I'm Bobby Flay.
Each week, one great chef will try to take me down in my house.
-This is my show. -Today, it is. Tomorrow, who knows.
-Ooh! -Trash talking.
This culinary battle is gonna shake down in two rounds.
Round one. To get to me, two 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 two. I go head-to-head with the winning contender.
-Let's go. -[Bobby] It's their turn to surprise me
-with their signature dish. -What?
-[woman screams] -Don't try this at home.
-[laughter] -No, you didn't, Bobby.
-[Bobby] Bottom line... -You're gonna win it. [screams]
...everyone's out to beat me.
[audience applauding]
Welcome, everyone. Something tells me I'm in for it with these two.
[woman] You ready to go down, Bobby?
[laughs]
Please welcome Food Network's Sunny Anderson
and TV host, Ross Mathews.
-[audience applauding] -Hello.
Mwah, mwah.
-This one. -[audience continue applauding]
-Hello. -[Sunny] That's for us, not Bobby.
No. [laughs]
Why do you have to come back here so sassy all the time?
I wake up sassy just like you wake up smug.
-[laughing] -[audience gasping]
So, uh, Ross--
-Hello, Robert. -[laughs]
-Welcome back to the house of pain. -Thank you.
[Bobby] You know, I know you're on The Drew Barrymore Show.
Yeah. You were on our show
and you made a Juicy Lucy.
And I was backstage and all I did was smell it and I thought,
"Oh, man, here's another day
-Bobby Flay disappoints Ross Mathews." -[laughs]
-Because when I was here, Bobby won. -[Bobby] That's right.
-And today that ends. -Wow.
-Well you have a good partner today. -Mmm-hmm.
You know, it's so crazy... is we are like the biggest cheerleaders in the world...
-Yes. -[Ross] ...and today, we just want you
-to go down, Bobby. -[laughs]
-I'm all in. -All right, bring us some chefs.
-Let's do this. -[Ross] All right, let's do this.
Our first contender grew up foraging in the Pacific Northwest.
Kaleena Bliss.
-[audience cheering] -[screaming] Oh. Oh!
-She's gonna bury you with that shovel, Bobby. -[Sunny] What?
Our next contender puts a New Orleans flair
on her Florida seafood, Chef Melissa Donahue.
-[audience cheering] -[Sunny] Oh, she's got a knife.
Ooh, she gonna flay that Flay, Bobby!
[laughing]
Kaleena, Melissa, how are you?
-Good. -Ready to go.
Great. Here's the way it's gonna work.
I'm gonna give you a single ingredient of my choice.
And you must make that ingredient the star of your dish.
And that ingredient is...
-dandelion greens. -[audience exclaiming] Ooh!
Have you ever had 'em?
Um, I've had 'em. They're quite bitter.
I like to say "peppery."
Dandelion greens are extremely versatile.
They will stand out to a heavier meat
without getting lost.
All right, ladies. See if you can tame this dande-lion.
-[rings bell] -[Sunny] All right.
Dandelion greens. It's scary.
It's so bitter. To really make it a dish is a challenge.
I would make like a salsa verde,
lots of herbs, anchovy, garlic.
-[Ross] Mmm. -I've seen people do pestos.
-Yeah, but you want it to taste like dandelion greens... --[Bobby] Yes.
-...but it can't be a whole bowl of bitter. -No.
Kaleena, what are you thinking?
I'm gonna go the pasta route.
Use the dandelion greens to do like a pesto.
-Yes, honey. -Okay.
[Kaleena] First thing I do is add the pancetta to the pan.
The dandelion greens are so vegetal,
it needs a little meaty component.
And I'm also adding maitake mushrooms.
Pasta is a very smart move here.
I think so too.
Bobby, not to make you feel old,
but I used to watch you when I was, like, 16 years old.
[all laughing]
Do you even recognize him?
'Cause his face has changed so much.
-[all laughing] -[Bobby] I'm not rooting for you anymore.
[laughing]
[Kaleena] Growing up in the Pacific Northwest
really inspired me to be a chef.
I ended up going to The Culinary Institute of America
and worked my way up to executive chef
at the Thompson Seattle.
