I'm Bobby Flay.
Each week, one brave chef will try to take me down
in my house.
This is my show.
Today it is. Tomorrow, who knows?
-Ooh! -Trash-talkin'.
This culinary battle is gonna shake down in two rounds.
Round 1, to get to me,
to contenders have to go through each other
using an ingredient of my choice.
It's do or die, Bobby.
[Bobby] Two people that know me well
will decide who's got the skills to beat me.
Yeah!
[Bobby] Round 2, I go head-to-head with the winning contender.
-Let's go! -It's their turn to surprise me
with their signature dish.
What?
-Aah! -Don't try this at home.
No, you didn't, Bobby!
[Bobby] Bottom line...
You're gonna run out of time!
...everyone's out to beat me.
All right, bringing the swagger to the kitchen tonight,
please welcome the ever-dapper Scott Conant and Eric Adjepong.
[inaudible conversation]
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] Nice.
Bobby Flay.
[Eric] What's goin' on?
-Good to see you, sir. -'Sup?
-Two handsome gentlemen-- -We love you, Scott!
Thank you. Did my mom send you?
What have you been up to? Still shooting Alex vs America?
Still shooting Alex vs America,
-having a blast with that. -Yeah.
Um, cookbooking now--
Yeah, what's the book? It's a kids' book, right?
Yeah, it's a fictional story that's really about me,
growing up in New York City, West African home,
how that kind of shaped my world.
Perfect. Have you guys ever been on Chopped together?
-We have, actually, a couple of times. -Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Getting into the hosting gig is a little bit different, for me.
I feel like I have two left feet still.
You know, the key is to keep stumbling into success.
I mean, look at Bobby.
I've been stumbling forever, for decades.
Why don't we have a couple of chefs stumble out here
-and see what happens? -Let's do it.
This contender, he's serving up farm-to-fork
and he is ready to stick it to you, Bobby.
From Sacramento, California,
it's Chef Dane Blom.
This Brazilian spitfire is a seasoned competitor
and she's ready to spice things up.
From Seattle, Washington,
Chef Emme Ribeiro Collins.
Dane, Emme, how you guys doin'?
I'm here to battle you Brazilian style.
Brazilian style?
I'm here to take you down
and show what farm-to-fork cuisine is all about.
-Okay. -I don't know.
Brazilian sounds more delicious than fork.
All right, here's the way it's gonna work, guys.
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.
And that ingredient is...
jicama.
[Emme] Jicama is really like a perfect root vegetable.
It doesn't have a strong taste.
So it's a great vessel to like infuse flavor to.
All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.
Make sure there's no hiccups with this jicama.
[bell dings]
[Eric] Jicama is a tough one.
It's a root vegetable.
It's very bland, very mild,
and tastes maybe a little, slightly sweet.
[Bobby] I always say it's like an apple and a potato put together.
I would make a tartare out of it,
like scallops and jicama.
You still get the crunch of the jicama.
'Cause you need something to pair it with
that's not gonna blow it out of the water.
-[Scott] Correct. -[Eric] Yeah.
Chef Emme, what are you building?
Jicama and shrimp tacos.
-Okay. -That's a good idea. Nice.
[Emme] Jicama, it's really bland.
I need flavor. That's all I'm about,
bold soulful flavors.
So, first, I'm making a jicama slaw
with some red onion, cilantro, carrots, some vinegar, and olive oil.
That is gonna bring crispy crunchy fresh texture.
And then I'm also doing shrimp butter jicama.
Emme brings so much flavor. It's a lot of technique,
but it's also a lot of heart as well.
[Emme] My cooking style is bold flavorful
really soulful foods.
I grew up watching my mom own her own catering business.
And then when we moved to Seattle,
my family opened up the first Brazilian restaurant in Seattle.
And that has really shaped who I am today as a chef.
I wanna bring my Afro-Brazilian flavors to the forefront
and pay homage to my mom, my grandmas,
and all my other ancestors.
Chef Dane, how about you? What are you building?
[Dane] I am making jicama scallops
with a mango salsa.
