Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 4, Episode 6 - Girl Meets Farm - full transcript

Molly: My college buddies
are visiting the farm,

so I'm making
a middle eastern feast.

The food is as colorful
as the personalities.

All: To falafel night!

Starting with my crispy falafel
and a creamy homemade labneh

with olive oil and za'atar.

The olive oil looks so bright
on top of the labneh.

A healthy cauliflower
tabbouleh salad.

And for dessert, fudge-y
turkish coffee brownies...

These are looking so fun!

...And a pitcher of refreshing
frozen mint lemonade.



[ laughter ]

oh, yeah. Mm.

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.

♪♪

my friends from college
are in town for falafel night,

and I am working up
a delicious menu.



For dessert, I am making
my turkish coffee brownies

that are rich and fudge-y

and have the perfect combination
of chocolate,

cardamom, and coffee.

To get started,
I'm toasting up some walnuts.

Anytime you add nuts
to a brownie,

you're gonna want
to toast them first

to bring out their flavor.

These are looking great.

They've been in my pan
for a few minutes now,

and they've gotten
lightly browned,

and now,
I'll just coarsely chop them.

I want some nice bigger bits.

Now I'll set these aside
while I whip up my batter.

In my big bowl here,
I'll combine my dry ingredients.

1/2 a cup of all-purpose flour,
a cup of sugar,

and 1/3 of a cup
of unsweetened cocoa powder.

♪♪

and then I'll add 2 teaspoons
of instant espresso powder.

♪♪

this will wake us right up.

And then 1/4 teaspoon of
kosher salt and baking powder.

The thing I love most about
turkish coffee

is the warm spices
that are often added to it,

so I'm gonna add some cinnamon
and cardamom to my brownies.

Cinnamon is so nice
with chocolate,

and cardamom just adds a really
nice floral, woodsy element.

Okay, I've got
my dry ingredients.

I'll whisk this to combine.

So my friends
are coming to town.

They're old college buddies.

We went to music
school together.

My friend, maria,
is a violinist,

and bryan is
another percussionist like me.

Okay, my dry ingredients
are combined.

I'm getting a nice
whiff of that cocoa,

and now I'm gonna mix up
my wet ingredients.

♪♪

I have two large eggs here,

and I like starting with
my eggs

first in case there's any shell
that gets in them.

It's easier to fish out
when it's just the eggs.

And then I have 1/2 a cup of
melted butter here

that has cooled slightly.
I don't want it to be too hot.

Otherwise, it'll cook my eggs.

And a teaspoon
of vanilla extract.

This is such an easy batter,

and easiness does not equal
a lack of fanciness

because the cardamom

and the cinnamon
in these brownies

just takes them
to a whole nother level.

♪♪

I'll add my wet ingredients
to my dry ingredients

and whisk to combine,

and this is a great
simple brownie recipe

that you can add
different flavors to

and kind of, like,
make your own.

So, my mom, she often adds
peppermint schnapps

to the glaze to make them
chocolate mint brownies.

Okay, and now I'll fold
in my walnuts.

You can use any nut in these.

You could even
just skip the nuts.

I love that I don't need to pull
out my stand mixer for brownies.

All right.
Now I'll grab my pan.

I've prepared my pan
by greasing it

and lining it
with parchment paper.

Greasing it first helps
the parchment paper stick,

and I also like allowing little
wings to come up on the sides

so that I can use
these parchment wings

to lift the brownies up out
of the pan after they've baked.

I'll just dump my batter
right into my pan.

This is an 8x8-inch.

Mm. I'm smelling the coffee.

I'm smelling the chocolate.

I'll spread out my batter.

♪♪

okay.

Now these are gonna bake at 350

for about 25 minutes
until the center is set.

♪♪

♪♪

these are looking so good.

I love that I could see
the walnuts,

and I'm smelling those spices.

Okay,
I'm gonna let these cool now

while I make my chocolate
coffee glaze.

I'll start with a cup
of powdered sugar...

♪♪

3 tablespoons
of cocoa powder...

♪♪

a pinch of kosher salt,

and then I'm also gonna add
some cardamom to the glaze

as well in addition
to the brownies.

