01x08 - Best of Brunch

[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.

-Five thousand dollars.
-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.

[funky music plays]

What's up, home cooks?

Whoo!

-Whoo!
-[all applaud]

Welcome to Cook at all Costs.
How you feeling?

-Living the dream, Jordan.
-Are you here to win some money?

-Yes.
-Yes, I am!

All right. Taneisha, Roni, Cindy,
for your first challenge,

you'll be making a dish of your choosing

using ingredient boxes
being prepared right now

in the back pantry by our guest judge.

He's a chef and entrepreneur
who is named in Forbes 30 Under 30

for his work in New York kitchens
and his business Plant People,

Chef Gabe Kennedy.

[all cheer]

Cooking for Chef Kennedy
makes me feel super nervous.

Like, I actually can't believe
that someone of his stature

is tasting my food.

Chef Gabe, send out those boxes.

[suspenseful electronic music plays]

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

using your bank of $25,000.

Remember, whoever wins the competition

goes home with all the cash
that remains in their bank.

The minimum bid is $2,500.

Go ahead and lock in your bids now.

[tense music plays]

I really like good quality things,
but I love a deal.

I work in banking,

so I wanna spend the least amount of money

to get the best possible box

and make an amazing dish.

[Taneisha] I would prefer
to save on ingredients.

I am not about to waste my money.

I'd rather just play it safe
and just roll with the punches.

All right, let's check those bids.

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

$2,500. Let's keep it low.

Yes.

[Jordan] Roni.

$3,000.

-$3,000.
-[Jordan] Okay.

And Cindy.

Oh!

-$3,000 for Cindy.
-[mouthing] Yeah.

Roni, Cindy, both of you bid
the exact same amount, $3,000.

But, Roni, you entered your bid first,

which means you get the Spend Box.

Cindy, you get the Surprise Box.

Of course, Taneisha,
you had the lowest bid,

which means you get the Save Box.

Home cooks, you have one hour
to create your best out-of-the-box dish.

And if you didn't get
the box you wanted, don't worry.

There's plenty of auction upgrades
coming to you down the line.

Taneisha, Roni, Cindy,
are you ready to cook at all costs?

[all] Yeah!

Great. Because your time starts now!

[aggressive music playing]

[Taneisha] Cranberries,
mushroom, chicken thighs.

I have the Save Box.

Yes.

I'm seeing the chicken thighs.

Okay, this I can work with for sure.

It's versatile. You know,
I can go so many different ways with this,

and then the mushrooms,
and the cranberries, the rice pouch.

I don't care
if it's the cheapest ingredients.

I know that I will get all these items

to talk together
and become one happy family.

We're gonna work with it.

Rice cakes. Whole chicken.

I'm not really sure what that is.

Mushroom of some kind?

Sumac, no idea what that is.

This Surprise Box is something
that I didn't expect.

I've never cooked with sumac before.

I don't eat goat cheese either.

Ugh.

Oh, my chicken has got legs.

Oh, and the head too.

Wow! [laughs]

I have a whole chicken
with the head and the feet.

Oh, my gosh.
I think I could just chop that off.

[groans]

I need to remove them

so it looks like something
that I'm familiar with.

Okay.

[driving rock music plays]

Got some quinoa.

I've got za'atar,

pitted sour red cherries, halloumi cheese.

I have some great ingredients in the box.

Duck breast.

I've never cooked duck before,

but I know duck is good, duck's expensive.

I'm pretty happy with my box.
It is a bit of a steal for 3,000 bucks.

I got lucky. You know,
I got a more expensive box

with some high-end ingredients,
but I'm a man without a plan.

I need to figure out exactly
what I'm gonna do with the ingredients.

I'm not 100% sure what these are.

[brash music plays]

All right, see some proteins out here.

Taneisha, you got boneless chicken thighs
in the Save Box.

Roni, spending up with some duck breast.

Cindy, a whole chicken
in the Surprise Box.

Yeah.

I don't have time
to roast a whole chicken,

but I can use it to make a broth
with the pressure cooker.

Then the meat would be nice
and tender too, at the same time.

