Hey, everybody. I'm Guy Fieri and we're rolling out.
Looking for America's greatest Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
This trip...
-[laughs] -Almost had it.
...it's a meaty mashup...
Let the feeding begin.
[Guy] ...from all over the world.
That's what takes this to the next level.
In Boise, Idaho...
It's so good.
[Guy] ...righteous Russian recipes...
You know he really likes it, when he does a little happy dance.
[Guy] ...and prime time plates from Pakistan.
Where is this on the scale of one to 10?
-Eleven. -[woman laughs]
[Guy] Plus a barbecue pro in Ocala, Florida...
It can't get any better.
...is smoking up his own out of bounds flavor.
I mean, it really gives me goosebumps. I'm so proud of you.
That's all right here, right now on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
[theme music playing]
Back in 2017, I did a show called
Guy's Big Project. I brought all these people in,
and had this great show. And there was one guy in particular that stood out.
And he said he's doing real deal barbecue.
Looks like real deal barbecue.
He says, "Next time you come to Central Florida
you gotta check it out, and let me cook for you."
I'm here. This is Rashad Jones. And this is Big Lee's Barbecue.
Big Lee's smoked chicken and mac and cheese.
[man] Ocala is a better place
because of Big Lee's barbecue.
I need more Big Lee's burnt ends.
Big Lee's is big flavor.
Brisket is looking spot on.
Great natural flavor that you can't find anywhere else.
Would you call this Carolina barbecue,
Kansas City barbecue, Texas barbecue?
I call it Big Lee's Barbecue.
[Guy] And there's definitely a story behind that name.
Big Lee's was inspired by
Leon Archie which is Rashad's uncle.
[Rashad] He inspired me.
What were you doing when you decided to get into the world of barbecue?
Working with at-risk kids.
I'd help them make better choices in life.
I don't believe there's bad kids.
I believe there is good kids that come up in bad situations.
So you gotta give them a different situation.
It's like food. When you put the attention into it,
it's probably gonna come out really good.
[woman] Rashad brings something different
to the table that a lot of people really don't bring.
Big Lee's smoked ribs and a Kathy.
[woman] They're good ribs.
'Cause they have meat on them.
We love the Kathy.
The brisket with the mac and cheese, I mean,
you create a little space of heaven.
Okay, chef. Let's see it.
[Rashad] This is our Big Lee's house rub.
Salt. Coarse ground black pepper.
Granulated onion. Granulated garlic.
Oregano. Basil.
-Rosemary. Thyme. -And thyme.
-All right, so you bring in the spare rib. -Correct.
-You're gonna cut this down. -[Rashad] Yeah, I'm gonna knock some of this down.
-I like to get some of these little bones out. -Get some of the flat meat.
[Rashad] Get right in here. That's squared off pretty nicely.
[Guy] You'll pull the silver skin.
So what happens with the brisket?
A little bit too much fat on it.
Knock that off. Part of the point.
[Guy] They both get the same dry rub.
-Are we gonna let this sit? -[Rashad] Absolutely.
Twenty-four to 48 hours.
-[Guy] What kind of wood they going on? -[Rashad] Central Florida oak.
Low and slow. We don't really do
time and temp on a lot of things.
Once the brisket has developed this bark,
we're gonna pull it off the smoker.
So this slab of spare ribs, I'm gonna let the color develop.
I'm also gonna wait for it to get really tender so that it bends easily.
And then I'm gonna pull it.
-[Guy] What are we into? -A flame tang barbecue sauce.
Butter. Kosher salt. Ground black pepper.
Cayenne. Cumin. Kind of let the aromatics from those wake up a little bit.
Rice water vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar.
Add some bourbon.
A bit of hot sauce.
-Worcestershire? -Not too much.
Granulated garlic. Granulated onion.
Light brown sugar. Yellow mustard.
And then, a boat load of ketchup.
How long is this gonna cook down?
[Rashad] Till the brown sugar dissolves.
Little bit of sweetness. The ACV is the right amount.
