Welcome to Fire Masters...
where three chefs will take on three blazing culinary challenges...
-Fantastic. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Brian] Let's do it.
[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...
Wow!
[Dylan] ...and to earn their place as a Fire Masters Champion.
You struggled using the Fire Masters arena.
It is a little bit of a mess.
[Dylan] Speed.
-The pressure's on, right? -[Dylan] Skill.
Looks beautiful.
[Dylan] Scorching competition.
These are hot!
This is Fire Masters.
[Dylan] Three chefs are battle-ready
to fight for the title of Fire Masters Champion.
Let's meet them.
First up, Brian McCourt from New Dundee, Ontario.
I'm the culinary director of the Ignite Group of Brands.
I've been a chef for over 20 years now.
I have lots of experience cooking with wood,
charcoal, open flame.
My strategy to win is my versatility.
I can do Southeast Asian food.
I can do European food.
I have the drive, I've got the fire within me.
So excited to cook for all of you today.
[Dylan] Next, Danielle Leoni from Phoenix, Arizona.
I'm the executive chef at The Breadfruit.
It's a Jamaican restaurant.
So you get things that are grilled and roasted
and smoked and charred.
My signature is jerk and it's open fire cooking.
So I'm used to being in front of intense heat.
It is game on.
Hi, judges.
[Dylan] And last, Rahil Rathod from Moncton, New Brunswick.
I'm a chef at Restaurant Clos.
Growing up in India, cooking with charcoal was a part of life.
I used to see my aunts, my mom, cook on open fire.
It was mesmerizing. The magic, cooking a biryani or making skewers.
And I think my love for cooking on the open fire started from there.
Hello, judges.
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.
Chef Eddie Jackson is a celebrity chef,
cookbook author and the owner
of Rosehill Beer Garden in Houston, Texas.
Y'all ready to get it on?
-Oh, yeah. -Yes.
[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 today.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
Thank you.
[Dylan] Stuart Cameron is an award-winning,
internationally-experienced chef,
known for his Mediterranean flavors.
He's the chef/owner of Bocado restaurant
in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Can't wait to try your food.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Chefs, I hope you brought your A-game
because it's time to fire things up.
In this first Wildfire Round,
you'll create a dish that shows your personality 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 and stacked pantry.
Your dish will be judged on presentation, creativity and taste.
Chefs, are you ready?
[chefs] Yes!
You've got 30 minutes on the clock, and your time starts...
-now! -[Connie] Whoo! Let's go.
[Danielle] All right, let's go.
Chops. Chops. Pork chops.
For my signature dish, I'm making jerk pork chop.
Plantains, plantains...
With smoked plantain mash. Okay.
This is my signature dish because I love cooking
with fruits and spices and fire.
And here it is all on a plate.
Okay.
First, I'm starting with my green plantain mash.
Green plantains are so starchy,
they're like a potato.
I have to boil that to soften them up.
All right. Let's see how that goes.
Next, I have to get my pineapple,
my habaneros, and my scallions on the fire pit.
Whoo!
Let's go, let's go.
[Brian] Let's do this.
My signature dish is a wood-fired flank steak
with a charred eggplant salad with a Southeast Asian twist.
I take my flank steak, I'm trimming off
all the excess fat so everything will cook at the right temperature.
This is my signature dish because I love cooking Southeast Asian food.
Lots of textures, lots of different bold flavors.
I season it with salt, five spice with the anise
and I add a little bit of light soy.
This is going to be a tasty flank.
[Rahil] Where's the lamb? For my signature dish,
I'm making fire-roasted lamb chops
with apricot couscous.
It is my signature dish because I'm born in India, we eat a lot of spices there.
Normally, I would marinate for 24 hours
and then I cook the whole rack of lamb.
Here, I have to impart the flavors in 30 minutes.
So I cut into chops to get more surface area so it gets more flavor.
[Danielle] Oh!
Bringing all the spice with the jerk rub.
I have to start out my jerk seasoning.
Base ingredient, habaneros, charred scallions and rum
and the vinegar and allspice and garlic.
I taste my jerk grub...
Oh!
...and it's so spicy.
Oh! This needs sugar.
Gonna blend this one more time
since it's way too spicy.
[Brian] Once I finished seasoning the flank steak,
I move over to the cabbage and the eggplant.
So I know I want to get that cabbage on the coal.
I want to get that eggplant onto the fire pit.
You want to get that smoke.
And then I throw the flank steak on early
because I want to have enough time for it
to get the char that I want.
Perfect.
I am really worried about Brian's steak that high on the grill.
I'm worried that it's steaming and not getting that
really deep char that it needs.
Yeah.
[Connie] Flank steak doesn't need much time on the grill.
Nice and low to the coals.
Super quick sear on each side.
And you don't want to go higher than medium rare or rare.
[Rahil] So I'm starting the marinade for my lamb.
And I add ginger, cumin powder, some turmeric, coriander powder,
cardamom powder, Kashmiri chili,
some cinnamon and a little bit of garam masala, yogurt.
