[Guy] For the next five weeks,
Flavortown Market will become...
Flavortown Academy...
I am the headmaster Guy Fieri.
...where the best home cooks in the country,
can learn to take their skills to the next level.
-[Antonia] Needs more lime. -More lime?
-And more salt. -Got it.
Tonight, it's Jet's class...
-Come on. Run, run, run, run. Pick it up. -[Mada] Let's go, let's go.
...versus Antonia's class...
Jeff, get right on that chicken.
Samar, check your steak.
Don't let those buns burn.
...in the biggest budget battle ever.
-No. -[Jet] Too much.
Too expensive, too expensive.
[Antonia] If we don't have the money for it, we can get rid of it.
I mean, this is really impressive,
these dishes they've made.
In the end, one home cook will graduate
with top honors and win $35,000.
It's Part Two of Flavortown Academy.
Wow.
[Tyler] That's my professor right there.
[Samar] Whoo!
Let's welcome back the stars of our faculty,
Professor Chef Antonia Lofaso
and Professor Chef Jet Tila.
-Good morning, Professors. -Good morning.
-Good morning, headmaster. -Good morning, headmaster.
[Guy] Teachers, you got to handpick
the students during last week's enrollment period.
Professor Antonia, please,
tell us about who's in your class.
All right, my class, come on out.
So first off, I have Jeff.
He is Crunch Daddy.
Very, very crunchy food.
Flavors are phenomenal.
And I thought you played the game very well.
Then I have Diana.
Mole Mama.
She is, like, rooted
in some, like, authentic Mexican cooking.
Your flavors are beautiful.
How long have you been cooking for?
Since I was nine years old.
[Antonia] Then I have Samar from Chicago.
She has bold Middle Eastern flavors
and that is why she was my number one pick.
The way that you chose to play the game,
the direction and the focus of the dish,
-really impressed. -Thank you.
-Nice to see you. -What's up?
Welcome back.
Professor Jet Tila, who do we got?
All right. Team Tila.
First is Maria.
She is Greek to the core.
I think you cook from your soul.
This is a gorgeous dish.
You have an eye for food.
Next up, Tyler from Las Vegas.
He is a comfort food master.
What I really like about your cooking
is it's confident like you are.
Finally, Mada.
And there's a lot of Mada as you're gonna see.
You crushed this cook, brother.
Welcome, chefs.
Congratulations to the six of you
for passing last week's entrance exam.
If you pass this week's freshman course,
you'll move on to next week's more advanced
sophomore studies and so on.
Only some of you will make it to the senior finals.
But the student who aces the finals
will graduate Flavortown Academy
with top honors
and a whopping $35,000 grand prize.
Give me that money.
[Guy] So, this week's freshman course,
we are gonna start off
with one of the most important lessons that chefs,
home cooks, and struggling students must learn.
And that is how to cook on a budget.
[all groaning]
[Guy] But, luckily your instructors
are very familiar with the best values.
So first, they are going to prove
they know where the best deals are
by playing a little game we call Grocery List.
Wait, Jet and I have to do this?
-You two. -Just the professors?
[Guy] So, Hunter Fieri.
-What's up, chefs? -What's up, Hunter?
Here is the assistant dean of the deli, Mr. Hunter Fieri.
Chefs, how you guys doing?
[Guy] There you go.
Professors, I'm giving each of you a grocery list.
On this list are key items
that you must get one item over $15.
Okay.
One item under $0.99.
And one item that is exactly $4.99.
Now the first one to bring three items
that satisfy the list over to the checkout stand
where the wonderful Wendy is...
-Hi, Wendy. -[Jet] Hi, Wendy.
...will earn a key advantage for their class.
-Okay. -[Guy] But you need to bring back all three.
You get two out of three, you don't win,
you'd have to go back and get the one.
[Tyler] Go, go, go!
What up? Come on.
Any advantage in Flavortown can mean a win.
So I grab one Dungeness crab
for sure will be more than $15.
-Let's go green, baby! -Go, Chef Jet.
[Antonia] Rib eye steak is one of the most
expensive pieces of beef.
In Flavortown, you always want the advantage.
[Jet] My strategy for $4.99
is to scan the shelves as I run really fast.
-Nice list though. -Thank you.
I thought they were competing.
[Antonia] I've done Grocery Games so many times,
I know the grocery store inside and out.
[Jet] What's less than $0.99?
[Hunter] She's already almost done.
[Antonia] I know there's something
under $0.99 at the checkout.
Wow.
$1.99.
Has to be under $0.99, not $0.99.
[Antonia] Under $0.99.
Didn't read that part.
-[Guy] See what happens. -[Wendy] $1.99.
-[Antonia] I was here first. -No, no, no, no, no, no.
-I was here. I was here. -[Jet] Didn't she get out of line?
[Guy] No, no, you're out of line.
-There you go. -[Wendy] Okay.
[Jet] Might be too heavy.
$0.96.
-He got it? -[Wendy] He got it all.
[Guy] Congratulations, Chef Jet!
-Wow! -[Mada] Wow!
[Tyler] That's my professor right there.
[Guy] Congratulations, Chef Jet.
You have earned your team a key advantage.
-[Mada softly] Yes. -[Guy] So, first assignment,
you and your classmates must work together
to make a party platter.
Now each party platter
should have three distinct elements.
