01x02 - American Diner

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

[Jordan Andino] Do luxury ingredients
always make the best dishes,

or can humble items be transformed
into a recipe for success?

This is Cook at all Costs.

I need something. I need something.

[Jordan] With $25,000 in their bank,

three home cooks will have to bid
on all their ingredients...

I'm ready.

...in a high-stakes,
auction-packed cook-off.

-$5,000.
-Sold!

The home cooks can spend big
for the best ingredients,

save their money for the basics,
or gamble on a surprise.

Chicken hearts. [laughs]

[Jordan] In the end, the winner

will go home
with all the cash left in their bank.

[laughs] Oh, man!

[Jordan] The back pantry is home

to the hottest names
in today's culinary world.

Surprise!

[Jordan] These celebrity chefs
will prepare the mystery boxes,

ingredient temptations,
and judge the dishes.

You gotta make Mama happy.

All right, Chef, send out those boxes!

[music continues]

It's the ultimate cooking competition
where skill meets strategy.

Let me get my buzzer fingers ready.

[Jordan] This is Cook at all Costs.

What's good, home cooks?

-[laughs] Hi!
-Hey!

-Welcome to Cook at all Costs.
-[man] Whoo!

-[laughs]
-Let's do this.

Sue, Stephaughn, and Beth,
in this first round,

you'll need to create a dish
in any style you want

using ingredients that are being prepared
in the back pantry

by our guest chef and judge.

He's a Top Chef: All-Stars champion.

His restaurants celebrate
classic American fare

from Ember and Rye to Four Flamingos,

the one, the only, Chef Richard Blais.

-[laughing]
-Oh, my God.

Oh, my gosh. Chef Richard Blais,
I cannot believe I am cooking for him.

I am such a huge fan of his.
I am shook. Shook, gooped, gagged.

Right now, Chef Blais is preparing
three different ingredient boxes for you.

Chef, send out those boxes, please.

[dramatic musical flourish plays]

[suspenseful percussive music plays]

Oh, my God.

[Jordan] You'll start by blind bidding
on these three ingredient boxes

using your bank of $25,000.

[exhales]

The highest bid gets the Spend Box,

which has luxurious ingredients
to help you make a luxurious meal.

The cook with the lowest bid
gets the Save Box,

which is made up of bargain items

that'll need to be transformed
into top quality dishes.

And the bidder sandwiched in between
gets the Surprise Box,

which has unusual ingredients

that'll make you think
and cook on your feet.

Huh.

Ay-ay-ay, they're not gonna make it easy.

[Jordan] In the end, the cook that turns
their dollars into the best dishes

will win whatever money
is left in their bank.

The minimum bid is $2,500.
Please lock in your bids now.

[gentle suspenseful music playing]

I do not like surprises.
I'd rather just get what I want.

So I am gonna spend money out there.

[tablet chimes]

I love the finer things in life
and luxury items. [laughs]

So the Spend Box, it makes sense.

Beth, let's take a look at your bid.

$3,000.

Sue.

$3,500. Someone's trying to spend.

-Yes.
-[Jordan] Stephaughn.

-Oh! $3,500!
-[Beth laughs]

Oh, no!

Beth, you had the lowest bid.

Yep.

[Jordan] Which means you get the Save Box.

Sue and Stephaughn.

-You both bid the same amount, $3,500.
-[Stephaughn] Mm-hmm.

But, Stephaughn,
you entered your bid in first,

which means you get your choice

of either the Spend Box
or the Surprise Box.

-Give me the Spend!
-[all laugh]

-[applauding]
-[Sue laughs]

[Jordan] Which means, Sue,
you have the Surprise Box.

-Surprise!
-[laughing]

I said I didn't like surprises.

I'm sorry. [laughs]

Home cooks, you have 45 minutes

to make your best dish
using ingredients from the box.

[sighs]

And be ready, 'cause more upgrades will be
coming down the line for you to bid on.

Okay.

Sue, Stephaughn, Beth,
are you ready to cook at all costs?

-Yeah!
-Oh, we're ready!

Great, because your time starts now.

-Go!
-[Sue exclaims]

Oh, my God.

[laughs] What is in this?

[upbeat music plays]

[Sue] Okay.

Ooh!

Margarine.

Ooh, mussels.