I'm trying to present them with something they've maybe never seen before.
He's cutting the jicama like they're scallops
and cooking them as if they are a scallop.
-Very cool! -Pretty clever.
-Modern and inventive. I love it. -[Eric] Yeah.
[Dane] I am the executive chef of Grange Restaurant.
We do farm-to-fork. I'm blessed to be in California,
where the produce and high-quality proteins are bountiful.
During my ten year at Grange,
we received Michelin Plate Recognition three years in a row.
I'm competing for my grandma,
my mom, my wife, and my two daughters.
And I'm sending them love as I take down Bobby Flay.
Here we go.
[Scott] 13 minutes left on the clock.
Chef Emme, what's the word?
Hi, Scott.
-So you got the jicama. -I got the jicama.
-And you boiled some of it. -And-- Yes.
I boiled this jicama to make sure that it is nice and tender.
So my first plan is to infuse it with some shrimp butter flavor.
Giddy up.
The head of the shrimp has so much flavor
and that's really where all the flavor of my shrimp butter is gonna come from.
Chef Dane, have you ever done this preparation with it before?
I have not. But I've done it with a lot of other root vegetables.
Once they start to caramelize, I flip 'em,
give 'em a nice butter base,
try to cook 'em all the way through.
It sounds good, man. Good luck.
Eleven minutes and thirty seconds.
[Eric] My worry is that it's cut too thick, then.
It's a root vegetable that's dense,
so I wonder how much of that flavor is gonna penetrate
-through that scallop I'm talkin' about. -[Scott] Yeah.
[Dane] I wanna pair mango salsa with the jicama scallops
to add some sweetness.
I cut corn off the cob, dice my tomato, avocado,
get it all into the bowl with the diced mango
and a little bit more diced jicama.
[Scott] Just six minutes left.
[audience cheering]
Chef Emme, what's goin' on?
[Emme] I sauteed some shrimp.
That head has a lot of like flavor.
Totally. Tell me what else you have left for your, uh-- for your cook.
-I have to do my tortillas. -Yup.
I need to get that jicama that's in the boiling water out
-and just saute it in the butter really quick. -Yup.
-I'm feeling good. -Bringing it all together.
All right, Chef.
I have my tortilla and I got that nice char on it.
So you get a little bit of smokiness
and hopefully a little bit of crisp.
-So, Dane, that sure looks like a scallop. -Yeah.
So we're almost there. I'm just trying to finish it in the butter
so it gets nice and juicy.
Is that butter flavored, by any chance?
No, it's not. I didn't wanna overpower the flavor of the jicama.
[Eric] We have a mango salsa.
Took one out of Bobby Flay's book for this one.
All right, man. Looks good. All right, guys.
[Scott] Only two minutes to go.
You know, sauteing that jicama in that extraction of shrimp flavor,
what a great idea.
Such a really smart idea.
It gives a whole complexity to the jicama.
[Emme] It is a flavor bomb.
It tastes like shrimp.
You got the nice tender texture of the jicama.
But I think it's missing something a little creamy, smoky and acidic.
So I'm gonna make a super quick paprika lime crema.
[Bobby] 45 seconds.
[Dane] I put two jicama scallops on each plate
and a nice dollop of mango salsa...
[all] Ten, nine, eight...
[Dane] ...and garnish with hydro cress.
[all] ...five, four, three, two, one!
[bell dings]
[audience cheering]
[Dane] I think my dish will stand out
because of its uniqueness.
It's something they've never seen before.
[Emme] It's so packed with umami.
It tastes like shrimp. It's a little salty.
It's just bangin'.
Eric and I are super-impressed by your creative uses of the jicama.
Either one of you could beat Bobby.
Chef Emme, tell us what you did with the jicama.
So I did shrimp butter jicama tacos
with a jicama and hydro cress slaw
and a paprika lime crema.
-Chef Emme, that is delicious. -Thank you.
[Scott] Nice depth of flavor from the crema
with the paprika and the lime.
That acid really kind of punches through.