I have three kids,
and they are the world to me.

They love to eat.
They are not picky eaters.

You name it, they'll... they'll eat it.

I like to cook Chinese food,

Vietnamese food, Korean, and Japanese.

So with this broth,
I know where I'm gonna take this dish,

and I'm making ramen.

[lively music plays]

I'm making the dough for my noodles.

I'm using what I have
in my basic pantry ingredients,

flour and eggs.

It is a big risk to make ramen,

because a noodle component
takes so much time.

Once the dough is going,
I sauté my mushrooms with oil, salt,

and a little bit of seasoning

called sumac that was in my box.

I've never used it before.

It's lemony, sour.

[groovy music plays]

[Roni] I don't know duck,
but I do know za'atar.

I'm gonna spice things up a little bit.

Za'atar is a Middle Eastern
Lebanese spice.

I use this every day.

I have a Lebanese background,
and that's kind of the way

I like to cook as well.
It's very, very flavorful.

A lot of garlic, a lot of lemon,
a lot of different spices.

I've never cooked duck before.
I gotta make sure I don't mess it up.

I need to make sure
this duck is not overcooked

and definitely not undercooked.

[rock music plays]

-Chef Gabe Kennedy!
-[laughs]

-Mr. Jordan Andino, how are you?
-What's up? How are you?

-So good to see you.
-What are you working on?

-We got some spicy bitter greens.
-[Jordan] Mm-hmm.

You can prepare them
in a lot of different ways,

fresh or cooked,
so we'll see what they do.

I saw that in the Spend Box, there's duck.

It's critical to render
all of the fat out, right?

And get a nice, crispy skin.

But in the Save Box,
you have boneless chicken thighs.

The benefit of that box

is the chicken thigh
gives you a lot of grace.

It gives you a lot
of opportunity for error, right?

-Yeah, true.
-Right.

That Surprise Box. It's a whole chicken!

Breaking down a whole chicken
can be intimidating,

but it also provides a plethora
of opportunity to extract flavor,

to incorporate bones into stock.

-Or the... the neck.
-Um, or depth of flavor. Neck.

And overall, what are you expecting
from these home cooks?

I'm looking for fun, and play,
and some whimsy, some creativity.

-Hopefully, it tastes good too.
-Ooh!

The bar is set!

-All right.
-Later.

[intriguing music plays]

[Taneisha] I have chicken thighs
and cranberries.

I'm thinking some sort
of stuffed chicken thigh

with mushrooms and the cranberries.

But when I opened up the rice pouch,
I'm immediately thinking,

if my mom saw me cooking
pre-seasoned rice, she would say...

[in Jamaican accent] "Absolutely not,
Taneisha. You better cook that thing up."

[in normal accent] So I'm going to make
chicken broth to add flavor to this rice.

I come from a family
with amazing female cooks.

I learned to cook watching my mother,
my grandmother, and my aunts.

I have a Jamaican background.

So I want to bring
in Caribbean island heat,

vibrancy, and flair to this competition.

So my dish desperately needs fresh herbs
or some greenery to tie it all together.

[cloche rings]

[dramatic music plays]

Whoo!

-[Jordan] The line is moving.
-About time.

Red lights flashing.
Time to spend some money.

Home cooks, first item up for auction is...

Ooh, a nice little bundle of thyme.

Gives you that freshness, herbaceous note.

Works perfectly
with pretty much any poultry or foul.

[Taneisha] Fresh herbs
are always the way to go,

a great way to add flavor.

And I've spent very little money,

so I know I have some
in the bank to spend.

And I'm gonna start the bidding here low.

-$700. Who has 700?
-700. 700.

700 from Taneisha. Do I have 800?

-Nope.
-Sold to Taneisha!

-[happily] Sold to Taneisha!
-$700. Enjoy.

[cheerful music plays]

All right, home cooks,
next item up for auction is...

a trio of greens,
mustard greens, escarole, and endive.

Keep it nice and light and fresh.
You want balance.

We'll start it cheap, $600.

-[chimes]
-600.

Do I have $700?

-[chimes]
-700.

