Popping bottles in the Chopped kitchen, I love it.
- Hi. - [Ted] Looking for love?
You're very handsome. This may be a good match.
[Ted] Look no further than Chopped.
Woo!
He's definitely my type for sure.
- You're looking handsome. - Oh, thank you.
We've set up singles as blind date teammates.
Woo!
I think we made love on this plate.
[Ted] Love is in the air.
Am I blushing?
[Ted] Or is it?
- Whoa! - Monogamy is boring.
[man] What?
Listen, please.
Let's bring in the first pair of blind date teammates.
You're meeting them at the same time
they're meeting each other.
Here's Chef Brittney Brown and Chef Sam Scott.
I'm a private chef
and I work with clients from all around the world.
So I'm always learning new techniques and flavors.
My interest outside of the kitchen,
going to the gym,
going out to the park with my dog Nala.
I just need the perfect woman and make my life complete.
[Brittney] I'm a private chef in Detroit, Michigan.
I've cooked for athletes, politicians
and even the vice President.
I'm cute, funny, and hardworking.
My day better be able to keep up with me in life
and in the kitchen.
- How you doing? - Nice to meet you.
- Chef Brittney. - Nice to meet you too. Sam.
[Brittney] Sam is so cute.
He's definitely like my type for sure.
Britney's very attractive but damn I hope she can cook.
Our second blind dating duo,
Chef Matthew Wasson and Chef Brooke Baevsky.
I am a private chef
and I currently have my own baking business.
I definitely want someone handsome and tall.
Food Network, hook it up.
[Matthew] Chef Matt Wasson
coming at you live from the kitchen.
Being a 31-year-old single male
in a big Italian family
sort of test a lot of people's patience
especially my mom.
Help him. Help him. Get him a nice date.
See what I have to deal with?
- Hi. - How you doing. How are you?
When I first see Brooke's blonde hair,
I was just captivated, Chopped did good.
[Brooke] When I look at Matthew
and I'm pleasantly surprised.
He is... Can I say handsome?
We've also fixed up Chef Terence Harvey
and Chef Camerron Dangerfield
[Camerron] I create globally inspired
Southern comfort food.
I was raised by a Southern woman.
I want to man that is tall, strong,
handsome, smart, too Prince Charming.
[Terence] I am a chef in Brooklyn, New York.
I do Southern and African cuisine.
Girl, I have tried all the dating sites
and now it's time for Chopped to help me find love.
- What's your name? - Terence.
- You're very handsome. - Thank you.
[Camerron] I actually do have butterflies.
This may be a good match.
We've also fixed up Chef Rachel Snyder
and Chef Lee Jackson.
[Lee] I'm a private chef.
My cooking style is American, French,
and good old Southern cooking.
In a partner, I'm looking for someone who's Christian,
who believe in God, and that's what I'm here to find.
Hey, Chopped, I'm Rachel.
I'm a private chef in New York City.
I'm really involved with, like, my church community.
So it's definitely important to me that someone in my life
would share that same faith.
Nice to meet you, Lee.
Nice to meet you [indistinct] come out.
I see Rachel, I'm thinking,
"Oh, wow. Okay, she's beautiful.
Let's hope we can cook together."
[Rachel] I'm feeling a little nervous.
This is the most high pressure blind date I've ever been on.
Ever been in a more cutthroat, stressful date...
What kind of cuisine do you cook?
I've been doing it all.
I can't wait to see who the judges are.
- Oh, no. - [Ted] Hello, lovebirds.
- [Camerron] Oh, hey. - How are y'all doing?
- You look good. - Hi.
We have set you up with single strangers,
but there are still three rounds.
If your dish doesn't cut it,
you will both be chopped.
- No. - No. We're not...
- We'll not be getting chopped. - I'm not getting chopped.
But first things first.
What's inside these?
[sighs]
All right. You ready?
Open them up!
Oh, I knew it. I knew it.
[Ted] And you got oysters.
Very romantic.
[Sam] Super excited about oysters.
We all know it's a great date aphrodisiac.
[Ted] Artichoke hearts.
[Sam] A little artichoke heart, all right.
Oh, we got some rose.
[Ted] Sparkling rose.
- Sparkling rose. - Pop the bubbly.
It's my type of party.
[Ted] And creme brulee.
- All right. - I love creme brulee,
but you don't see creme brulee with oysters.
How do you feel about shucking oyster?
- I'm good. - I'm thinking
we turn this into a sauce.
20 minutes.
Clock starts now.
[upbeat music playing]
[Terence] We're doing the oyster.
- I'm going to fry them. - Okay.
Well, if swiping right gets you nowhere,
turn to Chopped.
This is different than other Chopped challenges.
We have these chefs that need to impress us
but they need to impress their blind date as well.
There's also an extra set of hands,
so I'm expecting some really, really good dishes here.
[Maneet] There's so much excitement.
You are seeing the hustle of them being a chef.
Poppin' bottles in the Chopped kitchen. I love it.
How you doing? Are you good?
I'm doing good. I'm doing good.
Camerron and I have never cooked together
but I really feel good about the energy and the smile.
[laughter]
[Terence] I love oysters.
