(upbeat guitar music) - As a chef and restaurateur, I know what a happy dining room feels like.

And it's gotta feel the same when I'm cooking for friends at home.

A classic, buttery pasta dish with some cheesy chicken parm will do the trick tonight.

I've invited over our president of our restaurant group, Nick Gray, and a legend in the Denver drag community, Stuart Sanks, aka, Shirley Delta Blow.

We're keeping it casual, but special, where everyone leaves my home full of life and buzzed on happiness.

I'm psyched you're here today 'cause this is some of my favorite food in the world to make.

The pasta, we're gonna do a cacio e pepe.

And I got some truffles I stole from the restaurant.

Don't tell anyone.

- I won't.

- And chicken parm, which I know is your favorite.

I don't know how you feel about chicken parm.

- Delicious.

- Yeah, anyone who doesn't like chicken parm, I don't think we wanna know them, right?

- Right, no.

(Stuart laughs) - This pasta, comfort, simple.

There's so much to be said about cacio e pepe, right?

It's the simplest pasta you can make.

They make it all over Italy.

But one of the things that makes it is fresh pasta, butter, Reggiano Parmigiano.

So this is 24-month aged Reggiano Parmigiano.

And the easiest way to get this started (stove clicking) is, well, one, we're gonna salt our pasta water.

Really important when you're making, when you're cooking fresh pasta or any pasta, for that matter, you want the water to be really salty.

"Salty like the sea," they say, right?

(ocean waves surging) So I'm gonna start my pasta off with just a ladle-full of water.

And that's gonna be the base of our sauce, right?

So, I'm gonna kinda drop this pasta in.

Tagliarini cacio e pepe.

- I don't know what any of those words mean.

- Okay, so cacio e pepe is just a very simple butter pasta, right?

So what I love about that is, I'm using the tagliarini, really fine, like a linguini, almost.

This is fresh.

We extrude this at the restaurants.

Like, linguini is very similar.

And then, there's fettuccine, which would be a tagliatelle, thicker, so they get wider.

The thing I love about this dish is it's like what you ate as a kid.

It's like buttered noodles, right?

Like, your mom made you buttered noodles with cheese?

- Right.

Depending on whether it was the shaker of the sawdust cheese or it was really good cheese.

My mom loved me, so it was always Reggiano Parmigiano.

- Yeah, I grew up in Kansas, and so, yeah, we had the green can.

- The ultimate green shaker can of sawdust.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I still use that today.

- Yeah.

- When you're not looking.

(Stuart laughs) - You live on that.

- Yeah.

- So one of the things about this pasta that's really important is it's all about black pepper.

So that's really the spice or the seasoning in it.

So I have just some peppercorns here.

There's nothing fresh about them.

(Stuart laughs) - It sounds better that way.

- It does sound better.

They're fresh peppercorns.

No, they're just peppercorns.

And I'm gonna grind those up.

I'm gonna use the coffee grinder to do it (peppercorns rattle) 'cause otherwise I would be sitting here grinding with the pepper mill.

- Takes a while?

- It takes a while, and there's a guy that I know that hates when I do that too often.

(grinder buzzing) I didn't want to mention Travis's name, but... (note pops) - So why wouldn't you just use, you know, ground pepper that you got from a store?

Why is it better to have it fresh ground, freshly ground?

- So smell.

There's no store-bought, like, pepper that you're gonna buy that comes in those things that you buy in the store.

They're so flat.

This has a ton of flavor to it.

It was kinda fresh, 'cause we just did it.

And I'm gonna add a nice big pinch of that.

So this is gonna be really straightforward, little burn to your nose.

And then, I'm gonna start to get the sauce finished.

So I'm gonna take some butter.

(spoon clacking) And basically, what I'm doing is just emulsifying (tongs scraping) this butter into this dish.

So you can see it's starting to melt.

- Yup.

- And then, once it all melts, then I know I'm ready to add the pasta.

So that's as simple as this sauce is.

I only have three ingredients in this dish: butter, pepper, and water.

I'm gonna put a little olive oil in it.

So we wanna add a good pinch of black pepper to it, 'cause that's really our big flavoring.

So I think our pasta's just about done.

- Going for the al dente?

- Well with tagliarini, 'cause it's so delicate, (Frank slurps) yeah, it's perfect.

It's never gonna be, like, have that strong bite to it, 'cause it's such a small, delicate pasta.

That's why I love it with this dish.

- I always think Al Dente would be a really good drag queen name.

(Frank chuckles) "Please welcome to the stage, Al Dente."

(crowd cheering) - Yeah.

- [Nick] So different pastas cook differently?

- Yes, so this one obviously cooked in, like, two minutes.

So you can see it's just taking on some of that sauce.

- [Nick] And you leave some of the water in there?

- [Frank] I drizzled a little bit of the water in there.

