Pitmasters Episode 3: Recipes We Cooked

Episode 3 of Food Network’s new competition series Pitmasters was so good y’all. It’s actually the first time I lost track of what day it was.

As episode 2 ended, the judges (Andrew Zimmern, Big Moe Cason, Ernest Servantes, and Jess Pryles) threw us a Flash Burn. It was already late, my teammate Susie Bulloch of Hey Grill Hey and I were tired, but it was go time!

Here’s what Susie and I cooked for the judges, and the best part is we’re sharing the recipes so you can make them at home.

The Flash Burn: Create a Vegetarian BBQ Dish

The sun was setting, and we were tired, but we were also relieved that we not only made it another day, but we weren’t in the bottom two this week.

That emotional high kicked us into gear as the judges announced that we had 60 minutes to prepare a dish that eats like the BBQ we all know and love that’s completely meat free.

The winning team would get immunity, which meant that they didn’t even have to cook the big burn. And if you’re not cooking, you could be sleeping. But there was a catch.

Whoever wins the big burn this week gets a huge advantage in the next round. So if you take the immunity, you don’t have a chance for the advantage. But if you do take it, you’re safe and rested.

Susie and I weren’t worried. We have dozens upon dozens of grilled vegetable recipes on our websites.

We immediately had a similar idea for our Vegetarian BBQ Dish. I make a grilled summer squash lasagna roll up covered in cheese, and Susie has a Grilled Summer Veggie Tart recipe with really similar components that rests atop ricotta cheese in a pastry tart.

She competed with her version at the American Royal and did really well, so we were locked in with that direction.

Susie ran to the pantry to look for piecrust, but no luck. So what did she do? She started making homemade piecrust from scratch on the fly to bake in the smoker.

While she did that, I shaved eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash and started grilling them to get them tender and charred.

With minutes left, we rolled up the veggies like a rose and rested them in the tart shells.

The judges had lots of positive feedback. Jess was impressed with the pastry dough cooked on the smoker. Big Moe said he loved the seasoning.

Andrew said it was a superb idea. “I think it’s a gorgeous cook on the vegetables,” he said. Ernest said it was just missing a little acid.

We felt great, but we didn’t take the top prize, so no rest or immunity for us.

The Big Burn: Live Fire Surf and Turf

We had to shake it off, and try to stay awake. The judges gave us 3 hours to cook one meat and one seafood both cooked over open fire.

This was the shortest Big Burn yet, but I was so excited because I knew exactly what seafood dish I wanted to make. I have been preparing poached fish in a coconut milk broth for more than 10 years.

It’s one of those dishes that people taste and can’t stop eating. The broth is rich, a little spicy, acidic and creamy.

Susie had the perfect dish to go with it: Thai beef waterfall salad. She loves this dish and gets it at Thai restaurants all the time…but she has never actually made it herself.

I wasn’t worried at all though. Susie knows flavors and she knows technique. We were both excited for this surf and turf pairing.

For the surf dish, we found a whole halibut in the pantry, which I broke down and tied to cedar planks. The key to cooking fish next to live fire is managing the heat. Place your hand by the fish. If you can hold it there for more than 6 seconds without feeling pain, you need to add coals to the fire.

Also, because it was such a large piece of fish, I decided to rotate it during the cook to get it even. I used my Thermapen ONE to cook it to an internal temp of about 130-135F degrees.

While that was cooking, I put a big stockpot on the stove and made fish tail broth with the leftover fish parts, water, herbs and salt. Once that and the fish were ready, the rest of the dish came together in about 15 minutes.

Susie grilled her hanger steaks to perfection. The char was incredible and the cook on the inside was also ideal. What really made her dish special were the herbs and punches of flavor.

The Judging

We were feeling completely exhausted. The sun had already come up, but I couldn’t tell you what day or time it was at this point.

We grabbed our plates and hiked up the hill to the judges. We had no idea what the other teams prepared, but we felt so good as they went in for a bite.

When Andrew said, “I think this is the best beef dish I’ve tasted since we arrived here,” we were so thrilled. Finally, we nailed it. We hit the marks.

“We really wanted exactly what you gave us,” Jess echoed. “It’s a dish that makes sense together. You mashed your flavors up, and we appreciate that.”

To top it off, Andrew picked up the bowl of soup to get every last drop of the broth.

See What We Cook Up Next

Catch new episodes of Pitmasters live 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 4.

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Christie’s Recipes

Susie’s Recipes