Pitmasters Episode 2: Recipes We Cooked

Two episodes into Food Network’s new competition series Pitmasters, and we’re already running on no sleep and pure adrenaline.

After landing on the bottom in the premiere with my teammate Susie Bulloch of Hey Grill Hey, episode 2 threw us into a nine-hour Big Burn that tested three live-fire techniques at once for four judges who don’t hold back (Andrew Zimmern, Big Moe Cason, Ernest Servantes, and Jess Pryles).

Here’s how Susie and I fought our way back from the bottom, and the best part is we’re sharing the recipes so you can make them at home.

The First Challenge: Regrouping

If you know me, you know I like to win. So being on the bottom on episode 1 was not where I wanted to be.

I knew to make it through today’s challenge, I had to get my head in the game.

But there wasn’t much time to regroup, because as soon as we found out we were safe, Andrew dropped the next Big Burn.

“Real live fire mastery is not just one trick. It’s cooking underground, direct fire, hanging above it,” he said. “For this big burn, guess what? You’re gonna use all three. Nine hours, three different live fire techniques.”

The Big Burn: Trifecta of Live Fire

Cooking on coals and hanging above the fire was no big deal for us. But burying something? That was going to be tough. We had to think quick on our feet.

We both had experience with Dutch oven cooking, so we agreed that was the perfect direction.

Usually when you cook with a cast iron Dutch oven, you place coals under the oven and on top of the lid. You use a certain number of coals based on the size of your pot and that helps regulate the internal temperature of the oven. But burying it is a different story.

Cooking Underground

Susie started digging the hole while I fed the fire and we decided that my recipe for osso buco would work well and would be very forgiving. The recipe is traditionally made with veal shanks, and at home I use beef shanks.

Those options weren’t in the pantry, so we grabbed some oxtail, because having the marrow is key for this dish. We also grabbed some chuck roast because it has more fat.

I seasoned and seared the beef, sautéed the veggies and added broth, red wine, olives and herbs. Then, we added coals to the pit. Placed the Dutch oven inside. And added more coals on top.

We covered it with dirt and hoped that it would work. Our biggest concern was whether or not our liquid would evaporate at such a high altitude.

Cooking on Coals

The second dish had to be cooked on the coals. When it comes to osso buco, I usually serve it with pasta or polenta, but I immediately realized that grilled gnocchi would be a perfect match to the challenge.

Gnocchi is a potato dumpling. You start by making mashed potatoes. Then you mix that with flour and an egg, shape it and boil the dumplings.

One of my favorite ways to make mashed potatoes is straight on the coals. It’s such an easy technique. You just throw the potatoes on hot coals and cook them to an internal temperature of 205-210F, flipping every now and then.

Then, you cool them in cold water and scoop out the soft tender inside.

Hanging over Fire

Susie had two great ideas for the hanging part of the challenge. One of our goals going into this is to always be prepared with a back-up plan, so she cooked both.

Her first recipe was swinging focaccia. This Italian bread is light and fluffy and flavored with rosemary and parmesan.

She made the dough and the bubbles were unreal. It rose beautifully. She placed the dough in a pan and set it on this little swing set we’d rigged up over fire.

To lock in some heat, she added another pan on top.

For the second hanging recipe, she made grilled Roman artichokes with lemon garlic aioli.

Let me just tell you, the attention to detail Susie put into trimming each artichoke heart was amazing. She pulled up a chair like a Nona and put love and care into each one.

Then, she strung them together like Christmas lights and hung them over the fire with fresh lemons.

The Flash Burn: BBQ Breakfast

We were feeling good, but hungry and tired. We noticed Max and Chris chose to tag team out and head back to the cabin to rest.

But I was so glad we didn’t. Just after the sun rose, Andrew and Ernest walked in with fresh pastries. I scarfed them down. It was just what I needed.

But that kindness came with a catch.

Andrew announced our next Flash Burn. We were given 45 minutes to create a BBQ breakfast with something smoked and a live fire element. The winner received $2,000.

Susie and I always laugh that in both of our households, German pancakes (AKA Dutch babies) are a Sunday regular, so I knew I wanted to go that direction. For the smoked element, Susie made jalapeno bacon pork breakfast sausage.

Usually, when I make these pancakes, I do it in an oven or grill, but we didn’t have our smoker burning since the Big Burn challenge was all over the coals. I thought no problem. I can cook this in a Dutch oven.

Slight problem. All of the Dutch ovens were massive. While I could have gone that route, I knew the presentation wouldn’t have been as pretty. So I grabbed the mini skillets.

I baked them on a grill grate over the coals, but they weren’t getting the rise I wanted, so I improvised and moved them directly under our brasero (fire cage). That worked. The heat from above started baking them.

I also made a quick batch of maple blueberry syrup to drizzle on top with lemon zest.

The feedback was great. Andrew immediately noticed the “lovely little skillets.” So I felt the decision to make individual pancakes was the right call.

Jess said the sausage was so well seasoned throughout. “It’s a gorgeous combo of sweet and savory,” she added. “This is a fun breakfast.”

Although we didn’t win the challenge, we loved the positive feedback and carried that through to finish the big burn.

The Save

It was getting close to turn-in time, and so it was time to uncover the osso buco to see how it turned out.

It was magical. So moist and juicy and tender. We were stoked. While Susie shredded the meat, I finished up the gnocchi.

But no cook on Pitmasters is foolproof. I had a heck of a time getting the water to boil over live fire. Just like I had a hard time getting the oil hot enough in episode one for the lumpia.

Because of that, the dumplings soaked up more water than I wanted. To bring their texture back, I gave them a quick pan fry in some olive oil. Then, I finished them with some butter, lemon zest, parmesan and fried sage.

Everything was ready. We plated our dishes. Then, we learned we had to take them to the judges up a hill in the middle of nowhere.

The Judging

When we got to the top of the hill, not only did I need to pause to catch my breath. But I paused to take in the moment.

Here I was standing with one of my best BBQ friends atop a picturesque hill in Utah about to serve four acclaimed chefs food that we’d never prepared this way before…all with no sleep.

They took a bite and Jess broke the silence. “The artichoke is a spectacular bite, because I can taste the flame,” she said. “I love that you started it up high over direct. I feel like we could be in the hills of Tuscany right now eating this, which is just gorgeous.”

We let out a huge sigh. This was the feedback we wanted to hear.

Big Moe went next. He admitted he didn’t have a lot of experience eating gnocchi, but felt it was a little greasy.

That knocked my emotions back down a bit, but I immediately knew it was from that flash fry combined with the brown butter.

Then Andrew chimed in and lifted our spirits back up.

“The red wine mirepoix vibes that are in here with the olive acid is really really nice,” he said.

“To do it underground, that’s smart because if you overcook it, it’s still gonna be great as long as it has moisture,” Ernest added.

We walked down the hill feeling good. But still nervous. Because each team presented to the judges separately, we had no idea how the other team’s dishes had turned out.

See What We Cook Up Next

Catch new episodes of Pitmasters live Mondays at 9/8c on Food Network, or streaming the next day on HBO Max. Make sure to stop by next week to see how we did in episode 3.

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Susie’s Recipes