Giada at Home (2008–…): Season 1, Episode 21 - Art House - full transcript

Okay, so I wanna know
which one of these is
your favorite.

There's nothing I like more
than introducing my friends
to some cool art.

And my husband Todd and i
have a very close friend
named Darren

who is truly an amazing artist.

We decided to transform
this room into an art gallery

and invite a few friends over
to come check it out.

So I'm making some simple
and colorful appetizers that

will be perfect for
this art show.

Skewered Greek salad,

kalamata olives and feta cheese

along with a tasty vinaigrette
that really brings all
the flavors to life.



Italian fried olives.

It's all about
the cheesy surprise inside.

And finally, my sauteed shrimp
cocktail.

Jumbo, juicy shrimp
paired with a cocktail sauce

that's unexpectedly sweet
and delicious.

I think everyone will love
the food and the art.

And when you get to know Darren
you'll see why

he's such an inspiration
to so many people.

I want it!

That's not for sale
'cause that one's actually mine.

Oh, is it?

I'm really excited about
this art house party.

I think we're gonna have
lots of fun.

And so I'm gonna start with
the vinaigrette for



my skewered Greek salad.

I'm gonna do 2 teaspoons
of lemon juice.

And then we're gonna add
some red wine vinegar.

I think this is gonna be
really great 'cause
it's finger food,

and I want people
to be comfortable
as they're walking around

and looking at the artwork

and nibbling at the same time.

So you wanna make it really easy
on them,

and easy to eat.

All right, so we've got
our 2 teaspoons of lemon.

Now I need...

My red wine vinegar.

So in a traditional
vinaigrette for Greek salad,

I have some red wine vinegar
and some lemon juice.

And it's equal parts of both.

There we go, good enough.

Now some oregano,

and a lot of times you'll se
that Greek salads have
dried oregano,

but I thought it'd be really
nice on these skewers to have
some fresh oregano.

Just chop up the fresh oregano,
about 2 teaspoons also.

And oregano is, of course,
a very classic part of
Greek salad.

And what's nice about this
art show, too,

it's kind of like
a cocktail party,

'cause everything is really
easy to eat.

You start with the foods that
are basically no-cook first.

So no-cook foods first.

And then get going on
the things that need
to be cooked,

so that they're ready to eat
right when your guests get here.

'Cause these skewers can
kinda sit and wait.

So a little salt,
a little pepper,

and a couple tablespoons of
extra virgin olive oil.

Make it really yummy.

You just need a little bit
to drizzle over the skewers.

And we'll drizzle
the vinaigrette right before
I'm ready to serve the skewers.

There we go.

Super-easy, right?
And quick.

Now what I need to do...

Is get my assembly line ready.

So I just want to clean off
the counters a bit.

So we'll start with
cherry tomatoes,

which I've already washed.

Now I need to get feta cheese.

And some kalamata olives.

The kalamata olives are
already pitted

and they're nice and juicy
and really rich,

so it's perfect for this.

And also, some feta cheese.

And the feta cheese being
a traditional ingredient
in Greek salad.

It's a nice pressed cheese,
so it'll hold up really nicely.

So what you wanna do is
leave it in the fridge

so it's nice and cold
until right before you cut it.

So just want to cut
1/2-inch cubes.

Not too big, 'cause you want
people to be able to put it
in their mouth.

And then cut it again,
and see how it sticks together

and stays really well?

That's what you want.

And that's why I love
the feta cheese for this.

And that's why it works
on skewers.

Just move that up here,
wipe our board down here,

just clean up.

Now something crunchy
and sweet, red onion.

I like it, it's classic,
it looks great,

and it tastes yummy.

We only need half of
a red onion.

There we go.

And I just cut the sides off,
just like this.

And you're gonna peel
the red onion,

and then just cut it
in little cubes

so it kinda matches
the feta cheese.

And you know, Darren's artwork
is so special to us,

Todd's known Darren
for a long time.

And he's created some
really fun things.

He's had some hardships
in his life,

and his artwork has really
pulled him through

and it's so fun, and creative,
and colorful.

And also, I think represents
where he lives,

'cause he lives in Hawaii,
and I just love it so much.

And every time I walk by
one of his paintings,
i just want to smile.

That's how happy it makes me.

So I'm very excited that
he's created some new pieces
for the show.

All right, so we've got
everything ready to go.

