Welcome back, chefs.
Congratulations on making it to the top six.
Let's reintroduce our judges.
Master in West African cuisine, Chef Eric Adjapong.
What's going on, guys?
What's up, chef?
Y'all know Harlem's queen of soul food, Miss Melba Wolf.
Queen.
Hi.
And this week's guest judge, champion in Gullah Geechee cuisine, Chef BJ Dennis.
Personal chef and caterer B.J.
Dennis-Hales from Charleston, South Carolina.
He spent years studying the techniques of his Gullah Geechee ancestors and pays homage to them in his low country cuisine.
And this week's Soul Starter Challenge, we're recognizing the influence of Creole and Cajun cooking on soul food.
But what is soul food without a little heat?
I'll be dividing you all into three teams of two.
Working in pairs, you'll taste six different kinds of saucy hot wings and have to correctly guess the chili that's prominent in each sauce.
The team that has the most correct answers in just three minutes will not only get to choose which chilies they'd like to work with, but they'll also get to assign chilies to their competitors.
Oh.
To create a Creole or Cajun appetizer.
While no one will be eliminated, the winner of the Soul Starter Challenge will win an advantage in the cook-off.
I'll tell you, I'm not a big fan of spicy.
Once your palate gets overgrown by so much spice, you can't taste nothing anymore.
Once again, I'll be drawing spoons to choose teams.
Team one will be Chef Shaq, Chef Jamarius.
Team two will be Chef Fred, Chef Razia.
Of course, that means team three will be Chef Chris, Chef Dorian.
Chris is my biggest competitor.
So if we're on the same team working together, I don't have to worry about him working against me.
OK, teams, get ready to sweat.
You've got three minutes on the clock to taste and identify the chilies in those chicken wings.
Your time starts now.
Let's go, baby.
Let's go, guys.
Let's go, teams.
This is the lightest one.
It's gotta be cayenne.
It's just plain.
BJ, just like our ancestors brought baskets and different things back from Africa, they also brought certain peppers back as well.
Yes, absolutely.
Yes.
I like the citrusy and the smoky flavor of the habanero pepper.
Yes.
I am completely in love with scotch bonnet peppers.
They're fruity.
They're a little bit sweet.
This is fruity.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah.
Scotch bonnet for sure.
You want to put it back there?
Mm, I want to.
Taste it?
Yeah, let me get that.
Oh, here we go.
I take a bite of that first wing, and my mouth is like volcano city, man.
It's burning up.
Oh, yo, this is evil.
Oh.
I get into the second and third one, and I start feeling the heat.
I start sweating.
My mouth's burning.
You tasted this one?
No, this one right here got to be scorpion.
That's scorpion.
That trinidadian pepper's really not used much.
It's just so hot.
Way too hot.
Those are normally used to make smoke bombs.
Man, they have quite a light smoke.
Yo.
Definitely.
I would look at the color.
Like this one, I feel like.
Might be.
Habanero.
This too hot.
How you feel?
Wait, what is that?
Uh-oh.
Who dinged it?
Is that team one?
Team one?
More milk, please.
Oh.
You got the smoke coming out.
You're a little hot in here, y'all.
50 seconds left.
Oh!
Shoot, shot.
Sorry.
That's it.
Let's do it like that.
Come on, go.
Oh, second bell, second bell, T.J.
Hurry up, we gotta just pick.
Just pick.
We're done.
Time is up.
Oh my goodness.
Wow.
Oh, come on now.
Y'all soft as drugstore cotton.
Chefs.
Can I tell you something?
Yes.
You all only got one right.
Yeah!
You only got the cayenne.
Stop!
I'm sorry.
All right, Chef Shaq, Chef Jamarius.
Yeah.
Just like team two, you all only got one right.
Wow.
And that is the cayenne.
I can't feel my tongue.
My lips are on fire.
And we only got one right?
Chef Chris, Chef Doreen, you know, if you get two right, you win.
Yeah.
You got two right, your cayenne and your Trinidad scorpion.
Told you.
You got it right.
I knew it.
The two never lied.
They got two right.
Since y'all won, you get an advantage.
Chef Dorian, Chef Chris, what chilies would you like for yourselves?
Chef Dorian?
I'm going to keep the habanero.
Habanero, OK.
Chef Chris?
I'll take the scotch bonnet.
Now, what chilies would you like to assign to your opponents?
So the Trinidad scorpion will go to Fred.
Go ahead, baby.
Of course, they gave me the hottest pepper.
I feel like I have a target on my back.
