Brad and Gaby Make Beef Empanadas

Hey guys.

Today, on It's Alive, I have the lovely Gaby.

I thought I was going to do that part.

[laughs] Oh.

[speaks in foreign language] [beep]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language] Brad Leone

[speaks in foreign language].

Yes.

[upbeat music] [rewind whining]

Bon Appetit.

[upbeat punk rock song playing]

[upbeat, bright music]

[beep]

I should sit here and tell you what to do.

Yeah, you've been doing that for two years, Gaby.

[laughs] Oh! Two and a half.

All right, be nice.

[beep] Are you ready?

Yeah. I can use my hand.

So Gaby, pretty much, though,

I've never really made an empanada.

I helped you once before Okay.

when you were developing this recipe,

which is published.

So if you do wanna make these empanadas,

check 'em out at bonappetit.com.

Exactly.

So I'm here to help you, Gaby.

Teach me.

You are the chef,

and I am the sous chef. Thank you, thank you.

First thing we're gonna do--

[Brad] Oh, Andy!

Hey. Hey, you got

some wicked holes in your shirt.

I know. How much was that shirt,

like $300? [laughs]

No, I got into a brawl last night.

[beep]

We're gonna heat up some oil.

Oh, some earl.

Two tablespoons or one?

Two tablespoons. Two.

And you wanna open the meat?

I can do that for you.

I'm gonna get gloves.

I'll do it; we don't need gloves.

Show off.

There you go.

Don't need no stinkin' scissors.

This ain't art class.

[low, bumbling music] [beep]

[Man] Gaby, who taught you how to make--

Oh, I was gonna!

[Man] Okay, well, all right, stand by--

Damn it!

[bleep] Damn it!

My grandmother, probably.

No, she-- Don't answer the question

yet, please. Purposely told me.

Of course she's not stopping. [laughs]

[beep] I wanted to ask you,

where did you learn to make empanadas?

[drum roll]

Empanadas are made very often in Argentina,

in Buenos Aires. Before I was born.

Before you were born.

You don't look a day older than 28, Gaby.

I know, thank you. I'm 33, so--

I'm not afraid of saying my age.

I'm 49, so yay. All right, rock and roll!

Look at you!

I guess I learned by watching my grandmother

probably making them.

They made them for birthday parties,

special occasions, holidays.

All right, I'm gonna go check the meat.

Yeah, check the meat.

I'll finish up these uhnyawns.

We'll save this for later, all right?

[Gaby] We need to chop the peppers.

All right, let's do it. [cymbal shot]

It's fun cooking with people, cooking with friends.

Right, Gaby?

I'm Brad Leone's friend.

[Brad] Yeah, we've been friends for awhile, Gaby.

We are friends.

So this is browning, and it takes maybe eight minutes.

And the idea is that you wanna have a good amount

of fat left over there to cook the rest of the ingredients.

I'm having a lot of fun!

That's more than plenty.

[knife hitting board loudly] Stop that.

Stop that [bleep] right now.

Got a mouth like a sailor.

You wanna pick up all the meat,

trying to leave us much--

Clumpy? No, as much fat as possible.

In the pan. In the pan.

Smart move, Gaby. Yeah, that's a--

So a good slotted spoon. That's your flavor there.

So I'm simmering away here our fat and our beef juices.

I'm going to add the peppers and the onions?

Perfect.

It's like you're reading my mind.

We're ready for some salt and pepper.

I make it rain salt like Adam Perry Lang.

He's a chef.

Really?

I'll give a little stir,

and that'll help draw out the moisture

in the onions and peppers, too.

Yes. Get 'em real nice

and sweaty. [pop]

Gaby, I noticed you dressed pretty appropriately

with your earrings.

Have you ever eaten with them?

No. Well, in a pinch, oh sh,

Yes, like I'm gonna have forgot my fork.

Bum deebum doop.

Good for camping!

Doh! Geez. [beep]

You want them? No.

