The cast of Yellowstone is as star-studded as they come, but no one is more popular on set than the one and only Chef 'Gator'! Gabriel 'Gator' Guilbeau is not only the chef for the Yellowstone cast & crew but also stars in the hit TV series. From feeding Kevin Costner grilled octopus to whipping up a vodka-filled milkshake for Kelly Reilly, Chef Gator does it all.
Today, he's showing you how to make one of Kevin Costner's absolute favorite desserts: pineapple bourbon bread pudding.
Today, he's showing you how to make one of Kevin Costner's absolute favorite desserts: pineapple bourbon bread pudding.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Kevin is a very picky eater and in no way, shape or form
00:03 would he ever eat the grilled octopus.
00:06 - Gator, where the (beep) is that?
00:08 Grilled octopus.
00:09 Hey everybody, Chef Gator here,
00:11 chef in and on the hit TV series Yellowstone.
00:14 Today we're gonna be making bourbon pineapple bread pudding,
00:18 one of my all-time favorites and a cast favorite
00:21 for some of our very talented cast members
00:23 such as Kevin Costner, Kelly Riley, and Cole Hauser.
00:26 (upbeat music)
00:29 Step one is we're going to cube up our bread
00:32 and get it toasted.
00:33 I would recommend using staler bread,
00:35 day old we always say in the South, day old French bread.
00:39 You can use anything you have.
00:41 As you can imagine in my kitchen,
00:42 I have tons of bread all the time.
00:44 In the conditions we work in, a lot of bread goes stale.
00:47 So stale bread's great.
00:49 You can use donuts, pastries, croissants, doesn't matter.
00:52 You can use whatever you want.
00:53 Today we have some beautiful, nice challah bread.
00:56 We're going to cube this bread up
00:58 into about one inch pieces.
01:00 It doesn't need to be perfect.
01:01 It can be a little bit different odds and ends.
01:03 If you don't feel comfortable,
01:04 you can also just rip this bread apart.
01:06 You really don't have to use a knife.
01:07 You can just tear it up, it's fine.
01:09 So this recipe is great.
01:10 I always use a lot of fresh fruit and what we do,
01:14 we eat a lot of just cut fruit
01:16 and we put it in a lot of dishes, salads.
01:18 So I always have a ton of pineapples around
01:21 and I always have stale bread.
01:22 So this dish is really useful to me
01:24 to put on a nice dessert with my huge meals
01:26 that I do for the cast and crew.
01:27 If you could guess,
01:28 we always have extra bourbon hanging around on Yellowstone.
01:31 So it just came naturally to add alcohol to the mix.
01:34 Got my oven preheated to 350 degrees.
01:39 We're going to get a nice baking sheet.
01:40 Give it a quick spray.
01:41 You can use butter if you want,
01:42 but for the sake of this, we're going to use spray.
01:44 We will add plenty of butter later, I promise.
01:47 Get your bread on there
01:48 and we're going to give it a quick toast.
01:49 If your bread's extra stale,
01:51 this is going to happen really fast,
01:53 but this bread is not that stale.
01:55 So it's going to be in there about 10 minutes.
01:57 If you start smelling toast, it's ready.
02:00 While that's cooking, I'd like to tell you guys
02:01 how I ended up here and how I got on Yellowstone.
02:04 Several years ago,
02:05 I had developed a nice following for myself
02:08 down in Louisiana,
02:09 working on film and television productions.
02:11 And Yellowstone came to fruition
02:14 and some friends of mine and colleagues
02:16 that I knew over the years ended up on Yellowstone.
02:19 I got a phone call in the middle of the night one night
02:21 from a couple of the producers on the show
02:22 that were sitting at a lunch table at midnight,
02:24 because that's when we have lunch on Yellowstone.
02:26 They asked me if I wanted to come up to Utah
02:29 and work on a big cowboy TV show.
02:31 And I said, well, of course,
02:33 I want to come work on a big cowboy TV show.
02:35 I didn't know what it was called, what it was about.
02:37 All I knew is they told me that there was a cowboy
02:40 that was in charge and that he was very, very hungry.
02:44 And the only thing I needed to do was come and feed the guy.
02:47 And I said, great, I'm the perfect guy for this job.
02:51 About four or five weeks into me working there
02:54 was when I got to be on the show for the first time.
