Original subtitles

Oh God.

- No. - Oh my gosh!

We dug into the back fridges

and found some really big fish.

You're gonna show us if you're the big fish

by cooking whole fish in The Trench tomorrow

in just one hour.

Ooh. One hour.

Oh.

It's been a long day, and you need a good night's rest.

We'll see you back here in the morning.

I've been in the bottom two twice now,

and now I have to go up against Kent in this head-to-head.

This is where land meets sea.

The Oklahoman and the Floridian cooking fish,

and I'm gonna prove to you that I am here to stay.

It's time for the two of you to settle the score.

In last night's challenge,

your street food dishes just didn't measure up to the others.

To help us decide which of you will survive this competition,

you're going head-to-head in a seafood battle

by cooking whole fish right here, right now.

You'll each be cooking those whole fish in The Trench

in only one hour.

The winner stays in the competition,

and the loser will be swimming with the fishes.

Get smokin'!

One hour is really quick,

and the fish that I've got is a black sea bass.

Have I ever seen one? No. Have I ever cooked one? No.

But we're gonna treat him like a black bass in our part of the world

or a big ol' largemouth bass.

It's a clean, white, flaky fish, and we're gonna cook him that way.

Throw it on the fire, see what happens. Hope something good turns out of it.

Fishing is a big part of my life. It's one of my abso favorite things to do.

I haven't done a red snapper whole, but keeping this one really simple.

I love the flavor of fish.

I'm going really simple, clean flavors,

with some herbs and citrus on the inside and outside,

which is also a little nod to Florida.

I think Melissa seems comfortable. I mean, she's from Florida.

Wonder what they're both gonna do. Keep it plain and simple or...

I think in an hour, all you can do is play it simple.

I would just throw it on the grill with the skin on it.

They're both used to going above and beyond

and adding extra and...

- That's the thing. - Don't overcomplicate it.

Correct.

It's time to start stuffing.

They have to cook a whole fish in one hour over open fire,

which is not very forgiving.

What's so hard about it?

Cooking a whole fish is different than cooking fillets.

It's hard to get tender, flaky meat... throughout the whole fish.

To get that thing perfect in one hour,

they're really gonna know how to manage fire.

What are you gonna be putting on that black bass you got?

It'll be a surprise, sugar. I've never cooked one of these.

We'll see how tender or how hard-crusted he is.

Do you want that skin to protect that meat so it stay whole?

We usually cook it filleted.

We usually don't have none of this problem about cooking it whole.

I'm brushing the grate with olive oil,

and I'm putting olive oil on my onions

because I definitely don't want my fish to stick.

That'd be a good idea.

- Put your game face on! War paint. Yeah! - Going to war! There we go!

Yeah!

I have two boys,

and I continue every day to try to show them how to be fighters

and how to deal with a lot of the challenges

that are thrown your way in life.

So don't shortchange yourself, and don't give up on yourself.

So I have a little fire pit that I built at home with my boys.

And it is as simple as they come, but it works.

That's what I'm trying to do today.

Sometimes, you just gotta go back to basics.

What you making?

I'm making you an herb and citrus whole red snapper,

and there's also an olive oil dipping sauce.

Keep this one really simple so you really taste the fish.

What's all in your... your rub you have for your fish?

Very simple. Salt, pepper, garlic,

and then in the inside, I'm gonna stuff it with a little variety of citrus,

and then I'm gonna cook this. I'm gonna put the onions

on top of the grate over there so the fish gets the flavor of it.

It also should help prevent it from sticking to the grate,

which is my goal, so... But I oiled it up just in case.

Your competitor over there is already cooking his fish.

I think these should be a pretty quick cook, so...

-Good luck. -I should be good. Thank you so much.

I know she said it should be a quick cook, but you never cooked a whole fish.

You need to get it on.

Hey, y'all, 25 minutes! Y'all got 25 minutes! Let's go!

Hey, Kent. Tell me what you're cooking.

I'm making grilled sea bass

with a lemon garlic butter spread to go with it,

roasted tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, and squash.

We got a dessert, bananas Foster, but it'll be grilled.

Did you use any oil on the fish itself?

Yeah, but not near enough.

I've never cooked with such a tender-skinned fish.

It feels like there's not a lot of time for you to figure it out.

It'll be what it'll be, ma'am, and it'll be just right.

Every day is a blessing where I come from.

-You know what? The potatoes look great. -Yeah.

The bananas look great.

-Yeah. -Those tomatoes look great.

-But you should've thought about the fish. -The fish.

We know that Kent has cooked

in many different environments on the ranch,

in unforgivable environments.

