01x06 - Welcome to the Neighborhood

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music playing]

This is that leftovers show.

You know, the show that takes
leftovers from "no way" to "okay."

Home chefs are finding delicious ways
to give old leftovers new life,

and we're gonna show you how.

I'm Jackie Tohn, your host.

Three skilled cooks
will compete over two rounds,

creating new dishes out of leftovers.

The cook with the best dishes
goes home with $10,000.

That's alotta ricotta.

Let's make over some leftovers.

[woman] My name is Malikah.
I teach high school students how to cook.

I took Home Ec in high school,
and we baked cookies,

but in my class,
we've broken down whole live lobsters.

So I'm gonna show you
how to break it down.

[man] I'm Desmond.
As a culinary instructor,

I try to educate
the importance of using leftovers.

Creativity and adaptability
are really important in cooking.

[woman] My name is Susanne.

I have a blog. And what do I do with it?

Make over your leftovers.

I love sharing cooking and food.
It's the giving of yourself.

It's the giving of your personality.

-[Jackie] How are you guys?
-Doing great.

Fantastic.

-Are you excited?
-Very excited.

-I don't know, am I? Yeah. [laughs]
-Me too.

-[chuckles]
-Please meet my fellow judging peeps.

David "New Dish, Who Dis" So,

and coming all the way from the country
that inspired Madonna's fake accent,

world-renowned chef
Rosemary "Fry Another Day" Shrager.

I love leftovers just as much as you do,

so I can't wait to see what you can do.

Good luck.

-Thank you, Chef.
-Thank you.

The three of you
will compete over two rounds

to determine who is the overall champ.

Round one puts
your everyday leftover skills to the test.

We want to see your skill and speed

at taking the leftovers
from the fridges behind you

and turning them
into a delicious, original creation.

The more leftovers you use, the better.

But how and what you use
is ultimately up to you.

Ready to find out
what's in your fridge?

-Yes.
-[Desmond] Yes.

-[Jackie] Time for the Pressure Cooker.
-[clock ticking]

I'll give you a clue.

Think neighborhood version of a buffet.

It's leftovers from a potluck.

-Oh!
-[sighs]

[Malikah] I hate potlucks.

I don't like the idea of people
bringing their food into my home.

No, I'll cook. It's fine.

You'll turn them into
a sinful dessert.

-Okay.
-The leftovers in your fridge today are…

ambrosia salad,

chicken and wild rice casserole,

zucchini, squash and corn bake,

and ricotta-filled ravioli.

You cooks will have access
to a limited dry pantry in the back

as well as some standard fridge extras.

Cooks, you have 30 minutes
to create your sinful dessert.

On your marks, get set, go.

-[Rosemary] Good luck.
-[Jackie] Go, go, go!

[Desmond] Don't know if I'll be able
to do anything with that chicken.

I don't think ambrosia salad
is gonna be that great.

[Malikah] Anybody taste this stuff yet?

[Susanne] No, I was scared to.

I don't know what potluck they came from,

but I'm from the South,

and none of this would have been
showing up on our potluck table.

All these savory things.
And then you have to make a dessert.

Mmm. That's not bad.

The first time I ever had ambrosia salad,

I was in kindergarten,
and they had a potluck.

I thought, as a Korean kid, it was a bunch
of American people playing a prank on me.

As an American person,

I feel like it's a bunch
of American people playing a prank on me.

So…

I haven't had ambrosia,
but I knew a girl named one,

if that counts.

Malikah, what are you doing?

[Malikah] I'm doing an ambrosia ice cream.

Oh, delicious.

Yes.

[Malikah]
I'm going to make ambrosia ice cream

with gnudi ba*ls with a caramel sauce.

I'm using the ambrosia salad
to make the ice cream

and I'm taking
the ricotta out of the ravioli

to make cinnamon sugar gnudi ba*ls.

Gnudi is a type of dumpling
that is traditionally poached,

but I'm gonna fry mine.

Southern girl, deep fry.

And I'll make
a candied chicken skin from the casserole.

I'm not touching
the zucchini butternut squash bake.

