Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 4 - Holiday Spirit - full transcript

It's my favorite time
of year -- the holidays.

Oh, this looks so good!

We're celebrating
with our family

by making a tasty buffet --

pastrami meatballs,
brussels sprout latkes,

my airline cookie sheet cake,

and a family holiday
tradition --

lefse, with a little help
from those who know it best.

-You're a pro.
-Mmm! Thank you, guys!

I'm sending everyone
away with edible gifts,

and this year, I've got
such a simple idea



for some marzipan bites -- yum.

Oh, yah. Mmm!

Hey! This is me -- Molly Yeh.

I'm a cookbook author
and food blogger.

This is my husband, Nick,
this is our new addition,

And this is our home, our farm,

on the North Dakota/
Minnesota border,

the place where I eat, sleep,

and breathe food.

These look like a party.

My food is a delicious mix of
my Chinese and Jewish heritage

and the taste of the Midwest.

One of my favorite
holiday traditions

is making a gingerbread house.



But the problem is,
you can't eat it.

So I started making
my airline cookie sheet cake,

which tastes amazing

and is decorated
like a gingerbread house.

To get started, I'll get
2 1/4 cups of flour,

1 1/2 cups of sugar.

And I always mix up
my dry ingredients first

when I'm making cakes.
It's just cleaner.

And now 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt,
baking powder, and baking soda.

This is a very easy recipe.

Okay, I'm going to whisk this up
just to combine.

And next, I'll mix up
my wet ingredients.

I will grab two large eggs
and some buttermilk.

And I always crack my eggs
in first

in case I get some shell
in the bowl.

And now a cup of buttermilk,

which will add
great moistness and tang.

And a cup of speculoos, which
tastes like an airline cookie

and is what makes it taste
like gingerbread.

Yum.

3/4 cup of water

and 1/2 cup of oil

to infuse that cake
with tons of moisture,

and a tablespoon of vanilla.

And that'll just compliment
those flavors beautifully.

Okay, now I'm going to carefully
whisk this up

because of how thick
my speculoos spread is,

it does run the risk

of splattering
everything into the air.

So I'm just going to gently
start to stir this,

and keep on stirring
until it's incorporated.

Mmm, it looks and smells
delicious, that's for sure.

Okay, so it's all combined,
it's a caramel color,

and it's really smooth,

and now it's ready to dump
into my dry ingredients.

And now I'm going to whisk this
until it's just combined.

I don't want to over-mix.

Otherwise, the cake could
get gummy.

Mmm, it smells so good!

Okay, batter is smooth
and combined,

and now I'm going to pour it
into my pan.

I have a 9x13 sheet cake pan

that has been greased and lined
on the bottom with parchment

so that it doesn't stick.

This is going to taste
as good as it looks.

I'll bake this at 350 degrees
for about half an hour

until a toothpick inserted into
the center comes out clean.

And while that bakes,
I'll get started on my frosting.

I'll get a cup
of softened butter.

And this is unsalted so that

I can control
the salt levels in this.

And half a cup of speculoos,

and this is an okay recipe
to eyeball.

It doesn't have to be exact.

It's going to be creamy
and delicious no matter what,

and you can kind of adjust
as you go.

I'll get a cup of powdered sugar

and I'll mix it until creamy.

I'll scrape down the sides
to make sure

everything gets incorporated

and give it one more mix.

Looking good.

And now I'm gonna add
a pinch of salt

to punch up those flavors,
and some vanilla,

which will go really nicely
with the speculoos.

And this is
an optional addition,

but I like adding a few drops
of brown food coloring

to darken the frosting

and make my beige marzipan
decorations pop.

All right, and I'll just
mix those to combine.

It's looking great.
I'm gonna sneak a taste.

Mmm. Mmm!

It's buttery and it's sweet
and it tastes like the holidays.

Okay, I'm smelling the cake.

I'm going to check on it
in the oven.

Ah, it's gorgeous.

Smells amazing!

I am going to test this.

And that's perfect.

I'll let this cool fully,
and then I can frost.

Once the cake is cooled,

I dump all my frosting
onto the top of the cake

and then use an offset spatula
to spread it evenly

all over the top, getting all
the way to the edges.

And this is the canvas
for my gingerbread village.

