Clock starts now.
Oh, boy!
[Ted] There will be three rounds.
Let's go. Let's go.
[Ted] Mandatory mystery ingredients.
[Marc] Alexia, how's that looking? How you looking?
-It's looking pretty good. -[Marc] Yeah?
Four ingredients in the basket of what we really want.
[Theo exclaims]
This kitchen is the most intense kitchen I've ever been in.
[Ted] If your dish doesn't cut it...
-Last touches, last touches. -Gotta finish.
[Ted] ...you will be chopped.
Welcome to Chopped.
[Fariyal] Wow!
[Alexia] I'm from Mongolia,
where I grew up cooking with my mom, with my grandmother.
I always loved cooking, always wanted to go to culinary school.
My style of cooking is fun, lots of spices,
with lots of bold flavors,
and definitely lot of my personality.
Working in many different amazing restaurants in New York City,
all that experience and all that flavors I learnt,
I'm gonna bring it together.
I am a force to be reckoned with.
I bring a whole new style of cooking to the game.
I do it like upscale, Southern flair.
Intricate things, I do whimsically.
And it all comes back to the roots of Alabama.
I've been working in professional kitchens since I was 14 years old.
My training is from the trenches.
I know I have the soul, the passion and the pride to win.
Whatever it's gonna take to win.
If it takes a peeled banana on the floor
to make someone slip, it might happen. I'm just saying.
[Theo] Ooh, that smells so good. I love cumin.
I don't try to stick to a lot of traditional things.
So I would say my food is fusion, international,
and just overall, more modern.
Well, is there anything better than the sound of lamb sizzling? Look at that.
I went to a technical high school
where we had to pick a trade.
So I fell in love with the culinary trade.
So, I've traveled countless countries.
Number one thing it's caught me is people and how they eat.
Couscous salad is done.
I think when it comes to my style,
I exist very boldly and I'm very confident in what I do.
And I think that it's really reflective in my cuisine.
[Keyhone] Growing up in a Caribbean-American household,
I definitely grew up having a ton of good food,
bold flavors, a lot of light cuisine.
As a private chef, I've had clients
that are comedian, athletes, corporate.
But prior to that, I was actually trying to go pro for soccer.
So, yeah, I most definitely have a competitive side.
I'm ready to win this. I know I'm gonna take this home with me.
The other chefs should watch out for me,
because I'm sure they're great where they're from, but today's my time.
I'm not here to make any friends.
I'm trying to get this money and dip.
-Hello. -Well, hello, chefs.
-Hello. -[Ted] What's going on?
-How are you? -I'm so happy to be here.
[Ted] Oh, we're happy to have you.
-Wait until you see that basket. -Hold that thought.
[all laughing]
[Ted] What brings you here?
-To win. -To win the money.
Okay.
There will be three rounds.
Mandatory mystery ingredients.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
Not me. I'm not being chopped.
Definitely not happening.
Okay, let's see what this first basket has in store for you.
Open 'em up.
-You've got... -Wow.
What is that?
-...stone crab claws. -Stone crab?
Lovin' the seafood.
[Ted] Fairy toast.
Little sprinkle bread, that's crazy.
These look like maybe...
-pink lemon. -[Ted] Pink lemons.
[groans] Ouch.
-[Ted] That did not go in your eye. -That did get in my eye.
-[Ted] Oh, good. Here, give me that. -Getting used to them now.
[Jeffrey laughs]
[Ted] And mostarda.
"Candied fruit in mustard syrup." Beautiful.
Twenty minutes to create great plates.
We're gonna do this.
Clock starts now.
-[Geoffrey] Let's go! -[Marc] Here we go!
[Fariyal] You've got this.
-Hey, here we are. -Let's go.
[Ted] Geoffrey, Marc, you're joined by a special guest judge,
a native of Ethiopia,
who has cooked in 18 different countries,
Chef Fariyal Abdullahi.
-Welcome back, Chef. -Thank you so much.
I'm very excited to be here again.
How do you like your stone crab claws?
You don't have to do much with the stone crabs.
Just let it shine.
[Geoffrey] What they have there is one of the greatest ingredients
that God gives us, it's stone crabs.
They are unbelievable. They are so sweet.
So amazing, as they're already cooked
all you do is crack 'em.
Stone crabs are the caviar of the sea.
But, Chef Geoffrey, isn't caviar the caviar of the sea?
[Fariyal chuckles] You know what?
-It eats well with lobsters. -[Geoffrey] Yes, it does.
Oh, my gosh, I'm putting so many shells in this.
I'm breaking it, and also getting shells. I have to pick out shells.
-[Marc] Love it. Love it. -We got this, guys. We got this.
This kitchen is the most intense kitchen I've ever been in.
I work in a lot of, uh, Maryland areas, so I serve a lot of crab.
But generally, those crab shells are a lot softer and easier to manage.
I think if you're looking for the challenge of the basket here
is, if you don't know how to manipulate stone crab,
I think that you're gonna have a huge challenge.
Let's go. Let's go. How y'all doing?
-[Theo] Great, great, great. -[Keyhone] I'm good, I'm good.
[Jeffrey] The struggle is real, Theo.
And given 20 minutes, I'm gonna see what I can do.
A little stress, but pressure makes diamonds.
I am a big hunter, fisherman.
My brother is a boat captain.
I see these all the time.
I might have even fished for them.
So it's the perfect opportunity for me.
[Ted] Jeffrey, what're you making?
I am making a crab cake
-with a little bit of a celery salad on top. -Good for you.
-Nice. -I'mma use the breading with the, uh, the fairy toast.
We'll see how that goes.
[Ted] Judges, so is fairy toast...