Oh, my God, some white wine?

Turnips, curry powder.

Wow, this is actually
a really good Save Box.

I'm kind of pumped I got the Save Box
with the bargain grocery ingredients,

because I too work on a budget sometimes,

and it's nice to have things
that I'm comfortable with.

Whoo!

Oh! Oh, I love rosé.

I've got escargot, pickled ramps,

everything bagel mix, ghee,

but the escargot, I guess,
is gonna be the star.

I don't know. I don't really eat escargot.

I'm, like, befuddled right now.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

Oh, okay!

Prosecco, peppercorn,

hot honey,

duck fat, mmm!

Let's see what this is.

Scallops? I have a shellfish allergy,
and I'm cooking scallops?

Oh God, here we go.

I just don't know what I'm going to do,
but I'm up to the challenge.

I can't taste it, but I can go as far
as to making sure that it's seasoned well.

I'm seeing some proteins
with a wine pairing.

Beth has mussels
and some white wine with the Save Box.

Sue has escargot and rosé
in the Surprise Box,

and Stephaughn's Spend Box
has prosecco and scallops.

-Nice and expensive ones.
-Sounds right to me.

I'm unfamiliar with this one.
What is this? Ginger, I believe?

It's called a sunchoke,
AKA a Jerusalem artichoke.

-Okay.
-Treat it also as a starch.

It's delicious
and has a very creamy texture as well.

-But it's lighter bodied.
-Okay. Okay.

I'm from Chicago,
and my grandmother taught me to cook.

Growing up, I was always in the kitchen.

If I win, I'm going to use the money
to open me up a food truck.

I'm thinking about making,
like, a hot honey scallop.

I am making a hot honey glaze.

I let it sit and simmer
so it can thicken up.

And then, I never heard
of Jerusalem artichokes before,

but I've cooked mashed potatoes
hundreds of times,

and so I'm going to make
mashed Jerusalem artichoke.

Okay, I got to get a focus here.
I'm doing seafood.

-Sue!
-Yes?

How's your Surprise Box?

Oh... [laughs]

-[laughs]
-I'm not loving you right now.

I don't love escargot.
I don't love snails.

I'm feeling a little upset
with Stephaughn right now...

[laughs] ...to be honest.

[laughs]

[Sue] They're pretty. I love shells.

I had a business for 20 years in flowers,

and I always said if I wasn't in flowers,
I would be in food.

All of a sudden, here I am.

I'm here because I want
to prove something to myself.

I know I'm a good cook.

I'm gonna prove that I'm a good cook,
and people will see that.

Here we go.

I'm making escargot two ways.

First, I'm going to sauté it in the pan
with the ghee and the rosé.

Eh, let's just bread these.

Then, I'm going to fry the little ones
that are already out of the shell.

Okay, at least we got that.

But I'm hoping that maybe something else

comes down the line
that will go with my dish.

It's going to come together.
[sighs] It always does.

[groovy music plays]

Wow, Chef Blais,
those are some ingredient boxes.

They are, they are. Isn't it nice?
It's kind of... They're amazing.

Yeah, they really are.
What are you working on now?

Well, I mean, I'm cutting some lardons,

or bacon bits,
if you'd like to call them that.

Bacon adds flavor,

and especially, some of the things
in some of the boxes are lean,

so this is gonna add
a little bit of that fat, that mouthfeel.

It's also gonna add
the best things to every dish.

-That's right.
-I want that umami, salty flavor b*mb.

Next, next level.

In terms of the home cooks

and looking for the round-one winner,
what'll impress you?

I am a stickler for technique,
but not if it gets in the way of flavor.

At the end of the day,
it really is about flavor.

Listen. I'mma go check on them.
You can load that up.

-Thanks. Talk to you soon.
-Okay.

[driving hip-hop music plays]

-[cork pops]
-Opa!

[Beth] Whoo!

I'm about to make me a mimosa. [laughs]

I'm using the prosecco
to just give a little buzz

to the lemon dressing
to put on the watercress.

And that's pretty good.

[Beth] I have some turnips.

I'm gonna turn up some turnips.

My whole life
revolves around food so much.

I have a food podcast,

I am a professional food
and product photographer,

and my husband is a professional chef,
but I'm the one who does all the cooking,

and I have, like, obscene amount
of kitchen confidence.