So the first thing I do is start shucking the oysters.
We got it.
I love a taco
and everybody loves something fried,
so we're making a fried oyster taco
with artichoke and radicchio slaw.
I know that there's taco shells in the pantry,
but I feel like it will blow the Judges away
to make an awesome corn shell.
I'm gonna shuck the oysters, okay?
Oysters are famed to be aphrodisiac,
but you've got to be very careful
when you're shucking.
Because if you break the shell,
then we are going to taste it.
I would suggest actually frying them.
These oysters are not making it easy right now.
[Brooke] I grew up in a kosher home.
So I'm like, "Oh, give the kosher household girl the shellfish."
But we have the same crazy idea
of doing an oyster schnitzel.
Let's get a little more flavor to the oysters.
[Brooke] And we're gonna plate these oysters
with tzatziki sauce and then Israeli salad
and then Rose vinaigrette.
I grew up making schnitzel with my bubbe.
And I grew up cooking Sunday dinners with my nonna.
You sure we to use this in the basket,
- we can't drink it? - [laughs]
[Matthew] There's a 100% attraction.
When I first saw her, I was like, "Thank God."
We got this. See?
I would say if I could not get Scott Conant,
I am very happy with Matthew.
We're good, we're good.
Creme brulee, it's a wonderful dessert to share
because literally one or two bites
- is all you need. - I agree.
What's the plan with that sauce?
I'm gonna add some peppers to just balance out
that creme brulee.
Creme brulee has no business in this basket.
Can I say that?
[laughter]
- [indistinct] - [Sam laughs]
[Brittney] But I love artichokes.
And I love them in a cream sauce.
We're making fried oysters
with a artichoke creme brulee sauce
and rose mignonette.
As we're working, I'm very genuinely surprised
at how well we're getting along in the kitchen.
Sauce looks good.
Oh, yeah. It's gonna be good.
This one? Perfect.
[Rachel] I think the raw oyster would be great on the plate.
Lee says, let's do bake
so we're gonna do one with a sparkling rose mignonette.
[Lee] And a big oyster with creme brulee sauce
and fresh herbs.
I took the lead on shucking these oysters
because, you know, a man should be shucking oysters
and not a woman.
Not saying they can't do it, you know, but, you know,
if you can take the lead on that,
take the lead on that.
Look at us. Look at us.
10 minutes to go, chefs.
[upbeat music playing]
You know I've always thought that cooking together
is a really excellent first date.
I agree with you.
There seems to be this bond
where they're connecting over what to cook.
So I have the artichokes in the slaw,
I have radicchio in the slaw.
I'm adding some fish sauce and rose, some creme brulee.
- Hey, Terence. Camerron. - Yes.
[Maneet] Are you guys finding love in the kitchen?
- Oh, we're finding great love. - Yes.
Perfect.
[Brooke] I see this creme brulee
and I think tzatziki sauce,
so I combine Greek yogurt,
dill parsley, the creme brulee.
This seem like a creme brulee tzatziki sauce.
Is the vinaigrette ready?
[Matthew] This is reducing now?
[Maneet] I'm really loving the way
Brooke and Matt are working together.
Are you guys finding love in the kitchen?
- I already found her. - We are. We're in love.
[Matthew] I'm gonna call my mom on the break.
[laughter]
So I shuck oysters
and then I toss them at cornmeal and flour
and then I throw them in the fryer,
then I fry it on here, you feel me?
I'm really looking for a partner
that's driven and confident.
Drive by.
And Brittney, she seems to fit that perfect mold.
[Brittney] I'm gonna start the mignonette.
I feel like I'm ready for a partner.
But monogamy is boring.
[chuckles] Sorry.
[Sam] How's that sauce tasting?
Ooh, love it.
[indistinct] in that.
[Rachel] The creme brulee is kind of like
the oddball in the mix.
But Lee says, "Let's make a cream sauce."
With the artichokes finished, garlic,
and the chemistry is just rocking.
Creme brulee. A little bit of creme brulee in there.
[Lee] I grew up in a Christian household,
so we connected with our faith and everything.
[Rachel] I'm also a Christian.
I did not think I would find someone
that shares the same values on Chopped.
- So, there we go. - Yeah.
Less than five minutes to go, chefs.
[tense music playing]
So judges, getting together on Chopped
really accelerates the getting-to-know-you process.
Because these are all chefs,
it's a great way to see
if your future partner can even cook.
[Camerron] This'll smash it to the perfect shell.
So I've made a thousand taco shells before
but I don't have a tortilla press.
So I'm trying to flatten them.
They're tearing apart, so I'm freaking out.
I just wanna get these up.
Terence and Camerron are making their own tortillas.
It doesn't seem to be working out so great for him so far.
My shells are failing us.
If they do not get their act together,
that will be the first team that gets chopped.
- Let me know if you need help. - [Terence] Thank you.
[tense music playing]
So I've made a thousand taco shells before
but they are tearing apart.
My shells are failing us.
Get it together, Cam.
All I have to do is reroll them
and I'm literally hand-pressing them now
and getting them right in the pan.
This one is actually perfect.
I can rely on my hands.
[Camerron] I'm relieved they're flattening out.
