Tonight, three of GGG's favorite moms
are playing Grocery Games at home.
- Come on. - All right.
Boom shaka laka.
Showing us how it's done.
It's a special occasion.
I shouldn't have to work this hard.
Welcome to being a mom.
Judge me all you want. This is good.
[Guy] It's Moms Cook Best right now on GGG Delivery.
[upbeat music playing]
Hunter, I think we're about to learn why moms rule.
Yeah, I think you're right. Let's meet our moms.
[Guy] First up, we have Food Network star, cookbook author
and mother of four adorable girls,
the one and only Chef Melissa d'Arabian.
[upbeat music playing]
Being a mom is everything to me.
I have so many different palates.
I've so many different dietary requirements
in my family, and I cook for them all the time.
So I know that whatever Guy is gonna send me
is gonna to be crazy.
But I've got four teenage daughters.
You can't scare me, Guy.
- Hello there. - Hi, chef.
- [Melissa] Hello. - [Guy] Next,
co-founder of One Potato and a private smoothie chef
to three growing kids,
one of our GGG OGs,
give it up for Catherine McCord.
Hey, Guy. Hey, Hunter.
[upbeat music playing]
The best part about being a mom and getting to work
from home is that my kids are cooking with me
all day long. They're coming up with recipes,
they're inspiring me.
So hopefully I'm prepared.
Are you in the same kitchen as Melissa?
- Because it looks like it. - She's right there.
- Isn't that crazy? - That's what it seems like.
And finally, Food Network star, supermom
and host to Tregaye's Way the one and only
Tregaye Fraser.
- What up? - [Guy] Hello there.
Hi.
[upbeat music playing]
I am a supermom, okay?
Cooking for the celebrities,
cooking for the president, nothing compares
to the demanding bellies of my boys.
They don't play, they ready and they want it now.
You know what? I've judged GGG Delivery
before so I know when Guy
sends these boxes, it's a problem.
But I'm ready for them. At the end of the day,
moms can do anything. So bring it on. Bring it on.
[Guy laughs]
Anyhow, moms, welcome to GGG Delivery.
They say the mom... And we know this for a fact
in our house, the mom does the work
of 20 people and honestly,
- most of it is for free. - Yeah.
[Hunter] But to thank you, we sent you two big boxes
of groceries, courtesy of GGG Delivery.
That is a big thank you.
- [Hunter] Mmm-hmm. - [Guy] Plus, we're inviting
you to play a couple of our twisted Grocery Games
because you don't get enough crazy experience
in your house, we thought we'd bring you some more.
Okay.
You're gonna get judged on gameplay, creativity,
plating, and your description of your taste of your dish.
[Hunter] But best of all, the chef with the highest
combined score after both rounds
will get a shot at winning the $20,000.
[Tregaye] Ooh.
[upbeat music playing]
[Guy] Now, you're not only moms,
you're also wizards in the kitchen
and we thought we would have you start off by
making an updated childhood favorite.
Show America how to take a dish that kids love
or you loved as a kid and give it kind of a fresh twist.
[Hunter] Sure, sure. So to make things easier,
your Game 1 box includes some of kids' favorite
ingredients.
[Guy] Kids' favorite ingredients.
- Yes. - I can't wait. Hunter.
Chefs, go ahead and open up your boxes.
[Tregaye] Now, I like presents. But...
I don't know if I'mma like this present.
That's really light. Oh. I'm intrigued.
Guy, this isn't as heavy as usual.
[Melissa] What the heck?
[Tregaye] What?
[Guy] Hang on a second. I'm sorry, chefs.
Hunter, everything's in paper bags.
Right. No. I packed them all a sack lunch.
- Like their kids would have. - What?
- Pretzels. - You got cheese sticks.
You already made the sandwich?
- [Hunter] Yeah. - [Guy] Honey crisp apple,
- my favorite. - Baby carrots.
- [Guy] Little yogurt. - [Catherine] Juice box.
[Guy] Chefs, I apologize. Hunter.
- Yes. - I understand the idea.
- Right. - Where's all the gourmet
ingredients? You're gonna twist things up,
make them exciting.
Put a twist on a kid favorite, where is that?
In their pantries. Come on.
Go with the flow here.
All right. Pick up what you're laying down.
All right, moms.
I'm sorry, we didn't give you more to work with.
Uh...
[Guy] But don't worry, we're gonna let you raid
your own fridges and pantries
and find all the ingredients you need
to make your winning dish because we're playing
Flip This Bag Lunch.
Okay.
[Hunter] They have to use three of these items.
[Guy] So they have to either use the yogurt,
- the pretzels. - [Hunter] Yes.
[Guy] The Apple, the juice, the carrots,
the string cheese, or the sandwich.
- [Hunter] That's correct. - Any three things I want?
Any three things from the bag.
- Okay. - [Guy] So, 30 minutes
to prepare and plate your updated childhood favorite.
- All right. - Melissa, I know
you wanna go quickly.
You have to wait for the three, two, one go.
Make sure that everything's ready, okay?
