Natalie has a shot at redemption.
- Appreciate that.
- She came in strong and won the first elimination challenge,
but was gone the next. - Today is a new day.
- Can she prove that she was cut too soon?
Or will the vets take out
another "Top Chef: Kentucky" contestant?
- Do you guys know how much of a beast Natalie is?
- Beast. - This is "Last Chance Kitchen."
- Brought to you by...
♪♪♪
- I'm disappointed I didn't go further.
I made some poor decisions because of things
that were out of my control, and that I just couldn't
bounce back from. - Hey, Natalie.
Welcome to "Last Chance Kitchen."
- Thank you very much. - You recognize these guys?
- I see some familiar faces. - You're gonna need to beat
each one of these guys.
- Seeing the veterans standing there,
it's a little intimidating, but as much as everything
surprises you, nothing should surprise you.
- I gotta say, I was surprised to see you go so soon.
Your first dish was so strong.
Natalie won the first elimination challenge,
then went home on the second.
- She looks like a competitor. I think she's gonna be a beast,
so I'm not taking any of these chefs lightly.
- So, Natalie, you wanted to make this lemon curd tart.
What happened? Why--why wasn't it lemony enough?
- I think part of it was just the lack of ingredients.
- I'm nervous about money, guys.
He's got over $500 worth of lamb.
- What? - Can I get one of these
instead of that extra heavy cream?
By making a lemon dessert, I'm battling to get lemons
onto the conveyor belt.
- Natalie. - Yo!
- Is there any way I can grab those lemons?
- For me? - Save the middles.
Yeah, that's for you. - Absolutely. Thank you.
- Guys, the teamwork right now is really putting
a smile on my face.
- I was definitely a little too nice.
Being early in the competition,
you still see people as friends, and you kinda forget
that it's a competition.
- Today's a new day. - Today is a new day.
♪♪♪
- Lemons.
♪♪♪
- I wanted to give you another shot at making me a dish
with lemon in it. - Okay.
- Just one thing. I wanna see you stretch that flavor,
because you're only getting... one lemon.
Each.
- All right.
To be utilizing one lemon in a lemon-forward dish--
it's a little scary.
I already messed up with two and a half lemons,
so is one lemon gonna be enough for me?
- Whether it's zest or pulp or juice, use it all.
- For me, this is the kind of challenge
that you come to "Top Chef" to do.
It makes you think, "What can I do with a lemon?"
One lemon. - When life throws
a little lemon at you, make some lemonade.
But make it tasty.
Only three of you are moving on to the next round.
You have 30 minutes. And your time starts now.
♪♪♪
- [ laughing ] Get over here, Jim.
♪♪♪
- I'm gonna fabricate this lemon like it's a pig.
I mean, roota to the toota.
I'm gonna make sure that this lemon gets stretched
as far as it can. You're gonna have lemon juice,
you're gonna have Lemonheads, you're gonna have lemonade,
I'm gonna pull a Bubba Gump on this lemon right now.
- What's your plan, Brother? - I'm gonna do salmon
and a really nice salad.
- Nice. - Chef, what are you making?
- I'm gonna do a pork tenderloin.
I decide to do a lemon pan sauce,
grilled pork tenderloin, roasted lemon
to have Tom squeeze the charred lemon over the whole plate.
And then just dress it with arugula.
Tom said "lemons," here's lemon.
♪♪♪
- I want redemption from the first round
of "Last Chance Kitchen." I'm gonna use this challenge
to prove to Tom that I can do the most with one lemon.
I'm gonna cure it, I'm gonna grate it,
I'm gonna suprême the meat, I'm gonna use the juice
in a couple of different ways.
Brother, man, what are you into?
- I'm making a lemon fluid gel for more flavor.
- What else is going with your fluid gel?
- I'm gonna do a salmon tartare. - Lovely.
Brother is also doing a raw salmon dish.
I'm feeling up for the challenge.
I'm actually very confident in--in this dish
where I wasn't confident in the first round.
I'm willing to go head-to-head with Brother on some raw salmon.
What are you working on? - I'm gonna do some grilled veg
and hopefully incorporate lemon a whole bunch of ways.
I definitely just need to pick something and go with it.
I'm essentially grabbing all things that are green.
Some asparagus, some peas, some brussels sprouts.
