cooking is really hard we've never made
a steak and it's dangerous and
exhausting what's up guys welcome back
to my youtube channel on this episode of
challenge accepted I am going to be
doing something I have wanted to do for
a really long time for the next week I
am going to be training like a
professional chef at the new school of
cooking at Pasadena at the end of the
challenge I am going to have to create
and present a four-course meal to a
panel of food critics my name is Jill
Davis I'm a chef instructor here at the
new school cooking I'm also a personal
chef and this week I'll be teaching
Michelle how to cook in my classes if
she was just one of my students I think
it's one thing learning how to cook
following recipes it's another when you
have to create high-quality fresh draw
style dishes for people who critique
these dishes all the time so a normal
chef pretty alone that takes about 900
hours
poorly done 900 hours into one week is
intense I've never prepared anyone to
cook for a critic in this short amount
of time cooking is something that's a
complex relationship for me how would
you describe my cooking the only thing
I've ever seen you make is chicken
chicken chicken I basically make grilled
chicken and grilled vegetables and just
put different pre-made seasonings on
them every day Michelle cooks chicken so
this week we were not doing that at all
I want to be able to make my own fancy
restaurant food at home and I would love
to better understand that world and not
have it feel so intimidating thank you
for being here with me first of all oh
yeah I apologize in advance for anything
that is ever burned no please I feel
that every day why are you teaching so I
can prevent that from helping
okay one of the things that we do on the
first day of owners school is walk
everywhere out in the kitchen here we
have like these big tables so they're
really good for rolling dough's doing
any kind of pastry work stoves big
massive ranges
yeah we're not kidding around here like
this is actually like yeah stuff this is
actually what is like you could put a
body in there in like cremate bread and
pizza
okay bread in peace yeah bread and pizza
oven I've got myself a couple of times
that stitches there this one I actually
like almost took my whole finger off and
it was like at the hospital I was the
only one of my culinary school class to
actually run go get stitches don't worry
we we we won't be doing it today you're
like horror story you tell before you
teach knife skills to people that's a
little bit that's one of them bigger
multiple so this week we're gonna start
off having her learn the fundamentals so
we're gonna do is we gonna set up our
station I take some paper towels and you
wet it and then you wring them out and
we're gonna put these underneath cutting
boards to give it a little bit more
stability you know see now it's a lot
more stable it still moves but it's just
a lot more stable mine definitely moves
when I'm at home I never thought I'd do
this knives are weighted in the center
this is where you want your finger to go
and you grip it okay oh and then you go
down as if it is a feather you want to
let the knife do the work take your
fingers and grip it like this and see
this knuckle that's the thing that
you're gonna yeah so that way your
fingers are out of the way so there's
four cuts that we do
it's a julienne a Batson a Master Duan
and a broom was ya know it's rare any
cut it cuz it's brick okay
is that a julienne that was a slice your
suck way about it than mine yours don't
look too bad I'll give you an eight
[Laughter]
this is really really nice really fresh
pop of course you know when you smell it
it doesn't smell like anything
yeah it doesn't smell fishy yeah you
don't want you live a sausage is bad so
there's this funny idea about how long
this stuff takes to cook it doesn't take
long at all
you just want that sear taste and then
you want the beautiful red I like the
beautiful purple or milk I love to have
things be aesthetically pleasing
especially with the scenario where we're
creating something for a critic that's
great it's even even look at that like
it's actually live in peace yeah yeah
why don't you go ahead and salt both
sides of those okay I'm not show you the
right way to something I just hold it in
my hand and kind of like go like that
we're gonna get some paper towels and
make sure it's dry before it hits the
flame because then stick if it's wet
because if it's water and then you hit
it with the oil not only you're gonna
splash in your face but it's gonna stick
right to the thing you're never gonna be
able with in it so I'm gonna grab
something literally doing everything
wrong there you go can you shake
with it yeah perfect and I've been sick
oh so easy yeah cuz all you want is just
that really light seer what I want to do
underneath the fish is a beautiful bed
of cucumber and avocado have you ever
worked it on the pot of the fire
yes but I'm probably doing it wrong as
I'm learning many things today
so one of the things that people do a
lot as they go like that oh that's
exactly the reaction that I have no but
gently put your knife on it and rock it
in okay until it gets in there and then
twist yeah and then it comes out like
these don't seem super seedy yeah yeah
they're not see to y'all they're
definitely liking I'm pretty
straightforward chef Jose by chef Joel I
hope that's I was like what's a graphic
and it's like a freeze frame of your
face and then like a script text that's