[clock ticking]
Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
[laughs]
Was that it?
[gasp]
That was good.
Okay. I have to do a updated childhood favorite
using ingredients from this bag lunch.
Why? I thought this was Mother's Day, this is my day.
So I think I'm gonna make a fried bologna sandwich
because I used to love fried bologna when I was a kid.
Lucky for me, my kids are boujee [laughs]
they really just like elevated food.
The string cheese is inspiring me to make
one of my favorites, pimento cheese.
That is a staple in the South. Boom, boom, boom.
I'm gonna toss that into my mixer with this
cheddar cheese and some cream cheese.
Got that in there boom, boom, boom.
So I don't have pimentos.
So I'm gonna do peppers. You gotta do...
As a mom, you gotta be able to just
work out with what you work out.
And there I'll hit you with one of these here. Ooh.
You know, mama used to have the bologna back in the day
with a little red string, that thin bologna.
No. We need the thick, thicky, okay?
'Cause my sons, they like to eat.
That's it right there. I want me a nice thick cut.
My kids greedy like me, honey. They want it all.
Ooh, that pimento cheese is looking... Ooh, ooh, ooh.
[Hunter] I'm gonna have a juice box.
- Is it good? - [Hunter] Yeah.
I haven't had one of these in so long.
It's making me hyper already. I can feel there's too much
sugar in that.
[Melissa] Oh, I know what I'm doing.
Yes. Yep.
So the ingredients are these brown bag lunches
but we have access to our entire pantry.
All right. So I bought this for my kids' dinner tonight.
I guess that's not happening.
My first thought is to make a pork schnitzel
sandwich in honor of my grandmother.
So, I'll use the pretzel as my breading.
All right.
My grandma used to make schnitzel pork cutlet,
breaded and deep-fried all the time.
Let's get this guy going.
There we go.
And I'm gonna do sauteed cabbage to put on top.
There we go.
Get it going in a pan with a little bit of oil.
And then I need to use these apples.
So, I cube them up.
They're gonna go in the cabbage and give it some tang.
So good.
I can smell the cabbage already.
Updated childhood favorite. Okay. Okay.
One of my favorite foods growing up was fried chicken.
I mean, I'm from Kentucky after all.
I love fried chicken so much.
And so I think I'm gonna do a pretzel fried chicken.
The pretzels are gonna add crunch, a good amount of salt.
But they're also gonna give a golden crust.
Really good.
So I wanna get a little bit more crunch so
I grab some panko.
All right. So we're gonna do a little breading
station here.
Flour.
Whisking up some eggs.
I mean, this is like my grandmother.
Like, this is like her style.
I remember the breading station,
she'd have everything out
and I'd be, like, watching her like so excited.
Whoo. My heart is pounding.
All right, dredge, dredge, dredge.
I'm gonna wanna put every bit of this.
That's, like, why the fried chicken is so good,
right in a good amount of warm oil and bam,
we're gonna make that fried chicken
with pretzel crust magic.
Ooh. Speak to me.
[Hunter] Our incredible GGG moms
are busy doing the impossible.
In other words, they're doing the same thing
they do every day.
Boom.
[Hunter] More of moms' magic when we return.
[upbeat music playing]
[Guy] Chefs, we're at the halfway point,
you got 15 minutes left.
Whoa. That was fast.
And standing by to critique these moms' meals
is the mother of all judging panels,
renowned restaurateur, proud mother of Xea,
the one and only Warrior Princess
Chef Antonia Lofaso.
- Hi, there. - Hi, Guy.
[Guy] Food Network star, amazing mother of two,
the one and only Spice Queen herself,
- Chef Aarti Sequeira. - Hey everybody.
Hi, Aarti.
[Guy] And award-winning food critic and the guy
that got cut from the Step Brothers cast,
the one and only, Troy Johnson.
All right, judges. Here you are,
you see that the fearless competitors
who are also moms have some very difficult
deliveries. We sent them the first round
in a brown paper bag and they've got to make
a twist on a childhood favorite.
Hope you're excited.
My mom actually, and I'm not just saying this,
made the best lunches for me.
Aww.
- Troy. - I mean, come on.
Everybody grew up with a sack lunch.
It's just like the greasy food kind of coming through
the bag. Half of your food
will be outside of the bag by the time you ate it.
[Guy] Tregaye, what's going on there?
I am making fried bologna sandwiches.
[Hunter] Ooh.
With bacon, pimento cheese.
Woo. I'm excited.
[Guy] Fried bologna sandwich. That's my middle name.
Classic. I'm gonna make my apple slaw.
We got to update a classic, right?
And mama wasn't making slaw for me back in the days.
But I'll tell you who does makes slaw,
this mama for Zayire and Tresean.
Something healthy to go along with it,
utilizing some of the carrot.
My kids eat good, you know? Carrots and apples.
And honestly, I've used one,
two, three.
I used all my ingredients.
I think I'm still gonna use some of the yogurt.
My boys like slaw with honey. But you know what?
