(knife slamming on table)
(Christmas music begins)
- Hey, I'm Nick.
And the holidays are right around the corner.
So today we'll be making a holiday feast using some
of the most iconic video game foods
for the perfect holiday meal.
(knife unsheathing)
(Christmas music continues)
- [Nick] I've played my fair share
of video games over the years.
And to be totally honest with you,
I've also mastered the game Overcooked.
But one thing I've noticed in every video game
- [Nick] is that there's always food.
And some of that food actually looks really good.
(game reward sound effect)
So I figured why not actually try to cook it at home?
So today I'll be making Clucking Bell Fried Chicken
from Grand Theft Auto,
- [Nick] Goopy Carbonara from the Sims,
Mushroom stew from Minecraft,
using mushrooms I've stolen from Mario.
- [Mario] Mama mia!
- And to finish with something sweet,
- [Nick] Sweet Rolls from Skyrim.
- This is going to be a carb heavy day.
Today I'm particularly excited
about making the fried chicken from
Clucking Bell because on top of the fact
that I grew up playing that game
I have mastered the art of fried chicken.
(deep base playing)
- [Nick] So this will basically be a standard
- fried chicken recipe, but a really good one.
We're adding in tons of different seasonings.
And we're also going to make sure that we brine it
with just a little bit of spice.
So to start, we're going to brine our chicken,
which is typically done with buttermilk
but we're going to put a little something extra in there.
- [Nick] We're going to be using both thighs and drums.
- These thighs have a ton of flavor.
- [Nick] Whereas I'd say the drums are a little bit
more fun to eat.
- To start, we're going to cover these up with buttermilk,
which is very acidic.
- [Nick] I'm now adding in a bit of hot sauce
to get a nice kick to that chicken.
- This brining process is going to tenderize your chicken
the same way you tenderize people
when running them over in GTA.
- [Nick] And then we'll finish it by topping it off
with a bit of salt and pepper.
- At this point, I'll move my chicken
around just a little bit, and then let this brine
in the fridge for about four hours.
While the chicken's breaking down in the fridge,
It's time to make the dredge.
I personally have visited the Clucking Bell in GTA
and can confirm this is what they use.
- [Nick] To start, I'll go with about three cups
of all-purpose flour,
about a half a cup of cornstarch,
which will give you that extra crisp.
- And then you can just go crazy with your seasonings.
- [Nick] I'm going to start with a bit of salt and pepper,
a little paprika and cayenne pepper,
some garlic and onion powder.
- I'm excited for this. I love making fried chicken.
And some dried basil and oregano.
And last but not least just a pinch of white pepper.
You know, I used to play a lot of GTA,
but I remember it being banned in my house.
So we always had to sneak it behind my mom's back.
- [Nick] Once we've lightly whisked up our dredge,
it's time to fry the chicken.
For your oil, you want to use something
that has a high smoke point.
Whether it's vegetable, avocado, peanut, or canola,
just don't use anything that lights on fire.
We're not trying to commit arson today.
Once our oil is exactly 350 Fahrenheit,
I'll dredge my first piece of chicken.
- [Nick making sure to really coat it
and press it into that flour.
And once it's nice and evenly coated,
- I'll shake off that excess and then drop it into fry.
- [Nick] Here's a little pro tip.
If you want to make it nice and extra crispy,
just like they have at the Cluck and Bell,
drip in a tad bit of your batter into your dredge,
and then mix that around.
It'll make a bunch of nice, chunky little bits,
which will stick to the chicken
and give that super extra crisp to the edge.
The more of the crispy bits you add,
the more of these little edge pieces you'll see.
This video is actually my subtle hint to you
that I'll soon be opening the first Cluck and Bell franchise
in the United States.
And I already have the perfect slogan Clucking Bell,
where all crime is legal.
- [Nick] That's a beautiful piece of fried chicken.
The frying process should only really take a couple of
minutes, but you just want to make sure
that chicken is cooked all the way through.
