Sloppy Joes

2015 S:1 E:14 Gastro Blast HD TV-G

Link presents a vegetarian version of this family favourite, using tofu instead of meat. Captain Cook has never heard of tofu in all his travels across the seven seas. Tofu is made from soya beans and has a bland, spongy flavour and texture, perfect for soaking up the zippy seasonings from the Sloppy Joe marinade. Link wonders if all foods can be marinated, leading to a fun lab experiment with Gastro Bob.

Cast:: Bob Stevenson, Emily Agard, Jack Weir, Keith Cooper, Michael Rubinstein
Writer:: Amanda McNeice
Director:: Justin G. Dyck

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Sloppy Joes

2015 S:1 E:14 Gastro Blast HD TV-G

Link presents a vegetarian version of this family favourite, using tofu instead of meat. Captain Cook has never heard of tofu in all his travels across the seven seas. Tofu is made from soya beans and has a bland, spongy flavour and texture, perfect for soaking up the zippy seasonings from the Sloppy Joe marinade. Link wonders if all foods can be marinated, leading to a fun lab experiment with Gastro Bob.

Cast:: Bob Stevenson , Emily Agard , Jack Weir , Keith Cooper , Michael Rubinstein
Writer:: Amanda McNeice
Director:: Justin G. Dyck

Season

Reviews

Season 1

Link prepares a basic Tomato Sauce perfect for lasagna, pizza, and of course, spaghetti! But as he brings the heat up to get the sauce to a boil, Link discovers that the sauce is bubbling like a volcano. Secret Agent Man helps by giving a kitchen tool to block those flare-ups: a splatter guard.

Link prepares Apple Oatmeal Pancakes, using the leavening power of baking powder. A bonus round science experiment with Gastro Bob shows just how baking powder works in generating fluffy light pancakes, while Detective Link investigates the criminal culprits behind flabby, flat pancakes.

Bread is just as fun to eat, as it is to make, as Link shows in today? episode. Keen to prove the rising power of yeast, powerful enough to lift all the other ingredients in the dough, Link and Gastro Bob? balloon experiment goes a bit too well, as Gastro Bob ends up floating in the air!

Devilled eggs are hardboiled eggs for which the yolk is combined with mayonnaise and seasonings. But when Link discovers an eggs he? boiled has developed a green ring around the yolk, it? up to Detective Link ?with some info from I.Q. -- to get to the bottom of this culinary crime.

Chicken Fingers

Chicken Fingers

No salmonella is coming for dinner tonight, as Link demonstrates some basic kitchen hygiene while preparing crunchy oven-baked Chicken Fingers. The key is washing his hands before and after handling raw eggs and raw chicken. That? because raw foods such as these have the potential to host a bacteria called salmonella that can make us sick.

Sushi is a popular meal comprised of seaweed rolled up around fillings such as fresh vegetables and rice. Link discovers why he needs to use a sticky, short-grain rice to keep everything encased -- and with a bit of help from I.Q. discovers the differences between the varieties of this amazing grain.

Link prepares two pickle recipes today: Quick Dill Pickles and Quick Carrot Pickles. Most people think pickles are a vegetable, but they?e actually a process, as Link demonstrates how to prepare pickling jars as well as the cucumbers and carrots themselves. Pickles are something Captain Cook is all too familiar with, as pickles were a way of keeping pirate grub from spoiling, so he? looking forward to crunching into this bounty of tasty treasure.

Sportscaster Chip Dippington is impressed by Link? tag-team recipes of crunchy taco shells made from store-bought tortillas and a delicious fish filling. Indeed, Link shows how to create a light golden brown crust on the fish through proper searing, which as I.Q. explains, is due to a chemical reaction called the Maillard Reaction. Taking the guesswork out of cooking with a meat thermometer, Link is sure the fish is thoroughly cooked and ready to build some tasty fish tacos.

Link has the perfect plan to make use of his star noodles and loads of healthy veggies. A Minestrone soup! But he can? figure out why some of the vegetables need to be saut?d first. Why not just throw all the ingredients into the soup pot at the same time? As he discovers with a bit of experimenting, some vegetables have difficulty softening in a tomatoey broth. So there is order to soup making!

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

Link is okay with veggies for dessert and the delicious proof will be delivered in a super moist, chocolate-y zucchini loaf. I.Q. gives the botany scoop that the zucchini used in the recipe is actually an under ripe fruit. Momentary panic sets in, when they realize the careful balance of ingredients to build the best batter is lacking a liquid, but the case is resolved when I.Q. explains the high water content of the zucchini, released from the shredding, will ensure a moist cake.

Granola and Granola Bars

Granola and Granola Bars

Link attempts a first in the GastroBlast kitchen: making two recipes using the same ingredients. What differs between the Granola and Granola Bars are the methods. For the granola, clumps and clusters are the texture that goes perfectly with yogurt or milk. But for granola bars, Link has to find a way to get all the ingredients to bind together. Link learns about binding agents. Add in sticky honey and apricot puree and the plot thickens! Enter the fantastic flax seed, also able to thicken, coat and bind the grains while delivering even more nutrition ?kapow!