I'm pumped.

I'm, like, wicked pumped
about the Save Box.

Wine and mussels
are a match made in heaven.

I have total clarity
of where this dish is going.

It is a white wine mussel dish

with some curry flavor,

sautéed beet greens,

and I'm grating my turnips and thinking,

"Let's deep-fry this son of a g*n
and make some crispy 'turnip hay.'"

Shut the front door.
Is that a new thing? I think it might be.

But I really need some kind of bread,

something that's gonna sop up
this beautiful, mussely white wine broth,

and I know I didn't spend
as much money as my competitors did,

and so now I have
an opportunity to spend a little

to make the dish complete.

[propulsive percussive music plays]

[dramatic musical flourish plays]

[Jordan] Home cooks, auctions coming!

-All right!
-[Sue] Oh, boy.

What do we got? What do we got?

[Jordan] The first item
up for auction is jasmine rice.

Fry it, crisp it up,
give me some little socarrat on the base,

steam it. Mmm!

[Sue] I need this jasmine rice
because I can put it

underneath my escargot.

Jasmine rice, who wants some?

Do I have $500?

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $600?

You sure? Wow, all right. $500 going once.

-Take it, Sue.
-$500 going twice.

-Jasmine rice sold to Sue! $500.
-[Stephaughn] All right, Sue.

-[Beth] Get it, girl!
-Thank you. Thank you.

-Ooh, rice. Mmm!
-Thank you.

All right. Next item up for auction is...

bacon lardon.

So salty, fatty, delicious,
and adds so much flavor.

[Beth] Bacon and mussels are
a great flavor combination together.

I'm going for it.

All right, bidding will start at $800.

[chimes]

-Do I have $900?
-[chimes]

-[Jordan] $1,200?
-[chimes]

-[Jordan] Fifteen?
-[chimes]

-We got a bidding w*r! A bidding w*r!
-Come on!

I want that bacon.
I want a little bite for myself.

But $1,500? Beth, you can have the bacon.

-Sold to Beth.
-[cash register rings]

Good job, Beth. Good job.

Bacon.

For our final auction item, we have...

ooh, a lovely baguette.

Jackpot. It's mine.

[Sue] Who doesn't love crusty sourdough?

I've got my seafood.
I'm getting the baguette.

-Bidding starts at $700.
-[chimes]

-Do I have $800?
-[chimes]

What do you want with the bread, Sue?

Sue doesn't need the baguette.
Sue got the rice.

Sue has a starch. I need a starch.

-[Jordan] Do I have $1,000?
-[chimes]

-$1,200?
-[chimes]

-[Jordan] Do I have $1,500?
-I got me some bacon.

Oh, my God. I don't want to pay
$1,500 for a baguette.

$1,200 going once, $1,200 going twice...

Sold to Sue! Two pieces of bread.
$600 per piece.

[laughs] That's pretty expensive bread.

Enjoy your $600 toast, Sue.

That bread cost you some dough.

-[Stephaughn laughs]
-I know, I know!

Don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry.

I'm feeling really good
about getting the rice

and the beautiful, crusty sourdough bread.

I mean, rice goes
with seafood and my flavors, so...

I know exactly
what I'm gonna do with them.

My thought is put the rice on the base
underneath my escargot.

[exclaims] Got to make good food.

And then do a little sourdough bread
on the side. No-brainer.

Everybody good over there?

-You talking to me?
-Yeah.

Miss I Take Your Bread.

[chuckles]

I really do wish that I won the baguette.

I'm gonna attempt something.
We are gonna candy some bacon.

I spent $1,500 on these lardons,

so I really wanna make
the most out of this ingredient.

So I'm going to candy them

with a little bit of the grapefruit zest
and some sugar

for a little bit of crispy texture
in the dish.

Let's make some bacon candy.

[driving upbeat music plays]

I'm gonna check
and see how these are going.

I didn't spend any money in the auction
because I'm trying to save my bread.

Mo' money, mo' problems.

I'm seasoning the Jerusalem artichoke mash
using salt and dukkah spice.

I love a little sweetness and spice.

Time to use this duck fat.

Duck fat. He got duck fat?

[Stephaughn laughs]

I'm using the duck fat
to cook the scallops in for some flavor.

[sizzling]

Five minutes left, home cooks.

