The Great Kitchen Takeover: A Roasted Tomato Soup Challenge with Two Chefs
As we begin this culinary adventure, it's clear that our home cook, Mike, is in for a surprise. He has raided his fridge, which has been stocked with an eclectic mix of ingredients, including Thai paste, bao buns, macaroons, pineapples, and apple celery and walnut slaw, to name a few. The goal is to create a dish using these unusual ingredients alongside the cooking skills of two professional chefs, Ben and Kush. The challenge is on, and Mike is excited to see what his fellow cooks can come up with.
The Ingredients: A Look Inside Mike's Fridge
Mike takes us through the contents of his fridge, revealing a treasure trove of unexpected ingredients. We have Thai paste, which he reveals will be used in his Monster-infused dish. He also mentions bao buns, macaroons, and pineapples, which will make an appearance later in the challenge. The apple celery and walnut slaw is another mystery ingredient that Mike is eager to incorporate into his recipe. Finally, we have a selection of cheeses, including Gruyere, sushi ginger, schwarma paste, and bacon, all of which will play a role in the final dish.
The Countdown Begins: 30 Minutes to Create
With just three minutes left before the challenge begins, Mike is feeling nervous but determined. He asks his fellow chefs if they have any tips or tricks up their sleeves, and Ben responds with a recommendation for filo pastry. Mike explains that he uses it to make his daughter's favorite aubergine tomato and pea pinwheels. Meanwhile, Kush shares his own experience with using filo pastry, which involves brushing it with oil and baking it until crispy.
Filko Spaghetti: A Creative Twist on a Classic
In a surprising twist, Mike reveals that he has taken the filo pastry and turned it into spaghetti. Ben is stunned by this innovation, and Kush asks him how he achieved this feat. Mike explains that he had taken the traditional method of brushing with oil and baked it until crispy to create a crunchy filo shard. This creative use of filo will add an interesting texture to the final dish.
The Ginger Syrup: A Sugar-Free Solution
As the clock ticks down, Mike is determined to reduce his Monster-infused soup to a ginger syrup. He explains that he has never done this before but hopes that there's enough ginger sweetness in the ingredients to make it work. Meanwhile, Ben is working on his own recipe, which involves using ginger ale instead of Monster.
Caramelizing and Crisping: The Art of Filo
Mike takes us through his process for caramelizing and crisping the filo pastry. He explains that he had taken Kush's advice and diluted his schwarma paste with oil before brushing it onto the filo. This resulted in a beautifully crispy pastry, perfect for adding to the dish.
Kaneffi: A Global Inspiration
As Mike reveals his final dish, he shares the story behind its creation. Kaneffi is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made from a fine pastry soaked in syrup. Mike had tried it on a trip to Dubai and was inspired to create a caramelized pineapple Kaneffi cheesecake. This innovative recipe combines the flavors of Greece with the spices of the Middle East.
The Final Dish: A Sweet and Savory Masterpiece
With just seconds left on the clock, our three chefs present their final creations. Mike's roasted tomato soup is infused with Monster and served alongside a caramelized pineapple Kaneffi cheesecake. Ben's dish features a delicate balance of flavors, while Kush's creation showcases his expertise in combining unexpected ingredients.
A Sassy Chef and a Sausage
As we look at the finished dishes, Mike can't help but feel a sense of pride. He reveals that he had been sabotaged by the addition of Monster to his soup, which he describes as "outrageously sweet." Meanwhile, Kush shares a joke about his favourite sausage, adding a lighthearted touch to the proceedings.