-So he may be able to pull this out. -Yeah.

All right, guys, let's get it on! You got 15 minutes!

How you doing over here?

You smell good.

Watch your time.

It's not my best effort, uh,

but, hey, you saddle a horse, you ride it.

Hey, Melissa.

- Kent? - The skin fell off my fish.

Your skin fell off?

Uh-huh. He was tender-skinned.

I hurt his feelings.

I flipped this fish over, and right there, there's nothing on there.

There's no skin. There's no nothing.

Trying to flip this fish and leave his clothes on.

Shoulda, coulda, and woulda don't get you nothing in life,

but if I had a chance, I'd have put a lot more oil on that fish

and a whole lot more oil on that grate.

I... I'm skinless.

She's putting her fish on the onions.

She's got something between the fish and the fire,

which is gonna slow it down even more, and I'm just...

I...

If that fire's not hot enough, that fish is not gonna get done.

This is not cooking. It's not cooking at all.

We'll let that fish sit there and rest on its own.

That's staying warm, so I ain't worried about it.

I mean, we know Kent's moving on, and here she's...

I don't know. I'm nervous as hell.

Needs more time.

It needs to be hotter.

You need a log with fire on it.

There you go. Yes!

If you wanna get that heat, concentrate it. Put the deflectors up.

Okay.

Put 'em around the bottom. There you go.

-This is nerve-racking. This is scary. -Yes, extremely nerve-racking.

We got a dessert. We got some grilled vegetables.

It is what it is, and I am proud of it, my friend.

I can tell you right now. I would not wanna trade shoes with them.

- Nope. - No.

This is painful, man.

Yeah, it is.

Think I'm just rolling with it at this point.

I hear a sizzle.

Five minutes, guys!

Let's go, Unc! Let's roll! You got it!

You know, time is ticking, and I'm sweating.

Trying to plate here a little bit

and get things where they're supposed to be.

I'm just getting this plated, so that way,

the split second my fish is done,

I can run it over here and just lay it down.

Ugly fish. Don't know which side's the ugliest.

Two minutes!

All right, cowboy!

Yeah, let's go!

-Get on it! -Let's go, cowboy!

Come on, kid! You can do it!

- Let's go! - Your boys'll be so proud of you!

Let's go, Melissa! Let's go, Melissa!

Kind of falling apart already.

Ten, nine,

eight,

seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two, one!

Time's up!

Show me the fish!

We're spent just watching.

Day two, I undercooked my meat. Day three, it was overcooked.

So if I don't come through on this challenge, I'm going home.

Melissa, please tell us about your fish dish.

I made an herb and citrus red snapper,

and there's also an olive oil dipping sauce.

It has a little bit of herby brininess to it.

Melissa, your red snapper,

I'm really loving the flakiness of it.

I'm not picking up a whole lot of seasoning.

I'm just getting the citrus notes.

The salsa verde is very good.

I'm glad you left the sauce to the side so I can just taste the fish.

I wanna say the fish was a little under-seasoned.

- Okay. - But then I don't.

Because red snapper is a very good-tasting fish.

-Yes. Yeah. -I don't like when it's over-seasoned.

-I think you hit it on that one. -Thank you.

Okay, Kent, tell us about your dish.

Grilled a whole sea bass stuffed with a little lemon and dill.

It's got a garlic butter sauce, some fingerling potatoes,

charred tomatoes, and some zucchini and yellow squash.

And then a rum maple syrup grilled banana.

I really enjoyed your black sea bass.

The flavor's on point.

-It's just a tad over than what I like. -Yes. Got it.

For me, um, when you cook fish just a little bit over,

it almost gets a poultry texture to it,

so it's a little bit too firm for my taste.

But I really like the flavor of your fish.

-Congratulations on seasoning our food. -Thank you, ma'am.

They haven't made it easy, have they?

-Should we take a minute, talk about it? -Yeah.

No matter what happens, know that I'm proud to be here with you.

You're a person to ride the river with.

Any day. I'd ride the river any day with you.

This was a test of your strength as fighters,

and both of you put up an incredible fight.

It's a shame we have to lose either one of you.

The cook moving forward in the Showdown is...

- Melissa. - Good job, girl.

Good job, honey.

Congratulations, Melissa.

Kent, I really thought that you had wonderful flavors in... in your fish.

Unfortunately, I think you had just a little bit of texture issue,

but it... it was just by... by minutes.

It was just a little bit overcooked.

Yes, ma'am.

Unfortunately, this means we have to say goodbye.

Hey, it won't be goodbye, sugar. We family now we fed you.

So it's... it's all good.

