Selena + Chef (2020) s01e06 Episode Script

1
- Hey, guys! It's Selena.
There.
People who know me
know that I love to cook,
except I have no idea
what to do or how to do it.
Honestly,
I'm not confident enough.
So while I've been
stuck at home
these past few months,
I thought
what better time to improve
my skills in the kitchen?
So I've asked
some of the best chefs
to school me.
This is what
I'm burning today.
They're at home,
I'm at home.
- Hang on.
And we're gonna see
if we can make
a meal together
Apart.
So awkward.
Selena and Nancy, take one.
So let's try this.
Here we go.
Good.
- I'm tryin', I'm tryin',
I'm try ♪
Oh, tryin', I'm tryin' ♪
I'm tryin',
my feelings on fire ♪
Let's see.
Hi, Nancy.
Hi!
Nice to have you in my kitchen.
- Well, thanks so much
for having me.
- Today, I am getting
a home cooking lesson
by none other than
Nancy Silverton.
She's a legendary chef, baker,
author, and restaurant owner.
- I have planned
a very ambitious day
for the two of us,
so I hope you're ready.
- I am ready, and I have
a few of my best friends
that have been
quarantining with me.
- Are they gonna come help,
or no?
- Yeah,
they're gonna come help.
- Oh, good.
- Guys?
- Yeah, bring 'em out.
- This is Liz and Raquelle.
- Hi, Liz.
- Hi, Nancy!
- Hi!
- You're ready to work.
- We're ready to work.
- Oh, yeah.
- Put us to work.
- Oh, good.
That is really the key
to a great dinner party.
Bring as many hands
as possible,
and then the work gets done.
- Yeah.
- Exactly.
- I'll call you guys in
when we're up to
- All right.
- Perfect, thank you.
- Hard stuff.
- Just grabbing a Coke.
- Where's the Coke, Liz?
- It's over here.
- Sorry, sorry, sorry.
- Raquelle.
Sorry.
This is what happens
when you live with
- I know, it's hard.
- Girls.
- For two months.
- All right.
You got my full attention,
Nancy.
- I hope you love vegetables,
'cause we're cooking
lots of vegetables today.
- Love, love vegetables.
- Good.
With the magic oven,
I'm gonna teach you
how to make
a dinner party
buffet vegetables.
It's what I do
in Italy,
entertaining in my home there.
This was a great excuse
to make some of the things
that I would be making,
had I been there.
- Amazing.
- And the two things
that are gonna go in right away
and take a while to cook
are the leeks and the tomatoes.
As far as the tomatoes
- Okay.
They can go in your oven
with a pretty small sheet pan.
And then I'm gonna be
doing my leeks in a larger pan.
- Okay, so I put one oven to
- 350 degrees,
that the leeks will go in.
And the tomatoes
are gonna go in at 450.
- And that--
is that convection?
- Yeah, turn on
your convection, sure.
- I know that word now.
- First of all,
we'll be braising leeks
in chicken stock
and extra virgin olive oil
and lemon and thyme.
So go ahead
and grab your leeks.
- What are leeks?
- Leeks are part
of the onion family.
So they look like green onions
or scallions on steroids.
- Oh, my gosh, totally.
Oh, my gosh!
This looks so wrong, you guys.
- Yeah, yeah, there you go.
You need lemons.
And you need thyme.
Fresh thyme.
- Right now.
- Yep.
There it is.
- Do you have
a trash can near you?
- I do.
- So I always have, like,
a little bowl
to throw my trimmings in.
- I like that.
- I like to think of myself
as a vegetable butcher.
And so I'm trimming off
the hairy end,
leaving the root intact
of probably
three to four leeks.
- I have never in my life
seen an onion quite like this.
Ooh!
- Okay, now we're gonna split
the leek in half,
right down the middle.
- All the way through.
- All the way through.
♪
- Ah, okay.
All right, I'm messing this up.
- So are you
grabbing the leeks
on the edges with your fingers?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Looks great.
- I'm not gonna mess up.
Good job.
- Okay, lay your leeks in
cut-side up.
- Okey-dokey.
- Beautiful.
- Alrighty.
- Alrighty.
We are going to fill enough
chicken stock and olive oil
to come up
a third of the way in.
And we want twice as much
chicken stock as olive oil.
All right, now,
let's season those leeks.
