Tonight, Triple G's first ever home-tournament continues
as all-star chefs team up with their family
to take on our most feared delivery boxes in the world.
And tonight we have Christian Petroni and his wife, Sheri.
- Mix it, mix it! - Oh, my God! Come on!
[Guy] They're competing against the one and only Aarti Sequeira,
and her husband Bren McNamara.
- [Aarti] Oh, it's smoky up in this piece. - [Brendan] Yeah, baby.
This week's winning family will win 10,000 bucks,
plus you'll be joining two other winning teams,
Chef Aaron May and his sister Corri,
and chef Antonia Lofaso and her daughter Xea
- in next week's big finale... - [whistles]
...for a shot of up to 20,000 bucks.
[Hunter] That's right. It's week three of our all-star family faceoff.
Right now, on Triple G Delivery.
[van honks]
All right, Hunter James. First up, Food Network star,
acclaimed chef, The Great Hambino,
the one and only chef Christian Petroni,
and the woman who rules the roost full of kids and chickens,
the wonderful Sheri.
- Hi, Uncle Guy! Hi, Hunter! - [laughs]
What's up? It's me, Christian. You know me for red sauce, pizza, pasta.
I'm this guy's better half.
[Christian] What makes us a good team in the kitchen
is the fact that we're a good team in life.
- Right, baby? - That's true.
And in that sense, it's, I listen to her.
That's my boss, Sheri.
- Sheri, great to have you, finally. - Looking good!
They'll be facing off against Food Network star,
the house-spice guru of flavor town.
The one and only Aarti Sequeira,
joining forces with her husband.
This guy's one of a kind, Brendan McNamara.
[grunts]
- Hey, buddy. There we go. - He's really excited.
- Hi, I'm Aarti Sequeira. - And I am Brendan McNamara.
I am her husband, her partner in crime, her biggest fan.
- Aw. - Also her biggest challenge.
- [Brendan] We met when we were 18 years old. - [Aarti] Yeah.
We're the family to beat, you guys. So bring it on. We're ready.
Try that again.
- You're going down. - [laughs]
[laughter]
Well, welcome, families to the first ever home-tournament in Triple G history.
This is really quite a match-up.
We have two Food Network stars,
and as a winner of the Food Network Star myself,
back in the day, when it was in black and white television.
- Guy! - [cheers and applause]
I know that behind every successful chef,
is a very successful and surprised spouse.
- [laughs] - So, we've sent you two Triple G Delivery boxes,
packed with culinary games
that will put your knowledge of cooking, and each other to the test.
[Guy] Each other is the key here.
Your dishes, chefs, will be scored
by more all-star families based on gameplay, creativity, plating,
and the description...
Your description of your taste of your dish.
And the family with the highest combined score after both rounds
will win a guaranteed $10,000.
- [Guy] 10,000 bucks! - Ooh.
- Whoo! - Whoo!
You know what that'll pay for? A lot of family therapy which you may need after tonight.
- Oh, yes. - [laughing]
All right, let's start with something you know and love, and that's a family favorite.
- Wow. - The only problem... This is where it gets dicey.
This is what happens around the Fieri house.
- You have two cooks in the kitchen... - Mmm-hmm.
...and you don't always share the same favorite dish.
Uh-oh.
So, we've sent you a customized Game 1 box...
Well, that hopefully should satisfy both of you.
Exactly. Now go ahead and open the box.
- Yay. Yay-ish. - You can carry it.
[grunts] Lift with your knees, baby.
Thank you!
[Guy] Now, we did a little research on your likes and dislikes
and sent you two start-up meal kits
filled with key ingredients for both of you
of yours and your spouse's favorite dish.
For instance, Christian's favorite dish
is meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
Let's see what you got.
Right here, I got some mirepoix.
There's your favorite, some eggs.
- Ketchup, potatoes, and ground beef. - Yeah, thank you.
Your package, Sheri, should have some of your favorite,
which is one of mine, eggplant parmesan.
Eggplant. We got some crumbs. Some mozz'.
- You love mozzarella. - I love the mozz'.
We've got the tomatoes.
All right, all right.
Aarti, everybody knows that you love your burgers with the tomato chutney.
- I don't know. - Everybody knows.
Emblazoned, probably. Go ahead and open up that package.
Okay, so I have ground beef, tomatoes, malt vinegar, onions, and cheese.
Bren, your package there with the French toast.
- We got the rye breads. We got milk. - Eggs.
Extract. And now we're messing with the big business.
- Some cereal. - Cereal.
All right.
Let's take both dishes, let's do a menu meld.
[Guy] That's what I'm talking about.
I want you to picture your two favorite dishes in your mind,
and meld them together as one dish.
- Oh! - Oh.
[Guy] So, I know we're not in the competition,
but Hunter and I will be cooking along as well.
Hunter, whip out your favorites.
One of my favorites,
as always, chicken and waffles.
- Waffle mix. Eggs. - [Guy] I like this.
[Hunter] Little sriracha. Maple syrup.
And, of course, chicken breast.
And mine is pretty easy.
Being a Fieri,
I'm a spaghetti and meatball guy.
Ground beef, some pasta...
- some mozzarella, and some tomatoes. - Woah.
Oh.
