BEAT THE CHEF: MYSTERY BOX CHALLENGE | Vol. 8 (WHEAT) | SORTEDfood

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
- [Mike] We are Sorted, a group of mates who have your back when it comes to all things food, from cooking battles to gadget reviews - Ben, it's not worth it! [Mike] and cookbook challenges, to a midweek meal Packs app. - [Jamie] Crack your eggs, bake. - [Mike] We uncover the tools that'll help us all cook and eat smarter. Join our community where everything we do starts with you. - Today, we've teamed up with BASF's agriculture team in an exciting mystery box challenge in which Jamie and James are gonna go head-to-head to see who can best celebrate a secret ancient ingredient by cooking up a dish of their choice. You've both got a mystery box. It's full of ingredients you can use. Take a look. (upbeat music) - [James And Jamie] Ooh. - None of these are the secret ingredient, because if they were in here, they wouldn't be secret. Is that right? - Would you like a clue? - Yes! - A five-letter word, I'm used to make bread, remove one, and I'll burn you instead. - It's wheat. It goes into bread and flour. - You're already winning the battle, James, it is wheat. But the best part is, before the actual cooking battle, I'm gonna send you off to learn all about the ancient ingredient from some wheat experts. Right, boys, have fun on the farm, and I'll see you back here in a few days. So first up I sent the boys to meet Hannah, an arable farmer in Cambridgeshire. On Hannah's farm, she grows sugar beet, oats, and field peas. But James and Jamie are there to learn all about our key ingredient, wheat. - What kind of foods does your week go into making? - Historically, mainly bread, but that could also be crumpets or any other kind of baked goods. We're growing now more biscuit wheat, which does what it does on the tin, goes into biscuits (laughs). Like that one. - He's a biscuits guy. (Hannah laughs) - Some of the wheat will also go into animal feed, though. - So how do you grow wheat? - So if we start wheat as a seed, we would plant this winter wheat seed in October, normally, and we use what we would call a drill, and we cut a slot, and we plant the little seeds in that slot, about that deep. And then after the wheat is planted, we will put a herbicide on the top of the soil that will protect the wheat from any weeds that will come through in that initial period. And the wheat itself then will grow. So, I planted these about three weeks ago. So this is kind of what wheat would look like over winter. Hopefully, it will grow lots of shoots and leaves, and then when it comes down to the spring, then that's when our management starts increasing a little bit more. And so the wheat itself will pick up quite a lot of the nutrition from the soil, so it will pick up some nitrogen from the soil, but we also have to feed it as well, and we put on some nitrogen fertilizer and any other fertilizers that we feel like the plant needs. And then, in the end of the day, we come along and we have, hopefully, a wheat plant with a lovely big ear on it which will fill and therefore produce the grain that you've got in your hand. - It all sounds big and scary, and chemical based. It feels like that's where a lot of controversy comes from. - There is an amount of resistance built in to it, and I suppose this is the difficult bit about growing a lot of the same variety, but we have a lot of diseases that affect wheat, something called septoria and something that's called rusts, and what these do is they live in the leaf, and they stop the leaf from photosynthesizing, so if we didn't apply a fungicide, which is a spray to control a fungus, to stop it reproducing, then that leaf wouldn't be able to photosynthesize. Therefore, you wouldn't get the starch going up into the grain and you wouldn't get a wheat ear that was full of grain. I'm not the first farmer to say that I definitely don't spray anything unless it's absolutely necessary. - [Ben] They also learned how the ancient varieties of wheat aren't grown by farmers as often as the modern varieties. - We've gone to this what we call semi-dwarf variety from things that used to be much taller because this produces a lot more grain and therefore is more profitable for the farmer and more usable to the millers and the people that are using our wheat now. So it's how the whole system has adapted. - [Ben] Next up Jamie and James met Mike from BASF to understand how climate change is impacting wheat production. - The Nirvana for farmers would be to have a wheat that required less input, and