You are here for our Takeout Takedown.
There's no more rules to what takeout is.
Who does bone marrow takeout?
Anything can be takeout, even alcohol.
About time to take a sip of that negroni.
Sign me up for that.
What is happening with the time?
- Chefs, you need to get on the plate. - Guys, you got to finish,
- you got to finish. - [Joseph] My nerves are running really high.
Come on, cook for me, baby.
That should be in the oven right now.
Oh, my gosh.
[Ted] Four, three,
two, one,
time's up.
Yes! I am the takeout queen.
[Kyndra] Definitely more of a fine dining thing now.
I'm here to take down the takeout takedown.
[Dylan] I don't let things slide at all,
so I've been called a bully a little bit.
I'm the founder of Brown Bag Seafood Company
It's called Brown Bag because we make high quality food
in to-go boxes every day, every minute.
My father is Korean and my mom is Italian,
and so I love the bold flavors from Asian cuisine
and those homey, comfortabl flavors from Italian.
I'm definitely wired to win
and when I put on that blue bandana,
I'm ready to go to war.
[Kyndra] I am half Panamanian,
so my food is Latin island fusion
and lots of spice.
Takeout has changed a lot.
Before you would get greasy pizza,
but now we do a shrimp bowl
where it's black rice with colorful cauliflower.
With my passion, nothing can get in my way.
This is what I love to do.
I'm really excited.
[Dylan] I was born and raised in Honolulu,
and I was trained in Sydney, Australia.
I love international cuisines,
and I have very high standards,
especially when it comes to plating.
I was a Division I wrestler,
so competition is just in my blood.
As a competitor, you wanna face the best.
I really hope that they've scoured the Earth
to find people that can come beat me.
[Joseph] I've seen a lot of things that I'm equipped
to deal with whatever's thrown at me.
My background is in fine dining,
and now I make traditional Filipino food to go.
The food is very bright, funky, sour.
Takeout is what we do every day
at a high volume in a demanding environment,
so I firmly believe that I could be the next Chopped champion.
[Kyndra] This is it.
[Joseph] I wish I didn't get nervous, but I am.
[Kyndra] I know.
- Hello, chefs. - Good morning.
You are here for our takeout takedown.
- [Donna] All right. - [Dylan] Yeah, all right.
You'll be giving traditional takeout foods an upgrade,
showing us how far we can go with dinner to-go.
- It's what I do. - [Dylan] All right.
No problem.
Appetizer baskets.
Please open them up.
- What the [bleep]? - Wow.
[Ted] What will you create with Detroit-style pizza?
Wow, pizza.
[Ted] Broccoli-rabe...
ground turkey...
Ground turkey. Okay, word.
[Ted] ...and roasted bone marrow with shallot jam.
Who does bone marrow takeout?
[Amanda laughs]
I don't feel great about it,
and I look to the left and I see,
we're all kind of lost in the sauce here.
No idea what I'm gonna do.
Twenty minutes to crush the first round.
Clock starts now.
- [Dylan] All right. - [Amanda]
- Let's go. - [Kyndra] Behind, behind.
Amanda, Chris, you are joined by a special guest judge,
visionary restaurateur Antonia Lofaso.
- Welcome, Antonia. - Thanks.
Judges, recent events have accelerated the evolution
of takeout food. And now to-go diners
have sky high expectations.
- [Antonio] 100%. - [Chris] Absolutely.
-[Amanda] Absolutely. -[Chris] Everyone's... everyone's offering it,
from your classic fast food joints
to your upscale restaurants,
and I think it's kind of funny that, you know,
when they opened the baskets, Jo said,
"Who serves bone marrow for takeout?"
That dish is actually a dish from my menu.
It's a huge delivery favorite.
[Antonia] Yeah. I... I want to be in my pajamas watching
bad medical dramas,
- eating your bone marrow and shallot thing. - [Chris] Well, thank you.
What we're looking for today is a nod to takeout food
that's still something fun and something comforting,
- but it has to be elevated, right? - [Ted] Yeah.
[Joseph] Okay, I have no ide what I'm gonna do.
Bone marrow is this luxurious thing,
it's roasted femur bone of a cow,
and I see the ground turkey
and my brain said to make sisig.
Sisig is a traditional Filipino dish
typically done with the cook meat that's been diced fine
So I start seasoning it with the fish sauce
and shallot jam,
and mayonnaise is a common ingredient used in sisig.
I use the bone marrow and I mix that into the mayonnaise.
[Donna] Happy to see this.
I definitely want to show that takeout doesn't have to be heavy and greasy,
so I'm making a roasted broccoli rabe salad
with a bone marrow turkey satay.
We are gonna need two sheet pans for this.
And then I'm taking that bone marrow
and I'm browning all of the turkey and the bone marrow.
