Alejandra Ramos: There's nothing quite as comforting and delicious as a home-cooked meal...

I love it.

Oh, that's great.

Man, voice-over: This smells like home in Afghanistan.

I mean, this is heaven.

Man: Oh, I like that, Ramos, voice-over: but what is it about our most treasured recipes that make them so heartwarming?

Man, voice-over: My recipes represent generations of culture in Puerto Rico.

A taste of the island.

Woman, voice-over: This is an heirloom recipe not just to my family but to 6 generations of people in my Thai village.

They make a beautiful thing out of this dish.

Tim Hollingsworth: I feel like your mom and your dad were there when you were cooking this meal.

Woman, voice-over: I am half Belizean, half Jamaican, and cooking is the way I keep our Caribbean culture alive.

You know what?

The tears, just a little extra seasoning.

♪ I am so happy ♪ Tiffany Derry: That means she knows what she's doing.

Derry, voice-over: As a chef and restaurateur, I've experienced meals prepared by some of the finest chefs in the world... Bring the flavor.

Do us proud.

You got it.

Yes, ma'am.

but as a proud Texan, my most cherished recipes are those that stem from my Southern roots.

Oh, my God, it's delicious.

Y'all are cooking!

Woman, voice-over: This is my favorite, and it was Mom and Dad's favorite.

I should be measuring sherry, shouldn't I?

Measure with your heart.

That's it.

Ha ha ha!

Lam, voice-over: As a food writer and editor, I think a cook's most defining dishes are the ones that come from their life experience.

Chinese food, to me, it's always just delicious because it starts to smell like someone else is cooking in my house.

I'm super excited to be doing this.

Hollingsworth: Biscuits and gravy.

This is something my dad used to make.

Growing up in the South, all of our family traditions were tied to food, but as a chef, my most requested recipes are the ones that I spent years perfecting in the best kitchens in the country.

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

Use your intuition.

You're gonna pull it off, right?

Yes.

I am.

Can't wait to taste it.

Man: Winner, winner, butternut squash dinner.

[Cheering] You're awesome.

Ramos, voice-over: And this season, we have a new batch of talented home cooks from regions across the country.

Come join us as they arrive in Nashville, Tennessee, where their incredible journey is about to begin.

How you feeling today?

I feel great.

This is gonna be fun.

Welcome back to the "Great American Recipe."

[Pen scratches] ♪ Woman: We're really here.

Yeah.

This is beautiful.

This is it.

So excited.

This is amazing.

Woman, voice-over: I'm so happy to be among some of the country's best home cooks, and I am looking forward to sharing my Thai food, my Thai culture.

I want to tell not only my story but the stories of the people in my village in Thailand.

I'm ready to get cooking.

I'm hungry.

Woman: I know, right?

Man, voice-over: I'm extremely excited to be here.

Cajun people are super proud of their food.

We think we're the best cooks on the planet, so I have good faith in myself that I'll do well.

Hi.

Hello.

Coby: Hey.

Woman: Alejandra.

Ooh.

Oh, my God.

We're here.

Hee hee!

Ramos: Welcome, home cooks, to a new season of the "Great American Recipe."

You all represent the best of American home cooking, and over the next 6 weeks, you'll get to tell us your unique story by cooking your most beloved recipes.

Joining you along this journey are your incredible judges-- Francis Lam, Tiffany Derry, and Tim Hollingsworth.

Woman, voice-over: Seeing the judges for the first time is sort of surreal.

It's so nice to see a diverse panel and how their own cultural experiences have shaped how they judge food.

That's huge to me.

Ramos: Here's how the competition will work this season.

Each week, we'll have a theme and two rounds of cooking.

During each round, you'll make your standout recipes for our judges to taste and critique.

Lam: And at the end of each round, we're gonna evaluate your dishes based on taste, execution, presentation, and how well you did with the theme.

Hollingsworth: We know all of your dishes are gonna be great, but we're gonna be choosing our favorites from each round.

With each dish you create, we'll be tracking your growth and evaluating your success based on our critiques of your dishes.

Ramos: But this season, we're shaking things up a bit.

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

Since this is a competition, every dish really does count, and we will be saying good-bye to some of you leading up to the final week, and only 3 home cooks will earn a spot in the finale, and at the end of this journey, one of you will be named the winner of the "Great American Recipe."

[Cheering and applause] Man, voice-over: Winning would mean so much to me because I feel like this is a beautiful opportunity to showcase all the beautiful things that being Afghan American comes with.

Woman, voice-over: It would be wild to win this competition.

Cooking is an expression of my heritage and my Southern roots.

That accolade would be like-- I would get a little misty.

Ha!

This week's theme is all about you.

You have 60 minutes to prepare what you consider to be your perfect dish that tells us who you are as a home cook.

All right.

Your time starts now.

[Cheering] [Speaks Cajun French] Bien.

Estamos activos.

Estamos activos.

OK.

Here we go.

Whoo.

Let's do this.

Welcome back, judges.

You excited to be back?

Yeah.

Totally, 100%, Yes, so good to be back.

Ramos: So for this first round of cooking, we asked the home cooks to prepare their perfect meal.

What do you want to learn from this first bite?

Lam: This is the story they want to tell about themselves, and that's really meaningful, and I really want to see how they interpret that.

Hollingsworth: Yeah.

I'm excited to see, you know, where you're from.

Is it, like, where you're from culturally, where you live now, where you grew up?

And I feel like the ingredients that they choose really gives them an opportunity to set up who they are.

Derry: I agree, and it's a very diverse group of cooks here...

Yes.

Yeah.

which is always exciting to see.

Ramos: That's the beauty of American home cooking.

100%.

This is esfand, or wild rue, and it's gonna get rid of any bad energy.

There's not much to begin with, but just in case.

My name is Waigal Safi, and I'm from San Diego, California.

I'm 31 years old, and I work for a nonprofit.

I'm making lawand with zereshk palow.

It's basically braised chicken in a yogurt sauce with rice.

It is one of the first Afghan dishes I learned how to make.

I grew up in a first-generation immigrant household.

My parents left Afghanistan because of the Soviet invasion.

I love Afghan food, and my mom is the biggest supporter and teacher.