that would be from water, as well. We've seen, ourselves, the changes in weather. So, something that can root effectively and use less water if there's less water available. But our job is to actually find the tools and find the processes and the opportunities to actually bring that stability, if you like. - I don't think, as a chef, I know enough about where ingredients come from, so doing this kind of thing I think is really beneficial for me, and it does make me appreciate a bit more where things come from and how they're made, and how much effort it takes to make these things available to us. We have a lot to learn. - We have a lot to learn. - [Mike] Back in the studio, the guys met with Alex Waugh to learn how flour is made. - So how do we get flour from wheat? - White flour is the inside of a wheat grain. A wheat grain's shaped a bit like a rugby ball or American football with a crease down the middle. What millers are trying to do is unroll that and scrape off the white flour, which is the inside of the grain, so it sits inside, and the wholemeal flour is everything ground up together. - How has wheat consumption changed over history? - So wheat's always been a popular grain. It was first farmed, I suppose, 10,000 BC. In Northern Europe, we probably had started off more with oats, and perhaps rye, as grains that were better adapted, originally, to our climate, but wheat's always been there as part of our diet. (upbeat music) - [Ben] Okay, boys, three hours to best celebrate wheat. - [Ben And Barry] Three, two, one, wheat! - In the mystery box, there were things like a massive chunk of beef, there were shallots, there were mushrooms, so given everything that we've learned, I'm gonna try and incorporate wheat wherever I can. I'm gonna make a steak and whiskey pie. That's gonna look like a beef stew where the sauce is made up with flour to thicken it, but also wheat whiskey, a wheat beer, and obviously, on top, I want a really crisp short pastry made with beef suet, and obviously, flour. - Ah, that couldn't get any more Jamie, could it? - First up, I'm chunking my beef shin into three to four centimeter pieces. I'm gonna roll that in some seasoning and some flour before putting it into a really hot pan, browning it all off. - Sounds a bit run of the mill. - Are you having a laugh? This isn't just any pie. - [Barry] You'd have put whiskey in this with or without wheat in it, wouldn't you, really? - One of the ingredients in the mystery box that stood out to me immediately, was blackberries, and I thought, yes, sweet dessert. Alongside what we learned about flour, I thought I'd use spelt flour in a carrot cake, put it with blackberries macerated in Pernod, and then put that with a beer caramel, a creme fraiche, and a crispbread. - I feel like some of those flavors are going against the grain a bit. Like, what was your inspiration? (beep) - He's absolute torture. - The first thing I'm gonna do is toast off my nuts that are gonna go into my sponge for flavour. It's gonna be hazelnuts, pecan nuts, and I'm gonna throw some fennel seeds on there. - I really hope those flavors combine. - Oh. - Combine. - Combine? - No! - Come on! - You know when you're having a conversation with someone, and they're just waiting for you to finish so they can talk? That's Ben. (Jamie laughs) - Next up, I'm "combining" brown sugar, castor sugar, four large eggs, vanilla paste, and vegetable oil, and then all my dry ingredients for my sponge in a standard mixing bowl, and I'm gonna combine those two together with some apple sauce and the nuts. (upbeat music) Also, I'm gonna add carrots to my carrot cake. So, I haven't mentioned that yet. I'm just gonna peel them and grate them. (upbeat music) Getting the moisture out. Well, I'm gonna make my batter over there. (upbeat music) That looks good. I just tasted my batter and realized that I haven't put any spices in it. Well, it tastes delicious 'cause it's already got nuts in it and stuff, but I'm gonna put some cinnamon and ginger in it. (upbeat music) Into my crispbreads is gonna go plain flour, wholemeal flour, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and caraway seeds, which are gonna add a little bit of savory element to it, and then I'm gonna put extra virgin olive oil and water in, mix it altogether, and then bake it. (upbeat music) - With my beef browned off, I can now add my shallots, mushrooms, and bacon lardons into the same pan. They're gonna fry down, get a little bit of color, get a little bit of flavor going on. And we're gonna add a little bit of flour into those to