-No, Cindy.
-Do I have $1,000?

-$1,000.
-$1,000 to Taneisha.

I need these leafy greens.
I will stop at nothing to get them.

-I'm doing it.
-[Jordan] Oh! $1,200 to Cindy.

-[hits buzzer] $1,500.
-$1,500.

Taneisha needs to keep it green.

-$1,800.
-I'll take it.

-[Jordan] Cindy's not giving up!
-$2,000. Cindy!

-$2,000! Bring it, Cindy! Come at me!
-Cindy!

$2,500!

[Cindy] Taneisha, enough!
I need those greens.

I need to add some color to my plate
and some vegetables to my ramen.

-It's mine!
-[chimes]

-Let's go, Cindy! Come on!
-[Cindy laughs]

Cindy, girl, you don't know
how competitive I am.

-[chimes]
-$3,000.

-$3,500!
-[chimes]

4,000!

-[chimes]
-4,000.

-4,000 to Taneisha!
-Expensive greens.

Oh, that's expensive greens.
$4,000 going once, going twice...

-Sold!
-[Taneisha] Oh!

The most expensive greens in the history
of the world to Taneisha! Enjoy it.

Four thousand bucks for the leafy greens?
What a rip-off.

Taneisha, that cost you a bundle of green.

It better work out.

Home cooks, for your final auction item,

guess what? You can't see it.

It's a blind bid, but if you use this,

it'll definitely help your dish.
Start the item off at $1,000.

-[chimes]
-$1,000. Roni's spending!

-[laughs]
-Do I hear $1,200? $1,200?

-[chimes]
-$1,500?

-$1,500? $1,500 to Taneisha.
-[hits buzzer] 1,500.

-$1,800?
-[chimes]

$1,800 to Roni.

-$2,000.
-[chimes]

Do I have $2,500?

[Roni] I need to be strategic
with what I spend my money on,

but this blind bid caught my attention.

I don't know what it is.
It could be something great.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] Oh, $2,500 to Roni!

-$2,800?
-[chimes]

[Jordan] Oh!

$2,800 going once, going twice...

Sold to Cindy, the mystery item.

-And, Cindy, just so you know...
-Okay.

[Jordan] You got...

roasted chicken gravy and chicken tenders.

[Cindy groans]

Not what I was expecting.

I already have chicken. [sighs]

Just not gonna work for my dish.

-[Jordan] Good job, Cindy.
-Thanks.

Home cooks, great spending.

I like it.

[upbeat electronic music playing]

[Taneisha] I paid $700 for thyme.
It's going to add some flavor to my rice.

[sizzling]

And then I'm using the mustard greens
with the mushrooms and the cranberries

to create the stuffing
for the chicken thighs.

I'm stuffing the chicken,
and then I'm gonna char it up in the oven.

Then I'm gonna grill the endive.

I could hear my mom saying to me,
"Come on, girl, you got it."

But I look over, and I see
that Cindy's making her own noodles.

If she's making noodles,
this is some amazing dish.

[bold music plays]

I am behind, and I'm stressed.

I'm still rolling my pasta,
which I still have to cook too.

Twenty minutes left,
home cooks, 20 minutes.

I'm super frazzled right now.

I'm gonna die.

Hopefully, it comes together.

Hopefully, these won't take long to cook.

[upbeat music plays]

I've always heard about duck fat,
so I wanna make sure that fat stands out,

and I wanna make sure I use
that duck fat in something else.

-Roni! Do you know what these are?
-Truffles, right?

These are some of, like,
the best types of mushrooms you can have.

-Right.
-Morels.

-Morels.
-Yeah, it's a morel mushroom.

-Treat them nicely and delicate.
-Okay.

Take it as you will.

[Roni] These morels
are getting incorporated in my dish.

I am sautéing them in the duck fat,
and then I see the sour cherries.

I decide they're getting sautéed as well.
It's gonna be delicious as a topping.

That's good.

And then I love halloumi cheese.

I wanna make this seared.
I wanna make it crispy.

I batter it and fry it up.

Chef Kennedy can wait.
I might just eat this myself.