Today, I'm the executive chef at the Chicago Athletic Association.
I've been really vocal
about my struggles with anxiety
and panic disorder
because this industry is just so demanding.
So winning this would show
people who struggle with the same thing
that you can still kick some butt.
All right, y'all. 14 minutes.
[all cheering, clapping]
What's up, girlfriend? Ooh, I see anchovies, honey. Yes!
[Melissa] I think I'm gonna keep the dandelion greens raw.
-Okay. -Um, I'm making, like, a anchovy
lemon crema
-with the warm bacon vinaigrette. -Oh, let's do it.
This dish is taking a huge risk.
I'm serving raw dandelion greens.
I have to make sure it has strong acids
to soften that bitterness.
Go big or go home.
Y'all, give it for my girl. Represent!
[all cheering]
I went to college in New York City
and became absolutely fascinated with food.
So I decided to go to culinary school
and moved to New Orleans,
where I accepted a job at the iconic Commander's Palace.
Today, I am the executive chef at Sweet Melissa's Cafe
on Sanibel Island, Florida.
But in 2022, Hurricane Ian
destroyed Sanibel and took Sweet Melissa's with it.
Currently, we are rebuilding and I am here to show
it's gonna take a lot more than some waves to rock my boat.
-Oh... -Hi.
-I see your mushrooms with some bacon bits. -[Kaleena] Mmm-hmm.
Dandelion greens are a little bitter,
so I might need something to even it out a little bit.
Oh, you are working it, honey.
Bobby, take notes.
-[laughs] -[audience gasping]
Y'all give it up for our two chefs right here.
[audience cheering]
So Melissa is just gonna go straight forward
and make raw dandelion salad.
I wanna see them use it in more than one way.
-You can't just make a salad here. -Yeah.
But I mean, listen, she's showcasing it.
[Melissa] I start chopping the dandelion greens
and I decide to take some and throw them in the fryer
to give another texture to the salad.
-What's in the pesto? -[Kaleena] Dandelion greens,
parmesan cheese, a little bit of spinach.
Interesting. I'm gonna go in real quick.
About eight minutes left, you guys.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
-[laughs] -[Ross] Okay.
-What is in here? -[Kaleena] So, some cream,
uh, pancetta, mushrooms, something else.
Understood. She's too busy to talk to me.
[laughs]
Not gonna stick around for the fun part?
[Ross] What's the fun part?
-We're gonna add it to... We're gonna add it. -Oh, this goes in that?
[Kaleena] Yeah.
Oh, my God. That's so good. Yeah!
Hit it. That's the magic.
-Look at it go! -[audience cheering]
All right, talk to me. I see you got some fresh dandelion greens.
-Can I try a crispy one? -Absolutely.
All right, they've held the crisp, but let's see if I get a crack.
Yeah, they do. What's going on with your bacon?
-We're gonna do warm bacon vinaigrette. -Okay.
Now, are you nervous?
-Tell me the truth. I don't want you to be-- -I'm a nervous wreck.
-Really? -Yeah.
-You're not dandelion? [chuckles softly] -No. [laughs]
All right, just over five minutes left.
I feel like I need just a quick fried crouton
to, sort of, bring it all together.
Okay, Kaleena's got this creamy pesto sauce.
I wouldn't have done that.
-The cream? -[Bobby] She's gonna dilute the dandelion greens.
[Ross] Yeah. Is the dandelion green
gonna be Beyoncé or Destiny's Child?
-Okay. Okay. -Thank you.
[Sunny] One minute to your destiny, ladies!
[Melissa] I put the anchovy yogurt on the bottom of the plate,
dandelion greens on top.
Hit it with the vinaigrette,
the golden raisins, the fried dandelion greens,
and then the croutons on top.
-Thirty seconds to go. -Argh!
I add pasta to each bowl
and more of that sauce, shave some fennel really thin.
[all] Ten, nine, eight...
[Kaleena] And then, parmesan.
[all] ...three, two, one.
-[bell rings] -[all cheering]
Her salad looks beautiful
but I'm hoping that the judges can see
that I transformed the dandelion greens
a little more creatively.
