(upbeat music) Oh, it's so wonderful you could join us for Arkansas Taste Kitchen.

I start off with a confession.

We had to start without you.

Well, it's because this meal is demanding and that we had to go ahead and do things like start boiling water.

But hey, this is going to be worth it in the end.

You wait and see.

And joining me, as always, we have Alyssa Frisby, who is our nutritionist, Chef Robert, who is our just know everything about everything at all times.

I'll pay you later.

Okay.

You're welcome.

Today we had to start because, well, we've got things that take so long to cook, Alyssa.

We do.

We have a couple of different things going on, and I think we can add magician to Chef Robert's list because he's going to show us that even though we got started a little early, it's really not that complicated to make this crockpot barbecue chicken or crispy roasted potatoes.

And then my favorite, some sauteed brussel sprouts.

Oh.

Simple simple simple.

So this will be easy for you to do at home, for you to cook one more meal this week than you normally cook at home from scratch.

It is.

That's the law.

We're going to go right into the crock portion of the slow cooker with a little brown sugar We're going to use some garlic powder.

It's important, especially for our health, that garlic powder, onion powder instead of garlic salt and onion salt.

Right.

Okay.

Here we go.

Here comes some already prepared barbecue sauce.

You could see we're just kicking it up to make it mo' better.

Oh, how is that healthy?

We're using a small amount of the barbecue sauce.

We are enhancing the flavors with some of our other ingredients.

And this is an enhancement.

It's an enhancement, for sure.

But like many of our other dishes, you get to choose what barbecue sauce you're using.

If you want to go with a low sugar or a no sugar.

Absolutely.

Make that substitution.

Okay.

And we're stretching it really with chicken stock.

Not so much that we're making soup, but it's going to stretch the the barbecue sauce already there.

So we add some chicken stock.

And for this dish make it really really southern.

We're going to add a little bit of heat with some crushed red pepper.

Bring it on.

Tiny bit.

And we're going to mix this all up.

While I do that Alyssa would you get the chicken out of the fridge?

Yes, Chef.

Alyssa is a former student of Robert's, and before she got her nutritionist degree, she was also an outstanding culinary student.

And she won't let you forget it.

We're all experts here.

All right.

Chicken.

So we're using chicken breast today, which is going to be a high protein lean option for our barbecue chicken.

No skin.

No skin.

No skin.

And this is just going to go right into the slow cooker.

And some of these are pretty big.

And how long is this going to cook?

So this is going to need 4 to 6 hours.

We ain't got that much time.

If you cook it on high you're going to be closer to four hours, maybe five for the chicken to shred.

The chicken will be fully cooked and edible in about three to 3.5 hours.

But if you're going to put this on a sandwich, we're not, but if you're going to put this on a sandwich, for example, you want it to shred, 4 to 5 hours.

On most slow cooker high setting.

So slow cooker is the key here, right?

Right.

If I wanted to make this recipe at home, I would definitely go the low and slow option because it allows me to do more in my day.

I'm going to wash.

Of course.

I can.

His hands.

Set it.

Just going to wash.

It okay.

Safety and sanitation, especially with raw chicken, is so important.

Just making that clear.

But I can put this on low before I go to work at UAMS.

And I can just set it.

And I don't have to worry about the protein being done at dinner.

And we're back.

One of our things that we emphasize is everything you see on Arkansas Taste Kitchen is affordable.

Now this brings up you've got to have a slow cooker So if you've got one, great.

But there is an option okay.

You can put this in a casserole dish.

You can cover the casserole dish very tightly with about three layers of plastic wrap.

Wow.

And then cover that again with foil.

You have a tight seal on top of a tight seal, on top of a tight seal in a low ish oven, about 300 to 325 degrees.

And you have accomplished the same thing that you get in a slow cooker and a crock pot.

There you go.

I'm going to put this in our slow cooker that's just behind us.

I'm going to put it on high and we can come back in a few hours.

And through the magic of TV, we're actually going to be able to show you the final product and taste it.

But we wanted to show you a process because again, that's part of the show.

Alyssa.

Right.

Absolutely.

Showing how just a few small steps can get you to a very healthy, very complete and delicious meal.

How expensive is this meal to put together?

The brussel sprouts, the potatoes, the barbecue.

The Brussels are a seasonal thing.

And the chicken will depend on how much you buy.

But the per pound price is about the same.

Exactly what we're doing.

You know, russet potatoes, very, very inexpensive.

We're probably looking about 4 or $5 a serving with large chicken breasts.

Pretty good.

Again, we'll have that price at the end of the show to remind you that the things we feature on Arkansas Taste Kitchen are affordable.