I'm going to give the ghost peppers to my homegirl, Shaq.
Stop it.
I'm going to give the fish peppers to Roz.
OK.
Gorgeous.
And then last but not least to my brother, the cayenne.
Bless you, brother.
My man.
Thank you.
All right.
All right, chefs.
Remember, you have to make an appetizer with the chilies that Dorian and Chris have given you.
Y'all ready to turn up?
Yes.
Absolutely.
Let's go.
Yes.
Your time starts now.
I got my main man here, Chef BJ Dennis.
We are both from the Gullah Geechee community in Charleston, South Carolina, and we go way back.
I'm happy to be here.
The energy is beautiful, so this is a pleasure.
This week's all about recognizing the contribution of black coastal communities in soul food.
As we know, Creoles and Cajuns are two distinct ethnic groups in Louisiana.
So BJ, when it comes to Creole and Cajun, break it down for us a little bit, the difference between the two.
Creole, more based in the city, kind of New Orleans.
And you got the Cajun countryside bayou.
Cajun food ain't nothing but Creole country cooking, because there are Creoles in that bayou, in those swamps.
I know that tomatoes are an important part of Creole cooking, but not Cajun.
BJ, what do the cuisines have in common?
Lots of seafood, corn, okra.
Very seasonal.
It's from the land.
What's that say?
From the land, from the sea.
All right.
That's right.
Let's get it.
I'm going to make this cayenne pepper to starve this plate.
I'm going to put some inside of the pimento cheese.
I'm going to pickle one, as well as I'm going to have a cayenne pepper aioli.
We got our green tomatoes going.
I'm making a fried green tomato pimento cheese burger.
We got our pimento cheese already made.
You can take it with you, sir.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you.
No problem, bro.
When it comes to a Cajun or Creole appetizer, I think about going down south.
Hanging out with my cousins, sitting on the porch, you know, with some cheese and crackers, a little bit of, like, a very fresh salad to go along with it, balancing that out with, you know, all its brightness.
So I'm making a scotch bonnet pimento cheese with a green tomato and okra salad.
I have been cooking professionally for about 30-plus years.
When I was coming up in the restaurant industry, and even now, still, you know, you face a lot of bigotry, and because you're behind closed doors, a lot of it just happens right in your face, freely.
Even last year, I was invited to this Michelin-star restaurant for an Easter event.
They didn't want me to touch the food.
They just wanted me to be their dishwasher.
Winning this competition, to me, would mean everything, not only for me, but for our culture and for the food.
Feeling good.
You got Cajun seasoning over here?
Thank you.
When I think about making a Creole-inspired dish, I'm thinking about our people who were able to retain much of their West African culture and the spices that we use to season food.
So I make a Creole spice blend with cumin, coriander, paprika, and chili powder for my meatball mixture.
I'm making Creole turkey meatballs with a fish pepper spiced apricot sauce.
The fish pepper is very mild, almost like a bell pepper with a little bit of heat.
I don't want it to get lost in my dish.
So I'm putting it in my meatball mixture as well as sauce.
Got the meatballs in the pan.
I'm just going to brown them.
Put them in the oven.
You want to turn this into it?
Yes, please.
See how good of a neighbor I am?
Thank you.
You are, sweetheart.
Come on, now.
Being in the bottom last week, I need to redeem myself, definitely.
I've competed in competitions like this before, and I've won.
So that want to win is even stronger, because this is a soul food competition.
I just have to dig deep and just stay focused.
Corn, okra, tomatoes, habanero, spices.
Very fresh, light.
But it's going to bring the heat.
I'm making a spicy garden mix with andouille sausage and bacon.
My dad, he took our whole backyard and made a garden out of it.
My mom would go out and pick vegetables from the garden.
And this is one of the dishes she would make all the time.
Good.
These chilies are beautiful.
They have a variety of flavor profiles.
And it's all about the spice, not the heat.
It's like, if you give me a dish with some great spice in that chili, I go back.
I keep eating more.
Because I get a little bit of that heat, but I'm also getting other flavors that are adding on to that.
Have you tried a Trinidad scorpion pepper?
So that's the only pepper out of the six that I have yet to try.
You want to try it?
Yeah, yeah.
It's hot it's one of those things that starts off like okay, I got ya and then you get into it and it's like oh
Did that pepper hit you?
It hit me.
Oh, wow.
Mm-hmm.
I'm going to add that Trinidad pepper in there that Miss Dorian assigned to me.
I thought we was on the same team.
We are.
You're on my side.
