20,000 bucks, $18,000.
See, now, usually,
the Triple G chefs play the Wild Game
for a shot of bacon up to 20,000 bucks.
Not this time.
We're making these chefs they build their own banks,
making 2,500 bucks for every whammy ingredient they use.
Pork rinds.
Let's take it!
But they can only cash it in
if they win tonight's competition.
-Oh! -Wait a minute.
Am I the giver, or what?
Is the high reward of banking $20,000
worth the high risk of cooking with tons of crazy whammies?
Every single ingredient is a risk.
Come on, cheese, melt.
I want to take it home.
So much flavor.
Boom, boom, boom.
Tonight on Triple G.
So let's meet our talented chefs.
Now, first up, Diego Argoti,
the rocket chef who worked for SoCal legends
like Nancy Silverton
before opening his own place inside an arcade bar,
earning a James Beard nomination.
In an arcade bar?
My kind of joint.
Okay. You're gonna let that hair down, Rocker.
Next, we have Madeline Sheblessy,
the determined chef who put herself
through culinary school
and became the executive chef at a Cincinnati steakhouse,
serving up Route 66 classics.
Cinci.
WKRP. Go get 'em.
And, finally, there's Sol Han, the New York chef
pursuing the culinary path of his restaurateur parents
with his own award-winning Korean and American eatery.
-Okay, so now I went from Han Solo to Sol Han on this. -Let's get this.
As in soul man, get it?
Go. Leave me hanging. See?
Welcome, chefs.
We have two big rounds of cooking for you.
And since you're new, in this first round,
I'm gonna make it easy on you.
I want you to make us your signature dish,
one that you kind of call your...
your culinary calling card.
The bad news is, the chef that makes
the least successful dish in the first round
-will be checking out. -[exhales]
But the chef who makes the best dish in round 2
will be declared the winner.
And here's where it gets fun.
The winner will not go on a shopping spree
in Flavortown Market for the 20,000 bucks
and will not receive a mystery check behind that door
for up to 20,000 bucks.
Nope. Instead,
you're gonna be playing Triple G's newest game,
Build Your Bank!
And here he is,
my co-host Hunter Fieri!
Hunter, this looks fantastic.
[Hunter] Thank you. I did it myself.
This is the only game where you will decide
how much you're gonna win.
In front of you is a shelf of whammies.
-[Hunter] Delicious. -Hunter, please tell them
what they have an opportunity to win.
[Hunter] Well, we got some chicharrones,
peanut butter and jelly in a jar,
-canned cheese... Yes. -We love canned cheese.
Cheese balls. Who doesn't love cheese balls?
Bananas.
-[Guy] Pea baby food. -You got-- Ooh, yum.
[Guy] Sounds fun. Jerky sticks.
Not the ingredients that you normally would put
in your signature dish.
But each whammy that you put in your dish
is worth $2,500 in your bank.
Use four whammies in your dish and you'll bank $10,000.
You repeat that process in the second round,
you have 20,000 bucks.
I see potential.
Because it's only the chef that wins the competition
that gets the cash that's in their bank.
We're gonna have you fill out a little order guide,
and then Hunter, he'll go and get them for you
and have them waiting at your station.
You must have at least one whammy.
You could only have up to four whammies.
-Okay? -Let's go!
Solo, what do you got for me?
I have blue corn taco shells,
pea baby food,
pork rinds,
and bologna.
-My favorite. -Got it.
[Hunter] Nice. You're on the board.
-[Guy] Chef. -All right.
We're gonna do canned beets,
squeeze American cheese,
cheese balls,
and smoked meat sticks.
And smoked meat sticks.
Diego.
[Diego] Blue corn taco shells,
pork rinds,
bologna and smoked meat stick.
[Guy] Okay, y'all picked four items.
Live by it. Die by it.
Those items will be on your stations, waiting for you.
So now you have 30 minutes to shop,
prepare and plate your signature dish,
using up to four whammies.
Three, two, one, go.
Grits, grits, grits, grits, grits, grits, grits, grits.
Shrimp and grits, my wife says is my signature dish,
so that's what I do.
Great, grits.
But we're also playing Build Your Bank,
so what I had to do was figure out,
the ingredients that were on the whammy board,
how I would actually make shrimp and grits.
I need my grits to have a creamy element to them.
Squeeze American cheese is a perfect cheese source
to get the job done.
I'm also gonna add cheesy texture in the grits
with the cheese balls.
I want to grab some fresh cheese
to counterbalance the processed cheese.
A beef stick provides a little bit of extra smoky flavor
for my shrimps.
[panting] Oh.
Extra fat!
I'm also gonna choose canned beets.
My brain went to pickle. Pickle those little guys.
So it's acid
and it's a little bit of sweet heat on the top,
because I'm building straight flavor underneath it.
I wanted to choose four ingredients.
I realized I could get 10K
based on what was on the board.
My wife's name is Stacy.
We had a kid less than a year after our actual marriage.
We had been trying prior to getting married,
but IVF is extremely expensive and extremely hard.