It's not too traditional for Afghan men to cook, but I'm here to change that.

The main spice for this dish is turmeric.

Waigal, voice-over: Turmeric has a very earthy flavor to it, so for the lawand, I let the chicken cook down, add labneh, which is a strained yogurt.

That's the best aroma.

Waigal, voice-over: Next, I have to start on my zereshk palow, which is basmati rice perfumed with saffron and topped with barberries.

It creates a pop of sourness in your mouth.

Waigal, voice-over: I'm here to put Afghan food on the map.

These dishes are part of who I am, where I came from, and if I win, it would just make it that much sweeter.

You can never have too much saffron.

♪ All right.

In Cajun country, cooking gets passed down from generation to generation, and I really want to do the Cajun people right.

I'm Coby Bailey.

I'm 53 years old.

I am a professional firefighter in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Today I'm making boudin omelette.

Boudin is a sausage that's made with rice and pork.

It's a Cajun tradition.

It's what we love.

I love cooking great Cajun food because growing up, my grandmother and my mother were like the matriarchs of the kitchen, and their Cajun influence has made me the cook that I am, and I just love being a Cajun.

In fact, if I die and there really is reincarnation, I hope I can become a Cajun again, I just love it that much.

Hoo, look at that boudin right there, perfect.

To make this omelette, got to taste some onions and some bell peppers, and no Cajun omelette would be right without Cajun seasoning right in there.

Derry: Hello there.

Hey, Chef Tiffany.

Hold on.

Can you smell it?

Let me taste this boudin right now.

All right.

Get you a piece of that.

♪ How is it?

I'm gonna taste it one more time.

Save me a little bit for my omelette.

Oh, my God, it's delicious.

OK. All right.

I like it.

OK, so you're gonna do an omelette with this.

And it's my family's favorite omelette, so I wanted to share that with everybody.

This is my perfect dish because my mama taught me how to cook eggs when I was about 8 years old, and that's what really made me fall in love with cooking, and now I love cooking for my family.

I also love cooking for everybody at the firehouse.

One thing to remember, if it's cooked too much, you have dry eggs, so you got to really pay attention to it.

Yes, ma'am.

All right.

I look forward to enjoying this, and best of luck.

Thank you.

♪ Here we go.

This is my happy place.

I'm using a mackerel fish that's called pla tu in Thai, and I'm just gonna make sure there are no bones in here.

Here's one big one.

We don't want that.

I'm Suwanee Lennon.

I'm 46 years old.

I'm from Spokane, Washington, and I'm a photographer.

I am making fish curry.

In Thai, it's called kanom jeen nam ya.

This is the dish that I grew up eating.

I grew up in a village called Nakhon Prasat in Thailand, and I'm here because I want to represent the people that I grew up with and my beautiful Thai culture.

Hey, beautiful.

Suwanee, voice-over: Kanom jeen nam ya has shallot, garlic, lemongrass, and krachai.

It's from the same family as the ginger.

They're called finger roots because it looks like fing-- they look like fingers.

And then I add coconut milk and let the flavors build.

Hi, Suwanee.

How are you?

Oh, hi, Tim.

Why is this the dish that represents you?

So I came to America when I was 13, and so this was the dish that we grew up eating in the village.

Suwanee: When I was 13, I met an American woman, Rebecca.

She decided to adopt me, and we moved to Wisconsin.

I only wanted Thai food, and I taught myself how to make this dish all from memory.

It looks delicious, and you get, like, a little funk from the salted mackerel that comes through.

Can you taste it?

It gives you a lot of depth.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Yeah, so you're gonna basically be putting this over the top of the noodles here?

Yes.

Remember, we see it with our eyes first, right, so make sure that presentation is beautiful.

Oh, of course.

I'll take that from you.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Yesh, for sure.

I can't wait to eat it.

♪ Getting close.

Getting close.

Oh, something smells so good.

I'm Fran Wescott.

I'm 61.

I'm from Durham, North Carolina, and I'm a consultant in strategic content.

I'm making fried okra, fried oysters, and a horseradish cream reduction.

Fran, voice-over: As a home cook, I like to showcase Southern cooking.

Both my grandmother and my mother were rock solid in their traditions, and I think that there's a lot of complexity to Southern food.

I've been making this for about 30 years.

My family tells me it's that good, so I'll believe them.

Fran, voice-over: My cream sauce has garlic, butter, horseradish, Dijon mustard, and some lemon juice... ♪ Mm-hmm.

Nothing about that sucks.

Fran, voice-over: and then I leave it alone while I work on the rest.

Okey smokey.

Fran, voice-over: My fried okra is my mom's recipe.

I'm using egg wash and then flour, and then for my fried oysters, I'm using cornmeal as well as flour, so here's the tricky thing about timing.

And I've set up my dredging stations, but all the frying magic has to happen at the last minute.

You got to be brave and fry it all at the end.

45 minutes, cooks.

45 minutes.

I can do this.

Time is going by.

Ha ha!

♪ Ooh, these onions are getting me.

Brie, voice-over: I'm Brie Jamieson.

I'm 36 years old.

I am from Great Falls, Montana, and I'm a teacher aide in the Great Falls Public schools.

Today, I'm making Jamaican brown stew chicken with white rice.

Brie, voice-over: This is my perfect dish because my culinary style is very Caribbean.

I am half Belizean, half Jamaican.

Also gonna cut some green onion because my husband and I love onions.

Brie, voice-over: My husband's been in the United States Air Force for almost 17 years now, so me and my kids have lived in multiple places, and cooking is the way I keep our Caribbean culture alive for my family.

Normally, I use bone-in chicken, but I switched it up because bone-in chicken takes much longer to cook.

Brie, voice-over: I'm seasoning 5 fillets with Jamaican seasoning, allspice, smoked paprika.

I use maple syrup instead of the standard brown sugar.

Brie, voice-over: It just adds a complexity.

Scotch bonnet is going in for the spice, love the colors.

Brie, voice-over: I want to win because I want to represent military spouses and highlight Caribbean dishes that made me who I am, and, as I like to tell people, flavor is king.

Got some rice.

♪ Derry: There are pig ears over there.