I love you, baby.
Hey, take it for a compliment.
And it's a hit out for Fred Fluke.
Ain't that so?
This Trinidad scorpion can either make or break me because it's so spicy.
My strategy is to use only a little bit and not the seeds.
I'm making any day andouille sausage pie.
And it's a play on the crawfish pie from New Orleans.
So it looks like Chef Fred doing some sort of ham pie.
You know, there is a tradition of ham pies, crawfish pies in New Orleans.
Yes, it is.
So, you know, that's a smart move.
That's true.
That is a smart move.
That's a smart move.
All right, chefs, less than 15 minutes.
Oh.
Hear that?
Woo.
I got some onions and some garlic.
I got some duck confit.
The last two weeks, I've been safe.
But I have got to do better in this competition if I'm going to stay in this competition.
I found duck confit and wontons in the cooler.
And I think I can make a really cool appetizer with these ingredients.
I'm making a ghost pepper and duck confit wonton with a frisee salad and a Carolina barbecue remoulade.
I'm hoping that the richness and the fattiness of the duck confit kind of cool down the ghost pepper.
I'm in the process of opening my very first restaurant, so I need this $50,000.
You know, it's very hard to try to source funds for businesses.
Having a lack of resources in the past, I've faced homelessness, living in my car, being broke.
$50,000 is definitely a life-changing amount of money.
Chefs, five minutes left on the clock.
Just five minutes.
That's not a lot of time.
These biscuits got to get done, man.
I'm coming up with a plan B just in case.
Chef Fred just went ahead and just switched up his whole plan.
And it looks like he's working with quesadillas now rather than the biscuit empanadas that he had going on.
This is not a time to go to plan B. Execute plan A.
I ended week two on a high note.
I was in the top two.
And now I'm feeling down.
I'm losing confidence.
If I can't come back from this, I'm in big trouble.
That's not going to be done in a minute.
I know it's not.
Growing up, childhood was crazy.
I grew up as a military brat.
I grew up in Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, living overseas in Germany.
So I learned to adapt.
I know I can pull this off.
I'm going to come straight out the line with it.
What I'm worried with Chef specifically is the fact that he's focused on two different dishes rather than one.
Come on, now.
You have to have a plan A and execute it.
Plan A ain't working right now.
Chef Fred, I heard you said plan A didn't work.
It wasn't working.
Uh-huh.
So I had to go to plan B real quick.
Follow it through.
OK.
Let me see.
As I'm checking the oven, it's looking like my biscuits are actually done.
So I don't have to use my plan B after all.
It looks like he's actually plating his plan A. I'm actually happy to see this, because the quesadillas he was cutting up I don't think look as nice as these biscuit pies do right now.
Don't make it work, baby.
I'm just trying to cool down this ghost pepper because I know it's hot.
And so I'm making a frisee salad.
I put sour cream and the mayo, a little lemon, and just a tad bit of the Carolina remoulade.
Whew.
Gotta taste it.
This is where it get hard.
What's not hot to me can be really hot to somebody else.
Man.
Is it too hot?
To make sure that I am balancing out the heat of my pepper, I'm going to make a Greek guacamole with avocado and Greek yogurt.
I don't want to burn anybody up.
It's fresh.
Very fresh.
Chefs, one minute left on the clock.
One minute left.
That's 60 seconds.
Get plating.
I got this.
This is my wheelhouse.
I got this.
As I'm working on my sauce, I realize that I forgot about my meatballs in the oven.
Now I'm freaking out because I know that the meatballs are overcooked.
No more cooking, plating.
Plating, chefs.
Chef Fred, get to it, get to it.
Chef, this is third lap around the kitchen.
Oh my god, even I'm getting tired.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up.
I'm just disappointed.
I feel like I just keep getting in my own way.
So I have to figure out a way to get my head in the game.
All right, chefs, you all had 30 minutes to create a Cajun Creole appetizer using your assigned chili peppers.
The judges are excited but a tad bit terrified to taste the dishes you all have made.
Judges, you ready?
Yeah, let's do it.
Let's go.
Chef Chris, what did you prepare?
This here is a scotch bonnet pimento cheese with a fresh salad of green tomato and okra.
And if it gets a little too spicy, I got a nice cold beer for you.
When I think about Creole Cajun, when I see that salad, that's the first thing that pops in my head.
Yes, indeed.
And it gives that a little bit of heat.
Yeah.
I love the ingredients that you used.
You really allowed the pimento cheese and this scotch bonnet pepper sauce to really be like the home runs as far as flavor.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef.
