- [Narrator] Welcome to sorted.
We're a bunch of mates in London,
looking for exceptional things in the food world
that will help make our and your lives
that little bit better.
Between stitching each other up and all the innuendos.
Now be warned, we have two chefs,
but we give them limited airtime
and we make sure that all of our ideas
start with a suggestion from you.
♪ Now put me in the middle, Baby, ♪
♪ Let me bake ♪
(upbeat music)
- Hello I'm Jamie and this is Mike.
- And you did this to yourselves and to us.
You guys suggested that our chefs review this cookbook.
- Wow, well done, everyone.
Okay, boys, it's time to unwrap.
- Go on, you unwrap it.
- It's well known that I unwrap presents
better than you, Ben.
- I'm trying to keep it nice and tidy.
Ah, oh, ugh.
(laughing)
Fifty shades of chicken.
- That is the worst.
New York times best seller.
- Best seller.
- This isn't just about getting me hot
til my juices run clear and then a little rest,
there's pulling, jerking, stuffing, trussing.
So begins initiation of a young free range chicken
at the hands of a mysterious, domineering cook.
- James, James.
You've gotta get back in the kitchen.
You've gotta be in the kitchen.
- [James] There's an actual story feature aspect.
- Suddenly the fridge door unresting on its wings opened
and I find myself rolling off the shelf
and falling towards the kitchen floor. Crap.
My plastic wrapper bursts as I land
and my giblet bag slides halfway out.
- Ben we do have to cook something in between you
reading the story.
- Now boys, you'll have noticed that the book is split
into three sections.
And it gets harder with each section.
So we're gonna --
- Stop it.
- What, we're gonna start with a recipe
from the Novice Bird section.
Ben, would you be so kind as to
thumb your way through to page 23.
- [Narrator] We're doing chicken with the lard on.
- Before we bring you the ingredients of course
to fit in with the theme --
- No no no no no no no no.
- Now we have bought you some outfits.
- Good.
(laughing)
- I've no idea why they won't wanna wear these costumes.
- What about you, Mike?
- Right, let's cool full roast bird with some flavors,
we're gonna stuff it.
- Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.
Finely grate the zest of the orange into a bowl.
You're doing that. Have you read this book before?
(laughing)
Stir in the paprika, salt, and pepper.
Stir and see who's the sub.
Sprinkle some of this inside the cavity.
Now you can massage the oil into the skin first.
Yeah, yeah, all over.
Now we put the rest of the paprika on.
You'll know you've done a good job
if your hands begin to redden.
Cut the orange into quarters
and thrust the quarters into your bird.
- The cavity's not quite as large as we thought it might be,
but we've put two on the outside, so half's in, half's out.
(laughing)
- You're better than this, James, come on.
- I am better than this.
(laughing)
Roast for 45 minutes.
Criss-cross the bacon after the 45 minutes.
That's how I read that.
- [Ben] So 45 minute head start.
- [James] Another 20 minutes after the bacon.
- [Ben] Then get the lardon on.
(electric guitar music)
- Straight off it smells nice and Christmas-y, doesn't it?
I think so.
- I don't get the putting the bacon on top.
- Smell it, it smells great.
And you're protecting the bird from overcooking,
but I like the fact that it went on later,
so you still get that as well.
- [Altogether] Cheers.
- Orange and paprika.
Nice combo.
- That is a really nice combination.
I think it'd be a really good idea,
cook that up for Sunday lunch,
serve it to the family in and everyone,
and then when they ask for the recipe, give them the book.
- Easy logical recipe.
- Boys, you've successfully navigated
your way through Novice Bird.
It's now time to graduate to the
second chapter of the book, Falling to Pieces.
- [Ben] Okay, so this is sticky fingers,
otherwise known as chicken fingers
with brown sugar and bourbon.
Serves six. Right this time, I'm reading.
- Okay, I'll perform the act.
- You perform the act.
- [Ben] Using a sharp knife tune the breast lengthwise
into one inch wide fingers. It's just around midnight.
He's got me in pieces again, whipping up his latest fancy
brown sugar and bourbon simmer on the range,
smelling juiced up and sloppy.
- [James] Alright I've done that, what's next?
(laughing)
- [Ben] Combine the chili powder, cumin,
and mix well until thoroughly coated.
Did you put the salt in it?
- [James] No.
Don't just throw it in. You've gotta ask me first.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap
and let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour
or longer if you want to make the chicken wait for it.
- Oh God.
- Wash your hands and then in a pan
we're going to heat sugar, honey, and bourbon
until it's boiling.
Our chicken has been lying in wait
in the fridge and now wants it.
So it's gonna get half of our sweet mixture poured over,
lay her on a tray and we're gonna cook it.
Under the grill, or American book, broiler.
- What happened, James?
- [Jamie] I think this is what happens.
First of all your defenses go up, so you push it away.
And you try to pretend that you don't like it
'cause you're not sure if you do like it or not.
And then slowly, bit by bit,
you realize that you're getting into it and you start
to enjoy yourself, and you just let loose.
- [Ben] All that's left to do is to grill these
until they're cooked and then brush with a bit more
of the glaze and serve with a drizzle of lemon juice.
