- Welcome to "Family Recipe Battle".
- You can't take all the berries.
- Becky told me I'm not allowed to share.
- This week features Becky.
Her husband Keith is going to be cooking against
her best friend, Matt.
- Hey, do these look like a berry?
- I don't know.
- And at the end, there's gonna be a blind taste test
to see which dish Becky likes best,
and who actually loves her the most.
- I don't know if they love me,
'cause it doesn't seem like they know me.
- Will it be the husband?
(Keith screams)
Or the best friend?
- [Matt] I think it's burnt.
- Oh, it's smoky in here.
- [Matt] You're welcome.
(upbeat music)
- Thanks to Kroger for sponsoring today's episode.
Kroger makes it easy to find out what's fresh,
what's happening, and it's always affordable.
- It's a really big toss-up
whether Matt or Keith has cooked for me more.
During the pandemic, when we were in our little bubble,
Matt was cooking for me at least once a week.
- I think I'll do pretty well.
I cook for Becky a lot, don't hear a lot of complaints.
That said, a lot of the things that are her favorites
are not my favorites.
- Becky loves everything I cook,
so I think I have this in the bag.
Becky's gonna want us to make something very savory,
some type of braised lamb or fried chicken thing.
- I think we're making chicken pot pie.
- [Ned] We've got a lot of amazing, fresh, seasonal fruit
today from Kroger.
- There's not a lot of fruit in a chicken pot pie.
- Becky, what is today's challenge?
- It is my favorite food in the world.
I eat it almost every day.
Today, you will be making candy.
- [Matt And Keith] Candy?
- Candy.
- You eat candy every day?
- That's your favorite dish?
I myself don't consider candy food.
- Neither of them are particularly like sweets boys.
- I feel like Becky is coming for me,
she's trying to sabotage me.
- I wanted to make it fair this time.
Whenever Keith and Matt are around,
I kind of play favorites.
It's Matt.
- Let's get two hours on the clock.
And your time starts now.
- Wow, two hours.
I'm gonna take a break I guess right at the beginning.
- A break?
What are you talking about?
- Hey, you can't take all the berries.
- I love sour candies, and gummy candies,
things that are really, really chewy,
and I also like very indulgent candies.
I really hate milk chocolate though.
- I need at least some of these berries.
You can't take all the berries.
- No sharing.
Becky told me I'm not allowed to share.
- Well, you're not sharing.
These aren't yours.
They're everyone's.
- Fine, Keith.
So at first I was gonna make something kind of chocolate-y,
but then I saw that we had all this amazing fruit
from Kroger, and I love traveling and stuff,
and you have all those candied fruits,
and those just look so good,
so I'm going to attempt at making
candied fruit.
What do you think you're gonna try to do today?
- I'm gonna basically do two things here.
I'm gonna try to recreate my childhood candy the best I can,
while also making a sour mixed berry flavor.
- So you already have candy background?
- Well, I mean, the last time I did it,
I was 17.
- 50 years ago or so.
- The recipe that I think it is
and what I'm gonna do 'cause I think that's it
is a cup of water, a cup of sugar,
and two thirds of a cup of corn syrup.
Look at the corn syrup go.
And I got a candy thermometer here,
which would be helpful if I ever used one as a child,
but I just used this like trick,
which is if the sugar squiggles in wat,
squiggles in water.
Sounds crazy when you say it out loud.
- You know, I'm just trying to get my mise en place ready,
'cause when you get the sugar really hot
and kind of bubbling, you have a short window of time
to dip everything in and get it ready.
- That's true, it's like a two minute window
of the sugar being undercooked or overcooked.
- Exactly.
- Would this work with raspberries?
- [Matt] You're trying to juice raspberries?
- [Keith] I'd say it didn't work.
Okay, let's try a few more raspberries.
It's like play dough.
- Well, it looks like Keith is off to a great start.
- This is how candy's made.
(upbeat music)
- I know Becky is very particular with her textures.
- She does have a texture thing.
- Can't have, you know, that weird gushiness, so.
- But candy is like texture becomes more okay.
No, but she does say when she gets gummies,
if they're fresh.
She'll like open a candy bag and go,
oh, these are fresh.
Why do you mean?
They're not fresh.
These are months old at this point.
That's just how candy works.
(triumphant music)
- But I know that when you're making candy,
your worst enemy is water
because the water will start to kind of seep out
of the fruit and make the hard candy shell
like really gummy tasting,
which is not what I'm going for.
