- Hello, and welcome to Family Recipe Battle.
My worst nightmare!
Today, our guest is my wife, Ariel Fulmer.
We're gonna have Ariel's mom
compete against Ariel's husband.
Each of us are going to try and cook Ariel's favorite food.
But, at the end, she'll have a blind taste test.
- Oh, that's spicy. (coughs)
Spicier than I thought it was.
- [Ned] We'll find out whose food does she love better
and who loves her the most?
- She invites me to a competition and then I lose?!
- Will it be Ariel's mom or
me?
Not just the host,
also gonna cook.
(lively orchestral music)
- For more family recipes
and dating stories from our kitchen,
check out datenightcookbook.com and pre-order your copy now.
- Ooh. Date Night Cookbook.
- [Crew Member] Quiet on set, please.
- (laughs) My loud mother
and my equally loud husband are here,
and they are vying for my love,
trying to make one of my favorite meals.
What do you think my favorite meal is?
- Well, you have a couple of them.
In our Date Night Cookbook, it's Salmon Piccata.
- [Ariel] Mhmm.
- I would say in general, your favorite meal is just like,
pasta with olive oil, salt, and olives.
- That checks out.
- I think that your favorite meal is Ned Bread.
- [Ariel] Uh-huh, yeah. - [Ned] Oh, that's true.
- Bread and cheese.
- That also checks out.
Wow, I am very basic.
I'm embarrassed now. See you guys later.
- Okay, well, show's over. It was nice.
Thanks for coming.
Hit subscribe.
So we're not making Salmon Piccata?
- We are not making Salmon Piccata.
It is a recipe that I grew up with.
We are making...
(dramatic music)
Fajitas.
(Kathy laughs)
- Oh.
Okay.
Right. - Okay.
- Okay. - Okay.
- [Ariel] Spent a lot of time growing up in Texas,
proud southern girl,
and I absolutely love fajitas.
- That is true.
- Laters. (laughs)
- Well, Kathy,
may the best chef win.
- May the best chef win.
- [Crew Member] In three, two, one.
- Okay. Okay, okay, okay.
- [Ariel] Today, I want to see flour tortillas,
pulled chicken, heaps of guacamole,
refried black beans are my current fave.
I'm kind of ambivalent about rice.
Both of them should know that green peppers
do weird things to my tummy.
So, no green peppers.
- Not green.
- She likes that Texas tradition.
She likes the Mexican flavors.
That's my plan is to marinate the meat
in lime, in cumin, maybe a little bit of serrano pepper.
- In our cookbook, we had a Halloumi Fajitas recipe.
So, I think I'm pretty confident in the spice blend.
If I lose today, there will be a food network star,
cookbook author losing a cooking competition.
Stakes are never been higher.
Obviously, I can't compete with mom's home cooking.
You know, she's got years of experience.
- [Kathy] Years.
- Ariel knows these flavors inside and out.
But, I know that Ariel's favorite meal
isn't actually the home cooked meal.
It's going to a Mexican restaurant.
I'm gonna try and bring the restaurant experience
to the studio today.
- [Kathy] How are you gonna do that?
- The main thing we're missing here is chips.
So I'm gonna try and fry my own tortilla chips.
- Wow. (laughs)
So Ned, have you ever had a knife class?
- Why, do you think there's something wrong
with my knife skills?
- I was just looking at how you cut your onions.
- You know, you cut things the way my wife cuts things.
- [Kathy] Really?
- Which is dangerously.
(Kathy laughs)
Ariel cuts everything like this,
where her fingers are, like,
about to be sliced at any moment.
- How many onions have you seen Ariel eat?
- She's not getting some ahead,
I'm not gonna stand for it.
Oh, my Lord.
(Kathy laughs)
- [Kathy] Oh, my God.
- It's a cast iron pan.
- We forgot about the pan. - Been seasoned in the oven.
- Ariel likes pulled chicken
and not something that is meaty.
- [Ned] Right.
- And so, I am going to use the instapot
and I have not used the instapot to make fajitas before.
- Oh.
- I don't like knowing that it's meat,
so I like it pulled.