I have all my decorations here,

and I'm going to grab
a rolling pin

because I'm going to make
little marzipan houses.

And marzipan is just
an edible clay

made out of almonds and sugar.

I like dusting my surface
with a little powdered sugar

so that the marzipan
doesn't stick.

And I'll roll it out till
it's 1/4-inch thick.

It's sweet and almondy
and so good.

It's my favorite ingredient,
especially around the holidays.

And then I'll cut out my houses.

And then I'm going to use
little baby cookie cutters

to cut out windows in my houses.

I have a heart, a square,

and I'm using the top
of a piping tip as a circle.

And I'm going to make them
all different.

And they're going to create
my little village

on top of the cake.

They look so cute.

My village is built,

and now I'm going to add
some coconut snow on the bottom.

I've got candy-coated chocolates
for the garland...

...some fresh rosemary for
the shrubs and trees,

and some gold sprinkle balls
on the roof

will represent lights
on the houses.

I love a twinkle of gold
on all of my holiday desserts.

And gummy horses
bounding through the snow.

And then
a peppermint candy window.

Okay, the hardest part
is knowing when to stop,

but the best part
is that now we get to eat it.

And I've got a great idea
for this leftover marzipan

that I'll tell you about later.

Coming up, I'm using
the extra marzipan

to create some tasty
holiday treats for the family,

then I'm moving on
to my brussels sprout latkes.

This is essentially
a brussels sprout hash brown.

And a traditional
potato flatbread recipe

with a little help
from my aunts.

I'll top it off with
some pastrami meatballs

just in time
to get this party started.

The best parties have favors,

especially parties around
the holidays.

And I like a favor that
you can eat.

So I have some marzipan leftover
from decorating my cake.

I'm gonna cut it out and make

mini marzipan candy bars
for my guests.

To start, I'll dust my surface
with powdered sugar

so that the marzipan
doesn't stick.

And I'll get it on the bottom
and a little on the top as well.

And marzipan is a candy dough,
basically,

and it's made
out of nuts and sugar.

Because I'm making candy bars,

I'm rolling it out
to about 1/2-inch thick.

It's kind of a workout.

Okay, I'm going to check
for the height.

Perfect.

To start,
I'll cut a straight edge,

and this will be
the bottom of my bars.

And now I'll measure out
1 1/2 inch increments.

You don't have to get
this exact, though.

Any shape will do.

Even if you want to do balls
and make truffles,

those will be just as tasty.

Okay, and now I'll cut down
the length to be three inches.

This is the perfect size.

And I'm cutting out rectangles,
but you can do any shape.

I have melted chocolate here.

I'm using milk chocolate because
I love the sweetness of it

and I think
it's an underrated chocolate,

but any chocolate will do.

And now I'm just going to
dip my bars in fully,

and I'll use two forks
to help fish it out.

Mmm. You want to get it
all evenly coated.

And I'm going to place them
onto a rack to dry,

and there's a pan
underneath that

to catch any excess chocolate.

I love the way milk chocolate
goes with almondy marzipan.

It's so sweet and good, and it's
going to form the perfect shell.

It's important to put on
the sprinkles

before the chocolate sets.

So I'll dip a few in chocolate,
add the sprinkles,

and then go back
to the chocolate dipping,

and then add those sprinkles.

And they're so quick and easy.

They're even a great
last-minute holiday gift.

The opportunities for using
sprinkles during the holidays

are everywhere,

so don't think that
I don't take them all.

Once these are set,
I'll put them in gift bags

and put them out for my guests
so they can have a little treat.

Every year around the holidays,
I've got to make latkes.

Latkes are a traditional
Hanukkah fritter.

And typically they're made
with potatoes, but this year

I'm putting a twist on them
and making them

with brussels sprout.

Ah, I'm so excited about them!

I'll use 4 egg whites,

and I'm only using
the egg whites

because they make the latkes
extra light and crispy.

A squeeze of lemon juice
will brighten up

the brussels sprout flavor.

And I'll whisk this to combine,

and then I will
add my brussels sprout.

Now brussels sprout
you can either buy shredded

or shred them
in a food processor

or even by hand.

And it's important to get them
nice and finely shredded

so that they cook
when they're in the pan.

Okay, and for added flavor,
I'm going to chop up an onion

and some garlic
to go into my mixture.