I'm gonna put it on the quinoa
and make a cheesy za'atar quinoa.

[Jordan] Home cooks,
five minutes left! This is it.

Make sure all your elements are done.
Start thinking about plating.

[Cindy] I can't believe
I made noodles with the time I had.

I'm just hoping that Chef Kennedy
will see that I thought outside the box.

[driving electronic music plays]

[Taneisha] It's coming together.
It's coming together.

I don't hate duck,
but I think I'm going to go

over to Taneisha's
for some chicken thighs later.

Oh!

Home cooks, 90 seconds left, 90 seconds.

-Cindy, are you plating yet?
-Yes.

Your plates must be on the line,
and you have to hit your red button

before time runs out.

[suspenseful percussive music playing]

[Jordan] Get everything on the plate.

[Cindy] Ahhh, my hands are shaking.

-[Jordan] Ten, nine...
-[chimes]

-...eight, seven, six, five...
-[chimes]

...four, three, two...

-[chimes]
-...one.

Good job.

[sighs and laughs]

-[Jordan] You done did it.
-[laughs]

[Jordan] It's time to send those plates
down the line for Chef Kennedy.

[Taneisha] Chef Kennedy's about to judge
my food, and I am nervous.

I paid a whole lot of money,

so this dish, it better taste great.

[gentle intriguing music plays]

[sighs]

-How you feeling?
-I'm ready.

All right, so here in front of you,

you have a chicken ramen
with lion's mane mushroom.

[Gabe] Mmm! Clearly,
the home cook made their own noodles.

I'm gonna just start by...

[slurps] ...tasting the broth,
which actually is quite flavorful.

Chicken comes through.

I appreciate the creativity

of incorporating some sumac
into the lion's mane.

Lion's mane is such a beautiful mushroom.

It's like a sponge,
so it really is quite flavorful.

[chuckles] This is gonna be
a really fun thing to do.

-[laughs]
-Hang on.

The noodles are cooked well,
maybe a little bit under for me.

A touch more chew than I'd like.

But the cook decided
to make a soup, noodles, all in an hour.

I think this is a very bold preparation.

[Jordan] This one
is a pan-seared duck breast

with a za'atar quinoa,

topped with sour cherries and morels.

[Gabe] All right. The duck looks
like it's cooked really well.

-This is exactly how I like duck cooked.
-[Jordan] Perfect.

The execution is... is great.

Well, it looks good. How does it taste?

This is a really tender piece
of duck breast.

[mellow music plays]

I'm picking up a little bit of seasoning
on the skin, perhaps the za'atar.

Morels, really earthy and rich in flavor.

Mm-hmm.

Fair amount of duck fat in there too.

-That's good.
-Um, which I like.

Quinoa is well cooked,
but this quinoa is asking for sauce.

-Yeah.
-[Gabe] This duck is asking for sauce.

But if I sat down at anyone's home,
and they served this to me,

I would be an absolute happy camper.

This in front of you
is a stuffed chicken thigh

on a bed of chicken broth
and herb-infused rice,

with a grilled endive.

[Gabe] Wow, okay.
I actually really love this presentation.

See some fresh herb and thyme.
It... It's a really great color contrast.

This is the kind of dish
where I wanna, like, get in there.

-Dive in.
-[Gabe] Right, here we go.

[breezy funky music plays]

Yum.

-Yum's good.
-Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

This rice is very flavorful.

They must have done something
to take it to the next level.

It was not just out of the box.

[Jordan] This home cook purchased
a fresh bundle of thyme for $700.

I did taste the thyme in the rice.

-Which works well.
-Okay.

The chicken is really well seasoned,
really well cooked.

This home cook purchased

the endive, the mustard greens,
and escarole for $4,000.

Ooh!

The endive and the mustard green
makes it a lot more interesting.

The element that I would add to this dish
is some high, bright note

to really round it out.

Chef, you've tried all three dishes.

-Do you think you have your winner?
-I do.

[suspenseful music playing]

You ready?

-We're ready.
-Let's do it.

-[Jordan] Got some results for you.
-All right!

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

[laughs] You're k*lling me!

[Taneisha] Right?

