- I thought this was supposed
to feel like therapeutic
and like, you know?
[laughing]
- No, you have the
bravery of 1000 Frenchmen,
truly incredible.
[upbeat music]
Hey guys, it's Carla.
I'm here in the Bon
Appetit Test Kitchen today
with Hailee Steinfeld, actress, singer,
and in the new TV show called "Dickinson,"
which is out now.
- On Apple TV+.
- But today, we're going to be making
a recipe called pomme souffle.
- Oh.
- Yeah.
Do you know what pomme souffle is?
- No.
- Cool, it's not a souffle.
- Okay.
- It involves potatoes.
Not difficult and yet, a
very high degree of failure.
- Great.
[laughing]
- And we're gonna see if
Hailee can follow along with me
through verbal instructions only.
Okay, so we're just gonna count to three
and then turn around and start
making pomme souffle.
- Okay.
- Alright, okay, one,
- Two, three.
- Two, three.
- So the potatoes in
French are just the pomme.
So we've got three of those.
You've got a peeler.
This like Y-shaped peeler.
All I want you to do is
just peel three potatoes.
- Alright.
- So just holding the potato in one hand
and then I really like these 'cause,
I don't know, I find these easier to use
than a regular peeler.
And so the only thing
that I want you to do
when you're peeling is
go around as many times
as you have to to take off any
little eyes or brown spots.
So Hailee, I'm guessing you've probably
peeled potatoes before?
- I don't know that I have,
but I feel like I've got the hang of it.
- Alright, so let me know when you have
a first potato peeled.
- Yeah, I think I'm--
- Alright and then when you're done
just slip into the bowl of water
and get going on potato number two.
I mean, the worst thing that
could happen to us today
is that we actually just end
up making fried potatoes.
- Dope, I'm totally okay with that.
- So that's like what a
fail is gonna look like.
- But put the peels
in the water?
- Drop the peeled
one into the bowl of water
and that's just gonna take
any surface starch off
and it also keeps the
potato from turning brown.
And we're just gonna do a few extra--
- I did that right, am I doing this right?
Hold on, yeah, I think I'm alright, okay.
- What's happening?
- I'm just gonna go with it.
Alright, I've got the
peels from the first potato
in the water.
- Oh, that's fine.
Is your potato in the water?
- No!
- Okay, so the peeled
potato put in the water.
- Wait, can I take the
peels out of the water?
- If you want--
- Great.
- It's not gonna hurt anything.
- Do I need clean water now?
- No, you don't need clean water,
but I would fish your peels out.
- And put the potato in the water?
- [Carla] Put the potato in the water.
- I knew something was off.
[laughing]
Alright, we're off to a great start.
- Hailee, when I said pomme souffle,
does that bring any visual to mind?
- Well, not exactly 'cause
you said it's not souffle.
- It's not a souffle but
the potato should puff.
- Yeah, no, I have no idea
what that's meant to look like.
- Alright, so three potatoes peeled.
Okay and now just take one potato out
and just pat it dry, put
it on your cutting board.
And so the potato kinda has
a broad side and then the narrow side.
Does that make sense?
It's an oval.
- Sure.
- I want you to put your
potato down so that it's just
laying flat on the surface.
- Okay, it's laying flat.
Explain to me again the
wide and the narrow?
- Okay, when you're looking
top down at the potato now,
that should be kind of the
wider side of the potato.
If you were to turn it 90 degrees--
- Okay, yeah, yeah, so
it's like laying flat.
- Laying flat and all I want you to do
is with the paring knife,
I want you to just make a cut
from the top to the bottom
at the very edge.
So I just want you trim off one side.
I'm gonna trim, when I'm
looking down at the potato,
I'm gonna trim off the
right side of the potato.
The next thing we're gonna do
is we're gonna use the mandolin.
So the mandolin is this white
plastic on your station.
- Great.
- And this is essentially
vegetable guillotine.
- Okay, oh, it says watch your
fingers on blade.
- Exactly, now we gotta
put the glove on.
This is gonna be your dominant
hand, so your right hand.
You know how we cut that flat side?
- Yeah?
- The flat side is gonna go down
and it's gonna drag across the blade,
but your hand should be holding the potato
from the opposite side the we cut.
- Sorry, I'm so confused.
I'm holding it on opposite side I cut it.