There's nothing sweet in them.

I like a little salty-sweet.
That's my favorite sinful dessert.

So I'm gonna do a brown sugar
candied chicken skin as a garnish.

-What?
-Wow.

Hopefully, I turn it
into something amazing here.

[Desmond] Okay.

This is gonna be impossible.

Desmond, how are
you using your leftovers?

[Desmond] I've decided that I'm gonna
make whoopie pies with ice cream.

I'm gonna use the zucchini
and the butternut squash

in my whoopie pie batter,

and I'm gonna fill them
with a mandarin orange cream cheese icing,

using the mandarin oranges
from the ambrosia salad,

and then I'm gonna make
lime-pineapple curd

with the ambrosia salad
for the bottom of the plate

and then I'm gonna take
the coconut from the ambrosia salad

with the ricotta from the ravioli,

then I'm gonna be using that
in my ice cream.

The only thing I don't know

I'm gonna be able to do
anything with is rice and chicken.

It's gonna be really hard
to turn that into a dessert.

You're stressing me out,
making 40 desserts. We asked for one.

I got to start working on my batter.

I need another mixer. Woo-hoo!

Susanne, our other two cooks
are making ice cream.

Do you feel all left out?

-I have a sorbet going, so, you know.
-Oh, hey.

Woo-woo!
All aboard the sorbet train, baby.

Can you tell us what you're doing?

[Susanne] I'm gonna try to get rid
of some of this, you know… fluff.

Unidentifiable fluff. [chuckles]

[Susanne]
I'm gonna make an ambrosia mango sorbet

with a sweet calas and fried ravioli.

I am gonna use my white and wild rice
and the butternut squash

as part of my sweet calas,
which is a rice fritter.

I'm gonna rinse the ambrosia salad.

I'm gonna use half of it
in my calas all mixed up

and then the other half,
just put it in the food processor

and put that into my mango sorbet.

For the ravioli,
I'm gonna put some fruity cereal

as a coating to bring
a little bit of color on the plate

and then I'm gonna pop it in the fryer.

I'm really thinking
I'm gonna use all the leftovers.

They had frozen mango that I grabbed,

then I added some of the fruit c*ck
from the ambrosia salad.

It's not too sweet.
I'm mainly doing it for color.

[Malikah]
Gonna get this ice cream going.

I've made ice cream
only four or five times,

so feeling a little pressure.

I mix the cream mixture in with the eggs,
then get that together nice and smooth,

then I put my pot back onto the stove

not realizing that it's still cooking.

When I get back over to it…

Oh, my God.

…I see little bits of overcooked egg.

But, at this point,
it's like kinda too late.

I need to get this ice cream
into the ice cream machine,

or I'm not gonna have ice cream.

[Jackie] It looks like
the ice cream machine is steaming.

[Rosemary] The problem is
if you put a hot custard into a machine,

it'll melt it too quickly
and won't become ice cream.

[David] Yeah.

[Desmond grunts]

[sighs]

[Demsond] I don't have enough plugs.

Desmond is using
every machine conceivable.

I've got the ice cream going,
I've got my stand mixer going,

and I've got the food processor going.

Boy, am I glad
I don't have to clean this mess up today.

Desmond, you have
enough appliances over there, or…

[Desmond laughs]

I am running out of room over here.

We said use all the leftovers,
not all the machines.

I'm doing a little of both.

I've been told that
I'm a bit of a wild man in the kitchen

because I can do
so many things at one time.

The focus is unreal.

[Desmond] Got my whoopie pies
in the oven

so now I'm gonna start working
on a maraschino cherry gastrique

with the leftover ambrosia salad

and then some sugar
and a little bit of vinegar.

It adds a nice acidity
and brightness to the dish

so that it doesn't end up being too sweet.

I feel like I'm still on track.

[David] He has so much going on.
I worry it's gonna translate

to a plate of food
that's just all over the place.

[Jackie] Mmm.

-Yummy.
-[Rosemary laughs]

Man, that's some hard butternut squash.