So, it feels a little bit more drier.
- I don't think I can bring myself to make shredded chicken.
One of my biggest pet peeves is dry chicken.
One thing they do in Tex-Mex restaurants
is the rice is always this sort of shade of orangy red.
What is that? Paprika?
Tomato? Cumin?
There are big things in tomato sauce
so I'm gonna guess that tomato sauce
is part of the rice experience.
There we go.
Chilis, garlic, and onion. It's called Mexican seasoning.
- Ned, I think that's cheating.
Aren't you supposed to use your own mixture
of Mexican seasoning?
- Oh, you mean like, Nature's Seasonings?
- Oh, that's true. (laughs)
- Boosh!
- So Nature's Seasoning, it's this spice blend,
it's like pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder.
You know, like, all the good stuff, all in one.
- Kathy loves it.
She puts it on everything.
And one time, we had, like, eggs or something.
And it was, I kid you not,
like it was, I was just biting through
a hurricane of Nature's Seasoning.
- Ned hated it.
And so, he banned Nature's Seasoning from our household.
- Oh, so aggressive.
- [Crew Member] But you have a secret stash?
- I do have a secret stash.
I can't not use Nature's Seasoning.
I grew up with that stuff.
- Nature's Seasoning. I mean, come on, people.
- I'm not sure whether I would be able to allow it
to marinate for as long as I would normally marinate it for.
But that's the reason I was trying to get this done
fairly rapidly because it needed to be in its sauce.
Ned, your area there is looking very, very clean.
You're doing a nice job.
- Yep, thank you.
I'm trying to clean as I go.
- [Kathy] You do what?
- Just like they do in Ariel's favorite Tex-Mex restaurants.
- You know, there's other people working all around me.
It's like dinner service, the dinner rush is coming.
So, I'm trying to clean as I go.
- He thinks that there's cleanup fairies.
And actually, there are cleanup fairies
when Ned comes for holidays, his mother-in-law which is me.
- I don't know if this frying situation's working,
the hot placed on max, but my oil is not really that hot.
Gonna switch gears.
- That's unfortunate.
- [Ned] Oh, there's still time.
- This is truly not the Tex-Mex.
Because in Tex-Mex, it usually has a jalapeno.
But I just prefer the flavor of a serrano pepper.
I'm pretty sure that Ariel agrees because she does not,
she doesn't like things that are really hot.
- I agree. Serranos are pretty mild.
- Yeah.
- Oh, my God. That's spicy.
- What is the scale called?
- Oh, the Scoville scale?
- Scoville scale!
- Yeah, I think serranos are, like, one of the lower ones.
- Yeah, they are.
(Ned screams)
- Oh, that's a spicy pepper. (coughs)
- In your garden Ned, don't you have serrano peppers,
or are they jalapeno peppers?
- Huh.
- Or do you know?
- Um.
- The ones in your garden are fairly mild.
(Ned gargles)
- Do you wanna try it? - No.
- Yeah, I've tasted them before.
Yeah, they're...
All right, I'm making my spice blend right now.
We're gonna measure this out.
One teaspoon of cumin.
I like a little bit of garlic and onion powder.
Got to make sure I'm using paprika and not cayenne pepper.
Salt.
Pepper.
And then for the spice,
I'm just gonna do little bit of chili powder.
Little, little, little, bit more.
There we go.
Got Nature's Seasoning and Ned's Seasoning.
(Kathy laughs)
- How much time do we have?
- [Crew Member] 45 minutes.
- Ooh, 45 minutes.
And I haven't even made my fajitas yet.
Just making all the extras.
- [Kathy] I've turned my instapot on.
I need glasses to be able to see all the controls.
I just locked it. We're gonna see what happens.
- Let's see our rice.
Well, okay, gang, what do we think about this?
That's totally not cooked enough.
- I'm gonna start making my refried beans now.
I'm gonna make it out of black beans
because Ariel prefers black beans.
- I also was going to make refried black beans.
We shall see whose taste better.
Me and Kathy have a
rocky food relationship at times.
- Thanksgiving 2010,
Ned and I are two months engaged.