[Guy] You have 30 minutes to combine those key ingredients
of your personal favorite two dishes,
- and make a brand new family favorite. - [Brendan] Mmm.
And you can grab anything you need out of your pantry to make that cohesive dish.
But your finished dish should contain
the key ingredients from your box.
We have three families that will make two favorite dishes
- and combine them into one dish. - Right.
That everybody's gonna go for.
That's what I want you to think about. Okay?
- Right. You guys got this. - [timer clicking]
- Wait, it's already going. - Oh, it's going.
All right, Hunter, I got an idea.
- What are we doing with this? - I got an idea. Hang on.
Oh, babe. They started the clock!
Hey, I told you to pay attention to the clock.
I said the clock's gonna start running,
and then we're not even gonna be ready to cook yet.
- Oh, I'm sorry. Okay-- - Clock started, right?
All right, baby. No, no. Here's what we're gonna do, okay? We're gonna make...
You're doing great. Let's make a plan.
Mine is meatloaf and mashed potatoes, yours is eggplant parmesan.
- So, we're gonna do a meatloaf eggplant parmesan. Okay? - [Sheri] Meatloaf parmesan.
[Christian] We're gonna take the concept, that is eggplant parm,
and we're gonna combine the two to make meatloaf Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Public service announcement. I worked in fashion for 13 years.
That's my forte. I just like to eat food.
Next, my beautiful wife is tasked with starting the marinara sauce.
And you can add the carrot, celery, and onion to the pan.
[sizzling]
We're gonna make like a barbequed marinara sauce,
which I think is gonna be nice.
So, and then, my eggplant.
The outside of the eggplant is gonna char up really beautiful.
And the inside is gonna become creamy and luscious.
See that what happened? Just like that.
Right, baby. Now you're gonna put your hand in there.
You're gonna mix--
- Right. - No, not that. The tomatoes.
- You just told me to put my hand in there! - The tomatoes is back there.
[Sheri] This is exactly where I shine. Smashing tomatoes.
[Christian] Babe, I feel bad that you gotta clean the kitchen after this.
[Sheri] Yeah, exactly.
[Guy] All right, I got an idea. Hang on, hang on.
We'll make the waffle batter,
we'll take the meatball ingredients,
and we'll put them into the waffle batter.
- We're having a meatball waffle? - Meatball waffle.
Then, we'll take the pasta, we'll make the pasta.
We'll take the chicken, we'll put it in some waffle batter.
- So, we'll go meatball waffle... - Okay.
- ...pasta, chicken... - Fried chicken?
Fried chicken.
Mozzarella. Sauce on top.
Let's do it. That sounds awesome.
- Yeah, great. Okay. - [Guy] Good.
- [Guy] Tomato sauce. Pasta is going down. - [Hunter] Okay.
I haven't made waffles in... I don't know. I can't tell you how long.
I'm just gonna put a little brown, a little warm on this
'cause I think
throwing in that cold beef in that waffle batter will just take too dang long.
Little granulated garlic. Paprika.
[Hunter] Nice and smooth. There we go.
[Hunter] Hey, the batter.
[Hunter] Add the parm.
- [Guy] Put in the ground beef. - [Hunter] Right on top of it.
- Declaring a hot mess. Hot mess coming up. Ready? - It's gonna happen.
Boom. Done.
[Hunter] Extreme hot mess.
What's happening, babe?
We have to meld together our two family favorites.
A burger with tomato chutney, and a stuffed French toast to make one beautiful...
- Mess amazingness? - [laughs]
Okay, when I was a little kid,
my mom would always make me, uh, what she called a Monte Cristo.
- Which is basically just French toast, like-- - [Aarti] Like a patty melt?
- [Brendan] Like a patty melt Monte Cristo. Like a burger-- - Okay, great. Awesome.
Yeah, yeah! Okay, so...
- You do... - Let me do French toast.
- Okay, and I'll start going on everything else. - Yeah.
- [laughing] Okay. - Okay.
I have to use these ingredients that are in the box.
But I also have my pantry.
Wow, I love that we can use whatever we want from the pantry.
That never happens.
Oh, I'm sauteing onions with, uh, black and brown mustard seeds
- to start my chutney. - Whoo-hoo!
[Aarti] As soon as the onions are caramelized beautifully, it's time to add the tomatoes.
And malt vinegar.
It's basically like my version of ketchup.
Look at that!
I'm gonna be in charge of the French toast 'cause it's my favorite.
Breakfast is the best meal of the day.
I don't know what all these lunch and dinner people are all about.
- [Aarti laughs] - I gotta bust out the custard.
I gotta milk it. I gotta egg it.
I gotta vanilla extract it.
Should I spice this up at all, hon?
Um, yeah. Why not? Do a little garam masala in there. It would be nice.
- There's caraway in that rye. - Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Aarti] And so, it really plays with the spices in the chutney.
[Brendan] ♪ Squishy, uh, soaking wet ♪
This is my favorite part of cooking for Guy's Grocery Games.
- I just make... I get to make a mess. - [laughing]
Our all-star families are melding their favorites into one single dish.
Will they create a masterpiece, or will they create a mess?
We'll find out when we come back.
- We're doing this. - We're doing it.
[van honks]
Hunter, here to judge our family favorites
are three of our favorite Triple G families.
