- Whoa! Oh. - Hello.
- That smells terrible. - Y'all, this is money.
[Antonia] Fire.
- Coming through. - Come on, y'all, let's keep our heads in the game, go.
Don't look at the clock, just keep rocking.
- How're you feeling about the basket? - No idea.
[Sterling] ♪ Mole, mole way ♪
With the pipes over there.
- The sauce is phenomenal. - [Chris] It's a flavor bomb.
Incredible. Love, love, love that.
[Sterling] I've gotta bring this win home for my family.
- [Ted] Three, two, one. - Coming down.
Time's up.
[Sterling] I'm just built for this. I'm a beast. I'm a monster.
[Kayla] I'm a goal-orientated person and my goal is to bring home the prize.
[Joshua] I come with a lot of personality and I'm pretty loud in the kitchen.
[Halee] People are intimidat by my quietness and I feel like that's an advantage.
I'm Sterling Buckley, Executive chef of Honey Salt in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The food I like to cook is definitely farm fresh produce,
the highest quality meats, fish.
Love competition, I'm a natural born competitor.
I call myself Chef Mamba. I'm mentally tough, I'm physically tough.
What I have to say to my competitors is, "Which one of y'all's coming second?"
[upbeat music playing]
[Kayla] I like to cook discomfort food.
I like to put a twist on the classics.
Everyone loves a fried chicken sandwich, but
I'm gonna make you a cauliflower fried chicken sandwich
and you wouldn't even be abl to tell that it's not chicke
I've always been the underdo I was a teen mom.
And single mom.
I had a lot of odds against in the kitchen, but
I have an amazing daughter who is my fuel
to do everything I do in life and do it well.
[upbeat music playing]
[Joshua] I really don't believe in multivitamins.
A good steak in the morning is pretty much the only multivitamin I need.
Little salt, little pepper, nice sear and that's all you gotta do for it.
So, my mom is from Costa Ric so I grew up with a lot of
Latin American influences.
Gallo pinto, arroz con pollo, crispy rice at the bottom is my go to.
I'm coming in full boar, no mercy.
[engine roaring]
[Halee] My name is Halee Raf I'm the chef owner of Hardbitten, Chicago, Illinois.
Hardbitten is a private che catering business.
Always have been a savory chef.
After I lost my job, I started making pastas and raviolis for people
and it just kind of escalate from there.
If I win the $10,000, it is going into my business
We are doing so well and I don't plan to slow down.
- Hello, chefs. - [all] Hello.
There are three rounds. Mandatory mystery ingredients for each--
[pots and pans banging]
That was probably my fault. Well, actually the table could be steadier.
[all laughing]
All right. The judging criteria are presentation, taste and creativity.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
- Not happening today. - Nope.
- Nope, no, sir. - Let's get to it.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Ted] Open them up.
And maybe you're happy to see an alligator tenderloin.
Hell no.
That works for me.
[Ted] You've also got edamame.
Yeah.
[Ted] Carbonated candy.
I've never had it.
Carbonated candy just sounds like my childhood. A lot, a lot of sugar.
Bone chocolate?
[Ted] And chocolate bone broth.
- That chocolate bone broth. - Chocolate bone broth.
Twenty minutes to get your best work to the plates.
[thrilling music playing]
Clock starts now.
- Go. - Behind.
[all cheering]
[upbeat music playing]
Maneet, Chris you're joined by a very special guest judge
visionary restauranteur, Antonia Lofaso.
I am so excited that this is my first time in the Chopped kitchen.
I've competed so I've been on that side of the table,
but never been on this side of the table before.
Isn't it so much easier being on this side?
- So much easier. - [Chris] Way better, yep.
Alligator tenderloin, quite the way to kick off this competition.
Man, alligator's fun.
[Ted] What's the trick to this protein?
Because it doesn't have any fat, it is not a forgiving cut of meat.
[Maneet] So, if you cook it for too long then it's going to be very stringy.
All right, here we go.
Ooh, alligator tenderloin. I like.
[Joshua] I've eaten alligator tenderloin quite a bit.
So, to make sure that I impart a lot of flavor
I think the chocolate bone broth would work well as a rub.
I'm making a alligator tenderloin with a bone broth and carbonated candy rub
and a ajo blanco sauce.
Joshua, you gonna get it all done in time?
- I'll get it all done with more time. - All right.
- Halee, how're you feeling about the basket? - Not awful.
- Not awful. Okay. - [Maneet] That's a good reaction.
