- This might be one of the weirdest things I've used yet.
It's going to be a really long day.
Oh God.
We're not calling it hot.
Putting tuna in a jar.
I mean, this looks crazy.
Wow.
Oh no.
I'm speechless.
Increasingly weird.
Is this the craziest thing I've ever done?
I think so.
(cheerful music)
I'm Alexis and I'm a chef who's always up for a challenge.
Today, the internet has chosen
a random appliance for me
to make a three-course meal out of.
Let's see what we have in store.
(text popping)
I have no idea what this is.
- [Producer] That would be a wax warmer.
- Um, okay, it's a wax warmer.
I also don't know what that is.
What does one do with a wax warmer?
(clock ticking)
I'm gonna need to do some research.
I'm gonna be honest.
I'm not feeling great.
I know you can melt stuff.
I know there's some possibilities,
but I'm just really skeptical
about how warm or hot this is gonna get.
We're trying to cook a meal here, come on.
But there's this woman on TikTok,
bunnybirdygator, who uses a tea light
to cook and do things with.
You know, these are electric, it's a little different.
I've been so graciously given two jars.
This is where the candle goes,
this is where wax goes.
I think for ease of cooking,
it's gonna make sense to put the jar
directly onto the cooktop.
It's called a cooktop for now.
Confidence level, one.
I mean I guess I just have to get started.
Wish me luck?
I'm starting with my appetizer today
which is tomato confit over burrata.
Tomato confit is usually done
at like 275, 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
This, according to my research, only gets to 110 degrees,
so we'll see what happens.
I like doing this with tomatoes
and putting it over pasta, you can put it on bread.
It's unbelievably good.
Okay so, oops! (glass clinks)
I'm just gonna pour olive oil over the tomatoes
so that they're fully submerged
and you can add any aromatics you want
and some salt, of course.
Add some pepper, cut some very stubborn garlic, some thyme.
Okay so I think the tomatoes are ready to go.
Okay, turn it on.
The lights are on.
Confidence level, like, one.
I guess you could warm your tea or coffee on it.
Can't really make that a meal.
Oh God, I guess, I mean, I don't know.
This is feeling warmer.
I guess we'll just see.
See you in many hours, my little confit.
Moving on to my tuna.
Samin Nosrat who wrote Salt Fat Acid Heat
does this amazing olive oil poached tuna
and so, I thought I'd kind of mimic that.
With the candle warmer.
(laughs) I'm gonna try doing the whole thing in this jar.
Obviously the tuna is bigger than the jar
so I think I need to cut it down.
Add some salt.
What am I doing?
This is so weird.
Just putting tuna in a jar (laughs).
I'm just gonna put some olive oil again to cover it
and some peppercorns.
Maybe a bay leaf or two.
Dried pepper.
That looks fine!
Let me just check...
Wow, this is not even warm.
Like there's no heat.
Okay, I think I'm gonna cover this is tin foil.
I see these little holes
and I think some heat could be escaping here.
Some heat (laughs) it's a pathetic amount of heat,
but maybe if I kind of wrap the whole thing in foil.
I think I should do the same thing with the tuna.
It's very graceful, right, look at that.
Okay, so I think I should also enclose the whole thing.
Like a tin foil tent.
You know, as I use this entire roll of tin foil,
I think my confidence is just,
like we're just plummeting.
I mean this looks crazy.
Well (laughs) we're done!
We made a meal.
I'm just gonna let those go for a really long time.
Okay, moving on to the chocolate (laughs).
So I'm just gonna add the chocolate chips
directly to the little wax pot.
Chocolate melts at body temperature.
This gets hotter than body temperature.
It's gonna work.
I've got some fun freeze-dried raspberries,
cacao nibs, flakey sea salt.
It's gonna be pretty in about two hours.
(clock ticking)
You guys, I have big news,
and that is that the chocolate is starting to melt.
I would say my confidence is at a three.
Okay, let's check in on these guys.
Tuna is feeling warm at the base.
It has a long way to go.
Oh my God, okay, waiting for that...
Look at that, wow.
Wow.
Okay, all the chocolate chips have melted.
Gonna put it on my parchment paper.
Just gonna spread it.
Okay, I think that looks great.
I'll do the same thing with the white chocolate.
I feel like I don't need that much
'cause I just wanna do a little design,
so I think it'll go faster.
I wanna do one of those designs
where you do the lines of white chocolate over
and then use a skewer or toothpick or something like that
to make those...
You'll see.
I think my confidence for the chocolate bar
is steadily rising.
Wow.
Oh.
Okay, this is definitely not what I envisioned,
but that's okay.
Oh no, that's not good.
(laughing)
Okay, so the chocolate seemed to have hardened
too much before I out the white on,
so it just drew a line, which is not the vision,
but you know, that's okay.
I'm just gonna do some...
Maybe we can do some white...
It's going to be abstract bark.
Oh no.
Oh (bleeps).
Oh God, oh God.
It's a Pollock.
It's like a Jackson Pollock chocolate bar.
It's all the rage.
Because the chocolate is already hardened,
I think I need to warm it back up on the warmer.
It's getting increasingly weird.
Also again, don't do this at home.
This feels like a fire hazard.
Ooh, ooh, okay, okay.
Yep, yep, this is a great idea.
It's starting, yeah.
Okay, maybe I can do some with the raspberries.
Okay.