Since Guy wants us to use these ingredients from
this bag, I'mma use a little vanilla yogurt instead.
I always make it a little sweet.
The kids love when you keep it sweet, you know?
Going the extra mile and taking another ingredient.
I mean, because I don't have to, but, you know,
when you're a overachiever,
you know what I'm saying?
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Okay. Ooh. Okay. We'll set the bun on fire.
We gonna make sure it's toasted.
[Guy] Melissa, how are we doing?
Give us a little rundown.
I am making a schnitzel sandwich
with cabbage and apples after my grandma.
Now, would your kids like a schnitzel cabbage,
apple sandwich?
Oh, yes. I'm... And who doesn't love
a fried piece of breaded pork?
[Aarti] There's a lot about Melissa's dish
that makes sense.
I love the combination of pork
with pretzels, with cabbage.
It's all kind of going in this sort of German,
Eastern European direction.
You want a beer with it is what you're saying?
I would like a stein of beer, please.
I know what we'll do with our carrots.
We will give them a little bit of spice.
Roasting carrots and seasoning them is a nice
update to that little bag of carrots that we used
to get when we were in like second grade.
I'm getting a little bit of chipotle powder.
Whoo-hoo-hoo.
There we go.
And I decide that I'm gonna make a little dip
to go with the carrots.
I use Greek yogurt, a little bit of lemon,
and some chopped pickled onion.
Okay.
All right. Let's see how these guys are doing over here.
You look good.
So as I'm looking at the pork,
I realize that if I'm cooking
for my family, one of my girls is not represented.
I decided I'm making one for my
gluten-free vegetarian daughter.
So, I'm making a meal that everybody can eat.
So for the vegetarian gluten-free version,
I've got a gluten-free bun.
Okay. I use cucumber and kale to make up
the bulk of the sandwich.
I have about a thousand different
dietary requirements.
Welcome to being a mom.
[Guy] Catherine, what's going on there, sister?
Tell me. You got apples and...
[Catherine] Yes. I'm gonna make an apple carrot slaw,
even thinking about putting a little peanut sauce on it,
and then I'm gonna do fried chicken.
My kids love fried chicken to say the least.
- That sounds delicious. - I love it.
I love it. Eight minutes.
[Catherine] Oh my God. Money, money, money, money.
And then we're just gonna pop these in the oven
to finish them.
When I was growing up, if you had fried chicken,
you had slaw.
Carrots.
For my bag, I'm gonna use carrots and apples
because I'm gonna make a really vibrant slaw.
Beautiful.
Yeah. We're gonna do a sauce that actually...
This is all, like, going back to my kids.
And one thing I know my kids love is this Thai peanut sauce
that I usually make with soba noodles.
If I can find my mayonnaise.
If I can find my mayonnaise, mayonnaise right here.
Grab my blender and I add some mayonnaise,
peanut butter, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, rice vinegar,
a little bit of soy sauce, believe it or not hot water.
Mom tip, to thin out your sauce,
add a touch of hot water.
Here we go.
[Antonia] Are we getting some kind of smoothie
from Catherine? Because I see her
with a blender and she's just never safe with a blender.
[Troy] Catherine uses a blender like most people use
a six-burner oven.
[laughs]
Perfect. Okay.
[Guy] Four minutes, four to go.
Pimento cheese me.
The first thing I do is get my buns on the plate,
then I'm adding that pimento cheese right on the bottom.
Boy, I love pimento cheese.
I'm gonna smack that piece of bologna right there.
Look at that bologna.
[Tregaye] Bacon and meat. Then I'm gonna add on bacon,
cabbage, my tomato,
and squeeze as much barbecue sauce, as I could possibly
think of on there. Oh.
I'm gonna add my apple carrot slaw
to these ramekins.
Hmm. Growing up, my bologna sandwich
looked absolutely nothing like this.
[Melissa] I'm making two sandwiches on one plate.
So for the vegetarian gluten-free version,
I've got a gluten-free bun, aha,
cucumber and kale,
the sauteed cabbage with the apple.
And then on the other sandwich,
I have the pork loin with a pretzel crust on it.
Add the carrots, add the dipping sauce.
This is lunch, my friends.
Forty seconds, chefs.
[Catherine] Look at that.
I take out my fried chicken.
Thank goodness, it's perfect.
I put my chicken on my plate.
The slaw looks gorgeous.
I'm feeling kinda Zen.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Adjust. That's it.
Whooa.
[Antonia] Go, moms.
[Aarti] Good job, mamas.
- Wow. - Woohoo.
Well done. What is...
Tregaye is having a juice box. That doesn't count
as one of your three, Tregaye.
I want a juice box right now.
[Aarti laughing]
Judges, this is game one of GGG Delivery,
Moms Cook Best.
And our super moms had to flip that sack lunch
into an updated childhood favorite.
First up, Chef Catherine, what do you got?
I went ahead and picked out of the sack lunch
the three things that I knew my kids would absolutely love.
Apple, baby carrots, and pretzels,
and I turned it into a pretzel fried chicken.