A Masterclass in Creativity
As we wrap up this culinary adventure, it's clear that our three chefs have learned valuable lessons about creativity and flexibility. Mike, Ben, and Kush have demonstrated that even the most unexpected ingredients can be transformed into a delicious dish with the right combination of skills and imagination. And as for Mike, he may not know what he's getting himself into when it comes to cooking with these two professional chefs – but one thing is certain: his life will never be boring again.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- I'm gonna do a roastedtomato soup with oreganoand flavour it with some of this quiche.(Mike laughs)- God, that was at 190when I put it in there.- I didn't know it was in there, chef.- I've been sabotaged already.- Outrageously sweet for a savoury dish.- Yeah, there's lots of Monster in it.- Yeah.- Monster.(all laugh)- I mean, yeah.- Hello everyone.This is gonna be very interesting.I am a normal home cook.These are two chefs.I have raided my normal home cook fridge,brought a whole load of stuff inand these two are gonnasee what they can cook upwith my eclectic group of ingredients.(light music)(Ben and Kush laugh)- Okay.- So, full transparency,it's been my daughter's birthdayand we've had parties,so there is some weird stuff in there.- Thai paste, bao buns, macaroons.I'm surprised by the quiche,but I'm glad to see it.- We had a party.- He had a party.- Pineapples, so Barry can't judge this.- A apple celery and walnut slaw.- I'm guessing Waldorf is copyright.- Yeah, ooh, is it?- Spinach, red cabbage, Gruyere?Gruyere.- Yeah.And Mike's favourite little tipple.- Some sushi ginger andsome schwarma paste.- And some bacon.- And then duck.- Duck, yeah.- Nice balanced.- You've got 30 minutes to seewhat you can each come up with.- Can we have five minutes thinking time?- Yeah, yeah, we'll give youthree minutes thinking time.- Three minutes thinking time.- Okay chefs, 30 minutes startingin three, two, one, cook.(siren blares)(exciting music)- I've never done thisbefore, but I wonder ifthere's enough kind ofginger sweetness in thatto reduce down to ginger syrup.- I'm doing the samething but with a Monster.(Ben laughs)And the ginger ale.- It's a sugar free Monsterso there's nothing in it.- I will drink the Monsterand just use ginger ale then.- Mike?- Yes.- What do you use filo pastry for at home?- We make our daughterthese aubergine tomato and pea pinwheels.- That is beautifully bougie, I love it.(exciting music continues)So typically if we're cookingfilo, it's a very dry pastry.I would brush it with a fat,butter, so it crisps up.What I've done is dilute yourschwarma paste with some oiland I'm brushing it all overand I'm just gonna bakeit off so it goes crispyto give us nice filo shardsto serve with the dish.- I have taken your filo andturned it into spaghetti.- Wow!- And I will be caramelisingand crisping this up in a pan.Oh, I've got a caramel on the go here.- What was the dish that we had?There's a global dish, isn't there?Sweetened filo...- Kaneffi.- Yes.- Yeah, so Kaneffi is a veryfine pastry soaked in syrup.- We had it in Dubai, yes.- So I'm gonna makecaramelised pineapple Kaneffi cheesecake.- Oh nice.- I wasn't gonna call itKaneffi till you said,\"What was that dish wehad in the Middle East?\"And now it is that thing.- So this is quite a nicelyseasoned flavoured filo.The next bit is a bit of an experiment.- Yes!- What is basically Waldorf salad,I want to cook it all out and puree it.And like a cabbage and celeriacwith a little bit of sweetness from appleas a puree is really nice.That's basically what this iswith added sour cream and seasoning.The apple and the sultanas and the walnutswill add the sweetness.- Mike, I'm frying offthe filo in some butter.No sugar yet, I wannaget it nice and toastedthen I'll lightly sugar itand finish through the oven.Get it really crunchy.Caramelising the pineapple,I'm gonna make a quick cheesecake mixwith some of your pickled ginger.So like a ginger pineapplestyle whipped creamy dessertwith crispy pastry.- Do you need a duck breast?- No thank you.