These judges better love spice.
[Danielle] Okay. I got this.
I'm taking my pork chops over to the charcoal grill.
Super-hot.
I need to get a nice, beautiful char in them.
And I also need to get pimento wood.
I'm using pimento wood
because it is the hallmark flavor of Jamaica.
Here we go, kiddos.
[Eddie] Oh, yes.
She pulled out the pimento wood.
That is the traditional way to cook jerk.
It has a very subtle flavor,
very kind of herbaceousness to it,
which really kind of brings the flavor to jerk.
[Brian] Sauce time.
I'm making a charred tomato nam prik, the top of my steak,
but I'm taking it to the next level.
I've gotten to my lemongrass, char tomatoes.
I chop up some cilantro stems with some scallions,
lime leaf and then I take some of the trim
from the flank steak that's been on the grill.
I plop it in and get all those flavors meshing together.
Away I go.
[Rahil] I'm worried about my time.
The lamb has to go on the fire pit so it starts cooking.
[Stuart] Lamb cooks very quick.
If you cut it in small chops,
you're looking four or five minutes each side
and then a good rest for another five, ten minutes.
[Brian] Let's do it.
I got to see if my flank steaks are ready.
I have a slight char, but not the char I was going for.
I'm not happy with it, but I run the risk of it
overcooking and I want to let it rest for a bit before I dig into it.
Next, I take my eggplant off.
It's not too mushy.
It still has some texture to it.
And it tastes very, very good with char.
I need to check the...
I have to check on these plantains.
I open the pot.
No, they're not ready.
They are nowhere near being done.
The green plantain mash, it's key to my dish.
Without it, I'm done. [sighs]
[Danielle] These plantains...
No, they're not ready.
...are not all the way cooked.
If I don't have this mash, I'm done. [sighs]
Okay.
These green plantains have to be cooked now. [humming]
It might work. It might work. It might work.
I throw them on the charcoal grill
because it's supposed to be a smoked mash.
And I hope for the best.
[Rahil] It's time to move the lamb chops.
I wanted to get a little bit of smokiness.
So I'm going to put them in the charcoal grill.
I'm just lightly smoking it.
And I still have to start my couscous.
And I add the apricots, I add some saffron with some butter,
some coriander, mint and tomato.
Chefs, ten minutes left!
[Brian] The pressure is on, right?
Okay, cabbage.
I remember my cabbage is on the coals,
so I want to get it off.
It's got all the char, both sides.
It's exactly what I'm looking for.
Okay, kids.
I have to start working on my mango relish.
I add lime juice, fresh-picked thyme and charred pineapples
just to round it out.
Chefs, only five minutes left!
This is it!
-Come on, chefs. -Whoo! Let's go!
Let's go!
[Rahil] I still have to make my cucumber salad.
Cucumber and yogurt with dill is the refreshing component.
Fantastic.
Two minutes left. Time to get some food down.
-Let's go! -It's go time.
Beautiful.
Okay.
These are hot.
Ugh!
These are not wanting to mash.
Chefs, one minute left.
-Let's go. Go now! -Come on, chefs.
Let's go.
Whoo.
Let's make believers out of plantain mash.
[Rahil] Yes.
[Danielle] And a chop for you.
[exhales sharply]
[Dylan and judges] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
[Danielle] And a little bit of chutney.
[Dylan and judges] ...five, four, three, two, one.
-Time's up, Chefs. -Whoo! Whoo!
[applause]
[Brian] I'm feeling good.
I really hope my signature dish will have the smoke, char
and bold flavors that will take me to the next round.
[Rahil] I'm happy to see the beautiful sear on the lamb chop.
I hope it's going to taste phenomenal.
[Danielle] Oh, my gosh.
I have nailed this jerk pork chop.
Hopefully, these plantains are actually cooked.
Chef Brian, please tell us what you made for the judges.
[Brian] So I did a little wood-fired flank steak
and a charred eggplant salad.
Chef Brian, this plate of food is very inviting.
The unfortunate thing for me is you tell me something like
a wood-fired steak.
I want to see that nice grill. And right now,
because you have all these ingredients going on,
the steak gets a little bit lost.
Chef Brian, the ingredients are amazing
and you can really get a lot of smokiness out of eggplant.
I would've liked to see a little more smokiness on this eggplant.
Chef Brian, I love where you went with this dish.
The flavors are great.
It's kind of feeling Vietnamese
and a little bit Thai.
Thank you.
[Connie] Unfortunately, you missed the mark on the steak.
It's really missing that char.
Okay.
[Brian] I'm a little nervous.
I didn't get the char that I wanted on the flank steak,
but all the other components on this dish I'm very, very happy with.
Chef Danielle, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Danielle] I made a jerk pork chop for you
over a smoked plantain mash.
[Connie] Chef Danielle, I love the vibrancy of colors.
I can't wait to dive in.
Thank you.
