Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 10, Episode 8 - That's Sno-Problem! - full transcript
[Molly] We're snowed in.
But hey, it's sno-problem.
These look beautiful.
I'm cozying us up with my
Midwest-inspired favorite.
Look at that steam coming out.
Like crispy, deep-fried
walleye sandwiches
on soft, homemade potato bun
slathered with tangy
tartar sauce.
That is some crispy fish.
Creamy ham and egg potato salad
with charred scallions
on the side.
This is my dream right now.
Am I dreaming? Am I asleep?
And for dessert...
I won't say "sno" to these.
my rainbow chip
oatmeal cream pies
with coconut filling
add a sweet pop of color
to the snowy white outdoors
Oh, yum! Yay!
Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our home,
our farm on the North Dakota
Minnesota border,
the place where I eat,
sleep and breathe food.
It's way too snowy outside
to do anything but stay in
and cook, bake, and eat.
And honestly,
that's why I moved here.
So I'm putting together a hearty,
Midwest-inspired meal to warm us up
on this blustery day.
For dessert, I'm making
my oatmeal cream pies,
which are sweet, and chewy,
and dangerously good.
One bite and you're a kid again.
And it's a snow day,
it's the best day ever.
I'll start with my cookie dough,
I'll combine my dry ingredients.
One-and-three-quarters
of a cup of rolled oats.
Honestly, the only thing
better than an oatmeal cookie
is two oatmeal cookies,
with cream cheese filling
in the center.
One cup of all-purpose flour.
Half a teaspoon of baking soda
and three quarters
of a teaspoon of kosher salt.
Oatmeal cream pies
are really sweet,
so I like them to have
a little extra hint of salt.
I'm getting flashbacks of these
oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips
that my mom and sister and I
used to make
when we were little.
We were always an oatmeal
chocolate chip family,
not a oatmeal raisin.
Today I'm making a slight variation
though, and using rainbow chips
because it adds that
extra crunch and cuteness.
Okey-doke, the dry ingredients
are combined.
I get one stick of softened,
unsalted butter,
pop it right into my mixer bowl,
and add one-and-a-quarter cup
of light brown sugar.
Brown sugar in a cookie
makes it extra chewy
and molasses-y.
And then we'll cream this up
until it's fluffy.
I'll crack and add one egg,
I'll drizzle in
one tablespoon of molasses
to boost that molasses flavor
from the brown sugar
and also add
a little bit more chew.
And three-quarters
of a teaspoon of vanilla.
And then I'll reduce to low
and add my dry ingredients.
That looks great.
And once this is just combined,
I'll pour in the best part,
the rainbow chips.
In they go.
The hilarious concentration
of rainbow chips in here
is making me really happy.
I've got two baking sheets
lined with parchment
and a three-tablespoon scoop.
I'll scoop out eight cookies
onto each pan.
I think I read somewhere
that Grand Forks
is the number two
coldest town in America.
We have days where
it's 40 degrees below zero.
They literally tell you
on the news,
"Don't go outside."
And I'm like, "Heck, yeah.
I'm gonna bake cookies
and watch ice skating."
Those are my favorite days.
Okay, last cookie going on.
These are ready for the oven,
I'll get them in at 325
for 12 minutes,
and in that time, I'll get
going on their creamy filling.
I can't wait.
This is basically
a cream cheese frosting
with an added bonus
of coconut oil.
It's a nod to the classic
nostalgic shortening
that you usually find
in oatmeal cream pies,
but I love the extra
coconutty vibe that it adds.
I've got six ounces of softened
cream cheese in my bowl.
The tanginess is what keeps me
going back for more bites.
Half a stick of softened,
unsalted butter,
and a quarter-cup of unrefined
coconut oil at room temperature.
I'll beat these together.
Okay, that's combined.
I'll mix in now one-and-a-half
cups of powdered sugar.
When I was a kid,
it was the joke to mix
the powdered sugar in on high
and say, "It's snowing!"
Because the powdered sugar
would get everywhere in the kitchen.
I don't wanna do that today,
I don't feel like cleaning.
I'll scrape the sides to make sure
all the powder gets incorporated.
I'm gonna add some salt...
and vanilla.
And then we'll get this
good and smooth and fluffy.
As fluffy as a blanket of snow
and ready to assemble.
I'll plop some filling
onto the center of a cookie.