I know that alligator's a bit bland.
So I wanna infuse as much flavor as I can into it.
So, I used crushed pink peppercorns to coat it
I'm gonna make a pink peppercorn crusted alligato
with a chocolate beef bone broth sauce
and carbonated candy red onion pickle.
After high school, my parent told me I needed to go to college
and I said I'd go to culinary school.
[Antonia] Fire.
[Halee] And in seven years I have worked my way up as an executive chef.
And now a business owner of my own company.
Come on, y'all, let's keep our heads in the game, let's go.
Let's go, let's go.
So, let's talk about that, chocolate bone broth is really a powder.
It's dehydrated bone broth, but it's unsweetened which is really important to know.
So, it's very much like a bitter cocoa powder.
Uh, that smells terrible.
You could do a chipotle sauce with some cocoa nuts in it.
Sterling, you got a good dish in mind? You think you're gonna conquer this alligator?
Yeah, so first thing I thought came to mind...
kind of funky play on mole to kick this basket's [bleep].
I'm making pan roasted alligator tenderloin with a chocolate bone broth mole
and fried edamame with carbonated candy.
All right, bone broth, let's see.
For my chocolate bone broth mole, I'm gonna toast it with some spices. Come on, girl.
Cooking is 100% my passion 'cause I get to share it with the world.
Never worked with alligator before. But if I just think logically like a chef,
I got this.
Just like my childhood, this is time.
Oh, it is.
The carbonated candy, it's pretty much sugar.
So, if you go ahead and melt it, you can use the sweetness of it,
but the fun part about the carbonated candy is
as soon as you put it in your mouth and just let it sit,
it starts popping all over. It's like popcorn.
And it is so fun.
Off to a great start. Here we go.
I feel very confident seein those basket ingredients.
And we're here.
My mom's side of the family is Filipino
which is where I get a lot of my Asian influence from.
All right, gonna cut these small so they cook faster.
So, I'm thinking wontons.
I'm going to make an alligat edamame stuffed wonton
with a chocolate bone broth curry sauce.
Nice low heat, just a touch of this guy.
I add garlic chili sauce, edamame in there.
And I'm hoping the carbonated candy will add some sweetness to balance out the heat.
So sweet. Ah!
Chefs, less than 15 minutes left.
[Halee] I'm gonna take the chocolate bone broth and make a sauce out of it
by adding a lot of butter and a lot of beef stock
to add some fat to the alligator because it's very lean.
I grab my filling and I start prepping my wontons.
I think Kayla is taking a big risk.
She has the alligator tenderloin, the carbonated candy and the edamame.
That is 75% of her basket on that wonton.
I have everything.
[Joshua] What really inspire my first love of cooking wa cooking for my family.
Both my mom and my grandma are from Costa Rica.
That definitely influenced my cooking.
Arroz con pollo is my favorite.
My grandma knows it. She saves me my crispy rice at the bottom.
I really want to give myself a crunch component to my dish.
- Running down behind. Behind. - [Sterling] Oh, yeah.
[Joshua] So, I'm deep frying my edamame with some shallots.
Behind.
Edamame, I'm thinking to myself texture. Coming behind, behind, behind.
Take the edamame beans and I kind of make like a funky little batter
and I throw some carbonated candy in there. That way I can get these in the fryer.
-Yo, whose shallots? -That's me, bud. Yeah, we're fine.
When I look over I see both Sterling and Joshua are in the fryer.
There is actually a fryer pile up happening.
- [Kayla] Is anyone using that fryer? - I could pull it out.
I start getting nervous because I don't have a lot of time left.
I've gotta get these in the fryer.
Five minutes to go, chefs.
Oh, my God. Don't look at the clock, just keep rocking.
[Joshua] I'll take both those.
There is actually a fryer pile up happening.
[Kayla] Both Sterling and Joshua are in the fryer.
And I'm getting very nervous 'cause I don't have a lot of time to cook these wontons.
Is anyone using that fryer?
- [Joshua] We got one basket available. - One basket available?
[Joshua] Right behind.
Josh finishes up using the basket.
I just hope my wontons will cook in time.
- So, the carbonated candy is inside those wontons? - Yeah.
Isn't that gonna make it go... [imitates explosion]
I like want a bucket of popcorn and I wanna go to the fryer
and I wanna watch the carbonated candy
- go into the fryer. - Coming through.
After searing my alligator, I'm flambeeing it in tequila
in order to add a little bit of acidity to the dish.
