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I have $100,000
of cold hard cash in this case.
Four chefs get $25,000 each.
If they want to leave this kitchen
with any of the cash,
they have to survive three culinary challenges
and each other.
See this ice pick in my hand?
Ooh!
In a game where sabotage is not only encouraged...
You'll force one chef to build their own fire.
No way.
...it's for sale.
$5,000.
10 grand.
ALTON: It's a game we like to call...
[ Laughs ]
..."Cutthroat Kitchen."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
CHEF GOLOMBOS: I am Thomas Golombos, 40 years old.
I'm a private chef from Slovenia,
now living in New York City.
People compare me to supreme athletes,
geniuses of our era.
Extremely handsome man.
My imagination is endless.
I came here to compete
and show that I do have the skills to win.
CHEF EVENSON: My name is Erin Evenson.
I'm a competitive home cook from Brooklyn, New York.
Being a competitive cook, I have no formal training.
I've never worked in a professional kitchen,
but over six years, I've won around $200,000.
So, competing at home, right? Sofa, television?
No, it's amateur competitive cooking.
You know, people who don't have formal training
can be just as cutthroat as the professional chefs.
CHEF LA SALLE: I'm Chef Elisa La Salle.
I'm 30 years old, and I am a chef consultant.
I'm representing Moreno Valley and Riverside,
showing them that, you know, we do have a talent out there.
I take a lot of pride in the work that I do.
I am not going home. I just got started.
I've always wanted to compete on this level,
and I've just envisioned myself winning.
CHEF KYLER: My name is Chef Chris Kyler.
I'm the executive chef and owner of Kyler's A-Plus Catering.
I feel some other chefs that are higher up on the food chain
may feel like I don't have the talent or the skills
to become as great as they are.
Catering has executive chefs? I guess I wasn't aware of that.
I'm here to prove that, hey, this guy's the real deal,
and he knows what he's talking about.
So, you -- Where do you work? Pizzeria or something?
Pizzeria. Mama Mia.
Okay.
But I'm still gonna bust all three of you.
Okay.
[ Laughs ]
Well, look what we have here -- a fresh quartet of chefs.
Welcome to "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Here's how this competition works.
You're going to take part
in three different culinary challenges.
At the end of each one of those challenges,
one of you will be eliminated, all right?
Now, once I reveal your challenge,
you'll have 60 seconds to shop for all of your ingredients
in our main pantry.
After that, we're gonna have ourselves a little auction,
where you will be able to bid on some wonderful devices
for you to cause your opponents pain.
Of course, if you're going to take part in an auction,
you are going to need some money.
I happen to have here $100,000 worth of cold hard cash.
Each of you will receive $25,000,
and that'll be yours to use throughout the competition.
But be very, very careful how you spend it, chefs,
because at the end of the competition,
whichever chef remains standing
will only walk out of here
with the money he or she has remaining.
Yes.
Good, let's get started.
Chefs, take your cash. Two bundles equals $25,000.
Thank you, Mr. Brown.
To save as much money as possible is the goal
but also to not send yourself home by not spending any money.
There is a fine line.
Thank you very much.
CHEF LA SALLE: I am going to bid as much as I can.
I'm not gonna let anybody take anything from me.
ALTON: Rest assured, chefs, most of this money
will return to the case during the course of the competition.
So, first challenge.
You're going to have 30 minutes to make a perfect deviled egg.
CHEF KYLER: I think deviled eggs are something
that, you know, my mother's mother mother made.
Your 60-second shopping time begins now!
CHEF GOLOMBOS: I go to to the pantry, and I, of course,
grab eggs, mayonnaise, some smoked paprika, an orange.
Basically, a hard-boiled egg is a platform,
and then it's up to your imagination to show your skills.
CHEF EVENSON: When I'm in the pantry,
I pick up everything I need to make the prefect mayonnaise
that's going to make a really perfect, fluffy filling.
I got some really beautiful greens to make a salad with.
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Dagnabbit, I almost caught one.
Well, now the fun part -- the auction.
Our first item for auction...
Ah, the age-old question.
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
If you win this auction,
you can swap out all of your competitors' eggs
and assign each of them one of the following --
quail eggs, one ostrich egg,
or these eggs
that I've so carefully removed from the shells.
[ Laughs ] I kill me sometimes.
Who's gonna give me $500?
I'll give you $2,000.
