A pancake breakfast — a seemingly simple enough dish for four professional chefs to make — is on the docket in Round 1 of the second heat of the tournament, but even Superstars aren't immune to sabotages. Chef Nadia paid a whopping $5,000 to saddle Chefs Justin, Brian and Marcel with inferior mixing and cooking vessels: a Bundt pan, a colander and a funnel, respectively.
High Stakes
For Chef Nadia, making pancakes sans dairy is enough of a challenge — she forgot to pick up milk and eggs from the pantry — but it soon gets worse, as she must prep atop a super-high worktable. "This would be fine for me, but then I'm taller than you," Alton jokes with Chef Nadia, who admits the table is "horrible."
Salesman Warner
Although he's run into trouble with cooking his pancakes in the Bundt pan, Chef Justin's proud to admit, "I know how to sell stuff," so he doesn't hesitate to pitch his dish as "pancakes disguised as eggs" to judge Jet. "I really like your pitch," Jet tells him with a smile, adding, "The pancake itself has nice flavor."
Challenge, Overcome
"I'm putting the funnel directly on the burner as, like, a saute pan. Totally works," Chef Marcel says optimistically of his challenge. He manages to give Jet a wow-worthy plate, and the judge commends him, "My only issue here is I wish I had a few more pancakes."
Down by Dryness
Despite Chef Brian's best attempts to infuse moisture into his buckwheat pancake batter — all while working in a colander — his dish turns out "really, really dry," according to Jet. Ultimately, Chef Brian's offering isn't as strong as his rivals' and he's forced to say goodbye.
Popping Out Shrimp
Come Round 2, the name of the game is popcorn shrimp, and while Chef Nadia succeeds in shopping for the key ingredients, she's the victim of the first sabotage, which forces her to cook shrimp in a tabletop popcorn machine. "The biggest problem is that little arm makes it impossible to get the shrimp out," Chef Nadia explains of the challenge.
Newfangled Hand Tools
"I have no idea how I'm going to cook like this," Chef Marcel admits of the utensil gloves he's sporting, as those forks, spoons and knives are the only tools he's allowed. Thanks to the contraption, he's not able to clean the stems off of his cilantro in his salsa, which disappoints Jet: "Cilantro leaves are good, but I just don't understand having stems on your cilantro."
"Shrimp-Coated Shrimp"
Chef Justin lets shrimp do double duty in his dish by pulverizing the dried variety and using the powder to coat the fresh seafood. "I like your tempura coating on it, but the batter needs to be crispier," Jet tells him.
Popcorn Flop
"I also wish there was more breading on the shrimp — and that I didn't have to cook them in a popcorn machine," Chef Nadia reflects after hearing Jet's critique of her offering. "It seems more like blackened shrimp than popcorn shrimp," he tells her before ultimately sending her home.
Similar Dos
In the third and final test of the day, Chefs Justin and Marcel must make oatmeal cookies. "Now it's Battle Hair," Chef Justin jokes.
Caught Cookie-Handed
Although Chef Justin must spend Round 3 with his dominant hand stuck in a cookie jar, he doesn't let the sabotage slow him down. "All of my measuring is done. I can do this one-handed," he explains. But something's wrong with his cookie dough because the bites fall flat while cooking. "I'm worried that the dough wasn't chilled enough when it went in the oven," Alton observes.
Low-Heat Baking
For Chef Marcel, it's a trip down the toy aisle as he's forced to bake his cookies in what Alton deems "a kiddie oven" that is "powered by a 100-watt light bulb." He resorts to fashioning tiny cookies to account for the limited space, but he worries, "They're just not cooking in there."
The Second Victor
"What you've got going here is a delicious oatmeal flavor," Jet tells Chef Justin, but ultimately that's not enough to save him from elimination. Chef Marcel has presented Jet with "overall a very fun dish," according to the judge, and he has earned $7,300 for his charity, plus a spot in the finale battle.