-Taneisha!
-Whoo!

-[Jordan laughs]
-[all cheer]

I did it!

I am so excited
that I had the winning dish.

-[laughs boastfully]
-I feel so confident.

And I have $17,800 left.

Right! [chuckles]

Let's go!

For the final round, you'll be celebrating
one of Chef Kennedy's favorite meals.

It's a meal of leisure,
a meal of indulgence,

and a meal to share with friends.

The Chef's choice is out to brunch.

[upbeat music plays]

Right now, Chef Kennedy is preparing
your brunch-inspired ingredient boxes.

I'm a brunch guy.
I know all the best brunch spots.

I did not come to lose.
So let's play this game.

Rise and shine, home cooks.

Chef Kennedy, let's do some brunch.

[frenetic electronic music plays]

[Jordan] In this round,
the boxes have a set price.

The Spend Box is gonna cost you $8,000.

The Save Box, $4,000.

And the Surprise Box, $6,000.

Taneisha, because you won the first round,

you've earned the power to choose
what box you'd like to work with,

and assign the other boxes
to your fellow home cooks.

[laughs]

[snaps fingers]

Oh!

Wha... [laughs]

I love this. [laughs]

Taneisha, which box would you like to buy?

I'm going to stick to what worked
in the beginning. So I'll do Save.

The Save Box will cost you $4,000.

Who would you like
to assign the Spend Box to,

along with its price tag of eight grand?

[clock ticking]

It's all about Roni.

[Taneisha and Roni laugh]

Roni has the most money.
Let me knock that down a little bit.

She assigns me that box,
the most expensive box,

and she's draining my bank account.

But my sense of competition
is in overdrive.

I cannot lose.

Which means, Cindy, you've been assigned
the Surprise Box for $6,000.

The cook with the best brunch
wins all the cash in their bank.

[triumphant music plays]

You have 45 minutes on the clock,

and the time has come again

to cook at all costs. Go!

[brash electronic music plays]

I open that Spend Box, and I think,
"This box better be good for $8,000."

Duck eggs.

Lobster. Oh, God.

Caviar is not on my grocery list,
I'll tell you that.

Who is having
lobster and caviar for brunch?

And why aren't they ever inviting me over?

You know, I've never cooked
a lobster before. [chuckles]

I'm not used to cooking
with these rich ingredients.

What am I gonna do now?

I think I might've been better off
with the cheap brunch.

Roni, how's your $8,000 box?

You can ask the lobster.

-[Taneisha] Oh! Stop this right now!
-[Jordan laughs] Ooh!

[Roni] How's your penny-pinching box?

When I win, I'll tell you.

Ooh!

I know that Roni is thrown off,
so mission accomplished.

I open up that Save Box.

I've got chicken eggs, sushi roe,
spinach, and the cottage cheese.

And then I see...

White perch?

What the hell is... Jesus.

I know absolutely nothing
about white perch.

This box... whew.

What am I gonna do
with all these ingredients?

We'll see where I go with it.

[upbeat music playing]

Ooh, what's this? Smoked salmon.

Mascarpone.

Oh, onions. Bread.

I actually did not want the Surprise Box.

I see the salmon roe,
I see the smoked salmon,

and then I see the ball.

What is this?
I really don't know what this is.

Coconut?

Cindy, that's an ostrich egg.

[bird warbles]

An ostrich egg?
I didn't even know what it was.

[gasps] Oh my gosh.
So embarrassing. [laughs]

That's 24 eggs in one.

Oh, wow.

[Cindy] I've never seen an ostrich egg.

I don't even know
how to break into that thing.

[exclaims nervously]

Of course brunch has some eggs,
but we've also got seafood.

Taneisha's Save Box has
some chicken eggs and white perch.

Roni's Spend Box has duck eggs
and lobster. Getting fancy.

And Cindy's Surprise Box has smoked salmon
and the world's biggest egg.

Good luck, home cooks.

When I think of brunch,
I immediately think of dim sum,

but then I have the ostrich egg.

So, do I make an omelet with the egg,
or do I stick to my roots?

To dim sum or not to dim sum?