- Ooh, hello. - [Antonia] Whoa. Fire.
[Joshua] Nearly lost my bear with those flames shooting u
[Antonia] There is some like not good caramelization
that's happening on that alligator right there.
[dramatic music playing]
Coming down, down. My bad.
[Halee] I strain the beef bo sauce into the bowl with edamame and orange
and I think it'll pair well with the alligator.
Behind.
♪ Mole mole way ♪
With the pipes over there.
I need to go ahead blend this mole, get this going.
Chefs, presentation counts.
All right, let's see if you're ready baby.
I slice the alligator and I'm like, "Yo, this is money."
This is super juicy. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
There's not a lot of time.
Coming through behind.
So I grab my wontons out of the fryer and they're looking great.
I've got this good golden brown and I'm feeling really good about it.
- Turns out 20 minutes is not long at all. Ten. - Wrap it up, wrap it up.
[Ted] Nine, eight, seven,
- six, five, four, three, two, one. - [Antonia] Come on, Josh.
- Time's up. - [Chris whooping]
[sighing]
[Sterling] I'm feeling good about this. Definitely got t flavors down with my sauce.
My tenderloin looks good.
For appetizers, it felt just like a warm-up.
Definitely feel like I'm ready for more.
[instrumental music playing]
[Ted] Chefs, you've arrived at the chopping block.
In your first basket, alligator tenderloin, edamame,
carbonated candy and chocolate bone broth.
Chef Kayla, you're up first. What have you made for us?
Today I made for you an alligator and edamame wonton
with a chocolate bone broth curry sauce.
[suspenseful music playing]
- Kayla, this is delicious. - Thank you.
[Maneet] The fact that you've done this curry in 20 minutes is amazing
and I think that is such a smart utilization
of the chocolate bone broth powder.
It's a great, great idea.
The carbonated candy in the filling I think that was absolutely incredible.
- Very smart. - Thank you.
Chef Kayla, first and foremost, the presentation is gorgeous.
I mean, really thoughtful. I think the biggest issue is that filling.
Unfortunately, the pieces of alligator that I got inside of there were overcooked.
[Chris] You know, there were definitely some issues.
Some bites you get edamame, some bites you get alligator, some bites you get nothing.
You know what I mean. But this curry is great.
I clearly enjoyed it. I don't usually finish my plate.
Thank you, Chef.
All right, Chef Kayla, thank you.
Next up, Chef Joshua. Please tell us about your starter.
So what I've prepared for you is a chocolate bone and strawberry rub alligator loin.
On the bottom, you're gonna have an ajo blanco sauce.
How did you cook the alligator?
I seared it in a pan, hit it with tequila,
used that as a deglaze rather than white wine.
I can tell right off the bat that you're a very thoughtful cook.
Ajo blanco's a really good foil for alligator in general.
Issue's really with the alligator.
You served me the whole tenderloin. These are not gonna cook the same.
So this is very well done and this is six times beyond that well done.
Okay.
Yeah, if this alligator was fried
and you did that edamame frisée salad on top of that sauce,
it would've been a home run.
Joshua, the edamame and shallots, that combination with frisée
is one of my favorite bites.
- [Maneet] It's simple, but very, very thoughtful. - All right, thank you.
What would it mean to you to win our competition?
You know, it'd mean a lot to me, um...
You know, I've been cooking now professionally for about ten years and
putting in the long hours.
And winning Chopped will give me some validation.
This would be a huge boost to my confidence and moving forward with my career.
Chef Joshua, thank you. Next up, Chef Halee. Please tell us about your appetizer.
So, I did a pink peppercorn crusted alligator
and a chocolate beef bone broth sauce
with candied pickled red onions.
[Ted] Halee, where do you work?
During the economic downturn, I lost my position as an executive
and I started just cooking and delivering my food to people.
And it grew into a full blown business. I am now a private chef caterer
and a wholesale baker.
- Congratulations. - [Halee] Thank you.
[Antonia] So, Chef Halee.
What I love so much is that you chose to make a sauce that's very rich.
I love that combination of this lean protein with that dark, rich beefy sauce.
But I know it's like a common denominator all day today,
- um, is the alligator's overcooked. - Okay.
Um, to me I think that chocolate bone broth flavor
is overpowering everything on this plate
without some spices balancing it off.
But using that carbonated candy for a pickle is such a great idea.
It's fresh and it's incredible.
- Love, love, love that. - Thank you, chef.
Maneet's right. I think you leaned way too into the chocolate bone broth.
