Hunter, everybody loves a big party.
Absolutely. Good times and good friends.
And good food, that's the key.
[Cayla] Oh, yeah, those look good.
[Guy] So, tonight, we're bringing back
three non-professional food fanatics
with a Triple G win under their belt to see
who is the host with the most.
That's just how it works around this joint.
They all wanna be the house
that everyone comes to for all the big events.
You've gotta have a big fat burger, right?
They'll have to prepare the perfect plate for not one,
but two different parties
while playing our evil party games.
Oh, my God.
Any of this on sale?
Honey, this is Flavortown.
What you see is what you get.
Pow! Pow!
You're in my head, Rocco. You're in my head.
We're not messing around tonight.
You're invited to the big event.
It's right now on Guy's Grocery Games.
Cheers, Hunter.
All right, Hunter,
let's meet our returning food fanatics.
Now, first up, we have Nick Farrer,
the former Minor League pitcher,
who threw the competition a curveball
in our Anti-Resolution Games.
This food fanatic won in Flavortown
and I'm back.
So, with my win,
my pork banh mi on the Anti-Resolution episode,
I'm ready to pitch my way to another victory.
[Guy] Big hitter, big hitter.
I am a food fanatic.
I have wood-burning pizza oven,
a teppanyaki table,
two different smokers
and I have a gigantic Santa Maria crank grill.
If that does not say food fanatic,
I have no idea what does.
- Yeah. - Go get him, VP.
Next, we have Emerson Bartolome,
San Diego surfer
who wiped out his fellow global food fanatics
with his terrific take on Filipino comfort food.
- That's a mouthful. - It is a mouthful.
- I mean, what he made was. - [Hunter] Yeah, I know.
Adobo is like the knocking on heaven's door Filipino cuisine.
- That is phenomenal. - Thank you.
So, growing up when I was younger,
I was given the nickname Big Thunder.
I bring big flavor to every party
that I host.
I'm just a regular guy,
an IT manager, and I would never have thought
in my wildest dreams that I'd ever cook
on Guy's Grocery Games.
But I'm here
and I'm doing it big.
-Go get him up, buddy. Go get him. -What up? What up?
And finally, Hunter, there's Cayla Atha,
the food blogger and fitness instructor
whose sinful sandwiches won her $10,000.
You know what that is?
- A lot of bread. - A lot of bread.
I may like to cook healthy food,
but don't get it twisted.
My sandwiches were sinful enough
to win me $10,000.
Give it up for Chef Cayla.
[all cheering]
Rock star, a full-blown rock star.
[Cayla] Hosting makes me explode with happiness,
so if I'm cooking happy,
you better watch out.
- What's up? - What's up? Go get 'em.
They're gonna get it today.
So glad to have you.
This is a big deal.
Now, you may not cook for a living,
but you clearly live for the joy of cooking.
Oh, yeah.
[Hunter] But seeing as how you're all
the $10,000 Triple G winners,
the competition just got harder.
Tonight, we have two tough challenges
that will put your both your culinary cred
and your hosting skills to the ultimate test.
[Guy] The person with the lowest score
at the end of the first round,
you're leaving the party early,
but the chef with the highest combined score
at the end of both rounds
will get the title of what, Hunter?
The Host with the Most.
- The Host with the Most. - The Host with the Most.
And a chance to shop Flavortown Market
for up to $20,000.
- Oh! - Yes!
[Guy] Since you often just cook for fun,
I bet you really like hosting parties
and sharing delicious dishes with friends and family
- and hanging out, correct? - Yes, sir.
Okay, I mean, is there any particular event?
- Super Bowl. - Super Bowl. Come on.
Big Game Day is one of my all-time favorites.
So, let's get the party started.
Party started. I want you to make...
We were talking about it. You just said Big Game Day.
Let's do that, let's go with
a Game Day Party Challenge.
- Nice. - [Guy] It's real key here.
Show off your hosting skills
by preparing a plate
of Game Day Bites.
It is gonna score big with the judges.
[Hunter] But here's the important lesson,
when I was in college
is to be a good host,
you have to know how to throw a party
without breaking your budget
'cause college kids don't have a lot of money, right?
I'm sorry, we're breaking your allowance
- that your parents give you. - Shh, don't tell them that.
This is actually what your competition's gonna be.
You got yourself into a Budget Battle.
Okay, I'm gonna give you all the money
that I have in my pocket.
All right, so let's do this.
Let's give you 25,
- Ooh. - Twenty-five,
[Cayla] Thank you.
Twenty-five, everybody gets 25.
You have 30 minutes to shop,
purchase, prepare and plate your Game Day Bites.
Now, be sure to pay for your items
at the register where our cashier, Wendy,
will be checking you out.
[Guy] The one thing I want you to remember,
if you have money left,
you can go get something and come back and start shopping for it.
You have $3, $2 left,
I mean, save it to the last $1 you have
because you... you go home with money in your pocket
and those judges will eat you alive about that.
Okay? Just remember that.
[Hunter] 'Cause you can get like, what? You probably get
- a lime for 13 cents, right? - Right, exactly.
