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I have $100,000
of cold hard cash in this case.
4 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.
Don't hate the player. Hate the game.
Watch yourself.
In a game where sabotage is not only encouraged...
...forcing them to do their cooking
on the smallest cast-iron stove I could find.
No way.
...it's for sale.
$7,700.
$8,000.
ALTON: It's a game we like to call...
[ Laughs ]
..."Cutthroat Kitchen."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
CHEF AARON: I'm Chef Aaron.
I work for Wagyu Ranch in Spokane, Washington.
After I graduated from college,
I tried to do some modeling and acting,
and I didn't love it,
and I wanted to do something that I truly loved,
and cooking has always been that for me.
I want to get to a point where I'm not known as being
an underwear model.
I want to be known as just the chef.
CHEF NICK: I'm Chef Nick.
I'm an executive chef at Jack's Mississippi.
I'm a chef and a farmer.
I'm still on the farm every single weekend.
I raise my cattle, I grow my vegetables,
and I put it on a plate.
That's all you need?
This is authentic Japanese steel, man.
Yeah?
I love America.
Oh, you're gonna play that card, huh?
Okay.
CHEF TODD: I'm Chef Todd.
I'm creative director at tastingtable.com
in Manhattan, New York.
Even though I haven't been cooking professionally
for the past 15 years,
I want to prove that I still have the chops.
I write. I shoot video. I take stills. I tell stories.
So, Chef Todd, maybe you can take my picture
and write a cool story of me winning "Cutthroat Kitchen."
CHEF T.J.: I'm Chef T.J., and I'm an executive chef
in the Alaska bush.
Ladies.
I am an exceedingly competitive person,
and I came to show you
that bush chefs can cook in Hollywood, too.
So, you a model or a chef down there, GQ?
Hey, I'm just gonna sit down here and kick your ***.
So cute. He was serious.
[ Laughs ]
Hiya, Chefs! Welcome to "Cutthroat Kitchen."
What's up, Alton?
I scare you a little?
CHEF NICK: Little bit.
You're about to take part in a culinary competition.
There will be three rounds.
At the end of each round, one of you will be eliminated.
At the beginning of each round, I will assign a dish.
You will then have 60 seconds to shop
for every single thing you need
in our "Cutthroat Kitchen" pantry.
After that, we're gonna have ourselves a little auction.
I will offer up some devilishly delicious devices
that, should you win, you could use
to cause your opponents discomfort.
Of course, if you're going to be in an auction,
you're gonna need some money, and I happen to have right here
$100,000 of cold, hard cash.
Each of you will receive 25,000 of these dollars.
Those are yours to use throughout the competition.
But listen -- at the end of the day,
someone is gonna walk out of here victorious,
but you will only walk out
with the money you still have remaining,
so spend wisely.
Two bundles, if you please.
Two. Try not to make a mess.
Yeah, I'm making a mess. Sorry.
'Cause you've never handled that much money before.
I understand.
Chef Nick, back up. I'll come to you.
Go ahead, Chef Nick. Two bundles.
That's $25,000.
Chef Todd, two bundles.
And, Chef T.J., the last two are for you.
Having $25,000 in my hands feels so good.
But I'm not in this to win money.
I'm in this to win.
ALTON: Believe it or not, most of that cash is gonna be
returning to this case
throughout the course of the competition.
Now, let's get down to business.
Round 1 -- I'm gonna give you 30 nice, long minutes
to prepare a perfect...
...chili-cheese dog.
Yes.
CHEF T.J.: Really?
I haven't made chili that wasn't moose chili in years.
So, let's not mess around.
Your 60-second shopping time begins now!
Welcome, one and all.
To make a good chili-cheese dog, you need a good chili,
and I'm searching for a good wiener
and smoked mozzarella.
I think it eats very well, and it's so creamy.
30 seconds remaining. 30 seconds.
CHEF TODD: I grab buns, cheese, spices, onion, chilies, peppers.
Making a chili in 30 minutes? No problem.
ALTON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Phew.
CHEF T.J.: I get back to my station. I look through my basket.
No cheese for the chili-cheese dog.
ALTON: Well, let's see if we can't shake some things up here
with our auction.
See what we got.
A toolbox.
Ah.
Ahh.
Chefs, we're bringing back an icon
here in "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Bring it out, boys.
Yeah, bring it out.
Why, look.
It's my build-a-kitchen shopping cart.
Win this auction, and you can force one of your competitors
to give up everything
except for the contents of this toolbox, which is
full of wonderful, good stuff, and this shopping cart.
I'm gonna also say that if you win,
you can assign another chef this blowtorch
to use as their sole source of heat
throughout the entire round.
CHEF TODD: A blow torch.
It's not that big of a deal,
but the shopping cart is a house of horrors.
