-[Star Maye] Go, Nashville! -I'd still take Charleston.
[Ted Allen] Four Southern chefs take their turn with the mystery baskets.
[Maye] I'm a Deep South girl.
Southern cooking is to feel the love, the passion.
[Allen] Who will win $10,000...
You put together something that was beautiful.
[Allen] ...and who will be Chopped?
[rock music playing]
[Duke Kroger] When people think of Southern food,
they kinda hit their mark with, you know, fried chicken or country-fried this.
But, think I'm here to prove that the South truly is
the growing culinary hotbed in the United States.
I'm the partner and owner of Cinder restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina.
I've been 100% restaurant-trained during my career,
learning a lot of the techniques of,
you know, Low Country cooking and traditional Southern,
and being able to modernize.
I think I'm the chef to beat.
I just kinda need everybody else to get out the way.
[country music playing]
[Maye] I'm a Deep South girl.
I grew up in a small town in Alabama.
My grandmother and I would make biscuits, and grits, and bacon.
I'm the co-owner and executive chef
of Anzie Blue in Nashville, Tennessee.
I'm the only Black, female, queer executive chef
in the city of Nashville, Tennessee,
and I'm hoping to add Champs of Champs to that.
You wanna hear that sizzle in the pan.
I love the soul of Southern cooking.
We love butter and fat.
Most people see me like,
"Oh, she's so nice. She could be my sister or my aunt."
And, then, Aunt comes in and gets ya.
[Sean Reaves] Southern cooking to me is a kiss from Grandmother.
I'm the chef and owner of 'cille & 'scoe in Greensboro, North Carolina.
My style of cooking is focused on modern North Carolina cuisine.
The key to cooking a good grit is slow and low.
We tell people it's what you would get
at your grandmother's house on Sunday,
but it looks and feels different.
I'm from North Carolina. I'm big on promoting the state of North Carolina.
I don't care if the other competitors are intimidated or not,
they're not gonna stop me.
[Alison Settle] Southern cooking is a lot more complex, I think, than people think.
Ooh.
I'm from Louisville, Kentucky.
I was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast,
and I work for Sullivan University in the Culinary Arts program.
It's not a Kentucky Hot Brown without bacon.
You can expect an explosion of flavors from my dishes.
You're gonna see a lot of color
and you're gonna see a lot of texture.
This is a Southern chef throwdown, and, y'all,
we all came to throw down.
[Allen] Well, hello!
-Hello, Chefs. How are you doing? Welcome. -[Allen] Good to see you.
Maneet is like Nashville royalty and I cannot believe I'm gonna cook for her today.
We're fixing to have a good ol' time
with four Southern chefs in the house.
Happy to be here.
[Allen] Mandatory mystery ingredients for each course.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
Not today!
-Not me. -Somebody else.
Your appetizer baskets are ready for you.
[dramatic music playing]
Open 'em up!
-[Reaves chuckling] -Okay.
[Allen] And bless your hearts, it's vegan fried chicken.
Vegan fried chicken. That is heresy.
Nobody eats vegan chicken in this house.
Hmm.
[Allen] Corn on the cob.
We're gonna have to put this in.
Well, we got a real ingredient.
[Allen] Shrimp.
Let's go with the shrimp!
[Allen] And a pimento cheese tomato pie.
Pimento cheese tomato pie?
I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it.
[groans]
Twenty minutes to cook like you mean it.
Clock starts now!
-[all cheering] -Go, Chefs. Go, go, go!
Maneet, Tennessee is now your adopted home,
and you're sandwiched between two great Southern chefs,
Chef Kelsey Barnard Clark and Chef Darnell Ferguson.
What does a dish need to qualify as Southern?
-It needs soul. -I was gonna say the same thing.
[Ferguson] You can't fake Southern cooking.
You have to learn it your whole life.
It's just, sort of, in you, I guess.
Okay.
[Chauhan] You know what I would've done with this basket?
-What? -Shrimp and grits, y'all!
Shrimp and grits is a classic Southern dish.
Behind.
[Settle] I'm making New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp
with the pimento cheese and corn polenta.
I love pimento cheese tomato pie.
Coming down.
[Settle] Literally baked cheese, egg, and tomato.
Normally, I put cheese in grits, so why not tomato pie?
-Behind, behind, behind. -[Kroger] Heard.
It looks like Alison is making a play on shrimp and grits.
Even using some of that tomato pie
to fold that into those grits would be fantastic.
I think it's a really smart move.