This is the extra
satisfying part.
I'll sandwich it
with another cookie,
squashing it down so that
the filling reaches the edges.
Now, this filling
is really soft,
so these need to set up
in the refrigerator,
but I like them there,
because a cooled cookie
is a really good cookie.
Okay, I'll keep on assembling.
Well, I won't say "sno"
to these.
[muffled] Oh, my God.
Mmm, they're so chewy, and
those rainbow chips are crunchy!
This is a sweet sandwich
of comfort if I ever had one.
Coming up, my ham-sational
potato salad.
It has all the hallmarks
of a great side,
including a charred
pop of flavor and color.
For a super salad snow day side,
I'm baking my ham and egg
potato salad
with charred scallions.
It is briny, smokey,
meaty creamy,
mayo-y, it has it all.
To get started,
I'm chopping up two-and-a-half
pounds of potatoes
into one-inch pieces.
Yukon Golds are so buttery
and tasty and creamy,
they are the perfect
potato salad potato.
You know, already I've got
a tasty salad.
Okay, I'll submerge them
in cold water in my pot.
It's important to start
potatoes in cold water
so that they cook
through evenly.
I'm gonna salt it
the same way I do pasta water.
So with a pretty good handful.
The reason I want
to season it now
is so that the salt can
penetrate the entire potato
so they're tasty
all the way through,
and not just seasoned
on the surface.
I'll bring this to a boil
and then reduce to a simmer
and cook until
the potatoes are tender,
just about eight to ten minutes.
And while these go,
I'll make the mayo-y dressing.
This dressing is creamy
with a welcome pop
of acidity thanks to...
cornichon brine.
Pickles to the rescue.
I'll start with
the sound of happiness.
One cup of mayonnaise.
I'm gonna lighten up
the mayo a little bit
with a quarter-cup
of Greek yoghurt.
Just adds some fluffiness.
A couple of tablespoons
of stone-ground mustard,
Potatoes love salt,
potatoes love ham,
potatoes love mustard.
Am I a potato?
Two tablespoons
of cornichon brine,
the brininess that you want.
Two teaspoons of sugar.
I love for a potato salad
to have a hint of sweetness.
The salt of the Midwest,
garlic powder.
Half a teaspoon.
If you know, you know.
And actual salt. And pepper.
I honestly didn't love potato
salad until I moved here.
And it seems like every family
has their own
potato salad traditions,
and different secret
ingredients that they like to add,
whether it's pickles
or hard-boiled eggs or ham...
I love it all.
So, in my potato salad,
I add all of those things
along with charred scallions
because smokiness
with potatoes is so good.
Okay, this is
a good-looking dressing.
The potatoes are tender,
they're ready to drain.
I'll pour the drained potatoes
back into the hot pot
so that it can kind of try
the potatoes out a little.
I'll season with
a little more salt.
And then,
while they're still hot,
I'm gonna toss them
with some more cornichon brine
so they can absorb that flavor.
Now while these cool slight, I'll add
a few more hits of texture to my salad.
I got celery, scallions,
ham and hard-boiled egg
And I'm gonna get
this ham browning first.
My skillet is heating
over here over medium-high,
I'll drizzle in
some neutral oil.
Then I'm gonna get this
brown and crisp.
- [sizzling]
- Oh, yeah.
The other sound of happiness.
I'm smelling it already.
While the ham gets
a jump-start on browning,
I'll chop up my scallions
which I also toss in there.
Cut one-inch slices.
There's definitely gonna be
some summer girl vibes
in this potato salad,
which I'm not mad about.
I'll toss this around,
let this cook on medium-high
for just a few minutes
so they can develop
some great brown color.
While that goes,
I'll slice up my celery.
Celery's bringing in the crunch.
I just wanna do some nice,
thin slices...
I do like a chunkier
potato salad.
We'll get these right into
the bowl with the dressing.
I'm hearing that ham pop.
The scallions are starting
to get there.
Next up, the true star
of the show, the cornichons.
The color is really pretty,
the flavor is so good...
I really feel like without that
acidity, a potato salad can fall flat.
I'll slice up my cornichons...
Bringing in that pickle-ness.
Now the hard-boiled eggs.
Rather than chopping up eggs,
it's so last year,
I'm just gonna use a drying rack
to press the eggs
through the holes
and then all of your chopping
is done for you.