I have to win this.
$5,000.
$5,000 to Chef Todd.
$5,100.
$5,100 to Chef Nick.
$8,000.
Just gonna jump up? Fine.
It's your money.
$8,000 is too much.
Going once for $8,000.
Twice for $8,000.
Sold to Chef Todd for $8,000.
Sir, bring me my money.
Chef Todd is gonna blow his whole load on this one sabotage.
Idiot.
Thank you. [ Chuckles ]
I guess I'm gonna have to bring back the farmer in me.
I'm gonna have to create something.
ALTON: All right, very well.
Who's going to be cooking solely with this torch?
CHEF TODD: Hmm.
[ Clicks tongue ]
Yes. Thank you.
Whatever.
Let's see what our next item up for auction will be.
Why, look.
We got some freezer-burned hot dogs.
Nasty.
CHEF T.J.: I'm from Alaska.
I can work with frozen food all day long.
As if that weren't bad enough,
I'm about to pile on a whole lot more.
Bring it in, boys.
[ Laughing evilly ]
God.
Thanks, fellas.
An entire freezer-burnt pantry.
Look at all of the fabulous items we have inside here.
CHEF T.J.: That freezer has cheese,
and I want one of the other chefs
to get it and sabotage me with it.
Win this auction, and you can force one chef to give up,
forfeit their entire shopping basket
for this freezer-burnt nightmare.
CHEF AARON: How am I gonna cook frozen food with a blow torch in 30 minutes?
I'm gonna spend some money on this.
CHEF NICK: $3,100.
$3,100. Chef Nick was next. How about --
$6,000.
$6,000!
$8,000.
$8,100?
$8,100? $8,100?
$8,000's current high bid.
$8,000 going once. Going twice.
Sold to Chef Nick for $8,000.
CHEF T.J.: I really need cheese.
Please give me the freezer. Please.
All for you, baby.
That sucks.
Chili-cheese dog. 30 minutes.
Make them good.
Make them fast.
Make them now!
Ah, crap.
How's that kitchen coming along, dude?
It's coming.
Chef Todd gives me this grocery cart.
Now I have to put the station together.
All right, I'm gonna hook this basket up
to the inside of this cart,
and I'm actually gonna put my Sternos there.
I think that's a safe place.
I'm gonna place the sheet metal on top of the Sternos.
My next step -- cutting onions with a putty knife.
Need them to actually sweat down.
And my next step -- I need to put the hot dogs on.
And I'm looking over there at Chef Todd.
I'm like, "You know what?
I'm gonna get you back for this."
Frozen beans? [ Laughs ]
The challenge of working with frozen ingredients is --
duh -- they're frozen.
Oh!
Crank up a skillet to its highest heat,
and I dump the meat in there.
I'm throwing the hot dogs into the deep fryer.
I'm throwing the chilies and spices
into the boiling water on the range.
The next step is grating the cheese,
which is frozen, but it makes it easier to grate.
I grab a sheet tray.
Have this idea to make a cheddar-cheese crisp,
also called a frico, as a cool textural element.
How's it going over here?
[ Pumps torch ] Yeah, dude. Stay away.
I will burn the hair off your face!
[ Laughs ]
Chef Todd gave me this blowtorch.
Thank you, Chef Todd.
Yeah, so, today, I'm making a chili-cheese dog
with a smoked hanger steak, some avocado,
and then, of course, my cheddar cheese.
So, I start off with cutting up onions and peppers.
I dice them up small, throw them into my pot,
a little bit of hot water,
and then I hit it with the blowtorch.
Oh, my God.
Oh, there is some sizzle. I got some sizzle!
Though my initial plan of attack
for keeping this blowtorch on my chili is
to just shove the blowtorch between my legs and I waddle.
Do you have any idea how funny that looks from here?
Yeah, I know, right?
Okay.
I do.
Take that, MacGyver.
So, to make my chili, the first thing I do is
I start chopping up some fresh onions
and some fresh peppers and get those sautéing.
And then I add dry chilies, fresh chilies,
and then ground meat.
And I have no cheese,
but all of the other chefs have
some pretty bad sabotages to deal with,
and I'm hoping that the playing field is
a little leveled out now.
ALTON: Hey, Chefs. Can I have your attention?
Listen up.
Win this auction, and you can force one of your opponents
to stop everything they're doing
until they build me 20 fully loaded hot dogs
with all the fixings here on this cart.
Oh, good grief.
That sounds terrible.
CHEF NICK: I think that's perfect.
Chef Todd, I want you to stop everything you're doing
with all your freezer-burnt ingredients,
and I want you to go over there and make 20 hot dogs.
ALTON: Who will give me $500?
ALTON: Win this auction, and you can force
one of your opponents to stop everything they're doing
until they build me 20 fully loaded hot dogs
with all the fixings here on this cart.