Chef Shaq, what was your pepper, and how did you prepare it today?
Oh gosh, I had a ghost pepper.
I made a ghost pepper and duck confit wonton with a frisee salad and a Carolina barbecue remoulade.
Followed on with that pepper.
Thanks.
Because the ghost pepper is dangerous.
Yes.
But I'm not burning up.
I got my mouth watering.
Let me want to go back and get more.
Oh.
This russet salad is an afterthought, though.
It just kind of drabs everything down.
And I think, ultimately, the wonton really wasn't coming from you, nor was that duck confit.
You just added peppers and made a really overdressed salad.
It wasn't a lot of imagination, nor work that was put into your dish.
Thank you, Chef Shaq.
Thank you, Chef.
Appreciate it.
Oh, hello.
Chef Dorian, what did you prepare?
I picked habanero peppers.
What you have is a spicy garden mix with Greek guac and a herb salad.
I mean, the first dish that I seen that kind of resonated to me as kind of Cajun Creole, it was the seasoning.
It was spot on, spot on.
The Greek guac was a really nice saving grace for the dish.
That cooling element is really needed.
And the heat is nice for me.
Like, I think it's perfect.
I think it's not too hot, but it's hot.
All right.
Thank you, Chef Dorian.
Hi.
Hi, Chef.
So Chef, can you tell the judges what you've prepared?
Today I've prepared for you Creole spiced meatball with a fish pepper spiced apricot sauce.
I'll start with the patty itself, or the meatball.
So you cook them there, and then in the oven.
Well, I just seared them, browned them, you know, on both sides, and then put them in the oven to cook through and through.
It's not as, like, juicy.
Remember, there's not a lot of fat content.
So maybe you would have took some fat, grounded it up, added it into the meatball, give me a little bit more lusciousness, right?
I get so much cumin, it blows my whole palate out.
Like, so much so that I even get the fish pepper.
I can see where you were going at with it.
But turkey's such a nuanced flavor profile.
It doesn't take much to overwhelm turkey.
Yeah.
OK.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
Oh, Chef Jamari, beautiful.
So I had the cayenne pepper.
So what I did here is I made a cayenne pimento cheese green tomato burger.
On the bottom, you have cayenne aioli.
It's also pickled cayenne chilies on top.
So you went three ways, three ways with that.
Yeah, I did.
All right, Baba, I like that.
I love the innovative play on the burger.
I think it was very, very smart.
I think you really hit it as far as the creaminess, the saltiness, the pickles that comes through.
Man, solid job.
Thank you.
I really appreciate you all.
Thank you.
Welcome to Fred Flew's Pie Shop down in the 7th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana.
All right.
What I have prepared for you all is an any day andouille sausage pie.
I love hand pies.
I'm definitely getting the heat.
However, the proportion of the andouille filling to my hand pie dough is lacking.
OK.
I would have preferred to have the filling for plan B in my plan A. You knew what you were doing.
Stick with it.
Thank you, chef.
Chefs, y'all really brought the heat in this challenge.
Give the judges a moment to decide the winner.
All right, judges, the chefs really show that they can handle some exceptionally hot chilies.
Yes.
All right, Chef Dorian.
Chef Dorian really brought Creole, Cajun spirit.
The use of the corn, of the tomatoes, of the sausage, I loved it.
Chef Jamarius.
Yeah.
What do you think about his pimento cheese burger?
I like the direction.
I like the vision that he had.
He stuck to it.
Superb dish.
Love the innovation.
Yeah.
All right, judges, how did you all feel about Chef Fred's andouille pie?
That andouille sausage didn't even actually serve us.
It was bread on bread with a little bit of sauce.
And if you were lucky, you got a slice of andouille sausage.
I'm going to piggyback off the same thing.
More filling.
Chef's check.
She took the wontons from the refrigerator, as well as that duck confit.
She spent 30 minutes essentially making one component, and that one component was completely a disaster.
And to Eric's point, even the salad, the one thing that she could have perfected was overdressed.
Yeah.
How do you feel about Chef Ra's meatball?
Chef Ra's, you know, I feel like every week
I'm, like, rooting for her to trust herself.
Yes.
I don't know what's standing in her way.
And at this point, I think she's standing in her way.
Absolutely.
I saw her vision, which is too much spice.
Yes.
You know, it was cumin and a little overcooked also.
Mm-hmm.
Let's bring the chefs back in.
All right, chefs, we challenged you all to make a beautiful Cajun or Creole appetizer while balancing the heat of your assigned chili pepper.