But my alligator's quite good. It's cooked just, just right.
[Halee] Thank you, chef.
All right, we go now to Chef Sterling. Please tell us about your dish.
I made a pan roasted alligator tenderloin with chocolate mole bone broth
and a fried battered edamame bean with the carbonated candy inside of it.
I love the utilization of the chocolate bone broth in this like mole inspired sauce.
The alligator tenderloin is cooked beautifully.
Just to the right degree of doneness.
But I think frying the edamame it took away from that
beautiful freshness that edamame has.
My alligator is well cooked, it's delicious.
But I feel like it needs something to tie it together.
You know, staying true to the roots of the mole inspiration
maybe a tostada or a little mini taco or something.
The sauce is phenomenal. But I do think it needs some acid.
Because I think that it needs some brightness to it.
- I put lemon to try to-- - There is-- I felt that on the edamame,
um, but the batter kind of soaked it up.
But I think this is like the best cooked alligator actually that we've had today.
Thank you. Thank you very much, chefs.
You guys did a great job.
- Yeah. Oh, my God, yeah. - [all] Thank you, chefs.
[Chris] That's a solid first round.
Which makes our life very difficult.
[Sterling] The judges said my edamame was a little sogg
That kind of makes me feel a little worried,
but I think that one thing I got going for me
is I think I cooked my alligator the best.
[Kayla] I think it's gonna be a pretty close call,
but I'm hoping my bone chocolate broth
curry sauce is gonna take the show.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Halee,
you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Halee, this was a tough one for us,
because all four of the chefs came out swinging,
um, including yourself.
Unfortunately, the alligator was very, very badly
over cooked on two of the judges' plates.
And that chocolate bone broth sauce
ended up being bitter and over taking your dish.
And so, we had to chop you.
Thank you.
- [Ted] Thank you for being with us, chef. - [Maneet] Thank you.
See you around, girl.
Keep your head up.
[Halee] The hardest part about this moment
is being the first one to go
I really wanted to show the judges
what I was capable of.
I'm just gonna continue working,
and keep up my business,
and keep my cooks happy.
Chef Kayla, Joshua, Chef Sterling,
let's see what the baskets have in store for you.
Open them up.
Hoo. Ha-ha, very nice.
Froggy, froggy.
[Ted] And you've got frog legs.
Cute little frog legs.
I've never cooked with frog legs,
and I see a lot of tiny bones.
Got some nice greens.
[Ted] Chinese broccoli.
Church... church...
What is... churkhela?
[Ted] Uh, churchkhela.
They look like wasabi waffles if anything.
[Ted] And matcha waffles.
Thirty-minute entree round.
- It starts now. - [clapping]
- Go, go, chefs. - All right, let's do it.
[Antonia] Go, go, go!
Judges, now that we're getting to know
these chefs a little bit more, what are you expecting
from them in this entree round?
Hoping that they've learned from the first round
that the protein cannot be over cooked.
[Joshua] Right behind.
[Maneet] And we've given them another protein, the frog legs
which can so easily be over cooked
because it has no fat on it.
[Joshua] I've worked with frog legs a couple of times before.
They taste like chicken. [chuckles]
First round the judges said my alligator was over cooked
So I'm going to deep fry the frog legs
in order to ensure a plump cook and
keep all the juices in.
I'm making a crispy fried frog leg,
with a warm Chinese broccoli salad
So I take the matcha waffles with panko,
then put them in the food processor and grind them up.
And incorporate it into an outside crust for the frog legs.
I have never worked with these before.
Coming from a Filipino background,
I definitely like to incorporate
a lot of Asian flavors into my cuisine.
Oh, my goodness.
I'm making a frog leg bahn mi
with a churchkhela and matcha waffle pate.
I just want the meat, just give me the meat.
Separating the meat from the bones of these frog legs
is taking me so much longer than I thought.
Get off.
[Maneet] I am getting really worried.
- Kayla? - Yes?
Will you be able to finish the frog legs?
[Kayla] I will.
Going to pan sear them, and think I'm gonna go bahn mi.
Which is my favorite thing in the world, if anyone knows.
It's essentially served on a rice flour baguette,
usually as some sort of pate.
[Joshua] Coming down behind.
All right.
These matcha waffles, they're flavored with green tea powder,
and it gives it the lovely tea anti-oxidant flavor.
[Sterling] All right, baby.
I'm looking at these waffles They're kind of a funky colo
And I'm thinking to myself, "What else would you do
but kind of put a play on fried chicken and waffles?"
