Eliza, Allison, Jarren and Alexina must get through three rounds of cooking if they want to gain a spot in the Teen Tournament finale for a chance at winning $25,000. The appetizer basket includes vegan crispy chicken legs, golden beets, a tortilla chip lunch kit and pea leaves.
Running on High
"What are vegan crispy chicken legs?" asks Allison, surprised by the ingredient. She decides to make a spicy salad and races from the kitchen to the pantry to grab arugula. Realizing her adrenaline is making her move faster than usual, she says of her demeanor: "I look like this insane lady."
Making Things Disappear
"I was vegetarian for, like, three months," reveals Eliza, but she adds, "I've eaten enough [vegan chicken] to know that it's not good." She decides on a curry direction to impart flavor to the faux meat and also uses the "gross salsa from the lunch kit," deciding to not use the tortilla chips.
Pesto Problems
"I've never made a pesto in my life, says Jarren, pureeing the pea shoots and beets, "but now's the time to be innovative." He decides to toast the tortilla chips and pine nuts, but after a pantry run, he sees it's burned. He realizes he has no more tortilla chips, and his dish doesn't contain any of the lunch kit.
"You didn't give me any beets," judge Alex Guarnaschelli tells Alexina. Alex also points out that the chicken "feels like it fell to the wayside." Upon tasting Jarren's dish, Chris Santos calls it "very earthy in a good way," but the chicken is dry, and the tortilla chips are missing. Jarren is chopped for his mishandling of the meat.
Flavor Flurry
"I haven't cooked with venison before," says Alexina of the basket ingredient, deciding to cut it up. "Once I see the okra I instantly know to make bamia," she says, deciding on the Greek dish she's familiar with. She runs to the pantry for a number of spices, which she generously sprinkles over the venison.
Technique Miscues
"I'm kind of intimidated by her," says Allison of Eliza, but she takes a cue from her competitor and uses a grill pan for the venison. Allison boils the butternut squash from the basket in pieces, but she leaves the skin on when mashing it. She ends up pickling the okra from the basket, but Alex finds it very slimy.
Dishing Up Defeat
Considering the fruity cereal macarons in the basket, Eliza says, "I don't want to use them; I don't want to be near them." But she adds a bit of the filling to the chutney she's making to top her venison tostada. Unsatisfied that her fried tortillas turned out so oily, she says: "It's awful. I hate it."
High and Low Expectations
The judges find Allison's venison too rare, and Chris can't get over the squash skin. "I think there's some execution issues," Scott tells Eliza after she reveals she's not "proud" of her dish. "Don't beat yourself up," Scott tells her. "I think that looks are a little bit deceiving," Alex says, revealing to Alexina how surprised she was by the taste of the dish compared with its appearance.
Sweetness Overload
Allison and Alexina make it to the dessert round, where they must cook with walnuts in honey, a delivery box of assorted cookies, plums and French toast cereal. "Here we have a basket with a lot of sweetness in it," Ted Allen says of the challenge ahead for the girls.
Making Cookies Out of Cookies
"I'm really excited to cook dessert," says Alexina, running on a high from the earlier round. She pulses the cereal and adds it to a snickerdoodle batter along with crumbled chocolate chip cookies. "You've managed to put the brakes on the sweetness," says Scott to Alexina of her dish.
When in Doubt, Rename
Allison's plans for a cheesecake go up in smoke as her cereal crumb crusts fall apart. So she ends up calling her cheesecake "deconstructed," as she has no time to fix things. "It eats like a parfait," says Chris, but the judges feel her dessert could have made better use of the cookies.
Flavor Wins the Day
Allison is chopped for issues with her appetizer and entree. Alexina is announced the winner and earns the third spot in the Teen Tournament finale, for a chance to win $25,000. "There were some technical flaws," Scott tells Alexina, "but at the end of the day, more than anybody else, you brought flavor."
More Teen Tournament
Visit the Teen Tournament page to find out more on the competition, browse photo galleries and watch video highlights. Plus, hear from the teen winners.