You know, fried chicken, you gotta have some slaw.
And I updated it because I... Put kind of, like a little bit
of a Thai spin on it. And it's got like a peanut
butter, it's real good times.
And I'm about to good times this bite.
Hmm.
[Aarti laughing]
I mean what kid doesn't like peanut butter?
The chicken is like moist and juicy in the middle,
crunchy, you get it? Are you feeling this?
[Aarti] Catherine, from one mom to another,
you are truly a super mother.
First of all, fried chicken, brilliant,
so smart, all kids love it.
Second, putting peanut butter in a salad dressing is a way
to get your kids to eat their vegetables,
also very smart. I love that gameplay.
[Troy] Peanut butter is a fantastic way
to tie-in those kid friendly ingredients.
The carrots, the apples, all together in a slaw,
I mean, you're going straight to Thailand.
That's a fancy kid lunch, but it's a kid lunch.
[Antonia] The fried chicken looks absolutely beautiful.
I think the fact that you use pretzel
as a breading is really, really smart.
I would have liked to see maybe the double-down
on the peanuts and actually put some fresh nuts
in that salad.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
Thank you very much, Catherine.
Up next, Chef Tregaye.
Today, I made for you my fried bologna,
pimento cheese sandwich. What I decided to do to,
kinda, take it to the next level,
is do this nice thick cut piece of bologna,
add a little bit of bacon to it,
add some pimento cheese.
Mmm.
Ooh.
Yes, girl. Go for it.
Then I also used cabbage instead of lettuce
so you got that nice, good crunch that you need on there.
For my slaw, I used all the apples in there,
I used the carrots in there, I used that yogurt in there,
and it was nice, and just sweet, and just...
I love it. And it just marries well with this,
with the pepper. And then I got a string cheese
in my homemade pimento cheese.
Let me just shut up. Okay.
Let me just shut up.
Judge me all you want. This is good.
[Antonia] Chef Tregaye, this is like a BLT times
a thousand right now.
The fact that you took that bologna and had so much
confidence to slice it into those thick pieces...
Antonia, my boys greedy, girl.
This is too thin for them. They might want it thicker.
[all laughing]
[Aarti] The fact that you took that string cheese,
and then turned that into pimento cheese,
it's the part of your sandwich that makes both a child
and a grown-up go, "Ooh, I want that."
[Troy] And you got some freshness.
You got the carrots, you got the apples.
My only problem, Tregaye, is that vanilla yogurt
in the slaw. I mean, the slaw has a very specific
purpose which is to cut through all the fattiness
of the rest of the sandwich.
Vanilla yogurt screams dessert, not acid.
Thank you. [laughing]
And without further ado, the one and only,
Chef Melissa d'Arabian.
What do you have for us, Melissa?
So, it's a Mother's Day episode.
I took inspiration from one of my childhood favorites
from my grandma, Ursula.
Schnitzel with sauteed cabbage and apples.
I turned it into a sandwich because we're talking about
a kid's lunch.
Now, you might ask. Why do I have two sandwiches
on here. Because the mom in me,
has to make food that all my kids can eat.
And I have a daughter who can't eat gluten
and doesn't eat meat.
So I made the schnitzel breaded in pretzels.
And then I made the cabbage and the apples,
balance the tangy with the sweet.
And here we go, I'm gonna give it a bite.
Hmm.
That was a big bite.
[Aarti laughing]
That pork is really juicy.
That would make my grandma proud.
Okay, I wanna show you my carrots.
I roasted them just a little bit, and chipotle
just a touch. Smoked paprika.
And I'm dipping it in a little dressing
I made from Greek yogurt and pickled onion.
Everybody gets to eat. This is what it's like
to cook at my house.
[Aarti] This is a mark of a mother, right?
That you have to make different things
for different people, and if you're going to do
a vegetarian dish,
having something that eats a little bit like meat
that requires a chew, that was very smart.
One thing that you did that I think makes so much sense
is that you went pork, schnitzel, cabbage, apple,
kinda, tying all of these ingredients together,
we're sort of in a German beer hall somewhere,
it makes a lot of sense.
[Troy] I can taste the lederhosen on that plate.
I think that is straight out of Germany.
You cook down the carrots. When you do that,
you release all of their sweetness.
You got a bunch of smiling kids.
[Antonia] You did a great job using the pretzel
and using that as a breading. I do think though
that the ratio of that pork,
because it's very, very thin with all that bun,
may be a little off.
- Fair enough. - [Guy] All right.
Thank you very much. So, please leave the feed.
All right, judges. So you know what I need you
to do now. I want you to fill up those scorecards.
Text them over to Hunter and we'll find out
who wins round one.
Welcome back, moms. I gotta say,
you made an extremely difficult challenge
look very easy. Look at this,
a three-point difference from the bottom to the top.
That is a tight race.
So, let's look at...
Let's take who's on the middle right there,
- Tregaye with 41. - [man] You're safe.
- [Guy] Congratulations. - [Hunter] Nice.
And the leader will be
Catherine, Melissa.