I mean, what is this stuff?
I would say it's equivalent of peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Australia.
-[Ted] Wow. Well, now that's... -That's how popular it is.
-[Ted] ...saying something. -It is.
-It's butter with nonpareil sprinkles on it, you know? -Yeah.
It's a unicorn food.
-Unicorns like to eat it. -Oh, my gosh.
-Oh? -[Marc] Yeah.
[Alexia] You got it, guys. You got it.
-Come on. Keep pushing. -[Theo] Whoo!
It's the first round. It's only the first round, guys.
[Jeffrey] Let's go. Let's go.
We definitely do not have fairy toast in Mongolia.
When I got to this country, I was a 17 years old exchange student.
I worked my butt off throughout my school.
While I'm in school, I was always working.
I was bussing tables, whatever job I can get.
And here I am, 20 years later,
chasing my American dream.
[Geoffrey] Chef Alexia, what are you making?
I'm making a crab salad.
Yes!
[Alexia] Stone crab is already cooked.
So, I'm making Asian-style stone crab salad
over white toast.
Little bit of juice from the pink lemon.
And finish up with the mostarda to sweeten the sauce little bit.
[both speaking other language]
-Oh, God. -[Marc] It's actually a great thing.
-I mean, they have it a lot in Italy. -It's great.
They use a mustard oil.
They make it with different fruits, apricot, pears.
It's sweet, but it's also got that punch of mustard.
The pink lemons, pretty straightforward,
they're just lemons, really. You can just squeeze some lemon.
They're pretty.
-[Geoffrey] Keyhone. -Yes.
What are you doing?
Uh, we might do, like, a little crab croquette.
-A crab croquette? -Croquette.
-[Geoffrey] That's very inventive. -[Marc] That will be great.
I'm making a stone crab croquette
with a chili-mostarda syrup.
Gonna reduce the mostarda, add lemon zest
with the lemon juice.
Rice vinegar and chili powder.
I removed the frosting and sprinkled up the fairy toast.
Add the lump crab.
I'm adding cornstarch to the batter to make it less wet.
[Geoffrey] I'm concerned about Keyhone.
He's just floured his crab croquettes--
[Marc] I don't think you need flour to...
He just rolled the whole thing in a 100% cornstarch.
Mm-mmm.
Well, now, why does that concern you, Marc?
If you're gonna do it like a... why don't you do the egg, flour, you know--
[Geoffrey] Yeah. You get the promise of the crust.
-[Ted] Okay. -Otherwise, it's gonna be just mush.
I have a plan.
It didn't involve cracking this many...
oh, [chuckles] crab, but we're getting through it.
Oh, my gosh.
So, I do not have that much crab meat, but I do not have time.
So, I have to go with whatever meat portion that I have.
Rice dishes are really awesome
and they carry flavor really well.
Especially when you have rice noodles in a nice sauce.
-Chef Theo, what are you making? -Yes. Okay.
So, I'm going to try and make some noodles, some crab.
And then with the pink lemon,
this nice sauce.
It'll be like a lemony, spicy crab starter.
All right.
[Theo] I'm cooking, um, the crab meat in a butter
with basil, rosemary, sage, and shallots.
So I'm gonna use this mostarda as apricot jam,
reduce it. I squeeze some of the pink lemon.
I add some chili sauce, some soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Ten minutes on the clock, chefs.
[Jeffrey] Whoo! This is iced out.
I didn't know there was icing all over. That's gonna be fun.
I need a little more time and I'm starting to freak out.
It's gonna be colorful crab cake.
I'm gonna use this fairy toast to make a binder
and start forming my crab cakes.
Getting them in my pan.
Guys, with six minutes left, Jeffrey is just starting to cook his crab cakes,
but he's not touched the mostarda or the lemons yet.
-He's not touched them at all. -[speaking other language]
-So that's half of the basket right there. -I know.
I'm very nervous for him.
[Jeffrey] I'm planning to plate in three minutes.
Twenty minutes isn't really a lot of time.
So I'm starting to get really nervous.
I don't know what to do with these ingredients.
Uh-oh.
[Marc] Jeffrey is just starting to cook his crab cakes,
but he's not touched the mostarda or the lemons yet.
[Jeffrey] I don't wanna manipulate the mostarda too much.
Because there's already so many flavors going on in it.
I think I can just use it best plain on the plate.
But I wanna make a slaw to serve with my crab cake
because I know the mostarda is gonna be very sweet.
I'm dicing up some apples, celery together
with some pink lemon juice.
[Keyhone] Hey, behind you, behind you.
[Geoffrey] So, uh, news,
Chef Keyhone is deep-frying his croquettes right now.
-[Marc] Oh, boy, guys. -All right.
-[Marc] Guys, two minutes left. -[Geoffrey] So good, Keyhone.
-Way to go. -[Marc] Let's go, let's go.
Winning would mean a lot, it would be bigger than me,
more so for people that'll change careers,
realizing that there's no linear path to success.
[Jeffrey] Right behind. Coming down.
I see you tasting those noodles, Theo. How are they?
-So good. -[Fariyal] All right.
Theo seemed fun person.
Assuming she's gonna put lots of big flavors on her plate.
[Theo] Looking for scallions.
[Alexia] I have scallions here.
[Theo] You have scallions?
-Thank you. -Mm-hmm.
We got this. We got this.
Get off these jimmies.
I don't know why jimmies are for appetizers.
I'm using the fairy toast
to make breadcrumbs to top off my noodle dish.
Last touches.
-[Geoffrey] Gotta finish. -Last touches.
[Ted] All right, chefs, you got one minute to get it done here.