Chef Danielle, pork was cooked beautifully.
I got the char.
I got the smokiness.
It was amazing.
My first time having plantain mash.
I think a little more seasoning in that would have helped a lot.
Chef Danielle, you said jerk...
-Yes. -...right?
So what I'm getting right now,
I'm getting a lot of sweetness,
but I'm not actually getting the heat.
If you're gonna tell me you're giving me jerk, give me some jerk.
Okay. Thank you.
Oh, man. I hope I'm staying.
You look at my plate, it is charred, it's smoked, it's vibrant.
I'm not going home.
Chef Rahil, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Rahil] What I cooked is fire-roasted lamb chops with apricot couscous.
[Stuart] Chef Rahil, presentation is great.
Looking forward to trying that out.
Thank you.
Hmm.
Definitely liking that flavor, I tell you that.
Literally flavor bomb in my mouth.
You got the char, you got the smoke,
you got some sweetness going on under there.
You know the consistency of your sauce.
I love the spice that you achieved.
You nailed the seasoning.
It is delicious.
However, the butchering on your lamb was a little bit of a miss.
You can see that my cut was really nicely medium rare,
but on Eddie's chop, his are a little thinner,
so they look a little bit overdone.
Thank you very much, chef.
And thank you, chefs.
Let's give the judges a couple minutes to deliberate.
We'll call you back when we're ready.
I'm feeling pretty nervous.
Did I do enough to please the judges?
All right, judges.
This Wildfire Round is in the books.
Let's take a look at Chef Rahil's lamb dish.
[Eddie] Chef Rahil absolutely knows how to season.
The flavor that he got across in that lamb chop
in such a short amount of time, I mean,
it tasted like it had been marinating for days.
And he knows how to get that char.
The butchery could have just been a little cleaner
and more even-cooking temperature on that lamb chop
would have been great.
Tell me your thoughts on Chef Danielle and her jerk pork chop.
[Connie] Chef Danielle, she nailed her pork chop.
It is very hard, let me tell you,
to cook a pork chop that perfectly in 30 minutes.
[Eddie] But it lacked in flavor.
Man, I was disappointed, to be honest.
[Stuart] Yeah.
If you're gonna promise us jerk flavor, I want to taste it.
And then plantain mash was a little lackluster.
Yeah.
Let's talk about Chef Brian's flank steak dish.
[Eddie] Chef Brian had a lot going on on his plate.
So many different components.
It felt like, you know, a Thai salad meets a ramen bowl.
I really loved his flavor profiles,
where it was like a little bit Vietnamese meets Thai.
The steak itself didn't have charm.
It didn't have seasoning on it.
And I felt the eggplant was just a little bit underwhelming.
Judges, a very tight round.
-Have you made a decision? -[judges] Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this Wildfire Round,
you were asked to create a dish that showcases who you are as a chef.
Judges, whose signature dish was the best in this round.
The chef with the best dish is...
-Chef Rahil. -[applause and whooping]
Thank you. Thank you.
-Up top, buddy. -Well done, man.
Congratulations, Chef Rahil.
You will have an advantage heading into the next round.
Thank you.
Judges, it's down to Chef Brian and Chef Danielle.
Who will you be sending home?
The chef who'll be going home is...
Judges, it's down to Chef Brian,
with his wood-fired flank steak with eggplant salad,
and Chef Danielle, with her jerk pork chop and plantain mash.
Tell us, who will you be sending home?
The chef who'll be going home is...
Chef Brian.
[sighs]
Chef Brian, I'm sorry to say
you've been eliminated from the competition.
It's time to leave the Fire Masters arena.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Good luck, guys.
-All the best. -Thank you, Brian.
[Brian] Had a lot of fun today.
It was amazing.
The experience will live with me for the rest of my life.
Chefs, welcome to the Crossfire Round.
This round is a head-to-head battle,
where you'll both be cooking with the same protein.
You'll be cooking with...
-duck breast. -[laughter]
Nice. That's awesome.
Each of you must create a duck breast dish
that features a different ingredient.
Chef Rahil, as the winner of the first round,
you get to decide whether you'd like to incorporate cherries
into your duck dish or pass those off to Chef Danielle
and take a chance with what's under this crate.
I'll take cherries.
[Connie] Good choice.
[Rahil] I picked cherries
because cherries have that sweet and tart flavor,
which helps to cut down the richness of duck breast.
Which means, Chef Danielle,
you'll be cooking with macadamia nuts.
-Okay. -[Connie] That's good.
-[Stuart] Okay. -That's good.
-[Danielle] I can do that. -That's doable.
-Chefs, are you ready? -[both] Yes!
You've got 30 minutes back on the clock,
and your time starts... now!
[Eddie] Come on. Let's go, chefs! You got this!
Come on, chefs.
Duck.
Oi, oi, oi.
For the Crossfire Round, I'm making seared duck breast with macadamia nut sauce.
You would think of like a peanut sauce,
but a macadamia nut sauce.