This can't happen to me, so I decide to bid heavily.
$5,000.
$5,000 to Chef Todd.
CHEF AARON: I don't want anything to do with this.
I am hiding.
I'm hoping to God that they just forget I'm in this kitchen.
$5,300, Chef Nick.
Who will give me $5,400?
$7,000 is current high bid.
$7,200.
That's a little too expensive for 20 hot dogs.
$11,000.
$11,000 is current high bid.
Going once. Going twice.
CHEF T.J.: I thought, "Maybe he wants that hot-dog cart
to get Nick back."
So I let it go.
Sold to Chef Todd for $11,000.
I'm gonna take my money, Chef, and you're gonna tell me
who's gonna stop everything and come make me 20 hot dogs.
T.J.!
Chef T.J., everything stops right now, ma'am.
Oh. [ Chuckles ]
I would like for you to make me now 20 hot dogs,
and I want them in their little baskets,
and just roll them up right here.
This is going to take forever.
ALTON: 14 minutes.
Chef Todd gives me this grocery cart.
I'm actually gonna cook the dogs inside the chili
and then use this cap again to melt the cheese.
Growing up on a farm makes me creative,
and this right here is gonna show the farmer in me.
I'm cooking the chili right there at the corner.
I just hope that I can get it very level
just so all my stout beer don't spill off.
So next step, I add smoked mozzarella to my chili.
I feel very confident about this.
Mmm.
Chef T.J., how's that going?
Oh, God.
I am losing my mind.
The clock is tick, tick, ticking,
and I'm still making hot dogs.
[ Chuckles ]
CHEF TODD: Chef Nick gave me
a freezer full of freezer-burnt ingredients.
Everything from the spices to the meat to the buns
were rock-hard.
Great.
So, I thaw them out.
I'm frying onions and spices.
I add some chopped-up tomatoes.
When the meat's ready, I just dump it in.
I pull the cheese crisps out of the oven,
and they're nicely browned on the side.
They're gonna provide a great textural contrast
to the hot dog.
ALTON: 6 minutes, 30 seconds.
CHEF T.J.: Alton, done.
Yeah, you're done. 20 hot dogs. Nicely done.
I'm probably gonna sell these, just so you know.
There's not even 10 minutes left.
I chop up some red onion and toss them in a little flour
and throw them in the fryer
to make a topping for the chili dog.
I throw the hot dogs on the grill
and my beans and my spices.
I'm really gonna have to make this chili-cheese dog
the best chili dog without cheese
anybody's ever had.
Alton, can you hold this for me?
Yeah.
No.
Come on, dude!
Hook a brother up.
Chef Todd gave me this blowtorch.
Damn you!
[ Laughs ]
So, I put the pot on the metal plate,
just lay the blowtorch on my station
so it's hitting the side of the pan.
Hey!
I've got to get my meat
onto this little metal dish
so I can start cooking it.
Throw that down on my plate, and I start to sizzle,
and I just start firing away at this meat.
So I chop away, throw that in the chili.
I take my hot dogs, throw it on the metal plate,
and start to barbecue away with my blowtorch.
So, I decided to think outside the bun.
You know, maybe a little color, little bit of green.
I like avocado.
Why not healthy it up a little bit?
ALTON: Two minutes.
I put down my hot dog.
I put some chili on it, my crispy onion strings.
It's looking as good
as a chili-cheese dog without cheese is gonna look.
CHEF NICK: I'm plating up my dish.
Then I decide the chili should be fragranced
with sage and cilantro.
These greens are gonna add great flavor.
ALTON: Chefs, you got 10, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1.
Time's up! Challenge over! Back away from the board.
ALTON: Simon. How are you, sir?
Alton, good to see you again.
Chefs, allow me to introduce our judge for the day.
This is Mr. Simon Majumdar,
close personal friend and colleague.
He's an accomplished culinary writer.
So, Simon, chili-cheese dogs.
Fantastic.
I am a huge fan of encased-meat sandwiches.
Well, we got some here today.
Now, Simon has been sequestered in a sound-proof area.
He knows nothing about your sabotages,
doesn't know what you've had to endure, doesn't care.
He only cares, in fact, about three things.
Tell them the three things.
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Does it remind me of a chili-cheese dog?
Ah.
Let's find out if they do.
Pleasure.
Chef Aaron, please tell Simon about your take
on the chili-cheese dog.
All right, so, what we have for you is
a smoked-hanger chili
with a little bit of avocado and cheddar cheese.
Chef, the sausage is right.
It's got that little snap that I expect from a hot dog.
But not sure I necessarily need the avocado in that.
I'm not sure it's adding anything.
Let's not confuse healthy eating with a hot dog.
Let's move on down the line.
Thank you, Chef.