It used to be a pie. I'm digging it out now.
[Kroger] Used to be a pie.
[Chauhan] Sean, do you have a plan?
-[Reeves] I have a plan. -What is the plan?
That would take away from the suspense, right?
I like pimento cheese, I like tomatoes.
I'm gonna try to use this in a stuffing for my shrimp.
I'm making a pimento-stuffed shrimp with a sweet corn puree.
It's one of the things that I can do in the restaurant
that I know people love and receive really well.
[Allen] As wonderful as fresh corn is,
-getting rid of all the silks is kind of tricky. -[Clark] Yes.
I would love to see somebody just throw it on top of the fire and char it.
I wonder what they're thinking about that vegan fried chicken,
-because the South is known for fried chicken. -[Chauhan] Yeah.
Let me tell you what it ain't known for, vegan fried chicken.
-[laughing] -Vegan anything.
[Chauhan] It's made from seitan,
and it has a texture which is almost like meat.
I do find it very funny that it's made with seitan,
-like Satan. -[Ferguson] Yeah, me too.
Which is exactly what Southerners would find
-this vegan fried chicken to be. -[all laughing]
Duke, do you have a plan?
[Kroger] I've always got a plan
but, sometimes, it goes a little leery. We'll see what we got.
Think I'm gonna throw together a simple little hash.
-That's not a-- -That's a great play with that vegan fried chicken.
-And, also, the corn. -[Clark] Yeah.
[Kroger] My mind immediately goes to a Low Country hash.
It's the Southern traditional "Let's clean out the fridge after a holiday."
It's just something Grandma used to do.
I try to be broader Southern
but, you know, I find myself going back to Low Country basics all the time.
So, I think, Charleston and the Low style, I think they're just in your blood.
Chicken tastes of bubble gum.
I am super accustomed to shrimp.
The shrimping community is right outside my hometown.
So I get my shrimp in the skillet
and, then, I get this cognac in this pan. I need to get this alcohol to break it out.
I'm realizing, looking at these other contestants,
I might be utilizing my time a lot better than they are.
Coming down.
[Maye] I'm keeping an eye out for all three chefs
because Southern chefs are gonna be nice to your face and catty behind your back.
My grandfather was actually a farmer,
so corn is something we grew, so I know a lot about it.
-Hey, Star! -Hey!
Do you have any plans yet?
I'm making some kind of succotash, girl. It's coming together.
-Succotash, that's a great idea. -[Clark] I love succotash.
[Maye] I'm making encrusted shrimp with corn succotash
and a pimento-tomato sauce.
Gotta add paprika and cayenne 'cause corn is good a little spicy.
All right, Chefs, you've got less the ten minutes to get this done. Let's go.
[Settle] I'm thinking New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp.
For sure, butter and lemon.
I add in hot sauce as well, for a little bit of a bite.
[Maye] Go, Nashville!
-I don't know, I'd still take Charleston. -[Maye] Oh, whatever.
[both chuckle]
[Settle] If there's one thing about Southern chefs,
it's that they are very confident and opinionated about Southern food.
[Maye] Alison says she's from the South,
but you don't worry about Louisville. It's Kentucky.
I'm from Alabama. To us, that's a Northerner.
If you're more than eight hours away, you're not in the South anymore.
[Reaves] All the stuffing that I'm going to use, just the cheese and tomato,
sauteed with the vegan fried chicken.
You know, it's really interesting what Sean is doing...
-[Clark] That sounds great. -[Chauhan] ...which I think, it sounds great.
But does Sean have enough time to get that shrimp cooked?
I didn't realize he was stuffing them raw.
[Maye] The shrimp is marinating in buttermilk, so the cook time is shorter.
I grind vegan chicken down with some pimento to make a breading.
All right, Chefs, less than five minutes left.
[Clark] I think Sean is having a breakdown at the moment.
Yes, because he's realizing his shrimp isn't cooked.
-Like, he's freaking out. -Yes, we called it out.
I check on the shrimp and there's still some parts that I'm worried about,
so I let 'em go a little longer.
[Clark] He's just standing there. I don't know what's happening.
He can't do anything because he has to wait for the shrimp to cook.
I'm sweating. I feel like I'm in the South.
Oh, my God.
[Clark] He's just standing there. I don't know what's happening.
He can't do anything because he has to wait for the shrimp to cook.
Oh, my God.
I'm a little worried that my shrimp's not completely done,
and I'm hoping there's enough time.
Come on, Southern Chefs. Let's go.