[Gaby laughs]

I don't have a pierced ear.

But you know what I always kinda wanted, Gaby?

What? The real small, little stud.

Eww, no. [ding]

I don't like the idea of it being--

I don't see you.

Let me see. No, I know some people,

like Tupac.

Yeah, he looked cool as hell.

Always wanted one of those.

Now what are we gonna do?

Are we gonna-- Add all these spices.

Sweet paprika? Yeah, pimenton.

[Brad] Pimenton!

Ooh, it's a lot. I'm gonna do the oregano.

[Brad] Yeah, I love that!

And the cayenne pepper. Yeah,

it looks a little oxidized.

[Gaby] Last but not least, [speaks in foreign language].

And now I have the secret ingredient.

[Brad] What do you got there?

Your stock.

I stole it from the fridge. [recorded audience gasps]

Well, for this application, it's fine.

So I'm gonna put it in there.

[Brad] That's a nice stock.

Sugar. Oh, a little sugar.

If you are not a fan of sugar,

you don't have to put it on.

This is a very typical thing of Argentinians

that they like to have sweet and--

Sweet like you, Gaby. Thank you.

And I also have a measured amount of salt.

More salt. 'Cause if you notice,

we haven't put any salt

in the meat, yeah. Just a little bit.

We're gonna simmer it for about 15 minutes, 10, 15 minutes.

We have the wonderful Goya cocktail olives.

Hey, nothing wrong with Goya.

And what do we got here?

The one thing I recommend always people to do

is just take them out of the jar

and give it a nice rinse. [gross squishy sound]

Oh, I love them.

[Brad] 'Cause the brine's a little salty.

Right, so they-- Smart cookie.

They can make your empanadas super salty.

It happened; I learned the hard way.

Oh, yeah? For the minute in my life,

I was selling empanadas to make a living.

I like to put two half in each empanada

Oh, geez. so nobody complains.

That's the cutest thing in the world.

But we can do this at the end when you're filling them.

So Gaby, I noticed you slipped a little sentence

in there real quick that, in another life,

you used to sell empanadas?

Come on, this is new to me.

I don't know this about you. Well, first,

when I was in college in Argentina,

I sold empanadas and cakes.

And a few years back, here in the States,

I actually got a license as a vendor

in Jersey City, and I did sell empanadas

for a living for quite a bit.

How much did you sell an empanada for?

Oh, three bucks.

Good, let's double it. Yes, there you go.

For these guys, it's up to 10.

[Gaby laughs]

If you're in a hurry, you can actually fill an empanada

with hot filling, but I do not recommend it.

So what I recommend is to chill this.

Any bread that you fill up,

actually, you don't know that.

I don't know. You know

what empanada means?

No, oh, Gaby, hey Gaby, I was wondering

what does empanada mean?

Its empanada.

It's inside something like bread.

[speaks in foreign language] is bread in Spanish,

so it means to put some sort of protein

inside some doughy thing

Bread. or bready thing.

Every culture has something that is a dough

and a filling inside.

Like a ravioli or a dumpling or an empanada.

It's all kinda-- Right.

Hey! Uncle John's here

[Brad] Ah, get him in here!

Here, come on.

[Gaby] Hi.

Uncle John, this is [Brad laughs]

Brad Leone, the star of It's Alive.

All right, how you doing?

Brad. It's nice to meet ya.

Hi, nice to meet you. Gaby.

How you doin', Gaby?

Hi. Uncle John.

[upbeat, jazzy music]

I drink a lot of water. [Brad laughs]

Why do you think I'm peeing all day?

Sorry, don't-- [beep]

Now we're gonna add the raisins.

[Brad laughs] We could have added them

before, like 10 minutes ahead, so go.

Yep.

And if you don't like raisins, don't put 'em in.

Exactly.

Thank you. How do you like that?

Ooh, watch your hands.

I'm fine. Watch your phalanges.

Been burned many times. Those are fingers,

I think, right, phalanges?

I'm not sure. Phalanges.

