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BROWN: Why is Kitchen Stadium bedecked in its seasonal finest?
It is time again
for the Chairman's annual holiday party,
when, as in years past, the Chairman unwraps
festive and sometimes feared ingredients
for his merry feasts.
Eggnog!
BRAUCH: We have a leak here on Iron Chef Morimoto's side.
Fruit cake!
Fruit cake sausage. You are insane.
I'm not normal.
Gingerbread!
[ Screams ]
Sparking wine!
It's a tough ingredient.
Oh, hey.
You know, as always, the Chairman's got
something unusual and merry planned.
Three special party guests await.
So, lets get going with this jolly jubilation.
This is "Iron Chef America".
BROWN: Hi, food fans.
You know, during the holidays, the Chairman often quotes a line
from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" --
"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious
as laughter and good humor."
So true, but I would add to that list of contagions
good cooking.
Now I see that the Chairman and three Iron Chefs have
taken their place at the altar.
Meanwhile, back in the tunnel, allow me to introduce
the Chairman's very special holiday guests
from the Cooking Channel.
Cooking Channel fans know G. Garvin
from his popular show "Road Trip".
GARVIN: It's insane. It's gonna be crazy.
Just drop them in there.
You have to sort of go back to the days
of when you were literally just, you know,
on the line and getting it done.
But I'm excited nonetheless.
BROWN: Also joining the holiday party is Ching-He Huang,
host of Cooking Channel's "Easy Chinese."
Very few things faze me,
but actually just being in the Kitchen Stadium,
I'm actually feeling rather nervous.
BROWN: Finally, Bobby Deen, who puts his unique spin
on down-home recipes on his Cooking Channel show
"Not My Mama's Meals."
I know that the Chairman in the past for holiday battles
has thrown out some very challenging things
for the Iron Chefs.
Who knows what he'll throw out there for us today.
CHAIRMAN: Iron Chef Symon.
Iron Chef Morimoto.
Iron Chef Garces.
Welcome.
Ching.
G. Garvin.
Bobby Deen.
Welcome.
Today, for the first time ever,
three teams will wage culinary war.
Iron Chef Symon, you will be teamed with Ching.
Yes! I love him.
Iron Chef Morimoto, you will battle with G. Garvin.
I love Morimoto. So creative.
And, Iron Chef Garces,
you will be joined by Bobby Deen.
I would use the word "brilliant" when it comes to Chef Garces.
Very, very excited.
I can't wait to see how this unfolds.
Today, you will go head to head to head
in a battle perfectly themed for this season.
Ghosts of Holiday Ingredients Past!
We've been Scrooged.
I saw a lot of sweet.
Fruit cake, eggnog, gingerbread, champagne --
the only thing out of everything
that I found delicious up there.
I think it's gonna be a nightmare
trying to put them all together.
I thank God I'm with him.
Teams, these are some of my favorite ingredients
from the past holiday challenges.
Today, they will help you create a holiday future.
You will prepare four dishes with these ingredients,
and your initial dish must be served to my judges
during the first 20 minutes of the battle.
Later in the hour, I will throw my culinary curveball.
But that is all I will say at this time.
Good luck and happy holidays.
So now, America, with an open heart and empty stomach,
I say unto you in the words of my uncle...
...allez cuisine!
BROWN: And this historic holiday battle is on
here in Kitchen Stadium.
All right, looking up at the altar,
that Scrooge, the Chairman, is forcing the Iron Chefs
to once again face holiday ingredients
that have given them trouble in the past.
Four ingredients -- now, let's see --
we've got champagne.
We've got eggnog. We've got gingerbread.
And we've got the best fruitcake on earth.
That's right. That's my fruitcake up there.
Our chefs must use at least one of these fine --
or feared -- ingredients in each of their courses.
You guys -- strategy. Katie. Ching.
Real quick.
Hey, guys. Real quick.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you.
Chef.
I'm thinking that all the stuff is super sweet,
so lets do all savory dishes
to kind of eliminate the sweet.
And because this is your first time here,
I want to do all food that is kind of has the feel of China.
Okay.
I'm gonna do the first-20-minute dish.
I just need a little help from you guys.
Bobby, whip some goat cheese.
Get some crème fraîche in a piping bag.
Jess, make me some gingerbread blinis.
You got it right here.
Perfect.
All right.
BROWN: For the first time ever,
we have three complete kitchens
battling against each other here.
Iron Chef Garces, Bobby Deen, and their sous-chef, Jessica,
over on the left-hand kitchen.
And Iron Chef Morimoto with G. Garvin
and their sous-chef, Omae,
will be in Morimoto's traditional kitchen.
And Iron Chef Symon and Ching with sous-chef Katie
in this new, back kitchen that is closest to the altar.
Backs, guys. Backs.