-[Clark] Come on, Southern Chefs! -[Ferguson] Come on, y'all!
-Let's get this thing going. -[Clark] Get that thing on the plate.
[Settle] The vegan fried chicken is definitely the wrench in my spokes.
I'm thinking, maybe I just crisp these back up again,
and turn them into little vegan fried chicken croutons.
Come on, Chefs, you got this!
[Ferguson] Gotta move it.
[Maye] I'm gonna make a sauce with the pimento cheese and tomato pie,
with a little bit of chicken broth and heavy cream.
-All right, let's get this thing together. -[Chauhan] Let's go! Let's go!
Finish strong!
Okay, Sean is plating his shrimp. From here, they look really good.
[Clark] Thirty seconds!
[dramatic music playing]
[Reaves] I realized I made a mistake,
so one of the plates is gonna be short one.
We're doing hashes?
Hey, come on, hashes! [sings fanfare]
[Chauhan] Presentation matters!
Get everything on the plates!
[Clark] Come on!
All right, Chefs, this appetizer round is almost history!
Ten, nine...
-[Chauhan] Come on, Chefs! -[Ferguson] Let's go, let's go, let's go!
[Allen] ...six, five...
-[Chauhan] Come on, Southern Chefs! -[Allen] ...four, three,
two, one...
-Time's up! -[all applauding]
I have to say the other three chefs' dishes, bless their little hearts
they tried.
[Reaves] Miscounted the shrimp,
so one of the plates only has one on it,
so I'm kinda bummed about that, but I feel good.
[dramatic music playing]
Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
For the appetizer round, we gave you vegan fried chicken,
corn on the cob, shrimp, and a pimento cheese tomato pie.
Chef Star, please tell us about your appetizer.
I got an encrusted shrimp with a corn and pepper succotash,
with a pimento-tomato sauce.
Where are you from, Chef?
Nashville, Tennessee. Originally, from a small town in Alabama. 683 people.
So I'm just a little small town girl
trying to make it in a big man's world.
Star, when it comes to the shrimp,
I think very, very smart play using this vegan fried chicken.
I can't believe I just said that. What even is that?
Maybe adding a little bit of pickle juice or hot sauce to that brine
with that buttermilk could have added a little bit more flavor there.
And, then, when it comes to this corn succotash,
you really treated the vegetables by themselves,
-which is the way succotash should be. -Thank you.
I like the crunchiness I get on the shrimp
-from that vegan fried chicken. -Right.
When it comes down to the succotash,
it's fresh, you got some heat inside of there.
But what happened is, on the corn,
there's a lot more silks than you would like to see inside of a dish.
Right.
The shrimp is cooked perfectly.
It's not seasoned perfectly.
The sauce with the pimento-tomato cheese pie
it lacks flavor.
Overall, the composition of the dish is really good.
I just think it needs a little bit of tweaks
to make it a restaurant-presentable dish.
Thank you.
Next up, Chef Duke.
My dish is a traditional Low Country hash
and, then, we did a simmered shrimp.
I like to take a lot of the traditional old guard Southern techniques
and, you know, apply new ingredients. Put 'em in a different twist.
Chef Duke, to pull off a dish that looks like this in 20 minutes,
you put together something that was beautiful.
Thinking of hash, I'm, like, "Oh, there ain't no potatoes in this."
And, then, you eat the vegan fried chicken,
and it gives you all of those things you want inside of a hash.
Absolutely. Thank you.
The cook on the shrimp, pretty flawless.
I would love to see the corn a little bit more prominent.
It's sort of lost in the mix here.
Duke, you take a bite of the entire dish,
there are all of these different flavor profiles which are being hit.
I do agree that this does need a lot more corn in it.
But great moves.
I appreciate it.
Next up, Chef Sean.
Today, I've prepared tomato and a pimento cheese
vegan fried chicken stuffed shrimp on a corn puree.
So, Sean, what happened over here? You don't like me or something?
-[Reaves sighs] -[Clark laughs]
-You gave them two shrimp and I only get one? -[Reaves] Miscounted, I guess.
Simple arithmetic is not my strong suit.
Apologies.
[Chauhan] The creativity of this dish is really high.
Consistency, not as much.
The stuffing that you've made is delicious.
But the puree right over here, it's not very successful.
[dramatic music playing]
The texture, I am not enjoying,
but the flavor is very well done.
Thank you.
[Ferguson] You were able to get the sweetness out of the corn
like I haven't seen yet.