So winning $20,000
would get me just finally above zero.
Let's go!
[Sol] The whammy shelf is literally how it sounds like.
Whammy to the brain.
You're trying to create a signature dish
with ingredients like PB and J
and baby food.
It's gonna really kind of determine
if I am at the level that I think I am.
International aisle, baby.
So my signature dish is squid
stuffed with kimchi fried rice.
You should be able to find kimchi fried rice
in every single Korean restaurant.
So I'm putting my own twist in it
and making it my own.
Where's the breadcrumbs at?
Meaning French, Italian,
Japanese, Korean-inspired cuisine.
I want to show the world. Yeah.
My fiancee, she's amazing.
Her name is Dawon, and she's the one for me.
The pea baby food,
I know I'm gonna turn it into a beautiful pea puree
by adding fresh peas.
I also am going to make a gremolata
using blue corn tortilla shells,
pork rinds and bologna.
If I win today, it's gonna pay for a lot of the wedding.
Nowadays, everything is super-expensive,
and I really want to provide for Dawon
the best wedding that she deserves.
Let's go!
[Diego] Now, at this very moment,
I am known for fun and playful food.
Spaghetti,
bucatini...
For my signature dish, I'm gonna make chili spaghetti.
If you don't know what chili spaghetti is...
bed of noodles with chili on top.
I have a restaurant called Poltergeist
since I had an arcade bar.
We like to do a lot of mash-ups of familiar food.
Create a dining experience.
[humming]
I grab tamari and miso for the umami.
I just really love Asian food.
I just kind of wanted to do a mash-up.
That's what we do at the restaurant.
Uh... eggs.
Don't lose that cart, Chef.
I'll ghost that thing.
The rule is, in Flavortown,
you leave your cart,
I either fill it with stuff or I send it down an aisle.
The first time that I was introduced to, like,
fun and playful food
was having chili spaghetti with my father.
This past year, I lost my father
and there are a lot of bills to pay.
That's why I'm here.
The max amount of money I can make right now is $10,000.
Guy said we could use up to four whammies.
I'm gonna use blue corn tortillas
'cause it's gonna act like a thickener
throughout my dish.
I saw the meat sticks and the bologna,
and it was just opportunities to just create, like,
layers rather than just make chili with ground beef.
Pork rinds are just like puffy and crunchy.
It's like you're eating if-- if a cloud was a pig.
You can go back and shop again.
-You can get cooking, though. -I'm realizing that, yeah.
Bacon, onion...
[Guy] Now, I'm banking on our top-notch judges
to determine who wins this whammy showdown.
We have acclaimed cookbook author,
founder of Weelicious, and mother of three,
the one and only Catherine McCord.
Award-winning food critic
and publisher of San Diego Magazine,
and the guy that loves CrossFit,
the one and only Troy "Boy" Johnson.
I nearly threw up.
And renowned restaurateur
who has earned rave reviews and Michelin-star status,
the one and only Chef Donatella Arpaia.
[chuckles]
-It's very nice to have you here. -It's so good to be here.
-My first time on Triple G. -Right?
And by the way, you've got to skirt the responsibilities,
-and you know it. -What are you talking about?
I don't know what you're talking about.
You haven't had yourself out there competing yet,
-which will come. -Ooh!
[Troy] Ooh.
I have a target on my back.
It's a big one.
Troy, out of all of the ten things
that were on the shelf,
how many do you really have in your cupboard at home?
-All ten. -Okay.
-Yeah. -Well, that's where we came up with the idea.
-That was in Troy's cupboard. -Exactly.
Thank you for shopping at my house.
[Guy] Mad, what do you got for us?
Oh. We're gonna do some awesome shrimp and grits.
So we're gonna use those smoked sticks
to render our fat down.
To get some sort of liquid in this pan,
I'm gonna come through with the shrimp.
[Guy] Okay, I like it.
[Madeline] To deal with the meat sticks,
I knew there wasn't going to be enough fat
to render down.
So we're going to add fatty smoky bacon,
so all that fat flavor comes together.
I got some quick grits.
I know that I have to get my grits on sooner than later
because they're grits.
Even instant grits are slow.
I add butter, lots of squeezed cheese.
The most expensive can of cheese
that I've ever bought in my entire life.
Come on, cheese, melt please.
I also want some cheese balls.
They'll add cheesy texture in the grits itself.
Whoa, there's a color.
You look at this whammy list
and it is salt, salt and more salinity.
And when you're building flavor,
it can quickly escalate.
-[Troy] Yeah. -But let's talk about the grits themselves.
You have to really cook grits.
Is Madeline gonna be able to cook her grits in time?
I mean, my grandfather would be shaking in his boots.
[Guy] 23 minutes.
[Catherine] I feel like this challenge
is so different with the whammy bank
because usually you're cooking, cooking,
to get to the final shop where you win the money.
Every single ingredient is another $2,500.
I think the stakes are even higher now.
[Sol] The key to making really good kimchi fried rice
is really a day-old rice.
So microwave rice is the best bet.