Lam: Yes, pig ears.

Derry: I'm happy.

I'm very happy about this.

Man: These are the pork cheeks, pork ears, pork face, and pork belly.

It's pretty hot, but it's competition.

I got it.

Ha ha!

Rex, voice-over: I'm Rex Alba.

I'm 46 years old.

I'm a physical therapist.

I grew up in the Philippines and now live in Columbus, Ohio.

Today I'm making dinuguan.

It's pork blood stew with putong bigas.

It's steamed rice cake.

I'm 100% Filipino, and I moved here in the U.S. when I was 28 with my wife, so my style of cooking is mostly Filipino cuisine.

So those are fresh pork blood.

Rex, voice-over: Pork blood stew is a classic Filipino dish.

It's a little tangy, a little sour, and if you try it, you'll love it.

Back home in the Philippines, they are pretty dry, and some people prefer it, but mine, I like it silky.

For the putong bigas, I'm mixing in coconut milk, jasmine rice, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

OK. Now we're ready to blend it--oops-- if I can find the lid.

OK. Rex, voice-over: Once the grain has been pureed, it's ready to go in the steamer.

We want this to open up like a flower.

Rex, voice-over: My mom taught me how to cook, but in 2004, my mom died, so every time I cook Filipino food like this, I think of my mom, and I really want to win this competition for her.

So this is the consistency you want.

Oop, can't forget some olive oil.

Oh, some regular oil.

My name is Carlos Tiburcio.

I'm 29 years old.

I grew up in Cupey, Puerto Rico, and I currently live in Aurora, Colorado, and I'm a recruiter in the Army.

I'm a staff sergeant.

I'm making a fricasé de pollo con arroz blanco.

Carlos, voice-over: A fricasé de pollo, is chicken stew with rice, and it's one of the staples of Puerto Rican cuisine.

This is a dish that my grandma taught it to my mom.

My mom taught it to me, and now I, you know, teach it to my kids.

I love cooking Puerto Rican food because Puerto Rico, for me, is home.

I was raised by my mom and my grandparents, so my recipes represent generations of culture in Puerto Rico.

Look at this.

Look at this.

Look at this.

Ooh.

Carlos, voice-over: After seasoning the chicken thighs and drums with the sazon and the adobo, I start browning out the chicken.

Ramos: Carlos is making a fricasé de pollo, which is a Puerto Rican stewed chicken dish, which, you know, makes me happy.

Lam: For sure.

It's a very traditional dish.

Is it gonna be like a braised dish?

Ramos: Yes, but you want that chicken crispy first.

Carlos, voice-over: Next, I add potatoes and carrots with some chicken stock, and I begin bringing that to a boil.

I need more heat.

Carlos, voice-over: I want to win so badly because I don't know if a lot of people know how good Puerto Rican food is, and I'm here to show everybody that we are not to be underestimated.

Ramos: 30 minutes, everyone.

Ooh!

All right.

Oh, my gosh.

Fran, how you holding up?

You got it?

I got it.

Mm, nice fragrance.

Anoke, voice-over: I'm Anika Chaudhry.

I am... [Whispers] 54 years old.

I'm originally from Bangladesh, and I now live in New York City, and I am a consultant in digital transformation.

I'm making Bangladeshi chicken curry.

I learned how to perfect the technique from my dad before he passed away.

As a home cook, my biggest inspirations were my parents and my grandmothers.

My recipes represent my family, my heritage, and nothing signifies home for me like chicken curry.

Bangladeshi curries taste different from Indian curries.

They are a bit lighter.

Anika, voice-over: For the sauce, I'm using turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, and Kashmiri chili powder.

Let's see.

Mm.

Hi, Anika.

Can I come join you?

Hey there.

Hi.

Yes.

Of course.

Nice to meet you.

So tell me about this.

Everyone's chicken curry is a little bit different.

I want it just like the way my mom and dad made it... Yeah.

so after my mom passed away, when my dad was here visiting, so I'm like, "Will you just show me how you made it?"

And I watched him make it, and this is literally his process.

Tell me what you think.

Oh, my God, the spices are beautiful, but they're not, like, overpowering.

Exactly, and we do a technique called koshano.

You stir the raw spices, and you keep adding a little bit of water until the water gets absorbed, and you add a little bit more till the smell of raw spices goes away.

The spices are, like, fully cooked... Yeah.

fully infused into the sauce.

That's how you develop the flavor there.

Oh, that's such a cool technique.

I've never heard of that.

Yeah.

It's a very Bengali technique.

Is the salt level the way you like it?

I mean, what do you think?

My tip for you is... Add a little bit more?

we like salt.

OK.

I'll add a little bit more.

but it's gonna be delicious.

Thank you.

It's so nice to meet you.

Thank you so much for that.

See you later.

Yes.

♪ Ramos: It is smelling good out there.

Lam: Yeah, it is.

I am ready to eat.

[Laughter] Ramos: This is the home cooks' first time cooking for you.

That's a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

I think the first cook is very intimidating.

You're cooking in a new kitchen.

Everything feels a little bit different, but I think it's important to sort of find that grounding early on and cook your food.

Hollingsworth: I feel like this is one of those hard moments where you don't know who you're cooking for, but you're about to find out.

Yeah, you are.

Oh.

[Laughter] Um, I think it's looking good.

Waigal, voice-over: My lawand is simmering away, so once my rice is done, I add some saffron and butter to a portion of the rice.

Who doesn't want extra butter in their rice?

Lam: You have 7 minutes left.

What?

My golly.

Gonna let that cook, get a little bit more brown.

Our fresh putong bigas is ready.

I'm using a toothpick method, so I'm just gonna dip this here, make sure nothing sticks.

Looks good.

Looks good.

♪ OK.

In the South, we have a particular trick for making fried okra, is to put it in a paper bag and then shake it up.

Well, hello there.

Well, hello there.

I see okra.

I love a brown-bag shake.

For the okra, I'm just gonna use flour, and it lends a nice little crispiness.

Do you put any vinegar or anything else in there?

No.

Should I do a little vinegar?

A little bit of vinegar can take out some of that sliminess that most people don't love.

Oh, thank you, madam.

