Welcome to Fire Masters...
where three chefs will take on three blazing culinary challenges.
Do it, Grilling Grandma.
There we go. Uh...
[Dylan] ...two will be eliminated,
and the last chef standing will go head-to-head
against one of our Fire Masters' judges
battling for the chance to win $10,000...
Uh, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.
...and to earn their place as a Fire Masters Champion.
This is, like, completely raw.
This entire plate is just under-seasoned.
-[Dylan] Speed. -[Tyson] Time is ticking away.
-[Dylan] Skill. -[Robert] The grill got the best of me.
[Dylan] Scorching competitio
[Merry] Hot, baby.
This is Fire Masters.
[Dylan] Three chefs think they can tame the flame
and become the next Fire Masters champion.
Let's meet them.
First up, Robert Sencion from Lancaster, California.
Being a private chef,
it gives me that creativity where I can do whatever I want.
Jazz up different flavors, different cuisines.
So it's amazing.
What I love about cooking in open flames is just the charcoal.
The aromas can actually take into food.
So I'm here to do what I do best and just win it.
How are you doing, guys?
Next, Merry Graham from Santa Clarita, California.
My name is Merry, also known as the Grilling Grandma.
I'm a recipe developer for smoking and grilling companies.
What I'll do with $10,000 is to build a backyard grill
so that I can teach grilling lessons to the kid of the community.
So I need to get out there and cook, cook, cook.
So excited to grill for you, chefs.
And last, Tyson James Wright from Camrose, Alberta.
I'm the executive chef and managing partner
of the Hart House Wine & Tapa.
What I love about the grill and the open flame is,
I guess, the caveman-ish of it.
[laughs] I'm here to cook my heart out,
cook with passion and kick one of these judge chefs in the butt.
Chefs.
Welcome to Fire Masters.
Here's how it's all going down.
There will be three rounds of competition.
In the first two rounds, you'll be competing against one another.
And at the end of each of these rounds,
one of you will be going home.
In the third and final round,
the last chef standing will go head-to-head against one of our judges
for the chance to win $10,000
and the title of today's Fire Masters champion.
Speaking of judges,
here's who you'll need to impress.
Roger Mooking is a globally-inspired celebrity chef, author,
TV personality and live-fire cooking expert
Welcome to the Fire Masters' arena.
Make sure you taste all your food.
-Yes, sir. -Okay.
[Dylan] Chef Eddie Jackson is a celebrity chef,
cookbook author, and the own of Rosehill Beer Garden in Houston, Texas.
Y'all ready to get going?
-Yes. -Absolutely.
[Dylan] Chef Connie DeSousa is an accomplished chef,
butcher and co-owner of Char Restaurant Group,
including the award winning Charcut
Italian Roast House and Charbar in Calgary, Alberta.
Welcome, chefs.
-Good luck to you today. -Thank you.
-Thank you.
Chefs, I hope you're ready for some fierce competition
because it's time to turn up the heat.
In this first Wildfire Round,
you'll create a signature dish that reveals who you are on a plate.
You'll each have your own top-of-the-line grill station
and use of our Fire Masters Fire Pit,
as well as access to our fully stocked pantry
Your dish will be judged on three things, presentation,
creativity and taste.
-Chefs, are you ready? -Let's go.
-Let's go.
You've got 30 minutes on the clock, and your time starts now.
-[applause] -[Connie] Come on, chefs.
[Robert] Let's go.
[Robert] Pfft. Uh...
My tenderloin, couple of peppers.
I'm here to prove that I'm the Grilling Grandma
and I can take down a professional chef.
I am making smoked filet mignon.
It's going to have fire kiss, tomatillo salsa verde.
My dad was a master at the grill.
And this represents all the flaming mignons that he used to grill.
Do it, Grilling Grandma, you can do it.
I mix up my garlic and my cumin and my coriande
and roll the steaks in my seasoning.
My filet mignon is going on this charcoal grill first
Okay.
I have some hickory chips in there going.
I want that on the indirect side just for a little bit of heat.
There is [indistinct]
I came in here to win. I've been practicing.
I've been studying.
I'm super eager to show the judges what I can do.
I'm just making a smoked tartare
with... smoke tartare it's made of emulsion,
charred cauliflower.
I'm taking a huge risk doing a tartare in the Fire Masters' arena.
Big risk, big reward.
I'm gonna roast cauliflower
because it's gonna add a charred smoke flavor I'm looking for.
All right, judges.
The Wildfire Round is underway.
I'm really excited to see their personalities.
Each one of them has very distinct vibe that they're bringing here.
[Eddie] I say this time-to-time again,
that Wildfire Round is my favorite round.
It's our first impression to see what they can do,
see what kind of competition we're up against.
-[laughter] -Let's just be real.
That's what it's all about.
[Robert] Walking into this arena, it's amazing.
It's exciting. It's hot. I love it.
I'm gonna do a rainbow trout with butternut squash puree and Saskatoon berry sauce.