If I get the unshelled eggs, how am I gonna make my dish?
I don't want to make a poached egg.
I'm trying to stay true to what they asked for,
and that's a deviled egg.
ALTON: $3,500.
$6,000.
6,000 large for the eggs from Chef Golombos.
$6,400.
I got $7,500 from Chef Kyler.
Does anybody want to go $7,600?
These pros, I'm sure they're each other's worst competition
in their own minds.
So, I really didn't feel that I needed to be a part of it
for the first auction.
Going once for $8,000.
$10,000!
$10,000 is the last-moment bid
that comes in from Chef La Salle.
$10,000.
Do you want to go for $10,100, sir?
$10,100, $10,100, $10,100, $10,100?
Sold to Chef La Salle for $10,000.
Madame, bring me my money.
All right, I want you to take this basket
and assign who gets what.
Take your time and enjoy this. Lord knows you paid for it.
I definitely set the bar high in the first action.
I am an extra-large, serious burger
with a side of no messing around sauce.
Let's see here.
I'm gonna be gracious and give you the ones that are already opened.
Oh, my God, you're too generous.
Why don't you go ahead and take that ostrich egg?
I figure she doesn't have that much restaurant experience
and not that much contact with that kind of product.
Last but certainly not least...
[ Chuckles ] Thank you. You're so sweet.
CHEF KYLER: It's gonna take a little bit more time to peel these,
but I can make this happen.
Your change, madame.
Let us move on to our second item.
[ Laughs ]
Water is considered to be a -- a crucial, elemental part
of, you know, hard-cooking eggs for deviled eggs.
Win this auction, and you'll be able to tell one chef
that they can't use any water... at all.
Who'll give me $500 for this fabulous opportunity?
I'll go $3,000.
$4,600.
$5,000.
$5,500.
Well, let's just go for a clean $7,000.
Do I hear $7,100? $7,100? Going once for $7,000.
I'd rather kind of hold onto my money for the second round.
Going twice for $7,000.
Sold to Chef Kyler for $7,000.
Chef, come on over and bring me my money.
I want you to go and place that in the hands of the person
who is not going to be able to use any water.
I know Chef Golombos is not going to boil his eggs.
That would be a poached egg.
I look at Chef La Salle.
I'm not really worried about her.
But when I see that ostrich egg, that's a huge egg.
You need time to boil that thing.
That's a big thing to boil.
Oh.
So, let's see how you do on that one.
[ Laughing ] Oh, my God.
[ Laughs ]
Deviled egg, 30 minutes.
Starts now.
Thanks for your quail eggs. Yeah.
Quail eggs make fantastic deviled eggs, by the way.
Your birthday came early this year.
I thought you knew.
CHEF KYLER: Originally, I wanted to come in
and do a Cobb salad interpretation of a deviled egg,
but the tiny quail egg, it's just not enough egg.
So, I still want to use some of the flavors
that I had in mind.
Papa Smurf, how you doing down there?
Good, good, good, good. Goody good.
Once I got the auction item from Chef La Salle,
which was a bowl of cracked, raw eggs,
I bake separated whites and yolks
to achieve that texture to a hard-boiled egg.
CHEF EVENSON: Oh!
You know, Big Bird's gonna be mad at you, frying his son.
[ Laughs ]
Usually when you make the perfect hard-boiled egg,
you start with boiling your eggs.
I have no water, and I have an ostrich egg.
I see that there's some muffin tins in the corner,
some silicone.
My idea is to cook the whites in there in a low oven
and then to use the yolk
and to really incorporate some citrus,
a little vinegar, some olive oil
and to make it into a fluffy deviled egg,
kind of seasoned mayonnaise.
I want to get a little more air in it
to give it just extra oomph.
Thank goodness a siphon's sitting over there.
Stand back. Nitrous oxide in the house.
17 minutes.
I just got started. Got a whole lot of work to do.
Going into this cook, I have no sabotages against me.
So I'm going to make a curried deviled egg
with a little bit of habanero.
And once my boiled eggs are done,
I put them into my ice bath.
CHEF KYLER: Yes?
I'm gonna mix things up a little bit.
I have here a large collection of sweet ingredients.
Win this auction, and you can force one chef
to create a sweet deviled egg in addition to their savory egg.
I'm thinking, "I cannot get this."
I'm not trying to go home. I got to make it to the end.
This is a duo you just don't see every day,
but this is "Cutthroat Kitchen."
