"Food plus fire is a simple equation that's been around since caveman times, but cavemen didn't have the kind of rules that we have," host Ted Allen informs competitors Matty Melehes, Mary Brent "MB" Galyean, Stan Hays and Candy Sue Weaver. In the appetizer round they face cooking with hamburger patties, salsa con queso, zucchini and hot dogs.
Going from Inspired to Embarrassed
"I feel absolutely inspired," says Candy Sue. "I'm going to throw it all in a tortilla and roll it up," she says, ribboning the zucchini to saute it with onion and jalapeno. But her upbeat attitude soon turns to worry as she runs out of time to plate her taco properly. "I would never give anybody this, much less the three chefs," she says of her plates.
Burning Consequences
"I'm making a Jucy Lucy," says Stan, stuffing each hamburger patty with some queso and a chunk of hot dog. "That is what we're talking about," judge Scott Conant exclaims, excited to see what Stan is making. But Stan, distracted by all he's got going on, ends up burning his buns, then cuts himself slicing new ones.
Don't Talk the Talk If You Can't Walk the Walk
"Anyone can take a burger patty and put it on a bun with a little bit of cheese," Matty says looking over at Stan's station. "I'm better than that. I'm more creative." But he's grilling up the patties and the hot dogs as they are. He does make pickled zucchini and a roasted eggplant and queso condiment for serving.
When Crazy Good Leads to Crazy Bad
"My personality is crazy, so that's exactly what my food is," says MB, deciding to make bacon granola to stuff the hot dogs, and to crumble burgers into the queso. Unfortunately the hot dogs burn, but she plates them anyway. "This is not going to be a dish I might brag about," she says, just happy she's plated all four items.
A Lesson Learned in Time Management
"It's a pretty haphazard plate that I received," guest judge Tim Love tells Candy Sue of her backyard taco. "That's just a burnt hot dog," Scott tells MB, and Alex Guarnaschelli doesn't see how the "cheesy meat" works. "The clock and the time got the best of you," Alex tells Candy Sue after the competitor is chopped. "I deserved it and I earned it," Candy Sue responds.
Smoking the Competition — Almost
"As a barbecue pitmaster, I've got to use the smoker," says Stan, seizing the opportunity to do so with the rack of elk from the basket. With the remaining items, the deviled eggs, Worcestershire sauce and collard greens, he turns out a salad. He also decides "to try something different," making a peanut sauce for the elk, but Scott calls it a "big mistake."
Too Fruit Forward
"What's not in my marinade?" MB jokes as she lists the ingredients — including orange juice — she's using on her elk, which she's wrapped in foil on the charcoal grill. She also has blueberries in her jus and raspberries in her salad dressing. "It's just the wrong note to hit," Alex comments on MB's choices, but Alex ends up loving the jus.
Raring to be Different
"I want to create something that's thoughtful and thought-provoking," says Matty, making braised collards, deviled egg hollandaise and mesquite-seared elk. But he's unable to cook the meat through. "I'm feeling very defeated," he says. "I can't eat that," Scott says, drawing attention to the raw elk.
Grilled Dessert Showdown
MB and Stan make it to the dessert round, where they must use the basket ingredients acorn squash, chocolate cupcakes, bananas and ras el hanout. "I think that this is a very difficult basket," Alex comments. "I don't grill a lot of desserts," says Stan. "It's sort of new territory for me."
The Definition of Dessert
"They often say you live and die by a souffle," says MB, deciding to make a grilled version of the dessert. "We'll just see which one I do today." She realizes she can use the cupcakes in her batter and blends them. "I've never seen this before," Scott says, surprised. Alex reveals MB actually made a clafoutis.
Souped-Up Sundae
Inspired by the ingredients, Stan makes a "backyard sundae" with grilled bananas, squash, caramel, and Greek yogurt mixed with cupcake frosting and ras el hanout. "My wife's the one that cooks the dessert," Stan says, admitting his weakness to the judges. "You might want to keep your wife cooking the desserts," Tim responds.
It All Comes Down to One Dish
"Nothing was speaking to anything else," Scott says, offering his opinion on MB's entree to his fellow judges. "Everything had its own kind of language." Alex disagrees, "I liked MB's elk better." Tim retorts, "I highly disagree with that." After intense back-and-forth deliberation, the judges decide to chop MB.
Round 2 Champion
Stan earns the second spot in the Grill Masters grand finale, for a chance to win the $50,000 cash prize. "I am absolutely on cloud nine," Stan says. "Winning this part of the tournament and moving onto the finale, there's a big sense of pride."
More Grill Masters
Browse photos of the competition, read interviews with the winners of each round and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the set.