- [Hunter] Maybe less. - And you guys think
that you've outsmarted me in the game.
- No. - And you think, 'cause I watch you,
'cause you guys have been pretty quick on it.
When you all competed, you were really smart.
- On the three, two, one... - You guys were on it, you had watched so many.
but it's been rolling for a while now.
Oh, my God!
[Cayla laughing]
This is the finale, folks.
We're not messing around today.
It's game day, baby. I'm pumped, let's go.
All right, let's see.
By budget stinks,
I wanna get what I want to get.
I wanna cook what I wanna cook.
I don't want someone to hand me a couple bucks
and say, "Have a party."
So, that's six bucks.
Let's start with that.
[Nick] So, for my Game Day Bites,
I'm thinking I gotta do like a slider,
really kicked up burger.
Because when you're from Chicago,
putting a fat piece of beef between two buns,
that's called Game Day,
I'm gonna spice this burger up.
So, I grew up in South Chicago,
but when I was 18, I moved to Arizona.
So I'm thinking, I wanna make this burger
like a little southwestern style.
So, I'm gonna make a pico de avocado.
One of these limes.
Think of pico de avocado as
the best pico de gallo...
Roma tomato.
but add avocado.
Avocados.
There's no holds barred, baby.
These, this is what I get at home.
This is what I get at home
Wait, 3.99,
2.69 that'll work.
[Nick] I wanna start doing the math in my head.
[Nick] The cilantro,
two jalapenos, so that's two.
[Nick] So, my strategy for Budget Battle
is to spend as much money as I possibly can,
so I could put as much flavor
on that plate as humanly possible.
All right, is any of this on sale?
Honey, this is Flavortown.
-It's what you see is what you get, -All right. I got it.
Cilantro.
- Nothing left in your basket? - No.
Within 72 cents, I think I nailed it.
Twenty-five dollars,
I would, I would spend that in the first aisle.
What would you do, Aarti?
Oh, my gosh, $25 is not that much money.
- It goes faster. - Yeah.
Tortilla chips, tortilla chips, tortilla chips.
[Emerson] Budget for Game Day, who does that?
But I'm gonna show them what Game Day is all about.
3.99.
Living in San Diego,
I'm a big football and baseball fan.
And during game days, I love hosting parties.
I'm making shrimp ceviche,
is a staple, and it's on the cheaper side.
Bouillon cubes, bouillon cubes.
[Emerson] Making a dish under $25
is so difficult for me
because I never really think about the price
when I go grocery shopping,
Today, I'm gonna have to pay attention to prices
and make sure I get it done.
[Emerson sighs]
Got my game face on.
- Can I put in my basket now? - [Wendy] No.
$16.91.
[Emerson] I have $8.09 left over.
Plenty to come back with.
Now you can put it in your basket.
Okay.
Tortillas, tortillas.
[Cayla] I'm a little overwhelmed
being in this big, beautiful store...
No, not that aisle.
[Cayla] ...and only having $25 to spend.
Do I have to do math while I'm shopping?
Cheap milk.
When people hear Game Day Bites,
you automatically think
rich, cheesy, greasy.
Right away, I'm thinking Tex-Mex nachos.
Where's that beef and bacon?
Okay, got to go to produce.
[Cayla] I'm always trying to find ways
to just lighten some recipes up.
Every good nacho needs a great cheese sauce
and my version, we're going vegan.
Get it, cheap onion.
[Cayla] You can make vegan cheese
with some very inexpensive ingredients.
Nutritional yeast.
But the nutritional yeast is the secret weapon.
It tastes so cheesy without any dairy.
Nutritional yeast.
Ooh, there you're hiding, okay.
[Cayla] My strategy is to just recognize the price,
hope that it works out at the end
and say a little prayer as I'm checking out.
- [Wendy] $24.16. - [Cayla] Oh, carrot.
[chuckles]
- $24.42. - A shallot maybe.
I've never seen it go like this.
- $24.77. - Yes!
- That is down to the wire. - Wow.
[Cayla] All right, thank you.
Oh boy!
And here to critique our party dishes
are people who have hosted
a party or two, the judges.
We have Pacific Coast restaurateur
who's been known to make an offal good dinner party,
-the one and only, Chef Chris Cosentino, -[Aarti] Whoo!
Spice guru and cookbook author
who knows how to throw a fabulous Aarti party,
the one and only, Chef Aarti Sequeira.
Legendary chef, James Beard award-winning author
who's hosted a lot of cook signing parties
and a few others, we can't talk about
the Rocco Dispirito.
Okay, you think about parties,
I've never thrown a party.
- I've never been to one or two. - No.
I don't even know how to spell it.
- I think it's with an I-E? - [Aarti laughing]
Favorite thing on a party menu.
I'm a queso fundido guy when it comes to sports.
Aarti, Party?
- I love chicken wings. - [Guy] Good.
And, Rocco, your high end parties on Fifth Avenue,
is it mostly just caviar, beluga and--
[Rocco] I like fried things for a party.
Those kinds of things that are easy to eat.