So easy.
When my friend Evan told me that
his family adds eggs to his potato salad,
first I thought that was crazy,
but then I tried it
and I was hooked.
I've got fresh parsley and dill.
All right, ready for
the potatoes
and the ham and scallions.
These look beautiful.
I love all the colors
in this salad.
Then get everything coated
in that mayo-y goodness.
Hello! I got to excited.
This is like a potato party.
Okay, let me get
my serving bowl.
Dump it right in.
This is my dream right now.
Am I dreaming? Am I asleep?
Finish off with some herbs.7
And while it's still warm,
I'm going in.
Warm potato salad, heck yeah.
Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
This is it.
This is my dream potato salad.
Later, the secret to the mos
tender buns in town.
One of my favorite
local activities
that doesn't involve
going outside
in sub-zero temperatures
is eating crispy, fried walleye.
So I'm making fried
walleye sandwiches
on homemade potato buns,
swimming in tartar sauce.
Some mild white fish and a
fistful of hand-held local happiness.
I make the buns first,
fry up the walleye,
and then sandwich
everything together
and pound it, 'cause
they're gonna be so good!
To get started, I have
one large russet potato
that I've peeled and boiled
until it's tender throughout.
And it always amazes me that the simple
act of adding a potato to bread dough
transforms it into a more
cloud-like, fluffy state.
I'm just chopping this up so
that I can fit it into my ricer.
Then we'll rice this guy
right into my mixing bowl.
If you don't have a ricer,
you can just mash it,
but ricing it gets you
uniform little pieces
and it also keeps it
pretty fluffy.
I used to love potato bread
and potato bagels growing up.
It was like soft bread
on steroids,
the next level of soft bread.
While the potatoes
are still warm,
I'll plop in
half a stick of butter,
couple of tablespoons of
honey for a hint of sweetness.
And we'll mix this around
to melt the butter.
One year, when we had a
surplus of potatoes in our garden,
I added mashed potato
to my challah dough,
and it was the softest,
best loaf of challah ever,
it became my favorite variation.
So I've been adding mashed
potatoes to my bread ever since.
It's all worth it.
All right, it's cool enough
where I don't have to worry
about cracking in an egg
and watching the egg cook on me,
so I'll add this right in,
along with two-and-a-half
teaspoons of kosher salt,
two-and-a-quarter teaspoons
of instant yeast.
And then I've got my
potato-cooking water leftover here,
which is perfect because
it's still a little warm,
which will help
activate the yeast.
And also, it's got
potato starches in it,
so I'm doubling down
on that potatoey-ness.
I'll ladle in
three-quarters of a cup,
mix it around
and get it combined.
And lastly, I'll add my all-purpose
flour, three-and-a-half cups.
I'll give this a quick stir.
And then I'll let my stand
mixer do the kneading.
About six to eight minutes
until it's smooth.
And you can also of course
knead this by hand.
If it gets too sticky
to work with,
dust with a little bit
more flour until it isn't.
Okay. This is looking good.
It's smooth, it's sticky,
but not too sticky.
I'm gonna grab a clean bowl.
I'll drizzle it with
some neutral oils
so the dough doesn't stick.
We'll plop it in
and turn it to coat in the oil
so that it doesn't dry out.
Okay, I'll cover this up
and pack it in for a nap
and let it rise
until it's doubled in size.
It's smelling good already.
My dough is puffed and happy
and I'm ready to form my buns.
I'll first dust my counter with
a little flour so it doesn't stick.
And we turn the dough out...
It feels so nice.
And then I'll divide this
into eight pieces,
which will make eight
good-sized buns.
These are big sandwiches.
No dainty sandwiches
at this time of year.
Okay, and then I'm gonna just
do a big, squat oval, essentially.
Any time you're forming a roll,
you wanna tuck the ends under,
and forming a smooth,
top surface
so that they rise and bake up
equally and smoothly.
Then I will just nudge it
into an oval.
Like that.
Hello!
I'll stick it onto my sheet tray
and then continue on forming.
Check out these puffy buns!
They are ready now
for their time to shine.
To finish them off,
I'll brush with egg wash
and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
You know what the best part
Snow day eve.
The snow storm was creeping in,
and then you turn on the TV
and they announce
that there's gonna be
no school the next day,
and you don't have
to do your homework.