Catherine is the leader at 42 points.
Yay.
[Guy] And Melissa at 39.
Three points behind the leader.
And two points behind Tregaye in the middle.
Congratulations, Catherine. Nice job.
- Hey. - That was awesome.
Catherine, if you'd like to go ahead and open that
envelope of opportunity.
This is very exciting.
[Guy] Congratulations. A thousand dollars to you,
and a thousand dollar donation made from Guy's Grocery Game
in your name to a restaurant of your choice that's in need.
This is amazing. This is amazing.
This is for Tyler and Ashley at All Time restaurant
in Los Angeles.
- Awesome. - Woohoo.
[Guy] Congratulations.
And you're also gonna get a key advantage
in the second round.
So, our good friend Melissa d'Arabian,
you get the wonderful package of faith.
- See what you got. - Okay.
[Guy] Grab that.
- [Melissa] Let's see. - [Hunter] A calculator.
[Guy] Wait a second.
[Melissa] Wait, it's a calculator?
[Guy] GGG math homework.
- [Hunter] Oh, no. - [Guy] Oh, boy.
Is this for real?
Boo. Math.
[Guy] You will have to complete the kids' homework.
[Catherine laughing]
[Guy] Before you can start cooking.
- Okay. - [Guy laughing]
All right, chefs.
It looks like it's time for round two, ready?
- Let's do it. - Right this way.
All right. Here we go, chefs.
This is the second round,
the deciding round of our Moms Cook Best.
So, you focused on kids in round one.
For the final challenge, we want you to celebrate you.
How about a special occasion dinner?
You know what I'm talking about, right?
Make that special meal worthy of a very special woman.
So, go ahead and open up your boxes.
[Catherine] Oh, my God.
What did you... My son is in here.
- Hi, that's creepy. - [Catherine laughing]
[dramatic music playing]
[Melissa] Oh, my gosh.
How do you not love this cornucopia?
Bread, artichoke hearts.
Cream.
Broccoli.
Rogue cheese.
Oh, shrimp.
[Hunter] Chicken thigh.
Guy, why are there prices on it?
I ain't brining no money, Guy.
Hunter, did you forget to take
the price tags off?
No, I just got them from the store.
[Aarti] He left the price tags on the gifts.
That's true. People don't like it...
- It shows that we care. - ...makes it...
It doesn't show that we care.
So tacky.
[Guy] Okay. How about we do a little budget battle?
- Come on. - That's it.
Whatever ingredients you wanna choose you can do,
and you get to do it with $20. We'll still give you
- the 30 minutes. - No.
And your pantry, by the way, is off-limits.
And Chef Catherine, you won the advantage,
so you get three dollars.
- Whoa. - [Guy] We love you, Catherine.
Three extra dollars for Catherine.
So, 30 minutes to shop, do your basket,
prepare and plate your special occasion dinner.
- Hunter's gonna add up... - [Hunter] Yes.
[Guy] ...your budget. So, go ahead and start finding your items.
[Catherine] Special occasion dinner,
special occasion...
When you're making a special occasion dinner,
you splurge, you go for it.
You're not on a budget.
Okay. What do you got?
I'm definitely gonna do pork tenderloin
so that's five bucks.
Pork tenderloin always meant a special occasion
in my house growing up.
Potatoes are three dollars.
Luckily, I got an advantage, so I got three extra dollars.
For my mash potatoes, I grab the cream cheese
and heavy cream.
Garlic is three, lemons one.
Brussels sprouts...
- [Guy] You're at $22. - I think I'm good.
Can I... Can I start?
Guy, can I go?
Because I have to do homework, too.
[Guy] I wanna hear the answers.
Guy has seven whammies and gives away two
to Hunter and two to Ryder, how many whammies
-does Guy have left? -[Melissa] Three. Three whammies.
[Guy] Guy takes an onion and chops it into two pieces.
Then he cuts each of those pieces in two again.
How many total pieces of onion does Guy have?
Four pieces.
Hunter and Guy are driving though Flavortown
at 25 miles per hour.
How many hours will it take them
to get to Guy's ranch?
It's a hundred and fifty miles away.
- Six. - Congratulations, Melissa.
- [Melissa] Thank you. - Nice job.
Boom shaka laka.
So this is $10.
Tregaye, you ready?
As ready as I'll ever be.
I mean I'm good at budgeting.
I'm that mom that goes to four different stores
to get all my groceries.
So, I'm good. Penne for two dollars.
I know I'm gonna do something with pasta.
Alfredo, hands down, that's what we're doing.
Parmesan for three dollars and heavy cream for four dollars,
tomatoes for two dollars,
shrimp for seven, onions for a dollar.
- $19, chef. - You got one dollar left.
Can I open the garlic and take one out?
That's a dollar?
You can probably open that. You can...
That... One dollar.
I knew it. You don't give up. Uh-uh.
The price say three dollars,
you could go holler at the manager in the back.
One dollar for garlic.
[laughing]
- Go, Melissa. - All right, what you got?
Penne, two dollars.