My entire yolk is already seasoned,
and it's in my aerator, and there's no going back.
I cannot be assigned this challenge.
All right, chefs.
Win this auction, and you can force one chef
to create a sweet deviled egg in addition to the savory egg.
Who's giving me $500?
$1,000!
I don't want to even think about trying to make this dessert egg.
I have a $1,000 bid currently for the sweet basket.
Chef Golombos, he's not afraid of the sweet basket.
I can go either way.
I got a $1,000 bid right now. Do I get $1,100?
$2,000 is current high bid to Chef Evenson.
I don't bid for it because, as far as my prep's concerned,
I am a little bit more ahead than the others.
$5,000.
$5,000 going once for $5,000.
CHEF EVENSON: I stopped bidding
because I'm trying to kind of stay in the background,
hoping that they almost forget that I'm there.
Going twice for $5,000.
Sold to Chef Kyler for $5,000.
I'm thinking strategy.
The only person that didn't get any sabotage, really,
is Chef La Salle.
Let me give it to her.
Looking all pretty over here.
Coconut powder, light brown sugar.
So, my duo of sweet and savory deviled egg
is going to be the curried deviled egg with habanero
and then also the apricot with hazelnut.
I chop up a few apricots,
and I pop some hazelnuts into the oven to warm.
Never done sweet eggs before,
but there's a first time for everything.
Might as well be on "Cutthroat Kitchen."
So, I'm splitting my eggs.
I got all of them peeled.
So I'm thinking, "Hmm,
mayonnaise, avocado, bacon, a little bit of salt
is gonna be my filling."
I am.
I can't get enough charges in it to get it to the right texture,
so I'm hoping this doesn't blow the roof off.
I'll go get my poncho.
Alton came, of course, at this point in time
and saw that I wasn't exactly getting the right texture.
I'm starting to get a little tense again.
I take my egg white.
I put it in the bottom of my dish,
and now I'm just starting my salad.
It has microgreens, chervil, and quite a bit of dill.
I take a little of the white distilled vinegar,
drizzle some in, and I give it a taste,
and it's going to work.
I'm very happy about my egg whites.
Those look quite delicious.
Honey, everything's beautiful.
My egg yolks are baked to perfection.
I mix them into the mayo, some Worcestershire sauce...
smoked paprika.
I wanted my dish to look as pretty as possible.
My original idea was slice an orange as a decoration.
I think that's pretty imaginative.
I wanted to put paprika into it
just to kind of get that devilish character
into the deviled eggs.
Minute and a half to get it on the plate.
CHEF KYLER: My filling tastes good.
I'm thinking, "How am I gonna get this filling into these little quail eggs?"
And I think, boop, bingo, pastry bag.
CHEF EVENSON: So, I take the salad,
and I'm kind of moving it around the bowl
to kind of create a nest.
The foam that I'm creating finally comes together
and is holding the shape I want.
CHEF LA SALLE: So, I start mixing my egg yolk
with my curried deviled egg mixture,
and then I start focusing
on getting the sweet deviled egg to a smooth consistency.
I taste it, and it's money.
I crush my hazelnuts with a wooden spoon
and garnish those onto the sweet deviled egg.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Challenge over.
Step away from the board.
Oh, look. Here comes the judge.
Hi, guys.
CHEF GOLOMBOS: Hi.
When I first see Giada, I was electrified.
This is Giada. If I have to say any more than that,
you're probably already doomed.
[ Laughs ]
I feel like one of those cartoons
with the big eyes and the tongue unraveling.
Ahooga!
She is definitely a well-respected chef, beautiful.
I think she's great.
Miss De Laurentiis has been sequestered
in a soundproofed chamber.
She has no idea what you've had to endure.
Giada doesn't care about your pain and anguish
or anything like that.
That's right.
So just keep to the facts about the dish.
The challenge...
Yes.
I'm ready.
Okay.
Chef Golombos, why don't you explain your deviled eggs
to Giada?
I made a deviled eggs baked to perfection egg whites
with a slice of orange,
topped with smoked paprika and chopped scallions.
Let's see here.
Am I eating this?
The orange is a decoration.
Okay.
All right, I'm not a big fan of decoration.
I feel like what should be on the plate should all be edible.
The egg itself is actually cooked really well.
Thank you.
But...
...there's a lot of paprika...
Smoked paprika, maybe?