The dish for my entree
is fried frog legs and waffles.
Coming down.
My wife would say
I'm a very hard-working person,
and she would say that
almost sometimes all I do is work.
Uh, come on, baby.
But I try my best to be the greatest that I can be
because it really means a lot to me.
I vacuum seal the frog legs in buttermilk and soy sauce
and I got some deep flavor in there.
Chefs, less than 20 minutes to go.
- Twenty, heard. - [Sterling] Yeah.
[Joshua] As I'm breading my frog legs,
I noticed that the breading isn't sticking as well as I want it to.
Oh, come on, stick for me, baby.
[Chris] Joshua is trying to bread his frog legs
with the matcha waffle flour, but it's not really working.
[Joshua] Oh, come on.
What he should do right now
is to do the three-step breading process.
If he had gotten egg and flour to the party,
it would've not been a problem at all.
Are you going fryer right now?
- You heard. - [Joshua] Heard that.
I... have no idea...
Oh, my God. What are you?
This churchkhela is an ingredient
which is found in Middle East.
-Oh, yeah. -[Maneet] So, it's basically fruits
which have been reduced and almost made in form of fruit leather,
and then nuts are encased in that
and then it is just allowed to hang.
Ugh, it's the hardest like...
A bahn mi's pate is traditionally made with liver mousse.
But I'm gonna make my version of it
with the nuts from the churchkhela,
mushrooms, some lime juice,
and the matcha waffle.
I had my daughter... I just had turned 19 years old.
Having been in this industr for 16 years,
and all of my daughter's life, you miss out a lot.
I wanna win Chopped because this is an opportunity to show
that all these hard working hours,
and all the time that I've missed,
it pays off.
[Joshua] I cut into the churchkhela,
and I think would work good in a sauce
because of its sugary qualities,
as well of its nutty qualities.
[Sterling] Come on, baby.
As soon as Sterling's done in the fryer,
I'm able to get my frog legs in.
Let's see what this thing does.
I bite into the churchkhela,
and it tastes like, kind of like licorice.
I'm like, "Yo, I'm gonna try to make a pickling liquid out of this."
For my broccoli greens.
I love Chinese broccoli.
- Really? - Yeah,
it's my number one order whenever I order
from my favorite Chinese restaurant in LA.
It's beautifully bitter.
But really it has like an asparagus base.
That's why I love it. And so when you bite into it,
there is like, so much texture.
[Joshua] With my warm Chinese broccoli salad,
I'm starting out with some onions, garlic,
and brussels sprouts. The flavors are there.
Everything's kind of hitting on notes I want to hit on this plate.
Chefs, less than five minutes to go.
Okay.
Every bahn mi has pickled vegetables,
so I know with the Chinese broccoli,
I need to pickle the stems.
All right.
And shift them out of the leaves.
[sighs wearily]
I'm getting really concerned about Joshua,
all the matcha crumbs
that he had around the frog legs,
it's all fallen off.
Thirty seconds.
Got you.
[Joshua] I decided to take the breading that had falle off my frog legs,
and use it as a garnish on top of my plate.
Get everything on there, chefs.
Ten, nine...
- [Antonia] Let's go, chefs. - eight,
- seven, six... - [Chris] Gotta move.
four,
- three, two... - [Antonia] Let's go.
one.
- Time's up. - [Maneet] Whoa!
- [clapping] - All right.
[Sterling] Good for you.
[Joshua] Kayla and Sterling their food looks great.
Biggest thing was using those matcha waffles.
My crust didn't stick to my frog legs like I wanted to,
but I hope they see that, you know, my flavors are more balanced.
Chefs, you are back at the chopping block
to present entrees made with frog legs,
Chinese broccoli,
churchkhela,
and matcha waffles.
Chef Joshua, please tell us about your entree.
All right, chefs, so, what I have for you
is a crispy fried frog leg,
a warm Chinese broccoli salad
with veal demi and churchkhela ginger sauce
[Chris] So, Josh, first and foremost,
it's a flavor bomb.
Um, I really, really, really love
the sauté of that Chinese broccoli,
and the heat that you brought in from the sambal.
Your frogs leg is cooked perfectly, it's super juicy,
but you're attempt with the matcha waffle didn't work.
The breading that fell off the fried frogs legs
- sucked a whole lot of oil. - Soaking it.
It just reads now as really greasy.
I agree with Chris,
but to take that churchkhel and to make it into the sauc
and to balance it out with the spice, great idea.