I'm trying to get the bones out
and I start feeling my fish and I start feeling more bones.
It's getting little frustrating.
Chef Robert, what's the biggest challenge
you're gonna face in this round?
[Robert] Right now I've all of these bones...
Yeah. It's always tricky playing a fish in the Fire Masters' arena,
especially under this time constraint.
Yeah, it's very hard.
Looking forward to seeing this dish.
[Robert] Yes, sir. Thank you so much.
Let's get some peppers going for a trio of peppers.
Chef Merry, how are you doing?
Oh, I'm just buzzing along.
What about this dish that's gonna impress the judges
and get you through to the next round?
-Filet mignon. -[Dylan] Of course.
I'm gonna char this in a moment.
Right now, it's under hickory smoke.
Lots of beautiful colors on this board.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how your dish turns out.
Me too. [chuckles softly]
So I'm cooling off the pit so I can get a cold smoke in there.
I'm doing a tartare.
I want to make sure those temperatures aren't too high.
Typically, tartare is raw minced beef.
I'm looking to infuse the hickory smoke into the tenderloin.
I'm not looking to cook it at all.
Time is ticking away.
I need to get that tenderloin minced up.
Chef Tyson, looks like you're making beef tartare.
-I am. -Oh, yeah.
Raw dish in the Fire Masters' arena?
I thought I'd go a little bit out of the box in the competition.
Well, if there's one thing we love in the Fire Masters arena,
its calculated risks.
[Tyson] Thank you, chef.
[Robert] Next, I'm gonna wor on my butternut squash puree
By grilling the butternut squash,
I want to give that nice charred flavor.
Heat up this vegetables.
Get a nice medley on the bottom of the fish with the puree.
For my vegetable medley, I'm chopping up shallots,
garlic, mushrooms and Romanesco.
Time flies by when you're having fun, huh?
[Merry] Get your steaks on, Merry.
Get the steaks on, Merry.
The method I love best for a filet mignon is a reverse sear.
So I'm gonna first smoke it
and then it's gonna hit some hot temperature on a grill.
Close this lid for extra heat.
Chefs, ten minutes left.
It's time to get that minced tenderloin on there.
I'm praying that I got that charcoal grill cool enough
that I'm not cooking the mea
So Chef Tyson said
he's gonna cold smoke his beef tartare.
[Connie] Yes, but he runs the risk of overcooking it.
I mean, it's great that he's using ice,
but I think it's a huge risk for him to chop it up first.
[Robert] How you doing over there, Merry?
[Merry] I'm doing hot. How about you?
I'm great. Thank you so much.
So, for my Saskatoon berries
I add a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, a little bit of sugar,
and just let them cook down for a while,
creates amazing sauce.
I go and check on my butternut squash
and I flip them over and they're still rock hard.
So I have to think quick and the best thing to do is just boil it.
All that beautiful smoke and char is gonna get washed off in the water now.
[Eddie] Yeah.
[Merry] I'm working on the salsa verde.
My salsa verde has a really nice smokiness
due to the charring of the vegetables.
Give it a taste. Beautiful.
Oh, that's good.
I still feel there are bones.
It's literally crunch time.
I have to get this rainbow trout on the grill ASAP.
I didn't put oil on my grill.
Chef Robert took his fish,
threw it right onto the grill with no oil.
So we know that that's gonna stick.
-[Eddie] Hmm. -[Connie] Oh, man.
Man, this rainbow trout is a disaster right now.
[groans]
[Robert] It's getting stuck to the grill.
My rainbow trout is sticking to the grill.
It's not working well for me
but I have no other choice but to plate it.
It might not be pretty, but maybe it'll be delicious.
[Dylan] You better hope so.
[Tyson] I'm opening the charcoal grill that I ha my minced tenderloin smoking
and it's cooking.
It was a little bit too hot. It's damage control time.
I decided to pull off the top layer of my tenderloin,
which was still cold and had that beautiful smoky flavor.
Throw it into a bowl with my seasonings and hope for the best.
The steaks are looking beautiful.
Oh, no, that one's a little bit overdone.
It's a little bit inconsistent,
but it's still gonna have a wonderful hickory smoke flavor to it.
But meat is better than no meat.
Only one minute left, chefs! This is it!
-[applause] -Let's go, guys. Finish up.
-Let's go, chefs! -[Robert] I need to get moving.
I get my butternut squash.
I cut them into smaller piec and just blend it.
[Tyson] It's time to start plating my tartare.
So I grabbed my toasted rye bread,
throw my cold smoked tartare on there, then start to garnish.
Whoo!
There you go.
[Dylan and judges] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three.
Two, one.
[Dylan] Times up, chefs. That's it.
[Connie] Good job, chefs.
[Robert] With my rainbow trout, it doesn't look that great,
but I know I didn't overcook it and it has great flavor.
Good job, guys.
Time's up. Look down at my plate,
and I'm super happy with what I did.
Oh, my goodness. I haven't plated evenly.
