Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 12, Episode 2 - One Great Date Night - full transcript

[Molly] I'm putting together
a picnic date night.

I don't know what
I'm more excited for.

Hanging out with Nick,
or eating this meaty pita.

Come for the view,
stay for the food.

We'll feast on my meaty arayes

with yoghurt-y tahini sauce.

This is so flavorful.
It explodes with flavor.

Sweet and chewy couscous salad

with pistachios and dates.

Mm, I love dates.

Cold curry cauliflower,



and the most fun dessert ever,

my white chocolate
potato chips,

covered in fizzy rocks.

It's gonna be impossible not to
have a fun date night with these.

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.

With spring
planting approaching,

Nick is about to get
really busy in the fields,

so before he peaces out,



I'm packing up
a picnic to take

to a super-romantic date spot,

the top of the parking
garage in town.

It has a great view
of the city, why not?

For our main course,
I am making arayes,

which are
a Lebanese street food,

that are basically
the best spiced,

juiciest burger of your life,

cooked inside
of a fluffy pita,

so you get crispy,
fried outer edges

and inside,
it's soft and juicy,

and the meat
fuses with the pita

for such a delicious texture,
and great flavor, too.

I'll start with
the beefy filling.

My pan is heating
here over medium,

and I'll drizzle in a little oil
to help cook some onions.

I've got one chopped
yellow onion here.

Let's stir this around
with a pinch of salt.

Just bring out their
sweetness, and to soften them.

I think these are looking
pretty good and soft.

I'm gonna toss in the garlic,
I've got five cloves.

Oh my gosh, we're gonna
have garlic breath.

Along with four
teaspoons of the Baharat,

which simply translates
to spices in Arabic,

and it's this awesome,
all-purpose spice blend

that's both savory and warm
and a little sweet.

I kind of think of it
as a savory pumpkin spice.

You can buy it from
some specialty stores,

but you can also make it from
scratch with common spices.

Mine is a mixture
of cinnamon and cumin,

some floral cardamom
and coriander,

paprika, allspice, cloves,
nutmeg, and black pepper.

I love cinnamon
and cumin together.

They both go deliciously
on ground beef.

And I'll allow the spices to
toast, and the garlic to cook.

This only takes
a minute or two.

Ah, that cinnamon is good.

I'll get this off the heat,
and let it cool just slightly.

Now, into my food processor,

I'll combine half a cup
of toasted pine nuts.

Pine nuts are so buttery,

and bring in some toasty
notes to the meat.

And one cup each of fresh
cilantro and fresh parsley.

And since this is all getting
ground up in the food processor,

I can just give this
a really rough chop.

This combination of the cozy,

dark spices
and the fresh herbs

and then the buttery
pine nuts.

This so flavorful.
It explodes with flavor.

Toss these in,
and the onions...

Now I'll blend this up until
it's finely ground, but not pasty,

and this is gonna
allow the meat

to have a nice,
uniform texture

when you bite into it.

And it'll also
enhance the flavors,

since you're exposing
the surface area

of all of these
tasty ingredients.

[sniffs] That smells good.

I'll get my pitas ready,

so these are
pretty thick pitas,

I love using homemade
pitas for this.

You could also
use store bought.

I'll slice these in half,
to expose the pockets.

I'm only gonna make four now.

This batch does make
a lot of arayes,

but Nick is going to be
excited about that,

since there will be leftovers
for him to take out

on the tractor tomorrow.

I'll make sure there's an
opening for the meat in here.

So there's two and a half
pounds of lean ground beef.

I'll season this with
two teaspoons of salt.

I always wanna try to evenly
distribute it over the meat.

And I'll combine it with
the pine nut mixture.

And it's just gonna be most efficient
if I get in here with my hands.

This is combined...

I'll add a layer of olive oil
to my pan here.

And while that heats up,
I'll start forming my arayes.

I'll just take a little ball
of meat and squish it,

all the way to the
bottom of the pita

and all the way to the sides,

kind of like a dumpling.

I'm getting so excited.

I don't know what
I'm more excited for,

hanging out with Nick,

or eating this meaty pita.

And this will go exposed
side down into the pan.

I don't want it to be too hot,

and have the pita
burn on the outside

before the innards
of the meat are cooked.

