In this final preliminary round of the Teen Tournament, Sequoia, Antonio, Morgan and Jake are battling for a place in the finale, where they'll have a chance to win $25,000 in prize money, a coveted culinary school scholarship worth $40,000 and the title of champion.
Appetizer Basket
The dishes must include salsa verde, chicken breast, bundle lunch kits and blue-corn tortilla chips.
Crushing the Competition
Sequoia decides to "go Mexican or go home," since the basket ingredients lend themselves to that cuisine. She decides not to use anything but the crackers from the lunch kits, crushing them with the tortilla chips to use as a crumble in her tacos. But when it comes to cooking the chicken, things look a little raw.
Cool, Calm and Collected
"I'm gonna show them who's boss," says Jake, confident that his deconstructed nachos will blow away the judges. He marinates the chicken in Sriracha, soy and Worcestershire sauces, and moves on to pulverizing the tortilla chips. Alex Guarnaschelli is surprised by how low-key he is in comparison to the others.
Determined Against All Odds
Unlike her competitors, Morgan decides not to cook Mexican, going in the exact opposite direction by making ravioli. She starts grinding the chicken for the filling. Even though she's never made ravioli before, Morgan insists on it, even after her first batch falls on the floor. "Quitting is not an option," she says.
Holy Mole, the Nerves Take Over
With all that's on the line, the competition is "incredibly nerve-wracking" for Antonio. He uses turmeric, the chocolate pudding from the lunch kit and the salsa verde to marinate his chicken for a take on mole. But it ends up undercooked, and he doesn't sauce all the plates. "This is the worst thing I've ever seen," he says.
Raw Talent, Undercooked Potential
Antonio and Jake both serve undercooked chicken. Chris tells Jake, "It should have never made it onto my plate." Morgan and Sequoia are the only two chefs whose chicken passes muster, though Sequoia's ended up dry. Antonio's chicken is just too raw for Alex Stupak to eat, and Antonio is chopped.
Entree Basket
The dishes must include couscous, buffalo tenderloin, squeezable blueberry yogurt and rainbow chard.
Focusing His Attention
Jake portions his buffalo tenderloin into steaks, wanting to cook it first so it doesn't end up undercooked, but that might not be a wise decision. "I'm gonna go clean, slick and modern," he says of his direction. He finds it tough keeping himself from getting distracted, especially once Morgan cuts herself.
When the Going Gets Tough
Growing up around strong women, Morgan knows what it means to be tough. After nearly losing her cool after cutting herself, Morgan bounces back, knowing she has to show Alex, whom she considers "a very empowered woman," that she can do it. She gets cooking her tenderloin and chard right away.
A Steak of Hope
Sequoia has a lot of components going on at once. Time, however, just isn't on her side. Her couscous ends up overcooking, and there isn't enough time for her red wine sauce to properly reduce, so she ends up plating without it. "I'm really relying on perfectly cooked meat at this point," she says.
From Undercooked to Overcooked
Chris thinks Morgan's couscous and chard are perfect. Sequoia's couscous, on the other hand, turned out "a completely congealed puck," says Alex S., but her buffalo was cooked and seasoned perfectly, according to Chris. Jake's issue was cutting his steaks too thin, and he's chopped for overcooking them.
Dessert Basket
The dishes must include chocolate Swiss roll, blackberries, popcorn balls and gummy fish.
Striving for Unrivaled Perfection
Morgan is adamant about making a successful ice cream that incorporates many of the basket ingredients: the Swiss roll, blackberries and gummy fish. "When people make ice cream on Chopped, it has to be perfect," she says. She gets started on a brittle, but upon seeing what Sequoia is making, switches gears.
Brittle Battle
Sequoia melts down the Swiss roll with chocolate and cream, and spreads it onto the anti-griddle, which she's using for the first time. She starts to make a brittle with the popcorn, but realizes she's doing it all wrong. "There's no way I can lose to a middle-schooler," she says about Morgan, and hustles to reconceptualize her dish.
Fantastic Frozen Feats
Alex G. tells Sequoia that "to melt down a cake, freeze it and then put it on a plate is very creative." But Alex S. feels there's no main component. When it comes to Morgan's dessert, Alex G. says it's "tremendously creative" for her to have melted the gummy fish into the ice cream, but Chris finds her popcorn component incompatible. Morgan is chopped, the judges finding Sequoia's dishes better overall.
And the Round 4 Winner Is ...
Sequoia secures the fourth spot in the grand finale, where she'll compete with the winners of the three other rounds for the title of champion, $25,000 in prize money and a $40,000 culinary school scholarship. "It means more than you know," Sequoia tells the judges. "[It's] an opportunity at my future."
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