The Great American Recipe

Alejandra: Tonight, on "The Great American Recipe..." You could say the stakes will be rising.

That's right.

It's baking week.

Rex: Baking is kind of big in the Philippines, but I'm not a baker.

Man.

Coby: I baked a bread once in my life, and it did not come out very well.

Suwanee: Leaving my babies in a box of heat.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

They're beautiful!

Waigal: Golden brown and beautiful, just like me.

Tim: Can't wait to dig in right now.

I don't know which one to start with.

Welcome back to "The Great American Recipe."

All right, cooks, let's make this one for the books.

Rex: I am so happy I didn't get eliminated.

Thank you, Brie.

Thank you, Carlos.

Rex: This is a different me coming in this week.

I need to own the kitchen.

Small details matter a lot in this competition.

So, you ready for another day of wow, Coby?

Ready or not, it's here.

I was top twice last week.

Coby, that was one of the best jambalayas I've ever had.

[Applause] Coby.

Ooh, yes!

Francis: Your seafood gumbo had incredible depth of flavor.

I'm feeling really excited.

-Good morning.

-Hi, everyone.

-Good luck today, bud.

-You got it.

Right.

Welcome back to "The Great American Recipe."

As always, please join me in saying hello to our judges-- Tim Hollingsworth... -Good morning, everyone.

-Francis Lam... -Hey, everyone.

-And Tiffany Derry.

-Good morning, y'all.

Good morning.

Last week, you made beautiful dishes to be shared during life's important moments.

This week, you could say the stakes will be rising.

Alejandra: That's right.

It's baking week.

Tim: Who doesn't love baking week?

Come on, guys.

[Laughter] For this first round, you'll have 75 minutes to create your favorite dish featuring bread.

OK. Francis: And as always, your dishes will be evaluated on taste, execution, presentation, and how well you deliver on the bread theme.

Alejandra: Remember, the judges are tracking each of your dishes and their overall success as well as your growth in the competition in order to determine which three home cooks will make it to the finale.

OK, your 75 minutes starts... now!

Rock and roll!

Make sure I have my spices.

Alejandra: For this challenge, we gave them 75 minutes to prepare a dish featuring bread.

Francis: I mean, bread being, in a lot of cultures, a staple food.

If you dig into the history of any particular bread recipe, you will almost always find something about the culture of that place.

Tim: I agree, and they don't have a lot of time.

So, strategy on this one is the key.

Francis: Yeah, you don't have to make a big, beautiful loaf of bread.

You can make biscuits, cornbread in a flash.

Tiffany: Yeah, and hopefully they're thinking like that.

You know what I mean?

Because last week, we sent home Carlos and Brie.

That was a tough one.

Now they see how real it is and how every dish matters.

-A lot of pressure today.

-Yep.

I am not trying to be a hot mess, but somehow I always find myself being one.

In week two, I really worked it in the kitchen, and I felt like I stood out the way I should have.

Waigal.

[Applause] Tim: Your kadoo borani, I think it might be on a few of our Thanksgiving day tables, just like it is yours.

Wow.

Thank you.

I just want to keep the momentum going, but at the same time, I'm not really good at making dough.

This whole week seems very challenging.

It's a little sticky.

So, I'm just gonna put some flour in there to minimize that.

Today, I am making bolani kachalu, a traditional Afghan flatbread stuffed with turmeric potato filling.

Some red pepper flakes.

In Afghanistan, bolani is a very popular street food, and in my recent visits, I was able to experience this in my mom's homeland, and it was the best moment of my life.

Let's see how that works out.

Honestly, I have a newfound appreciation for my mom, who would make 30 bolanis in one sitting.

I'm gonna let them rest as dough balls, get my filling together, and then we can assemble and grill.

Anika: Here we go.

There it is.

I think it's fine.

Anyone have a sifter?

I'll use that.

Never mind.

For the bread challenge, I'm making cornbread, collard greens gratinee, and spicy pot liquor, which is the liquid from the braising of the greens.

You know, I grew up with the kind of cornbread that came out of a box, and then about 30 years ago, as an adult, I found out that there were other interpretations.

I'm a little uncomfortable about this week's challenge because I don't consider myself a baker, and that puts me out of my comfort zone.

A cornbread pan.

This was my grandmother's.

I am feeling nervous.

I made it past the first round of eliminations.

But I'm absolutely surprised my duck breast didn't send me on my way.

You know, I have a piece here that's, like, beautiful skin.

Another one could have been rendered a little bit more.

Fran: Well, I don't have a lot of heirloom recipes in my family, partly because my grandmother was a horrid cook, bless her heart, but she had an expansive heart, and she was great at entertaining.

Oh, I'm officially in the dark.

My cornbread is cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and I also put butter in the batter, enough that it gives it moisture but not too much so that it's, like...nasty.

You are not allowed to do that.

No.

Fran, how are you holding up over there?

I have to rough-talk my bacon fat into not burning.

Sometimes you've got to do that.

This recalcitrant bacon fat.

OK, Coby, coming in hot.

How's it looking?

You don't have to stop what you're doing.

I'm making a cornbread.

What you making?

Funny thing about that, I'm making a cornbread.

But yours has interesting stuff in it.

What kind of cornbread are you making?

I'm making classic, regular old-fashioned cornbread, but I'm serving pot liquor with it.

I'd gladly trade you some cornbread for that.

OK. Coby: Today I'm making crawfish cornbread with sticky chicken.

In Louisiana, we eat rice and gravy every day, and we have cornbread with it every single time.

We have corn, green onions, pepperjack cheese, cornmeal, and the most important part of the dish is the crawfish.

I've got to get this mixed up real good.

Got to add that butter at the bottom.

Captain Coby, what are we doing today?