Now I'll grab my skewers.

So this is what I like to do.

I like to buy 6-inch skewers,
just like this.

Because for a cocktail party
you don't want something
too long.

And I start with
a cherry tomato first.

So cherry tomato.

Then a kalamata olive.

And I skewer the olive this way
so that it sticks.

And it kinda stays
and it doesn't fall apart.

Like that.

Then a piece of the feta cheese.

Lengthwise.

And a piece of the red onion.

And then I end it with
another cherry tomato.

I want to do that
so it holds everything together.

And how cute is that?

Is that not really pretty?

Put that down
and we'll put it on a beautiful
little platter that

looks like a little art palette.

And I grab another one,
cherry tomato first.

And then kalamata olive.

The other great thing
about doing an art party is that

not only do you get to showcase
your favorite artist's work,

but you don't have to put
new holes all over your walls,

you can kinda just use
chairs and tables,
whatever it is,

and display the art
and make it really fun.

Finish it off with
a cherry tomato.

All right, I'm gonna finish
skewering the rest of these

and then I'm gonna get started
on something that

I think is really cool
and yummy.

And it has a little surprise
inside.

My fried olives.

Bite into one of these
and you'll know why it's
impossible to eat just one.

Darren's been a close friend
for a long time.

He had a car accident
about 20 years ago

and he became a quadriplegic.

He actually has partial movement
of one arm,

so he's able to hold a brush
with two fingers and paint.

And I think that he really has
healed himself through his art.

His work is incredible.

So we decided to turn
our living room into
an art gallery.

I think everyone will love
the food and the art.

I'm just grabbing the last
couple of ingredients

for my stuffed olives.

And I've just about
set myself up here.

So I've already started
heating the oil.

I need it to come to 350.

And my breading station
is almost done too.

I've got my flour
and my bread crumbs,

and now I just need one egg.

So I'm just gonna beat
one egg,

'cause we're gonna go from
the flour to the egg
to the breadcrumbs

to create a really nice
crunchy crust on the olives.

All right, so that's done.

Time to get started on
the filling for the olives.

A bowl and my cheeses.

Now what I've done here is
I've left the cheeses out
at room temperature.

That way they're really easy
to mix together.

I've got some ricotta cheese.

And I'm just gonna use about
1/4 cup of ricotta cheese.

Nice and Fluffy.

And these are really great
because they're really easy
to eat.

Obviously, you just pop them
in your mouth.

And they've got a little
surprise of cheese inside of it

that's really good.

So ricotta cheese
and gorgonzola cheese.

And...
It's nice and creamy.

It's a lot creamier than
most blue cheeses.

So it works really well
in the olives.

Just wrap this baby
right back up.

And we'll mix these two
together.

And see, because the gorgonzola
and the ricotta are
at room temperature,

they mix really, really well.

Mix that together,
and now a little flavoring.

Some dried thyme...

And lemon zest.

I just want to sprinkle
a little bit of dried thyme in.

I like to use the dried thyme
just because it's really good
with the gorgonzola cheese.

And a little bit of
the dried herb goes a long way.

Gives it a nice kick
and flavor.

A lot more flavor than
fresh thyme would.

I can smell that,
nice and lemony.

And lemon zest.

It's the lemon that kind of
brightens up all the flavors
in here.

And you just don't know
how good lemon zest is

until you use it.

And once you start using it,
you become addicted to it.

Perfect.

I'll just mix this all up
together.

And we don't need any salt
because you've got quite a bit
of salt in the olives

and in the gorgonzola cheese.

So just mix this all together,
see how nice and creamy it is?

Perfect.

So I'm just gonna open up
the olives.

And I've got green olives that
have already been pitted.

And I grab my piping bag,
with a tip.

And it's a plain tip,
and it's about 1/4-inch
in the opening right there.

And if you don't have
a piping bag,

if you just use a resealable
plastic bag,

and just cut off one of
the corners.

Just fill it,
just fill it all up.

There we go.

Get all of the cheese,
the cheesy filling in here.

These are fantastic
as appetizers.

I love them.

They're so easy to make.

You can fill them with
whatever you want.

You can add prosciutto,
salami, any kind of meat,
any kind of cheese.

This is just for me,
the simplest and yummiest.

We'll get rid of this.

And I like to just squeeze
the filling down.

See how easy it is?

Grab an olive.