[Susanne] For my calas,
I'm gonna use my rice from the casserole,

along with the butternut squash

and I'm also gonna add
graham cr*cker crumbs and egg.

I don't use deep fryers at home,
and the first one goes in the fryer

and it's not talking to me. It's silence.

Susanne, how's everything
coming out over there? According to plan?

This fryer is just--
You know, we're not gonna be BFFs.

I just gotta understand that.

[Jackie] Fifteen minutes, cooks.

-Fifteen minutes left.
-[Malikah] Oh, my God.

"Oh, my God" is right.

Is that a joke?

Yes, it's some of my A material
that I take on the road with me.

So glad you thought it was funny.

[Malikah] I take my chicken skin
out of the oven,

and I want that to crisp up,

so now I need
to get the gnudi ba*ls going.

Let's see how much ricotta we got here.

What are you gonna do
with the raviolis?

I'm gonna make some fried gnudi.

Fried what?

[Malikah] Fried gnudi.
Kinda like a light donut.

[Jackie] Yes.
Of course, I know what a gnudi is.

Me, when I take off my dress.

[Malikah] With my gnudi ba*ls,

I'll start by taking
the ricotta out of the ravioli

and then I measure out my flour, nutmeg,
also a little bit of cinnamon as well.

Mix by hand, then deep fry.

I'm pretty familiar with the deep fryer.
I mean, born and raised in the South,

so deep fry everything.

[Jackie] It's smelling very sweet in here.

Rosemary, give me one
of those sweet leftover tips.

Here's a tip
for serving up dessert for a second time.

Add fresh whipped cream or ice cream
to give your leftover a new life.

It gives a little moisture
and freshness back to your dessert.

To my dessert?

Susanne, did you just
put Froot Loops in a blender?

No, in a food processor, though.

My girl.

[David and Rosemary laugh]

I really want to use the ravioli
just so I can use all the leftovers.

I'm gonna put some fruity cereal
and kind of use it as a coating

on my ravioli to bring
a little color on the plate.

Five minutes, cooks.
Five baby minutes left.

[Malikah] I'm getting a little nervous.
The ice cream's not really setting up.

Switching to a colder bowl
and hoping for a more setup ice cream.

[David] See? Her batter was too warm
for that ice cream bowl.

That new bowl still might not be enough.

[Malikah] Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Desmond] All right.

Okay.

[Desmond] I got my whoopie pies
out of the oven

and I gotta let that set
at room temperature for a little bit,

so now it's time to get going on the curd.

[exhales]

[David] Look at Desmond go.

I mean, he is a machine.

[Rosemary] He's very organized,
which is what you should be.

He's gonna be like, "In my extra time,
I also made you guys a burger and fries."

Things are going very smoothly here.
Contrary to appearances, perhaps.

Wish I could do two things at once.

One minute, cooks.

Oh, jeez!

No broken glass. Still breathing.

My ice cream turned out really well.
Kept me on my toes.

Come on, Desmond. You got 30 seconds.

[exhales] That's ice cream. I was nervous.

[judges] Five, four, three, two, one!

-Hands up. Woo!
-[alarm beeping]

-[David] Congrats.
-[Rosemary] Well done. Relax.

-Hi, Desmond.
-Hi.

[Jackie] You were making
a lot of things today.

You were given potluck leftovers
and asked to make a sinful dessert.

Tell us what we're going to eat
and what leftovers you used.

[Desmond] I made a butternut squash
and zucchini whoopie pie,

filled with
a mandarin orange cream cheese icing,

a pineapple and lime curd,

a maraschino cherry
and raspberry gastrique,

and a coconut
and ricotta cheese ice cream.

Oh… Sorry, I got excited.

I used the zucchini and butter squash
and I put that into the batter

for my whoopie pie.

I used the mandarin oranges

from the ambrosia salad
into the cream cheese filling

and then I used the pineapple
from the ambrosia salad

into my pineapple lime curd,

and then I took
the ricotta cheese from the ravioli

and I added that to some coconut
and that was my ice cream.

[Jackie] So, you used
three out of four leftovers. Way to go.

[Rosemary] The ice cream.
I love that ice cream.