I'm also making a carrot puree 'cause I think it's the perfect companion.
I put the carrots on first thing.
Carrots in the water.
Then I score the duck skin.
With all these cuts, leave room for that oil to crisp it up.
And I put salt and baking powder
on top of the skin of my duck breast.
This will give you a crispier, more evenly brown skin.
Because there's nothing worse than a flabby duck breast.
[laughs]
For this round, I'm making grilled duck breast with cherry sauce.
Cherries and duck are very classic combination.
I'm going to start butchering my duck,
removing the extra fat
so I can get the good sear, so the duck skin gets crispy,
the fat renders.
Judges, what are some of the challenges
these chefs might face using duck breast and cooking it in this arena?
Duck has such a thick layer of skin and fat
and connective tissue. So it's important to render out the skin slowly.
[Danielle] Allspice.
I decided to add allspice to my duck breast
because that is a quintessential Jamaican flavor.
Next, I take a hot cast iron skillet
and I put a heaping scoop of duck fat.
That way I can start rendering down my duck breast.
Mmm, I think that's okay.
[Rahil] Oh, shoot.
Oh, no. Did he burn his duck?
-I think he burned his duck, yeah. -[Connie gasps]
[Rahil] My duck breasts are burned.
I cannot serve that.
I have to start my duck again.
I ran to the pantry and I grabbed more duck breast,
and I start cooking again.
I don't have choice.
I can't serve this to the judges.
This time, I'm watching it like a hawk.
[Danielle] I'm gonna put some pimento wood
in the charcoal grill and get these mushrooms smoking.
I decide to make a smoked mushroom medley
because I want something to really be smoky.
Oh, yes, things that are smoking.
I'm also putting my macadamia nuts on with the pimento wood
so they can really absorb that beautiful pimento wood flavor.
Okay.
Chefs, 15 minutes left!
We're halfway through the cook.
[Rahil] I need to get on the cherry sauce next.
So I'm starting to cook the cherries
with butter and cherry juice.
This sauce can be eaten with a duck to cut down that richness.
Let's talk about these ingredients.
Duck breast with macadamia nuts and cherries.
Cherry would be the obvious choice
because you think sauce, you think glaze.
When you get the macadamia nuts,
you've really got to think about
how to incorporate that into your dish,
whether it be smoked, whether it be a puree.
I think they're really gonna have to utilize
their ingredients to... to show us something special.
[Rahil] I want to put as much flavor as possible.
So I want to do pickled cherries.
I put some vinegar with some honey
and pickling spices with cinnamon in a pot
to achieve that sweet-sour balance.
[Danielle] I'm ready to work my macadamia nut sauce.
I'm really trying to emphasize macadamia nuts,
so I'm using macadamia nut milk.
I want this sauce to bring a little heat.
So I put in some red chili peppers.
This round, I need to bump up the flavor.
Ten minutes left, chefs!
[Rahil] Now I got a good sear on my new duck breast.
I wanted to put them on the fire pit
to get a little bit of smokiness.
I'm worried about my time.
On the fire pit, they need a minimum
seven to eight minutes to cook,
and then they need to rest.
[Danielle] I need to check my duck breast.
Ooh.
I don't like how that looks.
They almost look like they're burnt.
And it's because I added that allspice to the top.
At this point, I have to change my cooking method.
So I'm putting my duck breast on the open fire pit.
Duck breast resembles red meat.
So when you cook it, you want to cook it medium rare.
Chefs, five minutes left!
[Rahil] I remove the duck breast,
and now I'm going to glaze it
with some honey and top it with a spice mix
of Sichuan pepper and coriander.
The coriander seeds are going to give
that different dimension of flavor,
and Sichuan pepper will give a little bit of heat.
Ah!
I have to make this carrot puree.
I'm seasoning my carrot puree with thyme, chili flakes,
ginger, allspice, nutmeg, lime juice, onion powder, garlic powder.
Oh!
All I can think about is "bring the flavor".
Chefs, two minutes left!
-Time to hustle. -Let's go, chefs.
-You got it. -Come on, chefs. You got this.
[Danielle] They want sauce, let's give them some sauce.
[Dylan] This is it!
-[Eddie] Let's go, chefs. -[Connie] Come on, chefs.
-You can do this. -[Eddie] You got this.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let's go. Duck next.
Okay. [exhales sharply]
[Dylan and judges] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one.
Time's up, chefs.
[Rahil] I'm happy with the cook on the duck,
but I'm worried because I forgot to put
my pickle cherries on the plate.
[exhales sharply]
[Danielle] I'm looking down at my plate
and it's really pretty,
but I'm not sure how well I rendered out that skin.
Chef Rahil, please tell us what you made using duck breast and cherries.
[Rahil] So I've made grilled duck breast with cherry sauce.
Chef Rahil, I'm a bit torn with this dish.
Everything is seasoned well from a salt standpoint,
but I'm not getting those beautiful spices
that you have in your wheelhouse.