Renowned chef whose culinary empire
includes award-winning restaurants
and breweries, the one and only Vivek.
- Oh, and he is married to the great Maneet Chauhan. - [both laugh]
Hi, Hunter! Hi, Guy!
[imperceptible]
[Guy] Maneet, wonderful to have you.
Next, we have acclaimed chef restaurateur,
the guy with... Probably that challenges me
with a better hair game every single day
that he shows up at Triple G.
Chef Richard Blais and the one and only Jazmin,
who spells her name with a Z.
That I love right off the bat.
- Jazmin, thank you for joining us. - Oh, well.
And you too, Rich.
Always happy to be here.
And then we have award-winning food writer, the one and only Troy Johnson,
- and the woman who pretends to like his cooking... - That's true!
His wife, Claire. Claire, it's always a pleasure to have you.
I'm so happy to be back.
And like I said, next time, you don't have to bring Troy.
Well, listen, judges. When you think about menu meld,
your two favorite dishes as one dish,
do you think this is a difficult task we're putting in front of them?
Oh, yes. I think it's a very difficult task.
If the meatloaf falls apart... [scoffs]
If the French toast becomes soggy... [scoffs]
- They have to keep it all together. - Like the marriage.
Okay, so we are going to mind meld...
Which is a little bit scary with someone like Brendan.
We have to meld together our two family favorites.
A burger with tomato chutney, and a stuffed French toast.
So, we're gonna make a French toast patty melt.
Like, extra sweet things and savory things, but I'm a little worried
'cause I have to very quickly also get the cereal in there.
- Oh, that's perfect! - [Aarti] Is it?
- [Brendan] It's flipping beautiful. - [Aarti] Oh, that's beautiful!
[Aarti laughing] Good job, babe!
I'm just waiting. [sighs]
Tell me what's going on over there, uh, Aarti and Bren.
- Bren made his famous French toast. - Is it really famous?
Well, it's famous in our family.
And then, I made this sweet, tangy,
tomato chutney, so it has onion--
What was it? What kind of chutney?
- Tomato. - Okay, thank you.
Tomato, tomato.
Anything you wanna put in the burger, or keep it real simple?
Salt and pepper, babe.
- Now to get that burger cooked right, which is all on you. - [Aarti laughs]
[Aarti] I get the patties into the pan,
and I want to get a really good crust on them.
So, that pan. It's nice and sizzling hot.
- [Aarti] Ooh, it's smoky up in this piece. - [Brendan] Yeah, baby.
There's a lot of smoke. A lot of smoke. [chuckles]
- Oh, my gosh. It's too much. - Yeah, smoke in my eyes.
[Aarti] I know.
But there's just a lot of flavor
right there in the crust of a burger.
And so, that's worth it to me.
[gasping]
I'm sorry! [laughs]
[Jazmin] Look at that smoky kitchen.
[Richard] I would be in so much trouble.
Or I would be. I don't know who. One of us.
- It would be me. - It would be you.
No fire yet. But there's still time.
Hey, Aarti. Who's the boss right now?
Uh, right now, I am still the boss. Don't be confused.
Here you go!
[Guy] Sheri, tell me what happened to The Hambino, where did he go?
- Hambino is here. Alive and well. - [laughs]
[Christian] We're toasting some garlic to make some breadcrumbs to go on our
barbequed marinara eggplant meatloaf parms, bro.
There you go.
Nine minutes! Nine minutes to be plated.
Time to start the meatloaf.
I see the ground beef sitting there, and I see the potato.
I can grate this potato into the ground beef,
it'll add some really great richness.
As well as some egg. Some Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- Did some pecorino. - We did a little pecorino, right?
And then I took some ketchup, added it to this meatloaf.
It's gonna add some umami to the party.
Okay, you can mix the meatloaf for me now.
[Sheri] Okay, okay, okay.
If you can, love, I would put some turmeric in the batter
and whisk it around.
You see how nice Aarti is. She calls him "love" and all...
[shouting] I don't care how nice Aarti's being.
I don't care how nice Aarti is!
- Oh, is Christian already shouting? - Oh, yeah.
And now, Christian's neighbors also get to participate in the show.
- They can hear him. - [all laughing]
Good one!
[Sheri] I feel like we should be freaking out.
Okay, good, good, good.
Here's where worlds collide, my friend.
I get the fresh mozzarella from Guy's box, put it on top,
put it in the oven to get nice and toasted and roasted and beautiful.
We want it to be ooey and gooey.
We want it to be creamy and luscious.
Hey, chef Sheri. How would you rate Christian's performance?
I'm usually the one, uh, giving out directions.
So this is kind of weird for me.
[Christian] Watch this, baby.
Next thing I'm gonna do is get this smoky, delicious eggplant out here.
- [Sheri] Mmm-hmm. - I'm gonna add it to our marinara sauce.
Ooh, look at those beautiful judges.
Yeah, Sheri. Bring it on.
- Easy. Easy. - Looking good, judges. Looking really good.
- We'll just give her the win. - Oh, absolutely.
- I know. I think that's what she was looking for. - [Maneet] Absolutely.
You can shamelessly bribe the judges.
- Coming down to the wire. Let me grab some more cheese. - Yeah.