I cannot believe
you have used all these leftovers

and ended up with that.

And your maraschino cherry gastrique
is really good.

That's what brings the dish together.

I think it absolutely works.

But you didn't have
a lot of texture on there,

the sort of crunch and things.

It was all very similar.
I want more texture.

-Yes, Chef.
-Flavor-wise, it's so good.

I could eat this all day.

I mean, look, we destroyed that plate.

But I'm not sure if it was the best move
to put this on such a large plate,

because it looks
a little scattered for me.

I say for the next round,

just try to stay focused on doing
a couple things really well

instead of taking on too much,
so your plate is more cohesive.

Yo, dude, that plate looked whatever.

That food tastes delicious.

-Thank you so much.
-See you in a little.

[Jackie] Hi, Malikah.

-Hello.
-[Rosemary] Hi.

Well, look at this treat.

[Malikah] I made fried gnudi ba*ls
with cinnamon-sugar,

fruit c*ck chutney,

and an ambrosia ice cream
with crispy chicken skin.

Let's eat some food.

[Malikah] I put ricotta
into the gnudi ba*ls,

skinned the chicken,
baked that for crispiness,

and then I used the ambrosia salad
for the chutney and the ice cream.

[Jackie] So you also used
three out of four leftovers. Good job!

I thought those gnudi ba*ls
were really good.

The chicken skin…

It tastes like chicken skin still.

It doesn't work for me.

-But I think the idea is incredible.
-Thank you.

-The ice cream, the flavor is right.
-[Malikah] Thank you, Chef.

But it's grainy
because it wasn't cooked right

and it didn't freeze properly.

That has not worked.

Yes, Chef.

I love ice cream,
and that texture was so off for me.

It took away from the dish so much.

I think a lot of these components,
flavor-wise, they tasted great.

Just really focus on your execution

because everything here
was just a hair off.

I can't believe
you made this out of leftovers.

I don't know what's happening. Mm.

And these gnudi ba*ls…
make me want to get nudie.

-There you go.
-Thanks, guys.

-[Jackie] See you.
-All right.

If it isn't
our professional leftover lover.

Hello.

I used all the leftovers
except for the chicken or the zucchini.

The main fritters on there
are our sweet calas.

It's a fried rice fritter.

And then I made a mango ambrosia sorbet.

And then the ravioli,
I took some of the ricotta out

and put it actually in the calas,

and then I also
fried some in a fruity cereal.

[Jackie] I want to take that
and put it in my mouth.

[Susanne] I have in there the wild rice,

the butternut squash, ambrosia salad,

and then also the ravioli.

[Jackie] Whoa, you used all the leftovers.

Nicely done.

I like those little ba*ls.

They are-- That is amazing.

This is leftover wild rice
in these sweet little morsels here.

I am so impressed.

But, overall, the balance.

If you just created a small sweetness,
you would have had a triumph.

-I am so not a sweet eater. You know?
-[David] Yeah.

I can kind of see that
because the sweetness, it wasn't there.

The sorbet, it wasn't sweet enough.

And the cereal coating on the ravioli
didn't do enough to change it

from savory to sweet.

You know, remember the balance.
Everything has to tally with each other.

Thank you so much, Susanne.

Thank you very much.

[Jackie] Okay, cooks, come on
and step in front of your stations.

I'm feeling right now that we're
pretty much on an even playing field.

But, for me,

the fact that I used all the leftovers
and the judges acknowledged that,

that means everything to me
because it's what I do.

We have given each of you advice

on how to improve
and what we'd like to see

from each of you going forward.

It's time for round two.

The Takeout Takedown.

[Jackie] Bum, bum, bum!

All right,

in the last round, you made us dessert
from the neighborhood potluck.

In this round,
you'll get takeout leftovers

from my favorite neighborhood restaurant
and make us a completely new fancy dinner.

You see that?
You did dessert and then dinner.

[imitates rimshot]

[Jackie] Let's get my fridge out here
and see what you got.

Can someone please bring me my fridge?