Just a little bit
goes a long way.

And then I'm gonna add
3 tablespoons

of melted butter,

a tablespoon of coffee,

and it could be
freshly brewed or cold.

We've got to have coffee
in the glaze and the brownies.

And a tablespoon of honey
will make this glaze glossy.

♪♪

and then just a splash
of vanilla.

And I'll whisk until
it's smooth.

This is a great glaze, doesn't
have to just go on brownies.

It could go on donuts,
on cakes.

You could just take shots
of it alone.

Okay, this consistency
is perfect.

♪♪

my brownies have cooled,
and they're ready for the glaze.

This is such a nice
thick glossy glaze.

Mm. Get this away from me.

Okay, now I'll spread this
all over the brownies.

Oh, yeah.
That's beautiful.

I think my swoops
are looking good.

They just need one more thing.

I'm now gonna bedazzle
my brownies with rainbow chips.

♪♪

these are looking so fun.

So nick is actually in the shop
right now,

and he's building a lazy
susan table for the party.

And I'll put all sorts
of little dishes out

so that people
can help themselves.

It's gonna be really cool.

Once this glaze is set,

I'll slice them
into perfect squares,

and I'm gonna go see how nick
is coming along with his table.

♪♪

♪♪

-hello!
-Hey.

Is this it?

This is the lazy susan.

This is amazing.
I mean, what are these?

Well, I wanted to make sure

that everything would fit
for your feast.
Uh-huh.

This is so cute!

Okay, so the tabbouleh
should go in the middle.
Of course.

And then we'll do the falafel
and the labneh.

It needs some more work,
though.
Okay.

So I think I'll probably
get cracking.

All right, and I'm gonna
keep on cooking.
All right.

-Bye!
-I'll see you.

Molly: Coming up, I'm frying up
some extra crispy falafel

that's loaded with flavor.

Look how good this looks.

Then I'm putting together
my bright

and fresh cauliflower tabbouleh
salad that's packed with herbs.

♪♪

♪♪

well, you can't have
falafel night without falafel,

and my falafel
has to be three things.

One, it's got to be
fiercely coriander-y.

Two, it's got to be loaded
with fresh herbs.

And three, it has to be
extra crispy.

To get started, I'm toasting
up coriander seeds,

and I'm gonna add
some cumin seeds.

And I'm just toasting these
for a few minutes

until they start to smell
really good and fragrant.

And I love the way
the coriander adds a nice,

citrusy, floral flavor,
and cumin is super pungent,

and they're also gonna add

some nice texture
to the falafel.

Mm. Okay, I'm starting
to smell that.

I'm gonna turn off my heat,

and then I'm gonna transfer
them to my spice grinder.

And I'm gonna pulse this
a couple of times

just to get them
coarsely ground.

♪♪

oh! It smells so good.
It's so strong.

So I'll grab these
and also my chickpeas.

This is a cup of
dried chickpeas

that I've soaked
in cold water over night.

It's important to do this step
and not use canned chickpeas

because canned chickpeas
tend to get

a little too mushy in falafel

and can make
the falafel fall apart.

So I'm gonna dump
my chickpeas

into my food processor, and then
I'll also add my spices.

I'll toss in two cloves
of garlic,

and then
I'll chop up my onion.

And I just need to give this
a rough chop

because it will get chopped up
more in my food processor.

So in college,
there was this falafel stand.

All my friends and I
would go on fridays.

We would have food
stand fridays,

and their falafel had
so much coriander in it.

I would get these big balls
of falafel on a huge bed of rice

and drizzle it with hot sauce
and white sauce,

and it was the best
Friday tradition.

I can't wait to relive it
when my friends come here.

Next, I'm gonna add
some fresh herbs.

I've got some parsley
and cilantro here,

and I'll just tear these
right into my processor.

And it's okay if some of
the stems get in here as well.

It will all get blended up.

Okay, next, let me grab
some spices.

I've got crushed red pepper,
which will add a bit of heat.

I'll just add a pinch of this.

And then I like adding
the slightest bit of cinnamon.

It doesn't make the falafel
taste cinnamony.

It just warms it right up
and complements

the other spices
that are in here already.