- Just gonna demonstrate with one.All I'm gonna do is aclassic duck seared in a pan,starting off cold, render out the fat,then get it nice and crispy,adds the protein to the dish.You had two optional proteins.One was the lean pork,one was the fatty duck.I've gone with this.Slow, bring it up, renderit crispy, then turn it overand I'll just season the other side.(exciting music continues)- I thought I'd do an Ebbers,and I'm also attempting a second dish.- Whereas I'm justgonna open the Prosecco.- I'm gonna try and toastup some of these bao bunsin some foaming butter and olive oil.- Whoa.- Put through some microplaned garlicand kind of try and make mini croutons.And then I'm gonna do a roastedtomato soup with oreganoand flavour it with some of this quiche.(Mike laughs)To give it a bit of body.- Ebbers, I've noticed youhaven't gone for the quiche.- No, quiche shouldn't be touched.Quiche should just be nibbled.(Mike laughs)(exciting music continues)- What's in there, Ben?What's in the bottom?- Why have you put that up to 250?- Because I've got stuff in there cooking.I need to roast my tomatoes.- My God, that was at 190when I put it in there.- I didn't know it was in there, chef.- I've been sabotaged already.- No, it's notsabotaged, I promise.- The comments will hate you.- There's so much colour on those, Ebbers.- That one's a little on the crispy side,but we'll use those too.- Thanks chef.- Sorry.Actually, am I?I got the oven first.- So what's the worst that could happenif the Waldorf salad doesn't puree?- Well it's more if, and it has,if the milk proteins in there...- Split.- Split.And I looked at the ingredients listand it said sour cream andI didn't think that'd split.So I thought it was gonna be all right.But it's also got a wholebunch of other stuffas ingredients and preservatives.Something's messed it up and it's split.But it'll be fine when I puree it,because the fats of the cheeseand the fats of the walnutswill help to bring it allback together with the bodyof the cabbage, celery and apple.(suspenseful music)- Do you genuinely thinkyou're gonna win this?- Yeah, I genuinely do.- Bring your A game.- This is our home ground.You're in away turf now.I don't think I'll sabotageJames, I won't have to.- I've won the last couple of battleswith him involved and it must hurt.(suspenseful music continues)(dramatic music)- We've been on this journey for 14 yearsand you haven't got better.- You haven't got better!You still cook the same stuff.- We've got energy,- We've got energy, we've got vibes.We can finish each other's sentences.- Yeah.- So hopefully we'll be ableto finish each other's...- Dessert.- Dessert.- A lot of people assume thatme and James don't get on,because you know I'm the new pretender,but I love it when he is herejust 'cause there's, you know,someone has to do the washing up.- This is like WWE andboxing, fused with cookingand made really, really silly.(all laugh)- If I win.- Yeah.- You shave your whole beard off.- All of a sudden I'mfeeling quite nervous.(all laugh)- Oh dear.- Oh dear.- I have to win.- That escalated.(dramatic music continues)- Kush, how you doing mate?- I'm doing all right.I'm making my vanilla andginger cheesecake fillingwith a bit of cream cheese, double cream,a lot of vanilla paste, pickled gingerand I'll wazz it all together.And that'll whip up into a quitea soft moussey consistency.Pineapple is cooking in agreen chilli butter scotch,'cause I had a chilli leftover, that went in, no waste.And I'm making little greenchilli garlic croutonsto go with my roasted tomato shwarma soup.- I'm also wilting somespinach in a really hot panwith a splash of your Prosecco.(upbeat music)- Come on.All right, that's mixed.Then I'm gonna set it in a little bowl.Fingers crossed I've got enough time.And then top it with the roasted pineappleand the crunchy filo mixture.- You got 15 minutes remaining.- That's all right.(Mike chuckles)There we go, cheesecake.- I'd just like to borrow some of that.- Please say that's going in the dessert.- Yeah, I thought if I couldI'll do two as well, I'm bored.- Oh, I see.- Oh, way-hey, Ebbershas entered the chat.- Right, pineappleis done, coming out.- That ginger ale has reduced right down.- To a really lovely ginger syrup.I'm gonna use that in a moment.- Oh this is great.Just watching two chefs chef off.How do you go about coming tothe conclusions of the dishesthat you have from a setof ingredients like that?Like where do you start,where's the logic?