[Rosemary laughs]

-[Jackie gasps]
-[Rosemary laughs]

Thank you. Now, cooks, for round--
Gotta shut this thing off.

-[siren blaring]
-Okay, okay.

[Rosemary] Woo!

[Jackie] Hi, fridge.

I'm on your fridge?

-You are!
-[David laughs]

[Rosemary] How embarrassing.

-Little left out.
-[laughs]

So, cooks, here are the leftovers
you have to "wok" with.

Oh, rosemary.

[David and Rosemary laugh]

[Jackie] Rosemary!

[David] Oh!

There's a lot of you in there.

-You are completely obsessed, Jackie.
-I don't know what you're talking about.

[Rosemary] You're a loony.

So, cooks, here are the takeout leftovers
you'll be working with…

sesame chicken and fried rice,

pork, veggies and chow mein,

and beef and broccoli with an egg roll.

You'll each randomly choose
one of these takeout leftover dishes.

Stay put. A lot of people don't know
this about me, but I deliver.

Really hope I get the beef and broccoli
just because it's like two ingredients,

and an egg roll.

I think it might be easier to work with.

It's a leftover leftover.

[Susanne] I do love egg rolls.

I'm hoping
I get beef and broccoli egg roll,

'cause the egg roll is
actually something that I eat.

Well, cooks, I love my Chinese takeout,

and, as you all know, there's a lot
of bold and strong Asian flavors.

We're talking about soy sauce,
hoisin, oyster sauce.

You have to still take that Chinese food
and transform it into something else.

Crack open a fortune cookie,
it says, "Good luck."

[whispers] Yes.

Gonna need it.

And don't forget, we are taking
both rounds into consideration

when determining who's the winner.

Cooks, you have one hour.
Hoo, I'm getting nervous.

Three, two, one…

-Go, go, go, go, go!
-[Rosemary] Go. Good luck.

-[David] Good luck.
-[Jackie] Come on!

-[Susanne] Okay.
-[Desmond] All right.

Let's see what we got here.

We got sesame chicken and fried rice.

Egg rolls and beef and broccoli.

Uh… [sighs]

Looks like pork chow mein?

'Course I end up with the pork chow mein.

I've never even ordered that.

I think the hardest part of this challenge
is trying to change the taste of the soy,

the hoisin,

all the spices that are
traditionally in Chinese food

and make a non-Chinese dish.

I'm gonna make it work.

Based on round one,
who do you think's the front-runner?

For me,
it's definitely going to be Desmond,

just because he got his ice cream right.

It was smooth and creamy.
He knows what he's doing.

Rosemary, who do you like
for front-runner right now?

Malikah, because
I think she's very creative.

I don't know anyone who would
have looked at those leftovers

and thought, "gnudi ba*ls."

You know, and I wouldn't
count out Susanne either.

She's the only one
who used all of her leftovers.

One thing that
I do appreciate about Susanne,

she puts a lot of heart in her dish.

-I agree with that.
-We'll see.

We could have a fourth,

totally new winner
who we haven't even met yet.

[Desmond]
This is a little bit of a task here

to get the actual breading off
the outside of this sesame chicken,

but I don't want to have
that extra mushiness mixed in

with the filling for my dosas.

They don't teach you this in school.

[Malikah] Add that to the program.

-I'm gonna have to add that.
-[Malikah] That's right.

After the first round,
I'm certain that the presentation

is a really important component
of the judges' decision.

I know that sometimes
I try to do a little bit too much

and I have to rein it in
to make sure that I make my time,

but I'm confident. I think I can do it.

I think I've got
a pretty good plan going on.

I'm making myself a spice blend
that's going to go with an Indian theme.

Oh, my God.
Look how many spices he has out.

I gotta run
and get a couple more spices.

One of the biggest challenges this round

is the strong flavors in Chinese cooking,

and so Indian spices will mask

the original flavors
of the sesame chicken and fried rice.

-Desmond.
-Yes?

Explain exactly what you're making.

Pretty excited about my plan.

I got the sesame chicken
and the fried rice.