Some of you really impressed us with your creativity, while others struggled to execute.
Let's start with the chefs who made some missteps.
Chef Roz, you made meatballs.
There was way too much cumin, and you opted to put them in the oven, which caused them to overcook.
Chef Shaq, the wonton really wasn't coming from you, nor was that duck confit.
So really, you took 30 minutes to do an overdressed salad.
And we're a little disappointed in that.
All right, judges, let's talk about the chefs that impressed you.
Well, the dish that really resonated with the challenge.
They brought enough heat, but also spoke to the Creole Cajun culture.
It was spot-on.
Thank you so much.
Chef Jamarius, your innovative and creative play on a fried green tomato burger was fantastic.
Chef Jamarius, Chef Dorian, both did an excellent job.
But the winner of the Soul Starter Challenge is...
Chef Dorian, congratulations.
All right, Chef Dorian, you made the judges' favorite dish.
So that means you've won yourself an advantage in the cook-off challenge.
It's a roller coaster.
I'm back on top.
I'm right where I need to be.
Dorian wins.
Big surprise.
She's definitely my biggest competition.
But she's a force to be reckoned with.
I have to step it up, because I don't want to go home.
All right, chefs, for many, when you start talking about Cajun and Creole, you start talking seafood.
African-Americans and coastal communities like the Gulf Coast and Delaware Islands, where BJ and myself are from, have contributed greatly to soul food and have been doing so for centuries.
The Gullah Geechee community, for example, still practice traditional fishing methods to this day, methods that connect back to West Africa.
For your cook-off challenge, we want you to celebrate the contributions made by Black coastal communities by making us a delicious seafood dish that honors the flavors of the coast.
How do y'all feel about that?
I see, like, a sense of relief from you all.
Like, ah, I know my way around some seafood.
Yes.
We have six soulful seafood options.
Crab legs, catfish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, and crawfish.
I have family in New Orleans, so seafood is very near and dear to my culture and my family.
I'm hoping that I get either the catfish or the crawfish.
Chef Dorian, so you won the first challenge.
That means you get to pick the seafood you work with, and you're going to start a schoolyard pick.
And you choose the next chef that picks the protein.
This is very interesting.
Wow.
Mm-hmm.
What seafood option are you choosing?
I'm going to pick the crawfish.
Damn.
When I think occasion, the first thing my mind goes to is crawfish.
So with that being the challenge, you really can't go wrong.
So now you get to pick the next chef.
I'm going to pick rye.
I'll pick the catfish.
Good choice.
Shack.
Oh, I like this camaraderie of my ladies.
Scallops.
Chris gave me ghost peppers, so, you know.
I said Jamarius.
All right.
That's my girl.
That's what I'm talking about.
I'm going to go with the shrimp.
The chef that I would like to pick
I'm going to have to be Chef Fred.
That's my man's, man.
That's my man's.
I'm sorry, Chris.
Take that as a compliment, you know?
Crab legs.
Let's go, boy.
Crab legs.
OK.
So Chef Chris, that means you are left with a live lobster.
Did y'all really think about that?
Mm-hmm.
Chef Chris looks very comfortable.
Chef Chris, how do you feel about being selected last?
It's OK.
Story of my life.
No doubt.
I realize that I'm being singled out.
I feel kind of, you know, upset about that.
So I'm just going to have to crush them in this challenge and let them know that I'm here and you cannot silence me.
All right, chefs, you have 45 minutes for this challenge.
Oh, yeah.
Time starts now.
Let's go, baby.
Let's go.
Let's get it.
This is an elimination challenge, guys.
Do not forget.
All right, judges, the fabric of American Southern soul food cuisine started with the Gullah Geechee people.
Definitely.
There's a lot of people that aren't aware of the cluster of sea islands that are on the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, where the Gullah Geechee people live.
During the transatlantic slave trade, when they brought over the slaves from West Africa, Ivory Coast, Central Africa, this is where they were checked in, essentially.
Yep, space.
Now, Chef Vijay, can you talk to how Gullah Geechee people prepare food?
Yeah, you see a lot of vegetable pairing with seafood.
Right.
I know my favorite dish is fried okra and shrimp.
But it's not deep fried.
It's a caramelization in the pan of just some sliced okra.
And I cast net shrimp.
So it's not always about this fried, this fried, that.
It's about what matches what's coming off that field and in the creek.
Absolutely.
My family loves seafood.
My father competed in fishing derbies, so I learned very young how to fish.