...smoked paprika that's really overwhelming everything,
so you taste nothing but that.
Thank you.
CHEF GOLOMBOS: My egg was cooked perfectly,
but I am just a little worried about the strong character,
I would say, of smoked paprika.
Chef Evenson, Giada De Laurentiis.
Please tell her about your deviled egg.
This is my chick in the woods.
What you have is an egg mousse,
and it's on top of an egg white round surrounded by greens.
All right, so let's go for this bite.
Ooh.
The microgreens are great.
You know, the texture of the mousse is nice,
but everything is overwhelming of vinegar.
But I do love the concept, and the look of it is adorable.
We don't get a lot of adorable here in "Cutthroat Kitchen."
[ Laughs ] I'm honored.
It's a nice sort of reinvention.
I just think in this particular sense,
I'm not sure it quite worked.
Understandable. Thank you so much.
So, Chef La Salle, please tell Giada about your deviled eggs.
CHEF LA SALLE: I made a curried deviled egg,
and I also made a dessert deviled egg
with apricot and hazelnut.
Let's see what you have.
This one's cooked really nicely.
The filling's good, though. It's got a little kick in there.
That is good.
Nice crunch on the top.
Perfect amount of sweetness in the center.
I really liked it. What an idea.
Thank you.
CHEF KYLER: Giada loved Chef La Salle's sweet deviled egg.
This sabotage backfired on me.
Chef Kyler, please tell Giada about your deviled eggs.
What I have for you today is a deviled quail egg
that basically have some avocado with bacon.
The quail egg -- cooked very well.
I like the saltiness from the bacon.
The avocado's really great. I do love avocado.
I like the interpretation. It's cute.
Thank you.
When she said she liked the quail egg, I was relieved.
I think I'm gonna make it to the next round.
So, Giada, my problem is, I've got four chefs here,
and I can only take three into the next round,
so you have to decide.
There was one chef whose dish had one too many flaws for me.
Giada, my problem is, I've got four chefs here,
and I can only take three into the next round,
so you have to decide who was least successful.
There was one chef whose dish had one too many flaws for me.
And that chef is...
...Chef Golombos.
Too much paprika, and honestly,
I believe that everything on a plate should be edible.
Sorry, sir,
but I'm going to need that $25,000 back in the case, sir.
So sorry.
CHEF GOLOMBOS: Smoked paprika was the key ingredient
that kind of kicked me out,
or maybe too much garnish.
Cooking is a wide, wide world of imagination,
but sometimes, more is way too much.
So, you survived round 1.
Move into round 2. You know what?
You're gonna have half an hour to make chicken and waffles.
CHEF EVENSON: There's something very, very comforting
about chicken and waffles.
I am very excited.
So, let's just start that 60-second shopping time now.
What I want to do is a very nice brown-butter waffle
with a thin, crispy chicken.
I grab some chicken, eggs, buttermilk.
ALTON: You have 30 seconds.
CHEF KYLER: I want to make some nice little chicken strips
to make it look cutesy,
so I grab some Cognac,
'cause I want to make a nice Cognac maple syrup.
3, 2, 1.
So, it looks like everyone had a successful shopping expedition,
so let's take a look at our first item, shall we?
[ Laughs ]
I only have two waffle makers.
And, oddly enough, there are three of you.
Win this auction,
you can keep one waffle iron for yourself
and then decide which of your opponents gets the other
and then, of course, who doesn't get one at all.
In order to make a waffle, you need a waffle iron.
$1,000.
I want that waffle maker.
$1,700.
$1,700 is the current bid. Who's gonna give me $1,800?
I got my $1,800.
$2,000.
$2,400.
Who's gonna give me $2,500?
I've got $2,400. Fine. Going once for $2,400.
Going twice for $2,400.
Sold to Chef Kyler for $2,400.
Sir, please bring me my money.
And I'll tell you what.
Go ahead and take one of these, put it over on your station.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
CHEF LA SALLE: I've got a 1-in-2 chance of getting this waffle maker,
so I'm just putting my mind's eye right on it,
and I just know I'm gonna get it.
Take a look at these two fine chefs.
One of them will not have a waffle iron today.
Waffle maker, waffle maker, waffle maker, waffle maker.
I think I'm gonna have to give it to Chef La Salle.
There you go.
Well, good. Now, let's see if Chef Evenson
takes any kind of revenge on this second item.
