Barefoot Contessa (2002–…): Season 19, Episode 9 - Cooking with Michael Symon - full transcript

I'm the Barefoot Contessa,

and I'm planning
a birthday surprise

for a dear friend.

It's a dinner
with all the things she loves --

a fabulous Italian Seafood Salad

and a towering pile of delicious
German chocolate cupcakes

with amazing coconut frosting,
complete with birthday candles.

I'm getting a wonderful
cheese board in a gift box

to complete the menu,

and my friend Michael,
the florist --

He's doing some amazing flowers.



Here's the twist --
We're going undercover.

We're taking it to her place,
so dinner's ready for the family

when she gets back
from her day out.

No one needs to cook
on their birthday, right?

-- Captions by VITAC --

Closed Captions provided by
Scripps Networks, LLC.

My friend Dwyer loves seafood,

and I thought, "I'm gonna make
an Italian Seafood Salad."

This is no ordinary
seafood salad.

Instead of mayonnaise,
like American seafood salads,

this has lemon and garlic
and it's just gorgeous.

So, the first thing
that I need to do

is poach the seafood.

So, I've got 3 quarts of water,



and I'm just gonna
put in 1 tablespoon

of seafood seasoning.

1 tablespoon of salt.

This actually helps the seafood
get a lot of flavor

while it's cooking
because it cooks really fast.

So, here's what I've got.

I've got shrimp, mussels,

scallops, and calamari,

and because each of them
cooks slightly differently,

I'm gonna cook them in batches.

First, the shrimp.

So, I have 1 1/2 pounds
of shrimp,

and what I did
was I asked the seafood shop

to clean them,
but to leave the tails on.

I just think
it looks more special.

So, into the water,

and those are gonna cook
for just three minutes.

Next is sea scallops.

What I'm gonna do is cut the
sea scallops in half crosswise.

I'll show you how I do it.

If you use bay scallops,

you can just put them in
without cutting them.

These are
beautiful sea scallops.

You can really put any kind
of seafood in a seafood salad

that you like,

but I just think
this is a perfect combination.

When Jeffrey and I go to Milan,
they have --

Every store has a seafood salad
like this,

which is why I'm calling it
Italian Seafood Salad.

It looks so fresh

and it just looks
like it's gonna be delicious.

I have about a pound
of sea scallops.

Okay, the shrimp should be done,
and this is a great tool.

It's a skimmer.

It's great for taking seafood
out of a pot of boiling water.

And see, the shrimp
are nice and pink and perfect.

Okay, I'm gonna
put them in a big bowl,

and I've actually
used a strainer

'cause I want them to drain.

They're gonna have great flavor

because of the seafood seasoning
and the salt.

I'm gonna drain off
all but about 2 cups
of the seafood stock.

Then I'm gonna add some wine
and cook more seafood.

That should be about 2 cups.

Okay, next I need 1 1/2 cups
of white wine.

I'm just gonna mix it with
the 2 cups of seafood stock,

and this is gonna give it
lots of flavor.

Okay.
I use a Pinot Grigio.

I'm just gonna
put in the scallops.

Remember that's 1 pound
of scallops.

And then because the calamari
cooks exactly the same time,

I'm gonna put that in together
with the scallops.

So, I've got 1 pound
of cleaned calamari,

and I actually
asked the seafood shop

to cut it about 1/2 inch thick
just like that.

I'm gonna put it in
with the scallops,

and they cook for 2 to 3 minutes

just until the calamari
and scallops are just done.

You really don't want
to overcook them,

'cause seafood gets very tough.

This is a great salad for Dwyer,

because it can be eaten cold
or at room temperature.

It'll be ready whenever
she wants to have dinner.

This surprise
is really a team effort.

Michael's gonna do the flowers.
I'm gonna do the food.

This is great.

So I think these are done,

so I'm just gonna
put it right into the bowl

with the shrimp

and let it drain.

The reason
why I'm letting it drain

is because
when I put the vinaigrette on,

I don't want it to get mixed
with a lot of liquid.

I want it to be really absorbed
into the seafood.

So, the last thing
I'm putting in is mussels,

and fortunately, my seafood shop
has cleaned mussels,

but if they're not cleaned,

you want to take off
those little beards,

and you want to soak them
in a big bowl of water,

a little bit of flour,

and what they do is disgorge
any sand that's in them

for, you know,
like a half an hour or so.

But happily, these are clean.

So, I'm just gonna put in
2 pounds of mussels.

So, lid on, and they're gonna
steam for about 4 to 5 minutes.

They're gonna be open
and gorgeous,

and in the meantime,
I'm gonna make the dressing.

I've got 1/2 cup of olive oil
that I've heated a little bit.

You don't want it too hot
'cause I'm putting garlic in,

and it'll burn really fast.