CHEF AARON: Healthy? Yeah, I'm healthy.
Well, Jesus, look at me.
Good to meet you.
Chef Nick, tell your tale.
Well, we got a beef frank on our chili-cheese dog,
and the chili is actually a sage and cilantro chili,
has smoked mozzarella in it.
I really like the use of the smoked mozzarella.
It's an unusual choice
but actually works really, really well.
What doesn't work well is the sage and the cilantro.
Those flavors really take over.
This is just adding all kinds of wrong flavors.
I'm afraid your chili doesn't have enough flavor
to stand up to it,
so all I'm getting is cilantro and sage,
and they're really strong.
Thank you very much, Chef.
Let's move on down the line.
Chef Todd, tell your tale.
CHEF TODD: This is a chili-cheese dog with regular cheese on top
and a cheddar frico for a little bit of texture.
Chef, the chili is actually fantastic.
It's got great flavor.
There's a lot of heat through there, which I like.
You got great textures.
You've got some bite to the meat.
But I'm not altogether certain
about this parmesan crisp.
I think it's an interesting idea,
but I don't think it's very successful.
Thank you, Chef.
And thank you, Chef. Thank you Chef.
Let's move on down the line, Chef.
How did he make good chili with all that frozen food?
Maybe he is a chef.
Chef T.J., please tell Simon about your chili-cheese dog.
CHEF T.J.: I made old-fashioned three-chili dog
with red onion and some little peppers.
Have some really good flavors coming through in the chili.
You've got some good flavors coming through in the hot dog.
Having said that,
I am really missing the cheese in there.
I think it really needs a good dollop of cheese
to really bring that to life.
Thanks, Chef.
Thank you, Chef. Let's step over here, Simon.
CHEF T.J.: Judge Simon doesn't like Chef Aaron's avocado,
doesn't sound happy with Chef Nick's either,
so maybe not having cheese won't be the worst mistake.
Well, Simon, time for one of these chefs to depart,
and it is up to you to decide who that is going to be.
CHEF MAJUMDAR: I have to eliminate...
Well, Simon, time for one of these chefs to depart,
and it is up to you to decide who that is going to be.
Chefs, you all gave me elements of a chili-cheese dog
that I really, really like,
but this one's pretty clear to me,
and I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
...T.J.
Chef, there are three elements in a chili-cheese dog,
and if you're missing one,
the rest had better be perfect, and it really wasn't.
Sorry, Chef T.J.
I'm afraid I'm gonna need that cash back in this case.
Self sabotage.
It happens.
Thank you very much, ma'am.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
I haven't cooked a wiener ever. Not even once.
And then I missed cheese for the chili-cheese dog.
That would've been important.
So, I got my wiener cooked today,
but, you know, what do you do?
Chefs, congratulations on surviving to this,
the second round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
For you, the competition continues immediately.
I'm gonna give you 30 minutes to make fettuccine Alfredo.
CHEF AARON: You know how many calories
are in fettuccine Alfredo?
So I don't ever eat this stuff, but I do know how to make it.
You got the grocery list in mind,
so your 60 seconds of shopping begins now.
CHEF NICK: I know I'm gonna get my fettuccine.
That's a gimme.
I decided not to get cream or milk
because I'm actually gonna do a veggie stock first,
fold in with the goat cheese at the end
so it can be a lot creamier.
I'm just bringing back my roots.
This is what I'm used to.
ALTON: 30 seconds.
CHEF TODD: Fettuccine Alfredo's all about the sauce,
so I'm gonna make the flour-thickened cream sauce
that everyone knows and loves.
3, 2, 1.
Hmm, I'll be very interested to see how the auction items
affect what you chefs are going to do.
Let's see what we have.
Ah!
It's my pasta art supplies.
What the...?
ALTON: So, allow me to present my newest work.
I call it "Logo in Moonlight."
CHEF TODD: That's supposed to be a work of art.
But it looks like something from kindergarten to me.
ALTON: Win this auction, and you can confiscate
both of your opponents' pasta
and force them to harvest it from this masterpiece.
I'd rather be cooking. I'll let them do the scraping.
$4,000.
$4,000. $4,100?
CHEF TODD: It's not gonna be a problem.
I can just pop that pasta right off the canvas.
$4,500.
$4,500. How about $4,600?
$4,700.
$5,000.
How about $5,100?
CHEF AARON: I'm not scared.
Encased in flour glue?
That can't be that tough.
Sold! $5,000.
Yes.
Excellent. I will count out your change.
Do me a favor and take this fine work of art
over to the easel so that your opponents
will be able to harvest their pasta
while you -- we'll use the word "easily," but it won't be.
[ Chuckles ]
Guys, happy scraping to you.
Gentlemen, I have one more item up for auction,
and I think you're gonna like it.
