Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 6 - Mom on the Farm - full transcript

My mom's in town from Chicago,

so I'm cooking a special dinner
for her with all of her faves.

Oh, that's good.

So creamy chicken paprikash,

my warm and chewy
egg dumplings -- spaetzle,

sautéed zucchini
with my walnut pesto,

and I'm topping it off

with some deliciously cute
challah hedgehogs.

That's crazy.
This is so fun.

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 a taste of the Midwest.

Challah is hands down one of
my favorite breads in the world.

Today, I'm turning it into
cute-as-a-button hedgehogs,

which will have
a sweet pecan filling.

They're fluffy, gooey on the
inside, and totally adorable.

To get started,
I'll get 1/4 cup of sugar,



and then I'm gonna add
3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour.

And I'm gonna keep my flour
standing by to add more

to dust it as needed.

And a teaspoon of kosher salt.

I'll whisk this to combine,

and then I'll mix up
my wet ingredients.

All right.

Now, for my wet ingredients,

I'll crack two eggs
into a separate bowl.

Challah has to have eggs.

It gives the dough
that signature richness.

And then I'll add
1/3 cup of oil.

I'm using a flavorless oil here.

Good challah recipes have
a fair amount of sugar and oil

so that they're extra rich
and sweet.

And now I'll whisk this
to combine.

Now I have my egg mixture,
my dry ingredients,

and I also have
some active dry yeast

proofing in 1 1/2 cups of water
with a teaspoon of sugar,

because yeast loves sugar.

It's foamy now,
and so it's ready to add.

And now I'll stir this
and get it kneading.

And you can do this by hand
or with a stand mixer.

Now, let this go for about
7 to 10 minutes

until it's smooth
and slightly sticky.

I'll add a little flour
if it seems too sticky,

but I want to be careful
not to add too much.

Otherwise,
the challah could dry out.

All right,
this dough looks beautiful.

It's so soft.

It's still a little bit sticky,
which is what I want it to be.

Oh, I could just
play with this all day.

Okay, I'm gonna stretch this
into a ball.

Gorgeous.
Then I'll grab a clean bowl.

I'll add a little oil
to the bottom of the bowl

so that the dough
doesn't stick.

I'll zhuzh it around and get the
dough all coated in that oil,

flip it over,

and now I'm going to cover it
with plastic wrap

and let it rise
for about two hours

or until it's doubled in size.

While my dough rises,
I'll make my pecan filling.

It's sweet and maple-y,

and it's a great texture
inside of the fluffy challah.

To get started, I'll get
1/4 cup of softened butter.

and this is really soft
'cause I'm mixing it by hand.

And then I'm gonna add
3/4 cup of sugar.

And I'll just mash this together
with my spatula.

Next, I'll season it
with a pinch of salt,

and I'll flavor it
with some vanilla.

It goes so nicely with pecans.

And I'm gonna add an egg white
to hold the filling together

so that it doesn't
leak out of the hedgehogs,

and I'll save the egg yolk
for the egg wash on top of them.

I'll mix this together.

I love stuffing my challah
with a filling,

either savory or sweet.

So I have some
ground pecans here,

and I'm gonna add a cup
and a half of them.

And it'll make kind of like
a pasty situation.

And this will make it easier
to scoop

into the bellies
of the hedgehogs.

Pecans, I feel like,
are an underrated nut, too,

so I'm gonna give these
some love.

This is gonna be so tasty
inside of my hedgehogs.

I cannot wait to fill them
once my dough is ready.

My challah dough is looking
puffy and good,

and now I'm ready to stuff
the bellies of my hedgehogs.

I'll dust my surface with some
flour so that it doesn't stick,

and then I'll dump the dough out

and divide it into
14 equal pieces.

I'm gonna have 14 new friends.

Ah, this dough is so soft.

All right, I'm gonna
grab my bench scraper.

And I'll divide it in half,

and then I'll divide each half
into seven pieces.

Now I'll just roll these
into balls,

which will help them
flatten into a circle

once I roll them out.

And I'll place about
a tablespoon of my pecan filling

into the center

and then pinch the edges
to seal them shut.

And I'll place them seam-side
down back onto my surface,

and then these will rise
for another 30 minutes.

