butter sauce, I add mustard, sherry vinegar, horse radish.
[Jeff] Well, that smells delicious.
-Uh, onions. -[Brooke groans]
You're welcome. Good luck.
How about Brooke here?
How's chef Brooke Williamson?
[audience cheering]
Thank you Bobby for reminding me of those onions.
For my brown butter sauce, I'm adding my green apples.
I do feel like it needs a little bit of a kick.
So I add some Thai red chilies.
My strategy with the beef is to do a much thinner cut.
And just season it with little bit of orange and salt.
Chef AZ, we gotta get that meat cooked, man.
You got about five minutes left.
Let's not worry about that right now, Jeff.
[Jeff] I'm not worried about anything, chef.
Let's go, Andrew Zimmern!
-[audience cheering] -Here cooking for you.
Is there even a big enough plate?
Oh, we have to do plates, too?
[all laughing]
As long as she gets that meat cooked, she's got this.
He's not even cooking yet.
[laughing]
Prime rib is in a skillet.
Hallelujah.
[audience exclaiming]
Four minutes, chefs.
All ready. Cross your fingers.
I actually would love to have another five minutes in the oven.
I don't have it, so I'm calling for a hail Mary here
that these steaks are cooked enough.
I'm starting to plate by putting those steaks
directly onto the plate.
And then I'm topping them with my brown butter apple sauce.
And then garnishing with fried onion.
[Andrew] I'm gonna take my sabayon.
I'm gonna put it down on the plate,
one of my charred scallions.
I'm very happy with the cook on the meat.
I'm gonna lay my yakiniku on top of the miso sauce.
Some frilly mustards.
[all] Ten, nine,
-eight, seven... -And the bone garnish.
...five, four,
three, two,
-one. -[bell dings]
[audience cheering]
Beautiful.
Awesome job. Dude, that was beautiful.
Oh, you're serving the bones.
Well, that's really smart. I just put myself
through the ringer for no reason.
[laughs]
No good reason.
Oh, come on.
Based on these two prime rib dishes,
we both really believe that we're gonna be celebrating.
Whoo!
Chef Brooke, what did you make us?
[Brooke] A prime rib chop
with an apple brown butter and crispy onions.
I apologize for the small portion.
[chuckles]
The crust on this is outstanding.
But then pairing it with apple for sweetness and chili for heat,
you really are like a master of bringing all flavors together.
It's holiday, it's bold, it's over the top.
My issue just comes down to the cook.
It's definitely coming in under.
Understood.
Yeah, it just needed a little more time.
But really, this is a pretty well, dry aged piece of beef here too.
So you get that gaminess and you need that apple in there,
which was like the most surprising ingredient
on top of this, but it was so necessary.
Like, when everything played together,
-it was so fun. -Thank you.
Chef Andrew, what did you do with the prime rib?
[Andrew] The yakiniku with a miso sauce
and I love the bones.
So I thought, why not let you have a bite of that
if you wanted.
I think the cook is outstanding here.
The char on the bone, the fat is melted through.
For me, the sauce is very powerful.
If it beat up on the thinner slices of the beef.
But you gave us really nice combination of flavors and cook.
Thanks.
Every inch of your sliced thin ribeye
is just melt in your mouth tender.
And then you drag it through that sauce.
And it's so rich and it gives it that
silky, umaminess.
Like I wish it were little more crunch
ingrained to it, so there was little more texture to play with.
Well, Jeff and I had two fantastic
prime rib dishes here.
And now we have a huge decision to make.
[Andrew] Well, here's the thing.
I do wanna win the first battle.
If I win, I get to cook against
one of my oldest, dearest friends
and I think that would be hysterical.
And the winner is...
Chef Andrew.
Ooh.
[audience cheering]
Congrats.
Damn!
I'm sorry.
Wow. Winning round two is a shock to you and to me.
But I'm thrilled.
All right, so, this just came down Brooke
to your doneness versus his more even chew throughout.
It was the even chew that got you.
[Jeff] Even chew, baby.
All right, now's the fun part.
