Male: One seasoned chef, three random ingredients, and three tough judges. It’s time for Stump the Chef. Today award winning chef Matt Weaver will set his culinary skills against his toughest opponent yet, lets see today’s random ingredients.
Female: Tofu, Red wine, and dried mushroom.
Male: Now, let’s play Stump the Chef.
Matt: Hmm, I could go Asian but I think I will put a French twist on this one, it will throw them for a loop but it will be good.
Male: And he’s off.
Male: Starting it right off with that tofu looks like he’s rolling it up in flower. And is that hot oil? Yep that sure is, he’s got some hot oil ready to go there on the stove. You know tofu, not everyone’s favorite ingredient, are you a fan of tofu?
Male: Yes I am in the Philippines they call it Punkwat—
Male: That’s just fascinating, looks like he cubed it up first, before rolling them up in the flower and dropping them in the hot oil.
Male: Korean is Han Gul.
Male: You know I am surprised he’s not going with a stir fry here, being handed classic Asian ingredients.
Male: Cantonese is Da Pu.
Male: Right, classic Asian ingredients, tofu, mushrooms, easily could have gone for a stir fry; I appreciate the fact that he’s not going straight for that.
Male: Umm, my people call it boring healthy crap.
Male: Although I have no idea where he is going with this. Deep fried tofu, stir fry is probably out of the question. One thing I do know is tofu or not that’s looking pretty tasty.
Male: Cambodians, Tohu.
Male: And he’s throwing something into the pot there.
Male: Its smells good I do believe it is yes, bacon my favorite.
Male: Yes it he’s diced up some bacon, put that in the pot then peeled up a carrot, and it looks like Matt forgot his peeler today.
Male: You have to be careful Matt that is the reason why I only have one thumb.
Male: Absolutely you know I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. He peeled up a potato, chopped it up, I guess he’s going to be throwing that into the pot. I am not exactly sure where he is going.
Male: I do believe he is making pasta.
Male: He is going for the onions there, throwing that in with the bacon. And I am pretty certain this is not going to be pasta. But you know, he’s got the carrots, he’s got everything else those potatoes are really throwing me.
Male: Maybe its Irish pasta.
Male: I am Irish and that’s not pasta.
Male: Yeah but where are the mushrooms?
Male: You know he hasn’t used the mushrooms, we haven’t even seen them, and the tofu is sitting right there, but I don’t see it being incorporated into this mixture. And more importantly, he hasn’t even touched the wine.
Male: I hope there’s some left over. I need it.
Male: I am starting to wonder if even Matt knows where he is going with this, I mean what role is the tofu going to be playing?
Male: Dungeon master.
Male: Sorry to interrupt guys but its time for Matt’s tangent.
Matt: The making of tofu from soy, is very similar to how we make cheese from milk. According to Chinese legend, tofu was created when a feudal lord ordered his chef to add salt to his soy milk, more like the order of cheese or butter, we will actually never know. Tofu like rice has no actual flavor, but takes on the flavors of things that it is marinated in, or cooked with. Tofu can be cooked in any number of ways; it can be marinated, grilled, fried or stewed. Enjoy.
Male: Meanwhile back in the kitchen.
Male: He’s got those mushrooms and it looks like he is throwing them into the pot to get them together with everything else.
Male: That’s kind of a family tradition of mine. They really like mixing everything together. But I have to say, I definitely would have made a sandwich out of this combination.
Male: You have got to at least appreciate the fact that he’s keeping it simple. He is stewing everything up in one pot; he is adding the wine there.
Male: I think he may actually save some for me, yes he did, thank you so much Matt.
Male: He is adding some beef stock too; it looks like I guess he’s going for some sort of soup.
Male: You know you can call it soup, you can call it stew, you can call it goulash, call it what you will but I do not like wet food.
Male: Now it makes complete sense why he deep fried that tofu, he got that nice crust on them, now when he throws them into this stew it’s not going to soak up all that liquid and should keep a good texture.
Male: Yeah but why ruin fried food by getting it wet? It’s like eating fried chicken in the pool.
Male: Yeah, you’re right it’s exactly like that, finally putting those potatoes in.
Male: Yeah those potatoes are not making this soup any drier, what a waste of wine. Matt you’re insane.
Male: Well let’s not be too quick to judge here, I am curious to know what Matt was thinking in this approach, Matt do you have to say?
Matt: Well, the tofu has been in for ten minutes, I put the potatoes in that will be another twenty minutes. I really enjoy doing twist on traditional French cuisine. Like with the tofu and the shitakes. I know I am going to like it, I hope they do too.
Male: It’s plating time.
Male: Well I have to say that is looking mighty tasty.
Male: It really looks like something I saw on my twenty first birthday. It looks like he is just going to be presenting it in a bowl here. Keeping it simple, you can’t blame him for that, there’s not too much you can do to this stew to make it more exciting.
Male: Looks good to me, but let’s see what our judges have to say about that.
Matt: With these items I decided to make tofu bourguignon. I went classical French instead of Asian as you might have thought with these ingredients. And so enjoy.
Robert: It’s good, um, taste more like a stew. I wasn’t imagining you would do a stew; I was thinking maybe you would sauté the mushrooms in the red wine and then add the tofu in to make it more like a soup. But this is good, this is really good.
Scott: Matt I thoroughly enjoy this dish. I thought you would have gone Asian as well but I think the red wine sort of pushed you back in the classical French cuisine. I thought it was delicious, I liked the texture of the tofu, thought it matched the potatoes and they gave a nice beefy texture that wined well with the beef stock that you used, fantastic.
Monica: This is very good Matt, I love the tofu, and I am not a fan of tofu so you did a very good job, and I too was surprised that you did not do the Asian. I was expecting a sauté but I really like the flavors.
Matt: Thank you I am glad you enjoyed it.
Male: Let’s tally the votes. You made yummy in there tummies Matt, you passed.
Matt: Well good I am glad they enjoyed it; you know I did too, and I had fun. That’s the whole point of cooking, don’t be afraid of the kitchen, thanks for joining us, see you next time.
Male: That’s it for this episode of Stump the Chef.
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