That is the question.

Taneisha, you gave me a really hard box.

-I did?
-You did.

No refunds.

[Roni] Taneisha forced my hand

and spent a lot of my money
on these ingredients.

I'm not letting anything go to waste.
The bread, I'm sure I can use.

The garlic aioli,
I could eat that with a spoon.

And I'm an omelet guy, so I'm making
an omelet sandwich with aioli.

I wanted to make sure those figs
are highlighted, figs aren't cheap.

So I'm making a salad,
but I want to figure out

how to incorporate the lobster.

That's gotta be the main ingredient.
It needs to stand out.

Taneisha, she does not want me to win,
but I'm here to crush the competition.

[Taneisha] I know
I've got the budget ingredients,

but I start pumping myself up.

I am going to make it work.

Okay.

I'm not familiar with white perch.

However, I'm more familiar with a catfish.

So I'm going to apply
the same technique to the white perch.

Add flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs.
I dip, dip, dip, and I fry it up.

Whoa!

Those ingredient boxes?

-Wow! Wow.
-You can say that again.

[both laugh]

Uh, Chef Gabe,
let's talk about these boxes.

In the Save Box,
we have, you know, regular eggs,

we have salmon roe,
and then you have a white fish, perch.

It's a challenge, and there's going
to need to be a direction that's picked.

The Spend Box,
that's an opulent, bougie brunch.

Yeah.

And then the Surprise Box, an ostrich egg.

It's intimidating for sure. [laughs]

-It's the biggest egg in the world.
-[Gabe] It literally is.

That thing is impressive,
and if we forgo the ostrich egg,

I'm gonna be a bit disappointed.

Brunch is about challenging the norms
and breaking the usual pattern.

I want the home cooks
to really think outside the box.

Good seeing you.
I'm gonna go check on the home cooks.

-All right.
-Later.

[bold instrumental hip-hop music plays]

[Cindy] Oh, I still don't know
what I'm doing yet.

I don't even know how to break this.

I don't know what to do
with this ostrich egg.

So now I'm going full-force into dim sum.

I'm saying bye-bye to my ostrich egg.

Sunday mornings are the days
that... when I make dim sum.

My kids love it, my family loves it.

So I'm making the dough
for my shumai dumplings.

Shumai is a type of Chinese dumpling
served at dim sum.

Traditionally, shumai is made
with ground pork,

but I have a smoked salmon.

I have no idea
if this is gonna work or not.

You never know
what's gonna come down that line.

[dramatic musical flourish plays]

[bold hip-hop music continues]

And the first item up for bid is...

thick-cut bacon.

I'm gonna start the bid at $1,000.

-[chimes]
-Bacon for me!

$1,000 to Cindy for bacon.
Do I hear $1,200?

$1,000 going once, going twice...

Sold to Cindy for $1,000.

Now that I have this bacon,
I'll use it to flavor my shumai.

[Jordan] Next item,
peeled and diced potatoes.

[Roni] There's no such thing as brunch
without home fries. I've got $14,000 left.

I'm prepared to go all the way.

I'm gonna start the bid at $800.

-[chimes]
-800.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $1,000 to Roni.

I got a bidding w*r. Do I hear $1,200?

-[chimes]
-1,200.

-[chimes]
-$1,500! Roni, that's what I like to see!

-[chimes]
-1,800.

-Do I hear $2,000?
-[chimes]

I've got more money
than you now, Taneisha.

I'll empty this whole bank account.

-[chimes]
-25.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $3,000! Roni!

-[chimes]
-3,500.

-Do I hear $4,000?
-Let's go, Roni.

-You want them potatoes?
-I want the potatoes, yeah.

-I need the potatoes.
-Do I hear 5,000?

-[hits buzzer] $5,000.
-[Jordan] $5,000.

At this point, I'm just wanting him
to spend money, 'cause I know he's cheap.

[chimes]

$6,000. $6,000 going once...

Yeah, you... They're yours.

-Are you out of money?
-[laughs]

Sold to Roni!

Wow, Roni! That's like literally $1,000
a cube in there, you big spender.