I baked a bread once in my life.

-Once?

-Once.

And it did not come out very well.

So, I've made cornbread a hundred times.

So, we kind of go with what you know on this one.

So, is there really a lot of cornbread in this?

This is more stuff than bread.

There is a lot of cornbread in it.

Is it sliceable?

You can eat it, like, in slices?

-Yes.

-OK.

This is kind of a special dish to me.

Honestly, it was taught to me by my godfather.

My godfather was also a fireman.

In Louisiana, or in the French world, your godfather is called your "parent."

Now his son is my fireman.

So, I'm his captain.

So, that has come full-circle.

That's great.

I love that.

Let me get this in the oven.

Yeah, but you put a lot of flavor in your food, and I can tell you put a lot of heart into it, too.

You have to cook with love, because if you don't cook with love, it doesn't come out in your food.

I love that.

OK, well, thank you.

I'll leave you to it, brother.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Hot potato.

Hot potato.

How's everyone feeling?

-All right.

-Getting close.

Uh-oh.

Get out of there.

For this challenge, I am making torta de argao with sikwate dip and beverage.

Torta de argao is a baked good in the Philippines.

You can only get it during Fiesta.

It's a celebration to honor the patron saint of that town or city.

With baking, it's so hard because you need to be precise.

Baking is kind of big in the Philippines, but I'm not a baker.

I don't like to be precise in whatever I do.

So, this is our batter.

We're almost done.

When they're baked, you should have the top of your torta, like, blossom.

So, it should have a crack.

I'm gonna add a little bit of sugar since I can't remember.

I think I did add sugar, but OK.

I'm making luchi with chana dal, which is yellow split peas cooked lentil-style, and it's perfect for scooping up with the luchis, which is unleavened bread, very small, flaky, and puffy when deep-fried.

First, you knead the dough for 10 minutes.

After that, you let it rest for about 30 minutes traditionally.

So many things, like minute details, that has to be right for the luchis, those very simple luchis, to be right.

Traditionally in Bangladesh, we didn't cook in ovens.

We didn't have ovens.

So, all our breads, they are unleavened breads that we cook on the stovetop.

There were times that I'd wake up early on the weekends, and, you know, those were special moments because, while everyone else was sleeping in, my mom was up, and then I'd get to help her make the luchis.

This, in the meantime, has been kneading.

My mom was, like, a very lively person.

I miss my mom a lot.

I'm just gonna stick my dough in here.

That dough needs to rise for 15 minutes.

I'm, like, gonna be running out of time.

While the dough is resting, then I'm gonna start making my chana dal, because I'm gonna cook it in a pressure cooker so it has time to soften in the short amount of time we have.

Sixty minutes, guys.

Sixty minutes left.

Oh, my god.

Um...all right.

Waigal: This is crazy.

This is white pepper.

For this round, I'm making a quick bread with Thai basil pesto.

It's got a little heat in there, a little bit of Thai influence there.

My pesto sauce has Thai basil, spinach, parmesan cheese, white pepper, salt, pine nuts, olive oil, and a little bit of lime juice.

And I'm adding a little bit of the Thai basil pesto into the dough mix.

Let's do this.

Doughy.

Come on.

We didn't bake growing up in Thailand.

We didn't have an oven.

The whole country is hot and humid.

So, the whole country is an oven in itself.

Come on, dough.

We're gonna work.

This recipe is by my Aunt Sue.

Aunt Sue is my American mom's youngest sister.

My American family, they're all great bakers.

I need to roll them into small dinner rolls, spread them with pesto sauce, fill them with cheese, and then roll everything into buns and bake them.

Here we go, bread.

Please cooperate and be good babies.

Whew.

It's in the oven.

Thirty minutes.

Oh, my god, I thought I had stepped into a space-time continuum.

Ah, that's what I-- Oh, that looks good.

Oh, yummy.

OK. Time to check on the cooked collards.

Some people like them lightly sauteed, and then some people like them till they're cooked, you know, into their next life.

I like them sort of in between.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

The braising liquid is pan broth, white wine, cola, and it's ham bits.

When all of this cooks down, we're gonna have what we call pot liquor.

OK. And that's where the magic happens.

This is one of those days where I am not going to rough-talk my roux.

I need it to play pretty with me.

The sauce that holds all of this together is the bechamel.

It's flour and butter and then milk, broth, and sherry.

Look at that.

Oh, yum.

And then I'm gonna put it in a casserole with the buttered bread crumbs and parmesan, and then I'm gonna stick it in the oven and let it get bubbly and brown on top.

Yeah, that's right.

OK. Moment of truth.

I'm cutting into my cornbread, and I'm loving the texture.

I think that's done.

Oh, heck, yeah.

Coby: I'm worried about this cornbread.

Can't see it.

I don't like it.

I got my cornbread in the oven.

I think we're good.

They're rising.

Now it's time to start on that sticky chicken.

I want to get this sausage seared up in there pretty good.

Sticky chicken is a chicken in a gravy, we call it in Louisiana.

And I want to start this skin side down.

The ingredients are whole chicken thighs, mustard and Cajun seasoning, bell pepper and onion.

Get this rice going and let that cook down.

Alejandra: Well, it looks like we've got a battle of the cornbread between our southern cooks, Coby and Fran.

Francis: I would 100% make cornbread in this challenge.

Yeah.

I need to get this cornbread out of here.

Francis: It's so fast to put together, but, as Coby is doing, you can also load it up, because his cornbread is almost like a corn quiche.

Ha ha!

Tiffany: We would grow up having something like this often.

You would switch it out with whatever the protein is.

It almost becomes, like, cornbread dressing.

It would never be cornbread by itself.

So, I feel like he's giving us the way that he cooks.