All right, chefs, you got less than two minutes.
Gotta get it on the plate.
[Brooke] I'm thinking we need brightness
for our Israeli salad.
So I grabbed some tomatoes, herbs.
[Matthew] The artichoke hearts.
I know roasting them in the pan
will help complement Brooke's salad.
Perfect. And we need the dressing
and I still have the sparkling rose reduction
and I went right for the red wine vinegar.
This is a date, so you got to tell me,
if my hair doesn't look good,
you gotta let me know, all right?
- You're looking handsome. - Oh, thank you.
See how good she treats me already?
[Brittney] To make the mignonette,
I dice the shallot,
add a little pepper and sugar and some chives,
and red wine vinegar.
One minute left, chefs.
[tense music playing]
We want you guys to fall in love
but we want to fall in love with your food too.
Baking still.
[Rachel] The oysters are still in the oven.
Yeah. Perfect.
Lee's like, "I got it. I got it."
And I was like, "All right. I'm gonna trust him."
Yeah. Let's pull them out.
We're being teammates and just communicating is getting it done.
Oh. This is actually pretty good.
I think we made love on this plate.
Let's go, chefs. Get it done, get it done.
Pull those plates together now.
- Ten... - [Maneet] Come on.
- [Ted] ...nine, eight... - [Brooke] Perfect.
- [Ted] ...seven, six... - Beautiful. Beautiful.
five, four, three...
- Come on. Come on. - [Ted] ...two, one.
- Time's up. - Nice.
Oh, they got hugs over there.
- Aw. - All right.
I think we did... I think we did good.
Oh, baby, you see we're the couple to beat.
Baby, if I go home after that, somebody got no taste buds.
- Cheers. Drink up. - Cheers.
[Matthew] Right now we're drinking rose while on the beach.
We're not even in Chopped kitchen.
That's the second date.
Oh, second date. Okay.
- Good round. Good round. - Woo!
[Rachel] We got the Spirit with us.
[Lee] Yeah. We got the Lord. I know we have Jesus.
I'm not worried about that. We got this.
We're taking this home, okay?
Chefs, we introduced you
and then put you right to work on a basket of oysters,
artichoke hearts,
sparkling rose and creme brulee.
Brooke and Matthew,
could you please tell us about your plate?
[Rachel] You have an oyster schnitzel
on top of a Greek yogurt creme brulee tzatziki sauce,
and then the Greek salad.
Enjoy.
I like the direction here a lot.
I mean it's light. It's refreshing.
I think the tzatziki is delicious.
I think the texture on the oysters is great.
Thank you.
Tzatziki is such a smart idea
for the utilization of the creme brulee.
The tartness, it cuts through the sweetness,
but the one thing about a salad,
the cucumbers and the tomatoes,
they are different sizes.
I mean the knife work really needs work right over here.
So I guess I'm gonna have to ask,
who did all the knife work?
I did the knife work on the salad.
[Marc] Uh-oh.
Are you upset?
I'm not upset. It's okay.
He's already forgiving.
Aw.
[Ted] Brooke, where did your love of cooking come from?
My love of cooking came from my bubbe
which is Yiddish for grandma.
She passed down her recipes to me.
So that was something that we bonded off right away,
even though she's Jewish, I'm Italian.
The only difference though with her nonna, with her...
I'm sorry, bubbe? And then...
- Bubbe. - Bubbe.
And then my nonna... my nonna is probably
hitting me with a wooden spoon right now.
[laughter]
[Ted] Matthew, Brooke, thank you.
- Thank you, Chef. - Yeah.
[Ted] Next up, Terence and Camerron.
Okay. So we have made a fried oyster taco
with artichoke and radicchio slaw.
We've made the coleslaw with creme brulee,
some rose, fish sauce, chili garlic.
That spice mixture that you have
inside that slaw is bananas.
Just spectacular.
Thank you, sir.
[Maneet] This is a great idea.
And the fact that you made
the tortilla shells from scratch,
it's very ambitious.
But the tortillas could be slightly thinner.
Because it overtakes the flavors
that you have on top of it.
Okay.
I agree it should be thinner but I thought it tasted good.
The mastas was very, very flavorful.
The artichokes I think could've been represented
maybe a little bit more in the slaw.
But the actual slaw itself wasn't delicious.
Thank you.
Why is it important for you guys to be doing this
and why is it important to find true love?
I think representation is important
because we represent the LGBTQ community,
African-American community,
and I mean, love, you know, who doesn't want love?
Especially when they look like him.
[laughter]
All right. There it is.
Terence and Camerron, thank you.
Rachel and Lee, what have you made?
So today we have raw oyster
with a sparkling rose mignonette.
We have a baked oyster with a nice artichoke cream sauce
and some fresh herbs.
So how did your collaboration work?
We had a great time together.
The competition was there and we both are faith believer,
God believers. So it was awesome.
- Like the chemistry was like perfect. - It's great.
I loved the baked oyster that you made.
You have cream and the creme brulee mixture inside there.
- [Lee] Yes, sir. - Really nice touch.
I really love the way you use the creme brulee.
There's a little bit of sweetness
but there is this savoriness to the sauce
which I think works very, very well.
