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Whether you're cooking in a professional kitchen or at home, things go wrong. Oh no. Today, we're pushing that to the extreme with a home cook and his chef mentor to see how they cope when things go wrong. And we're going to make them go wrong. OFF YOU POP. OFFY POP. NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT. SO, here's how this is going to work. We've entered all of the ingredients, appliances, and equipment into our sabotage generator. And at random times throughout their 40-minute cook, one of those items will be removed and they will not be able to use it again. That could be 30 seconds in.
It could. Could it actually be random? It could be every 10 seconds. No. Boys, you've had a chance to look at the ingredients. What's the plan? We're going North African Middle Eastern mez. So things like lamb, sliders, tomatoes, pickled radish, just basically build up a table full of mini dishes that are grilled, spiced, fruity, and delicious. If we do lots of little small plates, we should at least get something out. Yeah. Okay, boys. Your time starts now. And your first sabotage will be in 2 minutes and 12 seconds. We've got Okay, we've got time. So, yes.
Yes. These are essential, I think. What are the core ingredients that we need to use before something gets taken away in 2 minutes? Our main course is kind of like the slider element, right? Yes. So, let's get a chutney on. Let's get the lamb grilling. And then at least we've got something. Yes. What are the rules in terms of how far along we can go with an ingredient? Is it once we started using it, we've used it, it can't be taken away, even if it is.
Well, look, we're going to have to see how this goes. We're going to have to play it by ear because if you've already used something, then we're not going to take it away. However, you won't be able to use it again. Now, this is the definition of has something been used. Why is he at the host? If it's been mixed in, if it's already part of something, then I think it's impossible for us to take that away. If however, it's just sat on the board being sliced up. I think we can still remove that. Oh, we chose the most difficult human to be the host. These are These aren't apricots. We thought these were apricots. Oh, what are they?
Oh, 30 seconds until your first sabotage, boys. It's been 2 minutes already. Oh my goodness. It's kind of like a little bit more beant than a apricot. Five. Oh no. Three. Here we go. Two. One. We are removing the wild garlic. Wild garlic's gone. Okay, that was on my list to use, but that's okay. We can deal with that. You have 2 and 1/2 minutes until your next sabotage. Oh, wow. Okay. How are we doing for time? 20 seconds. Okay, we're both working. Oh, let's get that lamb on or it disappears.
I do like that this is a heightened version of sometimes things go wrong. Deal with it. Three, two, one. Oh no, boys. The saucepans are going. No. Come on now. Oh no, it is. That's quite uh that's quite smoky. Not with stuff in it. Sauce pans are gone and you have 1 minute and 40 seconds left till the next sabotage. Oh wow. I reckon that's absolutely fine. That was a good one to lose. It would be a real shame if we lost any more pans. And that's the great thing. This is completely randomized. I'm not in control of what happens next.
These this uh shellot and garlic mix is for your chutney. You can't just chuck these in as you go, by the way. Okay, great. Just start cooking. Yeah. What are you doing, James? Uh tomato salad. Um I might toss some harissa through it or something. Or maybe I'll keep it a bit more plain. Where can we put the harissa? Fine. I'm also cooking. Four, three, two, one. We're removing the fryer. Okay, we're okay with that. Is there anything else you feel like we desperately need or you desperately want to use? So, we want oranges.
What orange through there? Blood oranges. Orange is nice. I think we should keep oranges out. Use it with that. Okay. Chili. Yes. Do you want me to dice the chili? So, yeah, if that's okay. I reckon chili through that. Then we just need sugar. Sugar. Yeah, maybe honey. Actually, seeing as we're going sort of that area of the world, we can do honey. Sweet. Sweeten it with honey. You've had 10 minutes of your cooking time. Oh, that was quick. Eh, half an hour left. I forgot we've actually got to make this in a certain amount of time as well.