I wanna know what Hunter and Guy are making.
How do you combine chicken and waffles, and spaghetti and meatballs?
We're gonna make a meatball toast.
So we're gonna make chicken parmesan meatball toast with spaghetti.
- Stop it! Stop it, Guy. Oh, my God. - Oh!
So, basically, what he's saying is we're geniuses.
[Guy] Dredging the chicken. Those go into the fryer at 350.
Our names are... What are our names, Hunter?
El Diablo and the Magic Man.
We're El Diablo and the Magic Man. You might've heard about us.
Kind of a big deal.
Get a little heat in there from sriracha.
- Put a little maple syrup in this. - [Hunter] Are you?
[Guy] Yeah. That is so good!
It's a little sweet heat.
Two minutes! Two minutes to go!
All right. This one's beautiful.
So, I actually get to start the plating process.
I get my cereal stuffed French toast down on the plate.
Look at this beautiful French toast.
Love the caramelization on it.
- Yeah, right? - [Vivek] Very nice.
[Aarti] Then we get that cheesy burger on to the French toast.
Now I top it with my tomato chutney.
We got crunch, we got chewy, we got meaty.
Pretty sure there is no way anyone can beat us
- no matter what they've made. - [chuckles]
Ah! It's beautiful.
[Guy] 60 seconds! Let's rock and roll.
Look at that.
[Hunter] This is awesome. That turned out really good.
[Guy] Something like that. Grab the chicken.
- That's good. - [Hunter] Oh, you're just gonna do it like that?
[chuckling] Nice!
- Look at that! - Ooh, that looks really good.
It does.
[Guy] 30 seconds!
[Christian] So the meatloaf is done.
Now, what you're gonna do is, you're gonna scoop that up...
little meatloaf parmesan, right?
Let's go!
[Christian] Check it out, baby.
You want a little bit of crunch.
- [Sheri] Are they gonna make it? - Ten seconds.
- Ten, nine, eight... - There's one--
- Nine, eight... - Go, go, go!
Petroni, go!
Couple of seconds.
This is why the Petronis are never on time.
- [Guy] ...two, one. That's it! - [all cheer]
- Welcome to the new family favorite. - Whoa!
- Nice. - [Maneet] Phew!
- Brendan's writing his apology letter over there. - [both laughing]
[Guy] Hunter, I think they're ready.
You know what, we got two Food Network stars, Christian Petroni
and the one and only Aarti Sequeira.
You're gonna see what's gonna happen. 10,000 bucks on the line.
Well, judges, what an honor and a pleasure to cook for you today.
He's a big chicken and waffle guy.
Of course I am the spaghetti and meatball guy.
We came together, probably made you a new family favorite.
A meatball toast.
[exclaims]
Then we got into the chicken parmesan.
We Milanese them,
and then hit them with a little bit of that waffle mix dredge.
Two worlds together, and ladies and gentlemen, there you have it right there,
the new Fieri favorite, chicken and waffle with the meatball toast.
We're bringing this... to you.
- So good. - Stop it!
- All right, judges. - [Maneet laughs]
Hold it! Guy is having a moment!
[Guy] You get the crunch from the waffle on the outside.
And then it's just pillow tender on the inside.
Oh, yum!
All right, first up, Aarti and Bren.
- Hunter, I'm gonna finish this. - I know, right?
All right, judges. Hello and welcome to our kitchen today.
We mind melded Brendan's favorite,
which is French toast with cereal pressed into it.
And my favorite, which is a burger with a tomato chutney.
- And we've made you-- - [Brendan] The Captain of Monte Cristo.
Instead of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Count of Monte Cristo? [mumbling]
- [Aarti] Let me tell you how it tastes. - [Brendan] Go.
The caraway seeds in the rye bread are adding this beautiful, sort of, um,
vegetable punch to the whole thing.
The chutney has sweet, tangy vibes.
And, um, yeah, it's just this beautiful mixture of the things that we love,
and then with that cereal there,
it's something that our kids would love too.
I love this idea of the Captain of Monte Cristo.
[kisses] Chef's kiss. Brilliantly written.
Pooh.
[Maneet] Oh, my God, this is amazing.
Definitely I see
tremendous amount of flavor development over here.
The savory, the sweet... Great combination.
- Thank you, Maneet. - Yeah.
And I wish all of my meals came with love letters.
Aw, I love it.
[Troy] Only thing I would wish
is that when I think of a Monte Cristo, I think of a pressed sandwich.
I would love to see that compressed.
I think it'll be a little bit easier to eat.
That was surprisingly a good point, Troy.
- [exclaims] - Oh, my God!
[Aarti] I'm kidding. I love you.
- This is what we do, right? - Yeah, this is what we do.
Without further ado, the Hambino and Sheri.
All right, gang. We took Sheri's eggplant parm,
and we mixed it together with meatloaf.
Not only a regular meatloaf parmesan,
it's a barbecued meatloaf parmesan.
So we have a smoky eggplant barbecued marinara sauce.
- Exactly what I was saying. Homemade loaf... - She knows what to do.
Dipped in the sauce. Nothing better.
[Christian] Great job, baby.
I love that eggplant parmesan is your favorite dish,
and you could not have married a more perfect man.