BROWN: Oh, there's Kevin Brauch
down in the middle of Kitchen Stadium
with Iron Chef Symon.
I heard that you're gonna do nothing but savory...
Nothing but savory.
...with such a sweet altar behind you.
Absolutely.
It would be way too easy to do sweet.
We're going savory.
Are you just being bratty
'cause you're working at the kid's table here?
No. No. No.
I want the judges to experience flavors
but not get overpowered.
SYMON: We wanted to be a little bit more creative.
Desweeting the sweet with savory dishes.
It's a great strategy.
I love it 'cause I'm a savory person.
Most of my recipes are geared towards the savory,
umami kind of dishes, so it's gonna be interesting.
BROWN: We've got some veal brains out in front of Iron Chef Symon.
The veal brains got coated
in the gingersnap and rice-flour mixture
and went straight into the fryer,
so I imagine that is gonna be something
that Iron Chef Symon will serve as his first course
because he wouldn't be doing that now otherwise.
For the first dish, I'm making
eggnog-poached veal tenderloin with crispy veal brains,
and then uni, Chinese mustard, and soy vinaigrette.
You've got spice.
It's the perfect Chinese balance.
Okay, and over on Iron Chef Morimoto's side,
we are going to have -- I don't know what.
So, we're gonna have to check in with Kevin Brauch.
Iron Chef Morimoto-san, what are you doing
in the first 20 minutes of battle?
Japanese Wagyu meat for Sukiyaki, shabu shabu.
Meat shabu shabu? I love shabu shabu.
Yes, get shabu shabu with your fruitcake.
Fruitcake and shabu shabu all in the same sentence?
Good luck today in Kitchen Stadium.
Thank you.
BROWN: All right, that's a shabu shabu,
where the judges will boil thin strips of beef themselves
at the table,
and Sukiyaki, which is a Japanese stew.
I'm interested to see how G. Garvin's Southern style
will blend with Morimoto's
traditional Japanese preparations.
Chef Garvey G. Garvin.
What are you guys doing today?
Well, I definitely want to represent
Morimoto's Japanese concept, so as you can see,
I'm using a lot of aromatics,
and we're gonna do some sauces and seasonings
that represent him
but allows me to go down South, as well.
All right, Chef Garvin.
Have a lot of fun here today in Kitchen Stadium.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
Jess, how you look on blinis?
Yep.
Sous-chef Jessica is working on a blini batter
in that blender -- some gingerbread,
a little bit of milk is in there also, all-purpose flour.
There are several garnishes that go with gingerbread blinis,
so Bobby did some...
DEEN: Goat cheese with a little heavy cream.
Osetra caviar and chives.
The second is smoked salmon.
And the third has a little bit of cut Brie,
prosciutto, and a fried quail egg.
Time.
How much time, guys?
All right, you got less than five minutes, chefs,
to get all of those first courses up to those judges
for those 15 points.
It could be a make or break here in Kitchen Stadium.
You got eggs coming?
Chef, I broke one.
Okay, make another one. Hurry.
It's a holiday showdown, and we'll get back to it
when "Iron Chef America" returns.
I need them now, all right? Let's go.
Hi, kids. We're back in Kitchen Stadium.
This is "Iron Chef America,"
and the clock is ticking away on the Chairman's holiday party.
It's the Ghosts of Holiday Ingredients Past.
Today, it's a little different because there are three teams.
He's paired Iron Chefs with Cooking Channel guests.
Now, these chefs have got some pretty great culinary minds,
but so do our judges,
and to introduce them, we go up to Kevin Brauch.
Kevin.
Konban wa.
Good evening, Alton Brown.
Ladies and gentlemen, here come the judges.
Leading off, he's a workhorse as a judge,
having delivered many verdicts for the Chairman
on "Next Iron Chef" and "Iron Chef America."
He is Simon Majumdar.
Next, they call her the million-dollar palate.
She is the president of KB Network News,
a leader in the field of luxury hospitality.
She is Karine Bakhoum.
Finally, this successful restaurateur
currently owns Red Farm, a dim sum eatery in Manhattan.
He's collected over 1,000 cookbooks,
so he knows a good recipe when he tastes one.
This is Ed Schoenfeld.
[ Shrieks ]
BROWN: All right, and we've got three minutes
to get those first courses up to the judges,
and we could have a little bit of a traffic jam,
being that we've got three kitchens plating today.
Everybody's kind of in a state of plating right now.
Over on Iron Chef Symon's side with Ching,
we're gonna have veal brains out of Chef Symon.
We're going -- well, not out of him,
but you get my drift.
That's gonna be served with the veal tenderloin.
Some eggnog went into that.
On Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen's side,
the first course is gonna be blinis.
They've got a lot of different toppings.
GARCES: One egg, Bobby, and we're good.
DEEN: Got it.
Bobby Deen taking extra care with his quail eggs.