A bunch of dried pasta.
Huh.
What?
Win this item,
and you can force one of your opponents
to use these pieces of pasta as their only knives, utensils,
and hand tools for the entire challenge.
It's like a nightmare.
Yeah, and it's gonna happen.
Noodle tools?
Like, I've got chicken.
How am I gonna even take apart my bird with noodles?
It's impossible.
$2,000.
Obviously, one person here has got some vision
of how hellish this could actually be.
I got $5,500. How about $5,600?
$7,000.
I don't bid at all. I am just stunned.
I'm almost paralyzed, hoping it doesn't come to me.
$8,000.
I have an $8,500 bid now.
Would you like to go $8,600?
CHEF NICK: I'll let Chef Aaron have this one,
because you know what?
I want Aaron to spend all his money.
Aaron, I want you to lose.
Sold to Chef Aaron for $8,500.
Come on over, sir, and bring me some cash.
Boom! Yes!
This is all they get to use as tools, knives, hand utensils.
I got it.
Aah! It's a terrible thing to do to another person,
so do it slowly, and make it especially painful.
CHEF NICK: I came to "Cutthroat Kitchen" with my gorgeous set of knives.
Hmm.
I'm just hoping, hoping that it doesn't come to me.
I'm not gonna be able to cut through my ingredients
with a lasagna noodle.
This is all they get to use as tools.
It's a terrible thing to do to another person,
so do it slowly, and make it especially painful.
Hmm.
Hmm?
You shouldn't have bid me up.
Enjoy.
If I can get through a mobile kitchen unit
that I can design, I can get through this.
Pasta knives? Bring it.
ALTON: Keep in mind, you've got 30 minutes
to make fettuccine Alfredo.
I'm sure that's more than enough time,
so let's get it on.
Your cooking time begins now.
CHEF TODD: I unpack the fastest
so I can immediately get over to the board
before Aaron does to start taking pasta off.
Speedy Gonzales back there, man.
I realize the pasta's stuck on really, really hard.
It's shattering into bits.
Oh, my God, this is garbage.
This might be a whole lot more Alfredo than fettuccine.
CHEF AARON: The pasta's just coming off in little shards,
and this is not gonna work.
Aah!
Maybe I picked the wrong thing to bid on.
Oh, my God.
Because this is a lot, lot harder than I thought.
Y'all are probably loving me now, right?
[ Laughs ]
Oh, my God, I'm gonna kill you!
Y'all look so attractive doing that together.
First thing I do is take the pancetta,
put it on the stove
with a little bit of extra *** olive oil.
I want to go ahead and start making a stock
with this rendered fat.
Get my trusty utensils over here.
Never thought I was gonna be stirring up pork
with some pasta.
Actually attempt to take my noodle knives
to cut my portobello mushrooms.
This is not working, so I start tearing them.
It's not.
No.
At all.
Nothing.
Y'all enjoying that?
[ Laughs ]
I've got enough pasta for my dish.
Let's just be done with this already.
So, we're gonna make a classic chicken fettuccine Alfredo.
Gonna just pan-sear this, roast it in the oven.
So, I get two *** out of the bird.
I get them in a pan, throw in some butter,
some rosemary, some garlic,
flip them over, and it just goes right in the oven.
ALTON: Chefs, you're under the halfway point now.
Less than 15 minutes.
Oh, Lord.
Just looking for anything that'll come off at this point.
You haven't really started cooking yet, have you?
No, Alton.
I finally get one portion of pasta off.
I take the pasta over to the sink,
and I start to rinse this edible glue off of it.
Next, I salt the water and I put my pasta in there,
and I start gently separating it.
You're the devil. [ Laughs ]
I like fettuccine Alfredo with no cream,
with just a stock base off the fat of that pancetta.
And I'm actually gonna mold in goat cheese
and a hard cheese at the end, and extra *** olive oil.
This is the way I like to eat it.
This is my roots.
So, Chef Nick's been counting on using this goat cheese
to kind of creamy up his sauce.
Problem is is the more you cook it,
the more moisture is driven away from that cheese,
and it just gets pasty.
What Chef Nick should really do is get all the cheese in
and then add some pasta water to it.
That would make everything nice and creamy.
Never, ever waste the pasta water.
He's sweating over there now.
[ Laughs ]
I'm gonna make a more complicated sauce
in order to make up for the broken pasta.
I decide I'm gonna make an American-style fettuccine sauce.
So I make a roux
with a little bit of butter and flour,
and then I add milk and cream, whisking that in.
I add a little piece of pancetta
to give it a kind of salty, cured under note.
ALTON: Chefs, you have 8 1/2 minutes.
CHEF AARON: I've sort of run a little short on time,
so I get the pasta in ASAP.
In goes my pasta bits.