The temperature of your duck is really good,
but I really think that you kind of struggled a bit
using the Fire Masters arena rendering out that fat.
I love the simplicity that you brought to the plate with the cherries.
You haven't over-manipulated it, but overall,
I can't really taste the cherry.
Mmm-hmm.
I had pickled cherries for the sourness.
I forgot to put it because I was running out of time.
That's where you put the spices in, right?
-Yes. -Ah!
-Oh, no. -That's... that's what it is.
[Connie] Yeah.
If you make it to the next round, please bring us that spice.
Thank you, chef.
I'm pretty happy with what I did.
I'm just worried because I forgot to put the pickled cherries.
Chef Danielle, please tell us what you made using
duck breast and macadamia nuts.
[Danielle] I made for you a seared duck breast
with macadamia nut sauce, carrot puree and a smoked mushroom medley.
Chef Danielle, this was delicious.
I loved the seasoning that you developed on the duck.
Your mushrooms were seasoned amazingly,
and I really picked up the smoke on them.
The macadamia nut sauce was probably my favorite thing on the plate.
It's super nutty.
And you brought the heat that we asked for.
Chef Danielle, first round,
you cook your protein perfectly,
but it wasn't seasoned.
In this round, you seasoned it perfectly,
but I feel like you didn't cook it properly.
-Oh! -[Eddie] You didn't render out that fat.
Your skin didn't have that nice char,
that deep rich kind of mahogany look
that you think of with a nice rendered-out duck breast.
[Danielle] Ugh, if I go to the next round,
I will nail the cook on my protein.
All right, judges, the Crossfire Round is complete.
How'd they do?
Chef Rahil, his duck was cooked very well.
[Eddie] The temperature was right, but I really think Chef Rahil
missed the mark with getting the spice in his duck breast.
The only cherry that was on his dish
was a very simply poached cherry.
While that was delicious,
Chef Rahil accidentally left off his pickled cherries,
which would have elevated that dish.
Let's talk about Chef Danielle and her duck and macadamia nut dish.
[Eddie] All the seasoning that she was missing in the first round,
she brought it in the second round.
And the shining star for me was the macadamia nut puree.
It had richness, it had body, it had texture.
Chef Danielle didn't cook her duck perfectly.
I wish that she would have gotten more crispiness on that skin.
Both of these chefs were a little inconsistent in their protein.
This is a difficult one to call,
but have you made your decision?
[all] Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this Crossfire Round,
you were asked to cook with duck breast
and either cherries or macadamia nuts.
The winner of this round
will receive a Napoleon portable grill
and move on to the third and final round
to face off against one of our Fire Masters judges.
Judges, who will be moving on to the final round?
The chef who will be moving on to the final round is...
-Chef Danielle. -[Danielle gasps]
-[Rahil] Congratulations. -[applause]
Thanks.
I'm going to the Feast of Fire. [laughs]
Congratulations, Chef Danielle.
You have won a portable grill and you're moving on to the final round.
Thank you so much.
Chef Rahil, unfortunately, you've been eliminated from the competition
and it's time to leave the Fire Master's arena.
Thank you for having me, judges.
It was a pleasure to cook for you guys.
It was fun competing here at Fire Master arena.
Regrets, my pickled cherries.
[laughs]
Chef Danielle, in the first two rounds, you showed us
you can really take the heat in competition,
but now it's time to add fuel to the fire.
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 Connie DeSousa.
-Oh, yeah! -Oh!
-[Eddie] Let's go, Connie! -[Connie] Woo-hoo!
[Danielle] Chef Connie is the "queen of meat".
With her repertoire, I'm a little bit nervous.
Yeah.
Better bring your A-game, Chef Danielle.
Oh, I know it. I hear you.
Chef Danielle and Chef Connie, 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... Powered by Plants.
Ooh!
-Right? -That's exciting.
Dig into the fresh grown goodness of greens
and add some fiery flavor and give us an unforgettable plant-based banquet.
So you're gonna tell the meat chef to cook plants?
[laughs]
This is going to be a real challenge.
The stakes have never been higher.
So you'll each have a sous-chef
to help you create your feast.
This feast will be tasted blind,
which means we're not going to be here to watch you cook.
However, when we do return,
I'll be taking Chef Connie'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 the stand and light it on fire
to reveal an ingredient you must use in your feast.
You've got 45 minutes on the clock.
And your time starts... now.
-[Eddie] Let's go! -[Stuart] Let's go!
-Veggies? -Veggies?
[Dylan] This will be interesting.
[Connie] Coconut.
[Danielle] Cactus paddle.
Score, I'm from Arizona.
Everywhere you look, there's a cactus paddle.
-Good luck. -Okay. You too.
I think everybody is thinking that
because I don't have meat, I'm going to be stumped.
Yogurt.
But I have something up my sleeve.
I got the olives.
I'm going Mediterranean.
For my main, I'm making charred eggplant on labneh.
For my first side, I'm making a fire-roasted vegetable gazpacho.