That was the best feeling ever.
It was, like,
better than Christmas.
These are ready to bake,
I'll stick them in the oven
at 400 degrees for 20 minutes,
until they're golden brown.
Get ready for some hot buns.
Crispy fried fish
is simply not complete
without its good friend,
tartar sauce.
It's creamy, it's pickle-y,
what's not to love?
For the base, I got three
quarters of a cup of mayonnaise.
And then I've got spicy
bread and butter pickles.
I'll spoon in a tablespoon
of the brine,
and then also chop up about a
quarter cup of the pickles themselves
for that snappy texture.
Along with a little bit
of garlic powder,
some salt
and some fresh parsley,
and tarragon, for very subtle,
licorice-y vibes.
Give this a mix...
that's that chunky, creamy
texture I'm looking for.
The best way to taste-test
this tartar sauce
is by dunking in...
a freshly-baked potato bun.
[gasps] Hello!
These are the coziest buns.
Okay, I'm going for it.
Look at that steam coming out.
Mmm-hmm.
Hot, fresh bread,
dunked in mayo...
The only thing
this situation needs
is a piece of crispy
fried fish in the middle.
So, I'll let these cool
and then I'll be ready to fry
and get my sandwiches on.
Still to come,
deep-fried walleye
with a crispy shell
and creamy tartar sauce
you won't be able
to get enough of.
Get ready, it's time
for a walleye fish fry.
I have two four-ounce fillets
of walleye here
that I've cut in half,
because they're always
really long and skinny.
Too long for the buns.
I'm gonna cover them
in some buttermilk
to get going on this drench.
Walleye is such a great,
local fish.
It's a mild white fish.
If you don't have it where
you live, you can use cod.
I'll season it with a teaspoon
of crab boil seasoning.
It's a really
flavorful seasoning
that's heavy on the paprika
and cayenne.
And I also have
my dry mixture here,
that I'm gonna add a few
teaspoons of this to as well.
All-purpose flour, cornmeal, corn
starch, baking powder and salt.
I'll turn my fish and get it
all coated in the buttermilk.
Through the buttermilk
and the breading combined...
it'll be the crispiest,
crunchiest coating.
It's extra crunchy.
There will be no soggy fried
fish sandwiches in this house.
I'm gonna finish off
my coating here.
I'm gonna add three tablespoons
of the buttermilk mixture
and that's gonna allow some of
these dry ingredients to clump up,
so you get extra thick
crunchy bits in that coating.
I'll incorporate it.
Okay, I'm gonna do
a double-dredge now.
So, I'll dunk the fish
into the dry mixture.
Okay...
Get it coated evenly
on both sides.
Okay, and now I'll stick these
back into the buttermilk
and then back
into the dry mixture,
so that it can have
an extra thick coat.
It is the winter, after all.
This is getting some good,
crackly bits.
Those are gonna get
extra crunchy in the frier.
Okay, these look great.
This is when the magic happens.
I'll get these into my frier.
My oil is heated to 365 degrees.
And these take
just a few minutes to fry
until they're golden brown
and crispy.
I love a good project
like this on a snow day.
If you're not having a snow
day, it's okay to buy the buns,
or the tartar sauce, or both.
But truly nothing compares
to freshly fried fish.
Look at that.
They're starting
to crisp up already.
One day, I'll fish the walleye
for my sandwiches.
Not on a snow day, my mom
won't let me go ice fishing.
Holy walleye!
That is some crispy fish.
I'll transfer it
to my wire rack now
so that any excess oil
can drip off.
Doing it on a wire rack
keeps the bottom crispy.
While they're still hot,
I'll sprinkle with salt.
Okay, it's time.
I need a sandwich immediately.
I got a few fixings, pickles,
lettuce and lemon wedges,
necessary on fried fish.
To assemble, I'll slather
a bun with tartar sauce
add a golden piece of fish,
a little more sauce,
briny pickles, I love the
colors of pickles on fried things,
shredded iceberg for crunch
and a good squeeze of lemon.
Well, I gotta taste this.
I think I need a bib.
[sandwich crunches]
That is the crunchiest,
crispiest fish in all the land,
I think this sandwich
just made this snow day...
sno-problem.
[man on radio] It's gonna b another
chilly one tomorrow at Grand Forks...