[Geoffrey] Feel like there's something burned.
Something burned?
Did Theo burn something?
[Ted] It might just be the pan, Geoffrey.
[Theo] I turn around and I realize
that, oh, no, my fairy toast is burning.
I don't have anymore time on the clock.
And I have to just go with what I have.
They're gonna be burnt breadcrumbs.
-[Geoffrey] Burnt crouton. -[Ted] All right.
-Wrap it up, chefs. -[Marc] Come on, come on, come on.
[Ted] Seconds to get it done.
You got this.
You got this, girl.
-Ten, nine, eight... -[Fariyal] Get it done, get it done.
-[Ted] ...seven, six... -[Marc] Let's go!
-[Fariyal] Last touches. Last touches. Come on. -[Ted] ...five, four,
three, two, one.
-Times up. Please drop that. -[Jeffrey] All right.
[Fariyal] You did it!
-Way to go. -You did it.
-[Marc] Oh, boy. -[Fariyal] Oh, my God.
-That was stressful to watch. -[Geoffrey] Way to finish.
[Marc] Okay,... photo finish there, huh?
Welcome to Chopped.
-[Marc] You okay? -[Fariyal] Wow!
[whistles]
[Theo] I did burn my toast.
That would have just been the perfect garnish.
So I felt really bad because the dish was done,
all the components were there,
but I literally just wanted to garnish it.
So, I do feel very good about that.
[Jeffrey] The hardest part about this round
was definitely having to crack open all of the stone crabs,
given the amount of time.
But I think my crab cake is gonna get me to the next round.
[Ted] Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
Inside your first mystery basket,
you found fairy toast,
pink lemons,
stone crab claws, and mostarda.
Chef Theo, please tell us what you made.
Uh, judges, you have a sweet stone crab rice noodle
with lemon and mostarda.
Tell us about what you do, Chef? Where do you work?
[Theo] I work for my own business, Manje with Moise LLC.
Which, uh, means, um, "eat with Moise."
-[Geoffrey] Theo. -Yes.
Um, I love a good noodle.
Um, and these are really cooked well.
I get the mostarda and I'm getting that lemon.
I would have liked more crab.
Yes, it was difficult to get that crab out. [chuckles]
You've not worked with them before?
[Theo] I didn't realize how little meat there was.
And I didn't wanna spend too much time doing that.
We see people cook these noodles,
and just drop them on the plate
without enrobing them in a sauce.
Thank you for doing that.
Thank you so much.
I love this dish. It's very flavorful.
You did so many things right.
But I'm not getting much crab in mine.
Leaving them bigger pieces would have helped a lot.
And then, the fairy toast have a big chunk of burnt toast
-on my plate. -Yes. My apologies for that, judge.
[Fariyal] Otherwise, it's a delicious bowl of noodles.
Like, if you were my private chef,
I would have asked you to make me
-another bowl of this. -[Theo chuckles]
[Fariyal] But yeah, four basket ingredients, you gotta make 'em shine.
[Theo] Okay. Thank you so much.
Next up, Chef Jeffrey.
I grew up on the coast.
I used to dive with a kitchen tong,
actually, go grab stone crabs.
So, it kind of hit home for me.
I have a lump stone crab cake
with a celery and apple slaw on top,
and a little bit of mostarda underneath.
Jeffrey, I think, conceptually, this is a great dish.
You had great use for most of the ingredients.
The crab cake itself is delicious.
And I love the idea of having a slaw in this
because the mostarda is very sweet.
But the pink lemon in there, it's drowning out the crab cake.
Understood. Thank you, Chef.
[Geoffrey] The fennel apple slaw is delicious.
It's actually my favorite part of the dish.
I love crab cakes, but using the fairy toast inside as a panada,
application is completely wrong.
Instead you should have ground up some of it, mixed it with the panko.
Yes, sir.
Uh, we have a lot of crab on this plate,
-which I'm very happy about. -Thank you.
One, when you're gonna make a nice crispy crab cake,
then you put something juicy on top,
loses all the crispiness. So I would have loved that salad on the side.
-Understood. -[Marc] And the other thing is the mostarda.
Did you just pour that mostarda on the bottom of the plate,
and then dump the crab cake right into it?
Uh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. I did.
It's very sweet. I mean, this is like dessert-level sweet.
Thank you, Chef Jeffrey.
Next, Chef Alexia.
My cooking style is a little bit of Asian,
little bit of a French technique.
I made you a stone crab Asian salad
over toasted white bread.
[Marc] I think the gameplay was great.
Using the heat to sort of balance out the sweetness of the mostarda.
And then the acidity of the lemon, I think, is there.
The fairy toast, not that I can really taste them,
but there's a couple of those little sprinkle things on there.
Unicorn food. I don't really like that on my plate.
[Fariyal chuckles] I love that you went the right of a salad.
The stone crab already comes cooked.
So I was hoping somebody would give it to us as is.
-And you did just that. -Thank you.
-You know how to bring the flavor. I love it. -Mm-hmm.
I wish it wasn't sort of a, like, a wet mess.
-Mm-hmm. -[Geoffrey] 'Cause what happens is, when you put soy
-in anything, you gotta be really careful with liquid. -Mm-hmm.
-What really impressed me is the flavor profile. -Thank you, Chef.
Thank you, Chef Alexia. Finally, Chef Keyhone.
So you have a stone crab croquette.
And then you have a chili-mostarda syrup.
[Ted] Chef, how did you get started cooking?
I tried to go pro for soccer.
I went and played in college. Did a couple tryouts all over the country.
But it gets very expensive.
I wanted to transition to something that's more sports related
and not have to go back to regular traditional school.