Roasted bone marrow, feel like it would marry really well
with the ground turkey, so I decide to make a Bolognese.
I'm making a turkey, bone marrow, broccoli rabe
and shallot jam Bolognese.
Winning would mean the world to me.
I started washing dishes 11 years ago,
and now I have four restaurants I'm in charge of.
I was a Division I wrestler
so competition is just in my blood.
Failure is not gonna be an option, no matter what.
Oh, [bleep].
I think that I am going with an empanada.
My grandmother really inspired my love of cooking
as she's from Panama.
I'm making empanada because my grandma
used to make empanadas all the time,
and also, it's a great takeout.
Oh, a little bit of this.
I'm making a turkey, bone marrow and pizza empana
with a broccoli rabe sauce.
First thing I do is get started on my filling.
I'm sauteing turkey in my bone marrow
and I add my shallot jam to that.
Roast this out.
Kyndra, what you making?
I'm making empanadas.
- Wow! - [Chris] Ooh.
You know what? With less than ten minutes to go,
she hasn't even begun to start building them yet.
Chefs, you've got less than ten minutes here.
- Uh-oh. - [Joseph] Heard, thank you.
I take the blanched broccoli rabe,
I season it with olive oil and lime juice,
and then I start slicing thi pizza to make little crouton
- I love that there's pizza in this basket. - Yes.
[Amanda] Right? I mean, that is the number one takeout food.
- [Antonia] It resembles Sicilian pizza that we... - [Amanda] Yeah.
love in New York, right?
But the Detroit-style pizza actually uses a style of cheddar.
It's high fat, so it melts into the sides of the pan
so that you get that crunchy, like crackly cheese
- into the dough on the side of the pan. - [Chris] Yum.
When I think of takeout, I think of pizza
and I'm making pizza puff crouton,
so with that, I start rolling out the puff pastry
and I just scrape the inside of the pizza off
and try and form it into the filling.
- What is that? - Oh, my gosh.
Chef Dylan, what are you doing with that puff pastry?
I'm doing a, uh, kind of pizza puff.
[Amanda] I see a lot of unnecessary risks in this round.
I don't think you need the puff pastry or pizza dough.
I'm really worried about Dylan.
[Amanda] That puff should be in the oven right now.
I feel very nervous.
Come on, man.
Mmm, shallot jam, that's great news.
I'm making a vinaigrette with shallot jam, mustard,
lemon, vinegar,
and I'm gonna use the bread from the pizza as croutons for my salad.
I am very determined and I'm very driven.
I opened my restaurant seven years ago
and we've since expanded to ten restaurants.
I would love to win for my team at Brown.
It means so much to me,
and I didn't create a brand with ten locations
by giving up easily.
Behind.
[Kyndra] I'm going to use the broccoli rabe to make a sauce.
So I put it in the blender
with chipotle, shallot jam and agave.
Chefs, less than five minutes to go.
Lord, have mercy.
Time is running out, and I haven't
dropped my empanadas into the fryer yet.
Ugh! Come on.
The dough is really elastic and won't seal.
Come on, come on, I don't want you to open up on me.
Really, really nervous for Kyndra right now.
Um, she's trying to form those empanada,
the seal on that pizza isn't closing.
This is not working in my favor right now.
What is happening with this time?
I am greatly struggling to make my empanadas.
Oh, gosh, this is not working out for me.
But I know that I have to move quickly.
These are not the prettiest empanadas.
So I do the best that I can to seal them
and run over to the fryer.
One fryer.
I don't know who's in the fryer?
- [Dylan] I am. - [Kyndra] Okay.
My boy, Dylan is in the frye
so I can only fry my empanadas two at a time.
[Amanda] High anxiety right now.
Dylan's in the fryer and Kyndra's coming over with her empanadas,
really needing to get in there.
[Joseph humming]
Typically, eggs are served raw on top of sisig,
but instead of doing that,
I... I decided that I'm goin to make sunny side up eggs.
Chefs, got to call the two-minute warning.
[Donna] How many?
[Dylan] It's definitely crunch time.
I pulled my pizza puffs from the fryer
and get them right in the oven.
[Donna] I wanna top my salad with a fried egg,
and I'm definitely feeling the nerves because
I'm getting concerned that I might not get
every item on the plate.
Why are Jo and Donna both deciding to fry sunny side up eggs?
Wow! Wow!
[Ted] One minute left.
- Chefs, you need to get on the plate. - Guys, you got to finish,
you got to finish.
[Dylan] Coming down.
Come on, cook for me, baby.
[Kyndra] I finally drop my other two empanadas in the fryer
with way less time than I'd like.
Has to work for me.
But what else can I do?
Behind you, behind you.
[Ted] Get those appetizers ready to go, chefs.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven...
