- So welcome to the very first episode of Kendall Combines.
Where I combine two things that Brad has hidden
beneath these cloches, which is what they're called.
Now, they might not go together.
And if that's the case, I will force them to go together.
I will require that they mingle, talk, chat, date
and get married, forcibly.
I'm now going to reveal this ingredient to you and myself,
right now, for the first time.
Sounds like I'm lying.
(soft music)
Coffee.
Okay.
You guys made coffee, for me.
This is hot.
This one, I'm not too worried about.
This should be easy.
But let's find out what the other one is, I guess.
So, okay. I'll just do it now.
My favorite thing, however, I do see how these things
do not combine.
Mayonnaise.
My favorite, I...
Wow. Okay.
These things don't go together at all.
And if you're wondering if I immediately have a plan,
I don't.
(Alvin and Steve laughing)
It doesn't smell terrible.
It kind of just smells
like mayonnaise and coffee.
I feel like this should be blurred
because it's so gross to other people.
I'm actually not that worried about it.
(Alvin laughing)
When it was in my mouth, I thought,
"Surely, you're gonna throw up."
But then I swallowed it and that feeling got stronger.
And then it passed.
Oh, do I not know how to spell mayonnaise?
Mayonnaise.
Coffee.
Let's do it.
- Rebecca had said that in the depression,
they would replace butter with mayo
in a lot of different, faking type of recipes.
- That is such a good idea.
- And there's already coffee cake, that's a thing.
- Exactly.
I think it's such a good idea.
I want to publicly thank Rebecca
because that is such a good idea.
- [Brad] Would you like to accept on behalf of your wife?
- Absolutely. (Kendall laughing)
Wholeheartedly, yes.
- [Steve] We are in a bit of a depression right now too.
- [Alvin] Amen.
- You know?
- [Kendall] I don't like that.
- Okay, well, I said it.
(Kendall laughing)
- I've stumbled across a new idea.
It is a pasta sauce, a ragu
with mayonnaise and coffee
which I think a lamb ragu, make it...
Which can be a little gamey, add a little richness
with some mayonnaise, bring in the coffee,
don't know what that's gonna do.
But I think that might be a cool thing.
What did you guys think I would do?
Were you also tainted by Rebecca's wonderful idea?
- [Brad] Yes.
But if you could pull off savory, well then, Kendall,
you could do anything.
- So today we're actually making it all.
Now we have a plan, a plan that I feel really good about.
We're gonna do the depression cake.
We're gonna do a coffee ragu finished with mayonnaise
and to go the extra mile, mayonnaise pasta.
We're gonna do it all.
But let's jump into the cake.
During the depression era,
butter was a shortage, actually eggs were as well.
So people were very creative in finding different ways
to still make cakes and pies and things like that,
that normally, would really require those ingredients.
So what we're making is a chocolate mayonnaise cake
in place of butter.
The great thing about using mayonnaise from what I hear
is that it makes the cake super moist and delicious.
And I'm sorry I used that word.
I think it'll work out really easily.
I think that this is gonna be
probably the best application, but we'll find out.
Okay, starting off for the depression cake,
we're gonna combine 200 grams of hot coffee
and 40 grams of coco powder.
That's gonna really bloom the coco powder
and then we're gonna let it cool down
to about room temperature so it doesn't scramble the eggs.
Then in the bowl of a stand mixer,
we're gonna combine two whole eggs.
Two thirds of a teaspoon of baking soda.
One half a teaspoon of kosher salt.
One half a teaspoon of baking powder.
And 225 grams of sugar.
We're going to combine those with a paddle attachment
until they're light and fluffy.
Finally, we're going to flavor the egg mixture
with a one and a half teaspoons of vanilla paste.
And of course, the 145 grams of mayonnaise.
Basically, mayonnaise is just oil.
And when you add oil to baked goods versus, say, butter,
it makes a moist-er experience...
A more tender moisture filled...
Moisture's fine.
Moisture filled cake, as opposed to using butter,
you'll get a little bit of a crispier, dryer experience,
but you get flavor.
So we're trading that out, but I think it'll be great.