For my second side, smoky hummus salad with grilled tomatoes.
And for my dessert, chocolate cake with coconut cream.
Let's char as much as we can.
The first thing I do is char the vegetables directly in the coals.
I really want a lot of char and smoky flavor.
Fire Masters arena is challenging my expertise.
Let's go.
[Danielle] For my powered by plants feast,
my main is smoked jackfruit and grilled roti.
One of my sides, is cactus paddles with blood orange reduction.
My second side is charred sweet potato with scallion butter.
For dessert, grilled peaches with goat cream and caramel.
Put the sweet potatoes in the fire, please.
I want them completely black and charred on the outside.
They're going to be topped with a scallion and garlic compound butter.
I'm putting in salt and scallion and fresh garlic
and thyme and a big, juicy habanero.
Oh, this looks good.
You want that heat, Eddie? Here it comes.
All in for the win.
[Connie] Okay.
And for my chocolate cake with coconut dessert,
I need to get this cake ready because it takes time to cook.
I'm going to pack as much coconut
as I can into my dessert.
Okay.
It is a huge risk to try and bake a cake on a grill.
This is basically going to be steaming the cake like a steamed pudding.
My friends, what an interesting feast tonight.
Powered by plants.
Chef Connie, beef is in her blood.
She's a butcher.
I want to see how Chef Connie and Chef Danielle
really impart some char and smoke into vegetables.
Chef Danielle has proven herself with vegetables already.
Her flavors are really intense.
I, for one, am really excited to see
how these chefs can nurture these ingredients
and bring us a killer plant based meal.
[Eddie] I'm ready.
Give me fresh jackfruit, please.
Jackfruit is a wonder.
It's all spiny and weird on the outside.
But when you crack it open,
it's the most tropical aromatic fruit.
It has a beautiful bite to it.
Like when you sink your teeth into a piece of meat.
-You see that? -[man] Yes, chef.
I'm going to put my jackfruit on the charcoal grill...
On to smoke.
...because it's already a sweet fruit.
And I want it to be my main,
so I need to introduce some savory to it.
I'm using applewood chips because I want a nice smoky flavor.
Okay.
[Connie] Now we're going to make the hummus.
For my charred hummus salad.
Chickpeas, tahini, some kind of acid, olive oil.
I always had a little bit of water to help thin it out,
but I need to make this a Fire Masters arena hummus.
Ooh, that's hot.
So I'm adding charred onions to my hummus.
Okay, there we go.
30 minutes left.
[Danielle] Cactus paddle, vicious ingredient.
The first thing that has to go are all these needles and pokey little thorns.
Cactus paddle tastes like a combination of an asparagus and an okra.
Okay.
Next, I oil them up.
I can start charring them.
When they're super roasted and charred,
I'm going to add my blood orange reduction.
I want this blood orange to be sticky and kind of sweet.
Rum and sugar and lime juice, and of course, that blood orange juice.
[Connie] Yummy.
For my main charred eggplant dish,
the base is gonna be this wonderful, flavorful labneh.
I add grated garlic, dried dill, some lemon juice and olive oil.
Then I can top it with the charred eggplant
and then the rest of my garnishes.
That's perfect. Yeah.
[Danielle] I have a mushroom stock up here, please.
I start to build a sauce for my smoked jackfruit,
mushroom stock, scallion and tomato paste
and thyme and garlic and ginger.
-[man] On here, chef? -[Danielle] Yeah.
Let's get it on the infrared.
Next, I'm making roti.
It's a Jamaican flatbread.
I want this beautiful, fluffy bread to sop up all that jackfruit sauce.
-Twenty minutes. -Twenty minutes.
[Connie] Time to make the gazpacho.
So I need cucumber, charred tomatoes,
the sliced charred peppers. Garlic, olive oil.
I have a really spicy serrano.
Oh, that's spicy.
A hint of lime and salt just to round out the flavor.
I'm thinking it needs some kind of texture.
So I asked my sous chef to grab some
Marcona almonds that we're going to smoke.
[woman] Almonds are in.
[Danielle] I'm going to go check those sweet potatoes.
Can't tell if they're potatoes or coals.
They look ready.
And after you cut them, can you smash them a little?
I want four pieces all day.
[man] Yes, chef.
I think they need a little more time.
[Danielle] Let me check these.
These sweet potatoes are not cooked.
These are not okay.
You can't serve somebody a raw, sweet potato.
[man] I think they need a little more time.
[Danielle] Let me check this.
My sweet potatoes aren't done.
I have to switch up my method.
Put this back together.
I'm putting these sweet potatoes in a cast iron skillet
and covering them with a sheet pan and putting them
right back in the fire.
This is my side dish.
This has to work or I'm done.
Ten minutes.
-[woman] Ten minutes. -[Connie] Eggplant.
Lots of oil in there.
There's a lot of components, so I need to start building my main.
My eggplants are charred beautifully.
I douse them with lots of garlic,
lemon dill, a little bit of salt.