He was having trouble with the yokes earlier.
Chef, I broke one.
Quail eggs, you know, they're kind of finicky.
You have to be careful,
and of course, the yoke breaks in the pan.
I was pretty disappointed.
A broken egg yoke could certainly break
their chances of getting 15 points.
GARCES: Make it happen, Brother.
And there are eggs
on Iron Chef Morimoto's side, as well.
A slow-poached egg,
which I believe is an onsen tamago.
That is going into that Sukiyaki with fruitcake sake soy sauce,
so a very complex dish.
Both a Sukiyaki as well as a shabu shabu,
also with kind of a champagne ponzu action going on there.
Chef Morimoto, I think I'm probably the most intimidated by
because he's like the god of Asian-fusion cuisine.
Time check.
BROWN: 1 minute, 50 seconds to get those courses up.
Heading up, heading up.
Iron Chef Garces heading up with his first course.
Yee-haw.
And lo and behold, we were able to plate
all of our blinis with Bobby's famous fried quail eggs.
DEEN: Yeah.
We needed four, and I think I had to make eight
to give you one good one.
[ Both laugh ]
Hey, folks.
Really? blinis?
Well in time.
So, we want to start you off with something nice and light.
We made gingerbread blinis with several different toppings.
Inside the cup, you have
some osetra caviar and crème fraîche.
To the right of that, there's some lox.
And to the right, Brie with a little sliced prosciutto
and fried quail egg.
Thank you. Enjoy, guys.
Time check!
BROWN: 50 seconds
to get those courses up, Iron Chef Symon.
I'm done! I'm done!
I can go.
Iron Chef Morimoto's finished.
Behind! Behind! Behind! Behind!
Hot! Hot!
Iron Chef Symon's plating fast and furious.
This is...
INTERPRETER: These are popular winter preparations in Japan.
Sukiyaki and shabu shabu served with a champagne ponzu sauce.
And the sweet Sukiyaki sauce is from the fruitcake.
Mix the egg in with the sweet wagyu.
GARVIN: Fruitcake can be overpowering and a little bit too sweet.
You have to have a good balance,
so I think that's what we're trying to accomplish.
BROWN: Iron Chef Symon fighting the clock.
I don't know if he's gonna make it.
I'm ready!
All right, he does.
But obviously, he's determined to milk
every second out of that 20 minutes.
All right. Iron Chef Michael Symon.
Hello.
We took veal tenderloin,
poached it in a little bit of the eggnog
over a sauce of Chinese mustard,
and it is topped with crispy veal brains.
Enjoy.
We rolled the dice.
I made a kind of risky opening dish,
but the veal tasted great.
I thought the brains were delicious.
I was really happy with the dish.
SCHOENFELD: I love the texture of the veal brain.
The veal tenderloin --
not so much to my personal taste.
I, too, don't need the veal.
The veal's not adding anything to it.
The brains are just brilliant by themselves.
I disagree. I think the veal is beautifully done.
I like the way that they've used the eggnog,
and I think they've got that absolutely perfect.
Let's move on to Iron Chef Morimoto
and G. Garvin.
Simon Majumdar.
MAJUMDAR: The wagyu with the shabu shabu's great.
There are certain things that you should do yourself.
You do it for a few seconds.
You know, you get it just to that color.
It's perfection.
I love to play with my food. It's delicious.
I mean, however, I found the egg a little bit too sweet.
Okay.
I don't know what the egg adds,
but just the beef on its own was pretty delicious.
Jose Garces and Chef Deen.
To use the gingerbread in the blinis -- brilliant idea.
They're smart, and the texture is moist.
There's a little leavening in it.
Really good.
A beautiful job with whetting the appetite for the holidays.
I can't wait to open my presents!
[ Laughter ]
BROWN: Now the judges will gift each side's dish
up to 5 points apiece for a total possible 15 points.
So, all right, looking around Kitchen Stadium --
over on Iron Chef Morimoto's side,
G. Garvin's working on breaking down some quail.
Chef and I wanted to do surf and turf,
so first stop, you know, split the quail.
Give it to Chef so he marinates it
with the champagne.
The surf of the surf and turf is a lobster and king crab.
That's king crab.
It's gone onto a grill over vegetal charcoal.
And then eggnog went into the cream-style corn.
MORIMOTO: So, did you get curry sauce?
Almost. Reducing now, Chef.
Good! Good! You the man.
Iron Chef Garces -- at his station that is a --
GARCES: It's a leg of lamb -- a ***-out leg of lamb.
A leg of lamb that's been *** out
and rolled up in butcher twine.
So, for our next course, a holiday leg of lamb
seared and then salt-crusted -- a gingerbread salt crust for it.
Salt crust really keeps the moisture in the leg of lamb
and should make it nice and tender.
Also making a fruitcake bread pudding.
