Original subtitles

I'm Bobby Flay.

Each week, one brave chef will try to

take me down in my house.

This is my show.

Today it is.

Tomorrow, who knows?

Oh, trash talking.

This culinary battle is gonna shake down

in two rounds.

Round one, to get to me, two contenders

have to go through each other using an

ingredient of my choice.

Let's do it, dive, Bobby.

Two people that know me well will decide

who's got the skills to beat me.

Yeah! Round two, I go head-to-head with

the winning contender.

Let's go! It's their turn to surprise me

with their signature dish.

What? Oh! Don't try this at home.

I know you did it, Bobby!

Bottom line? You're gonna run it in two!

Everyone's out to beat me.

Yeah! You can do it!

Come on, everybody.

Now you know what you're gonna do.

Whoo! Tonight, you guys are in for a

treat. One of my co-hosts is a football

player, Turing Food Star.

Come on out, Eddie Jackson.

That's terrible. Let's get a real

musician out here.

And the other is a country music legend.

Winona Judd!

Yes! Thanks so much for being

here. I'm here to take over.

Oh, you're here to take over?

So, let's get into the really important

things. You and I share an amazing

passion. Cats. Wow.

How many do you have?

30. 30 cats?

I have 500 acres.

That's a lot of acreage.

Yes. Winona is my hero.

Not only is she a country superstar, she

also has 30 cats.

I have chickens.

I have miniature donkeys.

Pet pigs named Juanita and Consuela.

I'm just known as Winoa.

And why hop?

Because I cook and animals are my

passion. What kind of stuff do you like

to cook? Everything.

Really? I can, I do things seasonally.

And now you're working on a cookbook,

right? We'll see.

What? Spill the tea.

Oh, I love that.

I like it.

Let's get this thing going.

Any strategy tonight, Eddie?

I mean, you've been here many times.

I love watching people beat you.

Because you're the best.

You've come to the right place.

It's gonna be hard, but I'm here to show

you. All right, Bobby.

So, we have two very good chefs in the

house tonight. So, you might have been in

a little bit of trouble.

Our first contender is a competition

veteran. And he's ready to show you which

Bobby is boss.

From Chester, New Hampshire, it's Bobby

Markov. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, all

right, let's go.

Our next contender has spent 50 years

perfecting his modern takes on classic

dishes. From Bellevue, Washington, it's

John Howey. Yeah.

Happy to meet you.

I'm looking for you, Bobby.

I love a man that twirls.

Bobby, John, how's it going?

Good, Bobby. Anybody call you Robert?

I prefer Bobby.

I feel the same way.

All right, I'm gonna give you an

ingredient of my choice.

And you must make that ingredient the

star of your dish.

And that ingredient is pecans.

Is this an ingredient you work with a

lot? A lot is a garnish.

That's gonna be the tough part.

Pecans have to be the star.

All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.

Go nuts.

Let's go. Come on.

I love this ingredient.

It's almost like a staple in southern

cooking. Yeah. What would you do here,

Eddie? Crust. Crusted, yeah.

A pecan-crusted chicken sandwich.

We're agreement on that.

Tulapia or chicken would be perfect.

Wow, Tulapia. Very specific, whether or

not I like it.

I'm very specific.

I like that.

Thank you so much for having me.

Bobby, what are you making?

I am making a bourbon pecan chicken with

a bourbon cream sauce.

Bourbon and pecans, absolutely.

As soon as I see pecans, my immediate

thought is bourbon.

That clicks with me that I'm gonna do a

sauce. Now we cook it, yes.

That's what I'm talking about.

Yeah, there we go.

Roasting them really brings out a little

bit of sweetness.

And after I burn off the bourbon, I add

the cream because that's gonna add some

silkiness. Bobby's compute on 10

different competencies. He likes the

competition round. He does.

He does well.

I love getting into these culinary

competitions because it just keeps me

challenged. I'm Chef partner of Tuck-Away

Tavern and Butchery.

I like to put modern spins on classic

American cuisine. Tonight I'm competing

for my wife, my kids, and in honor of my

daughter, Alana. Alana lost her battle to

cancer in 2014.

She was the biggest champion in my life,

and so she's my biggest inspiration.

Beating Bobby Flay would be a huge

accomplishment. It's the ultimate

championship, right? So let's battle and

may the best Bobby win.

What I don't like about pecans is I don't

think there's a whole lot of things you

can do to make them the star.

But I have a dish that I do already,

which is chicken crusted and walnuts.

I think I might do a version of that.

How about you, John?

I've got a pecan crusted chicken breast.

With a blue cheese sauce.

Okay. Blue cheese and pecans.

I'm so funky.

I'm gonna impress our special guests by

doing something that makes them go, wow,

that's an interesting combination, and

hopefully they're blue cheese fans.