This eggplant dish is looking amazing,
but I think it needs Kalamata olives.
A Mediterranean feast without olives
is not a Mediterranean feast.
Hello, meat substitute.
[Danielle] These are beautiful.
Okay, let's go.
[man] How much color do you want on these peaches?
[Danielle] I want a little char.
For dessert, I want to keep it fresh
with these grilled peaches
and a beautiful goat cream and caramel.
[man] Oh, this caramel?
-[Danielle] Let's toss those peaches in it, please. -[man] Okay.
[Connie] Five minutes.
Chefs touch really hot things.
Sometimes burn themselves.
I need to get these cakes on a plate now.
I'm really hoping to make coconut the star of this dish.
I have it in the cake.
I have it in the cream.
And I'm also going to sprinkle fresh coconut shavings on top of the cream.
[Danielle] Two minutes. Two minutes.
I need those potatoes, whether they're ready or not.
-[man] Okay. -[Danielle] Bring them.
I have to serve these sweet potatoes.
I have them cut up into big chunks and then I cover them
in these big dollops of compound butter.
[Connie] One minute.
Cucumber ribbons for the gazpacho.
[Danielle] Oh, these peach is so beautiful.
[man] Take the ends off?
[Danielle] Yes, please. Thank you.
[Connie] Awesome.
[Danielle] That is jackfruit.
Whoo!
Let's go.
That's great.
Okay.
At least it's cheesy, right?
[Connie and Danielle] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one.
[Connie] Whoo!
Good job.
[Connie] I love this feast.
I really hope that the judges see my vision
with the complexity and balance of flavors
and I really made the vegetables shine.
[Danielle] I think I really nailed the side dishes and the main.
I brought all the flavor and I know
they're going to love it.
[Dylan] Well, gentlemen, it's a Powered by Plants feast tonight,
and I'm excited to see what these chefs have in store for us.
It smells amazing.
[Stuart] Looks amazing too.
[Dylan] This chef has prepared smoked jackfruit
with grilled roti, grilled cactus paddles
with blood orange reduction,
charred sweet potato with scallion butter.
And we'll finish off with grilled peaches with goat cream and caramel.
This chef had to cook with cactus paddles.
[Eddie] Oh, cactus paddles.
[Dylan] Right off the bat, I'm seeing and smelling a ton of char in this feast.
[Eddie] Oh, yeah.
[Dylan] This chef definitely utilized the Fire Masters arena.
[Eddie] Jackfruit is used a lot and vegan cuisine
to mimic pulled pork.
So it goes really well with like barbecue flavors.
And that's exactly what I'm getting.
[Dylan] This one is a little bit on the ripe side,
so you definitely get some sweetness in there,
which I think balances really well with the sauce and the herbs.
[Eddie] I'm really digging this sauce.
[Stuart] Yeah. Really good. It holds the smoke really well.
[Eddie] Yeah.
[Dylan] But I'm not really a big fan of this roti.
-It should be much thinner. -[Eddie] Wow.
These cactus paddles really got a nice char on the outside of them.
The cook is good, still has texture.
I just think that it's lacking seasoning.
When you get that blood orange reduction
and the cheese in there, it really ties everything together.
[Eddie] The sweet potato, you get that char,
you get that smoke. But I can't get past that raw garlic.
-So much raw garlic. -[Stuart] It's intense.
[Eddie] It's so much raw garlic that's on top, it's very intense.
[Dylan] And the potato, at least mine is undercooked in the center.
I think since it's undercooked,
you lose the sweetness of the sweet potato
that you're looking for, and then it doesn't accept
any flavors from salt or the sauce that goes on top.
Well, this chef certainly utilized the Fire Masters arena.
Let's see if they were able to bring the same on these
grilled peaches with goat cream.
Ooh, that smells delightful.
[Dylan] Hmm.
[Eddie] It has some smokiness to it.
It has subtle sweetness.
-[Dylan] Yeah. -[Eddie] And I love that caramelized top.
[Dylan] And the goat cream on the bottom is very interesting.
It's got a nice little sweetness to it.
And then the texture from the nuts are amazing.
This was a solid, first plant based feast.
Let's see if the grass is greener with the second chef.
[Dylan] Our second plant based feast has landed
and this chef has prepared charred eggplant on labneh,
fire roasted vegetable gazpacho,
smoky hummus salad with grilled tomatoes
and we'll wrap it all up with chocolate cake with coconut cream.
This chef had to cook with coconut.
[Eddie] Thanks, guys.
[Dylan] I'm definitely seeing some use of the Fire Masters arena here,
especially on this eggplant and labneh dish.
-[Eddie] It's good, right? -[Stuart] Really good.
Labneh is an amazing ingredient
and it pulls in nicely with the olives.
I get the smokiness from the eggplant,
has a good smoke to it.
[Eddie] The labneh is so creamy and so rich.
I love the herbs that's running through it.
My only issue is that everything to me seems
kind of one note when it come to the texture.