[bold music plays]

[Stephaughn] I'm a little apprehensive
about the scallops

because I can't taste these.

Oh, my God.

But I know
that they have to be golden brown,

so I know I needed, like,
a tight sear on both sides.

I am feeling the pressure.

[Jordan] Two minutes left.
You have two minutes left.

What?

Plates need to go on the line,

and hit the red button
before time runs out.

Okay, I'm... Look, I'm gonna make it.

I'm most nervous about my escargot.

Who wants to eat that many? Nobody.

But the plate looks beautiful.

I did the escargot in the shell,
and then I used 'em out of the shells.

So I'm thinking Chef Blais,
he's going to like the look of it.

I don't know if he's gonna like the taste.

[Jordan] Home cooks,
you have one minute left.

[Beth] So I'm
a professional food photographer,

and as I'm plating this,
I'm looking down, thinking,

"You know, this isn't half bad."

This is really good.

The mussels, the white wine,

sautéed beet greens
with the candied bacon,

and the turnip hay
to garnish it beautifully.

I'm not nervous at all.
I... I'm... I got this.

[Jordan] Ten, nine, eight, seven...

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] ...six, five...

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] ...four, three,

-two, one.
-[chimes]

-Good job! Yeah, take a sip.
-[all applaud]

-All right, Sue.
-[Beth laughs]

[bold instrumental hip-hop music plays]

I'm sending your plates down the line
to Chef Blais for a tasting.

Oh, my God.

[Sue] Chef Blais is a big deal.
I don't know how he's gonna like my food.

I hope he does. I hope I can impress him.

Whoo!

-That's a fun set of home cooks.
-Okay, all right. Well, that's good.

-You ready to dive in?
-I mean, yeah.

But first of all, I want one,
the belt, for my house.

Just roll 'em down this way.
I like it. Okay.

[Jordan] Uh, all right, first dish,
you have pan-seared scallops

with a Jerusalem artichoke mash

and a watercress salad.

This home cook is allergic to shellfish,

so they weren't able
to taste the scallops.

How's the cook on the scallop?

[Richard] Temperature-wise,
it's really good.

They're delicious,
they were cooked really well.

That's gotta be really hard,

if you're allergic to something,
to cook it.

It's more impressive,
but scallops themselves are pretty sweet.

So when you put honey on top of them,
it makes it a little maybe too sweet.

And the sunchokes,
the Jerusalem artichokes,

a little bit of salt,
there's not really any on the mash,

or not enough for me.

And in the presentation,
it could use a little bit more cohesion.

You're looking for that perfect bite,
and here, it's just not all together.

Just minor execution.
There's promise here.

All right, Chef. Next one?

-Yes.
-Let's do it.

This dish is curried white-wine mussels

with sautéed beet greens,

turnip hay, and candied lardon.

-This person got the lardons.
-Yep.

So I'm assuming they paid a hefty price.

$1,500.

-$1,500?
-[Jordan laughs] For bacon.

[Richard] Oh, my gosh.

-I can definitely taste the curry.
-[Jordan] Yeah.

I love the amount of curry
that's in here, actually.

-Oh, wow. Okay.
-This is a tasty dish.

I love that it's got
this umami, uh, saline-forward taste,

and the lardons
definitely take it to the next level.

So, money well spent.

But traditionally,
you want bread to sort of sop up

all of this delicious juice in this broth.

You sent baguette down the line.
They could've had bread,

if this is what they're going for.

Would've been fantastic.

Do you feel
that this dish was elevated enough?

You got turnip hay on this dish, Jordan!

You got the lardons in there.
It's not just white-wine mussels.

I think it was elevated. Overall,
this is a really, really good dish.

All right, Chef. This dish here,

we've got escargot two ways.

One that's crispy-fried with rice,

and the other
that's steamed in a rosé sauce

with some toasted sourdough on the side.

This home cook purchased
two of the upgrades,

the jasmine rice and the baguette.

They doubled down on the starch.
We're going carbs. We got rice.

Here's the interesting thing.
Snails, chewy, springy...

[Jordan] Yeah.

-Not anything like the way these taste.
-Really?

-These are soft and tender.
-[Jordan] Wow.

I'm kind of shocked. I'm... shell-shocked.

[laughs]

Let's see.

