Professional chef Jesse Szewczyk and home cook Lorenzo are swapping ingredients and hitting the kitchen to make a pot roast. We set Lorenzo up with a whopping $246 worth of ingredients for his attempt at Jesse’s pro recipe. Meanwhile, a modest $29 worth of ingredients was sent back the other way to be elevated into something gourmet by our esteemed pro. Will Lorenzo be able to execute the restaurant-quality pot roast Jesse intended to make? Can Jesse transform Lorenzo’s humble ingredients into something spectacular?
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm gonna prep some rum for the pot roast, not for me.
00:07Hi, I'm Jesse. I'm a professional chef, and these are my $246 pot roast ingredients.
00:14Hi, I'm Lorenzo. I'm a home cook, and these are my $29 pot roast ingredients.
00:24Goodbye, nice ingredients.
00:26Okay, this isn't so bad. We have acid, we have seasonings. I can make this work.
00:32Okay. Crikey! What's that? It's a jungle! How many people are we feeding?
00:43So I was planning to make a dark and stormy pot roast with a potato,
00:46celery root puree, and a mint and cilantro gremolata.
00:50I never had a dark and stormy.
00:52I never had a dark and stormy.
00:54This dish is really bright and acidic, kind of not what we were expecting out of a pot roast.
00:59What are you? Those are talking things from Harry Potter!
01:03I had a grass-fed and pasteurized beef chuck roast, which is perfect for slow cooking.
01:08Is that steak rolled up? What are you?
01:11Plus some dark rum.
01:12Drunken pot roast?
01:14And ginger beer.
01:14Ginger beer? I was right! You are from Harry Potter!
01:18Aka the dark and stormy part.
01:21We're making a smorgasbord.
01:23Let me tell you about my pot roast.
01:25It's called put them all together in a pot and roast.
01:29With Lorenzo's tray, we have a lot simpler ingredients.
01:32These are things maybe you have in your pantry or you can get at any grocery store.
01:36But I think with some clever techniques, we can make a really great pot roast dinner.
01:40If I had to guess how much all of this costs, I would say maybe $35.
01:45$29. Okay, not bad. A deal.
01:48If I were to guess, this would cost $360.
01:55$246! It was on sale.
01:59So this is Chef Jesse's recipe book, and this is what I'll be making.
02:03Lorenzo, if I have one tip for you, it's really just take your time with this.
02:07You're gonna make your own stock. You're gonna be searing the meat. This is a project.
02:10Oh lord, help us.
02:12But all of these things add up and give it so much more flavor.
02:15The effort really pays off in the end.
02:17I believe we are going to start with the stock.
02:21Normally, I would go to the grocery store and buy a nice box of stock,
02:25but Jesse has given me this lovely bowl of beef bones.
02:30These are just bones that I asked my butcher to give me.
02:32You just want a beef bone that has a bit of fat on it, a bit of meat on it.
02:36You're gonna roast them in the oven until they're nice and browned.
02:40I'm Filipino, so I would be gnawing on these without you here.
02:45They look good enough to eat as is.
02:48I'm gonna throw all of these into this pot.
02:51Ooh, look at all that. The juices there, even the dried bits of juices.
02:56And then you're actually gonna take that sheet tray after your bones are out
02:59and add water to it and scrape up all those brown bits too,
03:02because those are very valuable.
03:03I'm gonna get that off this pan.
03:05You're gonna add that water with all the scraped up bits in it
03:09and the brown bones to a pot with a bunch of water.
03:12That little bit, that's broth.
03:14So Lorenzo is planning to make a pot roast
03:16where you throw everything into a slow cooker,
03:18turn it on and just let it cook for hours.
03:20One pot wonder.
03:21I'm gonna be doing something a little different.
03:22I'm gonna be making a charred onion pot roast
03:25with pickled vegetables and a potato olive oil puree.
03:28So the first thing I'm gonna focus on is making a charred onion peel stock.
03:32So first I'm going to peel the onions and take those skins
03:35and we're actually gonna roast those skins
03:37until they start to burn and char and turn brown.
03:40And that's gonna create the base of this stock.
03:43Now I'm gonna make it better with vegetables.
03:44I've got my onion, my celery, carrot.
03:48I've got my garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and some thyme.