Who thinks chef Andrew is gonna beat Bobby Flay tonight?
[audience cheering]
All right, Andrew, congratulations.
That was so fun to watch.
How're you feeling about the third round?
Once again my friend, into the breach.
[all laughing]
Yes. What are we cooking, Andrew?
My signature dish.
Really is a composition of the best of my grandmother's food.
So we're gonna make the Hanukah feast.
Wow.
We're gonna make latkes, we're gonna make chopped chicken liver,
-a poached salmon. -Whoa! I love this.
Look how excited Bob is.
I'm so happy that I know how to make it.
-I like this. -Yeah, I think it's fun.
Well, not only do you get to lay out that challenge,
you also get to pick your team mate.
[whistles]
Today we got chef Jet Tila, who lost the first round.
Brooke of course, was defeated the second round.
Who also lost.
They each lost once today.
So who's gonna be your winning horse?
I promised myself that if I won whoever I beat, I would select.
So I'll cook with Brooke and I'll let you cook with Jet.
Sounds great to me.
-Wait, Jet and I won last year. -That's right.
All right, Jet and Brooke, go join your team.
All right.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
[Bobby] This feels like family. Cause Jet is my family
and we cook every holiday on this show.
It just happens that way.
[Jet] The universe wills it.
I'm so happy that you chose me to be your partner today.
Of course. Brooke has been a friend of mine
and we've never had a chance to cook before.
-You've only judged me, really. -That is correct.
Andrew, Brooke, how are you feeling about your chances here?
They can't stop us. They can only hope to contain us.
[Jeff] Forty-five minutes.
Let's let the celebration begin!
[audience cheering]
[Brooke] Okay, where are we starting?
You're starting on chicken liver, right?
So tonight is all about over the top celebration.
So tonight, we are celebrating the feast of Hanukah.
So these three dishes are very iconic
and I love latkes.
Essentially fried potatoes.
Poached salmon, so delicate
that technical poach is under a simmer.
It's well under a boil.
And then chopped liver, traditionally is
sauteed livers and onions chopped up
till it gets creamy.
So Andrew, why did you decide to do
a Hanukah celebration tonight?
I am very proudly a Jewish kid from New York City.
-Mm-hmm. -So why not cook what I know.
Bobby and I have the same hometown.
What's a better thing to cook than a Hanukah celebration?
I don't know.
My signature dish is our family's Hanukah feast.
It's the first thing I ever learned to cook
in my grandmother's kitchen.
I mean, talk about an honor, getting to cook your grandmother's food with you.
-Oh, please. -Oh, come on.
So with a lot of schmaltz I fry my chicken livers.
And then I'm making potato latkes.
I grate an onion and then grate a couple of potatoes.
Toss those together.
I'm adding some potato starch and some matzo meal.
You feel like there's enough moisture?
-Oh yeah. Those are beautiful. -Okay.
And yes, this is Andrew's show here,
but you know, sweetening the pot,
taking down Bobby for the first time in my career
-would be splendid. -Me too.
I would not complain about that.
[Andrew] Kids out there, I hope you're listening.
Winning isn't everything.
-It's the only thing. -[laughing]
So Andrew has challenged
Bobby to a Hanukah celebration.
The poached salmon, chicken livers,
and latkes.
Team Bobby, how you feeling about that menu?
Pretty good.
[laughing]
That's called the slow play.
We're not really traditionally Jewish cooks.
-So... -[laughs]
Like, we know how to make chopped chicken liver.
We know how to poach salmon and we know
and we know how to make potato pancakes.
So we're gonna start with that.
For the poached salmon, I'm gonna make
a broth that consist of fish stock and fennel,
tomatoes, garlic, onion, some Calabrian chilies and saffron.
I'm also adding white wine for some acidity.
[bottle pops]
[audience exclaiming]
Mazel.
Did you just say "mazel?"
Yeah. Do you like that?
What a mitzvah.
[all laughing]
[Jet] I'm gonna actually saute off the chicken livers separately.
Caramelize some onions.
They're eventually gonna go together.