Nachos, ceviche and burgers coming at you.
- We'll see. - [Rocco] Nice.
[Guy] Twenty-four minutes.
All right.
[Nick] I'm making a southwestern style slider
with the little fresh guacamole
- and some pico de gallo. - That's the bite?
Yeah, it's gonna be like a smaller slider type.
-Okay, -Got to do an ode to, uh,
to the southwest here.
[Nick] First thing, I get started with
is roasting these poblano peppers.
If there was ever a spokesman for poblanos in the country,
sign me up.
I'm in.
I get these loaded up with some spice.
Next, I gotta work on my sliders
'cause if I'm gonna say
this is a southwestern style burger,
I can't just have salt and pepper in the meat.
I gotta give it something.
I grab a can of chipotle peppers.
Here we go.
I love smoky flavor.
And when I think of burgers and game day,
something has got to come off the grill.
[Aarti] Nick has chosen to make
meat the star of his game day bite
[Rocco] Be careful about the size here
'cause Guy did emphasize the word bite.
That's game plate.
So, he makes a big hamburger,
he's gonna be in trouble.
Having you guys next to me is a blessing and a curse.
Nick, make it small, make it a bite.
[Nick] They can't be too small 'cause I want them
to actually have something of sustenance.
Make it small, buddy.
You're in my head, Rocco. You're in my head.
I already won once.
But anyone can do anything once.
Can I actually do it again?
[Guy] Twenty minutes.
[Aarti] This is not just about making a game day bite,
it's also about showing us
how you can stretch your dollar.
And Nick is showing us that he can really
- get a lot for his money. - Okay.
I would like to see the receipt
for all of the goods that Nick got for $25.
- Hey, Nick. - [Nick] Yes, sir.
Dump your pockets out, let's see the change.
- Seventy cents. - You got 70 cents?
- Okay-- - Okay, so you didn't go over
- the 25 bucks, you didn't? - No.
- There wasn't an extra five in your pockets? - That's impressive.
No, Guy might have slipped me a little couple bucks,
you know what I'm saying?
No, he didn't slip me anything.
[Nick] Southwestern style burger, baby.
I got my sliders grilling.
They are looking good.
Oh, man. So, when everyone comes over
for the game day,
you got to have a big fat burger, right?
The Bears are on TV.
We're from Chicago.
You gotta have something fat
and flavor put in front of you
when you come over for the game, right?
I mean, that's just how it works
around this joint, for sure.
[Emerson] Shrimp ceviche.
Limes are right over here, tomato,
serrano chili.
I still have some money left over
and I think, I have everything I needed.
Let's get this going.
[Emerson] And I do a quick poach in the boiling water.
Chopping up the shrimp right now
to a little bite size pieces.
Next, I get my shrimp into a bowl
with diced up cucumber and tomatoes.
And for some heat, I wanna add
these diced serrano peppers.
The longer this sits, the better.
All that acid's gonna cook that shrimp a little bit more.
[Emerson] I had the chicken bouillon as a replacement
for the salt to add a deeper, rich, flavorful.
Old trick I learned
from one of my buddies growing up.
Baja style shrimp ceviche.
- That's a game day thing? - Yeah.
Stuff that we serve in parties.
- It is a big hit. - In San Diego, okay.
This is good.
[Cayla] We're making a stacked nacho,
with some vegan cheese.
[Cayla] So, right away, I get my veggies
boiling in water to start to tenderize them
for my vegan cheese.
Soaking here.
That's gonna soften the cashews for our sauce.
I promise it's good. You'll be surprised.
[Cayla] I get my ground beef and bacon.
The meat is already flavored so beautifully,
with the bacon integrated.
- Why are we going vegan cheese? - Love it.
You know, keeping it a little savvy.
- You know, you gotta just lighten it up. - Okay, so you have
- nutritional yeast... - Yeah.
- which is one of my favorite things ever. - Oh.
- Cashews. - Cashews, yes.
- Okay. - And then I'm gonna blend it all up.
- Great. Great. - Make that smooth sauce.
Cheese is the most important ingredient
to a good nacho.
So, I'm hoping it pays off.
We start with the nutritional yeast
that really adds that cheesy flavor
and then, I'm boiling some vegetables
to add the color and then we'll season it.
[Aarti] This is the hard thing.
You absolutely should be making what you know.
I am concerned though,
that Cayla's vegan cheese
is going up against real cheese
here in Nick's station,
I don't think it's gonna stand a chance.
[Chris] I'm really concerned that the nutritional yeast flakes
are not going to give it that... that mouthfeel.
[Cayla] I overhear the judges having doubts about it,
which is fair if you've never tried it.
But I promise,
this packs some flavor.
I think it's great.
Hopefully they love it.
[Guy] Fifteen minutes, we're at the halfway point, guys.
I mean, I think I did that pretty good
'cause I was really anticipating
cutting myself with that.
[Nick] So, for my pico de avocado,
I got avocado, I got onion,
I got cilantro, I got tomato,
I got lime juice.
Gotta give this acid.