I'm here for revenge.
I need one of you to bring him down.
So, Melissa, tell us what you made.
Dandelion green salad, a anchovy lemon yogurt,
bacon vinaigrette and some crispy dandelion greens.
[Sunny] I like that you didn't shy away
from the dandelion greens.
We've got them fresh. You also fried them.
But I think they could've rested on a paper towel.
-There's just this mouth slick. -Okay.
Okay, that anchovy yogurt...
I don't where it's been my whole life, but I'm glad it's here.
Those raisins bring a sweetness that's so unexpected.
-The biggest issue here is this. -Yes, honey.
The croutons are, like, huge.
Cutting through it is difficult.
But I love that you had cojones
to really feature the dandelion green.
Chef Kaleena, what did you make?
A spaghetti with a creamy dandelion green pesto
topped with some pancetta.
I love what you did with the dandelion greens.
Your pasta is cooked perfectly.
I love adding pesto into a cream sauce.
I will say it's a little bit too cheesy.
I can't believe I... I'm saying a lot of crazy stuff today.
I'm disappointed in you. Where's Sunny?
[laughs] Um... it's delicious,
but I think you might have hit the dandelion green too much.
I think your mistake was including that cream sauce
because I think it muted the dandelion green.
Stay tuned.
[Melissa] I feel like I used the dandelion greens
as more of the center of the plate,
but Kaleena's dish is very refined.
So I'm definitely nervous.
The chef that we think could beat Bobby tonight is...
Kaleena.
[audience cheering]
[Melissa] I don't have any regrets.
I think I did a great job of showcasing
-the flavors that I would like to eat. -Congrats.
Even though you buried the dandelion greens,
we could not stop eating your pasta.
In the next round, everything you've got, I need you to bring it.
My palms are so sweaty. [laughs]
-All right, so you're from the Pacific Northwest. -That's right.
What's your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
a seafood boil!
-[Sunny gasps] -[Ross] Okay.
What bottom dwellers are you gonna use, Bobby?
-I'm not saying. -Don't touch my Dungees.
Oh, you have Dungeness crabs. Okay.
I feel good about her.
-I do too. -[all laughing]
Forty-five minutes on the clock.
And your time starts now!
-[Ross] Yes! -[audience cheering]
So a seafood boil is a whole lot of seafood in a flavorful broth.
Usually some potatoes, some corn.
You know, I see a lot, not just
the Pacific Northwest, but in New England.
The most famous has to be the New Orleans.
They pour it out into a table with some paper.
-Oh, my gosh. -[Sunny] Yeah.
Where they just get that butter...
all over your face?
-Smorgasbord. -Yes, please.
[Kaleena] My seafood boil shies away from the Cajun style.
I've got the Northwest vibes going on.
-[Sunny] Look at those Alaskan crabs! -[Ross] Ooh!
Drop 'em in there, girl!
I'm making a Northwest Dungeness crab boil
with king crab, clam, mussel, shrimp, oysters
tossed in the bold, spicy butter sauce
with corn and potatoes.
Kaleena, why a seafood boil?
This is actually something I make at home
as a snack, like, all the time.
[both] A snack?
This is one of those meals where it's an experience.
And it's inspired by all the things that are important to me back home.
Bobby, when was the last time you went to a seafood boil?
-Last summer. -And where was it?
Long Island.
It was in the Hamptons, right, Bobby?
-Yeah, it was in the Hamptons. -Like you don't... You don't have--
I don't really make seafood boils very often
because seafood cook at different rates.
It's a lot to manage.
I'm making a seafood boil with a Peruvian yellow chili broth.
I'm using blue crab, lobster, mussels,
clams, head-on prawns.
And I'm serving with some crispy potatoes
and toast with an anchovy butter.
My strategy is making very flavorful broth
starting with mussels and some white wine, some anchovies.
I'm gonna cook all of the fish one by one,
so that the broth picks up all these flavors.
Can you tell us what's in your rub right there?
I have some, uh, ground coriander, cumin,
turmeric, garam masala.
I add a bunch of the spice mix to the butter,
and then I grab the andouille sausages
and throw 'em on the grill plate.