I mean, that's my kind of Barbecue sauce.
Now we're gonna start on the Kathy.
Brisket stuffed mac and cheese.
We're gonna get to our cheese sauce with a little bit of butter.
We let the butter brown just a little bit.
Kosher salt. Tiny bit of sugar.
Processed cheese.
That gives that nice silky creaminess.
[Rashad] Extra sharp cheddar.
-Ow. -[laughs]
That's how sharp that was.
[Rashad] And milk.
We'll let this cook down.
All right, so now we're gonna stuff the mac and cheese with chopped sauce brisket.
Gorgeous. Do you have current registration on this rig?
-Yes, sir. -A cop pulled up just now.
[police siren wails]
-[laughs] -Almost had it!
Ah, the fat just melts. Wow!
I'm gonna sauce this.
Dump these cooked noodles in here. Let them get nice and saucy.
-Go down with a layer. -Okay.
-Shredded gouda. -Now brisket.
[Rashad] Cover that up with a little more gouda.
And then the rest of the mac and cheese goes on top of that.
And then more sharp cheddar. That's all she wrote.
[Rashad] This is going on the smoker. Thirty minutes max.
I'm gonna slice you up some ribs.
-[laughs] -[Guy] Look at that.
There you have it.
[Guy] Love the barbecue sauce in the meat.
With that sharp cheddar on top. Dynamite.
I mean, mac and cheese, with a dollop of
smoked brisket on top of it would not be the same.
There's something about infusing the flavor
of that brisket into the mac and cheese.
There is more smoke ring than there is meat.
-Hmm. -[Guy] Juicy is an understatement.
Dynamite bark.
Seasoned all the way through from that dry brine.
[chomping] That barbecue sauce,
there's definitely good heat in it.
Definitely good vinegar in it.
Ever single thing here has its own uniqueness about it.
That's what takes this to the next level.
Oh, man these ribs are looking great.
[man] I love the ribs.
The flavors are marinated through the meat.
They're really juicy and I love the smokiness in it.
-[Guy] What do you think of those ribs? -[chewing] They're delicious.
-And no sauce on them. -Naked.
-You are what? -[both laughing]
-[man] No. -[Guy] You ever had stuffed mac and cheese?
No. Amazing.
-[Guy] Have you tried the sauce yet? -[woman] Yes. Nice flavor.
It elevates the meat. It's really good.
-There you go. Enjoy. -Thank you, Rashad.
-[Guy] It can't get any better. -Thank you.
It can though.
'Cause we're gonna make Italian sausage when we come back.
[babbling]
My tongue was getting in the way of my teeth.
Because my mouth is wanting to eat.
So there was, I was having this like traffic jam.
Welcome back Triple-D hanging out in Ocala, Florida
with the one and only Chef Rashad
at Big Lee's barbecue.
Now if you think the guy looks familiar,
he probably does. Because he was in Guy's Big Project,
back in 2017.
And then, he did his own show.
This is Eat, Sleep, BBQ.
But this guy's got
like 900 trucks, 4,000 smokers,
and 82...
-Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. -[laughs]
There's barbecue. And then there's Rashad's barbecue.
I love Big Lee's.
My mom brings me here all the time.
Honestly, surpasses
any barbecue around here.
Damon, I need more Italian Stallion smoked sausage on the line.
[man] Having that Italian Stallion sausage, and man,
it is the bomb.
Stuffed with cheese. And it's amazing.
Let's see it, bud.
[Rashad] All right. So we're gonna start by using
the trimming from our brisket and rib.
Gotta have 30% fat, 70% meat.
Kosher salt. You have to get it mixed in here.
This is our base, paprika.
Coarse ground black pepper. Little bit of rosemary.
Some thyme. Little bit of sage. Dry oregano.
Basil. Fennel. Fresh garlic.
Granulated onion. Chopped dried onion. Some marjoram.
Crushed red pepper flakes. Italian parsley.
Little secret ingredient, milk powder.