[Molly] All right,
I'm thinking leftovers!
But hey, it's sno-problem.
These look beautiful.
I'm cozying us up with my
Midwest-inspired favorite.
Look at that steam coming out.
Like crispy, deep-fried
walleye sandwiches
on soft, homemade potato bun
slathered with tangy
tartar sauce.
That is some crispy fish.
Creamy ham and egg potato salad
with charred scallions
on the side.
This is my dream right now.
Am I dreaming? Am I asleep?
And for dessert...
I won't say "sno" to these.
my rainbow chip
oatmeal cream pies
with coconut filling
add a sweet pop of color
to the snowy white outdoors
Oh, yum! Yay!
Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our home,
our farm on the North Dakota
Minnesota border,
the place where I eat,
sleep and breathe food.
It's way too snowy outside
to do anything but stay in
and cook, bake, and eat.
And honestly,
that's why I moved here.
So I'm putting together a hearty,
Midwest-inspired meal to warm us up
on this blustery day.
For dessert, I'm making
my oatmeal cream pies,
which are sweet, and chewy,
and dangerously good.
One bite and you're a kid again.
And it's a snow day,
it's the best day ever.
I'll start with my cookie dough,
I'll combine my dry ingredients.
One-and-three-quarters
of a cup of rolled oats.
Honestly, the only thing
better than an oatmeal cookie
is two oatmeal cookies,
with cream cheese filling
in the center.
One cup of all-purpose flour.
Half a teaspoon of baking soda
and three quarters
of a teaspoon of kosher salt.
Oatmeal cream pies
are really sweet,
so I like them to have
a little extra hint of salt.
I'm getting flashbacks of these
oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips
that my mom and sister and I
used to make
when we were little.
We were always an oatmeal
chocolate chip family,
not a oatmeal raisin.
Today I'm making a slight variation
though, and using rainbow chips
because it adds that
extra crunch and cuteness.
Okey-doke, the dry ingredients
are combined.
I get one stick of softened,
unsalted butter,
pop it right into my mixer bowl,
and add one-and-a-quarter cup
of light brown sugar.
Brown sugar in a cookie
makes it extra chewy
and molasses-y.
And then we'll cream this up
until it's fluffy.
I'll crack and add one egg,
I'll drizzle in
one tablespoon of molasses
to boost that molasses flavor
from the brown sugar
and also add
a little bit more chew.
And three-quarters
of a teaspoon of vanilla.
And then I'll reduce to low
and add my dry ingredients.
That looks great.
And once this is just combined,
I'll pour in the best part,
the rainbow chips.
In they go.
The hilarious concentration
of rainbow chips in here
is making me really happy.
I've got two baking sheets
lined with parchment
and a three-tablespoon scoop.
I'll scoop out eight cookies
onto each pan.
I think I read somewhere
that Grand Forks
is the number two
coldest town in America.
We have days where
it's 40 degrees below zero.
They literally tell you
on the news,
"Don't go outside."
And I'm like, "Heck, yeah.
I'm gonna bake cookies
and watch ice skating."
Those are my favorite days.
Okay, last cookie going on.
These are ready for the oven,
I'll get them in at 325
for 12 minutes,
and in that time, I'll get
going on their creamy filling.
I can't wait.
This is basically
a cream cheese frosting
with an added bonus
of coconut oil.
It's a nod to the classic
nostalgic shortening
that you usually find
in oatmeal cream pies,
but I love the extra
coconutty vibe that it adds.
I've got six ounces of softened
cream cheese in my bowl.
The tanginess is what keeps me
going back for more bites.
Half a stick of softened,
unsalted butter,
and a quarter-cup of unrefined
coconut oil at room temperature.
I'll beat these together.
Okay, that's combined.
I'll mix in now one-and-a-half
cups of powdered sugar.
When I was a kid,
it was the joke to mix
the powdered sugar in on high
and say, "It's snowing!"
Because the powdered sugar
would get everywhere in the kitchen.
I don't wanna do that today,
I don't feel like cleaning.
I'll scrape the sides to make sure
all the powder gets incorporated.
I'm gonna add some salt...
and vanilla.
And then we'll get this
good and smooth and fluffy.
As fluffy as a blanket of snow
and ready to assemble.
I'll plop some filling
onto the center of a cookie.
This is the extra
satisfying part.
