- Tonight, one of these chefs
will earn a spot
in the finals in Mexico...
both: Jamie! - What's up?
- And a second chance at the title of Top Chef.
[audience shouting]
Will it be Brooke, who was just told
to pack her knives for the first time ever?
- Is it good? - It's f---ing good.
- Jamie, whose winning streak makes him
the last remaining rookie in the competition?
- I'm super unhappy to see Brooke here.
- Or will it be Casey, the three-time "Top Chef" vet
who is out to prove she has what it takes?
- Casey Thompson, ladies and gentlemen,
Casey Thompson.
- This is "Last Chance Kitchen,"
brought to you by Hidden Valley Ranch.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- I have mixed feelings about "Last Chance Kitchen."
As someone who prides themselves on never hearing Padma say,
"Please pack your knives and go,"
I'm frustrated and disappointed.
Hearing those words are not something
I've ever wanted to hear. - Hey, Brooke, welcome
to "Last Chance Kitchen." - Thank you.
- You were really close to winning your season
in "Top Chef," and Kristen came back
through "Last Chance Kitchen." - Yup.
- Kristen, you are Top Chef!
[cheers and applause]
- She took the title, and now it's your chance to do the same.
- The fact that Kristen came back
through "Last Chance Kitchen" and ended up winning the show
just goes to show you it is possible.
- So any idea who you're up against today?
- I don't have any idea. I've been trying
not to really think about it.
- Let's bring 'em out.
- Oh, boy. Oh, them.
- Them. - Oh, sh--.
It's Brooke. - Why are you here?
- Hi. Fancy meeting you here. - Oh, my God.
- Didn't expect to see her here, huh?
- Nope. - I didn't expect to be here.
[laughter]
- One of the three of you will be joining
the other chefs in the finals.
- [sighs] - Oh, boy.
We've talked a thousand times about it being she and I
at the end together.
I can't even explain how difficult it is to do this.
- Brooke, you were eliminated for your pork two-ways dish.
- Ugh! - The pork tenderloin
didn't actually need to be there at all.
- I had some issues, um, with the tenderloin.
You could have cooked it to order.
Um, it's a small piece of meat. It cooks very quickly.
And I think by sous-viding that,
you lose the immediacy of cooking.
You lose the juiciness of it. It's just not--it's--
it looks rare, but the juices are gone.
Well, here in "Last Chance Kitchen,"
we're all about second chances. - Mm-hmm.
♪ ♪
- So for this challenge, I want you to create a dish
highlighting protein two different ways.
Over there you have a board listing some cooking techniques.
You have grill, sear, roast,
sauté, bake, fry, and braise.
Our two reigning champs here are gonna select a technique each,
and then all three of you have to use those two techniques
to create the dish.
- Looking at the list, it's not like there's any form
of cookery that I don't feel confident I can do,
so here we go.
- Jamie, choose one.
♪ ♪
- Let's go with, uh, sauté.
- I don't know if Jamie is trying to throw us
for a loop or-- what's he doing?
Sauté is fine.
It's just not the best for, say, proteins.
- Casey? - I'll go with braise.
- Yeah. - Braise, okay.
- I think braising is a pretty ballsy move.
You gotta be quick on your feet if you're gonna execute
a solid braise in 30 minutes.
- So you all have to make a dish featuring a protein
that's sautéed and braised.
- Uh-huh. - You have 30 minutes
on the clock, and your time starts now.
[cheers and applause]
- Go, go, go, go, go!
- Protein. Whoa! - Let's see.
- Everything's wrapped. Ooh. - Lamb.
- I would love to cook the same type of protein
but maybe two different styles of it.
I don't see any pork belly in the fridge,
so I choose the bacon.
I know I can braise the bacon and I can sauté the bacon.
- Brooke, get your bus tub and load some crap up.
- I can't even reach the pressure cookers, guys.
- Whoops.
[clatter] - Uh-oh.
- Oh! Man down! - Bread down.
- Oh, my God. I would never pick sauté.
- Chefs of our caliber that are, you know,
this far in the competition, sauté is pretty basic technique.
For me, going against Casey and Brooke is a challenge.
I've got my work cut out for me if I'm gonna pull off a win.
♪ ♪
- Casey Thompson, ladies and gentlemen, Casey Thompson.