That butter that's dripped off of the jicama
into the tortilla, it's just beautiful.
But that tortilla, it needed time to steam.
I agree. If it was a softer, more plush taco,
I mean, this would be a hit.
That beautiful shrimp butter oil that you made,
it's really the hallmark of this dish.
-Really well done. -Thanks.
Chef Dane.
Uh, I did a jicama scallop with a jicama mango salsa.
What an incredible creative use of the jicama.
This scalloped jicama is absolutely brilliant.
[Scott] It's fresh. There's a lot of vegetables here.
It kind of goes to your point of farm-to-fork.
Maybe add another acidic element to the salsa.
I think also some salt.
But, overall, conception, man, this is really it.
Awesome job.
[Emme] The cohosts really love that shrimp butter
and I'm feeling confident.
But I don't wanna get my hopes up.
And the chef moving forward to beat Bobby tonight is...
Congratulations, Chef Emme.
[audience cheering]
[Dane] Not going against Bobby is a big disappointment
because I really wanted to show him what I'm made of.
-Yo, you owned this. This is a thing of beauty. -Yeah.
But Bobby's cooked more cooking competitions
-than anyone in the world. -[Eric] Yes.
Think about that as you're going into this.
-It's all about the details. -Yup.
I got you. Mission accepted.
Nice.
[Bobby] How do you feel about round 1?
I feel great.
How are you feeling about round 2?
I feel even better.
I'm not sure I like that very much.
-[all laughing] -Okay.
I hope we're doing something Brazilian
'cause I love that food.
-We are. -What are we cookin' tonight?
What's your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
moqueca!
Ah!
I love moqueca.
It's basically a Brazilian seafood stew.
You know, I spent a lot of my early days in Rio de Janeiro.
Moqueca is actually a signature dish of Bahia.
Oh, that's what I meant.
I had a little-- a few too many cocktails
and I thought I was in Rio, but, no.
Got it. Got it.
All right, 45 minutes on the clock,
and your time starts now.
Moqueca, a classic Brazilian dish.
It's really a fisherman's stew,
whether you have cod or halibut, a nice white fish,
traditionally flavored with coconut milk, palm oil,
tomatoes, peppers, garlic, lime, cilantro in there.
So, Emme, tell me why you chose this as your signature dish.
[Emme] It is literally the signature dish of Bahia,
the state that I was born in.
And it's also the most popular dish
that was in my parents' restaurant.
It really is like a piece of me, my family, my country.
I'm making moqueca with halibut, clams and mussels.
Brazilian garlic rice,
in Brazil, we toast our rice.
And this is so that each grain is just really loose and fluffy.
You couldn't just challenge me to a caipirinha, right?
[all laughing]
We had to cook the whole ocean.
[Scott] Bobby has rice, coconut milk.
I think he's gonna cook the rice in that coconut milk.
Yeah, I love that. Absolutely.
What direction are you going with this, Chef?
I'm gonna put a lot of seafood in here.
Yeah.
[all laughing]
All right.
[Bobby] Game plan is to cook a whole bunch of fish and shellfish,
make some crispy rice with sweet potatoes and black beans
and make a broth that's really flavorful.
Think I saw some mussels on his station as well,
clams, lobster. He's going for it.
[Bobby] So I'm gonna start building my layers of flavors from the fish.
So I steam open the clams and the mussels
and the lobster tails,
a let them cook in the broth later on.
[Scott] It looks like Chef Emme has tomatoes,
garlic, extra-virgin olive oil.
She has thyme and, uh, it looks like oregano, salt...
-Chef Emme, are you confiting? -[Emme] I am confiting...
-You are. Okay. -...some tomato,
'cause usually the tomato goes in the stew,
for just that nother layer of flavor.
While that is going,
it's time to start the base for the moqueca,
which is palm oil, onion, and peppers.
Thirty-five minutes on the clock, Chefs.
[audience cheering]
-How are you doin', Chef? -I am doing great.
[Scott] That's gorgeous. Look at that,
all that palm oil cooking inside here.