I'm gonna really weave in that schmultz flavor
-all the way through. -Chicken fat.
When the chicken livers get nice and brown,
-hit 'em with some cognac and de-glaze it. -You got it.
Chefs, coming up on 38 minutes.
Wow.
I'm looking around, I'm seeing a lot of Christmas trees.
Time to Hanukah this place up.
Hey, that's another world record.
Look at this guy.
Look at that. Not bad for an Italian kid from Chicago, huh?
You just won.
Did I just win? I don't know the rules,
but what I am gonna do Andrew, I'm gonna leave this
-right behind your station as a good luck charm for you. -Thank you.
-Why is Bobby here? -What? Bobby.
He's copying.
-Oh, he's smelling livers. -I like the livers.
You like 'em?
I don't see a lot of Bobby entering the other station.
How does that make you feel, Andrew?
-It's gamesmanship, my friend. -It is.
All right, guys, I'm flambeing. Stand back.
I'm gonna finish the chicken livers
in a little bit of cognac.
[audience exclaiming]
Yeah, we want that under tone.
Oh yeah, that's delicious.
Okay, Bob, blast chiller.
-Give it to me. -You gotta go.
Uh-oh, watch out.
Bobby's coming. Nobody trip him. That would be terrible.
Right in the blast chiller.
Is that my blast chiller?
-You share 'em, Andrew. -That's right.
Yeah, you share everything here.
-Secrets, feelings. -[Andrew laughing]
How are you feeling?
You know what, um, we're not gonna be beat today.
We're not gonna be beat today.
He's just a ball of positive energy.
He's on fire.
Best of luck to you gentlemen.
Give it up for team Andrew and Brooke!
I'm gonna get the salmon poaching.
We add some flavor into that water,
cumin, coriander, bay leaf, with some celery.
I'm going to steam.
Uh, the rest of the leeks, did you see where they were?
Um, there are two.
Great.
I'm making poached salmon with crispy poached vegetables.
So it's hot water, white wine.
I butcher the salmon, putting it into
the hot water bath with the vegetables.
And then put it in the oven.
The direction I'm taking this in is
the direction that my grandmother would've liked it.
Ooh.
Do you need space?
Thank you.
I'm gonna serve the salmon with my grandmother's green herb sauce.
It's a classic piece of the Jewish culinary repertoire.
Scallions, parsley, tarragon, lemon juice, vinegar,
anchovies, capers, mayonnaise and sour cream
and blitz it, and serve it up.
[Brooke] What's not to like about that?
It's so good.
And then for the chopped chicken livers,
I pulse them in the food processor
with chopped parsley, hard boiled eggs.
Little salt and pepper and a little more schmultz.
[Bobby] I'm gonna finish the chopped chicken livers
with the caramelized onions.
Then we also add some hard boiled eggs,
salt and pepper with some olive oil.
[strumming guitar]
All right.
-Oh no. -What's wrong?
Jeff is--
♪ It's Christmas eve In New York City ♪
♪ Little Bobby Flay Is sleeping pretty ♪
♪ Dreaming of sugar plum ♪
♪ Sprinkled in ancho chilies ♪
Oh, my God.
Jeff, I think is in his own show right now.
The Jeff show and we're all just guests in it today.
♪ All Santa wants For Christmas ♪
♪ Is to beat Bobby Flay ♪
♪ Santa ain't no rookie Call your bookie ♪
♪ And put everything ♪
♪ On Andrew and Brooke ♪
[audience cheering]
You got the names wrong.
You clearly have the names wrong.
Enough of that.
Team Andrew, what are you working on actively
while I back away from the blender
on account of the jacket?
I'm doing a little vinaigrette.
I'm gonna make a little citrus vinaigrette to drizzle on the vegetables.
Combining orange juice, grapefruit juice,
tangerine juice, lemon juice.
Mustard, olive oil, vinegar.
My broth is cooking for a while.
I put it in a blender.
But I wanna strain out all the fibers
cause I wanna nice, smooth broth.
How are you, Jet? You feeling good?
I'm feeling good, Jeff.
I'm about to fabricate some smoked trout.