Now which one of you shucked the oysters?
[tense music playing]
I did.
Uh-oh.
I actually had shells in both these
and that kind of hinders the entire flavor of the dish.
That being set aside,
the mignonette is refreshing and delicious.
I think it worked out... it worked out nicely.
[Ted] Rachel, Lee, thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Okay. Going to Brittney and Sam.
So we did a fried oyster for you
with a artichoke creme brulee cream sauce
and then in the hash over there
is a rose mignonette.
I love the idea of frying oysters,
I think it's great.
I think the cornmeal's a good idea
but I would've cut it with something else
- because it's very... - Coarse.
Coarse, exactly, and very gritty.
And the cream sauce...
There's a lot of creme brulee in here, I feel.
- Yeah. - [Marc] It's very sweet.
[Maneet] I have to agree.
It is slightly on the sweeter side
but I love the addition of the capers
and I think that was a great utilization of the rose.
With the fried oysters, it works,
then I dip it in the vinaigrette
and then have that composed bite, that really works.
[Scott] Yeah, I agree with Maneet.
I think you had a really good approach here
but I do think you could've pulsed that cornmeal a touch
just to break it down a little bit.
All right.
- Sam, is Brittney a good partner? - Yeah. Awesome.
[Ted] Brittney, is Sam were to ask you out on a date,
- would you consider it? - Oh, absolutely.
You guys know what you're doing
as far as matchmaking.
Really. You guys can feel the sparks?
- Oh, yeah. For sure. - Yeah, it's a win.
- Well done. - Good.
- Brittney and Sam, thank you. - Thank you.
[Ted] Just three pairs will have the chance
to get to know each other better in the entree round.
The judges said our sauce was a little bit sweet
but the other chefs had technical issues
which was an issue in your dishes.
The judges did ding us for some knife cuts
but we made a lot of positive going for us.
[Matthew] I think we killed it.
[tense music playing]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[suspenseful music playing]
Chef Brittney and Chef Sam, you've been chopped.
Judges?
There were flashes of brilliance in your dish
but the sauce became too sweet because of the creme brulee
and the decision to use cornmeal
to deep fry your oyster was not the right one
because it was too coarse.
And so we have to chop you.
- Thank you, Chefs. - Thank you, Chef.
So I think we had a little bit more technical ability
than the other group of chefs
but we took the critiques and we're gonna run with it.
I guess we're free now.
You wanna go grab a drink?
Absolutely. [chuckles]
[tense music playing]
Chefs, are you still in gear?
- Yes, Chef. - Yes.
- Yes, Chef. - In gear.
The baskets will be the judge of that.
Open them up.
- Oh, wow. - Oh. [chuckles]
[Ted] And then your core ingredients
are sweetheart prime rib-eye steaks.
Oh, shaped in the shape of a heart.
[gasps]
[Ted] Asparagus.
I love asparagus.
[Ted] Truffle burrata.
Oh, burrata? Right. Here we go.
Are these Lips?
[Ted] And spicy gummy Lips candy.
We love a spicy Lip.
Do we love a spicy Lip?
I've... You have very spicy lips.
- Oh. - [laughs]
I think definitely Bolognese. Asparagus.
I think we should puree it and make it into a sauce.
Okay.
[Ted] 30 minutes to work together
to make awesome main dishes.
Clock starts now.
- Woo-hoo! Go, chefs! - Go get them, chefs! Nice.
[man] [indistinct] back in time.
I'm inspired because this basket is gonna taste good.
- I mean... - [Scott] I certainly hope so.
[Marc] What great ingredients?
[Scott] It's almost a simple basket.
I feel like then the chefs always get in their own way.
What I expect is proper technique here.
Simple as that.
[Terence] Sweetheart prime rib-eye steak,
we're just gonna get nice grill marks on it.
Respect it because it's a nice cut of meat.
[Camerron] We have Southern roots
and I know I could do grits.
So we're making steak and cheese grits
with mint asparagus salad.
So for the grits,
I'm adding onion powder, garlic powder,
whole stick of butter.
You're gonna do cream sauce and grits.
- Yeah, it's... - Yeah, okay. Sure.
It is the cream sauce that goes on top.
So judges, what can a competitor learn
about a potential romantic partner
by being thrown together into the fire like this?
Whenever you're on your first date,
you are on your best behavior,
the Chopped kitchen does not allow that.
It's... This is a pressure cooker right over here.
Yes. Yes.
The way to my heart is definitely through my stomach,
so you're killing it there.
[Lee] I'm trying to think,
"How can I incorporate this candy,"
and automatically my brain goes to like a Bolognese salsa
that I would make with nonna.
And then I know everyone's gonna grill that steak
so I decided to cube up the steak.
- Feeling good? - Oh, I'm feeling good.
[Matthew] Brooke and I are gonna make a braised beef
and a red wine tomato reduction
and then asparagus with burrata puree.
I was just now watching Matthew cut those steaks
into itty-bitty pieces.
I mean rib-eye is such a beautiful piece of steak.
It really shouldn't be played around with too much.
[Marc] Rachel and Lee,
they connected over their Christian faith.
I'm putting faith into them to cook that steak properly.