03:53While my onion skins are in the oven, I can further trim these.
03:56I'm gonna take these little roots and put them in there.
03:59And for the carrots, it's kind of the same idea
04:01in that I wanna use everything.
04:03These skins go straight into the stock too.
04:06We are gonna cut the carrots into just rounds
04:08and for the onions, we're just gonna dice those.
04:10Cool.
04:11So all my veggies for my pot roast are prepped.
04:13I'm gonna combine this with about eight cups of water.
04:16You're gonna bring that up to a boil.
04:18Okie dokie, finokie jokie.
04:20We're up to a boil.
04:22And then take it down.
04:23And really what you're looking for is what I'd say is like a lazy boil,
04:26a lazy bubble at this point.
04:28You don't wanna blast it.
04:29It smells so good in here.
04:31That's gonna make a really, really flavorful concentrated beef stock,
04:36which is gonna be a foundation for the pot roast.
04:39After two and a half hours, you can taste the stock
04:41and see if it has flavor.
04:43That's a great indicator it's done.
04:46Delicious.
04:47These onion peels look great.
04:48There are some really burnt ones and just slightly toasted ones.
04:52So this is exactly what I'm looking for.
04:53I'm gonna go ahead and add these peels to the pot.
04:55Cover this with water.
04:57And you just want enough water so that they're pretty much submerged.
05:00I'm just gonna let this simmer away for about an hour.
05:03So it's been about an hour.
05:04I'm curious to give it a taste.
05:05It has kind of this toasted smoky flavor.
05:08So this is gonna be great.
05:09I'm gonna pour this whole pot into my double strainer.
05:14So once it's ready, you're going to put that through a fine mesh strainer.
05:18Look at all this beautiful stock in there.
05:20Can you see that?
05:21There it is.
05:22Stock is ready to go.
05:24This looks great.
05:24So I'm really excited to use this as kind of the foundation for the pot roast.
05:28All right, I have got to sear this wonderful, wonderful piece of meat here.
05:35Lorenzo is gonna be using a boneless chuck roast.
05:38So this one is pasteurized.
05:40It is grass-fed.
05:41It is so marbleized.
05:43So it's gonna break down really beautifully in the pot roast.
05:46So this, again, is a chuck roast.
05:48This is the same cut of meat that I gave Lorenzo.
05:51This is maybe a slightly more affordable one.
05:52This isn't grass-fed or pasteurized.
05:55So I have to season first with lots of salt.
05:58I would say about two tablespoons of salt almost, which sounds insane.
06:01But with meat, you really have to add a lot of salt to cut through
06:04kind of the savoriness, the fattiness.
06:07And same idea with the pepper.
06:08You really have to be heavy-handed at this point.
06:10So Lorenzo sent me this French onion soup mix.
06:13I think he was using this as just a flavoring for the water he was gonna use.
06:17But this basically has onions, sugar, soy sauce, onion powder.
06:22So these are all things that I would season a pot roast with.
06:26So here I'm just using them as seasoning for the meat.
06:28This is just gonna add like a nice crust to the outside of the meat.
06:31And then we're going to sear it.
06:33Really, really hot pot before you put the oil.
06:37That way it doesn't stick.
06:38So I can tell the oil is shimmering.
06:40So I'm ready to go in with my meat.
06:42Season this side.
06:44We're gonna let that go.
06:46So this is exactly what you want.
06:47You want that deep browning.
06:49We're looking for a sear.
06:50You kind of want to see lots of smoke actually happening.
06:52So like if your smoke detector goes off, that's totally fine.
06:55Your clothes will smell like pot roast.
06:57Your dogs, your cats, your fish.
07:00Make sure you really like pot roast.
07:03So carefully, I'm just gonna transfer that back over here.
07:05Hi-yah!
07:07The beef is nice and seared on both sides.
07:09Pot is ready for my vegetables.
07:12Celery.
07:14And the celery is actually gonna give off some moisture.
07:16So you can start scraping the bottom.
07:18If there's any burnt bits or brown bits.
07:20Because that's where all the flavor is.
07:22Here we go with the garlic.
07:25Some ginger.
07:27Delicious.
07:27Let me mix this up.
07:29Cook that just until it's fragrant.
07:30And then you're gonna sprinkle some flour on top and mix that in.
07:33And this is making kind of a quick roux.