One judge is only gonna get two pieces of wimpy meat.
Chef Robert, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Robert] For my signature dish,
I made grilled rainbow trou with Saskatoon berry sauce.
Chef Robert, I have a sneaky suspicion
that this plate didn't turn out exactly how you wanted it.
[Robert] You know what? The grill got the best of me
Well, Chef Robert, I'm really sad that time got away
from you in this challenge.
There are some really great elements on your plate, though.
I really liked the sweetness and the seasoning on the squash puree,
and I really hope that you move forward to the next round
because I'd love to taste what's next from you.
Thank you so much.
Chef Robert, Romanesco,
I actually like it that you kind of kept it in this raw form,
just having that nice little crunch.
I really appreciate the fish.
The flavors are there.
You just have to make sure you put oil on the grates to make sure
that it doesn't stick.
The issue that I have is that I feel like this entire plate is just under-seasoned.
-Thank you very much, chef. -Thank you, sir.
[Robert] I challenged mysel and took a risk.
At this point, it's all up to the judges.
Chef Merry, please tell us what you prepared for your signature dish.
[Merry] I made smoked filet mignon with salsa verde.
All right, Chef Merry.
I'm loving the char that I'm seeing on the plate, from the lime to the peppers.
I have a little bit of a issue with the inconsistency with the portions.
Looks like you really love Roger a lot there.
He got a perfect plate, lots of steak going on.
But as I look at my plate, it's definitely hearty.
Well, Chef Merry, your plate is super vibrant.
I love that it packs so much acidity,
-flavor and punch. -Hmm.
-And you really nailed the salsa verde on this plate. -Oh, thank you.
I would love a consistency and doneness.
I had one piece here. This is like completely raw down on this corner here.
And then this is well all the way to the edge here.
Chef Merry, thank you very much.
Thank you.
Hopefully, it's good enough to get me to round two,
because I know it does have flavor.
[Dylan] Chef Tyson, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Tyson] Judges, I made a cold-smoked beef tartare with a smoked tomato emulsion.
I love your plating style.
-This is super inviting. -[Tyson] Thank you.
It's really impressive.
It just looks like a beautiful canvas.
Appreciate that.
[Roger] Chef Tyson, you are very pointed
and have very distinct bold flavors
in every component of the dish.
The cauliflower got a nice texture to it,
but a little bit of the crunch and the smoke as well.
It takes a bold man to come into Fire Masters' arena and make us a tartare.
And surprisingly, you still got a lot of char and smoke on this plate.
The problem for me is that the tartare itself is just all over the place.
You have some pieces that are like it's supposed to be presented raw.
And then once you get to the middle,
there are some pieces that have been gently cooked.
The tartare wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be,
but I feel like I know what I'm doing in that arena
and I'm ready to go all the way.
Judges, the Wildfire Round is complete.
Let's take a look at Chef Robert's rainbow trout dish.
What did you think?
I think, conceptually, Chef Robert had a very successful dish.
It all made sense on the plate.
I think Chef Robert's biggest issue was time management.
I agree. For his fish, the Fire Masters' arena definitely tripped him up.
Connie, let's talk about Chef Merry and her filet mignon dish.
[Connie] I liked where Chef Merry was going with her dish.
I love salsa verde.
It's one of my favorite sauces.
There were a lot of issues with the doneness of the filet mignon.
I had a piece that went from blue to well done.
Roger, let's take a look at Chef Tyson and his tartare dish.
Yeah. So Chef Tyson did, you know,
a little bit of a controversial dish inside of the Fire Masters' arena.
[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
The smoke flavor that he was able to achieve
in that tartare was phenomenal.
I thought that maybe if Chef Tyson had cold-smoked the whole tenderloin,
we wouldn't have had so much unevenness.
We've had a very interesting first Wildfire Round.
Have you made your decision?
-[Connie] Yes. -Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this first Wildfire Round,
you were asked to prepare a dish that highlights your personal style of cooking.
Judges, whose signature dish was the best in this round?
The chef with the best dish is...
Chef Tyson.
-[applause] -Awesome!
-Thank you, chefs. Thank you. -[Merry] Way to go.
Congratulations, Chef Tyson,
you will have an advantage heading into the next round.
-Thank you. Awesome. -[Roger] Well done.
Judges, it's down to Chef Merry and Chef Robert.
Who will you be sending home?
The chef who'll be going home is...
Judges, it's down to Chef Robert with his grilled rainbow trout
and Saskatoon berry sauce and Chef Merry with her smoked filet mignon and salsa verde.
Who will you be sending home?
The chef who will be going home is...
Chef Robert.
Chef Robert, I'm sorry to say you've been eliminated from the competition.
It's time for you to leave the Fire Masters' arena.
Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it.
Appreciate the opportunity.
-Good luck, guys. -[Merry] Thanks.
[Robert] I had a lot of fun
but I learned that 30 minutes goes by really fast.
Chefs, welcome to the Crossfire Round.
Please welcome Montana's executive chef Jen Hennings.