And now I'll flatten and fill
the rest of these little guys.

Time to bring these hedgehogs
to life.

I'll brush them
with an egg wash,

which will make them
nice and shiny.

And now I'll snip
their little ears --

slightly off-center,
and I don't want to go

all the way down to the filling,
so only about 1/4-inch ears.

And at this point, they could
be cats, they could be bunnies,

but hedgehogs are the silliest.

And now I'm gonna give them eyes
with black sesame seeds,

and my tweezers
will come in handy for this.

Now, I'm only working
a few of these at a time

to allow the egg wash
to stay moist

while I'm adding the eyes.

If I brush too many
with egg wash,

the egg wash might dry,
and then the eyes won't stick.

They're adorable.

I think my mom's gonna freak out
when she sees these.

They're starting to look
like hedgehogs.

I'm gonna bake these now at 375
for about 20 minutes

until they're golden-brown,

and then they'll get
their quills.

These are beautiful and golden,

and their little ears
have perked up.

I'm gonna let these cool,

and then I'll decorate them
with my mom.

Coming up, I'm getting started

on my creamy
chicken paprikash...

Let those smells
run through the house.

...and pairing it with
some freshly made spaetzle,

my chewy egg dumplings.

Then I'm putting together
some sautéed zucchini

with a wonderfully herbaceous
walnut-mint pesto.

My mom's gonna love this.

For a comforting dinner
with my mom tonight,

I am making my creamy
chicken paprikash.

It's just chicken
in a great paprika sauce.

So, I have two onions
sliced here

that I'm gonna soften
in some butter.

Onions and butter,
AKA the best smell on Earth.

I'll add a good pinch of salt.

This will help them get soft
and translucent.

And I'll cook these for about
7 to 10 minutes,

and just let those smells
run through the house.

My mom's side of the family
is Hungarian,

and I've always felt this
connection to Hungarian cuisine.

So this is my version of a
traditional Hungarian paprikash.

While the onions are cooking,

I'll chop up
four cloves of garlic.

And then I'll add it
to the pan with my onions.

I'll stir this and let it sauté
for another minute or two,

and then I'm gonna
get my spices.

The star of the show here
is sweet paprika.

It's gonna add great,
sweet, peppery flavor

and a beautiful
burnt-orange color.

I'm using a lot of it --
2 tablespoons.

And I'm gonna stir it around
with the onions and let it toast

before I add the rest
of my ingredients,

and this is gonna bring out
even more sweet, peppery flavor.

And now I'm gonna add
a little bit of cayenne,

just for some heat.

Not too much.

Still want to be able
to taste the dish.

Mm-hmm!

It's looking
and smelling delicious.

I'm stirring around the onions

to get them evenly coated
in the paprika,

and I'm gonna let them
toast here.

And that's gonna
bring out their flavors.

Yum.

Next, I'm gonna make a roux,
which will thicken my sauce,

and all that is
is butter and flour.

I'll stir this around
and cook it for about a minute.

That'll help cook out
some of that floury flavor.

Now I'm gonna add
some low-sodium chicken stock.

And I'm gonna add it gradually,
all while stirring,

and then that's gonna start
to thicken from my roux

and create that sauce.

I'm so excited for my mom
to get here.

We used to cook all the time
in the kitchen,

and I learned a passion
for cooking from her.

And it's because of her
that I never looked at cooking

or baking as a chore.

It was always looked at
as this fun,

awesome thing to show people
you love them

and to nourish yourself

and to just have a great time
at the end of every day.

It's starting to thicken up,
and it's already taking on

the beautiful
burnt-orange paprika color.

And I'm adding my stock
a little at a time

to allow it to thicken evenly.

I'm gonna add a pinch of sugar.

That kind of rounds out
the sweetness of the paprika

and the onions.

And next,
I'll stir in my chicken.

These are boneless,
skinless chicken thighs

that are chopped
into bite-size pieces.

They'll cook up quickly,
and it'll make this paprikash

one that
you can eat with a spoon.

I like chicken thighs because
they're hard to overcook

and they're very moist and rich.

So I'll add these
directly to my sauce,

and the sauce is gonna cook
the chicken thighs.