I want to make sure that
I'm adding some bold flavors

so that they come through
against that fried crust.

I'll toss this mixture together
and get it evenly coated

with the egg whites.

Next, I'll add
my dry ingredients.

All-purpose flour, and this well
help thicken up these latkes

and bind them all together.

Some salt to season it,

black pepper,

and just a touch of heat
with some crushed red pepper.

Yum!

And then I'll mix this
to combine

and then we'll be ready to fry.

This is essentially
a brussels sprout hash brown.

I would have this for breakfast
with an egg on top.

So the mixture is combined.

It does look a little bit dry,
but that's okay

because it'll all
stick together in the pan.

So I'm going to heat up my oil.

I'm going to get a nice, healthy
layer of oil into my frying pan.

And then I'm gonna get this hot
at medium-high.

Okay, I'm going to check to see
if the oil is hot enough

by dropping in a strand
of brussels sprout

and seeing if it sizzles.

That's exactly
what I'm looking for.

That oil is hot,
the brussels sprout is sizzling,

I'm ready to fry my latkes.

And I'll drop in scoops
of the mixture,

allowing about an inch of space
in between them.

And I'm going to use my spatula
to pack it together

so that it all sticks.

And if any pieces
start to come apart,

you can just use a spatula
to help it back together.

I can smell
the crispy shell forming.

I'll pan-fry them for about
2 minutes on each side

until they're golden and crispy.

I can hear that great sizzle,

which is, like,
the best sound of Hanukkah.

I'm going to flip this one.

Oh, my gosh.
That one looks so good.

Latke sizzles.
Who needs Christmas music?

And then I'll transfer them
to my rack over a pan,

and that's
gonna keep them crispy.

They're are gonna be so good!

And because I'm not serving
these for a little while,

I'm going to keep them warm
in my oven.

And now, these are going to be
great by themselves,

but what's gonna bring them
over the edge

is my balsamic Dijon sour cream.

Simply combine sour cream,
Dijon mustard,

honey, and balsamic vinegar.

Coming up, my aunts are
arriving early

to help me carry on
a holiday tradition --

making lefse,
our potato flatbread.

Then I'll get to work
on my pastrami meatballs

before the whole family arrives
to enjoy our holiday meal.

Around here, no holiday meal
is complete

without the Norwegian
potato flatbread lefse.

-Yes, ma'am.
-Am I right?

And lefse is best made
with a group...
Yes.

...so we'll set up
an assembly line.

Ethel, will you help me
roll out the dough?

-I will try.
-Thank you.

And, Elaine,
you're manning the griddle?

-I will.
-Okay, let's get started.

I have my lefse dough here.

I riced some boiled potatoes.

A ricer is like
a giant garlic press.

And then I mixed them with
evaporated milk,

flavorless oil,
sugar, and salt.

And then kneaded in some flour,
and rolled it into a log.

So we're just going to roll
the dough into balls.

Roll it out very flat, as thin
as you can see through,

and then we'll grill it
on both sides

and enjoy it
with butter and sugar.

We use a recipe that's been in
our family for a very long time.

Every family has
a different version.

Every family's is the best,
though.

And the moment of truth,
is if you can pick it up

without getting any holes
in the pancake.

And then I'm going to quickly
transfer it to the skillet.

And this is a hot, dry skillet.

So we'll keep going
on this assembly line.

And they'll cook for only about
a minute on each side

until they get brown spots.

And we really like
the dark spots on our lefse

because we feel that you get
that roasted flour,

roasted potato
as part of it.

The last lefse.
When do you get to try them?

We should be able to have them
right now when they're warm.

-Okay!
-That's the best!

-Mmm.
-Oh, they're good.

-Mmm.
-Mm-hmm.

-You're a pro.
-Mmm! Thank you, guys!

Thanks for making lefse with me.

Mmm.
Thanks for having us.

-Yum.
-Happy dance.

I'm making my pastrami meatballs

to serve on rye toast
with mustard,

and they're going to be
great bites for a crowd.

I'm mostly following
my standard meatball recipe,

but my twist here is that I'll
give it a pastrami seasoning.

I have onions and garlic
softening in my pan over medium.