They're a little bit spicy
and they're going to add smoky tones.
[audience cheering]
-I'm gonna see if Kaleena needs the fire department. -Okay.
[laughs] What's up, girlfriend?
-[Kaleena] Hi. -How're you doing? I think
you got the flame over here.
-What's this for? -So that's... that'll be the start
-of the seasoned butter. -[Sunny] Mmm-hmm.
Well, how're you gonna finish it? 'Cause this tastes good right now.
-Garlic and ginger, girl. -Yeah.
[Kaleena] I wanna add Asiany elements.
I grabbed some ginger and Fresno chilli for a little bit of kick.
Talk to me about your fishes and your clams and your mussels, Bobby.
I started with mussels, now we got blue crabs.
-What is this? -It's aji amarillo.
-It's Peruvian yellow chilli. -[Sunny] Oh, it's for color.
-No, it's not for color. -Yeah, it's for color.
[Bobby] Aji amarillo, which is the Peruvian yellow chilli.
It's like a fruity, spicy... It's gonna give the broth an unexpected flavor.
-How many other-- -Kaleena knows what she's doing.
She's cooking the seafood separately,
but she's got that butter sauce with all the seasonings in it.
I wanna swim in it.
So Bobby's cooking his seafood in the broth,
but the flavor isn't there yet.
I don't think he's feeling good about this.
-[Sunny] You happy, Bobby? -No, it's not there yet.
If you mess up, I don't know if you'll be able to go back to the Hamptons or not.
[audience laughing]
My favorite is that Bobby doesn't even bother responding to you.
Bobby hates me.
-[Ross laughs] -[Sunny] Bobby, Bobby, Bobby...
-Bobby... -What?
[laughing]
[exhales]
Coming up on 26 minutes.
Battle seafood boil.
[Bobby] I'm a little behind because I'm controlling
how the seafood is all getting cooked individually.
I take the crab out,
then I add little of that clams and lobster.
Lobster tails with clams in a boil?
Like, putting on the Ritz much?
I am to the halfway point.
I pulled the crab and lemon grass and the potatoes.
Next, I throw in the mussels and clams
as well as the king crab legs.
I just need to keep my eye on them
because they don't take very long.
Okay, Sunny, so I have some crazy food pairings
-to distract Bobby Flay. -Well, I'm down.
-Do it. Yep. -I'm coming.
Bobby, hi!
Well, I wanted to see if you'd play a little game with me.
Um, you know, on "Drew's News,"
-we talk a lot of food trends. -Yeah.
-You wanna try with me? -Sure.
Okay, let's do a watermelon with Dijon mustard first.
-Sound good? -Yeah.
Three, two...
-That's actually not bad. -Mmm, It's not good either, Bobby.
-[audience laughing] -[Ross] I don't wanna keep you,
but let's try one more of these.
[all laughing]
[Ross] This one is a hotdog with peanut butter.
-Ugh! -Cheers.
-[Bobby chuckles] -Here, you want it?
Wait, feed me and I'll feed you.
Ready? Ready?
[audience laughing]
That is bad. That is disgusting.
-That's terrible. -Don't try this at home. Mmm-mmm
Eighteen minutes left.
Kaleena is going for it.
She has Dungeness and king crab,
-shrimp and oysters. -She is putting it on.
[Kaleena] So for the oysters, I grabbed some white kimchi.
It just has this funk to it.
And then I add my spiced butter.
[Sunny] Oh, yes, Kaleena! Yes!
[Ross] Are you gonna garnish it with that?
Yeah, I like the brininess of it.
I just wanna live in a world where oyster is a garnish.
Yes, yes. I feel like a mermaid.
-[Sunny] Yes. -[Kaleena] I'm not gonna go half-ass
even if it kills me.
[Bobby] So I take my clam and lobster out.
Now, I'm gonna start to build my broth.
So I add shrimp stock, tomato paste and a little more aji amarillo.
I'm gonna add a bunch of butter to round out the anchovy
and the yellow chilli.
I take my potatoes out of the boiling water,
and then I wanna make 'em crispy
so I'm gonna flatten them, and then fry 'em.