And I stick the tip right in it

and I fill it up with
the cheesy filling.

Then I drop it in the flour.

There we go,
go ahead and fill it.

Try not to overfill it,
the filling will just come out
when you fry it up.

And the green olives are great
because they're young olives

so they really hold their shape
when you fry them.

All right, I'm gonna finish
filling the rest of my olives

and then I'll get them
all fried up.

So now that the olives are
all stuffed,

I just give a quick little mix
to the olives

'cause I really want them
to get coated in flour,
especially the ends.

I don't want the cheese
to end up in the oil.

I want it to stay in the olive.

Let's grab three at a time here.

And then I just put them
in the egg.

In the beaten egg.

And the egg will help
the bread crumbs stick
to the olives.

So that's why you've gotta
put them in the egg.

Then I just do a quick toss
in the bread crumbs.

It'll give it a nice
crispy crust on those olives,

which is what we want.

Now I didn't want to use
any kind of Italian seasoned
bread crumbs,

only because I don't want
that flavor to compete with
the filling.

I want it to be all about
the olives and the filling.

And then we'll just put them
in the oil, one at a time.

Shake off any of the extra
bread crumbs.

The oil should be at 350.

There we go.

Just fry them up.

And they only take about
30 to 45 seconds.

So it's really quick.

That's why you've gotta
set yourself up

and everything's gotta be ready.

There we go.

So now...

I like to just turn them around
a little bit

and they fry really quick,
so you've gotta keep an eye
on them.

You cannot walk out of the room.

There we go, this one's done.

Nice and golden brown.

And these two...
Look at that.

What a beautiful crust that is.

All right, I'm gonna finish
frying up the rest of my olives.

And then I'm gonna get started
on the last dish

for this art house party.

It's an eclectic spin on
a classic shrimp cocktail.

Everybody's always asking me
when they come over

about who the artist is of
all the artwork that's in
our house.

And Todd and I are always
so happy to share with them
the story of Darren

and what he does.

Because it really is
such a miracle that
he can create such art

and make people so happy
through it.

So we decided to turn
our living room into
an art gallery.

Most people love
shrimp cocktail,

but I have a whole new twist
I'm gonna add to it.

I'm gonna grab some yogurt
and some mayonnaise.

I know, you don't usually find
yogurt and mayonnaise
in shrimp cocktail,

but I'm telling you,
this is gonna be really,
really good.

So I'm gonna start with
a little bit of plain yogurt.

And add about 1 1/4 cups
of yogurt into here.

Then a little bit of mayonnaise
to thicken it up.

You need that mayonnaise.

Get it nice and thick,

so that way, when you dip
the shrimp in it,

it has a nice consistency
to it.

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

And I wanna add
some dijon mustard.

Whole grain dijon mustard.

And some maple syrup.

I know it sounds
kind of strange,

but the maple syrup is
really good.

It makes it slightly sweet,

which is perfect.

Grab some more spoons here.

And we'll do 2 tablespoons of
whole grain dijon mustard.

And I like the whole grain
because I like the texture
in it.

It has a lot more flavor.

And maple syrup.

1 1/2 tablespoons of
maple syrup.

Nice and sweet and thick.

I mean, I know you've never
heard of cocktail sauce
having maple syrup in it,

but my version does.

We're creating something
with a little bit of a twist.

And...
A little bit of turmeric.

And I don't usually use
turmeric,

so again, this is a little bit
of a departure for me,

but really good.

Just add a teaspoon of
turmeric.

And it adds a beautiful color,
a slightly smoky flavor,

and nice yellow hue.

So it adds lots of color.

And you know, Darren's artwork
is so colorful

and so beautiful.

And I thought, you know,
i want the food to kind of
represent that.

And immediately you can see it
turning this golden,
like sunset color.

And now I wanna chop up
some fresh basil.

You want a little bit of
that freshness in there.

So chop that up,
nice, fresh, minty flavor.

It's gonna be really, really
good.

And I hope that everybody
will enjoy this art showing.

And that everybody will love
Darren's work as much as
Todd and I do.

I'm sure they will.

We'll have to call Darren
and let him know

how the whole thing went.

Get that in there.

And give it a quick little stir.

A little bit of salt
and a little bit of pepper,

just to finish it off.

And the color is gorgeous,
look at that.

The yellow with the green
from the basil.

It's very, very yummy.

All right, so now we're done
with the dip.