-Hi, chefs. -Hi. Hello.
At Montana's there's nothing that we love more than smoking, grilling,
and some great barbecue.
[Dylan] For your next challenge,
you will go head-to-head to create your take on a classic dish.
Uh-oh.
It's time for...
Battle of the Burger.
-Woo-hoo! -Awesome!
Chef Tyson, because you won the first round,
you have the advantage.
So you get to choose your ingredient first.
Chef Tyson, which do you choose to cook with,
ground beef or ground bison?
I'm from Alberta and there's bison everywhere and I know how to cook bison.
Think I'm gonna go with the ground bison.
-Nice. -Hmm.
Which means, Chef Merry,
you'll be cooking with ground beef.
Happy to do that.
The chef that serves up the best burger will have their dish used as inspiration
for a special Montana's menu item.
-Oh, my goodness! -Awesome.
-That's cool. -Yeah.
Thank you very much, Chef Jen.
Thanks, Dylan. Good luck, chefs.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Chefs, are you ready?
-Yes! -Let's go!
You've got 30 minutes back on the clock, and your time starts... now!
-[Connie] Come on, chef! -[Eddie] Let's go!
[applause]
The idea of me making a recipe that ends up at a restaurant is so cool.
I am making some Hawaiian burgers today with some grilled pineapple.
I love the flavor of a really good ground beef.
Because we're going Hawaiian
I'm gonna go with a little bit of soy sau in it,
some garlic and some fresh ginger,
salt and pepper. That's it.
I like big old burgers, fat meat.
I want to taste it all.
I grab some cherry wood and toss it on
in on top of the coals.
The cherry sweetness is what I'm aiming for for the beef burger itself.
That's... this will do. I want to it here.
[indistinct]
[Tyson] I do love burgers.
I have five of them on my menu.
This is my wheelhouse.
I'm making a bison burger with smoked mushrooms and charred carrot fries.
I'm adding walnut wood chip to get that nice,
nutty smoke going into my mushrooms.
Well, judges the Crossfire Round is underway
and it's Battle of the Burgers.
Montana's loves them, we love them.
What do these chefs need to do to nail this round?
Bison compared to beef, it's lighter,
it's sweeter and a lot leaner than beef.
So the challenge here for Chef Tyson is not to dry out his burger.
[Eddie] Ground beef already has so much flavor inside of it.
It's really hard to mess with that.
I feel like you can really let it shine by a accompanying with really good condiments
and cheese melting all over the place.
Just a good, solid grilled burger.
I'm gonna slice the pineapple super thin
because I want it to soften and char,
but I want it to get done really quick.
One trick I like to do with my pickled onions is to char the onions first,
so I'm gonna go ahead and put it on live fire.
Next, I put the cabbage on a very hot grill.
Cabbage can handle a heavy char.
I'm making a blueberry jelly.
That's gonna really help complement the bison burger.
Some red wine, sugar, lemon. That's it.
Bison is a little leaner. It's a little gamier.
So giving it a nice sweet aroma with the blueberries.
Hoping to send the judges right back to Alberta,
where rising aroma and we got berries everywhere.
It's fun cooking something from my own backyard.
This isn't Cast Iron Wars, it's Fire Masters.
So I put my burger right on that grill.
My roasted garlic is looking good,
so I'm gonna take it off the heat,
chop it up and throw it into my mouth.
It's coming on really nice.
Time for the burgers to get off the grill.
And it's time to make my Maui mustard.
It's mayonnaise, mustard,
fresh ginger and some garlic and some salt.
-Chefs, you've got five minutes left. This is it. -[applause]
-[Eddie] Let's go, chefs! -[Connie] Come on, chefs. You can do it.
For my charred cabbage slaw,
I need some cilantro and mangos and green onion,
and that'll be fun.
There we go. That's the color.
So I'm bringing the mushrooms and the Gruyere to the grill.
Mushrooms are messy,
so I lock those in on top of the patty with the cheese.
Next thing I want to do is I want to take my garlic aioli,
brush my buns, and get them onto the grill
I really want to get that fat flavor soaked into the bun.
One hot grill. I got to build the burgers.
I slather on the Maui mustard.
Next I put on my burger with cheese,
then the pineapple steak and the onions.
You can do it, Grandma.
Uh, there we go.
So I'm starting to build my bison burger.
I throw on some of the beautiful peppered arugula.
Throw on my sweet blueberry jelly.
I then throw on my beautiful bison burge
with those amazing smoked mushrooms and Gruyere cheese.
Uh, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.
[Dylan and judges] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
Time's up, chefs!
[Connie] Good job, chefs.
[applause]
[sighs]
[Merry] This burger, well, my golly it looks pretty.
I like pretty burgers.
I think this burger might just please the judges.
[sighs]
It's fantastic-looking burger. I'm super proud of it.
And the judges are gonna love it.
I know I have the winning dish.
Chef Tyson,
please tell us about your bison burger.
[Tyson] I made bison burger with smoked mushrooms and charred carrot fries.