[Roni] I did not think I was gonna spend
$6,000 on those potatoes,

but, you know, you gotta do
what you gotta do.

So let's make some home fries.

[Jordan] This next auction item,
five different delicious mushrooms,

the umami of the vegetable world.

We'll start the bid at $1,000.

Do I have $1,000?

[groovy music plays]

$1,000 going once. Going twice...

No one's bidding on these mushrooms,
so I'm buying them.

[chimes]

Sold to Cindy for $1,000.

Mushrooms will add
a depth of flavor to my dumplings.

Now that I have my auction buys,
I don't need a smoked salmon anymore.

I'm chopping up my bacon.

And with the bacon fat,
I am adding mushrooms to it,

sautéing it into the fat,

and then I'm going to take the filling
to stuff into my dumplings.

[pulsing music plays]

[Roni] I have never cooked
lobster in my life.

I'm used to making omelets with ham,
and peppers, and simple ingredients.

First thing I'm trying to figure out is

which part of the lobster
has the meat in it.

Everybody's always talking
about lobster tail,

I'm like, "That's what I've always had."

Once I've got the meat out,
I start my omelet.

When I put everything into that pan,

I realize that that lobster
might be too heavy,

and I'm not gonna be able
to flip this gracefully.

[groans] Not good.

Maybe it's time
to put it in the oven as a frittata.

[lively percussive music plays]

[Taneisha] To go with my perch,

I wanna add a fresh spinach salad
with poached eggs.

Oh, come on.

I'm trying to poach these eggs.
It's not coming together.

I've made poached eggs before.
However, clearly, I'm not a pro.

Poached eggs, trash.

This is the most stressful brunch
I have ever made.

Okay.

So I'm switching gears.
Sunny-side eggs it is.

[bold instrumental hip-hop music plays]

Home cooks, the line is moving!

Red light flashing! Auction happening!

The winner of this auction will receive
whatever is under the big cloche

or the mini cloche.

That'll be your choice.

The opening bid is $500.

-[chimes]
-$500.

[chimes]

[Jordan] Oh! $600 to Roni.

Do I have $800?

-[chimes]
-$800.

-[chimes]
-[Jordan] $1,000. There you go, Roni.

You know, I love a surprise.
I cannot resist the unknown.

$1,000 going once, going twice...

Sold to Roni for $1,000.

Great. Okay.

The big cloche or the small cloche?

The small cloche.

Let's find out.

Money!

Nice.

Roni, that is $3,000 back into your bank.

-Sweet.
-[Jordan] Yeah.

Wait, how's...
I spent, like, nothing on that.

That's a good deal.

I spent $1,000 and made three.
That's a good investment.

For fun, let's just have a look
at what was underneath the big cloche.

Berries.

Berries are expensive, Jordan.
That could've been a good deal either way.

-That's the banker in you.
-[chuckles]

[driving music plays]

Oh my gosh.

There's only six minutes left.

Dumplings take
exactly six minutes to steam.

I am super stressed out.
I don't think they're gonna cook in time.

Gonna start steaming this first.

How're you doing, Roni?
Oh, my gosh, you're plating already!

It's almost time.

I've got both layers with garlic aioli.
I've got some caviar in there.

But at the very last minute,

I decide that I'm going to grill
the finished lobster sandwich in butter

and really try to up that flavor.

-Just for a minute.
-[sizzling]

Two minutes left, home cooks!
Come on, you can do this!

No.

The time is going to run out.
I can hear my mom in the back of my head,

saying, "Come on, girl. Keep it on time."

So I've got to send
the spinach out undressed.

I'm worried
because there's no transformation.

It's just spinach.

Forty seconds.

Oh my gosh. My wrappers are still raw.

I look at the dim sum,

and I'm really worried
that they're not cooked.

[Jordan] Home cooks, as a reminder,

you need to get your dish on the line
and hit the red button

before time runs out.

[frenetic electronic music plays]

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

...three, two...

-[chimes]
-...one.

Yo, Roni! [laughs] Time's up, home cooks!

[sighs and laughs]

[tense music plays]

Your dishes are off to final judgment.