I'm adding butter to the top because I think it's good like this.

Tiffany: But Fran is doing a very traditional style of cornbread, right?

You know, it's cast-iron cooked.

I feel like, yes, they are two cornbreads, but they're very, very different in style.

So, it's kind of hard to compare the two as to cornbread.

I agree.

Oh, my god.

This is amazing.

20 minutes left!

Thank you!

Going up.

I want to be hands-on with my...like, my cooking.

This is like leaving my babies in a box of heat.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

Hello, Anika.

Oh, hi!

How are you?

How are you doing?

I'm doing well.

What are we making today?

So, I'm making luchi with chana dal.

Tell me all about it.

So, luchi is something we have more, like, during brunch.

Like, on the weekends, you wake up late, and, you know, your mom is frying fresh luchis on the stove.

Something sweet or something savory you have it with?

So, we have it with traditionally savory, yes.

I'm gonna do one luchi.

OK.

The rolling pin has, like, these little grooves inside of it, too, I'm noticing.

Yeah.

So, this rolling pin is from Bangladesh.

We use traditional, like, wooden rolling pins, and they do have grooves, and personally I find it helps hold it in place with the edges.

You know, it's, like, more friction.

Yeah.

You know, one thing in the restaurant when we're frying, one of the biggest things that I always tell people is not to overcrowd the pan.

You're not gonna fry many pieces of dough because that's gonna drop the temperature, right?

I'm just gonna do one at a time.

One at a time?

I like that, yeah.

See?

It's puffing up, puffing up.

Are you gonna be flipping it as well?

Yeah, I'll flip it.

So, now...

But what ideally-- Oh, that's really fast.

Yeah, it's really fast because you don't want it to get crispy and hard.

OK. We're coming down to the wire.

So, I'm excited to try your dish.

Thank you so much.

Really appreciate you coming by.

-For sure.

-All right.

So, this cacao, this here, I got this from the Philippines when we were home.

I'm gonna use six of the cacao disks.

Rex, what do you have in the pot?

It's a hot chocolate Filippino drink.

And I'm using my grandma's pot.

Normally she uses this for cooking rice.

Oh, I love that.

And then we will whisk this with this batirol and hopefully serve it to you with a frothy top.

-Nice!

-I love that.

Thank you.

I'm going old-school today.

My grandma and grandpa lived in the house adjacent to us, and they inspired me.

So, I'm putting them on my shoulder.

It would mean a lot to win with this recipe.

This will make my family proud, first and foremost, and my country proud.

This looks very Mexican, and he's from the Philippines.

But there's a huge amount of crossover between Mexico and the Philippines because of Spanish colonialization.

Governors in the Philippines were brought from Mexico.

So, a lot of the Mexican culture transposed into the Philippines.

-You definitely see that today.

-Yeah.

It looks like our...

It looks like our torta is, uh, getting close.

Ten minutes, everyone!

Fran: Holy mackerel!

Waigal: I'm struggling with my bolani because I'm pressed for time.

But I think my potato filling is cool enough by now, and if it's not, I have no choice.

It's very rustic.

-Hello!

-Hi!

What do you have going on here?

The inspiration is my mother.

When I would come home from school and I saw this griddle, I knew it was a good day.

-Mmm!

OK. -Yeah.

Having six children, my mom didn't have to ask each of us what we wanted in our bolani, but it was the perfect example of her love for her children and how she nourished us through food.

What's here in the filling?

Potato, cilantro, green onion, turmeric, coriander.

-That's delicious.

-Good.

So, it's great to see you cooking yours on a flattop.

Just be careful, because sometimes on these, things will cook really hot in one area and not.

So, you may have to rotate.

It's cooking somewhat, just slow.

It's just not really hot.

When I don't see sizzle, that bothers me.

I don't want your dough to get hard waiting.

So, let's go really hot.

So, just check it, you know, if you want to get that beautiful, golden brown color.

I really feel a connection with Tiffany.

Thank you, Chef.

OK. Good luck.

I really appreciate her willingness to teach and be a great mentor.

It's looking beautiful, and you want these spots on it.

That's, like, you know, like a tiger.

You want that vibe on the dough.

Alejandra: Three minutes left!

This is it.

Get everything on the plate.

Everything should be out of the oven, out of the oven.

You guys out of the ovens?

I don't know if I'm gonna have enough time to finish these.

Fran: Oh, I'm so excited.

That's just how it's supposed to look.

Coby: My cornbread is super hot.

Two.

Oops.

I'm rushing to fry my luchis.

I'm terrified my luchis are not gonna puff up.

Francis: Anika, fry like the wind, girl.

Hey, it puffed up!

Look at it!

That's so beautiful!

Do you see it?

It puffed up just like I wanted it to.

It's got to get on a plate.

Alejandra: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Time's up, everyone!

Time's up!

Whoo!

Nothing we can do now.

Go with love and doneness and deliciousness.

Ha ha ha.

Alejandra: We gave you 75 minutes to prepare a dish that features freshly made bread.

All right, Fran, come join us.

What dish did you make, and what's the inspiration behind it?

Fran: Today I made cornbread and collard greens gratineed with a little side kiss of pot liquor.

Some people dunk.

Some people just sip.

Francis: I have to say the cornbread, I think, has really nice flavor.

It's a little bit dry for me.

OK.

However, the highest use of cornbread is to dip in the pot liquor, and so, when I do that, I think it's really, really nice.

I do feel the cornbread is dry.

I think with just a little bit more moisture.

So, whether that's buttermilk, whether you're using a little more egg.

Because of the high ratio of cornmeal in here, you just needed it to absorb just a little bit more.

But I think the flavor is delicious.

And I love the doneness of the greens.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, Coby, come join us.

