Tonight, history is made on "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Roman history, that is.
I have $100,000
of cold hard cash in this case.
4 chefs get $25,000 each.
If they want to leave this kitchen
with any of the cash,
they have to survive three culinary challenges
and each other.
Don't hate the player. Hate the game.
Watch yourself.
In a game where sabotage is not only encouraged...
...forcing them to do their cooking
on the smallest cast-iron skillet I could find.
Oh, s--No way.
...it's for sale.
$3,000.$7,700.
$8,000.ALTON: It's a game we like to call...
[ Gasps ][ Laughs ]
..."Cutthroat Kitchen."
CHEF BARRET: Hi. I'm Chef Barret.
I'm a private chef from New York City.
I'm here to compete today
to show my daughter that you put your mind to something
and you make it happen.
My daughter means the absolute world to me.
If it wasn't for her right now, I would be dead or in jail,
and that is a fact.
CHEF CECIL: Hi. I'm Chef Cecil,
executive chef from Sacramento, California.
I grew up in the ghetto of Sacramento,
and my parents told me that there's a way out.
I've been cooking for about 14 years now,
and I never looked back.
CHEF KRYSTAL: I'm Chef Krystal,
and I'm a sous-chef in Cincinnati, Ohio.
I have two amazing boys.
I cook at work,
then I come home, and I cook some more.
It's just my life.
It's my passion. I absolutely love it.
Are you here for a beauty pageant, or are you here to cook?
I can cook, andI look good.
What's wrong with that?
CHEF FRANK: Hello. My name is Chef Frank.
I'm an executive chef from San Francisco, California.
For the last 20-something years, I've never failed.
I've cared for multibillionaires,
worked in Michelin-starred restaurants.
If you approach me, you're gonna get steamrolled.
All business, guys.
It's not personal. Don't be scared.
The last thing I am is scared.
Nobody's scared of you, man.
Nobody's scared of you. Stay down there.
Well, hello, chefs.
Hello.
Welcome to Cutthroat Kitchen.
Thank you.
You won't be thanking me later.
ALTON: [ Laughs ]I will.
[ Laughs ]
You will compete in three culinary challenges.
After each challenge, one of you will be eliminated.
Sorry! Once I reveal the challenge,
you'll have 60 seconds to shop in our general pantry
for everything you need.
At the end of that one minute,
it's my favorite part of the competition,
and it's called the auction.
Of course, if you're gonna be in an auction,
you're gonna have to have some money.
Each of you will begin with $25,000 cold, hard cash,
yours to spend throughout the competition as you see fit,
but the last chef standing will onlywalk away with the money
he or she has left. Got it?
Got it. Whoo!
ALTON: We'll start with you, Chef Barret.
You can use that on some hair-care products.CHEF BARRET: [ Laughs ]
Chef Cecil, two bundles, if you please.
CHEF CECIL: If I win the money today, I'll rub it all over my body.
ALTON: Chef Krystal.Thank you very much.
Chef Frank, last two for you.
My pleasure.Excellent.
Believe it or not,
most of that cash will be returning to this case
during the course of the competition.
Now let's get down to business.
Round 1 -- I'm gonna give you 30 minutes
to prepare a perfect...
chicken Caesar salad.
CHEF CECIL: Yeah! I can do that.[ Laughs ]
CHEF KRYSTAL: I'm totally psyched for chicken Caesar salad.
I just feel so confident.
Your 60-second shopping period will begin now!
Be nice!
CHEF FRANK: Chicken Caesar salad is such a staple item.
It kind of bores me.
I'm gonna do a Southwestern-inspired
chicken Caesar salad --
romaine lettuce, chicken, Parmesan cheese, anchovies,
and I grab the toasted cumin.
Chefs, you've got 30 seconds remaining.
CHEF BARRET: Going into the pantry, I had a plan,
but once I got in the pantry, I forgot what the plan was.
Chefs, these gates will abruptly close in 8...
Chaos is breaking out. I'm bumping into chefs.
I thought this was gonna be a walk in the park.
ALTON: ...4, 3, 2, 1.
CHEF BARRET: I look over at Chef Cecil's basket,
and he's got chicken.
Oh [bleep] I forgot to grab chicken.
You've got to be kidding me.
Let's see what our first item is.
Oh!
A Roman helmet![ Laughter ]
What the...
I've worn a Trojan helmet before but never in a kitchen!
[ Laughs ]
Win this auction, and you can force one of your opponents
to wear this stylish helmet
as they race around the kitchen --
in this!
No!What?!
What the --
Oh, my goodness!
Their very own "Cutthroat Kitchen,"
Roman-chariot prep station.
Whoever gets gifted this fantastic device
will have to spend the entire challenge
within the confines of this highly authentic Roman chariot.
CHEF FRANK: Oh, my God, there is no way.
My strategy today is to do the things that I think I can
and sabotage with the ones I know I can't.
Who will give me $500 for this fabulous opportunity?$500!
Chef Cecil's in for $500. Who will give me $600?
$2,000!
$2,000 to Chef Frank. $2,000 going once.
CHEF BARRET: This ain't nothing new for me.
Give me a small work station. I'll figure it out.
Give me wheels. Maybe I'll move even quicker.
$2,000 going twice.
Sold to Chef Frank for $2,000.Yeah!
Bring me my money.
[ Laughing evilly ]
ALTON: You've got to turn around and decide
who is going to wear this helmet and ride this chariot.
Just go over and put that right on their head,
and we'll deliver the chariot.