Oh, did I do that wrong?
- Let's grab a new potato.
Just swap it out.
- Alright.
- So put your potato
down again so it's on
one of the wide sides.
- I don't think I know what that means.
- Put it on the cutting board
and then which ever it falls is good.
If you put it on a thin side,
it'll roll onto a flat side.
So I want you to cut a slice off
of the side of the potato lengthwise.
Top to bottom.
- Top to bottom, I'm like
gonna hold it up for a second?
- But leave the potato
on the cutting board.
I want your potato to be on
the cutting board when you cut.
- Shoot, I'm so confused.
So right here, is that what I'm doing?
- Tell me when you say right
here, what do you mean?
- I mean turn around and look and help me.
Okay, so I'm at the edge
of the potato long ways.
- Yeah and just take off
the one one rounded side
to make a flat side.
And we're really just doing
that so there's something flat
that can do onto the mandolin.
- Oh god, this is not good, people.
- So we have a peeled potato,
it had made there's a flat side now
from where you cut?
- Sure, sure.
- We're gonna go back to the mandolin.
- Yes we are.
- So you're still
wearing your glove?
- I sure am.
- [Carla] [laughs] Okay.
- Wow, okay.
- So now, keeping your
fingers out of the way.
- Yep.
- Put the potato at the top
and just slide it towards
the cutting board.
Did you take a slice yet?
- Yeah, two.
- Oh, you did?
So now put the mandolin down.
We're gonna pick up the ruler.
- Can I put it away?
Can we be done with that?
- And I want the thickness on the edge
to be three millimeters.
- Of the slice?
- [Carla] Of the slice.
- Oh my, okay.
- How many millimeters thick is yours?
- Hold up, hold up, hold up.
- One end should say inches
and when should say metric.
Do we have the same ruler?
Can we switch rulers please?
[laughing]
Go to the side that says--
- This is so much more clear.
- Oh, we have different rulers.
That was tricky.
- You're setting me up to fail, people.
I'll say I'm about there actually.
- You're almost at three?
- Yeah.
- Is it more than three?
- No.
- No, is it less than three?
- No, it's like right at three.
- So this is the danger.
- Okay.
- If it's too thick, the potato won't puff
because it'll have too much
starchy meat in the middle.
- Okay, we can't have that.
- And if it's too thin,
there won't be enough
steam to actually puff.
- Mine is three.
Here, I'm passing you one.
I want to see yours.
- Oh, that's three?
- [Carla] Three.
- That's what you need it to be?
- [Carla] Yeah.
- Oh no, I'm screwed.
- Are yours thicker?
Oh yeah [laughs].
Okay, this is--
- Great and I thought
they were too thin.
- Definitely thicker.
- Okay, so I need to reel it in a little.
Sorry, I'm totally not
holding this thing right.
- Let's check temperature.
- Yup, let's do it, let's do it.
- Okay, just unfold your
digital thermometer.
- Okay, already unfolded.
- And so the pot closest to you,
tell me what that read out is.
- It's 432.
- Oh [laughs].
- Is that bad?
- Okay, let's turn it down.
No, I want it to be at 375.
- Oh, okay.
- And that's okay.
That's gonna be our second stage fryer.
We've got a lot of
slicing to do, it's cool.
How many slices do you have, Hailee?
- One, two, three, four, five, six.
I've got nine but seven good ones.
- Okay, put your not good
ones into your trimming bowl
just so they don't get mixed up.
- Okay but they might
be good, I'm not sure.
- [laughs] Okay, once
you've approved them,
drop them into the bath.
Put the mandolin in the sink,
I never want to see it again.
- Oh, good choice.
[laughing]
- And bring the bowl of
water with the potatoes
right in front of you.
And then in front of this pot of oil,
there's a tray that has
kitchen towel on it.
Like undo it, all these
potatoes are gonna get into bed.
So there's kitchen towel on the bottom
and a flap that's gonna go over them.
- [Hailee] Okay.
- Go through your potatoes.
- Pick out my favorites?
- And the ones that you
feel good about get to
go into the cozy bed.
- Okay.
- How many do you have
on the kitchen towel landing pad?
- Almost 12.
- Almost 12, my god, you're good.
Just take the top side
of the kitchen towel
and I want you to pay
dry pretty thoroughly.