So I felt like cooking for athletes was a great example of that.
I thought it was a very elegant looking dish.
I like the cilantro plush on top.
The mostarda was probably the best out of this round.
You totally blew it out of the park with getting rid of the sweetness.
I'm not displeased with the texture of the inside of the crab cake
'cause it's dry enough and wet enough to hold the crab without getting soggy.
-Yes. -[Geoffrey] But it's just, I can't get past
the outside of the cornstarch.
However, the flavor that I do take inside the crab
-is really good. It's a very nice mouthfeel. -Thank you.
The cornstarch here is really a no-no.
-Yes, sir. -It gets on your tongue and it's like... [retches]
It's too bad, because the inside is really good
and the flavor of the mostarda, you know, underneath.
What I'm really impressed with was that the mostarda sauce on the bottom.
-[Geoffrey] Yeah. -I moved the thing out of the way,
and I tasted the sauce by itself, it was delicious.
Absolutely delicious.
Now the judges have some thinking to do.
Thank you, chefs.
[Jeffrey] They're right. I shouldn't have plated with the slaw on top.
Uh, and I should have probably gotten a little bit better
of a crust on the crab cake.
I am most worried about not having enough crab meat in my noodle dish.
That crab was really stubborn. It was really difficult to get the meat out.
So, who's dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Theo, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef, your lack of experience in working with stone crab
was really your downfall.
And the fairy toast was just burnt.
And so, we had to chop you.
Thank you so much, judges.
-Thank you. -We appreciate you being here.
-Thank you. -[Ted] Best of luck.
[Theo] I had a lot more to offer.
But I'm walking out of here with my head held up high.
Even though I didn't win, I still feel very, you know, happy I got here.
[Ted] Chef Jeffrey, Chef Alexia, Chef Keyhone,
your appetizers earned you a spot in round two.
Let's see what's waiting for you in these.
[Alexia] I felt anxiety in the first round.
But going into this round, I'm ready to have fun
and see what I can do.
Please open the second basket.
[exhales]
[Ted] And you are looking at mint chocolate chip dip.
A green monster.
[Ted] You also have Italian eggplants.
[Alexia gasps] Beautiful eggplants.
[Ted] Ranch powder.
-Do you like ranch powder? -[Keyhone] I love it.
[Ted] And bison sirloin tip steaks.
Some bison. Let's get it.
I haven't really cooked with bison ever.
I'm intimidated from the mint chocolate chip icing.
[Ted] Thirty minutes to do the work.
Clock starts now.
[Jeffrey] Right behind you.
[Ted] Judges, mint with lamb, sure.
But mint chocolate chip dip with bison steak?
Very sweet.
-[Ted] What do you think? -I do not envy them. That is what I think.
[Marc] When I see this basket, I see Mediterranean.
I see mint. I see eggplant.
I think baba ghanoush right away.
-Mm-hmm. -And then I think
you could bury that ranch dressing right into it.
[Jeffrey] Parsley.
Little bit of mint. Greek yogurt right there.
That is a good start.
I see the eggplant and I see this mint dip,
and I'm immediately thinking Middle Eastern and Mediterranean vibes.
For my entree, I'm making a ranch-rubbed bison,
grilled eggplant and a mint yogurt...
Oh, my gosh.
...with curry spiced sweet potatoes.
[Marc] Chef Jeffrey cut up a sweet potato in the first five minutes.
-Well, what are you doing? There's eggplants. -[Marc] First five minutes.
-When we had all these other basket ingredients. -[Fariyal] Unclear.
[Jeffrey] I'm gonna make some spiced sweet potatoes.
I know it pairs great with the yogurt.
This is the chip dip nod to your favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream.
-This is cream cheese based. -[Fariyal] Right, but--
Yes. It's not even that minty. It's more creamy dip.
And then you have the bits of chocolate in there.
I would remove that immediately.
Keyhone, how you doing with that mint dip, man?
We're gonna try to make a mint ricotta.
The artificial mint is really, really powerful.
And there's so many chocolate chips in here.
Keyhone, talk to me. What're you making over there?
We're gonna make, like, a cream-based pasta.
I'm making a spicy orecchiette pasta
with the chili bison sirloin.
I chose orecchiette pasta because it cooks quickly.
This is an ode to Rasta pasta,
which is, like,
uh, basically like a Caribbean-based alfredo.
[Marc] Which ingredient out of that basket says pasta?
I'm a little concerned about Keyhone.
I'm not sure if I really want a creamy mint sauce on my pasta.
[Fariyal] Alexia, what do you have going on over there?
So I think I'm gonna marinate this bison really quick.
And then I'm gonna finish it up
and dust it with little bit of that cornstarch,
flash-fry it, and finish it off in the wok.
[Fariyal] Careful with that cornstarch.
Remember what happened on the first round.
-[Alexia] Yes. Wok stir-fry. -For sure.
-Stir-fry. -Stir... Ooh!
[Marc whispers] A wok stir-fry. Yes!
-Called it. -Okay. Okay.
[Alexia] So, I'm making bison stir-fry
with Italian eggplant
and finish off with the mint chip sauce.
I've never worked with bison before.
It's a tough cut of meat.
I can lightly coat it and flash-fry it
to lock all the juicy flavors in the meat.
Behind.
[Geoffrey] Chef Alexia just dropped her beef in the fryer right now.
[Ted] You know, what is the point of putting cornstarch
on the bison and then putting it in the fryer?
Basically, in a lot of Chinese cooking, they use a lot of cornstarch,
but they're like those... It'll form a coating on the outside
so you can get a sauce to grip to it.