One of my best friends in the world,
at his Mexican restaurant,
serves pico de avocado.
[Nick] A little more
avocado in there.
[Nick] I'm paying homage to my good buddy, Tim.
I made pico de avocado, buddy.
Mmm, I wanna eat it.
I have $8 left.
And I'm gonna use the rest
to make a chipotle crema sauce.
[Emerson] I'm gonna go back in the store
and get the ingredients for my crema sauce.
I grab the sour cream and the smoked paprika,
and I'm gonna go check out.
[Emerson] I'll just go and try this.
And that's $7.47.
- [Emerson] Here you go. - Eight dollars, you know,
you need a lemon or something.
Just in case.
[Emerson] Baja shrimp ceviche is not traditionally served,
with a crema sauce, but it's something that I like
that adds a bit of creaminess
and it tones down the sourness
from the lime juice in ceviche.
A little more smokiness to this.
- How we looking, chef? - We're looking good.
- What is the pink? - [Emerson] Due to the budget,
I couldn't get the smoked,
uh, chipotle, so I did this smoked paprika.
Got it, got it. Got it, got it.
[Guy] Ten minute, chefs.
[Emerson] I'm not concerned about the clock,
I'm more concerned of the flavor
that I have within my dish.
Because I need to make this perfect.
Everything is on the line here.
It's either go home or win big.
I have two little girls.
They are my inspiration for cooking.
I already won $10,000
to put towards their education
and I hope to win 20,000 more.
Perfect.
Loaded nachos, I know a couple of things about that.
In Texas, we love getting together over football,
and nachos are just quintessential Tex-Mex.
She got the right tortillas.
The ones that are super fresh
are really hard to make crunchy tortilla chips out of.
[Cayla] It's a little intimidating making
my version of nachos next to Guy.
-Okay. Yeah, really watch your chips. -Okay.
[Cayla] The chips have to be crispy,
crunchy and sturdy
to withhold all of the toppings.
We're good.
[Guy] Five minutes, five minutes to go.
No.
[Cayla] The last thing I need to work on is my avocado mash.
Let's spice it up.
It's just gonna be a little mash for that
freshness on top.
[Cayla] This is the final food fanatic competition.
And today, I'm playing for the North Texas Food Bank,
which is a part of No Kid Hungry.
A huge initiative to help
bridge the gap of food insecurity
with children in America.
Okay.
Because nothing makes me happier
than feeling like I'm giving myself to others.
[Cayla] I've got my chips here.
Ooh, they're looking good.
[Guy] Two minutes, come on, two minutes to plate.
[Nick] I have to start assembling my Game Day Bite.
First, I'm giving a nice slather of my sauce on the top bun.
Now, I've got some diced poblano pepper pieces.
Some of my classic southwest pico de avocado.
I'm very worried about the burger to bun ratio,
but I'm really excited as I'm plating
because my mouth is watering.
I wanna eat this. I should have made more of it.
[Emerson] So, I scoop my ceviche into the bowl
and I get a dollop of my smoked paprika next to it.
You can't forget the tortilla chips.
[Guy] Twenty seconds.
[Cayla] Once the chips are fried, I start with my chips.
Then over top of my chips
goes by ground beef and bacon.
I make sure that my vegan cheese sauce
is as good as it can be.
Good.
Then onto the beef and bacon it goes.
Last but not least, bit of my avocado mash.
Five, four,
three, two,
one.
Chefs, that's it. Stop working.
- Whoo! - What a round.
What a round.
They look good. I would eat it.
Chefs, I gotta tell you,
these Game Day Bites,
they deserve an end zone dance.
Let's take it to the judges, right this way.
All right, judges, here we are.
This is Host with Most
game one, asked our food fanatics to create
a perfect Game Day Bite using
a whopping $25 each.
Up first, Chef Nick, what'd you make us?
So, judges, what you have in front of you
is a chipotle cheeseburger
with the little pico de avocado,
roasted poblanos
and a crema Mexicana chipotle dressing.
Enjoy.
Nick.
I still need to see the receipt
'cause this is like, to me, a $50 slider.
- Thank you. Thank you. - I don't know how you did it.
One of the smartest things you did was that
you've got these raw ingredients
and you made condiments
to go on this burger.
- That's why it's so exciting. - Thank you. Thank you.
Flavor from the southwest, Mexico,
southern California,
all that stuff really works well for me.
Layering of the different flavor of chilies
is exactly that bite that I want, that explosion of flavor.
You have nice acid,
in your avocado de gallo?
- Pico de avocado. - Pico de avocado.
Excuse me, it's a new term.
I'm not quite used to it yet.
Um, I have to say that
the bun to burger ratio is off.
Uh, I would have cut the bun down.
- Yeah. - To keep the actual burger size small.
Got it. Got it.
All right, up next, Chef Emerson,
what do you have for us?
For today's Game Day Bite, I cooked up
a Baja style shrimp ceviche.
What you're having there is shrimp
that I poached just to cook it
just a little bit for you guys.
A little secret in there.
I put a piece of bouillon in there
to give it some of the saltiness
and some flavor to the ceviche.