I'll sandwich it
with another cookie,
squashing it down so that
the filling reaches the edges.
Now, this filling
is really soft,
so these need to set up
in the refrigerator,
but I like them there,
because a cooled cookie
is a really good cookie.
Okay, I'll keep on assembling.
Well, I won't say "sno"
to these.
[muffled] Oh, my God.
Mmm, they're so chewy, and
those rainbow chips are crunchy!
This is a sweet sandwich
of comfort if I ever had one.
Coming up, my ham-sational
potato salad.
It has all the hallmarks
of a great side,
including a charred
pop of flavor and color.
For a super salad snow day side,
I'm baking my ham and egg
potato salad
with charred scallions.
It is briny, smokey,
meaty creamy,
mayo-y, it has it all.
To get started,
I'm chopping up two-and-a-half
pounds of potatoes
into one-inch pieces.
Yukon Golds are so buttery
and tasty and creamy,
they are the perfect
potato salad potato.
You know, already I've got
a tasty salad.
Okay, I'll submerge them
in cold water in my pot.
It's important to start
potatoes in cold water
so that they cook
through evenly.
I'm gonna salt it
the same way I do pasta water.
So with a pretty good handful.
The reason I want
to season it now
is so that the salt can
penetrate the entire potato
so they're tasty
all the way through,
and not just seasoned
on the surface.
I'll bring this to a boil
and then reduce to a simmer
and cook until
the potatoes are tender,
just about eight to ten minutes.
And while these go,
I'll make the mayo-y dressing.
This dressing is creamy
with a welcome pop
of acidity thanks to...
cornichon brine.
Pickles to the rescue.
I'll start with
the sound of happiness.
One cup of mayonnaise.
I'm gonna lighten up
the mayo a little bit
with a quarter-cup
of Greek yoghurt.
Just adds some fluffiness.
A couple of tablespoons
of stone-ground mustard,
Potatoes love salt,
potatoes love ham,
potatoes love mustard.
Am I a potato?
Two tablespoons
of cornichon brine,
the brininess that you want.
Two teaspoons of sugar.
I love for a potato salad
to have a hint of sweetness.
The salt of the Midwest,
garlic powder.
Half a teaspoon.
If you know, you know.
And actual salt. And pepper.
I honestly didn't love potato
salad until I moved here.
And it seems like every family
has their own
potato salad traditions,
and different secret
ingredients that they like to add,
whether it's pickles
or hard-boiled eggs or ham...
I love it all.
So, in my potato salad,
I add all of those things
along with charred scallions
because smokiness
with potatoes is so good.
Okay, this is
a good-looking dressing.
The potatoes are tender,
they're ready to drain.
I'll pour the drained potatoes
back into the hot pot
so that it can kind of try
the potatoes out a little.
I'll season with
a little more salt.
And then,
while they're still hot,
I'm gonna toss them
with some more cornichon brine
so they can absorb that flavor.
Now while these cool slight, I'll add
a few more hits of texture to my salad.
I got celery, scallions,
ham and hard-boiled egg
And I'm gonna get
this ham browning first.
My skillet is heating
over here over medium-high,
I'll drizzle in
some neutral oil.
Then I'm gonna get this
brown and crisp.
- [sizzling]
- Oh, yeah.
The other sound of happiness.
I'm smelling it already.
While the ham gets
a jump-start on browning,
I'll chop up my scallions
which I also toss in there.
Cut one-inch slices.
There's definitely gonna be
some summer girl vibes
in this potato salad,
which I'm not mad about.
I'll toss this around,
let this cook on medium-high
for just a few minutes
so they can develop
some great brown color.
While that goes,
I'll slice up my celery.
Celery's bringing in the crunch.
I just wanna do some nice,
thin slices...
I do like a chunkier
potato salad.
We'll get these right into
the bowl with the dressing.
I'm hearing that ham pop.
The scallions are starting
to get there.
Next up, the true star
of the show, the cornichons.
The color is really pretty,
the flavor is so good...
I really feel like without that
acidity, a potato salad can fall flat.
I'll slice up my cornichons...
Bringing in that pickle-ness.
Now the hard-boiled eggs.
Rather than chopping up eggs,
it's so last year,
I'm just gonna use a drying rack
to press the eggs
through the holes
and then all of your chopping
is done for you.