We have to make a napkin basket.
There's a dinner plate
that's got a napkin.
- A dinner, yup.
- I want you to put the napkin,
unfold the napkin and lay it out flat
with the seam side up.
Starting with the edge furthest from you,
just fold that over
half an inch or an inch,
just to make a clean edge.
Okay and then do the same
with the bottom edge closet to you.
Kind of the same amount.
And now go back to the top edge
and fold it over to the center line.
And then crease that down.
- Like the whole thing?
- [Carla] The whole thing folds,
yeah, pick that whole thing
over and fold it to the midline.
- [Hailee] Okay.
- And then do the same thing
with the front edge and
you can just overlap--
- Wait, question.
- [Carla] Yes ma'am?
- You were taking the top and the bottom?
- Well, go back to where we were.
Unfold it--
- I just have the little
strip at the top and the
bottom that are folded over?
- [Carla] Correct.
- Okay, now?
- [Carla] So now go up to the top edge
and grab the corner, the
nice folded over corner.
- One or both?
- [Carla] Both sides.
- Both of them
and them fold them down?
- And fold that over
to the midline.
- Got it.
Okay.
- Okay.
And then take the left and right corner
of the edge closest to you.
- Yup.
- And fold that up and
just overlap a whisper.
- Overlap what?
- [Carla] Just a whisper.
- A whisper.
- [laughs] A whisper.
Holding the edges so
that it doesn't unfold,
flip the whole napkin over.
And then fold the right edge
to the middle, to the center line.
And then fold the left
side also to the middle,
again, just overlapping a tiny bit.
- So now, are they kind of like,
is it meant to wrap.
Hmm, how do I describe this, wow.
- It's like a fat rectangle.
- Okay, sure.
- And then holding it all together again,
I want you to flip it over.
- Oh, okay.
So it's then flipped.
- Yup--
- Wait, okay, wait.
I think I know what this
is suppose to look like
and I'm not doing it right.
I think I need to come
in a little bit more.
Possibly, maybe not.
- [laughs] You should be able
to just pull the front
edge down and the top edge
and then pull it open
to make a napkin basket.
- What?
- So when you turn it over--
- Yeah?
- There's like a seam
in the middle, right?
- Yes.
- [Carla] And if you put your
fingers in between that seam--
- [Hailee] Oh yeah.
- And pull them apart,
you have a napkin basket.
- Wait, okay, but, okay, 'kay.
- [Carla] But now pick this whole thing up
and put it back onto your dinner plater.
- Oh man, that's not right.
- [laughs] I'm sure it's perfect.
- Well.
- So this is the deal.
We're gonna start in the lower oil.
It's gonna be as close to 320 as possible.
I don't want any splashing and no like--
- Got it, so just set them in there?
- Yeah, just slide them in there,
keep your fingers out of the way.
So gently just like slide them in
and then pick up that
metal wire mesh thing,
it's called a spider.
- It's called a spider?
- It's called a spider.
Gently, I just want you to
kind of stiring them around.
They just need to be
moving the whole time.
Can you describe the
inside of your pot to me?
- Yeah, it's definitely bubbling.
- Okay, are the potatoes floating?
- [Hailee] Yeah, yeah they are.
There's a couple stuck together but--
- I want you to start
looking to see if there's
any little bubbles or blisters
forming on the surface
of the potatoes.
- [Hailiee] Slightly.
- Slightly?
- Yeah, they look like potato chips.
- Are any of them puffing?
- I don't know about puffing
but they've got like little, you know,
couple of them have a little--
- [Carla] Some blisters?
- [Hailee] Yeah.
- Okay, when you start to
see any puffing, let me know.
I have a couple that are puffing
and I'm gonna just
relocate them temporarily.
- This is where we realize
that I did it all wrong.
- No, you're good, it takes a few minutes
for this to start happening.
And are they changing color at all?
It's subtle.
- Sure, yeah.
- So anybody who has a bigger air bubble,
I would put just onto the kitchen towel
where we patted dry.
- Oh no, it totally
deflated when I took it out.
- That's okay, it'll puff back up.
Okay, so scoop up as many
as will fit in the spider
and let the oil drip back into the pot
and we're gonna transfer
into the hotter oil.
And then go back any
pick up everybody else.
And once they hit the hotter oil,
if they're gonna puff, they should puff.