So, 4 cloves of garlic --

It's about 4 teaspoons --

and just put it in
really quickly,

just for about a minute.

Just swirl it around.

Then I'm gonna add
lots of other flavors.

Mmm. Does that smell good.

So, the next ingredients --

2 teaspoons of dried oregano

brings real Italian flavor
into the salad.

Then 1/2 teaspoon
of crushed red-pepper flakes

give it a little heat,

and they cook for just a minute.

Again, be sure
not to overcook this

'cause the garlic
will be bitter,

and you want it really fragrant.

Okay, next the tomatoes.

These are three plum tomatoes
that I de-seeded,

removed the pulp,
and then diced.

When they've cooked
for about 2 minutes,

I'm gonna add 1/2 cup
of the poaching liquid

from the seafood pot.

The next ingredient in
the dressing is a surprise one.

It's limoncello.

Just 1/3 cup of limoncello.

It's an Italian liqueur.

Then the zest of a lemon,

1/4 cup of freshly squeezed
lemon juice,

1 tablespoon of salt,
and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

Mmm. Dressing's done.

It smells amazing.

This is gonna be
a really fun surprise party,

and I'm sure she has no idea.

Next, I'm finishing
the Italian Seafood Salad.

I'm baking some delicious German
chocolate cupcakes for Dwyer.

There's an entire cheese course
in a gift box to pick up,

and Michael's saying
"happy birthday" with flowers.

It's my friend Dwyer's birthday,
and I thought,

"What does everyone want
for their birthday?"

They want to not make dinner
for their family.

Dwyer's in the city,
and when she gets back,

dinner's gonna be waiting
for her in their fridge

for her family.

She's gonna love it.

So, the first thing
that I'm making

is an Italian Seafood Salad,

which is seafood salad
with the volume turned up.

The mussels have cooked
and they've cooled,

and I'm just taking them
right out of their shells.

I'll show you
the easiest way to do it

is take one shell
that you've peeled off

and use it to take the mussel
out of the other shell.

How cool is that?

Okay.
Time to assemble the salad.

I've drained the seafood

so it doesn't
dilute the dressing.

And now the dressing.

All those great flavors --
garlic and lemon.

I'm gonna pour it
right over the seafood.

You want the seafood
a little warm

and you want the dressing
a little warm

so they absorb really well.

I'm just gonna give it
a big stir

just to meld all the scallops
and shrimp and calamari.

Mmm. It's very Italian.

It smells so good.

Next I have fennel,

and I think I'll use
this whole fennel bulb.

This is gonna be one big salad.

They're gonna be eating it
for days.

Okay, next is parsley,

but instead of chopping it up
really finely,

what I like to do
is take Italian parsley --

Of course,
it's an Italian salad --

and just pull the leaves off.

and I've got here

about 1/2 cup
of Italian parsley leaves.

I think it looks fantastic
in the salad,

so right into the salad.

Next is 2 lemons.

I'm gonna slice one, and
I'm gonna juice the other one.

I think it's really nice when
you have lemon in the salad --

actually,
to make it look like lemon,

and then when somebody
looks at the salad,

they know it's lemon,

which is really important.

What the salad looks like

has a lot to do
with what it tastes like.

And the next lemon,
I'm just gonna squeeze into it.

It'll just give it
a really fresh lemon flavor.

I use a little sieve,

'cause nobody wants
to bite into a lemon seed.

Thing about putting lemon
in at the last minute is

you really get a fresh
lemon flavor to it.

Okay.

Next is all the shelled mussels
that I have,

and remember,
I'm putting them in at the end

'cause they're really delicate.

I don't want them
to get mushed up.

And then I have
one more thing to put in.

I've held back some
of the mussels in the shells

just because
I think it looks so great

to have just a few mussel shells
in the salad.

Mussels are so small
they actually kind of get lost,

not in flavor,
but in the look of them.

You just want to know
exactly what you're eating.

And finally,
just 2 teaspoons of salt --

Make sure
it's really well-seasoned --

and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

And the nice thing
about this salad

is it's gonna get even better

as it sits
in Dwyer's refrigerator.

It's fantastic.

Wow.
Look how gorgeous this looks.

It's so much fun

to do a stealth mission
with a friend.

So, Michael's in his shop
right now,

doing I have no idea what,

but gorgeous arrangements,
I'm sure.

Dwyer has no idea
what Ina and I are up to.

So, I thought two arrangements.

The first one,
right by the door,

and I'm going to use
quince and Viburnum.

First step is to cut and scrape.

It's good to scrape
any woody stem.

This allows water
to get to the head,

which will make the flower
last longer.

This is a tall,
dramatic arrangement.

The quince adds height.
It's great.

The Viburnum
kind of softens the edge

and brings some color
down to the bottom.

It's a really simple
and formal arrangement.