- Here he is. - You got cheese in two different forms,
you've got those breadcrumbs for, uh, texture.
I'm so impressed at how calm you guys were in the kitchen.
Like, when we're cooking together, one of us ends up in tears,
there's tomato sauce on the ceiling,
and I feel like you guys held it together.
Looks like a perfect family favorite.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much.
[Maneet] This looks so delicious.
The mozzarella right on the meatloaf.
Uh, I can see it being ooey-gooey.
Only question would be, why get barbecue to the party
when you have this amazing Italian flavors going on?
But I would love to taste that.
I do have one concern.
That's just for Christian.
Um, after he asked Sheri if she was paying attention,
I'm just a little worried for Christian.
All right. That was a great time, folks. Hope you enjoyed yourselves.
Now, Hunter and I will be sitting on the sidelines and watching you two families
go head-to-head in round two.
But first, the judges have to score your new family favorites.
The family with the highest score will receive...
Well, the awesome Envelope Of Opportunity.
And the team with the lowest score
will get stuck with the Package Of Pain.
So please leave the judges' feed.
So they can decide and tally up the scores.
All right, judges, time to deliver your scores.
Remember, 15 points available in gameplay.
Fifteen points for creativity, ten points for plating,
ten points for description of the taste.
Total of 50 points. And, Hunter, well,
he will average out your scores, and we'll find out
which team's new family favorite was your favorite.
[van honks]
Welcome back, families.
The judges were impressed by your blended family favorites.
And the scores will tell us which dish is gonna be on the top of the menu.
Gameplay 13, creativity 13-14.
An equal in plating and taste.
- A one point difference. - Oh, my gosh.
What?
- Wow. - Ooh.
Someone's gonna win some cash and a big advantage in the next round.
Someone is gonna wear a chicken suit.
[scoffs]
- Wait, I wanna wear a chicken suit. - [Guy] So...
The team with the lowest score goes to...
Christian and Sheri, losing by one point.
And Aarti and Brendan, congratulations.,
- [laughing] One point ahead. - We won! Yay!
All right, Aarti, Bren, go ahead and open up your Envelope of Opportunity.
Aarti, what you got?
"Envelope of Opportunity.
$2000 prize." Wow, thank you, guys.
"And $2000 donation to a restaurant of your choice."
- "Plus!" - "Plus!"
"A round two advantage."
"That could help you win money for that second honeymoon."
Oh!
Tell us about the restaurant you're gonna make that donation to, chef.
One of our favorite places in Raleigh. It's called Bittersweet.
And they do our favorite chocolate chip cookie.
And they also do incredible cocktails.
Speaking of breaking dreams, let's go and see that Package of Pain, Christian.
- [Sheri] Mmm. All right. - I know you two already have your own piece.
This is good.
- All right, all right, all right. - That's like...
Yeah, but really, in our house, we only have this one.
You know what? You go ahead and just wear yours, Sheri.
Christian, you could just go without yours.
- Thank you. - [laughing]
All right. Now starts round two.
For your final challenge, I want you to make a romantic dinner.
- Oh. - Aw!
That's so sweet.
And to set the mood, Hunter has packed your second box
- with all kinds of romantic ingredients. - [Hunter] Yes.
[mumbles in disbelief]
But before we do that, we're gonna play a little game.
Ladies and gentlemen,
it's the game show that all of America has been talking about!
The Newlyfed Game!
Tonight, how much culinary all-stars know about their mates,
and may determine how much their judges hate their dishes.
[exclaims]
So, families, here's how the game show's gonna work.
We are gonna ask you a series of questions that only your significant other
should know the answer to.
And if your answers match,
you'll be able to eliminate one of the items that's in the box.
Wait till you see the whammies, all right?
'Cause whatever whammies are left when you're done,
they will have to go in your romantic dinner.
And I'm telling you,
we are talking I heartburn love you.
- [laughs] - Both couples will answer the same question.
So get the whiteboards out. You've seen those there.
Your first question.
What was the name of the first restaurant the two of you dined at?
- [Vivek] Oh, boy. - [Guy] Everybody write their own answer.
- I'm trying... to think of the name of it. - Oh, my...
Are you serious?
Okay, let's see the answer.
- What does that say? - [Christian] "Minetta Tavern."
- Oh, thank God. Yay! - Yay!
- [Guy] Uh, I'll give you that. - You got it right.
Brendan, Aarti, what do you got?
I said Maggiano's, but I'm wrong.
- [Brendan] It was IHOP. - [Aarti] It was IHOP.
- Oh, you romantic, you. - It was college!
Christian and Sheri, you're gonna get to take one item off.
Oh, dang it.
Number two question. Who is the messiest in the kitchen?
Hmm?
Okay, Christian and Christian. And...
- Brendan and Brendan. - Brendan Michael McNamara.
All right, third question. Who said "I love you" first?
All right, let's see it. Petronis, what does it say?
This guy.
[Guy] You big sap.
- What do you got, Aarti? - [Aarti] Me!
- [Brendan] She did. - [Guy] All right. So three for Petronis.
Two for the Sequeira-McNamaras.
All right, back to back.
Who is the biggest pushover to the kids?
All right, let's see them. Sheri?