[Guy] Chef, tell me what's on the menu.
[Sol] I'm making a stuffed squid
with a kimchi fried rice, pea puree.
-A stuffed squid with a what? -Panko breadcrumb.
Uh, kimchi fried rice.
You've got some of the instant rice
-that's already precooked and it'll-- -Yup. Yup.
[Guy] Okay. Good.
[Sol] I add that in with the bacon,
get it a little bit crispy with some sesame oil.
This dish is very special
because it has flavors of my blood,
which is the kimchi and the gochujang.
My parents were immigrants from Seoul, South Korea.
They came to the United States with no money.
They are the hardest working people I know.
They managed to open up a few restaurants
and become very successful.
It's like the American dream.
That really pushes me to keep on grinding.
I throw this kimchi fried rice in the blast chiller
so, later, I can stuff the squid.
A little pea puree action.
Baby food.
Delicious.
So I'm just gonna cook some fresh peas in it
with some shallots, a little cream.
You want to finish with a little butter.
It shows the judges
that I know how to make a proper puree,
even when given baby food.
[Guy] Here's a really smart thing this chef did.
He took that pea puree and cut it with these English peas.
So then you get the fresh
vibrant part of the pea mixed with that.
It's a great thing to do. Take the whammy ingredient,
and support it with its counter,
with its original ingredient.
Talk to me.
I'm doing a Cincinnati chili over bucatino.
I wanna make ricotta with pork cracklings,
and I'll probably stick it in the ragu.
You know what?
Yeah, you can stick it in the ragu with those.
I like it.
Diego's making Cincinnati chili.
That is an American classic
that is not made quite nearly enough, sir.
Ooh, I'm so here for it.
[Diego] I just want to break down the protein.
I use ground beef.
I use the bologna.
Bologna doesn't belong in my chili,
but it's gonna give me $2,500.
I like bold flavors and like umami back notes.
And I added a little bit of miso paste and tamari
to just build in some funk.
That's a lot of complex flavors here.
[Diego] My father was a huge influence on me becoming a chef
and having a purpose in a kitchen.
This is all for him.
[Guy] 13 minutes. 13 to go.
So, just paprika, a touch of cayenne,
a little bitty bit of cumin.
I toss 'em in
in the meat stick fat,
get a little smoky flavor out of there.
[Hunter] "Canned beets, squeeze American cheese,
cheese balls and smoked meat sticks."
Yeah. Thanks for grabbing those for me.
Absolutely. You went all four.
Why take that risk in the first round?
Uh, I got a wife and kid at home.
We got a lot of bills to pay back.
Because two women having a kid is expensive.
We're gonna build ourselves back
with some Guy Fieri money.
All right. So what are you making?
I'm just gonna get those beets pickled.
[Donatella] I'm glad she's pickling the beets.
Yeah, if Madeline's gonna have that squeeze cheese
and she's gonna have them in grits,
it's gonna have a lot of those base notes
and you want it-- you need that acidic element to it.
[Madeline] To make a good pickle,
you have a little bit of sweet with that heat.
Toss in a little bit of red pepper flake
to kind of elevate that flavor.
[Guy] Chef, what is this-- Oh, that's the cheese.
These are cheesy salty grits.
You gotta cut that fat somewhere.
So these beets are gonna be the done--
the one that gets it done.
-Thank you, Chef. That-- -Chef, you have got salt...
-For days? -...and then salt.
Pull back the salt?
Yeah, I would pull back salt.
[scoffs] Okay, well... Heard.
When Guy commented on the salt,
I felt my heart fall out my butt.
I underestimated the saltiness level
of processed everything.
So I go with a little bit more water,
and I'm hoping that works.
I had my wife in the back of my mind's eye the entire time.
All I could think is, "What would she say about this?"
She's my voice of reason.
She's my earth sign.
She's my ground.
Oof.
[Sol] I'm using three of my whammy ingredients
in this gremolata, which is gonna make it worth $7,500.
So it better taste good.
The Bologna is going into this mix as well.
Bologna gives it salt.
The chicharrones gives it fat.
The panko breadcrumbs and the tortilla,
it kind of takes
all the flavors of the rest of the ingredients,
and it becomes one cohesive component.
[Guy] Chef, how that fried rice?
It's just chillin' in the blast chiller,
literally chilling.
I love your gremolata that you're putting on top of this.
Do we have any squid stuff yet?
No, it doesn't look like it.
I gotta get that cooking right now, Guy.
Stuffing the squid is super, super-Korean.
We have, like, this stuffed squid dish
with glass noodles.
I used that idea
and I stuffed it into the squid,
and it's kind of like that.
I love squid, and we don't see squid very often
-on Triple G. -[Troy] No.
[Troy] That's a very Italian way of cooking them.
-You kind of cook them nude or you braise them. -Yes.
-You braise them. -Instead of deep frying.
Yeah.
What are you doing with that ricotta?
So in Cincinnati chili, you have cheese on top.
So we're making cheese with pork rinds.
Nice.