(tongs tapping) Actually.

- I can smell that butter.

- Yeah, oh yeah.

- I'm gonna hit it with just another little splash, 'cause now this water's got some of the starch from the pasta, and that'll help to thicken it.

So I really like that.

I'm gonna just put a little handful of Parmesan cheese in this.

- [Stuart] Wow.

- And that'll really thicken it up.

So easy.

This is like the best kid pasta ever.

And this is, like, what they tell you they judge chefs by in Italy.

Like, if you can make a great cacio e pepe.

Because, for me, there's not enough chefs that are willing to just do something so simple and do it well.

I think everyone wants to overdo everything.

- Yeah.

- And I think when you, when you can take just a few ingredients and make them sing, and hopefully, when you, when you eat this, you're gonna be like, "Oh my gosh, this is so awesome!"

So, a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, 'cause we're in, like, Tuscany, right?

And then... - Fresh?

- Some fresh, grated Reggiano Parmigiano.

- [Stuart] Wow.

- [Frank] And I'm gonna go pretty heavy on this.

- I don't mind that.

- No.

(laughs) - No, I mean, who doesn't love...

Remember, I said I didn't put a lot of cheese - Right.

- in it when I tossed it, 'cause I want this fresh flavor.

And then, 'cause you guys are my friends, and it's kind of truffle season, just a little shaved black truffle.

(cash register ringing) - Oh my god.

- [Nick] Don't mind that, either.

- [Stuart] Wow.

(cash register ringing) Went from simple to extravagant, right?

- I know, exactly.

(laughs) - So, I mean, to me, this is the quintessential Italian dish.

Rustic, with the addition of some truffles for you.

- Thanks.

(whispers) Wow.

- But I think that that's one of the best pastas I can make.

If I only could make one pasta the rest of my life, or eat one pasta, it's probably this.

I also made a little cocktail for you, or a little drink to have.

If you can give that a smell.

- Oh my gosh.

- Tell me if you can tell what's in it.

- Mmm.

- There's definitely some ice in here, yeah.

- Cucumber?

- Oh yeah, it smells cucumber.

- Yeah, I see it.

- No, ice.

You're the winner.

(bell dings) - Yes!

- Cheers.

- Wait, wait, wait, wait.

(Stuart and Nick laugh) - Oh there's more?

- There is more.

- Yeah.

- So.

- What?

- I'm gonna top yours off with a little bit of bubbles, and yours with a little bit of Perrier.

- Oh, I get bubbles, too.

- [Frank] To give it a spritz.

We want you to have a spritz.

So it's a little bit of cucumber, rosemary, and a little simple syrup.

- Excellent.

- Yeah.

- But I think it'll go, - Smells great.

- 'cause it's refreshing to go, the cucumbers and the truffles.

- Yeah, of course.

- Cheers.

- Cheers again.

- Cheers.

- Oh wow, that's fresh.

- Oh yeah.

- From the garden, right?

The rosemary?

- Yeah, good.

Dig in.

- Okay.

- "Mangia," as they say.

- Ah.

(laughs) - Mangia?

- Come on.

- It's like a mountain of cheese on the top.

I want to go to there.

- You wanna go to the top of the mountain.

- I do, I do.

- Put a little bit of everything on here.

Oh my gosh.

(Stuart mutters) - Wow.

I'd be okay if you made this for the rest of your life.

- Yeah, no, right?

- Or made it for me for the rest of my life, too.

I'd be fine with that.

It's so good.

- Shirley, you don't mean that.

(Frank/Shirley laughs) - Oh.

- That's good.

- When you go out to dinner, and you're, like, in a restaurant, you just want something that's so comforting and simple, I think.

And that's something that I always believe we're losing in the way people are cooking these days.

I mean, we have such a farm-to-table movement.

And then, yet, you're taking these beautiful farm ingredients and adding so much more stuff to 'em, rather than just letting 'em sing.

We're gonna get our chicken cutlets going.

- That sounds good!

(laughs) - I think there's a funny story somewhere in there, isn't- - Yeah.

I think, you say "chicken cutlets," and I see chicken cutlets, but in the dressing room, drag queens wear things very similar to that to accentuate their breasts.

And we call them "chicken cutlets."

Sometimes you dance really hard, and your chicken cutlets come flying out.

That's a good night.

- Wouldn't it smell if you were using chicken cutlets?

- You don't really use chicken cutlets.

- All right.

- Yes.

- So we're just gonna do standard breading.

It's just regular all-purpose flour, and I'm just gonna lightly dust them in that.

Then it goes in an egg wash. And these are just eggs, whisked.

And then, we put it - [Stuart] In the good stuff.

- in the good stuff.

- Yeah.

- [Frank] The breadcrumbs.

I'm actually using Panko for these, the Japanese breadcrumbs, 'cause they really crisp up well when you fry.