I use kosher salt
for seasoning
and flaky salt for finishing.
- Oh!
- Really, that's how
the professionals season.
They season
with their fingers like that.
- Oh, I love seasoning.
- You look like a professional
over here.
♪
Great!
And now,
let's lay on some thyme.
Some fresh thyme sprigs.
- Okay.
- Okay, grab a lemon.
And slice the lemon
into thin rounds.
- Okay, and I just place them
on top?
- Yep, just place them on top
like I do.
Can you see mine?
- Yes.
- And then grab your tinfoil,
and that's gonna go in
that 350 degree oven.
- Nice.
- All right, let's go on
to the tomatoes.
- Yes.
- The variety
is a Roma tomato.
They have a thicker skin,
and they're great
for roasting.
- How many tomatoes?
- I'm gonna fill a sheet pan.
Put some olive oil on it.
Sprinkle the thyme leaves
on the pan.
- Oh, it smells so good.
- Perfect, and then
we're gonna cut our tomatoes,
but don't cut
all the way through.
Cut them in half
through the core.
We wanna keep it attached.
Can you see that?
- Yes.
- It's just easier
when we pick them up.
We're picking up one double
as opposed to two singles.
- Whew, okay.
Stressed about
doing these.
- No!
This is stress-free cooking
we're doing.
- I love her already.
- The menu that
we're doing today
tastes as good hot
as it is eaten
out of the refrigerator
the next day, standing up,
which I often do.
It gives you a chance
to throw a party
but be there with your guests.
- Ooh.
- My mother and her friends
would have parties,
and everyone was there.
The only person that wasn't
was my mom,
'cause she was in the kitchen.
- Right.
That's my Nana.
My Nana loves to cook,
and she's cooked my whole life,
and
even after she's cooked,
she wants us to
to grab a plate before her.
I'm alway--
I'm just so confused.
- Did the light go off
on the oven?
- It did not.
Good grief.
- That should feel pretty hot
'cause it's at 450.
- Okay, so both of my lights
are still on.
None of these are hot.
- Would you mind
if I throw my tomatoes in?
- Yeah, no, please, go ahead.
I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
- Convention's supposed
to make it hotter.
- This is so weird.
So do you think I should just
put them in?
Even though it's
- We're not making
tomato sauce.
We don't want them to boil.
- Okay.
That's super frustrating.
- We'll get it.
- Okay.
- So I'm gonna go ahead
and grab my carrots.
I'm gonna use
my favorite carrot,
which is a Nantes carrot.
What you have right there,
rainbow carrots.
You are gonna trim yours,
but don't cut off the end
or the hairy end.
- Eww, why?
- You know, it's so much
more elegant
to leave the shape
of the vegetable.
- That's interesting.
- And then, just pile on
what's gonna fit
on your sheet pan.
You're gonna drizzle olive oil
all over them.
You want to season them
with kosher salt.
And we're gonna be
roasting these.
How's that oven of yours doing?
- Well, I think there's
supposed to be
a thermometer in it.
- We're still looking
for that, currently.
- Oh.
- I think it might be
in one of the drawers.
This house just, like,
eats things.
We can't find anything here.
- Yeah, 'cause it's that
little hanging one, remember?
- I'll help you guys.
- I know.
- We threw it in the sink.
- Could it be
in the dishwasher?
- Maybe.
- Nope.
- Awesome.
♪
- It's in the back of the oven.
- Nice.
♪
- It's at 150.
Okay, this is an epic fail.
- Maybe we can use a log fire.
Why does this
always happen, Sel? Every
- We were doing so good.
I'm so sorry, Nancy.
This is
- Don't worry about it.
- Not happened before.
- There's a couple other things
that we're gonna do
without an oven.
Let's just wing it.
Put the carrots in there
for now.
Okay?
- Okay.
- Let's switch gears,
and I'm gonna show you
how to make pesto.
- Amazing!
- Silver lining.
- It's looking up.
- Sounds great.
Liz and I aren't
gonna go hungry.
- Thank God.
- Do you guys wanna help
for this part?
- Love to help.
- Already got my apron on.
- You wanna try
sautéing your pine nuts?
- Oh, sure.
- Kay.
Nothing's working on the stove.
- No. Oh.
- Yeah, so I think
the pilot light
- So the whole thing broke.
Yeah, watch.