Oh, we can see now the finest fruitcake on planet Earth
there in front of Bobby Deen.
If I was in the Kitchen Stadium today,
I would just serve four plates of that.
Over on Iron Chef Symon's side,
we can see Ching working with huge, huge scallops.
Those are about the size of doorknobs.
So, for our next dish, a vinegar scallop wok fried
with some smokey bacon lardons and gingerbread crumbs --
kind of like a sandy, crumbly texture
that's cooked in bacon oil
and finished with a champagne shoyu,
which is like a light champagne-soy dressing.
It sounded all fantastic up here, but...
It's gonna be delicious. It's delicious.
Oh, I hope so.
They're hard ingredients.
They are.
They're hard ingredients to make delicious.
We're coming up on the 30-minute mark
here in Kitchen Stadium.
G., 30 minutes!
Yes, sir! 30 minutes!
Oh, and keep in mind,
the Chairman's gonna be throwing in
his culinary curveball here very, very shortly.
The tension is high, and the pressure is mounting,
and we'll reveal the judges' scores
for the 20-minute dish
when this trio holiday battle continues
on "Iron Chef America".
Hi, kids.
Welcome back to "Iron Chef America,"
where are holiday battle rages on.
It is the Ghosts of Holiday Ingredients Past.
We have a scary number of chefs in Kitchen Stadium today.
Three teams -- three!
I have here in my hand the scores for the first dish,
which, of course, had to be served to the judges
within the first 20 minutes of the battle.
So, Iron Chef Symon and Ching -- 10 points.
Iron Chef Morimoto and G. Garvin -- 10 points.
Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen --
14 out of 15 points for the first course.
14, guys.
Nicely done, Chef.
I love getting a lead on Symon.
Nicely done!
[ Chuckles ]
Don't fumble.
BROWN: So, a four-point lead for Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen,
but no lead is safe
when you're battling the best in the business.
Mucho gracias.
Hey, this is the best in the world.
It's always a challenge.
Iron Chef Michael Symon,
racing to catch up with Team Garces,
has already started plating.
That's a peach puree that he was working on earlier.
Our next dish is a grilled-peach and eggnog puree...
Tempura batter's ready.
...with crispy tempura green beans
and a hoisin-glazed pork belly.
I felt that the smokiness of the grill, again,
would help us cut through some of that sweetness.
Great flavor.
Bobby.
I want you to grab the curveball when it comes up, all right?
Okay.
Looking over on Iron Chef Garces' side,
they've also got some pork out over there.
Guanciale being cut down now into lardon.
Don't know what that's gonna be going with,
but I betcha money it's gonna involve the pasta
that sous-chef Jessica is pushing through that extruder.
GARCES: For our next dish, the eggnog carbonara.
We make eggnog bucatini.
We used eggnog as the liquid in which to make the pasta.
We extruded it, so it was freshly made.
A sauce of Parmesan cream,
which also has a little bit of eggnog.
We've hit eggnog 100%, and I feel pretty good about it.
Oh, my gosh.
The Chairman is now standing up by the altar.
The cart of culinary chaos is bearing three gifts.
Chefs, the time has come to unveil my culinary curveball.
BROWN: The Chairman calling for his chefs.
SYMON: Come on, guys. Little hustle.
[ Chuckles ]
G., get your butt over here.
In front of me, I have three boxes.
Each one contains a culinary curveball.
Because Team Garces earned the most points
for the 20-minute dish, Bobby Deen will select first.
Go with the red box.
Red box!
BROWN: Apple cider.
SYMON: Blue.
Blue!
Candy canes.
Okay, candy canes.
Oh, great. More sweet.
Sweet.
Just what we wanted.
I guess that leaves me with the green.
Popcorn, baby!
It's, you know, it's actually good.
Cider. Perfect!
Apple cider. Apple cider.
Thank you. Nailed it.
We should be sitting pretty with the curveball.
I mean, we're really fortunate.
And thank God you didn't get candy canes.
I think we got the hardest curveball by far.
Jose, I'll trade you candy canes for cider!
No way!
[ Laughter ]
GARVIN: Chef... I put it to the side.
BROWN: Over in Morimoto World, we've got fish.
What a shock.
Man, that's an akamutsu -- very special fish in Japan
often served during the holidays there.
My fruitcake is seriously in use
over on Iron Chef Morimoto's kitchen.
Sous-chef Omae has a slice on parchment paper.
Maybe they'll transform it into another pig-like device.
Let's see -- fruitcake also in use by Iron Chef Symon.
He's building a sauce with my fruitcake, soy sauce,
and some chilies.
SYMON: So, I reduced the dreaded fruitcake down
with soy and ginger.
When we got the curveball -- the candy canes --
I threw those in there, too.
I figure everybody in the pool at this point.
[ Chuckles ]
So, it's a very sweet and salty sauce.
