I'm Bobby Flay.
Each week, one great chef will try to take me down in my house.
-I'm not worried about Bobby. -What?
-Oh! -This culinary battle
is gonna shake down in two rounds.
Round one, to get to me, two contenders have to go through each other
using an ingredient of my choice.
-[crowd cheering] -Let's do it!
[Bobby] Two people that know me well
will decide who's got the skills to beat me.
Round two, I go head to head with the winning contender.
It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
-Go! -Friendly competition.
-Is that distracting? -This is gonna be the first one I don't finish.
-Flay's in trouble! -[cheers]
-[Bobby] Bottom line... -No!
...everyone's out to beat me.
[audience applauding]
All right. I'm bringing my A-game today. Let's do this.
[audience applauding]
[Bobby] Please welcome Food Network royalty.
Chefs Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli.
[audience applauding]
Yes! Come on!
Wow.
-They never put us together. -I know.
We have to split you up because there's so much talent in each one of you.
We agree.
How many competition hours have the three of us logged?
It's insane.
I don't think anyone is left on Iron Chef that started off on the pilot
-except for you and me. -Right.
That's where I met you.
I made you a dessert!
Cherries and pasilla chilis.
Cherries and pasilla chilis, exactly.
And Michael Symon took his index finger and wiped...
like, the rest of the ice cream off his plate and ate it.
-Really? -I was like, "I won."
-[laughing] -[audience applauding]
All right. Let's bring out some chefs.
Yeah.
Our first contender is a proud Kentucky native.
Make some noise for the executive chef of Barn8,
Chef Alison Settle.
[audience applauds]
She is not playing around.
Bobby, our next contender is a 2022 James Beard semi-finalist
and he's here to make sure you finish last.
From Dubuque, Iowa,
-Kevin Scharpf. -Yeah.
[audience applauding]
Okay.
Alison, Kevin, how you guys doing tonight?
-Great. -Here's the way it's gonna work.
I'm gonna put 20 minutes on the clock.
I'm gonna give you an ingredient of my choice
and you must make that ingredient the star of your dish.
Hold on.
For the first time ever, I'm wheeling this one out.
[both] Oh, no.
Tonight's ingredient is...
tilefish.
[audience gasps]
-No problem, right? -[Kevin] Nope.
I'm excited.
How's your filleting skills these days?
Well, I'm just getting over a severed tendon from gutting a fish two weeks ago.
Revenge is in your future.
Okay, 20 minutes on the clock.
Make your best dish with this tilefish.
[bell dings]
[Alex] You can eat this fish raw?
Yeah. It's a pretty mild-tasting fish.
It's a white flaky fish.
I would do potatoes and horseradish
crusted on top and then make some sort of citrusy sauce.
Could you poach it in white wine and, like, fry the skin?
You could.
-I like a fish in broth. -[Alex] Yes.
[Kevin] Tilefish is a larger flake
and you want to cook it to where those flakes will just kind of slide apart.
So I want to poach the tilefish and make a taco
with a charred cabbage slaw and Chile crema.
First thing I need to do is get my poaching liquid going,
serrano, Fresno and then I deglaze it
with shrimp stock and a little bit of veg stock.
I'm here today to represent for the small-town chefs
and show up with big flavors.
I grew up in a little town called Galena, Illinois.
I knew that I wanted to go to culinary school, so I went to Le Cordon Blue.
From there, I did my externship at
Restaurant Daniele in New York City.
As much as I love it, I'm definitely a small-town kid at heart.
So it was time to return back to the Midwest.
Today I am the chef owner of Brazen Open Kitchen in Dubuque, Iowa.
I'd love to win to represent not only for Dubuque,
but anybody who's in a small town.
Sometimes you've got to take a chance and just go for it.
Oh, she's smoking it. I like that.
Alison is fancy-pants.
I'm gonna go in and check it out.
15 minutes, 41 seconds.
What are you doing? Are you smoking?
[Alison] I'm gonna do, like, a little smoked tataki crudo.
[Alex] I love that.
Tilefish has a really beautiful and delicate flavor
and I want to showcase that by leaving it raw.
I'm going to just sear the outside and put a little bit
of cold smoke on it to give complexity and flavor.
More smoky!
-Hype it up, people. Come on. -[audience applauds]
Yes! Thank you.
I grew up in Kentucky. My first foray into getting interested in cooking
was when I lived in Germany and worked as an au pair.
So I decided to enroll in culinary school in Lexington, Kentucky.
Today, I am the chef at Barn8 at Hermitage farm,
a renovated barn on a thoroughbred farm
and we focus on local seasonal produce.
In 2022, I was nominated for a James Beard award for my work at Barn8.