Now, I'm going to take that chicken
and I'm going to put it inside of a dosa,

which is a buckwheat pancake,

and then I'm going to take the fried rice,

add in some Brussels sprouts
and some carrots from the fridge,

and I'm gonna make kushari,
the national dish of Egypt.

[Desmond humming]

I'm adding coriander
and cumin and allspice and nutmeg,

and that's really going to give me

an elevated flavor profile

to make this a great dish.

Every time he cooks, he always
has multiple components going on.

-[Jackie] Yep.
-You know, he knows what he's doing.

[Desmond] It'll all come together.

-Okay.
-Malikah, what dish you got?

Pork chow mein, which I usually
let stay on the Chinese menu.

But I'm gonna make it work
and make a Mexican lasagna.

[Jackie and Rosemary] Oh!

-I like that.
-[Malikah] Yep.

I have pork chow mein,

and I'm going to make
Mexican lasagna with a lime crema.

I'm going to use the pork

and the vegetables
from the leftover chow mein

as a filling for the lasagna,

and then I'm going
to make an enchilada sauce.

And to thicken it up,
I'm going to use the noodles in the sauce.

What is a Mexican lasagna?

It's my take on spices from Mexico,

like your cumin,
your red pepper, some chili peppers,

and then I'm going to layer it
with several different cheeses.

The idea for
the Mexican lasagna just came from,

one, I love Mexican food,

and I know that cumin and the paprika
can help hide all that Chinese flavor

from the pork chow mein
that I don't want in my dish.

Are there lasagna noodles?

I am using tortillas from the fridge.

[David and Jackie] Oh!

-[Jackie] Cute.
-It sounds pretty homemade and rustic.

Remember in this round,
we're looking for fancy and elevated,

so make sure that plating is right.

Absolutely.

There seemed to be some concern

that I wasn't going
to have an elevated plate,

but the way that my plating style works,

it'll-- it's gonna look great.

No casserole dish over here.

Just doing a little, you know…

Little prepping here
before I really get going.

Susanne, what are you cooking up?

I'm actually gonna do
a beef curry over oven-baked pakoras.

-Oh!
-I got the beef and broccoli and egg roll.

So I'm gonna do
a beef curry with a pakora.

I'm using the beef
from the beef and broccoli in my curry,

and then using the broccoli
and everything from the egg roll

all mixed together in my pakora.

I really wanna use all my leftovers.

I think the hardest part of the challenge
is gonna be transforming this dish

into fancy cooking.

I just have to keep doing what I know,

and that's leftovers and really
just up my flavors and my plating.

Susanne, what is your flavor

that you feel
will bring the dish together?

Really strong curry, cayenne,

toasted cumin seed, some coconut milk.

Okay, perfect.

[Susanne] It's a little spicy.

I'm from Louisiana,
so my taste buds are a little "wow"

when it comes to spice.

Just gonna put banana.

Not everybody's from,
you know, the South,

but maybe the judges like it hot.

Half of your time is up, cooks.

Thirty minutes left.

Whoo-hoo!

[Malikah] Oh, God.

[Jackie] One, two,

three, four, five.

Two bowls, four containers,
twelve things of spices.

Desmond, you want to put
any more pans on the stove

-or is five enough?
-[Desmond laughs]

I don't even think you have five burners.

[Desmond laughs]

Pasta…

I've got the filling for the dosas going,
and now I'm gonna work on kushari.

I'm just cooking up
the pasta that I'm gonna use.

I got my tomato sauce going
that I'll mix together

with this fried rice and some pasta.

[David] Do you feel like you're doing
too much in this round again?

-No?
-[Desmond] No, no, no.

-The man shoots for the stars.
-That's right.

[Malikah] Tastes good.
Tastes like Mexican.

When I taste the filling, I taste Mexican.

I don't taste Chinese anymore.

I'm making
my enchilada sauce for the lasagna.

With my sauce,
I'm adding a habanero pepper,

some tomato paste, diced tomatoes, garlic,

and then I'm going to use
the leftover chow mein

as a thickening agent.

So I'm hoping the judges see my dish
and wonder where the noodles went.

You ready?

And then I start to think about
how I want my dish to actually look.