And I don't want a whole lot of flavor from the breadcrumbs.

So, like, not, like, your seasoned breadcrumbs that you get at the store.

- Why is that?

- 'Cause these take a little while to fry, to cook the chicken all the way, and I don't want them to brown.

They already tend to be a little bit dark when you get them.

So that's why I like the white, 'cause they're gonna cook a little bit longer.

- When I'm walking through our restaurants, I've noticed chefs, you know, pounding the chicken cutlet.

Why do they do that?

- To tenderize it and to make 'em thinner, so it spreads out and cooks a little more evenly.

I actually just butterflied these.

- Ah.

- So I took the knife and cut the breasts in half.

But you so you can see- - So you slice 'em in the middle?

- Yeah.

- And it opens?

- So I butterflied the breast out.

So I took a knife and just went right across it to make it bigger and wider, and help it to cook a little more evenly.

You kinda do want to pat it really into it, though.

You kinda have to massage it into the chicken breast.

So I'm massaging the breasts.

(Stuart laughs) - That's good.

- So I've got my cutlets done.

- Yeah.

- And I think I'm just gonna tidy up, and then it's time to just, we'll pan fry them.

So, typically, in restaurants, we would deep fry 'em, but I think I'm gonna do 'em in a little bit of olive oil to impart that olive oil flavor.

It'll make it taste a little lighter than just dropping it in a deep fryer.

- I'd eat that right now.

- Oh yeah.

- Why don't they do chicken tartare?

Like, "Please welcome to the stage, Sal Monella."

(crowd cheering) - Yeah, that's probably why.

- Chicken tartare was a huge thing until a bunch of people got sick and died.

- Okay.

- So I think they stopped that.

- That's weird.

- I'm not sure why.

We could try and bring that back, though.

- [Stuart] Yeah.

- [Frank] So I have some extra virgin olive oil.

I'm gonna put this pan on pretty high heat.

- [Stuart] What makes it extra virgin?

Like, what does that mean?

- Never been kissed.

- Oh, okay.

(laughs) - No, "extra virgin olive oil" means that it's a cold-pressed olive oil.

It's like, from the first pressing, when they pick the the olives and push 'em through to extract the oil?

It's just the first pressing of it.

So, that's really what it is.

And you get a higher quality.

The more you process the olives, the lesser the quality.

- Okay.

- But you're still extruding oil, so.

We wanna make sure our oil is really hot when we're gonna drop the cutlets in because it will help keep the breading crisp and stick to it.

Now, I can see this is shimmering.

- Drag queens, we're ready when we shimmer, too.

We put a little shimmer on here, like this.

- You put, okay.

So this is very similar.

- Very, yeah.

- And also, when you ever put anything in, put it in away from you, so in case it splashes.

- [Stuart] That's good.

- Little safety tip when you're shimmering.

- Yeah, it's important!

We shimmer away from our eyes, as well.

That's important.

(dishes rattle) (bongo music) Can do this.

This is a shimmy.

It's kinda the same thing.

- Well, that's what, we just do that in the background when everybody's on the floor at the restaurants, we're doing this in the kitchen.

- Woo-hoo!

That's fantastic.

- So I have some fresh mozzarella from the restaurant.

You can use any kind of good, fresh mozzarella to top it off with.

- Can you just say that again?

I just love the way you say that word.

- (Italian accent) Mozzarella.

- Oh my god!

- You gotta say "uh mozzarella."

For some reason, you gotta do the hand gesture.

- It doesn't sound right if you don't.

Mozzarella.

- [Frank] So, and then I have just some regular, regular mozzarella.

- [Stuart] How do you know when to turn it over?

Is it gonna be, like, this classic, "Turn it over when it's golden brown?"

Oh my gosh, that's another drag queen!

"Please welcome to the stage, Golden Brown."

(crowd applauding) - Golden Brown.

- [Stuart] Gosh.

- We've Sal Monella, Al Dente, and Golden Brown.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So you can see, it's starting to get golden brown.

- There you go, whoo!

- That will have a whole new meaning for me (Stuart laughs) the rest of my life, cooking.

So they're gonna take about three to four minutes on each side.

- And that seems to be always tricky, because, right?

You're cooking the outside, but you're also cooking the inside at the same time.

Kinda like, you know- - You need to make sure it gets cooked through.

We are gonna bake this, so I'm not too worried about, like, that's the other thing with chicken parm or veal parm, you need to cook it, not kill it in this pan, 'cause then it's gonna get another heat treatment.

- [Stuart] Okay.

And is that just to finish it off when you do that?

- Yeah, well I need to melt the cheese and get the sauce up.

- I've got some wigs that need a good heat treatment, too, if I can help with that.

(oil sizzling) - Oh man, those look so good!

- Yeah, look at that.

That was... - So good!