Link discovers the tricks behind making a perfectly flaky homemade pastry to encase his ground beef empanada filling. With some tips from I.Q., Link realizes that a successful pastry is a case of less is more: don? cut in the fat too much, add just a bit of liquid at a time, and don? overwork the dough.

Link prepares a Mango Mousse, and is amazed by how just a little bit of unflavoured gelatin can help transform liquid ingredients into something frothy and creamy. Sportscaster Chip is impressed when Link throws in a bonus round recipe of a pineapple jelly topping, and even a science experiment to discover why fresh pineapple based gelatin doesn? set as well as other fruits

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits

The only biscuits Captain Cook knows about are the hard, hockey puck-like sea biscuits that last for months of sea travel. Fortunately, Link has a recipe and some sure-fire techniques that promise light and tasty Buttermilk Biscuits. But just a little bit of baking soda can go a long way, as Gastro Bob discovers when he mistakenly assumes that adding more baking soda will result in even fluffier biscuits. It leads to a true GastroBlast in the kitchen!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

Link takes great care in making a lovely sauce and filling for Chicken Pot Pie, showing that pies can also be savoury, instead of sweet. But he learns an important trick, and that is always to make a hole in the centre of the piecrust, so that the powerful steam that builds up inside can escape. Otherwise, the pie could actually explode!

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

Delicious French Onion Soup is today? appealing recipe, but requires a lot of onions to be chopped before they?e caramelized to a sweet golden brown. And Link? eyes are tear-filled after just one onion! With the help of Gastro Bob and the Boys in the Band, Link discovers that eye goggles are the secret ingredient behind successful, tear-free chopping.

Captain Cook doesn? know what to do with his treasure chest full of hard, green, unripe avocados, but Link has an idea for a tasty, fresh dip: guacamole, served with some homemade baked tortilla chips. Through Gastro Bob, Link learns a trick for ripening avocados fast, by putting them in a bag with an apple. It turns out there? more to fruit than meets the eye. Some investigation into why this works along with why avocados turn brown when cut open, are the side orders to this tasty snack.

A Vegetable Lasagna is on today? menu, but first Link makes his own ricotta cheese. Using everyday ingredients: milk, cream, salt and lemon juice, along with some heat and time, before long Link is assembling triple layers of noodles, saut?d vegetables, tomato sauce, and of course, ricotta cheese, creating an ooey gooey pan of deliciousness.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie

On the menu today is Lemon Meringue Pie, a sweet and tangy favourite, made simpler through the use of an already prepared graham cracker crust from the store. Of course the crowning glory of a Lemon Meringue Pie is the fluffy, foamy, cloud-like topping. Link presents some good tips for ensuring volume in the egg whites, while I.Q. tells the scientific reasons behind these tips.

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese starts with the sauce. Link demonstrates making a roux, which is a cooked mixture of butter and flour that is the foundation of the tasty cheese sauce that envelopes the whole grain macaroni noodles in today? recipe. It? amazing how much science is in something as simple as a smooth and thick sauce.

A sure-fire favourite, homemade Pizza can be adapted to taste by adding our desired toppings, with ingredients found in the kitchen. Link has an unexpected problem though: the cold dough for the pizza crust that Link just took out of the fridge won? roll flat. Instead, it keeps springing back to its original shape. With some help from I.Q., Link realizes that the dough needs to rest for best results.

Link has a bounty of crisp salad greens so offers GastroBlasters recipes for a simple vinaigrette, a soya sauce vinaigrette, and a creamy ranch dressing. But some greens that Link tossed earlier with vinaigrette have wilted. A simple science experiment reveals that the culprit is the oil. So whenever making a fresh tossed salad, add the dressing just before serving.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

Link has some freshly baked buttermilk biscuits and comes up with an idea to dress them up with a fresh strawberry filling and freshly whipped cream. He?l make Strawberry Shortcake! Chilled equipment is key to getting airy whipped cream, and I.Q. tells Link the reasons why.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Not all potatoes are the same, as Link discovers. In fact, some potatoes are better suited for boiling and potato salads, while other varieties are the right choice for Stuffed Baked Potatoes. Whatever the method of cooking, Link discovers it? always a good idea to prick a few holes in the potato, lest he get an Exploding Potato Situation!

Link has a great recipe for Tzatziki, a Greek-style dip containing yogurt and cucumbers. When he discovers that he doesn? have enough yogurt, Link makes lemonade out of lemons -- or rather, yogurt out of milk -- using the remaining yogurt that is in the carton as his active culture. In order to wipe out unfriendly bacteria, Link demonstrates some sterilizing techniques.