We gotta know who made what.
And to make things even better,
I'm giving you a whopping budget
of $60 each
to do your shopping.
And because Professor Jet is so awesome,
he's gonna get an extra $5 to his team.
Hey, hey.
Oh, thank gosh for that.
All right, students. Are you ready to shop?
-Yes, Chef. -[Maria] Yes, sir.
Hunter, where are the rest of the carts?
-We, uh, we're on a budget. -We're on a budget?
Yeah. So I only got two right now.
[Guy] All right, all right.
It looks like you are gonna be in a new game
that we called Shared Cart.
That means that all of the students
and their professor
will hold on to the cart together as they shop.
It'll be a real bonding experience.
To the carts.
-[Jet] Okay. Okay, okay. -[Guy] All right.
Now you're gonna have a chance
to meet and talk but your time is gonna start.
There's 30 minutes on the clock.
One team will graduate to sophomore class
and the other will go into a pass/fail round.
And one student will be sent home.
You have a party platter.
You're gonna have those three distinct dishes
on that party platter.
You are gonna make two platters--
-I have a question. -One question
and then you guys are gonna go, okay?
-That means go. -That means go.
This is a platter, so what do you think?
[Maria speaking]
Great.
Sloppy Joe slider, I like that.
What are you making?
You'd have to make at least four,
maybe cut them in half for eight pieces.
[Jeff speaking]
Okay. Delicious.
[Samar speaking]
-Are they gonna go together? -It's gonna go together
because it's all party stuff.
Let's go meat.
-[Guy] Who's your money on? -[Hunter] Team Jet.
You're going Team Jet for the 65 bucks?
[Hunter] I think that's really gonna help them out here.
You think Antonia?
[Guy] Well, I have to if you took Jet.
[Hunter] We can both have Jet.
That's not fun. Okay. I'll take Antonia.
-We'll see what happens. -Okay.
[Jet] Don't let go.
Cheap, cheap, cheap.
So my students are doing a party platter.
I like the variety of dishes.
$5.99 versus a $6.99.
Now we have $65.
Every penny counts in a budget challenge.
We have to buy multitasking ingredients.
[Maria] Great. That's good. One for each of you.
For my part of the party platter,
I'm going with cheeseburger egg rolls.
First thing we do is grab the meat.
My egg rolls are right in that corner.
And then we grab the most important ingredient
and that's the egg roll wrapper itself.
I need Hawaiian brioche buns.
I'm making Sloppy Joe sandwiches.
I get ground beef that I can share with my boy Mada,
maximizing this budget
and Hawaiian rolls as the base.
Can you grab me the pita?
For my Greek feta dip, I need pita.
I also grab feta.
-Stop. Feta's right here. -[Mada] You want crumbled?
-Decent quality? -[Mada] This one?
-No, not that one. Yeah. -[Mada] Okay.
-$4.99 in the thing. That one, yeah. -[Mada] This one?
So the feta is $5 each and I need two.
Get that anyway.
-And then we'll get yours. -[Maria] Okay.
In terms of budget, I had to get one crumbled.
I was very disappointed.
I'll have to use both.
Team that shops together stays together, literally.
[Jet] Sauces.
I need mayo, ketchup, mustard.
The squad can't be spending recklessly.
[Mada] I need the mayo.
[Tyler] So we're gonna grab a handful of ingredients
that we can cross-utilize through mine and Mada's dish.
-[Jet] What do you need? -Roasted red peppers.
For the base of my dip, you need a roasted red pepper.
Budget-wise, I went with a jar of roasted red pepper.
It's affordable.
[Jet] Produce.
[Maria] I need two lemons and one jalapeno.
[Tyler] It is hectic.
There's no doubt about that.
[Jet] Let's go check out.
[Tyler] Working on a class project
definitely makes you nervous.
Of course I wanna see my team win.
-Run, run, run. Pick it up. -[Mada] Let's go, let's go.
Chef Jet's team is already checking out.
[Mada] Baby's ready.
[Wendy] Okay.
Right now you are at $63.87.
-Here you go, $65. -[Wendy] Thank you.
[Jet] I'm super-stoked that that five bucks came in handy.
Sorry, Antonia.
[Antonia] If we don't have the money for it,
we can get rid of it.
Headmaster Fieri gave us $60,
so essentially each one of my students
has $20 each.
And because we're making a party platter as a group,
that requires a lot of cross utilization of ingredients.
Grab what you want.
[Jeff] Grab chicken thighs.
First thing I do is I grab chicken thighs
for my Asian fried chicken slider.
[Diana] The carnitas are up here.
I'm choosing precooked carnitas
for my rolled tacos.
[Antonia] Carnitas take hours to actually make.
This was a very smart purchase especially on a budget.
Skirt steak?
[Samar] Skirt steak sounds good, yeah.
[Jeff] We're at $20 right now.
[Samar] Skirt steak is a little expensive
but our strategy is to spend more money
on the proteins and then go down from there.
-He needs tortillas. -Tortillas and tostadas.
[Antonia] You know what's hard?
All of us holding on to one shopping cart.
It's really, like, taking a lot of time.
The ones down there fry really good, get those.
[Jeff] I need some sweet rolls,
or some slider rolls.
[Antonia] Will do. Okay. Slider rolls.
-[Jeff] Three. -[Antonia] Yup.