I thought the shrimp needed a little bit more time on 'em cooking.
But I thought that you were creative
bringing something new to the table.
Thank you.
[Clark] Sean, that top piece next to the tail is just still very raw.
Butter frying the shrimp all the way to the top
would've helped it a little bit.
But, I think, all around,
some little executions would've just taken it a little bit over the top.
Thank you.
Finally, Chef Alison.
[Settle] This is just kind of shrimp and polenta.
We have a New Orleans style barbecue shrimp on top
and, then, just for funsies, I made, like, a vegan fried chicken croutons.
This dish breathes, breathes, and breathes flavor.
Did a good job on getting the flavor of the tomato
and the pimento cheese with the grits.
The vegan fried chicken.
-Croutons. -[laughs]
I would've liked to seen them as more of a crumble.
-[Settle] Sure. -[Ferguson] You know, I get to choose how much I want.
-[Settle] Mmm-hmm. -'Cause they are aggressive.
Thank you.
Your brain was where my brain would've gone, for sure.
I loved that you used Tabasco and Worcestershire in here.
Very, very predominant and important flavors
when it comes to Southern food.
This is more of, almost like, a vegan fried chicken grits dish
more than it is shrimp.
And I will say the shrimp is overdone in terms of cooking.
Shrimp and grits, great idea.
I do think that the way you seared the vegan fried chicken
was a great idea,
-because it adds a layer of caramelization. -Thank you.
The polenta with the scallion and the sauce,
-I keep on going back for that. -Good. Okay. Cool. Thank you.
Chef Alison, thank you.
Only three chefs can continue in round two.
Thank you, Chefs.
[Reaves] After judging 'em, not feeling as good as I was.
I'm taking it pretty personally.
I might be on the chopping block.
There are some very basic mistakes that I made.
They said they loved the flavor.
[dramatic music playing]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[dramatic music playing]
Chef Alison, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Alison, unfortunately, your shrimp were overcooked.
We would've like to have seen the vegan fried chicken not be so predominant.
And, so, we had to chop you today.
-Understood. -[Allen] Thank you very much for being with us, Chef.
Thanks for having me.
Good luck. Good luck. Good luck.
I wish I would've done things a little bit differently.
But, at the end of the day, like, this is a tough challenge,
and anybody would struggle with this.
Chef Sean, Chef Duke, Chef Star, you made it to the entree round.
Fantastic. I'm ready to just get this round over with so we can go to dessert.
All right. Well, you also have fresh baskets.
Let's get in there.
Ten pounds of deviled eggs.
[Allen] And we have deep-fried deviled eggs.
[Reaves] Interesting.
I like the fresh greens.
[Allen] Turnip greens.
[groans]
Got your pork star.
[Allen] Pork chops.
This, I'm excited about.
[Allen] And a biscuits and gravy casserole.
Biscuit and gravy casserole. Who invented this and why did they do it?
You are sick people setting up these ingredient lists.
We are excited to see your main dishes...
thirty minutes from now.
-Go, Chefs! -[all cheering]
[Ferguson] Get to moving!
Judges, biscuits and gravy, a classic Southern duo.
But how do you like them in casserole form?
Has all the goodness of the biscuit and gravy in one part,
so it's got that ooey-gooey cheesiness.
Not as bad as I thought it would be.
I have high expectations for this round.
-I do, too. -[Ferguson] Because every single ingredient
is a Southern staple.
I will be surprised if we did not see one smothered pork chop.
[Allen] I think, Darnell, you're on to something
because, especially with that biscuits and gravy casserole,
I think that would really lend itself to a nice gravy.
[Maye] This casserole is a whole situation.
I am making some gravy.
I take the sausage gravy from the top of the casserole
and incorporate it into my new sawmill gravy.
A sawmill gravy is a white gravy with a lot of pepper.
I'm making honey-glazed pork chops with a sawmill gravy.
I love pork chops. That is the Southern chicken.
There's some bad chops right there.
-You asked for pork. -I did.
[Kroger chuckles]
I can make a pork chop in my sleep.
Sean just went and grabbed a cast iron skillet,
-which I love. -Yes, smart.
Especially with the pork chops.
-[Ferguson] Great. -Doing a nice, crusted pork chop
-could be such an amazing idea. -Oh, yeah.
[Maye] Coming down.
I'm hoping to show the judges what I'm really capable of.
I see that beautiful center cut, and there's only one thing to do.
Sear some of those beautiful chops
and, then, finish them in the oven. Add on some aromatics.