- Oh. - There is also
a sliced up serrano chili
to give it a little bit of a kick,
also with a side of smoked paprika crema sauce.
You made my favorite dish ceviche, raw fish I... I
I love it, I eat it all the time
and always struggle
to serve it at parties. You've made it work well.
I like that you added this mayo crema,
I've never seen it before, but I like it a lot.
- I think it's very inventive, very creative. - Thank you.
I think it was risky to spend that much money on shrimp,
but you treated it really well.
I loved the poach that you got on it.
I think it's very pretty plating,
but the tortilla chips themselves are still really dry.
I wish you'd refried those chips.
I think, your bite needs more bite.
Just needs to be a bigger
flavor,
kind of ka-pow in your mouth.
- And then I think-- - How is that?
A ka-pow in your mouth.
- How is it, Hunter, how'd he do it? - Pah!
- Pow! - Pow, pow!
- You say pow? - Ka-pow!
Ka-pow.
She's an old Batman fan.
- It's, you know... - I get that.
It's very good. It just needs
- more lime and more salt. - Thank you.
[Guy] Not to be outdone, though,
Chef Cayla, what'd you make us?
Hi, chefs. For my Game Day Bite,
I prepared for you
loaded beef and bacon nachos,
topped with a vegan cheese
and an avocado mash.
I had $25 to spend, so
I put everything I could into this dish.
[Chris] I'm actually gonna have to eat my words
from a few moments ago.
- Um... - [Guy laughs]
Hang on. Can I?
Go right ahead, chef. I'm not recording this.
So, Cayla, I'm gonna have to eat my words on this.
Um, I am a staunch believer in the old-school way
of cheese is cheese,
meat is meat.
But I'm extremely impressed
with the mouthfeel and the texture
- of your vegan cheese. - Awesome.
[Chris] It really just caught me off guard.
- Really, really impressed. - Thank you so much.
[Aarti] Your meat
component of your nachos are seasoned gorgeously,
cooked beautifully
They're still sort of tender.
Did a great job there.
[Chris] I would have loved to have it
all tossed together in a bowl,
little more incorporated like the totopos,
where the cheese and the meat
are all adhered to them,
instead of being separate components
that you had to then find to get on that bite.
Okay.
Now, as the guy who's been advocating
for healthy food and in competition on TV
for almost ten years now,
I understand your dilemma.
You're struggling with being true to yourself,
but still trying to win this game.
You split the difference. You gave me real beef,
real corn chips, real tortillas
and then you made the most delicious vegan cheese I've ever tried.
I'm gonna need the recipe immediately.
- And good job. - Wow. Thank you. Thank you.
Wow.
[Hunter] All right. Thank you, judges. Thank you, chefs.
I'm gonna ask you all to leave now and go back to the kitchen
so that judges can deliberate
and will score up your dishes.
[Guy] Thank you very much. Good job.
- [Hunter] Awesome. - [Guy] All right.
Judges, I'll tell you what.
And you got to be honest with me.
How do you think they did, they're home cooks?
I couldn't tell the difference.
- Honestly, they seem like... - Right?
- trained professionals. - [Aarti] Yeah.
They weren't fazed by your budget.
They weren't fazed by you guys.
Like, it's a lot to come in here on the set
with all the cameras and stuff,
but also to have you guys in their kitchen,
it's a real psychological number,
- and they've done it so well. - I agree.
All right, let's score 'em up.
Twenty points of game play available,
20 points of taste available,
ten points of plating available.
Well, chefs,
it has been a pleasure.
We're scoring you like pros.
I think, everybody made a winnable dish,
but just like in any major sporting event,
not everybody's a winner.
Let's take a look at the scores.
Nick, game play, 16 out of 20,
17 out of 20 in taste,
eight out of ten in plating for a total of 41.
Nicely done.
Emerson,
16 in game play,
15 in taste,
seven in plating, total of 38.
All right, Cayla, you got to beat a 38
or you're the one taking off.
Eighteen in game play,
17 in taste
and seven in plating for a score of 42.
- [Guy] Congratulations. - Good job.
Good job, guys.
Emerson, my brother, my surfer.
I'll tell you something, did it your way.
I think, your bouillon cube move was genius.
I doubt this is the last time we'll see you,
but it was great having you, Emerson.
-Thank you. -[Emerson] Thank you so much. Thank you.
[Nick] Great job. Good luck.
I'm still in awe and speechless that I was able to cook in Flavortown.
I'm just a regular guy from San Diego,
so I hope others get inspired to cook
and share the love and passion that they have with their food
just as I do.
Well, Hunter, you know what you got here.
The Texas Fitness Foodie versus
the Baller Arizona Ballplayer.
That is right, and this round's gonna determine
who's gonna shop Flavortown
for up to another $20,000.
[Hunter] That's epic.
[Guy] Cayla, you're in the lead, 42 points.
Nick, trailing behind by a whopping one point.
No more bites or finger food.
I want you to make the judges,
an off the chart,
lights out delicious...
- party plate. - [Hunter] Party plate.