-[Jeff] $3.59. -[Antonia] $3.59.
Okay. We're good. Dairy.
[Jeff] Oh, I need some eggs.
They're being very diligent
about keeping their hands on the cart.
It's really funny to watch.
Share the ingredients. The limes.
[Samar] Stop by the limes right there.
Okay. Let's go. Cilantro.
I know only one student
can win at the end of all of this.
But play as a team until we get there.
Chefs, you've got 24 and a half minutes.
They better get cooking.
[Antonia] All right, let's go, let's go.
$56.06.
-[Samar] Good job, guys. -[Antonia] Thank you.
Guys, pull out all your ingredients
and organize them at your station.
This is freshman class.
The first time we're competing together.
Grab what you need. Start cooking.
This week, I'm hoping to get to know my students better.
Are we allowed to touch food?
You're not allowed to touch a thing.
You touch a pan, you touch a knife,
you touch an ingredient, you go to the penalty box.
[Jet] Okay, okay.
How can I teach cooking
if I can't touch anything?
This really sucks.
So, I can't touch anything in here,
just so you guys know, okay?
[Jeff] Oh, no.
So, ladies and gentlemen, here to grade tonight's
budget dishes are three A-plus judges.
We have acclaimed chef and pasta perfectionist,
the one and only Chef Joe Sasto.
The Food Network star
who should have her own spice symposium,
-Aarti Sequeira. -Thank you.
And the man in charge of Flavortown Academy's
food-writing program,
the one and only Troy "Boy" Johnson.
Okay.
Professor Antonia and Professor Jet,
who do you prefer to take their class with?
-I opt out of this question. -I opt out.
I go, "Whoa!"
[Guy] Twenty minutes left!
Guys, remember, along the way, season everything.
All right, Chef Antonia, what's on the menu?
[Antonia] Jeff is doing a fried chicken slider.
Diana's going with a carnitas rolled taco.
Samar is making a tostada.
She's got skirt steak over there.
What's the cohesion here?
[Antonia] Asian and Mexican food.
Those two cultures,
their food goes really well together.
She should've been in sales.
[Antonia] Samar, skirt steak, marinate it
and get it immediately on the grill.
[Samar] Let's do this.
Last week, the fact that I was picked first,
like now I get to learn from Antonia,
it's just, like, not real.
So for my tostada,
I'm seasoning my steak with a taco seasoning.
Since we're on a budget,
that's a bunch of flavors in one thing.
And remember, we have cumin.
We have cayenne.
[Samar] Luckily, Antonia reminds us
that we have pantry staples.
Paprika, cayenne pepper.
You think this is good seasoning?
Beautiful.
[Samar] I want these tostadas
to be the best tostadas I've made.
I don't wanna let my classmates down.
Jeff, get right on that chicken,
-de-boning it immediately. -[Jeff] Yes. Thank you.
Normally I would go with boneless chicken thighs
but to make it a little bit cheaper,
I did decide to go with the bone-in.
For my batter,
I'm gonna be putting in flour,
cayenne, red pepper,
and then add that crunch factor
because I'm Crunch Dad,
so everything's gotta be a little crunchy.
Diana, what sauce is going into your carnitas?
-The verde. -The salsa verde? Delicious.
[Diana] So for me, I chose precooked carnitas.
Smart game play to let the grocery store
prep cook for you.
But how can she turn that premade carnitas
-into her own dish? -You know?
[Diana] I'm gonna add cumin and some chili verdes,
onions, Serrano peppers,
and I wanna really support my team
so that we're all safe
and we don't have to cook again
in an elimination round.
-Season every layer. -Yes, Chef.
[Guy] Chef Jet, what's on your menu?
We've got a cheeseburger egg roll from Mada.
Maria is making us Greek feta dip.
[Guy] Okay.
And Tyler is making a sloppy Joe slider,
so they're all kind of speaking
-to their personal experience. -Okay.
[Tyler] Nice, delicious, cheap college meal.
So the first thing I need to do
is start on the base of my Sloppy Joe mix.
I get my ground beef.
All right. I'm gonna season that a little bit.
Ketchup with mustard.
And there's one secret ingredient.
Cinnamon, just to make a little, "What is that?"
[Jet] Your freshman year is always nerves and uncertainty.
As a professor, this is gonna give you an opportunity
to keep them cool, calm, and collected, and focused.
[Tyler] Chef, a, uh, taste?
It's awesome working with Professor Jet this round.
He knows more about cooking
in his little pinky than I have in my whole body.
It's reading sweet.
So tamp that down with heat.
Use your pantry.
-Cayenne pepper is free. -Yes, Chef.
I'm focused on trying to do the best I can
with my teammates but I know ultimately,
I'm gonna have to go through them
to win this title.
Cheeseburger egg rolls what's coming?
My kids love cheeseburgers.
And one time, I didn't have any bread at the house.
All I had was egg rolls
and that was the birth
of the cheeseburger egg roll, baby.
Mada, kill that heat. You're good.
[Mada] Last week, I was in the bottom of the class,
but I made the perfect burger
because Jet gave me some amazing advice.
Are they seasoned up really well?
-We talked about seasoning a lot. -[Mada] Yes.
I'm one giant piece of clay for Jet Tila to mold.
Fellas, I'm gonna need to grill my pita.