Fran, voice-over: Now I really have to do this right.

♪ OK. ♪ In Puerto Rico, we love our avocado slices.

♪ These are my beautiful garnishes.

♪ That didn't go good.

I'm just making a mess.

Derry: Coby, watch your time.

Coby: Yes, ma'am.

Coby, voice-over: The most difficult thing is the eggs.

You don't want it runny.

You want it nice and fluffy.

Cheese...please.

Derry: One minute, guys, one minute.

I still have one to make.

It's gonna take me every bit of that.

The funny thing about oysters is that it's all in the flash-fry.

I have rose petals.

It's literally gonna add a pop of color.

♪ Ramos and judges: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Time's up.

Yay.

Whoo!

One down.

One down, a thousand more to go.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

♪ Ramos: Cooks, we gave you one hour to prepare your perfect dish for our judges.

First up--Coby.

Come join us.

Coby: I made a boudin omelette.

It's my perfect dish because the first thing I ever learned to cook was eggs.

♪ Well, Coby, I got to say, you know, these andouille sausage just kind of look a little odd, but the omelette is beautifully filled.

You brought an amazing boudin.

It's meaty but a little sweet, too.

I could eat this all day long.

Thank you, Chef.

I have to agree with Francis.

I mean, the egg itself, it's not overcooked, and I think you really let the dish shine.

Thank you, Chef.

All right, Rex.

Lam: Hey, Rex.

Today I made pork dinuguan and putong bigas.

Since I'm a Filipino, we don't waste any part of the meat back home, and I really want to show what Filipinos are made of.

I love that.

Hollingsworth: You have to be very careful when you're cooking blood because it can get grainy, and this texture is, like, super silky smooth, and it's great.

Derry: I agree.

It is delicious, and the rice cake was something very special.

It's still creamy.

It's soft.

And you can taste the coconut in it.

It's just a little sweetness.

Yeah, in the rice.

I will never forget this.

Oh, thanks.

Ha ha!

Fran, come join us.

Fran: I made fried okra, fried oysters, and a horseradish cream reduction.

Ramos: Whoo!

OK. Lam: Ooh, OK.

This is what my friends and family request every time it's in season.

Derry: You were really smart.

You know, I don't see a lot of, like, flour-dredged-only okra.

It's really delicious.

You don't get what people are often scared of with okra, which is, like, the mucus feel inside of it.

It is perfect inside.

Oh, good.

Lam: And this is just about one of the best fried oysters I've ever had in terms of the execution.

Thank you.

The texture is stunning, and the sauce, it's beautifully balanced.

Oh, good.

Thank you, Chef.

Thank you.

Suwanee.

♪ Suwanee: I made for you today kanom jeen nam ya, or Thai fish curry.

I came to the U.S. when I was 13, and this was one of the dishes I missed the most from Thailand.

Derry: You just did a delicious job.

The broth, the liquid, and everything with the coconut, it's just so good.

Thank you so much.

Hollingsworth: I agree, but, unfortunately, I do have some fish bones...

I was worried about that.

but other than that, it's an excellent dish.

Thank you so much.

Carlos, come join us.

Carlos: I made fricasé de pollo con arroz blanco, or a chicken fricassee with rice.

This is a plate that was passed down generations.

My grandma gave it to my mom.

Mom gave it to me.

Ramos: You know, when I found out there was gonna be a fellow Puerto Rican here... Yep.

That's cheating.

No me falles.

Ha ha!

Yeah, yeah.

Ha ha!

Hollingsworth: Carlos, this really reminds me of something that I would cook for my kids or my family.

It's just so homey.

I think the chicken is cooked really well.

Lam: I totally agree.

You concentrated the flavor of the chicken really, really nicely, but the first step, the fricassee, is typically you brown the chicken pretty well, so it does make me wonder what it would taste like if you had gotten that chicken as brown as you wanted it.

Right.

I'm happy so far, so gracias.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Waigal.

Hey there.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Waigal: I made lawand ba zereshk palow.

It's chicken that's braised in turmeric yogurt with basmati rice.

I know that it's a royal dish.

I thought, "Who better to make it for than culinary royalty?"

OK. Ah.

Derry: I like it.

Flattery.

The winner of the "Great American Recipe," season 4... [Laughter and applause] The chicken was so tender, and the yogurt sauce and all the flavor, it's just...wow.

Lam: I got to say, this rice is perfectly cooked...

Thank you.

and these barberries are so sour...

Yes.

but a little sweet.

I mean, this is heaven.

Thank you so much.

Brie, come join us.

Brie: Hello.

Hi.

Hi.

Brie: I made Jamaican brown stew chicken with rice.

This is one of the first Jamaican dishes I learned how to make.

You have a lot of flavor in here.

There's a lot of warm spices.

There's a little bit of a kick.

I think you used a Scotch bonnet over there-- Scotch bonnet, yes.

did I see one?-- right, yeah, and it balances really well with, like, the sweetness of the bell pepper.

Thank you.

Derry: Yeah.

I agree, Brie.

There's a lot of flavor going on, but you used chicken thighs here?

Yes.

They're a little dry, but I think overall, this is very good, and I really feel like we're getting to know who you are on the plate.

Thank you.

Anika, come join us.

Anika: I made for you Bangladeshi chicken curry.

I grew up in Bangladesh, and when I came to the U.S., one of the first dishes I really wanted to learn because I missed it was chicken curry.

Derry: This tastes very different from any other curry I've ever had.

The beauty here is the spices that we're getting.

Hollingsworth: Yeah.

I agree.

I love the depth of the flavor that you have here, but the chicken itself got a little bit overcooked, and the potato didn't get cooked enough, but overall, the flavor is really good.

Thank you.

Anika, voice-over: I want to represent Bangladeshi cuisine to America, and there really is no room for failure.

Now I just have to do my absolute, absolute, absolute best, so I need to deliver the next round.

♪ Cooks, we asked you to prepare your perfect meal to introduce yourselves to us.

There were so many wonderful dishes, but the judges would like to recognize the top two dishes of the round.

The first dish that really impressed us was... ♪ Waigal with your turmeric braised chicken.

Thank you.