Okay.

Alyssa, we've got the barbecue chicken.

It's cooking.

What's coming next?

We have our roasted potatoes.

There's a couple of techniques Chef Robert is going to show us to get those really crispy.

And then we're going to saute some Brussel sprouts.

She's just giving you a preview as to what's coming up next on Arkansas Taste Kitchen.

Don't go anywhere.

(upbeat music) Food allergies happen when the immune system reacts to a specific protein.

The nine major allergens egg, wheat, milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, soy and sesame account for the vast majority of serious reactions.

If you or someone you cook for has a food allergy, always read labels every time.

Avoid cross contact by using clean utensils and surfaces, and when in doubt, leave it out.

Simple planning keeps meals safe and enjoyable.

It's incredibly important to pay attention to ingredients on your packaged foods.

It's required that all packaged foods list those big nine allergens, and they have to be clearly identified on your food labels.

Sometimes foods can surprise us and contain allergens that we didn't think would be in the food, so please read your labels every time.

You see.

I told you we'd be back just in time to present the cutting board to Chef Robert.

Thank you.

Potato cutting time.

Thank you.

I'm going to scoot it over just a little bit okay.

For our roasted potatoes we need to cut the potatoes.

Important step.

And the right way to do this is any way and any size you want this done, but I just I make planks.

Just a few of those.

This is a fresh potato you've got.

You're cutting through.

Yes.

I'll leave that like it is.

Okay.

I like keeping the skin on.

Does that matter, do you think?

It matters for taste and texture.

But it also matters for nutritional benefits.

So the skin on a potato is going to have a lot of fiber.

It's also going to contain most of the potato's nutrients.

So if you're looking for potassium, you're going to want to keep the skin on.

See I've always thought, and been kind of proud of myself that I kept the skin on a potato I eat.

Did it make you feel healthier?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, there's a lot of fiber in there.

All right.

Well, you didn't shoot down on that one.

That's good.

You're learning.

This is going to go right in already boiling water.

Did you add salt to that water?

I did not.

No salt.

And there's a reason we already have good rolling boiling water.

We started before you all got here.

We're going to add salt to the oil mixture that's going to go on the potatoes.

So the salt is going to be there while the potatoes are cooking in the next stage of cooking.

And there they go.

Wow.

And so that's going to take that's probably going to take about 6 or 7 minutes.

This is a this meal takes some commitment this time.

Now since I'm not doing anything with meat, just a simple wipe with a clean towel is going to be just fine.

Really?

As I go to the board with some garlic.

Fresh garlic, you can buy bottled jarred garlic that is already minced, that's packed in.

Packed in water is best.

Okay, okay.

There's lots of people that argue whether you need to do this or don't.

From a safety standpoint, if we give that garlic just a little smash, it's not going to roll around everywhere.

Okay.

Good point.

I'm using my bear claw.

I'm pinching the knife at the back side of the blade.

Are you going to bear claw the, you did, you bear clawed the garlic, even the garlic.

And I'm just rocking the knife back and forth.

Oh, so you're cutting it again.

Like a like a choo choo train.

The steam engine train.

And that arm that goes back and forth up on the engine.

I think I can.

I think I can.

Like that motivation for beginners in the kitchen.

This can be if you're chopping it fresh, this can be chopped as fine as coarse as you want to keep it.

The larger, the coarser this is, when you bite into it, the more profound you're going to get some garlic.

We're going to go to a pan that's already heated up a little bit.

There goes the.

Oil.

Some olive oil.

And sometimes we spill things and we're going to do some.

We're going to go in right with the garlic first.

Changed your mind there, didn't you?

I did just for a second.

I could tell.

All right.

It is very very, very important I tell my students, listen to Chef.

Chef is wise okay.

It is very.

We're listening to you now.

Now don't let the garlic turn brown.

Okay.

That's burnt garlic.

And burnt garlic is bitter garlic.

We don't want that.

You get that?

Okay.

So we just start that a little bit.

We're going to add some onion powder.

We're going to add some parsley some smoked paprika.

Really good flavor.

Don't worry, you'll see a graphic.

You'll see all this.

Rosemary.

Rosemary.

Delicious.

I'm going to use not quite as much salt as we have.

Probably about half of it for now.

And then we've got extra salt reserved when you taste it, when it goes on your plate if you want a little.

Salt to taste.

Yeah.

But I'll add, I'll add the whole amount of pepper because that's really divine.

And here we go.

We're going to let this saute for, until it's really fragrant.

And then when the potatoes are done and drained, we're going to be ready to put this on the potatoes and in the oven.