[Geoffrey] Gives it a little texture, and then you put it
into a sweet and sour sauce, normally, right?
That's when you have that crispy kung pao chicken, you know that?
This bison sirloin, keeping it tender
is gonna be very important to me.
That's the challenge. It's a very lean piece of meat.
-It's from an active part of the animal. -[Geoffrey] Yeah.
Right, chefs, you are down to 20 minutes here.
Can I get some red chili, homie?
-[Keyhone] Yeah, go ahead. You can grab it. -[Jeffrey] Thank you.
I'm gonna season the bison with the ranch powder along with some other stuff.
Grill that off.
Then I'm going to grill off the eggplant.
[Geoffrey] I mean, Jeffrey putting the ranch powder on the bison
is actually really good, it's full of umami, garlic, onion.
But I think the real problem here
-is this steak cannot be cooked like a steak. -[Fariyal] No.
[Geoffrey] It's either pounded thin or braised low and slow.
Or let's get the meat grinder out,
let's get some bacon, and let's make some meatballs.
Chef Keyhone, do you think those steaks are going well?
Yes.
He's a man of few words.
I've never really worked with a bison before
so I treat it like a regular steak.
[Geoffrey] Both Jeffrey and Keyhone fell into the trap
-of not knowing how to cook bison. -[Fariyal] Right.
[Marc] Alexia, how's that looking?
-How you looking? -It's looking pretty good.
-[Marc] Yeah? -Little bit dusted, little bit crunchy outside,
but still nice and rare in the middle.
-I'm gonna finish it off in the wok. -[Marc] Wok stir-fry.
-Good. Thank you. -[Geoffrey] So smart to fry it like that.
The only chance that we really have, I think, is Alexia.
Stir-frying it is great, but you really have to fry it
-so you get that sizzle, crispy-- -Yeah.
[Alexia] Wok isn't very fast to cook.
Cooking the eggplant is definitely gonna
create nice crust.
Soy sauce, rice wine vinegar,
a little bit of sesame seeds.
Then once the eggplant got a nice color,
I add my bison.
I'm straining out the mint dip trying to get rid of all
that extra sweet chocolate chip
to create a more creamier sauce.
[Fariyal] I'm excited about the stir-fry.
-I don't know if I've ever... -Yeah, I think it's going
-into to the fryer. -...seen anybody use a wok before.
-Have you? -[Geoffrey] Never. First time.
[Jeffrey] I check on the sweet potatoes and I realize
that they're not gonna be done in time. So, I decided
to throw them in the pot of boiling water to finish.
-You have five minutes. -Okay.
-[Jeffrey] Heard that. -All right.
[Jeffrey] What a challenge.
The best thing that Chef Jeffrey could do right now
is just leave those potatoes in the water. Forget about them--
This is not even...
-If it's not cooked-- -...any basket ingredient.
Well, if they're not cooked, we're gonna criticize him
-and it's gonna take away from him. -Right.
[Jeffrey] I pull my sweet potatoes out of the boiling water
and realize that all of the spices on it were washed off.
[Ted] Two minute warning, chefs.
-Thank you. Two minute. -[Ted] Two minutes to go.
-Two minutes. That's plenty of time. -Oh!
-Finish strong! -[Geoffrey] Four ingredients in the basket
are what we really want.
[Keyhone] I cut into my bison steaks,
some are a good temperature and some are overcooked.
But I just have to get them on the plate.
Keyhone, you got all the ingredients? You ready to go there?
[Keyhone] Yes, I do.
Yeah. He's... Keyhone, he loves talking to me.
Have you guys noticed how much Keyhone likes to talk to me?
You know what? [chuckles] Maybe you should stop talking.
No time to hesitate now, chefs.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one,
time's up.
-[Marc] Oh, my God! Oh, yeah. -[Fariyal] Did it! Did it!
[Geoffrey] That's it. That's it.
[Keyhone] That round went by really, really fast.
It was really, really tough. Tough round.
I'm happy with the pasta.
I wish the cook on the steak was a little bit better, for sure.
Chefs, in the entree round, you had to work with mint chocolate chip dip,
Italian eggplants, ranch powder,
and bison sirloin tip steaks.
Chef Keyhone, please tell us about your dish.
What you have here is a spicy orecchiette pasta
with a chili, ranch dry-rubbed sirloin and a mint ricotta.
Where does your love of cooking come from?
[Keyhone] Growing up in a Caribbean household, I'm around ton of good food,
and really, it started from eating.
Being able to eat good food really inspired me to make good food.
I think the eggplant was cooked perfectly.
-I ate 'em all. They were very good. -Perfect.
For me, the mint chip dip
which is in the ricotta, it was interesting, I'm like,
-"Oh, wow, here is the sweet dip." -Yeah.
-You should've highlighted it with a lot more fresh mint. -You're right.
I do think it was, an, a creative way to use the mint chocolate chip dip.
-Yeah. -[Fariyal] I would've taken the chocolate out, though.
-Ah, I-- -Taken the little chocolate pieces out.
I definitely thought about that,
and I was like, "How do I even begin this process..."
-Right. Right. Yes. -"...with these little tiny chocolate chips?"
And I didn't really want chocolate in the pasta.
-[Fariyal] Yeah. -I feel like that was a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, the bison is pretty overcooked.
-And it should have been pounded. -Yes. You're right.
Generally, we tell people to stay away from pasta because it's so hard to cook.
This pasta, very well-made, it's very well-seasoned, it has a nice spice.
And I enjoyed the eggplant in it, I get the ranch.
Just that that poor bison is already dead
-and you killed it again. -[Keyhone] I know. Yes.
[Geoffrey exclaims]
This is the toughest kind of animal you can imagine.