And we decided to invite both sets of parents
to Chicago for Thanksgiving.
- My family only eats white meat.
So, we actually put the breast side down
so we don't get that Norman Rockwell lovely brown
on the top of the turkey.
And we tint it because of it makes it nice and moist.
- Ned was absolutely horrified.
- You messing with all the heat.
You're gonna have one side be like raw,
one side be like burnt to a crisp.
I mean, it's just like, just,
if it's getting too crispy,
just turn the oven down a little bit or something.
like, oh my goodness.
- I mean, we've been making turkeys for a long time.
- She had years of experience or whatever.
- I was worried that
Ned and my mom would never speak again.
- It's okay.
I'm not still upset over it.
A little out of my element when it comes to rice.
- You're doing fine.
- Oh, thanks.
Ah.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
But it doesn't feel like I'm doing fine.
Doesn't feel like I'm doing fine.
It's just it would be so much easier
if it was all just in an instant pot
and I get to just drink margaritas.
- You think that I cheated?
- No, I think that I messed up, you know?
It's like, I'm trying to do this for Ariel.
And then like...
- I know. You do things that are special for her every day.
- I know, but this isn't everyday.
- So this morning, you were taking care of the boys.
- Yeah.
- [Kathy] That was really sweet.
- I do that every morning.
- So, he was in there feeding Fin
and Wes was in there.
So, I was looking for them.
So, I tiptoed down, and I knocked on the door,
Wes opens the door, I say, "Hi, Wes."
He goes, "Hi, you can't come in."
And he closed the door.
So then, I knocked again.
"You can't come in."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you to."
- Hurts.
He just wanted to savor the moment with his dad.
- Yeah, it's true, but he's also done that to me so...
(Kathy laughs)
Oh, yeah. I know Ariel likes some salty chips.
- [Kathy] Ariel does like salt.
- Agh. Oh, my gosh.
Look at, oh, look at this.
You pair this with, like, homemade tortilla chips.
Oh, my goodness.
I can pay $18 for this, my God.
And, no, they do charge you, like, $18 at some places.
It's a racket.
- [Crew Member] 22 minutes!
- 22, 22?!
22 minutes?
Shit.
(Kathy laughs)
How do we get from 40 something to 22 so fast?
- I agree.
I think we need a timer that we can see.
- Shit! Shit.
Oh, I wanted to make a margarita.
No, I'm running out of time.
- Ned, so far, you've only made one ingredient.
- You're right. I've only made chips.
(Ned screams)
I can do this. I can do this.
I can do this.
Scoop it, scoop it, sploop it.
- [Kathy] Sploop it? That's new.
(Ned groans)
- I dropped an avocado.
That's, like,
$4.
Ariel's secret tip for making...
Oh, man.
Can I just, can we just... (groans)
So, ugh, so slippery.
I might need.. Can you open this for me, please?
- Ah! I got it.
- All right, so Ariel's secret
for when she makes guacamole is...
Other people do a whole bunch of fancy bullshit.
She just mixes it with salsa.
Done.
Time for the booze.
Let's get spicy.
Woo! Let's go!
Here we go!
(bottle pops)
One, two, three.
- [Crew Member] Are you making one for Kathy?
- Kathy, do you want a margarita?
- Of course!
Thank you.
- Okay, now I gotta make another margarita. (groans)
I have no time!
- Thank you, Rachel, for reminding Ned.
(lively music)
- Well, I better start tasting.
Ah, there's a nice heat to it,
but the flavors are not as complicated as I'd like.
- Come on, rice.
Stop (beep) with me.
Argh, that looks like...
Still needs more time.
- Nature's Seasoning is the best.
- You got this. You got this.
You got this.
How much time is left?
- [Crew Member] 14 minutes.
- You don't got this.
Let's pound it up, baby.
- Once it's all vented,
then we'll just light it and it'll be ready to go.
- Seven minutes and I still have raw chicken.
Not like this!
- [Kathy] Okay, so we're gonna go ahead
and pull the- oh, look at how nice that is.
(suspenseful music)
- What the (beep)?
I think I just have to cancel the rice.
