The cheftestants travel by helicopter and dog sled to meet Tom and Padma on a glacier and participate in their final Quickfire: make a dish using only ingredients found in the dog sledding camp, so not a ton of fresh foods other than fish and eggs and limited produce. Brooke and Sheldon both do halibut while Josh does (surprise!) breakfast. Tom determines that Brooke's is the most sophisticated and layered.
The final three return home to find that Emeril and guest judge Roy Choi are cooking them lunch. As they eat, Roy Choi talks about how he was a loser until he saw Emeril on television cooking short ribs. Emeril talks about how he started washing dishes in a Portuguese bakery and the chefs taught him how to bake. As you might expect, the Elimination Challenge is to cook a dish that represents the defining moment in their culinary history.
In between prep and actually cooking, Josh's baby -- a little girl named Georgia -- is born.
The judges are Gail, Tom, Emeril, Wolfgang and guest judge Roy Choi. Sheldon made pan-roasted rockfish, spot prawns, baby vegetables and dashi. The judges think the fish is all cooked perfectly and love the presentation, but Sheldon oversalted the food, and Tom laments that it could be the one mistake that keeps Sheldon out of the finale.
Brooke made braised chicken, grilled quail with carrot barley and pickled vegetables. The judges love the homey flavors and the variety on the plate. Their one critique is that the quail is slightly overcooked, but they don't seem too upset about it.
Josh made foie gras three ways: torchon, pan-seared and profiterole. The judges like some of the flavors but Tom thinks that Josh pushed a little too hard, especially since it's nearly impossible to make a torchon in one day (according to Tom).
Brooke wins by unanimous decision. The judges have a tough time deciding between Josh and Sheldon, but ultimately they send Josh home. I'm not surprised; his final dish was not his food at all. There was nothing about it that seemed like what Josh has cooked this season. Now he heads to Last Chance Kitchen and Brooke and Sheldon head to the finale.
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So Josh, Brooke, and Sheldon are the top three. Josh is worried about his wife, who is due any moment. As they go to eat breakfast, they find a letter from Padma telling them to head to Eagle Crest for their Quickfire. They drive up into the mountains and they find a helicopter. Brooke is freaked out because she's scared of heights. She has a lot of fears. She might want to look into that. It's a fifteen minute ride.
Brooke manages to overcome her anxiety and hop in the helicopter with Sheldon and Josh. She refuses to look at the scenery, even though it's breathtaking. Finally, she does look and realizes how amazing it is. They land on a glacier and find dogs everywhere. Out of nowhere, Sheldon interviews that he "would die for some good reefer." Not that I'm surprised, but where did that come from? Anyway, they hop on a dog sled and take a ride behind some dogs up to where Tom and Padma are waiting for them.
Padma greets them and says they're standing on Norris Glacier, and only two of them will move on to the finale. But first, they have a Quickfire Challenge. Padma says that people are here training for the Iditarod, and the food they've been eating has been less than gourmet. So their challenge is to create a dish using the food they find in the pantry. Padma also says that this is their last Quickfire before the finale.
Sheldon has never seen snow before. I forget, growing up and living in Upstate NY, that there are people who've never seen snow. That's like never breathing air to me. Anyway, they find food and slightly upgraded camp-type equipment. Brooke and Sheldon are both cooking halibut, while Josh is doing breakfast as usual. While cooking, they have to run out to a bunch of coolers to gather ingredients, and then run back into the tent where the stoves are. Josh intends to fry some eggs but he doesn't have time because he's running back and forth so much so he ends up scrambling them. Brooke can't get a good sear on her fish because the stoves are kind of amateur-hour.
Brooke serves her food to Tom, Padma, and the sled drivers first. I guess the dogs eat later. She made pan-roasted halibut, panzanella salad with red currant and beet vinaigrette. Tom likes the flavors, especially the arugula, and the crunch of the bread.
Padma proposes that they move on to breakfast and, voice dripping with sarcasm, says it's "shocking" that Josh made this dish. Whoa, Padma. Now that Stefan's gone, are you taking your venom on Josh? I'm fine with that, actually. Josh made a cornmeal cake with Canadian bacon, scrambled eggs, and smoked salmon. It sounds delicious but it doesn't really seem like the level of refinement necessary at this point in the competition. Tom doesn't get the egg texture, because Josh screwed it up, but the drivers like the corncake.
Sheldon made pan-roasted halibut with tomato sauce, sesame bok choy, and pickled radish. Tom thinks the halibut is nicely cooked but the sauce is salty. The drivers kind of like everything, and why wouldn't they? They've been eating crap for months.
