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- Welcome to Kevin cooks stuff in the office.
Okay, I'm going to make quesadillas
and creme brulee.
- Hey there, folks,
welcome to a very special episode of "Binging with Babish"
where I am joined by Brian Baumgartner.
Thank you so much for coming.
- Absolutely!
Thank you for having me.
This is awesome.
- I could not be more excited,
especially because one of my earlier videos
was recreating Kevin's chili from "The Office."
- I have been sent it about 9,000 times.
(Andrew laughs)
So yes, I've seen it, very well done.
- Did you actually end up writing a recipe
for that chili specifically?
- No.
That was all them,
that was all the writers.
No, it's not mine at all.
- Well, what is yours is
"The Seriously Good Chili Cookbook,"
which is on shelves and on Amazon right now
available for your purchase.
177 chili recipes.
- That's insane.
- If you asked me to guess
how many chili recipes there are in the world,
I would have guessed 30.
- When the publisher said that we needed 100,
I thought this was an impossibility,
but one of the things we did was
the ICS, the International Chili Society,
they host the World Championship Chili Cookoff
and I went to this event,
it was incredible,
I started tasting all of these different chilis
and they agreed to let me print World Champion recipes.
I am still in shock that we found so many
but by the end,
we probably could have done 200.
(Andrew laughs)
- Wow. - It's crazy.
- Well, surprisingly enough today,
we're not making chili. - Okay.
- Today we're making what I would probably describe
as dessert chili.
- Okay.
- Do you have any dessert chilis in here?
- I don't think there's a dessert chili.
- I don't think it exists.
I'm calling it dessert chili,
but it is rice pudding
because your character, in a very special DVD extra,
makes some snacks around the office,
some kind of dubious looking snacks,
so we're going to accurately recreate them
and then put our own spin on it.
Shall we get started?
- Let's do it.
- Let's do it. - Let's do it.
- [Andrew] All right, first what we're gonna do
is I probably boiled off all the water
in the time that this has been happening,
but whatever, it's fine.
- [Brian] All right.
- [Andrew] Luckily we have swaps.
So just like it's a real TV show,
normally we don't do that,
but we pulled out all the stops for you.
- Okay, perfect.
- [Andrew] To make rice pudding,
very simple process that I just learned three hours ago,
you just basically cook rice to a state of completion,
you then add milk.
- Wait a minute, wait a minute,
I need to make a mental note.
The phrase "state of completion"
is gonna be in my vocabulary from now on.
- I'm making up all of-
- I'm in a state of completion.
(Andrew laughs)
- I was very happy to have reached a state of completion.
Nah.
We can use our swap,
where's the cooked rice?
Let's skip straight to it.
You didn't see this!
- [Brian] I saw it.
- [Andrew] Our rice is done,
in a different sized pot, no less.
- It was remarkably quick.
- [Andrew] This is quick cooking rice.
Okay so, now that it's cooked...
- I wanna be clear about something.
The rice is at a state of completion.
(Andrew laughs)
- [Andrew] We're adding, what is this,
a cup and a half of milk,
two cups of milk.
- [Kendall] Two and a half.
- [Andrew] Two and a half cups of milk.
Continue cooking this for another 20 minutes
until the rice sort of breaks down and gets fluffy.
So for the vanilla bean,
we have fresh vanilla bean here,
which we're just gonna sort of cut an incision into,
thusly.
And we're gonna open this up
and it's got all this delicious goo inside.
- [Brian] I truly have never done this.
- [Andrew] Here.
- [Brian] What am I doing?
I'm just splitting it?
- Yeah, you split it,
and then run the spoon flat along it
as you scrape out all the stuff.
- [Brian] Oh, yeah, look at that, oh, wow.
- [Andrew] And it tastes way better
than, like, vanilla extract,
it's got a subtler flavor.
- Yeah. - It's sort of sweeter,
sort of more, it's nice.
So this guy goes straight in,
that junk goes straight in,
along with a whole cinnamon stick.
This is stuff that we can fish out later on,
but it's gonna just sort of imbue its qualities
into the dessert chili, as we're calling it.
Once that's complete,
it's just a matter of putting it in a container,
chilling it,
and then what I think is genuinely
a brilliant turn on Kevin's part,
is to brulee it.
- Brulee it, of course.