Tyson, I got to tell you,
this burger has some wonderful elements to it.
Pairing it with that blueberry really just highlights that sweetness that the bison has.
My biggest issue, though,
is that you put the arugula and the onions
and then you sauced it and that bottom bun is just extremely soggy.
Chef Tyson, you know, like Eddie said,
there's a couple of construction issues.
My burger was falling apart.
You want that burger to be able to hold up
and the bottom bun got really soggy.
But you've cooked this patty perfectly.
Still nice and juicy and tender.
Perfect cook on the bison.
-Thank you very much, chef. -Thank you.
-Thank you, chefs. -[Connie] Thank you, chef. Good job.
[Tyson] There's so many amazing flavors that I developed into this burger
I don't think a soggy bun is gonna send me home.
Chef Merry, please tell us about your burger using ground beef.
[Merry] I made a Hawaiian-style beef burge with charred cabbage slaw.
-[Connie] Mmm... -[Eddie] Mmm.
[Merry] Is that the temperature you were looking for?
-Mmm-hmm. Pink. -Mmm-hmm.
Well, Chef Merry, you've got a really nicely seasoned patty.
I loved your Maui mustard.
I think I'm gonna steal that.
-[laughs] -That's good. That makes it, right?
I loved it. Yeah.
The only thing I have to say is I think my burger was a little bit underdone.
My patty was just slightly thicker than my colleagues.
Chef Merry, this burger is good.
The cherry smoke has very mild, sweet notes to it,
and it really works with everything that you have inside of the burger.
This is a tasty burger.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
-And thank you, chef. -Thank you.
Let's give the judges a couple of minutes to discuss what they've tasted,
-and we'll call you back when we're ready. -Okay.
[Connie] Thanks, chef.
I would call that a rare burger. For my grandkids,
I might have cooked it a little bit longer.
It was the Battle of the Burger in this Crossfire Round.
One of our chefs is working with ground beef,
the other with ground bison
How did they do?
You know, I think, Chef Tyson,
his burger was very cohesive.
Everything made sense on his plate.
I completely agree, Eddie.
Chef Tyson really understands classic flavor profiles.
If he had just amped up that seasoning just a bit,
-he would have nailed it. -Yeah.
I'm with you on seasoning 100%.
But, you know, he also had technical issues.
-The bun was falling apart. -Yeah.
[Roger] It was breaking apart.
-There's too much soggy stuf -[Connie] Hmm.
Connie, let's talk about Chef Merry
and her burger using ground beef.
I don't really like pineapple on burgers or pizza,
and she made me fall in love with it.
I loved her Maui mustard.
The only thing was that she didn't cook my burger perfectly.
Who would have thought that a burger with blueberry
and pineapple on it would be such a tough decision?
-[laughs] -I don't know.
-What's going on? -This is so hard.
Gonna be a tough one to call.
But have you made a decision?
-Yeah. -[both] Yes. Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this Crossfire Round,
we asked you to create a burger using either beef or bison.
Chef Tyson, you made the bison burger with charred carrot fries.
And, Chef Merry, you made the Hawaiian-style beef burger with charred cabbage slaw.
The winner of this round will walk away
with a Napoleon portable gri and move on to the third
and final round to face off against one of our Fire Masters' judges.
Judges, please tell us who will be moving on to the final round?
The chef who will be moving on to the final round is...
Chef...
-Merry. -[applause]
-[Tyson] Good job. -Oh, my!
I am so happy and shocked.
Look at you.
Congratulations, Chef Merry.
You've won yourself a portable grill
and you're moving on to the final round.
-[applause] -Wow!
Chef Tyson, unfortunately,
you've been eliminated from the competition.
It's time to leave the Fire Masters' arena.
-Thank you, chefs. Thank you. -All the best to you.
Good luck.
[Tyson] I had fun out here.
Got to see what it was like in the arena,
and I gave it my all.
Chef Merry, in the first two rounds,
you showed the judges that you sure can take the heat,
but now it's time for the ultimate test.
In this final round,
you'll be going head-to-head against one of our Fire Masters' judges.
And the judge you'll be facing off against is...
Chef Roger Mooking.
-[Connie] All right! -[Eddie] Let's go, chef!
-Yeah, yeah, yeah! -[Connie] You got this, Roger.
[Roger] Let's do it. Let's do it.
Oh, yeah!
You ready for me, Merry?
Listen up, Chef Roger, you're not taking me down.
I'm gonna take you down just because of that sass.
You don't sass Grilling Grandma.
[laughs]
Chef Merry, Chef Roger, you're about to face off in the Feast of Fire.
Chefs, in this final round,
you must create a family-style feast inspired by the theme...
Lean & Mean.
-I like it. -[applause]
I like Lean & Mean.
It's time to take on the tastiest lean cuts and delicious healthy sides.
Give us a feast that trims fat but not flavor.
Hmm.
The stakes have never been higher,
so you'll each have a sous-chef to help you create your feasts.
