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Hey, everybody, I'm Guy Fieri,
and we're rolling out,
looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins, and dives.
This trip...
Drop it like it... Drop it like it...
...it's a mom-and-pop one-stop shop.
Whoo!
In Chatham, New Jersey...
This is like culinary Disneyland, and this is Goofy.
Hello!
...an old buddy...
[ Whistles ]
...firing up real-deal Italian...
America's finest.
...with his way better half.
We're gonna go on the crispy chicken and the penne *** now.
Whatever you want, honey.
FIERI: And in Olympia, Washington...
Here you go -- the Oysters Creole.
Philosophy and cooking go hand in hand.
...the funky breakfast, lunch, and dinner joint...
Can you say that three times fast?
Very nice.
...spreading the love...
You're going wild on this.
...with the bounty of the county.
I'd come back to Olympia for that.
We'll take ya.
That's all right here right now on "DDD."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
So, I'm here in Chatham, New Jersey,
about 35 miles west of New York City.
Now, I've been cooking with Carl Ruiz for years --
awesome chef.
And I've been telling him,
"You got to open your own joint."
Finally, he and his wife took my advice
and opened their own place.
And they were smart -- they named it after her.
This is Marie's Italian Specialties.
This is like sitting in my mother's kitchen.
The food is like you would get in a little trattoria in Rome.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this place a 15.
FIERI: Makes sense.
Carl's one of the craziest chefs I know.
Easy, easy!
And Marie's been cranking out
killer Italian food all her life.
What makes your Italian food different?
It's just simple Italian food,
but we do it with the best ingredients.
FIERI: And a little sideshow.
Today we're gonna --
Aah!
Don't make me nuts. I have a family.
This is like culinary Disneyland, and this is Goofy.
Hello!
But there's nothing funny about Marie's Italian chicken.
Baked and fried chicken at the same time.
It's like getting punched and kicked by a karate ninja.
Let's get that mac and cheese up.
Served with a side of cheesy heaven.
The best macaroni and cheese I've ever had in my life.
What we're gonna do is we're just gonna brine this chicken.
It's a simple salt brine.
What?
It smells brined.
[ Both laugh ]
We put water in it, and then just salt.
What? Are you Harry Potter?
Whoo!
So, I stir this up.
I leave it in the fridge for a couple hours,
and then it's ready to go.
I make the spice rub, which is garlic powder,
Italian seasoning, a little kosher salt.
Mix that together. Take the chickens out.
Olive oil with red wine vinegar.
The spice rub. That's it.
Now what do we do with it?
I cover it with aluminum. I put it in the oven.
400.
45 minutes.
Making mac and cheese.
Start with little shells.
American cheese -- America's finest.
Shred mozz, parmigiano-reggiano.
We need a binder, obviously.
So we use a parmesan cream.
I eat this when I'm depressed by myself.
Top it with a little parmesan cheese.
That goes here. A little fried prosciutto.
Mmm, that's good.
Goes in the oven.
How long's that gonna bake?
About 20 minutes -- it goes pretty quick.
Look at this.
No.
You take it hot and drop it in the fryer?
Drop it like it's hot.
Drop it like it... Drop it like it...
[ Both laugh ]
Chicken's ready.
Mac and cheese is ready?
Mac and cheese is ready.
[ Whistles ]
See? Crispy.
Look at that. Steaming hot.
Here's what he's done -- brines it, roasts it,
so now you've got all that superflavored chicken,
and then takes it and drops it in the deep fryer.
And I'm gonna tell you something --
I don't know that I can recommend
that you eat more than one of these a month, but tasty.
Mmm. There you go. Look at this.
Not many times I've had mac and cheese
that the ratio of the cheese outweighs the mac two to one.
That's cheesy.
Chicken ready.
[ Gobbles ]
The chicken is perfect.
It's so juicy on the inside. The skin is really crispy.
And the mac and cheese is all good.
The greatest comfort food I've ever eaten -- ever.
How are you doing?
Carl always comes over to talk, and Marie does the same.
They're like friends next door.
They're just nice, kind, fun. It's just like home.
You know you're guaranteed a great meal.
FIERI: Whether it's chicken parm on a baguette,
mussels sautéed in marinara,
or a sweet, salty sandwich stuffed with Italian pork.
MARIE: Sacred Swine.
Amazing. Just amazing.
A complete dinner on a sandwich.