- [Christian] Me! - [all laugh]
[Guy] All right. And, Aarti, what do you got, Bren?
- It's me. - [Brendan] Aarti.
All right. Christian and Sheri, congratulations.
You got four.
You get four items that you don't have to use.
And, Aarti and Bren, congratulations.
Three items you don't have to use.
Wait a second. Aarti and Bren get a key advantage.
- They got an advantage. - Yeah.
[Guy] You get an extra item you don't have to use. All right?
Hunter, roll out the box.
Go ahead and open up your boxes, chefs.
- You could put it down right over there. - Where?
- [Aarti] Wow! - Sweet and sour, snack packs.
Cookies and cream chocolate.
- [Guy] Rum & Cola. - [Hunter] Hot chocolate.
I haven't seen that in forever.
[laughing] Peanut butter and jelly in a jar. What's happening?
[Guy] All right, so, here you got your six items.
You get to pick which two items you wanna use.
[Aarti] Okay.
- [Brendan] Okay. - Got it.
All right, chefs. What is it gonna be?
[Christian] You know, the two that I'm gonna want, are gonna be the two
that can incorporate best into anything.
So I go for the liquids.
We got Rum and go-go-go and Sweet & Sour Mix.
That's the two you're gonna run with. Got it.
They're gonna make drinks.
- [Guy] Aarti? - We're doing Sweet & Sour Mix,
[laughs] and peanut butter and jelly in a jar.
Okay, Sweet & Sour Mix, and jelly in a jar. Got it.
Christian and Sheri, you get the Rum & Cola, and the Sweet & Sour.
And, Aarti and Bren, you get the peanut butter jelly and Sweet & Sour.
And you are welcome to use anything else
you would like in your kitchen.
So, chefs, you have 30 minutes to prepare and plate your romantic dinner.
I am so excited. And this all starts in three, two, one, and go.
- Okay, let's go. All right, ready? - Whoo! Go, go, go!
- We have risotto? - Yes, we do.
Oh, boy. Grab it. I don't know why I'm doing this.
- They're speaking my name, right? - What's that?
You know, my middle name is Christian "Romantic Dinner" Petroni.
'Cause that is what I do.
We're gonna do a risotto, right? Which is totally bananas.
Listen, if anyone can talk his way out of a risotto not being done,
it's Christian virtually.
Let's be honest.
[Christian] First thing I wanna do with the risotto,
I wanna get some onions, uh, kind of sweated out
and going in olive oil and butter.
Then, I'm gonna add my rice, so there's enough time for me to toast it.
I'm gonna go ahead and deglaze it with some of that Sour Mix.
I'm not trying to hide this stuff.
- Cut this into circles like this, look. - [Sheri] A better knife, no?
[Christian] I like to use that 'cause you can use it... It's safer, I think.
You can use it like a saw.
No knife is really safe with me, but it's okay.
[Christian] The pancetta's gonna be great, right?
'Cause it's gonna add really great texture.
I'm using, like, all of my--
[Christian] Yeah, I'll show you what to do with it, okay?
So in, like, an hour and a half when she's done cutting these lardons...
I'm kidding, okay? [chuckles]
- It can go right into the pan. - [Sheri] Is that enough or you want more?
- [Christian] Just enough, babe. - [Sheri] Okay.
- [Christian] Grab your onion. - [Sheri] Yep.
You should be making me more date night meals like this.
We should start sending those kids to granny and poppy's more often.
[Sheri laughs]
Let's do the black cod.
- That feels like a sexy piece of fish. - Okay.
On those rare occasions that Bren and I get a date night,
we do end up doing Asian food a lot.
- So, we'll do rice noodles. Like, Vietnamese sort of fish. - Ooh, yeah.
- Like some fresh herbs and stuff? - [Aarti] Yeah.
That, to me, is like, beautiful date night food.
You can just cook that down into, like, a sweet peanut sauce.
[Aarti] Yeah.
The fish is going to be very lightly fried.
So I get a dredge going. The peanuts, if you wanna melt it down,
- then let's get it into a saucepan, like, right away. - [Brendan] Okay.
[Aarti] We have to use this peanut butter and jelly in a jar, so...
I put Brendan in charge of the peanut sauce,
while I take care of the fish.
[Brendan] Adding the whammy ingredient!
Just leave it to just heat, heat, heat?
- No, turn the heat off if it's melted already, love. - Yep.
I like Aarti's technique. If you put "my love" at the end of a sentence...
- [Aarti laughing] - ...it's a lot less harsh.
"Why are you so horrible at this, my love?"
[all laughing]
- [Aarti] Okay, whisk this together. - Okay.
The peanut sauce has actually come together.
I add some, uh, rice wine vinegar and oil.
And just tried to make it like an actual sauce instead of...
just becoming a glop.
- Can you get some cilantro and some dill? - [Brendan] Okay.
There's a sense of seriousness on the Aarti side.
- Is this enough herbs to chop up, or am I-- - Oh, honey, yeah. A lot more.
- Aarti. - [Aarti] Yeah?
What do you think the challenge is right now?
The food or Brendan?
[Aarti] For the sake of my marriage, I'm gonna say the food.
- The food is just really the big challenge. - [laughing] Oh, oh!
Wink, wink!
[Guy] So, our all-star families are showing us their romantic side, Hunter.
