Bobby Flay Challenges Amateur Cook to Keep Up with Him

Hey everybody, it's Bobby Flay and this is Shane,

one of the best cooks to ever step foot

in the Bon App' test kitchen.

Is that true?

I don't think that's true Bobby.

So last time you did this, you were a two out of 10.

So what do you think you are now?

2.5 Movin' up the ladder.

So last time you made crab cakes, today it's chili relleno.

15 minutes on the clock.

You ready to do this?

Let's do it. Let's do it.

Alright!

So the first thing I want you to do

is we're gonna take the poblano chili.

Can you identify those?

I can, they're kind of a deep chilies.

Yeah, yes that's true.

There's some other peppers on the stage now.

I just want to make sure you have the right ones.

They're sort of deep green color,

kind of tapered at the end.

[Shane] Got it.

Put the peppers in a bowl

and then take some of the canola oil in front of you

and just make sure that the peppers

are lightly coated with the canola oil

and we're gonna put these right onto the grill.

The idea here is to actually char the peppers

till they're basically black

and the skin will then come off.

So while that's happening,

we're gonna move on to our mushroom.

Put your mushrooms onto the cutting board.

All of them?

We're gonna start, we have a couple

different kinds of mushrooms in here

and we want very thin slices of mushrooms

on all these mushrooms, okay?

How you doing?

[Shane] I have no idea.

[Bobby] Are you keeping up?

[Shane] I'm trying. (laughs)

Mushrooms need to be sliced very thinly.

We want them to have texture that when we eat them,

but at the same time we want them to be nice and thin.

Are you accomplishing that?

They're about half, to 3/4 of a centimeter.

Great.

Now, we're gonna take a garlic clove.

Can you identify that?

[Shane] Ah, yep.

Garlic clove, got it.

So, you're gonna take a garlic clove

and you're gonna slice the garlic

very thinly with your knife.

[Shane] Okay.

(chopping)

And then you're gonna chop the garlic

coarsely, so it starts becoming smaller

and smaller as you chop it.

And do it quickly.

[Shane] It's chopped.

It's chopped?

Okay, take a little bit of salt, of the Kosher salt,

[Shane] Uh huh

And just sprinkle it on top of the garlic.

And with the side of your knife, you want to crush

the garlic and the salt together.

We want this garlic to be pulverized into a paste

so that when it cooks it just sort of dissolves

and becomes part of the mushrooms.

You got it?

[Shane] I got it. It's crushed.

Is it crushed?

Alright, I'm impressed.

Okay, and then we're gonna take some canola oil

and put it in our induction pan,

probably about two table spoons.

And then you're gonna put the mushrooms in there.

You should hear a sizzle right away.

(sizzling)

Make sure you're working neatly,

when you're finished one thing

so to move it out of the way

so that you can work with the next thing.

Clean. Got it.

Should I be moving it around in the pan Bobby?

Yes, you can move it around in a pan,

you can, I mean I just kinda like flip it with my wrist

but if you can't do that you can always use a wooden spoon

and just move them around.

You don't want them to get scorched.

You want them to melt into the pan.

[Shane] Okay.

[Bobby] Are they in the pan?

[Shane] They are in the pan,

they are not getting scorched.

Perfect.

Alright, take your garlic.

[Shane] Okay.

And put your garlic over the mushrooms

and then mix that together.

Be careful not to burn the garlic.

That's why we're putting it in second after the mushrooms.

How are your peppers?

Um, they're black.

So, are your mushrooms cooked?

Um, how do I know they're cooked, Bobby?

Well they should be really soft, let taste them.

Take a spoon and just make sure that they're cooked nicely.

They should be nice and soft.

Yeah.

Have a little bit of give to them,

so it should be seasoned nicely with salt and pepper.

How does it taste?

Um, it tastes like a mushroom.

Then we're on the right pace.

Alright, great.

Okay. Alright, now you're gonna take some cilantro.

Shut off your mushrooms.

Okay.

And you can put them into a bowl,

let them cool down a little bit,

and the only thing you want from the cilantro

is the actual leaves of the cilantro, not the stems.

And you want about two tablespoons,

approximately, of fresh cilantro.

You're gonna sprinkle that into the mushroom mixture.

The next thing is, we're gonna make

our piquillo pepper sauce.

Okay.

[Bobby] Piquillo peppers are these peppers in this jar.

[Shane] Okay.

They are a Spanish pepper.

We're gonna put three tablespoons

of peppers into the blender.

Into the blender, you got it.

We're gonna take some Chipotle peppers,

one smoked jalapeno into the blender.

Okay

C'mon we gotta go. Yeah.