- I think,\"What's the obvious thingthat Mike would do at home?\"And then, \"What's the one bitof inspiration we can give him\"with the same ingredientsso when he gets home\"he could try this?\"So I've deliberately taken one ideaand thought, \"What wouldn't he do?\"Like what can you do with Waldorf Saladthat isn't Waldorf Salad?And then I thought a celerycabbage and apple pureeis a really lovely savourykind of winter dishthat would work lovelywith some pan roasted duck.It needs some fat through it.It already has a little bit of sour cream,but I've now got the Gruyereto add to it, some spinach.It's a very simple dish.That then leaves mewith macaroons, bao bunsand ginger syrup to do dessert.- Oh yeah.- My thought processwas find one ingredientand build around that.I saw the pineapple,it was already cut up.So a lot of the prep work's done.There's filo, that's pastry,cream cheese in the fridge.And what's better thana caramelised pineappletart does hand style?We've done it in a pass-it-on before.I am frying off a slice of quiche, Mike,in a paprika and garlic oil.That will be the stock base to my soup.- Oh my goodness.- So I'm gonna deglaze mypaprika oil with some Prosecco.Bring that to a boil.Put in the schwarmaroasted charred tomatoes,blend it all togetherand serve it with some croutons.To balance out the tartnessof the out of season tomatoes,a bit of Monster.Some spring onions.Something is burning with sugar in it.Oh, I have to take itout but this is horrible.- Have you burnt your filo as well?- Yeah.(all laugh)- So you burnt my filo andnow you've burnt your filo.Oh my word, chef!- Oh no!- How long have we got, Mike?I'm just blending my Waldorf Salad.- Nine minutes and 13 seconds.- Fine, it's fine.(blender whirs)- The energy and thevolume have gone right up.Oh, grey.- It's terrible.I'm gonna have to thickenit with something.That's what Smash was invented for.- Do you want me to grab you some?- Yes please.Take two.(light music livens up)Just to bring the duck outthe pan and let it rest.- I'm gonna blend my soup.(blender whirs)- So what's the plan for the macaroons?- Texture and a key flavour to go throughwhat is otherwise asimple cheesecake mixture.- My cheesecake mixture?- Correct.So you get all the best bitsof a macaroon, that sweetnessand that chew with the creaminessof the cheesecake mixture.- That's what we're looking for.- Two minutes and 40 seconds remaining.- Ouch.It's not left much timefor resting, is it?- Nice, nice.Crispy, not smoky, perfectly cooked filo.- My woodland smush.(Mike laughs)AKA Waldorf puree.- That is mad.The guys are gonna notbelieve what that is.- Nice and pink,very happy with that.- One minute, 10 seconds remaining.- That's not enough time.That's now very hot.I've just reheated the spinachthat I cooked earlier inthe same steam basket.Beautiful bit of duck.- 30 seconds remaining.- Some of this schwarmacrunch just over the top.- Eight, seven, six.(Mike laughs)- My syrup has solidified!- Four, three, two, one.- That really needed a garnishbut I've run out of time.(siren blares)- Step away from your dishes.- That was better in my head.- Ebbers, that looks brilliant.Amazing, let's get them into the sexies,and let's get two morenormals in to try them.(light music)- I didn't know there wascottage cheese in there.- That's what I'm confused,is it sweet or savoury?I don't know.- That is four veryimpressive looking dishes.- I don't know what any of them are.- No, but they're platednicely and that's what matters.- Yeah, plated nicely.- Should I talk you through this side?- Yes.- A Waldorf salad puree with Gruyere,Prosecco, spinach and searedduck with schwarma crumb,and then macaroon cheesecakebao with a ginger syrup.- We've really gone roundthe world there haven't we?- Dig in.- And you blended it?- Yeah.- I'm nervous of the puree.- Cheers.- I heard how it was cooked.- Think celery and apple puree.- Yeah.- Okay.- Duck, spinach and shwarma crumb.British seasonal woodlandwith a touch of shwarma.(all laugh)- I really like it.It's got every element oftexture that you'd want.- Yeah.- The flavours are...- They all make sense.- Yeah.- Yes.- Yeah.- I thickened my puree withSmash, 'cause it was quite wet.- That'll be what it is.That's why it's interesting.