A lone fryer basket.
The winner of this fry basket
will have the exclusive right to fry.
No other chef will be able to fry
in any way, fashion, or form.
If I don't have perfectly crunchy chicken
against a fluffy waffle,
the whole dish is going to fall apart.
$5,000.
I'm in for $5,000. I knew it would happen.
$5,300.
$6,000.
We're now up to $6,000.
CHEF KYLER: I know if I spend all my money,
I'm gonna be really, really in a bad way in the final round.
$6,100 is the current high bid.
Chef Evenson is in there for $6,200.
$6,300? $6,300? Going once for $6,200.
Going twice for $6,200.
Sold for $6,200 to Chef Evenson.
I'll duke it out.
You now are the only person capable of frying.
Thank you very much.
Let's take a look at our third item for this round, shall we?
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they do.
I have here a canned whole chicken.
Win this item,
and you can exchange one of your opponents' chicken for this.
CHEF KYLER: Blech!
Who wants chicken in a can?
I don't want chicken in a can.
$2,000. Who'll give me $2,100?
$3,000 for the canned chicken.
$3,000.
Anybody want to go $3,100?
I got the $3,100.
I don't know what you're going to do with chicken in a can,
but it's certainly not going to work for chicken and waffles.
Going once for $3,100. Going twice for $3,100.
Sold to Chef Evenson for $3,100.
Ma'am, come right over here.
Let's do some business, you and I.
The angel in me just feels terribly.
Deliver this and bring me back their chicken.
But the devil in me cannot wait to assign it.
That is an atomic bomb waiting to go off.
There was one chef who was very, very nervous about this, so...
If I get this canned chicken, my butt's gonna be in a can.
There was one chef who was very, very nervous about this,
so I'm so sorry to do this to you.
A whole chicken inside a tin can.
I'm sure Giada De Laurentiis won't notice the difference.
So, chefs, the challenge is chicken and waffles.
The time is half an hour -- 30 short minutes.
It starts now.
CHEF LA SALLE: So, after losing my chicken,
after losing my fryer because of Chef Evenson,
this is not going to be a crispy chicken
anything kind of dish.
Chef La Salle, how much do you owe me
for helping you out with that waffle iron?
Thank God Chef Kyler gave me that waffle iron.
So, I got to start my brown-butter waffles.
I put my butter in the microwave to melt it.
I add eggs with the sugar and start whipping it
to build that fluffy texture.
Kind of quiet on that end.
Just wondering what you guys are gonna do
without being able to fry in any way.
The dish I planned to make was perfectly crispy fried chicken
with a good, fluffy nectarine waffle
with some maple and some hot goat cheese butter,
and my idea for making this perfect waffle
is to use a grill pan.
What it's going to do, I'm hoping,
is to create some nice nooks and valleys that look like a waffle.
Next thing I want to do is to cut up some of my chicken
and get it into buttermilk and let it marinade.
And then I want to go back and check on my waffle.
[ Sighs ] This is not my day.
Chef Evenson, how are you doing with your waffle?
My waffles are going just fine.
I don't think she's doing too good
with coming up with a waffle concept.
Oh, my God!
Oh!
Oh! Oh my!
I can't unsee that.
All is not well in waffleville.
It was a disaster scene, and I need to save this waffle.
[ Waffle iron dinging ]
Uh-oh, my waffle iron's ready. How about yours?
We'll talk again when you start cooking chicken.
Chef Evenson took away my ability to fry,
so I need to bake this thing.
So, I definitely want to put panko on there,
and I drizzle some oil over the chicken
so that when it bakes, I can have a nice crisp on my chicken.
Where's your waffle batter?
The waffle batter's next. It's coming up next.
I start putting flour, eggs, milk,
and I go ahead and start cooking in my waffle iron.
Chef La Salle, you will give us all appropriate warning
before you open that can, right, so I can clear the room?
Do you guys have a bomb shelter here?
What I'm expecting is the chicken to slide out of the can.
CHEF EVENSON: Ooh!
Ooh.
Ooh.
I was expecting something that looked like a bird.
It is the nastiest thing
I have ever smelled in my entire life.
Oh!
I have never been more happy to spend money on something
in my life.
That chicken in a can was worth every last dime.
CHEF LA SALLE: Ooh.
I wonder where the rest of this chicken went.
Je ne sais skunk.
Je ne sais skunk.