[Emme] We're gonna add some coconut milk.
I want it to turn into a creamy orange yellow color.
[Scott] Good stuff. And what kind of fish are you gonna go with?
[Emme] With the halibut.
It's a little homage to my Pacific Northwest upbringing.
I add some chopped cilantro
and then a little bit of lime juice.
How's it tasting, Emme?
Delicious.
[audience cheering]
How are you guys doing today?
Hi, Scott. You look handsome tonight.
[woman 2 in audience] Whoo!
-Are you out-- -[woman] I have something for you.
-What? -Bobby.
[Scott] This is for me? You are the sweetest.
Thank you so much.
Scott, I don't like this.
Bobby, have you ever received a rose?
No, I haven't. Only divorce papers.
[all laughing]
[Scott] You got your clams and mussels,
you got the lobster, you got the rice.
[Bobby] I'm making a broth over here.
I start with onions and shallots.
I put a little red curry paste in it.
I know it's not traditional,
but I want it to taste sort of tropical and spicy.
Now I'm adding some tomatoes, the coconut milk.
You got palm oil anywhere in this thing?
No, but I'm gonna steal some of hers.
[Emme] Moqueca is coconut milk and palm oil.
So if you don't have those two,
it's not a moqueca.
Why do you look so relaxed over there?
'Cause I could do this with my eyes closed, Bobby.
Is that the palm oil?
Maybe. Maybe not.
I think Bobby is really struggling.
-Is that the palm oil? -It is.
Oh, you're saying-- [laughs heartily]
He doesn't know what it takes to make a real moqueca.
[Scott] We are at the 25-minute mark, chefs.
[women in audience] Let's go, Emme!
At this point, I'm feeling really good.
I need to poach those halibut pieces
in my moqueca base.
Chef Emme, it smells fantastic over here.
-Thank you, sir. -Tell me about the seafood that you're using.
[Emme] So right now, I'm using halibut
and then I'm gonna add some mussels and clams,
-'cause their juices kind of release into the sauce. -Sure, yeah.
And I'm making some farofa with the cassava flour.
Farofa is cassava flour that's been sauteed with some sort of fat,
whether it be like butter or palm oil.
This is gonna bring some nice crunchy texture to my dish.
[Bobby] I'm seasoning my halibut with some New Mexican chili powder
and some salt and pepper.
I'm gonna sear off the fish and I'm gonna finish it in the broth.
[woman] Chef Eric.
[Eric] Wow! Whoa.
Do you have one for Bobby?
No.
That ain't right.
[Eric] I don't think there's anything in the Atlantic that you didn't pick up, Chef.
I got halibut, lobster, mussels, clams...
Any palm oil?
Uh, if you see any palm oil around, let me know.
-I need that. -I actually do.
Are we, uh, using all of this?
He can have the rest.
Oh, look at that. Sharing is caring.
Let's be real. He probably doesn't even know what it tastes like,
let alone how to work with it.
We have a little bit of palm oil.
-I'm gonna pass it to you. -[Bobby] What does that even taste like?
Super-earthy.
-All right, it's in there. -[Eric] There you go, Chef.
[Bobby] I'm not even sure exactly what it does,
but if somebody asks me if I have it in the moqueca,
I wanna be able to say, "Yeah."
Eleven minutes and thirty seconds.
There's almost kind of two different approaches,
Bobby, who's cooking everything separately,
versus Chef Emme, who's kind of cooking it all together
and building those flavors individually.
[Scott] Bobby, whenever he's behind...
-The crispy rice comes out. -...the crispy rice comes out.
Here it comes.
[Bobby] I have sweet potatoes, the black beans.
I'm gonna make the crispy rice.
So, because this happens so frequently,
we've actually put a sign in the kitchen.
Here it is! It's crispy rice time!
[Scott sings glamorous tune]
-I like that. -[Eric laughing]
[Eric] That crispy rice, I gotta say, looks delicious.
It really does.
I personally prefer Brazilian garlic rice.
-[all] Ooh! -But...