And my favorite is crawfish.
They speak Cajun Creole.
I'm making Miss D's Crawfish Boil.
The basics, everything that you would have in a boil, corn, potatoes, sausage, with an outstanding, deep, rich brew.
These crawfish have given this gravy such a beautiful seafood flavor.
I'm pleased with it.
So here's a little bit of an open stew.
That's going to go with the lobster.
Make some creamy grits.
You got broth?
I do.
Can I just take two broths?
Yeah, go ahead.
Thank you.
My grandfather is from the Bahamas, and he taught me how to cook things like pigeon peas and rice with crab, dude conch.
I know my way around seafood.
This is going to be my chance to show the judges what I can do.
I'm making scallop corn mox stew.
with black-eyed pea cornbread.
I'm looking around the room.
I'm seeing that everyone is starting to work with their fish.
And I know I kind of need to get my scallops going.
The clock's not going to get me this time.
Anybody got chicken stock, chicken base?
Right here on my station.
Here you go, baby.
Thank you.
For sure.
Jamarius is doing shrimp and grits.
Totally one of my all-time favorites.
Of course.
This is what we ate traditionally in South Carolina at Grandma Mia's house.
So I'm really looking to see what kind of roux he's going to make, the flavor on the shrimp.
I'll tell you, man, they didn't play with us today, man.
Killing these shrimp, man.
Maybe I should rethink doing this, huh?
Turn them low and slow, baby.
Let's get it.
When I think of Cajun Creole, I think of Louisiana, New Orleans at that.
They have such great food, good energy down there, the music.
Man, it's just amazing.
I have this shrimp and grits dish that I do that incorporates those flavors.
Some nice creamy grits, a nice gumbo gravy, with some nice fried okra, man.
Time check, please.
Less than 30 minutes left on the clock.
30 hertz, 30 hertz.
So far in this competition, the clock has been my challenge.
So I'm really happy to have catfish.
It's a quick cook.
My husband's from Mississippi, so he loves catfish and grits with gravy.
He's like my number one motivator.
He believes I can do like anything.
I want to win for him.
If this is the group of chefs that wants to pick me last, I'm going to show them what this OG can do.
Chris was the last one to pick his protein, you know?
And I think that was strategic.
because they see his experience.
Yeah.
I'm making buttermilk dashi poached lobster with creamy grits and okra.
The buttermilk acts as a tenderizer, and it gives it flavor.
The dashi and the lemongrass, the ginger, and the garlic are really going to pump that flavor into it.
Chef Chris, he has some great flavors working for me.
Yeah, he's a very wise cook, yeah.
You know what I mean?
He's been in the game a lot longer than most of these chefs have been alive.
They just woke up a damn joint.
Old school, how you feeling over there?
Chris, how you doing?
Yo, man, I'm about to house y'all, man.
Chris, what?
Don't be trying to get all up in my head.
O-G, double O-G.
What you gonna say, Fred, back to Chris?
You better keep up.
We got the medic in the back for that hill.
Chris, you hear him?
Chris, he don't really talk the mess about you.
Look at Chef Dorian being the instigator.
Instigator.
Yeah!
These kids gonna learn today.
What?
He called you a kid.
These kids gonna learn today.
We gonna learn and we gonna teach at the same time.
They gonna learn today.
This is the challenge that changes the entire game right here.
This OG right here is about ready to whip that ass.
Chef Chris is shaking tables.
All right, chefs, 15 minutes left.
Who got shrimp stock?
Can I get some, please?
I got some seafood stock.
Let me get some of that.
I'm not going home this week.
I have to turn it up a notch.
I'm making crab cake soup with a soft crostini.
I'm gonna add a little bit of Parmesan cheese because I want cheesy taste to the soup.
And I'm using the seafood stock because it's already made and time is running out.
I saw Chef Fred discarding the crab shells.
Yeah.
And then going for the ready-made seafood stock.
Extremely disappointing.
I agree.
Amateur move.
The great thing about seafood is the amount of stock that you can get in a short amount of time.
So if you have those shells, if you have the shells from the shrimp or the crab leg, you can get a really, really serious broth.
Delicious.
I'm looking at the clock.
I don't have a lot of time, but I feel pretty confident, because I've given the judges depth of flavor and richness.
Those are gonna be some tough, rubbery scallops.
I don't want overcooked.
She's already had them in there at least ten minutes.
I am really worried about Chef Shaq.
Two minutes left on the clock, Chef.
Two minutes, guys.
Come on.
Time is running out, but I'm pushing forward.