Do we want to pickle the radish to go inside the sliders? I think that'd be really nice. Yeah. Like a really sweet chutney. Yeah. With a nice pickle. I'll pickle the radishes. Yeah, but that's good for another salad. Okay, 30 seconds. Gosh, I can go in with a salad. Okay. Yeah, that's fine. I don't want Jenga to work out that I thought that this was the rabbit. Think has already worked out. 3 2 1 is mine. That's okay. You can have that. By the way, you've got 35 seconds till the next episode. Wow. 35. Wait, we've got 45 minutes. There's nothing going to be left.
No. 5 4 3 2 1 to say to You're losing spoons. Oh, no. That's okay. Yeah. You are a calm influence, mate. We've got forks. Does this count as a spoon? That is a spoon. Nope. That's a su spoon. What other side dishes can we do? Cuz when we claim something's going to be like a mess platter. Yeah. And it ends up being three things. We have got a few elements going on the same dish. So you're right. We do need other stuff.
Right. I've got some carrots. Yeah. We can roast some carrots. I'll do that now. Okay. So boys, so far you've lost wild garlic sauce, cavalina, a deep fryer, and some spoons. And in about 10 seconds, you're going to lose something else. How is time flying? 5 4 3 2 1 Please be nice. Please be Onions. Um. Uh. Yeah. Oh, I would have liked onions. Yeah, I have plans for onions. These are mine now. We've only got a minute until we get sabotaged again. Are you joking? I hate this thing. I mean, to recreate a disaster scenario.
This is the most unluckiest kitchen in the world. Mike, we've all witnessed you have some big kitchen disasters. I'm not great in pivoting when something does go wrong. Um, so I've had some shockers. A lot of them have been shoe bun related because that is trying to attempt something. Five, four, three, not qualified to know about yet. Oh, low quality in, but you can have the rest of them. Fine. Did you put honey in this? Uh, yes, I did. But are you okay? Like, some of that has browned. It's Yeah, it's charred, but I think it would taste nice. I don't think it's burnt.
What's been the biggest setback so far? Is it sauce pins or spoons? So far, we've got alternatives for everything. Spoons. Spoons are a little bit annoying. Knives would be a disaster for me. Holes in them. Well, let's see what happens. Knives will be an absolute disaster. Oh, no. Three, two, one. The Tokyo turnips. Oh, they're already used. They're in a bowl currently. They've got stuff on them. They've got I'm going to have this one. And then I love that blood orange.
Off you pop. NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT. That's fully in use. Right. We're going to have to find something else for that pickles. What should we do? Pickled mushrooms. Pear. Yeah. And pickled mushrooms. Pickled pear. Okay, fine. I don't know if mushrooms go, do they? No, I was just No, probably not. You're right. Where's that peeler gone? You can pick on mushrooms. No, I don't want it. I know. No, I think you should. I think you should pick on mushrooms. No, that is a sympathy pickle. I don't want one.
I've never heard you sound so upset. No, I wasn't upset. I You were I just tried to contribute and it wasn't the right thing to say. So again, finely sliced pear. Yeah, same. Boys, you are halfway through your time. You have 20 minutes left. That was fine. When's the next sabotage? 1 minute. This was a long. They're delicious. I tried one. Oh, they're really ripe. Let's not make a pickle with that. Let's just put that straight in there. That needs that.
Okay. What? As it is, I think. As it is. 5 4 3 2 1 Readio. Oh no. James. Yeah. On the It's already used. It's used. We need to get things into dishes that can't be taken away. Oh, we are running out. Everything I'm trying to pickle is not being pickled. Are we going to choose mushrooms? Uh, this is what I meant to pickle. Oh, not just normal pear. We've got two different types of pears. Oh my gosh. So, that should be a lot less sweet, a lot hardier. So, this is an Asian pear.
Yeah. If this gets taken away, I'll just be devastated. Everything that I've done 30 seconds has been removed. Put it straight into that and we'll start cooking it. Oh, no. That's mush. No, that's mush. Meanwhile, five, four, three, two, one, potatoes. That's it. That's okay. We're okay with that. We're okay. This has turned into a game of cat mouths. Well, no. It's I feel like this has turned into a game of great, we've just bought ourselves the next amount of time for thinking.