These feasts will be tasted blind,
which means none of us will be here to watch you cook.
However, when we do return,
I'll be taking Chef Roger's seat at the judges' table.
But, chefs, before you get started,
I've got a hot twist for you.
Next to the fire pit there are two stands.
Choose a stand and light it up to reveal an ingredient you must use in your feast.
Chefs, are you ready?
-Yes! -Yes, yes!
You've got 45 minutes on the clock,
and your time starts...
Now.
Lean & Mean.
Yeah. Nobody told me I was gonna be today's inspiration.
[laughter]
Buffalo tenderloin.
[Roger] Mahi-mahi.
[Merry] I don't know anythin about buffalo tenderloin,
but I do make a lot of lamb loins,
which is similar.
And roasted tomato.
Now what I have to prove is that I'm Grilling Grandma
and I can bring i all the way home
For my main dish,
I'm making smoked buffalo tenderloin with smoked mushroom sauce.
And for a side, roasted tomatoes with herb oil,
and for my second side,
charred broccoli with Romanesco. And for dessert,
spiced apple and pear skillet with maple yogurt.
At Christmas time, I love to make apple and pear crumbles.
So I'm gonna use cinnamon nutmeg applesauce. Nutmeg.
I'm gonna pop these little apple
and pear skillets right up on top.
Well, let them sit there maybe about 20 minutes I think will do.
-[Roger] All right. You ready? -[sous-chef 1] Yes.
[Roger] Gotta cook with mahi-mahi.
So that's a good start of this Lean & Mean challenge, right?
For my main, I'm making grilled flank ste and smoky tomato salsa.
For one of my sides,
I'm making coal-kissed mahi-mahi crudo with apples citrus water.
My other side is grilled cucumber salad with cumin spice crunch.
And the dessert, smoked banana coffee cake.
I'm gonna marinate it a little bit.
So first, I'm starting with the flank steak.
Toss it in the bowl with some black pepper,
some dried parsley, some dried oregano.
Let it marinate for a good 20 minutes before I put it on the grill.
And then we're off to the races.
Yeah, go.
Grilled cucumber, yeah, it's the thing, you know,
like there's smashed cucumber salads in many parts of the world.
So it's a play on that, but also grilled.
[Dylan] My friends, the Feast of Fire is upon us again.
And tonight, we're having a Lean & Mean feast.
This gives these chefs opportunity to show
that healthy isn't really bad.
You could add tons of flavor by doing things like charring,
searing, acid, vinegar.
[Connie] Yeah, I agree.
But it's gonna be very challenging
for these chefs to create a dessert without any fat.
[Dylan] These chefs are gonn have to get really creative
and think outside the box in ways
to bring big flavor to our table.
Yeah, that's called a healthy imagination.
[laughter]
The Fire Master arena has challenged me with a buffalo tenderloin.
I've never used it before.
I always loved smoked paprika and garlic together.
Lots of salt. And some black pepper, too.
I want to super sear and then I want to go smoke it.
Hot, baby.
Now I want to smoke some mushrooms.
I have some hickory chips in there going.
It's gonna be really tasty.
With my mahi-mahi, I'm doing crudo.
Crudo is a raw fish preparation,
usually in some kind of sauc
-Just juice it one after the other. -[sous-chef 1] Yes, chef.
So we're gonna start working on the apple citrus water.
We take a green apple.
We take a few cucumbers.
We take some orange juice for the citrus, and we juice them.
I want you to put a jalapeno in there.
[sous-chef 1] Yes, chef.
[Merry] Charred broccoli, one of my favorites.
I have a certain technique I love to do with charred broccoli,
and that is to blanch it first.
Why do that is that it makes it bright, bright green.
Then you can toss in oil and then toss on to open fire.
Time to start on the smoked banana coffee cake.
There's flour, sugar, eggs.
Where'd that rum go?
Rum instead of vanilla extract, and I beat it together.
I've got to figure out a wa to cook these cakes
so that they don't burn on the bottom,
but they cook all the way through nice and tender.
So I ask the sous-chef to get me a couple of round
flat cast iron rondeaus and wood chips.
Lots of wood chips.
Yep. Yep.
Over time, those woodchips are going to start to catch on fire inside of there
and create a smoky oven environment.
I basically made a Dutch ove
It's a very classic old-scho cooking technique.
[sous-chef 2] I can put them directly on the grill.
-Yeah? -[Merry] Yep.
I have some beautiful cherry tomatoes on the wine
and they're all were stunnin on a platter.
It needs a little salt and it needs lemon.
Like, roasted tomatoes, kind of plain,
but go ahead and put on some what I call magical herb oil
and awakens the tomatoes.
I've had my buffalo tenderloin on the grill now for a long time,
so I better go check it.
Ahh.
It's burnt.
Little bit too hot there, Merry.
[groans]
It's burnt.
Little bit too hot there, Merry.
So I put that buffalo tenderloin on a cedar plank
and put it in the charcoal grill
so it doesn't have to char any more,
but it'll be able to get cooked through.