What are you gonna do with the smoked trout?
We're gonna make, like the chopped liver,
crostini smoked trout creme fraiche.
Wow. Liver and trout together as one.
You know what I'm saying?
-Okay, all right. Good luck to you guys. -Yeah we feel good.
Fourteen minutes left.
[Jet] I'm also making a creme fraiche sauce
which is simply lemon zest, salt and pepper
and the horseradish.
-That's good. -You happy?
I'm gonna make a garnish dish.
More chives.
So it seems like team Andrew is keeping everything a little more traditional.
While, team Bobby is taking its own interpretation.
Tomato saffron broth is definitely not traditional.
Then I'm taking the leftover schmultz
that you're not using and incorporating it into the potato pancake.
Form that into little balls,
smash them in a cast iron pan.
Those are beautiful, those are beautiful.
[Brooke] So to top half of the latkes,
I'm gonna make an apple sauce.
I take some apples, grate them on the box grater.
Do you want the cranberries in there or not?
Uh, you could put dried fruit.
I think that would be lovely.
Oh, dried, okay.
-Andrew's so relaxed. -He really is, man.
I've got some cardamoms, some nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves.
And then a touch of sugar and some dried cranberries.
Let all the steam come out of those apples and cook down.
And then that goes into the blender.
So Brooke is making a more elevated modern spin on the apple sauce,
which is a traditional accompaniment to the latke.
I mean, I wish I was judging this.
This all sounds so good.
Mm.
I'm going to take some of that beautiful challah
and we're gonna cut them into some--
-Rustic triangles. Yes. -Rustic triangles.
The perfect vehicle for the chopped chicken livers.
Okay, bread is in.
The latkes started to form that actual potato cake.
I'm gonna take them out and then I deep fry them
to get that extra oomphy crunch.
Oh, no. I have to make the latkes.
Are you just starting your latkes?
[Bobby] We've like nine minutes to go, and I still haven't
started to grate the potatoes.
I'm like, am I gonna get these latkes done?
Only six minutes.
That's it.
[audience cheering]
-You have the panko? -Yeah, right here.
You have the baking soda?
Right here.
-We're gonna be-- -You good?
Very close to not making it.
Looks like team Bobby is running behind a little bit
and he's just started his latkes.
I mean, by start his latkes, I mean shredding his potatoes.
Oh, boy.
WIth three minutes left on the clock,
Bobby and Jet, looks like they're as we say,
"in the weeds."
The latkes are finally in the frying pan.
We'll call these turbo latkes.
These might be the fastest from scratch latkes ever made.
[Bobby] So I'm gonna make them thinner so it cooks faster.
This is gonna be a sloppy mess.
Fish goes in and then surrounded.
Hold on, hold on.
No problem. Just setting you up.
-Good on these? -Oh, yeah.
Perfect.
At this point, I think we're pretty much ready to go.
It's just a matter of getting everything on the plate.
I start with getting the latkes down on the plate,
topping a couple of 'em with apple sauce.
Couple of 'em with creme fraiche and caviar.
-'Cause why not? -Why not?
I'm sliding those big planks of salmon into the center of the platter.
Putting the vegetables sort of around it.
And there's some beautiful purple cauliflowers.
[Andrew] And we put a little bit of crispy leek.
And the sauces with the salmon, caviar on top of that.
Fifty seconds.
[Jet] Toasted country bread.
The liver gets spread on top.
We put the half egg on it.
[Bobby] Salmon, beautifully poached...
Ooh!
-...in a broth. -Let's go.
Okay, latkes.
Put some smoked trout down.
Horseradish, crema, and a big scoop of caviar.
[Jeff] Caviar on both teams here.
Like, there is no budget.
[all] Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
You're done.
[audience cheering]
[laughs] Wow.
Hugging it out. Amazing.
Beautiful.
-Oh, my God, looks amazing. -[Brooke] Oh, my God.
What happened to your latkes?
-What are you talking about? -What do you mean? That's perfect.
That's how they're supposed to be.
Oh, you made pickle chunks? That's cute.