And now I'll let it cook
for about 15 minutes,

stirring occasionally
to cook it evenly,

until the chicken is cooked
through and no longer pink.

This smells so good!

The color has deepened,

the flavors
have gotten better over time,

and now I'm gonna make it
even creamier

by adding a touch
of heavy cream.

Just a little bit is all I need

to make it rich
and creamy and perfect.

And I'm adding the cream
at the end

so that the sauce doesn't break.

And as rich and creamy
as this sauce is,

it's still important
to add acidity.

I have some
white wine vinegar here.

I'm drizzling in
just a touch of it.

This sauce is so flavorful.

It's gonna go with anything
that's gonna soak it right up.

All of these flavors are gonna
come right together like BFFs.

Mmm! I want to taste it.

Okay, might need to add
more salt and pepper.

Mmm.

It's creamy. It's sweet.

It has a little bit of a kick.

It's delicious.

I'm just gonna add another pinch
of salt and more pepper,

and now this is ready to go.

I'm making my mom some spaetzle

to go with
our chicken paprikash.

Spaetzle are chewy little
egg dumplings

that are gonna be perfect

for soaking up
all of that saucy goodness.

To start my dumpling batter,
I'll grab 1 1/2 cups of flour,

and I'll add 1/4 teaspoon
of nutmeg,

which will lend a homey,
cozy flavor.

These are such simple dumplings,

but this nutmeg
is such a nice touch.

I'll season with salt
and pepper...

...and I'll whisk to combine.

For my wet ingredients,
I'll beat up two eggs...

and 1/2 cup of whole milk.

I'll whisk these to combine,

and then I'll pour it
into my dry ingredients.

And I'll mix this, and it'll
form a very thick batter.

The batter is super sticky
and thick,

but I'm gonna refrigerate it
for about half an hour.

And that'll allow the glutens
in this to relax,

and then that'll make it easier
to form the dumplings.

Coming up, I'm using
my tried and true trick

for forming
the spaetzle dumplings.

I'm also getting kind of a
facial right now with the steam.

Then I'm sautéing some zucchini
with a nutty walnut-mint pesto,

and my mom's coming
just in time

to help me make these challah
hedgehogs cute as a button.

My spaetzle dough is chilled,
and now it's ready to cook.

I'll take a spoonful of the
batter, and it's pretty thick.

And I'm gonna hold it over
my pot of salted boiling water,

and the steam
that's coming from it

is actually gonna help
soften that batter

and let that
come through the holes.

And now I'm just gonna
press it through.

They're starting to drop!

And the batter's gonna drop
directly into the boiling water,

and it's gonna start
to cook immediately.

These cook really quickly.

They only take about
two to three minutes to cook,

and they'll float to the top
when they're ready.

Sometimes, huge pieces of batter
go overboard

over the side
of the slotted spoon

and create massive pieces
of spaetzle.

Those are my favorite ones.

I'm gonna transfer them
to a strainer

that's sitting over a bowl
to catch any excess water.

I'm also getting kind of a
facial right now with the steam.

The spaetzle are boiled, and now
I'm gonna add more flavor

by sautéing them in butter.

That's such a nice, crisp sound.

I'm only gonna
stir it occasionally

because that browning process
takes some time.

So I'll let it cook
on this side, get brown,

toss it,
let it cook some more.

I'm gonna season it
with salt and pepper.

And then I've got to make sure
it's okay for my mom,

so I'm just gonna give it
a few tastes.

Oh, yeah.

Mmm!

They're chewy and buttery
and delicious.

They are going to be perfect
with my paprikash.

For a side
for my chicken paprikash,

I am sautéing up some zucchini

and making it extra tasty
with some walnut-mint pesto.

I'm slicing the zucchini
into 1/2-inch-thick coins,

which is on the thicker side,

but they'll get thinner
as they cook.

I have a layer of olive oil
going in my pan,

and now I'm gonna brown
my zucchini slices in batches

because I don't want
to crowd the pan.

And it's important not to salt
the zucchini

until they're done cooking.

Otherwise, they won't get
that gorgeous brown color.

And while this sautés,
I'll make my walnut-mint pesto.

I have toasted walnuts,
olive oil, red-wine vinegar,

Parmesan,
fresh mint and basil,

crushed red pepper, salt,
and black pepper.