I appreciate the opportunity.

Met some really great people that have become family.

And it's all about bringing food, fire, and friends together,

and I don't regret a day of it or a time of it.

Thank you so much, ma'am.

-Love all of you. -We love you, man.

What I think happened today is two people got in there

and made some food that come from the heart.

As I walk out of here, it's like as I walk out the kitchen door

at the house or at the chuck wagon.

I'm proud of what I represent. God has blessed me.

My wife loves me, and the dogs don't bite. So, hey, it's good as it can be.

Melissa, you won.

What's going through your mind right now?

I am so beyond grateful for the opportunity to be here.

So thank you, all of you.

Now, you still got work to do.

Yes. Thank you, guys. I love you so much.

-We love you. -We love you.

And for the rest of you, when the sun goes down,

head over to the pits and get your game face on.

What's up, you guys?

- Hey! - Hey!

Come, come, come.

- Oh wow! It looks like a party. - Wow!

-Oh my God! -My God!

Oh my God!

If you haven't figured it out by now, it's game night.

And we're throwing ourselves a little tailgate party.

That's what I'm talking about!

And we've invited 50 sports fans.

Whoa.

As if cooking for the judges isn't stress enough,

we've gotta worry about their tailgaters too.

That is a whole new component on a different level.

So, for this challenge,

we want you to blow us away

with some elevated barbecue tailgate food.

We want three proteins,

including sausage made from scratch,

chicken wings, and a third of your choice,

along with two sides.

And you'll have three hours

to get it done.

All of these dishes have to work together

to represent your hometown or your home team.

It's all right.

I gotcha.

Each of you will be cooking and serving these dishes

out of your very own pop-up pickup truck.

-Oh, yeah. -Should we get this party started?

-Oh yeah! -Let's go!

Get smokin'!

Sounds like a brutal challenge.

We have to make sausage from scratch,

wings, and an additional protein

and two sides in three hours.

Uh, okay.

Make sure I got enough.

I'm excited for a tailgate, but I have not been on the top yet.

I've been middle ground, and I want this challenge really bad.

So it feels like you guys are asking them to do a lot with a little.

What kind of equipment do they have to work with?

They have a lot of equipment.

You've got your standard kettle grill. You got a pit barrel.

You've got a drum smoker,

a couple of portable lunchbox smokers.

They've got a pellet grill and a tabletop griddle.

I mean, they've got fryers.

And we're asking them to cook for 50 people.

This is an elevated, top-notch Empire State Building tailgate party.

You feel me?

This is the real Friday Night Lights. If you mess up, it's lights out.

Sausage is one of my favorites.

I'd give anything right now for a hot link and bread.

The Houston Texans have

the largest tailgating facility in the nation.

Okay? It is massive, adjacent to the stadium.

I mean, we're built for the tailgate, right?

So this is exciting, but at the same time,

we're working with equipment that we don't typically work with.

Ah! Doggone it! I have never done sausage before.

I'm excited to try it. I am gonna case it.

I'm gonna try to go with kind of a central Texas sausage,

Texas chili, and Creole smoked wings,

a corn fritter with a chili, and a bit of coleslaw with the wing.

It's totally Texas and totally Houston.

Perfect.

This challenge is definitely a lot for me.

There are a lot of components that I'm required to have on my plate.

I'm working with unfamiliar equipment.

I'm in another new location.

I'm coming off of a super high-intensity challenge prior to this,

but I got this.

I'm gonna make you some bacon wrapped gator tail.

Gator can get tough and chewy really quickly.

So it's definitely taking a risk to cook this,

but the judges talked about representing our home team.

So I've gotta have my gator in there to represent Florida.

Wrap it in bacon,

and then if I can figure out how to make a sauce out here,

I'm gonna make a little marmalade dipping sauce for it.

For the tailgating party,

I'm making a bacon wrapped gator tail,

butter ranch wings,

beef and bacon mini sausages,

corn and jalapeño fritters,

and grilled pineapple and strawberry skewers

with a toasted marshmallow dipping sauce.

I've only made sausage a couple of times at home, and it wasn't this kind,

but we're going for it.

- Hey, Melissa. - Yes?

- You a big football fan? - I am!

-Who are you rooting for? -I usually root for my son's team.

Good answer.

But when I'm not rooting for his team, I'm going for the Packers.

I'm hoping the ice cubes keep the fat on the meat nice and cold.

Looks good so far.

So Melissa is cooling down her chuck and her fat,

which you absolutely have to do

because if you don't do that before you grind,

it'll end up mealy.

Um, you won't get a good grind on it.