Thank you.
Chef Joshua, I think what you just did so masterfully
is the heat and the sweet and the acid all together.
I'm taking issue with not featuring the Chinese broccoli,
especially if you're going in the sort of ginger,
you know, fish sauce, Asian direction.
I understand. Thank you.
[Ted] Okay, Chef Joshua, thank you.
Next up, Chef Sterling. Please tell us about your entree.
Uh, what I got here is fried frog legs and waffles.
I made like a gochujang sauce to go with it.
Pickled Chinese broccoli stems,
and then braised Chinese broccoli greens.
[Antonia] Um, Chef Sterling,
I'm like, discovering this dish as I eat it
- more. - There's a lot going on.
[Antonia] I take a little bit of that frog leg,
I dip into your gochujang,
I eat it with the crispy waffle, and I have one experience,
and then all of a sudden I'm in... braised Chinese broccoli land
with some bacon, and then the pickled Chinese broccoli stems.
I absolutely love it, but I do think
the frog leg is a little dry.
The Chinese broccoli is delicious,
the pickled stems are probably my favorite thing.
But, look, I don't think it needs the bacon.
There's just maybe one or two extra ingredients
that don't need to be here.
Sterling, I think this dish could have used editing.
But the use of the churchkhela
in the pickling liquid is a fantastic idea.
Thank you.
So, 10K, you got any thoughts on what you might do with that?
My family... my family's the world to me,
that's why actually they're on my socks. Uh...
[Antonia] I wasn't sure if those were tattoos.
- Yes, I was... - [Sterling] Everybody can see.
But, no, it's not. It's my wife, kids, my dog,
and, uh, coming here doing Chopped, it's all for them.
My kids, and my wife always travel without me.
I'm always working, I'm always...
always having to sacrifice that,
so, I would like to actually be with them this time,
and go have a good time with them.
Chef Sterling, thank you.
Finally, Chef Kayla.
Chefs, today I brought to you my personal favorite
sandwich in the entire world.
A frog leg bahn mi,
with a matcha waffle and churchkhela pate
with pickled broccoli stem.
[Chris] Um, the cook on the frog legs is good.
The pickling of the Chinese broccoli to replace
the pickled daikon radish is really smart.
I really appreciate that you made something
to replace the traditional liver mousse.
And I think that was really, really smart place
to put the churchkhela specifically.
Uh, the bad news is like, I can't detect the waffle at all.
Kayla, you broke down the frog legs.
I mean, just for that hats off.
I think the one suggestion would be like, in a bahn mi.
The reason why a pate is put,
is to give creaminess to the bread, right?
And I don't think that the waffle and churchkhela
gave that creaminess.
Chef Kayla, what really impresses me about this dish
is all of the work that went into this.
And all very, very thoughtful.
But I don't know if it eats like an entree,
I want more of the frog legs, more of all that vegetation.
Heard. Thank you, chef.
Okay, strategizing about the dessert round
would be smart now, because who knows? You might be cooking it in.
[Kayla] I definitely took a risk making a bahn mi,
but I did make a unique dish.
So I'm hoping that that's enough to carry me over.
Who is moving on to the third and final round?
And who's dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Joshua, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Joshua, you added that beautiful matcha waffle
as a batter to the frog leg. Um, it felt hard.
And we really wish that you highlighted the Chinese broccoli more.
And so we had to chop you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Goodbye, chefs.
I don't like to lose, so for me losing, it's gonna be hard on me.
But I know what my talents are,
I know who I am as a chef,
so, definitely I'm gonna move on and hopefully you guys ask me back for another show.
Chef Kayla, Chef Sterling,
whose name is going on that $10,000 check?
It's Kayla Robison.
I beg to differ, I think it's gonna be Sterling Buckley.
All right, let's turn and see what you got here.
Open up your dessert baskets.
Okay.
[Ted] And we want you to end the meal on a sweet note
with dishes that include fruit cereal.
Fruit cereal? Okay.
I can rock with that. I eat that for dinner a lot.
Pinecone bud syrup.
[Ted] Pinecone bud syrup.
- Heard that. - All right.
[Ted] Lemons.
Mushrooms fla...
what?
[Ted] And mushroom flavored candy canes.
Thirty minutes restored to the clock.
Time starts now.
[judges cheering]
- [hooting and cheering] - [Antonia] Good luck, chefs.
Judges, what ingredient in this basket
are you most psyched to see?
I would have to say the mushroom candy cane.
I'm kind of into it.
