Ellie Kemper Tries to Keep Up with a Professional Chef

Wait the supremes are the sections?

Yeah the supreme is the, you know, naked segment.

Hello.

(laughing)

I thought this was family friendly.

You have nudity.

Hey I'm Carla and I'm here today in the BA test kitchen.

And I'm here with Ellie Kemper.

And we've got 20 minutes today to set some crepes on fire.

How do you feel about crepes?

I love a crepe.

I've never made one.

I've made pancakes.

Okay same thing.

How do you feel about your eyebrows, eyelashes?

I don't want 'em.

I want them to be burnt off.

Great, I need a bang trim so this is gonna be good.

Missions accomplished.

So Ellie, scale of one to 10.

Yeah.

How would you rate yourself as a home cook?

The one is the lowest?

One is like you couldn't open a bag of chips.

Oh two, then I'm a two.

I'm a clear two.

So we're gonna see if we can cook through this together

and you're gonna follow along

with me through verbal instructions only.

So on the count of trois we're gonna turn around

and start making what we're gonna make.

All right, I'm very nervous.

I'm the same.

Okay.

All right.

One, two, three.

Voila.

So we have the same setup.

But you're going to ignore everything

that you're seeing except for this orange, all right?

So have you ever supremed an orange before?

Have I ever supremed an orange?

[Carla] Supremed an orange.

Are you saying supremed?

[Carla] Yeah, supremed.

No I have not.

So just turn it on its side and cut the top stem end off

and cut off the bottom.

So you've got a flat bottom to stand it up on.

Okay.

And then take your paring knife.

You're gonna cut the peel away from the flesh of the orange.

Okay so just using the knife instead of my thumbs.

Exactly and kind of use the knife as you go,

following the shape of the orange.

Okay.

So let me know when you feel like you have

a perfect kind of orange tennis ball.

Mine's weirdly more of a cylinder I think.

So you should have a little, a small glass bowl.

Just pull that onto the cutting board.

Hold your orange up in your hand.

I want you to notice that the way that the orange

is segmented with those membranes, right?

Take the paring knife and cut down almost to the center

and then you kind of turn that page back like it's a book.

And then go to the next side of it.

Oh, sorry should they drop into the bowl?

[Carla] Exactly.

Oh okay.

Those are the supremes as it turns out.

Those, each of those segments.

Okay.

So all of mine are out and I'm just using my hand

to squeeze the juice into the bowl.

From this little white rind.

That's right from the center of the guide.

[Ellie] Okay.

Take that bowl, put it on right in front of you

and we can just get rid of this whole cutting board.

We don't need it again.

[Ellie] Okay.

I'm just gonna pass it downtown.

Take your rimmed sheet tray that has the parchment paper

and just slide that going the long way in front of you.

And that's going to be, that is now your crepe landing pad.

Is the long way like um?

[Carla] Like if the long way is closest to your body.

Yes.

[Carla] Right.

Okay.

So now reach over and take your blender pitcher.

You can put that on your tray.

And we're gonna start our crepe batter.

Okay.

Okay?

So in the tray in front of you there's like

milk, eggs, sugar, a bunch of stuff.

You're gonna put everything in this blender jar

except the flour.

So just dump the eggs, the measuring cup of milk,

there's a bowl of sugar.

There's a little bit of vanilla, and a little salt.

And so that all goes in the jar.

Put it back on.

Okay ooh that smells very good, that's the vanilla.

[Carla] The vanilla.

Okay I'm smelling,

I am familiar with the smell of vanilla.

Very comforting, okay.

The blender's on its bottom.

Okay good.

All right so the power button is over to the right

and just flip that up and then

turn your dial up to six or seven.

And this is just to, just to combine these ingredients.

So it's super quick.

That's it.

Okay.

Oh that's it?

Yeah once it looks like your eggs are blended in there

just put it back over and we'll just get the flour in there.

[Ellie] Okay.

Once, okay my flour is in.

It's now and forever a blender bottom.

That sounds like a good name maybe for a band.

That's like a special night at a special bar.

[Ellie] Yes it is.

Just for the blender bottoms.

Or is it the name of the bar?

It's, the possibilities are endless.

Turn it back on and then this needs like 20 seconds.

Okay.

Turn your speed all the way up Ellie.

Oh I thought you said don't turn it up.

Oh no, yeah we can go fast now.

Okay.

Okay, I think mine's blended.

Okay awesome.

See we're halfway there.

So the black nonstick pan is going to be

for making the crepes.

And the little stainless steel skillet

is for making our orange sauce that's going to have fire.

Okay.

Okay, so the first thing

we're gonna do is start the sauce.

So take the orange juice and the pan's already hot

so just pour the OJ into the pan.

When you say it's on fire it's not going to spontaneously,

catch on fire.

[Carla] Later it'll be on fire.

Perfect.

[Carla] It's just gonna happen in this pan.

There you go.

Ooh, okay.

And then add the sugar.

Okay the sugar is the bigger container?

In the bigger bowl.

Okay.

And then take a spatula out of your little kit.

You want to stir until the sugar starts to dissolve.