I am whipping ricotta with the shredded cheese
that you'd normally get
on top of the chili with the pork rinds.
Blue corn tortillas, pork rinds, meat sticks.
And now I'm gonna work on my gremolata.
So I grab my blue corn tortillas and green garlic
and the meat stick.
I'm doing something. I don't know what that something is.
-But... -Yeah.
I hear you doing something.
[Diego] My pasta's overcooked.
I had a lot going on,
and I think I spent so much focus on the ragu.
I wanted to redo the pasta,
but I realized I did not have enough time.
I have a lot of umami and a lot of flavors.
I just hope for the best.
[Guy] Four minutes!
[Donatella] We have one chef plating.
The other chefs haven't even started to plate.
I'm getting nervous for them.
I feel like my anxiety is like through the roof right now.
Grits are are slightly.
[Madeline] Got a little bit of grit chew to 'em.
You know they've got to be there
because they're the base of all my flavor.
And then the shrimp,
it's not shrimp and grits
if you don't have any shrimps.
We have to make sure every plate also gets our pickle.
It does not work without that pickled beet.
And the last thing, I take the meat sticks,
and I break all of those down and get them on top.
This will be a 10K dish in my bank.
[Guy] Two minutes!
What did you put into that, by the way?
You just put shallots?
Butter, shallot,
a little of the peas,
and parsley.
Chef, for something that I would not have ever ordered,
that is actually delicious.
Is it? Wow. Thank you.
I'm gonna put the stuffed squid
on top of the pea puree.
Then I top it with the gremolata,
of the mortadella,
the chicharrones and the blue corn.
It's all gonna come together.
And now they're all plating.
Ooh! This is, uh...
This is like nerves for all.
Salvador Dali bending time over here in station 1,
Diego.
[Diego] I grabbed my overcooked pasta
and then I just plate a ragu that had the meat sticks
and the bologna and the pork rinds.
I put the gremolata,
which has the blue corn tortilla shells
and the whipped ricotta.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
That's it. Stop working.
[all cheering]
Oh, my God, the stress and anxiety,
it is too much.
[Donatella] Oh, my gosh.
[Guy] Okey dokey.
All right, judges, this is it.
This is game 1 of Build Your Bank.
Chefs had to choose up to four whammy ingredients
in their fantastic dish.
Each whammy ingredient worth $2,500.
But that's only if they can win the entire competition.
Up first, Chef Sol.
Let's see, bud, you had the blue corn taco shells,
the pea baby food, pork rinds and bologna.
Please tell us what you made.
I made a kimchi fried rice
stuffed into a grilled calamari.
I made a pea puree with the baby food.
I made a gremolata using the pork rinds,
the taco shell
with the panko breadcrumbs.
You picked a really incredible signature dish.
Very well composed here.
That pea whammy ingredient,
it's just creamy,
and it's vibrant.
I really enjoy stuffed squid.
It was a beautiful mouthfeel.
-Very creative. -Thank you.
Not enough people, like, let that squid shine.
And you do that when you grill it.
Making the gremolata out of that blue corn tortilla
gives it that crunch up top.
That's what gremolata should do.
And then your smoked meat sticks,
it's there and you can taste it
without having it overpower.
Thank you.
The one ingredient, though, that I feel like I--
isn't screaming at me is the pork rinds.
I wish that I could taste, see, feel it more.
You like your pork rinds.
I love my pork rinds.
You look at that dress,
and that dress says "pork rinds."
That's right, baby.
All right, up next, Diego.
Let's see. You've got blue corn taco shells,
pork rinds, smoked meat sticks,
and bologna.
Tell us what you made.
I made a version of Cincinnati chili.
It was kind of a mash-up
of a ragu that my dad used to make.
I used the chicharrone into the ragu.
It just had some tomatoes, bologna.
And we have a gremolata of blue corn tortillas,
meat sticks and green garlic.
And then on top, in that whipped ricotta,
I incorporated the chicharrones as well.
Okay, so here's the thing that you did really brilliant with this dish.
You're talking about a chili. It's got to burble its way to greatness.
You don't have that time.
So what you need to do is you need to take
the biggest flavor elements in this store
and use them to develop those flavors.
And miso and a little bit of tamari
will do exactly that.
Very impressive.
I think you've developed a depth of flavor
in a short period of time, which I love.
I, of course, love the fresh ricotta on top.
I'm glad you didn't go too salty.
I'm gonna-- I'm gonna have another bite.
[Catherine] But where you lost me was your pasta.
It's too soft and overcooked.
I think you know that it becomes very gummy.
You have to, like, really mix it in there.
Chef, thank you very much.
Up next, Chef Madeline.
You had canned beets,
squeeze American cheese,
cheese balls, smoked meat sticks.
What'd you make for the judges?
What you have here is a shrimp and grits.
Inside those grits, you have cheese balls
and squeezed cheese.
And then there is bacon fat and smoked meat sticks
to fry the shrimp.
And then, finally, you have the pickled beets.
Wow, it's hitting every single note.