like chef Joe
so don't play yeah ok I'm ready for this
all right so let me show you how we're
gonna plate this stuff so you always
want to start from obviously the bottom
up okay so be about five or six bites
and that's about it I'm gonna start
making a little well and I always like
to kind of think of it as like a rule of
thirds everything odd numbers it was
looks really really good start placing
in the center a lot of times chefs will
do this with pliers or chopsticks even I
used to actually do this with chopsticks
it almost kind of looks like a little
flower and then I'll have my fish expose
that and you have it all in one piece
just like that oh yeah and this is the
dish that you're gonna serve okay okay
do you think you can make something
almost similar to this yes should I do
that or do my own version I'd love to
see your own version okay I have an idea
perfect
[Music]
that was fun I like that that was enough
on his part but that looks awesome I
mean you actually even did five things
like you didn't know you can't see them
I'm sad that's okay I should have put
the fish on the outside or something but
that's okay it's right here and it's a
right-center it's not messy it's perfect
this is gonna be caption call me Gordon
Ramsay oh my god this is so good I am
home from the first day with chef Joel
which was amazing and I'm really excited
to apply some of the lessons that I
learned in my own kitchen with Matt
everyone say hi to Matt hi Matt okay
though I am going to be making a blue
apron recipe they're fresh basil
fettuccine which looks amazing and if
you want to try to dress be yourself
once you see it when it's done you can
sign up via the link in my description
and the first 50 people to do so will
get $50 off their first two weeks of
glue apron if you're like me you eat a
lot grocery bills are expensive it could
be a great way to save a couple bucks
they also come with everything like
perfectly portioned out I hope that you
liked this brief journey into me making
other things I miss there to see
something
besides chicken and spinach you don't
have to eat what I cook okay first thing
chef Joel taught me is prepare to
workstation I do like sexual suggestion
I'm having like a trash Bowl because I
usually just come like psyched and
things off to the corner of the cutting
board so one of the things I actually
really like about blue apron is that
every week the recipes changed my
personal favorite part about this whole
thing is that all of the meals can be
prepared in 40 minutes or less oh yeah
that's really good pasta is a different
medium so you're working with flowers
you're working with different textures
last night I made a blue apron pasta
recipe okay I think you went pretty well
but I've always wanted to like make it
homemade it seems like a really daunting
process so not at all so this positive
involves a lot of egg yolks so we're
gonna crack our eggs in here I'm gonna
do the whole one first and then I'm
gonna do six egg yolks so just drop in
your hand hey guys no one said anything
about cooking or baking gonna be clean
is this making me realize I have no
concept on where pasta comes from at all
like what the heck is this you'll see it
turn into pasta shortly I promise now
comes the really really fun part I'm
gonna break each egg yolk this is why I
like doing with my fingers okay you're
gonna really get in there watch my moves
so you get in there with like maybe a
couple fingers two or three and you
start working in the flour from the side
so you just like wipe your hands off is
it okay yeah totally wipe your hands up
so you're gonna do something that kind
of looks like this I'll see how mines
coming together like a ball yes exactly
yours is gonna start doing that that's
great look at that we actually have to
roll these into a sheet I want to start
by showing you our little handy dandy
pasta roller attachment I'm just gonna
go right through that is button that's
fine
different feature a different function
that is so satisfying and then you just
take it then dredge it in some of the
flour and just let it hang out like that
and you're like cooking like a pro right
now why don't we do the mushroom cream
sauce yes ready this sauce doesn't take
very long either so once you put the
cream in it just reduces the cream a
little bit until it forms something
really thick oh my god that smells like
intoxicating Wow the pasta lesson really
made me appreciate care and time in
thoughtfulness
into food in a way that I hadn't before
oh my god you try it it's so good so
when you make this you're actually like
Michelle made this like she made this
with her own two hands put together
something brilliant that not very many
people actually know how to do or take
the time to do halfway through the
challenge I got to work in the
restaurant at the musical cooking
Pasadena today we're bringing Michelle
into a pop-up kitchen in our kitchen
downstairs what she doesn't know is that
we're not just gonna put her in there
we're actually gonna throw her on the
line and she's gonna have to execute
dishes for the public
[Music]
one papa
[Music]
their tomato sauces
[Music]
[Music]
moving so well everyone seems pretty on
edge
[Music]
oh my god you made that there were
flavors there I haven't Lisa before it
was amazing oh my god
that was so good
so Michelle was really great on her feet
when she was on the line and it had to
be done really fast and she got it
within a matter of three minutes to get