That dry protein's gonna absorb some of the juices that come out.
And we're gonna get a nice, juicy plump sausage.
And now we're gonna go in with our last two ingredients.
Pearl mozzarella balls.
Looks like marshmallows.
[Rashad] Little bit of sweet red wine.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Rashad] Mix this all up.
Twenty-four hours in the cooler.
-[Guy] Natural casings. -Absolutely.
[Guy] So once it gets cased...
[Rashad] Go in the smoker.
-You really wanna pull it at 155. -[Guy whistles]
Not juicy or anything.
I love the mozz inside.
So you got a lot of creaminess and a lot of silkiness and lot of fat from the mozz.
Nice casing. Ton of flavor.
Love that it is the pork and the beef. Delicious.
-Italian Stallion sausage. -All right.
The Italian Stallion sausage is amazing.
It is juicy. It's plump. It's packed full of flavor.
I love it with the cheese in the middle and everything.
We got Big Lee's burnt ends.
Big Lee's is the best barbecue around. There is no doubt about it.
[Guy] What you know about barbecue
and the love that you profess about it, and the way you put all that love
on a tray.
I mean, it really gives me goosebumps. I'm so proud of you.
I've always wanted you to be able to try my food since I first started cooking
on my stomping grounds in Florida.
This thing that Uncle Leon inspired me with.
I gotta be honest, man. He might have been the spark.
-You're the flame. -Thank you.
[Guy] Up next, a Russian joint
all the way in Boise, Idaho.
You're an ambassador
of this great food and this great culture.
Cooking up lights out lamb.
Talk about stick to your ribs, huh.
And putting out little pillows from heaven.
This is one of the best things I've had to eat
in the last year.
Here in Boise, Idaho with the boys.
-[snoring] -[Guy] And on Triple-D, we've gone to about
every kind of restaurant you can imagine.
We've got Mexican, Italian, Chinese, you name it.
-Puerto Rican, Honduran... -Exactly.
You know what we don't see enough of, is Russian.
I mean, we're "rushing" to get here, that's for sure.
[laughs] Hope you're not rushing by the place.
You might miss it.
This is Alyonka Russian Cuisine.
What do you wanna do with him?
-Let him sleep. He smells food he'll get up. -All right.
[snoring]
[Elena] Pork and potato roast.
It's phenomenal.
It's not really a hidden gem anymore.
The people in the know, know.
Our famous Stroganoff with noodles.
It's eastern European, Russian, Georgian.
And until you come and have your first bite,
you don't know what you are missing out on.
[Guy] And all that flavor's here thanks to Elena DeYoung
who came from Kazakhstan in 1993
with old Russian recipes straight out of her family's cookbook...
Shish kebab is almost ready.
[Guy] ...literally.
-This is the cookbook that I grew up with. -No way.
[Elena] My niece came about 10 years ago.
While she was here I said,
"There was a book in our family
and I wonder if you saw it somewhere."
And she said, "It is still in the attic."
You gotta put that in a safe.
I was crying.
-I would have too. That's amazing -I'm gonna cry.
All right. Let's go cook. What are we gonna make today?
-[Elena] Pelmeni. -[Guy] What is it?
-[Elena] Dumplings. -[Guy] Got it.
-I'm gonna eat my body weight in dumplings. -[laughing]
[woman] I had Pelmeni today.
Stuffed with beef that is tender and flavorful.
We're making the dough for Pelmeni.
-[Guy] With hot water? -[Elena] With hot water. Half the flour.
And we'll mix it for about five minutes.
Monday and Tuesday is my dumplings days.
-[Guy] Yeah, ours too. -Yeah.
-It's usually legs and chest. -[Elena laughs]
-Right. And then Wednesday is dumplings. -And dumpling day.
So now I gonna add the rest of the flour.
-[Guy] So the eggs. -[Elena] Eggs.
-Salt. -And the olive oil.
-[Elena] And olive oil. -[Guy] And how long is that gonna go for?