Je ne sais le pew.
CHEF LA SALLE: I have to come up with a new plan,
and my new plan is chicken pâté.
At this point, I'm seasoning,
and I am adding ingredients like mustard and some sugar.
It's definitely looking better
than whatever poured out of that can.
No!
Chefs, 10 minutes on the clock.
My waffles have that crisp around the edge
so that the waffle can kind of stand up to the chicken pâté.
ALTON: Ordinarily,
I would stop and try to auction something else to you,
but I don't think you're up to it right now.
CHEF KYLER: I take the chicken out of the oven.
The chicken is not crispy, but the flavor's okay,
and I'm thinking I don't have much time.
Yes!
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
The waffle iron was definitely worth every penny that I spent.
And I wanted to make a Cognac syrup
to go with my waffle,
so I go ahead and burn off all the alcohol.
I don't want to burn my eyebrows off.
I go ahead and add brown sugar and maple syrup
so it can reduce and become a syrupy consistency.
ALTON: 4 minutes.
CHEF EVENSON: As my waffle is cooking on the grill pan,
I want to get started on my fried chicken,
so I pull it out of the buttermilk
and put it into my panko,
and there has really never been a feeling better
than putting that chicken into a fryer
knowing that no one else can use it.
CHEF KYLER: Chef Evenson, I don't think you're gonna be successful
with those waffles. What do you think?
Goodness gracious, what did I do?
One of the key elements to a waffle is the shape,
so I kind of trim the sides, and I put those on my dish.
And when I pull my fried chicken out of the fryer,
I know it's perfect.
ALTON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Challenge over. Step away from your station.
Thank you very much.
And look, here's our judge
down from her, you know, little room up in the clouds there.
The challenge is chicken and waffles.
Do you like chicken and waffles?
I do.
All right, so let's find out
if you like these chicken and waffles.
Let's go.
So, Chef Evenson, I think you should explain to Giada
just what you've got here.
This is what I call summer on the south side.
What we have is a buttermilk fried chicken
with a nectarine waffle
and a hot sauce goat cheese butter.
CHEF DE LAURENTIIS: Okay.
Do you always peer over everybody's shoulder?
Yeah, yeah.
It's kind of a trademark thing.
Mm. Nice crunch.
Excellent.
And it's nicely cooked on the inside, too. Nice and moist.
Sometimes the chicken can be dry, but this isn't.
Good.
All right, the only thing I would say is the waffle.
It just seems very chewy and sort of dense.
Thank you.
CHEF KYLER: When I look at Chef Evenson's dish,
it looks like a train wreck.
I don't know if she's gonna be safe.
Hello, Chef La Salle.
Hi.
I think that perhaps you should explain your dish to Giada.
My dish is a chicken pâté
with Dijon mustard, sea salt, and a little bit of olive oil
and brown-butter waffles.
Okay.
Oh, don't do it! Don't do it! Don't eat it!
Well, I like the waffle. It's got a nice crunch to it.
It sort of has a little bit of a nutty flavor to it.
The chicken mousse, is that what you called it?
A pâté?
The problem with it is,
because there's no fat in it, it's very gritty.
I almost feel like if you're gonna do something
and reinvent the wheel a bit,
it's got to be spot-on, and it isn't quite spot-on.
Thank you.
Let's move on down the line.
CHEF EVENSON: I'm the one responsible
for Chef La Salle serving Giada De Laurentiis
chicken-in-a-can pâté.
I don't know what to say.
Chef Kyler, please tell Giada
about your version of chicken and waffles.
Okay, this is my version of healthy chicken and waffles.
The chicken is baked with a panko batter
to give it some crunch,
and I made a classic waffle with a Cognac maple syrup.
There's no crunch in anything,
not in the waffles, not in the chicken, not in anything.
But the chicken's well-seasoned.
It's cooked well inside, and it's got a nice flavor.
Thank you.
CHEF EVENSON: I know at this point
that the frying sabotage is really paying off.
He couldn't fry his chicken, and she knew it immediately.
All right, Giada, I'm curious.
Which chicken and waffles was your least favorite?
That was a tough one.
But, overall, I think I'm gonna have to eliminate...
All right, Giada, I'm curious.
Which chicken and waffles was your least favorite?
That was a tough one.
But, overall, I think I'm gonna have to eliminate...
...Chef La Salle.
I just couldn't get over the chicken pâté.