[laughter and applause]
- It's my own cooking show. [cheering]
You guys are crazy.
- What's your protein, Brooke? - Bacon.
- What protein do you got, Casey?
- Pork belly and ground pork.
- Ohh! - Nice.
- You found belly? - Yes.
Do you need some? - She found pork belly.
- I'll give you a belly. - Yeah, thanks, man.
And she gives me half of her pork belly.
So I appreciate it, Casey. Thank you.
So I'm gonna do braised and sautéed pork belly
and then some sautéed bacon and a wilted,
vinegary cabbage salad.
Ideally I would need more time,
but I think I can do a quick braise on the pork belly
and then slice it and then brown it
to get that crackly consistency.
both: Jamie! - What's up?
- What's your protein? - Scallop.
- Jamie's cooking scallops, which is not necessarily
a protein I would've chosen specifically to braise.
You need to submerge it in liquid
and that's not something I would do with a scallop,
especially if you want to get a hard sear on it.
- I am doing braised pork belly and a little bit of ground pork.
Brooke is doing pork also.
Great minds think alike.
[audience shouting]
- You got 20 minutes left!
- What are you making? - I'm gonna do a braised scallop
with a little potato risotto.
- What are you doing with the sautéed scallop?
- Just sautéed, like, popcorn scallop type thing.
This dish could be a risk. Scallops can overcook.
You gotta be careful or they become kind of rubbery,
and Tom will notice that.
With 30 minutes, you can do a quick braise on a scallop.
Scallops takes just minutes to cook,
which allows me a little bit of time to work on the garnishes.
- 15 minutes!
♪ ♪
- Brooke, we're surprised to see you.
- Why? - I'm super unhappy
to see Brooke here. - I mean, thanks, but why?
- Jamie's like, "I'm super unhappy to see Brooke here."
[laughter]
- So what are we sautéing and braising?
- We are sautéing some scallops and braising 'em.
- Okay. - Just finished my braise.
I'm about to throw my sauté and plate it up for you, Chef.
I've got the scallops dredged in like a little
Cajun-type seasoning with cornmeal.
- So you already sautéed those while you're braising these?
- Yeah, I sear those, flipped 'em,
deglazed, cook them down real quick, removed 'em, and...
- Got it. Yeah, it's the sauce. - This is my braising liquid.
Yup. - Right.
Hey, Brooke. - Hi.
You really gonna come over and talk to me right now?
- I am, right now. - Oh.
- I'm gonna come over and talk to you.
What are you sautéing and braising?
- Well, I braised some belly
and it's not quite done yet,
so I'm gonna sauté it on top of the braise.
- Got it. - Choosing pork is a combination
of, you know, wanting to show Tom that I know how to cook pork
and it's also the ingredient
that makes the most sense to braise and sauté.
- Casey. - Hi, there.
- What are you sautéing and braising?
- Okay, braising pork belly. - Okay.
- Sautéing ground pork with cabbage, red onion.
I've got some okra for you. Come on now.
- Oh, some okra for me? - A little eggplant--[laughs]
A little eggplant. A little greens.
- Wouldn't you know? - Five minutes!
♪ ♪
- Whoa. - Uh-oh.
- Whoa. - Whoa, uh-oh.
- What's going on there, Jamie? - Oh!
- Fire, fire. - Come on, Brooke.
- Is it good? - It's f---ing good.
I'm really happy with all my flavors.
If my dish is not in the top two dishes today,
I go home and I don't go to Mexico,
but I didn't come here to not take it all the way.
♪ ♪
- Brooke's not even sweating.
♪ ♪
- That looks good.
- Well, thanks. - Come on, guys!
- I have the strongest win streak
in "Last Chance Kitchen."
I've been working really hard to get back
into the competition and I'm not ready to go home.
- All right, Jamie, you got three minutes left.
What are you thinking? Okay?
- Uh, ah, it tastes good. - Tastes good?
♪ ♪
- I love the way the pork belly came out.
I think Tom is gonna love it. I think it has a lot of flavor.
It's got crisp, fatty skin on top of it.
I'm really proud of this one.
- One minute!
- Why do I do this again? - [laughs]
♪ ♪
- Oh, zesting, zesting.