If you ground this beef with some bacon,
you made meatballs with some pasta, that would have been a score.
But the eggplant and the spice are good.
Thank you, Chef Keyhone.
-Thank you. -[Ted] Next up, Chef Alexia.
Today, I made you a bison stir-fry
with a Italian eggplant and finished it off with the mint chip sauce.
[Fariyal] Well, I think you knocked the bison sirloin out the park.
So tender.
-[Alexia] Thank you. -I wouldn't even have guessed that it's bison.
Or that it's a very lean cut of meat.
-Thank you. -I loved that you went the Mongolian route again.
It was amazing.
It's very rare to try something new and exciting...
-[Alexia] Mm-hmm. -...so I feel like you've given us that.
Thank you.
Chef Alexia, I think you've solved the riddle
of the bison sirloin tips because of that double-fry
and the way you cut it. And you took the eggplant
-and you actually made that meaty with that sauce. -Mm-hmm.
I'm not getting as much mint chocolate chip dip as I would like,
which is not true, 'cause I would not like it.
-[Alexia chuckles] -However, you had to use it.
The ranch dressing, I do taste very, very subtly.
-But a very, very well-executed second course. -Thank you.
Yeah, I have to agree. I think, uh, I think you did a great job.
The mint chip dip could be represented a little bit more on the plate,
and I love the ginger, I love the flavors that you've developed here.
Chef, any thoughts on what you might do with 10k?
So, I would like to, uh, take my older son and also my husband
and I would love to just eat my way through Europe.
I wanna go check out all the Michelin Star restaurants,
maybe, like, do, like, a little Anthony Bourdain road trip kinda thing.
Thank you, Chef Alexia. Finally, Chef Jeffrey.
So, I have a ranch-rubbed sirloin
with a warm spice roasted sweet potato,
charred eggplant and a mint and yogurt dip.
What is it about cooking that you love?
[Jeffrey] It's my home. Whenever I'm in a kitchen
is probably when I'm my most confident,
and, uh, when I'm outside of the kitchen,
all I think about is being back in the kitchen.
That sounds like that's where you belong.
Flavors, you gave us flavors.
Both sauces are delicious.
The eggplant, I really love the char on it.
You also lost me with the sweet potatoes.
Why were you so intent on getting sweet potatoes on this plate?
I just love, uh, the warm spice,
the cumin and the coriander.
You kinda washed the warm spices off when you threw
-it in the water. -[Jeffrey] I know. It's very frustrating.
I apologize.
I was hoping you'd just leave it in the water.
It's not a basket ingredient.
-Understood. -[Geoffrey] Doesn't make any sense.
The yogurt mint is actually tasty.
Grilled eggplant is actually one of my favorite part with the chimichurri.
The steak is tough as nails.
I agree. I think the eggplant is probably the best thing on the plate.
Simply grilled.
-Chef Jeffrey, thank you. -[Jeffrey] Thank you.
At least my basket ingredients were done pretty well
other than the bison being this tough from not pounding it out.
But the main concern was the sweet potatoes,
so I'm hoping that's not gonna put the knife in me.
The cook on the bison, that's not something that I'm familiar working with,
and I should have taken more care.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Keyhone, you've been chopped.
Judges.
[Fariyal] Keyhone, it came down to the bison.
One, it was not tenderized, and two, it was overcooked.
And leaving the chocolate chip mints, it made the dish too sweet.
And so, we had to chop you.
All right, thank you, guys.
-Take care. -Cheers.
Great to have you here, Chef. Be well.
[Keyhone] One thing that I'mma take from this experience
is continue to follow down the path that I'm on,
and to just continue to make more and more dreams come true.
I'm excited to get to move to the next round.
Now, I get a chance to prove myself one last time.
After cooking two rounds, I'm feeling more confident than ever,
and I'm ready to take this win home.
I can almost smell it.
[Ted] Chef Jeffrey, Chef Alexia,
dessert baskets are right here.
Dig in!
-And you've got a Danish dream cake. -What's this?
It's a sticky cake. Coconut cake.
-[Alexia] Wow. -[Ted] You also have raspberries.
Look at these beautiful raspberries.
I can definitely do something with this.
[Ted] A botanical mule mocktail.
-Cheers. [chuckles] -[Jeffrey] Yeah, right?
And peanut butter banana balls.
-Peanut butter banana balls. -[Alexia] Wow.
Thirty-minute final round starts now.
-[Geoffrey] All right! -[Marc] Oh, boy!
Okay. Okay.
[whistles]
[Ted] Judges, I sense a power struggle coming on
between the ingredients in this basket.
Well, it's always difficult in the dessert round
when they give you a pre-baked cake.
This Danish dream cake is a regular cake
with eggs, flour, sugar.
But what makes it different is the coconut on top.
That's what makes it dreamy.
-Oh, I was wondering-- -Thanks, dreamboat.
-[chuckles] Uh-oh. -I was wondering where the "dreamy" comes in.
The coconut makes it dreamy.
[Alexia] Growing up in Mongolia,
my family didn't really indulge in sweets,
so I don't make many desserts,
but I definitely do French toast for my children.
This cake can work like a brioche.
It's gonna soak up all this beautiful egg, cinnamon and sugar.
Chef Alexia, what are you making?
I'm gonna make you Indonesian-style French toast.
Lightly fried cornstarch, lightly fried outside,
and finish up with a beautiful raspberry sauce on the top
-and maybe a little, uh, whipped cream. -Wow.
[Alexia] Traditional French toast is made on a pan,
but Indonesian-style French toast is deep-fried.
[Fariyal] Alexia is using the exact same technique
that she used with the bison on this dessert round.