Okay, we're talking cohesive plate of food
custom-made for that big occasion.
- Yes, sir. - That sounds bomb, actually.
- I want some. - All right, what else is new?
The question is, what big event are you gonna cook for?
We're going to play a brand new game called
Triple G Invitation.
Hunter has some invitations to a big party
- that he'd like to present to you, Hunter. - I do, yes.
- I got three parties that we can actually go to. - Okay.
So, we have the choices of
Fourth of July event family reunion,
and an anniversary.
Cayla, 'cause you are in the lead,
- you get to pick one of the three. - [Cayla] Got it.
- [Hunter] There's three here. - [Guy] There you go.
Question is,
what do you think you got?
[Cayla] I am invited to
a dinner party
for Fourth of July.
- [Guy] Fourth of July dinner party. - Love it.
Now, the great news is,
both of you are gonna be cooking for this party.
- Cool. - [Guy] Okay.
-I love it. My birthday is in July. -Fourth of July is your game?
- So, feels right. - [Guy] Texas, it must be big?
- Yeah, we love it. - [Guy] Okay.
Thirty minutes to make a Party Plate
for this Fourth of July party.
And one of the things what I think,
I'm a huge patriot so is Hunter,
so red, white and blue is a big part of our family.
I just want to remind you,
when you go shopping for your ingredients,
for your party platter,
you just remember you have to get something red,
something white
and something blue
and they must be incorporated into your dish.
Those three things
have to be in there.
Okay? The two of you,
you go and you get one of those things missing...
I had to be nice for the last one.
- Come on. - What is something blue?
Blue.
All right. So, red, white and blue.
We got a Triple G invitation to the Fourth of July.
Where's a good bun at?
And I am pumped.
I need a good bun. There we go.
Fourth of July party at the farm family fun house is
burgers, it's broths, it's sausage,
putting something on the grill,
[Nick] He's letting me take whatever I want.
So, I know I want to do
a grilled Italian sausage sandwich.
What is something blue?
[Nick] But I have to incorporate something red,
something white and something blue.
I have no idea what something blue is.
What is blue?
I'm grabbing blue cheese
because I don't know if anything else
that has something blue in it.
I see that it has some blue
and that's what I'm going with.
Red, white and blue.
And I see this corn.
Fresh corn.
And I'm thinking of myself,
"Dude, make some grilled corn elote."
I grew up on it. I love it.
Is it white?
For my white, I got a white onion,
and for my red, I got a red bell pepper.
A grilled sausage sandwich
with peppers and onions,
the perfect combination.
Here we go. I want this.
Nothing is better
than having a nice pasta salad
with a hearty sausage.
Okay.
So, going into round two, I feel pretty good.
I don't like that point that I'm behind with Cayla,
but I'm pretty confident.
I don't know what they'll use for blue.
- I mean-- - Pasta, mac and cheese.
- For blue? - Yeah.
Oh, yes, the color of the box, yeah, I'm just...
- I'm trying to think of like... - Something blue.
something be on the color of blue.
Yeah, but I don't know besides blueberries
- and blackberries. - Yeah, that's all I know.
Okay. Um...
This is the final round
[Cayla] and there's no room for mistakes,
we've gotta grab something red, white and blue.
Thanks, Guy.
Okay, okay, okay.
[Cayla] To me, July 4th,
I'm right away taken to a backyard party.
Now, I'm thinking fried chicken.
But also tons of fresh flavors.
Where are my cherry tomatoes?
So, I'm gonna make a tomato, strawberry
caprese salad,
and they'll be my red component as well.
I have fresh mozzarella in my caprese salad.
That's my something white.
Blue, blue.
I'm not seeing any blue
in Flavortown. I'm feeling the pressure.
What am I going to do that's blue?
My dish needs a pasta
and thankfully
the pasta box that I grabbed was blue.
Guy said I was good to go.
I always think of pasta salads
in relation to grilling.
Remember, this is my Fourth of July party.
This is legit.
But I hope that the judges
don't taste a side dish of stress.
[Guy] Twenty-five minutes.
[Aarti] This is a big challenge
for this final round.
- It's got to feel big. - [Chris] Yes.
You've got to be really smart with it.
- And-- - There's blue in this cheese.
And just 'cause the color is there,
doesn't mean the flavor is there.
[Guy] Twenty-four minutes.
[Aarti] This is the final round
of these food fanatics,
there's $20,000 on the line.
When I think Fourth of July, I think
food being cooked over fire.
Everybody outside, everybody around the grill,
- everybody with opinions about the grill. - Oh.
[Chris] Look, there we go.
Nick has sausage here right in front of us.
[Nick] Do a spicy,
nice party Chicago style sausage sandwich.
Do you have a red, white and blue ingredient?
- Yes, I got blue cheese... - [Guy] Blue, red, white.
- And I got white a onion. - There you go.
[Nick] Key to making
a great grilled Italian sausage sandwich is
gotta have a good sauteed
pepper and onion mixture
that has great seasoning.
[Chris] Sausage and peppers,
that's kind of a win in my mind.