Squeezed cheese, cheese balls, the meat stick.
Like, so much flavor.
Boom, boom, boom!
Very pretty, very unctuous.
I loved the notes of smoke.
The pickled beets was really smart.
You needed it because there's a lot of salt in the grits.
[Troy] The pickled beets does bring acid to the party,
which you needed.
But I wanted more, and I wanted them cut differently.
Because after one bite, those pickled beets were gone.
Heard.
All right. Thank you very much, judges.
Chefs, if you do move on to the second round,
you've already banked 10,000 bucks each.
Remember, it's only the person that wins the second round
will get a chance to take all their money they won,
and go home.
So we're gonna send you back to the kitchens
and let the judges deliberate,
and we'll call you back when we have a decision.
Thank you very much.
Judges, which chef's bank is about to go bust?
I am wildly impressed.
I think Sol is easily safe.
-[Troy] Sol was fantastic. -Wow.
The whole dish was well-conceived,
a restaurant-style-worthy beautiful dish.
[Catherine] Madeline was...
I think she gave us a gorgeous dish.
But it was super-thoughtful.
And I thought it was beautiful.
It killed me, though,
because the salt was just too much for me.
[Troy] Well, let's talk about Diego.
That's my late night snack.
-That's my happy food. -[Catherine] It is!
He really overcooked the pasta.
It was like a clump.
Which one do you want to eat again
between Madeline and Diego?
Oh, Madeline.
I want Diego's, actually.
Interesting.
-[Guy] Troy. -[sighs] Oh.
[Guy] Let's go ahead and bring our chefs back in, please.
Before we decide who we're sending home,
I will let you know,
Sol, you're safe.
-Congratulations. A delicious dish. -Thank you.
Diego, your pasta was overcooked,
but your flavors were the late-night desire of Troy.
Madeline, your dish was super-creative,
but there was a lot of salt.
The chef that will be checking out the first round will be...
unfortunately,
Chef Diego.
Chef, I'll tell you this,
you are a character and you've got such talent,
and it simply comes down to overcooked pasta.
-Okay? I appreciate it. -Yes, Chef.
I just didn't feel comfortable in my own element.
-Thank you, Chef. -Thank you.
I got to come to your place, brother.
This is way harder than it looks.
But it was a lot of fun.
[Guy] All right, chefs. Here we go.
Second, final round.
Now, whoever prepares the best dish in this round
is gonna get the cash in all of their whammy money.
But, remember, you have to win this round
to get the cash in your bank.
And I want to give you your maximum flexibility in this round.
I mean, that's what I am. I'm the big giver.
I want you to make the judges meat and potatoes.
So, I bet you're also interested
in increasing your winnings,
because 10,000's not enough, right?
So here we go, because once again,
it's Flavortown's least favorite game,
Build Your Bank,
starring Hunter Fieri
and things he's trying to get rid of.
This time, each whammy ingredient
will be worth $2,000.
[Sol] Oh.
So if you want to bank another 10,000,
you'd have to pick five whammy ingredients.
Hunter, why don't you walk us through
some of these delicious items that are available?
Well, we have pomelo,
prune baby food...
-[Guy] Ooh. -...strawberry toaster pastries,
oatmeal cookies, frozen buttermilk waffles.
We have microwave popcorn. A jar of white asparagus
-that is fantastic. -Oh-ho-ho!
Canned okra, wasabi peas,
canned sardines...
[Guy] And Limburger cheese.
-[Hunter] Yeah. -And luncheon loaf.
-[Hunter] Mmm-hmm. -Come on, now.
-Now, Hunter, do you have... -Clearing section.
...multiples of this for everybody?
No, we don't. It's first come, first serve.
Since these are one-offs,
I'm going to let Chef Sol go first.
You can pick any one of these items
that you'd like to use in your dish.
-Because all we have is this. -That's it.
I'll have the white asparagus.
[Guy] White asparagus for 2,000.
I will take the iced oatmeal cookies.
Ooh, good!
Sometimes, when Hunter has these...
-[Hunter] Yeah. -...we're not sure if they're fresh.
-[Hunter] Right. Could be expired. -Thank you, Chef.
[Hunter] Got them last week.
-Got the snap? -[Guy] Good.
Quality assurance here at Flavortown Market.
Always job number one.
What do you got for me, Solo?
Yo, wasabi. I'm gonna make it hot.
-[Hunter] Wasabi peas. -[Sol] Thank you.
-What are you thinking? -Uh...
I'm gonna take that Limburger.
Going for the Limburger!
-Oh, yeah! -Ooh!
What's the first one?
-What kind of fruit is that? Pomelo? -What? A pomelo?
Let's take it.
Beautiful. Let's go.
That's another 2K right here.
I will take the buttered popcorn.
-[machine beeps] -[Guy] Buttered popcorn!
-Sardines. -Sardines.
[Sol] Let's take it!
I'm gonna take the waffles.
[Guy] The waffles.
Now, you both have four.
Do you want to stay at four?
Or you want to go to five?
Every single ingredient is a risk.