[Kaleena] So I open the Dungeness crabs
and spray the fat
and the tamales together.
I add some of my spiced butter to it.
And that's my crab sauce.
At this point, all of my seafood is cooked.
I just need to incorporate the butter...
Oh, what is she doing?
[Kaleena] We're shaking.
-[Ross] Oh. -Oh, my God. I love you!
[Kaleena] I want to do a family-style plating
just 'cause that's how I eat crab boils at home.
[Sunny] And she's serving it on paper.
Bobby, take notes from Kaleena!
[laughs]
[Kaleena] First thing that goes on the tray
is the corn and the potatoes.
Next, the andouille sausage...
Oh! She's putting the butter on her sausage!
Yes, butter do.
[Kaleena] ...the king crab legs, then the shrimp.
[Bobby] So the broth is really taking on the flavor of the shellfish
and tastes delicious.
I'm just gonna throw the shellfish into a dish,
then I'm gonna add the corn, potatoes,
and then my toast with anchovy butter.
Serve it with broth on the side.
[Sunny] Just under a minute, chefs!
I just wanna make sure there's a really bright component.
I just make a super simple cocktail sauce
mixing ketchup and horse radish.
-[Sunny] Oh, yes, Kaleena, pour it on. -[all] Ten, nine, eight...
-Ooh! -...seven, six...
[all] ...five, four, three, two, one!
[all cheering, applauding]
-It's so beautiful. -Oh, my God.
Mine is messy and family-style
and his is just much more composed.
That might appeal to the judges.
-Ours are so different. -Totally.
Well, seafood boil was tonight's challenge.
And now, I'd like to introduce you to our judges.
First up, spear fisherwoman and cook book author
-Valentine Thomas. -[all applauding]
Chef and owner of Agi's Counter,
-Jeremy Salamon. -[audience clapping]
Chef and owner of Lolo's Seafood,
-Skai Young. -[audience applauding]
Please start with the first dish in front of you.
I like the simplicity of this dish.
I love the broth. I love the Peruvian chilli.
The anchovy toast is really amazing.
The crab was a little bit difficult to get around,
but I loved the lobster.
I also really liked how the potatoes and the corn was cooked.
Simple but really lovely.
I would've like it if the toast
was more toasted.
It needed that barrier to absorb
the liquid intake on the butter.
I think that the seafood was perfectly cooked.
I liked the fact that the crab was half,
and then you can pick into the inside, which was one of the best part.
The broth is so rich.
My only thing would be the fact that I thought
it could have maybe more sauce in it
instead of having to dip it.
Please dig in to the second seafood boil.
-All right. -I'm just gonna...
-[Jeremy] Yeah, just go. -[Valentine laughs]
This crab is delicious.
But I wish that the sauces were separate,
so that I could have a bit of a different bite.
But the kimchi and the cocktail sauce, very different.
This was certainly a party on a plate.
-[laughs] -[Jeremy] I love the family aspect of it.
The oysters, I love that they were grilled.
However, it didn't need the sausage.
It just felt like the seafood would've shown through by itself.
You know, normally when you eat a seafood boil,
after a while, the flavor gets redundant.
But because here, you have different sauce,
I could eat an entire pool of this.
And the seafood was cooked perfectly.
The flavors were fantastic.
So it's gonna be a very, very hard decision.
My palms are sweaty. I'm so nervous.
Bobby did a really good job.
His dish was technically sound.
And the winner is...
-Kaleena! -Yeah!
[audience cheering]
Congratulations.
Yeah, baby!
I just beat Bobby Flay.
I am like ecstatic. I... I can't even believe it.
My hope is that other people
who struggle with anxiety
start taking chances too.
Such a fantastic seafood boil.
It's actually one of the best I've ever had.
The ginger touch was fantastic.
And it's just... Please come to my house. [chuckles] Come fishing with me.
[audience applauding]
-We won. -Yeah!
-[bellows] Yeah! -[laughing]
My voice has never been that low before.
Uh, I think I do that to people sometimes.
-[clears throat] Okay, it's back., it's back. -[laughing]
I'm Kaleena Bliss and I just boiled Bobby Flay.
[audience applauding]