Now be nice to me.
You're gonna go like this and you're gonna go like this.
The grilled cucumbers that are now chopped up,
I'm gonna smash some of them,
then I'm gonna toss them in the dressing of some Cuban fish sauce,
rice wine vinegar.
Where's my tongs?
I'm looking for a big hunk of coal
that I can just use and kiss on the mahi-mahi.
I want it to be very delicat
I don't want to cook the fish all the way through
And you can definitely tast the fire and the smoke.
So my flank steak's been marinating.
I just want to shake off some of the excess oil,
put it on the pit.
So the smoked tomato salsa, we're throwing it into a blender,
adding some olive oil, salt, pepper,
and we're just buzzing till it's nice and chunky smooth.
Put on a little bit of, um, olive oil and then salt them.
Absolutely.
[Merry] The mushroom sauce,
it will have some shallots and some garlic in it.
Oops, broccoli!
Oh, my goodness.
The broccoli. It's super-charred.
This live fire is really a challenge to me today.
Oh, I got a new idea for the charred broccoli.
I never like anything to go to waste.
So I take the charred broccoli,
mix it with salt and pepper and all of a sudden, voila,
charred broccoli seasoning.
I think my charred broccoli could use another element such as Romanesco.
Then there'll be a contrast of flavors and texture.
Don't burn it this time. Don't burn it this time. Don't burn it this time.
[Roger] I take the tomato salsa.
Put it all over the bottom of this white plate.
So when my steak is ready and rested and I slice it,
it's going to sit right on top.
I'm just gonna start plating my crudo
because it's a raw preparation.
It can sit there, it's all good.
Ah, two minutes.
Almost, almost.
Let's get it.
This is gonna be tight.
Okay. How is everything looking?
Yeah. Beautiful.
Come on!
Ahh...
It's time to check on the dessert.
[indistinct shouting]
Beautiful! I couldn't be more happy
because I just see fire and smoke and beautifully cooked cakes.
[Merry] Oh, these are nice.
To sweeten my apple and pear skillet,
I'm going to have some yogurt.
[Roger an Merry] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one.
[sighs]
[Merry] I'm most worried about that temperature of the meat inside.
Is it overcooked, undercooked?
Heck, I don't know.
I haven't made buffalo tenderloin before.
[Roger] I'm looking at my Lean & Mean feast
and I'm feeling pretty good about it.
There's a lot of lean and a lot of mean flavor,
so I'm feeling pretty confident.
Well, my friends,
tonight's feast is Lean & Mean.
This first chef has prepared for us smoked buffalo tenderloin
with smoked mushroom sauce,
roasted tomatoes with herb oil,
charred broccoli and Romanes with charred broccoli salt
and will wrap it all up with spiced apple
and pear skillet with maple yogurt.
This chef had to cook with buffalo tenderloin.
I'll tell you what, just looking at that buffalo tenderloin,
-it is cooked perfectly. -[Dylan] Perfectly.
-[Connie] Beautifully. -[Eddie] Wow!
-[Connie] Amazing. Ooh! -[Eddie] Oh, my God.
Perfectly cooked.
[Eddie] The tenderloin is smoky.
The rub that's on the outside has so much flavor.
Mmm-hmm.
[Connie] And I love the mushroom gravy.
The gravy adds a really fantastic richness to this,
because as we know, buffalo tenderloin is so lean.
[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
I like that broccoli.
-It has nice texture... -[Eddie] Yeah.
...and great char.
I just wish they put a little bit more
of the charred broccoli salad on top.
It is lacking a little bit of seasoning.
[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
There's some spice somewhere in here.
Mmm-hmm.
-[Connie] The salad is really herbaceous. -[Eddie] Yeah.
It's so acidic, but it's not enough greens to go with it.
I agree.
Let's see what they prepared for us for dessert.
[Eddie] I can't wait.
[Dylan] Our first chef has prepared for us a spiced apple
and pear skillet with maple yogurt.
This is so simple, but it really tastes comforting.
-[Eddie] It's satisfying, right? -[Connie] Yeah.
I feel like this is lacking just a tiny bit on sweetness.
I agree. I think a little drizzle of maple syrup would have been perfect.
Mmm-hmm.
Let's see what the second chef has in store.
-Let's do it. -I can't wait.
Our second feast has landed and this chef has prepared a beautiful feast as well.
[Eddie] Wow!
[Dylan] This chef has prepar for us grilled flank steak with smoked tomato salsa,
coal-kiss mahi-mahi crudo with apple citrus water,
grilled cucumber salad with cumin spiced crunch.
And we'll wrap it up with smoked banana coffee cake.
This chef had to cook with mahi-mahi.
[Eddie] So had to cook with mahi-mahi and we still got some beef.
[Connie] Yeah, that's great.
Mmm.
The mahi crudo is so delicate and really beautifully presented.
I love the citrus apple wate on it.
The only thing that's missing for me
in the crudo is a bump of acidity.