- All four ingredients. - [Ted] ...six,
five, four,
three,
two, one...
time's up.
- [Antonia] My God! - [Chris] Wow!
- That was nice. - A race the finish.
[Kyndra] Oh, Lord.
That is the fastest 20 minutes I've ever experienced in my life.
Oh, my God, my 20 minutes...
I'm Gucci, I'm good and then out of nowhere it's gone.
[Dylan] Given the circumstances, I am proud of my work.
[Kyndra] I'm worried that my empanadas may not be fully cooked,
but looking at Chef Donna's dish,
I feel like a salad is not creative at all.
No shade, but, you know?
Chefs, round one of our takeout takedown
saw you making appetizers with
Detroit-style pizza,
broccoli rabe,
ground turkey
and roasted bone marrow with shallot jam.
All right, we're starting with you, Chef Jo.
Today, I made a version of sisig,
made with ground turkey, broccoli rabe,
Detroit-style pizza and an egg.
I think that, you know, this was a great idea,
the creativity was there,
but whenever I think of this type of food,
I think of big, huge flavors.
It needed spice and acid
and more seasonings, more flavor.
I think the cook on the broccoli rabe is fantastic.
The egg, I think, is a great idea.
And when I saw Amanda's, I got jealous
because the outside of her egg was like so crispy, which I love.
My white was really still translucent.
I mean, I'm kind of bummed 'cause I got
the egg that was a little overcooked,
the yolk was totally set.
But when I order takeout, it's usually on my day off
and I want something comforting,
and you gave us something really, really comforting,
but still upscale.
So in that sense, I think you really succeeded.
Thank you, Chef Jo.
Next up is Chef Donna.
I made for you a roasted broccoli rabe salad
with a whole grain mustard lemon vinaigrette and fried egg.
I think this dish, this is very good.
I love the addition of the pepperoni,
the really fine julienne it's nice and crispy,
as well as the, the, uh, pizza dough
that kind of acts as a crouton.
I think the vinaigrette is very assertive,
- but I really like it. - Thank you.
Chef, I actually really like the concept of this dish.
I think that your use of the basket in the way
that you manipulated it into an upscale appetizer
really works because that's what it looks like.
Um, some technical issues for me.
When you roast broccoli rabe
- and choose not to blanch it first... - Mmm-hmm.
it's very hard to cut into it.
Um, it's delicious, but it just makes it hard to eat.
Heard, thank you.
I think the whole thing just needs more finesse.
You have really big, large pieces of turkey, you know,
like if that was smaller,
everything would come together better as a dish.
Next up is Chef Dylan.
I made a, uh, twice-baked pizza puff
with a turkey, bone marrow
and, uh, caramelized shallot, uh, Bolognese.
Chef, are you nervous?
- Very. - [Amanda chuckles]
We saw you pull puff pastry in the beginning,
and we were all... It made us nervous as well,
but I am surprised,
almost shocked...
that the puff pastry is cooked.
I think what's surprising to me
- is how much I like the turkey Bolognese sauce. - [Dylan] Mmm-hmm.
The richness is excellent,
so the bone marrow definitely added to that.
Oh, thank you.
The Bolognese is actually very successful.
Unfortunately, the puff pastry,
I've... I've never seen or really,
uh, thought puff pastry should ever be in the fryer,
it's just a... a strong absorption of that fry oil.
I'm a fat kid,
um, so I don't, I don't necessarily mind
that it's a little greasy
and 100% agree that the flavor on this Bolognese is great,
but what I have here is giant, big pieces of tomato.
So if you're to move on, really think about,
you know, okay, is it reasonable
that I'll be able to execute what I'm trying to.
When did you decide to become a chef?
I was a Division I wrestler,
that was like my real passion
until, you know, I found cooking.
For me, everything in a kitchen is like a wrestling match.
It's the heat, the movements, the passion,
the anger, the...
you know, and I just fell in love with it.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Dylan.
Finally, Chef Kyndra.
I made for you a turkey, bone marrow
and pizza empanada
with a broccoli rabe sauce.
[Ted] Chef, what inspired you to take this direction?
I am a half Panamanian,
and my grandmother grew up making empanadas
all the time from biscuit dough.
I want to win for my grandma.
She's my inspiration,
she's the reason why I'm a chef.
You have the, the pizza, the turkey
- and the bone marrow inside the filling? - [Kyndra] Yes.
- So there's a lot riding on this filling. - [Kyndra chuckles]
- [Amanda] Like three basket ingredients. - Yes.
[Antonio] I actually think that using all of those ingredients
in the filling was really, really smart.
I think the turkey is beautifully seasoned,
the flecks of like pepperoni and shallots in there work,
I just need more of the filling,
a lot more of the filling.
I love this broccoli rabe puree, love it.
