- I feel kind of out of my element.
Now the real pressure.
Problem, this feels weird.
That would derail this entire thing.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back to Chef Out of Water.
I'm Alexis and I'm a chef
who's always up for a challenge.
I've taken to the internet to see
what appliance I should use to make a three course meal.
At the end, I'll have a surprise guest come on
and they'll try to guess what I used.
(paper ripping)
A blender.
Do I get anything else?
Why?
This is gonna take some extra creativity.
Okay, here's my game plan.
I'm going to make a three course raw meal
because clearly I can't cook meat with this.
But I think I can make something pretty good
and pretty exciting, nonetheless.
(casual jazz music)
For dessert today, I'm making a dark chocolate mousse.
It's gonna be a learning experience for both of us.
First I'm going to chop my chocolate.
Problem, the chocolate's not gonna melt in the blender.
If I was doing this with a stove,
I would use a double boiler, might even use a microwave.
But I can't do that.
(curious music)
Okay, this is kind of crazy
but it's a really hot summer day in Los Angeles.
I wonder if I put the chocolate outside in a bowl
if it'll melt.
This is so weird.
For the appetizer I'm going to make
a raw walnut spread, pate?
I've never made anything like this,
so I'm not really sure what to expect.
I'm not sure about the consistency, the flavors.
Heat brings out flavor,
which I don't have the luxury of using,
so I need to add flavor with other ingredients.
First off, I've been soaking walnuts for a little while.
Soaking them is just gonna make them more creamy,
more easy to blend.
I guess I'm gonna start with adding some walnuts,
some fresh herbs.
I've got some sage, rosemary.
Parsley.
Some olive oil.
Some nutritional yeast.
Nutritional yeast is just dehydrated yeast.
It adds this really, kind of like a nutty, savory flavor.
A lot of diets use it as a replacement for cheese
or like a cheesy flavor.
Sometimes it's called nooch, too.
Little vinegar.
I also thought some soy sauce could be interesting,
just to add some complexity.
(blender whirring)
Smells kind of like a natural food shop.
I feel like it needs more liquid,
it needs something to make it more spreadable.
Water.
(blender whirring)
It needs some work.
More water.
(blender whirring)
You can see that it's starting to get really creamy
and pulverized at the bottom.
The top isn't there yet,
but this feels like the texture I want.
Like something smooth, dippable,
something like pate.
Typically pate is made out of liver,
and it has a really smooth, buttery consistency.
I don't think I can get it quite to that degree
but I'd like to get it more on a dippable path.
(blender whirring)
I kind of think this is as good as it's gonna get.
I'm curious to see how it is when it sets up.
After tasting this pate,
I feel like I'm at a seven right now.
I feel pretty confident.
It's good.
Little weird but it's good.
(upbeat music)
Oh my God this actually worked.
It's not perfect.
Some chunks but I think it's gonna work.
Avocado for creaminess.
Gonna add some coconut cream from the top.
Also some coconut oil.
Little vanilla.
Pinch of salt.
My sun-melted chocolate.
Look at that.
It's pretty melty.
(blender whirring)
I'm gonna add half a banana,
just to add a little more creaminess.
Maybe a splash of maple syrup.
(blender whirring)
It's delicious.
I'm going to put the mousse in these little ramekins
to chill for a few hours
and so they'll get set up and more mousse like,
and then I can move on.
For my entree, I'm going to make a raw lasagna.
I'm going to use the zucchini as noodles
and make a pesto, make a sun-dried tomato spread
and a cashew ricotta.
I have never done any of those things,
but I have had lots of real lasagna, so,
you know, we'll see how it goes.
I'm gonna thinly slice the zucchini
and then let them sit out and sprinkle them with salt
to draw out some moisture.
It'll also add some flavor to the zucchini,
which honestly they need because it's raw.
So I'm gonna put this off to the side
and move on to making my cashew ricotta.
I've been soaking these cashews for a while.
Again, that's just to make them really creamy.
Wow, the cashews feel really,
oh my God they're so soft.
I think it's gonna be pretty creamy.
So for the nut pate, I think I did about
two tablespoons in all, so I think I can be
pretty generous with this,
especially if I'm trying to emulate cheese.
I feel kind of out of my element,
not because of the blender but just because
I'm making food that I don't normally make,
and using flavors and ingredients that I don't normally use.