Tom is ready to announce the results. He thought Brooke put together a nice dish, with the highlight being the croutons. Tom liked Josh's breakfast, but the eggs weren't mixed well before being scrambled. Sheldon had a good dish too, but his sauce was one-note. So obviously, Brooke is the winner since Tom had no critiques of her dish. Brooke interviews that winning the Quickfire and conquering her fears is a great feeling.
Padma tells the cheftestants that she has another surprise for them as they head for the helicopter. I thought Padma was going to pilot the helicopter herself for a minute. Be honest - would you be that shocked if she did? But she doesn't. She does drive the cheftestants to their surprise, which is that Emeril and LA chef Roy Choi are cooking them lunch. Roy and Brooke know one another, but he promises he won't show her any favoritism. It is a little odd to me that Brooke knows so many of these high falutin' LA chefs.
The cheftestants plus Padma sit at the table and wait for Emeril and Roy to serve them lunch. In the kitchen, Roy tells Emeril about how he tries to get the spirits of his ancestors into the rice and wow, he is hippy dippy. The food is served and the three cheftestants are in awe of the food that is being served. As they eat, Roy talks about how he was in a bad place in his life and he saw Emeril on television and it inspired him to become a chef. Emeril clearly didn't know this before, and he's touched. Emeril shares how he started as a dishwasher in a bakery and they taught him to bake.
Once everyone has shared, Padma explains the Elimination Challenge: make a dish that represents the moment that you knew you wanted to be a chef. Brooke laughs that she was like four years old, because she'd wanted to be a chef her whole life. Padma also announces that they'll be serving dinner to the governor of Alaska and his wife at their mansion.
Josh gets the call that his wife is going into labor and is headed to the hospital, and he starts crying because he's missing it. He tells the others and Sheldon offers to help him with breathing exercises, but Josh informs him that it could be hours or even days. Brooke asks if he wants to go home and he says no and they laugh. Even if he wanted to go home, he probably wouldn't get there in time. I mean, they are in Alaska.
Sheldon interviews that he wanted to become a chef when he watched Sam Choi, the king of Hawaiian cuisine, on television. Josh wanted to become a chef the first time he ate foie gras, so he's making a torchon, which is usually a two to three day process. He's doing it in four hours. This seems like a mistake.
Tom comes into the kitchen and talks to Sheldon about how people seem to always start cooking fish too early. Sheldon takes that advice to heart. Tom talks to Brooke about her inspiration, and she says that her mother inspired her to become a chef, because she cooked them dinner every night. That said, she's not exactly sure what her dish is going to be.
Josh tells a tale about how he was trying to make weight as a high school wrestler, and he was riding a stationary bike in a sauna and reading Food and Wine and read about foie gras. I can't believe more wrestlers don't die while trying to make weight. I remember kids in my high school wrapping themselves in Saran wrap and garbage bags under sweatsuits and going for runs. Anyway, Josh had foie gras when working for one of Tom's protégés, and Tom realizes that Josh probably ate his recipe. Josh is like, "Oh, shit. I'm making Tom's recipe for Tom." Tom is dubious that Josh can get his dish done in the allotted time.
After finishing prep, the cheftestants go back to their living space and try to relax. They all talk about the stress and the pressure. Josh hopes that his wife gives birth tonight so that he can go into service tomorrow knowing that his wife and baby are okay. Brooke says that she was in labor for days. Late that night, Josh gets a call from his wife who is sobbing through her contractions. That's rough. I don't know why they can't just stay on the phone the whole time or Skype him in or something. At some point in the early dawn hours, Josh does get to do a video call with his wife and meet his new baby girl, Georgia. He explains that she's named after his father, George. His wife says that birth wasn't so bad, so maybe they can have another one. She's going to want to wait on that decision until the drugs wear off and she goes through the first three months with a newborn.
The morning, the others get up and Josh shares his good news. They quickly head to the Governor's Mansion. Sheldon interviews that he thinks Brooke is the one to beat because she's won the most challenges. Brooke interviews that this is the most nervous she's been so far. Sheldon talks about how he doesn't want to cook his fish until the last minute, as per Tom's suggestion.
Tom, Padma, Emeril, Wolfgang, Roy Choi, and Gail join the governor and his wife to eat. They talk about how bald eagles are everywhere in Alaska, and Padma explains the point of the challenge. Meanwhile, Sheldon is plating and cooking his fish at the last minute, as promised. Turns out, he let his sauce reduce too much and it's overly salty. So fix it! Throw some more broth in there or coconut milk or whatever the fuck you're using for your liquid. I guess he's just going to serve it like that? I don't know.