02:57 Taylor, I saw him scribble just on the side of a script
03:00 and ink pen.
03:01 He wrote me in the show and said,
03:02 hey Gator, I wrote you in the show today.
03:04 So just later we're going to call you and bring you up.
03:07 I said, oh, okay, you know, background or something,
03:09 you just need me in the shot or something.
03:11 Somebody came and got me, one of our assistant directors,
03:13 and said, Gator, your scene's up next.
03:16 I was like, oh, okay.
03:17 Do I look good?
03:19 Like, is this good?
03:20 And of course I was covered in grease and barbecue sauce.
03:23 And I had, you know, biscuit dough up to my elbows.
03:26 And the costumer said, oh, no, you look great.
03:29 This is perfect.
03:30 And I was like, you're sure this is perfect?
03:32 And they said, yeah, no, this is great.
03:34 Again, I figured I'd be in the background of the show,
03:37 just doing whatever.
03:38 And no, I had a camera in front of my face, just like this.
03:41 And Taylor shared in behind the camera.
03:44 And he said, okay, go.
03:46 I didn't know what else to do.
03:47 I panicked.
03:48 So I went back to the basics and just started making dinner.
03:51 And I can very, very vividly remember Taylor shared
03:55 in behind the camera saying, oh, oh yeah, that's great.
03:58 And I said, that's great.
04:00 I'm not even doing anything.
04:02 And he explained later, Yellowstone's always been
04:04 very important about having everything be realistic
04:08 and genuine and authentic.
04:10 And I think that's why Yellowstone's been so successful
04:14 for many other reasons.
04:15 But I think it being about real stuff
04:18 and actually getting to see real cowboy life
04:22 and real ranch life.
04:23 Obviously we don't murder people as much,
04:25 but it's very authentic what we do.
04:28 And everybody's actually riding and roping and cooking
04:31 and kicking around horse do.
04:33 And after that, it really became pretty important
04:36 that I was part of the show.
04:37 And I think I belong there very much so.
04:41 I smell toast.
04:42 That means our bread is just about ready.
04:44 Just dry it out nicely.
04:45 'Cause we're gonna need them to be dry
04:46 to soak up all the toast.
04:47 Now that we've got our stale bread,
04:49 nice and toasty out of the oven,
04:51 we are going to prepare our custard,
04:53 which is what our bread will soak in
04:54 and eventually become our beautiful bread pudding.
04:57 For our custard, for our bread pudding,
04:59 we're gonna need four large eggs
05:01 and four large egg yolks.
05:03 We're gonna need a cup of half and half
05:06 and a cup of milk as well.
05:07 Two thirds of a cup of granulated sugar.
05:10 You can use brown, raw, whatever you want.
05:13 Today we have white sugar.
05:14 Two teaspoons of vanilla extract,
05:16 half teaspoon of kosher salt,
05:17 or just a pinch, you know,
05:19 just to give it a little bit of a savoriness in the dish.
05:22 Quarter teaspoon of cinnamon,
05:23 some fresh ground nutmeg.
05:25 Okay, so we'll start with the eggs.
05:26 We're gonna give ourselves the four eggs,
05:29 and then we're gonna do four egg yolks.
05:32 We'll save those whites for something else later.
05:34 The extra egg yolks in there will make this
05:35 a little bit richer and more luxurious
05:37 without adding too much volume to your dish,
05:40 as the egg whites would add a lot.
05:42 I'm gonna give my eggs a quick little beat here
05:44 just to start breaking them up
05:46 before we add all our liquid and make a big mess.
05:48 So you're not trying to beat eggs
05:49 into a big bowl of liquid.
05:51 All right, we're gonna do our cup of half and half,
05:54 and we're gonna do our cup of milk.
05:56 And again, just get that incorporated
05:58 before you start adding too much more.
06:00 And then we're gonna go in
06:01 with our two thirds of a cup of sugar.
06:03 And again, just kind of keep that mixing in there.
06:05 I know it seems like a lot of liquid,
06:07 but you're gonna want this
06:08 'cause it's gonna make your whole dish extra creamy
06:11 and gooey and delicious,
06:13 especially when you get that sauce on there.
06:15 We're gonna go in two teaspoons of vanilla.
06:17 We're gonna go in a pinch of salt or cinnamon.
