- I think this is gonna work.
It looks pretty cool, okay.
This feels really weird.
It's like aggressive.
Mm, mm.
(grater clattering)
(Alexis gasps)
Did I break it?
Oh, burnt, oh, bad, bad, bad, bad.
It was going so well.
(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Alexis, and I'm a chef
who's always up for a challenge.
Today, I'm making a three course meal
with an appliance that the Internet has chosen for me.
I'll be tasting everything myself
and I have no idea what's in this box.
Let's see what it is.
(drumroll music)
Kettle!
This is great, this is great!
I use this every single day and it gets hot.
I've actually, you know. (laughs)
My stove was broken for a few months,
and I really wanted to make eggs,
and I actually made it in a kettle,
and I was at home and I was like, "Oh my God,
I'm Chef Out of Water at home in real life."
So I feel really good about this.
Confidence is like a 10, I feel great.
Famous last words.
I know there's a lot you can do with a kettle,
because it's boiling water, so I'm feeling really good.
I love giving myself a theme and I think today's theme
is going to be like summer picnic for one.
That's my plan.
I'm gonna kind of wing it this time
and see what inspiration hits as I go.
I think confidence level, nine.
Let's get started.
First step, the summer bean medley.
I haven't even gotten started
and I feel so excited about like this bean situation.
(lid popping)
(water trickling)
Heat up water, easy, I can do that.
And then let's just turn it on.
Maybe I'll start with snap peas.
I don't totally have a vision
for how this is gonna look, shocker,
but maybe just on the bias.
I think I'm just gonna put the steamer basket in here.
My impatient side is like, it's starting to bubble
like I can just do it now,
but I know to properly blanch vegetables,
you really need boiling water, so I just need to be patient.
So my kettle when it's done makes a like bing sound.
Should I just wait, do I take it off?
I mean look at that, it's boiling.
Okay, yes, it did it.
It made a little sound, okay.
So I'm just gonna pour it over my beans.
Beautiful, see how bright and green that is?
That's what you want.
Nice, little bean.
I'll taste one.
(bean crunching)
Okay, so the color's right.
I'm feeling a little skeptical that they're gonna
get to the right consistency, just hanging out in hot water,
so I'm just gonna pop 'em back in.
I also, sorry, I forgot the peas.
Just straight up forgot the peas.
So everything's gonna go back in here.
While that's boiling, I'm gonna prepare an ice bath.
So since the kettle shuts off once it starts to boil,
I wanna add these in like a little before.
Okay, there's some bigger bubbles happening.
I think this is safe to add.
This is not my finest plan.
It looks pretty cool.
I like that I can see what's happening here.
Okay, I think I am gonna stop it, so it doesn't overcook.
Gonna pour it in here.
And then, look at this magic, magic at work.
This ice water is just gonna stop them from cooking.
And they don't have to sit in ice water too long.
This is probably good when it feels like cold, cool.
That's kind of the sign that you can pull 'em out.
Look at that, beautiful, beautiful beans.
I'm gonna grate some garlic in here, not much, like a clove.
Lemon zest, olive oil, lemon juice.
So pretty, it's so fresh, summer-y, seasonal, young.
(Alexis moaning)
So good, I also have some ricotta salata here
which is, you know ricotta, this is like the saltier cousin.
I'm just gonna plate that up.
(Alexis gasps)
(beeping) I forgot that there was tarragon.
I think it adds like such a nice
like floral, anise-y flavor.
Maybe some flakey sea salt.
I think we're done.
My confidence level is a 10.
The bean salad went really well,
so I'm feeling pretty optimistic for my chicken salad.
It's gonna be like chicken salad on an open-face sandwich.
Very summer picnic for one appropriate.
Okay, this is weird.
I'm gonna try to poach the chicken in the kettle.
I have chicken tenders here rather than chicken breast,
because I thought it might cook faster.
It's your average day putting chicken in a kettle.
I think I should save some as a backup
just in case something goes awry.
I also wanna infuse the poaching liquid,
you know, add, again, more flavor, broken record here.
Some peppercorns.
I thought these little like tea things would be cute.
Maybe I'll just add like a whole half of the lemon.
Some thyme. (laughs)
Lemon, okay, just gonna fill it up with water. (laughs)
(lid clanging)
Here we go.
(kettle beeps)
We wait.
So while that's going,
I guess I'll just start on the salad part.
It looks like the chicken's
already starting to change color.
I set the kettle at 200.
Chicken should reach 160, 165.
It'll cook for a few minutes after.
Oh, it's totally cooking.
Look, you can see this raw part
and around, it looks cooked.
Chives. (knife scraping)
Maybe some red onion. (knife scraping)
(lid popping)
It smells pretty good.
It's definitely not done.
118, 119, 120, okay, this still has a ways to go.
If it put it on right now, it's gonna shut off,
because it shuts off when it starts to boil,
so I think I need to give it a few minutes.
Just hang in there, little chicken,
but it's totally cooking.
I also realized I forgot to add a bay leaf,
so I'm gonna do that now.
Moving onto the parsley, on.
Do your thing. (knife scraping)
Some celery leaves, put in some mayo.
(bowl scraping)
(kettle beeping)
I see it shut off, okay.
(kettle beeps)
How do I do this?
So I think what needs to happen is
I need to just like let it cool.
Maybe I'll temp it again.
Ooh, oh, oh, maybe not, maybe not, maybe not, 162.
Okay, you know what I'm gonna do?