Sheldon serves first, and he made pan-roasted rockfish, spot prawns, baby vegetables, and dashi. He explains that he saw Sam Choi making this dish and it inspired him to become a chef. Wolfgang likes the smell and how the spot prawns are cooked. Tom agrees that the prawns and also the fish are perfect. Roy thinks the conception of the dish is amazing, but it's a little too salty. Gail thinks it's a shame because Sheldon never overseasons, but Tom says that one mistake will make the difference between staying and going home at this point.
Brooke made braised chicken, grilled quail with carrot barley and pickled vegetables. She explains that she was influenced by her mother's home cooking. No one says much and Tom comments that the food must be good, because everyone's eating. Roy likes all the layers of flavors. Wolfgang says his only criticism is that his quail was slightly overcooked. Tom thinks Brooke was successful in evoking home cooking, but elevated. Roy says that Brooke was known as a prodigy in LA. I feel like Brooke is too established as a chef to even be on this show. Where is the line between up and coming chef and master?
Josh tries to prepare his torchon, and it's too soft so he has to put it in the freezer for a minute. He serves foie gras three ways: torchon, pan-seared, and profiterole. Roy eats his quickly and says that the flavors were good on all three. Gail likes the profiterole the best, but thinks the torchon wasn't set. Tom appreciates that Josh is pushing himself, but he may have gone too far since Tom feels it's impossible to make a torchon in one day. Wolfgang liked the pan-seared version, and Emeril really liked the corn puree. Sounds like everything but the torchon went over well. Will it be enough?
Josh, Sheldon, and Brooke return to face the judges and Padma reminds them that only two of them will be moving on to the finale. Tom says he enjoyed hearing their stories and eating their food. Padma was surprised to get foie gras from him, which is true; it's not really his food. I get wanting to show that you have other sides but is this the time to do it? Tom gives Josh shit for trying to shortcut the torchon, and says that it's literally impossible to do. Gail says that the torchon fell apart but she loved the apricot, and Emeril compliments the cornbread. Wolfgang tells Brooke that her quail was overcooked, and Roy says that it was complex. Tom thinks Brooke somehow made all the elements work together. Wolfgang wonders how Sheldon screwed up the broth when the fish was perfect, and Sheldon says he knew it was too salty while he was plating. Wolfgang adds that the fish and the prawn were the work of a great chef and it was like the broth came from someone else.
Padma concludes that today's winner was a unanimous decision, and that winner is Brooke. So she's going on to the finale. I love that Brooke's first reaction is "Holy crap." That would be mine also.
Padma reminds Josh and Sheldon that only one of them will be going to the finale and then excuses them so that the judges can ruminate on their decision. Tom says that Sheldon overseasoned a dish, and Josh worked with an ingredient that he doesn't seem to understand. Gail talks about how great they both are. Wolfgang thinks Josh should have made something he knows he can do, and Roy agrees that Josh was trying to impress them and lost sight of what he was doing. Emeril thinks that Josh took on too much. Padma is frustrated that Sheldon screwed up the broth, and Wolfgang is even more upset that he didn't taste it until plating, because it could have been fixed.
Josh and Sheldon return to the judges' table to face the music. Tom says that they're both small town boys who are trying to make it, and they've come a long way. Josh made foie gras three ways and should have stopped at one. Sheldon served up salty broth. Tom adds that it was a tough decision before Padma tells Josh to pack his knives and go. Josh grew on me a LITTLE bit as the season went on, but I still don't think he was the best chef. I mean, name one dish that he made that was incredibly impressive and not just breakfast or elevated home cooking? He's got some refining to do before he gets to the level of Brooke or even Sheldon, who may not be super creative but he knows his cuisine and he rocks it.
Anyway, week is the finale, and Brooke and Sheldon will be joined by the winner of Last Chance Kitchen at some future point in Los Angeles.
If you don't want to know who won Last Chance Kitchen, stop reading now.
Kristen goes up against Josh and also the winner of the Save a Chef contest, Lizzie, in a challenge to just cook a great plate of food. Josh cooks (or undercooks) venison and Tom sends him home. That leaves Kristen's pasta dish that she created on the fly against Lizzie's black cod with cabbage and spaetzle. Tom doesn't announce the winner; we have to wait until the finale to find out who won.