I'm making pan-seared pork chops
with a fried deviled egg aioli.
I wanna use the entire casserole to impress the judges.
It hits me, turn 'em into fritters.
That is going to be, like, a tempura texture.
[Kroger] I wanna show that Southern food isn't the preconceived,
you know, "It's fried. It's unhealthy."
Remind people what it can be.
I really wanted to put together this nice
bourbon and basil-seared pork chop with this biscuits and gravy-ish veloute.
And, then, a lilted green curry sauce.
-[dramatic music playing] -Less than 20 minutes to get this done, Chefs.
Turn.
-First, we had the vegan fried chicken. -[Chauhan] Yeah.
And, now, we have the deep fried deviled egg.
Are you kidding me right now?
He's taken the egg whites, breaded it,
deep fried it and, then, put the yolk mixture on top of it, with some jalapeno.
[Reaves] The filling from the deviled egg
is really close to what goes into aioli.
I add mayo,
the red onion, some sugar to balance it.
It's got tangy, it's got salt, it's got sweet.
[Maye] I first learnt to cook by watching my mom and my grandma.
My first memory of cooking is at four years old,
standing on a wooden stool, stirring grits.
If my grandmother hadn't taught me all these great recipes,
I wouldn't be sitting here.
Turnip greens are very light and bitter.
I like to use white onions
because, as they start to caramelize, they get very sweet,
and we wanna balance that bitter out.
My greens are starting to look just like grandma's.
[Kroger] I get my biscuits and gravy in the processor.
I'm gonna break 'em down into this veloute to help me get some structure.
Any traditional veloute is gonna need that white wine base.
I want the pickled jalapenos to kind of simmer down
and this white wine to dissipate.
[Maye] Coming down!
[Kroger] And I throw that biscuit gravy mix in there.
Now, that looks like something you wanna smother your pork chop with.
Yeah!
All right, Chefs, less than five minutes left.
[judges cheering]
Frier is mine, okay? Nobody use it.
North Carolina is one of a few states
that you can actually go from the mountains to the coast in a few hours.
You can get seafood, you can get livestock,
anything you need, you can do it right there in the state.
I wanna put North Carolina's food scene on the map.
I took the turnip greens got the thyme, put a nice julienne on them,
make 'em cook quicker.
Hey, Sean, how you looking over there?
I'm good, bro. They look perfect.
[Maye] Potato salad is a very strong Southern dish.
We like to slap it with mayonnaise and mustard, and call it real.
[Ferguson] What is Star doing with the biscuits?
She's just using the eggs at the bottom for the inside of her potato salad.
[Allen] The potato salad is a really good idea.
You can get rid of a couple of things there.
[Maye] With the deviled eggs, I take the inside of the deviled egg
with the pickled jalapeno, and I put all of that in the potato salad mixture.
Just like Grandma's.
-Star! -[Maye] Hey, hey!
[Ferguson] How are you feeling?
-I mean, sexy as always, like my food. -[all laugh]
[Kroger] I work with a ton of turnip greens. This is a no-brainer for me.
My mind goes straight to tequila.
Mostly because it's still on my breath.
I add heavy cream.
And I grab green curry paste because I know I'm gonna need the acidity from it.
-[Ferguson] Let's finish this thing up! -[Clark] 40 seconds!
Came out exactly how I wanted it.
Uh, the noodle is a little sketchy, but I'm gonna work around it.
[Reaves] It looks perfect.
[Chauhan] Sean, Duke, let's finish the plating.
Finish strong, Chefs.
-Ten, nine, eight... -[Maye] More sauce on there.
[Allen] ...seven...
-[Ferguson] Show us who has the mouth of the South! -[Allen] ...six, five, four,
three, two, one...
-Time's up! -[all cheering]
[Chauhan] Good job, Chefs.
[Reaves] This round definitely felt like I needed to redeem myself.
I'm pleased with the final product.
[Kroger] I love that it incorporates a little bit of Indian,
a little bit of Mediterranean,
but still using all those classic Southern techniques,
and I was able to make something out of nothing with those deviled eggs, so...
Southern Chefs, in the second round, you got deep fried deviled eggs,
turnip greens, pork chops,
and a biscuits and gravy casserole.
So, Sean, please tell us about your main course.
So I prepared for y'all pan-seared pork chops, sauteed turnips
and a croquette out of the sausage gravy casserole
and fried deviled egg aioli.
-[Ferguson] So, Sean. -Yes, sir.