I want to stand out against some veterans.
- Do you guys know how much of a beast Natalie is?
I mean, she's a stud. - Beast.
- Beast.
- I'm getting in their head for you, Natalie.
- Good. Thank you. - Yes.
- Appreciate that. - [ laughs ]
♪♪♪
- This melon is so ripe. - Thank you, Kentucky.
I don't have to do nothin'. All I'm gonna do
is melon-ball this-- I mean, I'm ballin'. Ballin'!
So, the melon's also gonna add a refreshing taste to this dish.
The salmon's fatty, the lemon is high in acid.
I need some sweetness, and I need some juice
to kinda round all of that out. [ utensil clatters ]
♪♪♪
- Natalie. - Chef.
- How you doing? - Hanging in there.
- Yeah. Oh, look at this. Suprêmes, good move.
- Suprêmes. - So, what are you making?
- I'm just gonna do a little-- a little veg side dish.
The old asparagus, brussels sprouts, and peas.
- So why'd you go in this direction?
- I just wanted to make sure that I didn't hide any lemon
since there's only one.
Doing a side dish for Tom is definitely kinda ballsy.
I am a little worried that I don't have a protein,
but the challenge is to present something that's lemon-forward.
- Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim. - Hi, Chef.
- What do we got here? - I'm gonna do a little bit
of a salmon, apple, jalapeño, lemon salad.
I've got some lemons doing a quick preserve over there.
- Awesome. - And I've got some
burnt pith here. The pith is the layer
underneath the zest, and it's the layer that is,
by far, the most bitter.
And in my mind, I think that burning the pith
will decrease the bitterness and make it usable.
I've never done this technique before,
but I'm definitely gonna give it a shot and see how it goes.
- That could be, like, your stage name, "Burnt Pith."
- "Burnt Pith." - "That's me--Burnt Pith."
- [ laughs ]
- Brother. - Yeah, Chef?
- You got salmon, too, huh? - Yes, sir.
- All right. Salmon, head-to-head. What else?
- Uh, I'm making a yuzu vinaigrette right now.
I'm gonna do the lemon gel,
uh, with a marinated lemon melon,
some gooseberry, some carrots.
- You have time to get lemon gel done?
- And the tartare. It's already in the blast chiller.
- That blast chiller helps, huh?
- I'm not a rookie. - [ laughs ] "I'm not a rookie."
- All right. - Hey, Carrie.
- Hey, Chef. - How you doing?
- Pretty well, thanks. - Grillin' up some lemons?
- Yep. - And grillin' lamb?
Is that lamb right there? - It's a pork tenderloin.
- Pork tenderloin. Okay. - Yeah.
I'm gonna go super simple. I'm gonna pretty classic
beurre blanc. - Okay.
- With the other half of the lemon. In--you know, when
you grill lemons, it's like one of the best flavors for me.
- Yeah, it's great, yeah. - I love it.
- I do, too. - So I'm just gonna watch this--
- You feeling good after your first win?
- That was pretty awesome. - It was good. Biscuit was good.
Gotta say. - Thank you. My mother
will be so proud, so... - It was good.
- Well, thank you, Chef.
- 16 minutes, Chefs. 16 minutes.
♪♪♪
What do you think? - Too soon to tell.
- Too soon to tell? - I found a really unique way
to stretch this lemon into this dish.
The lemon zest is actually worked into the tartare.
So it's getting that bright lemon oil,
actually seasoning the fish.
- Do you think you would be better at elimination challenges
or Quickfires? Or like "Last Chance Kitchen"--
- It's a good question. I don't--I don't know.
♪♪♪
- I would never do it now. - Of course.
- I'm getting too old for this. - You're too mature.
- This is--no, no, this is a young person's--
this is a young person's game.
- Oh, a line for the glass chiller.
- Yeah. - Crunch time.
Five minutes left, five minutes left.
♪♪♪
- To be out this early was obviously frustrating
and embarrassing and--and disappointing.
So the opportunity to have a second chance,
I don't want to waste that. - One minute.
- One minute.
♪♪♪
- Five, four, three, two, one, time's up.
[ claps ]
♪♪♪
- Natalie. - Chef.
- So, what do we have?
