If you’ve been following, you know Christie Vanover (Girls Can Grill) and I made it to episode 3 of Food Network’s Pitmasters! This live-fire competition show has pushed us to try new methods, face harsh elements, and go head-to-head against award-winning chefs. Each challenge tests our skills, our mental fortitude, and our physical endurance. I can’t wait to share with you the amazing dishes we created for this episode.

What We Made On Episode 3 of Pitmasters

If you haven’t been following along (or just haven’t had a chance to catch episode 3 yet), don’t stress. Outside of the menu, this is a SPOILER-FREE recap of my experience making episode 3 of Pitmasters. (You check out my recap of episode 1 HERE and episode 2 HERE.) Every round throws something new at you, and episode 3 was no exception. In fact, our first flash burn challenge didn’t even include a protein! We had to prove we could bring the same layers of deep, full, unmistakable BBQ flavor, but without any meat at all.

The Challenge(s)

Just like the first 2 episodes (streaming now on Food Network, HBO Max, and Discovery+) episode 3 came with its own set of challenges and two different cooks to turn in. For the “Big Burn,” we get a difficult challenge and a set number of hours to complete it. For the “Flash Burn” (which can come at any time) we get a smaller window of time to impress the judges at our stations.

The “Flash Burn”: BBQ Without Meat

Unlike the first couple of episodes, this episode kicked off with the “Flash Burn.” Judge Ernest Servantes reminded us all that BBQ isn’t just about the meat. It’s about technique, patience, and discipline. The judges were looking for a dish that hit like traditional BBQ but with one big catch: absolutely no meat allowed. We had 60 minutes to pull off a full vegetarian dish worthy to be on the plate of any pitmaster.

It might sound a little crazy, but this challenge felt the most at home for me. I’ve been making vegetable dishes for the smoker and grill for over a decade now. Smoked and grilled veggies aren’t just great for those vegetarian guests, they’re the perfect side to serve alongside those rich, fatty meats. It’s also the most delicious way to introduce young eaters to vegetables.

I think Christie would agree when I say helping you feed all of the people you love is a big part of why we do what we do. Just check out my dozens and dozens (and dozens) of vegetable recipes. Christie has plenty of her own vegetable recipes up her sleeve as well.

Here’s the part that raised the stakes: whoever won the “Flash Burn” earned immunity for the “Big Burn.” That meant the winning team moving on to the next round. No matter how the judges felt about their “Big Burn” dish!

What WE Made

For our vegetarian bite, we teamed up to create an open-flame version of my grilled summer vegetable tart. We made the butter crusts completely from scratch and baked them right in little skillets on the smoker and finished them directly over the coals to ensure they’d hold up to the robust toppings. Then we filled them with a ricotta mascarpone blend and topped everything with a rolled veggie “rosette” made from thinly-sliced eggplant, zucchini, and squash cooked straight on the open-flame grill. A drizzle of honey on top from Christie gave it just the right touch of sweetness to finish it off.

Now, if you’ve been reading my recaps, you know I can’t tell you who won the challenge. What I can tell you is Jess Pryles was so impressed we cooked a pasty over live fire she gave us a “hats off.”

The “Big Burn”: Surf and Turf

With the “Flash Burn” behind us, it was time for the “Big Burn,” and this one was a serious test: Surf and Turf. That meant a classic meat AND seafood protein, entirely over live fire, with just 3 hours on the clock. I think being prepared with recipes for the no-meat challenge had Christie and I feeling confident for this “Big Burn” cook.

What Christie Made

For the “surf” portion, Christie went with a plank-roasted halibut in a coconut milk broth. She prepared the halibut fillets, then tied them up with butcher’s twine laid over fresh parsley and mint. We set the planks right next to the coals to let the fish pick up that smoky flavor without overcooking. Christie then finished the halibut off in the coconut milk with Fresno chilis and lime from her poached cod recipe!

What I Made

For the “turf” side of things, I did an open-fire version my Thai beef waterfall salad. If you watched the episode, you heard me describe this salad as essentially a steak with fresh herbs. Yes it’s got an umami-rich dressing made with fish sauce, and a toasted rice powder topping, but it’s got a LOT of steak to be calling itself a salad. I started by marinate the steak in soy sauce and black pepper, getting it over some indirect heat to pick up some smoke, then finishing it directly on the coals for a deep, charred flavor and medium-rare cook.

The Judging

Just like in episode 2, judging happened up on the hilltop this episode. And just like in episode 2, we had to haul our dishes up to the judges for a one-on-one taste test. We had no idea how our competitors were doing or what was playing with the judges. We just had to blindly go in with what we’d prepared.

After getting in our wheelhouse with the “Flash Burn”, we definitely went into this judging with some confidence. Our confidence turned out to be right with Andrew Zimmern declaring it might be the best beef dish he’d eaten since arriving. Overall, the judges loved the way our surf and turf belonged together.

One of my favorite moments from the episode that didn’t make it to the final edit was the judges telling us definitively, “you are NOT going home this time, so head down the hill and relax through results.” I can’t even tell you the amount of relief Christie and I both felt on that walk back. You can hear Christie on her mic say “here come the tears!!” We were both so tired, so relieved, and so incredibly proud of ourselves.

The Results

I still can’t tell you who won or whether we made it through. You’ll have to keep on watching to find out, but I can tell you this was one of our favorite challenges yet. Proving that BBQ doesn’t need meat to deliver on flavor was a fun problem to solve. That Surf and Turf pushed us in a totally different direction than anything we’d cooked on the show so far. It was hard but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Cook with the Pitmasters!

Thanks for supporting Christie and I through episode 3 of Pitmasters! New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c on Food Network. You can catch up on HBO Max and Discovery+, or by checking out my recaps 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!