We're running out of brilliance a little bit. My goodness, James. I've done nothing for this dish. You've made lots of things that could be pickled. Jesus. If I get this pickle on the plate, it will be a Honestly, it'll be one of the most triumphant moments of my life. Right. Oh, you've got your pickling liquor there. Right. That's it. You can't have that. Oh, rose petals. Lovely. There's so many ingredients in that pan. It would be dangerous. 30 seconds. Dangerous to take it out.
Um, I need a spoon. It's nonstick. And I've got a fork. Yeah, I know. Five, four, three, two. Oh, oyster mushrooms. Oh, I can't pickle them. You can't pickle them. I'm not allowed to pickle those anyway. That's fine. Not in keeping with what we're trying to do here. That is fine. This restaurant. We've still got some protein left. I know it's chicken. Oh, we do have quite a lot of protein. Chickeny thing. Right. This is going well.
What should we do with this? Should we do like a harissa chicken thing? Yes. Another harissa chicken thing. Four, three, two, one. Tomatoes. That's fine. They've been used. You can't touch those. Stay the away from those. We're getting to the point where James will actually punch you. I just think I might be able to pick them out. No, you won't. I can lick the sesame seeds off them and spit the sesame seeds back.
Go back to your plinth. Get away from me. Oh, a nice quick one. 35 seconds. Oh no. Should I butterfly this and pan fry it? James, I don't think you should ask me what to do with it. You should do what you want to do with it. I will do that. But make sure you've got a dish in mind. I think we're going to need to do it now. This takes away blenders. Hobs. Yes. Hobs are gone. Who said that? You right. Well, chicken's going to get roasted or grilled. Fried. No, we don't have a fryer. So, because of new developments and no hobbs, I'm cutting this into thin strips so it cooks
quicker. Then I'm going to toss it through rose harissa. How are the lack of hobs going to affect you? Well, luckily we did front load the cooking quite a lot. So, I think we're okay. I think we're we're this feels like we're adapting pretty well. 10 minutes to go. You haven't had any issues. Is there a pickle, though? Uh, yeah, there is a pickle now. There's a pickle. So, we got chutney, which James is about to blend up. I've marinated coated chopped chicken breast in harissa with some seasoning. And now I'm going to grill that.
I'm plating, Mike. You're plating. What do you think? We've only got 10 minutes left. 9 minutes of cooking time left. 30 seconds until your next sabotage. Going to add some um almonds to the grilled chicken. Yes. They've already been toasted. Spoon for plating. One Asian pear. Used it. Used it, mate. See you later. Use it. Blend it. Try and get that out. Mate, this is brilliant. You've done so much. I tried to make a pickle three times. That was unfortunate.
James, what goes through your head every time something gets removed? That's okay. That's That's okay. Be No. Putting almond flakes was a bad idea, James, cuz they are burnt. You can pick them out. I'm going to have to pick them out. And also, I've ruined that tray. Don't panic. Stay calm and go again. How long have we got overall? 5 minutes. Cooking time. 10 seconds until your next sabotage. Okay. 5 4 3 2 1 Beeftock. Beeftock wasn't being used. That wasn't part of the plan. Great. Yeah. I mean, chicken on this would be nice, I think.
Probably. Boys, it's coming together nicely. Yeah, it's coming together very nicely. It's not felt easy, I'll be honest. But it has felt pivotable. All everything has felt pivotable. Don't go. These have already been toasted. Three, two, one. Oh, okay. Five. We're in that zone where we're pretty much done. Boys, you have 1 minute left and you're going to have a sabotage in 40 seconds. Wait, we need to play sliders. Yeah, plate sliders. Okay, these look great.