They've been softening
for a few minutes,

and I'm going to let them soften
for a few minutes longer

while I mix up the rest
of my ingredients.

I'm using a cup of bread crumbs
to bind the mixture together.

And now I'll grab some eggs.

And I'm going to add
1/4 cup of water to this.

And the breadcrumbs will soak up
this mixture

and create almost like a glue

that will hold
the meatballs together.

I'm just stirring this
to combine.

And now I'm going to grab
all of my spices.

You'll be amazed at how much
this spice blend

gives it that authentic,
deli pastrami flavor.

2 teaspoons of salt.

2 teaspoons of mustard powder,

1 tablespoon of brown sugar.

Next, I'll add some coriander,
which is a little bit floral.

1/4-teaspoon is enough.

Cinnamon --
another 1/4-teaspoon.

A pinch of cloves,

an 1/8 teaspoon of allspice,

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper
will add a touch of heat,

some ground black pepper.

The magic of pastrami
is that it's smoked,

but I'm not going to smoke
these meatballs for hours.

So I am using liquid smoke,

which is a really
strong smoky flavor,

and a little bit goes
a long way.

I'm going to add some chopped,
fresh parsley.

And the parsley will help
balance

out all of the hardier flavors
in the meatballs.

Okay, next I'll add
my onions and garlic.

They're looking
and smelling great,

and I cooked them
just to help soften them

and bring out their flavors.

And I'll mix this up
to combine the spices

and then I'll add
the ground beef.

Now, it's easiest just to get
in there with your hands

to mix this all up.

And I'm using
a leaner ground beef here.

And now I'll mix it all up
with my hands.

And I want to mix these
to combine evenly,

but I don't want to over-mix.

Otherwise,
they could get too tough.

This is looking good
and combined.

Now I'm going to roll it
into balls.

I have two sheet pans here,

covered in foil and grease
so that they don't stick.

And now I'm going to roll balls
out of my meat mixture.

I want them to be bite-sized,

so about the size
of ping-pong balls.

They'll lose a little bit
of size in the oven,

but just like this is perfect.

I've got a lot of rolling to do.
I better get going.

I want to be careful
not to pack them too densely.

Otherwise, they'll be
kind of tough when you eat them.

Got my last ball here.

They are looking so cute!

I'm going to bake these
at 450 for 20 minutes

until they're golden brown.

Still to come,

I'll put the finishing touches
on my pastrami meatballs,

and then we dig in.

I cannot wait to check on
these meatballs.

They are looking great.

They are so nice and brown.

And they smell like a deli.

Now I'm going to grab my mustard
to put these bites together,

because you can't have pastrami
without mustard.

And some bread
and butter pickles

because they look cute,

and you gotta have a pickle
with your sandwich.

To assemble my bites,
I've got some rye toasts here --

heavy on the caraway.

And I'll add a drizzle
of mustard,

top it with a meatball,
and a pickle slice,

and a toothpick
to hold it all together.

Oh, for cute!

The meatball, the crunchy
pickle, the tangy mustard,

and that toasty rye underneath
is going to be delicious.

I'm so excited about these.
I have to take a taste.

Mmm.

They're so good.

The meatballs
are sweet and smoky,

that pickle
adds a perfect crunch,

and the soft rye...

Oh, my gosh.
These are everything.

Mmm.

All of this looks so good!

These are adorable.

Slide it over.

The lefse. Every one is unique.

I'm not used to this
refined dining here.

It's so dainty, yeah.

Do you think you have enough
meatballs?

Nope. I'm going back
for seconds.

Happy holidays,
everybody!

Thank you!

Merry Christmas.
Happy Hanukkah.

Oh, I can't wait
to roll this up.

Mmm. Mmm, Molly,
this is so good.

How are the latkes, Roger?

Exquisite, Molly.
You get an "E" today.

Open your mouth wide.

Time for dessert.

-Wow. That looks great.
-Oh, my goodness.

Oh, that's so cute --
a marzipan village.

-Wow.
-This is so good.

It is.
It is really good.

This tastes
just like gingerbread.

I have one more little
sweet treat for you guys

before you leave.

They're marzipan dipped
in chocolate

and covered with just
the right amount of sprinkles.

Wow. Thanks, Molly.
-I love these sprinkles!

- Enjoy!
-Thank you!