thicken the sauce as well. I've added some wheat whiskey to deglaze the pan, and then beef stock and wheat beer. That is gonna form my sauce. So that now needs to come up to a boil, at which point it's gonna go into my pressure cooker along with my beef, some herbs and some dry porcini mushrooms for (claps) flavour. - James, how're you getting on, mate? That looks like a odd technique. - Getting on wonderfully well. It's just so deliciously oily that I can't roll it out. I've gotta pat it out. - [Jamie] With sugar? I decided last minute to put some sugar on it. - Let me put some carrots in my cake. Let me put some sugar on my bread. - You've had one hour. Two hours remaining. Bear in mind, Jamie needs 50 minutes of pastry baking, and an hour of pressure cooking. That leaves him 10 minutes to do everything else. - I'm gonna make a beer caramel. It's got sugar and beer in it, and then I add butter and cream. (upbeat music) This is going differently to how it went when I tested it. (upbeat music) - Come on, you gonna have to plough on. Not much time left. - Oh, Ebbers! Whoa. All right, it's going in. Didn't drop a drop. Smells sensational. (upbeat music) Thyme and bay leaves going in, and here's the part where I work out how a pressure cooker works. (bouncy music) (Ben laughs) (bouncy music) - He's in. - I don't know if that's pressurizing. I don't know why I'm looking at you, you're not gonna help. - I'm waiting for this to go like a deep, amber brown as you would caramel. It's quite difficult with beer caramel 'cause it foams up so much. (upbeat music) - For my pastry, there's plain flour and baking powder. Then, as the fat, instead of butter, I'm using suet, which is beef fat, more flavor, and nigella seeds with some water. I have never excelled at making pastry, and I'm not gonna know if it's good pastry until it's rested, at which point there's no time to make another pastry. - In the past, as Normals, we've either won or lost the battle on the pastry. - [Ben] You lost one once. - Yeah, that was terrible pastry. (Barry laughs) (upbeat music) - I'm gonna have to do this again. - Why? - It doesn't taste very beery or caramelly. - Sounds like just what you want from a beer caramel. - What's wrong with that? - It's pretty good (laughs). - That's unbelievable. - And I'm gonna reduce the amount of butter and cream in it so you get more of like, a bitter beer caramel rather than like a buttery, creamy caramel. (upbeat music) - So look, my recipe as written now has a break in it. I'm gonna use some more wheat somewhere else. Gonna make some semolina roasted potatoes. - I have to admire your ambition here, but do you not think you've got enough going on already? - What else am I gonna do in this time? The pastry needs to rest for 30 minutes. That needs to cook for an hour, and I'm sure it's gonna be good enough to beat a carrot cake. Why not go an extra level? Why not push myself harder? - I'm gonna prepare my blackberries. I'm gonna macerate them in sugar and Pernod, but I'm also gonna dice up some fennel and put that through with it as well, aniseed flavor throughout the whole dish. - I'm going to use Pernod, because nobody's ever heard of it before, and it'll make it sound posh. I've heard of Pernod. I just don't know what it is (laughs). So I'm gonna heat up some oil in a tray, drain my potatoes, ruffle them up, add thyme, garlic and oil, semolina, and some salt and pepper, then I'll pop them into the oven until they're golden. I'm going to very calmly depressurize my pressure cooker. I'm going to gently strain my beef stew through a colander into the frying pan, so that the sauce can beautifully thicken for five to six minutes. - My final few tasks are to trim my carrot cake domes, and I'm gonna try and mix a little bit of citric acid into my creme fraiche just to make it even more acidic and cutting for the rest of the dish, 'cause it's all very sweet. (upbeat music) - I need to work fast. I've rolled it out into a square which just is gonna sit perfectly on my circular skillet pan. This has thickened. It hasn't thickened as much as I want it to. I don't think I have a choice, it's gotta go into the pan. I'm egg- washing the rim of my pan so that the pastry will stick to it, I (indistinct). I'm full-on stressed. - You making a little omelette on top of that? James! - Into an oven at 190 degree Celsius for 45 to 50 minutes, until beautifully golden brown. - Boys, you've got just under five minutes left. (dramatic music) - Roast potatoes have come out of the oven. In the next five minutes I'll have to cook the peas. I'll have