A little red wine vinegar,

maybe like three splashes.

Do you know what a splash looks like?

Uh, yeah I can imagine a splash.

Perfect. A splash of some water.

Water, got it.

Alright, some salt.

Salt, into the blender.

Couple of turns of black pepper.

Keep going, everything into the blender.

We're gonna put the blender on.

Putting the blender on.

Putting the cap on.

This thing, and...

You got it? Yeah.

Alright, let it puree a little bit.

[Shane] Okay.

And then you're gonna add some canola oil

right into the top of the blender.

Let the oil stream into the sauce.

You can turn of your grill.

[Shane] Yeah.

Make sure that you cover the peppers with plastic wrap

and that's gonna help steam it.

Okay, and as you're doing that,

you're gonna finish the sauce.

It should start to have sort of a bright orange color to it.

What color is yours?

And really smooth

It's still looking a little red.

Make sure it's orange.

Make sure it's really, really orange.

Alright.

[Bobby] And if it's too thick,

you want to add a little bit of water to it.

Water, got it.

And then re-season it.

Make sure you taste it for seasoning,

salt and pepper, etc.

Sorry, what about salt and pepper?

[Bobby] Well you need to use it.

For what?

For the sauce.

Right now?

[Bobby] Absolutely. Salt and pepper.

Must season everything. Okay.

Tell me about your sauce.

So my sauce is in the blender.

The top is off and it's kind of flying around everywhere.

Should I have it off?

Well, make sure it's nicely pureed

and then taste it.

Mine needs a little bit of honey,

so I think you should have a little honey in there as well.

It's a little bit spicy so we're gonna chill it out.

So you want this to taste like.

(coughs)

(laughing) You want this to taste a little bit spicy,

a little it fiery.

It's really, really fiery.

Add some honey to it, it will kind of quell it.

[Shane] How much honey?

[Bobby] A half of teaspoon.

Okay.

[Bobby] You know, a little bit at a time.

See what happens.

Okay.

And then you have to go taste it again.

Mmm, that's good.

(coughs)

Okay, so now we're going to take,

you're gonna grab your mushrooms and your cilantro.

You still have that bowl?

Yeah, I do.

Okay, great.

And now you're going to make the mixture

with some Monterey Jack and some goat cheese.

The goat cheese is the whiter cheese and more crumbly.

[Shane] Okay.

So you're gonna take a tablespoon or so of each cheese

and your gonna mix it with the mushrooms.

And then mix it all together.

Uh huh. Mixing.

[Bobby] Some salt and pepper.

[Shane] Got it.

Move quickly.

And then this is gonna be your mixture

for the chili relleno.

So you understand where this is gonna go now?

Not at all.

So this is gonna go into the pepper that you've charred.

[Shane] Okay.

But before we do that, we have to

actually prepare the peppers.

But while they're steaming,

we have one more thing we can do.

Okay.

We're gonna create a dredging station.

A dredging station?

Yeah. Do you know what that is?

Not, no.

So you have cornmeal there.

Uh, cornmeal. In a bowl.

Yeah

Okay, just add salt and pepper to that and mix it.

That's one part of the dredging station.

Then you're gonna take your rice flour.

Rice flour, got it.

Okay, when we take, let's say a cup of rice flour

into a bowl, not into the corneal, into a separate bowl.

And then a cup of water as well.

And we're gonna mix this together.

We're gonna make a batter out of the rice flour.

Okay.

[Bobby] So the water and the rice flour

Sorry, what am I adding to the flour?

Water.

How much water?

[Bobby] Add like half a cup to start.

And then you're gonna add a little bit more

until it looks like heavy cream.

[Shane] Okay.

[Bobby] You know what the consistency of

heavy cream looks like?

[Shane] I think so.

Perfect. Alright.

You're staring to understand the

dredging station situation here?

Well I don't know what the dredging is.

Okay, well we're gonna get to that in a second.

So, then you're gonna take some rice flour on its own,

put it in another bowl,

some more rice flour, some salt and pepper in there.

Okay

[Bobby] And make sure that that's all mixed together.

Rice flour and salt and pepper.

[Shane] Okay.

At that point, we will have completed the three things

we need for our dredging station but we're gonna

reserve those so you can put those off to the side.

[Shane] Okay, got it.

[Bobby] Okay, is your station clear?

[Shane] Um, getting there. Yeah.

Let's go back to the peppers.

Back to the peppers.

Your beautifully charred, blackened peppers.

[Shane] So blackened.

You're gonna take a pepper one at a time.

[Shane] Okay.

And put it on to your cutting board

and you're gonna hold on to the stem.

Okay.