Feeling okay. Feeling pretty good.
A little nervous still.

I know David's concerned
about my plating, but got a plan.

So I go into the fridge
and grab three types of cheeses I can use.

I have cheddar cheese,
Pepper Jack cheese and I have Parmesan,

so I just grate that all up,

and I start to build
the lasagna into the ring molds.

I'm interested to see
how she's going to serve it

because I would be…

I'll eat my hat if she serves
in a very fine dining way.

About to make it do what it do.

-Susanne, is it coming together?
-[Susanne] It is.

I have egg rolls and I'm actually
gonna do oven-baked pakoras

with potato
and the cabbage and the broccoli

from the egg rolls as well.

Fancy. Two Indian.

[Susanne] A pakora is a fried fritter.

You use a mixture
of vegetables and potatoes.

I am going to deconstruct the egg roll
and add the broccoli with it,

grab some potato flakes
to make a potato and vegetable "pakora."

Are you getting rid of the sauce
that comes on the beef and broccoli?

-'Cause it's strong sauce.
-[Susanne] It is.

No, but Indian flavors are really strong,

so I'm hoping my combination of flavors
are gonna all come together.

-[both] Oh!
-I like that.

Pakoras are typically fried,
but I'm not gonna deal with my fryer,

so I think I'm gonna
oven-bake them instead.

You know,
maybe I'm making a healthy pakora.

Cooks, you're not gonna believe this.

Five minutes.

[Desmond] Plates.

Get the plating right.
It's super important in this round.

Definitely says "eat me," at least to me.

-Hopefully you feel the same.
-[Rosemary] I like that.

I like things that say "eat me."

[Jackie] Mmmm.

[Malikah] Oh!

-[Malikah] I see you, David.
-Give it to her, please.

[Jackie] Cooks,
I hope you're almost done plating.

-One minute remaining.
-Here we go.

[David] Everything smells so good.

[Jackie] I know. I just want them plating.

[Susanne grunts]

[Desmond] Okay.

♪ I'm stressed out and nervous ♪

[judges] Five, four, three, two, one!

-Let's eat.
-[alarm beeping]

Okay, cooks,
bring your dishes up to the judging table.

[Desmond] The judges told me the one thing
that they really wanted to make sure of

is that I elevate my plate presentation
a little bit for the second round.

Ooh! Let's eat.

[Desmond] I'm not sure
it's as elevated as I want it to be.

I think if maybe I did one less component,

I probably would have had enough time
to plate it exactly the way I wanted to.

Malikah, your food's
right in front of my face and heart.

Remind us what dish you started with
and how you incorporated the leftovers.

I started with the pork chow mein.

So I took some of the vegetables
and the pork medallions,

diced them up, put them into black beans.

I made an enchilada sauce,
and there's also some of the chow mein

in the enchilada sauce.

[David] I was concerned about
how you were going to plate this dish,

but you did a very good job in choosing
the right vessel for this dish.

Thank you, Chef.

I can't believe this
had a former life as Chinese food.

-[Malikah] Thank you so much.
-[Rosemary] I'm impressed.

Now, this is interesting.

[Jackie] It's not anything
I've ever had before.

[David] That enchilada sauce that you made

for your Mexican lasagna, that is so good.

And adding those chow mein noodles
to thicken it up was such a smart move.

Thank you, Chef.

All those flavors come through.

It is quite remarkable.

And even the so-called enchilada

actually feels like pasta
in a peculiar sort of way.

It's very odd.

I just needed a little more acidity

because it is a very heavy dish,
but kudos to you. This is good.

Thank you, Chef.

Thank you, Malikah.

[Jackie] Moving on to you, Susanne.

[Susanne] Okay. I got
the beef and broccoli and the egg roll.

I did a beef-sweet-potato-chickpea curry

with a cabbage, vegetable
and potato oven-baked pakora.

The pakora is actually
the broccoli with the egg rolls

and then I used the beef in the curry.

There's garam masala in there,
some potato flakes,

and I did use the whole egg roll
with the broccoli as well,

so it has a little bit of that sauce.