The second one is even better!

This is delicious.

You get the buttery flavor from the ghee.

Everyone loves rice and butter.

I'm... I'm not really a big snail guy.
I am now.

But I don't think
you needed the baguette and the rice.

I did too much here,
but certainly a delicious dish.

-So, Chef, do you think you have a winner?
-I do.

-All right, I'll go let them know.
-Okay.

[dramatic music playing]

[sighs]

Home cooks, it's result time.

The home cook
with the best out-of-the-box dish is...

-Sue!
-[screams]

[all laughing and cheering]

[Sue exclaims]

Congratulations.

-[laughs]
-[Sue sighs]

[Sue] I feel amazing.

Like, this is what I came for,
but I didn't think it was gonna happen.

But it did. This is awesome.

Thank you so much.

Home cooks, our final round is inspired

by Chef Blais's love for decadent
and drool-worthy cuisine,

the great American diner.

It's classic comfort food.
It's classic American.

Working with ingredient boxes

that are being prepared right now
by Chef Blais,

you'll need to create
your best diner dish.

Diners to me are like a hug
in your tummy. Let's do this.

Chef Blais, order up!
Send out those boxes.

[bold music plays]

[Jordan] Home cooks, in this round,
the boxes have set prices.

The Spend Box will cost you $8,000,

the Save Box will cost you $4,000,

and the Surprise Box will run you $6,000.

Sue, because you won the first round,

you have the power to assign
any box to whichever cook you'd like.

Oof.

Price tag included.

Love you!

-I love you, Mama!
-[all laugh]

Let me feel the love.

Sue, which of the three boxes
would you like?

I would like the Save.

I'm picking the Save Box,

because I wanna go home from this game
with some cash in my pocket.

Now, who would you like
to assign the Spend Box to

along with its $8,000 price tag?

[tense music plays]

I... I'm gonna give it to Beth.

[laughs] I still love you.

-[Beth] Let's make it rain. It's all good.
-[laughs] You got it, Beth.

That means, Stephaughn,
you get the Surprise Box.

I'm giving Stephaughn the Surprise Box
because he gave it to me in round one.

I'm not really a vengeful person,
but now we're even.

Okay. Touché. She's getting me back.

[laughs]

Home cooks, keep an eye on the line
for more tasty ingredient upgrades,

and remember, whoever makes
the best diner dish

goes home with all the cash
remaining in their bank.

You have 45 minutes on the clock,

and the time has come again

to cook at all costs. Go!

[hard rock music playing]

What do I have? Beef consommé,

prime strip,

yummy bread,

cute little gem lettuces.

I open the Spend Box,

and I could not have a better box.

Oh!

But it's throwing me off,

because I'm supposed to make a diner dish,

but these ingredients, they're so luxe.

This is a fancy diner meal for sure.

Okay. Romaine lettuce,

ooh, cheese curds,

chicken noodle soup, okay.

Beef liver?

Oh, my God! [chuckles]

What am I going to do
with this beef liver?

Thank you, Sue.

Okay, I got the Save Box.

Now, I have nice bread, perfect.

Pickles. Love pickles.

Turkey breast.

Cheese spread.

I'll worry about that later.

I see the ingredients, and, I mean,
I don't wanna sound too confident,

but I got this.

I got a plan.

[mock laughs]

Let's go.

I have lettuce, got pickles.

I'm making the classic turkey club.

What is that? Broccoli soup mix.

Got the soup, the sandwich,
and it's classic diner comfort food.

Going to try to do a soup and a sandwich,
but I need cream or something

for that broccoli soup,
which I don't think I have.

All right, we now have the proteins out.

Sue with the Save Box has got
some turkey breast, typical diner.

Beth spending on some prime sirloin.

Ooh, you fancy!

And Stephaughn, surprise, surprise.

-Beef liver in the Surprise Box. [laughs]
-Yes.

I've never prepared beef liver before,

so I'm thinking that pan-frying it
is the safest method.

To me, American Diner means
burgers, soups, sandwiches.

And I have this marble rye bread.

So I'm thinking
an open-faced beef liver sandwich.

And I have chicken noodle soup in my box,
so I'm going to use it

to make a gravy to add some more flavor
on top of my sandwich.

But I really need to figure out
a side to complete my dish.