For this Greek feta dip, in a perfect world,
would want two blocks of feta.
But in terms of budget, I could only have one,
but I am regretting grabbing that crumbled feta.
It's so dry and grainy.
Team Green!
Sounds like Team Greek.
And then I go in with my roasted red peppers.
[Jet] Are you gonna get a viscosity out of there?
[Maria] I'm just waiting for everything
to slowly liquidize.
I thought Maria's dip
would be like a gooey, melty cheese.
A little bit of olive oil is gonna help.
As it's spinning, hit it with oil.
It's freshman year.
It's really tough to manage three people
cooking frantically at the same time.
Are those onions going in the egg roll?
-[Mada] Yeah. -Okay.
I don't wanna micromanage them, I wanna guide them.
Twelve minutes!
Twelve to go!
Diana, those look beautiful.
I am trying to direct three students
at the exact same time.
Your bowls are down there.
Things are gonna fall through the cracks.
[Aarti] That steak is on fire.
That steak needs to come off the grill.
And Antonia needs to see that.
Your slider buns are gonna need to be toasted, okay?
[Jeff] Yes.
[Guy] We got 11 minutes!
Samar, check your steak.
It is the most frustrating thing
on the planet to be on the sidelines.
I saw Samar's steak.
I'm talking her through that
'cause that grill is like flaming-hot.
[Samar] I think I should take it off, right?
Yup. Put it on a sheet tray, okay?
And then you can finish it in the oven.
[Samar] Okay.
Antonia is able to, like, show me
the proper etiquettes of cooking a steak.
We don't want it to be burnt
because at the end of this round,
either Jet or Antonia's students
have to go against each other.
I think freshman year is the biggest,
steepest learning curve
and the assignment
is one of the toughest I've ever seen.
And that's where it's gonna come down to the professors
to really help guide and mold those teams.
Don't let those buns burn.
If you've got too much moisture
in the egg roll filling, drain on paper.
Mada's gonna make a cheeseburger egg roll.
Egg rolls are very tricky.
Uh, right now it's all about chilling things down
because egg roll skin can get wet and explode in the fryer.
[Mada] Yes, sir.
I get my meat down, my onions, my pickles,
and then lastly my cheese, and start wrapping them.
Make it long and skinny.
You'll get more mileage out of it.
[Mada] Yes, Chef.
Start chopping up some jalapenos.
While my Sloppy Joe mix is simmerin',
I know I gotta get working on these pickled jalapenos.
Nice and thin.
Make sure you get all of those flavors dialed up.
Tyler was smart.
Pickled jalapenos,
you can balance out the richness of the dish.
[Maria] Just rubbing garlic onto my pita.
Every platter needs a dip.
For the pita, I am going to lightly grill it.
Watch that grill, okay?
Having Professor Jet is crucial.
[Jet] Stay away from super-black bits
'cause they'll think it's burned.
[Maria] He provides reminders
that I would've never been able to think about during the chaos.
[Jet] Think about plating.
We gotta be platting soon.
Ketchup. Who's got the ketchup?
Ketchup? Uh, over here.
Now it's time for me to get started with my sauce.
I have my mayo, my ketchup, my mustard.
I add some chopped pickles to that.
Luckily, me and Tyler were able to cross-utilize
our ingredients and save some money.
[Jet] If you don't have a lot, make it look like a lot.
Jeff, your chicken looks gorgeous.
[Jeff] Thank you.
Guys, the cross-utilization on this is important.
For us on a budget,
cross-utilization of ingredients
is really important
because it has to be cohesive
so that it all makes sense on one party platter.
You're gonna use the cilantro in there
-and some red onion, correct? -[Jeff] Yes.
So now, I'm gonna get started on my slaw.
I'm gonna cross-utilize cilantro,
red onions with both Diana and Samar.
[Antonia] The heat is perfect.
Oh, that's good.
-You're making like a crema? -[Samar] Yes.
Okay. Put it in the blender.
-The blender will be better. -[Samar] Okay.
Now I have the chipotle in adobo peppers,
and then I add some of the crema to it.
I love chipotle. [laughs]
Samar makes Middle Eastern food,
was like, "I wanna make a tostada."
And I was like, "Okay."
Her flavors are so spot-on.
Yep.
That was a good first pick for me.
[Samar] All right.
[Antonia] That mango looks great.
What other are you putting in here?
[Diana] I'm using a little Serrano.
A little piece of a habanero.
And cilantro and lime.
[Antonia] May I?
Diana has, like, Mexican cooking under her belt.
She understands the balance of flavors.
And Diana is, like, born to cook.
Really beautiful.
Jeff, can you take Samar's steak out of the oven?
Five minutes!
We're plating right here.
-Got 'em, Mada? -[Mada] Yup.
I take those egg rolls out and, ooh... [chef's kiss]
[Joe] This is the right day to be judging.
Let me tell you.
-[Mada] How does that look? -[Jet] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Do yours and bring it here. -[Tyler] Yes, Chef.
You just gotta spoon that Sloppy Joe on there.
Good. Not too much though.
[Tyler] Gonna top that Sloppy Joe
with the pickled jalapeno.
-[Jet] Maria, you good? -[Maria] I think so.
I plate up 'cause I think I'm ready.
[Jet] You have three and a half minutes.
Just dump it. Don't worry about it.
Re-spin it.