I wouldn't have chosen blue cheese.

Yeah, it's interesting.

It's interesting.

I am chef owner of John Howey Restaurants

in Washington State.

In my 48-year career, I've cooked at the

Beard House five different times, and I

was nominated as restaurant tour of the

year by the James Beard Foundation.

I really want to win as a thank you to my

family for supporting me the entire time.

I've got the couple sons and three

grandchildren that are gonna love seeing

me beat Bobby Flapp.

Let's see what's going on over here.

We're about to make a little bit of a

coating. Okay. All right.

We're gonna get a nice crust with salt,

pepper, and ground pecans.

All right, so you're gonna beat two

Bobby's today? I have to beat two

Bobby's. You're not worried about this,

Bobby, over here, all right?

I'm not worried.

I guess we're gonna find out.

We're gonna dip the chicken in some egg

and cream, and then it's right into the

pecans. So talk me through this chicken

thighs, right? Chicken thighs, yeah.

Crust in it with a little pecan panko.

For the breading, I add panko, cinnamon,

cardamom, sugar, and salt to create some

depth of flavor.

12 minutes and 55 seconds, my chef.

My chicken thighs, I want to get those in

my pecan crumbs.

I want to do it in the fryer and get a

nice crisp on them.

Hey, Johnny, you enjoying cooking in

Bobby's kitchen? Well...

And by Bobby, I mean me.

Come on, Bobby.

So we have chicken and pecans on both

sides. So basically it's gonna come down

to the execution, the seasoning.

Yeah, man. I don't really have a garnish,

and so I'm gonna do a maple roasted pecan

to go on top.

Coming up on 8 Minutes.

So, John, I have to admit, I personally

would have never picked the blue cheese,

but I think it's so interesting.

Are you nervous?

Just timing is what's the biggest problem

with getting it done.

This dish is pretty rich with all that

blue cheese sauce.

I want to add a little bit of erinus and

acid, so I'm making a roasted red pepper

relish. Permission to enter.

Please come in, yeah.

Tell me what you want me to know about

you. I sing in my kitchen.

Do you? My chefs hate it.

Um... You can't sing good, sing loud.

That's exactly what I do.

I'm glad I got that down.

So I pull my sauce off, get it in the

blender, looking for like a silky

texture. I'm working on a little bourbon

pecan sauce. Would you like to try it?

Oh, I would.

Ooh, girl.

Coming up on five minutes, chefs.

What do you think?

The sauce was awesome, and I trust John.

He just seems very in command.

It is time to plate, so I go immediately

for my sauce.

I've got my chicken right on top.

One minute to go.

Just take a nice big spoonful of blue

cheese sauce, and I've got to put the

chicken on there.

Ten, nine. My nut garnish, I just pop

that on top.

Six. Five. I add roasted pepper relish

just to finish with.

One. Yeah!

Nice job. That blue cheese sauce is gonna

be so rich and creamy, and the chicken

with that touch of sweetness from the

pecans should work out just great.

Whoo! Good job, Jeff.

Beautiful. I've got pecans used three

different ways, but I do realize that I

did not salt my chicken thighs before I

breaded them, so fingers crossed.

So Bobby, number two.

Bobby, number two.

What's that face you make, like, when you

lose? There it is!

Yeah, that's what I'm looking for today,

guys. I want to see Bobby beat so bad.

Chef John, what did you make?

I made a pecan-crusted chicken breast

over a blue cheese sauce with a little

bit of roasted red pepper on top of that.

You cook this chicken breast by as good

as you can get it.

I like this pecan coating.

The blue cheese is delicious.

The only thing is that it's overpowering,

and I can't really get the pecan.

I'm with you, Ditto.

I would push it to the side and

concentrate more on this relish.

It's so good.

Thank you. Chef Bobby, tell us about your

dish. I saw...

Oh, sorry.

I did a pecan-crusted chicken thigh with

a pecan-burban cream sauce, and on the

top, I just did a quick maple-roasted

pecan. I love that you prepared the

pecans three different ways.

This cream sauce, I love that bourbon.

The chicken itself, beautifully crested,

but I feel like it's lacking seasoning.

The chicken is really well-cooked, but

like you said, more umph.

I love both of them.

All right, give us a moment to discuss.

I'm really hoping the fact that you used

pecans three ways is enough to make up

for the lack of salt.

The chef moving on is...

Chef Bobby. Chef Bobby.

Chef Bobby. Good job, Bob.

I had high hopes to show Bobby Flay

something, but I'll tell you what.

Bless you. And I'm looking forward to

having my grandkids watching me beyond

beat Bobby's play.

Chef Bobby truly embodied the challenge

by making the pecans the star of the

dish. Now, you got a season.

That's how you're gonna take this man

down. I'm gonna do it.