This right here might look kind of crazy,
- [Nick] but if your chicken doesn't look like this
before you fry it,
it's not going to have that beautiful crispy web
that climbs all off of it. This is fried chicken perfection.
Why is that like a person?
- [Nick] The feet, the hands and the head.
- I promise you, this is all chicken meat.
It's not anything else. There's nothing to worry about.
I don't know if you can hear it,
- [Nick] but that is a hot sizzling tray
of Cluck and Bell Chicken.
(upbeat music)
- [Nick] For all our pasta lovers
- we'll now be making Goopy Carbonara
from the Sims.
Into some salted water, I'm going to start
by adding one pound of dry spaghetti into a pot.
- [Nick] I'll move this off to the side and let it cook
for a bout five minutes until it's nice and al dente.
Now the real question is how do we make carbonara goopy.
- [Nick] To begin, I'll go in with two ounces of pancetta,
which is basically an Italian bacon.
Carbonara is one of the first things you make in the Sims,
but I'm going to try not to start a fire like my Sims did.
(air blowing)
- I think that flame thrower just turned the lights on.
Next, I'm going to go in with just a tad bit of olive oil,
and here's where we get goopy.
I'm going to sprinkle in just a little bit
of all-purpose flour and then begin whisking immediately.
I have no idea why this is an entry-level recipe
cause the likelihood of a SIM being able to make this
is extremely low.
Carbonara is tricky.
What I'm making here is a roux,
which is going to give us that really goopy base.
- [Nick] So add in just a little bit of milk.
And when it combines with my flour,
it'll get nice and thick.
That is what I call it goopy.
- That couldn't really be much goopier.
I'm now going to bring in my resident Sims expert
to see if this is in fact goopy enough.
(Sims expert speaking gibberish)
- That's Simlish for chef's kiss.
I'm also going to add it a little bit
of that starchy pasta water
to really keep everything nice and harmonious.
Now it's time for some garlic.
Oh my gosh. It minced itself.
And once that's nice and goopy,
it's time to start putting in some of our pasta.
- [Nick] Move that around and get it nice and well-mixed.
- If you think this is creamy and goopy now,
just wait till we add that cheese.
Now into a mixing bowl, I'm going to crack in two eggs
and then I'll go on with the surprise of the day.
A Motherload of Parmesan cheese.
- [Nick] For this, We want about a cup of Parmesan cheese.
- At this point, we want to whisk up those eggs
with our cheese, making sure that it's not clumpy.
This is going to be that base of our carbonara
and that warm pasta and goopy mixture is going to combine
with our eggs in just a moment to make that nice,
thick carbonara sauce.
- [Nick] Finally, while mixing fast,
I'll go with my pasta and move around constantly.
- We don't want those eggs to get overcooked
because we're making carbonara not scrambled eggs.
- [Nick] If it looks nice and glossy and creamy like this,
you've done it right.
- I'll finish this off with just a tiny little bit
of black pepper and a touch of parsley
if you want to make it look fancy.
- [Nick] And that is your Goopy Carbonara.
Trust me, if you serve this at family dinner,
everyone's going to want to do a great big woo-hoo
(video game music)
From Minecraft, we' ll, we making a mushroom stew.
Now in Minecraft, all you need is a wooden bowl
and a mushroom,
but that's not going to cut it in my kitchen.
- [Nick] I'll start with a nice assortment of mushrooms.
- Here, I'll be using Shiitakes and Baby Bellas.
And now I'm going to chop them up the same way
I chop up anything in Overcooked.
(knives hitting the cutting board)
Next, we can roughly chop up our onion.
This might make you tear up,
but nothing is as bad as when your dog dies in Minecraft.
(sad piano plays)
- [Nick] It really does like tear me up a little bit though.
- Last but not least our tomatoes.
- [Nick] This mushroom stew uses all the veggies.
- In the game, this stew might look like a brown mush,
but if we're going to eat this,
we want ours to look pretty.
To begin our stew, I'll go in with a little bit of olive oil
and then toss in our chopped onions.
Nice.
- [Nick] Follow that with just a little bit
of salt and pepper.
You know, it's weird.