I'm gonna stay at four.
I feel comfortable right here.
I'll stick with safety, and I'll stay where I'm at.
-You're gonna stay where you're at? -Yup.
[Madeline] I just figured 18K is better than 0K.
I can do four ingredients safely.
All right. Embrace the challenge with open arms
because you're going to be shopping with open arms.
-Oh. -Wait a minute.
Just here?
[Guy] Go ahead and just stand in front of your cart, Chef.
Hunter will be more than happy
to deliver these items to your station.
But right now, we like to call this little fun game
"No Carts Allowed."
Anything that you would like to get,
you need to be able to carry.
You can't pack it in your apron.
You can't go get a bowl out of the equipment station.
You've got to be able to carry it.
It's a one-time shop.
-It's a one-time shop? -One-time shop?
[Guy] One-time shop.
-Oh, smokes. -You have your four ingredients there,
whatever else you can carry in your arms.
Remember, meat and potato dish
incorporating your four ingredients
that you picked.
You have 30 minutes to shop, prepare and plate your dish.
Now, three, two, one, go!
[Troy] Oh, look at Sol.
Seoul train is off.
[Madeline] How do you cook a steak in 30 minutes?
You pound it flat.
Now, we're gonna pound and fry. Yeah.
A filet, it's already round.
All I have to do is pound it evenly
and bread it.
For my meat and potatoes,
I am making steak cutlets with potatoes au gratin.
And I'm thinking my cookie popcorn buttermilk waffle mixture
is going to be a breading for my steak.
Ramps will give that garlic onion flavor to my au gratin
without actually putting either of those ingredients in it.
Where's the aisle for cheese?
And then I need more cheese.
Limburger does not make an au gratin.
It is going to have that funk flavor on the front.
So if I grab mozzarella,
I need some extra melty cheese that adds no flavor.
Just so you know, you have bags. You have bags.
You could have put the potatoes in, but that's fine.
What?
How do you get into this bag?
Bro!
I love that you tried to use a bag, Madeline.
-[laughing] -[Catherine] Someone help a lady!
I can't get that. It takes me two weeks.
[Madeline] And I was, like, not worth it.
I can make eight potatoes make au gratin.
I was ready to go. I had it all.
All right, here we go.
[Sol] I worked in a steakhouse,
plus, I've cooked 1,000 rib eyes in my life.
So I'm grabbing the best cut of meat,
which is the rib eye.
For my meat and potatoes,
I'm making a grilled rib eye,
a double-fried potato and Korean style egg salad
with the spicy wasabi peas.
So shopping without a cart,
I had to really strategize
and pick exactly what ingredients I needed.
I grabbed the Yukon baby potatoes.
The starch level on the potato is perfect for frying.
The pomelo and the sardines will be in a salsa verde.
I'm gonna use the pickled white asparagus,
turn it into a puree.
Sesame seeds.
It's very important for my fiancee to see me succeed
because she knows how much I care
about this industry and about my career.
So, this is just another challenge
that I need to overcome.
Both are done, one shot.
Four minutes. I hope they got what they need.
[Sol] Huh! Garlic, potato, ribeye, parsley. Let's go.
[Catherine] Right off the bat,
I think Sol picked the best whammy ingredients.
[Donatella] Yeah, but she's got more courage
'cause she goes for the whammies that are like...
-like the... I mean... -She leaned into the game.
I mean, who takes Limburger cheese and waffles?
Mic drop.
-Popcorn. -[oven beeps]
-What's the game plan? -Yeah?
I'm gonna do a filet mignon cutlet
with a Limburger, potato au gratin.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna make a nice little breading
that we're gonna put on our big foot.
You don't wanna over salt the judges.
So we're gonna add a little bit sweet.
I used the buttered popcorn and salt
to play with the sugar in the buttermilk waffle
and the iced cookie.
Now, I have to wait for the popcorn to pop.
[Catherine] That's what I was looking for.
-I was like, "We're missing--" -Oh. Yeah.
"When are we gonna see the popcorn?"
I am going to pound my filet till it's flat as humanly possible.
As I'm breading my steak,
I realize I have forgotten eggs and I have forgotten cream.
I have nothing to get my breadcrumbs to stick to my steak.
Now, wait a second. Why is it not sticking very well?
Oh, I forgot some crucial ingredients in my grab.
I'm gonna solve this problem the way you solve problems.
I add mozzarella to my breading.
That oil in the steak is gonna be the fat that helps it bind.
The moment of truth is that breading,
which includes three of her whammy ingredients.
Is it going to stick?
-Yes. -It doesn't stick?
-I mean-- -[Troy] All right.
[Madeline] Eggs would have been preferable.
Put any port in a storm.
[Sol] Let's go.
The first thing I wanna get started on
is cooking my ribeye as I know it takes time.
When you have the perfect ingredient,
you don't wanna really mess it up.
All I did was salt and black pepper,
and ribeye literally calls for a grill.
[Guy] You got a good game plan here, chef?