The way you played the fritter with the biscuit and gravy casserole
was smart.
I think the aioli is the star.
I thought the greens were good,
they could have used just a little more seasoning for me.
But overall, man,
this is a dish, I think, represents you really well.
Thank you, Chef.
[Clark] Fritter is very much reminding me a little bit of corn bread on the side
whenever you get greens, really enjoying that,
-and it's flavored really well. -Thank you.
[Chauhan] Sean, you showed up.
I am getting to see the food that you really cook.
The flavors are so spot on,
but the pork chop, a little bit over.
The aioli is great, I need more of it.
But yeah, this is such a welcome change from the first round.
Appreciate it, Chef.
Thank you, Chef Sean. Next up, Chef Duke.
What I have here is a bourbon and basil-seared pork chop,
underneath it is gonna be a interpretation of a biscuit and gravy veloute,
and then I made a wilted green curry.
This is a, just, absolutely beautiful dish.
This sausage and gravy biscuit veloute
really alone tastes exactly, I thought about, like a biscuit
while I'm eating a sauce.
I'm like, "This doesn't make any sense, but I'm here for it."
Thank you, Chef.
Wow! Like, the pork, cooked perfectly.
The green curry sauce, the heat that's in it, I love it.
Thank you.
One of the negatives is that the curry overpowers everything.
Yeah.
[Ferguson] So now, you got the deviled eggs that's hard to find.
Now I'm trying to understand the flavors
of the biscuit and gravy casserole.
At the same time, I would say,
this is an amazing meal that I would eat over and over again.
-Heard that. -Great job.
Duke, your dish is pretty much what the new South is,
and to me, while the flavors are delicious,
I do think that one of the sauces
should have been different.
Yeah.
[Chauhan] And I am nitpicking.
Rather than them complementing each other,
now they are fighting each other
to figure out which one is going to be the dominant flavor.
For that, Chef, thank you.
Finally, Chef Star.
I made for you a smothered pork chop,
caramelized turnip greens and spicy Dijon potato salad. It's very Southern.
Your pork is definitely, I'd say, a traditionally cooked
Southern pork chop.
These greens are exactly what I want in greens.
I'm really surprised you did this in the amount of time you had.
[Ferguson] Chef Star,
I think you needed to echo a lot of ingredients that went into deviled egg
a lot more inside the potato salad.
It's missing that little tang.
But the pork is juicy.
When I think of smothered pork chops,
you know, like, I get that crunch on the edges.
Overall, you gave us a dish that I think
represents the South.
You just knocked it right out of the park.
Okay.
Star, the potato salad is the problem on this plate, right?
Because you put so much potatoes in it,
it diluted the flavors.
But this represents the South beautifully.
Thank you.
The judges can choose only two of you
for the infamous Chopped dessert round. See you soon.
[Kroger] I was really happy with the judges' critiques,
especially when it came to temperature on the pork chop,
so, I'mma call it safe.
I think Sean might get chopped.
[Reaves] I was driven in this round to redeem myself in some way.
You know, I slightly overcooked the pork.
But I was happy with it.
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Duke, you've been chopped. Judges?
Duke, the curry just really, unfortunately, overpowered two of your basket ingredients.
And so we had to chop you.
Thank you.
I stand by what I did.
I was happy to showcase those different influences on Southern food.
I am glad I got a platform to do it on.
Chef Star, Chef Sean,
let's see if you're excited about what you find in this final basket.
Open it up.
-[laughs] -Oh, crap.
[Allen] And what can you make with a banana pudding cheesecake?
I don't know.
Dessert's already here, what am I gonna do with this? [laughs]
I don't know about these.
[Allen] You also have sweet potatoes.
Oh, wow!
[Allen] Dehydrated marshmallow bits.
I'll go with that.
Doozy.
[Allen] And Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur.
[exhales nervously]
I don't know what to do with any of that.
I'm drawing a blank.
Half an hour to show us your sweet side.
Clock starts now.
[judges cheering]
Dessert time.
Judges, obviously the most important course
in any Southern meal, dessert.
-Hi, I'm coming down. -All right.
I do feel like desserts, there are so many in the South.
[Ferguson] They get some beautiful cheesecake,
they get the banana pudding, but then they also have the sweet potatoes
which is a nod to potato pie.
My Grandma Allen would make a double batch
of the banana pudding.
I call it the tiramisu of the South.