- I am going for that, so water, water, water.
Okay, we're gonna try to juice the cherries.
I'm gonna need more cherries.
This actually works really well.
Maybe grapes.
- What flavor is this, Keith?
- Mixed berry.
- Okay, does this look like a berry?
- Grapes?
I don't know.
Mmm, looks like mixed berry to me.
All right, we're gonna add some gelatin
into our mixed berry.
Hopefully it will cool in time.
- Yeah, how long are they supposed to set?
- I don't know, it sets in like an hour.
- It's like all day.
- All day?
- So I'm prepping these all,
and then I'm gonna skewer them
and then once I get my mixture going,
I can dip them in.
It's a little bit tedious of a process,
but the more you plan and execute now,
the easier it's gonna be later.
- I love this little mold.
They look like little jewels.
Becky loves jewelry.
- It looks more like honeycomb.
- No, they're like little, like little dot, little.
- Honeycombs.
(upbeat music)
- [Rachel] How are you feeling now
that you know that Keith's made candy before?
- When I heard that, it made me a little afraid,
but now that I'm witnessing in action.
- I have no idea how long you're supposed
to boil the gelatin.
- It's making me feel a little more confident.
- [Keith] Candy.
- So I'm making my candy mixture,
so I'm gonna start out with two cups of sugar,
one cup of water,
and I'm just gonna put a little drizzle of the corn syrup
in there just to help kind of harden it up.
What's your favorite candy, Keith?
- My favorite candy?
Steak.
- Steak.
(Matt laughs)
- Matt, how's it going?
- Hi, Ned, good.
You know, I've got my mise en place here,
all my fruits that I'm gonna candy.
- It looks beautiful.
- I have my candied mixture on the stove,
trying to get it hot.
- So just the candied fruit?
- Just the candied fruit.
Have you made candied fruit?
- No, but it just.
- There we go, there we go.
- Is that really candy?
- I think it is.
- I'm sure it'll be great.
- Thanks for your support.
- You're welcome.
- I appreciate it.
- Keith.
- Ned, my man.
- How's it going over here?
How are you doing?
- We got candy number one, we got candy number two.
We're making some sour gummies.
Over here we're making an attempt at my old hard candy
I used to make back in the day.
When I was in junior high and high school,
I used to make and sell candy.
So the candy recipe was actually very similar
to the recipe for Hollywood sugar glass,
and it evolved from me making an ice cube tray worth
so like 12 pieces to me making 180 tiny pieces of candy
every night.
At the height of my candy career,
I was making about 25 to 30 dollars a day.
At one point, the school did catch on to me,
and they're like, Keith you can't do this.
What if it was a fundraiser?
Oh, well you could do it if it was a fundraiser.
Great, I'll donate the proceeds to books.
So I just told them that I was making
half of what I was making,
and I would give them half of the profits,
but at the end of the year,
I had raised the school enough money
that they bought a lot of books,
and they gave me a trophy that said
Keith the Candy Man Habersberger.
So technically I'm an award-winning candy maker.
(upbeat music)
- Um, Ned was not very supportive of my decisions,
and I do not appreciate that.
He obviously has not had very good candied fruits.
(light music)
- Mmm.
- It tastes like strawberries.
- Mmm hmm, like candy.
- Almost.
- And then I see we have some citric acid over there.
I'm gonna try to use that to just like dust on
with a little sugar and citric acid dust
so it has that like textural sour candy-ness.
Let's taste it.
Oh.
- The sugar's already crystallized around the edge
a little bit, so I've seen before on cooking shows
they add like a little bit of water around the edge
so that the sugar doesn't crystallize.
It keeps it like down into the liquid.
It's not getting much warmer though.
My tester hasn't really gotten there yet,
so I'm at like 210,
and I think it needs to be a little hotter.
I'm looking for it to be a little bit more
like congealed around there,
it's still like a little bit too liquid-y.
I might actually add a little bit more corn syrup,
I don't know.
Just waiting for my mixture to get hot enough.
- I'm waiting for my stuff to get cool enough.
Here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna try to do three panels of flavors.
Yeah, that's fun.
That's gummies.
We're gonna move these into the fridge.
Careful so they don't all bleed together.
Careful so they don't all.
- [Matt] Don't trip.
- Bleed together.
(tense music)
No, oh, the door.