[mellow instrumental hip-hop plays]

-Whoo! Whoa. What are you working on?
-Yes. Came at the right time, Jordan.

There it is,
a little bit of truffle aioli.

We got American diner classics here.
What do you think aioli can add to this?

Oh, my gosh!
Aioli brings so many things together.

First of all, mayonnaise,
my favorite condiment.

It's going to give some fat.

It's going to give
contrast of, uh, texture.

It's like a glue.
It connects, literally, the bread,

and whatever, the meat,
veg, whatever. I'm in.

Now, do you expect these home cooks
to give you elevated diner food

or just maybe something
using those ingredients?

What are you looking for?

Again, I think
because the theme is so clear,

it's gotta be something
that you know you could get in a diner,

but then elevated.

And I got lots of exciting things
coming down the belt.

-All right, cool. Can't wait to see them.
-All right.

[upbeat rock music plays]

That is a beautiful piece of beef.

When I think American classic diner,
I think breakfast.

I always want to have breakfast food
when I'm at a diner.

So I have this beautiful sirloin
that I'm going to grill,

but I really need some eggs.

Breakfast without eggs,
it's not happening.

So I just need to hope
that something's coming down the line.

[dramatic musical flourish plays]

-[Jordan] Auction time, home cooks!
-I've been waiting on that.

Time to spend some money.

First item screams diner,

macaroni and milk.

I need something
to go with my beef liver sandwich.

So I've never been so happy
to see macaroni and milk.

I need some kind of milk or cream
for my soup,

and I'm ready to start bidding.

-Do I have $1,000?
-[chimes]

$1,000 to Sue.

-[chimes]
-$1,200.

-All right, do I have $1,400?
-I need it.

Sue, do not try me.

-This is my macaroni and milk.
-[chimes]

All right, that's $1,600
to you, Stephaughn.

$1,600 going once, $1,600 going twice...

Sold to Stephaughn!

-[Beth] Whoo!
-$1,600 for milk and macaroni.

Next item up for auction
is handmade by Chef Richard Blais.

-Talk to me.
-[Jordan] Truffle aioli.

-Ooh!
-A binder, it brings everything together.

Truffle, steak, chef's kiss.

-Do I have $1,200?
-[chimes]

-Do I have $1,500?
-[chimes]

$1,500 going to Beth.

$1,500 going once,

uh, $1,500 going twice...

Sold! Beth, $1,500 for some truffle aioli.

Look at you, Miss Spend Box. Big spender!

Thank you, Chef Blais.

The final item up for auction
is very special.

-So I'm going to keep it closed for now.
-Oh.

What I can tell you is that the winner

gets to choose a game-changing ingredient
for their final dish.

My intuition is telling me
there is eggs in there,

and I'm going for it.

I don't care how much money I spend today.

Let's do this!

I'm ready for some more ingredients.

I have $13,900 left.

I'm like, "Come on,
let's see what we got. Let's go."

Bidding starts $800.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $800.

-[chimes]
-$1,000.

-[chimes]
-$1,200.

Going to Stephaughn. Do I hear $1,500?

-[chimes]
-$1,500 going to Beth.

-[chimes]
-[laughs] $1,800 going to Stephaughn.

-[chimes]
-$2,000 going to Beth.

$2,000 going once, $2,000 going twice...

-Sold to Beth!
-Okay, what is it?

It's a jukebox with a menu
of four ingredients.

Let me know which one you want,
and Chef Blais will send it right out.

[Beth] "Country ham, onion, bacon, eggs."

I'll take eggs.

[screams happily]

Oh, my gosh, I got my eggs.

Game-changer.

So I'm gonna do a high-end riff
on steak and eggs.

The hardest thing is
how to transform these ingredients

so it's still in the American diner vibe,
but it's not just steak on a plate.

We gotta think,
we gotta think, we gotta think...

I'm looking down at the gem lettuce going,
"You need to be part of this party."

So I decide
I'm going to grill this gem lettuce,

and it's going to be delicious.

Let's get whisking.

I'm taking the aioli, the beef consommé,

mixing that up to get
a nice, vinaigretty, saucy vibe going.

I would be stoked
to get this in a restaurant.

[upbeat music plays]

I got some cheese curds
to make my mac and cheese sauce.