[laughs]
You know, each and every ingredient in this basket
is leaning towards the sweet,
but, I think, the trick of this basket
is to make sure to balance all that sweetness
and give us a dessert
in which we can taste the different nuances
and different ingredients in the basket.
[Ferguson] Yes. That'll be the trick.
[Maye] This is by far the hardest basket yet.
Grandmother, now is the time I need y'all to sit and tell me what to do.
Then I thought about my grandmother's original two-potato recipe.
I take the sweet potatoes and get them boiling
with the strawberry liqueur and coconut milk.
Get them taters.
Star is cooking a staggeringly large amount of sweet potatoes.
Yeah. Star, what are you makin'?
Southern classic. A twist on candied sweet potatoes.
Okay, that's a good idea.
I'm making a sweet potato banana cream trifle
with a Graham cracker marshmallow crust.
Star has now taken Graham crackers, crushed them up,
and she crushed up the dehydrated marshmallows together.
[Clark] That's smart.
This banana pudding cheesecake is a cheesecake
which is flavored with fresh bananas,
The top has whipped cream with some candied bananas right on top of it.
[Reaves] What am I gonna do with a dessert that's already made?
Chef Sean, what are you making?
I am going to enchase this banana pudding cheesecake in some puff pastry.
[groans]
I'm going to make fried banana cheesecake spring rolls,
topped with fried sweet potato shards.
Add water to the dehydrated marshmallows.
[Maye] Hi, I'm coming down.
[Reaves] And then I add 'em into heavy cream,
confection sugar...
Vanilla extract.
Chefs, 14 minutes on the clock.
All right.
[Maye] I take the cheesecake, banana pudding cheesecake,
and fold it in with peanut butter
to make as a sauce for my trifle.
So this Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur has a very prominent flavor
of strawberry.
But it is also very harsh
because the amount of alcohol in it is very, very high.
[Ferguson] Anytime, something starts with Tennessee,
-be worried about how powerful it'll be. -[laughs]
[Reaves] The Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur,
once it's reduced down by about a half,
I add cornstarch slurry in it.
This is gonna give my sauce some body.
[Chauhan] I am really worried about Star.
She has so many components.
[Ferguson] I don't understand how the sweet potato goes with the cheesecake
mixed with peanut butter, and then she has the crust.
All right, Chefs, less than five minutes left.
Heard, five minutes.
[Maye] I'm starting to panic.
I don't know if everything is gonna be ready in time.
This...
The chickens are coming out of the coop. I'm losing it.
This.
I am really worried about Star. She has so many components.
[Maye] I am very ambitious
with creating all these depths of flavor,
but I feel like my grandmother and my mother are pushing me
and I hope that they are watching me
be successful at what they taught me.
Star, we're getting anxious.
-Don't be scared, girl. I got you. -[Chauhan] Okay.
Come on.
I get nervous almost every time someone tries to use puff pastry here.
[Chauhan] The biggest worries about deep frying puff pastry
is it can explode.
[Reaves] I've never done this spring roll before.
I am hoping they stay together,
and if not, I'll have to pivot.
It'll be a literal explosion.
[Reaves] They're perfect. They're golden brown,
they're staying intact.
Four-and-a-half minutes left.
Sean, what're you doin' over there?
[Reaves] I am frying sweet potatoes.
I think this is a $2,000 dessert.
[Maye] I have to simmer my trifle.
I hope Star remembered all the components.
We're getting anxious.
Oh, you should. This is gonna be good.
-[Clark] One minute. -Finish it up. Finish it up.
[Maye] Sean's cheesecake roll is looking perfectly fried,
but I took the South and put it in this little bitty bowl.
Make sure you finish, get everything on it.
Only one of you is taking the $10,000 back home to the South.
All right, Chefs, final seconds. Final round here.
Ten,
nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
-Time's up. -[Ferguson and Chauhan] Whoo!
Whoo! Good job.
[Allen] Great job.
[Reaves] I personally started feeling better,
each round I got more and more comfortable.
I do think mine's a winning dessert. I do.
[Maye] My grandma and mom were sitting on my shoulders,
telling me what to do each way,
so hopefully, I bring home a win today.
[Allen] Chef Sean and Chef Star,
goodness gracious you made it to the final round
where you took on a basket of banana pudding cheesecake,
sweet potatoes, dehydrated marshmallow bits,
and Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur.
All right, Chef Star, what do we have?
It is a peanut butter, banana cream, sweet potato topped with candied pecans
and a Graham cracker crust.
Make sure you get all the way to the bottom. [chuckles]
[Allen] Peanut butter, sweet potato trifle.