- This hot plate keeps turning off.
- And maybe we'll make some gummy horses.
Gay horse.
- Gay horse.
- [All] Gay horse, gay horse, gay horse, gay horse,
gay horse, gay horse.
- [Rachel] Where is Gay Horse now, Matt?
- I think Gay Horse might live in our closet.
- [Rachel] In the closet, no.
- Oh, don't put him back in the closet.
- I think the hot plate gets to max temp
and it turns off, and it's not getting my mixture
hot enough, so I'm gonna go ahead and move to the stove top.
Oh my god, this is already at 240.
- Matt, how's it going back there?
- Hey, doesn't this look great?
Look at this.
Look, doesn't this look like it's gonna be hard candy?
- Oh yeah, that already looks way more candy-like.
Mine also isn't getting there,
so maybe that was why it was also taking forever.
- Becky was trying to sabotage us both.
- [Keith] Ugh.
- Becky.
- I can't believe her sometimes.
- I like don't see what the problem is.
- We're now at 300, so I'm gonna take it off the stove
and do a test one.
- [Rachel] Something smells like burning.
- It's my sugar getting too hot.
- [Keith] Uh oh.
- It's caramelizing.
I feel like this is not gonna turn out exactly as I wanted.
- Here's where we start watching it.
So we're gonna watch it slowly change its core viscosity,
and we're gonna try to catch it at the right time,
and we'll know 'cause we'll take this little spoonful,
pour it in this cool glass,
and right now it's just gonna shoot to the bottom,
but eventually, it's gonna squiggle in there.
- This is perfect.
The first one I did, it turned out beautiful.
You know, nice and hard candy outside,
hopefully they all turn out like this.
- It's getting closer.
So right now it's doing little beads.
Sugar.
And sour.
Whisk it up.
Ooh.
I think I inhaled some of the citric acid.
(coughs)
I wouldn't recommend it.
Smells like caramel over there.
- [Matt] I think it's burnt.
- [Keith] Oh no.
- I think I burnt it.
I think I'm gonna need to make another one.
With this new oven, it's way hotter,
I think I can do it,
'cause these are just turning to brown,
and I don't think it's gonna taste as good.
- How's it going Keith?
Now what do you think Becky's gonna like about this?
- I'm not sure if she'll like this one.
- Okay.
- The thing I think she likes is in the fridge.
- Oh, they look cool.
Matt, how's it going?
I hear you're starting over.
- Whoo, there is a struggle situation, see.
- Oh no.
- Brown.
- It's brown.
- It doesn't look as appetizing, you know?
The consistency is great, it's just the color,
and I think it's gonna taste a little burnt.
It should be good enough.
Crunch, you hear the crunch?
- That's pretty cool.
- Does it taste a little burnt though?
- Honestly it tastes mostly like a strawberry,
which is what worried me about the entire plan.
- Um, that's the whole point.
- Okay.
I think I just accidentally ate the stem,
and honestly a candied strawberry stem ain't bad.
24 minutes left, Matt.
If you're starting over, I wish you luck.
- It's gonna be tight.
(upbeat music)
- It's almost squiggling,
see the almost squiggle in there?
Real foamy.
Foaminess.
It smells weird.
I'm just gonna pour it into this,
and hopefully it lays flat and becomes like glass.
- [Matt] Is it gonna turn hard?
- Who knows Matt.
Maybe this'll become a fruit leather of sorts.
- Oh, at 300.
(pan sizzles)
That was the sound of the hot pan hitting the cold ice.
Uh oh.
A rogue blackberry.
- They look beautiful.
Now how are you going to arrange them?
- You know, just some juge.
Maybe put some fresh fruit around it.
- So more not candy?
- Maybe just some chocolate around it.
- Okay, yeah.
- Something like.
- We're gonna freeze the jellos,
just to get them to set faster in this time limit.
The horses, I don't think
they're gonna make it to the pasture.
Gosh I really hope those little gems set.
How much time do we have?
- [Rachel] 11 minutes.
♪ I'm waiting, waiting, waiting ♪
♪ On my candy to set ♪
♪ Has it solidified yet? ♪
♪ My sour tray, my sour tray ♪
♪ I'm gonna get my set candy and on my sour tray ♪
♪ Sour, ooh, ooh ♪
- It got too caramelized.
I think this is all I have, I can't do anymore.
- Oh my god, what happened?