[Sol] Grilled ribeye, a Korean-style egg salad.
Some peewee potatoes, double boiled and fried.
Okay.
[Sol] Double frying these potatoes are gonna really speed up the process.
First, I'm gonna fry it,
and then I'm gonna smash it, and then I'm gonna re-fry it,
and it's gonna get that surface
of the whole potato really, really crispy.
Very nice.
The next thing I have to make is my salsa verde.
Whoa.
I add my canned sardines.
That's $2,000.
The pomelo juice,
which is another two grand in my pocket.
A little bit of capers.
The olive oil, the parsley.
Let this chill for a second.
When my potatoes are done frying,
I'm gonna toss it into my salsa verde,
and that's just gonna coat everything.
It's gonna be bright,
and it's gonna be the perfect side
to a really fatty ribeye.
Chefs, 15 minutes, halfway point. 15.
Let's get those potatoes going, huh?
-Yes, chef. -Scallop potato?
-[Madeline] Classic scallop potatoes, chef. -[Troy] Yep.
-[Catherine] Ah. -[Madeline] Steakhouse for steakhouse.
Gotta get that Limburger in there.
When was the last time you cooked with Limburger there, Madeline?
Uh, the better part of never, chef.
[both laughing]
[Troy] It's like the deli version of a stinky cheese.
One hundred percent, it-- You know, like a bad feet, good cheese.
Yeah.
I did forget heavy cream, which does piss me all the way off.
I am Murphy's law.
If it can go wrong, it has gone wrong.
[Donatella] Should've got cream.
She can't go back.
That's rough.
[Madeline] So, I just left the mozzarella
and the Limburger cook down into some boiling water.
My hope is that I can get them
to marry together like a cream sauce
and it won't matter that I forgot it.
Considering what it is...
Limburger cheese, check, $2,000 in the bank.
My bank is at $18,000.
Okay. I'm so glad that she's gonna start cooking the potatoes.
Oh, don't worry. I've started cooking the potatoes.
[both laughing]
[Catherine] That's the problem with you being in Station One, Madeline,
-you can hear all of our nonsense. -[Madeline] Yeah.
Just ignore us.
Think about your baby girl.
[Madeline] Ren is one. She's thirteen-and-a-half months.
Take her to work with me. She's my little chef.
I, like, don't know if I can actually impress upon you
how much I love this kid.
I felt like the Grinch the day she was born.
I literally felt my heart inside my chest expand,
so I'm cooking for her.
Ooey, gooey, beautiful mess.
[Guy] Where's the wasabi peas going?
[Sol] Pea the egg salad.
It's like a Korean wasabi egg salad.
[Guy] Got it. Got it.
[Sol] Yes, babies.
That's what I'm talking about.
This egg salad is something that all of Asia is known for.
You make the egg salad a little bit more runny than usual.
Adding my sesame oil, sesame seed.
The egg salad honestly calls for something spicy,
and the spicy wasabi peas were the perfect,
crunchy ingredient for my egg salad.
What's going on with those asparagus, chef?
[Sol] The whole thing is mush already.
This asparagus is worth $2,000.
It is honestly super mushy,
and I need it to taste really good.
It's like a black pepper, white asparagus sauce.
Five-and-a-half minutes.
-Yeah. -You know, I'm a little concerned
because those potatoes in the cheese is soupy.
Madeline is wrestling with those potatoes right now.
This is her moment of truth.
I know that my potatoes are not done.
Four minutes, are those potatoes gonna be done, chef?
Uh, they're gonna be, uh, al dente, like my grits.
I don't know that you should be playing that game.
[Madeline] Heard, chef.
I've gotta get the starch out of these guys now.
[Guy] Oh, there we go.
[Troy] Put it into a larger surface
so she can reduce that so quick.
-Even with a few minutes on the clock, could work. -Yeah, she could do it.
[Troy] Three minutes left.
[Guy] Chef Madeline, Chef Sol,
two minutes, two to go.
Everything went wrong for Madeline.
[Catherine] The method Madeline is using, boil down some of the water,
cook those potatoes even more, could work.
[Donatella] Oh, my gosh, I hope she's not looking at Sol
because he's already done.
[Sol] I grab my Korean egg salad,
give it a nice schmear on the bottom,
keeping it nice and tight.
And then goes my crispy potatoes.
My steak is sliced on a perfect bias.
[Catherine] Gorgeous dish.
[Sol] And then I'm gonna go over everything
with my black pepper, white asparagus puree.
[Guy] Ninety seconds.
[Madeline] These potatoes aren't cooked!
Cast irons are still hot,
so I know that there's residual heat.
Slice my steak and make sure that gets on the plate.
Let's rock and roll.
Little sweet, little salty.
-Eight, seven... -[Troy] Come on. Come on, Madeline.
-Yeah! -Yeah! Stealth!
-[Guy] ...three, two, one. -[judges exclaiming]
-[Donatella] Yeah! -That's it.
-[Troy] Oh, yeah. -[Guy] Good job, you guys.
[Catherine] Whoo!