06:21 Get that mixed in.
06:22 And our friend Alton Brown would kill me
06:24 if I used pre-ground nutmeg,
06:25 so we're gonna grind our own.
06:27 It's so easy.
06:29 And it's a quarter teaspoon of that.
06:31 So just whenever you feel like your hand's getting tired,
06:33 that sounds like enough.
06:34 And mix that in too.
06:38 This is a dish that is very useful to me on Yellowstone
06:42 because Kevin Costner is a pretty difficult person to feed,
06:45 mostly just because he's very simple.
06:47 Simple ingredients and simple recipes
06:49 like bread pudding are great.
06:51 I've got my toasted bread here in a bowl
06:52 and we are gonna take our custard mixture here,
06:55 pour it over our bread,
06:56 give it a real nice mix,
06:57 and we're gonna let it soak for about 30 minutes
07:00 or as long as you can.
07:01 You guys can use a spoon or tongs or a spatula to do this.
07:05 When I make this for work,
07:07 there isn't a big enough utensil to do anything like that.
07:09 So I use my whole arms.
07:11 But today we're just gonna use our hands
07:13 and we're gonna get our bread nice and stirred up.
07:15 And you really want it to be soggy.
07:18 Just let it kind of incorporate, get every piece.
07:20 And this is why it's essential to toast that bread first
07:23 so it is dry enough to absorb all this.
07:26 Okay, we're gonna butter our pan
07:27 and then we're gonna pour our bread mixture in the pan
07:30 and let it sit for about a half hour.
07:32 For a nice little trick,
07:33 you take a paper towel, square it up,
07:35 and you can just dip that in your softened butter.
07:38 And instead of getting your hands all nasty and greasy,
07:40 you can just rub that in your pan like that.
07:42 That's what I always like to do.
07:44 And then we'll go in with our bread mixture.
07:46 Don't be afraid to get your hands
07:48 a little dirty on this one.
07:49 Just pack your bread down into that pan.
07:52 And you can do this in a cast iron or Dutch oven
07:56 or whatever kind of dish you have.
07:58 We're gonna do it in this bread tin today,
08:00 but just get it all nice and flat.
08:02 You don't want any air holes in there.
08:04 And then that's gonna go in the oven at 350 to bake.
08:06 Kevin is a very picky eater
08:08 and in no way, shape, or form
08:11 would he ever eat a grilled octopus.
08:13 - Yeah, pass me the potatoes.
08:15 - I remember doing that scene
08:17 and actually grilling the octopus for the scene.
08:21 We were having some trouble
08:22 getting it to look really charred.
08:24 Whenever you need something to be hotter or more on fire,
08:27 I'm your guy.
08:28 We brought it outside and I got on a big flamethrower
08:30 and I torched the octopus so it got a nice crisp on it.
08:34 If you recall the shot, it was very grotesque looking.
08:38 We made sure to leave the whole octopus on the plate,
08:40 keep the tentacles intact
08:41 and not put it in the sauce or anything.
08:43 It was quite a lot.
08:44 I sat that down in front of Kevin.
08:47 He had not seen the octopus at all.
08:50 So I set this big sea spider
08:55 down in front of poor Kevin Costner.
08:57 He looked at me like I had just,
08:59 like he was a little kid
09:00 and I just stepped on his cat or something
09:01 or stole his lollipop because he gave me this look
09:04 and it was genuine reaction that you see in the show
09:07 of...
09:08 Gator, what the hell is that?
09:13 - Gator.
09:14 - Yeah.
09:15 - What the (beep) is that?
09:17 - Grilled octopus.
09:18 - Mediterranean diet, daddy.
09:19 - Considering that this is a man that before he met me,
09:22 I think solely may have lived off of canned chili
09:25 and hot dogs.
09:26 So it was a lot for me to put a Mediterranean diet
09:30 in front of him.
09:31 Our bread pudding's been soaking for about a half hour.
09:33 We're about ready to go in the oven.
09:35 We are going to add our quarter cup of melted butter.
09:39 If you wanna leave this out, you can,
09:40 but we wouldn't do that on Yellowstone.
09:42 Me and Kevin love our butter and our sugar.
09:44 So we're gonna pour that right on top.
09:47 Just let it soak in there.
09:49 'Cause you know, why not add butter, right?
09:51 Butter makes everything better.