Look at nick with the little saute-toss over there.
[Nick] While my peppers and onions are cooking,
I start grilling my sausage.
There we go.
So, I went for a hot Italian sausage
because I wanted to make sure
that I had just a little bit of zing
in that sausage for the judges.
I'm gonna put a little Arizona twist
on it with roasted peppers.
[Rocco] He's back to the chili again.
It's kind of his, that's his safe place.
Well, I love me a sausage sandwich.
[Nick] So, whenever you're a host
and you're in the backyard,
I gotta get the grill fired up.
But usually I'm making
a Fourth of July platter in ten hours,
hanging out with my friends, drinking beer.
I've never done this in 30 minutes.
[Nick] Get your mind right, son.
I've got lots of red,
and Guy said this was blue, so I'm going with it.
And white mozzarella.
What is on the menu?
[Cayla] Lightly fried chicken, avocado,
pistachio pesto, pasta.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Cayla] And a little strawberry,
tomato caprese salad.
Okey-dokey.
[Cayla] I seasoned my bone-in chicken thighs
with salt and pepper.
And then I debone a few of the pieces.
[Guy] That was a smart move she did
with taking the bone out of 'em.
- I mean-- - Yeah, cook faster.
Yeah.
[Cayla] Into the flour dredge they go.
Then I dropped the chicken thighs into the oil
to get them crispy.
This deliciously rich fried chicken
needs something lighter to balance.
So, I'm gonna make a strawberry
tomato caprese salad
with tons of vinegar and fresh flavors.
I'm trying to keep out of my head
that this is the final round,
and there's no room for mistakes.
[Cayla] That's right in.
[Cayla] You've gotta do your very best to stay present
and focus on the game
so that I can help out the North Texas Food Bank
and No Kid Hungry
because I think they do an incredible job
trying to close the food insecurity gap
that is within our North Texas community.
What's a better win than that?
[Guy] Fifteen minutes, we're at the halfway point, guys.
Work with purpose.
[Aarti] I do love the way that Nick is cooking,
'cause this to me is Fourth of July.
Everything practically
is on that grill.
Sausage, peppers, corn.
[Nick] Oh, yeah, make some elotes.
So, elote is a grilled corn,
it's rolled in a very creamy sauce.
I'm gonna mix that crema,
some of that chipotle,
add some chunks of this blue cheese.
Okay.
So, I know that I have to coat this corn
really heavy, because on the Fourth of July,
you gotta be messy.
Let's go here.
The last thing that I need to make
is my pasta salad.
These poblanos look absolutely perfect
when I pulled them off the grill.
So, I'm tossing my pasta
with a little bit of olive oil,
I got cilantro and all my grilled poblano.
The last time I was here, I was playing for No Kid Hungry.
Today, I wanna do the same exact thing.
It's just something that's very endearing to me,
it's very warm to the heart.
And the fact that we have hungry people
and hungry kids in this country,
it's just flat out unacceptable.
Ten minutes, chefs, ten to go.
[Cayla] How are they looking?
- [Guy] They're looking great. - [Cayla] Thanks.
[Cayla] The next thing I've got to start working on
is my pesto pasta.
The pasta is one of our favorite recipes.
I love using the avocado.
One thing that I really love about the way Cayla is cooking
is it is so seasonal.
She's got basil, pistachios
coming together for a pesto.
I mean, it is summertime cooking,
for sure.
[Cayla] Once my pesto is ready,
I get it into a bowl and fold in my pasta.
I'm topping my pasta with more parmesan cheese.
Oh, yes!
Pesto brightens any dish.
It's the perfect sauce.
Oh, yeah, it does look good.
- [Guy] Wanna see a cool trick on avocados? - [Cayla] Hmm.
Like this, as opposed to in it with the knife.
TikTok University, baby.
Three minutes.
Ready, chef, let's go, let's get it on the plate.
[Nick] I'm plating this Fourth of July party platter
in a to-go box
because the story that I wanna tell is,
"Let's cook this food at home,
let's box it up, let's head to the lake
and spend the day for Fourth of July."
First thing that I'm putting in
is my pasta salad.
Next, I got my elote coated in that sauce,
and I put that in.
Now, I got to start building my sausage sandwich,
so I got a nice crusty bun.
I enter the sausage,
I enter the peppers and onions,
and I hit it with a little bit of spicy brown mustard.
I'm looking at this plate and this to-go box,
and I'm thinking to myself,
"Pack up the kids, we're having a party."
[Guy] One minute.
[Hunter] No pressure.
[Cayla] Once the chicken looks golden brown,
I toss them to coat
and get that great barbecue flavor
over every crispy bite.
Oh, yeah, those look good.
[Cayla] First to get plating, I throw down my pesto pasta.
Then I add my barbecue chicken thighs.
I throw on my strawberry caprese salad.
I'm looking down, I'm seeing bright colors,
barbecue sauce,
I think I hit the nail on the head
for the Fourth of July theme.
Five,
four, three,
two, one.
Chefs, that's it, stop working.
[all cheering]
And sparklers.