Derry: The saffron rice was perfectly cooked, and the turmeric braised chicken had so much depth of flavor, it was delicious.

Thank you.

Nooshe jan.

It means, "May it nourish your soul."

Oh, wow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just can't really believe it.

I mean, I love this dish, so to see that they love it just as much as I do is the best feeling.

I'm excited to show them more of what my cuisine has to offer.

Lam: And our other favorite dish of the round was... Rex... Oh... with your pork blood dinuguan.

Oh, thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Your dinuguan was probably the best pork blood stew I've ever had, and the fact that you casually make this rice cake that Tiffany is ready to steal for her restaurant...

It's on the menu tonight, Chef.

Lam: really incredible way to introduce yourself to us.

Thank you so much.

This means a lot to me.

Thank you so much, judges.

I'm just feeling ecstatic.

I really did my part showing what Filipino cuisine is, and that's the purpose of why I'm competing on this competition.

Thank you for that delicious first round, cooks.

We're excited to see what you serve up next.

[Birds chirping] ♪ Your first-round dishes told us more about who you are.

Now we want to learn more about where you live and the delicious food from your region of the country, but we decided we could use a little help from a friendly face all the way from New York.

Home cooks, please welcome Al Roker to the kitchen.

What?

Ramos: Ha ha ha!

Ha!

Whoo-hoo.

Ramos: Hey, Al.

Roker: Hello, hello.

It's so great to be here.

As the creator and executive producer of the new PBS Kids series "Weather Hunters," it's so nice to have a member of the PBS family here with us on the "Great American Recipe."

Hollingsworth: Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's so great to be here because I love cooking.

It brings people together, so this is gonna be great.

Ramos: All right.

Let's get to it.

For this challenge, home cooks, you'll have 60 minutes to prepare a dish that spotlights the region of the country that you call home.

Remember, your dishes will be judged on taste, presentation, execution, and how well you captured the theme.

Good luck, everyone.

Your 60 minutes starts...now!

[Cheering and applause] [Speaks indistinct Spanish] All right.

Let's do it.

Let's go.

Al, thanks so much for joining us.

Oh, I am so thrilled to be here.

This is so exciting, Ramos: So today we've asked the home cooks to prepare a dish that represents where they live.

What do you want to see from this dish?

Roker: For me, I just want to see what they feel is the best of their region.

Lam: Yeah.

I agree, and we have some cooks who are multiple generations deep from where they're from... Sure.

and we have many cooks who are immigrants to our country.

Ramos: And I think that's kind of the hallmark of American home cooking, right?

You just have this beautiful amalgamation of flavors.

Roker: And I love when you can get "amalgamation" into a sentence.

I love an amalgamation.

Mm!

Ha ha ha!

♪ I'm very excited that Al Roker is here.

All right.

I am from the Northeast region, and I live in New York City.

I'm making phuchka with New York egg cream.

Phuchka is a Bangladeshi street food.

It's a shell made of semolina, and it's filled with stuffing and multiple toppings, and you pop the whole thing in your mouth.

I have tamarind paste in here.

Traditionally, phuchka has tamarind sauce.

Phuchkas have become very popular in New York, so it's a perfect blend of my home country and my adopted country.

Anika, voice-over: And then for the stuffing, I combined boiled potatoes and garbanzo beans with cumin and coriander.

Roker: Well, hello, Anika.

Hi, Anika.

Hi, Al.

Great to meet a fellow New Yorker.

Yes.

Lam: This is a big responsibility for you.

How you feeling about the pressure?

It is.

I'm a little bit nervous.

Is there anybody you consulted?

I did tell my husband and my sister, and they were both like, "You have to go with the phuchka."

Anika, voice-over: My husband's name is Chuck.

We've been happily married for 22 years, so, you know, I really want to win for him.

Is it salty enough?

You want more salt?

Oh, I think a little more salt.

Yeah?

Lam: You're using black salt.

Yeah, so that gives it the classic phuchka taste.

Have you tried this before?

I've never tried it.

It's a really interesting ingredient.

Try just a tiny bit.

It's gonna be very intense.

Oh, wow.

Right?

It's almost, like, sulfurous.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

That's really cool.

Yeah.

Hopefully, you guys will like it.

Lam: Good luck, Anika.

Thank you.

Roker: We're all counting on you.

Fingers crossed.

Al Roker came and tasted my food?

Oh, my God.

♪ Trying to hurry up and get these potatoes peeled.

♪ Can someone roll up my sleeves?

Waigal, voice-over: Being the top dish in the first round was amazing, but I don't want it to decline from here, so let's see what happens.

Time to win again.

I'm from the West Coast, and I live in San Diego, California.

I'm making sumac steak tacos topped with a Calabrian crema.

Being in San Diego has definitely influenced my cooking.

Where I live is 40 minutes from the Mexican border.

This represents San Diego because you can't go anywhere without seeing a taco shop.

Waigal, voice-over: For my steak marinade, I'm using cumin, coriander, sumac.

And I'm using yogurt in the marinade, which is very Middle Eastern and Afghan.

♪ Mm.

I really want this marinade to flavor the steak, but I'm worried about the short amount of time.

Mm-hmm.

♪ Hello, Waigal.

How are you?

Hello.

Good.

How are you?

Good.

Ooh, it's smelling good over here.

Yeah.

I think I'm a little behind... OK. because I wasn't expecting my marinade to take so long.

All right, Waigal.

I'm gonna show you how to vacuum-seal your meat, and then you only need, like, 5 minutes marinating, so let's get it in here.

Be careful with the sides that way because you need it to seal.

I'm so grateful Tiffany is helping me.

Oh, my God, you're getting dirty with me.

I love it.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

Waigal, voice-over: There's a lot for me to do, so I could really use any extra help.

All we do is line it up here.

Oh, perfect.

And now you can go finish doing something else until this is done.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Good luck.

♪ All right, Montana.

I'm doing your favorite-- some potatoes and some beef.

I am from the Rockies, and I live in Great Falls, Montana.

I'm making an Angus beef burger with a fried egg and breakfast potatoes on the side.

Brie, voice-over: This dish is hard to execute just because there's so many pieces.

Try and not overcrowd so that it cooks.