Uh, chat me. Three, two, one. You're not listening. Oh, right. Basil. It's fine. Basil. It's just getting rid of stupid ingredients now. Been used with silly monkey. 9 8 7 6 for the final time. 5 4 3 2 1. Step away from your dishes. Oh, I kind of wanted to make that look prettier. Uh, I think we navigated that well enough. It looks great job. Pretty good, right? Great job. Well, the dishes look good and you seem to get on well, but we won't find out what the impact of all of those changes had until we taste them.
It looks good. And I've tasted individual elements. It's going to taste delicious. And we're not allowed spoons, so it's for Get your hands off the hob as well. Oh, sorry. Was one of the restrictions um seasoning? You little But you're right. I strongly agree. I didn't put any salt in that. The flavors are very nice, but it could use a bit of salt. Sorry. I would love to see what it actually tastes like. Yeah. Can we cut all that? This isn't m Oh, now that's delicious.
I did that cuz it's a lesson for Mike as his mentor as one. You purposfully didn't season it to see if he would I season my chicken. Feels like a very complete dish. Now it's been seasoned, mate. It's fantastic. And I You did this. It's really simple as well. It's just like beans with their water. Harissa and Yeah. two bean salad. Very nice. It's not salad. Tomato salad. What's this? Blood orange, tomato, sesame. Super simple. Bit olive oil. bit basil.
I hope there's some salt. I hope there's not any basil in there. It was used. It was in there before you took it away. That's delicious. That is really familiar yet also different with the blood orange. It's just really fresh. Yeah. I love the fact that it tastes of blood orange and tomato. It's obvious, but nothing's masking that. And it actually sings. That is great. The olive oil, I think, makes a massive difference there. What's this, James? uh charred and roasted carrots with uh yogurt, bit of honey. Um put some of the pickle on there and some just raw shallots.
What did you eventually pickle? I don't know. I tried I think four times to pickle stuff. Um in the end it was Asian pear and I'm really glad because wow, it would have been less good if it was anything else. That's lovely though. Both of those and that without the chicken feel like they could have come straight from the Hero Veg cookbook. Who wrote that? So true. I tell you what though, you probably find something pretty close to that. As a complete dish that has everything cuz you've got sweetness, but you've got charred sweetness. You've got acidity from pickle, but also the tang of the
yogurt. And then you've got sweet honey and crunch hitting every single bit of your tongue. And I think that's the most balanced thing so far. I like that. That's everything. Yeah. These have our not apricot chutney, rose petals, lamb, and more of a more of the pickle. Cheers. M. Yeah, great job. It's worth spending some time on that. I did a lot of chopping. You make it flavor. We originally thought Italian because there was some really nice cheeses there and some lovely fresh basil and things
like that. I'm thinking, do we go chicken based bacon pasta something? And then we're like, actually, there's lamb. Could we pivot to sort of North African, Middle Eastern type flavors? I'm really, really glad we did cuz that's fantastic. I think it definitely helps to have a range of dishes as well because every time something goes wrong, if you've got one dish that you're aiming for, you've lost everything. Kind of bad times. I thought that was a really clever way to start tasting all four of those dishes. I can't taste the sabotage.
Yeah. Directly, indirectly, are there things that have happened throughout that you wish had gone differently? I think like you picked up on like seasoning, slightly crunchier carrots than I might have liked. Like there's just a lot going on. Yeah. Lot to think about and process and then pivoting. Yeah. And then that I would have preferred the plate to look different. It was a bit plain. What I loved about it though is that it forced me to go that was the plan. Can we do that still with other things? Yes, we can. That still works. And that's the thing and it happens at home all the time. you go, I'm going to make a pickle and you go to get the veg out of the fridge and it's gone off.
Having those things in the back of your brain where you can go, okay, well, I don't need to do that. I could do it with that instead. Yeah, I saw two knobheads on YouTube uh do this uh on a really stupid challenge. I'll do that. Well, how did you think these two knobheads got on? Comment down below. Let us know. And if you like the video, give it a like. We're aiming for 15,000 likes on every video. James is streaking and me.
Both of us together. I just presented myself and that's just going to look weird on camera now.