So easy.
When my friend Evan told me that
his family adds eggs to his potato salad,
first I thought that was crazy,
but then I tried it
and I was hooked.
I've got fresh parsley and dill.
All right, ready for
the potatoes
and the ham and scallions.
These look beautiful.
I love all the colors
in this salad.
Then get everything coated
in that mayo-y goodness.
Hello! I got to excited.
This is like a potato party.
Okay, let me get
my serving bowl.
Dump it right in.
This is my dream right now.
Am I dreaming? Am I asleep?
Finish off with some herbs.7
And while it's still warm,
I'm going in.
Warm potato salad, heck yeah.
Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
This is it.
This is my dream potato salad.
Later, the secret to the mos
tender buns in town.
One of my favorite
local activities
that doesn't involve
going outside
in sub-zero temperatures
is eating crispy, fried walleye.
So I'm making fried
walleye sandwiches
on homemade potato buns,
swimming in tartar sauce.
Some mild white fish and a
fistful of hand-held local happiness.
I make the buns first,
fry up the walleye,
and then sandwich
everything together
and pound it, 'cause
they're gonna be so good!
To get started, I have
one large russet potato
that I've peeled and boiled
until it's tender throughout.
And it always amazes me that the simple
act of adding a potato to bread dough
transforms it into a more
cloud-like, fluffy state.
I'm just chopping this up so
that I can fit it into my ricer.
Then we'll rice this guy
right into my mixing bowl.
If you don't have a ricer,
you can just mash it,
but ricing it gets you
uniform little pieces
and it also keeps it
pretty fluffy.
I used to love potato bread
and potato bagels growing up.
It was like soft bread
on steroids,
the next level of soft bread.
While the potatoes
are still warm,
I'll plop in
half a stick of butter,
couple of tablespoons of
honey for a hint of sweetness.
And we'll mix this around
to melt the butter.
One year, when we had a
surplus of potatoes in our garden,
I added mashed potato
to my challah dough,
and it was the softest,
best loaf of challah ever,
it became my favorite variation.
So I've been adding mashed
potatoes to my bread ever since.
It's all worth it.
All right, it's cool enough
where I don't have to worry
about cracking in an egg
and watching the egg cook on me,
so I'll add this right in,
along with two-and-a-half
teaspoons of kosher salt,
two-and-a-quarter teaspoons
of instant yeast.
And then I've got my
potato-cooking water leftover here,
which is perfect because
it's still a little warm,
which will help
activate the yeast.
And also, it's got
potato starches in it,
so I'm doubling down
on that potatoey-ness.
I'll ladle in
three-quarters of a cup,
mix it around
and get it combined.
And lastly, I'll add my all-purpose
flour, three-and-a-half cups.
I'll give this a quick stir.
And then I'll let my stand
mixer do the kneading.
About six to eight minutes
until it's smooth.
And you can also of course
knead this by hand.
If it gets too sticky
to work with,
dust with a little bit
more flour until it isn't.
Okay. This is looking good.
It's smooth, it's sticky,
but not too sticky.
I'm gonna grab a clean bowl.
I'll drizzle it with
some neutral oils
so the dough doesn't stick.
We'll plop it in
and turn it to coat in the oil
so that it doesn't dry out.
Okay, I'll cover this up
and pack it in for a nap
and let it rise
until it's doubled in size.
It's smelling good already.
My dough is puffed and happy
and I'm ready to form my buns.
I'll first dust my counter with
a little flour so it doesn't stick.
And we turn the dough out...
It feels so nice.
And then I'll divide this
into eight pieces,
which will make eight
good-sized buns.
These are big sandwiches.
No dainty sandwiches
at this time of year.
Okay, and then I'm gonna just
do a big, squat oval, essentially.
Any time you're forming a roll,
you wanna tuck the ends under,
and forming a smooth,
top surface
so that they rise and bake up
equally and smoothly.
Then I will just nudge it
into an oval.
Like that.
Hello!
I'll stick it onto my sheet tray
and then continue on forming.
Check out these puffy buns!
They are ready now
for their time to shine.
To finish them off,
I'll brush with egg wash
and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
You know what the best part
Snow day eve.
The snow storm was creeping in,
and then you turn on the TV
and they announce
that there's gonna be
no school the next day,
and you don't have
to do your homework.