And then you're going to with the back of the knife

Just take the charred skin of the pepper

and you should be able to just take it right off.

[Shane] Oh yeah!

[Bobby] Is that working?

[Shane] Yeah it is working. That's cool.

[Bobby] But try not to break up the pepper too much, okay?

You just want to take the skin off of the pepper.

Are we using the pepper later?

Oh yeah, this is the dish.

Oh, so the blackened

We're making a stuffed pepper.

Oh

This is no crab cake, okay?

(laughs)

So we're only gonna do one pepper 'cause

we're really running out of time here.

Got it.

So you have your cleaned board and your cleaned pepper.

And you're gonna make a slip into the pepper.

Wait, with what?

[Bobby] With your pairing knife.

Yeah.

From the bottom of the core,

so the top of the pepper itself,

stick your knife in there

and just go straight down

and just make an incision all

the way down to the end of the pepper

and then reveal the inside of the pepper to yourself.

You got that?

[Shane] I did it.

I feel like a surgeon.

[Bobby] What do you see?

I see a hollow pepper with some seeds in it.

[Bobby] Perfect.

Take the seeds out.

With my hand?

[Bobby] With your hand.

[Shane] All of them?

[Bobby] Yup, as many as you can get out.

[Shane] Pretty hot.

You don't have to get every single one out,

it's totally fine but as many as possible.

Okay, they're getting out.

Take your mushroom and cheese mixture

and you want to take about, I would say like

a tablespoon and 1/2 to two tablespoons

of your mushroom and cheese mixture,

Uh huh.

and put it inside of your pepper

and then you're basically filling the pepper.

And you want to close the pepper

with all the mixture in there.

It's in there.

Okay, so close it back up and now

you're gonna take one of your wooden skewers.

This can be tricky.

How are you at sewing?

I've never sewed.

Welcome to your next sewing lesson.

Except it's going to be with a pepper

and a wooden skewer.

Okay.

So you're gonna take, on an angle,

you're gonna take your wooden skewer

and go into the pepper and then go across the seam

Bobby, am I going like, down to the other side

like across the entire pepper or just across the seam?

As long as you're bringing it together.

As long as you're starting on one side of the seam

and putting git on the other, okay?

Okay, it's through. So it stays together.

I know how to sew now.

So you can put them on an angle

so that basically it's just holding the pepper together.

Have you accomplished that, sir?

I have.

You're gonna move your pepper to the side

very carefully, okay?

You're gonna bring back your dredging station.

So all three of those bowls.

You're gonna line them up in order.

So it's cornmeal. So in this order.

Cornmeal closest to the oil,

the next one is the rice flour batter itself,

and then the first one is just the rice flour itself.

Got it.

And make sure that you stir the rice flour batter

because the rice flour actually settles to the bottom.

Alright, so we're gonna put our saute pans in the sink,

so that your stove is clear.

Okay.

And then let's go get some hot oil over here.

Okay.

And I'm putting this on the induction oven?

Your gonna put it on the Stove?

Yeah, you're gonna put it on the induction stove.

Alright, so what does your oil say?

My oil says 365.

Alright, I'm like a couple of degrees behind you

but that's fine.

We can start cooking Alright.

Make sure that your rice flour batter

is nice and smooth and it hasn't' settled to the bottom.

You whisk it?

Sure.

You did whisk it?

Whisk it? I don't hear it.

[Shane] Whisk it?

Yeah whisk it. Which one?

With a whisk (laughs).

Yeah, I know.

Which of the, what am I

[Bobby] The rice flour batter, the middle one.

[Shane] The middle one, okay.

[Bobby] So it should be in this order, okay?

I need a bigger bowl for this.

Shane.

Yeah, I'm listening.

So really important that it's nice and smooth, okay?

[Shane] Alright, it's smooth.

I'm whisking.

Alright, so take your pepper

that you've sewed together,

[Shane] Yep.

And drop it into your flour, the rice flour,

and just sprinkle some of the rice flour

With the little pegs in it?

[Bobby] Yes, everything as it is.

[Shane] Okay, in the rice flour.

Rice flour, okay, so you just want

a very light coating of flour all over the pepper.

I'm picking up the flour and coating it.

Yes, and then into the rice flour batter,

so that the flour itself helps the rice flour batter adhere.

Okay it's in it.

Okay.

[Shane] And what am I doing with that?

Make sure you're covering that completely.

From there you're gonna go into the yellow cornmeal.

Drop it to the yellow Wait sorry I'm still coating

Then drop it into the yellow cornmeal.

Sprinkle some of the cornmeal over the pepper

so it's nice and light.

And from there, you're gonna very carefully

and gently place it into the oil, not your fingers.