07:35A roux is fat and flour.
07:38And this is something that thickens a liquid.
07:40Typically it's butter.
07:41But here we're using the rendered fat from the beef in place of that.
07:45I'm gonna immediately go in with the vegetables.
07:47And it's gonna sweat all their moisture out and kind of help deglaze this.
07:51The brown stuff on the bottom is called fond.
07:54And it's actually gonna be one of the main flavoring components of this.
07:58One of the flaws of using a slow cooker, as easy as it is,
08:01is you don't get this high heat, this buildup of fond on the bottom.
08:04So you don't get that extra flavor.
08:06When you just add everything at once, you're really missing out on that.
08:09So next you're gonna go in with your liquids.
08:11The dark rum.
08:13Light rum or a white rum wouldn't quite give you that same caramel profile.
08:17It's getting dark and stormy in here, folks.
08:21First of all, the bits are coming up, which is nice, deglazing the pot for sure.
08:26And after that, we're gonna go in with the beef stock that we made.
08:28So we've got the dark part, yes?
08:32Now it's time to be stormy.
08:38Forgive me.
08:39This is non-alcoholic.
08:40Here we go!
08:41But it's quite sharp, balancing to all the savory brown notes going on.
08:46Look at all the bubbles!
08:48Oh, I love that!
08:49Dark and stormy.
08:51Totally.
08:52I am going in with some lime juice.
08:55Another nod to the dark and stormy.
08:58Light brown sugar.
08:59And lastly, a hint of Worcestershire sauce.
09:02Worcestershire sauce.
09:04And this is kind of a cheat code.
09:06You won't taste it, but it's gonna give you a whole nother layer of savoriness.
09:10Mix.
09:11And I'm gonna bring it up to a boil, and then I'm gonna reduce it for a bit.
09:16So by reducing it, we're ensuring it has this kind of nice,
09:19light gravy texture that will coat the back of a spoon.
09:22Yes!
09:24Oh my goodness!
09:26I think it's ready.
09:27Now the onions have softened a bit, I'm gonna go in with the stock that we made earlier.
09:32So I'll start with a little bit, and then we'll use that to start scraping up the bottom.
09:37You can tell how rich and deep this gravy is already getting here.
09:40So Lorenzo gave me bay leaves, and he gave me thyme.
09:43I also have one more packet of the soup mix,
09:47and I'm gonna use this to kind of bolster the stock even more.
09:51You're gonna add the meat right back into the center.
09:53Low and slow is the name of the game with a braise.
09:56And now I get to put in my vegetables.
09:59We're gonna add carrots, you're gonna add parsnips, and you're gonna add pearl onions.
10:04So nice.
10:05Chef Jesse a little fancy on the pearl onion.
10:08I like using pearl onions because it feels more substantial.
10:10Instead of getting little bits and pieces of like onion particulate,
10:14you're really getting to experience onion as you eat it.
10:16Fancy schmancy.
10:18Put a lid on it, and then cook it for three to three and a half hours until it's tender.
10:22And halfway through that process, I'm gonna take the lid off just so the sauce can reduce down,
10:27and also so the meat can brown a little bit more, which is a good thing.
10:33Lorenzo, it has been three and a half hours.
10:35So you can take the lid off, but we're not quite done yet.
10:38You're actually gonna flip the piece of meat.
10:40This helps ensure that both the top and the bottom are cooking evenly.
10:44I'm gonna put you back in the oven.
10:46Yep.
10:46Here we go.
10:47Good night.
10:51So this looks great.
10:53The browning on top of the meat's really, really nice.
10:55You can tell there's kind of a sheen slick of oil on top.
10:58Tip it to one side.
11:00Try to get as much fat as possible off the top.
11:03My pot roast is still in the oven doing its thing.
11:07I am gonna make Chef Jesse's gremolata.
11:12What is a gremolata?
11:13Original gremolata is a condiment that's usually chopped parsley, lemon zest, salt.
11:19Sometimes it has olive oil.
11:20My version is kind of drawing inspiration, again, from the cocktail, Dark and Stormy,
11:25and it is cilantro mint.
11:28So I'm just gonna chop it up as fine as possible.
11:31I have my citrus lime juice, a pinch of salt, and a little bit of olive oil.
11:41That's yummy.