We're making the Sacred Swine sandwich.
Pork shoulder.
[ Howls ]
Garlic powder.
So, we're not diluting this into the water first?
Okay.
Out the window with those cooking principles.
Silly principles.
Salt, bay leaves.
Bucket full of water.
And how long are we gonna let this brine?
This has to be overnight.
♪ Row, row, row your pig ♪
So, now we got the brined pork.
Now it's all brined.
Now we're gonna get ready to roast.
A little bit of water.
And a little olive oil.
Red wine vinegar and spice rub.
Granulated garlic, the Italian seasoning, and the salt.
The best way to cook this -- overnight, low and slow.
Look at that.
[ Whistles ] Can I try this?
Awesome. Thank you.
That's old-school delicious Italian pork.
Now what do we do?
Take this off.
You shred it all up into its own juice.
Yep.
Olive oil, garlic.
Drop your broccoli rabe.
Why broccoli rabe?
Broccoli rabe, it's on the sour side,
and when you roast pork for a long time,
it becomes very, very sweet.
So it's kind of a sweet and sour
but in the most natural, subtle way possible.
Bread.
Isn't that good?
I love that. Smell the rye.
[ Laughs ]
Okay, first up.
Put a little polenta.
The polenta is gonna work
as one of the creams to this sandwich.
We're adding the moisture.
Nice.
Broccoli rabe.
Whoa! Putting a whole garden in there, huh?
Oh, it's a good sandwich.
A little pulled pork.
*** sauce.
That you make yourself also.
Yes. A little reggiano.
Then you gingerly cut it.
And there it is.
Here's what you got -- the bread's outstanding.
The creamy polenta is like mayonnaise with a cause.
The pork, super tender.
The sweetness coming through it.
But you know what the real kicker
to this whole sandwich is?
That broccoli rabe.
It's got that sharpness,
a little bit garlic coming through real strong.
The broccoli rabe is what makes the sandwich.
Outstanding.
[ Laughs ]
Table eight!
It's sort of like an Italian pillow,
with that polenta and the soft bread.
MAN: It's a unique sandwich.
It's not too garlicky, it's not too oily.
It's just perfect. It's cooked perfectly.
I would fill an entire Jacuzzi with this
and just sit right in it.
So, here's the deal.
Hanging out with one of my best friends,
cooking outrageous food at Marie's Italian Specialties.
When we come back, on "DDD,"
his wife, Marie, the boss,
is gonna come back and make what?
Whatever she wants.
Exactly. We'll see you in a little bit.
FIERI: At Marie's Italian Specialties in Chatham, New Jersey,
cooking with my buddy Carl was just the appetizer.
Now I get to work with the real brains of this operation...
We're gonna go on the crispy chicken and the penne *** now.
Whatever you want, honey.
FIERI: ...his wife, Marie.
Marie is the biggest hidden secret you ever met.
FIERI: Okay, what are you gonna make me?
Okay, we're gonna make the risotto for the arancini.
Arancini.
They're rice balls, okay?
Different styles of making them.
This is gonna be interesting.
That's hot, so we're just gonna take arborio rice.
And we're gonna toast it first.
Okay, so now it's toasted up to the color we want.
So, we add one quart of salted water.
We don't want it to get really mushy.
Normally, with risotto, it's very, very creamy.
We want it to almost have the same texture as rice.
Now we're gonna make the tomato sauce.
Extra *** olive oil, pureed garlic.
And then we're gonna add tomato sauce.
Dry basil, granulated garlic.
Copious amount. Wow!
And just a little bit of salt.
This is old-school, leave-it-on-the-stove,
Exactly.
And we get it going for about an hour,
and then we put our raw meatballs in.
This has got the --
Ground beef, granulated garlic and basil,
parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt.
So, they'll cook inside the sauce?
They cook in the sauce.
Okay, we're gonna make rice balls.
Give me a rundown.
So, we're gonna start with our homemade meatballs.
The meatballs that we cooked in the sauce.
The parmesan cheese, dried parsley,
granulated garlic, six large eggs,
shredded mozzarella, and seasoned bread crumbs.
Now we're gonna add the rice.
We're gonna fluff it up a little bit.
Then we're gonna add our salt,
some of the tomato sauce, give it a final mix.
And now you start to form the arancini.
Exactly.
Just a little coating of some bread crumbs.
A lot of times, people see arancini
where they'll put the filling in the center,
wrap the rice around it.