[Maria] This was the worst feeling ever.
There's three of us, and if one of us screw up,
we're all in trouble.
[Guy] Three minutes.
Okay. I want you to start plating immediately.
[Jeff] Placing the bread down first,
then the chicken, then the slaw.
[Antonia] Those are gorgeous.
Now that my steak has rested,
it's time to cut into it.
On a bias?
[Samar] Yup, exactly.
[Antonia] All right, Diana, bring over your fried tacos.
Just looking at the platter
made me very, very proud.
I really just wanna win this first round
so that my students feel confident.
That looks gorgeous.
Ninety seconds. Ninety to go.
[Maria] So I grab the dip, it is still not what I want,
but we don't have enough time.
[Jet] For 13 years, there's been a running tally
of win-losses between Professor Lofaso and myself.
So I need to stack another W.
Take this time to make it look beautiful.
[Guy] Great teamwork.
I mean, this is really impressive,
these dishes they've made.
[Jet] Come on, let's go.
Five, four, three, two, one.
-That's it. Class dismissed. -[bell rings]
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Maria, good work, good work.
All right, judges. This is it.
Our first round of Flavortown Academy's Freshman Week,
the classes had to make a bountiful party platter.
So up first, Professor Antonia.
Chef, you wanna start with your sandwich?
For this platter, I did a Asian-inspired
fried chicken sandwich.
-Diana. -I made carnitas taquitos.
I also added a mango salsa.
-And Samar. -[Samar] Hi, chefs.
My tostada has a juicy flank steak
and then it's topped with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado.
-[whispering] Is that a good silence? -Yes.
[Aarti] Okay, so first of all,
I love how you guys cross-utilized ingredients,
not only to keep a common thread here,
but also to satisfy your budget.
That was very smart shopping.
Diana, there is a very deft hand with the cumin in here.
It adds this really lovely smokiness.
And that mango salsa,
it adds just the right freshness and brightness.
I do think they could have been cooked
a little more evenly.
Mine is definitely a little bitter on the bottom.
[Aarti] For the tostada, I love the chipotle in there.
It adds the smokiness that works well
with everything else here.
You set that steak on fire.
Were you worried at all about the char?
I was.
It's great.
-It's fantastic. -Yay.
[Joe] Jeff, fried chicken,
I mean they call you The Crunch Daddy.
This delivered.
I would've loved a little more of that slaw.
I mean, this is a party platter.
Let's have a party.
Guys, well done.
All right. Up next, Chef Jet,
and he got an extra $5 for his team to shop with.
-What do you have for us? -I'm gonna turn it over to my team.
I personally think every platter deserves a dip.
So my dish is a tirokafteri.
It's a Greek dip.
-Tyler. -I wanted to make you
my favorite Sloppy Joe.
I seasoned that meat with ketchup, with mustard,
and then I pickled some jalapeno.
All right, Mada.
So every party platter needs something fried.
So I'm making you guys
a crispy cheeseburger egg roll
with a special sauce on the side.
I wanna remind you, Madas don't like to lose.
And when they do,
they'll pull your arms out of your sockets.
I love your cleaning products.
Please don't hurt me.
-[all laughing] -[Mada] Done.
Wow.
[Joe] This was a lot of fun.
I could see it was a cohesive platter,
utilized ingredients through all of the dishes.
Sloppy Joe is my nickname in high school, so I get it.
I do wish there was a little more of that pickle in there.
I do want a little bit more acid.
I love that you used a little bit of cinnamon in there.
That is one of my tricks to make something
taste long-cooked.
Maria, great idea to do a dip.
I always do a dip on a party platter.
I do like it a lot. It's a little grainy for me.
Mada, this egg roll cheeseburger,
it's a perfect little bite.
You get cheesy, you get crunchy,
you get crispy.
[Troy] That is a perfect sauce.
That is so good.
Well done.
[Guy] All right. Thank you very much, students.
One team will graduate to sophomore class
and the other, gonna retake the test.
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens.
We'll call you back when we have a decision.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Good job, guys.
[Guy] All right, judges.
Which class is gonna graduate this course?
[Aarti] Between the two teams,
I think that I preferred Chef Antonia's party platter.
Every one of the components was very strong.
Whereas for me, the dip on Chef Jet's party platter
was one of the weakest components there
and probably not my favorite
of all the dishes I tried.
For me, Jet's team had the best thing of the round.
That cheeseburger egg roll.
And so I have a hard time just leaning straight to Antonia.
What do you got, Joe?
Which class graduates?
I think I know.
[suspenseful music playing]
[tense music playing]
To pick one class to graduate
and the other to go into
another competition is difficult,
but the class who threw the best party platter was...
[suspenseful music playing]
Chef Antonia.
-Congratulations. -[Antonia] Well done, team.
Freshman week is over.
My students have graduated.
Such a proud mama bear.
We'll see you in the sophomore studies.
All right. Professor Jet and team,
you are gonna go to a head-to-head competition.
-Professor Jet. -Sir.
[Guy] You are welcome to help all three of them.
Okay.
Again, you're not allowed to touch anything.
Students, to your carts. Good luck.
[Jet] Being a pass/fail challenge,
I'm gonna lose someone today.
And it's the last thing I want.
Now, Flavortown Academy,
every course ends with a pass/fail round.