And I'll let these go
for five to seven minutes,

until the beef is brown
and some of the fat renders.

I can't remember when the first
time I learned about arayes was.

I've always loved
Lebanese food.

The first time I saw a picture
of arayes, I was like,

I have to have that.

Okay, I'll give 'em a flip.

Oh, yeah! [gasps]

See those crispy,
golden edges of the pita?

And the meat has crisped up
beautifully as well.

I'll keep these going for a
few minutes on both sides.

And in that time, I'll whip up a
creamy yoghurt sauce for dunking.

This'll be a creamy,
cooling contrast

to the hot, meaty burgers.

The base of my sauce
is plain, Greek yoghurt.

And half a cup of tahini

will add some rich nuttiness.

Arayes are Middle Eastern,

they're popular across
the Middle East,

and tahini is a staple
of Middle-Eastern cooking.

The juice of a lemon
to brighten things up.

A couple of cloves of garlic.

And the acidity in the yoghurt

mellows out
the garlic so nicely.

We'll finally chop some
cilantro and parsley.

Toss it in.

A little of the Baharat,

to enhance the Baharat
that's in the meat.

Some kosher salt.

Black pepper.

I'll bring it together
with some olive oil.

And stir it up until
it's thick and creamy.

I'll flip these over now.

It's smelling
heavenly in here.

These still need
a couple more minutes.

I hate the term "date night"

but occasionally we like
to shake things up,

and find some elevation.

One time we just went up
onto the parking garage,

and looked out over the town.

And it was exciting.

We really are so boring.

I'll package these up.

Nick is gonna go crazy.

I'll package up
some sauce, too.

I am not waiting for Nick.
He will understand.

Mm-hmm.

The crispy and juicy textures,

and all of the flavors

that are happening
in this are fantastic.

Coming up, a fun twist
on traditional pasta salad.

It's chewy and salty

with sweet, wait for it,

dates! Duh!

Scattered throughout.

Between the kiddos
and Nick's farm season,

we haven't had that
much time to get away

for a legit date recently,

but tonight's the night.

To go along with my arayes,

I'm whipping up a couscous
salad with pistachios and dates

that is such a delicious
combination of sweet and salty,

and it's got chewy dates
scattered throughout

that are like sweet
little surprises.

I've got my couscous
simmering away already,

and now I'll make
the dressing,

which is super tasty,

I'm gonna start
by grilling a lemon,

which is such an easy way

to bring in some new
personality to a lemon.

When you grill it in
a hot skillet like this,

it caramelizes,
and mellows out,

and gets a little sweet,

and it also looks cool.

I'll let this just hang out
until it starts to brown,

and I'll grab my other
ingredients in the meantime.

What I love about
this salad is that,

it eats like a pasta salad,

but you're basically making
a deconstructed pesto,

and tossing the greens,
with the pasta,

so you get kinda
two sides in one.

You get all your veggies
in this pasta salad.

Let me actually check on this,

because this seems to be
browning really quickly.

Oh, it's getting there.

I want, like, three times
the amount of brown color.

So I'll work on
my greens mixture,

I'm gonna add three big
handfuls of Swiss chard

that's coarsely chopped
to my food processor.

Swiss chard is so nice and
sturdy, and it's also bitter,

and the bitterness with the
sweetness of the dates is so tasty.

You can also use kale,

or even collard greens
would be good, or spinach.

I'll coarsely chop
three scallions.

Since this is all
getting blended up,

I don't need to be too precise
with the chopping.

And then one cup each
of cilantro and parsley.

And then a half cup of mint
for such delicious freshness.

This is a great pasta salad
to make over the summer

if your garden
is overflowing with herbs.

You definitely wanna bring
toothpicks when you eat this salad,

but it is 100% worth it.

Let me check my lemons.

That's the color
that I'm looking for!

I can smell the smokiness.

All of those greens
just blended up

into that little,
tiny, bitty amount.

Carrying on with my dressing.

I'll heat up four
tablespoons of olive oil,

a quarter cup,

and sprinkle in two teaspoons of
coarsely cracked coriander seeds.

I love the flavor
of coriander,

which is kinda citrus-y,

but I also love
the texture of it.

It'll add some
crunch to the salad,

and Aleppo pepper,
which is smoky,

and not too spicy.

