Video

Matt makes simple sandwich ingredients into a more difficult dish. Stump the Chef Episode “Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato” Announcer: One seasoned Chef, three random ingredients, and three tough judges, its time for Stump the Chef! Today award winning chef Matt Weaver will set his culinary skills against his toughest opponent yet. Let’s see today’s random ingredients. Female Announcer: Bacon, Lettuce and tomato? Announcer: Now lets play stump the chef! Matt: I have no idea what I am going to do with these ingredients. But I will be damned if I am going to make a sandwich, time to get wicked. Announcer: And he’s off. Announcer 1: Getting wicked one more time in the Stump the Chef kitchen. It looks like Matt’s starting out with the bacon today. Announcer 2: Let me tell you its already smelling fantastic in here. Announcer 1: He chopped that up real roughly and threw it into the pot with a little olive oil. It looks like he is going to be rendering that bacon for a few minutes. Announcer 2: Yes it’s interesting to see that he tackles this ingredient first because it is my favorite. I still would have liked to seen a sandwich. But I understand you got to let Matt work his magic here. Announcer 1: Absolutely I would have been shocked if he would have taken the easy way out and made a sandwich. Someone of this caliber, I think he is really going to try to take these three ingredients and really try to push it to another level. Announcer 2: So is he rendering the bacon here, is that what he is doing? Announcer 1: Absolutely he is separating the bacon from the fat. You can se that looks fantastic. That bacon has crisped up very nicely. It is going to be interesting to see what he does with this now. Announcer 2: It looks like he is going to b separating the grease from the bacon. Is that right? Announcer 1: That is absolutely right he is straining that now. Not sure if that bacon fat is going to be used. But I guarantee that bacon is going to be part of this dish today. Announcer 2: Well I hope he takes that bowl, sets it aside and lets the aroma fill the kitchen, because I love the smell of bacon grease. I think someone should actually make colognes. Announcer 1: And it looks like Matt is building up a base for his dish today. Not exactly sure what he is doing yet but he could take this in any number of directions. If I were a betting man though, my money would be on a base for a soup today. Announcer 2: All Matt’s base are belong to us. Announcer 1: I am in your kitchen sweating your onions. Announcer 2: You know its really smelling great in here today, I am impressed. Announcer 1: Absolutely you can see there he diced up the onion, diced up the garlic. Real thin slices, putting that all in the pot it’s going to cook together. It is all going to sweat at a real low temperature. Along with the oregano and the basil he is throwing in there. Ooh and a little red pepper flake that is going to give it a nice little bite. Announcer 2: You know if those vegetables were people Matt would be brought up on war crimes for genocide. Announcer 1: That’s absolutely right, he threw in a little touch of salt there, and a little salt never hurt anybody. Announcer 2: Yeah, except for my uncle Martin, who died in a salt mine. Thanks for bringing that up, again. Announcer 1: And here is the second ingredient of the day. The tomatoes being added to this mixture, just chopped up roughly along with the onion the garlic. All those great flavors, he threw in a little balsamic vinegar along with some stock. And I think it is absolutely certain we are seeing a soup here today. Announcer 2: Ah unless he blends it down and makes popsicles in the freezer. Announcer 1: Does your family know you are this stupid? Announcer: Sorry to interrupt guys, but its time for Matt’s tangent. Matt: The tomato or tomatoe was first cultivated by the Aztecs in South America. The 1830’s saw the introduction of tomato ketchup. And in only two centuries tomatoes came from relative obscurity, to worldwide popularity. The scientific name Lycopersicon translates to wolf peach. Now tomatoes are fruits, and are technically berries. My favorite tomato dish is a caprice salad, with fresh mozzarella and basil. Enjoy. Announcer: Meanwhile back in the kitchen. Announcer 1: Pulling out his favorite kitchen appliance now, it looks like Matt is going to be blending up that wolf peach soup. Announcer 2: Yeah you know if laws change I think Matt would actually marry that blender. Announcer 1: I believe that is