You have to keep your fat component cold when you're making sausage.

Yeah, I do a whole lot... a whole lot of football.

Tailgates are my thing. Like, that's what I love to do.

I'm a Who Dat, you know? I'm a big New Orleans Saints fan.

So me and my wife are season ticket holders,

so we go to every game.

All of these things, I'm used to,

so I'm confident that I'm gonna do well in this challenge.

So everything is really gonna be Cajun-related.

I want to keep it in there and definitely try to keep it home.

Today, I'm making a roast beef po boy from a chuck roast,

a hot sausage patty, Louisiana hot chicken wings.

For my sides, I'm doing crawfish queso with toasted buns

and crab meat hush puppies with rémoulade.

What type of tailgater are you? You like to stay all day?

I'm down from the morning to night.

- Oh, you're a tailgater-tailgater. - I love to tailgate.

I love tailgates, but, I mean, I'm trying to make sausage,

gotta get the chicken on, so we got a lot going on.

Even though I love tailgating, I usually have more time.

I'm making grilled wings with a Nashville hot sauce,

baby back ribs with a whiskey barbecue sauce,

pork cheddar sausage,

and smoked queso and guacamole

with fresh fried tortilla chips!

- You made sausage before? - Never.

I've cooked for many tailgates.

Tailgating is... is easy for me.

I feed 4,000 students sometimes from tailgates.

But out here, it's a different element.

I am having to cook things on rigs that I've never used before.

-Finally got it working, baby. -You got it working? Good job, sis.

Yeah, finally working.

Kevin, what are you looking for in a perfect tailgate sausage?

I mean, flavor. Flavor, juiciness.

Are you gonna get the right grind on it? I like a 20 mm coarse and then a fine.

But are you gonna do it too fine, give me that hot dog texture I can't stand?

Kareem, are you a big football guy?

Football is not a thing in Egypt. We play soccer.

Game day eats and tailgating are not a thing where I'm from.

So today, I'm embracing my Texas culture here,

but putting my Egyptian twist still.

Today, I'm making smoked lamb ribs,

lamb kofta sausage,

sumac chicken wings with a harissa ranch,

elote corn ribs,

and herb stuffed tomatoes.

Started with my lamb ribs. It's gonna take the longest.

I have my tomatoes prepped, my corn.

Marinating my wings right now.

Olive oil, fresh garlic, a lot of sumac, honey.

There's a few ways that I plan to go about this challenge

that I think is gonna help me manage my time.

I'm not going to case my sausage.

So I'm going with a skewered kofta, an Egyptian-style uncased sausage.

I'm gonna grind the meat last, actually.

I'm just gonna grind it, skewer it, throw it on the grill.

When you're cooking for 50 people in such a small time frame,

I think it would be better, in my opinion, to make sausage patties.

Yeah.

It's so much easier to get your prep done.

To get, you know, get it chilled down.

Instead of wasting all that time linking it up,

just make some patties and make us some sliders.

-Whatever you gotta do. You know? -I ain't gonna hate on it. Uh-uh.

When you're working with casing, you have to find the end.

This is my biggest hurdle today. So if I can get past this, we're golden.

I love making sausage,

but I don't understand what is happening with this sheep casing.

But it is not cooperating with me at all.

Oh, there we go! Come on.

Come on.

Did it do it? Oh, so close.

Well, the casing is very thin. One, it's very thin.

It's a little hard to work with.

You need to get it over this cylinder and slide all the casing all the way on.

Not my forte, let me tell you.

There's only so much time I can spend making that effort.

I couldn't get the casing on the equipment,

uh, so I kind of pivoted away from that.

So what's your plan now?

I guess to try to do some type of sausage without a casing,

but I'm not digging it, man.

Hey, everybody feeling... feeling the smoke? You feeling the groove? Where we at?

I feel it, baby.

Trying to get these sausage patties on.

I am not worried about casing my sausage because I am not casing my sausage.

I tried casing sausage before. I got big fingers.

The casing is really small, depending on what you get.

It's not something that I wanna try, given this type of challenge. No.

Y'all feeling the tailgate vibe?

Oh yeah, most definitely.

I'm gonna start in on this right now, the chicken wings.

Hey, Staci. How we doing?

Hello, guys!

Got your wings on. What'd you season 'em with?

Just an overall, like, a smoky rub right now, but I'm making a...

Don't... don't get scared on this.

...a Chocolate Reaper blackberry barbecue sauce.

- Did you say a Chocolate Reaper? - Yes.

-Like a Carolina Reaper, right? -Yes, but even better, like on steroids.

Don't blow my palate.