That was the best feeling ever.
It was, like,
better than Christmas.
These are ready to bake,
I'll stick them in the oven
at 400 degrees for 20 minutes,
until they're golden brown.
Get ready for some hot buns.
Crispy fried fish
is simply not complete
without its good friend,
tartar sauce.
It's creamy, it's pickle-y,
what's not to love?
For the base, I got three
quarters of a cup of mayonnaise.
And then I've got spicy
bread and butter pickles.
I'll spoon in a tablespoon
of the brine,
and then also chop up about a
quarter cup of the pickles themselves
for that snappy texture.
Along with a little bit
of garlic powder,
some salt
and some fresh parsley,
and tarragon, for very subtle,
licorice-y vibes.
Give this a mix...
that's that chunky, creamy
texture I'm looking for.
The best way to taste-test
this tartar sauce
is by dunking in...
a freshly-baked potato bun.
[gasps] Hello!
These are the coziest buns.
Okay, I'm going for it.
Look at that steam coming out.
Mmm-hmm.
Hot, fresh bread,
dunked in mayo...
The only thing
this situation needs
is a piece of crispy
fried fish in the middle.
So, I'll let these cool
and then I'll be ready to fry
and get my sandwiches on.
Still to come,
deep-fried walleye
with a crispy shell
and creamy tartar sauce
you won't be able
to get enough of.
Get ready, it's time
for a walleye fish fry.
I have two four-ounce fillets
of walleye here
that I've cut in half,
because they're always
really long and skinny.
Too long for the buns.
I'm gonna cover them
in some buttermilk
to get going on this drench.
Walleye is such a great,
local fish.
It's a mild white fish.
If you don't have it where
you live, you can use cod.
I'll season it with a teaspoon
of crab boil seasoning.
It's a really
flavorful seasoning
that's heavy on the paprika
and cayenne.
And I also have
my dry mixture here,
that I'm gonna add a few
teaspoons of this to as well.
All-purpose flour, cornmeal, corn
starch, baking powder and salt.
I'll turn my fish and get it
all coated in the buttermilk.
Through the buttermilk
and the breading combined...
it'll be the crispiest,
crunchiest coating.
It's extra crunchy.
There will be no soggy fried
fish sandwiches in this house.
I'm gonna finish off
my coating here.
I'm gonna add three tablespoons
of the buttermilk mixture
and that's gonna allow some of
these dry ingredients to clump up,
so you get extra thick
crunchy bits in that coating.
I'll incorporate it.
Okay, I'm gonna do
a double-dredge now.
So, I'll dunk the fish
into the dry mixture.
Okay...
Get it coated evenly
on both sides.
Okay, and now I'll stick these
back into the buttermilk
and then back
into the dry mixture,
so that it can have
an extra thick coat.
It is the winter, after all.
This is getting some good,
crackly bits.
Those are gonna get
extra crunchy in the frier.
Okay, these look great.
This is when the magic happens.
I'll get these into my frier.
My oil is heated to 365 degrees.
And these take
just a few minutes to fry
until they're golden brown
and crispy.
I love a good project
like this on a snow day.
If you're not having a snow
day, it's okay to buy the buns,
or the tartar sauce, or both.
But truly nothing compares
to freshly fried fish.
Look at that.
They're starting
to crisp up already.
One day, I'll fish the walleye
for my sandwiches.
Not on a snow day, my mom
won't let me go ice fishing.
Holy walleye!
That is some crispy fish.
I'll transfer it
to my wire rack now
so that any excess oil
can drip off.
Doing it on a wire rack
keeps the bottom crispy.
While they're still hot,
I'll sprinkle with salt.
Okay, it's time.
I need a sandwich immediately.
I got a few fixings, pickles,
lettuce and lemon wedges,
necessary on fried fish.
To assemble, I'll slather
a bun with tartar sauce
add a golden piece of fish,
a little more sauce,
briny pickles, I love the
colors of pickles on fried things,
shredded iceberg for crunch
and a good squeeze of lemon.
Well, I gotta taste this.
I think I need a bib.
[sandwich crunches]
That is the crunchiest,
crispiest fish in all the land,
I think this sandwich
just made this snow day...
sno-problem.
[man on radio] It's gonna b another
chilly one tomorrow at Grand Forks...
[Molly] All right,
I'm thinking leftovers!