And I need to get working on this sauce.
I just start melting some butter,
emulsify that butter
with some of the pasta water that I have,
and I take a big handful
of that yummy parmesan cheese, toss her in.
[ Groans ]
I'm sort of spazzing out a little bit.
[ Warbles ]
And I'm hoping to God that this gets done in time.
I'm looking at you with those tongs.
I'm getting jealous, man.
I could not stir up my pasta because the pasta would
just break or get limp.
What happens when your noodles go limp?
Is it a lot like home?
[ Laughs ]
All the pasta's sticking together,
so I have to do some separation here.
The next step -- adding the pasta into the cream sauce.
I'm not sure if this is gonna be creamy enough for the judge.
But you know what? My pasta is rich.
My sauce is sticking to the pasta.
It's perfect.
1 minute, 45 seconds.
CHEF TODD: I'm dying 'cause my pasta is terrible.
Terrible, terrible, terrible.
I make a bowl with a little bit of pasta water in it.
I put the pasta in that,
and I pour my sauce over that
and toss it and toss it and toss it.
I grab a small little bowl
because I only have a little bit of pasta
and pour the sauce over the top.
ALTON: If you're not plating right now, you're in the weeds.
6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1.
Time's up! Challenge is over!
Back away from the board.
Simon. Welcome.
How do you feel about fettuccine Alfredo?
Shouldn't be able to go too far wrong
with butter and parmesan, I would hope.
I would hope not. Let's find out.
Let's find out.
Chef Aaron, tell Simon all about your fettuccine Alfredo.
We have an authentic fettuccine Alfredo
with a pan-roasted chicken breast.
Chef, the taste of the sauce is terrific.
It's got just the right texture.
It's got beautiful creaminess, a slight butteriness.
It's exactly what I want.
Pasta is slightly undercooked.
I like mine al dente.
That's got just a little bit too much bite on it for me.
I don't think you necessarily need to add
any protein to fettuccine Alfredo.
Yeah.
And, Chef, your chicken is cooked right.
It's really, really delicious.
Let's move on down the line.
CHEF AARON: Cooked perfectly, he says.
Well, no duh.
Boom! Nailed it.
Chef Nick, tell your tale.
CHEF NICK: We have fettuccine Alfredo.
I rendered some pancetta fat.
We did goat and parm inside the sauce,
and we just did some seasonal vegetable --
portobellos and heirloom tomatoes.
There's not enough sauce.
I mean, I think that's the first thing to say.
It should be creamy.
The pasta should be almost just swimming
Okay.
Your pasta is actually cooked perfectly.
The flavors are really good,
and I do like the fact that you've used mushrooms in there.
They give it a beautiful earthiness.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you, Chef. Let's move on down the line.
CHEF TODD: Chef Nick's dish doesn't have enough sauce.
That's what happens when you don't use
butter, cream, or milk
when you're making an Alfredo sauce.
Chef Todd, tell Simon about your dish.
CHEF TODD: I'm calling this
the American-style fettuccine Alfredo.
Very, very creamy with no embellishment,
more cheese on the side.
Did that as a little touch.
Actually, the consistency of your pasta is spot-on.
It's just got that little al dente.
It's got that bite that I'm looking for,
and the creaminess of it is perfect.
But your sauce is very salty.
There's a lot of salt coming through on that.
Thank you very much, Chef.
Simon, let's step over this way.
Chef Todd. It's too salty.
You can always add, but you never can take away.
I'm feeling good now.
All right, Simon, I have one too many chefs here.
Only two can go into the final round,
and you have to decide.
It was a really close call,
but I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
All right, Simon, I have one too many chefs here.
Only two can go into the final round,
and you have to decide.
It was a really close call,
but I'm gonna have to eliminate Chef...
...Nick.
I'm sorry, but fettuccine Alfredo
really needs lots of great sauce,
and yours just didn't have it.
I understand, Chef.
Chef Nick, sorry to see you go, sir,
but I'm afraid I'm gonna need that cash
back in this case.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
I feel terrible about coming home empty-handed.
That damn cream cost me.
Next time, I'm just gonna stick to the basics.
Chefs, congratulations on surviving to this --
the final round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
CHEF AARON: Boom! I made it.
I'm stoked. I'm over the moon.
I've got this thing.
Chef Todd, he's getting every sabotage thrown his way.
CHEF TODD: I'm going up against Chef Aaron --
the pretty boy, the former underwear model,
the marketing manager.
How on Earth did he make it this far?
You're going to have 30 minutes to make crêpe Suzette.
Ah.
Yes!
In case you can't remember,
it's crêpes with an orange liqueur sauce,
typically flambéed, folded, served as dessert,
very often in a country called France.
So, let's not beat around the bush, gentlemen.