In this final challenge, the question is,
how romantic it's gonna be if you don't win the big money?
Don't go anywhere.
[van honks]
[Guy] Chef Petroni and his wife, Sheri,
and Aarti Sequeira and her husband, Bren,
are in an intense battle.
It's a family face-off showdown right now.
So far, Aarti's in the lead by one point.
But the Petronis look like they have a game plan.
Sheri and Christian, what's on the menu?
You know what, Guy? I'm gonna go for it.
It's my first time ever trying to attempt risotto on television.
I really think that I'm gonna get this done.
And it's gonna be like a lemony risotto
with the Sweet and Sour Mix.
And then I got pancetta that we're gonna braise with the Rum & Coke.
And that's gonna go on top like an Agua Dulce. It means sweet and sour--
Christian, you have less than 30 minutes to do this.
Oh, ye of little faith.
Uh, good luck with that, pal.
- [Christian] So, baby, see why risotto is such a risk? - [Sheri] Mmm-hmm. Well, yeah.
[Christian] You don't just, like, put the liquid in and go.
- You gotta cook it little by little. - [Sheri] I got the faith.
- [Christian] You got faith, right, baby? - I got faith.
With those rum and cokes, I'm gonna deglaze that pan
that had the pancetta and the onions.
[Sheri] Do it, baby.
We're gonna throw in half a can of this rum and cola.
That's really good.
[Christian] And we're gonna need some acidity
to cut through all of this richness
'cause this whole dish is pretty darn rich, right?
[Sheri] Oh! A little too thin, little too thin.
- Got a little ahead of myself here. - Sheri!
What's happening with those carrots?
He asked the one person who does not know how to properly use a knife.
So stressful!
[Christian] I'm pickling them, baby. I'm gonna pickle them.
Are you in a pickle right now, or are you making some pickles?
I think I'm gonna be a pickle after the cameras leave today. Am I right, guys?
[all laughing]
[Sheri] I'm never gonna eat a carrot again after this. I swear.
[Guy] 16 minutes, 16 left!
And you can have...
Actually, since we have 16 minutes,
throw the noodles in right now.
[Brendan] Okay.
Aarti, what are you making?
Uh, we're making a Vietnamese fish.
Um, that's flavored with turmeric, and dill, and peanuts,
over some nice, light, rice noodles.
You gotta have the noodle in there somewhere so you can do the long kiss.
Bren, where are you? And are you okay?
What? Yeah, we're okay. We're still married.
Well, Bren is in the room still. That's good.
[Aarti laughs] No, he's doing great. He's doing great.
- I thought he was doing dishes, actually. - [all laugh]
That is usually my job.
I'm making a dressing that's gonna go on the noodles.
Fish sauce, some of that Sweet & Sour Mix,
'cause it naturally would have sugar in it anyway.
The Sweet & Sour Mix is so intensely sweet.
And to tame her sweetness, I add some lime juice.
And put a little bit of this chili.
Maybe a lot of this chili. [laughs]
- Remember when I said that you were the messy one? - [Brendan chuckles] Yeah.
The noodles are ready, the dressing is good to go.
That's, like, vibrant, It's a little hot, little spicy.
Yeah, babe. That's great.
Time to cook the cod. I've got some oil, nice and hot.
I'm looking for this fish to get some color.
But the last thing I wanna do is serve a dry piece of black cod.
- Like, that is a sin. - Oh, no.
A sin against black cod.
[Aarti] So I'm gonna put these in the oven until we're absolutely ready.
All right, chefs. Two minutes left. Two minutes to go.
[Christian] Sheri's going to town on that box grater.
Watch out! She's got a box grater!
Of course, since we're making risotto...
Here we go!
[Christian] ...we need copious amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano,
and pecorino.
Look at that.
- Give me that cheese. - Give me that cheese!
So, the creamy risotto kind of just...
onto the plate.
It's creamy, it's got the right salinity.
There's a great porkiness from the pancetta.
This risotto looks absolutely perfect.
Oh, no! We need more cheese!
[Guy] 45 seconds!
Okay, so let's start plating, so we can make it pretty.
So, he first thing I do is get the noodles down in the bowl.
[Aarti humming]
I pulled the cod out of the oven, and it's gorgeous!
This is a thing of beauty.
Then I drizzle that peanut butter and jelly sauce...
I can't believe I'm saying that.
...over the dish.
Next, I add the herb and peanut salad right on top.
- So beautiful! - Yeah, it's deeply romantic.
Just like Aarti.
Three, two, one, and that's it!
- Nice job, you guys. Well done. Okay. - [all cheer]
Yeah, Sheri! Yeah, Sheri!
- We did it, baby! - [Claire] Aw!
I love them.
That's good, baby.
- That's beautiful. - That's good.
Let's find out whose romantic dinner the judges...
just fell in love with.
Aw.
[van honks]
All right, judges, for the final game
of Triple G Delivery All-Star Family Face-Off,
we did a Newlywed Fed.
- A Newlyfed Wed? - Newlyfed Wed game.
- Newlyfed game. - Newlywed Fed.
- Yes.
Anyhow, you know what we're talking about.
Aarti and Bren, you are up first.