her order out and so she did really
really really well on the Food Network
kitchen seemed really hectic
I can't imagine cooking for hundreds of
people every night to watch the students
and the teachers do that so well was
really inspiring and also a big wake-up
call so we're gonna be doing the fillet
so I want to show her that it's just so
easy to not overcook these things and it
actually can cook really fast
we are a big territory we have a loin
and we're gonna be dividing this up
because we're making this for three
critics whenever you do you always want
to do an arrange of about two fingers
aesthetically we're gonna want this to
just look like this when we start with
this again we're gonna work with the
high heat for a short amount of time
because we just go does this give us a
nice beautiful crust on the outside and
then what that's gonna give us is a nice
a really amazing pink inside this
actually has been out of the
refrigerator for about half an hour and
that's good because you want it to be
room temperature because it's gonna cook
more evenly perfect perfect okay
see if there's like a little bit of a
there you go now that stuff
great that's a perfect brown we have one
more thing I wanted to do on the side
these are baby carrots I want you to
make these a PLA so sexy sexy so sexy
carrot is hold it by the top and just go
all the way down I want you to get one
long length this looks good like that is
art this since we're kind of in this
mode
let's go like this and the inside has
that really beautiful yellow Center yeah
yeah yeah there's a trick ice water in
about 1020 minutes these will actually
start to curl so what use these is a
little bit of a garnish we never knew
that's how yeah that's so cool the most
frustrating part of the steak dish was
plating it
[Music]
I'm not sold you're not sold no what are
you not sold on is it the carats the
ribbons are fine I also just think that
Sikh doesn't look cleanly plays really
it's frustrating because Lee kyu worked
so hard to do all this today Michelle
was just a little bit taken back by the
difficulty in plating it isn't really
important factor because you eat with
your eyes Michelle is gonna see that
she's gonna have to be really creative
when it comes to plating it takes a
while this isn't actually something that
you develop instantly to make a really
good chef you can do all the
fundamentals you can cook you can
execute something in a restaurant but to
make a great outstanding chef
you can also bake yes we're finally here
I've been waiting for it I'm really
excited about this dessert associations
we're gonna do a couple of them and this
is gonna like fill every type of fantasy
I think you've ever had I'm gonna show
her how to make a chocolate mousse it
will have the same consistency as a
really nice soft serve ice cream we're
also gonna be making a dessert composed
of the same ingredients as an Oreo you
can feel that it's very soft and very
buttery yeah so then we can move on to
the mousse I'm gonna whisk it like this
and get the air okay I'm making a circle
coorporate as much air as you can air is
actually working into the protein
structure of the egg whites that's what
creates lift if you're not using any
chemicals if we're not using baking soda
or baking powder
it's stuff like that that you don't
learn from a recipe Oh totally I mean if
anything if you'd like any stresses or
like anything this stuff just takes all
of it out especially when you know
that you're exercising but also you're
gonna get the chocolate man you're like
why not God
I think I just put the fire under your
ass look at that I was thinking about
jury duty on Monday there you go
so in shows like Top Chef yeah when
they're like you have 30 minutes to cook
a fish you've never seen that real yeah
it's not fair either but it's real also
like where do the kids on MasterChef
junior come from I have no idea
so the desserts all done you don't have
to make another one unless you want to
and you just want to get home and like
eat it like you know tonight watching
sexy or something but like that's that's
what I would do
wait you have sex in the city of course
you do of course I do why not favorite
it depends on the context but I think I
do like Charlotte I think the most cuz I
feel like I resonate a little bit with
her IV - yeah I feel like I miss charlie
really that's I think why me you know I
think this is why we're kind of gelling
I loved making the shortbread cookies
but I burned my thumb and it was really
embarrassing all the crazy things I've
done on my channel I felt like okay
cooking pretty procedural no cooking is
really hard I burnt it harder than I
thought I did
it's a really stressful environment and
exhausting mentally and physically you
never used a rag that's hot all right
I'm sad that's why oh so if you use a
wet rag the heat transfers for the heat
from the water and burns the water
basically sometimes I've gone to fancy
restaurants and thought to myself this
dessert cost $12 and then after spending
hours preparing my dessert I get it
today is the big day the critics are
coming in a few hours I'm not feeling
very confident I've only done each thing
once and it wasn't even perfect every
time so you have to execute perfectly on
the second try by myself it's been
daunting
my name is wind Tran I'm the chief
instigating officer of star kitchen
which he came the normal an Asian fusion
restaurant listings in all belly on Yelp
my name is Jeff Miller I'm a longtime