Coby: What I cooked today was a crawfish cornbread with a sticky chicken.

Alejandra: I know that we have two cornbreads today.

So, it's gonna be interesting to see these two southern approaches to cornbread.

Francis: Coby, man, the chicken is really nicely cooked, incredible flavor, depth in that gravy.

But a little bit, I'm like, OK, but I'm supposed to, like, avert my eyes because I'm supposed to focus on the bread part of the bread challenge.

But it's barely a bread.

This is, like, a bread in, like, the most generous definition of bread.

There's a lot of crawfish in here.

To me, this eats more like a casserole or something like that.

That's kind of how we do it.

I'm just saying, like, there's just so much here, and my brain is melting a little bit.

-Are you happy?

-I'm happy.

I'm very happy.

Whew!

That's a sigh of relief.

No, I'm very happy.

To me, the cornbread does shine.

I like the flavor of the corn, the crawfish.

I'm glad I got an edge piece with all that cheese kind of caramelized against the edge of the pan there.

People eat bread differently, right?

And if this is the way that you eat bread, then this is the way that you eat bread.

-Thank y'all.

-Thank you.

Anika, come join us.

Anika: So, today I made for you luchi with chana dal.

Luchi is a traditional bread we have in Bangladesh.

Because my mom used to make it for us, it's a very special dish for me.

And my mom and dad have both passed away.

So, I made this in honor of my mom.

Thank you for sharing that story with us.

Anything that we can have that has been passed down, I mean, it's an honor to eat it, honestly.

Thank you.

I think the bread turned out great, you know.

It's nice and aerated.

I can see how it puffed up.

I love how it, like, kind of pulls apart, and you get this kind of, like, flaky little bits as well.

And I think it's a perfect bread for, like, dipping and, like, you know, using your hands and just kind of eating.

Tiffany: I agree.

I really like even the dried chilis in here.

But as I'm eating, I wish that it had a little bit more salt in the split pea itself.

There's so much flavor.

But I think just a little bit would be nice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Waigal, come join us.

Waigal: Today I made bolani kachalu, which is a flatbread stuffed with turmeric potato filling.

Tiffany: I think the bolani is a little bit tough.

I know you were experiencing some issues with that grill.

Yeah.

I just feel like I'm much better at spending dough than making it.

And that's my biggest issue in life, and this challenge definitely proved that.

I was sweating bullets.

But I think overall, the bites, the potato, the sumac, all of that together really creates a really nice flavor combination.

Francis: Oh, yeah, totally.

Maybe a tiny bit on the tough side.

You could have, like, kneaded it just one second less.

But really, it's quite chewy, and I think it's quite nice.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Suwanee, please come join us.

Suwanee: I made a quick bread with Thai basil pesto sauce.

I think that the texture of the bread came out really nice.

The pesto is actually really good as well.

You did a good job.

And you're not a baker?

-I am not.

-OK. OK.

I'm not.

I am so not.

Tiffany: Based on this right here, understanding flavor profiles is so big, and not many people can understand it like you are.

So, follow your path.

[Speaking Thai] Rex, please come join us.

-At last.

-Yes.

Rex: Today I made torta de argao with sikwate dip and drink.

Francis: Rex, I love that you eat bread that's cake.

[Laughter] So, like, if I were to eat this whole thing, I would definitely go into a little bit of a sugar coma.

But maybe that's a me problem, not a you problem.

But when you bite into this torta, it's crunchy, it's crackly.

All that sugar has caramelized.

It adds such a beautiful texture.

The interior is nice and moist and is very tender.

And then I dip it into this beautiful, smooth almost chocolate pudding.

It adds such a beautiful texture.

Tiffany: I really love that you used your grandma's pot.

Like, that was special.

I know that sometimes we can't really say what it is, but there is something special to it, you know, and the fact that you're sharing it with us.

Thank you so much for that.

Thank you so much.

Cooks, in the last round, you had 75 minutes to prepare a bread-centered dish.

All right, who had your favorite dishes this round?

One of our favorite dishes from the round was... Rex.

Oh, my god.

-Good job, Rex.

-Thank you.

Rex, your torta de argao, it had a really nice balance.

This had, like, this beautiful lacy crust, caramelization, and when you dipped it into the chocolate, which was kind of a little bit bitter, it was just the perfect pairing.

Wow!

I was worried about this baking competition.

So, to be the top two in this round feels really good.

Tiffany: Our other favorite dish was... Coby.

[Cheering and applause] I have to tell you, Coby, your crawfish cornbread with sticky chicken, it was a little controversial.

Is it a bread?

Is it a casserole?

But the one thing that all the judges agreed on is that it was fantastic.

We loved that crawfish.

We loved all that cheese, just to go back for bite after bite.

Awesome.

Thank you.

I'm pretty fired up.

To be on top three times in a row is starting to make me believe that I can make it to the finale.

Excellent job, everyone!

We're excited to see what you do in the next round.

In the last round, we put your baking skills to the test by having you prepare a dish with freshly made bread.

For the next round, you're gonna want to keep those ovens hot because it's time for the annual "Great American Recipe" bake sale!

[Cheering and applause] Tiffany: In the past seasons, our home cooks have filled the table with some delectable desserts.

Francis: And this season, we want you to elevate our bake sale by making one dozen of your tastiest treats that feature a fruit component.

Oh.

There is a lot at stake this round.

No one is going home today, but the finale is just three weeks away, and a perfect dozen can get you one step closer to your place in the final week of the competition.

OK, you have 90 minutes to create a treat with a fruit component for our judges and me to enjoy.

Bakers, your time starts now!

Fran: Let's go.

Let's do this.

So, I've got cake flour here.

I've got vanilla.

I've got sugar.

