Rick Massa's Five-Cheese Mac and Cheese takes the top comfort-food honors.
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Five-Cheese Mac and Cheese:
Guy Fieri: It got to do with a retired member of L.A P.D Swat Team turned cook Rick Massa from Sydney Valley California.
Rick Massa: My signature dish is Cheese Lover’s five cheese Mac and cheese. It is a kicked upped Mac and Cheese, five cheeses, whole milk, heavy cream with bacon in it. If you don’t love bacon, there’s something wrong and that is comfort food. That says it all over it. Somebody told me back when I was with the Swat team, that if I would wind up here cooking going from Cop to Cook and I would to laugh at them. Now that I'm here, I'm here to win.
First thing to start of with the dish is I had to chop my bacon because I want to render it and I'm going to use the bacon fat which is a layer of flavor for the roux.
Female 1: The signature of any comfort food is a lot milk to choose, which we’re going to have today and particularly in Rick’s five cheese Mac and cheese and he’s really pumped it upped with tons and tons of cheese and either that’s going to be incredibly anxiously delicious or be careful.
Male 1: Look at those nice skills of Rick, wow! Look at him man.
Female 1: Don’t mess with him.
Male 1: He was an ex-Swat team member so if he can shoot a gun and use a knife.
Female 2: And use a knife.
Rick Massa: Cheeses that I'm using in my Mac and Cheese are Vantina and Lhuillier and then being Italian, I use parmesan and the Australian White cheddar and then I love blue cheese and that gives it the kick.
Guy Fieri: The blue cheese, it can go too far, it can really overtake the whole dish.
Female 1: I think he’s using the Maytag I saw the label and that’s what he’s using and that’s a seriously strong cheese.
Guy Fieri: Yes it is.
Rick Massa: I can hear them saying that it wasn’t going to win because it had the blue cheese in it and I'm thinking, wait till you see. Prove to them the recipe.
Female 1: Oh my gosh! He looks done. That looks awesome.
Guy Fieri: Right now in my opinion they should make a Rambo wick action doll. This guy is done, it smells fantastic. A little strong in the blue cheese though. I will say that and I’ll like big flavor. It’s going to be where the judges set with that, I think they are going to treat as a doped Mac and Cheese but boy Maytag could really blow it up.
Rick Massa: I do not think I was going to finish early until I finished early. I think it’s way early. That’s one of the biggest mistake a chef can make is they rushed it too much.
Female 1: Rick looks a little stressed.
Rick Massa: Looked pretty bad only because I'm thinking, if it’s way too early then it’s going to cool too fast or it’s going to start to get hard around the edges and that you don’t want to let that happen, a lot of things going through my head. If this goes sideways, how do I rescue it? I covered it and I put it back in just to heat it back to where it was still nice.
Female 1: Rick Massa’s was the best Mac and Cheese I had ever had. It was just fantastic.
Guy Fieri: There he is ladies and gentlemen.
Rick Massa: I won 25,000 dollars. I can’t thank the judges enough. I can’t thank food network enough and especially I can’t thank that I did enough good. It was a great experience!
Guy Fieri: I’m Guy Fieri, Thanks for hanging out with us on food network ultimate recipe showdown.
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