-About 10 minutes. -[Guy] We let it rest at all?
Maybe half an hour.
We're gonna make our house spices.
Salt. Black Pepper. Red Pepper Flakes.
-[Guy] Dehydrated onion. -[Elena] Garlic.
Paprika. Caraway seeds. Dill seeds.
[Guy] Dill is a big thing.
I can't deal without dill.
[laughs]
-Making funnies now. -Wow.
[Elena] And coriander.
Mix all of this together.
Ground beef. It's 20, 80.
We're gonna add the house seasoning.
Red onion.
We have to mix it very well.
-[Guy] And next we're gonna make the broth. -Yes.
Get the short ribs. Put them in the pot.
Then I put the onions. Celery.
Carrots. Water. Bay Leaf.
And then a little bit of the, the magic Kazakhstan seasoning.
-Uh-huh. -[laughs] Yes.
[Guy] How long is this gonna cook, chef?
[Elena] For about three hours.
After it simmers,
we strain the vegetables and all the other parts and it's ready to go.
-For making dumplings. -Let's go.
[Elena] We're gonna portion this.
And then we'll roll it out.
Start cutting the dough.
Scoop the filling.
Put it inside, fold it and start pinching.
And then I put it together. Just like so.
[Guy] How'd I do? Can I be on the dumpling team?
-Beautiful. -Not bad?
Look at you. Like you've always done them.
-[Guy] All right, so these are done. -We freeze them.
[Guy] For service we drop them
-in the water frozen. -[Elena] Yes.
So I will pull them out.
How many usually come with an order?
-[Elena] About 12, 15. -[Guy] Oh, my gosh.
-[Hunter] Wow. -Put the broth on the top.
Finish it with dill.
Serve it with the sour cream.
-[Guy] Thank you. -[Elena] You're welcome.
Mmm.
You know he really likes it, when he does a little happy dance.
-It is so good. -[laughs]
[Guy] And you gotta get the sour cream on that.
Bringing the temperature down adds a little creaminess to it.
[Guy] This is one of the best things I've had to eat
in the last year.
-[moans] -[Hunter] This is perfect.
It's a pure comfort for sure.
[Guy chomping] It's so good.
-The dill is what makes it. -Mmm-hmm.
Hey, Dad.
-I'm very hungry. -Were you still in the car?
-[laughs] -Hi.
-So hungry. -[Guy and Elena laugh]
[Guy] Oh! Chef, this is fantastic.
One more round of dumplings.
[Elena] Pelmeni with broth.
Like a perfect pillow of meat cream and goodness.
And the broth itself is soothing.
Why do we not use dill more?
-Tell me that's not the big deal here. -I mean, it is magic.
[Guy] You know, how many people must drive by this
-and never stop? -[woman] People are starting to figure it out.
-[Guy] The food chain here has grown dramatically. -It's crazy.
Boise is a magnet for talent and I think they're bringing food with 'em.
I've lived here for 20 years and it's changed so much.
[Guy] A Russian restaurant.
-So when you saw it, what'd you think? -I was excited.
For something different and new.
Lamb Plof for 103.
I'm eating the Lamb Plof and it's wonderful.
I don't know what she puts in there, but I can tell you that
it's just delicious.
What are we into now?
-Lamb Plof. -Well everybody else calls it Rice Pilaf.
-And you call it Plof. -[Elena] Plof.
Olive oil. Lamb with the bones. The house seasoning.
Cumin seeds.
[Guy] So that cooks down.
I need to pull the bones out once it's cooked.
Then I put the onion in, cook for about five minutes.
Add the carrots.
-[Guy] Sweat all the veggies. -[Elena] Yes.
Next, I gonna add Basmati rice.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Elena] Pre-washed.
The water. Add salt.
[Guy] Now we put the garlic cloves in.
Wait for the water evaporate and close the pot.
So let it finish steaming.
-Look at that. -Oh, my gosh.
Then I add dill, parsley and green onion.
And the slices of pickles.