- Ready to get it on? - Yup.
With this basket, I think we can go
on a really classical French date night,
you can baste your steak with potatoes,
reduce the spicy gummy salad with sauce,
bring it all together.
[Rachel] Lee and I are gonna make a pan-seared steak
with the truffle asparagus and burrata.
[Lee] I season the steak with some Worcestershire,
garlic, and some rosemary, and thyme.
How long till they go on?
[Ted] 20 minutes on the clock, chefs.
[upbeat music playing]
I'm gonna make a mint and asparagus salad,
dress it with fish sauce, lime juice,
maple syrup, and chili flake.
I think what worked well for us in the first round
is communication.
And I'm hoping to build upon that more in the next.
[Camerron] I'm like, the sparks are flying,
it's like fireworks in the air.
- That's delicious. - Thank you.
He's just charming me.
I mean, I'm using every single thing
they got in the kitchen, okay?
[Matthew] I blended garlic, onions, carrots, celery,
sauteed it down with the steak,
a little bit of red wine as well as some beef stock.
And then I'm taking the candies
and I'm pureeing them with the whole peeled tomatoes
to help smoothen out the sauce.
[Rachel] I threw the asparagus
and then I throw it in the oven to finish cooking
and then we wanna make sure
that there's a sauce with the steak.
- Red wine. - [Lee] Red wine.
We're adding demi-glace balsamic vinegar
along with the spicy red gummy Lips.
[Lee] Yeah.
10 minutes to go chefs.
The steak looks great.
The last time we saw some great cooperation
between the two competitors, now at the second round,
they've got to know each other a little bit
and it seems like things are working out well.
[tense music playing]
With the Cajun cream sauce, I'm reducing the gummy Lips,
I taste it, and I said, "Wow."
Wow.
- Like literally, wow. - Yeah.
[Camerron] The judges are gonna be blown away
by how we transformed it.
This asparagus is making my heart sing
because I can puree it
and this burrata will be the perfect creamy factor
with onions and garlic, sweet potato.
[Matthew] Teamwork, teamwork, we got this.
We have a great rhythm going,
full Chopped telepathy at this point.
[laughter]
I think it's good.
I love truffle burrata,
our plan is to use the sauce interior
and drape it over the asparagus.
Yeah.
[Ted] All right, chefs, you got less than two minutes,
got to get it on the plate.
[tense music playing]
Oh, amazing.
We'll do meat on one side, salad on the other.
And then pour the cream sauce on top of the meat.
Oh, I don't think you... I don't think
you're understanding the concept
- of what I'm saying. - Like in the plate.
Salad right here, meat right here.
Not gonna work.
Camerron is losing it.
Please.
They're like an old couple already, the two of them.
Let me show you.
I'm just like fast-forward to our future
and we can't even pick a place for our wedding,
I'm not actually sure how far this is gonna go.
Right, we can't even get a plate.
I'mma show you exactly what I mean by salad on top.
[Brooke] Here, let me carry it to you.
[Matthew] Perfect, thank you. See you later, bae.
The time.
I think what's going on here
is Matthew and Brooke are getting along so well
that they're already making baby food.
[laughter]
Oh, my God.
One minute left, chefs, let's go!
[tense music playing]
Come on, chefs!
I have to get the steak off the grill, on the plate,
and I'm actually grabbing it with my bare hands.
I'm like, "What the freak?"
[Ted] All right, chefs, we wanna see pretty,
perfect plates.
- Ten, nine... - Let's go!
[Ted] ...eight, seven, six, five, four...
- All four ingredients. - [Ted] ...three...
- This color is... - [Ted] ...two, one.
Time's up. Please step back.
Woo! Good job.
Woo! Yeah, we did it.
We have the grits, protein, sauteed veggies.
That round was definitely crazy
but I think we might be opening
a restaurant after this, I don't know.
A hundred... A hundred percent.
[tense music playing]
Blind date teammates, in your entree basket,
you've got sweetheart prime rib-eye steaks,
asparagus, truffle burrata,
and spicy gummy Lips candy.
Chefs Brooke and Matthew,
please tell us about your entree.
So growing up on a Sunday in my house
we smelled gravy cooking.
So you have a braised beef
and a red wine tomato reduction.
And the rest is influenced by my bubbe.
She would make really healthy purees,
so we have an asparagus sweet potato burrata puree
and then an asparagus basil pesto with some pistachios,
and topped it all off with fresh basil,
lemon zest, Pecorino Romano.
The sauce is delicious, right?
I keep on feeling, you know,
the need to go back and take another bite.
And the puree works, even the flavors in the pesto,
they're dynamite.
[Marc] I have to agree, the sauce is very tasty.
It's just that I don't think anybody
would take a rib-eye like this
and stew it in a tomato sauce.
I mean, the meat feels tough.
I also grew up with the smell of that Sunday sauce,
that sense of nostalgia is there
but that's not the cut of meat to do that with.
[Matthew] Yes, Chef.
But your flavors are wonderful.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- [Scott] They really are. - Thank you.
Brooke and Matthew, thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Terence and Camerron, what do you have for us?
We did a steak and cheese grit,
with a Cajun cream sauce and a mint asparagus salad.