Chicken pâté.
So sorry, Chef La Salle,
but I'm gonna need that $15,000 back in the case.
CHEF LA SALLE: I really wish I would have spent more money
and that I could have been the one
to give that can of chicken to somebody else.
However, I'm very proud of all the work that I did put in.
You know, it really shows
that this hometown girl from Riverside/Moreno Valley
can just dig deep and give it to them.
Chef Evenson, Chef Kyler, congratulations on making it
to the final round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
This means everything to me to win this round
and to bring it home for the home cooks.
Here's what's a little different in this round.
I'm going to assign you the dish.
You will do your traditional 60-second shop,
but then you will directly go into your cooking phase,
and I will auction off some wonderful items
during the cooking.
So, what you're gonna make in half an hour
is a perfect and delicious fruit crumble.
Yes!
CHEF KYLER: I love fruit crumble.
We call it back at home a dump cake.
So, I'm very confident going into this round.
But if Chef Evenson beat me, I would just be destroyed.
She's a home cook, and I'm a bona fide chef,
so I can't lose.
Your 60 seconds, chefs, begins now.
Think it through, chefs.
CHEF EVENSON: I immediately see bananas,
so I grab that because I want to make a banana crumble.
I also grab a wide variety of toppings for my crumble
because you never know what's going to happen in the future.
ALTON: Chefs, 30 seconds,
and then your cook time will begin immediately.
I want to put blueberries in it, apples, Prosecco,
and give it a nice flavor.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
And your cooking begins now.
So, I need to go ahead and start my compote,
Chefs!
...Alton comes with the first sabotage.
I circled the globe collecting these formidable fruits.
Win this auction, and you can swap
all of your opponent's fruits for these exotic delights.
I got some mangosteen here, some dragon fruit,
some starfruit, some cactus pear.
I have this perfect crumble in my head.
I don't want to give up my fruits.
$3,000.
$3,000 is the current high bid, ma'am.
I would love to see him sweat with that.
$3,100 going once.
$3,100 going twice.
$3,700.
$3,700 is the high bid. How about $3,800?
I got my $3,800.
How about $3,900?
$3,900?
I don't want to spend all my money.
I want to save it for the last sabotage.
Going for $3,800 once. Going for $3,800 twice.
Sold for $3,800 to Chef Evenson.
Yes!
Set that down. Chef, I need you to take all that fruit out
and put all that fruit in.
So, I go ahead and start breaking down the dragon fruit
'cause they just have a lighter flavor.
So, I use the Prosecco,
and I added a lot of sugar to help sweeten it up.
I'd dump that dragon fruit because it's crap,
and nobody actually likes to eat it.
But I have a knack for making anything taste delicious, so...
Do you have that knack?
Yes.
Quince is similar to an apple.
It's a little bit more tart, so I'm going to caramelize these
and add it into my reduction of dragon fruit.
ALTON: Chefs, you're under the halfway point now.
Less than 15 minutes.
CHEF EVENSON: I start chopping up my bananas,
and I get some orange juice in there
to start making my filling,
and I make a crumb mixture with some different nuts
and also some flour and sugar.
And frankly, I feel home free at this point.
Chefs!
I think you would agree that oats are a pivotal ingredient --
The top crust, or streusel, of a true crunchy, delicious crumble.
If you win this,
you'll be able to force your opponent to use the oatmeal.
Who'd like to give me $500?
You'll give me $5,000?
Will you go $5,100, ma'am?
$5,500.
$5,500 is the high bid, sir, and she has it.
Would you like to go $5,600?
Oh, yeah, let's go $6,000, baby.
$6,000 is the high bid.
CHEF EVENSON: I stop bidding because I'm thinking,
if I put strawberries into the oatmeal
with a little bit of toffee,
maybe I can create something that tastes great.
Going once for $6,000. Going twice for $6,000.
Sold for $6,000.
You have won this bowl of oatmeal,
which she will have to use for her topping.
There's your change. Thank you much.
I have some strawberries.
I'm going to add that to the oatmeal,
add some of the toffee that I still have.
And I'm just throwing it on top of this crumble
and putting it into the oven to get that perfect crisp top.
CHEF KYLER: So, now that my compote is cooking,
I start on my crumble.
I add flour, brown sugar,
white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
And I immediately get my fruit compote in a ramekin
and add my crust to the top.
And I got to get it into the oven
because it takes time to bake and form a nice crust.