Sounds delicious.

I got a step off over to our sink.

So we're not going to get to see it?

Drain the potatoes.

I'll be back in a moment.

All right.

And they're ready to drain.

Right.

Safety first.

Potatoes.

Does that detract from the health aspect?

Absolutely not.

Carbohydrates.

Starch, does that.. No.

Carbohydrates are a necessary part of most people's diets.

Now, we do sometimes need to watch our carbohydrate intake throughout the day.

But just because a food contains carbohydrates doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't eat it.

Everything in moderation.

We're going to have these potatoes as a side to our healthy dish.

So what I've done.

I've drained the water away.

Still very, very hot.

We've cooked these enough.

They're cooked through, but we especially want them to cook well on the outside, because I'm going to give it just a gentle little stir before we add our dressing or the seasoning.

How do you know it's cooked well on the outside?

Are you eyeballing it?

What are you doing?

So I don't know if everyone can see at home I'm going to put this on here.

We don't want to put a hot pan on a you see the little the little particles of potato.

Yeah.

We're creating rough edges on the outside.

With the oil and the seasoning here in our little season mix that in the oven is going to make this extra extra crispy.

This is a trick.

Instead of just boiling potatoes or just putting plain raw potatoes in the oven, this is going to ensure crispy.

This sounds like a great alternative to pan frying or deep frying.

Oh, this is a great alternative to frying.

You get the texture, you get the crisp.

This is healthy.

This is healthy.

Oil that's in here is olive oil and it's not much.

And it's not.

Russet potatoes are extremely affordable and versatile.

Can be used in a lot of things.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

I mean look at all that.

Fancy potatoes.

This this meal takes commitment.

You're talking about hours of cooking with the chicken and the boiling of the potatoes and all this.

I would consider this really really easy.

And it's not hours per se.

But it's you know you got to start a crock pot in the morning that's going to take 4 to 6 hours, but you're not there babysitting it.

You got to boil some potatoes.

How long does it take?

You know 7 or 8 minutes in the boiling water.

So on and so forth.

I think the most time consuming part of this recipe, like a lot of recipes, is just getting your ingredients together and making sure you have everything ready to go when you need it.

And then the recipe moves smoothly.

You could babysit the potatoes a little bit, and I say that because these are ready for, will you put those in the oven.

Yes.

These are ready for the oven.

They can go in the oven and you come back in about 30, 35 minute and they're ready to eat.

If you're a textural eater and you want crisp all over the potato, but you might want to go back and check it every ten minutes or so and give it a little turn.

In that case, again, you're eyeballing it.

You're eyeballing.

Seeing how crispy it looks on that.

It's cooked all the way through.

So from here on, you're adding little, that brown color that you get on so many things you put in the oven.

That brown color is delicious flavor.

That is how we make nutritious food delicious.

That sounds so much better than the French fries you get in fast food places.

And it sounds so much healthier too, wow.

We got one more chore though, because now I'm eyeballing the Brussels sprouts.

You did not just call my brussel sprouts a chore.

Oh my bad.

Are you trying.

To make people not like them before we even get started?

Brussel sprouts are, they can be a little bit intimidating, especially if you grew up eating canned brussel sprouts, boiled brussel sprouts, things that are just mushy and soft.

But Chef Robert's going to show us how to make these brussel sprouts delicious.

We're going to we're going to use the same pan that we made the seasoning for the potatoes.

And that's going to that's going to marry together all of the flavors for this dish that we're going to have.

You can have a clean pan.

I wouldn't use another dirty pan.

I would go with this.

And so we're going to add a little bit of oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

We don't need, we're not frying these Brussels.

Brussels sprouts, you know come round okay.

Our students have already done this for us.

So you trim the little stem off and cut it in half.

The outside leaves will fall off naturally.

Whatever falls off naturally, just leave that.

We don't need to peel anything else off.

Okay?

And whether you do it one at a time or you pour these in, that's what I do.

One at a time is a bit much, Robert.

We're gonna we're going to make a single layer.

Okay.

And I am going to go back through.

And you are not.

You turn them all over?

Cut side down.

We want these to be perfect so little attention to detail.

Okay.

Well there's a magical television.

And students.

Right.

And students.

So that carmelization, the browning that he was talking about in the oven.

We're going to get the same effect here, right.

By putting the cut side down.

Correct.

Cooking for a little bit.

That cut side is going to caramelize before the outside does.

I love that because I love brussel sprouts.

And when you put some like this.

Oh my gosh, this meal.

We're starting this.

And even if we don't get all of them, that's fine.

We're going to start this on a pretty hot pan.