We used the spicy gummy candy Lips
in the Cajun cream sauce which I think is brilliant.
The grits over here are delicious.
- Thank you. - The Cajun sauce
that's just got the right amount of heat,
I think that's great.
And the asparagus,
it's got cooked perfectly so that works.
The steak has been cooked well
but it's not been cut well.
- Oh [bleep] - You can't say that.
So basically what's happening is this.
- Yeah. - You guys seem to be working
really we'll together except when Maneet mentioned
that the steak wasn't cut well,
somebody looked at the other one going, "Mmm-hmm."
Well, so we did have
a little bit of trouble in paradise, you know.
This round was a little bit psyche.
However, you know, we still cooked it well.
I did cut the steak though. I did cut the steak.
Maneet's completely right, we're talking $10,000 here.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. - We're looking for...
We're looking for perfection.
- We're looking for good stuff. - Yeah.
The good news is,
all your components are delicious,
the steak is cooked perfectly,
it deserves to be highlighted.
- Yes, Chef. - Thank you.
Terence and Camerron, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, Lee and Rachel, what do we have?
We were thinking classic date night.
So we made a pan-seared steak
with rosemary, garlic potatoes,
and truffle burrata asparagus.
Finished it with a little bit of red wine reduction sauce.
We love meat and potatoes,
and the potatoes are delicious.
Thank you, Chef.
They're caramelized and the burrata was beautiful,
overall, I love the approach.
Yes, Chef.
When you're cooking with alcohol,
you've got to cook it down so it reduces.
And the sauce, it's what we call hot.
There's still alcohol and these rib-eyes,
you've cooked it a little bit too much.
And you also now have given me two of the ends
- with all the fat on. - Uh-huh.
Mine is really overcooked.
But the potatoes are delicious,
there's some mushrooms in there.
They're really good.
[Ted] Rachel and Lee, thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
[Ted] Okay. We'll have a decision soon.
Thank you, chefs.
[dramatic music playing]
[Brooke] I think Rachel and Lee
could be on the chopping block.
They keep it simple.
You really need to perfect the execution.
[Matthew] The judges weren't happy
with how the steak was prepared.
So I'm definitely gonna owe Brooke
a couple of drinks to apologize
because that would be my mistake
that kind of took us down.
[Rachel] I feeling a little bit nervous.
We botched steak
but I would love another chance
for Lee and I to bring our skills together
and show what we've got for dessert.
[tense music playing]
So, and the dish that's on the chopping block.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Ted] Chef Rachel, Chef Lee, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Guys, unfortunately the steak was tough
and you really needed to cook off the alcohol
on that sauce.
So unfortunately, we had to chop you.
Thank you, Chef.
Well, it's definitely a bummer to be chopped.
- Yeah. Definitely. - Yeah.
[Rachel] But we had such great chemistry.
We had the chemistry,
we both showed both of our skills on the plate
and that's all that matters.
[tense music playing]
Terence and Camerron, Brooke and Matthew,
ordering dessert on a first date
is usually a good sign things are going well.
Do you think cooking dessert could also be romantic?
Only if we get to share it, Ted.
That's a good one. [laughs]
Well, if he gets to lick the chocolate off my finger,
- I think that's pretty neat. - Whoa!
- Whoa. - [laughter]
This is like Chopped [indistinct] I'm not sure.
[tense music playing]
[Ted] Open them up.
Oh.
[Ted] And you've got a conversation hearts
pinata cake.
- Be mine? - Oh, this is...
- Will you be mine? - Yeah.
So I ordered this for you before I...
- before I came here. - Oh, thank you.
[Ted] Matcha powder.
Trying to get energized, let's wake up.
[Brooke] Matcha powder,
this is totally my wheelhouse.
I absolutely love baking with super foods.
[Ted] Passion fruit.
- [Camerron] Oh, wow. - [Terrence] Passion fruit.
Oh, wow, wow, wow.
[Ted] Chocolate mousse.
This is passion fruit. You ever eat it?
- No. - It's really good.
You want the matcha with the chocolate?
- [Brooke] Yeah, I think so. - [Matthew] Okay. Perfect.
30 minutes.
- Chop this. - You got this.
Clock starts now.
- [Maneet] Woo-hoo! - [Marc] Let's go, guys.
- Go, go, go. - That's it.
- [indistinct] - [metal clattering]
Okay. Yeah. It's one of those cakes.
All right. Here we go.
Look at this.
Judges, this date just got wild.
It's a pinata cake.
But having a cake that's already made,
it's always difficult to incorporate into a dessert.
Oh, man, this is messy. Okay.
[Matthew] I think that pinata cake
lends itself to an ice cream.
[Brooke] I think matcha and chocolate.
[Matthew] Chocolate matcha ice cream.
[Brooke] Matthew and I are going to make
chocolate mousse pinata cake ice cream
and a passion fruit tahini sauce.
Brooke and Matt,
they've taken all the different colors...
All the colors are in there.
[Maneet] That color is going to be interesting.
Matthew, Chef, what are you making?
I'm making an ice cream that's gonna remind me of a childhood.
It's got a little bit of everything in there.
Yeah.
