Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - A Friendsgiving - full transcript

What is my show called?
"Burn This House Down?"

What did you call it?

[ Laughing ]

Welcome, friends, to my kitchen.

Just kidding. Okay.

Mm. Those are strong.

Mm. Mm.

When it comes to cooking,
I'm not a fancy person...

We're gonna just do
this very gracefully.

...but I love being
in the kitchen...

So, let's talk biscuits.



So you just scooch them around.

...and a lot of what
I like to cook

are simple meals that
bring people together.

We've got a lot of
people to feed today.

So whatever you're
wanting to make at home...

This is gonna get old if every
time I'm like "Oh, so good."

...just get creative
and have fun with it...

This is the dream bite.

...because at
the end of the day...

You want to help
Mama cook today?

...it's these moments at the
table with family and friends...

Perfect!

...that matter most.

♪♪



I've always liked the comfort
foods that are savory and warm.

There's something about
a delicious, home-cooked meal

that is so good.

Years ago, when we were
filming "Fixer Upper,"

it was a crazy season in our
life and a dear family friend,

Mrs. Gail, offered to help our
family out, and she said,

"Hey, once a week, I want to
bring you guys a warm meal."

And we looked forward to
that, every Tuesday night.

Whatever Mrs. Gail
was bringing, we loved.

So today, I'm gonna
share with you

Mrs. Gail's Parmesan chicken

and her homemade Alfredo sauce
with fettuccini noodles,

and then I'm gonna pair that
with a layered arugula salad

and top it off with tiramisu.

I'm gonna start with dessert,

because this dessert
is one of those things

that's gonna take some
time it and has to set.

So we're gonna start by making
the custard for the tiramisu.

Good morning, stove.

How are we gonna do today?
Are you gonna nice to me today?

Okay.

So, right here, I've
got 2/3 cup of milk,

and I'm gonna let this
just get warm

and then I'm gonna
add the 6 egg yolks in.

And I just want the egg yolks,

because that's
the fattiest part,

and that will help
thicken the custard.

Then I'm gonna add the sugar.

The sugar.

Okay.

You want to whisk it constantly
once you put the eggs in,

because if you let
it sit for too long,

it turns into scrambled eggs.

I kind of think
tiramisu is, like,

the Italian version
of banana pudding.

That's what I tell my kids,
'cause they love banana pudding.

It's kind of a nice,
fluffy dessert

that doesn't feel like
a heavy chocolate cake.

You can have a
bigger portion of it

because it's just, like,
air and coffee and rum.

My triceps are burning,
but that's great,

'cause I didn't have
my morning workout.

Okay, so this is what the
consistency should look like.

You can kind of see
that it's thicker.

Okay.

I'm gonna put this in the bowl.

And the trick here...
You don't want

the custard to form a
layer of skin on the top,

so you want to put
the plastic wrap

directly on top of the custard.

You just kind of press it in,

and you're gonna
stick this in the fridge.

We just need this to
make sure it will cool.

Now, the whipped cream.

And one of the tricks to
making homemade whipped cream

is letting your bowl
sit in the fridge.

It makes the whole process

a little faster when
everything is cool.

Whipped cream is one of
the layers of the tiramisu,

so I'm gonna go ahead
and get this made.

♪♪

I feel like I make
fresh whipped cream

at least two or three
times a week.

I don't know why. I think
it's great for dessert.

The kids love it.

Okay, and I'm gonna add
1 teaspoon of vanilla,

1/4 cup sugar,

and then you're just gonna let
it whip up until peaks form,

and I'll show you
what that looks like.

♪♪

And this is where
I like to multitask...

So as this is whipping,
I'm gonna clean up my mess.

♪♪

Get this ready.

♪♪

There are many a times

where I have over-whipped
the whipped cream

and then just turned
it into butter...

Added a little salt,
stuck it in the fridge

and told the kids it was butter.

They actually loved it.

Okay, so this looks ready.

You know, when
the cameras aren't on,

I actually know
how to use things,

so just look that
way for a second.

Are you joking me?

Okay, there we go.

Just like that.

I'm going to show you
the consistency of this.

You can kind of see
what you're looking for

with homemade whip.

Have a little taste.

Nothing like starting your day
off with fresh whipped cream.

Okay.

So as the custard is cooling,
the whipped cream is finished...

One thing I did do is set
out the mas... mascarpone?

How do you say that?

Mars-ca-pone, right?

Mas-car-pone. Okay.

So I took the mascarpone cheese
out. You need a pound of it.