Are we caramelizing?

[Carla] Not exactly, we're going to make a reduction.

Yes.

[Carla] And then we're going to mount it with butter.

Of course.

(laughing)

Which just seems appropriate at this point.

Well yeah.

This is a very bizarre way of,

I'm going to go like this.

[Carla] What's happening?

Oh nothing I'm moving, I'm doing some handle work.

Ooh I like it.

Right know we just want the sugar to dissolve

and then that liquid's going to start to simmer.

[Ellie] Okay.

And in the meantime we're going to make our crepes.

Okay.

So take, find your pastry brush

that's in your equipment kit.

[Ellie] Okay.

And dip it into the melted butter

that should be right in front of your pan.

Yeah.

[Carla] And brush that melted butter onto the non-stick.

This is so enjoyable.

Oh good.

I've never, ever brushed butter onto a hot pan.

This is therapy.

I'm glad.

So I hate to burst your bubble but the first crepe

we make is going to be garbage.

Okay?

[Ellie] Okay.

[Carla] So we just have to like get it over with.

That's what happens when I make pancakes.

Is that a common?

It's the first pancake.

It's never good.

[Ellie] Why does that happen?

It's just like the pan hasn't made up its mind

to make friends yet with the crepe.

So try to eyeball it.

You're going to pour about a quarter cup

and while you're pouring the batter into the pan,

try to tilt the pan around

so that the batter kind of,

[Ellie] Spreads?

Yeah spreads out.

You want to make like a thin,

layer that's all across the bottom in the pan

and if it comes a little up the sides,

that's good too.

But again this is the practice pancake.

Mine is so disturbing.

It's a POS if you know what I mean.

So just like don't even worry about it.

This has been seared into my memory.

I'm going to have an upsetting dream about this tonight.

[Carla] Oh no.

Mine looks like a bad face.

(laughing)

Okay so now take a couple pieces of cold butter

out of that other butter dish.

[Ellie] Okay.

And then add them into your orange and sugar reduction.

Ooh yum.

And then without picking the pan up,

I just want you to swirl that liquid around.

So take your, whichever hand feels good to you.

Kind of move the pan so that the liquid's moving around

in a circular motion and it's making the butter melt.

And now come back to shitty pancake number one.

[Ellie] Okay.

All right and find,

you should have another little spatula.

Just loosen up one edge of the pancake.

[Ellie] Okay.

And pull the pancake away from the edge of the pan.

Yeah, away from the edge.

And then just trust me on this one.

Just grab the edge of the pan,

the outer rim.

Of the pan?

[Man] Not the pan!

Oh.

Oh sorry.

(laughing)

Are you mad?

Don't grab the pan.

Grab the edge of your pancake with your thumb

and your first couple fingers of both hands.

And just lift it up and flip it over.

Didn't go, well it went fine.

Actually mine doesn't look that bad

but it's still the practice one.

It's too thick in the middle.

Now go back over to your sauce.

Let's add another couple tablespoons

of butter into the sauce.

Same as last time.

Swirling.

This smells so good.

I feel, I don't know, proud right now.

That I created, okay.

All right now, get rid of pancake number one.

Just dump it onto your rim sheet tray.

We can tear a piece of it.

But what I'm feeling is that I added too much batter.

And my pancake is a little bit thick.

The pan was a little bit hot.

So these are all things that I want to maybe go

a little bit differently on try number two.

How do you feel about that pancake?

It's not round, it's blobby, it looks like a crab.

It's sort of, it's upsetting to see.

And it's burnt.

It's upsetting and it's crab like.

[Ellie] Yes.

All right.

Did you add?

Did I hear you adding?

Yup go brush with butter again.

My favorite.

This I tricky but as you pour the quarter cup

of batter into the pan.

Try to tilt the pan around so that you get this thin

circular layer that's not too thick.

Add another one tablespoon this time

of butter to your sauce.

Make sure that every time you add butter,

you're swirling the pan.

Gotta swirl it.

Because that agitation

is actually what makes everything emulsify.

Can you go again with your crepe,

loosen up, lift up with your fingers.

Flip it over.

Tell me what's happening with your second crepe.

My second crepe is, looks better than the first.

It's bigger.

If you like that crepe, I want you to fold it in half.

And then fold it in half again.

And then I feel like we have to go right again

into another crepe.

I do too.

Okay great.

So we're gonna brush the butter.

So pour, tilt, you should be down

to one tablespoon of butter.

[Ellie] Yes.

Okay great.

Are you ready to flip a crepe?

Yes.

So lifting up from the edges and flip over.

That's one of my nicest so far.

Uh oh, uh moi OC.

Okay.

Wow yeah that looks really good.

And do you feel like if you did this one

would you have like two nice crepes

that you feel good about?

Oh yes.

[Carla] Same.

Oh wow.

So as soon as this crepe is done,

we're gonna go back and finish the sauce.

It's like a symphony of amazing aromas right now.

[Carla] That's so exciting.

Well I know and I made it.

Well sort of.

It's butter and sugar.

I guess you can't go wrong.