Rex: OK. Fran: Oh, well, it's just gonna be messy.

Judges, it is the third annual "Great American Recipe" bake sale.

We had a lot of fun last time.

We had a great time.

Every bite was incredible.

Alejandra: So, what do you want to see from them with the fruit?

I'll be happy with anything that's not a fruitcake, to be honest with you.

I'm not a fruitcake fan.

Alejandra: That's obviously one way of using fruit, but there are so many ways that you can use fruit.

Francis: And a bake sale, I want the flavor to really pop.

I want you to taste it, and that's the thing you want to tell your friends to go get.

Because it always is kind of a competition, right, whether you admit it or not.

Like, you want your thing to be running out first.

You want to sell first.

It is a competition.

It is a competition.

Alejandra: Anika.

-Hi!

-Hi.

What do you have there?

I don't know if you can see all the oranges, and I hope you love oranges.

For this challenge, I'm making mini orange bundt cakes.

Orange zest, honestly, smells really, really good.

Baking is not my forte, but I'm excited to be making this because I've been doing bake sales for my community garden every year.

And with this recipe, I feel like I'm gonna be bringing something of my roots and my culture through the oranges.

My father's family are from the northeast part of Bangladesh, which is Sylhet.

Sylhet traditionally was the center for where orange was grown.

So, when I was growing up, every winter, my dad and my paternal grandmother, my "dadu," they'd be super excited that orange season is starting.

All right, I think I've got enough zest.

Next, I have to make the batter.

It's just butter, sugar, eggs... [Crack] Whoop.

Ha ha!

Don't get that.

Sour cream, vanilla extract, cake flour, and the zest and the juice of the oranges.

The trickiest part of this dish is baking it for just the right level of doneness.

I want the outside to be slightly caramelized, but I definitely don't want it dried out.

You never know what happens, right?

But so far, I'm feeling pretty OK. Coby: And just a little extra because we just like it sweet.

For the bake sale, I am making bread pudding with a pineapple cream sauce.

I need to make this bread small.

Bread pudding is super sweet.

It's just bread chopped up, mix it up with some evaporated milk, some vanilla, and eggs.

Kind of let that soak up to get that hard bread back saturated.

Now I'm gonna have to put this bread in here.

The only thing I really know about bake sales is on Sunday, you walked out of church, you could buy some baked goods.

My mama said, "No, boy.

Let's go.

You don't need none of that."

And we went home and made our own.

Ha ha ha!

Soak that up real good just to get all those flavors in the bread.

In the first round, I was top again.

So, I'm super excited.

I am crushing this baking competition.

All right.

Get these baked up.

[Mixer whirring] Maybe another minute, then we get our stiff peak.

For this round, I am making silvanas, a meringue wafer sandwich with pineapple, durian, and mango buttercream.

Back in the Philippines, silvanas is served frozen and has buttercream in the middle.

So, first, I need to bake this meringue into wafers.

What's up, Rex?

How's it going?

Hey, Chef.

I am making the meringue.

You're basically gonna take these meringues, and you're gonna bake them, right?

Yeah.

And then you're gonna have some sort of a cookie, I'm assuming.

Yes, so, when you bite it, you have the crunch of this, and then you have the buttery texture of the buttercream.

Is that actual buttercream with the fruit?

Yes.

This is something new.

Typical silvanas back home is just plain buttercream, but I'm taking a risk of infusing our flavor of pineapple, durian, and also mango.

Durian is this fruit in the Philippines which has a very intimidating smell.

A lot of people don't like it actually, but I love it.

Yeah, it's intimidating.

When you smell it, it smells a little intimidating, but once you incorporate it in this recipe, it's like a durian candy.

I think the durian is a very strong flavor obviously, but you have pineapple, you have mango.

That makes it really interesting, versus just having a plain dessert.

I feel like you've chosen a unique way to do it.

Yes, this is one of the hardest.

Back in the Philippines, not a lot of people do this.

OK, so, this is a tough challenge for you.

I like the risk.

But we loved your round-one dish.

I mean, the texture and the chocolate and, like, the flavor combinations.

There's a lot at stake here right now.

Even though I got a top dish, I really need to step up my game if I want to make it to the finals.

You're gonna pull it off, right?

Yes, I am.

Let's get that in the oven.

I can't wait to taste it.

Thank you, Chef.

One hour!

Whoo-hoo!

Coby: Get your jumping shoes on.

Suwanee: Oh, yeah, the shallot in the eyes.

Oof.

Yes, the burning.

For the bake sale, I'm making khanom mo kaeng with huckleberries.

So, the Thai dessert.

Traditionally, there will be no fruit at all.

But I am so proud that I'm able to bring the regional touch of Spokane, Washington, with my sugared huckleberries.

So, again, the fusion of two cultures in my dish.

It's a more challenging recipe.

It's between a custard and a tart.

But I love texture.

And so, I'm going to add crispy shallots and mung beans into my custard.

Hello, Tiffany.

Hello!

How are you?

I'm fine.

Thank you.

What are we making?

Traditionally, this dessert is steamed.

I'm gonna put a little bit of water in the bottom of these cups and then bake it with mung beans, just a little bit of texture in there.

A little bit different than American desserts.

Also going to add shallot, which is a surprise element.

I know!

I know!

Everyone-- Shallots!

I want to be here for the finale.

So, I want to wow the judges with something different.

I mean, shallots are sweet.

Actually, the traditional way, we do add shallots.

I just want you judges to taste it, too.

Yes, and you surprised us with your knowledge earlier today.

Thank you.

I can't wait for you to try this.

Yes, absolutely.

I think you are definitely on the right track.

Get it exactly how you want it before you get it in the oven.

Sounds good.

Yes.