CHEF FRANK: Sorry, boss.
I'm having the privilege of crunching down the Trojan helmet
on top of that crunchy Mohawk.
Ahh, poetic justice.
All right.
CHEF BARRET: I feel fine.
I got wheels. I got a cutting board.
That's all I need.
And you know what? A nice new helmet.
So I got to wear a Mohawk on top of the Mohawk.
This is Frank's subconscious telling him
he wished he had my hair.
Let's see what our second item up for auction is.
CHEF BARRET: [ Laughs ]
"Et tu, Brute?"
That, of course, was what Caesar said
when he was stabbed in the back by Brutus.
You know what I usually say when that happens?
Aah!
'Cause --[ Laughter ]
'Cause, see, it hurts.
Win this auction, and you can force one of your opponents
to make this dish without the use
of any cutting implements -- no knives, no mandolins,
no food processors, no nothing.
CHEF KRYSTAL: No knives.
We have a whole chicken to break down.
I hate these sabotages.
$500!
A $500 bid from Chef Cecil.
$1,000.$1,000, Chef Barret.
$1,100.Who's gonna go $1,100?
Chef Krystal.$2,000.
$2,000, Chef Barret.
$2,100.I have $2,100, Chef Cecil.
Who's gonna give me $2,200? Somebody will.
$2,200.Chef Frank's in for $2,200.
$2,200 going once.
$2,200 going twice.
Sold to Chef Frank for $2,200. Bring me my money.
CHEF FRANK: Yeah!
Yeah!
Chef Frank, go ahead and decide
who is going to go bladeless in this round.
CHEF FRANK: My friend Cecil.
Cecil, no knives, no blades, no nothing!It's okay.
CHEF CECIL: To not have knives --
It's a bummer because it's an extension of my hand,
but I'm going for it.
You got half an hour to prepare a chicken Caesar salad,
and it better be good.
Your half-hour cooking time begins let's say now!
Dun, dun-dun, dun-dun!
Frank gives me my lovely chariot.
[ Grunts ]
Aw, poor Spartacus!
And I got the biggest sabotage of them all from myself --
no chicken.
Make chicken out of nothing, huh?
CHEF BARRET: I do have pancetta,
so my plan is to make this pancetta
look like chicken nuggets,
break it up into little cubes and pound it out.
I sear it on both sides, bread it,
and then put it back in the pan to finish it off.
My idea, on this plate, can be sold.
I just don't know if I can sell it.
I forgot cheese -- Parmesan cheese, any cheese.
I have zero, zero cheese!
I just immediately start thinking, like,
"What can I do to get past this?"
I'm gonna make a really good and creamy
traditional Caesar dressing.
Start separating my egg yolks, get them in the blender,
pour my oil in, put garlic in, my lemon juice, extra anchovies,
and really get that bite in there.
I'm breaking down my chicken.
I start my marinade real quick.
I do some Dijon, oil, salt, pepper.
Now I'm just gonna marinate my chicken a little bit.
And then, get that chicken on the grill.
Aah!
CHEF CECIL: I see some flair-up back there.
Getting a little dark on that chicken, huh?
ALTON: Chefs, you've got 20 minutes.
20 minutes remaining!
CHEF CECIL: Chef Frank took away my knives.
Ha-ha.
I've had to debone chicken with my bare hands
in culinary school, so it's no biggie for me.
I already deboned my chicken with my hands
because I'm a chef.
Put it down into some oil with some garlic, paprika,
salt, and pepper,
Get that on the grill as soon as possible.
With the kale -- I'm gonna fry it,
and I'm gonna make some kale chips.
Who doesn't love a kale chip?
Everything's gonna be torn.
The cheese is gonna be torn.
The lettuce is gonna be torn.
I used to work at a restaurant
where we had a torn Caesar salad.
It's really rustic.
Don't use the word "rustic"
'cause you know what "rustic" translates to
in "Cutthroat Kitchen"?
"Disgusting.""Sloppy," "disgusting."
Well, I wasn't gonna say "disgusting."
[ Laughs ]But now that you have.
Instead of doing the regular, status-quo Caesar salad,
I want to take it to the next level.
I'm taking the breast out.
I'm gonna cook it skin-side-down,
make the skin crispy, season it up with my cumin.
What's not to like?
No sabotages on you, sir.
Well, I'd like to think so, but a minute to shop --
It felt like actually 10 seconds.
Excuses already?
This isn't "Excuse Kitchen." It's "Cutthroat Kitchen."
CHEF FRANK: I make a pico de gallo.
I'm dicing up my heirloom tomatoes.
I dice some red onion.
I add some cilantro, some lime juice, olive oil.
I see the Smoking Gun.
That's something I can add flavor with.
I got a little smoked pico de gallo.
I'm excited to wrap it up and win.
ALTON: Chefs, listen up!
Win this auction, and you can force two of your opponents
to step into the "Cutthroat Kitchen" coliseum
where they will have to grate these blocks of Parmesan
down to the rinds.
The first to finish can continue cooking.
The other will be forced to sit out for another five minutes!
CHEF BARRET: I don't care how much this Parmesan costs me right now.
I'm bidding.Uh-oh.
CHEF KRYSTAL: I don't have time to grate this huge block of Parmesan cheese.
I will be sent home if my chicken is raw.
Just to make things more interesting,
when you begin to grate, I will release a hungry lion.
[ Laughs ]
[ Lion growls ]
ALTON: Listen up!
Win this auction, and you can force two of your opponents
to grate these blocks of Parmesan down to the rinds.