Ooh. Yeah. How's that rice?
Perfect.
Now I just need to make my molho lambao.
Molho lambao is like a really acidic pico de gallo
with spicy chili peppers in it.
I use habanero and some onions,
tomatoes, a little bit of vinegar, and salt.
This is gonna be a topping?
Yes. It's called a molho lambao.
We like spicy, but not in our food,
kind of like on the side.
Oh, okay.
[Scott] You're at two minutes, Chefs. Two minutes.
[Emme] First, I put my moqueca sauce
and then the garlic rice,
a piece of halibut,
mussel and clam.
[Scott] Bobby also used some red curry paste,
which is not traditional, obviously, at all.
Look at the color differentiation
-between the two. -[Eric] Exactly, yeah.
[Scott] I think anybody who knows this dish
-is immediately gonna look at that color. -And resonate with that.
Yeah, you're right.
[Scott] 30 seconds.
[Bobby] First, I'm gonna put down the crispy sweet potato and black bean rice,
the halibut, the mussels, the clams, the lobster, the shrimp,
and more of the broth over it so it covers it.
[Scott] Here we go.
[all] Ten, nine, eight...
[Emme] And then I top it with tomato confit
and sprinkle my farofa on top.
[all] ...three, two, one!
-[Scott] Here we go! -[audience cheering]
All right!
-Whoo. -Good job.
Great job.
Thank you.
Ours looks very different in terms of color.
Hers is more of like a creamy yellow.
Mine is more like a creamy pink or red.
[Emme] I was able to represent my Bahian roots,
my Pacific Northwest upbringing.
If I don't beat Bobby Flay,
then I need to reconsider my life.
We'd just like to congratulate both Bobby and Emme
for finishing the moqueca.
That was a beautiful challenge.
Awesome job.
Let me go ahead and introduce you to the judges.
Executive chef of Butter Restaurant,
Michael Jenkins.
Executive chef of Hav and Mar,
Fariyal Abdullahi.
And the chef/owner of Beco,
Henrique Stangorlini.
Judges, please start with the first moqueca in front of you.
[Fariyal] It's so vibrant. The yellow, the red,
it's so beautiful.
I can taste the flavors of the coconut.
The rice has got the garlic in it.
I love that they used the yuca flour.
The halibut's so delicate,
didn't even need to chew it.
I got all the texture from the farofa.
And I like that there is a little vinaigrette on the side
to add a little acidity.
But, for me, it was a little bit one notch up
too much on the spicy.
For me, the heat was perfect.
I do feel like this dish was woefully under-seasoned.
The fish could have been seasoned a little bit more.
But, overall, what a beautiful plate.
It really brings me back home.
All right, judges, we're gonna ask you to switch your plates please.
[Michael] In terms of degree of difficulty,
we're starting at like 10,
because we have the clams, mussel, halibut, shrimp,
lobster, sea-- Like, that's a lot
-to cook in 45 minutes. -It's a party!
Like, that's intense.
The lobster was very nice. The halibut, for me,
was a tiny bit overcooked.
I really love that the crispy rice brought texture.
The crispy rice and the beans, for me,
didn't go well with the rest of the plate.
I do think that the sweet potato and the black beans
were kind of superfluous.
And it felt a little bit like I was getting a big side of rice
to justify why I was paying for all the lobster and halibut.
But, today, Food Network paid for my meal,
so I don't really need the side.
It looks like you have two great dishes
and a tough decision to make.
So please take a vote.
[Fariyal] The flavors were there on both of them.
And I really think that it's just gonna come down to a grain of salt.
The winner is...
Chef Emme!
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] Congratulations.
This means so much to me
in paying homage to my ancestors.
I feel so proud beating Bobby
with our moqueca.
As I was tasting it, I could almost close my eyes
and feel home.
-You brought me home. -Thank you.
Bobby, we kicked your butt.
Yes!
[Scott] With the crispy rice, and everything.
-It felt good. That felt good. -It felt great, actually.
I'm Emme Ribeiro Collins,
and I just beat Bobby Flay!