While Matthew's working on this ice cream,
I'm thinking tahini sauce
with some passion fruit and strawberries
that's gonna be great on top of this ice cream
to counteract that sweetness.
Ice cream in?
[Matthew] Ice cream going in right now.
- I'm almost done with the dough. - [Camerron] Okay.
[Terence] You're making whipped cream, right?
[Camerron] Yeah.
[Terence] We are making a chocolate cream puff
with passion fruit coulis
with the matcha pinata cake dust.
I'm making the pate a choux.
I get the water, butter, milk going
and then mix in flour.
I never heard of a pate a choux.
What is a pate a choux?
While he's working and perfecting the dough,
I dig out the insides of the passion fruit.
The simple syrup.
So I grab the sugar, grab the water,
and I'm adding a bunch of lemon zest and I'm tasting,
- I'm like, "Wow." - [Terence] Yeah.
[Camerron] I'm impressed by this.
Oh wow, that tastes absolutely amazing.
[Marc] Passion fruits are very tropical flavor.
- [Ted] Tart. - [Marc] Tart.
It's got the little seeds in there,
they're a little crunchy.
[Maneet] It is so fun to just bite into.
20 minutes on the clock, chefs.
Oh, you guys got the pizza dough?
- No, we got it. - Oh God. Perfect.
[Matthew] Me and Brooke had been eyeing down
the pizza dough in the pantry.
All right, so let's grab that pizza dough
and let's make some doughnuts.
We got this. We got this.
I'm going with the doughnut now.
- Are you ready? - Yeah. All right.
[Matthew] You ain't using both.
There's two things here, you're good.
I am going to go check out what's going on.
I'll be back.
What's going on in this fryer, guys?
You're frying the pate a choux.
I'm frying the pizza dough.
I'm doing almost like a zeppole, yeah.
There's a lot of stuff going on in this little fryer.
He might drop my temp but we'll see what's up.
[laughs]
I'm annoyed with Matthew
because he wants to use the fryer
at the same time I wanna use the fryer
to fry his pizza dough.
[Matthew] We have $10,000 on the line.
I'm definitely not gonna let these guys
come to my house and bully me.
- I'm so proud. - Thank you.
[laughter]
[Ted] 10 minutes!
[Brooke] So matcha powder is a Japanese green tea powder.
It has a very strong earthy flavor
and I think pairing it with toasted sesame seeds
and sugar as a coating for these doughnuts...
When in doubt add sesame seeds, that's a good one.
[Matthew] Here we go, that's it.
[tense music playing]
- How you feeling, partner? - I'm feeling good.
- Feeling good? - Yeah.
Let me just make sure everything is put in.
You think we should put matcha in the whipped cream?
I think that's good idea.
It's a great idea.
I'm making the whipped cream
and I'm thinking this is the last round.
The judges could use a little booze.
I can use a little booze,
so, let's just douse some booze in.
They're probably like... He just wanted to taste that.
I really did, yeah, I need a drink. [chuckles]
[laughter]
[Ted] Terence and Camerron are having a ball.
They're laughing, they're telling jokes.
We all feel that fun inside the air.
- [Marc] Yeah. - [Scott] It's great.
And Matthew and Brooke are over there giggling
and laughing away as well though, guys.
That mean it seems to be a...
It's a happy kitchen over here.
Four minutes on the clock, chefs.
[Terence] Okay. Pate a choux is about done.
We're gonna fill it with this cream.
[Matthew] It passed me to check on my ice cream.
It has to be perfect.
And then I turn around
and there's Scott Conant in right there.
Are you concerned about this ice cream
that's still going on over there?
[Matthew] Come check it out, let's see what you think.
Just in case that wasn't enough pressure
being on a first date,
it's even more pressure to have
an Italian culinary idol right behind me like
"Hey, what's going on over here?"
Whoa.
It's a little frozen.
[tense music playing]
[Matthew] All right, let's see, Chef.
Let's see what you think.
It's a little frozen.
You're concerned about that color?
[Matthew] You know what? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Chef.
As long as it tastes good, that's what we're here for.
- We're here to eat good. - Well, that sounds good, man.
Sounds good. Good luck, chef. Good luck.
Thank you, Chef. Appreciate it.
He looks on everything just like love,
you know, you have to see the deeper meaning
to this ice cream and then you get to taste it.
[Maneet] Less than a minute.
[Ted] Less than a minute, chefs.
[Camerron] Time is ticking down,
all I got to do is get this filling in the bag.
I go to start filling the cream puffs
with the tip and the tip falls off.
[gasps]
- [bleep] - [Camerron] The tip.
The tip.
[Marc] Let's go, chefs.
Come on, come on, chefs, let's go!
$10,000 dessert, chef.
Let's get it done. Let's get it done.
[Ted] Final seconds of final round, chefs.
- Ten, nine, eight... - Oh, my God.
- [Ted] ...Seven, six... - Come on.
- [Maneet] Let's go, chefs. - [Ted] ...five, four...
- [Marc] Let's go, chefs. - [Ted] ...three, two, one.
- Time's up. - [Marc] That's it.
- That's it. That's it. - Say it again.
- That was good. - [Camerron] Yeah.
Ready?