So, the front-hall
arrangement's done.

I think when she walks in,
she's gonna know something's up.

Okay, into a big bowl,

ready to take over
to Dwyer's later.

I'm just gonna
pour the whole thing in.

Look how gorgeous this looks.

You need a really big bowl.

Okay. Into the fridge.

And I'm going shopping

for another birthday present
for Dwyer

that's gonna be so perfect
with this dinner.

I'm headed to Sag Harbor
right now to Cavaniola's.

I've ordered a gift basket
for her for her birthday.

You have to have a present.

And this one's
gonna do double duty

as the cheese course
for her dinner.

How fun is that?

Tracy Cavaniola
packs up these amazing gifts,

and I asked her to pull together
a cheese board in a box.

Three cheeses always seems
like the right number.

First,
a whole wheel of Le Tremblay.

It's a soft, buttery cheese,
just like Brie.

Then something different,
maybe a blue cheese,

something sharp and strong,
like Stilton,

and third, a goat cheese.

It's rich. It's creamy.
It's tangy.

It's a great combination.

Then some colorful fruit.

I always think cheese and
crackers are a little boring

because they're white,
they're brown,

nothing with great color.

So I always like to put in

fruit, dried fruit, nuts,
maybe dried apricots.

And finally, some rustic
rosemary, olive oil crackers.

I love the way
they pack up the boxes --

everything
wrapped in craft paper,

tied up with twine
and fresh herbs.

It makes it so special.

Hi, Ina.
Hi, Tracy.

I have that gift basket
ready for you.

You make the most gorgeous
gift baskets. Wow.
Thank you.

Isn't this fabulous?

Dwyer's gonna love this.

Thank you so much,
Tracy.
You're welcome.

Next I'm baking,
for the birthday,

fabulous
German chocolate cupcakes

with incredible caramel
and coconut frosting.

Michael's got
the birthday flowers covered,

and then it's time
for a little covert action.

It's my friend Dwyer's birthday,

and I'm surprising her
with dinner.

You can't have a birthday dinner
without a birthday cake,

but I thought, "Wouldn't it be
more fun to have cupcakes?"

So, I'm making
German chocolate cupcakes.

So, I've creamed the butter
and sugar.

Let me tell you what's in here.

It's 12 tablespoons
of unsalted butter

at room temperature --
It's really important --

with 2/3 cup
of granulated sugar

and the same amount of light
brown sugar lightly packed.

Next is 2 eggs.

They should be
at room temperature,

and I always do it into a bowl
just in case you get a bad egg.

You don't want
to ruin the whole mixture.

Okay.

And then just add the eggs
one at a time,

just to allow it
to mix in really well.

Perfect.

Next the vanilla --
2 teaspoons.

So, German chocolate cake

is a very rich,
flavorful chocolate cupcake,

and it has a topping

that's caramel and coconut
and almonds.

Okay, next
is the wet and dry ingredients.

I'm gonna add them alternately.
First, the wet ingredients.

Let me show you how I made it.

It's a cup
of room-temperature buttermilk

with 1/2 cup of sour cream,
also at room temperature,

whisked together

with 2 tablespoons
of freshly brewed coffee.

And then the dry ingredients.

And do a third at a time
just like the wet ingredients.

So, let me tell you
what's in this bowl.

Now, this is just 1 3/4 cups
of all-purpose flour,

sifted together with a cup
of unsweetened cocoa powder,

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda,

and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Okay, next
a third of the wet ingredients.

Remember, this is buttermilk
and sour cream

and a little bit of coffee.

And the coffee's gonna make
the chocolate taste wonderful.

And then a third
of the dry ingredients.

I can't wait to bring these over
to my friend Dwyer's house.

She's gonna be so surprised --

and particularly that Michael's
there doing the flowers.

Now, who wouldn't want that
for their birthday?

And the last of the dry.

I do this in thirds

because if you put
all the wet ingredients

or all the dry ingredients
in first,

you end up
with a really dense mixture,

and I want these
to be light and moist.

Okay, and then the last thing

is just mix it all
with a spatula,

just to make sure the bottom
is really well-mixed.

Now, how good does this look?

Wow. It smells fantastic.

The coffee really makes
the chocolate smell good.

It's gonna taste good, too.

Okay, just a big mix.

You want every single cupcake

to have exactly
the same ingredients in it.

Okay, this is perfect.

Now I'm gonna
scoop the cupcakes,

and the easiest way

to make every cupcake
exactly the same --

ice-cream scoop.

Ina's making cupcakes.

She's setting them up
in the kitchen,

so I thought
the second birthday arrangement

should go next to them.

I'm using three flowers --

white tulips, lilac,
and Forsythia.

So, into the oven, 350
degrees, for 20 to 25 minutes,

and the house is gonna smell
like chocolate.