She's had him in there a lot longer than she needs to be because she has way too much in it.
Now she's steaming rather than searing.
This is a rookie mistake.
I've been through too much in my life, and this challenge is not going to take me out.
Chef Shaq, let's go.
Get the food on the plate.
Come on, Chef Shaq.
There is no time left.
Put it on the plate.
Bring it home.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
That is it.
That is it, Jess.
Step away from your station.
I think it just got real.
Time is up.
I'm looking down on the plate.
I feel good about it.
And I'm hoping that I could at least be safe.
It's the first time that I actually feel like I got everything on the plate that I wanted, and I made it look the way that I wanted it to, and I actually made it in time.
I'm here to win.
Chefs, we challenged you all to make a seafood-forward dish honoring Cajun, Creole, and Gullah cuisine.
Chef Jamarius, you're up.
I made a Creole shrimp and grits for you all.
I think it's a well-balanced dish.
I like the shrimp.
I like the way it's cooked and prepared.
I think you don't need this okra.
We've seen you fry up an okra and kind of just leave it as a garnish, and it just seems like an afterthought.
The only thing I would change is the ratio.
I didn't know there were grits under here until you said it.
For sure.
So I had to go searching for grits.
But once I got them, they were creamy.
They were delicious.
Thank you.
They were divine.
Thank you, Chef.
All right, Chef Jamarius.
Thank you.
Chef Fred, come on down and tell us about your dish.
Judges, what I've prepared for you all today is a crab cake soup with a soft crostini.
Chef saw you discarding your crab shells.
You use a stock that was already prepared.
Right.
You could have made a stock with your shells.
Only had 45 minutes.
Got to be quick on your feet.
OK.
It's a flavorful dish, but the soup itself doesn't really give off a lot of crab essence.
I'm getting more of a creamy cheese base, and I would have loved to have seen that gullah, you know, that guichi flavor really come through.
What happened?
I thought my dish was top tier.
Now I got to make it out of here alive.
All right.
Thank you, Chef Fred.
All right.
Thank you.
Chef Dorian, let's hear about your dish.
What you have before you is Miss D's crawfish boil.
Use your crusty bread, go in with your hands, and enjoy.
From the broth, to the potatoes, to the corn, to the crawfish, the seasonings that you use, the fact that you have the natural crawfish in there, kind of leeching out its natural juices as well, all plays into this really oceanic, well-seasoned, buttery, like you have it all.
I have nothing to say other than that.
This is really good.
Thank you so much.
I have something to say.
You brought your A game today.
Yes, thank you.
This is some good eats.
This is it.
Thank you so much.
I want a little more flavor just out the plain crawfish.
But when I took it out of the shell and dip it into this little gravy, it's on point.
All right, thank you, Chef Dorian.
Thank you.
Chef Roz, come on down.
Go and get it.
I made pan-seared catfish and grits.
The fish is perfect.
Cooked nice.
Thank you.
I could use just a little more gravy, but overall, I think you did pretty good.
OK.
Thank you.
I'm going to have to agree.
And your grits are really good.
The only issue is that there's a huge oil slick kind of all throughout this entire dish.
Thank you, Chef Ross.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Chef Shaq, come on down.
I made a scallop and corn makchu with a black-eyed peacorn bread.
Chef Shaq, we saw you sear your scallops, but you put a bunch of those base scallops in your pan at the same time, which kind of steams rather than sears.
And you're cooking it for a lot longer than you actually need to.
And that's why it's rubbery.
I love where your mind is going.
You know, I love it.
but the execution.
I can't believe I overcooked the scallops.
I'm extremely disappointed.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef.
All right, Chef Chris, come on down.
What you have in front of you is a buttermilk dashi poached lobster.
You know how to work a plate.
You know how to cook.
It's evident, right?
I'm getting that ginger.
I'm grassing there.
The grits really well played.
I love the veg set that you have going on with the okra.
It's probably my favorite thing in the entire dish because you keep going back to the grits for it, right?
If I was to critique anything, I like my grits done just a little more, but it's a great dish.
Great dish, Chef.
Thanks so much.
And the notes of lemongrass and ginger and that poach with the buttermilk, they just marry so well together with the lobster.
Thank you.
Chef Dorian, and you were partners earlier.
Mm-hmm.
She didn't choose you to pick the next protein.
I know.
Wasn't that cold?
Now, is this crawfish that I see as a garnish in this dish a tribute to anybody here?
Yes, it is.
What that is, that is the three-pointer in her face.
Break one down.