She's about to deep-fry it.
[Marc] She must know what she's doing on this.
[Geoffrey] Chef Jeffrey, what are you doing?
I am also doing a French toast,
so we're gonna see how this goes.
-[Geoffrey] Oh, no! -[Jeffrey] Let the better chef win.
Battle of the French toast.
[Jeffrey] I'm gonna make a Danish dream cake
French toast with a chocolate ganache
and a pecan, banana ball praline.
I'm jealous of your, uh,
your quick French toast, I'm pan-frying 'em.
[Alexia] Your tricks weren't, uh, working.
-[Jeffrey] Yeah? -Yeah.
[Geoffrey] This botanical, it's a non-alcoholic liqueur
and it's actually based upon the Moscow mule.
This is sort of ginger, rosemary...
-[Fariyal] Yeah. -[Geoffrey] ...and it's really very good.
I like the raspberries. They always go to the fridge and grab raspberries.
-Now we give 'em raspberries-- -[Fariyal] Yeah. Might as well give it to 'em.
-Put it in the basket. -[Geoffrey] Well, I mean,
anybody who's anybody, go get more raspberries,
buzz it up, put some honey, make a sorbet.
-Oh, well-- -Like, it's so easy.
[Jeffrey] There we go.
[Geoffrey] Hallelujah. Chef Jeffrey has put in the machine
a mixture of the mule and the raspberry and some sugar.
So, that's kinda smart.
All right.
I have a lot of components working for my dessert right now,
but I think I have enough time to get it all done.
Not what I was expecting.
I can't even eat it.
I started in the dish pit when I was 14,
as soon as I could have a job and get out of the house, I was there.
Now, I'm 29, I'm an executive chef,
and I'm not stopping anytime soon.
If I win the 10 grand today, I'm gonna put that towards my future restaurant.
Okay, chefs, 10 minutes to get it done.
[Jeffrey] Whew.
-Not what you expected, huh? -[Alexia] Yeah,
-I though it was gonna be more crunchy. -Yeah.
I tried the banana peanut butter balls and they are very chewy.
They're almost like a chocolate-covered raisin.
[Fariyal] You know what I'm concerned about?
How chewy the peanut butter banana balls are.
[Marc] The outside is just the peanut butter,
so if you wanted to just use the peanut butter, you could.
-The inside is the dry banana. -[Fariyal] The inside, yeah.
[Marc] I think that you'd have to somehow bring chocolate to the party.
What if you dipped those in chocolate?
Maybe, making a sauce, a chocolate, peanut butter sauce, maybe?
[Alexia] The, uh, peanut butter banana balls are actually soft,
so I need to extract the flavor.
So, I grab the heavy cream to melt the peanut butter.
Hot, hot, hot, hot.
[whoops]
[Marc] Right now, I think you're gonna have
a hard time getting that whipped cream melted.
[Fariyal] It needs to be really cold.
I realize my heavy cream is still warm,
and I know it's not gonna whip up.
This whipped cream is the only place I am using the peanut butter balls.
I put that right into the blast chiller with ice on the bowl.
I'm panicking and I need to start thinking about plan B.
If I can't figure this out, I'm gonna be chopped.
[Alexia] I realize my heavy cream is still warm,
and I know it's not gonna whip up.
This whipped cream is the only place I am using the peanut butter balls.
[Ted] Chefs, five minutes to get this done.
[Jeffrey] Heard, five minutes.
[Alexia] So I decide to go to plan B.
I run and grab the siphon gun
and pour my heavy whipping cream right into it.
I shake my heavy cream...
[Fariyal] Oh, my gosh,
-Alexia's whipped cream... -[Marc] I've never seen this work.
-[Fariyal] ...looks perfect. She did it. -[Geoffrey] This is the first
time this machine has worked.
Let's talk about Jeffrey right now,
because I'm looking into his pan
-where he's got his peanut butter... -[Fariyal] Right.
...candies there, and, uh, that does not look
-like a good situation going on. [chuckles] -[Fariyal] No!
[Geoffrey] Is that a bunch of nuts?
You know, I'm just working on getting a little praline going on.
-[Fariyal] They actually look great. -[Geoffrey] Oh, okay.
[Jeffrey] Trying to use some of the sugar from this banana,
but it is definitely not wanting to cooperate.
Wow. What you got now?
-Margarita. [chuckles] -[Jeffrey] Margarita? [chuckles]
Who doesn't like a nice margarita?
[Marc] Uh, Alexia's making you a cocktail, guys.
[Fariyal] Um, she must have heard you, Geoffrey.
[Ted] Final minute here, chefs.
-[Marc] Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. -[Geoffrey] Let's go!
Got this. This is $10,000.
Only one of you are going home with it.
[Geoffrey] Don't mess around. Sign the painting for heaven's sake.
-[Ted] This is it, chefs. Final seconds... -[Marc] You're almost there.
-[Ted] ...of the final round. -[judges cheering]
-Ten, nine... -[Fariyal] Last one, last one.
[Ted] ...eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one,
-time's up. -[Fariyal] You did it!
You did it! You did it!
[all applauding]
-[Marc] Whew! -[Fariyal] Yes.
-[Jeffrey] Jazz fingers. -Oh, jazz hands.
-Wow, look at you. -[Alexia exhales]
-Sweating. [chuckles] -[chuckles] Same.
[Alexia] I'm actually not worried at all
because my French toast is gonna be much better.
[Jeffrey] Alexia making a French toast definitely makes me a little bit nervous,
but I think I have the cake because I used butter.