[Guy] Judges, this is it. Game Two.
The chefs, they had to use up to five whammy ingredients in their dish,
and each whammy ingredient was worth 2,000 bucks.
Am I the giver, or what?
So up first, Chef Madeline.
Iced oatmeal cookies,
Limburger cheese, microwave popcorn
and the frozen waffles. I mean, like,
if you haven't heard that team before, I mean, you're crazy.
Chef, what'd you make for the judges?
What you have here is a filet mignon
breaded with the buttermilk waffles,
the sweet oatmeal cookies
and the, uh, popcorn for salt,
then potato au gratin
with Limburger cheese, mozzarella and ramps.
Please enjoy.
Mmm! Oh! Limburger.
Whoo-hoo! [laughs]
You did not miss that.
Well, wasn't this fun?
-Yeah? -[Catherine laughs]
[laughs]
The steak's actually delicious.
I mean, you didn't overcook it.
The steak is juicy.
I like the crunch. I'm getting a lot of cookie.
I'm not getting the popcorn,
so I sort of miss that ingredient.
And you got the potatoes cooked through.
-By the hair of your chinny-chin-chin... -Yeah, chef.
...you pulled it off.
Thank you, chef.
Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror after a weekend in Vegas?
Like, that's kinda what it looks like.
It's not the greatest presentation,
but the taste is great.
The Limburger, oh, these things are so sticky.
But it's so good!
You are a warrior. Everything went wrong
and you just adapted to everything.
I think that the one thing that I struggled with
was more crispiness on the potato,
but the taste and the balance, which is most important,
you hit, so well done.
All right, thank you. Judges, not to be outdone, Chef Sol.
White Asparagus, Wasabi Peas,
Pomelo and Canned Sardines.
Four of my favorite Quentin Tarantino movies.
[judges laughing]
Please tell us what you made.
I made steak potatoes.
My favorite cut is ribeye.
Then we have the double-fried potatoes
tossed in sardine and parsley, pomelo
that I used with zest. And on the side,
black pepper, white asparagus puree.
And then Korean-style egg salad.
What is the crunch in the egg salad?
Wasabi peas.
That's wasabi pea.
Beautiful ribeye.
I mean, that you don't... don't add anything to it.
You just put salt and pepper.
You don't finger paint on a Picasso.
-You know, you just-- You just serve it as it is. -I-- Yeah.
[Troy] It's got a nice crust. It's got that browning up top. That's perfect.
My favorite thing on the plate, hands down,
the white asparagus puree.
It's so creamy, subtle, acid.
-It's just-- It's phenomenal. -[Sol] Yes!
[Catherine] Your egg salad is so delicious
with the wasabi pea.
Here's where my only problem is,
it's sort of like steak and potatoes,
and then a whammy ingredient special, but it's not cohesive.
There was a lot of good things about this dish.
The steak was cooked perfectly.
I loved the crispiness of the potatoes.
Um, but remember, when you plate,
make sure each judge gets to taste
all the ingredients.
I looked for my pomelo and I finally found a piece, and I got that hit.
-Thank you. -[Guy] Thank you very much.
This was really good cookery.
One of you is gonna win 18,000 bucks.
No shopping necessary.
We'll send you back to the kitchens.
We'll call you when we have a decision.
Thank you so much.
-Thank you. -Thank you. Thank you.
Judges, who got the most bang for their bank.
I think that Madeline took a lot of big risks.
Technically, it wasn't as successful.
Sol's dish, I think, is a beautiful presentation.
Everything is cooked almost perfectly.
But maybe he was a little too safe,
but she gamed it better.
All right, judges, who do we got?
[sighs]
This is a tough one.
Taste is a big part of this,
and I know which dish tasted better to me.
Both have $18,000 in the bank.
Unfortunately, there can only be one winner.
Ladies and gentlemen, the winner...
Chef Sol.
-Well done. -[Troy] Oh!
[Guy] Madeline, I gotta tell you what,
you had enough things set you back, but you didn't fall backwards.
It was really nice having you.
-Chef Madeline, thank you. -Thank you very much.
Thank you, chef.
-Thank you very much, chef. -My pleasure.
It's not always about winning,
it's about how much fun you had while you're playing the game.
I love you, Stacy. Love you, Ren.
See you in 22 hours.
Meet the Build Your Bank Champ,
Chef Sol.
-Congratulations. -[judges cheering and exclaiming]
Now, what are you do with the money? $18,000?
-I just got engaged, like, three weeks ago. -[Catherine] Oh, mazel tov.
-[Guy] Congratulations. -[Catherine] Whoo!
Congratulations.
So, this is gonna be a huge jumpstart
to getting married and setting up everything.
Everything's super expensive.
My fiancee is going to be really proud of what I did
'cause I did it for us.
I came, I cooked, I conquered,
and it's time to get married.
[Guy] 18,000 bucks. There you have it.
-Whoo! -See you next time,
Guy's Grocery Games.
Congratulations to Sol on the engagement.
Adios.
-Whoo-hoo! -Whoo!