I will not. I know how to work with it and give you the flavor

without all the heat that comes with it.

What's on your menu? What you making?

I am making flatiron tacos,

pork butt sausage sliders on pretzel buns,

blackberry Reaper barbecue wings,

apple slaw,

and a loaded potato salad.

This is my tester. It's kinda like a sweet Italian.

So is that sausage properly seasoned?

-Is that what you're going for? -That's what I'm testing. My tester.

I'm debating on the salt, if I need to add any more salt.

I'm also thinking about the toppings that's going on the slider.

- Good luck, Staci. - Thank you, all.

That damn sausage was good.

I think it could've used just a tad more salt.

Like I said, she's comfortable. I haven't seen her this comfortable.

I hope she don't let those wings blow out your palate with that Chocolate Reaper.

Two hours!

Ooh! I'm stressed as hell!

Jesus Christ. This is going too fast.

So tight on time. This challenge is tough.

Two hours left. I got my roast beef for my po boy.

Getting tender right now. I'm gonna shred it, put it on the po boy.

I got crab meat hush puppies.

Just trying to make sure they're fried. They don't take a lot of time

'cause crab meat pretty much is almost cooked already.

You just gotta make sure it's seasoned right.

They're not too soft. They're not too hard.

I think they got a good color.

I wanted to do something close to home. We like to fry a bunch of things.

People could come by, grab it with their hand,

dip it in some sauce, and just pop it and get it and go.

So that's why I wanted to do the crab meat hush puppies.

Everybody's gonna love it.

Sloan, how you doing over there? You awful quiet!

Gerald, I tend to be quiet when I cook.

-I'm sorry, man. I get a little focused. -Oh yeah?

You have a favorite tailgate food or...

Oh, absolutely, man. Texas chili.

I do that every week when it gets cold out.

I'm going Texas red chili with the chuck.

Starting to thicken up. I think it's starting to come together.

If I had some crackers, man, I'd be really happy.

Texas chili? No beans, man.

Not making chili if you put beans in it. Might as well call it "bean soup."

We make chili all the time, especially on game day.

Sloan, are you a big football fan?

Oh my God, I was born a football fan!

- Shaticka. - Yes?

Seem like you're dancing, like you're on the TSU band.

Why you lookin' so comfortable?

Oh, I'm not comfortable at all!

I've never made sausages. It took me forever to get the sausages on.

What's going on? What are you making?

I am making pork cheddar sausages,

baby back ribs.

What technique you cooking those baby backs at?

I'm gonna hang them in the barrel.

So, hopefully, that works. I've never done that.

How long you planning to cook 'em for?

For the next two hours that I have.

- Good luck, Shaticka. - Thank you so much.

So now I'm a little concerned about Shaticka.

Two hours is, um, not a lot of time to get those baby backs tender.

She gets that pit barrel up to, like, 270, 275, she can get 'em done

in an hour and a half, but that's really, really pushing it.

I got a few concerns about Shaticka. Hopefully, she can get it together.

Now I can finally say I've been to a tailgate.

If you're gonna live in Texas, you gotta tailgate, man.

We gotta tailgate together in Texas.

We will. If you come to Houston, then we'll go.

I will do.

I just wrapped my lamb ribs. I'm feeling good about those, finally.

I saved sausage for last.

I have experience of making sausage

because I worked in butcher shop.

I cranked out thousands and thousands of pounds of sausage.

There you go.

I take the meat in the bowl. I give it a nice, quick hand mix.

And I get my skewers.

I skewer all the kofta.

Koftas are usually skewered. It varies from country to country.

In Cairo, we do a rounder skewer. These look really good.

Uh, about to grill the kofta.

Kareem.

- Hey! - How you doing?

- I'm stressing. - You look like you're stressing.

I know!

The word on the curb is your nickname is Egyptian Cowboy,

and also, you're a mean two-stepper.

My most recent hobby is Texas two-stepping.

You should see me cut a rug on the dance floor.

I'll teach you.

- You will? - Yeah.

How do I do it?

-Okay, so you're gonna turn. -Yeah, yeah.

Quick, quick, slow.

-Hey, you're good. -I know!

Quick, quick, slow.

Oh, we gotta spin!

Okay! Okay, look at me. I feel Texan too.

It's getting hot in here.

My sausage casing,

which I usually have a very, uh, close bond with,

has decided that we are not friends today.

So I am going to make sausage sliders.

This is taking so much time that I don't have.

So I need to get everything going.

I know I gotta probably relight my fires back there,

so that's gonna take some time.

I'm still finishing my proteins. I haven't even started my sides.

Oh my God.