I have something for my dish!
Mac and milk to the rescue.

To top off my mac and cheese,

I'm giving it a little texture
with some bread crumbs.

I want this mac and cheese
to be crumbly, crispy, cheesy, and gooey.

I need this to be really cheesy.

Now I am a lot more confident in my dish.

[dramatic music plays]

[Sue] Ay, ay, ay,
that does not look great.

I didn't get the milk from that auction,
which I needed for my soup.

Ooh-hoo! [laughs]

Ding, ding, ding!
I know what I'm doing with this soup now.

Just came to me!

I'm taking that processed cheddar,

and I'm going to put it
into my broccoli soup,

and that's going to give it
that creaminess.

Cheddar-broccoli soup, it's classic.
I think it may save my dish.

I'm winning. I'm winning.

[bold electronic music plays]

-[Jordan] Last-minute auction?
-Oh, no.

Home cooks, this is the final round.
Everything on the line here.

We have beefsteak tomatoes.

When I see those beautiful red tomatoes,
I know I need those for my sandwich,

so I'm not afraid to spend a little money.

Starting bid $500.

-Do I have $500...
-[chimes]

-Going to Sue. Do I have $1,000?
-[chimes]

$1,000 going to Stephaughn.

I think these tomatoes can add
a little something to my sandwich.

-[chimes]
-$1,500 going to Sue.

[chimes]

But am I just bidding on these tomatoes
to raise the price?

Me? [chuckles]

Maybe.

Do I hear 25?

-[chimes]
-$2,500 going to Sue.

-[chimes]
-Stephaughn, $3,000.

Stephaughn, you need to stop
because I'm getting those tomatoes.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $3,500, Sue.

You're making her spend, Stephaughn.
I love it.

All right, 35 going once,
$3,500 going twice...

Sold to Sue for $3,500.

Home cooks,
you have less than five minutes left.

[tense music plays]

Turkey. Ooh, okay, this is not very hot.

I'm grilling my turkey for my turkey club,

and it's just not cooking
the way I would like it to cook.

It's cooking unevenly.

Cook, baby. Cook.
Some of them cook, and some of them don't.

I'm worried my turkey will be too dry.

[Stephaughn] Not feeling
super confident with my beef liver,

but I... I never cook beef liver,
so it could be amazing.

But I know my mac and cheese is b*mb.

[Beth] My dish cost me...

[laughing] ...an outrageous $11,500,

but steak's cooked really good,

and I think the aioli dressing
tastes great with it.

So I feel really confident.

I'm most nervous about the turkey.
That's my only thing.

But looking at my sandwich
and seeing those tomatoes,

I definitely made the right choice.

[aggressive electronic music plays]

[Jordan] Seven, six, five, four...

-[all buzzers chiming]
-[Jordan] ...three, two, one.

Oh, man.

-We did it, you guys. Whoo!
-[Sue] We did it!

[bold music plays]

[Jordan] All right, home cooks,

we're sending these plates
back to Chef Blais for tasting.

[mouthing] Oh, man.

[funky mellow music plays]

Whoo-ee! That was intense.

-Okay. Intense for you?
-I'm really exc...

-[laughs] Yeah! Right? Just to watch.
-Right? Okay.

-Wanna dive right in? Okay.
-Yeah, let's do it. Okay.

[Jordan] Here, you have
a play on steak and eggs

with a grilled sirloin steak,

grilled baby gem lettuce,

and a truffle aioli dressing.

-This is the Spend Box, right?
-Mm-hmm. That's right. Yep.

[Richard] The prime cut strip steak,

the egg, which was also something
that you had to spend on.

-That was an upgrade, yep.
-With truffles on here.

Another upgrade.

-So this is like spend, spend, spend.
-[laughs] Yes.

-This is like a fine-dining chef salad.
-Mm-hmm.

You know, the key with a salad
is you need to get

that vinaigrette really dialed in.

I'm not getting
enough acidity from the vinaigrette.

[Jordan] Yeah.

[Richard] It's not missing seasoning,
which is great.

And, I mean, listen,
when you order a steak at a diner,

you want mid-rare,

and they delivered.
The steak is cooked perfectly.

Overall, it's a tasty dish.

Chef, ready for the next one?

-Yes.
-Okay.

Here, you have

an open-faced liver sandwich
with a breadcrumb mac and cheese.