- Side of veg with some grilled asparagus,
brussels sprouts and peas, it's in a little burnt miso,
fermented black bean, lemon sauce.
- And so, lemon--you have suprêmes in here.
- So, I have suprêmes--I used the juice, I used the zest.
- Great, thanks.
♪♪♪
Jim, tell me what you made.
- A little piece of raw salmon that has been finished
with, uh, the quick preserved lemon,
a little bit of charred asparagus,
toasted pecan, celery leaf, brussels sprout, and apple.
I don't know if you got that awesome little salty bite.
It's actually this piece right here.
That's the preserved lemon-- the preserved lemon.
- Hmm. Good. Thanks. - Thank you, Chef.
♪♪♪
- Brother. - Chef.
- What have we got here?
- I wanted to break down the lemon.
The juice was turned into a gel,
the zest worked into the actual flesh of the salmon tartare,
used a little bit more of the peel to work
into the vinaigrette with some yuzu.
The melon adds a nice sweetness to it.
- Good. Thanks. - Thank you.
♪♪♪
- Hi, Carrie. - Hi, Chef.
Today, I have a grilled pork tenderloin.
- Mm-hmm. - With a, uh, grilled lemon,
a lemon beurre, and a lemon and olive oil dressed arugula.
♪♪♪
- Nice. [ chuckles ]
♪♪♪
- Sh--. He ate the garnish.
He wasn't supposed to eat the garnish.
He was supposed to juice the garnish.
[ laughs ]
- I'm cringing for her because she didn't expect that.
She just wanted the juice on the plate.
But he saw it on the plate and said,
"I'm eatin' this thing."
- All right, thank you. - You're welcome.
♪♪♪
- Well, Chefs, we've got four really nice dishes.
Lemon, what I love about it is, it gets just sort of,
a little further back on the tongue.
But you really need to actually have it combined
with a few other flavors as well.
It definitely needs salt, so you get it up on the front.
Um, but it also helps to get fat in that dish
so comes all around your mouth.
And I think all of you did that. I liked listening to how
you were trying to work the lemon in,
how to use all parts of it.
So I think you all embraced the--the challenge.
I did have one favorite.
♪♪♪
Carrie's.
That grilled lemon was just a powerhouse.
- Wow, thank you. - It--you get a bite of it,
and because it's grilled, it's smoky, it's rich,
it actually becomes a real ingredient in the dish
as opposed to an accent, so, great way to go.
And the rest of the dish was just so simple--
grilled lemon, grilled pork, a little bit of arugula,
and some fat--can't go wrong. That's two in a row, now.
- Whoo!
Win number two! Thank you, Tom, for eating the whole lemon.
I'm going to put that on my menu.
- The dish I like second-- I like the way the lemon--
especially the zest which incorporated--
there was a lot of different textures to the dish,
it was lemon-forward without being too acidic...
Brother's. - Thank you.
- I love the way you got the zest into the fish.
I like the way you had the salmon. Nice job.
- I take second. I'm okay with second again.
Carrie wins--shocker. She's--she's MacGyver.
I knew she was a threat.
I've really, really gotta step my game up against her.
♪♪♪
- I like both dishes. Natalie, I-I think your dish
was really fresh, that grilled flavor, that smokiness works
with the acid. Jim, I love the texture of the salad a lot.
You had the salmon there, which kind of gave it that fat foil.
You really haven't made this decision easy.
I gotta say, the one dish that I liked the least,
I think there was a missed opportunity
in working with that lemon.
And my least favorite of the two...
♪♪♪
Jim.
I think the missed opportunity was getting that zest
on the fish so that flavor kinda got into that fish.
Sorry, Jim. - It's all right.
- Gotta go. Yeah. Good seeing you again.
- It's good--great to see you, Chef, thank you.
- Yeah, yeah.
- This go-round of "Last Chance Kitchen,"
I learned that, as a chef, I still love to compete.
But it hurts. I came here to win.
I can still envision Padma saying, "Jim, you are Top Chef."
But today wasn't my day.
- Chefs, we're just getting warmed up.
My advice? Keep your eye on the prize.
See you next week.
- Thanks, Chef. - Thank you.
- Whoo-hoo!
- I didn't place first or second,
but I placed third, and I took out a veteran,
so I feel good.
- Awesome lemonade. - Yeah.