The Art of Quarantine: A Binging with Babish Special Edition

As I sit here in quarantine, feeling under the weather, I turn to Kenan & Kel for some unconventional advice on how to beat the common cold. In season one of their eponymous Nickelodeon series, they purported to cure the common cold with a recipe that sounds like a bizarre mix of ingredients. Let's take a look at what they have in store for us.

According to the show, Kenan & Kel's remedy consists of a few pieces of fried chicken, a handful of cough drops unwrapped (because, well, why not?), whole raw eggs, including shells for extra fiber and possibly Salmonella, some sardines, and a dash of Tapatio hot sauce to bring a little south-of-the-border kick. But wait, there's more - a handful of marshmallows, which they claim contain gelatin, and a squeeze of Lebanese mustard (which, as we all know, doesn't exist). Finally, the recipe calls for about half a cup of pickle juice, packed with vitamin C, to round out the concoction. It's certainly an...interesting blend of ingredients.

As I ponder the logic behind this recipe, one thing becomes clear: Keenan and Kel were not exactly trying to create a culinary masterpiece here. In fact, they seem to have made it up as they went along, throwing a few random ingredients into a blender with the hopes that something, anything, would work. And yet, despite its dubious origins, this smoothie has become my go-to cure-all for whatever ails me.

Now, I must stress that you should not - repeat, SHOULD NOT - attempt to recreate this monstrosity at home. Trust me, you don't want to end up like me, stuck in quarantine with a bad case of the sniffles and a severely compromised sense of taste. But hey, if you're looking for a good laugh or a fascinating glimpse into the world of '90s TV shows, then by all means, give it a shot.

As I prepare to take a sip of this...abomination, I must admit that I'm feeling a little skeptical. How can something so vile possibly work? And yet, as I raise the blender to my lips and take a tentative sip, I'm surprised to find that it's not entirely unpleasant. The flavors may not be harmonious or even appetizing, but there's something odd about this smoothie that makes me feel like it might just do the trick.

And so, with fingers crossed and a healthy dose of skepticism, I shall embark on this unorthodox experiment. Who knows? Maybe by the time you read this, I'll be well on my way to recovery, thanks to Kenan & Kel's dubious recipe for a cold cure. Stay tuned, folks!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow with those spices in there please know we love hot sauce marshmallows yeah it's a mustard Lebanese mustard that is how about some on soda hey what's up guys welcome back to binging with babish we're this week I am sick and in quarantine what are you gonna do in times of crisis I turn now as I so often do to Kenan & Kel who in season one of their eponymous Nickelodeon series purported to cure the common cold their recipe is as follows a few pieces of fried chicken a handful of cough drops unwrapped of course otherwise that'd be crazy too whole raw eggs pushing it beyond Rocky's breakfast of champions and including the shells for extra fiber and possibly Salmonella next up some sardines and I was keen to try these out because one of the more fascinating potential side effects of kovat 19 is that you completely lose your sense of smell and taste so as you can see I'm just varying my nose in this thing and I am no fan of the smell of sardines and I'm just not picking up anything so if you think about it I've never been better prepared in my life to take a gulp of this smoothie so in goes one bony oily sardine let's make it to these flashes of Tapatio hot sauce just to bring a little south-of-the-border kick a handful of marshmallows I do not know what the logic was behind this I can only assume because they contain gelatin then Keenan calls for Lebanese mustard which does not exist so here's some French's and about a half a cup of pickle juice which as we all know is very high in vitamin C and last but certainly not least the subject of Kel Mitchell's pursuits and fantasies grandiose and my new - like orange soda I'm just gonna add enough to cover all the ingredients here so we make sure we get a nice smoothie like a consistency and what do you say folks let's blend this up and get better huh now one major distinction between the smoothie made on the show and the one that I'm making here is that they swapped it out so that quell the actor who plays quell didn't have to actually drink this putrid mixture but while I'm speeding up these shots here and there I am NOT cutting camera so you can rest assured that I'm going to actually drink this thing I do all this in the name of science I guess let me just clear the blender here tilt the camera down pull focus let's see if we've got something here that's gonna fix me I'm already feeling better just looking at it allow me to take this opportunity to say that obviously you should not try this at home please I mean that's what I'm here for anyway no more dancing around it it's time to dig in the quick little coffee it coffee out of the way here we go 1 2 3 you can do this Andi now kalsa that this concoction tasted like chicken and even though I can't taste anything I can tell you with confidence that that cannot be the case I couldn't get any actual flavor but it felt like I had just put cleaning supplies in my mouth or something well if the show is to be believed I should wake up tomorrow completely cured if not I will see you guys next week when I'll hopefully be healthy and making normal content again stay safe stay healthy please practice social distancing and self quarantine and keep cooking I will if you willnow with those spices in there please know we love hot sauce marshmallows yeah it's a mustard Lebanese mustard that is how about some on soda hey what's up guys welcome back to binging with babish we're this week I am sick and in quarantine what are you gonna do in times of crisis I turn now as I so often do to Kenan & Kel who in season one of their eponymous Nickelodeon series purported to cure the common cold their recipe is as follows a few pieces of fried chicken a handful of cough drops unwrapped of course otherwise that'd be crazy too whole raw eggs pushing it beyond Rocky's breakfast of champions and including the shells for extra fiber and possibly Salmonella next up some sardines and I was keen to try these out because one of the more fascinating potential side effects of kovat 19 is that you completely lose your sense of smell and taste so as you can see I'm just varying my nose in this thing and I am no fan of the smell of sardines and I'm just not picking up anything so if you think about it I've never been better prepared in my life to take a gulp of this smoothie so in goes one bony oily sardine let's make it to these flashes of Tapatio hot sauce just to bring a little south-of-the-border kick a handful of marshmallows I do not know what the logic was behind this I can only assume because they contain gelatin then Keenan calls for Lebanese mustard which does not exist so here's some French's and about a half a cup of pickle juice which as we all know is very high in vitamin C and last but certainly not least the subject of Kel Mitchell's pursuits and fantasies grandiose and my new - like orange soda I'm just gonna add enough to cover all the ingredients here so we make sure we get a nice smoothie like a consistency and what do you say folks let's blend this up and get better huh now one major distinction between the smoothie made on the show and the one that I'm making here is that they swapped it out so that quell the actor who plays quell didn't have to actually drink this putrid mixture but while I'm speeding up these shots here and there I am NOT cutting camera so you can rest assured that I'm going to actually drink this thing I do all this in the name of science I guess let me just clear the blender here tilt the camera down pull focus let's see if we've got something here that's gonna fix me I'm already feeling better just looking at it allow me to take this opportunity to say that obviously you should not try this at home please I mean that's what I'm here for anyway no more dancing around it it's time to dig in the quick little coffee it coffee out of the way here we go 1 2 3 you can do this Andi now kalsa that this concoction tasted like chicken and even though I can't taste anything I can tell you with confidence that that cannot be the case I couldn't get any actual flavor but it felt like I had just put cleaning supplies in my mouth or something well if the show is to be believed I should wake up tomorrow completely cured if not I will see you guys next week when I'll hopefully be healthy and making normal content again stay safe stay healthy please practice social distancing and self quarantine and keep cooking I will if you will\n"