Phalanges and, what's the other one? [laughs]

I don't know, I only speak Spanish and English.

Well, I'm speaking English.

All right, so we'll pop this is the fridge.

And, like you said, you can do this a couple days ahead.

Woo!

Ice cold.

[laughing] Should we do that again?

[beep] Great, so we,

the lovely Gaby, actually, made a little swap-o yesterday

'cause we want this, like we said,

you want this to be cold when you're working it.

For the sake of time, we usually don't do swaps,

but this don't make a difference.

[bongo drum pounding]

[relaxing elevator music]

All right, get the door, Vinny.

He got it.

Thanks, Vinny. He's an octopus.

Delany! [building, intense music]

[beep] Boy, this a lot of work.

I'm gonna be charging $11 now.

That's why I stopped doing it

'cause people would come and be like hey,

could I have a half a dozen empanadas?

My ass, no. This looks like--

[beep] I use the storebought dough.

You can make your own dough. Gaby, it's expired.

No, 19. 2019.

Well, what year is it?

[sighs and laughs]

I always think it's 2019.

It's not, right? Wait, when is this

going to air? [laughs] Yeah, what year is it?

2018.

I'm just playing with you guys, I know what time it is.

All right, so we don't need all these.

No.

Goya.

This episode brought to you by...

[relaxing elevator music]

So-- Yeah, let's fill

these bad boys, show me the way.

[Gaby] You put in the middle.

[Brad] What about the olives?

So you get two pieces and you put it right there.

Okay.

So everybody gets two pieces of olives.

I want three. And nobody--

Okay, this one's for you.

I'm essentially trying to stick the two parts together.

I have a good seal. A good seal.

Yeah.

Seal, not the [speaks in foreign language].

[buzzer] Seal.

The what?

What? Kiss From a Rose.

I've seen Batman. [ding]

My grandma used the fork method,

and that's totally okay.

So we're just gonna make little lines?

Yeah.

Press hard so you seal. Ah, gotcha.

Nice.

Brad, your first empanada.

We shall name it something.

Professional.

Nice, huh?

I don't do the fork. Oh. [laughs]

When I was selling them-- Set me up for failure

right out of the gate! When I was selling them,

I did the fork because they actually look bigger.

[cash register dings]

And this is the part that I'm gonna teach you right now.

The most important one is called

[speaks in foreign language].

Sure it is. Say it. [laughs]

[speaks in foreign language] Say it again?

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language] Okay.

That means closing it in a gracious manner.

Okay, so bring like this, you fold that,

and then you fold one more, and you're crimping.

[Brad] I don't like this more.

Can I just use the fork?

It doesn't matter.

You know what, it's personality--

[Brad] Oh wow, yours looks way better than mine.

[Gaby] You got too much water on that one.

[Brad] This one's a real Frankenstein.

All right, don't worry.

As long as it's sealed, we'll eat it.

And this is the reason why you don't do it

when the-- Yay, Gaby!

[Gaby laughs] Yeah, test kitchen manager!

Oh my God, I didn't even know!

Yay, yay! Yay!

[Brad claps]

All right, let's go, back to work.

Wait, wait, wait!

Move over, Leone.

[punching sound effect] [Gaby and Brad laugh]

This is my show now.

It's Dead. [laughs] [depressing music]

[beep]

All right, Gaby, I can't help myself.

What, Brad?

I'm getting a little excited,

I'm getting a little inspiration here.

I got a big crock of sauerkraut going.

If I make a couple sauerkraut infused...

It's a lot of little zingo bingo little sauerkraut

for the party? Yeah, sure, why not?

Right? Let's have fun.

[glove snaps] Ah!

These gloves!

[dramatic music]

So wasteful.

I'm over the gloves.

Just wah, I'm done.

If this one breaks, I'm never using a glove again.

I don't wanna hear about your tips, either, okay?

[Gaby] Brad, maybe they're too small for you.

No, I don't like big, spaggy gloves, either.