It's like the best use of, of the ingredient, in my opinion.
Um, it's absolutely delicious.
It's a home run.
But your empanada, that was raw,
like you can still stretch it, like right out,
and that's really hard to look past.
Okay, thank you, chefs.
[Kyndra] I had execution issues, but so did Jo and Dylan.
I'm praying I make it through to the next round.
Fingers crossed, toes crossed, everything.
[Dylan] Clock and my nerves got the best of me.
But all the nerves have kind of calmed down
and I think next round, I'll shine a lot better.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Kyndra, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Kyndra, we loved your broccoli rabe sauce,
unfortunately, the dough on your empanada was raw,
but also, they were very underfilled, which means
three of the four basket ingredients were underrepresented.
And so, we have to chop you.
Thank you, guys.
Good luck. Thank you, guys.
Being the first to go really sucks.
Feel like I made my grandma proud
and bring me back so I can show you guys what I really can do.
Quite frankly, all four of you were in
the discussion to be chopped.
Um, I think that to win this challenge,
you just need to step it up a little bit.
[Ted] Chef Dylan, Chef Donna, Chef Jo,
the takeout takedown entree baskets
are in front of you.
Let's see what's in them.
Yes.
Is this Mongolian beef? What is it? What is...
[Ted] Kung pao chicken.
Uh, kung pao? It looks like there's peanuts in there.
- [Ted] Brussels sprouts. - Brussels sprouts.
[Ted] Whole branzino.
I feel really relieved when I see this branzino.
Fish is what I do,
and it's practically smiling back at me.
[Ted] And a negroni to-go.
- Oh, God. - Oh, here we go.
Sign me up for that.
A generous 30 minutes on the countdown clock.
All right. [chuckles]
Time starts now.
- [Chris] All right, here we go. - [indistinct chatter]
- [Amanda] Tasty treat. - [Antonia] Negroni!
[Antonia] Well, the thing is, there's absolutely nothing
that you can't serve to-go.
I mean that there's... there's no more rules
- to what takeout is. - [Chris] It's true.
A Negroni, it's essentially a very boozy Italian cocktail.
Uh, vermouth, gin, and Campari.
It's bitter and it's sweet,
- and it could go great as a sauce or a glaze... - [Antonia] Absolutely.
[Amanda] ...on anything that's in this basket.
Anything can be takeout now, even alcohol and Negroni.
It's got a really strong hint of orange,
so I think it would be perfect for a sauce.
Come on, man.
So I'm making a pan-seared branzino
with a Negroni and orange cream sauce.
So I break down the branzino
each skeleton and each head,
I just throw into the pot to make a fumet,
added my cream and Negroni.
Round one, the mistakes I made were definitely time management,
so I'm gonna have to knock one out of the park on this
So, I think where all of these chefs
- have to step up a little bit, right... - Yeah.
Dylan, his dish had a lot of flavor,
which is why he's here, but he needs more finesse.
Donna needs more balance,
her dish was a little rich and heavy.
- [Antonia] Yeah. - And Jo needs more flavor.
[Joseph] Come on, who scaled this?
Going into round two, I'm going to utilize
as many techniques as I possibly can
in order to show a variety of flavor and depths.
I know immediately that I want to steam the branzino,
and this is a dish that is very, very popular among Filipinos.
So I'm making Negroni-steamed branzino
with kung pao chicken-brussels sprouts.
Word. [sighs] Okay.
Look over there at Jo, tediously picking out pin bones.
[Amanda] For the viewer who doesn't...
let's say, butcher fish every day,
deboning is a time consumer.
- [Chris] Takes forever. - Oh, I'm almost done, y'all.
- [Amanda] I mean... - Oh!
Oh! Joe was like, "I heard you."
Seven minutes, deboned, filleted. Shazam!
Donna is going to serve us whole.
She's... It looks like she's scoring it.
That looks like she might fry it,
- the way she's cutting that. - Scoring it like that would mean that she's frying it.
[Donna] I know that both Dylan and Jo are filleting their fish,
so I decide to keep the branzino whole
because this will help the dish stand out.
I'm making a crispy whole branzino
and kung pao brussels sprouts.
I am wildly impressed with what Donna's doing.
She is holding the branzino by its tail,
she is smacking it unapologetically
to get excess flour off.
- [Amanda] Love that. - Donna is so comfortable,
obviously with that fish.
Twenty minutes to go chefs.
I think kung pao chicken is such a popular takeout item,
you can just eat it right out of the carton
and you have this crispy, crunchy peanuts,
you have that chicken and that sauce with
spicy Sichuan peppers.
I feel like it goes really well with the brussels sprouts.
Kung pao chicken, it's like a bit sweet,
bit spicy, so I figured it might complement
the brussels really well.