Hey, Melissa. How you feeling?

Uh, a little anxious.

Join the club!

My grill dropped because...

My sausage situation took so long that it dropped a little bit.

- Yeah. - I'm trying to get it back up.

Gotta make sure these are nice slices of gator.

Melissa has not even started her sides, and there's not a lot of time left.

It's been the same problems the whole time.

Time management. Time management.

Gator bites are going on.

Uh, I'm extremely behind.

One hour!

It's tough. So tough.

This is not good.

I had patties on there, then I burnt 'em. So now I gotta start over.

Everything is on.

I spent too long making sausages.

There's so many elements going on in this challenge.

These chips are almost done.

Guacamole, cheese, meats.

I got everything working. Forgot about that chicken over here too, huh?

At this point, I am just cooking on everything.

I have ribs everywhere. I have chicken everywhere.

I'm just trying to make sure that all my meat is cooked.

Ribs fell in!

- You what? - My ribs fell in!

Oh, no, no, no.

- Fell in? Oh no. - Yeah, they fell in, baby.

God, dawg.

What the... is going on?

It's just like, "Oh my God! Are you serious?"

I didn't lose 'em, but they... they fell.

I mean, they fell down in that... that damn barrel.

But I'm just gonna keep working with 'em until time runs out.

Breathe, honey.

I'm making loaded potato salad. I've gotta make sure

all the components are in there like would be on a loaded baked potato.

If I don't, then it's not a loaded baked potato.

The closer we get to the end, you know, and getting down to the winner,

all the details are gonna matter, and I can't screw up anything.

I'm not real confident about my menu tonight.

I think the corn fritters are okay.

The coleslaw is probably okay, but then who knows, right?

Chicken wings, I put 'em on a smoker. Should have some smoke flavor on 'em.

The sausage? Could not get the casing on the sausage machine.

So I pivoted.

Went with basically a freaking sausage ball.

I'm sorry to anybody who has to try it.

Thirty minutes! You only have 30 minutes left!

- These people are hungry. - Yeah, they can go to your place, man.

They don't need to come here.

Feels nerve-racking a little bit to have so many people.

I'm in a rush, and I need to keep pushing.

The wings are done on the smoker.

I take them out, and I toss them in honey and harissa.

And I go in, and I just dump the entire bowl of wings on the grill.

Damn, what's going on over there?

- Those are some flames. - Something's on fire over there.

Oh no. I hope he didn't burn his food.

Hope there weren't no meat on there. If it is, it's done. Cremated.

There's one thing about a good char. There's one thing about a bad char.

-Scorched chicken is a terrible texture. -It's horrible.

God.

Why did I do that to myself?

Fifteen minutes!

My body is killing me right now.

The pressure is starting to crack me.

I have no sides right now except the fritters.

At this point, I just feel like I'm drowning.

Yeah.

Melissa, it's not over until it's over, honey.

I love you. You've had a long, hard day.

Okay?

Just put it out there, all right?

It's okay. It's okay.

-Is Melissa crying? -I think there are some tears.

It's okay.

It's been a day.

Keep working till the end, all right?

- I love you. - I love you.

I hate that. I want her to get done.

Everybody wants to win, but not that way.

Five minutes, you guys!

You have five minutes left!

Ticka, you got a knife I can borrow?

Baby, come...

- Yeah. Which one? - Take it right here.

-Sitting right there. Yes! -Which one? This one?

I am not confident about this at all.

This is gonna have to work.

Those baby back ribs? I cooked them as long as I can possibly cook them,

and I'm just gonna have to serve it up and pray for the best.

Busy-busy. I don't have to be. I am busy-busy.

One minute, you guys!

One minute!

Feeling stressed.

No.

Come on, girl. Get that plate. Get it plated.

Get something on that plate.

Three meats, two sides. Everything is on its damn plate.

Thirty seconds, everyone!

Get it on the plate!

Thirty seconds!

Okay.

Ten, nine,

eight, seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two, one!

Show me the meat!

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

-That was tough. -That was intense!

Bourbon!

- Bourbon! That'll take care of it. - Listen...

All right, everybody, it's tailgate time!

Let's dig in!

Mm-hmm.

It is a tailgate, officially.

Here you go!

I have a barbecue...

A baby back rib with the whiskey sauce that's on there.

-Good point. Thank you, sir. -That is good coleslaw.

I braised it in a beef broth with some Worcestershire sauce.

We're not only cooking for the judges but also these crazy tailgaters.

I gotta make sure that all this food is gonna be good for them.

That wing's tasty.

Oh, good, good.

That's a homemade Cajun rub that I put on there.