Who's gonna give me $500 for this vicious opportunity?
$5,000!$5,000! Spartacus gave me $5,000.
Whoa!Who will give me $5,100?
CHEF KRYSTAL: I guess he's Mr. Moneybags.
We have a lot more sabotages to go.
$6,000!$6,000 now the high bid with Chef Frank.
$7,000.
ALTON: $7,000 -- current high bid!
I've had enough. I want to take home some money.
Sold to Chef Spartacus for $7,000.
Who is going into the competition?
[ Laughs ]
Let's go with Krystal and Frankie.
CHEF BARRET: My two best friends.
They're the only ones without sabotages.
Get on up there.
[ Groans ]
The first one to win
may go immediately back into their kitchen.
The other will sit here with me for five nice, long minutes.
Ready, set, go!
Watch your knuckles.
I don't have any Band-Aids on me.
You're pretty speedy there, Chef Krystal.I work out.
CHEF KRYSTAL: I think I have him.
I think I have him beat.
Come on, guys, a little bit faster over there, please!
You keep chopping, dude, with your bare hand.
Chef Frank is gaining on you, ma'am.
CHEF KRYSTAL: My arm is so tired.
I can't grate anymore cheese.
I'm freaking out.
Chef Frank, you are done! Go back to work.
Just rest, rest, rest.
Now just hang out with me.
I can't cook for five minutes.
My chicken is gonna be raw.
I needed that little wake-up of grating cheese.
Thank you, Spartacus.
Anything I can do to help you be a better chef.
I got you.
CHEF FRANK: My chicken is still raw in the center.
I quickly cut my breast down to reduce the cooking time,
get them back in the heat, pray that it gets cooked.
For the lettuce, I'm grilling whole romaine hearts
cut in half, dressed with olive oil.
What's not to like, right?
Everything's gonna be perfect soon as we're done.
Hyah, come on!
Giddyup, giddyup!
Hyah!
Oh, man, I feel so bad for you, dude.
[ Groans ]
This freakin' hat -- I swear to God.
CHEF BARRET: The way I do my Caesar dressing --
I'm squeezing my lemons. I'm getting my lemon zest.
I grab the garlic. I add a little bit of sour cream
to try to balance it out a little bit,
oil, dry mustard, and I get it
to the consistency that I need it.
It tastes like Caesar dressing.
I think I'm good to go.
Are my five minutes up?
You got a minute and a half remaining.
[ Sighing ] Okay.
This sabotage is killing me.
This is almost like being in a woman's shoe store.
Time slows down.
I know when I took my chicken off the heat,
it was really raw.
I am totally screwed right now!
Cecil, you chopping away or what?
I already told you. I don't need knives, man.
Chef Frank give me the sabotage where I can't use any knives.
ALTON: Only a person with no knives
would be crazy enough to try that,
which, by the way, is working.
It's working, Alton.
But I'm a little worried about the chicken. Where's your chicken?
CHEF CECIL: I need to get this chicken off the grill.
I shred the chicken, and it looks beautiful.
2...1.
Ooh, she's back in the game!
CHEF KRYSTAL: My five minutes are up.
I run back in. I slice my chicken.
It's more like a butcher job.
I need to cut it down,
get it cooked as quickly as possible.
I throw it on the grill.
I get my croutons out -- luckily, those didn't burn --
and I just go for my romaine.
Aah!
My romaine looks pretty wilted,
and I'm just thinking in my head, like,
"Holy crap, I'm gonna have wilted romaine and raw chicken,
and I have no cheese!"
I'm done.
Chefs, salads will be served in three minutes!
Three minutes remaining!
Come on, Spartacus, let's do this!
I don't quit. I don't give up.
I'll fight until I die.
Aah. [winces] I'm burning my finger.
Time's running out.
I'm not even using anything
to grab the hot pancetta out of the pan.
Aah! Burning, burning!
I don't have time to stop
and wheel this thing over to get them.
I might not even get this dish on the plate.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
Time's up! Food down, hands up!
Back away from your board...[ Sighs ]
...if you can.
CHEF BARRET: It was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be.
I'm not used to standing in one position when I cook,
and I hate this helmet.
You know how long it takes me to do my hair?
So, chefs -- You can put your hands down.
It's not a holdup.
[ Laughs ]Allow me to introduce our judge for the day.
This is Mr. Simon Majumdar.
He is a food critic, a scholar.
Simon, today, the first course --
chicken Caesar salad.
Hail, Caesar salad.
Hail, Caesar salad, yeah.Love it.
Good, I hope you like it.
Simon has been locked away in a soundproof area.
He has no idea what you have done to each other
and what sabotages you may have endured,
and he does not care.
In fact, he only cares about three things. Tell them.
Does it taste great, does it look great,
and does it remind me of a terrific chicken Caesar salad?
Let's go.
Simon, please say hello to Chef Barret.
Chef, good to meet you.Barret, Simon.
Pleasure.
Please tell Simon about your dish.
This is a not-so-chicken Caesar.
My grandmother used to make the bacon pieces
into chicken nuggets,
and that's the way I wanted to make it for you today.
CHEF BARRET: I'm completely making this story up right now.
I don't even remember eating anything
from my grandma in my entire life.
The absence of chicken is pretty obvious.
The presentation is a little bit rough and ready.
It kind of looks like you chopped everything
with that hair of yours.
[ Laughs ]
Talking of the dressing --
It's more of a gloop than it is a dressing.