And then I added my sauce of maple syrup,
sriracha, rice wine vinegar and Negroni.
I'm an internationally trained chef,
I have four restaurants I'm in charge of.
I want to win because I want to bring it home
to my team and show them that hard work pays off
if they just keep grinding.
Ten minutes left on the clock, chefs.
Steaming fish is no easy task,
but I've done this many, many, many times.
I put the Negroni in with the fish fillet,
soy sauce, kombu, and shallo ginger and scallion.
And then I start cutting dow this kung pao chicken
so that way it could cook
with the brussels sprouts
and lend it a nice, meaty flavor.
[Donna] Kung pao chicken is not my to-go takeout orde
I'm looking at this processed chicken
and I'm very happy to see peanuts
and a lot of hot peppers in it.
So I'm picking out the chick
and saute the peppers and peanuts and onions,
and then I'm tossing that warm mixture
over the blanched brussels sprouts leaves.
[Dylan] I season my fillets, add some salt to the skin,
and then I put a pot on 'em
trying to get that crispy skin.
[Chris] I think Dylan is trying to get a real crispy skin,
so what he did was
he put a, a heavy pot on top of his fish.
[Ted] Branzino under a brick.
Very different applications of this branzino.
Got like filleted and pan-seared,
you've got whole fish fried
- and then you have steamed. - [Chris] Steamed.
Five minutes left, chefs.
[Joseph] I'm quartering the brussels sprouts,
and they have the kung pao chicken with them,
and I throw a little bit of shallot
and a little bit of ginger in there,
and then I deglaze with, uh, Negroni,
soy sauce, rice vinegar vinaigrette.
I come from a big Filipino family
and my grandmother, she taught me my entire foundation
for what I know about Filipino food,
so winning would do her real proud.
It's about time to take a sip of that Negroni.
With the Negroni, I'm using it in a nuoc cham sauce.
Vietnamese is one of my favorite cuisines
and nuoc cham sauce is a Vietnamese sauce
and it has sugar, water, fish sauce,
a fresh lime juice garlic,
a little bit of chili and jalapeño.
I want to add some refreshing relief to the plate,
so I grab cucumbers
and I toss them in the nuoc cham for a quick marinade.
[Ted] Two-minute warning, chefs.
It's definitely crunch time, so I just started
frantically trying to pose my dish and get it on the plate.
[Ted] One minute, chefs.
Finish off. Make sure you have all four ingredients.
[Donna] So I pull my fish out of the fryer and they're looking good.
Very excited.
I look to my left and I see Donna has this beautiful, whole fish
that's been deep fried and I'm thinking, "Oh, geez.
Power through to the end chefs.
Ten, nine, eight...
- This is very, very hot. - [Ted] ...seven...
six, five,
four, three,
- two... - [Antonia] Oh, my God.
[Ted] ...one.
- Time's up. - [Antonia] Whoo!
They did a good job this round.
[Joseph] Cheers, y'all.
Whoo!
I feel pumped up, like I can do this all day,
but there's a lot on the line, you know,
there's $10,000 and a reputation, so that's a lot.
Let me tell you, man, that, that time goes fast.
I'm feeling nervous.
Dylan's and Donna's plate, both look gorgeous,
but hopefully I could get on to the next round.
Chefs, in the entree basket, you found
kung pao chicken,
brussels sprouts,
whole branzino
and a Negroni to-go.
Chef Donna, please tell us about your entree.
What I've made for you is a crispy whole branzino
and kung pao brussels sprouts.
It's gonna be a little bit spicy,
so the intent is to pour the sauce over the fish.
Chef Donna, I think that the dish is
not only visually stunning, but it's delicious.
The freshness from the cucumbers are phenomenal
and there's a great amount of heat that works so well.
I love this dish, that's all I have to say.
I want to put it in to-go bag.
Can I have this to-go?
I don't think we've ever seen a whole fish fried on Chopped,
so it's a historical moment
It's really beautiful and it's very brave.
- This is really good. - [Donna] Thank you.
[Chris] I mean, the way the fish just falls away from the bones,
it's crispy on the outside.
I love the brussels sprouts, the sauce is perfect,
although you definitely need salt, definitely need salt.
But I think it's really good.
Thank you, chef.
Thank you, Chef Donna.
Next up is Chef Jo.
So we have a, uh, Negroni-steamed branzino
paired with Negroni
and soy glazed seared brussels sprouts
with sliced kung pao chicken.
Who inspired you to start cooking?
My grandmother has a large play in that.
She taught me recipes when I was a little kid,
when I was growing up, she would actually, like physically show me things.
- She's 101 years old and still kicked... - [Antonia] Stop it.
- [Amanda and Ted] Wow! - Stop.
The fish is so beautifully cooked,
and I ate my entire piece of fish just because I was like,
"Let me find a bone." There are none.
