-We're here with Antoni Porowski,
who you know as the food expert
on Netflix's Emmy-winning "Queer Eye."
Thank you so much for being here.
-Thank you for having me. -I really appreciate it.
So, this is something that is inspired by
a dish you make at your restaurant.
-It's a double whammy because we want to talk about Thanksgiving.
But I also want to talk about my restaurant, Village Den.
-Great, as you should, Village Den.
We're all very thankful that you have reopened the Village Den.
-Yeah, diners are kind of a lost art in New York City.
And we wanted to create something that was sort of
market-driven, healthy, guilt-free eating
that you could have during the week.
-Which is very exciting. Down in the West Village.
So, what is the item we're gonna make here?
-So, we're actually gonna start with a smoothie.
-Oh, wow. -I know you like cocktails.
There's a towel. -Okay, great.
-So when you get your hands messy while cooking,
it's nice to have something --
-All right, great. Thank you. All right.
-So, this one is called The Big Porowski,
one of my favorite films -- "The Big Lebowski."
Porowski, Lebowski, you can figure it out.
So this is a smoothie that actually has Greek yogurt,
which is one of my favorite all-time things.
-You already lost your towel.
-I wore a leather jacket. That's on me.
-Oh, that's right. That's right, yeah.
-So we have Greek yogurt, almond milk,
also really nice and high in protein.
Medjool dates, which are high in fiber.
Very good for a lot of things.
After a lot of Thanksgiving eating.
-Yep.
-Don't why I said that. [ Laughter ]
So we have lime zest, bananas.
You should peel them and freeze them.
And they add a nice little cold touch.
And you can add ice cubes if you want.
Then you put them in a blender.
And then you have this little thing.
-All right. Fantastic.
This is so much healthier than what I'm gonna drink tomorrow.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
And isn't the lime zest nice in there?
-This is fantastic. -It's like eggnog.
Except there are no eggs and it's nothing like eggnog.
But it's the same color. -It's wonderful.
-Okay, so let's get started.
So, turkeys. -Yeah.
-The problem -- I feel like we're starting an infomercial.
But the problem with turkeys is --
-Hey, I've always had some problems with turkey.
They're too dry.
-That's exactly what I'm gonna talk about though.
-Yeah, I've done a few infomercials.
-So, turkey meat tends to get a little dry
after it's been out for a couple of days.
So it's a quick little trick that you can use to rehydrate it
which is actually what we do at the restaurant
with chicken to get it nice --
I'm sorry for a lack of a better word, but nice and moist.
-Yeah, that's all right.
-So what you're gonna do now --
All right, how comfortable are you carving a turkey?
You're doing more than stirring for this.
-I'm not comfortable at all. But I'm gonna go for it.
-Fantastic. -Okay, great.
-So you're actually gonna go -- Here, this is where the bone is.
You're gonna go straight down here and make an incision
and get just a little piece of breast off.
-Okay, great. There we go.
-A little to the side. Angle. -Okay.
-There you go. -Like that? Okay.
-Beautiful. -There you go.
Look at that. That is a good-looking bird.
-Oh, thank God, it's cooked! -It is cooked.
-Beautiful. -Okay.
-So you rip this off like so. -All right.
-And now you're gonna --
which is just taking apart the protein.
-With my hands? -With your hands.
-Oh, wow. -That's why we have the towels.
-Oh, that's great. -See? It all makes sense.
-So I'm just taking apart the protein?
-Yeah. -Okay.
-You rip it apart into little shreds.
-Oh, I'm shredding it? Okay, cool.
-Yeah, you're shredding it.
-Great, okay. This is going great.
-Just a pretentious French word for the exact same thing.
-Can you say it one more time?
-[ Speaks French ] -[ Speaks French ]
-Close enough. -Yeah.
-So when you get these little pieces,
you actually throw them in. Oh, my gosh.
-Are we not gonna have the skin?
-The skin is nice. -Okay, yeah.
So you take -- [ Laughter ]
Isn't it delicious? -It's really good.
But I think I took too big a bite.
And it wasn't gonna break off.
-You got a fatty bite? You missed it?
-Uh-huh. -So, you throw the turkey.
You throw the turkey.
That was nice. -Yeah, good.
Throw it into hot broth. -Okay.
-Which rehydrates it. -Okay.
-There you go. -All right.
Can I just throw this in now?
-Yeah. -Okay, great.
-Oh, those are very large, aggressive pieces.
I like that. [ Laughter ]
I'm not -- that's a very large piece.
-Okay.
-So this is gonna soften it up. -Okay.
-You can put bay leaves in here. This is low sodium.
We don't need too much salt.
-You grew up in Montreal? -I'm from Montreal.
It's really nice that I took a really large bite.
-Now you have to talk? That's what I'm doing.
I'm helping you out right now
by asking you about your upbringing.
I want you to think about it. -Swallowed it.
-Don't tell us about Montreal
until you really thought about it.
-So, I was born in Montreal.
I'm the first one of my family born outside of Europe.
My parents are Polish, but I was raise in West Virginia.
-Wow. -Yeah.
-That is a weird triumvirate of places.
-And now I've been in New York for like eight years.
West Virginia is very different. Lovely, very green and natural.
-All right, so we've rehydrated our turkey.
-We've rehydrated it.
I'm actually gonna ask --
we're gonna move this over here to the side.
And so, now we're ready for assembly.
So, this is nice and wet and moist and juicy and delicious.
-Okay, that's the second time you used moist.
I'm not okay with that. -I know, I know, I know.
I'm sorry. -All right.
-Okay, so, first things first, we have a bed.
This is a Thai chicken bowl.
So this is a dish -- it's our number-one hit at the Den.
It's a Thai-inspired, high-protein,
fiber-y little meal.
So, we put a bit of brown rice.
So, we actually cook in
a lot of lemon grass and a bit of coconut milk.
-Okay, great. -A little spoon of that.
-Next up. -Next up, cabbage.
I'm a Polish boy. We love our cabbage.
-All right.
-So you take a little spoon of that.
-Okay, just get it in there. Yup.
-So you braise it. -Okay.
-And you add a bit of bay leaf.
And you add apple cider vinegar at the end
'cause it makes it nice and acidic.
Otherwise it gets too bitter if you put it early on.
-And now?
-And then finally, we take -- -Oh, there we go.
The peanut sauce.
-Coconut peanut sauce with some lime leaves.
And we're actually gonna mix the turkey in with it in the bowl.
-Okay. In this bowl?
-So now you're gonna -- Yes. -All right.
-So just toss that up together. -Okay. Looks good.
Throw it in here, right? -May I?
-Yeah, please. -Okay, so there you go.
So you mix it up. [ Laughter ]
You were doing great. You really were.
-That is exactly what I was doing.
[ Laughter ]
-I'm like the opposite of a collaborative person
in the kitchen. I have to learn to be better.
-Oh, you really saved us.
[ Laughter ]
Can I put some peanuts on?
-Yeah, these are crushed peanuts that have been toasted,
so they're nice and golden brown with a bit of brown sugar.
-All right. -Do you like cilantro?
-Nope. -Great.
[ Laughter ]
Glad we had this talk. -Yeah.
-And now you can try it.
-Yes!
-Isn't it cute? -It's excellent.
And it's really good for you.
-Antoni Porowski, everybody.