And when we have all of that delicious sizzle going on.

We're going to turn it down a little bit to around medium.

Are you going to?

I'm not.

We're going to trust the food.

We're going to let the food just do what it does.

The voodoo that only it can do.

The brussel sprouts speak to him today.

And again, we have to thank the students here at the Culinary Institute, U of A, Arkansas Pulaski Tech.

And because they prepped it and they I think you need to give them a passing grade, it's not extra credit for what they did there.

Extra credits probably coming their way.

Brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant.

As these cook a little bit.

Okay.

We've got a couple other ingredients that we're going to add to this dish.

We don't wait until the end, but we don't want to start right off with some balsamic vinegar.

When balsamic vinegar comes to the heat and starts to reduce, it'll get a little more like a syrup.

And it gets sweet without adding any sugar.

This is healthy, right?

Yes.

That's what I like to hear.

So we're going to add a little bit of sweetness.

I love that sound.

Listen to this.

And a little bit of steam.

Almost like you're a wizard.

Which is going to help.

See, it reduces really fast.

That's cool.

That steam really made those brussel sprouts pop.

That green color is very vibrant.

Oh, look at how pretty.

You look.

I'll show you one.

Look at what we have right there.

Look at that baby.

How quickly that came together.

I think this meal is about ready to.

What if you, Okay.

Real quick.

Brussel sprouts.

Can you give a sub substitute?

Absolutely.

If brussel sprouts are still not your favorite, you can saute any fresh veggie.

You can even substitute frozen veggies if that's what you have on hand.

The technique will be a little bit different.

You don't have to worry too much about cut side down and all of that, but you do want to take your time sauteing these veggies, building flavor.

You can really use anything.

Well, that's all fine and good, but how is this going to taste?

Well, for that?

Stick around.

We'll be right back.

(upbeat music) Not too much talking now, because I want to get right to this food and taste it.

Beginning with the brussel sprouts, Chef Robert.

So we got a little parmesan cheese.

In Italy, parmesan cheese is frequently used as the salt.

Okay.

So the the balsamic vinegar kind of implies a little.

Look at that already.

Oh, man.

Nice color.

Alyssa, would you get the potatoes out of the oven?

Okay, here we go.

Good gosh.

There isn't a loser in on this plate that we're about to see.

And chicken, remember, has been going for how long?

About six hours.

Chicken's been going for six hours.

Right.

Coming in hot with the potatoes.

Great.

Beautiful.

Use about half of this parsley.

And it's really just a garnish.

It's going to make the potatoes look pretty.

I'm going to get the chicken.

I like anything green.

That's also a flavor enhancer.

Make it look pretty right I'm big on looking pretty especially on TV.

You're gonna give it a chance.

It's a little sprinkle?

Sure.

Crop dusting.

Beautiful.

All right.

Save some for the brussel sprouts.

We'll put the.

We'll put some of that on the Brussels as well.

But they're already green.

So you can put some more on the potatoes if you want.

All right I'm going to reach in here.

This can go on the plate shredded.

This can go on a sandwich.

Use a hamburger bun.

Those are inexpensive.

Just regular sandwich bread.

And look at this.

I can just squeeze it with the tongs and it just falls apart.

It's just wrong to get paid to do this.

Just wrong.

I hate my job.

This is so incredible.

It's so tender.

Look at that.

And if we do that in the sauce instead of taking the chicken out, right.

Even some of that that's in the middle, we're picking up more sauce.

It already has a flavor from it.

We'll leave a few pieces so you can.

You need to know that this show is going to go on after we say goodbye to you.

We'll continue now.

Plate size.

Plate proportion.

What are we going to see here?

Let's go.

Veggies first.

Why not?

Half the plate should be your veggies.

It's got our brussel sprouts.

Let's get our crispy potatoes.

Let's go.

Make a spot for those.

All right.

Want some chicken, Chef?

Everything just smells.

So we've got to come up with a way to get the smell out into TV land.

You know.

That about good for your serving size?

Let's go a little more, this is Craig's portion.

So we want to get a little bit more protein.

And I don't want to hear any complaints.

Oh you're not.

Make sure.

You're not.

I can tell.

All right.

Round two.

I got a fork but I got to eat them.

A four.

okay.

A four.

That's four yums, right?

Yum yum yum.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is phenomenal.

That is so beautiful.

Remember this.

Never forget it.

If it's nutritious, if it's delicious, if it's easy to make, if it's affordable, it's Arkansas Taste Kitchen.

Heaven on earth.

Thank you for watching.

Join us for more.

And you're going to want more.

Additional funding provided by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

(upbeat music)