to plate the peas up, plate the potatoes up, and at the last second, pull out my pie. (upbeat music) - [Barry] Aw, yes! - I did all that work and I'm actually gonna hide it underneath the bread crisps so you get a little surprise. - Oh, Ebbers, a slotted spoon is the worst way to drain peas. - [Ben] Last minute! - What? - Jamie, the pie, please don't forget the pie. - Five, four, three, two, one. Step away from your wheat celebrations. - I made a pie. - It's exactly how I wanted it to look. We'll see how it tastes. (upbeat music) (cursor clicks) (bell chimes) (group cheering) - Aw, look at it, it's not every day we get main and dessert. - This is my steak, whiskey, and ale pie. - Straight off, J, cutting into the pastry was good, but even better than that, the consistency of that sauce, it is great! The flour has done its job. Will it taste good? - Cheers. [Group] Cheers. - Oh, I've talked too much, now I'm behind. Hang on. (laughs). (upbeat music) Okay, it's beautifully rich. Perfect thickness as well. - I'm always shocked at what a pressure cooker does to turn beef into tender, succulent beef in an hour. - Ah, semolina potatoes, just well done. - Kind of know where to hide with a dish like this. The beef has got to be succulent, the sauce has got to be thick the pastry's got to be perfect, the potatoes crispy. Thing is, I think you've done that. - Honestly, mate, I think you've done a great job. I'm nervous. (upbeat music) - [Barry] Okay, new plates, new cutlery. - Dig in, James for the reveal. - Oh, I still don't know what to expect. (group chattering) - I know, I'm kind of nervous for you guys. - It is the dish that I would order on a menu purely out of the curiosity, whereas this is the dish I'd order on the menu because I know what I'm gonna get and I can't wait for it. - [Group] Cheers. - This could be ugly. - All those components take you on an incredible journey from crunch, to sour, to sweet, and then that spice and aniseed, that's not just good, it's clever. - Having now processed that and accepted what I'm eating, mate, that is spectacular. - I'm quite proud of that. - The best celebration of wheat. Tough brief, two excellent dishes. - Should we do this one at a time and see if we agree? - You go for first. - Right. So my winner is... I've gotta put it out there, James Currie, that was spectacular. - Thank you. - Ben? - It was so tight, but my winner (dramatic music) was also dessert, James Currie. It's just clever use of wheat. (group applauds) - Thank you. - Both dishes celebrated wheat perfectly, but I also learned something new as a dish from James's. So I think that's why that's the winner for me. - Do you guys agree? Comment down below, who was your real winner? - And if you wanna get the recipes for both of these dishes, they're in the description box below. - We'd also like to say a massive thank you to the BASF agriculture team for taking us on a journey to discover more about the world of wheat. And if you'd like to learn more about wheat farming and see us ask the experts your questions, then click the link in the description box down below to see our behind the scenes video. - I'm gonna dunk a potato, but if you've got more carrot cake - In the kitchen. - No, no, no, no, no, no. You don't like my one. You don't like my one. I'll have the peas. (James laughs) [Mike] We've also built the Sorted Club where you can get tons of foodie inspo using the Packs Midweek Meal app, discover and share restaurant recommendations using the Eats app, listen and contribute to our Feast Your Ears podcast, and send us ideas for the new cookbooks you'll receive throughout the year. Check it all out by heading to sorted.club. (upbeat music) - [Jamie] And now a blooper. Mike's now got bored with wheat and is filming insects, spiders, beetles, bugs, anything that he can see that's moving on the ground.
Info
Channel: SORTEDfood
Views: 610,224
Rating: 4.9378185 out of 5
Keywords: sortedfood, sorted food, sortedfood ultimate battle, sortedfood battle, sortedfood beat the chef, sortedfood mystery box, mystery ingredients, mystery box, beat the chef, chefs vs normals, recipe challenge, sortedfood chef vs normal, sorted cooking challenge, sorted beat the chef, cooking battle, ultimate battle, carrot cake, carrot cake recipe, roast potatoes, beef pie, beef and whiskey stew, flatbread recipe, food challenges, food challenge, sortedfood steak, cook off
Id: WdtG5Ce_OxI
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 18min 15sec (1095 seconds)
Published: Sun Sep 20 2020
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.