Your shopping time -- 60 seconds -- begins...now.
Crêpe Suzette -- I mean, I know what it is,
but I've never made one.
I know I need flour, eggs, butter, Grand Marnier, oranges.
We're good to go.
Your cook time begins in 30 seconds.
CHEF TODD: I grab eggs, blood oranges, cognac, and orange liqueur.
This dish is gonna be a cinch.
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
And your cooking time begins now.
CHEF AARON: I start taking stuff out of my basket and I realize,
"Damn, I didn't get any milk."
All I have is cream.
Well, I guess we're gonna make a crêpe Suzette with cream.
So, I've got to thin this out some way.
So, I just start adding water to it.
ALTON: Um, chefs.
You know, here in Cutthroat Kitchen,
there's no room for laziness,
and one of you is about to prove it
when you work on my lazy-Suzette cook station.
[ Laughs ]
Win this auction, and you can force your opponent
to work exclusively on this wheel of wonder.
So, as you work, you will have to be in continuous motion
because this thing never, ever stops.
[ Laughs ]
$900.
$900. How about $1,000?
$1,000.
How about $1,000? $1,000.
You have $1,100? $1,100?
I'm resigned to the fact that it's coming to me
because I have hardly any money left.
Great.
$1,000 going once.
$1,000 going twice.
Sold to Chef Aaron for $1,000.
Really, $1,000?
[ Chuckles ]
CHEF AARON: Hey, Chef Todd, you ever deejayed before?
Because it's time to start spinning some nasty beats.
You're on that lazy Suzette.
CHEF TODD: My brain hurts.
Not only is the table's rotation changing intensity,
but all the equipment is bolted down.
Can't lift it up at all.
Dude, that sucks!
So, I get to work,
and I'm walking alongside the table while it rotates,
cracking eggs with one hand, getting my batter going.
And then I add milk and a little bit of flour
so that it's a very thin batter,
which is the classic way to make a crêpe batter.
I start to make my sauce.
Whisk together orange juice, sugar, cognac,
tasting as I go along, trying to find that balance of flavor.
But I'm trying to cook
while becoming ever-increasingly dizzy.
Insane.
It's like an amusement ride.
Don't throw up over there.
[ Chuckles ]
CHEF AARON: So, the crêpe Suzette sauce is --
I mean, it's really simple --
Butter, sugar, I get a caramel going.
I add a little Grand Marnier, catches on fire -- a flambé.
Whoo!
Burn off that alcohol, and we add in the orange juice,
and we've got a sauce.
Tastes good.
ALTON: 20 minutes!
Call that a crêpe?
Oh, my gosh.
What is that?
You've got no sabotages... and that's your crêpe?
That is my crêpe. It's crap.
I don't know what to do with you.
So, this crêpe pan, I can't get the temperature right,
so every time I put my crêpe batter in,
it's not cooking correctly,
and I just can't get a nice cook on it.
I need to get this thing at the right temperature,
and I just -- I can't find it.
Oh, my God.
Chefs, you may recall that I had a terrible time
with a special French pan
that I ordered for our crêpe challenge way back when.
We used it out of necessity, but I returned it immediately.
But unfortunately, made an error on my postage.
"Return to sender."
Shucks!
My sincerest apologies, but you know,
we're in this auction, and you can force your opponent
to do all their cooking in this seriously messed up pan.
CHEF AARON: It's horrific.
There's no way I'm getting this crêpe pan to cook with.
$1,100, please.
$1,100. Do I hear $1,200?
$2,000.
I got my $2,000.
$2,700.
$2,700. Do I hear $2,800?
$2,800.
$2,900.
At this point, I know he's gonna win,
but I'm just trying to make sure that he leaves
with the least amount of money as possible.
$4,800.
$4,900.
Going once. Going twice.
Sold to Chef Aaron for $4,900, and the pan is yours, sir.
Here it goes.
I'll let you give it to him,
'cause I don't really have the heart.
CHEF TODD: This is screwed up.
Very screwed up.
That's for all your cooking, Chef.
All of it here in this very kitchen.
All of my cooking?
All of your cooking while rotating.
[ Shudders ]
CHEF TODD: This pan is nuts.
The game, man.
It's cutthroat style.
What's better? Is this better?
I eventually have the idea
to take most of the pan off the heat
to level one part of it.
It's not perfect.
I pour the batter on and rotate the pan as I would normally,
and it goes through all these twists and turns,
but I'm able to peel off mostly what looks like a crêpe,
and I start to sort of fold it under itself,
making the little pouches that are almost crêpe-like.
Chef Todd, this will teach you to spend money wisely.
[ Laughs ]
It's not gonna happen. Talk to my parents.
ALTON: You have 5 minutes! 5 minutes remaining!
CHEF AARON: I'm monitoring my sauce.
