What We Made On Episode 2 of Pitmasters

Christie (Girls Can Grill) and I made it to episode 2 on Food Network’s live-fire competition show, Pitmasters! Check out the challenges for Pitmasters episode 2, see what we cooked up, and prepare for your mouth to water over these amazing recipes.

What We Made On Episode 2 of Pitmasters

If you’ve been following along, you already know Christie and I made it to the second round of the new Food Network series Pitmasters (read my full episode 1 recap HERE). Christie and I thought we knew what were in for competing on this show, but nothing can fully prepare you for the actual experience. When the lack of sleep and all the elements begin to kick in, you start to realize how seasoned pros can make costly errors. You have to remember, we weren’t just competing against the 8 other teams with each unique challenge. We also had to combat the sun, wind, and unforgiving cold of the Utah desert.

We had our cooking skills, creativity, and endurance tested this week, and we loved every minute of it. Now, I can’t wait to tell you all about our menu for episode 2 of Pitmasters!

The Challenge(s)

Each episode of the show comes with a unique challenge and 2 different cooks to turn in. For the “Big Burn”, we get a unique challenge and 10 hours to complete it. For the “Flash Burn” (which can come at ANY time during the “Big Burn”) we get a small window of time to wow the judges right at our stations.

The “Big Burn” The Trifecta of Live Fire

This week’s challenge started immediately following the judging from episode 1. And when I say “immediately,” I mean IMMEDIATELY. Host and judge Andrew Zimmern reminded us all that cooking with fire wasn’t just a single trick, but that there are many ways to utilize it. In this case, he was referring to direct flame (standard grilling), underground (think Dutch oven or whole hog), and hanging (we got really creative here). Oh, and did I mention we had to dig the pit for the underground portion?

Between building the pit, maintaining the fire, and managing the elements, this challenge tested every part of live-fire cooking. Christie and I decided to lean into an “Italian summer” theme and split up the three techniques between us.

What Christie Made

For the “Direct Flame” part of the challenge, Christie made an incredible gnocchi, which is a soft, pillowy, Italian-style potato dumpling. This is based on her awesome recipe built for the open flame if you want to make this one at home!

For the “Underground” technique, Christie went with her osso buco, which is an Italian stew made with beef chuck roast and oxtail, and seasoned with Christie’s Brisket Rub. This is where the hole we had to dig came into play. We buried and cooked the osso buco in a Dutch oven low in the ground. This is campfire cooking at its finest.

What I Made

For the “Hanging” technique, I wanted to do something I know I could not only nail, but that the judges wouldn’t expect. I went with a “swinging” version of my rosemary parmesan focaccia bread. We rigged up an oven-like environment using baking sheets on a swing suspended over the open fire (hence the “swinging” focaccia).

I also decided to throw in a version of my Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Garlic Aioli for good measure. I went with artichoke hearts for this hanging, open-flame version, and Christie made the lemon aioli.

The “Flash Burn”: BBQ Breakfast

The way the judges issued this week’s “Flash Burn” was fun. We’d already dug our holes, started our longer cooks, and some of our competitors were trying to grab a little sleep when, the next morning, the judges brought us platters of pastries. It seemed like just a kind gesture… until Andrew Zimmern turned back around and issued the real challenge: BBQ breakfast, 45 minutes on the clock, and $2,000 on the line.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good BBQ breakfast recipe (my viral breakfast smash burgers are proof of that), and Christie has plenty of knockout breakfast recipes of her own over at Girls Can Grill, so we felt right at home with this one. One thing I love about working with Christie is how well we balance each other out. For this challenge, she went sweet over live fire, and I went savory over smoke.

What Christie Made

Christie leaned on a dish she’s been making her whole life for this one. Funnily enough, this is also my kids favorite Sunday breakfast! Our families both call these German pancakes, though most people (including one of our competing teams) call them Dutch babies. She finished it with her maple blueberry syrup, made by simmering fresh blueberries down until they go jammy and glossy, then stirring in real maple syrup and a pinch of salt to keep it from tasting one-note. Poured right onto those Dutch babies, everything disappeared fast. We topped them with fresh lemon zest and powdered sugar right before serving.

What I Made

I wanted something that hit hard and smoky first thing in the morning, so I built my own jalapeño bacon breakfast sausage from scratch. Pork, minced bacon, and fresh jalapeño worked all the way through so every bite has that little kick. I formed it into patties and let them pick up even more flavor over cherry wood, which gave them a slight sweetness that plays really well against the heat of the jalapeño.

I pulled the inspiration from my Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Cheddar Meatballs, but swapped in ground pork for the beef and diced the bacon right in with the rest of the ingredients. I served them with a little kiss of maple syrup to tie them into the maple blueberry sauce on Christie’s German pancakes for a more composed bite.

The Judging

Judging looked completely different this week. Instead of one big shared meal with all the teams together, we hauled our dishes up to a hilltop dining table (it was honestly a HIKE up there and we were already exhausted!) and then we presented everything to the judges one-on-one. Just us and the judges with no other competitors around. Each team got their own private sit-down before the judges headed back to camp to compare notes. It was a whole different kind of pressure having their undivided attention on our food.

Once every team had their turn at the table, the judges came back down to camp and delivered the results to all of us together.

The Results

The one-on-one hilltop judging made the wait for results hit different this week. We got to read the room when everyone ate together for the first challenge: see reactions, hear the other teams getting feedback, start to guess where you stand. This time, we had no idea how anyone else did until the judges came back down and gathered us all at camp.

I still can’t tell you who won or whether we’re still in it. You’ll have to watch for that, but I can tell you the food up on that gorgeous southern Utah hilltop was some of our most creative work, and getting to compete against some of these amazing chefs is still setting in.

Thanks for supporting Christie and I in episode 2 of Pitmasters! New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c. You can catch up using the Discovery+ app or HERE on Food Network, or by checking out my recap of episode 1. Christie also shared her experiences of episode 1 and episode 2! Remember to swing by again next week to see if we made it to the next round, and so you can join in on all the Pitmasters fun!