I'm a single mom to my son, Arlo,
and I would love to show him that his mom is a boss in the kitchen.
Hi. What are you doing?
I'm gonna do a gentle poached tilefish taco.
I love that.
[Kevin] I'm hoping that I'm gonna be able to get this fish poached
in about eight or 10 minutes tops.
Next, I'm making a charred cabbage, fennel and apple slaw.
The apples add the sweetness and the fennel is just gonna give me
a little bit of that earthiness as well.
[Alison] To go with my tilefish,
I slice up fennel, shallots and Fresno chilis.
And then I grab a blood orange
because the brightness of the citrus is gonna compliment the fish well.
Smoking and poaching... I mean, very different kind of directions
in the cooking department.
Like, I feel like they're trying to do too much.
-I'm a little concerned. Get in there. -I'm gonna go in.
Just under nine minutes, chefs.
-God. -[audience cheers]
-How's it going? -Good.
-You just cut yourself recently, right? -Yeah, recently.
You all really know how to push my buttons.
Well, you know, we have to make sure
that you can get in there and be fine.
-Oh, I can do it. -I believe it.
-I can do it. -[audience] Yes, you can.
Oh! [laughs]
For my vinaigrette, I mix together blood orange juice,
sherry vinegar, soy sauce and lime juice.
Oh! She's shaky.
Hi, Kevin. Smells spicy over here.
I'm making just a little crema.
Creme fraiche, yoghurt, fish sauce and then I'm gonna spice it up.
Oh, you're taking a page out of Bobby's playbook
with the Calabrian chili peppers, huh?
[Kevin] I am, yes.
He's breaking out the Calabrian chilies. I like that.
I saw him add a lot.
I'm just worried, is it gonna be too spicy?
[Anne] Less than five minutes, my friends.
[Kevin] I grab my fish out of the poaching liquid
and it's slightly underdone.
I don't have enough flakes.
So I get the fish back in the poaching liquid for as long as I possibly can.
[Alison] I take my fish out of the smoker and I'm gonna be really careful as I slice it.
Alison's slicing her fish a little too thick.
Yeah, I can't... Oh.
-Two minutes left! Put the food on the plate! -[Anne] Please!
[Alison] First I add the fennel and the shallot,
then my blood oranges and Fresno chilies...
put my tilefish on top, then I finish it off with a vinaigrette.
-[Alex] One minute! -Oh, my God.
[groans]
Kevin, be plating!
You're not gonna finish if you don't.
I'm out of time, so I flake as much fish as I possibly can...
[Bobby] Ten...
[Kevin] ...and I'm just racing to get everything on the plate.
Three, two, one!
-[bell rings] -[Anne] That's it! You're done.
[audience cheers]
I'm really happy with what I've done, but I just feel like
I could've added a little bit more fish.
The tilefish is not where I want it to be.
I cut it too thick.
[groans]
Hi. We want to beat Bobby Flay.
It's really annoying that he wins all the time.
[laughs]
This is all going to come down to the tilefish.
Chef Alison, what did you make?
I made tilefish tataki crudo with a citrus vinaigrette.
The smoke on the fish is delightful.
It gives it a depth of flavor.
Where I have a problem is the giant slices of the Fresno
and blood orange.
Much too big.
And the fish is cut, like, a little crazy-pants.
Yeah. I don't want to wrestle with this.
I wanted you to do that.
Fair enough.
But there's a lot of balance here.
There's a lot of thoughtfulness.
The sherry, the soy, everything belongs.
Chef Kevin, talk tilefish.
So, what I made for you tonight is
a gentle poached tilefish taco, a little cabbage, apple, fennel slaw
with chili crema.
The char on the cabbage and the char on the tortilla
and then poached fish?
You know, I like those different cooking techniques.
My chief complaint, I want more fish.
I think where you were going with this was very clever,
but the Calabrian chili paste is so incredibly spicy.
But, mostly, I just want more fish, more salt, more acid.
[Kevin] I'm nervous. I really wish I had more fish
in those tacos, but I'm still feeling good
about all of the flavors that I brought together.
And the chef moving forward to beat Bobby is...
Alison.
[audience applauds]
It definitely stings. I feel like the clock got the best of me today.
But the experience was still incredible and I'm thankful.
-Thank you. -Way to go.
Alison, you need to think more quickly about combining all your ingredients.
-Heard. -We believe in you.
Thank you.
All right, Alison. Really curious to hear what we're cooking tonight.
What is your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
mushroom stroganoff.
-Mushroom stroganoff? -Oh.
Wasn't expecting that, but that's good.
-Are you ready to do this? -I'm ready.
