Cooking At Julie Chen's
Recently, The Early Show resident chef, Bobby Flay, decided to surprise Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, Rene Syler, Julie Chen and Dave Price at home to see if he could make a meal with the contents of their refrigerator and cabinets.
But as he found out when he got to Chen's apartment, this was no easy task.
Armed with his special tool case, Flay prepared himself for the surprise visit. "Julie Chen is young, hip and single. Knows every hot spot in LA and New York. But can we cook out of her kitchen? This one's going to be tough," he says.
Inside her house, Chen had some suspicions about what was to unfold.
"I think that Bobby Flay is waiting downstairs and it involves some kind of cooking segment because we all know that I'm not very good in the kitchen. And if it is that, then the surprise is on you guys, if you guys have to eat it," she says.
The bell rang, and there he was. Chen says, "I knew it! I said Bobby Flay is waiting downstairs, and I'm going to have to cook something, and I said the surprise is going to be on whoever has to eat it."
Complimenting her on her apartment, Flay soon noted the kitchen was the smallest room. He checked her refrigerator: "So you have water, sake, orange juice..." And some food that Chen says her mother made for her.
"That's like the leftover Chinese food my mother made. My mom also made these shrimp wontons. When I'm not here, she like comes into my apartment and she like throws food in here," Chen says.
In the refrigerator was also orange flavored vodka and in the cabinets: teas and cherry Jello. "Yes I'm back in the 5th grade," Chen admits.
Making fun, Flay says, "So in your spare time you put Jello together? Vodka shots? Jello, I'm getting it now. She's got the orange vodka with the cherry Jello."
If they were going to have a meal, he says, they would have to go shopping.
Chen was in charge of the cocktails while Flay suggested fish for lunch.
He says, "I think, Julie, since we have to represent the shrimp in your mom's wontons, we have to get a couple of big shrimp." For the main course, both agreed on black sea bass. Click her for the recipe.
Back at the apartment, the kitchen looked sparkling clean, because, as Flay noted, it is rarely used.
Tongue in cheek, Chen says, "I actually just cleaned it yesterday, knowing that there was something going on. I cleaned it with bleach, there was like dried gravy and soup. Don't fault me for keeping a clean kitchen."
But Flay does not buy it, "No, no, no. This thing is unused," he says, pointing to the oven.
Ready to work, Flay used some spices Chen already had. He asks her, "So when you went and saw the fennel seed, did you know what you were going to use it for?"
"Uh, no!" she replies.
Fennel seed is sprinkled on the fish along with salt and pepper. The cooking oil in her cabinet was another story.
"Can oil go bad?" Chen asks. "Oil can go rancid," Flay says. When Chen says her oil smells like paint, Flay replies "If oil smells like paint, don't use it."
Ready for the task at hand, Flay announces, "We're about to embark on something that's never taken place in this kitchen: cooking."
He complimented Chen on the stainless steel thongs. Chen proudly admitted, "That's back from my restaurant days at a deli in Queens. That's how I know how to make an egg sandwich - a scrambled egg sandwich."
That is not all, she says, "I know how to slice up Boar's Head Ham."
She also proved to be quite a bartender. "I'm telling you, you're gonna hire me as a bartender in one of your restaurants after this drink," she says. Click here for Julie's Cosmopolitan recipe.
Meanwhile, the sea bass was lightly brown. Flay says, "I took it out of the pan. We're going to let the wontons cook, in the broth. We have the sea bass cooked already; the shrimp are almost done. I have some scallions cut up over here. I'm going to chop up some cilantro."
Cilantro and scallions went into the broth and soon everything was done. "No time at all," Chen notes. "Thanks for introducing me to my stove!"
Recipe
Julie Chen's Sea Bass with Shrimp Wonton
Serves: 2
2 black sea bass fillets, 6 ounces each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 extra large shrimp, shell and head on
2 cups shrimp stock or canned low sodium chicken stock
8 frozen shrimp wonton
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Method
- Season bass with salt and pepper on both sides. Combine the sesame seeds and fennel seeds in a small bowl and season 1 side of the fish with the mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium sized nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Place the bass in the pan, spice-side down and cook until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn the fish over, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the fish to a plate, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat until almost smoking. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until just cooked through.
- While the fish is cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the wonton and cook until the wonton float to the top, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the chives.
- Place the bass in a large shallow bowl and ladle some of the broth and wonton over the fish. Place 1 shrimp on top of the bass and sprinkle with the chopped basil and cilantro.
2 oz.Vodka (orange if you wish)
3/4 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Cranberry Juice (or Raspberry)
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
Combine all ingredients in a martini shaker. Add ice. Shake to combine and chill. Pour into Martini glasses. Bottoms Up!