Let's go!

I need to hear some sizzle.

[Shane] Alright, it's sizzling.

Alright, cool.

How does it look?

It's a pepper in a bowl.

It's sizzling.

Okay, Bobby is there anything I should be doing now?

So now you should have a,

can you identify your spider in your equipment?

Looks like a spider web.

It's got a wooden handle.

That's what you're going to do to get

your pepper out of the oil.

[Shane] Got it.

You're not gonna use your hand

or a pair of tongs or anything.

Makes sense.

So you want to go under the pepper.

[Shane] Uh huh.

[Bobby] And just lift it up and take a look at it.

Like bring it out of the oil a little bit.

[Shane] Uh huh.

[Bobby] How does it look?

[Shane] It's a pepper with a coating on it.

[Bobby] Perfect.

Great.

On the opposite side of your oil, you're gonna find,

take your little sheet pan with a paper towel on it

and put it right next to it.

Take a look at your pepper again.

Just the same way we just did that.

What color do you have there?

[Shane] It's still kind of yellowy.

Is it starting to get a little bit golden?

Yeah, it is. It's starting to cook?

Alright, so move your dredging mixture away

and let's get the pepper out of there.

Again, spider, lift it up.

[Shane] Yup.

[Bobby] Let a lot of the oil drip back into the pot.

[Shane] Uh huh.

Okay, and then very carefully,

put it right on top of your paper towel.

[Shane] Okay.

[Bobby] Alright? A

And then your gonna season it with some salt

and pepper as it's still nice

and it's still a little bit wet from the canola oil.

The salt and pepper will actually adhere to it.

Okay, I'm salting.

I am peppering.

[Bobby] There you go.

A nice even coating.

You got that?

[Shane] Yeah.

Alright, you're gonna take your pepper sauce,

that's in your blender.

You still have that there?

Blender, yes.

Okay, awesome.

And you're gonna take your serving spoon

that's in your canister there.

[Shane] Okay.

And you're just gonna take a big spoonful of it

and not in the center, but just off-center,

you're just gonna let it.

And so what I do is I pick up,

because it's like a perfect sauce consistency,

I pick the plate up a little bit and just

kind of move the sauce with gravity.

Nice and orange, nice and smooth and just

let the gravity move the sauce.

Doesn't have to be perfect.

Okay.

Alright, okay.

Then, you're going to take some of your balsamic glaze

in the bottle there, and you're just gonna make

some semi-circles or circles

into the sauce and onto the plate.

So it's a really design.

[Shane] Both into the sauce

and separately on the plate?

[Bobby] Yes, very thin lines.

So it's almost like abstract,

make it look like abstract, you know, contemporary art.

You know we went to the MOMA,

and this plate was on the wall.

Okay. I like this.

[Bobby] By Shane.

[Shane] It's like Jackson Pollacky

Yeah, exactly.

Here's a technique for the pepper.

So you're staring at the pepper

and you can see, you still have

the skewers in there right?

[Shane] Yeah.

So you're gonna take the edge of the pepper

and you're gonna push it in about 1/8 of an inch

and then pull it out.

[Shane] Pull out the skewer?

[Bobby] Yes.

Push it in 1/8 of an inch

and then pull it out.

[Shane] Okay.

[Bobby] Just to loosen it up.

Now you just have a pepper without skewers, right?

Correct.

Perfect.

So you're gonna take your pepper, very gently,

and lift it onto the plate.

Half the pepper into the sauce

and half the pepper not onto the sauce.

And then I think what we should do is take

a couple of sprigs of cilantro

and just drop the cilantro onto the plate

as if it's falling from the clouds.

Okay, they're falling from the clouds.

And now we've finished.

That's it.

Alright, Shane. We're done.

We're done.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

[Shane] Okay, let's do it.

Alright.

Wow. That's pretty cool.

[Shane] Yeah.

I've never seen chili relleno like that before.

Here it is ladies and gentlemen.

[Shane] That looks much more artistic.

Uh, it's just different.

Thank you.

What did you? Okay.

Yeah, the mushrooms are good.

Whoa, that's spicy.

Okay. (laughs)

How many chilies did you put in there?

Just one?

A tablespoon?

A teaspoon?

Whatever you said?

Okay.

Yeah, I put in

Are you blaming it on me?

No, I'm

Alright, give this a taste.

Okay, I will.

That's kinda what you want it to look like.

Taste the sauce.

Put your fork in the sauce.

Oh my God.

Shane did something that I didn't think

was actually possible, which was,

he created a section of a cornmeal crust

that actually adhered to the pepper all by itself.

It's kinda magical.

I have to say.

Thank you.

He's a magic cook.