Oh, wow.
Nice.
[Jet] It feels like Andrew literally took a page out of his grandmother's book.
You know, kind of pale poached salmon.
I feel the romance there, but I think we're bringing some...
Shade thrown.
-[laughs] -Shots fired.
-[mimicking gunshots] -Pale salmon.
I think it's OG.
Nice pale salmon.
[Brooke] The presentation feels
as intentional as the entire meal.
-Oh yeah. -And I think it's really come together beautifully.
-I'm thrilled with it. -I mean, we'll see.
[Andrew] Oh, I think it worked out.
-Win or lose, I think it worked out. -Let me knock on something.
[laughs] Knocked on wood.
Tonight was a Hanukah holiday celebration.
Team Bobby, team Andrew,
I'd like to introduce you to your judges.
First up, the chef owner of East Wind Snack Shop
Chris Cheung.
Cookbook author and chef, Aliya Leekong.
And fifth generation owner of Katz's Delicatessen,
Jake Dell.
Please dig in to the first Hanukah feast right in front of you.
The latkes were absolutely delicious.
They were cooked perfectly.
The applesauce was great.
The chopped liver had a great taste.
But the salmon was a little spotty
in some of the cooking.
Some of the pieces were little drier than others.
But very, very tasty.
I really enjoyed the cook on the salmon.
I thought it was really well done from the piece that I got.
And the latkes.
I love that there was a sweet option
and sort of a salty caviar option.
The applesauce is like so well spiced.
On the chicken liver, I did think
the texture was a little meal-y
and a little dry.
The salmon, beautiful lush fatty piece of fish.
The green sauce made that fish sing.
The potato latke is nothing better.
Love the crunchiness.
The only thing I thought was the apple sauce just
a little bit too sweet.
All right judges, please try the second Hanukah feast.
I love the individual portions of salmon.
When you open it up, the broth is so rich
and so flavorful.
The latkes, I thought were very good.
The chopped liver, the cognac,
it was a little tart with some of the pickled vegetables that were there too.
But overall, I thought this was an absolutely tremendous feast.
In terms of the salmon, the saffron is like the way to my heart.
So having sort of saffron broth was just lovely.
I thought the fish was slightly under seasoned
'cause you know, as the sauce kinda drips off,
it doesn't grip very well.
With the latkes, you have that, sort of,
crisp, traditional latke, but introducing that trout was kind genius.
That smokiness, brininess of the caviar,
all of it played so well together.
I would've loved them to be a little bit thicker,
so I got more of that potato feel.
They're very thin andwould've liked a little more
potato-iness to it.
The smoked trout and the caviar
was a beautiful thing.
It just took away from the latke all together.
The salmon was a knock out.
Fish was perfectly cooked.
And then the chicken liver.
Creamy, nice contrast on the bread.
I gotta tell you, Jeff, these are two
really good Hanukah feasts.
There can only be one winning team tonight.
So please take a vote.
Take one, pass it down.
I'm super proud of what we cooked.
It was totally fun.
And I'm just proud I didn't screw it all up for Andrew. [laughs]
All right, this is a split decision.
-Oh. -Mm.
And the winner of the Hanukah feast is...
Team Bobby.
Unbelievable.
Bobby Flay!
Wow.
They were both stunning feasts.
I mean, the reason I enjoyed team B's,
you all did an incredible job with texture, flavor.
A really wonderful meal.
[both] Thank you.
Thank you.
Even though we didn't beat Bobby,
it's just a lovely day of cooking.
And I got to cook with one of my heroes
and I had so much fun.
[Jeff] Oh, wow.
Two for two.
You are the team to beat.
'Cause when you say Hanukah, you say Jet and Bobby.
That's right.
[Jeff] You've ruined my holiday, singlehandedly.
Jet and Bobby, yeah, I'm talking to you, Jet.
Now you're looped in with Bobby.
You're on my naughty list, bro.
-Happy holidays, Bobby. -[strumming guitar]
Well, winning this Hanukah celebration...
...was a whole latke fun.
Whoo!
[audience cheering and applauding]