[Maye] Yeah!
This is definitely it. You take a bite of this,
-and this the taste of the South. -[Clark] Yeah.
[Chauhan] It's really comforting.
The sweet potatoes, they are delicious.
The crust on top, great,
from your soul and we can taste that.
Thank you.
[Clark] Star, I just was kinda sweating for you.
That's a lot of things in there, but this really works.
The sweet potato is the star here.
So I think, well done for making that very much the focus of this dessert.
[Ferguson] Chef Star, when it comes to a Southern dessert,
this hits a lot of the notes that you look for,
pecans,
sweet potatoes, you got that nice Graham cracker in there.
What I'm looking for is that Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur,
and then the marshmallow bits.
I get what you did with them and I'm gonna respect it,
but, I mean, would have been nice to have a little chew from 'em.
Okay.
Finally, Chef Sean.
I have prepared a banana cheesecake roll,
I used the liqueur for a sauce,
and I topped it with fried sweet potato sauce.
[Chauhan] Sean, the fact that you took the sweet potatoes
and deep fried it,
what a great idea.
It adds so much texture
when you have it along with the Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur
and your dehydrated marshmallow cream,
that combination is incredible.
Thank you, Chef.
But I don't think that using puff pastry was the right move.
I almost wish that you had grabbed some wontons.
I want to go back and have another bite
but I can't because it's raw.
Understood.
Sean, even baking these would have done it way more justice
in terms of the actual texture.
But I was reminded
of being a kid, and you'd have these mixtures
of strawberry with banana elements to it.
And that's what you did out of Tennessee strawberry cream liqueur.
What? Really good job.
Appreciate it.
[Ferguson] Let's start with the dehydrated marshmallows.
Making a whip cream out of them,
you were able to make the marshmallows the star.
Overall, this is a great creation,
and you had a lot of success in this dish.
Thank you, Chef.
[Allen] All right. Chef Sean, thank you.
Please give the judges time to decide which chef has earned the title
and the prize. Thank you.
Judges, three rounds of Southern cooking,
are you impressed?
-I mean, we were definitely impressed. -That's to say the least.
In the appetizer round, they got vegan fried chicken,
and I was so impressed with what Star did.
[Ferguson] The way she used the vegan fried chicken on the shrimp
was so smart and flavorful.
That being said, the shrimp itself needed seasoning.
And on the other hand we had Sean,
who gave us an incredible idea.
[Ferguson] I thought that his ideas were there,
but the execution, even on the shrimp
would have been perfectly cooked
if he'd have butter fried it all the way to the tail.
We go to the entree round.
[Ferguson] Sean's pork chop, I'd have liked to see him just cook it a little less.
[Chauhan] True, but the way he seasoned it, and then the turnip greens,
he developed some amazing, delicious flavor.
The issue we had was we wanted more of his sauce
I mean, on the other hand we had Star.
[Clark] I finished everything on my plate. It was so good.
[Clark] For me, it was the potato salad. It was a total mess.
That was really the downfall of the dish, like you said.
I think the question at hand over here is
which of these chefs
gave us a consistent Southern-inspired meal
while paying homage to all the basket ingredients?
[Reaves] I really showed what Southern cuisine is.
I do believe I should be the Chopped Southern champion.
[Maye] My mom and my grandma are definitely the reason why I'm here today,
and to win this competition means everything to me.
I'm so freaking close,
and I just hope I did exactly what I needed to do to edge over that win.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
So, Sean, you have been chopped. Judges?
[Chauhan] Sean, in the first course,
unfortunately, the shrimp wasn't cooked through.
In the second course,
we thought that the sauce with the deep-fried deviled eggs
was really delicious,
but we needed more of it.
Then finally, the dessert course,
puff pastry was completely raw,
and so we had to chop you.
Understand. Thank y'all. Appreciate it.
-Good job, Sean. -Thank you. Good job.
[Reaves] I accomplished coming here and being a competitor.
You know, I really gave it my all.
Felt good to be here, representing North Carolina.
And that means Chef Star Maye,
guess who the Chopped champion is?
That would be you. That would be you. Congratulations.
[exclaims]
Come on, Nashville.
Yay! Nashville!
Man, it feels so good to win! Yes!
Congratulations.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
You have made your grandma, your mom, and your aunt so proud.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
I feel like a superstar.
My name is just not Star for a reason
Like, all of my life, I've heard I'm the mouth of the South,
and now I just proved it.