This is an all-encompassing, every-bite-you're-a-winner.
Right. Exactly.
350.
3½ minutes.
That's it.
[ Whistles ] Some of the homemade tomato sauce.
Look at that --
nice and tender, cheese coming through.
And I can already hear the crunch just from the fork.
The texture's outrageous.
I like the little bit of the meatball in there.
Tomato sauce is outstanding.
But the crunch on the outside -- crunchy and then creamy.
It's killer.
That right there rocks the house.
You're the bomb.
All right, here's the rice balls.
WOMAN: They're out of this world --
all kinds of goodies on the inside.
If you've never had an arancini ball, you must try it.
You got to come check this joint out -- real deal.
And this guy...
FIERI: Up next...
I don't know what you're gonna do!
I'm going to make a mustache.
...we're headed to Olympia, Washington...
I don't know why I have become your sous-chef for this.
...for oysters gone wild...
That'll do her.
...and a hash extravaganza.
You have got to love the great northwest.
I'm here in downtown Olympia, Washington,
about a mile away from the state capitol.
Now, we're gonna check out a joint that's doing it all --
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Oh, vegetarian, vegan, and meat eaters alike.
This is Darby's Café.
I'm gonna get chicken going for the CBS.
All walks of life, they all come here to Darby's.
FIERI: All looking for the same thing.
Good old-fashioned cooking.
Like a mom-and-pop home diner.
FIERI: Oh, I like that.
This joint is actually chapter two
for Nate Reilly and his wife, Sara.
I was an insurance agent, and Nate was a manager.
I managed a video store.
FIERI: In '05, they took the plunge,
bought this existing restaurant, and got creative.
We have great cooks that collaborate with us on recipes.
Including head chef Johanna Vasseur.
Hash is great, the scrambles are great.
Local vegetable, local fruit.
FIERI: Not to mention dynamite seafood...
JOHANNA: About 30 seconds on the oysters.
FIERI: ...that ends up on Darby's version
of the eggs Benedict.
We're gonna make a Creole cream sauce
for the Creole Oysters Benedict today.
Can you say that three times fast?
Very nice.
We're gonna melt some butter here.
So, once that's melted, we're adding flour.
Yep.
We're gonna go ahead and add milk.
So we're making a béchamel.
Did you go to culinary school?
No, sir. I have a degree in philosophy.
Philosophy and cooking go hand in hand.
Exactly, right?
White vinegar -- add a little tang.
We'll let this thicken up for a little while.
We're gonna go ahead and add our spices --
paprika, kosher salt,
ground clove, nutmeg, a little oregano.
There you go.
Wish I could hire you.
Cayenne, garlic powder. Onion powder.
I'm gonna let this thicken for about 20 minutes.
All right, what are we making?
Seasoned flour dredge for the oysters.
All-purpose flour, onion powder, black pepper.
Granulated?
Pap.
Chili.
You smell that? How do you know?
Come on now.
Salt.
Incorporate till it's all up in there.
[ Whistles ]
Dredge. [ Laughs ]
We're gonna take our fresh Pacific oysters.
We're gonna stick them in here first.
Give them a little egg bath.
With buttermilk, yep.
Oh, with buttermilk.
Then back into the flour.
Do you let that batter just crustify up on that oyster?
"Crustifarian." [ Laughs ]
And now they're gonna go in the fryer.
We've got our home fries.
Toasted English muffin.
Grilled red pepper rings.
Oysters -- two per muffin.
Couple poached eggs.
Okay, this is the Creole cream sauce.
Thank you.
That's it.
Mmm!
We're talking about super, super fresh oysters,
a nice dredge.
Awesome sauce. There's good spice.
There's great crunch.
With the roasted red bell pepper,
the home fries, once you pile that together...
I'd come back to Olympia for that.
We'll take ya.
All right, Ray, here you go -- the Oysters Creole.
That's amazing.
It's got a nice kick to it.
It's got a nice little spice to it.
These guys do it right. They do everything right.
All right, we've got our winter squash hash.
With squash and apples and sausage and cranberry compote.
Absolutely lovely.
FIERI: What are we making now?
Cranberry chutney for the winter squash and apple hash.
Fresh cranberries, water to cover.
And let them simmer until they pop a little bit.
Ginger?
Very good. Garlic.
Nice. You're going wild on this.
Sweet and savory. Lemon zest.