Some acidity and some seasoning.
-[Connie] Mmm-hmm. -[Eddie] Yeah.
You wouldn't think that it would be smoky,
but that's the first thing that I've got.
I'm really enjoying the cucumber salad.
I love the pops of a umami that I'm getting
from the chili and the fish sauce.
I feel like the cucumber salad needs a little bit more seasoning as well.
[Dylan] Just a touch of sal on there and it would be a next level salad.
Mmm-hmm.
The chef nailed the cook on their steak as well.
It's got a nice char around the outside.
It's medium all the way through.
[Eddie] The steak is seared perfectly.
The charred tomato sauce on the bottom,
I get the smokiness, I get the char,
but I'm not getting that pop of flavor that I was anticipating.
Our second dessert is here,
and this chef has prepared a smoked banana coffee cake
[Eddie] Wow!
Ooh, it's definitely smoked.
-[Dylan] Oh, yeah. -Wow. It is so smoky.
Smoke is a little overwhelming.
-Mmm-hmm. -Mmm-hmm.
But the texture of the cake...
-[Connie] It's so moist. -[Eddie] So moist.
[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
[Eddie] Those words usually never come out of my mouth, like, too smoky.
Yeah.
But in this case, this cake is too smoky.
Yeah.
Well, my friends, two great Lean & Mean feasts.
We're gonna have to break these down,
plate-by-plate and see how these chefs did.
Yeah.
Well, judges, two innovative, Lean & Mean feasts.
The first chef prepared for us that smoked buffalo tenderloin,
and the second chef with the grill flank steak.
That buffalo tenderloin was so masterfully prepared.
I feel like I'm gonna be thinking
and dreaming about that tenderloin for days.
I think the second chef was a little bit more creative
with that flank steak dish with the charred tomato sals
Very creative, beautifully plated.
And the second chef also nailed the cook on their flank steak.
Seared on the outside, cooked well inside.
-Just lacked seasoning. -[Connie] Mmm-hmm
Let's take a look at our first set of sides.
The first chef preparing the roasted tomatoes,
the second chef with the mahi-mahi crudo.
Again, the second chef coming with creativity,
mahi-mahi crudo, just flashing it on the charcoal to get that smokiness
inside of it was really creative.
Again, though, seems like a running theme,
just lacking seasoning. Whereas the first chef, very simple dish,
but the first chef nailed it
[Dylan] Nailed it.
Let's move on to our second set of sides.
The first chef doing the charred broccoli and Romanesco.
The second chef with that grilled cucumber salad.
[Connie] I really loved the charred broccoli.
I just thought that it needed a little bump of acid
and a little bit more salt to make it perfect.
I loved the creativity of the second chef's dish.
In fact, I might steal that entire dish.
I loved the char that they developed.
Let's move on to dessert.
The first chef preparing that apple and pear skillet with maple yogurt
and the second chef with the smoked banana coffee cake.
That combination between seems like that tart apple
that really sweet cooked down pear...
-[Dylan] Yeah. -[Eddie] ...was just kind of nostalgi
[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
The only thing that was missing for me in that dessert
was a little bit more sweetness.
Sweetness, yeah.
Just visually looking at the second chef's dessert,
-I'm like, wow, amazed. -[Connie] Mmm-hmm.
[Eddie] Like, first of all, how did you make a cake
and then you smoked it?
But that smoke just was so overpowering
I couldn't go back for another bite.
Two fantastic Lean & Mean feasts from both of these chefs
this evening, and I think we made our decision.
-Yes. -Yes, we have.
Let's call the chefs back in.
[Merry] I hope the judges loved my feast,
the flavors and also the leanness.
You don't always get flavor with leanness.
I'm really proud about the food that I put up today.
I think it looked good, dynamic, colorful.
Everything is cooked well.
Feeling pretty confident.
Chefs, both of your Lean & Mean feasts were innovative and inspired.
In the first feast,
we felt the cook on the buffalo tenderloin was exquisite.
However, the charred broccoli dish would have benefited
from some extra seasoning.
In the second feast,
we loved the cook on the flank steak.
However, we felt the mahi-mahi crudo lacked acidity.
And while both of your Lean & Mean feasts were nutritious and delicious,
there can only be one winner.
Tonight's winning feast is...
The first feast with the smoked buffalo tenderloin
and charred broccoli.
[applause]
-Oh, my God! -Congratulations. Congratulations.
I can't believe. I'm shocked.
Congratulations, Chef Merry.
You have won $10,000 and the title of today's Fire Masters Champion.
Oh, my goodness!
Thank you so much!
I really wish Merry all the best.
She's a fierce competitor and she won the title and ten grands.
Pretty amazing.
That tenderloin, when we cut it open,
oh, my gosh.
You got your redemption from my undercooked burger in the second round.
[laughter]
Yes, I'm the new Fire Masters Champion.
Grilling Grandma that is.
I wish I could have tasted it.
-It's delicious. -Yeah.