- Do you wanna use some of my rice?
- No.
Oh, no. Where's the plates?
Ah. Oh, no.
Shit, the beans.
Warm those beans. Warm those beans.
(suspenseful music)
- [Crew Member] All right, guys.
Hands up, hands up.
- Oh, brother. I'm spinning like a top.
Oh, that was chaos.
Fight to the finish.
You know, I think at the end of day,
my flavors are there
and I am giving her a unique experience.
- Under the calm, I felt a little frazzled because I think-
- Didn't show.
- I think my flavors are not as complex as I like.
Also, because it was in the instapot.
That was a big risk
because you can't really taste and add different flavors.
- Look at this!
This is amazing.
Okay, so dish B, I feel like it's plated
a little bit more like fajitas
where you put your own into it.
There's no veggies in dish B.
I mean fajitas, it's all about the veggies.
These tortillas were warmed up
and the tortillas are really important to me.
This one's ice cold.
I love how the chicken here is pulled.
I think this is my mom's because
she knows that you have to have sour cream with fajitas.
I do wish that it had these vegetables right here.
I feel like that would have just made this the clear winner.
Ah, excellent white wine.
Tastes like it came straight from my house.
This one tastes like it has Nature's Seasoning in it,
which I love.
The chicken...
It's a little dry.
This is even too dry for me.
Oh, that's spicy. (coughs)
Spicier than I thought it was.
- In your garden, Ned, don't you have serrano peppers?
(Ned groans)
(Ariel coughs)
- This one, it feels a little cafeteria-y to me
where, you know, you just sort of plop it on the plate.
The tortillas are so cold.
It's so sad and it makes them kind of tough.
Hm, the chicken is better in this one
and the spices are better in this one.
Delicious.
Gosh, freshly made chips. That's awesome.
It was really good.
That's part of the, like, experience
of going to a Tex-Mex restaurant.
This tastes like Italian rice.
It tastes like rice with tomato sauce.
It would have been better
if this didn't even have beans or rice.
If it had some nice warm tortillas
and this had a little bit more thought,
this would have been a home run.
Absolutely a home run.
Both chefs worked really, really hard on these
to make them what they thought that I wanted.
I think I know whose is whose,
and I think I'm ready to decide.
- We're very stressed right now.
- Do you want another back rub?
(tense music)
- I love you both dearly,
and I think you both did an excellent job.
Both of them had things that were done extremely well.
And both of them had things that were done
maybe poorly or quickly.
- Quickly, quickly.
- Chef A did a little bit better
with the cook on chicken and the vegetables,
and they had a much fresher guac.
Chef B had better beans,
better rice,
put a lot of effort into all the different elements.
This is a really, really difficult decision.
All right.
The winner of
Family Recipe Battle...
- Family Recipe Battle.
- Uh, fajitas, is...
Chef...
(suspenseful music)
(Ned groans)
(Kathy squeals)
- No!
(Ned groans)
- It honestly, it came down to the tortillas.
- Argh, we didn't have a microwave,
and then we ran out of pans.
I know that tortillas aren't supposed to be cold!
And as I predicted, the instant pot chicken was too dry!
My worst nightmare!
Well, good news is the spice blend that I used on my chicken
was from the Date Night Cookbook
which you can pre-order right now at datenightcookbook.com
for more family recipes.
Great job, Kathy. - Good job!
- Thank you, Ariel.
It was a delight to cook for you.
- Thank you, both, for cooking for me.
- And we'll see you next time on Family Recipe Battle.
- It looks like a nightmare.
See?
- Oh.
- [Keith] You know, this seems like a soup
that you just sort of, you throw everything in.
Probably gonna work out.
- I don't think so.
- This one's like Taco bell.
- What?
- You think it smells like Taco Bell?
- [Ned] Yeah.
- My mom and Keith get along so well.
- So, what did that mean?
- Made me feel like you were behind.
- No.
It means you were too ahead. - Worry for yourself.
Worry about yourself.
(upbeat music)
- I'm gonna change back into my suit.
No, it didn't work.
Come on, come on now.
All right, my clothes are in the car.