Having said that, it's actually really good gloop.
One of the things of a good Caesar sauce
is that saltiness that you would get from anchovies,
and the bacon does give it that.
Thank you very much, Chef.Thank you.
Let's move on down the line, shall we?
Chef Cecil, please tell Simon
about your take on chicken Caesar salad.
CHEF CECIL: What I have for you today
is a chopped chicken Caesar salad
with crispy kale chips on top.
Chef, I actually think it looks rather good.
I mean, it's a little bit rustic,
but I actually think it's rather appealing,
and I love these kale chips on top.
I think they're a really good idea to add texture,
and I love a good crunch.
The chicken's cooked perfectly.
You got really good seasoning on there,
got just the right amount of cheese on there.
It's a little bit more shredded than I would like,
and I think putting the hot chicken
on top of the salad --
you can see it's all got a bit floppy.
Thanks, Chef.Thank you, Chef.
Chef Krystal, tell your tale.
This is Mommy's Caesar salad --
lettuce, creamy dressing,
beautifully cooked chicken with lemon juice on top.
My kids love lemon.
I would like to see some flakes of cheese on there.
I think it is missing one of the key elements.
I can also see that you've grilled some of the leaves.
They've wilted a bit.
The chicken, it's a tiny bit clunky.
This is more like a chopped salad
than a chicken Caesar salad.
The chicken's really good,
and I think just with a few drops of lemon --
That's a very smart addition.
It just wakes up all the flavors.
The croutons are nice and crunchy.
It's a very simple take.
Mm-hmm.But it's not bad at all.
Thank you, ma'am. Let's move on.Thank you.
Chef Frank, please tell Simon
about this immense platter of salad.
CHEF FRANK: I lightly grilled the romaine hearts,
smoked pico de gallo, toasted cumin on the croutons,
some lime juice, lots of cilantro,
and lots of love. Enjoy.
Chef, I think the term "lightly grilled"
is the only use of the word "light"
that we're gonna get with this dish
because I don't know whether I should eat it wrestle it.
There's so much going on here.
This is more of a wedge salad than it is of a Caesar.
Keeping the skin on the chicken is a really smart idea.
It's crunchy. It's seasoned really well.
There is a little bit too much cumin through that,
and that's such a powerful spice.
It's really taking over.
It's a very good, hearty salad with some great elements.
Chicken Caesar salad -- I'm not so sure.
Thanks, Chef.Thank you, Chef.
Thank you very much, sir.
Let's step over here, Simon.
His dish doesn't even make him think of a chicken Caesar salad.
It looks like a monstrosity of color.
I don't think I'm going anywhere.
All right, Simon, one of these Caesars
deserves less hailing than the others.[ Chuckles ]
I have to say, you all missed at least one element
that I would be expecting from a great chicken Caesar salad,
and I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
Well, chefs, you all missed at least one element
that I would be expecting from a great chicken Caesar salad,
and I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
Barret.
Chef, it was a chicken Caesar salad
without the chicken.
Oh, Chef Barret, sorry to see you go, sir,
but I'm afraid I'm gonna need all that cash back in this case.
Very, very sorry.MAJUMDAR: Thank you.
CHEF BARRET: Pleasure.Take care.
Thank you, sir. An honor.Thank you.
CHEF BARRET: First word -- "chicken."
"Chicken." "Chicken."
If I would've had chicken, I would've pulled it off,
so it's my own fault.
The sabotages didn't do me in. I did myself in.
ALTON: Second round --
I'm going to give you 30 minutes to make your very best...
shrimps and grits.
Yeah!
Ooh!CHEF CECIL: Shrimp and grits?
Man, I cook shrimp and grits every day.
ALTON: Hopefully, I don't have to tell you what this is,
so let's just get down to that 60-second shopping time
which begins...
now.
CHEF KRYSTAL: My plan is to not forget anything
in the pantry this time.
I am barreling through.
30 seconds.
CHEF FRANK: Shrimp are very easy to cook.
Grits, well, that's just like polenta.
My mom's Italian -- Finish them with cheese and butter.
I see chorizo in the pantry,
and I think it'll be a great substitution for andouille,
which is commonly in shrimp and grits.
ALTON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
It looks like you've got a losing basket over there.
CHEF CECIL: I look down at Chef Frank's basket,
and I see that he has polenta.
He's really gonna come into Alton Brown's house
and try to make some polenta grits?
That's ridiculous.
Let's have a look at our first item up for bid.
[ Sighs ]
[ Chuckles ][ Laughs ]
Oh, my god. What is that?
It's, like, something my kids would play with.
ALTON: This southern dish inspired me
to finish up my Civil War diorama.
Ah.
Win this auction, and you can force both of your competitors
to play out the "Cutthroat" version
of the American Civil War.
[ Southern accent ] Boys, bring it on in here, would you?
[ Laughs ] Bring it on.
[ Normal voice ] Bring on the damn thing!
The kitchen will be divided into the North and the South.
One chef will be in the south,
where they will have to prep both chef's dishes,
and the other opponent will be in the North,
and that person will have to do
all the cooking of those two dishes.
So, to win this war, cooperation will be key.
CHEF CECIL: I really don't want to cook with these two.
I don't trust Chef Frank or Chef Krystal
cooking any kind of soul food.
I don't know if they even have a soul.
Who will give me $500?
$500!Chef Cecil's in for $500. How about $600?
Do I hear $600? $600?$1,000.
ALTON: I got a $1,000 bid.$3,000.
$3,000, Chef Frank.