You gotta brulee it.
- First, we're gonna make an accurate recreation
of what your character did on "The Office."
- Okay. - So,
for that, we're gonna need the crappiest...
- I love this! - Oldest toaster oven.
- I love that you found this toaster!
- [Andrew] And put some store bought rice pudding
into these broil-safe bowls.
Let's crank this on.
We need some sugar.
Now here's the sugar.
Yeah, get that jiggle, please.
(Andrew laughs)
Sugar.
Forgot about the sugar.
That's how it becomes dessert chili.
Otherwise it's just rice chili.
- Yeah.
- [Andrew] As we saw on the show,
your character just kind of piles on the sugar here.
- Yeah, but I recall it was a little more artful than that,
I mean, I don't wanna be disrespectful in any way, but...
- [Andrew] Let's see.
Oh, there's a bit of a...
Ah, there's a flourish.
I see. - Flourish.
- [Andrew] This is something he's passionate enough about
that they made a DVD extra for.
- Yeah.
Let's be clear,
it didn't make network,
or Netflix.
No, but it was a DVD extra.
Do you guys know what a DVD is, by the way?
- So this is just gonna tick, I guess.
I'm maxing this thing out,
we're gonna throw these in here,
and I think, again, to be sure we're accurate,
we should let them burn, because...
- Okay, yep.
They did burn.
They did burn on the show.
- That really is the state of completion
that we're talking about.
(Brian laughs) - It is.
- [Kendall] Oh, uh, it's smoking.
- [Andrew] Oh, really?
It's steam, it's fine.
- [Brian] Oh, that's definitely smoke.
- [Andrew] Interesting.
Um, you know, maybe I'll turn it off actually, maybe.
Hmm, well, Brentwood,
you've heard our complaints.
This is not a quality unit.
This is on fire and we just got it.
- Yeah.
Quality unit.
Won't bring us to completion.
(Kendall laughs)
State of completion.
- [Andrew] Let's just put 'em in there.
And somebody grab the N95s
and we'll be fine.
All right, well, while this is going,
we can also add our other little flourishes,
got some orange zest here.
- Also what you don't want,
which I tend to do with this thing,
is get some skin.
You know what I mean?
When it kind of just goes, you know what I'm saying?
You know what I'm saying.
- Yeah, it's become a given,
whenever these guys eat something that I made,
it's got some of me in it.
Not... The skin.
- Okay.
- Nothing weird, skin.
- [Brian] No, no.
- [Andrew] So this is looking about done.
- That smells actually really good.
- Yeah, no, this is a solid recipe
and we genuinely came up with it this morning.
(Brian laughs)
- By the way, this has been scheduled for months!
This is an egg and heavy cream, is that what it was?
- [Andrew] This is one egg yolk
and a half cup of heavy cream.
It should just make our yogurt creamier
and set up a little bit more
because with brulee you want a distinct layer
of sugar on top.
- Right.
- So that's the hope here,
is that we're gonna set sort of a skin,
like pudding skin.
- Right.
- On top that we can sprinkle our sugar on.
- Nice.
It's real nutmeg too! - [Andrew] Oh, yeah, no,
you gotta do fresh nutmeg.
- Really?
- Whole nutmeg.
Yeah, this is something I feel intimidated by
and I want you to take this in the best possible way,
you are actually making me feel way more comfortable.
Like, if someone said take a vanilla bean and scrape it
instead of using extract,
I would say go fuck yourself.
Like, I wouldn't do that. (Andrew laughs)
No, but just seeing you do it,
and I know you're gonna be better at it right now,
but that was awesome,
and now, yeah, no, why not?
Ground your own nutmeg.
Ooh.
Oh, my gosh.
- It's, like, fruity and light.
And that just kind of smells like...
- This is delightful, fresh,
clearly very strong, pungent-y,
and this, yeah, it smells like nutmeg,
but it also, not that I've ever smelled this before,
but it smells like an old cigar kind of.
You know what I mean?
- Wow, no, you're absolutely right.
Like...
- Kind of stale.
- Like a leather chair
that's been in a cigar lounge for years.
- There you go.
And then you take another chip
and bam!
Quesadilla a la Kevin.
Take the plate and you put it in the microwave
for 10 to 15 seconds.