It actually is
better to work with

when it sits at
room temperature,

so that's gonna sit
on the counter,

and now we're going to
assemble the ladyfingers.

Why is a ladyfinger
called a ladyfinger?

You know why?

'Cause it looks
like a lady's finger.

I thought that was profound.

Now we know.

So, ladyfingers is
Italian sponge cake.

And, you know, I've
done this before where

I slice these down the middle.

It takes some time
and it's very tedious,

so today I'm actually gonna
do two packs of ladyfingers,

so the layers are gonna
be a little thicker.

This is a 9x11 pan,

and you can kind of build
it however you want.

It's like a game of "Tetris."

It doesn't really matter
what direction these go in,

just that it's pretty much
covered at the base.

So a fun fact about tiramisu

is it literally
translates to "pick me up,"

and so this is where
this comes into play.

You've got coffee and
a little bit of rum.

When I'm making the tiramisu
just for the family,

for the kids, I typically
just cut the rum portion out.

But today I'm making
this for you,

so I'm gonna do
2 tablespoons of rum.

So this water is piping hot,

and I'm going to
add instant coffee.

And you got to get the water hot

so that this instant
coffee dissolves in here.

I'm gonna add
2 tablespoons of rum.

That definitely has a kick.

Okay, I do want to taste it.

[ Slurp ]

[ Laughs ] Woo.

Okay. That is some stout rum.

Okay.

The custard is cooled.

[ Drawer rattles ]
Now I'm going to

blend this in with
the mascarpone cheese.

Now, if the cheese didn't
sit out long enough

and there's some lumps, you
can use a handheld mixer,

but this is pretty smooth,

and you can kind of see
how pretty that is.

Can you see me?

Just nice and smooth and rich.

Okay, we are ready
to build tiramisu.

And so the first step is brushing
on the coffee and rum mixture.

This feels like painting.

The next layer is the custard.

Some egg yolks in there.
I like to call this the protein.

And now the whipped cream.

There's not gonna be a shortage

of high-calorie but very
tasty meals on this show.

We're gonna do this
one more time.

Look how pretty this is.
It's like a design.

It's like I'm laying tile.

So, this is one of
those desserts

that I love to
include the kids with,

'cause then it makes them feel
like they're a part of it,

and you can't mess it up.

Then you just spread
this on the top.

And the final bit is just
dusting a little bit

of cocoa powder on the top.

I could do this part all day.

This is where it's like,
"Ahh, you're done."

Okay.

So, I'm gonna stick
this in the fridge

and we are going to get started

on the healthy part
of dinner... salad.

♪♪

GAINES: I did say it was
the healthy part of dinner,

but I did forget that the best
part of the arugula salad

is actually not the arugula,
it's the candied walnuts.

So I'm gonna start by melting
2 tablespoons of butter.

And then once
the butter's melted,

I'm gonna add
1/4 cup of brown sugar.

And if you don't love walnuts
and you like pecans,

you can do this with any nut.

That's kind of the fun part,
is just changing up the blend.

And once it's melted,

you're gonna want to
turn that heat down.

You want to make sure
you don't overdo it.

So there's a little
kick of cayenne,

and then I'm gonna put
the walnuts in here.

And I just want to make sure
that every nut is coated here.

And when I cook these at
home and I set them out,

every single time,
half of them are eaten

before I even get to
put them in the salad,

'cause the kids just walk by,
they eat it like candy.

Okay, we're gonna put them on
the pan now, and we're done.

It smells really good.

Okay.

So we're gonna let this sit,

and now we are going
to tackle the salad.

Okay, I'm gonna show
you how to whip up

a really quick pear vinaigrette.

It's obviously easier to
buy the store-bought kind,

but there's something
that's so rewarding

when you make your own.

It's also just super fresh.

We're gonna start with
1/4 cup of pear vinegar.

2 tablespoons of
diced, minced shallots,

About 1/2 teaspoon
of kosher salt.

2 teaspoons of whole
grain Dijon mustard.

1/4 walnut oil and then
1/4 of the grape-seed oil.

Walnut oil is a little stronger,
and the grape-seed, kind of,

since it's a neutralizer,
it really cuts through that.

And then you want about

1 teaspoon of
fresh black pepper.

And then I'm gonna shake
this up, and that's it.

You can whip up your own salad
dressing in less than 2 minutes.

There. Pretty.

So I'm gonna stick
this in the fridge,

and then we're gonna get
started on the salad.

So, since we're doing
a layered salad,

I'm gonna use this trifle dish.