11:42This is gonna add a lot of freshness and be served on the side.
11:45Lorenzo had white vinegar in his recipe.
11:48I assume he added a splash just for acidity, which makes sense.
11:51I'm gonna use the carrots and onions that I have, and I'm gonna make a quick pickle.
11:56I'm just gonna cut my onion.
11:57I'm gonna cut my carrots into similar size, like matchsticks,
12:00put them in a bowl, and we're just gonna add our pickling solution.
12:03I eyeball it, but it's just equal parts water, vinegar, and just a hefty pinch of salt.
12:10Make sure that they're all submerged.
12:12So these will sit for about an hour, and they'll turn into quick pickles.
12:15These will go right on top.
12:16They'll be crunchy, acidic, and really nice.
12:19Okay, I am about to embark in my potato and celery root puree.
12:27Pot roast is really the greatest and most delicious when there's something
12:30starchy underneath it, whether that's egg noodles or mashed potatoes,
12:34or in this instance, a puree, and I really love celery roots.
12:37That is really frightening.
12:39I'm gonna tackle you first, because I don't like looking at you.
12:42This is the root of celery, and it has the same texture kind of as a potato,
12:47or think almost jicama.
12:49It is a root vegetable that tastes very strongly of celery.
12:52No, don't!
12:55Don't!
12:56Yes, no!
12:58Sorry, pal.
12:58This is my way of taking something classic like mashed potatoes with pot roast
13:02and adding a bit more nuance.
13:04It smells sweet for some reason.
13:06It's really bright, and it kind of lightens up a typical mashed potato.
13:09And move on to Yukon Gold.
13:12Cut them into one-inch chunks.
13:14Add that to a large pot, and fill it with cold water so it covers them by about an inch.
13:20And this next part is really important.
13:23Add quite literally almost a small fistful of salt.
13:26Let's add some salt.
13:27The water should taste like the sea.
13:29And start it from cold and bring it up to a boil.
13:32This helps promote even cooking so everything's not cooking from the outside in,
13:36but kind of all at the same time.
13:38And you want to cook them until they're fork tender.
13:40You can pierce them without any resistance.
13:43At that point, you are gonna strain them and push them through a ricer.
13:47Hi-ya!
13:50This is to make sure there is no clumps, no chunks.
13:53This is a puree, so you want it very, very smooth.
13:56And then you're just gonna go in with heavy cream, butter, and salt,
14:00and mix it all together until it's smooth, almost like a mashed potato, really velvety texture.
14:05Taste it again, take your time.
14:07Wow! That is lovely!
14:10Okay, chef.
14:11It is super creamy.
14:13You win.
14:14It is definitely lovely.
14:17Potato and celery root puree.
14:20So normally for mashed potatoes, there's some dairy component involved
14:23to give it that kind of creamy texture.
14:25I don't have that today.
14:27But I can still make it work.
14:28I'm gonna use olive oil and reserve some of the cooking water that the potatoes are cooked in
14:33to add to the mashed potatoes to give it kind of a creamy texture.
14:36So I'm gonna go ahead and peel these.
14:38These are just russet potatoes.
14:39Cover these by about an inch or two of cold water.
14:43And don't forget, of course, to go in with your salt.
14:46Potatoes love salt.
14:47Don't be skimpy here.
14:49And we're just gonna check on this in about 15 minutes.
14:52So these potatoes are nice and tender.
14:54When you poke them, there's not much resistance, but they're not falling apart too much either.
14:58So I'm gonna cut it here.
15:00And I'm gonna drain this, but have a measuring glass and capture some of this water.
15:04So my potatoes are boiled.
15:06I like my purees, my mashes, really silky smooth.
15:09And for people who don't have a ricer at home, this is a great alternative.
15:13And restaurants will use a tammy, which is basically this, which you can press things into.
15:17So I'm gonna go in with this cooking liquid.
15:20Go very slow.
15:21So you don't need a lot.
15:22You're just adding enough of everything to kind of get it along.
15:25And some olive oil for fat.
15:27And again, we want to hit this with salt.
15:31This tastes good to me.
15:32You can tell it's swooshy.
15:34It holds its shape.
15:35And it's maybe a little looser than you're used to.
15:38But as this sits in like 10 minutes, it'll completely stiffen up even more.