- Yeah, I just didn't watch it for like a second,
and it got too hot.
- Oh my god, it looks like tar.
Oh, it's smoky in here.
- You're welcome.
- Coming out, okay.
(energetic music)
(tray clangs)
(metal clatters)
- [Matt] Geez, violent.
- Cracked sugar glass.
(beep)
Yeah.
(candy crunches)
Terrible texture.
Technically candy, and very similar to the candy
I used to make as a kid.
Four minutes.
- Oh no, four minutes?
- [Keith] Could've set a little longer.
- This is almost my vision.
I didn't have enough time to color the candy
that I was using.
(tray clatters)
- These, see these are all solid,
but they won't come out.
Jellies.
My sweet jewelry.
Do you think she'll be able to tell whose is whose?
Perfect.
- The other stuff?
- It's so sour.
- One minute left.
Matt, you look perfect.
Keith.
- After all that nay-saying you gave me earlier because.
- We're making a TV show,
of course I think you're gonna win,
but I can't tell the people that.
Keith, oh my god, what just happened?
- I got a fistful of citric acid in my mouth.
Oh.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
Hands up.
Let's bring out Becky, see what she thinks.
Now Becky, Keith and Matt have both made you
a beautiful candy dish.
Are you ready to see them?
- Yes.
- Okay, please open your eyes in three, two, one.
- [Becky] It is very interesting.
There are a lot of colors.
- [Ned] Uh huh.
- Kind of smells like jelly right now.
It kind of looks like somebody's insides.
Let's try A first.
I mean, this looks like something you would be served
at like a fancy wedding.
Genuinely interesting.
- Is it candy?
- It might be candied.
I think I'm gonna go with the grapes.
- Pretty safe choice.
Oh it's hard.
- Oh they are hard.
Cheers.
- Cheers.
(candy crunches)
- This is good.
- That's pretty good.
- That is really good.
The texture's good.
- Fruit on the inside.
- It's not like overly sweet or overly sour.
Ooh, and I like how it gets stuck in your teeth,
wherever it is.
- It passes the Becky candy test.
- Mmm hmm, the cavity test.
- The cavity test.
- Oh, a little wetter on the cherry.
Uh oh.
This one's a little messier.
Wow, pretty good.
- That's pretty good.
- You feel like the person that made this for you loves you?
- Oh yeah.
This person loves me a lot,
like I feel like they're just hugging me
with some really strong arms.
Candy B.
Oh no.
This person does not love me.
What is this texture?
(tense music)
What is that?
That's a very indescribable taste.
Kind of makes me want more though.
- [Ned] Oh.
If Dish A is giving you a nice firm hug,
what is Dish B doing to you?
- Just slapping you in the face.
- [Ned] Oh no.
- But every like couple bites
you'll get just a pound of sugar.
- Whoa.
- I would say it gets like negative points for presentation,
but then like.
- Whoa.
- Bonus points for the zing.
- Oh my god.
Dish B part two.
- So I'm trying to get it out.
(bowl clatters)
- Nothing, no response.
- Oh, there we go.
I got one.
(sugar crunches)
Do I have to swallow it whole?
- I'm going to eat this.
- And there's almost no flavor.
I can't get it out.
- If anything, there might be a little stuck nub
in the back of my molar.
- Oh my god.
- [Ned] So if this was a warm hug,
this was a slap in the face,
what's this one?
- They love you so little
that they would be willing to just mow you down
with a car.
- Oh god.
- And then back it up.
- [Ned] I regret asking you now.
(horn honks)
- I think it's gonna be a really hard choice.
There were a lot of pluses about things,
and a lot of minuses about things.
- [Ned] It could be tough.
- The dishes both had a lot of good things about them,
and some less good things about them.
One of the dishes, we wondered, is it candy,
the other dish, do they hate us?
- Let's reveal the winner.
In three, two, one.
- Oh, are you kidding me?
Oh.
- The winner is Dish B, which is Keith.
- My sour goobers won.
- If I was watching a movie,
just sitting there with my popcorn,
I'd be eating the little goobers.
♪ I can't believe I won with my goobers ♪
♪ My sweet and sour savory goobers ♪
♪ I really thought that I would be a loser ♪
♪ But my goobers managed to prevail ♪
- Yay.
- When are we gonna do a song competition?
(edgy music)
- Ugh.
Ugh.
It's like sour and burnt and bitter and bad.
- You're welcome.