Pretty plate.
Thank you. Just gotta pray to Flavor Gods.
All right, let's see whose party plate gives
the judges a party to remember.
Let's take it to the judges.
This is Host with the Most, game two.
Our contestants had to make a party plate
that'd be the star of a Fouth of July event
incorporating red, white and blue.
Chef Nick, what'd you make?
Chefs, for you today,
a grilled sausage sandwich
with peppers and onions, with a little spicy brown mustard.
A little southwestern style
pasta salad with roasted peppers.
So, you got a nice elote with some crema,
chipotle
and just a little bit of blue cheese.
So, for my red, red peppers,
for my white, onions
and for my blue, blue cheese.
Please enjoy.
Nick, your gameplay here is so strong.
This dish is summer,
and I also love that you
then put it in this to-go container.
You gave us this story.
It feels like a summer memory to me 100%.
It was a really, really smart and bold move,
mixing blue cheese with the crema
and the chipotle for the elote corn.
But I loved how it all came together.
The corn is something I totally expect to see
on an Independence day cookout, pasta salad as well.
And I live for the hot dog
- that I allow myself to eat every few times a year... - Yes.
on the Fourth of July.
Now, couple of technical issues
the blue cheese for the color blue,
very clever choice.
Not sure if it works as well as cotija cheese
- or other cheeses that you would normally use... - Yep.
in elote.
It's got a bit of a pungent taste
that may not go as well as you may have thought.
- [Guy] Great job, Nick. - Thank you.
Up next, Chef Cayla.
Hi, chefs. So today, I made for you
a barbecue fried chicken thigh
with a pistachio, avocado, pesto pasta
and a strawberry caprese salad.
For red, I have the strawberries in the cherry tomatoes.
For white, you can see the mozzarella
and the pasta
and then, my blue is also my pasta box.
Chef Cayla, your plate screams summer
from the tomatoes and the strawberries
to the basil and the pesto,
uh, to the barbecue sauce.
Starting off with the pasta salad.
Uh, I really love the riff of using avocado with pistachio.
Pistachio is always a great, you know vehicle,
but the avocado is really, really a nice creamy,
without adding a lot of excess fat.
The strawberry in tomato caprese,
really, really smart.
Things that grow together, go together.
[Rocco] Lots of thoughtful technique on this plate.
The one place where I wish you had grilled
was the chicken.
It's Fourth of July,
something needs to be grilled,
and it could have been your chicken.
[Guy] We're gonna send you back to the kitchens
and we will come up with a decision.
It's gonna be a tough one, one point lead.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
All right, judges, which one of the hosts gave you the most?
Let's jump in at Nick.
I think Nick chose all the right things to make.
I think some of the execution didn't follow through.
[Hunter] Next up, let's talk about Cayla.
[Chris] I think the idea that the chicken was barbecued
really tied in well to the Fourth of July.
But I would have loved it to have some of that smoky grill...
- [Aarti] Yeah. - Fourth of July feeling.
Okay, thank very much, let's score them up.
Get the totals, post 'em on the board,
and let's bring the chefs back in, please.
We asked you to give us a party platter
to celebrate the Fourth of July.
You both have won $10,000 so far,
and the winner of this will get a chance to shop Flavortown Market
for up to $20,000.
So, without further ado,
let's take a look at the scores.
Chef Nick, at a 41.
Gameplay, 18,
must have been the box.
Taste, 14,
plating, a seven,
for total of 39.
Grand total of
80 points.
[all applauding]
Thirty nine or better,
you win the whole thing.
Gameplay, 15,
taste, 15,
plating, eight,
38.
And, ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie.
- [Rocco] What? - [Aarti] What?
Come on.
Look on your face is priceless.
I don't know.
If this doesn't get any more weird,
I don't know what does.
Oh, my gosh.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will declare this a tie
and award you both $10,000.
Okay.
[Guy] Congratulations. Thanks.
Oh, my gosh.
They both donated their first $10,000,
we have No Kid Hungry,
um, which is near and dear
to all of us sitting at this table.
- And then you had? - North Texas Food Bank,
which works with No Kid Hungry as well.
-[Guy] North Texas Food Bank and as we know, -Yes, yeah.
We live in the greatest country in the world,
and we should not have anybody in our country,
especially kids,
that have a food insecurity.
So, to the both of you, I say for the $10,000 donation,
- amen, thank you very much. - Thank you.
[Guy] Congratulations. Good job.
And on top of that,
We're giving you both $10,000 more,
so you walk out of here
with $20,000
and ensuring the title of Co-Food Fanatic Champ. Congratulations.
[all cheering]
[Cayla] What just happened?
I cannot believe that
Nick and I both were able to take home the win.
Incredible, what a finish.
It's hard to put into words
how I even feel about the fact
that I've won $20,000 in Flavortown.
It's absolutely surreal.
You've got a tie
the first time in Triple G history,
$20,000 for Cayla,
$20,000 for Nick.
You never know what's going to happen.
We'll see you next time on Guy's Grocery Games.
Adios.
[cheering]