[Ted] Chef Alexia, Chef Jeffrey,
we challenged you to make desserts
using a Danish dream cake,
raspberries, a botanical mule cocktail,
and peanut butter banana balls.
Chef Alexia, please tell us about your dessert.
I went with a French toast.
It's, uh, served with raspberry sauce
and the peanut butter foam,
with a little margarita for you.
I love you.
-[Fariyal] Cheers. -Cheers, judges.
Cheers.
[Fariyal] Hmm.
[chuckles]
[Fariyal] Alexia, I'm struggling to find feedback for this
because I'm quite obsessed with this.
And now, there's actually moisture in there. This is amazing.
-[Alexia] Thank you. -And your use of the peanut butter balls?
Genius.
-Thank you. -[Marc] So, you're gonna be buying a lot of cornstarch
when you get back to work?
-[Alexia chuckles] -[Fariyal] I think everything in my kitchen from now on
is gonna be deep-fried in cornstarch.
[Marc] This dessert's successful. I mean, it is a little brunchy.
You know, when you make a raspberry sauce like this,
I would've loved if you had strained it
-because you get all those seeds in there. -Okay. Mm-hmm.
And if you wanna do a raspberry coulis,
for me, I feel like it would have been a little bit more elevated.
[Alexia] Yes, Chef.
[Geoffrey] For me, that coulis is not cooked,
and it's bright.
This is sort of in between, it's sort of nowhere.
-I really like the fact that it's crunchy on the outside. -Okay.
[Geoffrey] I don't think I've ever had a deep-fried French toast.
-I wish there was twice the amount of cream... -[Alexia] Okay.
...but that still doesn't distract from the fact that it's very tasty.
Thank you, Chef.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Alexia.
Finally, Chef Jeffrey.
I have for you a Danish dream cake French toast as well
that is done with a pecan and banana ball praline,
with chocolate ganache
and a raspberry and mule sorbet.
This praline that you made is spectacular.
It coats this whole dessert, and I love that you used dark chocolate.
What I really like is also the actual coconut
that is sort of caramelized
and stuck on the side of this, uh, French toast. I think it's great.
Thank you.
I was actually going to ask if I can get a pint or a quart of that sorbet. It's...
-Did you try it? It's really good. -Oh, we can make it.
-Yeah. -[Fariyal] I would save you some,
-but I would like to finish mine, so-- -[Jeffrey] Oh, yeah?
-[Fariyal] The ganache is distracting for me. -[Jeffrey] Understood.
So, I would've left it out and it would've been perfect.
Thank you.
[Geoffrey] Again, another interesting way
of using the Danish dream cake.
We didn't know what the heck you were doing
with the peanut butter banana balls,
but it actually worked out with the praline.
It is moist and it is tasty, but it is cloyingly sweet.
-[Jeffrey] Understood. -[Geoffrey] You don't need blueberries.
You have to trust your instincts
that the dish is finished.
Understood. Thank you.
Well, there are no ties here.
One of you will be the runner-up
and one of you will be the Chopped champion.
Thank you, chefs.
-Thank you so much. -Thank you.
Well, the first course had some beautiful ingredients,
and Jeffrey gave us traditional crab cake.
And the only thing that he did to that crab cake
was sort of mold it around the fairy toast,
which was a problem because it was sweet.
But the crab cake was really nicely seasoned,
he did a nice sear on it. I thought that was really nice.
Chef Alexia really did a good job
in bringing great flavor to that crab.
[Fariyal] I really appreciated the fact that she gave us a crab salad.
And then the use of the mostarda
and the lime juice worked really well within that crab salad.
And she wasn't able to get all of the sprinkles off that fairy toast,
-so it came off sweet. -[Marc] Yeah, I know.
But then, when you go to the main course,
I think Alexia did the best job treating the bison.
-[Fariyal] Right. -[Marc] It was a tender preparation.
Yeah, the chocolate mint dip, uh, was not found.
Kinda hard to detect.
I thought Jeffrey did a great job with three of the basket ingredients.
I mean, he really made it shine.
He made that eggplant shine, he even made
-the mint chocolate dip work in his yogurt sauce. -[Fariyal] Yeah.
I feel like Jeffrey gave us two flavorful sauces,
but really tough cut of meat.
It's gonna come down to two different, uh, people here
-that might win $10,000. -Yeah.
[Alexia] Winning this competition will be absolutely amazing.
I can almost smell that $10,000 from here
and I'm one step closer. I feel like I got it.
[Jeffrey] It would mean the world to me to win this competition.
I'd be able to show my family and some of my previous mentors
that, you know, I've got what it takes to step out on my own
and be my own chef and kill it.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Jeffrey, you've been chopped. Judges?
[Geoffrey] Chef Jeffrey, in the first basket,
you decided to put the fairy bread
inside of the crab and it was untreated.
The main course, the bison was really, really tough,
and so, we had to chop you.
Understood.
Thank you so much.
This was a treat, it was a dream come true.
Congratulations.
-[Alexia] Thank you. -Thank you.
-Thank you so much for being with us, Chef. -Thank you, Chef.
-[Marc] Thank you. -Good luck.
[Jeffrey] I'm proud of being able to show who I am.
I've definitely got a little bit more confident in my instincts.
You know, I'm gonna take that in the future endeavors.
[Ted] And that means, Chef Alexia, you are the Chopped champion.
-Woo! Yes! Whoo! -[Ted] Congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I worked extra hours, I came in before anybody else.
On my day off, I come in and created dishes.
And all that hard work that I... Away from my kids has definitely paid off.
This win proves all the hard work
I've put throughout my career has paid off.
Personally, winning this means
I can set my eyes on a bigger goal
and I can go after it and I can achieve it.