Seasoning triangle. We've got the salt, we've got the sweet.
They are suggesting acid, as well.
- [James] Oh.
- That is a tray of sticky fingers.
(upbeat music)
- Dig in.
- I'm not convinced by this one.
- [Ben] Why not?
- Um, well, 'cause it's just like, you know,
chicken breasts and it's not that sticky.
Well, that's sticky.
- That's sticky.
- Alright, cheers.
(laughing)
- [James] There's literally honey dribbling off there.
- Honey whiskey with a little bit of spice.
- I really love that.
And I want it, 'cause I can properly taste the whiskey.
- Yeah. That is an unusual flavor combination.
- These recipes work, and they're nice,
but there's nothing groundbreaking about the book, is there?
Apart from the fact that there are
sexy stories with every recipe.
- But I would say simple done well is okay.
Personal thing, I always think chicken breast
is not best cooked this way 'cause it dries out a bit,
but flavor-wise, yum.
- I didn't think you'd get through it this quickly,
if I'm completely honest.
But you have now gone full-blown Birds Gone Wild,
and I'd like you to turn to page 130 to get your recipe.
- [Ben] Cocketish Croquettes.
And I guess the "-ish" bit is the fact that
we're not cooking cock, we're cooking hen.
- That's reaching a little bit.
- I've never seen anyone move a knife so fast and sure.
He passes it so smoothly into me.
I hardly know it's happened until
I fall apart in a crisp heap.
- This recipe needs a steady knife and a disciplined hand.
- I have two of them.
- That is you.
- That's creepy.
- [Ben] Starting with cooked chicken, this one.
- [James] We're just gonna put it in a food processor.
We're gonna pulse the chicken.
- [James] Oil in the skillet.
There's no sex in this recipe. Finely chop one small onion.
- Stop!
We've forgotten something very, very important.
(laughing)
- [Mike] This is the advanced section. We need to test you.
- [James] It's very tight.
- It is. There's not much give in it, is there?
Was this your idea, Mike?
- We're fine.
- No, I mean as in there's not much distance between us.
- [James] Nutmeg and cayenne is going in.
Quarter cup of flour, come on. Come on. Come on.
Into the onions. Whisk.
- [Mike] Reckless, I like it.
- [James] Gradually whisk in the milk.
- I thought we agreed in 2019 that
we were gonna grow up a little bit.
- This is quite adult, to be honest.
(Laughing)
- [James] It looks like a lumpy rue, but remember.
Those are lumps of onions.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and fold in the chicken.
- [Ben] They thought the handcuffs were gonna hold us up.
- The chicken mixture is cooled in the fridge for an hour
and in that time we can confirm that Ben and James
took everything off, except for the handcuffs.
- I can't unsee that.
- [Ben] Using moist hands, two and a half inches, 18 times.
Meanwhile, in a wide, shallow bowl, beat the eggs,
and in a separate bowl, cheesy, herby bread crumbs.
Aw, this would be interesting.
Can we get a double action going on?
Now don't jiggle too much.
I need to heat the oil up. You ready for a pirouette, James?
I'm going around, 'cause this is my spare hand.
(laughing)
- There we go, back we go.
- Ah, damn.
- [Ben] Dip each croquette in the egg mixture,
then coat with bread crumbs and transfer to a platter.
And then we're going to fry in batches,
turning twice till golden brown -- about three minutes.
On the third recipe, so far so good.
As a review, I think it makes sense.
Crunchy chicken parmesan croquettas.
- Cheers. Dink.
- These, I think, look the best.
- Not what I expect of, the inside of a croquette.
But that's because I'm used to
mashed potato, cheese fillings. But I like it.
- As I bite into it, I get excited
about how testified I could be.
But then it starts to dry out a bit.
- A bit pasty. I like the flavor, a little bit pasty for me.
- Right, chefs. Overall, what are your thoughts?
- Nothing groundbreaking, but reliable, tasty recipes.
And, Ebbus couldn't put it down. Could you?
- Look, we've spent a decade trying to make cooking fun
and I feel like that was a lot of fun.
And if that gets more people cooking
simple, tasty, classic flavor combinations
and I like the fact that it celebrates the whole bird.
- So that's $20, which is about 15 quid-ish.
Does that change your thoughts?
- Solid number of good recipes. It's a bargain.
- I might not put it on my bookshelf,
but I might gift it to someone that I know.
- There's a happy ending chicken.
- Happy ending chicken, from us to you.
- I might leave before you start that one.
- Has anyone got the keys?
- If you like these cookbook reviews,
make sure to give the video a like to let us know.
- And also comment down below with any more suggestions
for cookbooks that we can get our chefs to review.
- We will see you on Sunday at
four o'clock for another high quality video.
In the meantime, we either have to return those
Amazon costumes or explain the receipts to our accountant.
- Mm.
- [Narrator] As we mentioned, sorted is
just run by a group of friends.
So if you like what we do, then there are
loads of ways that you can support us and get more involved.
Everything you need to know is linked below.
Thanks, and we hope to see you again in a few days.
- [Jamie] Is anyone around there that can
answer the door so that I don't have to?