[Jordan sighs]

That was intense. I can't wait
to see what you think of these dishes.

Oh, I'm excited.
I'm chomping at the bit over here.

Your first dish is
a bacon-and-mushroom shumai dumpling

with a side salad and pickled onions.

At first glance, beautiful.

[propulsive instrumental hip-hop plays]

-Wow.
-I'm on the edge of my seat here.

I went through a flavor journey.

At first, I was hit
with that fatty, umami, bacon bliss.

[Jordan] Mm-hmm.

All the meanwhile,
I'm getting a slight crunch and pop

from the mushroom.

Unfortunately, this wrapper is uncooked.

So I was really excited
for the ostrich egg,

and I'm a bit bummed
that it didn't show up on the plate.

It could have been used

as another ingredient
in the filling of a shumai.

Here we have a lobster omelet sandwich

with aioli, home fries, and a fig salad.

I'm seeing some caviar hidden in here.

-[Jordan] Yeah! Caviar!
-I mean, whoa!

That's some luxury.
This is an expensive sandwich.

[crunches]

[funky music plays]

This is a full-on decadent sandwich.

I mean, it's really good.

It's packed with lobster.

-The duck egg is so flavorful.
-Mm-hmm.

It's well-seasoned.

The aioli is giving
that kind of fat content

that is expected
in an indulgent sandwich like this.

This home cook purchased
those potatoes for $6,000.

[Gabe] Oof!

Totally not necessary.

I don't know how much this is adding

other than this is what is expected
to eat with brunch, right?

Here, we have fried white perch
with a brown-butter egg, and greens.

[Gabe] Wow!

[moody instrumental hip-hop plays]

I'm really impressed
by the preparation of this fish.

Perch, well cooked, great crust,
evenly breaded, still crispy.

-Seasoned very well.
-Okay.

Kind of flaking apart
in my mouth as I'm eating it.

So A-plus on the fish.

Now this is just uninspiring to me.

There's no seasoning,
there's no olive oil, no salt.

There's nothing transformative
about this, it's spinach,

and it feels like an afterthought.

The egg was a nice complement,
brown butter and lots of flavor.

Overall, this was a very good preparation
of a really, really challenging box.

You've now tried all of the dishes.

Seems like a tough one,
but think you can name a winner?

-I got it, Jordan.
-All right.

[intriguing music plays]

[sighs]

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

along with all that cash in their bank.

But first, please allow me

to introduce you
to our guest chef and judge,

Chef Gabe Kennedy.

[contestants applaud]

Hello, home cooks.

-Hello.
-[Cindy] Hi!

All right, let's get to the results.

Which home cook made
the bacon-mushroom shumai?

[anxious music plays]

Cindy, the dim sum was creative,
the flavors were great,

but I was very disappointed
that you didn't use the ostrich egg.

Okay.

And who made the lobster omelet sandwich?

So, the lobster sandwich
was decadent and wildly flavorful.

However, the potatoes
didn't really add much to the plate.

Taneisha, so the perch was flaky
and very well fried,

but I do wish you did a bit more
to transform the spinach.

[Jordan] Cindy, you have $11,200
remaining in your bank.

Roni, you have $10,000,

and Taneisha, you have
the largest amount with $13,800.

Only one of you can be the best in brunch
and win the competition.

The home cook with the best dish

who proved
that they could cook at all costs is...

[bombastic music plays]

Roni!

-What?
-[all applaud]

-Yay!
-[Roni] Amazing!

That's great!

I'm shocked. I am the winner.
I'm a better cook than I thought.

Roni, congratulations. You've won
all $10,000 remaining in your bank.

-Wow! Great!
-[all applaud]

I am so proud
of what I did with the time I had.

My biggest takeaway from this
is just to have fun.

Food is fun, and I had a blast.

[Taneisha] I had
an amazing experience today.

I learned that having fun is the best way

to allow your creativity
to shine in the kitchen.

[Roni] I'm $10,000 richer.

There is no chance
I'm spending this money.

I'm gonna save, and I'm gonna invest.

Good job!

[upbeat electronic music plays]