Chefs, you have 10 minutes.
What you making there, Chef?
You're making an ice cream?
...to go with my crumble.
Of course you are.
I don't really have anything to give it a good flavor
except for sugar and cinnamon,
and I don't have much time to put it in the ice cream maker,
so I thought, "Hmm, I've worked with liquid nitrogen before."
Let me grab that.
I'm a little nervous.
I hope it's okay to be this close.
You're very welcome. [ Laughs ]
Thank you.
It didn't have too much flavor, but it still was creamy.
I'm not even so sure what I'm eating.
ALTON: 90 seconds, chefs.
Something smells good.
CHEF EVENSON: I plate my crumble,
and I think that it's going to give more of a punch of flavor
than Chef Kyler's dish.
ALTON: One minute!
CHEF KYLER: I'm really, really happy with my fruit crumble,
but I'm not that happy with my ice cream,
so I just hope it's good enough to win this competition.
4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Challenge over. Step away from your board.
CHEF EVENSON: Given what I was given with the oatmeal,
I think I may have pulled it off.
I'm not having oatmeal tomorrow.
[ Both laugh ]
So, chefs, please bring your plates up.
What's on the plate is fruit crumble.
Dessert time.
Absolutely.
CHEF KYLER: I'm a little worried about my ice cream
because it's kind of just like frozen cream.
Chef Kyler, would you mind telling Giada about your dish?
Yes, that is an exotic fruit crumble.
It has quince in it and dragon fruit.
And I did a molecular ice cream,
so it's intended to put the ice cream on top and dig in.
Let me just taste this, and then we'll do it.
I want to see the consistency.
So, you thought you would trick her
with that old "cover your crumble with ice cream" routine.
[ Laughs ]
She's smarter than that.
Mm.
All right, I'm gonna try your version here, okay?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
I will tell you that I do like the crust.
Okay.
The fruit inside, flavorful.
I would have put a little more acid in it, okay?
It's sweet, and it's just teetering on too sweet.
With the ice cream on top,
it kind of takes it to another level.
I actually prefer it without the ice cream, to be honest.
CHEF EVENSON: Giada did not seem to enjoy Chef Kyler's ice cream,
so I feel confident.
Thank you.
All right, Chef Evenson,
please tell Giada about your fruit crumble.
Sure. Chef, this is a banana and strawberry breakfast crumble.
That's it. Okay.
That's it.
Good enough. Simple. I like simple.
The best thing about crumbles
is that they have a nice, crispy topping
that sort of offsets the creaminess on the inside
and the fruit flavor.
This all seems sort of the same texture.
I have to say that I usually don't like bananas in my food.
I like them just on their own,
but you might have changed my mind.
I feel that I do have a chance to win
and to bring this home for the home cooks.
All right, Giada, you have desserted, so to speak,
and now it is time for you to decide
who produced your favorite fruit crumble
and will, therefore, be leaving here with a bundle of cash
or who did not and will be just leaving.
CHEF KYLER: It's been an uphill battle of me and Chef Evenson
in this whole competition,
and I just don't know if my dish has enough to beat hers.
I truly enjoy fruit crumble, and I think that both of you
did an interesting job with the fruit.
But the chef whose fruit crumble I thought won me over was...
...Chef Kyler.
And truly, it's the topping.
It was all about the crispy topping.
Congratulations, Chef Kyler. Chef Evenson, I'm sorry.
That means that the remainder of your cash,
I'm going to need it put back in the case, ma'am.
I'm very, very sorry to have that come back.
Yes, I'm sorry.
If I hadn't gotten that darn oatmeal,
I think I could have pulled it out in the end.
Thank you, ma'am.
I wanted to come here
and prove that there are some top-notch home cooks
who are just as competitive and just as fierce as chefs.
But I was out-crumbled.
Well, Chef Kyler, congratulations.
In the end, you earned it, and there it is.
Giada, come on over. Shake this man's hand.
Thank you so much.
That was a good crumble.
This is "Cutthroat Kitchen."
We don't hug in "Cutthroat Kitchen."
[ Laughs ]
I came, I saw, and I conquered.
I beat all the chefs.
This proves right here that I'm on the right track.
I'm seasoned, I'm talented,
and I'm definitely the champion of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
[ Laughs ]
Ah!
ALTON: Hungry for more "Cutthroat Kitchen"? Go to...