And if anything, if this cake
just tastes like chocolate mayo, I'll be pretty happy.
Then we're gonna alternate adding 170 grams
of all-purpose flour with that hot coffee mixture
until a batter forms.
And then we're gonna put it into a cake pan and bake it
at 350 degrees for about 30, 35 minutes
until it's baked through.
So we're gonna make the whipped ganache frosting now.
So the base of that, of course is ganache.
So I'm gonna combine six ounces of heavy cream
which I'm gonna heat up to a bare simmer
along with half an ounce of corn syrup
and about a teaspoon of instant espresso powder.
Also, I'm gonna add a little bit of salt
because everyone likes salty chocolate.
Once that's all heated, I'm gonna pour it over eight ounces
of chopped, dark chocolate.
I'm gonna let it sit for about 30 seconds to a minute
to warm up, then I'm gonna start to combine.
If it separates it all, you can add any kind of alcohol.
I'm using a whiskey bourbon cream just to bring it back
because the emulsion broke.
Just add a little bit of agitation there
and it should come right back.
And let it cool to room temperature and then we'll whip it.
It's breaking again.
All right, I'm gonna whip it
and see what happens.
(stand mixer revving)
You guys are gonna freak out.
- [Alvin] You're putting mayo in it?
- Mayo is an emulsifier.
- [Alvin] Ah, you smart lady.
(Kendall hitting a spoon on glass)
- [Alvin] That was a bop.
(stand mixer revving)
- Mayonnaise does it again.
You don't even taste it.
We have the cake here. That's all done.
And I'm just gonna turn it out onto the cake stand.
Which, hopefully will come out pretty easily.
Chocolate is solid at room temperature
and this is largely chocolate.
So it's a little firm, but if I just manipulated it a bit,
it'll get all smooth and silky again.
It'll remember its roots.
That's it.
Easy peasy.
Hmm.
(dramatic music)
So I've got some lamb here for some lamb ragu.
I decided to go with lamb because it's a little off
the beaten track and I think that it will be helped
by the coffee and mayo flavors.
Lamb can be a little polarizing.
It can be a little gamey for some people,
so I think the coffee will kind of
compliment the earthy flavors.
And then the mayonnaise, with its richness
will kind of combat any excess flavors
that we aren't looking for.
That's my theory, at least.
So for the lamb ragu, we're gonna take two pounds
of lamb shoulder, which I'm gonna trim off excess fat.
And then I'm gonna cut that into about an inch
to two inch size pieces.
Then I'm going to salt them generously.
And then I'm gonna heat about two tablespoons of oil
in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Then I'll sear the lamb shoulder on all sides
for about three to four minutes per side
and then I'll remove it from the pan.
Then I'll add in one chopped onion, one chopped carrot
and two chopped celery stocks.
Cook that down until they're very tender, about 10 minutes.
Then I'll add in about two tablespoons of tomato paste
and four chopped garlic cloves.
Cook that for another minute or two to get rid of that
canned tomato paste flavor and also to cook the garlic.
Then I'll add in about a half a teaspoon
to one teaspoon of dried oregano.
I always like that in my pasta sauces.
Then I'll de-glaze the pan with four ounces of dry red wine.
And then I'll add in another four ounces
of freshly brewed coffee
as well as eight ounces of beef stock
and an 128 ounce can of crushed tomatoes.
Then I'm going to nestle the lamb back into the sauce
along with a few sprigs of thyme.
I'm gonna cover the pot and put it into a 300 degree oven
for about two to three hours
until the lamb is totally tender and shreddable.
I'll finish it with about a tablespoon of mayonnaise
to really break down that gamey flavor of the lamb.
Plus that's what I'm supposed to be doing.
I think it's good.
So we are moving on to our mayo-pasta dough.
And we're still gonna use some eggs because I think
mayonnaise is just a small percentage of egg.
It's mainly oil, which is sometimes used in pasta dough,
not usually the pasta dough I make
but we're trying this out, it's gonna be fun.
So I'm gonna go in with about 350 grams of flour,
about three eggs, around 150 grams of egg
and then 50 grams of mayo.