CHEF FRANK: I do not play well with others.
I do not play nice. I want to give this away.
$4,000.$4,000 the high bid.
$5,100.Does anybody want to go to $5,200?
$7,000.$7,000.
$7,100!$8,000.
ALTON: $8,000 is now the current high bid.
CHEF KRYSTAL: Chef Cecil knows what he's doing,
and if I have to partner with him,
we can just get rid of Frank, so I just stop bidding.
Sold to Chef Frank for $8,000. Come on over, sir.
I just don't want to do that.
ALTON: Personally, I don't blame you.
So, you get to decide which one of these fine individuals
will be in the South,
which is going to be the side that is doing the prep...
Okay....and North, which is the side that is doing the cooking.
CHEF FRANK: Chef Krystal, you're gonna prep.
Chef Cecil, you're gonna cook.
I don't like other people cooking my food.
[ Scoffs ]Good luck.
CHEF CECIL: I think we're done because I don't know
if Chef Krystal can prep fast enough.
Oh, boy.
ALTON: Let's take a look
at our second item up for auction, shall we?
Wow!
Who doesn't love a good shrimp cocktail?
I know I do.
Mmm-mmm!
But something's missing from this one.
It's the shrimp!
Oh, my God, shrimp tails?!
ALTON: [ Cackles]
Win this auction,
and you can replace one of your opponent's shrimp
with shrimp tails.
There's a little meat in there.
Somebody's getting the tailend of this deal.
Who will give me $500?$2,000.
$2,000.$2,500.
$2,500, Chef Frank.$2,600!
$3,000.
ALTON: $3,000 now the high bid to Chef Frank.$3,100.
ALTON: $3,100. How about $3,200?
CHEF FRANK: No one wants it.
They already have enough to deal with.
I'm a little worried.
$5,000.ALTON: $5,000.
Looking for $5,100.$5,100.
$5,100's the current high bid going once.
Going twice.
Sold at $5,100 to Chef Krystal.
Come on up, ma'am, and bring me my money.
Decide who is going to be gifted
that fabulous culinary opportunity.
CHEF CECIL: This would make my shrimp-and-grits dish
go down in flames.
CHEF KRYSTAL: I am just thinking to myself,
"This could really put him out of the game."
ALTON: Decide who is going to be gifted
that fabulous culinary opportunity.
Well, Cecil, I think we're kind of a team right now, so...
Yes, we are....I'm just gonna have to go this way.
CHEF KRYSTAL: Shut grandpa down.
I'm not scared of it.
CHEF FRANK: Shrimp tails, huh?
Great.
Shrimp and grits -- half an hour.
It starts now.
CHEF FRANK: How's it going, guys?
Krystal, you're making a mess.
I see what you're making there. You're making a mess.
CHEF KRYSTAL: I'm prepping for two people --
two people that are gonna beat you.
Me and Chef Krystal have been sabotaged by Chef Frank.
We got a Mason-Dixon Line between both of us.
It's gonna be a team effort with this one
and get old Chef Frank out of here.
CHEF KRYSTAL: Chef, I have some bacon for you.
Okay, I need my bacon chopped, please, Chef.
Bacon chopped -- heard.
Everything Chef Cecil cooks has to be prepped.
It's taking corn off the cob, deveining and peeling shrimp.
All of that has to be prepped,
and I have to hand it over to Cecil.
Just please don't burn the onions.
I'm not gonna burn your onions, Chef.Thanks, sir.
And then he has to hand the food back over to me
for me to season
'cause he doesn't have any seasonings over there.
Thank you, Chef. Yes, Chef.Good?
He keeps saying "Chef." I think he's talking about me.
I don't know why.
I'm, like, hard-wired to hear "Chef."
The polenta's gonna take me the longest.
I need to get it on right away.
You've decided to make polenta on purpose.
What's the difference between polenta and grits?
Just name really. It's the same thing.
Are you all Yankees?!
Grits, polenta -- eh.
[ Groans loudly ][ Laughs ]
CHEF CECIL: With my grits,
I start with a little bit of onion
and a little bit of garlic
to get that flavor all the way through my grits,
and then I put my chicken stock in
with the shrimp heads and the milk.
CHEF KRYSTAL: Here's mine -- grits, cream.Thank you.
I'm cooking her grits her way.
You want cream in there?
At the end, Chef.Yes, Chef.
Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.Not until the end.
I'm cooking my grits my way.
It's very tough cooking somebody else's grits at the same time.
You want your corn in the grits?
I do. No, no, no, no.Right now?
What about here?
I want them sautéed first.Okay.
Oh, my God, this is crazy!
Chefs, you have 15 minutes! Half of the time is gone!
CHEF FRANK: You guys, thanks for these beautiful shrimp tails.
It keeps me from having to chop them up.
Thank you very much.
Pulling the shrimp out of their little tail ends
is actually kind of difficult.
I have shrimp tails that are extremely tiny.
The judge is gonna look at it and wonder,
"Where's the rest of the shrimp?"
I think it would take 10 shrimp tails
to equal one shrimp.
We're down to like maybe, what, it's gonna be like 3 ounces,
I think, max.
Better get a lot of flavor out of it, then.Yeah.
So, I knew I had to bulk up my dish
with something else, so I added a little chorizo.
Well, I don't think I have a choice to be honest.
Your choice was to spend more money
during the auction process.Yeah.
CHEF CECIL: Can I get those shrimp?
CHEF KRYSTAL: Here's your shrimp.
Thank you, Chef.I don't know how many pieces you want.