food and travel journalist I hosted a
show on The Cooking Channel called trip
tasters hi I'm Matt I have absolutely no
background in critiquing food I'm
actually the most important judge here
because I am going to have to continue
to eat Michelle's cooking even after
today because we look together I'm so
nervous
people love making what they do and
there's a story behind it that resonates
with me the most people always think
people who work in food want something
fancy and that's elaborate I would much
rather have an amazing simple dish than
a not-so-great very complicated dish I
mean I'm a fan of like burgers I like
pasta so for the first course you guys
are gonna be having an albacore tuna on
avocado and cilantro with a little bit
of wasabi and some cool pickled
cucumbers I feel like the char is really
good but can use more sort of spice or
some more flavor on the outside like
sesame seeds or even sesame oil or
something and sort of bring out the fish
a little more I'm alright with that not
having anything I think it's a good sear
I actually think it could be seared a
little bit better and it's hard cuz you
don't want to burn it right but you know
I mean when you sear it the only meal
and there's a crust yeah like you're
almost at the crust a lot of times foods
not about seasoning and all the
different ingredients sometimes it is
about just cooking it's hard to describe
like can you get that function you eat
something like oh yes like it's almost
there you're really the important one I
what do you think this is good I don't
eat this again critical that one over
there here we go number two so it's a
homemade fettuccine with a mushroom
cream sauce looks really pretty you did
it like a nice twirl the sauce is really
delicious I think one of the mistakes
that people make all the time is putting
too much sauce on it
this to me is like the exact right
amount of sauce what's this
garnish put on it chives you cut that
that's a really nice cut that's really
fine
you know I like to is the different
textures in it the mushrooms have night
they're nice and springy I like it a
little more al dente I was gonna say the
same thing I agree
just a little bit but it's not
overcooked I think it's a matter of
preference it tastes really professional
to be honest with you I can taste that
you put care into this and that means a
lot to me it was delicious a man of many
words I love them
welcome to the third course it is a way
and on top there is a little bit of a
red line
anyways I'm gonna be honest that thing's
a little overcooked
the flavor is really good but it's
definitely like a little it's a little
drier then generally I would like
comment I made two dishes ago this is
the counter comment the crust is really
nice compared to the fish
well after you guys said that about the
fish I was like okay we need to make
sure the steak has the nice on one side
you can feed back
I've never made a steak before really
yeah that's really important information
you've never made a steak before no Matt
compared you to other meals that you've
had themselves cooked for you this is
like I'm 40 out of 10 Wow that's better
than it's good this is great well thank
you so much I'll let you guys finish it
now I'm gonna get dessert ready thank
you oh yeah it's awesome man she's never
cooked a steak before that's crazy
that's awesome yeah
I love Oreos so I wanted to do a
homemade Oreo with a lemon curd on a bed
of Oreo crumbles and a little bit of
chocolate mousse on top I'm not usually
a dessert person but I love this there's
one touch about this that I love a
little bit of sea salt all the time I'm
glad you like that we were wringing them
out and we almost forgot to put the sea
salt on I was like I love and you cook
from something that you knew and you
loved and you reinvented it yeah so I do
have some thoughts on this cuz I'm not a
fan of one but I do like the lemon with
this which is very rare for me to light
anything lemon statement delicious it's
really [ __ ] good you did an amazing
job all four dishes the best part too is
like she took our comments and it
started like upping the game on there
yeah yeah yeah which is great the
willingness to learn and take critique
and apply it means a lot more than your
history and your ability last commenter
that i would pay for this at a
restaurant so are you saying mat should
pay me to cook that yes yes at least he
should say he's gonna clean all of the
dishes and all of the countertops before
this challenge I definitely took for
granted going to a restaurant and
ordering something and getting to eat it
now I see how much attention to detail
and care is required in these really
fancy modern dishes thank you so much to
new-school cooking in Pasadena as well
as chef Joel if you
Los angeles-area be sure to check them
out online and via all their social
media which is down below in my
description if you enjoyed this video
please give it a thumbs up comment below
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more adventures together I also want to
give a huge shout out to melody Wong
Devin du gard and Andy Pavlik thank you
so much for your support and for
watching my channel
baby bet bet bet bet bet bet it's the
best way to tell that everything's gonna
be right because if you touch it with
your hands cuz everything needs to be
touched get used to watching everything
with you and like if you have any like
naysayers or like okay believe you touch
that be like well you don't have to eat
it then