Are you ready? Every week on Throwdown!, celebrity chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay goes head-to-head with cooks who have staked their claim as masters of an iconic dish-buffalo wings, chicken cacciatore, or sticky buns, for example-even though he may never have cooked these things before. The results are always entertaining-and delicious. In his first-ever cookbook collaboration with Food Network, Bobby shares the recipes and fun from his popular show. For each episode, both Bobby's recipe and his challenger's are included, comprising a cross-country tour of regional specialties and good-hearted competitive spirit. Travel to San Antonio for puffy tacos, Philadelphia for cheesesteaks, Harlem for fried chicken and waffles, and Charleston for coconut cake. Try both dishes to pick your favorite, or challenge friends and family to a battle of your own. Either way, you'll find tons of fantastic flavors in this best-of-the-best book from the first seven seasons of Throwdown! The ultimate companion cookbook to one of America's favorite food shows, Bobby Flay's Throwdown! lets home cooks and fans in on the action, featuring favorite Throwdown! moments and behind-the-scenes peeks alongside beautiful, all-new color food photography created just for this book. So if Bobby Flay ever strolls into your backyard asking Are you ready for a Throwdown? you definitely will be!

BOBBY FLAY is the chef-owner of three Mesa Grill restaurants, two Bar Americains, Bobby Flay Steak, and five Bobby’s Burger Palaces. He is the host of numerous popular cooking shows on Food Network, from the Emmy-winning Boy Meets Grill and Grill It! with Bobby Flay to the Iron Chef America series and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. A New York Times bestselling author, he is also the food correspondent for CBS’s Early Show and a contributing editor at Parade magazine. This is his tenth book. His website is www.bobbyflay.com.
 
STEPHANIE BANYAS has been Bobby Flay’s business assistant since 1996. She is the co-author of Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes; Bobby Flay’s Grill It!; Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook; and Bobby Flay’s Grilling for Life. She lives in New York City with her beloved cat, Emily Rose.
 
MIRIAM GARRON has been the sous chef of Food Network since 2003. Prior to working in television, she edited three cookbooks in the MinuteMeals series. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York, the center of the universe.

Bobby Flay’s Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Crunch and Bourbon-Maple Whipped Cream
 
Makes 1 (10-inch) pie
 
Cinnamon Crunch
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup light muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, cold
 
Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
 
Filling
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
11/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
11/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for the top
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Bourbon-Maple Whipped Cream (recipe follows), for serving
 
1. To make the cinnamon crunch, preheat the oven to 350ºF.
 
2. Combine the flour, oats, muscovado sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor, and process a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until combined. Pat the mixture evenly into a 4-inch square on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool. Transfer to a cutting board and chop into small pieces. Keep the oven on.
 
3. To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix until combined. Press evenly onto the bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie plate. Brush with the beaten egg. Bake until light golden brown and firm, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
 
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF.
 
5. To make the filling, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, both sugars, and the molasses together in a medium bowl. Mix in the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk in the heavy cream, milk, and vanilla seeds or extract. Strain the mixture through a coarse strainer into a bowl. Whisk in the butter.
 
6. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet, pour the pumpkin mixture into the shell, and sprinkle additional cinnamon over the top. Bake until the filling is set around edges but the center still jiggles slightly when shaken, 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
 
7. Cut the pie into slices and top each with a large dollop of whipped cream and some of the cinnamon crunch.
 
 
Bourbon-Maple Whipped Cream
 
1¼ cups heavy cream, very cold
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved
2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon, to taste
 
Combine the cream, vanilla seeds, maple syrup, and bourbon in a large chilled bowl, and whip until soft peaks form.