♪ ♪
all: Five. Four. Three.
Two. One!
[cheers and applause]
- Good job, guys!
[both laugh]
- Oh, you too. - Oh, come on!
Good job.
♪ ♪
- Hey, Jamie. - Hey, Chef.
- So, scallop two ways.
Cooked two ways and served two ways.
- Yes, sir. We got our braised seared scallop,
braised with a little fish sauce, cider vinegar,
kaffir lime over a potato risotto.
And then the reduced braising jus.
And on the other side, we got the sautéed scallop over
a quick pickle of mixed tomatoes and a cucumber.
- Why'd you choose the scallop, first off?
- Scallop? 'Cause I could do 'em quickly.
- Okay. Why'd you choose the garnishes?
- The braise was a little more kind of traditional technique,
so I wanted something kind of old-school, you know,
potato risotto, and then the quick sauté,
I used some Cajun spice, that kind of thing.
I thought a nice pickle would balance that.
- All right, thanks. - Yup.
- Okay, Casey, what do you have?
- Okay, so pork belly and ground pork.
My braise was in the pressure cooker
with a little bit of fish sauce, soy,
garlic, ginger, onion.
And then for my sauté, I sautéed cabbage,
chard, the pork, a little bit of grilled eggplant is in there,
and then just a touch bit more of fish sauce
and some crispy chili and a little bit of lime,
and then finished it with your favorite, okra.
- My favorite. Why'd you choose pork?
- Pork really lends itself beautifully to many
different styles of cooking. - All right.
- Pressure cooker is our friend on this show.
- Great. Right. - Thanks.
♪ ♪
- So, Brooke, what did you make here?
- Braised pork belly and bacon.
I braised both the belly and the bacon
in some chicken stock. I added a little farro
to get the viscosity without having to reduce it too much.
- Okay. - Um, sautéed cabbage
and sautéed bacon, some chilies,
garlic, simple Asian flavors.
The belly wasn't quite done enough,
so I threw it back in the pan and sautéed it to get it crispy
instead of trying to make it tender.
- Why did you choose pork? - Well, I did pork yesterday,
and you weren't so fond of the way I did it,
so I was actually looking for pork belly or a shoulder
to do this with, and, um, Casey was kind enough
to lend me half of her belly, and I used bacon
so that I could showcase in a couple of different ways.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
This is a pretty big moment.
♪ ♪
I'm really always amazed that, in such a short time,
you guys put together some really nice dishes,
but I found certain things to be a little off.
Jamie, I thought your potatoes were slightly undercooked,
and I thought the sautéed part of the dish
to be slightly underseasoned.
Casey, I thought your dish was underseasoned too,
for all the things that you put in there.
You listed the ingredients and it's like,
"Wow, this is gonna be a powerhouse,"
and everything was just a little light.
And, uh, Brooke, I thought
that one pork was a little chewy.
Not terrible but just a little on the chewy side.
What I liked about the dishes-- Jamie, that you decided
to use a scallop, and I thought the salad was nice
and light and refreshing. Casey, I like that you actually
ground something and decided you were gonna sauté that.
You got a lot of meaty flavor out of that ground pork.
Brooke, what I really liked
about your dish was the textures.
The cabbage, I thought, was really great
'cause it was really crunchy, so you had chew
and crunch at the same time.
But this is tough. There's a lot riding here.
A lot at stake right now.
Two are moving on and one is going home.
♪ ♪
Jamie, this was your last chance.
- Aww, you did so good! - Thanks, Chef.
It was a good run. - Good job, yeah.
- Thanks. Yeah. - Good luck, babes.
- Good job, ladies. - Aww.
- I have a lot of pride in what
I've accomplished in this competition.
I'm not gonna have any sour feelings about it.
You know, I'm proud of Casey and Brooke.
I mean, they cook hard, and today,
they outcooked me a little bit.
- So we're gonna do this right now.
- Of course we are. - Yeah, I figured. I mean...
- There's so much riding on this one challenge.
- Brooke, you're gonna need this.
- Oh, thanks. I was missing that.
- It was missing you too.
- I'm just one step closer
to getting back to the finale.
I'm ready. Let's do it. - You may want to put that on.
- Oh, sh--. It's down to you and I.
This is our own little finale.
♪ ♪