So, my fruitcake is swimming alongsides of peppermint and soy
in a pot at Iron Chef Symon's station in the kitchen.
Now, you were trying to trade them off --
the curveball, the candy canes.
I think this could play into your advantage,
except the fact that you're doing it all savory!
I worked it into the sauce.
Here, taste the sauce, Kev. Tell me what you think.
Absolutely wonderful.
Right?!
And they're in there?
This is a duck sauce made with fruitcake and candy cane.
It's mine. It's mine.
I call it swimming against the tide, but...
We are. We're swimming up hill.
You're swimming up hill.
Hey, if anybody can do it, you guys can.
All right. Thank you.
Surprisingly delicious.
MAJUMDAR: We'll be the judge of that.
I don't care what you think.
[ Laughter ]
BROWN: Seriously, Simon.
You ready for my fruitcake in a peppermint duck sauce?
It's unusual,
and it will either be fantastic or it'll be a disaster,
and I'm really looking forward to trying it.
BROWN: Well, I can't wait. Thank you, sir.
Oh! Oh, all right, look.
Iron Chef Morimoto's using his culinary curveball.
Popcorn going into a bowl with some melted chocolate.
He's putting that down onto a cooling rack
to -- guess what. That's right -- cool.
So, that's gonna become part of his dessert course,
which at this point,
I don't have a lot of ideas about
other than I do note that we've got
a really, really nice, big ice shaver here
in Kitchen Stadium.
There we see an example of what can be done
when a true artist gets hold of some fine fruitcake.
They've turned my fruitcake into a yule log.
Probably the Chairman will
simply stop the battle at this point
in order to give them the win.
For Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen,
we can see sous-chef Jessica.
All right, she's got a mixture of champagne and cider
that she's reduced.
Not sure what that is yet.
I'm making a gelée -- champagne gelée.
So, for our final dish -- an eight-layer parfait.
The first layer is a cider-champagne gelée.
The second is a gingerbread panna cotta.
The third is apple-and-cider compote.
Then we serve balsamic ice cream,
some cava-and-champagne granita.
There's also cider meringue, gingerbread cookies,
and another spiced meringue, as well.
Teams Garces and Morimoto are making so many desserts
that Iron Chef Symon just decided to make a duck.
He has smoked a duck, and he's now frying a duck,
and who doesn't love that?
For the duck, I finished it in the fryer,
where I ladled the fat over the duck
and make it super crispy.
HUANG: Wow. That looks amazing.
Take a look at this beautiful process
as Iron Chef Michael Symon ladles hot oil
over the top of that duck, crisping that skin.
It's actually a great Chinese cooking trick.
Oh, it's lovely. No. You did it well.
That skin should be like a cracker.
Time, someone!
12 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in this battle.
As three teams of Iron Chefs and Cooking Channel stars go
head to head to head.
GARCES: What's in here,burning?
Oh, take that out of there.
Is that you?
Yeah.
Pull it out.
BROWN: Things are definitely heating up around here
as the Ghosts of Holiday Ingredients Past
continue to haunt our chefs.
We'll find out what they've incinerated
on Iron Chef Garces' side
when "Iron Chef America" returns.
How you looking, Jess?
Behind.
Welcome back to "Iron Chef America".
We're under the seven-minute mark
here in a historic battle in Kitchen Stadium.
This is a holiday battle with not one, not two,
but three kitchens, three Iron Chefs,
and three chefs from the Cooking Channel.
And I got to tell you, if you can't take the heat,
you're in the wrong competition,
because things are heating up around here.
All right, I'm looking down on something
over on Iron Chef Garces' side.
Burn.
That was sous-chef Jessica's meringue.
But I bet she's got some more standing by.
I hope so, because that, now, is what you call bark.
Luckily, we made a couple sheet trays of the meringue.
So, now Iron Chef Symon's making crepes for his duck, I believe.
That's a very Chinese thing to do,
but those are made with ground gingerbread --
probably not something you'd find in Beijing.
SYMON: We'll present in a big, family-style manner
with the duck.
And we wanted to leave the judges
with something special,
so we made a gingersnap fortune cookie.
By the way, 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
3 1/2 minutes, and it's got to be on the plate.
Still a lot of cooking to be done
on all three sides of Kitchen Stadium today.
Kevin Brauch, what do you know?
BRAUCH: Other than the champagne,
we're not seeing a lot of beverages.
BROWN: You know what?
Nobody's just putting some bourbon in eggnog
and calling it a day.
Bobby Deen, on Iron Chef Garces' side,
has bourbon in hand, making a bourbon-cider cocktail.
Good man. All right.
Plating happening all around Kitchen Stadium.
I hope to goodness that I can keep up with all the plates.
Iron Chef Symon was first to plate.
He's anxious to catch up
with Team Garces' four-point lead.