CHEF CECIL: They're not deveined.
Come on, Chef Krystal, you got to take the poop out of shrimp.
Can you devein my shrimp, please, Chef?
CHEF KRYSTAL: [ Grunts ] I'm feeling a little frazzled.
CHEF CECIL: She deveins them, put them directly on the grill,
and get those going.
My grits are looking beautiful.
My shrimp heads are frying right now.
I think I'm golden.
I need to season my shrimp up so he can get it cooked.
I want to give my shrimp a smoky flavor,
put a little smoked paprika on it,
a little, tiny bit of chili powder, salt, pepper.
Two pan, quick sauté, please.
We are seriously running out of time.
Cecil, you in the weeds, dude?
No, not as much as you are, bro.
You haven't been on the line in a long time, huh, Chef?
I'm sweating.
Yeah, you always are, huh?Sweating.
I need to add chorizo to my dish,
so I sauté it in a pan with some corn.
In a separate pan, I'm sautéing the shrimp.
I add the shrimp back to the dish with the chorizo.
I hit it with some white wine, some butter.
Bam, it's done.
Chef Frank decided to add chorizo,
one of the strongest-flavored meats there is,
to his shrimp and grits.
Most of the shrimp flavor in a shrimp
is closer to the head and actually in the head,
so his shrimp's just gonna disappear.
That's my feeling.
I think you wasted all that money there, Chef Frank.
Keep chatting, keep chatting, Mom.
I will all day long.
"All the way home," you mean.
ALTON: Two minutes!
Chef, Chef, Chef, let's go.CHEF KRYSTAL: Okay.
Am I first?Yeah, let's go.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
I am freaking out.
I don't think we're gonna get our food on the plates.
I need my grits!
She needs her grits, dude, come on!
Faster!
Oh [bleep]
I accidentally put Chef Krystal's corn
into my grits.
No sabotage -- It was purely my mistake.
This one's yours, Chef.
Where's mycorn?
It got mixed up, Chef.
[ Laughs ]
You put my corn in your grits?Yes.
Yep, that happened, so I have no corn now,
so my dish has literally, like, almost zero elements.
I see it falling apart over there a little bit.
It is not falling apart.Oh, you're falling apart, dude.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up. Put it down and step away from the board.
Thank you very much.
Welcome back, Simon.Thank you, Alton.
And you've spent a little bit of time
down in my neck of the woods, the South.
Just came back from there, in fact.
So you've probably had some shrimp and grits.
Actually, I've had
some fantastic shrimp and grits recently,
so, chefs, you've got some very high standards
to live up to.
Let's see how they did. Come on.
Chef Cecil, tell your story.
Today, I have for you shrimp and grits
with a grilled shrimp -- a fried shrimp head,
fresh corn, and heirloom tomatoes.
Chef, first of all, the shrimp head, to me,
is one of the most underused kind of parts of the shrimp.
I love the fact that you've put that on the plate.
Well done.
Thank you, Chef.
That shrimp is spot-on. It's absolutely fantastic.
Thank you, Chef.It's cooked perfectly,
seasoned well,
and that corn absolutely adds the sweetness.
Having said that, your grits are a little bit solidified.
It's almost looking more like a badly cooked omelette
than it is those creamy grits.
It's a shame that one key element,
the grits, is really lumpy.
Thank you, Chef.
CHEF CECIL: Come on, Simon.
I had Chef Krystal prepping my food.
You got to give me a break on this one.
Chef Krystal, please tell Simon
about your take on shrimp and grits.
This is kind of a Cincinnati take on shrimp and grits,
not so much in the South.
But it's a creamy grit
and then a little bit of a smoky shrimp on top.
I think it's a beautiful-looking plate.
I love the fact that you've got those beautiful, pale grits.
I can see that you've seasoned them well.
I'm getting a buttery, peppery taste out of those.
I really like that with grits.
The shrimp look like they've been cooked well.
They're very pretty.
Unfortunately, the shrimp that I'm tasting here,
it's a little bit overdone, chewy.
It's tough. It's overcooked.
Thanks, Chef.Thank you.
If that's how they do it in Cincinnati...[ Chuckles ]
CHEF KRYSTAL: I would give anything to tell Simon
that I didn't cook those shrimp.
Believe me.
Chef Cecil.
Ehh!
Chef Frank, tell him about your dish.
CHEF FRANK: Today, we made shrimp sautéed with chorizo,
grilled corn with buttermilk grits
and pepper jack cheese.
The flavor is fantastic.
I love that cheddar jack cheese coming through.
I think it's really, really got a great consistency.
It's delicious. It's very fiery.
Thank you, Chef.
What I'm not getting is any shrimp at all.
All I'm getting is chorizo.
This really doesn't look like shrimp and grits to me.
That corn that you've used, it looks much more like polenta.
What I was expecting from shrimp and grits,
I'm not really getting delivered here.
There are some fantastic flavors here, though.
Thank you, Chef.Thank you.
Pleasure.Thank you very much.
Although all of my flavors are spot-on,
I'm terrified that there's just not enough shrimp.
Simon, you know my dilemma.
I can only take two of these chefs
into the final round. It is your job to decide
whose shrimp and grits wasn't quite up to par.
MAJUMDAR: Chefs, usually this is a really difficult decision,
but for once I'm absolutely clear,
and I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
Chefs, usually this is a really difficult decision,
but for once I'm absolutely clear,
and I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
Frank.
Chef, it was another delicious dish,
but it was polenta and chorizo.