My sauce looks good, it tastes good.
I add my orange supremes.
That is ready to go, but my crêpes look crappy.
Oh, my God!
Oh, dude, those don't look good.
I know.
I get my crêpes, I make the folds, I cut around the edges.
They look presentable.
They're a little underdone, but how bad can they be
compared to the other guy next to me?
I mean, he's working on a mangled crêpe pan.
ALTON: 2 minutes!
Shoot!
How am I gonna make this sauce?
I had pre-built it, but I had no way of really heating it,
so I arrange the pan hanging off the burner.
I put a little bowl underneath
and I poured the sauce onto the hot skillet
and let it sort of drain off into the bowl,
and I kept doing that repeatedly.
It heated it over and over and over again,
and it tasted like a really good crêpe Suzette sauce.
It's good. It tastes good. It tastes good.
It's not quite the consistency I want,
but with this pan,
this was way beyond what I expected to pull off.
ALTON: You have 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up! Challenge is over.
Back away from the board.
Voilà!
CHEF TODD: My stomach is in knots.
I'm so nervous. I want this so badly.
Oh, my God.
The last 10 minutes of this adventure didn't go so well.
I might not have this in the bag.
Simon, welcome back.
The subject is crêpe Suzette.
I love the smell of flambé in the evening.
Who doesn't?
Let's see what we have.
Gentlemen, please bring your dishes forward.
CHEF AARON: Nerves are just pouring out of me.
I want to go home with the title.
I want to be "Cutthroat Kitchen" champion.
Like, it's got to be me.
Getting to the final round is beyond my wildest dreams,
but at this point, I'm here.
I want to win.
So, Chef Aaron, tell Simon about your take on crêpe Suzette.
So, I've got just a classic crêpe Suzette.
Tangerines, navel oranges, and a Grand Marnier reduction.
CHEF MAJUMDAR: Chef, first of all,
I have to say it absolutely looks like a crêpe Suzette.
The plate is rather big,
but I think it's been beautifully presented,
and I do like the way that you folded your crêpes
just as they would do in any great Parisian restaurant.
The crêpes are a little bit more like
an American breakfast pancake than like a French crêpe.
Your sauce is absolutely the perfect consistency,
and it actually has really good flavors of the orange.
What it doesn't have is any of the ***,
and I think you needed to use a lot more of that liqueur.
Thank you.
CHEF TODD: Chef Aaron's crêpes are more like pancakes.
It should've been so easy for him,
and I'm starting to feel like I may win it.
Very well. Chef Todd, explain your dish to Simon.
This is my blood orange crêpe Suzette.
Has a little bit of zest, a rind in it,
as well as supremes of blood orange
with a very sweet cognac and orange liqueur sauce.
CHEF MAJUMDAR: Chef, I think that the plating's a little bit of a mess.
Your crêpes aren't particularly elegant,
but they are beautifully thin,
and the texture's actually perfect.
I think your sauce could've been reduced a lot more.
I'm looking for that syrupy consistency,
but the flavor of the *** absolutely comes through.
The blood orange is a really interesting choice.
I haven't seen that before, but I think it really works.
The flavor of them has really gone into the sauce,
and you've cooked them down properly so they're not raw.
Thank you, Chef.
So, Simon, now that you've had your dessert,
you have to decide which chef will desert the premises
without any cash, so to speak.
When I order crêpe Suzette,
I'm looking for beautifully thin crêpes elegantly presented,
and a sauce that's been reduced and really delivers
those flavors of orange and the orange liqueur.
And you both got parts of it, so it was a very close call,
but my winner is Chef...
...Todd.
Oh my --
Chef, although your plate was a mess,
it really gave me all the flavors that I expect
from a terrific crêpe Suzette.
Chef Aaron, your plate was incredibly appealing,
but it was really lacking in some of those key flavors.
Chef Aaron, I'm sorry, sir.
I'm gonna need the rest of that money back in the case.
Thank you.
Thank you.
CHEF AARON: Screwed the pooch.
These damn crêpes.
I'm gonna go home and literally make these every day
for the next week until I have them down.
I am really mad at myself.
I know I can cook.
They're teasing me -- underwear model, GQ --
But I can throw down.
You know, I gave my best.
My best wasn't good enough.
Next time.
Chef Todd, here's the cash.
It's not the biggest pile we've ever given out
here in "Cutthroat Kitchen," but, man,
I've never seen anybody earn it the way that you did.
Wow.
I can't believe I won. Did I really win?
Look at me cooking on a battered pan
and still pulling it off, still making it happen.
I won!
Ah!
[ Chuckles ]
I've still got what it takes.
That just tastes so good.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
And the fact that I won really, really drives the point home.
I'm a cook.
I'm a cook above all else.
[ Chuckles ]
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