And the flesh of an orange.

And the orange flesh.

The pulpy flesh.

The pulpy flesh.

All right, now I'm taking my, this crepe out.

Flipping it over.

So the nice side goes down.

And if you put the nice side down,

then when you fold it into quarters

you have the nice side on the outside.

And that's what you want to see.

Okay, it's a little hot.

And then we're gonna go finish the sauce.

Oh okay.

I want you to pick your torch.

Okay I got it.

So standing Ellie in front of your sauce

but not, this is like when you light a campfire.

You don't want to be over it, right?

So we're not gonna like look down into the pan.

We're kind of, keep your body straight,

no bangs, no hair, no eyelashes, over.

Because when we put the Grand Marnier

we're gonna get a little bit of a kaboom.

I've seen this on shows but is it gonna flame up?

Like how high?

It's gonna flame up so that's why I don't want you

to look down into it.

I want you to peruse it from afar.

Yes I will.

Okay good.

So now take that little container

that has the Grand Marnier.

You can smell, it smells like orange liqueur.

Add that to the pan right away,

it's gonna make a bubble and a sizzle.

And that's when I want you to light your fire

and light that liquid.

Oh come on.

[Woman] Flambe?

Flambe.

[Ellie] Flambe.

Let's see.

Oh flambe!

Did it happen?

But I need to move it around.

Yeah just shake your pan again.

And it might floof up again.

And then take your bowl with the oranges

and the orange juice.

[Ellie] Okay.

[Carla] And add that back to your sauce.

I did imagine the flames leaping up.

[Carla] Yeah.

And me like expertly just sort of shaking the pan.

Yeah that's what it sounded like happened.

The reaction of the people around me,

it seems like you had a good flame.

People's jaws are dropping.

No one can believe the whiz.

I don't smell any burning hair.

No, none.

[Carla] No burnt eyebrows.

Because there was no fire.

I've lost many an eyebrow and an eyelash.

Are you serious?

Oh yes many.

And whole tops of hair.

So you should have a really pretty looking

like deep burgundy, caramel sauce with orange slices in it.

Yeah.

Okay now let's go back over to this oval platter

that should be in front of your crepe tray.

Yeah.

Just put your crepes next to each other

and there should be a spoon in your tool caddy.

And then I just want you to take the spoon

and spoon all of that beautiful.

To right on top of the crepes.

Right on the crepes.

Like a few big spoonfuls of sauce

and then spoon some of the oranges over.

Am I, I hope that people at home can see.

I want to like decoratively festoon this.

How beautiful it is?

The color of the sauce is.

I'm known to have a little bit of a touch beautiful.

The touch magique?

A magic touch.

(in foreign language)

(laughing)

But I'm trying to gracefully

place my little orange supreme.

Well I think I should stop here though.

Because well you can't see it.

I agree.

I want to keep spooning because it's enjoyable

but I have reached the,

[Ellie] I also may have spooned too much.

I've reached the fini.

Yes.

Once you have completed your saucing and you're ready.

Tell me when you're ready.

Oh I think I'm ready.

All right ready?

Are you holding your tray?

I am.

Holding your plate?

Me too, me too, okay.

All right three, two, one.

Two?

Uh huh, one.

(gasping)

Ooh

Ooh la la!

Well mine looks like it has beef in it.

It looks like you.

(laughing)

Right, sorry.

Doesn't it look like there's beef?

A little red wine.

A little red wine reduction.

But very beautiful and a gorgeous caramel.

A deep caramel color.

Oh thank you for saying that.

But the pan was very hot when we added

the orange juice and it sputtered right away.

It was like a horse race when the horses

go out of the gate so fast.

Thank you, so fast.

That they actually break their legs.

That's what I'm known for.

And it's like right from the beginning.

(laughing)

All right we skipped dinner

and we're going straight to dessert.

That's fine with me.

But I would love to try yours if you will try mine?

Now that's just so gallant, thank you.

I would love that.

Thank you.

I'm sorry that mine isn't more pleasing to look at.

Never apologize.

Never.

So I'll be honest.

I did practice a couple times before you came.

Okay.

And one of the things that I noticed was

the sauce was a little too sweet for me.

Oh.

But by going to this caramel stage,

you bring in a little bit of a bitter flavor.

Ooh.

And I actually think it needs it very badly.

Well let me be the judge of that.

This is delicious.

You're getting I don't know, eight and a half?

Yes they're a little bit thick but if you had kept going,

you would've gotten your thinness together.

You're very forgiving.

I give yours a 10, I mean it's delicious.

Oh that's very nice.

Thank you very much.

I guess you didn't ask me for a rating.

(laughing)

I did actually wake up

to say and was like I hope that she rates me.

But I'm just here to tell you

you did a perfect job.

Good job.

No this is impeccable.

Thanks for coming.

Thank you for having me.

And also, well I love dessert.

You do?

So this is yeah.

I mean I usually don't make it.

I just like eat it out of a carton.

Because it's ice cream.

But this is gonna be, maybe a new staple.

Crepes are good with ice cream.

Oh yeah they are, yeah.