45 minutes on the clock. Your time starts now.
[Alex] A stroganoff is a very hearty dish.
-Immediately think of a beef stroganoff. -Of course.
With mushrooms and then, like, sour cream and egg noodles.
[Alex] Gotta have an egg noodle.
Alison's cooking is finessed and now, stroganoff.
You have so many heavy flavors.
-I mean, honestly, I'm surprised. -Me too.
When I was growing up, we weren't really a family of foodies,
but one of the things we did eat was mushroom stroganoff...
and now I make it for my son.
It's such a comforting dish and it's savory,
sour and crunchy.
My take has miso walnut breadcrumbs and pickled mustard seeds.
Without having meat in a dish,
you really have to fortify those flavors
and I love dried and fresh mushrooms
to make the dish go over the top.
I've made beef stroganoff. I've never made mushroom stroganoff.
The thing that's difficult about this dish is
getting all the flavors to kind of meld together.
I'm going somewhat traditional,
but I'm making my own egg noodles
and I'm going to toss it with some brown butter and some dill...
and then pickled shallots, you know, so it has some acidity to it.
Oh! Looks like Bobby is going to be making his own pasta.
That's ambitious.
I don't know if that is a good use of Bobby's time.
-I'm gonna go in and check it out. -All right.
37 minutes and 38 seconds.
Do you have enough mushrooms? I don't know.
Never enough mushrooms.
What's the bread and the walnuts about?
This is gonna be butter and miso toasted walnut breadcrumbs
-for a little bit of crunch. -[Alex] I love that.
So, you're gonna combine all this with miso paste?
[Alison] Yeah, drizzle it with miso butter.
-Maybe a little parsley in there. -I love that. I love that.
The miso adds a really nice depth of flavor
and breadcrumbs bring that savory crunchy component to the dish.
How are you cooking your mushrooms?
Are you leaving them kind of, like, whole?
[Alison] I'm gonna break them up.
I'm gonna toss them with sherry,
olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme.
Wow. All right, good luck, Chef.
Hi. What are you doing?
You making a stock?
No, I'm gonna cook the mushrooms, porcini, shiitake.
I'm gonna make some dill and brown butter noodles.
Egg noodles from scratch? You're busting a move.
She's putting miso. She's mixing it all together.
The miso is a very good idea.
Don't get any ideas over here.
Get out of here.
-I'm not using it, don't worry. -[Alex] All right.
33 minutes. Let's do this.
I don't know about Bobby spending all that time making fresh noodles.
Those egg noodles in the pack,
-they're so good. -Right.
-They're the perfect texture. -You might be right.
Seriously! Like, dry pasta might be the way to go.
-[audience gasps] -I don't know.
[Anne] 26 minutes.
Coming in hot.
To add an extra pinch of flavor to my stroganoff,
I'm adding pickled mustard seeds...
bay leaves, apple cider vinegar, garlic, thyme, sugar and salt.
Oh, what's this?
[Alison] Pickled mustard seeds.
[Anne] I love the texture of a pickled mustard seed.
And I love that you're using egg noodles.
-[Alison] Campanelle. -[Anne] I love that little ribbony texture.
[Alison] It holds the sauce.
I will say, I was a little bit surprised when I heard "mushroom stroganoff,"
but now I see where you're going with it.
-So... -You know, sometimes the most simple, comforting flavors
are the easiest to make you feel good.
-Right? Let's hear it for our girl over here. -[audience cheers]
What's going on over here?
Got some mushrooms going, porcini, shiitake.
I'm just sauteing some other porcini with some garnish.
The porcinis are very meaty and earthy.
So I sear some because I'm going to put them on top.
-Are you gonna finish with sour cream? -Creme fraiche.
I like creme fraiche 'cause it definitely has the same tartness,
but it doesn't separate as easily as sour cream.
And I'm adding some white wine, some Worchester sauce,
Dijon mustard and wholegrain mustard.
21 minutes!
Next, I'm cutting my dough into, like, egg-noodle size.
I love cooking pasta, but it requires precision and lots can go wrong.
Here's where Bobby's potential mistake, the fresh noodles.
-[Anne] They're just not gonna stand up to the heavy sauce. -I agree.
-Momma's going back in. -All right.
[Alex] 16 minutes and 22 seconds.
Next, to get started on the base of my sauce.
Melt some butter and add the shallots
and then I add my roasted mushrooms
and then my rehydrated porcini mushrooms with some stock
'cause I want all different levels of yummy mushroom flavor.
Oh, my God! This looks delicious.
[Alison] So, this is the base of the sauce.
Pasta is here that I'll toss with it.
-I'm about to add bay leaves, thyme. -Beautiful.