Let the feeding begin.
Great ingredients cooked the right way
can produce amazing flavor.
You're gonna tell me that all of the sweetness in this...
Mmm-hmm.
-...is coming from the carrots. -Onions too.
I'm digging around for the lamb 'cause that's my favorite part.
And then the vegetables get all that flavor as well and so...
Talk about stick to your ribs, huh?
[laughs]
Plof looking good.
Lamb is just delicious and succulent.
It's just an amazing dish.
[man] Every bite is a new experience
'cause you're tasting a different ingredient.
Kim, your Borscht is ready.
Try to tell all my friends and family about this.
Just such an awesome place.
[Guy] You're an ambassador of this great food
and this great culture, and we get to help shine the light on you.
Ryder, you're gonna have to leave the plate in the bowl though.
You can't be getting in the car with it.
Up next. We're sticking to Boise with a passport to Pakistan.
-So you are the Pakistani Guy Fieri. -I wish.
[Guy] Cooking up glorious goat.
Love the rich flavor of it.
And a dish you just wanna dive into.
Tons of flavor. You can smell it.
The whole place is perfumed with it.
So ladies and gentlemen,
you are getting a little Triple-D history right here.
This is the first time the car has been in a parking garage.
Well where am I? I'm in Downtown Boise, Idaho.
And I'm in a parking garage because you can't park out front.
Because that's an area known as Eighth and Main
where everybody is walking through
and visiting restaurants and shops.
Why am I here you ask?
Well, because I here there is a Pakistani Indian restaurant
that is off the hook.
This is Taj Mahal.
Lamb Shanks for G-1.
[man] Taj Mahal is the place that we can come back over and over.
Alu samosa for you.
[Guy] I mean, this is as close to what you would find if you went back to Pakistan?
-This is Mom's home cooking. [laughs] -[thuds on table]
[Guy] Technically, it's Sohail and Farha Ishaq's home cooking.
And they're not only dishing out the flavor.
But they're also teaching this western town
a thing or two about their native Pakistani cuisine.
It's one of my favorite types of food and we don't see it enough.
I think it gets blended into Indian, middle-eastern food.
What is the difference of Pakistani food?
Pakistan is more on a meat side.
Beef and lamb and goat.
Karahi goat is also ready.
[woman] The Goat Karahi is very tender.
Really absorbs all the flavors in the sauce.
[man] I take the Naan, dip it in,
get all the juices into the Naan.
Grab a piece of meat, just have at it.
Well, what are we making first, chef?
[Sohail] Goat Karahi.
-Olive oil. -Ginger and garlic. The raw onion.
Salt in it. Cayenne pepper.
Turmeric. Cumin.
Coriander. Fresh ginger. Bone in goat.
Very lean. Love the rich flavor of it. As you know I raised goats.
How long we gonna cook this down?
[Sohail] Hour and a half minimum.
What are we making now?
-[Sohail] Dough for the Naan. -[Guy] Okay.
Salt. Baking powder.
-Sugar. -Dry active yeast.
[Sohail] Water in it. Whole milk.
Oil in it and flour.
-[Guy] Now how long we gonna let this mix? -[Sohail] Eight to 10 minutes.
-Portion it, and then we start making the Naan. -Okay.
[Sohail] Flour on it.
Now our dough ball is ready for the stretch.
What temperature do you think this is at?
-[Sohail] Four-hundred degree. -[Guy] Four-hundred degrees.
-[Sohail] There you go. -[Guy] Easy-peasy.
Now getting it off is a different story.
Fresh Naan in here.
Now we're gonna make Goat Karahi.
Habaneros. Some fresh Serrano.
Oh, that's gotta be nice, and not hot.
[Sohail] Fresh cilantro. Fresh tomatoes.
Goat Karahi.
Cilantro.
So the fresh Naan. The Karahi.
[Sohail] And you're in heaven.
Whenever somebody tells me that they don't like goat. I'd tell them,
"I don't think you had goat prepared the right way."