I like a nice, tight-- yeah, but that's the reason

why they're breaking. [Brad claps hands]

Ay ay ay.

Oh, it's done.

Gaby, I'm just gonna take a little bit of filling

so I don't contaminate your Argentinian perfection

with my concoction of crap.

This is the Argentinian north Jersey

fermented empanada version.

I love these.

Yeah, a lot of fun.

I'm doing nothing, and you're working.

[Brad] What else is new?

That's perfect; we can sell that one.

We're gonna; it's $12.

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[laughs] [speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language] No.

[Brad laughs]

[Brad] So we have our oven set for 375.

Do we need to spin them at all?

We will. Okay.

[relaxing elevator music]

Here, here, put the goobalini on, Gaby.

It's fall, it's cold out today!

Yeah!

Ay, it's too tight. No, you gotta do

one more fold.

Do I look like--

Gaby, I would never steer you wrong.

Just keep folding till it's nice and tight.

Gaby did such a great job teaching me

how to do empanadas today, I gifted her

with her own classic goobalini.

Can I keep it? No.

This is [bleep] hurting my brain.

No, no, no, don't overthink it.

This is hard for me-- [knife clicks]

[sharp, intense music] Ay, no!

[Brad laughs]

Brad! [laughs]

[beep]

Here's the upstate New Jersey sauerkraut empanadas,

and then here's the tradish.

Ooh, they're hot little mamas.

Oh!

Yours are great, these three,

because they were on the top of the oven.

Say that again.

Yours are great.

Oh, thank you, Gaby.

It was all my teacher; I learned everything from you.

Don't do this at home, children,

but this is what I used to do with my brother.

Make a hole in each end

[blows] and you blow this to him.

Oh!

It's great.

The filling is just super satisfying.

[timer beeping in distance]

It just reminds me of--

[beep] It's a comfort food.

It is.

If it was cold out, if it was hot out,

if you're feeling sick, if you're hungover, whatever,

I feel like

oh, hungover is the best. this hits the spot.

Let's try the little sauerkraut bomb, huh?

[Gaby] Please do.

[Brad] Oh, that one's for you

'cause it looks like the best one.

Mmm, mmm. Mmm, nice.

I like it.

You oughta do something-- adds a little crisp,

little biteness.

Just opens everything up a little bit.

I really like that.

I like it. I'd even put more in it.

Wanna try an empanada?

Yes, I've been lingering.

I love the green olives in the classic.

Thank you. That's what I said.

But I can't put it in my pocket if he cuts this.

[Gaby laughs]

Yeah, kind of a perfect food.

Yeah. Gaby, thank you so much

for teaching me your ways You're welcome.

I'm glad we could riff around a little bit,

throw a little sauerkraut in it.

Let's go share some empanadas with the gang.

We'll give Vinny one; he worked hard today.

And bon appetit. [claps hands]

Thank you.

Oh, bye.

You know what Benmo is?

Benmo? Benmo.

Venmo. Yes.

What's that?

What's...

People send you money and you can pay people money.

Yeah, I'll leave my account that you

can just send money to in the comments.

Feel free to Venmo with 20 bucks.

I'll split it with Gaby.

[beep]

[trilling, lively video game music]

Two tablespoons.

Put two tablespoons of empanada filling

into the center of the dough.

Add two halves of olives.

All right, Vinny, back up here!

[beep]

I started working here in June

2016. 2016, thank you, Andy.

But why don't you say why you hire me, why?

You had the best attitude. Oh, thank you.

What really stood out to me is,

when after we did our little walkaround

and our talk and this and that, yadda yadda,

she said bye to everyone.

She was like, bye everyone, have a good weekend.

She was very friendly, and you can't teach that.

I am friendly. We can teach her

how to do everything else, lovely we didn't really have to

'cause she's very good, but you can't teach people

how to be nice people.

Look at Andy.

Thank you. Don't say that!

[Brad laughs] Oh my God!

[relaxing elevator music]