15:41But for now, this looks perfect to me.
15:46Wow.
15:46Wow.
15:47Wow.
15:48Wow.
15:49That is beautiful.
15:51It smells absolutely divine.
15:54The star of the show, the pot roast.
15:56These are like candied vegetables.
15:59You definitely want to serve this gravy on the side.
16:01It's one of the best parts of the pot roast.
16:04I keep all the vegetables in.
16:05I think they're really nice.
16:06I'm going to go down first with the mashed potatoes.
16:08I kind of just rotate the bowl and make kind of this organic landing place.
16:15So I'm piping my beautiful potato and celery root.
16:18Hooray.
16:19With the piping, this is just a pretty straightforward, easy way
16:22to kind of elevate the presentation.
16:24Lovely jubbly already.
16:26Then I'm going to put a big chunk of the meat on top.
16:28Look at that.
16:29Parsnips and carrots.
16:31They look glazed.
16:33I can't forget my lovely pearl onions as well.
16:37And I like to add all the vegetables too.
16:40And then I'll spoon some of the sauce right on top.
16:44My delicious looking mint and cilantro gremolata.
16:50And there you have it.
16:51Dark and stormy pot roast with potato and celery root puree
16:57with mint and cilantro gremolata.
17:00And last, I just take kind of a fistful of these pickled vegetables
17:04and place them right on top.
17:05And here is my charred onion pot roast with pickled vegetables
17:09and a potato olive oil puree.
17:16Chef Jesse, how are you?
17:18It's a pleasure to meet you.
17:20I'm nervous.
17:21No, don't be nervous.
17:22If something went wrong, it's my recipe.
17:24So it's my fault.
17:25Okay, but I cooked it.
17:27I don't care, but no.
17:29All right.
17:29I'm excited.
17:29I am excited.
17:32Okay, look at that piping.
17:34That looks good.
17:35Yeah, it looks pretty good.
17:36I think that looks really nice.
17:38Should we try one of them?
17:40Yeah, I think we need to try what you have done.
17:41It looks great.
17:42Let's see, it just shreds, so.
17:43Oh yeah, it's very good.
17:44You cooked it perfectly.
17:46It's browned on top, but it's still really tender and smooth.
17:48I'm going for the meat first.
17:49Yeah, I'm doing the combo.
17:52It's good.
17:53Okay.
17:53It's really good.
17:54It's so tender.
17:55It's like the exact texture it should be.
17:58It's very dark and stormy, if you know what I'm saying.
18:00I love parsnips, but the way it's almost candied.
18:04Yeah.
18:05It's lovely.
18:06It has a really great texture too.
18:07They're not like mushy or anything.
18:09I think the gremolata is really nice too.
18:11Is it right?
18:11Yeah, it looks right to me.
18:13Definitely different from my four sure.
18:16I'm getting different textures, different flavors.
18:18I love it.
18:19You did great.
18:20Yes!
18:21Thank you, chef.
18:22Oh, I feel like you need to try what I did.
18:24I cannot wait.
18:25This looks something I'd buy at a restaurant for sure.
18:30Yeah, I borrowed some of the onion and carrot that was in the mix.
18:33Right.
18:34And just quick pickled them for a little garnish.
18:36And then look how, oh my, creamy.
18:40Are you kidding?
18:40Okay, here we go.
18:42Drum roll.
18:46This is very special without, I mean, really doing too much of a change.
18:52Yeah, same ingredients.
18:53I didn't give you anything to make mashed potatoes with except the potato.
18:57I'm curious what you did.
18:59I used the cooking water of the potato.
19:01Okay, that makes sense.
19:02And then I also used just olive oil and salt and that's it.
19:05No cream, no butter.
19:06Nope, no dairy at all.
19:07No butter.
19:07No butter.
19:08I love pickled vegetables, but I never thought of eating it with the pot.
19:11It's pretty easy too.
19:12You can just do it at room temp for like an hour.
19:15It's enough to make them like somewhat pickly.
19:17Winner, winner, chicken dinner all around.
19:21No, thank you.
19:22I appreciate it.
19:22It was a pleasure, chef.
19:24No, this was great.
19:24You did great.
19:25Thank you very much.
19:26Okay, go away.
19:27We're going to keep eating.
19:29Literally.