And all I'm doing
is warming the spices,

allowing them
to infuse the olive oil.

The oil is starting to take on that red,
orange-y color of the Aleppo pepper,

and that's all
I'm really looking for.

I don't need to heat
this for too long.

So I'll season with some salt,

I'm adding kind of a lot
of salt right now,

because it'll season the
couscous in addition to the dressing.

And it's squeezing
my charred lemon.

This'll be just a really nice,

light dressing
on the couscous.

This isn't your typical,
mayonnaise-y pasta salad.

This one is super bright.

I'll whisk this up.

I think the couscous
is done cooking.

I'll give it a little fluff.

It's kinda like rice,

where you wanna fluff it
with a fork when it's done.

You don't wanna get
in there with a spoon

or spatula and compact it.

You want it to be fluffy.

Okay. I'll toss the couscous
with the dressing.

Now, into my bowl I'll chop up
two Persian cucumbers to toss in.

I love these little guys.
They're so flavorful.

One cup of feta.

Feta is salty,
and a little creamy.

I love it. Oh,
I can't forget my greens.

Mm. [sniffs]
So fresh and herby.

And then the true
stars of the show,

chopped, roasted,
salted pistachios.

Pistachios are the best nut,
because they're green.

And lastly, chewy sweetness,
in some chopped dates.

Ooh, they're so sticky.

Mm, mm! I love dates!

Okay, I'm gonna toss this.

Look at all these
pretty colors!

There's a lot going on
in this salad,

but it all works
so well together.

Mm!

Really good texture
is that south couscous,

with the crunchy nuts.

And all the fresh
greens in there,

I feel like I have Swiss chard in
every single one of my teeth right now,

so I'm gonna cover up
my teeth with my lips.

I'll finish this just by sprinkling
with some extra Aleppo pepper.

Pretty.

Next, I'm stepping
up my side game

with something bold, cold
and oh, so gold, it's incredible!

I'm packing up
a picnic to eat with Nick

at our super exclusive
date night spot.

Next up,
cold curry cauliflower.

I'm just gonna roast
some cauliflower

and toss it with a really
delightful curry oil,

and some crushed
nuts and raisins.

It's super easy
and super flavorful.

To start, I've got
a head of cauliflower

that I've chopped
into florets.

And I'll just scatter it on my
rimmed baking sheet here.

We roast a lot
of veggies at our house.

I'll bring it together
with some olive oil.

Cauliflower is a great
canvas for curry oil,

because it takes
on the beautiful,

yellow color from the curry.

I'll toss this with some olive
oil and a good pinch of salt.

And then I'll spread
it out all over my pan,

I don't want it to clump
together and steam,

because then
it won't get crispy.

I'll roast this at 400 degrees
for 20 to 30 minutes,

until it's crisp.

I'll just be infusing
some neutral oil

with an onion
and curry powder,

It'll be really lovely,
and it'll just get glossy

and delicious
on the cauliflower.

Really, the cauliflower is
just a vehicle for curry oil.

I'll get a tablespoon of neutral
oil heating in my saucepan.

I'll soften up my onion.

This is the type
of dish that Nick loves.

He's a big vegetable eater.

He's quite the health nut,

and having a salad
like this around,

just hanging out
in the refrigerator,

means that when he comes in

for a quick break from the
tractor, he can just grab it.

These onions are soft.

They're nice and sweet now.

I'll sprinkle in a tablespoon
of curry powder,

and allow it to toast.

I love curry powder.

It's got some
of the same ingredients

as the Baharat
that's in the arayes,

but it's also got
turmeric and ginger,

and I love
smelling that ginger.

Okay, I'll let this
toast come to life.

There have been some amazing
smells in this kitchen today.

I'll add about a half
a cup of neutral oil.

I'll heat this for just
about a minute or two,

so that the oil can pick up
on the sweetness of the onion,

and the curry flavors.

Okay, and then I'll remove
this from the heat,

and I'll let it
cool, undisturbed,

so that the spices
can seep to the bottom,

and same thing
with the onions,

because when I pour it out,
I only want the oil.

All right, I think I'm still
on my cauliflower.

That's got some good brown
bits on there, this'll be nice.

I'll let this cool briefly,

and work on the remaining
ingredients in my dressing.

I'll combine a splash
of apple cider vinegar,

got some good brightness,

and also the apple notes
are good with the curry.