This pesto is gonna add
so much tastiness to the dish.

I love walnuts in my pesto.

They're really hearty and meaty.

And it's normally pine nuts,
but I love walnuts and zucchini.

They're a great match.

Some good olive oil
will help thin it out

and make it extra rich.

And a hit of red-wine vinegar
is gonna add

that perfect touch of acidity
to balance out my flavors.

And next, you got to have
Parmesan cheese in pesto.

It has that nice, salty bite.

Yum.

And now fresh mint
and fresh basil

are just gonna add a wonderful
freshness to this pesto.

Now I'm adding a hit of heat
with some crushed red pepper,

and I'll season it
with some salt and pepper.

Okay, and now I'm gonna
pulse this until it's combined.

I want there to be some bigger
bits left in it

to add texture to my dish.

I have to taste this.

It smells so good.

Mmm, mmm!

The herbs make it super fresh,

and it's so nutty and cheesy
from the Parmesan.

I'm gonna check on my zucchini.

This is exactly
what I'm looking for.

It's evenly golden-brown,

and now I'll flip them
and let them get brown

on the other side,
just like that.

Looks great.

Beautiful.

The zucchini is looking good.

I'll grab my serving plate,
plop these on.

And now I'm really gonna
make it sing with my pesto.

I'll add some of the pesto
to the top of the zucchini,

and then saving the rest of
the pesto to serve on the side.

And to make it look
extra nice for my mom,

I'm gonna shave
some Parmesan on top.

I'll add a little more color
and heat

with some crushed red pepper.

And to finish it off,

I'll add a few little leaves
of fresh basil and mint.

Okay!

And my mom is gonna love this.

Once my mom arrives,
we're gonna decorate

all of these cute
little challah hedgehogs...

Look at that little face!

...then sit down for a dinner
of all of her favorites.

Hi!

Welcome!

Oh, hi, little mama.
That's me.

You're supposed to
hug the bump.

Okay.
Okay, that's good.

That's good.

Let's go in.
Let's go cook.

Sounds good.

Okay, Ma,
this is the best part.

We are turning our pecan
challah rolls into hedgehogs.

So,
to decorate our hedgehogs,

I'll add a nice,
big circle of glaze on top.

And this is just powdered sugar
and milk glaze.

Okay.

And now I'm gonna start
at the back,

and they can kind of stick up
to give it some dimension.

And then you have to
overlap them

so that
they start to spike up.

It's so nice,
the way they stick.

I mean, this is really easy
to do.

Yeah, it's a really
sticky glaze.
You know,
it's really fun.

It's important to get the glaze
nice and thick

with a lot
of powdered sugar.

Okay.
That'll help it stay.

I love doing this.

And again, it's something
I can do, which is...

What are you
showing me?

That one pooped.

How did you
come up with this?

Okay, well,
they started off

as sprinkle patches
on top of their heads.

They were like
sprinkle-y yarmulkes.

Mm-hmm.

And then, because there's nuts
in the middle,

I wanted anybody eating them
to know

that there were nuts in it,
so I put some almonds on top.

Mm-hmm.

But then they just kind of
became the hedgehog shape.

I think
we should name them.

Okay.

Well, they're all
wearing yarmulkes, so...

start there.
So, Moishe?

Hello,
Mr. Hedgehog!

Hello.

These are so adorable.
Look at that little face.

We're gonna bite
their little heads off.

These look amazing.
Yay!

They look delicious.

What do
we have here?

This is spaetzle
with chicken paprikash,

and then the zucchini
has been sautéed.

And it's topped
with a walnut-mint pesto.

The combination of the basil
and the mint is...

It's good,
right?
...sublime.

The spaetzle is, like,
so fun to eat, right?

It's got such a great...
Oh, my God,
thank you.

...great feel. Yeah.

You knocked it
out of the park.
Mmm.

Did anyone save room
for dessert?

No.

Well, you better
make some room fast.

These hedgehogs
are coming in hot.

That's crazy.
It's a pecan
challah hedgehog.

Look at this!

Mmm!

I thought it was just a roll,
but I bite in, and...

There's a surprise!
Yes,
this is so fun.

This guy's
looking at me weird.

This is amazing.