- No!
- Turn off the gas.
- Uh where's a lighter?
- All right, we have one.
I'm not gonna do that.
I will stand back.
- I'll do it. I'll do it.
I'll do it.
- Our danger girl.
- This is a special episode,
Nancy.
- No, please.
I never get to cook
in my kitchen.
- Cover your face.
Cover your face!
- We need the extinguisher
again!
- All right, it's broken.
Ah!
This sucks.
- I can't believe it.
- What are we gonna do, guys?
- Papa.
My Papa lives with me,
and, um
we'll work on the--
what is it?
- The gas line.
- That'll be good.
The name of the new show
is "Winging It."
- All right.
- We're winging it.
- Okay, so you have
a mortar and pestle.
Correct?
- I have a who?
- A mortar and pestle.
- Oh, yes, yes.
- Oh, yeah.
- So put your pine nuts
in there.
A few tablespoons.
Do you have a Microplane?
- The who?
- The Microplane.
Yeah.
Okay, so let's start
with three cloves of garlic.
Grating it just until
I'm gonna grate my fingers.
And then I stop.
- That's what they use
when you get a pedicure.
Oh, God.
- Liz!
- I knew I recognized
that little tool.
♪
- Go ahead and grab a lemon
with the skin.
And grate the colored part
only.
- This is cool.
- Doing good, girl.
She loves shaving a lemon.
I hear the oven going.
- Oh!
Let's see.
It's hot!
Oh, my God!
- Whoo-hoo.
Whoo
- That's so great.
- Things are looking up.
- Oh, that makes me so happy.
My Papa fixed my oven,
and now it's working.
- Did he have to go outside?
- Yeah, he did it.
- Papa!
- Thank you, Papa.
- I feel like
he purposefully breaks things
just to fix 'em.
- This has been
an interesting episode.
- So good now. I love it.
All right.
In the meantime,
we're making pesto.
Get your basil.
Take it off the stem.
Okay, we want the leaves only.
And we need a lot.
- The basil smells amazing.
- While you are
picking your basil,
let me just check my tomatoes.
- Yeah, looks great.
- I'm just gonna plate them.
So I'm just taking
them off very carefully.
- Wow.
That's really beautiful.
- Should we put
the tomatoes in, now,
or what's your vibe?
- Is it at around 450?
- Yeah.
- All right, into the oven
for about 45 minutes.
And I'm just gonna set that off
to the side.
And then, our basil.
Roll it up,
chop it kind of coarsely.
Just move it up and down
to chop it more.
Can you see what I'm doing?
- Yes.
- Good chop!
- How's she doing over there,
audience?
- She's doing great.
I'm very impressed.
- Julia Child 2.
- Yeah.
Ah.
- So put the basil
in the mortar.
We're gonna pound that basil.
- Just go for it?
- Yeah.
Now, we are just going
to pound and stir,
but this, you gotta use
your whole body strength.
So get your olive oil.
You're gonna add quite a bit
of olive oil,
but you're gonna add it slowly
in the beginning,
because if you add it
all at once,
the leaves will just float.
And it's not really complete
until we have a paste.
♪
That looks good.
Yeah, beautiful.
- Whoo!
- We're gonna grate
some cheese in.
Pecorino and Parmigiano.
- Yes, ma'am.
- This one's a sheep's milk.
Do about 25 gratings of that.
- Mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm,
mm-mm ♪
- That good?
- 21, 22, 23
24, 25.
- Then do, like, 25 gratings
of the parmesan.
This one's a cow's milk.
Mix that in together.
It should be like that.
- Okay.
♪
- It looks good.
I mean, how's it taste?
♪
- Wow, it tastes so good.
- Seems like you're having
a lot of fun with the pesto.
Oh, yeah, she is.
- I think I did it.
- I wanna show you
what my leeks look like.
Just so I can brag a little.
That my oven works.
- They look so good.
- We're gonna start
cooking the peppers.
- That sounds
like something I would love.
- All right, get a sheet
of the tin foil.
We're gonna protect our burner
from getting too dirty.
There you go.
- Yes!
- Excellent.
Okay, now, turn your burners
on full heat,
and just put that pepper on it
and forget about it.
- Is it, like, here?
- Just throw it on, yeah.
We're just burning it.
Do not be afraid.
You are blackening 'em, okay?