That's what I'm talking about.

All right, Bobby, congratulations.

What's your signature dish?

My signature dish is...

beef stroganoff. Ooh!

Ooh, that's one of my favorites.

Classic. I feel like I've made this dish

here before. You have and you lost.

Ooh! Interesting. All right, Bobby versus

Bobby. I like it.

45 minutes on the clock, and your time

starts now.

Let's go, Bobby!

And Bobby.

You like beef stroganoff?

I cook it probably two times a month.

I love... It's a comfort food.

Traditionally, beef and, like, mushroom,

sour cream sauce.

And it is traditionally served over egg

noodles, which is the way I learned.

Chef Bobby, why'd you choose this dish?

I've been cooking beef stroganoff since I

was, like, 10, 11 years old.

One of the first things my dad taught me

how to cook.

Wow. I like to bring different textures

of beef, different textures of mushrooms,

and really show off techniques throughout

the process. So I'm making beef

stroganoff with porcini crusted filet

mignon, marrow-roasted mushroom, sour

cream gravy with egg noodles.

I want to roast my marrow bones and get

my chuck roast, braising it in the

pressure cooker with carrots, celery, and

onions, and some of those bones.

Bone marrow is pretty much leg butter out

of a cow.

Bobby's gonna use that bone marrow to

have that really strong beefy-flavored

body. That's impressive.

So, beef-flade, the last time you made

this dish, you lost.

Do you remember anything?

I don't have any recollection of it.

It's funny how he doesn't remember

anything when he loses.

The last time I made this, apparently I

didn't do very well.

That's what I've been told.

So my strategy with this one is I'm going

pretty classic with a couple of twists

and turns. I'm making skirt steak beef

stroganoff with a cramini mushroom sauce.

What you got going on?

I'm making some fresh dill noodles.

What? What the heck?

It's eggs and flour and some fresh dill.

Dill is very Eastern European, and I

think beef stroganoff and dill makes

perfect sense. I'm gonna let this dough

rest, and then I'm gonna make a mushroom

sauce that has shallots and garlic.

I put a whole bunch of cognac in there.

And then I want to saute the mushroom

separately so that they get crusty on the

outside. Chef Bobby, what's going on?

Beef stroganoff, old school.

Now you're gonna bring the flavor this

round, right? That's the goal, man.

That's the way to be, Bobby.

The better Bobby's over here.

Show off all the dummy.

Typically, I'm not one to under-season,

but I lie on the line of not over

-seasoning, so I always try to find the

perfect balance. So I definitely get some

salt on this filet mignon.

Filet is really lean, so it goes great in

this really fatty dish.

Let's give a round of applause for the

better-looking Bobby.

So, skirt steak.

It's one of my favorite cuts of meat.

I love skirt steak, but stroganoff, I

don't know. So, classically, this dish is

a tougher cut of meat, but I mean, just

skirt steak because it'll cook quicker.

Sometimes, man, you know, you got a

classic. You just want to leave it a

classic. You know, maybe that's why you

lost last time.

Possibly. I can't remember what I did

last time. It doesn't matter what you

did. You lost.

22 minutes.

So now I'm gonna roll up my pasta.

I admire that he's making his own

noodles, I have to say.

Beef plate, how'd those noodles go on?

The noodles are good.

I gotta cut them.

In fact, I don't think I have enough, so

I'm gonna have to make more.

Pasta's taken a little bit more time just

because I didn't roll out enough sheets.

Still got a lot to do.

You took away time from other things.

I hope it's worth it.

Definitely feeling a little crunch.

Time feels like it's catching up to me.

Here I come.

Hey. Hey, you.

Hey, you. Hey, you.

I have to say, I'm judging your dill

noodles. I want to know what the choice

is to take away time to make your own

noodles. I don't know.

I love fresh pasta.

Oh, I do too.

And I just think the noodles in this dish

is really important.

Right. So tell me a story.

I just met you.

What do you want me to know about you?

I want to know that you and I have cats

in common. Yes.

And I have two.

You have 30.

Do you have any dogs?

About 10. You have 10?

Yeah. I have to come to the farm.

I'm telling you, they picked me.

If I was a cat or a dog, I'd pick you

too. Yeah. I have good snacks.

Well, good luck, Bobby Flay.

Thanks, Manonah. See you later.

I don't hear any singing.

I was just about to show you my new hit.

Yeah? There's a new Bobby in town.

Oh, my God.

His name is...

I think you forgot the answer that

exists. I want to have different textures

going on. So my next step is to roast

multiple kinds of mushrooms with bone

marrow. So what do you think about Master

Bobby using skirt steak?

I think whatever Bobby does is going to

be awesome. I think I'm just going to

bring it a little better than him.

That's the goal.

I like it.

I don't know what do you all think?