That's good advice.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

[Both speaking Thai] I am concerned at this point.

I haven't been the winner of the round yet.

This is the week that I need to bring it.

There we go, my little baby cups.

Go in with love and deliciousness.

I have a huge surprise.

There's a lot of butter in my favorite recipe.

I'm making lemon pound cake muffins.

They say you taste with your nose, and I believe it when I use lemon zest, you know.

When my kids were little, I didn't do a lot of baking.

But now that our daughter Margie is a high-school teacher, I'm sending some bake sale treats for her kids' use in bake sales, and they go like a house afire.

[Mixer whirring] I really need to redeem myself because in the first round, my cornbread was absolutely dry.

So, this is my opportunity to demonstrate that I know how to bake.

I can do this.

I think it needs a little more lemon.

I know this is a bake sale, but I'm going savory because you can have the best of both worlds.

I'm gonna be making Afghan sambosa ghousti, which is a beef samosa.

A samosa is basically a filled pastry, and I need to get the filling done first because then I need to cool it so I can wrap it in the pastry.

The filling for my sambosa ghousti is gonna be beef, dates, currants, slivered almonds, and a whole lot of spices.

I really wanted to showcase the dried fruit and nuts that are very popular in Afghanistan, so I decided to do this savory and sweet combination.

I want to get into the finale to continue having the opportunity to showcase my culture, and I feel the pressure of my ancestors when I do this.

Coby, can you give this a try for me?

Absolutely.

Enough salt?

Good?

Man, that's an awesome flavor.

-Can I get a wow?

-Wow.

I like it.

That's so different.

Ha ha ha!

Coby, how's it going?

Hope y'all are ready.

Ha ha ha!

My bread pudding is in the oven.

So, time to make pineapple cream sauce.

I definitely want to keep this juice, though.

Oh, you have pineapple, too!

Look at that!

-Pineapple cook-off.

-I like it.

I used some heavy whipping cream, butter, crushed pineapples and the sauce it comes in, and I use a little bit of corn starch just to kind of thicken that up.

That bread pudding is a little heavy, but that pineapple cream sauce kind of refreshes.

It's a little acidic, and it kind of knocks that heaviness down a little bit.

Thirty minutes!

Holy smokes!

Hey, Francis.

Hi, Fran.

Oh, you're walking away from me.

I know.

Isn't that rude?

[Laughter] Francis: I could smell the lemon walking over here.

Good.

I know.

It is.

It's fragrant.

Do you believe in eating raw batter?

I think it tastes really good, but I don't know if it pops.

I think the flavor is really nice.

Oh, thank you!

Bake sales themselves are... you know, usually meant the spirit of community, but it's also competitive.

So, I would say maximize your lemon because you have a lot of sweetness in the cake, and if you have extra time-- I don't know-- maybe, like, candy some lemon rind?

Just make a simple syrup, and you can just take off strips, boil them in the candy syrup until...it's really nice and tender.

Ooh, to make it classy?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

OK.

Thank you.

Awesome.

All right, well, enjoy.

I can't wait to taste it.

Thank you, Francis.

This is such a helpful conversation.

And Francis inspired me.

Oh, I'm so excited about this.

Twenty minutes left!

-Oh, my god.

-Time to glaze.

OK.

I want to get this even just so I can have even cooking.

My filling is cool now.

Now I have to rush and get all of these sambosas filled.

In round one, my look was rustic, and that was OK for that dish, but this is a bake sale, so we need it to be pretty.

I am struggling with some of them for sure.

Not cute.

Francis: Waigal, your samosas are done?

[Exhales deeply] I'm feeling very nervous at this point.

No one has a savory dish like mine in this round.

It's either a really big risk or a very smart move.

Ooh.

Finally.

Fingers crossed.

Anika: So, I can see the cakes rising.

It's coming along well.

While the bundt cakes are baking, I make the orange syrup by heating up orange juice and granulated sugar, and I let it simmer for a little bit.

They're beautiful!

Thanks, Fran.

Alejandra: Just 10 minutes left, folks!

-Whoo!

-Yeah.

Rex: So, one tablespoon each time.

The meringue's in the oven.

But here's the hardest part.

You must be patient of the buttercream with the fruit-infused flavor.

It is exciting and also at the same time nerve-wracking.

If you mess this up, you won't have the right consistency.

Alejandra: You happy with the buttercream?

Not so much.

Ooh.

It broke?

A little bit, yeah.

All right, let me go help him out.

Tiffany: Get over there.

We need Tim.

We need Tim.

Rex, what's going on?

Ooh.

OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It looks like you overwhipped it, right?

I always have this trouble.

So, the way to fix it is we heat it up a little bit.

OK. And then we can emulsify it back.

But you have to be very gentle.

Rex; I am really nervous.

Just one misstep... that's it.

Thank you so much, Chef.

Try to even out the temperature a little bit.

OK.

Thank you for the help.

I'm just trying to be composed.

You did the work.

Sorry.

So, see?

Now we're coming back together.

It's better.

That's perfect.

Thank you so much, Chef.

Thank you so much.

What an honor to work with you.

Thank you.

Now I'm ready to sandwich my wafers.

Oh, my goodness.

I really was really worried about this.

Man...

Seven minutes left!

Let's go!

Oh, I'm so tempted to open this, but I cannot.

At this point, I'm just waiting for the custard to bake.

I can't touch it.

I just have to trust the oven at this point.

Coby: Suwanee, how are we doing?

Oh, it's coming along.

How about yourself?

Good.

Something could always go wrong, you know.

Fran: Dang, Coby!

Those are beautiful.

Ha ha ha ha!

Wow.

I'm noticing that the front side looked good, but the back side is a little crispy.