Ooh, it's such a delicate process.
Okay, ooh, God, oh God.
Oh no.
Oh no, it's melting very fast now.
Okay, and some flakey sea salt.
You know, I think I'm gonna just stop while I'm ahead here.
It's not my finest work,
but I think it'll totally, totally do.
Gonna let this harden and then I'm just gonna,
I'm just gonna wait a while.
Back with the thermometer.
Gonna check on things.
Start with the tomatoes.
It smells amazing.
Let's see what the temp is.
Ooh!
I'm honestly shocked right now.
We got 145.
Okay.
It's still about half the temperature
it would need to be if I was doing this in the oven,
but that's okay.
Just using this is a spoon, it turns out.
Yeah, tomatoes.
They might be warmed but raw.
I'm gonna try one.
It is a bit softer.
Another hour, two, this might actually be something.
Feeling a lot better,
but I think I just need to be patient.
My confidence about these tomatoes right now
is like a six.
Goodbye.
Okay, now the tuna.
Look at that, look at that.
It looks like something's happening here.
I would say it's cooking.
It's poaching.
Oh, that's raw.
Okay the tuna's at about 100 degrees.
I mean, honestly I don't know
if this is gonna cook through.
This might be the first time
that I don't really have anything to deliver.
I'm feeling confidence on the tuna right now
is like a three.
It's like a three.
And we just wait.
I think of all the things I've tried to poach
over this crazy show,
the tuna is the hardest.
Tuna in a candle warmer takes the cake.
While I'm waiting for the tomato confit
and the tuna to, you know, do the thing,
I thought I could start on the fennel salad.
Idea is that this fennel salad
is gonna go with the tuna.
I wanna save the fronds.
They're totally edible.
And slice the core out.
Got a mandolin here.
These are super, super, super dangerous.
So if you're using one at home,
make sure you have a napkin
or one of those little glove guards.
With a mandolin, don't be a hero.
If you can't get this, it's fine.
Let it go.
This fennel salad, super simple.
Shaved fennel, salt, pepper,
lemon zest, lemon juice, fennel fronds.
I'm gonna add a little bit of parm too.
Some saltiness to balance out the acidity and the crunch.
Oops.
This is a snack piece you have for yourself.
I think I should just check this
and see how it's going.
Whoa!
You guys, it's working!
Wow, that is so crazy.
I'm speechless.
Temp time.
118.
I kinda think I should take it out and see what happens.
Oh, this is weird.
(straining)
Okay.
(laughs)
I deserve a trophy, a gold medal, an award.
There maybe should be a shrine, a statue.
I just cooked tuna over a candle warmer.
And it's delicious!
I'm so proud of myself.
This is crazy.
Is this the craziest thing I've ever done?
I think so.
Yeah!
(cheering)
I'm really proud of myself.
I think I can plate this.
I mean, it looks gray.
It looks gray.
Little bit of parm, the fronds, pepper, salt.
(people cheering) (fanfare playing)
Amazing, it's amazing.
I realize there's still more to do, but this is amazing.
I'm gonna put this off to the side
and assess the tomato confit situation.
Okay, I'm feeling so excited.
I'm feeling so jazzed.
I feel super confident.
Like, if the tuna, it's just...
Look at that, like, look at that.
Here, this is for comparison.
(scoffs)
I mean, it's amazing.
This day has been a rollercoaster.
So I think I can plate this.
Burrata.
Just gonna open it.
Oh my God, it's gonna be so good.
Look at that, look at that one, look at that one.
That is like, fully soft.
No tomato left behind here.
I'm flabbergasted.
Gonna do a little bit of balsamic.
(gasps)
That's a little more than I planned on.
Some pepper, let's just go crazy.
Just for me!
Some salt, okay, some basil, yum.
Love basil.
You guys, burrata tomato confit.
It looks incredible.
It smells even better.
I feel, I'm like flying high.
I'm like back, I'm a 10.
This is great.
This is so cute!
It's rustic, which I think is the point of chocolate bark.
And like, it's adorable.
Look, it's adorable.
I almost don't wanna break it, but here we go.
Oh my God, little pile of chocolate bark just for me.
Oh my God, oh my God, I mean...
Have you ever seen something cuter
than this tiny, tiny little personal plate
of chocolate bark,
made on a candle warmer?
I think it's taste test time.
When I started today, I honestly thought
I was gonna have nothing to serve but chocolate bark,
so the fact that there's a full meal is blowing my mind.
It's beautiful!
Like this is, it's beautiful.
I would serve this at a dinner party.
Maybe not from a candle warmer.
I've just been waiting for the burrata.
I mean it's amazing.
The tomatoes are perfect.
The oil all around, infused, it's so good.
I feel emotional.
I feel like I could cry.
Like, that is so good.
To the tuna.
Mm, it's delicious.
I'm so impressed with myself (laughs).
The tuna's actually so good.
It's lovely.
It's blowing my mind.
This is so, I mean, I'm like a broken record.
It's so good, it's so good.
I mean, chocolate bark, how can this be bad?
It's gorgeous, it's cute, it's beautiful, it's chocolate.
Mm, the combination, incredible.
This is amazing.
This could be one of the best meals I've made.
10 out of 10.
This has been amazing.
Let me know in the comments
what you would make on a candle warmer.
See you next time.
Bye, guys!
Mm.
(upbeat music)