And part of the layering that
you've got to do is the pear.

This is an Anjou pear.

So we're gonna slice
these pretty thin.

You want to use a firm
pear, because as it

sits in that salad, it's
definitely gonna soften.

And now we're gonna start on
the actual layering process.

You're gonna need
fresh pomegranate seeds.

I love these.

This is a snack I love to
just have out for the kids.

I am gonna use baby arugula.

I love the peppery
taste of arugula,

but you can do just,
like, spring salad mix.

This is where you can kind of do
whatever it is that you like.

It is a creative process
of just taking a moment

to have some time in the kitchen
to just kind of unwind.

You can experiment
with what you put in it.

I'm doing pears and pomegranate
and feta cheese.

You can do blue cheese.

It's really up to you and
how you want it to look.

Okay, and now
the candied walnuts.

♪♪

Okay.

So, I'm just gonna
break these apart.

♪♪

[ Crunching ]

Mm.

This will make anybody who
doesn't eat salad eat salad.

Just tell them there's
a surprise in the middle.

Okay, I think that's good.

And then we just gonna
do it one more time.

This is where if you guys want
to speed this up, you can.

I would say if you're
making something at home,

it's always fun to do one thing
that's a little elevated,

and I would say with this salad,
this is the elevated dish.

This is also something
you can take to a dinner.

If you volunteer
to bring the salad,

this is a beautiful salad
to bring to any dinner party.

[ Whispering ] And we're done.

We're done.

Can you see all those layers?

It's like the tiramisu
of salads.

And there you go.

Your layered arugula...

Or as I like to say,
arug-yu-la... salad.

♪♪

And now, one of my favorites...
Mrs. Gail's Parmesan chicken.

Are you ready for this?

This is an assembly process.

So I've got 1 1/2 cups of flour,

and I've added
1 teaspoon of black pepper

and a teaspoon of kosher salt.

And then I've got
3 eggs that I've whisked,

and then I have 1 1/2 cups
of panko bread crumbs.

And this is the magic part...
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan.

I would say this is where
all the flavor is, right here.

Okay, one tip that
I've learned is if you put

a little bit of water in here,
it helps the chicken slide,

so there's no friction
on the bag.

Okay, so we're gonna just
do this very gracefully.

I have aggressive tendencies

when it comes to
pounding chicken.

Okay.

You want it to be
about 1/4 inch thick.

♪♪

Okay, so I've got the chicken.

Now this is
the assembly process.

I'm going to just
start with the flour...

And you can use tongs
if you want,

but I'm gonna let
this be the dry hand.

This is gonna now go
in here with the egg.

You're gonna just coat it,

and then I'm gonna
drop it in here,

make sure it's well-coated.

Like this.

And do that five more times.

♪♪

That's a good-sized portion.

Two-handing it, so now my hands
are just a mess. [ Chuckles ]

I am very messy in real life.

Like, somehow this
looks all really clean.

Hmm-hmm.

If you're gonna do it,
just do it, right?

♪♪

So, a pro tip on
chicken dipping...

I don't have one.

♪♪

Okay, now that these
things are ready to go,

now I'm gonna take them
over to the range

and we're gonna fry them.

[ Clank ]

Okay, so I'm gonna fry
these in olive oil,

because I'm not gonna
have these at high heat.

I'm gonna keep this
at medium heat.

And you want to put enough
olive oil in there

so that when you put
the chicken in there,

about half of it's covered.

So I'd say about 1/4-1/2 cup,

depending on the size
of your skillet.

So I'm gonna wait
about a minute,

let it get to where
it's kind of shimmering,

and then I'm gonna
add the chicken.

You want to lay it in the pan
going away from you,

so there's no splatter.

[ Sizzling ]

So once you kind of hear
it sizzling like this,

you want to turn the heat down.

You don't want to go
too high with the heat.

You see the edges, how they're
kind of browning over here,

so you can kind of see
what the colors is.

Yeah, I'm just kind of
touching the bottom of it.

It kind of... it feels crisp,

so I'm gonna go ahead
and flip that over.

That's the perfect color...
Kind of golden brown

These are ready.

It's always nice to
have a cooling rack,

because it allows for
everything to fall through,

but it doesn't get soggy.

If this was sitting on
something, a flat surface,

the bottom would
get pretty soggy.

I don't want to
mess up the breading,

so it's okay to
switch out the tools.

♪♪

So once this last
batch is finished,

I'm gonna stick
these in the oven...

15 to 25 minutes, 300 degrees.