- So it's super crispy.

- Yeah.

- And that's really what we're looking for.

- Yeah.

- So, I'm gonna get my pan.

I just like to put a little bit of sauce.

- What's that doing?

- Right?

Just so that I have some sauce when I bake 'em in the oven.

This is where you say, "Don't get saucy with me, Bernice."

(Stuart laughing) - "Don't get saucy with me, Bernice."

- I'm gonna just see where we're at.

And this is, I guess you could use a thermometer to test it, but I like to just give it a cut in.

And I can see that it's pretty much cooked just through.

Like, if you guys can see that.

You can see it's still nice and moist.

There's actually, like, water running out of it, a little bit of moisture coming out of it.

So I know it's done.

Just gonna put that back in.

(oil sizzling) - Am I looking for, like, the color to tell me that it's finished?

Or am I looking for that water coming out?

- You're looking for the color, 'cause it would be still, like, translucent?

Like, you would have...

I don't know where I put the other piece of chicken.

Oh.

- (chuckles) What happened to my chicken cutlets?

- So this is your starting color, right?

- Okay, yeah.

- So you are looking for it to get white.

- All right.

- Little bit of pink'd be okay, a little of this hue in the dead center, 'cause I know we're gonna cook it a little more.

So I'm gonna take my cutlets out.

(oil sizzling) - Now the cheese?

- So, little more sauce.

(Italian accent) Get a little sauce-a.

- [Stuart] More sauce, please.

"Secret's in the sauce," they say.

- The secret is in the sauce.

So this is just a simple Pomodoro sauce.

Once we've got it like this, I'm gonna put on, I mean, I'm a cheese junkie.

How do you feel about cheese?

- I love cheese.

- Yes, please.

- Really, I do.

- [Nick] It's just like butter.

You can never have enough, right?

- [Frank] No, you can.

So two pieces of this, each.

- Oh my gosh.

- And then... - [Stuart] What, and more?

- Oh yeah, then the fresh mozzarella.

(gentle piano music) The parm for the "a la Parmesan," right?

- Wow.

- Yes.

- So, now I'm ready to put this in the oven.

I love my toaster oven.

It's so much easier.

Don't have to get the kitchen all hot, wait 20 minutes for it to heat up.

So this is two dark toast cycles in your toaster oven.

- [Stuart] Wow.

(button beeps) - I'd really love to serve an arugula salad with this, 'cause it's crisp, vibrant.

We usually do pasta, but you've already had a beautiful pasta dish, so it's just really about the chicken parm.

So just lemon juice and a little extra virgin olive oil.

(toaster oven beeping) Ooh.

- Yes.

- Oh my god.

(claps) - [Nick] I can see that melted cheese.

- Oh yeah.

- Oh my gosh.

- Mmm.

- Uh, yeah.

- Do you want any of this, or what?

- [Nick] Yeah.

(light jazz music) - And for Nick, I don't think there's enough cheese on his.

So just a little arugula.

(dishes clattering) And then, really, what makes Parmesan, chicken Parmesan... - Is a little extra.

- Yeah, just beautiful.

- It's just that little extra that makes it better.

- I love it.

So hot, it's just melting right in there.

Oh yeah.

- [Frank] All right.

- There you go.

- Oh my god.

- Watch out for those stringy cheeses.

- You know it's done when it has those strings.

- Nick, I have a little ripasso for you.

This is a really great wine.

Just super fruity.

- Thank you.

- Fun, goes with it.

A ripasso de Valpolicella.

- Fun and fruity and goes with it.

- Yes, do you need a drink?

- Sounds like me.

- Yeah.

(all laughing) - Dig in?

- Yeah, dig in.

- (whispers) Oh my gosh.

- Mangia.

- Mangia.

- Allora.

- This is just awesomeness.

- Oh my gosh.

Mmm.

- It's still crispy underneath that cheese.

- [Frank] That's the goal, right?

- Yeah.

- To keep it crispy, and still all that gooeyness on top.

- So good.

- [Stuart] And the sauce that you're saying is simple is not so overpowering, right?

- Yeah, you don't want, I think too many people put this big, heavy, red tomato sauce on it.

I think lighter, like, almost really thin tomato sauce to keep it crisp, and just give you that hint of tomato.

'Cause, to me, I just really want the cheese.

I mean, that could be cardboard under there if there's that much cheese on it.

And I'm pretty happy.

- Yeah.

- I wanna thank you guys for coming, and of course, Golden Brown, (crowd cheering) Al Dente, and Sal Monella for joining us here on stage.

(Nick and Stuart laugh) - Yes, right?

- It's been such a pleasure cooking for you.

It's always great to hang out.

And thank you very much.

- Thank you, Frank.

- This was so fun.

- Yeah.

- And delicious.

(glasses clink) - You bet.

(light jazz continues)