legal in Utah. Announcer 2: Oh really? Announcer 1: You know I am really looking forward to tasting that dish today, a lot of good flavors going into it. He let it simmer down for quite awhile before blending it. And there is the lettuce the third ingredient of the day. It looks like Matt is chopping that up, prepping it for something. No idea what part that is going to play in a soup, any thoughts? Announcer 2: Uh, maybe a lettuce wrap. Announcer 1: I think to make a lettuce wrap you have to leave the lettuce whole. Announcer 2: Oh well maybe a lettuce tie then? Announcer 1: I don’t know why I bother asking you questions. It looks like the soup is going back in the same pot. My guess is we are going to see the bacon being added to this, and there it is. Absolutely the bacon being mixed in now, nice and crisp, that looks fantastic. Announcer 2: But he is going to put the lettuce into the soup that seems weird. Announcer 1: Absolutely not I am guessing the lettuce is going to play a part on the side of the dish. He definitely wouldn’t put… Announcer 2: Oh my. Announcer 1: And it looks like the lettuce is going directly into the soup. I have to say Matt has absolutely lost me on this dish now. Announcer 2: That is a lot of salad dressing. Announcer 1: And Matt is grating up some nutmeg now into some sort of egg mixture here. Announcer 2: Is that sawdust? Announcer 1: I believe that is Romano cheese. He is whipping that up now, not exactly sure how this is going to work into his soup. Announcer 2: Well you know you have to break a few eggs to get a good dish right? Announcer 1: I guess that’s true, Matt how are you doing? Matt: Well today has been a walk in the park, but I am taking this up to a higher level. I am going to add my egg mixture to this soup. It is going to be fantastic. The judges are going to love it. Announcer 1: I got to say Matt is sounding pretty cocky for a guy that just finished putting lettuce into soup. Announcer 2: And this is definitely the healthiest thing he has ever made. I mean he took the bacon grease out and he put lettuce in. What the hell is up with that? Announcer 1: Yeah and I am not sure adding raw egg to this is making it any better. Maybe you should have made a sandwich. Announcer: Its plating time. Announcer 1: Shockingly Matt has decided to place his soup in a bowl. Announcer 2: A square bowl that is. Announcer 1: That’s true, always pushing the boundaries what is acceptable in bowl presentation. Announcer 2: This reminds me of this one time in high school when our freezer broke and they had to just put everything into a pot and stirred it together. Good luck matt. Announcer: Looks good to me, but let’s see what our judges have to say about that Matt: Today I was given the ingredients for a BLT sandwich, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. But I wanted soup so I have made a classic Italian egg drop soup. Go for it. Josh: Well, I don’t think I would ever consider using lettuce in a soup. Normally I would imagine it to be really crazy and slimy and out there. But as far as the lettuce it is still kind of crunchy. And it’s not that crazy after all. I can taste the bacon and the tomato is definitely there. Very good, very good, you have outdone yourself. Susan: Flavor wise I think it is right on track. Smokey from the bacon, the texture is really nice. The egg kind of lightens it up, which is what egg is intended to do in this when you tell it. The lettuce is a little weird for me that’s all I have to say. Overall I think it is wonderful. And I give it thumbs up because I can’t imagine you would put lettuce in a soup. And you did and it’s great. Shannon: When I am old and I am in a nursing care place, and I am into liquid food and I want a BLT that is exactly what I am going to order. That’s delicious, I agree that it is pretty weird to put lettuce in a soup, but its great and I love it, thumbs up. Matt: Ok, good. I thought that was going bad for awhile. Shannon: No, no, no. Announcer: Let’s see the verdict. Its unanimous you passed. Matt: Today I turned an American classic, into an Italian classic. And I mean it’s hard to go wrong with bacon. You have to try to go wrong with bacon. The judges didn’t really like the lettuce, but I had to put it in there. Personally I like it. I think if you could try it you would see what I mean. I had fun, and I hope you had fun. Don’t be afraid of the kitchen. Thanks for joining us, see you next time. Announcer: That’s it for this episode; join us again next time for more of Stump the Chef.