Brie, voice-over: I need to make sure the potatoes bake as long as possible... Get both of these fit up here.

Brie, voice-over: and I'm also going to cook bacon.

Uh, don't know if I'm gonna have enough room.

I might have to turn that one, make this one fit.

All right.

I need to get my seasoning.

There we go.

Brie, voice-over: Living in Montana has definitely influenced my food because there's so many cows, there's so many farmers, so I make burgers often for my family, and my husband loves a fried egg on a burger, so this is for the Rockies while also representing my actual family, and I really want to bring my A game.

Who doesn't love a good burger?

♪ Coby: All I have right here is onions and bell pepper, just kind of the base.

I'm from the Gulf Coast, and I live in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The Gulf Coast is very influential in my cooking for the simple reason that Louisiana has the best food on the planet.

I'm making crawfish étouffée with a little corn maque choux on the side.

This is a dish I probably made, ooh, a hundred times.

Crawfish étouffée is crawfish smothered in gravy.

Corn looking nice and roasted right here.

Corn maque choux is corn with stewed tomatoes, onions, chili peppers.

I like roasting corn a little bit, kind of get that char flavor.

All right, cut this down a little bit.

Derry: Coby!

Yes, ma'am.

What's happening?

I see something right here...

Yes, ma'am.

and I grew up with this thing.

This is my grandmother's pot.

It was passed down to me, not to my mom.

Oh, OK. Me and my grandmother were like this, but I'll let you know.

I'm seeing a favorite.

I'm seeing because I didn't get mine.

It went to my mama.

You have to wait?

I have to wait.

Coby: My grandmother was probably one of the best cooks on the planet, and I feel lucky enough to inherit that aluminum pot that's been in our family for, Lord, I don't even know how many years.

So one thing we want to be careful of is, don't overcook that crawfish, right... OK. and bring the flavor.

You are representing all of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.

Ooh, I know.

I'm kind of nervous about that.

That's a heavy pressure.

Do us proud.

I'm kind of nervous about that.

Ha ha ha!

Best of luck, Coby.

Thank you, ma'am.

Ramos: 40 minutes left.

How many minutes?

Cook.

Cook like the wind.

Whoo!

Come on, guys.

I was a top dish in the first round, so I'm feeling confident.

Let's do this.

I'm from the Midwest, and I live in Columbus, Ohio.

So this is a little sweeter than your normal spaghetti sauce.

Rex, voice-over: I'm making Cincinnati chili with a Coney dog.

The first time I had chili was when my wife and I moved to Ohio because my wife got a job as a nurse.

We've been there for 19 years, and I love it there.

When we first moved here in the U.S., we found this spot in Cincinnati where they serve spaghetti and cheese dogs, and it's close to my heart.

Rex, voice-over: So I am making 3-way chili, which means it's just spaghetti, cheese, and a ground beef sauce.

I'm gonna make a Filipino spin, so I'm gonna be using cacao.

Rex, voice-over: The Filipino cacao powder, it's a little more bitter than your usual cacao powder and very rich.

Now, this is the fun part.

Next, I add my meat from the pressure cooker and use the hand blender to really let it be part of the sauce.

♪ Now I'm gonna have my hot dogs ready.

♪ Rex, how we looking?

Good, very good, Chef.

Tell me about these hot dogs here.

It's Filipino hot dogs, so it's a combination of beef and pork.

Spices in there, or...?

Not much, but... Kind of clean?

I mean, it's very clean and very juicy.

I like the fact that you're doing something from your region, but you're also bringing in something that's you and your heritage, you know?

Yes.

The one thing for me is, I think I would add the chili sauce nice and last-minute.

That way, it heats up the noodles again, but everything's looking like it's coming out great.

I can't wait to try it.

Thank you.

♪ I'm doing math in my head.

That's always fun.

Fran, voice-over: I'm from the South Atlantic region, and I live in Durham, North Carolina.

♪ I am making shrimp and grits because in the Southern Atlantic, that is a staple.

Everyone's shrimp and grits is different, and I like making it with a little twist.

I'm using blue corn grits because they have a more nutty flavor.

Fran, voice-over: Like a lot of recipes from the South Atlantic, I need bacon.

Fran, your bacon smells delicious.

Thank you.

There's nothing that smells better than bacon.

As far as the gravy is concerned, what I do is a white wine reduction, and I'm using mushrooms and onions and peppers.

Shrimp and grits is important in North Carolina, and also, this is reminding me of our summers at the beach.

When I was little, we would always have a beach trip off the coast of North Carolina, and I'm so excited to share the cooking of the South Atlantic.

Are you playing nicely?

Oh, you're playing so nicely.

Brie: Now what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna saute peppers and onions before the potatoes can join them in there.

We've got cooks from all over the country.

We've got folks representing the Northeast, the Gulf Coast, the Rockies.

Roker: You're doing a forecast.

I am.

I'm doing the forecast.

We've got a chilly front coming in.

Can we get a little, uh, drumroll here?

We're here till Thursday.

Try the veal.

What makes my mashed potatoes so special is that I put a little bit of crema Mexicana.

It really gives it a little more texture.

I am from the Rockies, and I live in Aurora, Colorado.

I'm making some bison ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Carlos, voice-over: Bison is iconic in the Rockies, especially in Colorado.

As you can imagine, we don't have bison in Puerto Rico, and I'm hoping to give the judges the same experience I had when I tried it for the first time.

Carlos, voice-over: I love living in Colorado.

Me and my family love the great outdoors.

You know, you got the mountains.

You got the trails and all that.

It's very exciting to be there.

Whoo.

That's where it's at.

Yes, sir.

It's leaner, so I don't want to overcook them.

What we want is a nice sear, and in the inside, you know, almost like it melts in your mouth.

Carlos, voice-over: I'm very excited to be representing the Rockies, so I'ma give it my all.

Ooh, hoo hoo!

Look at that, guys.

Ooh, we got a steak over there.

Roker: I'm here for the steak.

Ramos: You're here for everything, Al.

I am here for everything, but I'm particularly here for the steak.

♪ I want to make sure the salmon fillets are as dry as possible.