It wasn't shrimp and grits.
ALTON: Sorry, Chef.
I'm afraid I'm gonna need to take the rest of that cash
and put it back in the case from whence it came.
Thank you, sir.
It's my pleasure.The pleasure was mine.
Thanks.My pleasure. Thank you.
CHEF FRANK: I don't feel like I deserve to go home.
I feel like I still deserve to be here.
I thought my dish was still stronger than Chef Krystal's.
You know, cooking's a subjective thing.
One man's crap is another man's treasure.
They pulled off very elementary dishes.
Mine had a little more meat to it.
I guess that's what hanged me.
Chefs, congratulations on surviving to this,
the final round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Oh, my gosh, I have to go through this one more time.
Pull through. pull through for your kids.
You got this.
Now, we do things a little bit different in this round.
You're going to have the traditional 60 seconds to shop,
then you will move immediately into the cooking phase.
And should I decide to auction off some things,
I will do so while you cook.
CHEF CECIL: Coming from the ghetto of Sacramento
and now being on the Food Network
is just a dream of mine.
I want to do this for all those people out there
that don't think they have a way out,
and I just want to tell them that they do have a way out.
The dish -- 45 minutes...
to make...
ice-cream sandwiches.
[ Laughs ]
I'm sure you've made it.
I'm sure you've got the recipe already locked in your head.
So let's just go ahead
and get that 60-second shopping time started right now.
CHEF CECIL: I'm gonna make, like, an ice-cream cookie s'more.
Who the hell doesn't like s'mores?
I need my chocolate chips, I need my marshmallows,
and I need my walnuts to go into my cookie.
Come on. Forget about it, man.
It's gonna be awesome!
Chefs, you've got 30 seconds.
I made the exact ice-cream sandwiches
for my son's birthday
that I am planning on making right now.
I need flour. I need butter.
I need eggs, milk, sugar, cream cheese.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
And your cooking time begins now -- 45 minutes!
CHEF KRYSTAL: Not this time, sir.
We're not partners anymore.
No more love.
Chefs, anybody care for a sandwich?
Here's a tray of some of my favorites.
We got cucumber-and-cream-cheese,
BLT, peanut-and-jelly,
and a whole lot more to choose from.
Win this auction, and you can take away
your opponent's entire basket of ingredients,
forcing them to use whatever is on this tray instead.
No. Just no.
Unacceptable.
$6,000.
$6,100, ma'am?
CHEF KRYSTAL: $8,000!
$9,000.$9,000!
$9,100, ma'am?$9,100!
$9,100. $9,200?
$9,500.I've got $9,500.
$9,600, $9,600, $9,600?
$10,000!$10,000.
$10,100.
$10,200, $10,200?
Come on, $10,200.$10,200!
$10,200 -- current high bid.
Will you go $10,300, sir? $10,300?
CHEF CECIL: I know I can make something out of nothing.
Just bring it on, Krystal.
I'm determined to win this thing.
Sold to Chef Krystal for $10,200.
You may deliver this to your opponent.
Holy crap, nail in the coffin for real right here.
Here you go, Chef.Thank you so much.
Thank you!I paid a lot for that.
This is the worst sabotage
there's probably been on "Cutthroat Kitchen."
CHEF CECIL: Uh, I got some peanut butter here.
I got some bananas. I got some bacon.
That's always good in ice cream, right?
CHEF CECIL: So, I'm thinking I'm gonna put bananas,
peanut butter, and jelly ice cream together.
So, right now, I'm starting my cookie dough.
So, my plan is to make cream-cheese ice cream
and homemade chocolate-chip cookies.
I get my butter in my mixer, my sugar, and I'm just rolling.
CHEF KRYSTAL: You getting through those sandwiches?
You just worry about what you're doing over there, okay?Oh, I will.
For the cookie part of my ice-cream sandwich,
I have this white bread
that has chocolate and banana on it.
So I'm gonna get that into the oven
so I can do, like, a chewy, soft cookie
made out of white bread.
Sounds ridiculous, but I'm going for it.
A white-bread cookie?
That sounds delicious!
Cookie dough is made, and I taste my dough.
It tastes delicious.
Get them in the oven 'cause they need to cook,
and I'm ready to start on my ice cream,
and once again --
You know, while we're on the subject of sandwiches,
here are two sandwich bags, one large, one small.
Win this auction, and you can force your opponent
to make their ice cream with these bags.
Ingredients go in here. Ice and salt go in here.
After some vigorousshaking and some nifty science,
you will have ice cream.
So, who wants to shake up their opponent's world?
They will not be able to make their ice cream
in anything else!
Who will give me $500? $500 for the two bags.
$500.$500.
$500 bid from Chef Cecil.
That's no big shock. $500. How about $600?
I'm tired at this point.
I don't want to give one dime of my money away.
Sold to Cecil for $500.
Would you like me to deliver them?
Yes, please, Chef.Very well. Here you go, ma'am.
This is what you're making your ice cream in.
You know how to do it, I imagine.
I personally have never done it that way.
I have my own ice-cream maker at home,
and that's how I make my ice cream.
All your ingredients are gonna go
in this itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bag...
My ice-cream ingredients?...which, by the way,
he bought for $500. That will go in here.
You put ice and salt in here.
Zip it up -- until you make ice cream.
Wait.Have fun with that.
I'm so confused on how to do this,
and I feel like an idiot.
[ Whimpers ]
Uh, okay.
I am freaking out 'cause I'm not sure
how to go about this!