Your skills in filleting, I mean, were impeccable.
I loved that you steamed this fish with the Negroni.
It's perfectly cooked.
The brussels sprouts are caramelized beautifully,
but I kind of wish you hadn't served the chicken.
You gave us a beautiful, steamed piece of fish
that it's just highlighting just how not fresh
and full of sodium and nitrates that the kung pao chicken is.
I wish you would just use the peanuts,
maybe some of the chilies,
left the chicken alone.
For me, it was about ratio, right?
So, you have a lot of brussels sprouts
on Antonia's plate and then a little bit of the chicken.
I have big pieces of chicken,
Chris is somewhere in the middle.
It's a little Goldilocks here.
So just be careful, details matter.
Thank you, Chef Jo.
Finally, Chef Dylan.
So today I prepared a pan-seared branzino
with a shredded brussels and kung pao
sweet and spicy salad
with a orange and Negroni cream.
[Antonia] I love the application
of the brussels sprouts here just 'cause they're fried.
I'm like a sucker for fried brussels sprouts.
That was a huge win.
Uh, the issue that I think is actually the fish.
When you go and take that risk of being like,
I'm leaving the skin on and I'm gonna saute this,
where I'm expecting like a crispy skin.
But it was soft, it was rubbery.
Um, can you talk to me about the sauce?
So I did a shallots, garlic,
and then I flambeed the Negroni
and added those fish bones.
And then you also put the Negroni
- in with the Brussels and the kung pao? - A little bit. Yes.
I love that you used it in multiple places.
The creativity was there, but I think
you could have pulled back a little
'cause it's so cloyingly sweet.
But in this case,
I think this kung pao chicken
actually is working with this piece of fish.
You have somehow kind of
awakened that takeout food,
given it a little bit more depth.
All right. Thanks, chefs.
[Dylan] The judges said that my dish was too sweet,
but I should stay in because with each dish,
I'm getting better and better.
[Joseph] The judges' issue was with the kung pao chicke
so I, I really wish I had taken
that extra half second to cut it down better,
but I think that I have plenty to show
and that's why I should go on to dessert.
Whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Dylan, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Dylan, the Negroni being as sweet as it is,
and the sauce, really took over
and we were really expecting a crispy skin on that fish.
And so we had to chop you.
All right. Thank you, guys.
Be well.
[Dylan] It's a bummer, for sure.
I wish I could have held my hand up high
and walked out the champion,
but it didn't happen today.
[Ted] Chef Donna, Chef Jo,
you made it all the way to the last round
of our takeout takedown.
You'll be creating desserts
from whatever is in these.
Please open your baskets.
[chuckles and inhales sharply] Okay.
- [Ted] Your sweet to-go creations... - Mmm.
[Ted] ...must include a donut tower.
We got donuts, a lot of donuts.
[Ted] Oranges...
baked apple pie...
[Donna] Apple pie!
[Ted] From the Clown.
and creme brulee bubble tea.
Um, bubble tea.
Oh, that's bubble tea?
Can I just have this?
I just want to eat everything here, I don't want to cook with it.
[Ted] Once more, 30 minutes
Clock starts now.
- Whoo! - [Amanda] Oh, come on, chefs.
- [Antonia] Get it, chefs. - [Chris] Third round,
- takeout style. - [indistinct]
Judges, desserts at a restaurant can feel special,
but there's also something nice about a to-go dessert
without even lifting a finger.
- It's like my dirty secret, Ted. - [Amanda laughs]
Just in my pajamas, on the couch, right?
With a entire box of donuts.
Well, at least you're wearing your pajamas.
At least I'm wearing something stretchy
as I eat an entire box of donuts.
You're committing to getting takeout dessert,
- you want it to be over-the-top. - [Antonia] Absolutely.
You want it to be ooey-gooey.
It's obviously satisfying a craving that you have.
I want it to be decadent, I want it to be raunchy,
- and I want to need a shower afterwards. - [Amanda laughs]
[Joseph] Takeout dessert, it's great because you can eat at home
in your underwear if you wanted to.
Thinking of how am I gonna use these donuts,
these already perfect vessels of flavor,
and I... I figure, okay, maybe I can make
a crepe batter out of it.
I'm making a crepe cake
with orange-bubble tea reduction.
I love bubble tea.
Oh, it's pretty good.
It's typically sweetened tea with milk,
and at the bottom are tapioca pearls
that have been marinating in simple syrup.
I'm gonna steep the orange rind in this bubble tea liquid.
I throw the apple pie in there to steep as well.
Winning this competition would mean a lot to me.
Filipinos have very, very little representation
in the food scene.
I'm very happy to just be representing,
but also like, every, like, young Filipino watching this
winning would be like an extra icing on the cake.