So it was definitely intense the last round
but I think we killed it.
[Brooke] I think this is $10,000.
I think it's be outstanding.
I'm feeling good.
Yeah, I feeling really good, so.
Confident, ready.
[tense music playing]
Terence and Camerron, Brooke and Matthew,
we asked you to make desserts
using a conversation heart and pinata cake,
passion fruit, matcha powder,
and chocolate mousse.
Terence, Camerron.
Okay, chefs, so today,
we have for you a bourbon and matcha cream puff
with a passion fruit coulis.
It was a really sweet basket.
But that's the one thing which I'm missing in this dessert.
I think you guys try to show too much restraint.
The elements that you have made are really good.
The sauce is delicious.
It's got that tart sweet.
- I want more of it. - Thank you.
Flavors are great but it was a small dessert.
This is more of a pre dessert.
Marc is right, like this is a tiny little plate
but the texture of the cream puff
that you deep fried is wonderful.
So chefs, why do you think your partnership
has led you all the way successfully
to the end of this competition?
[Camerron] We kind of had a perfect match.
I'm very assertive, I'm type A
but I'm also very impressionable.
And I kind of wanted to see, you know,
how well he actually could lead me
because you're gonna have to lead me
if you wanna date me.
You know, I'm a lot to deal with.
[laughter]
[Ted] All right. So you got a connection here.
This is exciting.
You think this could go somewhere?
- Most definitely. - Yeah. Yeah.
[Ted] That's really exciting.
All right, Brooke and Matthew, what do we have here?
So we have a toasted sesame matcha yeast doughnut
with a birthday cake ice cream
and a passion fruit strawberry syrup
and a tahini sauce.
[Maneet] How was it working together this round?
I think we had pretty good chemistry in the kitchen
so I think we'll have to take it
outside the kitchen now and see how that goes too.
[Brooke chuckles]
[Marc] These zeppoles are good.
And this strawberry tahini, you know...
I loved it. I thought it was very good.
I would never ever would have thought
of putting tahini and passion fruit together
- but it works really well. - Thank you.
The ice cream on the other hand.
Did you taste the ice cream?
I mean, it was sweet.
But I kinda thought a little bit like chocolate
like came through at the end.
It's not the flavor that is the problem.
It's the texture that is the problem.
Okay.
Because the cake makes it very grainy.
But I love this matcha with the sesame.
The coating on the exterior of the zeppole,
I think it's great. I think it's clever.
[Ted] All right. Thank you, chefs.
[tense music playing]
Judges, blind date teammates, how did they do?
In that appetizer round,
Camerron and Terence started off the bat
with great teamwork.
[Maneet] Agreed. The deep fried oysters
on top of the taco along with the slaw,
I think that was such a great idea.
The tortilla was a little bit too thick,
but they got a lot accomplished
in a very short amount of time.
And frankly, so did Brooke and Matt.
That tzatziki was really good.
The fry and their oysters was beautiful.
But there was some miss-cuts on some of the vegetables.
Well, the entree round,
Matthew and Brooke gave us a dish
that they hearken back to their childhood.
But dicing up that steak and cooking it in a red sauce
made the steak tough.
But flavor wise, everything was good.
On the other hand, we have Terence and Camerron
who gave us a very flavorful dish.
But the steak, they didn't slice it properly
it was hard to cut it.
[Scott] However, their usage
of those spicy gummy Lip candies
to season that Cajun sauce was so well-done.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brooke] Matthew and I showed extreme creativity
and cohesiveness for two people that just met.
[Matthew] I think we killed it.
- Yeah, we got this. - We got this.
[laughter]
We worked our asses off
and I think that not only should we win it,
I think that we definitely deserve it.
[tense music playing]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[suspenseful music playing]
Brooke and Matthew,
you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Brooke, Chef Matthew,
in your appetizer round,
the fry on your oysters was beautiful.
But there was some miss-cuts on the vegetables.
In your main course, you took a beautiful prime rib,
and stewed it and it made it really tough.
And in your dessert round,
the ice cream just didn't come together for you.
And so, we had to chop you.
However, go out and have a nice glass of wine.
These guys are gonna pay for it.
[laughter]
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
This was an amazing, amazing experience.
This was a true blessing, thank you, chefs.
This is the best first date ever. [chuckles]
And I couldn't have imagined doing this
with a better partner...
- Yeah. For sure. - This is amazing.
Yeah. We definitely... We definitely work well
together in the kitchen, so now we'll kind of
see how this works outside the kitchen.
Will the chemistry continue?
I know. The future will tell.
And that means, Chef Terence Harvey
and Chef Camerron Dangerfield,
you are the Chopped champions.
You survived your first date and you won $10,000.
Congratulations. Good stuff.
[applause]
Oh, my goodness.
- Oh, wow. - We're excited.
You did it. We did it.
That was good. That was good.
I think we are the dream team.
[Terence] We are the dream team, yeah.
[Camerron] I'm pretty excited.
Well, I didn't come in here expecting to meet someone
like that actually vibe with,
that I wanna see myself with in the future,
but I did.
We could end up married.
The future will hold.
The future will hold, yeah.
We did it. That was good. That was good.