When we started serving goat, people had no idea
how delicious this meat is.
The fresh Naan, there's just no beating that.
Everything we eat with Naan.
-Morning, Naan and night. -[laughs]
Goat Karahi for you.
This is the most delicious piece of meat,
that you could ever take a bite of.
When we moved here, we looked
for an Indian restaurant 'cause we wanted spice.
-This is spice. -Oh, yeah.
[man] In Boise, Idaho it's difficult to find spicy food.
It's the place to come.
-You were not a chef, before in Pakistan? -[Sohail] No.
I was in the radio and then TV.
So you are the Pakistani Guy Fieri.
-I got it! -[laughs] I wish.
[man] When you come here, you are very much
interacting with the family.
[woman] The second you come in here, you feel like,
you're going to friend's house and they just made you,
a home cooked meal.
[waiter] Chicken Biriyani.
[man 1] The chicken biriyani,
it's got incredible spices in there.
[man 2] When you taste it,
you feel all the love and attention that they put into it.
-What's next? -Oh, so we gonna start with the biriyani.
-Today we are gonna do it with chicken. -Okay.
-So what are we making right now? -[Sohail] The basmati rice.
Ghee. Onions
[both] Green cardamom.
[Sohail] Black cardamom.
Star anise.
-Cumin. -[Guy] Black Pepper.
-Cloves. -[Guy] Bay leaf and cinnamon.
-Salt. -[Guy] We're going to the rice cooker?
[Sohail] Yes.
-Now what are working on? -Onion sauce.
-Let's see it. -[Sohail] Water. Onions.
-[Guy] Salt. -[Sohail] Cumin powder.
Very nice pour.
-[Sohail] Coriander. -[Guy] More cumin powder.
[Sohail] Some turmeric powder.
Let the onion cook.
-And later we'll blend it. -[blender whirring]
-What's our next step? -Biriyani.
Oil. Garlic. Ginger paste.
[Guy] Now the raw onions.
[Sohail] Bay leaf.
Curry leaves. Nutmeg.
Black Coriander. Green coriander.
Star anise. Cloves.
-Cumin seed. -Peppercorn.
-[Guy] Cinnamina-mina- mina-mon. -Biriyani mix. Salt.
Toast up those spices.
Then we have the onion sauce.
Tomatoes.
Water.
Bone in chicken.
Tons of flavor. You can smell it.
The whole place is perfumed with it.
[Sohail] Now let it cook for an hour.
Okay, chef. The seasoned basmati.
Some of the chicken.
Another layer of rice.
I don't know if we're gonna ever eat this.
I wish he kind of moved it around a lot.
We press hard and then we flip it.
[Guy whistles]
Fried onions.
Cilantro. Saffron with rose water.
So you're just supposed to dig into this,
-and survive it. -[Sohail] Yes.
The rice is cooked perfectly. You have little different pockets of flavor.
I think this is a good starter dish.
If you don't know what you exactly want,
something like the Biriyani would be a good starter.
And you'll eating it for the rest of the week.
Chicken Biriyani.
The Biriyani is divine.
It is just overpowering with this mixture of flavors.
Where is this on the scale of one to 10?
-Eleven. -[woman laughs]
Some of the best I've had in the world.
Korma chicken is ready.
We just chanced upon the restaurant about 21 years ago,
I have been coming here pretty much once a week since then.
Very special place.
What a pleasure to meet you, to meet your family, to meet your wife.
-Oh, thank you. -Let me just get one more bite for prosperity.
-You guys validate? -[Sohail] Sorry. [laughs]
So that's it for this edition of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
But don't you worry. There's funky joints all over this country.
And I'll be looking for you next time on...
[all] Triple-D! [cheering]
-[Guy] What are gonna cook next? -We're gonna make the karahi.
Goat karahi.
-Goat karate. -Kara-hee.
I'm gonna go back to my ranch and teach my goats karate.
If you need some help, I can get and chop them up.
-Ha! Ha! Ha! -[laughs]