Their first course will probably be
Ching's scallops, bacon, and champagne shoyu.
All right, then their glazed pork belly
over the peach-eggnog puree.
And finally, their whole roasted duck
with gingerbread crepes and fruitcake duck sauce
made with their candy-cane curveball.
From a sweet holiday battle to real Chinese meal --
listen, if they're not impressed, I'd forget it.
[ Laughs ]
All right, things are definitely speeding up
here in Kitchen Stadium.
Over on our Iron Chef Garces' side -- plating.
I'm looking at the carbonara, that bucatini.
There's eggnog in the pasta and eggnog in the cream sauce.
Very creative use of eggnog,
but I've got no idea how it's gonna taste.
All right, so, we've got that lamb down on a white plate.
I think he's happy with the doneness on that.
Almost just right on rare.
That was crusted with gingerbread and roasted,
and it's served over a spoon bread
of my fruitcake.
And then, see their dessert.
They've got kind of this parfait
with a champagne gelée, gingerbread panna cotta,
a champagne granita, cava-and-cinder meringue,
and also, with their curveball -- cider --
a bourbon-cider cocktail.
All right.
We see G. Garvin plating the lobster
over on Iron Chef Morimoto's side.
That going with the King crab.
Let's see their courses.
The steamed akamutsu with fruitcake XO sauce
and grilled kinmedai with a red miso fruitcake sauce.
Cool.
Then their surf-and-turf course
featuring grilled quail, lobster, and king crab
with an eggnog aioli, a green eggnog curry,
and fruitcake teriyaki,
as well as a side of eggnog-creamed corn.
And Iron Chef Morimoto's got a gigantic roll of acetate.
They're gift-wrapping their dessert.
They've only got 45 seconds to do it.
All right, their dessert -- or desserts, rather.
The shaved ice with champagne syrup,
eggnog bread pudding,
chocolate-covered popcorn -- their curveball --
and they've made a buche de Noel
out of my fruitcake, and I'm so proud.
I may cry later.
So many components.
It looks like they're wrapping up a dessert cart.
If Chef did less dishes,
he'd probably be done in 40 minutes.
Where are you going?
It's incredible to watch him do
so many different things with the components,
and that's what's great -- he pushes.
He's nicking the lights.
Should we nick some of them to *** our stuff?
Should we nick all of those sleighs,
and put a dish on it? [ Chuckles ]
And Iron Chef Morimoto's now breaking out
battery-powered Christmas lights, of course,
because he never forgets
that five points are given for presentation,
and they're points that he takes very seriously.
Those were actually off the altar,
but if it's on the altar, it is usable.
And we have 15 seconds remaining,
and it's got to be on the plate.
All sauces, all garnishes must be done now.
10...9...8...7...
6...5...4...
3...2...1
[ Buzzer ]
And this historic three-way holiday battle is history
in Kitchen Stadium.
Well, the excitement of cooking may be over
here in Kitchen Stadium.
But, hey, we still have judgement to look forward to.
But before the judges can dig into their delicious
but often difficult task,
we're gonna go over to Kevin Brauch,
who will explain how the judging rules work.
Kevin.
Alton.
The scorecard, and here's how it works.
Each judge can award a team up to 30 points.
We have 10 points possible for taste,
another five points for plating design,
five points for their originality
in the use of today's holiday-theme ingredients,
five points for the use
of the Chairman's culinary curveball,
and finally, there are five points available
for the dish presented
during the first 20 minutes of battle.
As always, may the better team prevail.
So, now we go to our jolly old Chairman,
who will get the judging under way.
Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen.
Please tell us what your approach was
to today's holiday battle.
GARCES: I mean, you provided
some pretty outrageous ingredients for us to work with,
so really highlight
the ingredients that were on the altar
and do it in a festive way.
So, for this course, we made a homemade eggnog carbonara.
We used the eggnog in order to make the pasta
as well as a little bit in the sauce.
Obviously, the creativity, the look, and the taste of it
is on him, but I enjoyed it very much.
First of all, the pasta is sensational.
BAKHOUM: The texture -- how the hell did you do that with eggnog?
I just don't understand.
That's why you're an Iron Chef and I'm not.
MAJUMDAR: And you can actually taste the eggnog through it.
You could actually get that in it,
and it tastes of kind of like -- it tastes of Christmas.
That's a very funny thing to say about pasta, so I love that.
I love the creaminess of the sauce.
Really creative use and an appropriate use.
Oh, well, thank you.
Iron Chef and Bobby Deen.
I really enjoy lamb during Christmas.
I don't know about you.
I like it as well, yeah.
We did a gingerbread and salt-crusted leg of lamb.
And that's served over a spoon bread
with Alton's fruitcake.
MAJUMDAR: The lamb is a little bit tough.
It is a bit chewy.
Overall, I'm slightly disappointed with this dish.