That means two of you will pass
and one of you will be leaving the academy.
[sighs deeply]
I want you to make a dish that utilizes
one of the most economical proteins that's out there.
I want you to make...
-a chicken dinner. -[sighs]
[Guy] Since we're learning about budget this week,
I'm also gonna give you a crash course.
You each get to shop with only 19 bucks.
Oh.
[Tyler] My head's spinning for $19.
And I gotta make a whole dinner
with sides on top of that? You kidding me?
You have 30 minutes to shop, prepare a plate,
your Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.
When you have your shopping done,
you'll come over here and check out with Wendy.
So, the three of you, remember,
two are going to pass.
One of you is gonna go home.
-Now you go. Now you go. -There it is.
Now you go.
It's not just about the money.
Go, guys. Go.
He said one of you are going home!
I'm very upset.
I know I'm gonna lose someone
and I feel really disappointed.
[Tyler] Our class assignment is to make
a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.
[Maria] We're working with 19 bucks.
Ahhh!
Move!
For my Winner Winner Chicken Dinner,
I'm thinking extra crispy Cajun fried chicken.
Who doesn't like a chicken drumstick?
It's four bucks.
That's a smart shop.
[alarm blares]
Attention, shoppers!
Oh, no.
We got a red light special on whole chicken.
Buy one for $7.99.
Get the other one for free.
Where?
Welcome to Flavortown Academy!
Whole chicken.
Two chickens for the price of one.
Yay, because it's a lot of chicken, boo,
I don't know if any of them have ever butchered a chicken.
[Tyler] Boom. Two for one.
I'm intimidated knowing that I gotta take a whole bird
back to my station and harvest the pieces of meat
that I wanna use out of it.
This is just gonna add more time
and angst to my cook.
Now that's $1.89.
I'm thinking I'm gonna do a breaded chicken breast
and obviously being a Midwestern boy,
I'm gonna make some mashed potatoes.
These russets.
I like that play.
Chicken breast is really hard to cook perfectly.
I let them pick their dish,
but I'm gonna stay on top of it.
[Tyler] Kale is nice and cheap.
I think a kale salad as well with like an apple...
Lemon.
make a vinaigrette.
That's an easy way to stretch these $19,
which don't go far.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
All right, lose the panko.
New plan. Without that panko,
I need to have perfectly-cooked chicken breast.
-Looks like I'm in it. -[Wendy] All right. You're $18.07.
-Nineteen! -[Guy] Wow, well done.
[Maria] Yeah. Sure.
We get a two-for-one but it's still eight bucks.
That leaves me $11 to come up with sides.
What aisle is rice?
I am making a butter herb chicken breast
on top of a delicious tomato rice.
Where do we see our rice in a bag?
I am not gonna have enough time to make rice.
So I grabbed two bags of precooked rice.
$5.
It's a lot of money but it's gonna save me time.
Let's go.
-[Jet] You good? -[Maria] Yeah.
I need my bouillon.
[Jet] Flavor booster. Smart.
Maria has a really good flavor combination,
but she wants to make chicken breast.
[Maria] Sungolds, got it.
I'm still very upset with myself for my dip.
It is an awful feeling to lose.
I have to redeem myself.
Let's see what the prices are looking like here.
So you're at $20.72,
you're gonna have to take something away quick, quick.
[Jet] You're right there. You got expensive rice.
[Maria] Okay. Just get rid of the rice.
$18.13.
$19. Thank you so much.
I have to cut a bag of rice
but I'm gonna work with what I have.
-[Jet] Mada. -Yeah.
[Jet] There's a red light special.
[Mada] I don't want the whole chicken.
My one's $3.99.
-It's a red light special. -Two for one.
So you have to get the two chickens.
-[Jet] Take two birds. -[Mada] Oh, my bad.
Those chickens are expensive... [laughs]
But I know I can still make my crispy Cajun chicken.
The Cajun seasoning is $3.99.
Potatoes.
As a father of growing boys,
I know how to cook on a budget.
Potatoes and filling and cheap.
[Jet] Remember, these judges like fresh.
I think the choice of using Cajun seasoning
is really smart,
but I worry about Mada trying to fry chicken in 30 minutes.
[Mada] Uh, I'm good.
Finding out that I'm in the bottom again
is definitely overwhelming.
[Aarti] In the last round,
Mada had our most favorite bite with that...
-Yeah. -Yes. Without a doubt.
cheeseburger egg roll, but he's in trouble.
Both of his competitors
are already back at their stations
and he is still checking out.
[Wendy] What is important?
'Cause you are at $20.40.
Why do you have heavy cream?
[Mada] Actually, I don't need it.
I'll do the milk.
My total came up to $18.72.
Just made it with $0.28 of spare.
[Guy] Twenty-four minutes!
[Jet] Let's go to Maria first.
Being a pass/fail challenge,
I'm really gonna be more hands-on.
Maria, how you feeling about butchering?
[Maria] I've done it before.
I grew up in a restaurant.
My dad taught me how to break down a whole chicken.
I know for sure how to get the breast out.
[Jet] What are you making?
[Maria] I am doing a chicken breast with rice.
[Jet] I have two students that wanna cook breasts.
So now my job as a professor is to teach them
how to make perfect chicken breast.
Watch that pan, it's getting really, really hot.
I mean, this is tough for the most seasoned chef
and these are all home chefs.