A tablespoon of Dijon mustard,

for that zing.

It also helps
emulsify the dressing.

A tablespoon of honey,

to balance this out
with sweetness.

And a tablespoon
of fresh lemon juice.

I'll drizzle in my curry oil.

I'm gonna leave the spices
and the onion behind.

Okay.

This is a really nice
combination of sweet and sour.

They're good supporting
flavors for the curry.

It's such a pretty,
bright yellow color.

And I'll season this
with salt and pepper.

This cauliflower is so
delicious at any temperature,

which is why
it's awesome for a picnic.

Okay, this is combined, it's thickened
slightly, 'cause it's emulsified.

And I'll get this cauliflower
coated with this vinaigrette.

And to add some excitement,

I've got roasted almonds
for some good crunch.

Nick loves them, we always
have almonds at hand.

And golden raisins
for pops of sweetness.

Oh yeah, I went
heavy on the nuts.

This is gonna
be good. [exhales]

Okay, let me take a taste.

Mm!

It's light, it's bright,
it's happy 'cause it's yellow.

Yeah, that's good.

Still to come,

creamy white chocolate,
crispy potato chips.

I'm about to rock
Nick's date night world,

with an easy,
addictive dessert.

Mm!

We're doing a date
night dinner to go,

so dessert has gotta
be easy and handheld.

I'm talking potato chips

covered in white chocolate
and fizzy rocks.

These are dead simple,

but so delicious
and hilarious to eat,

because when was the last
time you ate fizzy rocks?

To start, I am chopping up

eight ounces
of white chocolate.

I really like the added
sweetness of white chocolate

with the super salty chips.

Good combo.

And this will also look really
pretty, with the fizzy rocks.

And I'll melt this
in my double boiler

with a tablespoon
of coconut oil,

and it's important
to always melt chocolate

either in a double boiler
or gently in the microwave,

because if you get it too hot,
it could seize up,

and then it won't coat
the potato chips nicely.

And this is
refined coconut oil,

so I'm not getting
that coconut flavor,

which will help
keep the chocolate

a little bit soft,
once it sets up.

These potato chips are inspired
by our town chocolate shop.

So I'm doing something
a little different,

I don't wanna, like,
blatantly copy them.

I'm adding the fizzy rocks,

which will add extra texture.

And conversation topics.

This is melted and smooth. I'll remove it
from the heat, and then get my potato chips.

I've got five ounces
of chips here,

and I like the crinkle
cut ones for this,

because they can
catch the chocolate.

Now, to coat this,

I'm not gonna be
too precious about it,

and dip each one individually.

I'll just drizzle some of
the chocolate over the bowl.

Just don't wanna break
up the potato chips.

Give it another toss.

I'll spread these out
onto my baking sheet

that's lined with parchment,
so they don't set.

And then I'll spread
them out evenly,

so that I have access
to as much potato chip

surface area as I can.

I wanna make this
my phone background.

Oh no, but first I have
to add the fizzy rocks.

These are so fun!

And what's really cool is that
once the chocolate hardens,

the fizzy rocks
maintain their fizziness.

I think I wanna
eat some first.

[laughs]

Mm-mm-mm!

Now it's, like, tie dye.

I feel like a child
at summer camp.

I'll finish with a pinch
of nonpareils,

just for a little extra
crunch and color.

I think it's gonna
be impossible

not to have a fun
date night with these.

Okay!

These just take a few minutes
to set in the fridge.

And then it's date night.

[Molly] Such good
views out here.

You can see so many things.

And you can see the guy
on top of city hall.

[Nick] Yeah.

[Molly] Okay, so the first
time we came up here,

we went there, right?

It was before that
building was built.

Did you find it comical
that when I said

"let's go to the highest point
we can in Grand Forks,"

I went to a three-story
parking garage?

Yeah.

But it was still really fun.

[Molly] Mm!

[Nick] I will tell you,

- two things have changed in my life since I met you.
- Okay.

I eat cauliflower,

and I hang out
on parking garages.

[laughs]

[Nick] This is great.

- We should make this a tradition.
- Yeah.

We should do this,
this time next year.

Every seven, eight years.

Every seven years.

That'll work.

[Molly] Seven year tradition.
Just like my OOF-da taco.