Okay.
I love this dish.
Oh, great!
[ Laughter ]
I'm sorry.
Lovely.
My lamb is very tender. It's like a baby.
SCHOENFELD: I especially like the way
the flavor has penetrated
from the crust to the outside of the lamb.
That's really delicious to me.
Thank you.
Iron Chef and Bobby Deen, thank you.
Next course, please.
Thank you.
Iron Chef and Bobby Deen.
You have a parfait, and there's several layers.
On the bottom, a champagne gelée.
The middle is a gingerbread panna cotta.
There's champagne granita,
cava-and-cider meringue right on top.
And then Bobby came up with a great hot toddy,
which really highlights the curve.
Go for it.
It's big in the South.
We like an apple cider down South,
so we let the cider simmer for a little while
with the cinnamon sticks in it,
and we finished it off in the end with some bourbon.
For once, I'm gonna shut up,
'cause I just want to keep eating.
Now, that's what I was thinking.
It's got so much going on, and yet it all works together.
And can I just say the star of this is the toddy.
This is *** on the money.
It's set off really nicely.
I can see how the flavors work.
I think it's spot on, too.
[ Muffled ] It's amazing.
Awesome.
A great end to the meal.
Beautiful. Beautiful.
Iron Chef Garces, Bobby Deen,
thank you for an excellent meal.
Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I think we put out some pretty good food today.
I'm feeling pretty good.
DEEN: I feel pretty good, too.
When we return, our second team will attempt
to deliver some good cheer to the judges
right here on "Iron Chef America".
Welcome back, holiday-food fans.
Our first team has presented its delicacies.
So much going on, and yet it all works together.
Thank you.
So, now it's time for our second team
to bring up their tasty offerings
in this holiday battle.
Mr. Chairman, please continue.
Iron Chef Symon and Ching.
Please tell us what your approach was
to today's holiday battle.
You know what, Chairman?
Win or lose, she's an absolute joy to work with.
Win or lose, we don't care.
No, we do, really.
[ Laughs ]
What you see in front of you is scallops, bacon --
of course -- and also gingerbread crumbs.
Now, before you tuck in, the champagne.
I was a little skeptical about the champagne,
but I think it works pretty nicely.
And I think it's definitely festive.
MAJUMDAR: I do like the champagne.
That little bit of sharpness
against the sweetness of the scallops
and the gingerbread crumb.
I think it's a perfect appetizer to a holiday meal.
It incorporates those festive ingredients --
the gingerbread with the sweet and savory.
And then the champagne -- it's just very unique.
It's really like, "Ooh!"
Iron Chef and Ching, thank you.
Next course, please.
Iron Chef and Ching.
So, guys, your next dish is a barbecued pork belly on top.
The sauce underneath it -- grilled peaches.
We also --
And eggnog.
We also -- yeah, and eggnog.
We used the champagne
for a tempura for the green beans.
I mean, I think the pork is wonderful.
It works so well with those peaches.
Amazing.
SCHOENFELD: I agree.
The peaches with this -- a very nice combination.
It just adds this beautiful little sweet note to it.
It's extremely flavorful and surprisingly light.
You would think tempura, pork belly --
this is gonna be greasy.
This is gonna be heavy.
It's not greasy at all.
Thank you very much.
And I really, really like these tempura green beans.
BAKHOUM: The tempura's excellent.
I disagree a little bit.
I'd like a little more crunch.
I find this batter to be a little soft.
Iron Chef and Ching, thank you.
Next course, please.
Iron Chef and Ching.
Well, you guys, I'm very excited about this dish.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
We got these beautiful ducks,
and I wanted to make a duck sauce.
And a lot of times in duck sauce,
they put fruit preserves and things like that,
so I figured that would be the perfect outlet
for the fruit cake.
So, there's fruit cake, soy --
I can't believe I'm putting all these words together --
ginger, mirin cooked down.
Candy cane.
And candy cane. Candy cane. Yes.
The culinary curveball just kind of smoothed it out.
It is eggnog and gingerbread crepe,
and made gingersnap fortune cookies for everybody.
MAJUMDAR: This sauce is just ridiculous
considering that you melted
peppermint candy cane into there,
and you can taste the peppermint.
Yeah.
But it actually works.
BAKHOUM: This is just so good.
The crepe is fantastic.
It's just delicious.
And I think the crepe's nice.
You know, it would be nice to be able to pick it up.
It tears really easily,
but I think the sauce is my favorite part of the dish.
Thank you.
Iron Chef Simon, Ching, thank you for a wonderful meal.
Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I loved our idea.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm happy that the judges loved it as much as we did.
Super happy.
Our second team has presented its creation,
so now it's time for our third team to face
our jolly judges in this holiday battle.
Mr. Chairman, roll on, sir.
Iron Chef Morimoto, G. Garvin.