All right, chefs, overall, your dishes had the judges wanting to book a flight to the Big Easy.
But one of you will be booking a flight home.
Give the judges a moment to deliberate.
All right, judges, I was really impressed how some of the chefs used the seafood.
But did some of our chefs struggle to stay above water?
Chef Shaq, the scallops, they were rubbery.
But, I mean, the creativity in her mind was, I mean, the dish sounded like, wow.
Yeah.
All right, is there another chef that kind of struggled with this challenge?
Yeah, I would say Chef Fred.
Yeah.
Totally agree.
You're talking about crab soup.
Yes.
It was the crab essence.
It was too thick.
It was too cheesy.
It almost tastes like a cheese sauce.
Yes.
Chef Roz, those grits that she had were absolutely delicious.
Grits were cooked to perfection.
But for me, in my plate specifically, I just had way too much oil.
All right, let's talk about the chefs that really wowed you.
I loved Chef Doreen's dish.
She focused on the ingredients, and she really delivered a flavorful bowl of that boil.
She did.
And it was seasoned.
Correct.
And if I had a straw.
Yeah.
Wow.
Chef Chris.
Yeah.
I mean, that lobster, perfect.
Yeah.
He was fork tender.
Yeah.
Like butter.
Absolutely.
His head was completely in the game.
That's the type of cooking I think deserves to be on the show.
Yes.
Yeah.
All right, judges.
It seems like you've come to a decision.
Let me go grab the chefs.
Sounds good.
All right.
Be right back.
This time, I took my time.
I even took breaks to collect my thoughts, make sure that I was, you know, doing everything that I wanted to do, you know.
We have to learn to stay out of our heads.
I fight it all the time.
I mean, I think it's good for all of us to be under this pressure, because now we've all stepped out.
I think our competitive sides will start to show more.
And that is OK.
It is a competition.
Right.
We love each other.
We know that.
But it is a competition.
Only one person is going to win.
Yeah.
Chefs, the judges would like to see Chef Dorian, Chef Fred, Chef Shaq, and Chef Chris.
Chefs, two of you plated exquisite seafood dishes that gave honor to coastal cuisine.
But two of you missed the mark and left the judges disappointed.
Chef Dorian, Chef Chris, congratulations.
The two of you had the judges' favorite seafood dishes.
Right on.
But one of you made the biggest wave with our judges.
The winner of the cook-off challenge is... Chef Chris.
Congratulations.
I won my first cook-off challenge, and it's amazing.
I must say, if I may, if I may, that this particular challenge was super fun.
Being chosen last reminds me a lot about coming up in this field young, you know?
I'm 53.
Probably started out in my early 20s.
when there weren't really people that looked like me at the top, you know?
And constantly, you're ignored for a raise, ignored to move up in the stations.
I worked for free, full-on shifts, you know, to be seen.
This particular challenge reminded me of the days when I was overlooked, and it built that fire again.
Ignored and unnoticed, not today.
This dish stands above anything else that you've done for us.
After all those years of being sidelined, people not taking my work seriously, this victory finally feels like I'm being heard.
All right, Chef Chris, Chef Dorian, you all are safe from elimination.
You may leave the kitchen.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Good job.
Thank you.
Brother.
Hey.
Chef.
You all right?
OK.
You want anything?
What do you think?
Sorry, but Chef Fred, Chef Shaq,
One of you has just cooked your final meal in this kitchen.
Chef Fred, you could have fortified your soup with a little bit of those shells that you threw away.
And the soup was way too cheesy.
Chef Shaq, bay scallops, they were overcooked.
They were rubbery.
It's why you're at the bottom two today.
Chef Shaq.
Sorry, but your dish did not bring the soul the judges were looking for.
Chef Fred, that means you are safe.
You may leave the kitchen.
Chef Shaq, we never want you to stop cooking.
That love that you pour on the plate and that you've shown us week after week, let that permeate.
Let that radiate.
It was an honor to be here.
I thank you so much for the opportunity.
I must say, we loved getting to know you and your style and your beautiful spirit and aura.
Thank you.
Don't change.
Thank you.
I appreciate it, Chef PJ.
Chef Shaq, be well.
This experience has been a long time coming.
Growing up in Florida as a little black girl, I always knew I was going to be something.
And I'm leaving this competition with my head held high.
And we love you, girl.
We love you, too.
Most definitely.
I wish I could have brought that $50,000 back home, but I'm still going to build my restaurant.
All is well.
I'm going to get all in here.
All is well.
Thank you.