Pork Shoulder Chasseur with Caramelized and Cognac Sous Vide Endive 

Britt Rescigno built a layered French-influenced plate that showcased her classical training and confident technique. 

Britt: "My plan, I'm going to go schnitzel. Pork schnitzel with a chasseur sauce, demi-glace, and, of course, cognac." 

The pork shoulder was butchered, breaded in a standard three-stage procedure, and pan-fried on the cast iron griddle. Britt: "I'm going to do a very traditional standard breading procedure. Flour, egg, breadcrumb. Once you get all nice and breaded, put it on the board and tenderize it one more time to make sure that those breadcrumbs really stick in there." 

The endive was prepared two ways: one batch cooked sous vide with cream and cognac. Britt: "You can use the booze in so many different things, especially with the endive. I think white wine is really nice for the endive. So you see the flames coming up, so the alcohol is burning off. That's how you know we're on the road to boozy." 

For the second endive preparation, Britt spotted residual fat in the cast iron pan after removing the schnitzel and seized the moment: Britt: "I look over, and I see all this beautiful fat that's still on the griddle. So I'm going to take a handful of sugar, I'm going to throw it on the griddle, and I'm going to put cut halves of endive right on top of that. That sugar is going to caramelize, and it's just going to be such a delightful treat." 

The chasseur sauce was built traditionally: Britt: "My boozy sauce is actually a very traditional sauce. In French cookery, it's called chasseur. Literally translates to hunter sauce. And it has all the things that you'll find in the woods, so mushrooms, herbs, onions. And then you finish it with mustard. And then let's booze it on up and throw that cognac in there." 

Voiceover (Justin Warner): "Judges, this is pork shoulder chasseur. The pork shoulder was breaded and then pan fried on the cast iron griddle. In terms of the endive, as a sous vide, cooked with cream and cognac. We also have some caramelized with sugar on the cast iron griddle. Finally, in terms of boozy elements, the cognac was in the jus, and it was in the cream in the endive sous vide."