- [Alejandro] Let's make cricket-mealworm
mashed potato cheese bombs.
Yum.
- Oh, look at that melty cheese.
- Yes.
- You are a pro!
- Ever since filming the episode
of 'Can Bugs Save The Planet?',
I've been cooking a lot more with edible insects.
I mean, here's the proof.
I bought black ants, chapulines, crickets, mealworms.
It's really inspired me to push myself
out of my cooking comfort zone.
So because of that, I wanted to share
one of the recipes that chef Joseph Yoon cooked for us.
Here's what you'll need for the buggy cheese bombs.
Three to four pounds of potatoes, one tablespoon of salt,
some water to boil your potatoes with,
one stick of butter,
one fourth of a cup of heavy cream,
four tablespoons of cricket or mealworm powder,
four tablespoons of pecorino Romano cheese,
Manchego cheese cut into cubes,
a package of edible crickets,
Panko, olive oil, and some salt and pepper for taste.
- This mashed potatoes has butter, has cream,
and also a ton of cricket powder.
Cricket powder is essentially the roasted crickets
just ground up.
That's gonna add like a depth of flavor and body to this.
- [Alejandro] Now you'll want to start
by cutting three to four pounds
of potatoes into large chunks.
Cover them with cold water, add one tablespoon of salt,
and bring that to a boil.
Cook your potatoes until they're tender,
but make sure you don't overcook them.
Once they're nice and tender, drain the water,
and leave them uncovered to let the steam out.
Now melt one sick of butter over medium heat,
and mix in with one fourth of a cup of heavy cream,
four tablespoons of cricket powder,
and the four tablespoons of pecorino Romano cheese.
Then combine the cricket butter mix
with the potatoes and mash until combined.
Just make sure you don't overmash.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Let it cool down.
And you are now ready to start shaping them.
- We're gonna have to kind of get our hands dirty here.
I'm gonna stick this pop of manchego cheese in there,
fill it up with more bugs,
and then kind of close it up, form this little cake.
And it's kind of like this like,
delightful surprise in the middle.
- [Alejandro] Now that you have shaped your cheesy bombs
it's time to fry them.
- Since we're gonna fry it up,
I think it'll be nice to add like a little Panko crumb.
And kind of coat this.
- [Alejandro] Preheat the pan on medium high heat.
Add some olive oil.
Gently place your little cheese balls on the pan,
but make sure you don't overcrowd the pan.
Cook until both sides are golden brown,
and the cheese should be all nice and gooey in the center.
What do you say at this stage of the cooking process?
- I would say patience, Grasshopper.
- Ah, yes.
And that is why?
- Because we need to preheat the pan.
'Cause imagine how unsatisfying it would be
if we put these cricket-mealworm mashed potato bombs,
and we did not hear a sizzle.
- Right, and while we're prepping,
do you have any good bug puns?
- Stop bugging me.
- Okay, wow.
- And go ahead, drop these?
- [Alejandro] Oh, there's that sizzle.
- I'm gonna drop the heat a little bit.
'Cause I see it's like smoking.
We wanna make sure that we cook everything through,
get a nice golden brown,
and give these a flip.
How gorgeous that is.
I love the versatility of cricket powder.
'Cause you can add it to smoothies, to soups, to sauces.
Two tablespoons of cricket powder has 13 grams of protein.
So with four tablespoons you get 28 grams of protein,
which is like what an adult wants in a meal, right?
- [Alejandro] While your buggy cheese bumps are frying,
you'll want to get started
with making Joseph's herbaceous green sauce.
For that you'll need greens from one radish,
two bunches of cilantro, four jalapenos,
two tablespoons of mayo,
the juice of one lemon and the juice of one lime,
four smashed cloves of garlic,
one third of a cup of cricket powder,
and some salt and pepper to taste.
Once you have all your ingredients chopped up
and in the blender or the food processor,
push down the ingredient and blend on medium, then high.
And if you want, add some salt and pepper to taste.
- This sauce will plate beautifully
with these cheesy cricket bombs.
Let's give this a little taste.
I might need to adjust the salt or acidity.
- Oh, that's great.
- I think it's pretty bomb.
- Ooh, and it has a little kick to it too.
- Yeah. - Nice.
I'm ready to eat.
- All right.
I'm just gonna do a little swoosh over there.
What I like to say, bug appetit.
- Bug appetit, there you go.
See, that's the pun I was looking for.
- Okay. - Awesome.
Well, bug appetit. - Bug appetit.
- I see the cheese already.
- Oh yeah, oh look at that melty cheese.
Ah, you are a pro!
Yeah
- It's a bomb.
Its like wave after wave after wave.
But if you're still skeptical about cooking with bugs,
let Joseph give you some parting words of wisdom.
- A really big thing I love to encourage is like,
keep an open mind, have fun.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
Be kind, believe that the lifestyle choices that you make
can make an impact on the world around us.
- [Alejandro] Check out Joseph's website and Instagram
for more inspiration and to learn more about bugs,
their nutritional value and how they're helping communities
around the world with food security,
check out our first episode of, 'Can It Save The Planet?'
Oh and while you're at it,
don't forget to subscribe to NowThisEarth.