-[David] So you used all your leftovers.
-[Susanne] I used 'em all.

I mean, when I say
I'm a leftover lover, I am, so…

[Rosemary] Well, that's really good.

I think that balance
of curry is extremely good.

[Susanne] Thank you.

And I think the banana really works.

[Rosemary] The pakoras actually
don't really work for me.

They just didn't have the crunch
like the calas did in your first dish.

We wish the pakora was crispier,
but there is not a universe

that this started as Chinese food.

I think because we did look
for more of an elevated dish,

I don't think
that's what I got here, right?

It just seems
a little chopped up and mixed together.

I think if you just took
a little time to layer it correctly,

they would have looked
a lot better than it actually did,

but, I gotta say,
you are the queen of leftovers.

You used everything and I love that.

-Thank you.
-Thank you so much, Susanne.

Desmond, we're onto you.

I was given
the sesame chicken and fried rice.

I made dosas.

I took the coating off
the outside of the sesame chicken

and then put that in with Indian spices,

which I then put inside of the dosa.

In addition, I made the Egyptian
national dish, which is kushari,

a mixture of rice,
beans and then the pasta.

It looks messy. It really does look messy.

It looks as if there's
a lot of flavors on there.

Now, they'll either
go together or they won't.

Ooh!

-It has a kick.
-It is well-seasoned.

Nice spice in there.

I like the flavor of the dosas.

I think they're really nice,

but unfortunately your pasta
and your chickpeas let you down.

You sh**t for the stars. [chuckles]

You know?
But the biggest concern that I had

was that you were doing too much
and the execution might fall off

because you have
so many things going on.

The plate's kinda disjointed for me.

I don't know what I should eat,
where I should go on the plate

because there's so much going on.

I think overall
I'm really impressed with your dishes

and how much of your leftovers
you all used in them.

But we're gonna have to pick one winner.

[Jackie] Well, cooks,

we could use a little privacy
during our deliberation,

so why don't you just take a load off

and get nice and comfy
in this enormous Chinese food container?

-[Malikah] All right.
-[Desmond laughs]

-Thank you.
-[Rosemary] Bye.

So, what do you say
we pick a winner here, guys?

I mean, come on, y'all.
We did leftovers. Come on.

Susanne actually
incorporated the leftovers

better than anybody in both rounds
because she used all the leftovers

in round one and in round two,

but her round two was a big miss.

It was under-seasoned,
the presentation was off.

Desmond used zucchini and butternut squash

to make a sweet, sinful dessert.

Whoopie pie.

Desmond understands
the technical side of desserts,

but Desmond's second course,
that was a mess on the plate.

For me, when I eat food, I want to get
a sense of who you are as a cook.

I got that with Malikah's second dish.

Not so much in her first dish
but her second dish really spoke

to her strengths.

Malikah used her chow mein noodles
to thicken her enchilada sauce.

Which, by the way,
the texture of that sauce? Perfect.

Malikah's lasagna was
my favorite dish of the day.

-I could have finished the whole lot.
-Desmond completely excelled in round one.

And then in round two, Malikah.

Cooks, come out here.

Let's give our cooks a round of applause.

Cooks, give yourselves
a round of applause.

-[Jackie] What a day.
-[exhales]

But in the end,
only one of you can win the $10,000.

The winning cook today
showed leftover ingenuity…

on a whole nother level.

The winner is…

Malikah!

[Rosemary] Wow! [laughs]

-Congratulations.
-[Desmond] Nice job.

[Malikah] I'm overwhelmed.

I'm super happy.
I actually am in disbelief. [laughs]

-[Jackie] I made you a cash-erole.
-[David] Hey!

-Thank you.
-[Jackie] So congrats, man.

[Malikah] So I want to show other people,

follow your dreams,
follow your passions…

and, you too,
could turn chow mein into Mexican lasagna.

♪ Well, we proved today that leftovers ♪

♪ Can be so right ♪

♪ I'm so full I can't believe ♪

♪ That I want another bite ♪

Well, no amount of food
can fill this void. Thanks for watching.

[closing theme music playing]