Easy, right?

We leave that.

And I wanna start on the shrimp.

Add some oil,
a little olive oil,

right into the pan.

And let's grab some shrimp.

Now usually with
shrimp cocktail,

the shrimp are just boiled.

I'm gonna add my own seasonings
and give it some more flavor

by sauteing some shrimp.

So I got some shrimp that
are already peeled and deveined.

But I left the tails on
so people can kinda
pick them up.

So open up the bag
and we're gonna season these.

So let's add herbes de provence,

which is just a mixture of
different herbs.

Rosemary and thyme,
lavender, a little basil.

It'll be really good.

And then some salt
and some pepper.

Very easy, very simple
seasoning.

Then just kinda massage it
into all the shrimp.

This is gonna be nice,
and they're nice, big
jumbo shrimp.

So you dip them in there
and it's really good.

So I just want to put the shrimp
right into the skillet.

And just kinda give them
a little stir

and even them all out
in the pan.

And because they're such
jumbo shrimp,

they're gonna take about
two minutes on each side.

All right, I'm gonna finish
cooking the shrimp,

plating all the food,

and then Todd should be here
soon,

because I want to transform
that living room

into a beautiful art gallery.

And wait until you see
how this menu comes to life.

Three great dishes
in one very colorful setting.

Darren lives in Hawaii,
the heat really helps
his body thrive.

And it really does put
a big smile on his face.

You'll see him sometimes,
it's as if he's being energized
by the sun.

The colors in Hawaii,
the plants, the ocean,
the sunrises, the sunsets,

and I think all of that beauty
really inspires his artwork.

It's vibrant
and it's colorful,

and that's probably why
Todd and I have just
fallen in love with it.

Hey, honey,
how's it going over there?

Good, how's this look on black?

I like it on black.

I was thinking I was gonna
put it on white.

I think it looks on black
'cause the red really pops.

Are you almost ready?

I am, just gotta hang this one
and put that on the chair.

How do these two look together?

Those look great together.

It looks really good.

And you put that one
on black too.

This one's my favorite.
This one over here?

Yeah, Darren would be proud.

Wish he were here.

You wanna open some wine?
Sure.

All right, you open the wine,
i think the food's done.

And we're ready,
we're ready!

Here you go, you guys.

Oh, Suzie's already got
a skewer!

Sandra and Rick?

I might have to have two,
just in case.

You can pile it on,
it's okay, Rick.

They're pretty darn good.

Oh, you already have the olives?

It's like a skewered
Greek salad.

So feta, olives, tomato,
and a little red onion

with an oregano dressing
right over the top.

Oh, that's good.

Yeah, those are really good.

And they're fried,
so...

Can I take another one
while you're still here?
Sure, absolutely.

Hey, you guys, did you take
a look at some of the art?

That one's my favorite.
It's my favorite too.

It's so funny because that
was Todd's favorite too.

I want it, can we buy it?

Everybody's gonna have to
bid for it.

Starting at what?

It's Darren...
Oh, Todd's friend!

We'll have like, an art heist.

All right, you guys eat,
I'm gonna go pass around
some more of these.

I would love another one.

Oh, you like the olives,
you've eaten the olives.

Oh, I love olives,
are you kidding?

She likes this because
it matches her shirt.

It does match your shirt!

Actually, it looks really nice
together.

Here, Rick,
can I hold this for you
before there's an accident?

What's on the shrimp?

You're busy eating.

Um, the shrimp,
i just sauteed it,

it's basically my version of
a shrimp cocktail,

except I sauteed them in
a little herbes de provence.

It's really good.

Okay, so I want to know,
which one of these is
your favorite?

I like that one the best.

You know that everybody
feels the same way about
that one?

Why is that?
It's happy.

The red is very bold
against the black.

It's eye-catching,
it is pretty cool.

Which other one did you like?

I like this one right here
with all the different colors.

I like the green.

That one's not for sale
'cause that one's actually mine.

Oh, is it?

So I want to make a little toast
to Darren.

He couldn't be here.

You guys, do you want to
do a little toast to Darren,

he couldn't be here,
but you know, his art is
so inspirational.

And now I think we can
start some bidding.

Suzie, do you wanna bid,
put the first bid on there?

I'll take that one.

You'll take that one, right,
you don't have to bid on it,
you'll take it.

To Darren!

Thank you for coming!

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