There's something like, very like, woodsy,
something very hay-ey about it.
But in a dessert round they're problematic
because the shitake mushroom flavor is very strong.
Y'all, that's terrible.
[Chris] But you never know what to expect in the dessert round,
but both of these chefs have been on point all day.
Right from the appetizer round.
[Sterling] Right behind.
It's been anybody's, "Chopped" to win.
[Sterling] Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients.
I put it in everything. I love acidity.
So first thing that comes to my mind
is a lemon meringue pie.
The dish I'm gonna make is a mushroom candy meringu
in a fruit cereal crust.
I'm gonna make a curd with the pine bud syrup and the lemons.
My biggest concern is making sure that
the lemon curd is nice and chilled.
And that it sets properly.
I'm separating my egg yolks and my egg whites.
One, my egg yolks for the curd,
and my egg whites for the meringue.
You tried these mushroom candy canes yet?
[Sterling] Mushroom candy canes,
you excited about that too?
Fourth a cup, half a cup.
[Kayla] Heading into this round with Sterling,
I've got a tough competitio
but my dessert is inspired by my daughter
and our mornings, eating cereal,
and our dinners, eating cereal.
So I'm making a fruit cereal cake topped with a lemon ganache
So the first thing I need to get started on
is making this cake batter.
50% flour, 50% cereal.
And I'm making a lemon white chocolate ganache,
because I think it's gonna really add the acidity to the cake.
Just less than 20 minutes left on that clock.
Heard.
Judges, what do you think the biggest challenge in this basket is?
The artificial flavors from that fruit cereal--
And colors.
You have to select one color,
and not blend it with any other color
or the color that you result with is gonna be hideous.
[Sterling] My family is definitely, I feel like they're right
on my shoulders, and they're like...
they're right there with me like, saying, like, "Yo, Dad, let's go."
Chef Sterling.
- [Sterling] Yes. - [Antonia] How's it going over there?
What are you gonna do with the fruit cereal?
[Sterling] The fruit cereal, I'm gonna make a little crust at the bottom.
- There you go, Chris. - There you go.
[Antonia] Excellent.
[Sterling] I look at the cur it's not setting.
Come on, baby.
This lemon curd is way too loose.
So I got to get this into the blast chiller,
so I can get it to set faster.
Chill out.
What do you taste like, buddy?
[Maneet] So this pinecone bud syrup
is made with taking the tiny pinecone buds,
and then soaking it in syrup for a year.
That's how it gets all the flavor.
- It tastes almost like a burnt caramel. - Yes.
[Kayla] I've never heard of pinecone syrup in my life
It taste very piney and sweet.
I'm using the mushroom candy canes
because I know that that mushroom flavor's so strong
and the sauce, that's gonna be sweet.
And I'm going to pair it with a strawberry jam to kin add some extra sweetness
and cut down on that pine flavor.
Chef, ten minutes left.
- [Kayla] Heard. - Behind you.
Heard it. I opened up the blast,
I look in there and I'm like "Come on, talk to me."
Sterling's looking very intently at the clock.
It'll come down to the wire. Let's go.
I'm looking at this lemon curd and I'm like,
"Yo, it's not setting up fast at all."
It is not thick enough. I got to come up with a Plan B.
I'm gonna add mascarpone to this curd.
That way it sets and has a nice stiff texture
It's nice and creamy and smooth.
Chef, you might be in trouble.
Ooh!
Chefs, just four minutes left here.
We gonna have to go, baby.
[Kayla] This dessert needs some sort of...
ice cream or whipped cream component.
And I don't have enough tim to whip up whipped cream.
So I whipped up mascarpone with a little bit of the pinecone syrup
and the cereal dust.
[Sterling] I still got to torch this meringue, so I really got to hustle.
Oh, my gosh!
I got to get color on it.
He's got to brûlée that or otherwise, we have raw meringue.
-[Chris] Oh, boy. It's a lot of meringue. -[Antonia] Yeah.
- Come on. - Need to brûlée that.
[Antonia] Get that on.
[Ted] He needs to bust a move fast.
All right, chefs. Final seconds to the final round.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
- Time's up. - Good job.
[clapping]
[Sterling] That came down to the wire,
but I feel like I've put up some really strong.
I feel like, I'm still gonna take the W at the end of the day.
[Ted] Chef Sterling, Chef Kayla.
You had 30 minutes to crank out desserts using fruit cereal,
pinecone bud syrup, lemons and mushroom flavored candy canes.