Pasta is totally my special occasion indulgence
with my creamy onion sauce.
Inexpensive and it feels special.
Two dollars for my artichoke hearts.
I'm going without a protein.
I would rather have a wider variety
of less-expensive produce
that I can treat really well.
Parsley for one dollar.
You have seven dollars left.
Then it's parmesan and asparagus.
There you go, 20 bucks.
Thank you.
[Guy] They're off and cooking.
[dramatic music playing]
[Melissa] Ugh.
[Aarti] Five minutes in already.
And Melissa hasn't had a chance to start cooking.
All right. So we're going into the second round.
The mother's making her own dinner and she's on a budget.
[Antonia] This is like every Mother's Day
that I've ever celebrated.
It's like special occasion meal that the mom is cooking.
[laughter]
- Are you cooking? - Yeah.
You're at 23 minutes.
[Guy] So I got the pork tenderloin.
We love pork tenderloin in our house.
[Hunter] Yes, we do.
[Guy] Some pan-roasted potatoes.
Yeah, I'm doing special occasion like this
is right up the alley of what Gloria would like.
[Hunter] Last Mother's Day that we did, like,
what 10 courses for mom?
Yeah.
[Hunter] Mmm-hmm.
Let's do what we need to do.
Special occasion food could pretty much be anything,
but for me, it's something creamy,
it's something decadent.
So, my dish is gonna just be a super simple
shrimp Alfredo using Penne pasta.
So since my kids aren't eating it,
I can make it extra spicy.
[Aarti] Tregaye spent some money on some shrimp, guys.
I love that.
[Tregaye] If I'm gonna have something special,
it's definitely gonna be shrimp.
I love shrimp.
My sauce is the star of the show
and I'm gonna show you how you can make
an amazing one-pot dish with minimal ingredients.
I'm gonna throw in these beautiful heirloom tomatoes
and take it up a notch and make me feel
a little fancy, you know?
Throw a little red on there, pop a little
I put a little cracked black on there.
So, this is not gonna be like your average Alfredo
but it is still going to be Alfredo.
Where are we? Are we in Georgia, Italy?
They a blessing for me. There they go.
Once my tomatoes are bursting,
then I'm gonna add in the heavy cream.
And then I'm gonna add in the parmesan cheese.
Wow. Get in my tummy.
[Catherine] Okay. So special occasion for me
is always pork tenderloin.
It's what I grew up on.
It's like one of my all-time favorite meats.
Then I'm gonna do like a French puree
of potatoes and my kids have been crushing so hard,
I've been making fried Brussels sprouts.
All right. Get that pork going.
If someone actually cooked this for me,
I would be pumped.
So, here we go.
Potato, got to watch my pork so it doesn't burn.
Ah, gorgeous.
So I got a nice little crust going there.
And then I'm gonna put it in the oven.
I'm gonna take these Brussels sprouts,
pan-fry them.
Whoo.
Oh, my God, whenever I go to a high-end restaurant
that is like exactly what I want.
Ooh. Look at that.
Twenty minutes, guys.
Twenty minutes.
I am making pasta and some roasted asparagus.
I know I wanna roast my asparagus with thinly
sliced lemon because then we'll get a caramelized edge.
Here we go. Here we go.
In you go, guys.
We have to roast you up.
I'm gonna roast the tomatoes as well because
that's gonna give me these tangy little bulbs of joy.
[laughs]
I prep the artichoke hearts by rinsing them
and then I toss them with a little bit of flour
and some red chili flakes.
[Aarti] What do you guys think of the fact
that Melissa did not grab any animal protein?
[Troy] Meat already comes with a bonanza of flavor.
With vegetables, you really gotta work
to bring out that flavor.
[Antonia] Yeah, I agree.
[Melissa] Once those vegetables are in the oven,
I know I need to get some onion cooking.
Onions are a cheap source of flavor.
My plan is to caramelize them really slowly
so they get a little bit brown,
but really sweet.
It's gonna be caramelized onion butter sauce
and I'll use some of the pasta water as well.
You're on a budget, use your pasta water.
It's a free ingredient.
Oh, it's looking good.
Both ends of that pork tenderloin,
so these potatoes have got a nice little sear to him,
some great color.
What else you gonna do with this?
[Guy] I got the Brussels sprouts.
Probably take a little extra love.
[Hunter] A red wine vinegar.
Hmm.
[Troy] Excuse me, did you pay for those items, sir?
Can I see your receipt, please?
[Guy] I did pay for them, Troy.
- [Aarti laughs] - Hunter, frisk him.
[Tregaye] This is a shrimp Jacuzzi.
[Guy] Tregaye, tell me where you're at.
[Tregaye] I feel like I'm on the road to success.
- I love it. - [Tregaye] I'm about that life.
That's what I want.
I'm gonna go ahead and add my shrimp in there.
Come on, it smells amazing.
I just let them slowly cook in the sauce.
The pasta's already done.
All I have to do is toss that right on top.
This is giving me special occasion vibe.