- [Andrew] One of the other snacks that Kevin makes
are microwaved chips with spray cheese.
And this is one that I genuinely wanted to try
because as, like, horrible as it sounds,
it also sounds pretty awesome.
(Brian laughs)
Some sour cream and onion ridge chips,
if I remember correctly. - Okay.
- Can we get the spray cheese, please?
- American or cheddar.
- I kind of want to do a blind taste test first.
- Ooh, okay.
- So I'll just close my eyes
and you spray that in my mouth.
I'm ready.
- Should I test how it's coming out?
- No.
- Okay, ready?
(Brian laughs)
- [Sawyer] You got some?
- I got some, yeah.
(crew laughs) I'm not playing.
- All right, here we go.
Here's number two.
- I still have to swallow more, there's so much.
(Brian and crew laugh) Hang on.
- Okay, ready?
Here's number two.
(Brian and crew laugh)
The sound you make when it goes in your mouth
is so amazing!
- I will say they taste exactly the same.
(Brian laughs)
- Do they taste the same?
- I'm gonna guess that the second one was American cheese.
- You are absolutely wrong.
(Andrew laughs)
You are absolutely, I'm not joking.
Everyone saw it, this was the last one I did.
- Well, there you have it, folks,
I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.
- Blue.
- Which one do you wanna use?
- I don't know, that was...
That was so amazing.
- Let's use the cheddar, I guess.
- All right, let's use the cheddar.
Don't you want a variety?
- [Andrew] Yeah, okay, let's do half cheddar, half American,
yeah, go for it. - [Brian] All right.
Which color is more appetizing?
- [Andrew] I'm gonna say mine, if I'm being honest.
- [Brian] I don't disagree with you.
You did more of a flower, right?
That's why, oh, I see.
I don't know, this is fucked up, man.
(crew laughs)
- This is my whole job, man,
this is what I do.
- [Brian] Here we go.
- [Andrew] Shall we do this? - [Brian] Yeah.
- [Andrew] How long you reckon we should do this for?
- [Brian] I will say, I just watched the thing,
it was 10 to 15 seconds.
Does that seem short?
- [Andrew] I think we can start there.
Oh.
(microwave beeps) Oh, okay.
All right, we'll start with that
and we can always add more.
You can't take it away, but you can always add to it.
- You know what the great thing is,
what I'm told safety-wise,
it's really great to stand
with your parts right behind a microwave.
- I have a microwave at crotch height
for that very specific reason.
- That's really good for safety.
- [Andrew] They look unchanged,
so we're gonna go ahead and...
- [Brian] Go 10 more. - [Andrew] Go 10 more.
You said that for camera, 10, 15,
this is gonna take 30 seconds.
- You think it's 30?
- I have no idea.
- Well, you would know more about that.
Do you use a microwave...? (microwave beeps)
Oh, there we go.
(crew laughs)
- Keep going.
Sorry-
- Do you use a microwave very often?
- [Andrew] Okay, well, anyway,
none of that dialogue's usable for the little beeps.
There we go.
There are... what do we call these?
Chip quesadillas?
- [Brian] Yep.
Chip quesadillas.
- [Andrew] Chip-sadillas.
- [Brian] Chip-sadillas.
That's gotta be hot, right?
- Fuck, yeah, it is.
(Brian and crew laugh)
Exercise caution.
It's, um...
- When you get to the cheese part,
it's decidedly hot.
(Andrew laughs)
I'm gonna be honest with you,
that is something that I will never eat again.
- Did you have to eat it for when you shot the scene?
- I don't remember.
I really don't remember,
there's no joke, I don't remember.
When I looked at that,
before I came here,
because I do research,
you know, I'm an actor,
it felt like it was 1957 that I filmed that.
I don't remember.
- You were just in a fugue state from all the production.
- I think so, you know,
I mean, we were...
Don't cry for us, but, you know,
there was a period of time we were doing 30 episodes,
that supplemental stuff,
so there was a time things became a blur.
- I can imagine,
30 episodes a season, that's just overachieving.
- Yeah, and now, like, the average is eight?
- Yeah, especially if you're on HBO, am I right?
Why?
Why did I knock HBO?
(Andrew laughs) Anyway, let's...
Let's get this thing, yeah.
- By the way, HBO,
I'm a big fan of a lot of what you're doing right now.