I'm just gonna press the warm function
and let it like stay warm for a few minutes
like just so I can ensure that it's fully cooked through.
Okay, okay, we're poaching chicken in a kettle.
Ooh, it is very hot.
I feel confident, I just feel weird about it, you know?
'Kay, I just wanna try it.
Slamming, wow, oh my God, mm!
Okay, confidence, 10, this is amazing.
That is a good chicken salad.
Maybe I'll do like just halves.
I feel like there's a cute way to do this.
I'm just gonna do a not so cute way.
I feel like usually there's more of a challenge
and it's just weird that that worked so well.
Celery leaves.
This is like maybe the best chicken salad I've ever made.
I feel like this fruit situation like it can only work
and I got a vision for this.
There's like pre-made cake.
I know I'm not making it in the kettle,
but like, I'm sorry, I just can't.
But I think I can toast it in the base
then make a fruit compote
and then put some vanilla ice cream
like kind of like a strawberry shortcake-y,
poundcake-y, summer picnic-y thing.
Sounds really good, will it work?
Who knows?
Strawberry rhubarb, classic combination.
(grater clatters)
Okay, I'm gonna add some lemon zest.
(lemon grating)
This is weird.
Some lemon juice, maybe a little butter, sugar.
Key in a compote.
And I think because of the kettle, it needs like
a tablespoon or two of water.
(lid clatters)
(kettle beeps)
I guess we wait.
Confidence level, apprehensive.
Yeah!
I think this is totally gonna work.
It's very ferocious.
Oh, it's really steaming.
Wow, that is like really gonna,
I think this is like totally working.
Oh my God, it's like aggressive.
Oop, ow, it's hot, oh God.
Okay, if I learned anything from the chicken,
think I'm gonna let it cool for a minute, bring it down,
and then start it again, so it comes back to a boil.
I think it needs to cook longer,
so just hang out, little compote.
Gonna cut some poundcake.
My idea is to toast this in the bottom.
The good thing is there's a lot of poundcake,
so if this messes up, I can do it again.
The kettle, the kettle is like
the MVP of the appliance world.
Look at those bubbles, it's like fully boiling.
I mean I think it's done.
It's done, it's delicious, I'm so confused.
Okay, okay, ugh!
It's a little liquid-y, but I think that's okay.
I also just wanna clarify
that this is not the chicken kettle.
The chicken kettle has been retired.
What I'm gonna do is put some butter in the bottom,
melt it, get it hot, have it start to like bubble,
then add the cake.
Guess I'll just drop a cake in.
(lid slamming)
I don't know, we'll see you soon.
Okay, it seems like it shut off, hold on.
(kettle clatters)
Oh no, now it's not turning on.
(kettle clattering)
Shoot, ooh. (chuckles)
Okay, this is more like a butter soaked piece of cake.
(kettle clattering)
I'm at a loss, okay, it's just not working, is it broken?
Let me just see if it's broken.
(kettle beeps)
Oh my God, I think it is broken, did I break it?
(Alexis gasps)
Did I break it?
I'm gonna go to a backup kettle.
Then I'm gonna come back and try again.
I believe this can work.
(kettle clatters)
I'm gonna try it without the butter.
Feels unlikely that that's gonna work,
but the light's on, so that's promising.
Okay, it is smoking which seems positive,
but it did just shut off, bad.
Oh, burnt, oh, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Oh, oh, ayyyy, ay, ay, oh God.
Oh, that smells terrible.
It is not really what I was looking for.
This more like blackened rather than toasted.
So I think I'll try a little bit of butter.
Wait, does it turn on? (beeps)
This is the straw that broke the camel's back.
It was a happy camel before, but yeah,
it's not turning on again.
And it is still smoking inside,
so this is like the saddest thing I've ever done.
Maybe if there's ice cream and compote, it's totally fine.
I don't feel great about this.
Confidence level like low. (shrieks)
(Alexis laughs nervously)
Rustic, this is a rustic picnic theme.
And maybe a little bit of salt on it.
Little sweetness, little, it's elevated, look at that.
Some mint, okay, it's solid, guys.
It's summer, who doesn't wanna eat this?
I felt so confident about the last two
and I feel like this is not my best work.
I kind of feel like this is as good as it's gonna get.
I think it's cute, I'm gonna taste it.
That was such a rollercoaster of emotions.
I feel like I started on such a high.
And then I put two kettles out of service,
so my confidence right now is like, I don't know,
it's still high, I'm at an eight.
First up, bean salad.
Mmm, this is lovely!
With the tarragon, the ricotta salata,
it's like an incredible combination.
I mean, honestly, like 10, 10, it's great.
Chicken salad, I feel like I ate so much of it already.
(upbeat music)
It's literally the best chicken salad I've ever had.
A 10, it's a 10.
Probably like a 20, 50, it's so good.
Now this fruit situation.
(upbeat music)
I mean wow, the compote's the real star here
and it's like the kettle for the compote,
I would legitimately do that again in life
like that is, it happened so fast.
The toasting of the poundcake, I'm gonna say,
not the best move.
It's totally fine, because only a third of it got toasted.
Toasted, burnt, but it's fine.
We don't even need to talk about that part.
It's delicious, it's delicious, mmm.
All in all, a truly awesome meal
that I would make for myself.
I'd make it for my friends like it is so good
and I don't think anyone would ever know
that this was done in a kettle
which is really the whole point, right?
Let me know in the comments what you would make in a kettle.
I'm dying to see.
I'll see you next time.
(retro music)