This is giving me, "Hey, boo, how was your day?"
How are you?
Feeling good, looking good, feet hurt?
Got some pasta for you.
- "Mmm-hmm." - [Catherine] Okay.
We're gonna double down on our lemons.
Hmm.
[Guy] Catherine, give me a little update, sister.
Hi, Guy. So, I've got a pork tenderloin.
I'm gonna top it with a butter lemon sauce
and then I'm gonna do some French mashed potatoes.
[Guy] I like the way you're thinking.
[Catherine] Let's check the potatoes.
Whoo.
We're gonna do cream cheese and cream and just make them
butter thick, luscious.
It's a special occasion.
I shouldn't have to work this hard.
We're getting there. We're almost there.
This is hard work, but worth it.
Oh, my God, that's insane.
Let's get our good friend the pasta going.
[Guy] Eight minutes, eight minutes to go, chefs.
Let's do it.
The Brussels sprouts I'm gonna turn into a shaved
Brussels sprout salad.
My little baby food processor, it's super quick.
Once the Brussels sprouts are shaved down,
I add lemon juice and olive oil.
So I make my pasta sauce primarily out
of those caramelized onions and pasta water.
There you go.
I add a little bit of the tomatoes just
to get some tanginess and parmesan.
Whoo, whoo.
So, today is a Mother's Day show and I'm thinking
of my own mom because today I'm playing
for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
I lost my mom to suicide when I was 20
and I want to raise the volume on a conversation
that we have in whispers.
This is my hope shirt and it speaks to the hope
that we have that we can prevent suicide.
Oh, my gosh, that is so good.
Five minutes.
Yummy, yummy.
I get my pasta, I ladle it into a bowl
and I mean this is it.
This is beautiful.
One pot, one bowl of pasta.
Look at that cheesy, ooey-goodness, my goodness.
Wow.
I'm feeling special.
[Guy] Three and a half.
Three and a half? Yikes. All right.
Now I've got to get everything onto the plate.
So I mix the pasta with the roasted tomatoes
and the roasted artichoke hearts,
then I add in my sauce.
I get pasta onto the plate, the Brussels sprout salad,
and the asparagus with the roasted thin lemon.
Holy moly, my heart is racing.
I need to make a composed plate
and I put this perfectly caramelized Brussels sprouts
opposite my potatoes.
And I'm really feeling good.
- [Hunter] Oh, 30 seconds. - [Antonia] Right on time for lemon zest.
[Aarti] Put the pork on the plate.
All right.
[Aarti] You've got to cut your pork.
[Troy] Go, Cat, go. You've got to go now.
- [Aarti] Now, now, now. - I have it.
- Hurry up. - I have it.
- [Aarti] Wow. - [Antonia] It's gorgeous.
That is gorgeous.
- [Guy] All right, ten. - [Aarti] You need sauce.
[Troy] Oh, come on, Cat.
[Aarti] Sauce, sauce, sauce, sauce.
[Hunter] Five, four, three, two, one.
- All right. That's it. - Done.
- Wow. - Whoa.
[Aarti] Oh, my gosh, you're killing me.
- Whoa. - Oh.
Well, that was a little bit of a hustle.
That was like giving birth, guys.
- [laughs] - Don't see it in the future.
- It's gonna work, watch. - Okay.
It's rustic.
That looks delicious.
All right. There you go.
You have a pan-roasted potato with pork tenderloin
topped with an artichoke garlic, onion,
grape tomato blister,
and then a Brussels sprout that was pan-roasted,
garlic, onion and red wine vinegar.
That looks beautiful, Guy.
Can I have that?
[Guy] All right, chefs.
You may have cooked on a budget,
but your dinners look priceless.
Let's see what the judges have to say.
Priceless. Love it.
All right, judges, this is GGG delivery.
Mom Cooks Best. This was game two,
- the Budget Battle. - [Hunter] Oh, yeah.
[Guy] Oh, we sent you some fantastic ingredients.
Chefs had to make an... A special occasion dinner.
Up first, chef Tregaye.
So today, I made a simple spicy shrimp
Alfredo as my meal that is kind
of like a treat to me.
I added extra, extra crushed red pepper
because the kids aren't here and they can't complain.
- Okay. - [laughs]
Mmm. It's so creamy.
And then the shrimp.
This shrimp is cooked to perfection,
which is why I kinda add it in last, so...
[Troy] Tregaye, thank you for putting some spice
into the Alfredo.
Alfredo is kinda like elevator music and putting
spice in there is like lighting up
an electric guitar in the middle of the elevator.
[Antonia] Watching those tomatoes in the pan,
it's so important to toast cherry tomatoes
to bring out all of their natural sugar.
So, the execution that went into all of this pasta-making,
really smart.
[Aarti] You didn't have money for herbs.
So I love that you use an aggressive amount
of garlic, an aggressive amount
of chili flake because that cuts
through all of the cream.
I am concerned about the shrimp.
I saw when they went in and I saw how long
they sat in that sauce and it's making me wonder
whether they are rubbery or dry.