I run and grab heavy cream, Worchester and soy sauce to add a more savory element.
For acid, I'm adding some sherry and cherry wine vinegar.
[audience cheers]
Bleurgh.
Hi. What are you doing? Oh, God.
That's gorgeous.
Oh, that's so annoying.
-Taste this, here. -[Alex] What is this?
There's no herbs in it yet. It's not seasoned yet.
Plenty mustard in there.
It's a lot of mustard, right? Too much?
Probably not.
I think this looks great.
[in high-pitched voice] Okay.
-I'm leaving. -[crowd gasping]
[Alex] 11 minutes left!
[whispering] Bobby might have put too much mustard in his sauce.
Oh, I like that.
[Alison] Woah.
I look over and see that my sauce is starting to overflow.
It needs to reduce a lot more.
I split my sauce up into two pots and add more creme fraiche.
Hopefully, that's gonna add some body
and thicken it a little bit more.
So, I throw my pasta in the water.
I just want a little nutty flavor on the noodles.
Usually it's just butter.
I'm gonna use some fresh dill as sort of an ode
to the Eastern European flavors
and a little nuttiness with brown butter.
Two and a half minutes, let's do this!
[Alison] I'm marrying my noodles into my sauce
and I'm hoping that the starch in the pasta is gonna help thicken it up.
You see, this is what worries me.
She added the mushrooms to the noodles.
So if there's not enough mushrooms to the... You know?
Yes, I know. That always makes me crazy.
Do something, Anne!
I mean, I am! I'm freaking out over here.
Two minutes!
[Bobby] So, egg noodles in the bottom of the plate,
a little ladle of the mushroom stroganoff sauce,
pickled shallots
and then a little more brown butter on top with the mushrooms.
-Bobby's over there, like, weaving mushrooms together. -I know.
90 seconds!
Alison, please plate!
[groans] Stop!
I'm frazzled.
As quickly as I can, I'm plating my stroganoff
and I need to make sure that I remove those bay leaves and thyme stems.
10, nine, eight...
[Alison] I add my miso breadcrumbs and my pickled mustard seeds.
...four, three, two, one...
-[Anne] That's it! -[audience cheering]
[Bobby] It's not the prettiest dish I've ever made,
but it's a very homey dish.
I think it's gonna come down to whose noodles are better,
whose mushrooms are better.
Aye-ay-aye-ay-aye.
Bobby, Alison, congratulations on finishing your mushroom stroganoff.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
-It was a nailbiter. -Yeah.
Now we'd like to introduce you to your illustrious judges.
First up, chef and TV host Elena Besser.
The owner of Veselka, Jason Birchard.
James Beard award-winner, Karen Akunowicz.
Judges, please dig into the first dish in front of you.
I like that this is a lighter brighter version of a mushroom stroganoff.
The pickled shallots, that little pop of acid
offsets the brown butter and it's a beautiful balance.
At first thought, this looked a little messy.
I would have liked to see a little more creaminess in this.
A mushroom stroganoff should have a little more sour cream base.
I thought that the noodle itself, the thinness of it,
was a really nice balance to the richness of this dish.
And I really appreciated that crispy texture of the mushrooms.
All right, judges. Let's flip the script.
I like the creaminess in the sour cream and the texture of the pasta,
but not a lot of mushrooms that I tasted in this.
[Karen] Visually, this dish is beautiful.
I love the texture, the pickled mustard seeds,
the breadcrumbs, the campanelle.
I was excited about the miso and the walnut
in the dish, but the cream sauce felt a little bit watery to me.
I thought it was super creative to pickle the mustard seeds.
It hits your eye. It feels very elegant.
I really appreciated the ribboned noodle
and the miso was really creative too.
However, the mushroom felt a little bit mushy.
I was left wanting a little bit more.
[Anne] Judges, now it's time to cast your votes.
I'm definitely worried that the judges think that my sauce was too thin,
but I am confident that they liked the flavors that are brought to the dish.
We have our winner.
And that winner is...
Chef Bobby Flay.
[audience cheers]
I'm disappointed because some of the mistakes I made were really simple.
But I came here to make sure that my son knows
that it's good to put yourself out there, no matter the results.
Chef, I loved the mushroom stroganoff.
The noodles were as light as a feather
and the brown butter made everything so harmonious.
I only want to eat mushroom stroganoff like this for the rest of my life.
-So, congratulations. -Thank you so much.
Who knew that the key to mushroom stroganoff was lots of mustard?
-Yeah, I didn't know that. Noted, Bobby. -[laughs] Yeah.
Well, looks like my stroganoff was the best in the shroom.
[audience cheers]