Yes, sir.
Please tell us how you enjoyed working as a team.
Did you like me?
I did. I did.
Today was probably one of the most exciting experiences
I've had.
Excellent.
Please tell us what your approach was
to today's holiday battle.
To not just use the ingredients subtly
but really experience them without being overpowering.
MORIMOTO: I didn't put any sugar.
INTERPRETER: I didn't use any sugar.
Any sweetness you taste in our dishes
comes from the altar ingredients.
On the charcoal grill is a champagne marinade kinmedai,
and the sauce is miso with a lot of fruitcake.
And then we made an akamutsu fish
steamed with champagne,
and I made an XO sauce with fruitcake.
SCHOENFELD: Really a nice use
of the fruitcake and the miso together.
Thank you.
If you eat the miso straight, it's a little salty,
but with the fish, nice.
Thank you very much.
I would never think
that you were incorporating fruitcake into this.
SCHOENFELD: On the other hand, it doesn't feel
nearly as much like Christmas.
BAKHOUM: It doesn't.
MAJUMDAR: Yes. Quite.
I mean, whether it sticks to the theme of the holidays,
I'm not so sure, but they're terrific dishes.
Iron Chef and G. Garvin, next course, please.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Iron Chef and G. Garvin.
Okay, this is surf and turf.
INTERPRETER: Okay, this is surf and turf -- king crab, lobster, and quail.
GARVIN: With the King crab, spicy aioli with the eggnog,
we put eggnog in the curry mixture, as well.
For the quail, we made the teriyaki sauce
with fruitcake.
And then corn, I added a little bit of the eggnog --
just a little play on a creamed corn.
I think the lobster is spectacular.
I can't believe how good the curry is.
With the eggnog, I guess it takes the place
of the coconut milk, but it's amazing.
This curry reminds me
of some of the best green curries you could eat in Thailand.
And it has that flavor.
The use of the eggnog in that is really terrific.
I think the corn complements all three proteins,
which kind of brings it together.
And I feel it's a nice plate of food.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Iron Chef and G. Garvin, thank you.
Next course, please.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Iron Chef and G. Garvin.
This is my gift.
GARVIN: Like always, he went above and beyond.
INTERPRETER: The holiday season is winter,
so we had to do a shaved iced using champagne syrup.
Then a bread pudding using eggnog and...
And fruitcake.
And then a buche de Noel with the fruitcake
topped with the curveball, which is coated in chocolate.
And we finished it with the gingerbread cookie.
Thank you very much.
Yes, Chef.
I love the shaved ice.
That's amazing.
You know, this seasonality of winter.
I particularly appreciate
the difference in temperatures and textures.
You've got the ice.
You've got the very comforting bread pudding.
And then you've got this warm eggnog
that is incredible.
If I had one thing to say,
just the chocolate coating of these is
a little bit of a throwaway.
With the brilliance that you two guys have shown
with this dessert,
you could have done something extra.
But that's such a great way to end.
A testament to the holidays.
Iron Chef Morimoto, G. Garvin,
Thank you for a wonderful meal.
Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
We did a good job, and you helped me a lot.
I'd do it all again with this man --
with Team Morimoto -- the exact same way.
Bam. Bam.
BROWN: All right, this just in from the judges' table --
Scoring for taste and flavor of the chefs' dishes.
Team Garces -- 25 points.
Team Morimoto -- 25 points.
Team Symon -- 26 points.
So, all teams are still in contingent.
Who will win?
The final tally of scores for plating, originality,
and the innovative use
of the Chairman's holiday culinary curveball
when "Iron Chef America" returns.
Welcome back to this very special holiday edition
of "Iron Chef America".
Our final result is just around the corner.
Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen are currently in the lead,
but at this point, any team could win,
so let's go to the Chairman, see what he has to say.
Today, three formidable teams met in a holiday battle
here in Kitchen Stadium.
Iron Chef Symon and Ching.
Iron Chef Morimoto and G. Garvin.
Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen.
The judges have spoken.
And the winners are...
...Iron Chef Garces and Bobby Deen.
[ Cheers and applause ]
BROWN: Team Garces' gain has made history today
in this unprecedented three-way battle
by taking on the Ghosts of Holiday Ingredients Past
and besting two teams of outstanding competitors.
Congratulations, winner.
Thank you.
[ Both laugh ]
And so this year's very unique holiday battle comes
to its flavorful conclusion,
which means most of us are
in an excellent holiday humor indeed.
In closing, I'd like to quote
the late, great food writer, Jane Grigson,
who penned my favorite food rule for this time of year.
She said, "In my experience,
"clever food is not appreciated at the holidays.
It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous."
Food for thought.
I'm Alton Brown.
On behalf of the Chairman, Kevin Brauch,
and everyone here in Kitchen Stadium,
I bid you good eating.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.