It was overall a success.

But if Kevin and Melissa don't feel the same way, it really doesn't matter.

Hey, Sloan.

Hey, Michelle.

We're hungry. What's your tailgate dish?

My tailgate dish. I'm a Houston Texan fan.

I've done a Texas red chili, sweet and spicy coleslaw,

a jalapeño cheese corn fritter,

our Creole-rubbed smoked wing, my first attempt at sausage.

No beans in my chili.

-Sloan? -Yes, sir.

That's some good Texas chili.

- That is good. - Thank you.

The texture, the flavor, the meat.

-No beans in Texas chili. -That's right.

But I like a chili that's chunky with a gang of meat.

And that's it right there.

-I can talk about that chili all day. -Really?

I can tell it's the first time you made a sausage.

- Yes, sir. - Glad you didn't link it.

I'm very embarrassed by that sausage.

You got a good grind, a good texture on it,

but it's more just like a spicy hamburger patty.

The chicken, I don't really taste any seasoning,

and I don't taste any grill on it.

I'm not getting that flavor that I expect from you.

Your fritter had a nice little sneaky bit of heat on the back end.

The coleslaw is creamy and crunchy, and it is exactly what you needed

to balance the rest of this plate.

-Thank you, guys. You're awesome. -You're awesome.

- Hey, Gerald. - Hey! What's going on?

What's your tailgate dish, and what town or team are you representing?

So we have a Cajun-flavored wing, a sausage patty, a roast beef po boy,

which is made from a pork butt.

I also have a crab meat hush puppy with a homemade rémoulade sauce

and a crawfish cheese dip.

Me and my wife are Saints season ticket football holders.

I'm sorry.

Watch yourself.

Yeah, so football means a lot to me,

and this is the food that, if I were to throw a tailgate,

obviously, the stuff that I would cook.

How'd you cook this chuck?

So the chuck was cooked on the pellet smoker for about an hour.

This chuck is on point, man.

- What? - Good flavor.

No "what." It's on point.

Only problem I got,

you just need a little bit more dressing.

And I'm not saying to overdress like you did at your prom.

I'm just saying just to make sure you get enough.

Gotcha.

The sausage has good flavor.

It has a great grind. It has a good texture.

The hush puppy?

Mine was just a little bit underdone, as in raw in the middle.

-But the flavors were really good. -Okay.

-That's a New Orleans boy. -What? Get outta here!

- Thank y'all. - Get a new football team.

Hey, Shaticka!

-Hey there! -What's your tailgate dish?

And what town or team are you representing?

My team is Green Bay.

My tailgate dish is baby back ribs

with a whiskey barbecue sauce.

I did some grilled wings tossed in some Nashville hot seasoning.

I made some pork and cheddar sausages.

I have some guacamole queso with some fresh fried tortilla chips.

-Shaticka. -Yes.

When you said you'd cook ribs in two hours, that threw me off a bit.

I can taste the rub, got a little bit of a smoke ring,

but I know you got better ribs than this,

even though this wasn't too bad, but you got better ribs than this.

Yes, sir.

- Your sausage, which... It had good flavor. - Okay.

But you got such a fine grind. It's almost a hot dog grind.

-Okay. -But the flavor was still there.

Okay.

I really like the Nashville hot flavors that you got on this chicken.

Unfortunately, mine was just a little bit hard on the exterior.

For me, I would like to have seen two varying sides,

not just maybe two dips.

It almost kind of seems like a cheat.

It's like, "I'm gonna do one thing and use it two ways."

- I totally hear what you're saying. - Yeah.

- Thank you so much. - Thank you.

- See you later. - Bye-bye.

Got some sausage sliders. Here you go. You're so welcome.

- Hey, Melissa. - Hi.

Tell us about your tailgate dish.

So I have some sausage sliders here,

bacon wrapped gator tail, butter ranch wings,

some gently fire-kissed honey strawberries,

and some corn and jalapeño fritters.

The grind on your sausage is really good.

Thank you.

- It might be just lacking a bit of flavor. - Okay.

But I really like the fact that it has a great mouthfeel, great texture.

-Thank you. -For me, the gator is a little bit tough.

Right, right.

The bacon's not rendered, so you've got a very soft texture

against something that's a very dense texture, for me.

Gator is a tough cook.

- Yeah. - It's a real lean meat.

I know you tried to get the bacon on to give it a bit, but it dried out a bit.

The chicken, you got a nice grill on, but it was too much going on for me.

Before I taste chicken, I'm tasting everything else.

Cheese, ranch...

-Yeah, yeah. -But this fritter is on point.