They don't work in kitchens every day
and they gotta get it together.
[Tyler] Gonna try and get the breast off.
I don't have a panko to make a fried chicken breast,
so I'm gonna make a sauteed chicken
breast and get a nice caramelized crust.
Tyler, are you okay on butchering?
How do you get the breast off here?
[Jet] Right side of that bone.
Tyler needs some technique lessons,
but he's got really smart instincts.
Cut, cut, cut, cut.
[Tyler] Thank God for Professor Tila.
Scoop up.
There you go.
[Guy] Tyler, what's on the menu, buddy?
We're gonna have a pan-roasted chicken breast
and then a kale salad and mashed potatoes.
19 bucks is not a lot.
Oh. Not bad butchery.
I got my four breasts.
[Jet] Tyler was smart.
Took the chicken breast and pounded it flat,
so it'll cook evenly.
[Tyler] Season everything.
Really, really good.
Season those bad boys with salt, pepper, and paprika.
[Jet] So if you put that on a medium heat,
just let 'em cruise.
What are you doing with those potatoes?
[Tyler] I'm gonna boil them and then make a mash.
[Jet] Is there a reason why they're not in there yet?
[Tyler] No. Uh--
Get your potatoes in. You gotta get 'em in.
[Tyler] My goal here is to make it all the way to graduation.
I wanna do this for my girlfriend
because I didn't fill out the application
to get on this show.
My girlfriend did it unbeknownst to me.
And without her, I would not be here
with this opportunity to change our lives.
I gotta cook my butt off.
A little trick so that it doesn't boil over.
Mashes potatoes are great,
but there is nothing worse
than undercooked mashed potatoes.
[Guy] Twenty minutes left.
-You're making fried chicken? -[Mada] Yup.
Fried chicken and mash,
and a zucchini, 'cause that's gonna be quick.
How are you gonna break the chicken?
What parts are you gonna use for fried?
[Mada] I'm gonna use the drumsticks.
[Guy] That's probably your best call.
I have to break up my chicken.
Luckily, I have done this before.
I'm going with extra Cajun seasoning
in every single layer.
I am not going home over seasoning.
[Guy] Mada, you gotta drop.
[Mada] Yup.
If this chicken doesn't cook on time,
my entire dish goes down the drain.
The biggest reason
I'm playing right now is for my kids,
and I need to come home with that win.
A lot of pieces of chicken in a deep fryer in 16 minutes.
-[Aarti] Yeah. -[Troy] True.
[Guy] Fifteen minutes.
Fifteen to go.
I can imagine that the pressure
is really getting to them.
[Troy] This is the pass/fail round.
[Aarti] One of these cooks is going home.
That color's gorgeous. That's what I'm talking about.
Get it in the oven.
Chicken dinner needs a lot of food.
So I get my microwaved rice
and I start sauteing it with some, like, tomatoes.
And then I add some butter herb sauce.
I'm hoping to get it nicely caramelized.
It's a really salty, so grab a bunch of tomatoes,
throw it in the blender.
All that tomato water's gonna sweeten everything up.
Salt gets balanced out by sweetness,
but sugar sweetness is not delicious.
Tomato sweetness is very delicious.
That is what Jet is there for.
To show them those tips and tricks.
[Maria] The fact that I'm here,
it means everything to me.
At the age of 18, I developed an eating disorder.
I was bulimic for seven years.
I didn't have very much support.
And ironically, I turned to Guy
and I watched Triple D all the time.
Guy helped change my relationship with food.
I've come a long way
and now I'm here learning how to cook with Chef Tila.
I don't wanna be the one to go home.
-Hmm. Okay. -See?
[Tyler] My potatoes are... Ah!
They're not quite ready,
but the chicken is in the pan.
It looks good.
So I gotta turn my attention to this vinaigrette
for my kale salad.
Lemon juice in that blender.
Since I got Granny Smith apple in my salad,
I'm gonna put some in the vinaigrette
to tie in that flavor.
[Jet] Really dress it, really get in there
and push it around.
Tyler's actually cooking very well.
He's listening to the advice
of herbaceous and acidic from the first round.
Ten minutes.
Just under, one more.
Just a little more for the legs only.
[Mada] Yup.
So I've got my chicken still frying in the fryer.
Potatoes are cooking.
Is there another cutting board?
For my zucchini, chop them up,
get them in the pan to soften them down.
I go check up on my potatoes and my potatoes are not done.
[Guy] Are these potatoes soft enough?
I'm gonna smash them, then I'll make them softer.
I try to mash them up,
but they're still a little bit too chunky.
[Jet] Brother, throw them into the food processor.
-Yeah? -Yeah. There's no way
you're gonna get it fined in time.
Mada is freaking me out the most
because if he's having massive potato problems.
If buds don't get on the plate, he could go home.
Don't overcook chicken.
You don't want it too dry, okay?
[Tyler] Right.
[Jet] There's an orange thermometer here.
-Use the tech. -[Tyler] I got a 170 reading.
-[Jet] Chicken's good. -Just pull that off.
Yup, it'll rest.
I hope my potatoes are done.
Thank goodness these potatoes are finally to a point
where I can throw them in
with the butter, cream, salt and pepper.
I don't know if I've ever mashed potatoes harder
or faster than that.
Students, four minutes.
Four minutes to pass/fail.