"White Lotus" is a fantastic show.
- I loved "The Last of Us," it's really good.
- Yeah.
- [Andrew] One thing that we're gonna do
for our gourmet version is
make sort of super fine sugar.
If we process this for about a minute,
it's gonna break down the sugar
into much, much smaller crystals
that we can spread more evenly
and hopefully it'll torch a little bit easier.
They'll melt quicker
and we won't burn it before it gets a nice brown crust.
Yeah, this looks cool, right?
- Yeah.
- You can inhale sugar, I'm pretty sure.
Right?
- Mm-hmm.
Although, I want you to be impressed,
see, I'm standing out of your light.
I've been standing out of your light
since you flipped sides with me.
- This is a professional right here,
this is somebody who's been in the industry.
- [Brian] Now, do you need to take the bean out?
- [Andrew] Yes, we wanna take the bean
and the cinnamon stick out
because they don't make for good eatin'.
- Mm-hmm. - But...
- Did you notice how I reminded you of that?
- Thank you. - Yep.
- [Andrew] And now I wanna make a huge brulee.
- [Brian] Yeah.
- [Andrew] That then we can all share as a family.
So now, let's evenly spread as much of this
super fine sugar over the top as we can.
- [Brian] How much, do we think?
- [Andrew] A lot.
Got the broiler preheated,
I'm gonna throw this under there
for an indeterminate amount of time
until it looks nice and brown
and crispy and bubbly and brulee-y.
- [Brian] Oh, my gosh!
Look at that!
- [Andrew] That is rice pudding brulee.
Hey, so hot!
Wow.
Be so ever incredibly careful.
Just the glove.
I'm gonna just touch this up a little bit,
just so it's nice and even.
- There's some char there, no?
- Yeah, exactly.
I think that char is often desirable.
You know, for instance,
Francis Molyneaux specializes in burnt food.
- Okay.
- Like, burnt tomatoes and stuff.
- Yeah, yeah.
I know, that Francis.
Yeah. - So,
let's crack into this thing and try it out.
Does it got a crunch?
Ah, a little bit.
- [Brian] Ish, yeah.
- [Andrew] Yeah.
Let's try it, oh, shit, it's hot.
- [Brian] Oh, my God.
- That is the hottest substance on the planet.
(Brian laughs)
Straight in the mouth, here we go.
- Oh, my gosh.
Be careful.
- That's good, I'm sorry, but that's good.
I apologize, but that's good.
- You're a psychopath, you're eating it,
like, it's gotta be so hot.
- I got asbestos mouth.
Most chefs have asbestos hands,
I have asbestos mouth.
- Really?
- Yeah, I can put anything in there.
- It's not bad.
I wouldn't not eat this.
(Brian laughs)
Is that an endorsement?
(Andrew laughs)
No, that is good.
And you've taught me a lot today.
- Oh, I'm happy to hear that. - Yeah.
- Hopefully it's mostly about nutmeg
'cause that is something I'm very passionate about.
- No, you taught me about nutmeg
and I think that you are great at burning things.
So all those things is what I've learned.
- I learned how to properly eat spray cheese.
I learned the right way.
- [Brian] I started to smell something burning.
- All right, show accurate recreation
of Kevin's...
(Brian gasps) Rice pudding brulee.
- [Brian] Wow.
That looks amazing.
Wow.
- [Andrew] Let's see.
- [Brian] Ooh, it's got a film.
(Andrew laughs)
Look at that.
Where did the rice go?
- It boiled out.
- [Brian] I want some of that skin.
- [Andrew] I got the perfect hunk of skin right here.
- Oh, my God, that is so hot right now.
Oh, my gosh, that is so hot!
- Ow.
- Thank you so much for cooking me something
that I will never, ever forget.
(crew laughs)
- Thank you for filling my mouth with cheese.
- Any time.
- Brian Baumgartner's "Seriously Good Chili Cookbook,"
177 chili recipes,
more than you thought possible,
is available now on Amazon and bookstores.
Thank you so much for coming through, Brian.
- Thank you so much, that was really fun.
- [Andrew] Thanks again to Cash App.
That's money, that's Cash App.
Download Cash App from the App Store
or Google Play Store today
to add to the 80 million and counting.
(cheerful music)