And then I'm gonna
make the Alfredo sauce,

and then I'm gonna put
everything else together.

♪♪

♪♪

So I've got the water boiling,

and we're gonna add
the pasta to it,

and then I'm gonna make
the Alfredo sauce.

I'm gonna put
a little salt in here

before I put these
noodles in here.

Whoa.

I'm gonna add the noodles.

I'm gonna cook these
to what the package says,

which is about 9 to 10 minutes.

Okay.

I'm gonna let that boil,
and now we're gonna

get started on
the Alfredo sauce.

This is where you need to
just, like, close your ears,

'cause there's a lot
of rich ingredients

that make up Alfredo sauce.

One stick of butter.

So the sauce is really
rich and creamy,

and when you add
the noodles to that

and then the texture and
the crunch of the chicken,

it's, like, the perfect pairing.

So while that's melting, I'm
just gonna check on the chicken

and make sure they look
really happy in there.

That smells so good.

Okay, I'm gonna add the garlic.

Saute those for a bit,
1 or 2 minutes on this...

And once this hits the air,
it smells like heaven.

Something about sauteed garlic
means "Mama is home, kids."

Okay.

And now 2 cups heavy cream.

♪♪

And you want to wait
for this to thicken,

so it's gonna take,
let's say, 5 to 7 minutes.

So, some people put flour
in their Alfredo sauce

so it'll thicken, but the heavy
cream, there's 2 cups of it.

I'm gonna let that
be the ingredient

that really helps thicken this,

so that there's
no flour in this.

And as you see, as it heats up,

everything's starting
to come together.

It's getting a little thicker.

I would say for me,
Italian food is, like,

my go-to kind of comfort food.

I love pasta. I love a
really good, rich sauce,

and I love bread to dip in
that sauce with my pasta.

I'd love to time
this just so that

when I pull the pasta up,
this is ready to go,

and then I can finish
it off in here

and toss it while
it's hot in the pan.

Oh, shoot.

Now, when I was pregnant with
Crew, I could not eat pasta.

Like, this smell would
have made me so sick,

so I had to take about
two years off from Italian food,

'cause it just kind of
lingered, but now I'm back.

It was the hardest
part of pregnancy.

So this is kind of
the, like, grand finale,

where there's a lot of
things happening at once.

I need to pull the chicken out.

I need to get this to thicken,
so I'm turning the heat up

just a bit, but I can't
step away from it.

I got to whisk it constantly,

And these noodles
are done in 30 seconds.

So now that it's thicker,
I'm going to go ahead

and add 1 1/2 cup
of grated parmesan...

And we are so close.

But as you see, once I
put the cheese in there,

you can tell that
consistency's changing a bit

and it's getting thicker.

So creamy.

I just want to
pull this pasta out.

So, one tip here is

even if there's a
little water, it's okay.

The starch in that water is
gonna help thicken the sauce.

Let's see how graceful
this is, okay?

♪♪

I think it looks so good
and it smells so good.

[ Splash ] Oops.

So, I'm gonna let this
sit a little bit

so that it'll soak up
that sauce a little more,

and I'm gonna grab this chicken.

♪♪

Yummy.

Okay.

And it's time to
plate everything.

So I'm gonna start
with the pasta.

You can twirl it
and be really fancy,

or you can plop it
on the plate like that.

Wow.

That's a lot. Told
you I liked pasta.

Okay, and then I'm gonna
add a piece of chicken.

♪♪

Set that right on top.

And then the pretty part...

A little bit of fresh
parsley on the top,

and then I like to squeeze
some lemon juice.

♪♪

And then if you want salad,
there's always salad.

But I'm just gonna try a bite,
just to make sure...

[ Whispering ] Ooh, look how
good that chicken looks.

Look how good that is.

So I'm gonna twirl
a little piece,

so I can get a little
bit of all of it.

I'm salivating. [ Chuckles ]

♪♪

This is gonna get old
if every time I'm like,

"Oh, it's so good."

Mrs. Gail, I hope
I made you proud.

That is some good chicken.

Now, look how pretty that is.

♪♪

See that?

What they call a beauty shot.

That one looks
like the yummiest.

♪♪

Mm. Mm.

[ Plate clinks ]

Y'all, that is good,
That is a pick-me-up.

I just want y'all to leave
so I can finish this.

Just like, okay, roll credits.
Everyone, roll credits.

But really, roll credits.

[ Laughing ]

Can we box all this up
so I can take it home,

so I don't have to
cook dinner tonight?

♪♪