And this is how you make
a roasted pepper.
So let's take your leeks out.
And then turn up the oven
to 450.
♪
They look good.
- For how long
will those go back in?
- About 35 minutes.
- No!
- Oh, my God, oh, my God!
- It's okay, it's okay,
it's okay!
- You okay?
- That's okay.
- Yeah.
- It's okay.
- All right.
- I'm gonna stay away,
'cause I'm emotional.
- Kay, just straighten out
those leeks again, you know.
Just rearrange 'em.
Including the one that fell.
- Girl, it's not
even messed up, it's good.
- Oh, come on.
You know what?
You'll never do that again.
That's the best part.
- I feel like we might.
♪
- Let's regroup, okay?
- Nancy, help!
Help me, Nancy!
I'm falling apart!
- I'm here.
- We're struggling today!
- We're gonna need to open
another bottle of wine.
- Let's go easy.
Grab two bunches of asparagus
and parchment paper.
These are pencil asparagus.
They're really beautiful
and very thin.
So just take a couple,
and just see where
they want to break.
911! 911.
I'll get the fire extinguisher.
- Oh, my God.
- Open the door!
- It's not there!
I don't see it!
- Open the door.
We should open--
- What?
- Stand on here and fan it.
- You guys are the best
to cook with.
- Yeah, I don't know
about that.
- How did you get
the alarm off so quickly?
- I just think my house
is playing tricks on me.
- How are your peppers?
Mine are almost there.
It's not done
until it looks like
it's completely
black and charred.
Throw 'em in a bowl.
We're covering with plastic
so they can steam.
- Two down, one to go.
- Oh, me, too, but I think
I am already ready to go.
- I feel like
this might be done.
- What do you have?
- Tomatoes.
- Oh, they're beautiful!
I'm impressed.
Put aside for now.
Let's move on to our asparagus.
So put your asparagus
in the middle
of the parchment paper.
And then we want three
lobs of butter.
About 20 leaves of mint.
Just gather the leaves
at the top and pull down.
Scatter 'em. That's plenty,
yeah, that's good.
Roll it down all the way
to the asparagus.
Twist up your edge,
and you're gonna repeat it
with the second bunch.
And put them both
on the sheet pan.
Now, take a little olive oil,
and just drizzle it
on the paper.
And put it in the oven.
These are only gonna go in
for about seven minutes, okay?
Okay, now,
we're gonna do our dates, okay?
- Okay.
- Let's heat up a pan.
And surprise, surprise,
we're gonna add some oil.
Add the dates,
and we're just
warming them through.
And you should be able
to smell them, the sweetness.
- Wait, what is the--
What's happening
with the teapot?
Why does it look
like it's burning up?
Do you see that?
- Is the teapot on fire?
- The teapot?
I don't remember
cooking a teapot.
♪
- I think maybe we should
take that thing off.
- There's, like,
smoke coming out from the back.
- Oh, this is on fire!
- That's on fire!
- Get it out!
- Stop the gas!
Stop it, stop it!
- What is on fire?
- The parchment paper.
The parchment paper
is on fire inside the oven.
What do we do?
- I have to take it out.
- Oh, no!
- We gotta get it out.
- Yeah, turn off the oven.
- All right, just open it.
- Okay, the oven's off, right?
- Get it out!
You guys!
What is wrong with us today?
- 911.
- Help!
- Oh, my
- You think we can still
eat it?
- No!
- No, we can't eat fire paper!
- I'm gonna get a pic
with the camera.
♪
- Next time you're sitting
at a restaurant,
and you're wondering
what is taking so long
for your food to come out?
Just remember this moment.
- Yes, I will never forget.
- This one's been a hard day.
- So the way we serve this
at the restaurant,
we do it with grated
parmesan cheese,
and we serve it
right in the paper.
♪
- Be grateful--
- Can you imagine?
- Be grateful
for what you have.
Okay.
- Okay, transfer the dates
to a bowl.
- All right, Nancy.
- Okay.
So you got your dates.
- Are our leeks still cooking?
- Yeah, they're still cooking.
Should we worry about that?
- You okay over there?
Oh, your leeks are beautiful!
You've got leeks!
Gorgeous.
- Whoo!
- Okay, carrots.
Go back to your carrots.
- Are we plating them?
- Yes, we are.
Okay.
Sprinkle on,
very liberally, dill.