You used the peanut butter and jelly
- and the Sweet & Sour. What'd you make? - [Brendan] Mmm.
- Hi, everybody! - Hi, everybody.
[Aarti] This is like, a Vietnamese inspired fish.
It's a black cod with turmeric.
We took that peanut butter and jelly and melted it down--
- Look at those noodles. - Combine that with some fish sauce.
- Yep. Tell 'em. Tell 'em! - Tell 'em, tell 'em!
[Aarti] The dressing on the noodles is made from some chili crisps,
that Sweet & Sour Mix, fish sauce to tee up that fish,
so that it is the star of the whole dish.
Yeah, it's joy and fireworks in your mouth.
For more joy and fireworks. Let's show them.
[Hunter] What is more romantic than that?
- Whoa. - [laughing]
[Troy] One of the most important things for a romantic dinner for me
is actually the presentation of the food.
- Presentation was excellent there. - Ooh!
I love that you got a nice crispy crunch on that cod.
Yeah, we did.
My only question is, you have to compose a dish that's equally balanced.
Now, I'm afraid that fish would get lost a little bit in all of those noodles.
I totally agree that you have to make it beautiful for the eyes
if you're trying to impress your love.
- Thank you, guys. - Thank you.
How did you use the peanut butter
[clears throat] and the jelly, exactly?
[Aarti] That is a good question.
We turned it into a peanut sauce.
I really like the use of the peanut butter.
The only thing I'm questioning is how the sweet and sour is playing
with the brightness of this entire dish.
But overall, it looks absolutely beautiful.
- Just like you guys! - Aw! Thanks!
Fantastic. Nice job.
Not to be outdone,
Sheri and Christian, you used the rum and cola
as well as the Sweet & Sour.
Our go-to romantic meal
is always a classic Parmigiano-Reggiano risotto.
- Right? - That's right.
[Christian] You got Rum & Coke in caramelized pancetta,
and crunchy paper thin pickled carrots.
And I added the Sour Mix to deglaze,
and then I just built on top of that with the stock.
And once again, this is bringing me back to our honeymoon in Italy.
- Yeah. - [Sheri] And this is reminding me exactly of that moment.
- Only the best for you, baby. - Yeah. Mwah.
Oh, yeah. You know, I gotta get a kiss in there somehow.
You know, while I can, you know what I'm saying?
[laughing]
Great flavors. Buttery, rich, creamy risotto,
braised pancetta, pickled carrots.
Your story is beautiful.
It's transferred me to Italy.
Maneet and I also had our honeymoon in Venice.
You obviously have fantastic taste, my friend.
That's why he's married to me.
That was the next thing that was gonna come out of my mouth, chef.
Sheri, what a remarkable job in cutting the carrots.
I think that is what made the dish.
Yeah, Christian, is your superpower making risotto in 30 minutes?
- [Claire] It looks delicious. - [Troy] Can't believe you did it!
Love that you used the rum and cola on the pancetta
because it gives it that little sweet, and the salty, and the smoky.
It's beautiful, easy. That's the way love should be.
Damn!
Is risotto romantic? I'll tell you this.
Bacon risotto with rum and cola,
it is super romantic!
I love this.
- [Jazmin] Yeah, guys. I mean... - Mwah!
I will say, for me, I kind of felt like it's a first course.
Like, I want a little bit more food.
- But maybe I'm just a pig. - Oh, no, no.
[all laugh]
All right, families, you all gave us, I mean, some incredible...
Incredibly romantic dinners.
All right, chefs. The judges unfortunately have to break up this romantic dinner.
They're gonna judge this, and they're gonna judge you.
And the team with the highest combined score will win $10,000.
And, more importantly, the final spot in the big finale next week.
So, if I can ask you to please leave the feed one more time,
so they can make their decisions.
Judges, we'll total up their scores.
Fifteen points available in gameplay,
Fifteen points available in creativity,
ten in plating, ten in taste for a total of 50.
Judges, go ahead. You're gonna send it over to Hunter,
he'll total them up, we'll probably do bad math, someone's gonna win.
Let's check out the final scores, chefs.
Uh, Christian Petroni, one point behind Aarti and Bren.
Nice first scores. Hunter, let's take a look at Christian.
14, 13, 8, 9... 9...
44. Score of 86.
Heavy hitter numbers, bud.
- [Troy] Wow. - [Guy] Heavy hitter numbers.
Let's take a look at Aarti and Bren.
Need a 44 or better.
14, 13, 9, 8.
- Forty-four. - [laughs] Dude!
- For a score of 87... - Yes, we won!
We won, we won, we won, we won, we won!
- Aarti and Bren, congratulations. - Wow.
My God, so close.
A one point win. Complete tie in the second round.
But I gotta tell you, Christian, Sheri, wonderful job.
- Sheri, loved having you on the show. - Yes!
$10,000 going to Aarti and to Bren.
Congratulations.
Thank you!
And, more importantly, you've earned yourselves
a final spot in the big tournament finale.
Where you'll go up against Aaron May and his sister,
and go up against the one and only warrior princess,
- Antonia Lofaso and her daughter Xea. - [whistles]
So, 20,000 bucks on the line. Next week!
We will see you there.
Guy's Big Finale All-Star Family Face-Off, next week.
Adios!