-[Dylan] Yeah. -[Eddie] You know, just kind of soft.
Gazpacho. Oh, my gosh.
I love that acidity in there.
I love that vinegar pop that's in there.
[Dylan] I'm definitely getting a tiny bit of spice.
I think having that spice in there
kind of kicks it up to something
that's a little bit more interesting
than just a vegetable soup.
-This is seasoned to perfection. -[Dylan] Yeah.
[Eddie] And I also love these little slivers of cucumbers.
I'm a bit disappointed that I'm not getting
any smoke in here.
The tomatoes are kind of fire roasted.
It's not coming through for me.
I think the dish that lacked in arena presence the most is the hummus.
I do get a little bit of char and smoke from the tomatoes.
[Eddie] Yeah.
I hope you guys saved a bit of room for dessert.
[Eddie] I definitely did.
[Dylan] Our second chef has prepared us chocolate cake
with coconut cream.
[Eddie] Wow. Cake in the Fire Masters arena.
[Stuart] This looks great.
[Dylan] I like the texture of the chocolate.
I like that it's not overly sweet.
I like the mango. I like the coconut cream.
I think the chef missed the opportunity to toast that coconut
and add a bit of a color and flavor contrast.
The mangoes with the coconut cream, that's where it's at.
Overall, we've had two delicious
plant powered feasts from these chefs.
We're going to have to break this down plate by plate.
The first chef prepared us that smoked jackfruit with the roti.
And the second chef, the eggplant with the Labneh.
The charred jackfruit was delicious.
I really like the texture, sauce.
The roti kind of let it down a little.
The Labneh was really good.
I enjoyed the texture of it.
I love the smokiness that the eggplant gave off,
but I felt like it needed just a little bit something else.
[Dylan] Absolutely. I think you're right.
Moving on to the sides, I've got to give
the first chef some kudos
dealing with an ingredient like cactus paddle.
That's a very tricky ingredient.
They got a great char on it.
But it really lacked seasoning for me.
[Dylan] The blood orange gastrique was really
what kind of saved that dish.
[Eddie] Whereas the gazpacho had all the seasoning in the world.
It had a little bit of spice to it.
[Stuart] It had some texture from the nuts.
It was really well done.
Moving on to our last set of sides.
[Eddie] First feast with the charred sweet potatoes,
I feel like that dish had a lot of potential,
but it just didn't come together.
The sweet potato wasn't cooked on the inside
and the garlic was basically raw.
Whereas the hummus in feast number two
was packed with flavor.
I thought it was seasoned perfectly with the pops of feta.
I really like the hummus.
I would have liked a couple more charred tomatoes on that
to really kind of bring out that charredness.
It all comes down to dessert.
The first chef preparing those grilled peaches
with goat cream and caramel.
And the second chef with the chocolate cake and coconut cream.
[Stuart] It's a tough one. I really like the goat cream.
I think it was really well executed.
The char on the peaches was perfect.
A little caramelization, a little brown sugar on there.
The second chef's dish,
I really like the chocolate cake.
[Eddie] It was everything that you wanted in a dessert.
It wasn't overly sweet, had texture,
had a little bit of char to it,
but when you talk about incorporating the coconut, it got lost.
[Dylan] Yeah.
This was a tough one to call,
but I think we've made our decision.
[Eddie and Stuart] I think we have.
-Let's call the chefs back. -[Eddie] Let's do it.
[Connie] I feel immense pressure.
I can't let my Fire Masters fellow judges down.
I need to win this tonight.
I just might have the winning feast tonight.
I think I really did throw down something special.
Chefs, both of your plant based feasts
were rooted in impressive creativity
and amazing flavors.
In the first feast, we were huge fans of the smoked jackfruit.
It gave us texture, smoke, and it was seasoned perfectly.
However, we felt the charred sweet potato was a bit undercooked.
In the second feast, we love the charred eggplant on Labneh.
It was a stunning execution of flavors.
However, we felt the coconut could have been more prominent
in the chocolate cake dessert.
Both of your plant based feasts were exciting to eat
and bursting with smoke and fire.
But there can only be one winner.
Tonight's winning feast is...
the second feast with the charred eggplant
and the fire roasted vegetable gazpacho.
Good job, chef.
-Well done. Congratulations. -Congratulations.
Thank you. I am elated.
But Chef Danielle deserves the highest compliment and credit for being so brave.
I cannot believe that she used jackfruit.
And congratulations, Chef Danielle.
It was an absolute pleasure to taste your food
and watch you in your element today.
-Thank you so much. -[Dylan] Thank you so much.
-Congratulations. -[Danielle] Thank you. Thank you.
-[Eddie] Good job, Dan. -[Danielle] Thank you.
I'm so proud of myself.
I competed against Chef Connie, who's a legend.
-Good job, chef. -Thanks so much.
-[Dylan] Congratulations. -That was awesome.
To be in the Fire Masters arena
and make it this far was an incredible experience.