[Jet] How's your chicken?
[Maria] The thermometer's reading different
on every single one.
I take the chicken out of the oven
and I'm worried that it's maybe overcooked,
but I have to start platting so I can't think about this.
-I'm plating this. -[Jet] Yup.
[Maria] So I start by adding
two or three tablespoons of the rice.
I wish I had more.
But in terms of budget, I didn't have enough money
for a second bag of rice.
[Jet] You gotta get it together.
Three minutes.
[Tyler] First, I'm gonna get down my salad.
Next is gonna come the potatoes,
then that chicken.
-One minute! -One minute, Mada.
Just get it going.
[Mada] I still don't have a single thing
on any of my plates.
-Let's go. Get it done, buddy. Come on. -Oh, my gosh. Come on, Mada.
[Mada] I start off with my mashed potatoes.
I pull my chicken out.
I think it looks great.
-Here we go, chefs! -Go, Mada, go. Go, Mada, go.
[Mada] And the last but not least, my zucchini.
[Guy] Five, four, three,
two, one.
[school bell rings]
Class dismissed.
-[Aarti] Oh, my gosh. -Let's go, team.
[Jet] It's gonna come down
to who made the least amount of mistakes.
Judges, this is the pass/fail round
of our freshman week.
Now each student in Jet's class
had to make a chicken dinner on a budget.
Chef Jet, who do you got?
Mada, tell your tale, brother.
For my chicken dinner,
I have an extra crispy Cajun fried chicken,
mashed potatoes, and some zucchini on the side.
Mada, I have to commend you.
You were the last one and I was nervous.
But this chicken is so juicy.
You have this gorgeous crispy skin on the outside,
so well-done there.
For me, the whole plate is just eating a little fatty.
These little medallions of love, delicious.
I want like 40 more of these things,
but I realize that you were on a budget.
Yeah.
[Joe] Potatoes got away from you a little bit.
I think just even some salt in there
would've gone a really long way
because they are just flat.
Yeah.
All right. Chef Tyler.
All right, chefs, I have for you
my "winner, winner graduate to sophomore class
chicken dinner."
-Oh. -[Joe laughs]
It is a chicken breast, a nice mashed potato,
and then to bring a fresh contrast to the plate,
kale salad.
The seasoning on that chicken is phenomenal.
That is so good.
Getting a nice hearty green like kale is very smart,
'cause it eats like an expensive ingredient.
I think maybe the unsung hero of the plate is that dressing,
because it provides that acidity.
But I think where your technique fell short
are these potatoes.
They could have been cooked a little longer.
Thank you, Chef.
Next student, Maria.
My Winner Winner Chicken Dinner today
is a creamy Sungold tomato rice salad at the base,
and I served it with a butter-basted herb chicken breast.
[Joe] Well, uh, I think right out the gate,
it's the most beautiful of the three plates,
without a doubt.
Choosing that pre-cooked rice in a budget battle,
very smart.
But I question choosing the breast.
I wish it was maybe cooked a little less.
It eats a little bit dry.
You splurged on those Sungold tomatoes.
So smart, because those are flavorful ingredients
-that this dish really needed. -Thank you.
Did you ever open a bag of chips
and wonder how they only put two in there?
I want more dinner.
Me too... [laughs]
Freshman class, we're gonna send you back to the kitchens.
We'll call you when we have a decision.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Which member of Jet's class is the weakest link?
I think between that salad and the chicken,
Tyler gets a pass.
-I agree. -Right.
That leaves us between Mada and Maria.
There are redeeming qualities of both.
Mada made, for me, the best chicken of the bunch.
Mada's potatoes were a mess.
Even though Maria's chicken was right on the edge
of being overcooked,
everything else on the dish was really good.
[Guy] Who moves on? Who goes home?
We asked for a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.
There was some really good chicken.
There were some really good mistakes.
I gotta say, you know what, whatever happens after this,
it was such an honor working with you guys.
-Thank you, Chef. -Thank you, Chef.
Thank you, Chef.
Before we get into who's going home,
let's talk about who is safe
and moving on to their sophomore course.
Congratulations, we'll see you next week...
[suspenseful music playing]
student Tyler, congratulations.
Well done, Tyler.
See you later, bud.
Go home.
[Guy] Adios.
Maria and Mada,
unfortunately, we have to send one of you two home.
The student that will have to reapply
for another round of Flavortown Academy will be...
[tense music playing]
Chef Mada.
Chef, it was Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.
If it had just been winner, winner chicken,
you would've gone on to sophomore year.
Thank you.
Being picked by Jet Tila, the master, the GOAT,
was just amazing.
Chef, really nice to meet you, man.
-Appreciate it. -You got it, bud.
Hey, thank you so much.
I learned so much.
I really thought I was gonna be the top of my class.
Hello.
[Guy] Let's welcome our Flavortown Academy sophomores.
Come on, come on, come on.
Last week, I lost Mada,
so I'm coming back this week with a vengeance.
This week is all about elevating your food
to make higher-end dishes.
Oh, my goodness.
We only have nine ingredients.
We're talking about elevated food.
[Jet] Don't go crazy. Don't go crazy.
Whoo!
I'm very much impressed.
It's exciting, it's extravagant,
it's over the top.
[Jet] Whoo!
In the end, only one of us can win.
[tense music playing]