And then I'm finishing it off
with a little bit
of flaky salt.
- Kay.
- Okay, so get the bowl
with the peppers.
Rub the skin off.
'Cause that,
we don't want to eat.
At the same time, you're gonna
take out the seeds.
- Good job, guys.
- Get a mandoline.
The garlic is gonna be sliced
so thinly
because we're eating it raw.
So get a smallish bowl
and lay your peppers in there.
Now, put a couple
slices of garlic.
And now you want to drizzle,
lightly,
just a drizzle
of balsamic vinegar.
- Mmm. Smells so good.
- And now,
a drizzle of olive oil.
♪
Throw some basil leaves in.
Now, get some more peppers.
As many layers as you can do,
so our bowl looks pretty full.
Beautiful!
Let's take out
that crusty loaf of bread.
- Looks so good.
- What we're making
is something called
"fettunta."
And we're gonna be making
the world's best garlic bread.
We're gonna toast the bread
in the sauté pan.
Pour some olive oil in it,
and meanwhile, you need
a good serrated knife.
Careful when you slice it.
Yeah, wait.
Turn your bread on its edge.
Right.
All the way on its edge.
More, more, more, more, more.
There you go.
So as soon as
the oil's hot enough
that it sizzles,
put it in there.
All of my restaurants
has some version
of this bread.
Oh, your bread looks great!
Look at that!
Fettunta is slang in Italian
for sliced and greasy.
And that's exactly
what we're gonna do.
So take the bread
and just rub it
- Yeah.
- Back and forth
With a clove of garlic.
And then douse it in olive oil.
- Douse it.
- Douse.
I love the word "douse."
- Then we're sprinkling
with flaky salt.
Okay, let's grab our cheese.
You've got a burrata.
And the other one
is mozzarella.
Look at your table!
It looks excellent!
- Yeah? Is this good?
- Oh, yeah!
I am so glad that you went
to boot camp
with the rest of these chefs,
'cause you really know
what you're doing.
- I'm actually
surprising myself.
I didn't think I'd be as good,
to be honest.
- I'll have to thank them
next time I see them.
- Hey, you're a part of it.
- Oh, thank you.
Your table looks beautiful.
- Thank you.
Now what do I do?
- Eat! What do you mean?
- Ah!
- Mangia!
- She said,
"What do you mean?"
- Tell me what I should put
on my plate.
- Everything goes,
so if you're kind of a person
that, when you go down
a buffet line,
you can't resist anything,
and you just spoon it on,
then you can do that,
'cause like I said,
that all goes together.
I wouldn't eat
that hunk of cheese, though,
there's, like,
a hunk of parmesan I see.
- Oh.
- Yeah, that would be
on my plate
that Selena gave me.
Raw vegetables are fantastic,
but I just love the magic
of an oven.
And you taste that magic
when you eat the carrots,
right?
- Oh, the carrot's delicious.
I just tried one.
- I love the leeks
done this way.
I love the way
they caramelize.
A leek is delicious.
By the way,
your pesto looks beautiful.
I'm just going by color.
I can't taste it.
- The pesto is so good.
- Did you try
your tomatoes yet?
- I just put it on this bread.
- Good.
- Wow, you guys.
- Very satisfying.
- I'm gonna give myself
a four out of five.
Because I know, next time,
what I should do
and what I should not do,
and that's for sure,
check my appliances
to see if they work.
Get a thermometer,
and make sure I'm checking.
- Check the gas.
- And need a little work
on the
what is it?
The paper.
- Oh, God, the paper.
- Oh, by the way,
I'm rating this
a five, taste-wise.
Based off of
our experience today?
We scored a zero.
- No, you're eating!
You're eating!
- Honestly,
I'm so shocked.
- This is probably
my favorite meal I've made.
- Yeah.
- Oh, wow, I'm so happy.
- Thank you so much.
- Seriously.
Nancy, you're the best.
- You're so welcome.
Now, do you say that
to everybody, by the way?
- No, we don't.
- I haven't.
- Well, thank you.
- Well, thank you so much
for everything.
- It was fun.
I had a great time.
- Aw.
To thank Nancy
for the lesson today,
we're making a $10,000 donation
in her name
to Alex's Lemonade Stand
to support their mission
to cure childhood cancer.
Please go to alexslemonade.org
for more info.