- Yeah, that's why it's,yeah, it's got a chew to it.(all laugh)- Dehydrated potato powderjust to thicken a puree.- And this was?- Mike had some bao buns, sohe also has some macaroons.So I mixed Kush's cheesecakemixture with macaroons.Put it inside steam buns,finished it with a ginger ale syrup.- You saw duck and bao bunsand you thought, \"Cheesecake.\"(all laugh)- I figured Mike wouldnormally put duck in bao bunsso we wanted to give himsomething different, cheers.- Cheers.- Cheers.(upbeat music)- The syrup in that.- The syrup's the best bit.- It's great.- I like that.- A little bit of heat there from that.I don't dislike anything there.- No.- I really like it, it's...- It just makes sense, no story needed.- I think I'll take that as a compliment.- Kush, what have we got?- So I used Mike's tomatoes,roasted red pepper feta andspinach quiche and bao bunsto make a roasted tomato soup.Thickened with quiche.(all laugh)- You had a quiche in your fridge?- He had a quiche in his fridge.- He had a party recently.- I had old people round.(all laugh)- So the creaminess ofthe quiche to thicken itwith a bit of the the roux,bit like your, I took it from your,remember the pork pie Scotch egg thing?- Oh yeah.- If in doubt, thicken asoup with scrambled egg.- Yeah.- And then we've got my take onwhat Mike would call a Kaneffi.- I like the fact you'vetaken the bao bunsand turned them into garlic croutons.- Yeah.- Yeah.- Bit of chilli in there,oregano, bit of schwarma paste.- And a quiche thickened soup.- Quiche thickened soup.Oh, I had to balance out thefire from the schwarma paste-- With some chilli.- With some sweetness.- Your moderation of chillihas gone off the charts.- I don't think it's that bad.- That's gone out.I think you got a bad bit.It is also outrageouslysweet for a savoury dish.- Yeah, there's lots of Monster it.- Yeah.(all laugh)- Monster.(all laugh)- I mean, yeah.- And the roasted tomatoes.- Roasted tomatoes,Monster, jammy flavours.- It's quiche and Monster.- Yeah, quiche and Monster Soup.(all laugh)- You have a load of spices.- Yeah.- I mean it's delicious.- Yeah.- It's ridiculous.- It's very creamy.- Yeah, really creamy.- We should all thickenmore things with quiche.- Did you put the pastry in there as well?- The whole thing.- That wasn't just a quiche filling?- No, and a spoon of thespare cheesecake mix.- Which is also sweet.(Jamie laughs)- Are the bao buns toasted?There's a really nice textureof crispy on the outside,but again, quite lightand fluffy on the inside.- Yeah, because I find thatif they come from the packetthey're a bit raw so I cooked them out.Toffee caramel pineapple.It is literally, it'sa pineapple cheesecake.It's cooked, cooked pineapple.- Caramelised pineapples, superb.- I threw a whole greenchilli in there as well.I thought...- That's still got the,I thought there was a flavourfrom the soup lingering,but there's a lot ofheat there as well, yeah.(all laugh)- Am I mental thatI can't tell much differencebetween that and that?(all laugh)They're both sweet, they're bothsavoury, they're both spicy.- Dip a pineapple in that.- No.Too far.- You reckon?- Yeah.- I think it would taste the same.- No.- I wouldn't expect anyof this from you two.You've been thrown somuch by those ingredients.You made dishes that youwould never usually make.- That was the point.- Don't make the obvious.- Yeah, it's great.- I don't know, thisfeels very Kush to me,because I don't see it coming.(all laugh)- I know, I know, I know.- I have a favourite dish from each side.For me it's either the cheesecake bao bunsor the quiche soup.- I actually would concur.- Is it between those two for you?- Yeah for me, these two,you've both performed better.- Interesting, that'sboth where we started.(all laugh)With a plan and both of theothers were afterthoughts.- That's what I wanted to make.- That's what I did make,that was my afterthought.(all laugh)- I think my favouritedish on the table...- Shall we point at it at the same time?- Yeah.- One.- Two.- Three.- Kush takes the double point.Congratulations, chef.- Thank you.- Over to you guys inthe comments down below.What do you think, which wasyour favourite dish of the four?- And why is it the quiche thickened soup?(all laugh)- With Monster.- With Monster.- The bao croutons are smart.- Yeah, that's good.\n"