This looks a lot less pixelated than last time I made it.
Maybe it'll make it taste better too.
Once those begin to get a bit translucent,
I'll go in with all of my chop mushrooms
and move these around until they're nicely colored.
Again for just a few minutes.
Let's see if I can speed up the cooking process.
Now it's time to add in a nice big hunk of butter.
You know, that was pretty block shaped.
A few sage leaves, a little bit of thyme,
which I happen to have right here, fresh from my garden.
A nice little bit of onion powder,
a little pinch of flour to thicken things up a little bit.
Then a bunch of our nice block-shaped tomatoes.
Then to finish things off a little bit of chicken stock
and a nice little splash of milk.
You know, the more I think about it,
the more I realize I kind of liked the way it looks
on Minecraft.
I think we should go for a smooth consistency to perfectly
mirror what they do.
So I'll toss this into my blender and pulse this up
to make a nice creamy mushroom stew.
(blender runs)
- [Nick] It doesn't really make sense
for a stew to be so smooth like this,
but I'm not going to argue with Minecraft.
Now for our finishing touches, I'll pour it into a pot.
- Give it a quick little taste.
Ow, that's hot.
And add in those final touches.
A little bit of salt and pepper.
- [Nick] just a touch of white pepper,
a hint of garlic powder and just the slightest bit
of cayenne pepper.
This here is the perfect Minecraft mushroom stew.
(string instruments play)
For dessert, we'll be making the often stolen
sweet rolls from Skyrim.
To start. I'll go into my mixing bowl
with three tablespoons of melted butter,
one cup of warmed, whole milk.
Drizzle in about two tablespoons of honey.
(mixer running)
Then while whisking about two tablespoons
of active dry yeast,
the tiniest little pinch of salt
and last but not least one egg.
I had to fight off a lot of Whiterun guards
to get this egg.
I shot one of them in the knee with an arrow.
This is the most resilient egg yolk I've ever seen.
It's not broken yet.
Assuming I can break the egg yolk,
we'll whisk until it's well combined.
- [Nick] Finally, I'll go in with two cups
of all-purpose flour.
- Then let this mix once again until a smooth dough forms.
And then it's time to spray.
(Can spraying)
Okay, that's good.
Now in with that sticky battery we go.
(upbeat, bouncy music plays)
Now we'll cover this up with plastic wrap
or a damp paper towel and let rest for half an hour.
(timer ticking)
Once our sweet rolls have risen,
we're going to toss them in the hearth, dragon fire,
whatever you've got at home to cook for about 15 minutes
at 350 Fahrenheit.
Now that these are fresh out of the oven.
I'll let them cool off before I cork out the centers
for that signature sweet roll look.
Now for our frosting, we'll add in one cup
of powdered sugar.
And then as I stir a quarter cup of whole milk.
It's the easiest frosting you'll ever make.
- [Nick] This is just like the one you'd taste
at The Bannered Mare.
- Now I'll take my sweet rolls,
flip them upside down and punch that hole
right through the middle.
And then you even have a little bonus piece to eat.
- [Nick] To finish these off, we'll lay our glaze
right over the top of each one.
And there, we have sweet rolls,
just like the Dragonborn used to make.
- [Nick] And there you have it.
We have a holiday meal here all made from foods
from your favorite video games.
- [Nick] We've got the Goopy Carbonara from the Sims.
Then the mushroom stew from Minecraft,
which I must say looks uncanny.
Then, perhaps my favorite, Clucking Bell Fried Chicken
from GTA.
- [Nick] The sweet rolls from Skyrim.
And to top it all off, I grabbed myself a root beer
from Tapper.
- Now for the moment I've been waiting for the entire day.
(Nick eating crispy chicken)
Hmm, this is a five-star piece of chicken right here.
And I didn't even have to run over anyone to get it.
Thanks for watching.
And let me know if there's any other video game foods
we missed that you want to see me make next.
If you want to watch more cooking videos in the meantime,
head on over to my YouTube channel, Nick DiGiovanni.
(Christmas music plays)