Apple pie filling.
Dessert round, it's really nerve wracking.
I'm competing not just for me, but I'm competing for my team
and winning is the only thin on my mind.
Small strainer, small strainer.
I'm making a layered sponge cake because my goal here is
to take these not so great takeout ingredients
and turn them into an elevated, more sophisticated dessert.
I'm making a layered sponge cake
and a creme brulee bubble tea
from creme anglaise.
It's really hard to bake a substantial cake in 30 minutes,
so I pour it out really thi
so that it'll cook really quickly.
Less than 20 minutes on the clock, chefs.
[Joseph] I'm making whipped cream.
I grab the sweetened condensed milk to add into the heavy cream.
That would probably add a nice layer of sweetness,
and then my plan is to make a crepe batter out of these donuts.
I chop them up and put them in the food processor.
The plan is to add them to my orange-bubble tea reduction.
Ten minutes left on the clock, chefs.
You know, I think all of these things
are the ultimate takeout desserts,
like the baked apple pie
that you get from fast-food restaurants.
[Antonia] Donut tower.
The challenge in this basket is counteracting the sweetness
of these donuts in and of themselves are extremely sweet.
The apple pie, artificially sweet.
The orange is the only fresh ingredient in the basket.
[Donna] This basket is really challenging
as a result of how much sugar is in this one basket.
But I'm excited to see oranges
because they are a fresh ingredient
and I decided to make orange yogurt whip.
I'm hoping that the Greek yogurt will cut some of that sweetness.
And I cut open the apple pie I scoop out the filling
and then I'm putting it into that orange whip.
And then I'm hoping that these donuts will add texture to this dessert,
so I just cut them up
and then put them in the deep fryer.
Behind, behind, behind, behind.
Less than five minutes to go, chefs,
got to get this finished up.
[Joseph] So my plan was to make a crepe batter
out of all of these ingredients.
I add the... the bubble tea cardamom,
orange liquid into the donut mash.
I... I want to know what Jo is doing on his station
because those were once donuts
and it's now just like a paste.
[Joseph] I'm having a technical difficulty,
but I notice that the donut's very, very pasty
What the [bleep] am I going to do?
Um...
I'm very, very unsure of what I am doing here.
I... I want to know what Jo is doing on his station because
those were once donuts and it's now just like a paste.
I look at this mass and I'm thinking,
there's no way that this is going to be a crepe batter.
I got to do something to recover
what I'm doing, so I separate eggs
and I put just the yolks in and I put it back on the sto
to cook down in the hopes that I can mak
like a, a pastry cream donut sandwich.
- Chef Jo. - [Joseph] Oui.
- [Antonia] Give me the good, the bad, the ugly. - [Joseph chuckles]
-[Joseph] Um... I don't even know. -[Antonia laughs]
Um, yeah, well, I'm making a donut-flavored thing
to go in between donuts, so make of that information what you will.
- That's the concern. - It's a small concern.
[Ted] Chefs, less than two minutes to go.
[Donna] I'm gonna use the creme brulee bubble tea
to make a creme anglaise.
I'm slowly pouring it over my egg yolks to temper it.
But as I'm whisking, I'm realizing
that it's not thickening the way that I want it to.
Donna is trying to make a creme anglaise with the bubble tea,
but it's not working and there's only less than a minute and a half left.
Okay, anything you're doing needs to be done
and going on the plate.
I'm starting to freak out. Like, now you're in the championship round
and there is no room for error.
So I grab some heavy cream
and I'm hoping that the heavy cream
is going to thicken the sauc
[Ted] One minute, chefs.
[Joseph] I add apple pie filling to the whipped crea
and then I start spooning the donut thing
on top of the toasted donut
and hope for the best.
[Ted] 30 seconds.
[Donna] I'm feeling very concerned.
My sauce definitely does not have the texture that I want,
but at this point I have to get it on the plate.
[Ted] Final seconds of the final round, chefs.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time's up.
[judges clapping]
[Joseph] It's okay.
Oh, my God.
I'm not feeling great about my dessert,
and Donna baked a cake.
Donna baked a cake in 30 minutes,
and I have created this abomination.
[Donna] The creme anglaise I not as thick as that I...
as I would like it to be, but I look at Jo's dish
and all I see is a donut.
[grunts]
[Ted] Chef Jo, Chef Donna,
your final basket contained a donut tower,
oranges,
baked apple pie,
and creme brulee bubble tea
Chef Donna, please tell us about your dessert.
I've prepared a sponge cake with crispy donut,
pistachio and orange yogurt whip,
with a bubble tea creme brulee sauce.
So the sponge cake I'm actually, hyper impressed with.
The texture is light, it's airy,
and I think the trick to what this basket had
is that there were so many very sweet elements to it,
and you navigated around them really well.