Is there a new Bobby in town?

Time to get my pasta going.

I go with classic egg noodle because I

feel like fresh pasta for a stroganoff.

It's a little bit of a gamble because it

can be softer than dry pasta.

I'm also going to toss my pasta with a

little sour cream.

Sour cream is a prominent ingredient in

stroganoff. And so I'm also making garlic

herb sour cream using shallots, basil,

oregano, parsley. Seems like Chef Bobby's

really trying to elevate his dish.

Fancy, fancy pants.

12 minutes and 30 seconds.

How we doing, Chef Bobby?

All good. Oh.

I got to finish my sauce, cook my steak,

cook my noodles.

Other than that, I'm done.

Everything. So I blend the sauce.

You can use sour cream for this because

that's the traditional, but sometimes the

sour cream separates.

So, cream fresh is going to be a silkier

sour cream. Beef lay, where are you going

to start your steak?

Right now. Good answer.

I sprinkle a little sugar onto the

porcini powder because I want it to be

caramelized. And then I drop the pasta in

the water now.

It's fresh noodles, so it's going to cook

fairly quickly. And then I melting some

butter because I want to make buttered

noodles. Six minutes.

Here we go.

So I pull my tenderloin out, I give it a

slice, and it's perfectly cooked.

I drizzle a little bit more of that bone

marrow butter over the top.

So I'm really counting on this filet

mignon to drive home the beef part of the

stroganoff. Gravy's where I want it to

be. I built some great flavors in the

pressure cooker. Now it's time for all

the kids in the pool.

I got my sour cream and creme fresh in

there. My roasted mushrooms and pasta all

in. It's time to go.

Less than three minutes, people.

This is nerve wracking.

I slice the steak.

I think the steak is cooked nicely and

well-seasoned. I've started playing the

noodles. Noodles are so freakin'

important. I would personally have gone a

nice toss in the sauce.

Thirty seconds! I start with my herb sour

cream, toss my pasta one last time, give

a scoop of that on each plate.

Here we go.

Ten, nine, eight.

Put the steak over the noodles and then I

sauce it all.

Five. I finish each dish with filet at

the center. Two, one.

Good job, dude.

Bobby's game is strong.

I like the fact that he tossed the

noodles in the sauce.

I thought that was a smart idea.

I accomplished what I came to do.

I built a beautiful plate.

I'm feeling confident.

My dish, the flavors are there, but it

doesn't look great.

Making those noodles took a lot of time.

Tonight was a battle of Bobby versus

Bobby. Beef stroganoff!

So we'd like to introduce you to your

judges. Chef and restaurateur, Michael

Salakis. Chef and novelist, Jess Tom.

The third generation owner of the SELCA,

Jason Brashard. Please start with the

dish in front of you.

I love the choice of meat here.

So much flavor and the crust that they

got on it.

It's like a bark.

Every bite is exciting to eat.

It definitely reminds me of grandma's

cooking. Love the dill and the pasta.

That gives it a little pop.

But I'm not 100% sure why they didn't

toss that noodle in some of that sauce.

Because it just becomes like one big

blob. I didn't have the issue with the

clumpy pasta because I would eat it so

fast that it wouldn't manage to be a

clump. I really loved how the pasta is so

thin. The steak is sliced thin.

It lands a level of refinement.

I would have liked to see a little bit

more of a sour cream based in the sauce,

but this was very tasty.

All right, judges, I'm going to have you

switch plates.

I really enjoyed this dish.

The cut of the filet, delicious.

The percini crust, definitely a plus.

I liked how all of the mushrooms really

drives home the meatiness of this dish.

The sour cream added tartness and zing.

I loved the sour cream, but I think

that's also the problem with the dish.

Like, it was so one-dimensional in there

because I think it was under-seasoned.

All right, judges, now it's time to take

a vote.

My big worry here is hearing the judges

say under-seasoned again.

And if I'm a pinch of salt away from

beating Bobby Flay, it's going to be a

tough one to live down.

So tonight's decision is not unanimous.

And the winner is...

Chef Bobby Flay!

Good job, Chef Bobby.

Thank you. You know what, Bobby?

This dish really is beautiful.

It just missed it by a little bit, man.

Little salt, a little pepper.

Just be there, man.

I'm going home a second Bobby.

Thank you for your job, Chef.

Appreciate it. To the one and only Iron

Chef, so I'm okay.

I gave it my all.

I guess congratulations, Bobby Flay.

Thank you very much, Eddie.

Finger-wronged Bobby one.

What the smirk off your face, man.

I think you need to come back.

Let's do a rematch with Bobby.

Come on, bring it.

You know what we say in the cell next

time, Bobby, bless your heart.

Bless your little heart.

Bless your little heart.

Just like Wynonna, my stroganoff was a

classic.