And the last is the lilac,
which I've cut a little shorter,

and it's going to fill in
the rest of the arrangement.

So, the best part
of German chocolate cupcakes

is the frosting.

It's a caramel frosting,

and it's just filled

with coconut, pecans,
and almonds.

First, I'm gonna make
the caramel.

So, I start
with 12 tablespoons of butter.

Okay, you can't make frosting
without butter.

1 1/4 cups of brown sugar.

I use light brown sugar.

So, I'm gonna melt the butter

and then just cook the sugar
and the butter together

for about 15 minutes.

It's gonna make
a really good caramel base.

You know, I think people think
that German chocolate cupcakes,

or German chocolate cake,
is actually a German thing,

but in fact,
it was originally invented

to be used
with German-brand chocolate.

So, it's an American thing.

Who knew?

Okay, next is 12 ounces
of evaporated milk.

Just pour it right in.

Just be sure you don't get
sweet and condensed milk.

They look the same,
but they're totally different.

And four egg yolks.

Just pour them right in.

And I'm gonna cook this together
for about 15 minutes,

and it's gonna be a caramel base
for the cupcake frosting.

So, just stir this constantly,
almost constantly,

for about 15 minutes
until it's slightly thickened.

If it starts to curdle,
don't worry about it.

Just get a whisk
and whisk it hard,

and it's gonna be
a delicious caramel base

for the cupcake frosting.

I can't wait.

Next, I'm finishing the frosting

and piling it high
onto the cupcakes.

Then it's time
to head to Dwyer's

to drop off the food
and the flowers,

ready for her big
birthday surprise.

It's my friend Dwyer's birthday,

and what I'm doing
is surprising her

with dinner for her family.

Can't have a birthday
without cupcakes,

so I made
German chocolate cupcakes.

The cupcakes are done.

Now I have to finish
the frosting.

So, the frosting
for German chocolate cupcakes

starts with caramel,

and that's exactly
what I have here.

It's been cooking
for about 15 minutes.

So, off the heat.

I'm gonna add
a few delicious things to it.

First, vanilla --
teaspoon of good vanilla.

My favorite flavor.

And I add a little bit
of almond extract

because it really
enhances the almonds

that I'm gonna put in later --
about 1/2 teaspoon.

Next
the sweetened flaked coconut.

It's about 2 cups.

Mmm.

And some toasted almonds.

I've about a cup of almonds
that I toasted --

about 375
for about 5 to 10 minutes --

until they're nice and browned,
just lightly browned.

You want to keep an eye on them.

That's about a cup.

I'm just gonna put them
right in.

So, these are really chunky.

They've got lots of texture
with the caramel base

and lots of nuts and coconut.

And next is pecans --
about a cup of pecans

or, if you say, pe-cans.

And just give them
a big, rough chop.

You don't want little, tiny,
little pieces.

You really want
to see the pecans in it.

So, I have a partner in crime
in this surprise.

My friend Michael is a florist,

and he's gonna do
incredible flowers.

I don't know what he's up to,

but he's headed over there
just about now.

I'm in.

I feel like
the undercover florist.

I'm just gonna fix these.

Now, onto the kitchen flowers.

Pecans are all chopped up,

and they just go
right into the cupcake frosting.

And I put a little --
just a touch of salt,

maybe like 1/4 teaspoon in,

just makes everything
taste better.

And just stir that all together,

and I'm gonna let this sit
for a little while,

and it's gonna get really thick
and delicious,

and then I can frost
the cupcakes when they're cool.

Now, I ask you,
does that look terrible?

So, now it's time
for the kitchen arrangement.

I just need to cut these stems

before putting them
back in water.

Secret flower arranging is fun.

So, the cupcakes have cooled,
and the frosting has cooled.

Just frost the top,

and since I think cupcakes
are a frosting-delivery system,

you want to make sure
you put lots on.

Doesn't this look fantastic?

I love the contrast of colors
and flavors --

the chocolate with caramel,
pecans, coconut.

Ooh, this looks crazy good.

I'm just gonna pack them up,
and I'm ready to go.

You think we should have
a new career in the CIA?
Yes.

I can't believe
we got in and out of there

with nobody knowing.

Think
she'll be surprised?

I think so.
I think so, too.

That was so much fun.

Oh, my gosh.

These are beautiful.

Who knew
it was my birthday?

Oh, my gosh.

Look at these flowers

and these cupcakes
with candles.

Oh, my gosh.

Look at this.

"Happy birthday, Dwyer.
Love, Ina and Michael."

This is so beautiful.

This is so typical
Ina and Michael.

Hmm, an e-mail from Dwyer.

Thank you, Ina.

Thank you so much for thinking
of me on my birthday.

This is absolutely beautiful.
Thank you.

Happy birthday, Dwyer.