Ooh, y'all, it looks like the bottom is more brown than I'm sure he intended.

Oftentimes, when you see a baking recipe, it says to, you know, rotate the trays because ovens... it's not the same temperature inside.

For sure.

Coby: I'm at crunch time now.

I'm hoping that sauce kind of softens that side up a little bit.

Hey, Coby, if all else fails, it's a caramelized bread pudding.

Oh, I like that.

I like that.

Alejandra: Two minutes, everyone.

Get your treats ready for our bake sale table.

I'm laser-focused right here.

Anika: Moment of truth.

Ah, they look nice.

I am so glad that Francis taught me how to make candied lemon to put on top.

If I didn't have this, it would be naked.

Almost done.

Waigal: They look great.

Anika: I'm gonna brush a little bit more.

OK. Oh, you're naked.

Tiffany: Suwanee, how's it looking?

It's coming along.

Alejandra: Oh, Waigal looks happy!

Golden brown, flaky, and beautiful, just like me.

Francis: If you're confident, I'm confident.

OK, great.

Alejandra: 10, 9, 8, 7... Alejandra and judges: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Time's up!

Whoo-hoo!

For the second round, we asked you to make us an item sure to sell out for the annual "Great American Recipe" bake sale.

What a spread.

Like, this is how you show up, you know.

Like, I am digging this.

Alejandra: Rex, come join us.

Whoo...

So, today I baked silvanas.

This is a meringue sandwich infused with pineapple, durian, and mango.

Even my wife told me it's a risk to use the durian because not a lot of people like it.

I bit into the durian one.

That's, you know, a very...distinct flavor.

[Laughter] But I really love the texture here, and the nuts on the outside.

I think it turned out really good.

Francis: However, at a bake sale, they all look the same.

So, there was no way to know what flavor you were getting, and if you were a pineapple fan and then you got the durian, and you're, like, bummed out.

But, Rex, this is unlike anything I've ever had.

The meringue, it's, like, barely sweet, which I love, and it has a super light, crisp, airy texture.

And what's really cool about that is it's almost like an ice-cream sandwich.

So, it's this real flavor journey.

This was really, really nice.

Thank you so much, Francis.

Thank you.

Alejandra: Suwanee.

Suwanee: Today I made khanom mo kaeng.

It's a Thai dessert made with mung beans, coconut milk, fried shallots, and huckleberries for the fruit.

Tiffany: Suwanee, you have truly baked a custard feel that is so smooth, and I like the shallots.

You know, it's mild.

It's not too much.

And I think that the sweetness that the shallot provides is almost just a different complex of flavor.

I think that it's really nice and really different.

Francis: I agree with Tiffany.

I think what really makes this dish for me actually is your own spin on it, which is the huckleberry.

Having that tartness really lifts the whole thing up.

The thing I would say, though, is, looking around, the huckleberry is pretty inconsistent.

You know, so, if I was at the bake sale, I'd be like... Doo doo doo doo doo You know, I'd be, like, grabbing that one.

But really eye-opening.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Waigal, your turn.

Waigal: I mad sambosa ghousti, or beef samosas.

They're a classic Afghan pastry.

It's a sweet and savory balance.

There's beef, and I incorporated the fruit in the challenge by showcasing our love for dried fruit and nuts.

Waigal, I have to say, this presentation is stunning.

-Thank you.

-Stunning.

Just that combination of colors, and look.

This is, like, a millionaire's amount of pistachio.

It just feels like a moment of luxury.

Thank you.

[Speaks Afghan language] The pastry is flaky.

The dominant flavor in this is the fruit and the spices.

The beef is there, and it adds a savory note.

But the filling does feel like it could be a little bit juicier, moister maybe.

Tim: Yeah, I have to agree.

The fruit, like Francis says, is sort of the dominant flavor.

But this, to me, feels like it could be a perfect ending to a meal or a nice pastries with a cup of tea, a cup of coffee.

You did an excellent job.

It's delicious.

Thank you.

Alejandra: Coby, come join us.

Coby: I made a bread pudding with a pineapple cream sauce.

This recipe was taught to me by one of my first captains on the fire department.

Francis: Coby, I saw, when you pulled these bread puddings out of the oven, as a firefighter, you're looking at this, and you're like, "Did this burn?"

[Laughter] But, you know, I've got to tell you, I actually think that little bit of, like, extra-dark bitterness really helps it out.

It's great flavor, but there's a lot of sweetness, and that bitterness actually helps keep it interesting.

OK.

I would love fresh pineapple also, because you've got the cooked pineapple in the cream sauce, and fresh pineapple would give it another dimension.

Gotcha.

Coby, I've eaten a lot of bread puddings.

I think it's very, very rich, which bread pudding is, for sure.

And the amount of sauce that you gave us was definitely on the luxurious side.

But maybe a little rum will sort of offset some of that sweetness, right?

You know, like, a cooked-out rum.

But I think that would add just another dimension.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Alejandra: Anika, come join us.

Anika: So, I made for you mini orange bundt cakes.

I used orange because my dad is from the northeast of the country.

It's a region called Sylhet, and oranges traditionally grow in Sylhet.

So, I wanted to honor my dad for a very iconic American, you know, mini bundt cake.

Tiffany: Anika, your bundt cakes are beautiful.

I would say that, as delicious as it is with the orange, I find it a bit dry in some areas.

I'm not sure the temp you used to cook it.

Maybe reducing it just a little bit so you get a little bit of a different texture.

But the flavor here is delicious.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah, I agree with Tiffany.

The orange aroma is so pretty.

It's sweet.

It's buttery.

But I would love a little more of the tartness of the orange.

You can even, like, cheat a little and add some lemon juice, too, because that will give you a little more of the tartness.