Sugar, salt.
Can we put off to the side and let it cook?
We'll let this go for another 20 minutes.
Let them turn into like a nice smooth sauce.
Sausage.
This is local ground pork.
That's right.
That's right.
Fennel.
Black pepper.
Garlic.
I don't know why I have become your sous-chef for this.
I don't mind it a bit.
Wow. Nice squash.
Thank you. [ Laughs ]
We need that.
Did you think I was gonna eat it?
I don't know what you're gonna do!
I'm going to make a mustache.
All right, we're just gonna chop her up.
Just scoop out the seeds, chop it.
Do a little oil. Do do do.
How long's it gonna go?
About a half hour at 400 degrees.
Here's our seasoned pork sausage.
We're gonna cook that up.
Break it down a little bit more, though.
Whoo!
Got green pepper, onion, red pepper.
Give that a little mix.
And then we're gonna do our squash.
Just about yea much.
And a Granny Smith apple.
Love this.
Just let that go for about a couple more minutes
till it browns up nice.
We spoon in our cranberry chutney.
Slip on some eggs.
Ooh, and you got them runny upstairs.
Our homemade biscuit.
Make biscuits as well?
Every morning.
The apple's still got some crunch to it.
The squash is nutty.
It's nice to get the acid of the cranberry.
It reminds me of stuffing at Thanksgiving.
Yeah, that's what we're going for.
That's pure.
WOMAN: Squash hash.
Oh, it's so good.
It's a little sweet, a little spicy.
It's delish. [ Laughs ]
You got anything else up your sleeve?
We'll do a blueberry crunch roller.
When we get back.
We're hanging out here in Olympia.
This girl's on fire. Not literally, but you get...
Welcome back to Darby's Café in Olympia, Washington.
They're creative. They're fun.
Yeah!
They're funky.
Blueberry roller up!
It's a tortilla.
Bowl of granola and fresh blueberries.
Tastes healthy even though it's full of ice cream.
FIERI: So, what are we making?
Maple bourbon granola for our blueberry crunch roller.
Bourbon.
Did you put enough in?
Mine will just have -- little bit more.
Very nice. That'll do her.
[ Laughs ]
Oil, real maple syrup -- real stuff --
and vanilla extract.
We're just gonna whisk this together.
Now we'll ask everybody else to come to the party here.
We got oats.
Sliced almonds, pecans, and salt.
And we're just gonna spread this on a sheet pan.
Let's get it done.
Cook this off in the oven for...?
About half an hour.
Okay.
Mmm, that is good.
We're gonna roll up the blueberry crunch roller.
Do it before I eat all the granola.
We start with a tortilla.
We're gonna warm this up just a little bit so it's pliable.
Looking good. Cream cheese frosting. Blueberries.
Good-looking blueberries.
Yeah, they're great. And our maple bourbon granola.
Let's roll it up.
Nice, tight roll.
Gonna stab it in the middle and put it in the fryer,
get it crispy.
We're gonna deep-fry this?
We're gonna deep-fry it.
Oh, my son Hunter would love this.
Have a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I thought this was a healthy joint at Darby's Café.
It's got calcium.
Got a point there.
Roller coming out!
Look at this.
It's like a egg roll of the week at Tex Wasabi's.
Wait, buh-buh-buh-buh!
We're gonna do a little bit more granola on top.
A little blueberry, a little pow-pow.
A little pow-pow.
All right, get in there.
Might be a little hot.
It's gonna burn, burn, burn, burn.
Oh, God.
Mmm.
Oh, my gosh.
The blueberries are so super fresh.
It's warm, it's crunchy, it's comforting.
I wouldn't change a thing. That's really good.
Hunter, you would love this, dude.
Two blueberry rollers.
It's a really good breakfast, but it can be a dessert, too.
WOMAN: This is amazing.
It's totally healthy with the granola, right?
As you walk down the streets, go by Darby's Café...
This is who you get.
Thank you.
Dot com. Check it out.
So that's it for this road trip. But don't worry.
We got plenty more joints to find all over this country.
I'll be looking for you next time
on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
You can't get these apart?
Can't get them apart. [ Laughs ]
Oh, I'll get them apart now.
Want to bet?
I got like eight bucks.
Eight bucks.
I told ya. It doesn't come apart.
Wow!
Marie, can I borrow eight bucks?
[ Laughter ]
Psycho.