- [Hailee] Oh my god, yes,
thank you.
- Did they puff?
- Woo, yeah!
- Really?
Now you gotta keep stirring
these guys is the thing.
- So what about the
ones I put on the towel?
- Yeah, let's get those in too.
Are they puffing?
- Yeah, like a lot.
- [Carla] They are, like potato blimps?
- Yes.
- Yes [laughs]
So keep moving them around.
- I feel so good.
I think I'm doing so great.
Okay, what happens before
I mess it up?
- Just keep stirring them.
We're looking for dark golden,
like a beautiful golden brown.
Like a beautiful french fry.
- We are getting to that
beautiful golden brown.
- Oh my god, I'm so excited.
Tell me about your color.
- They're pretty golden brown.
A couple of the edges are like,
they look little extra crispy.
- Okay, perfect.
Alright, so slide the towel that had,
the tray that had the kitchen towel away
and grab the one that
has the paper towels.
So it should be on the
other side of your fryer.
- Yup.
- And now lift all of
your golden brown potato babies,
let the excess oil drip back into the pot,
and then just gently put
them on this paper towel.
[gasps] I got good puffage.
- So do I.
We're taking them--
- You did?
- All out, right?
- Yeah, take them all out.
Did you make pomme souffle, Hailee?
- I think I might have.
- [Carla] [laughs] I'm really excited.
- I'm so eagerly waiting for your approval
but this is so,
I'm so glad that we made this.
- Crispy fried potates.
Alright, so now there's
a little bowl of salt
on your counter and give them all a nice
sprinkle of salt.
- I mean, if you ask me,
these things look incredible.
- Amazing and then bring
over your napkin landing pad
in whatever shape it's in.
Okay, so any potato that is less beautiful
than other potatoes, is
gonna go on the bottom.
- Okay.
- Just pile them up.
This is like a basket of fried potatoes.
- Cute.
- You literally can't go wrong
Ready?
- Wait.
- For the big reveal?
- I think so, okay, yes.
- Okay, one, two, three.
Ta da [laughs].
- Oh my [laughs].
- They puffed.
- They puffed.
- Oh my god, that's really
tucked in for bed.
I love that they've got--
- Really, truly, tucked in.
- A full hospital corner.
Super into it.
- Thank you.
- Beautiful.
- Wow.
- Gorgeous.
- Thank you.
- That was hard.
- That was extremely difficult.
- I know I have a very
calm and cool exterior,
but I was sweating.
I just want to say,
first of all--
- Oh no.
- This is probably the
hardest back to back
that I've ever done.
- Really?
- Yeah and while we were
doing it, I was like, why,
why, why have I done this?
But the fact is,
if these had stayed in the
fryer a little bit longer,
you would have gotten that color.
But all of your potatoes puffed
which is truly a miracle.
- Great.
- Here, let's switch.
- Okay.
We going in?
- Okay, ready?
[crunching]
- Wow, this is amazing.
- They were good.
Honestly, the ones that
you thought were too dark,
this is gonna be a crispy boy.
[crunching]
- I hid all of those 'cause
I thought maybe, alright.
- Can we talk about the
napkins really quick?
- Oh my god.
- [laughs] You did incredible.
No, really--
- I don't know
about incredible.
- That's like 100%.
Okay, so starting with the far end.
- Right, you said to
bring it over.
- Fold it over.
- Okay, great, I got that.
- Crease it out, great.
- Yep, perfect, yep.
- Then the other side up.
- Yup.
- Yup and then this side.
- And then you said--
- Come to the middle
and then this side to
the middle overlapping
and that's when I said a whisper.
- Okay, but--
- And then we flip.
- Okay.
- And then you go to here.
- Yeah, I did all this.
- And then you go
to the there,
overlapping a tiny bit.
- I did this, yeah.
- And then flip again.
- Yeah.
- And then,
you just open--
- What?
Oh my god, wow!
Alright, I'm out.
- See?
- She's got it all.
Thanks for coming.
- Now I know for next time.
Thank you so much.
This was so fun.
- Next time we'll just make
baked potatoes.
- I'm down.
- Right?
- A good loaded baked potato,
I'm into it.
- I'm there.
- Alright.
- Thanks for coming.
- Thank you.
Can I take these?
- Yeah, please.