09:52 We're gonna pop this in the oven at 350 degrees
09:55 for about 40, 45 minutes,
09:56 or until your house smells delicious.
09:59 While our bread pudding bakes,
10:01 we are going to make our bourbon pineapple sauce.
10:03 And you can use a super ripe pineapple with this,
10:05 but I actually kind of like a little less ripe pineapple
10:08 'cause it gives you extra bite in the sauce.
10:10 So we're gonna take the head off the pineapple,
10:14 and then we'll just carve it up real quick.
10:16 Can't tell you how many pineapples I've cut in my life,
10:19 but it's more than most folks, I imagine.
10:21 My way, you may have your own,
10:23 but I always cut it in fourths.
10:25 Take out your core like that.
10:27 Of each piece, you can lay it down.
10:29 Take out your core.
10:31 Good sharp knife helps.
10:32 You can put down a paper towel
10:33 if that makes you feel better.
10:35 I like mine a little rough chopped,
10:37 but you can do them a little smaller if you like.
10:39 Now we are going to make our bourbon pineapple sauce,
10:43 which is one of the more delicious
10:45 and decadent sauces that I make.
10:47 We only have rye today.
10:48 You can use any kind of American whiskey you want.
10:51 Wouldn't use the other stuff,
10:52 but bourbon works great, rye whiskey works great.
10:55 Anything brown and from America would be fine.
10:58 And we're gonna add one whole cup of whiskey in there.
11:01 I know that sounds like a lot,
11:03 but it's supposed to be a lot, and it is.
11:05 And then, you know, chefs always
11:08 add a little extra for themselves too.
11:11 One cup of brown sugar, quarter teaspoon of cinnamon,
11:17 one teaspoon of vanilla extract,
11:18 and give that a nice little stir.
11:21 You don't wanna have the heat too high
11:22 or you'll burn all of this.
11:24 Now that we've got our sauce going,
11:26 we're gonna add our pineapple.
11:27 It's about two cups, so not quite a whole pineapple.
11:30 You can save the rest for the kids, eat it yourself,
11:31 put it in a cocktail, whatever you wanna do.
11:33 This is a classic style meal
11:36 that we would eat over at Camp Kevin.
11:38 So when we're working at the ranch up in Montana,
11:40 Kevin has a little camp set up,
11:43 and we'll have, he has his big bus.
11:45 It's always parked next to my kitchen for some reason.
11:47 When he smells stuff like this cooking,
11:49 I always get the gesture to come on over
11:51 and I'll bring him a nice dessert
11:53 with a big scoop of ice cream.
11:54 - He's got a sweet tooth.
11:57 - Does he now?
11:57 Kevin always likes to tell me how he's on a diet
12:00 and off the sugar,
12:01 and then he'll ask me to make him apple pie.
12:04 Pretty much the same day, usually.
12:05 Kevin may or may not have a sweet tooth.
12:07 All right, everybody,
12:09 we've got our bread pudding out of the oven,
12:11 and it looks like we're right on time
12:13 'cause the sauce is just finished up reducing as well.
12:16 We are gonna cut a slice and plate it up,
12:18 and then we're gonna put our pineapple bourbon sauce
12:20 right on top.
12:21 (upbeat music)
12:24 (upbeat music)
12:26 All right, guys, perfect for any dessert,
12:38 especially in the fall, the holidays.
12:40 Pineapple bourbon bread pudding.
12:42 Nice and rich with all the eggs in there.
12:47 A little spicy from the nutmeg and cinnamon.
12:51 Extra boozy, just the way we like it.
12:54 All of our friends on Yellowstone,
12:56 they look forward to this kind of stuff
12:57 when we get into the fall weather.
12:58 Starts getting cold, a little rainy maybe.
13:01 Hard out there for a day,
13:03 and at the end of the day,
13:05 me and Kevin like to sit by the fire
13:06 and have a nice piece of bread pudding.
13:08 Hey, everyone, I hope you get to enjoy this simple
13:11 but delicious recipe
13:12 and share it with your friends and family.
13:14 Find recipes like this and many others on delish.com
13:19 or in my new official Dutton Ranch Family Cookbook.
13:22 Thanks, everyone, goodbye.
13:24 Happy eating.
13:25 (upbeat music)
13:27 (upbeat music)