I'll try that next time.

Thank you.

Alejandra: Fran, come join us.

Fran: I made lemon pound cake muffins.

Fran... this is lemon, and it is buttery, and it has the most incredible crumb, and I'll tell you what.

I would buy all them.

[Laughter] I would buy all of them.

Francis: This cake is moist.

It's tender.

I love how much lemon juice is in the glaze.

And I'm so happy that you enjoyed the idea of making the candied lemon peel.

I would say, actually, the peel I would cook a little bit longer till it's, like, really quite tender.

It's a little bit tough for me still, but I think it was, for your first time making candied lemon peel, pretty nice.

Thank you all.

Thank you so much, Fran.

I feel like the bake sale just keeps getting more and more delicious every season.

Yeah, and, like, more educational.

Like, so many things I've never seen before.

For sure.

What are some of the standout items this round?

Oh, let me go.

Ha ha ha!

Fran's lemon pound cake muffins.

My goodness, that was good!

It was just beautifully baked.

It was still, like, sweet, but you still got the lemon essence, and you had the lemon sourness still there.

It was just a very well done pound cake.

Except for that candied lemon peel.

[Laughter] What kind of idea was that?

But would you still buy it at a bake sale?

100%, yeah.

I'm buying all of them.

What do you mean?

I'm not leaving anybody left.

Francis: Another favorite of the round was Rex's silvanas.

His buttercream was broken, but when we ate it, holy cow.

The texture of that meringue was so light and airy.

It wasn't too sweet, and it disappeared right into this cold buttercream that was almost like ice cream.

It was a real adventure.

You know, another of my favorites was Waigal's beef samosas with dates and currants.

It was a really nice pastry.

I don't think it was overly sweet.

I really liked the pistachio flavor that came through.

And I think, with the flaky puff pastry, it really came together really nicely.

I just found the mixture to be dry, but I appreciated the texture of that puff pastry.

Were there any bake sale items you think didn't deliver?

Remember, we are only three weeks away from the finale, so we really do need to see growth from these cooks.

I think one of the lesser successful dishes was Anika with her orange mini bundt cakes.

The orange had great flavor, but I think there was no sense of moisture there.

I think she did all of the right steps.

I think she just overcooked it.

Tim: You know, another dish that wasn't necessarily my favorite was Coby's bread pudding with pineapple cream sauce.

The way that he presented it for us, it was very sweet.

Francis: It was swimming in that glaze there.

My first bite, I thought it was a very good bite.

I had a nice piece of pineapple, but it was hard to go back for more bites because of how sweet and how rich it was.

Francis: Yeah, I agree.

Coby was concerned about maybe he had overcooked the bread pudding.

I actually thought it was a happy accident because of all that sugar, of all that sweetness.

A little bit of that sort of more burnt caramelization I thought actually helped balance it out a little.

But still, it was... You know, it wasn't enough to counteract all the sweetness.

Another dish we need to talk bout is Suwanee's Thai custard with the mung beans and the sugared huckleberries.

I thought this was actually a very cool dish that I've not really had before.

This addition of fried shallots, which I would never think I would enjoy in a dessert, but it worked for me.

However, what tied it together, though, was the huckleberry sauce.

The sweetness of those berries really helped it out.

But then half of them looked like there was no sauce on them at all.

Tim: Absolutely.

It really all comes down to which item you'd pick at a bake sale.

100%.

So, you're all in agreement?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

All right.

Then let's bring the home cooks back in.

We asked you to bake one dozen items that feature some element of fruit for our annual bake sale.

Before we announce our favorites, the judges want to give a little feedback to a couple dishes.

The first bake sale item that wasn't as successful this round was... Coby.

Your bread pudding with pineapple cream sauce was tasty, but it was also really rich and really sweet.

And the other dish lacking a little bit today was... Anika.

Your orange mini bundt cake had delicious orange flavor.

But unfortunately, we thought it was a little dry.

Alejandra: Now, judges, which bake sale items would sell out in a snap?

The first treat that came out on top was... Rex.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Your silvanas were unlike anything I've ever had before, how light and airy and crisp the meringue was, and that frozen buttercream that was almost like ice cream in the middle was really a marvelous thing.

Thank you.

Our other favorite dish of the bake sale was... Fran.

[Applause] I'm shocked.

Ha ha ha!

Fran, I don't know why you're surprised.

Your lemon pound cake muffins were...a delight.

They were so moist, had a nice crust on it, and it was really bright, something that I would definitely go back for going to a bake sale.

Oh, thank you, Chef.

Great job, you two, but there can only be one bake sale winner.

Our favorite bake sale item was... Fran.

[Applause] Congratulations.

[Indistinct voices] You know, we were worried in round one when your cornbread was a little dry, but this was far from that.

It was just so delicious.

And, honestly, we all agreed that you truly let the lemon shine, and the texture of the cake, it was just perfect.

Thank you, Chef.

Thank you very much.

I'm shocked and amazed that I won a baking challenge.

I had had a top dish with the shrimp and grits, but this was the first time that I'd actually won a challenge.

So, I'm enjoying it, letting it give me some energy, and now I'm already looking ahead to the next challenge.

All right, get some rest, and we'll see you back next week for more of your great American recipes.

Bye!

Bye!

Sleep hard.

Alejandra: Next time on "The Great American Recipe..." for the first time in "Great American Recipe" history, the home cooks are making the judges' recipe.

-I hope I get Tiffany's.

-Immediately panic.

Tim: We're doing good.

How are you feeling?

Suwanee: Can you stay here the whole time?

Ha ha!

I'm feeling like this is gonna be a new family favorite.

Oh, you're making ginger scallion sauce, my favorite thing in the world.

Tiffany: The winner of the round is...