- Thank you. - The best thing on the plate.

Thank... Agreed.

-Thank you, Melissa. -Thank you all so much.

- Hey, Kareem. - Hello, Michelle.

- How you doing? - Good.

What did you make for us today?

So today, I made Egyptian twist on tailgate classics.

I made lamb kofta.

Ground lamb with coriander, nutmeg, onion, garlic, fresh mint.

I did a sumac honey wing.

I also made elote corn rib.

I made a lamb rib,

and I made a stuffed tomato with herbs.

- Kareem? - Yes, sir.

- Lamb ribs are hard to cook. - Yeah.

You gotta wrap lamb ribs if you cooking in two and a half, three hours.

- Yes. - Did you wrap these?

I did.

- I thought you hit this spot-on, man. - Thank you, sir.

When we seen The Towering Inferno,

was that on purpose?

No. What happened is, when I got to put my wings in,

I should have put one by one,

but I just dumped the bowl in with all the fats, so it charred.

The char with the glaze,

we're not getting the char as much as we would

if you didn't put that sweet glaze on.

So you Band-Aid that real good as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you.

Your kofta sausage,

I taste those wonderful Egyptian flavors,

and I think you got a great grind on this

and a great mix of meat to fat.

Your ribs, I think you got a really good cook on those.

-I can taste the fire. -Thank you.

-Thank you so much, Kareem. -Thank you.

- Hey, Staci. - Hello!

How you doing?

Relieved. Relieved.

What's your tailgate dish?

My sausage was a homemade Italian sausage

with roasted peppers, provolone cheese

on a pretzel bun.

My other is a flank steak taco with pico on the side,

so y'all can taste the meat.

My wings are a Chocolate Reaper blackberry wing sauce.

I've got an apple coleslaw and loaded baked potato salad.

Staci, that sauce on this wing

and that heat at the back end,

spitting tailgate all day.

The char you got on this wing is perfect.

The sauce, it's not overwhelming.

When I bite through the sauce, first thing I taste, sauce,

then that char, then that juicy chicken.

That is a good job on this wing.

- This is a tailgating wing. - Thank you.

-It is so good. -I tried not to blow your palate out.

It was a fine balance.

You have handled that Chocolate Reaper very well.

I am a huge fan of apple salads, and this is a really good salad.

And I'm really loving the potato salad as well.

Good. Thank you.

The sausage, I think the sausage is a great texture.

I think it has good flavor,

but you've put it on this thick pretzel bun

with cheese that's not melted and a little sliver of peppers.

The sausage gets kind of lost in all that bulkiness

and all those other flavors. I can't really taste the sausage.

Okay.

- Thank you very much. - Thank y'all.

-All right. -Yeah.

I'm tired as hell. Burned my hair, dropped my meat.

Melissa and I have been to more tailgates than I can even count,

and if I would have to say so myself, you guys threw a great party.

Give y'all self a hand.

The tailgaters today raved about your food,

but unfortunately, just like in sports,

someone's gotta win, and someone's gotta lose.

We're gonna get right to the hard part.

Melissa and Shaticka.

I'm sorry. Your dishes were just not on par with the rest today.

Sadly, the cook going home today is...

I'm sorry, Melissa.

Yeah.

It's okay.

Let me tell you, today has been the Olympics for you.

Yeah.

And be proud of yourself 'cause I'm sure proud of you, girl.

- Thank you. - You got so much fight in you.

Anybody in any arena run up against you and think they got a easy win,

they got another thing coming, girl.

Your boys are gonna be so proud of you.

Thank you so much with my whole heart.

Give it up for Melissa, everybody.

Aw!

Hey!

Honestly, never felt more proud

than I feel right now.

You know, just to be surrounded by so many inspiring, talented people.

This has been the most amazing experience.

I'm walking away from here with so many lessons.

My heart is just full.

Well, how about some good news, everybody?

-We'll take it. -Let's go with some good news.

Good news is always on the menu.

-Yes. -Yes, let's go.

There was one cook who tailgate treats stood out above the rest.

Congratulations, Staci.

- Oh God. Thank you, all. Oh my God. - Wow.

-That's amazing, Staci. -Good job, my girl.

- Amazing. - Good job.

I am beyond proud of myself. You know,

this is something I've been wanting since day one.

And we also need to give an honorable mention to Gerald.

You showed real team spirit with your dishes tonight.

Thank you.

-Congratulations, Staci. -Thank you.

-You had the best barbecue today. -I'm kind of in shock.

It has been a day.

Now go back home and get some rest.

- Yes, ma'am. - Tomorrow is another big day.

Mm-mm.