[laughs]
- This is juicy. - [Guy] All right, Tregaye.
Nicely done.
And chef Melissa down in San Diego,
let's hear what you made.
So when you're on a budget, you don't need
a fancy pasta sauce or a cream.
So I did caramelized onions, blended it with a little bit
of butter, a little parmesan and pasta water
and it's making a wonderful creamy,
deep flavorful sauce.
And I've got a little salad I made out of shaved
raw Brussels sprouts.
Really delicious, freshness, brightness,
and then, this little asparagus.
And this, to me, is the perfect meal.
So make this for me on Mother's Day.
[Aarti] Melissa, I learned a bunch
of tricks from you today.
One of them would be the caramelized onion pasta sauce.
I think that's so smart.
You get sweetness, you get umami,
you get texture.
[Troy] Melissa, I think you spent your money
really, really well.
I mean you gave us an entire Farmers Market
full of vegetables, but you treated them
all individually well.
[Antonia] I love shaved raw Brussels sprout salad.
It goes so well with that beautiful
Italian cheese and black pepper, so smart.
And the asparagus look beautiful and I love
that you did it with a little bit of lemon.
The ends don't look like they've maybe been
trimmed enough.
Yeah, you're right. Yeah.
[Guy] And Catherine McCord, last but not least.
[Catherine] All right.
Even though this is not part of my budget,
a little bit of mommy juice, all along with my special
occasion dinner was really necessary.
[laughs]
I made a pan-seared pork tenderloin.
I gave it a little bit of cayenne and paprika.
And then I put a brown butter sauce just to, like,
moisten it up even more and add
to the luxurious quality.
I've got the silky mashed potatoes where
with my budget item,
I used cream and I used cream cheese because that,
like, thickens it up.
It's like a secret weapon in mashed potatoes.
Then finally, I did the fried Brussels sprouts
with lemon zest, lemon juice doubling down.
Mmm-hmm.
The mashed potatoes are like silky creamy.
I worked them till my muscles hurt.
With the pork tenderloin giving me
a little bit of heat, a little bit of acid
from the lemon juice.
I want to eat this and drink this.
- [imitates glass clinks] - [laughs]
[Aarti] Catherine, your pork looks perfectly cooked,
a gorgeous little blush in the middle,
- so great job. - Thank you.
[Troy] And the potatoes worked.
They are fluffy little clouds, just silky.
[Antonia] Watching you brown those Brussels sprouts
in the cast iron on one side
and then finishing them with lemon,
there's been a ton of technique
that you've shown us today that I am like
wildly impressed with.
The only thing that I do wish is that there
was just more sauce on that pork tenderloin.
I know that time got away from you,
but I do think that the pork needs a little bit more sauce,
but really well done today.
- Oh. - All right.
Well, thank you very much, moms.
The time has come for the judges to score your dinners.
Whoever wins the highest combined score of both rounds,
well, they'll get a shot at some serious mom money.
So please leave the feed once more while
the judges make their final decisions.
Good luck.
Well, we knew you were amazing moms, but today,
we see amazing things that you can do
in a home kitchen.
So, let's get into these scores.
Melissa at 39, Tregaye at 41, Catherine at 42.
Let's start off with Melissa,
13, 13, 7, 8,
for a score of 80.
You get 100 with his penmanship.
- [Hunter] Very neat. - [cheers]
Tregaye at 41 needs a 39 or better
to move past Melissa,
14, 12, 8, and 8 for a 42 for an 83.
Catherine has to score 41 or better.
14, 12, 9, 8, 43.
- [Hunter] Very nice. - [Guy] 85 points.
[Guy] Mom Cooks Best Champ,
give it up for Catherine McCord.
Oh, and the kids show up.
I love it. Kids know, they can smell money.
- [laughs] - [Guy] All right, Catherine.
Talking about money, you ready?
- I'm ready. - [Guy] Twenty thousand bucks on the line.
All right, kids,
tell me what you think we should do.
Your mom has a chance to win up to $20,000.
Or she could end up with zero.
Oh, no, I don't...
Or she could land on the "Quiz"
with five questions each worth $4,000.
So, what do you think she should do?
I'm gonna offer her $7,500 right now.
No, spin.
[Guy] Seven-five hundred bucks, we won't spin,
we'll say goodnight, happy Mother's Day.
Spin the wheel.
If we spin and it hits zero,
then I get zero.
Zero dollars.
- I don't know. - Ten thousand.
- Oh. - Ten thousand, boom.
- Take the title. - Live on the edge.
[Catherine] I think we should take the $10,000
because I don't wanna lose it all.
Go for the 10K or we can spin.
We're not spinning the wheel.
We're gonna keep the $10,000. Thank you so much, Guy.
Ten thousand sold to the McCord family.
- Congratulations. - [Hunter] Congratulations.
[Guy] Nicely done. That's it.
GGG Delivery.
Congratulations, Catherine McCord and family.
And to all the moms out there, you know we love you.
We wouldn't be here without you.
You are the best. See you guys next week, adios.