(casual jazz music)
Hmm.
I don't eat a lot of nut-based cheeses
but this is what they look like.
It doesn't totally look like ricotta,
but I think once it's layered with the other components,
it's gonna blend right in.
Next up is my pesto.
Traditionally pesto is made in a mortar and pestle,
but blender, totally fine.
I'm adding a bunch of basil.
Garlic.
This is a pretty big clove,
so I'm just gonna do half for now.
Pine nuts, and then some Parmesan.
Great, great.
Okay.
Really lucky for them that it is all raw
and so far hasn't had dairy.
Since we're going dairy-free, that means no Parmesan,
I'm going to use nooch as a replacement for the parm.
It'll give that umami, nutty, kind of savory flavor.
(blender whirring)
It's delicious.
I'm gonna raise my confidence level to an eight.
The last component of my lasagna is the tomato sauce.
So I'm gonna have some raw tomato,
some sun-dried tomato, garlic, olive oil.
(blender whirring)
Oh, it looks really good.
I think the sauce is ready.
I can start assembling.
I think I'm gonna do two next to each other.
I'll start with a layer of the tomato.
Zucchini on top.
And then I think cheese.
I think this looks really pretty.
I actually think I would serve this at a dinner.
The layers on the side are so cool.
Wow, wow, this is really cool.
I feel like a proud mom.
This is my baby.
Wow.
(upbeat music)
my dark chocolate mousse has set really well.
You can.
Totally set.
I'm just gonna add some dark chocolate shavings,
maybe some salt, some strawberries on the side.
Simple, elegant, rustic.
Last up for plating is my walnut pate.
Some olive oil, salt.
Some chives.
Wow, okay this looks great.
I'm really excited to see if the taste tester
can guess what appliance I used.
Let's find out.
- Hello, my name is Merle.
I was a Tasty producer for quite a few years
and now I'm a video producer.
I was a voracious meat eater for most of my life
and I've been vegetarian for four years now
and vegan for one year now.
Fun fact about me, I can juggle.
So I'm about to try the three courses
that Alexis made for me,
and I really hope that I can guess
what the secret appliance was.
I feel like I can.
- Moment of truth.
- Knock knock.
- This is a gift.
Hi.
- What's up queen? - So good to see you.
Of everyone who could be eating this meal,
you are the perfect person.
- Cool.
Wait, I'm so excited.
- [Alexis] Course one.
- Kinda looks like pate.
But you wouldn't do that, obviously.
- This is a dairy-free, meat-free pate.
So you are safe to eat it.
- Cool.
Look at all those little chives.
(casual jazz music)
Wow!
Punchy. - Punchy.
The acid really brightens with time.
- Holy moly.
Wow, I feel like, very wealthy eating this.
- This is a raw lasagna,
which is my pride and joy.
I feel so excited.
- It's so beautiful.
- It's also, it's meat-free, it's dairy-free.
- Bless you.
Oh wow, this is beautiful.
Okay, here we go.
(casual jazz music)
- Can I try it too?
- It's unbelievable.
The sauce.
- This is so good.
- What is this sauce, is this sun-dried tomatoes?
- Yeah!
And for dessert, a dark chocolate mousse,
which is also dairy-free.
- Whoa.
- It's like a pudding cup.
- That just vanished in my mouth.
It just evaporated.
Oh my God Alexis.
Truly, five star Yelp review, get it Postmates to me.
- So Merle, final question.
What do you think I made these three dishes with?
One appliance.
(drum roll)
- I'm gonna say this because it's been with me
in the back of my mind all day.
Is it a blender?
- It's a blender!
- Oh my God, it's a blender.
It's a blender! - You did it!
- Wait no, you did it, you did it.
I didn't do anything. - We did it.
- I'm so happy.
(laughing)
- That went better than I could have ever imagined.
This morning I felt kind of ambivalent,
unenthusiastic, and this day totally turned around.
I feel like I learned so much
about what you can do with a blender, about raw food.
I feel really inspired.
I feel like my creativity is kind of flowing.
If you make anything really cool
and really unusual in a blender,
tag me on Instagram, let me know.
Internet, you thought you had me with a blender
but turned out to be a win.
What do you think is in store next time?
Comment below.
(upbeat jazz music)