It's just time-consuming,
and I'm not gonna get as much ice cream
out of my ice-cream base as I wanted.
CHEF KRYSTAL: Aah!
You look like you're having a little bit of trouble.
Maybe you should shake up and down.
This is a huge risk to use this white bread.
I take it out of the oven.
All right, so, I'm pressing this bacon down in there,
and it's gonna be a bacon cookie --
a bacon-chocolate cookie on one side.
On the other side, it's gonna be
a peanut-butter-chocolate cookie.
What are you gonna do to crisp that up on the other side,
or are you?I want it to be a chewy cookie.
A chewy cookie?Yes.
That's bread.
That's sandwich bread, not actually a cookie.[ Chuckles ]
Maybe put some sugar on it, put it under the broiler maybe,
you know, get kind of a brûlée action on one side.
Well, I don't have any sugar, Chef.
Oh.
[ Laughs ]Darn.
You took it away from me.
I'm such a bad person.
No, no, you're all right.No, I-I am.
But I'm okay with that.
[ Laughs evilly ]
So, time's ticking down.
I get frazzled.
I'm shaking the bag, shaking the bag,
stirring with one hand, shaking with the next.
I pull my cookies out of the oven.
They are baked perfectly, exactly how I want them.
Um, I really need my cookies to cool down
because I really don't need it melting my ice cream
and making soup.
I worked so hard for this ice cream.
Then it should taste pretty good.
Thanks, Chef!
I got this ice cream with, you know,
jelly and peanut butter and bananas.
I got this bacon cookie that I'm making.
I'm just hoping
this ice-cream sandwich comes together.
CHEF CECIL: I think you might be wanting
to shake in your boots about now.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up! Challenge is over. Back away from the board.
Thank you.
This is gonna go really good or really bad.
See how easy that was?
ALTON: Ice-cream sandwich.
Not something I order very often, in fact,
so hopefully I'll get some really good ones,
and it'll change my mind about them.
Chefs, please, bring your offerings forward.
CHEF CECIL: I am super-nervous right now.
I made something out of nothing.
I just hope Simon understands
I'm going out on a limb for this one.
CHEF KRYSTAL: My dish looks beautiful.
I can't be any more excited to serve this dish to Simon.
Please, Chef Krystal, go ahead and quickly tell Simon
what he's gonna have.
This is a chocolate chipper.
I made a homemade chocolate-chip cookie,
cream-cheese ice cream with a little chocolate ganache
and sprinkles.
MAJUMDAR: The cookie is really terrific.
You can obviously make great cookies.
They've got a nice snap to them.
The ice cream has got really good texture.
The one thing I will say -- It's very, very sweet.
I'm not 5 years old.
I don't want everything to be sugar.
It doesn't have any contrast,
though I think you could've handled the sugar better.
Thank you.
CHEF KRYSTAL: It's dessert!
Dessert is sweet!
Cecil, please tell Simon about your take
on the ice-cream sandwich.
CHEF CECIL: Today, I made
a bacon-banana-peanut-butter ice-cream sandwich.
Chef, this is either going to be
the best idea I've ever seen in "Cutthroat Kitchen,"
or it's going to be the worst
because a savory ice-cream sandwich
is not something I've ever encountered before.
Wow.
It actually works really well.
The banana comes through.
You get the bacon. You've got the peanut butter.
I think your ice cream is really good.
It's unusual.
It's kind of an Elvis Presley ice-cream sandwich.
I'm afraid it's kind of the Elvis-ugly period.
This is not a good-looking sandwich,
but, actually, it's pretty interesting to taste,
and I mean that in a good way.
Thank you, Chef.Thanks.
Whoo-hoo!
He really liked it!
I might have a chance to win this one!
All right, Simon, you've had your dessert.
Time to decide who's gonna march out of here with some cash
and who's just gonna go out holding their hands like this,
saying, "Why? Why?"
MAJUMDAR: Chefs, you gave me two very different takes
on an ice-cream sandwich.
I got one very traditional, one very unorthodox.
I got one sweet. I got one savory.
So it made a really interesting decision,
but I have made my decision,
and the winner's gonna have to be Chef...
Krystal.
Chef, it was just a really delicious ice-cream sandwich.
Chef Cecil, I really admire your bravery
in trying something so creative.
It was just a little bit out there for me.
Chef Cecil, I'm sorry, sir.
That means I'm gonna need the rest of your cash
here in this case.
CHEF CECIL: Thank you, Chef.Thank you, sir, very much.
Well-cooked, Chef.
CHEF CECIL: I can't believe they didn't like it.
It was just too unorthodox for them,
but that's how I cook.
I wouldn't do anything different, you know?
Life brings you sabotages all the time.
You know, coming from the ghetto,
but now I'm here on the Food Network
and "Cutthroat Kitchen."
You haven't seen the last of me.
ALTON: Chef Krystal, congratulations.
It's not the biggest take here on "Cutthroat"--
CHEF KRYSTAL: Hugging! We're hugging now.Okay.
I came here, and I proved it to myself.
I didn't need to prove it to anyone else,
and I did prove it to myself,
and I don't think those guys saw me coming at all.
I just pulled out every trick I had up my sleeve,
and I took them down!
I just won "Cutthroat Kitchen"!
Whoo!
Drinks are on me tonight, boys!
Now it's time for Simon to find out all about
the evilicious sabotages that went into today's dishes.
Check out my aftershow
at foodnetwork.com/cutthroat right now
'cause I'm about to tell him.