I am from the Pacific Northwest, and I live in Spokane, Washington.

I'm making pan-seared salmon with huckleberry sauce.

Because of our close proximity to the coast, we have a lot of salmon.

Suwanee, voice-over: I want the skin of the salmon to be crispy and the meat to be flaky and just perfect.

So we have a lot of huckleberries in the Pacific Northwest, and I want the sauce to be the star of the show.

Huckleberries are tart.

They're sweet and just special berries.

My kids love picking huckleberries on the mountainside in the late summer.

♪ Wow.

I want to drink this whole thing, it's so good.

I love living in the Pacific Northwest.

I feel like I'm so lucky, and I want to make my region proud.

OK.

I'm gonna reduce the heat just a bit for these guys.

Ramos: 15 minutes left.

♪ Just want to make sure you have enough room for the pasta to dance.

Hey, Coby, I'm putting a little heat in my grits.

Say a prayer for me.

Coby: You got it.

We tasting?

Yeah.

Tell me if it's too much salt, and I'm going to need more heat.

I know you.

I'm gonna need more heat.

That's good.

It's a little mild, isn't it?

You want some Cajun seasoning?

No.

I'm not brave enough.

I think it's a good flavor right there.

I want you to make sure you do it your way and not my way.

We're fellow Southerners, so-- Absolutely.

I got you.

OK.

Thank you so much, Coby.

Now I need to do the shrimp.

I just want the shrimp to be sauteed.

OK.

There we go.

Keep the salmon hot for a little bit.

♪ Oh, my God, I'm freaking out.

I need to get my steak done.

Waigal, voice-over: It feels so rushed with time because there are so many components and moving parts in this taco.

OK. ♪ Ramos: All right, everyone, 5 minutes.

Coby: Now the barometric pressure is getting pretty high in here there, Mr. Al.

What you know?

Roker: I see what you did there, Coby.

I "garontee" I appreciate it.

All right.

♪ [Sizzling] ♪ We're gonna add some brown sugar to the asparagus to give it that contrast between sweet and salty.

These are my phuchka shells, and the stuffing and the topping go in those shells.

I still have to do my egg cream.

The New York egg cream consists of chocolate syrup, very cold whole milk, and very cold seltzer water.

Ramos: I love egg creams.

Oh, my gosh, there's no egg.

There's no cream.

It's fantastic.

It's perfect.

It's completely false advertising, and yet people love it.

All right, cooks!

It's the final minute.

♪ Hoo!

OK, plating time.

OK, on there.

♪ All right.

Let's do this.

30 seconds left, everyone.

Oh, boy.

♪ You want the classic fizziness.

Where's my tongs?

Fran: This is it.

This is the big deal.

Carlos: I mean, I don't know how to plate, but, hey, it don't look terrible.

Ramos: 10, 9, 8... 7, 6, 5... 4, 3... 2, 1.

Time's up!

Lam: Yeah.

There you go.

Whoo hoo hoo!

OK. Ha ha ha!

Whew!

♪ Ramos: Today we challenged you to wow us with your first taste, getting to know more about your backstory and your current life as a home cook.

I am so looking forward to taste these dishes because watching you guys work was spectacular.

Ramos: First up-- Anika, come join us.

Hi.

Hi, Anika.

So today I'm representing the Northeast region.

I made phuchka paired with New York egg cream.

♪ Roker: I'll tell you, Anika, the egg cream is spot on...

Thank you.

and the phuchka is almost like a Bangladeshi version of a knish I grew up eating in Brooklyn, so it's really tasty.

Lam: I totally agree.

It's really delicious and the tamarind is just so good.

I love this.

Thank you.

All right, Fran.

You're up.

Hey, Fran.

Hey.

I represent the South Atlantic, and I made shrimp and grits.

♪ Roker: I think you get extra points for including bacon...

Yes!

Good.

which is great, and then I really like the sauce, but I think the shrimp is just a tad... maybe tough, but, that said, the flavors are really terrific.

Thank you.

Derry: I would agree with Al.

The shrimp is a little overcooked, but I think this is a really nice spin versus what I'm used to having, and I think the blue corn definitely brings a little more of a complex flavor.

It's very delicious.

Yay.

Rex.

Rex: I'm representing the Midwest region, so today I made Cincinnati chili with a side of Coney dog.

♪ Roker: I used to live in Ohio, so I knew about chili 3-way, but I've never had pasta with a side of hot dog before, so it's like a party in your mouth going on.

I really like it.

Hollingsworth: Yeah, and I think that the flavors are really interesting because it tastes like a little chocolate...

Yes.

but I do wish that the sauce was a little bit thicker and a lot hardier.

Thank you.

Coby, come join us.

Bonjour.

I represent the Gulf Coast, and I made today crawfish étouffée with a corn maque choux.

♪ Roker: This kind of reminds me if my mom had gotten a little crazy with the spices.

It's really good, and if you put it all together on one spoon, it's this great little medley.

Lam: I agree, and with the maque choux, you charred the corn.

That flavor comes out really nicely, but it also just got a little bit toasted to the point where it made it kind of, like, chewy and tough, and I think controlling those little details is something you can play with.

Yes, sir.

Suwanee.

Hello.

I'm representing the Pacific Northwest, and I made pan-seared salmon with huckleberry sauce.

♪ Lam: The sauce is so tasty.

It's sweet from the berries, and the coconut milk gives a richness.

Roker: I don't think I've ever had huckleberry before... Oh, fantastic.

but this sauce, it sings.

Derry: Suwanee, I agree.

That sauce is delicious, but the salmon was a little dry, and my skin wasn't crispy.

OK, OK. Carlos.

♪ Lam: Hi, Carlos.

I'm representing the Rockies, so what I made today was a bison ribeye with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

♪ Roker: I love asparagus, and you've cooked it just right.

I think that bison is cooked perfectly, but I'd like some more seasoning on this.

OK. Lam: I totally agree with Al.

I also think the potatoes are really nice, but I think it's a very straightforward dish.

I would like a kind of sauce or something to really bring your style, your personality to it.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Brie, come join us.

♪ I am representing the Rockies, and I made an Angus beef burger with fried egg and breakfast potatoes.