Chef Sterling, what have you made?
Chefs, in front of you, I have a, uh,
kind of a play on a lemon meringue pie.
We have is a lemon mascarpone. On top is a meringue
with mushroom candy canes in it and at the bottom is the fruit cereal crust.
Sterling, love the idea.
The mascarpone and the lemon curd
mixture that you have is light, it's fluffy and it is not overly sweet.
The pinecone bud syrup was amazing.
The crust at the base in terms of appearance,
because there was so many of these really
bold colors in the cereal,
I don't think that that was a great way to use that.
I actually just think that, what this is missing a lot of is texture.
So I would've loved to have sort of that
Graham crackers crust texture at the bottom
using the cereal, I think would've been really exceptional.
[Chris] Like all of your food today,
um, great creative ideas and um,
always you give us something that's really delicious.
But the meringue, we've got raw egg whites in front of us,
so we can't eat it, and so I can't...
really evaluate the usage of the mushroom candy cane, which is a bummer.
Okay. Chef Sterling, thank you.
Chef Kayla, please tell us about your dessert.
Chefs, today I've made for you, fruit cereal cake.
Topped with a lemon ganache
and a strawberry pinecone bud syrup sauce.
And the mushroom flavored candy cane?
Is a caramel that I drizzled on top.
I added it also to the mascarpone.
I think this cake is spectacular. I think it's really great, it's fun.
It's cooked perfectly. It's got a great spongy texture, it's sweet, but...
I thought I didn't liked the lemon ganache.
It's not that I don't like the lemon ganache,
it's that I don't like the lemon ganache
and the mushroom together.
[Maneet] I think if you had kept it simple, just whipped cream
with the lemon in it,
it would've been absolutely spectacular.
Because you put lemon along with white chocolate,
it took away from that light freshness
and it made everything too sweet.
But overall, I think your utilization of the fruit cereal is fantastic.
Thank you, chef.
[Antonia] Chef Kayla, I think
you have the best use of that pinecone bud syrup,
because it's really, really fantastic in the strawberry.
Thank you, chef.
All right. Please stand by for the reveal of the next Chopped champion.
Thank you, chefs.
Judges, we have to go all the way back to alligator tenderloin
and matcha waffles to figure this out.
Chef Sterling, in that first round cooked perfect alligator.
[Maneet] But the deep fried edamame,
I think he brought it down a notch by trying to batter fry it
with a batter which was very soggy.
Kayla, gave us these delicious wontons
with a coconut bone broth curry sauce which was delicious.
[Antonia] Unfortunately, the pieces of alligator that I got inside of there,
some were very, very small and overcooked
and others were very, very large and overcooked.
Kayla made a banh mi in the entree round which made me very happy.
I think she did a really admirable job with the basket ingredients
And then making them work in a banh mi.
That being said, it just need 80% more filling.
It needed more frog legs, it needed more vegetables.
I feel like Chef Sterling in the second round,
the entire dish it was like every time I took a bite,
there was a new discovery of something.
But I got all the bacon,
I got all the mustard,
there were too many ingredients on that.
The question is, Did Chef Sterling's creativity outweigh Kayla's flavors?
It's going to be a tough decision.
[Kayla] I want this so badl
and bringing this home to my daughter and to my family,
I know this is gonna be the most proud they've ever been.
[Sterling] I definitely feel confident
I want to be able to go home and hug my kids and hug my wife.
And tell them, "Yo! I came home with the victory."
[Ted] So whose dish
is on the chopping block?
Chef Sterling, you've been chopped. Judges?
[Maneet] Sterling, I can't tell you how impressed
we've been by your cooking techniques
and the flavors that you have created.
But in the dessert round,
the fruit cereal base lacked the texture
and the meringue was not cooked.
And so, we had to chop you.
Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you.
[Maneet] Thank you. Thank you, chef.
- Great job. - Thank you.
[Sterling] I am a little disappointed.
The win would've meant a lot to me, but hey, I feel like I still walk away a winner.
My family's still gonna be very proud of me.
And that means, Chef Kayla Robison,
you are the Chopped champion.
- Congratulations. - [Antonia] Whoo!
- [all applauding] - [Maneet] Whoo!
- Wow! - [applauding]
Honored to have had this experience.
And even more honored to bring this home to my kid.
It's like, so cool.
This has been many years of hard work
and long hours to get to this point.
-Great job. Congratulations. -Thank you.
Telling my daughter that I won
is going to be one of the top moments in my career.
- [cheering] - [clapping]