Okay. Uh, you need a deft hand
to cook beef liver.

-Right?
-You do.

[Richard] It's definitely
sort of an old-school, vintage dish.

[moody instrumental hip-hop music plays]

The liver's quite tasty,
a little bit overcooked.

I would have probably sliced it thin.

-And it's a little bit one-note, right?
-Yeah.

I'm looking for some acidity,
some sweetness to cut through

the gaminess of the beef liver.
But let's get into this mac and cheese.

-This was the Surprise Box.
-[Jordan] Yes.

I mean, the surprise is
how delicious this mac and cheese is.

-I guess this is the cheese curds.
-Yep.

So you got
that nice sort of crumble in there,

which adds this really, really nice
texture to this. It's super delicious.

[Jordan] So, here you have

a turkey club sandwich

with cheese and broccoli soup,

with a side of chips.

One of my favorite things,
a classic turkey club.

All right, look at this.

I sent the tomatoes,
and they bought the tomatoes.

-Yeah.
-Good call.

It's gonna bring acidity to it,
sweetness, color.

[Jordan] Guess how much
they bought the tomato for. $3,500.

-[Richard] Shut up!
-Yeah.

-Shut up.
-Yeah, I swear. [laughs]

You gotta spend money
to make money sometimes.

Tell me about it.

-How much did that suit cost?
-Oh, I don't know.

-We gotta ask Netflix. Hey, guys, uh...
-[laughs]

-Oh, my gosh.
-[Jordan laughs]

-All right, I'm gonna... I'm gonna dip it.
-Dip it. Dip it.

There it is. That's the play.

[crunches softly]

The soup is seasoned really, really well.
And the sandwich,

the tomato's amazing, pickles are sweet.

Everything's coming together here,
but the turkey itself is pretty dry.

But you know what I like about this?
It is a complete meal.

If you went to a diner,
if you had a lunch,

you got a three-course meal right there.
I like this.

Okay, Chef, you've tasted
everyone's diner dishes.

-Is there a winner amongst the group?
-Yeah, I think we got a winner.

[brash electronic music playing]

This is it. Time to give away some money!

Home cooks, it's time to find out
who won the competition

along with all the cash in their bank.

But first, let me introduce you

to our guest chef and judge,
Chef Richard Blais.

-[gasps]
-[all applaud]

[cheering and whooping]

How are we doing? What's up?

First off, the food was tasty.

I just want to commend you and applaud you
for the effort that you put forth.

Okay, let's get to the results.

[tense music plays]

Which home cook made the steak and eggs?

That would be me.

The steak was cooked
to a perfect medium-rare,

but the salad, it did need
a little bit more acidity

to turn that aioli into a proper dressing.

Okay, so who made

the open-faced liver sandwich
with mac and cheese?

I did.

[Richard] When it comes to mac and cheese,
your mac and cheese delivered.

The beef liver was cut
a little bit too thick

and a little overcooked.

Okay, so, Sue, you must have made

the turkey club
with cheddar-broccoli soup.

-Yes, I did.
-Classic turkey club was a great idea.

And I love the flavor and the sides
in the composition of the dish.

However, the turkey was overcooked.

Sue, you have $12,300
remaining in your bank.

And Beth, you have $9,000.

Okay.

And Stephaughn, you have
the largest amount remaining with $13,900.

You all made great American diner dishes,

but only one
was the true highlight of the menu.

[pulsing suspenseful music plays]

The home cook with the best diner dish is...

-Beth.
-Oh, my God!

[all applaud]

-Are you serious?
-[laughing]

I feel amazing! I won!

Wow!

Congratulations, Beth, you won
all of that $9,000 left in your bank.

Whoo!

And proved you can cook at all costs.
Good job.

-[applauding]
-Yay! Thank you.

I spent all my money in the auctions,
but I'm taking home $9,000!

At this stage of my life, this is,
like, exactly what I needed to do,

and I did it,

and I feel really proud of myself
and really happy.

[Stephaughn] This was
such an amazing experience.

I'm definitely leaving here
as a better cook.

Props to Beth and props to Sue.
We are forever friends now.

If you at home are watching this
and are inspired,

get in your kitchen,
cook some yummy food together,

because it's a blast.

[upbeat electronic music plays]