♪ Roker: Your potatoes are, like, diner-worthy potatoes.

Thank you.

If I got this on a plate when I went into a good greasy-spoon, I would be thrilled.

Derry: I agree.

The potatoes are excellent, and I think the burger is cooked nicely, but you broke a lot of the yolks, and we use that.

It's almost like an extra sauce, so just be careful.

Thank you.

Waigal.

♪ Waigal: I'm representing the West Coast, and I made a sumac steak taco with a Calabrian crema.

♪ It's really terrific.

It's a fresh take on a taco, and I love the Calabrian crema.

Hollingsworth: Yeah.

I agree.

I really like the fusion you have between the different cultures here.

You have all of these great spices, but I do wish that the meat had a little bit more caramelization on it.

It's cooked well.

Just a little bit more char would be great.

Totally.

Thank you.

I'm a bit disappointed because I've made steak taco so much and it always has a beautiful char, but I feel like the taste was on point.

♪ All right.

Let's dive in and talk about our favorite dishes of the round.

What are your thoughts?

Lam: I want to bring up Anika because the phuchka, it was really cool in the sense of bringing a traditional Bangladeshi street food that you also find in New York City, and, boy, did it taste good.

Roker: Absolutely, and the egg cream, you know, you had the chocolate syrup, but then there was a little extra syrup at the bottom, so it's like the dessert on the dessert.

That was terrific.

You know, one of my other favorite dishes from the round was Fran with her shrimp and grits.

The blue grits were really nice and creamy.

Roker: Yeah.

The sauce was really good, too.

The sauce was so good... And Fran really did represent her region.

Hollingsworth: but unfortunately, the shrimp was just, like, a little bit overcooked, right?

Derry: But, I mean-- gosh darn it--it was good.

It was good.

Derry: One of my favorites of the round was Waigal's sumac ribeye tacos.

The beef just wasn't seared right, but there was so much flavor, and when you got a perfect bite, it was delicious.

It was tasty, yeah, for sure.

Ramos: We had so many amazing dishes today, but we did also have a couple that failed to hit the mark.

Which ones had a bit of a struggle?

Derry: For me, Carlos.

He did that bison ribeye with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Roker: You know, I liked it, but I just felt it was kind of bland.

Yeah.

Well, let's talk about Suwanee's salmon.

Lam: I thought the huckleberry sauce was kind of magical, and the cook on the salmon skin was excellent.

Mine was crunchy, crackly, like a chip.

Hollingsworth: My skin wasn't as crispy as your guys' skin.

Derry: Yeah, and the salmon was very dry for me.

Yeah.

My salmon was definitely overcooked, unfortunately.

But, boy, that sauce was good.

Yeah.

Ha ha!

Lam: I've never tasted a sauce like that before.

Hollingsworth: You know, another dish that really didn't quite, like, make the mark for me was Rex's Cincinnati chili.

He had this sauce that had a lot of depth, but it also felt a little bit loose.

Derry: Yeah.

It just seems like it could have taken a little texture.

That would have been good.

That would have been good.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, it sounds like you've all come to an agreement.

OK, then.

Let's bring back the home cooks.

[Birds chirping] ♪ Ramos: We asked you to prepare a dish that best represents your part of the country.

As a reminder, the judges are tracking your performance and growth from week to week in order to determine which three of you make it to the finale, but this week, no one is going home.

That way, we can get to know you even more through your recipes.

All right.

Before we get to the top dishes of this round, the judges did feel that there were a couple of dishes that had some room for improvement.

The first dish that we thought had some room for improvement was Carlos with your bison ribeye with mashed potatoes.

I was expecting that.

We love the fact that you really represented where you're from by using the bison front and center on the plate, but we wish you would have added a little bit more of yourself and fell a little flat with not having enough seasoning.

OK.

The other dish that didn't really hit the mark for us today was Suwanee with your salmon and huckleberry sauce.

Unfortunately, the cook on the salmon was a little bit inconsistent.

Mm.

Roker: But, Suwanee, I just want to tell you that I just want to get a big pool of that huckleberry sauce and jump in.

[Laughter] Ramos: All right, so let's move to our top two dishes.

♪ The first dish that blew us away this week was... Anika with your phuchka and egg cream.

Oh, my gosh.

Lam: We loved your interpretation of the challenge.

The phuchka was just a delightful bite.

The egg cream was so good.

It was just a wonderful plate.

Thank you so much.

Derry: Our other favorite dish of the round was... ♪ Fran with your shrimp and grits.

Yes, you, Fran.

Ha ha ha!

Fran, we loved the dish.

It was bright.

It was different.

The shrimp was a little overcooked, but--you know what?-- we got past that because it was just so darn good.

Thank you.

Ramos: Great job, you two, but there can only be one top dish.

The winning dish was... Anika's.

[Cheering and applause] Roker: Congratulations.

I got to tell you, Anika, the phuchka was so perfect, and, again, the egg cream was dynamite.

You nailed it on all counts.

Dhan'yabada.

I'm super excited that this particular recipe did so well because I'm so proud to be a New Yorker and to be Bangladeshi.

Ramos: Thanks again for such a wonderful introduction to yourselves through your recipes, and please join me in thanking our very special guest Al Roker for joining us in this round.

Thank you, Al.

Roker: Thank you.

Thank you.

I have just had a blast being here with you guys.

It's been terrific, and I wish you all the best on your path to the finale.

Thank you.

Coby: Thank you, and good weather from here on out.

[Laughter] Ramos: We'll see you soon for more of your great American recipes.

Bye, everyone.

Derry: Bye, y'all.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

You did it.

[Indistinct conversation] [Birds chirping] Ramos: Next time on the "Great American Recipe"...

It's holiday time.

Whoo!

It's fiesta.

Waigal, voice-over: When you think of Thanksgiving harvest, you think of squash, so I'm making this classic Afghan dish.

Carlos, voice-over: Food is such a big part of so many holidays in Puerto Rico.

Ooh, that's purty.

Lam: Imagine that on a Thanksgiving table.

Derry: I did on my Thanksgiving table.

Coby: Happy holidays.

Hollingsworth: Our favorite dish of the round was... ♪ [Pen scratches]