The texture of the donut's great, but what is...
this happening with the sauce?
- My goal was to get a creme anglaise... - [Amanda] Okay.
and the creme brulee bubble tea,
I assumed, had quite a bit of cream in it,
but I think though, what it more had was sugar water in it...
- Mmm-hmm. - and so, that thickening, it never happened.
The biggest issue right now is this very sort of raw,
egg yolk-flavored creme anglaise.
How did you use the apple pie?
The apple pie is in the orange whip layer.
- Did you get any pieces? - No.
Definitely have donut and pistachio, which I like.
I don't think I got a single piece of apple,
and that's really a big issue.
Thank you, Chef Donna.
Finally, Chef Jo.
Uh, so I stuffed a donut into a donut.
[chuckles] It's a donut apple pie
and bubble tea donut sandwich.
The filling of this donut sandwich is very thick and rich,
and you'd really went to town, like donut squared.
- Yeah. - All the donut flavor, the glazy part,
the greasy part, the fatty part, all of it.
I tried to pack in as much donut as you could
- per square inch. - [Amanda] Okay.
Well, you did it.
My fellow judges and I were discussing earlier,
like what we expected from this round, and I said,
"I want this to be decadent,
raunchy and I want to need
to take a shower afterwards."
- And you've hit all three of those things. - [Amanda] You got it.
- [Joseph chuckles] - But it is just so unbelievably sweet.
I mean, it's so easy to sit here
and tell you what you should have done,
but what you should have done...
[Amanda and Joseph laugh]
[Chris] ...is brought some coffee into this.
I think if you had brought in some coffee into this donut puree
and now you've got a play on "coffee and donuts."
I just think that there were opportunities
to make it a little bit more inspired
than what was just in the basket.
All right. Thank you, chefs.
Judges, the goal was to elevate takeout food,
did these chefs do that?
I think they both embraced the theme really well.
Yeah, I mean, in that second round
- there were some memorable successes. - [Amanda] Yeah.
- [Antonia] Specifically, Chef Donna's fried fish. - [Amanda] Yes.
That was a standout for me today.
That goes down in my book as one of the best dishes I've ever had,
- ever, on Chopped. - [Antonia] Wow.
- Um, but she left out so much is a big thing. - [Antonio] Right.
That is kind of a big thing.
[Antonia] Chef Jo, I thought it was so smart
- to steam that branzino. - [Amanda] Yeah.
And it was perfectly steamed.
But he decided to use the chicken
- from the kung pao chicken... - [Antonia chuckles]
- which was so far away... - [Antonia] I know.
from that perfectly immaculate,
- delicate steamed fish. - [Antonia] I know.
I felt that, in the first round,
Chef Jo's broccoli rabe was cooked really, really well,
and it was a perfect accompaniment with the rest of his dish.
He'd ended up making something that tasted comforting,
didn't have enough flavor, though.
[Antonia] Chef Donna's dish I thought from a concept standpoint,
it really hit all the levels of like an elevated takeout dish.
Did I think the broccoli rabe needed to be cut down
so it was easier to eat?
Yeah, there was a lot of finesse that she needed.
The dessert, though, I don't... I don't even think I can talk about it.
I... I might figure out how to make
donut pastry cream in my future.
Was actually good, there was just so much sugar.
- Yeah. - [Antonia] Chef Donna's dessert,
the left side of the plate, the sponge cake, incredible.
And then all of a sudden, the other side of the plate
with that bubble tea...
- Anglaise. - Anglaise.
Non glaze.
Honestly, it felt like an uncooked hollandaise.
That's right.
The desert round really just kicked my ass,
but I really hope that my overall performance
is enough to get me to win.
I'm feeling nervous, but I think that I do deserve to win
because I executed on every course
and I think I might be the next Chopped Champion.
[Ted] Chef Jo, you've been chopped.
Judges.
Chef Jo, in the first round,
the ground turkey just didn't have enough flavor.
In the dessert round, the donut paste
on the inside of the donut sandwich
was just too rich and heavy
and so we had to chop you.
I understand.
Congratulations.
- [judges clapping] - [judges] Thanks, chef.
[Amanda] Thank you.
[Joseph] Nobody comes to anything to lose,
but I'm like, really, really happy for Chef Donna,
and I am definitely proud of my performance.
[Ted] And that means, Chef Donna Lee,
you are the Chopped Champion,
and your prize, $10,000.
- Congratulations. - Thanks.
Thank you, guys, so much. Thank you.
Your fish entree was so delicious.
Uh, I would order that in a restaurant
again and again and again, so that was a big deal.
[Donna] It feels pretty awesome.
The $10,000, it is going directly to my team,
and so I'm very much looking forward to sharing this with them.
It feels great to come out on top.