So, a relatively small amount
but I think it might have a flavor impact
which I'm excited about.
So now the process is pretty much gonna be the same
as the ways I've made pasta before on the channel.
If you're interested in watching that,
you can click the link here
or in the description box below.
All right, we've got some water boiling.
We got our pasta.
Is two minutes too long for fresh pasta?
I think that's good.
I think that's quite good.
(Kendall mixing food)
I'm gonna add a little bit of cheese,
because right now, there's no cheese in this at all.
I'm gonna chop up some fresh basal and oregano
to finish the pasta with.
And then that's really it. And then it's go time.
- [Brad] So what the hell is going on here?
This looks like a perfectly normal meal.
Was this a normal cook...
Is this a normal food cooking show?
- It is normal-ish.
- It looks delicious, frankly, this pasta looks like
my kind of pasta, in that it's very thick.
And I can see that it's gonna have a toothsome texture.
- I hope so.
- And I like for my pasta to have an audible crunch.
- That, it won't have. My apologies.
- I'm gonna go back to sleep.
So let me eat this.
- Yeah.
- And I'm not being tricked right now.
- You're not being tricked.
Ugh, my sorries.
What is my problem? Okay.
- So it's a lamb ragu?
- Mm.
- It tastes a little lamby, which is good.
If you like lamb, it's good.
I like lamb.
It tastes a little lamby, it's good.
- So lamb ragu. - Mm.
- It's good. - Mm.
- So, two mystery ingredients.
They're both in this and they're also both in this.
- So the same ingredients
that went into this also went into that.
- Yeah, I mean not all the same,
but at least two of the same.
- Okay. - Yeah, you could guess.
- Seems like a pretty normal chocolate cake.
It's a little extra bittersweet.
- Mm.
- Delicious, it's dinner time, I'm hungry.
And that's why I'm eating another big mouthful of this.
- Okay. Mm. - On camera.
- Okay, both of these food stuffs contain
both coffee and mayonnaise.
- Hmm.
Coffee, I get
- Yeah, the coffee. Yeah.
Per Rebecca...
Rebecca's idea was to do a depression era cake.
So instead of butter, it's mayonnaise in the cake
and then coffee, obviously hot coffee
makes sense with the cocoa powder.
And then the ganache, for whatever reason
it's the same ratio I always use.
It was breaking and I kept adding alcohol
which helped a little bit but not much.
And then I Googled it, and mayonnaise is an emulsifier,
so I added a little bit of mayonnaise to the ganache
and it brought it back together again.
- So not only did you manage to incorporate it
in the ganache, you may have found a way
to rescue broken ganache.
- Yeah, and it didn't taste like...
It doesn't taste like mayonnaise at all.
I added, maybe a tablespoon, less than that,
a teaspoon and a half, maybe.
- How'd you work mayonnaise into this?
- I finished the sauce with mayonnaise.
This is the combination.
- You finished it the way you would, like with butter?
- Mm.
- Hmm, you might be onto something there.
Finishing pasta in mayonnaise.
- I learned so much today.
The lamb here was braised partially in coffee.
- Okay, it makes sense.
These are deep, rich, kind of almost barbecue-like flavors
where you got all the tomato and the meats and savory...
Coffee works with that.
It's not anything that's offending me or distracting me.
So I would assume it's actually adding to the savory flavor.
It might also be a nice addition.
- There's more, I made the noodles with mayonnaise.
- So by completely (beep) around,
you found some real, interesting, potential culinary
contributions to the pantheon of knowledge.
And that's what we do around here. (laughing)
- So beautiful.
- Kendall, we gave you some ridiculous ingredients
that were a mystery even to me.
And you managed to find some utility for them
in some otherwise completely, as yet unexplored territories.
How do you feel about yourself?
- That's so much praise in fun words
so I'm a little overwhelmed
but I feel really happy about these things.
- Well, I really think that you pulled it together
at the end there.
I enjoyed what I had. I hope you enjoyed your time here.
I hope you folks enjoyed joining us here
on Kendall Combines.
(soft music)