I'm also gonna add
2 tablespoons of flour

which will help
the falafel bind together.

I'll season with a teaspoon
of kosher salt

and a few turns
of black pepper.

And then I'm gonna add
a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

and a squeeze of lemon juice,

and those will interact to make
the falafel a little fluffy.

♪♪

the lemon and the baking soda
are already foaming up.

Okay, now I'm gonna
pulse this about

80 to 100 times
until it's gravy.

♪♪

oh, it's so pungent
from the cumin.

All right, I'm gonna make
my patties now.

I'm gonna grab my scooper,

and I'm gonna use this
to form little patties.

I love this green color.

It's super earth-y.

Pack them lightly.

I don't want to pack them
too firmly.

Otherwise, they'll be dense,

and then I'll just
flatten them slightly

so that you have nice,
round patties like that.

And I'll keep going with
the rest of my mixture now.

These patties look great.

I've got a 1/4 inch
of flavorless oil

that I've heated in my pan
until shimmering,

and now I'm gonna fry
my patties

for about two minutes
on each side

until they're golden
and crispy.

And I'm gonna fry
these in batches.

I don't want to overcrowd my pan

because if I do, it could lower
the temperature of the oil,

and then it'll actually make
the falafel taste oily.

And when the falafel
is sizzling,

that's how I know
my oil is hot.

♪♪

you could deep-fry these,
but I prefer to pan fry them

in a thick layer of oil.

It's just a little bit
more low maintenance that way.

These are looking beautiful.

They're bubbly around the edges.

Let me check to see
if they are...

Yep. Oh, yeah.

These are getting golden brown
on the bottom,

so I'm gonna flip them
and cook them

for another few minutes
on the other side now.

♪♪

they look delicious
and crispy.

I'm gonna transfer them now
to a wire rack

so that any excess oil
can drip off.

And I like to use a wire rack
instead of a paper towel

because it helps
keep them crispy.

♪♪

I love this golden brown color,

and I can see little bits
of green poking through as well.

And while they're still hot,

I'll season them
with a little salt.

Well, I have to sneak a taste.

Mmm.

Look how good this looks.

The shell is so crispy,

and the innards
are perfectly spiced.

I'm definitely keeping
the part of the table

with the falafel closest to me.

Next, I've got a fresh spin
on tabbouleh

that's as healthy
as it is delicious.

This is gonna be the perfect
side dish to my falafel.

♪♪

my college friends
are visiting the farm,

and I'm making
some of my middle eastern

favorites for a falafel night
spectacular.

I have a unique spin
on tabbouleh salad

that is vibrant,
crisp, and fresh.

I'm gonna start by ricing
some cauliflower,

and tabbouleh salad is typically
made with bulgur wheat.

But instead of that,
I'm using this cauliflower rice,

and this was a thing I started
doing one year on passover

because you can't have wheat on
passover, and it was so good.

The cauliflower just
kind of soaks up

all the flavors
of the vegetables

and the herbs that typically
go in tabbouleh,

and it makes me feel better
about eating the whole bowl

because cauliflower
is good for you.

All right.

Now, you can buy cauliflower
riced already,

or you can save money
and rice it yourself easily

with a box grater.

And you get what looks
like rice.

I've got my cauliflower rice,

and now I'm gonna quickly
saute it in some olive oil.

This is really fast.

I want to make sure not to
overcook my cauliflower.

I'm not making
cauliflower mash.

♪♪

cauliflower rice is also
really good as fried rice.

Now I'm just gonna cook this

for a few minutes,
and while this cooks,

I'll gather the rest
of my vegetables.

I've got a few radishes,
some scallions,

and persian cucumbers
here that I'll chop up.

And I love these little
persian cucumbers.

They're crisper and sweeter
than the big guys.

They're gonna add
such nice crispness

and a little bit
of sweetness to this salad.

My cauliflower is getting
a little noisy.

I'm gonna check on that.

I think it's about ready
to remove from the heat.

♪♪

okay.

Now, I'll continue chopping up
the rest of my vegetables.

I've got six scallions here
that I'm gonna slice thinly.

The colors on my table tonight
are gonna be gorgeous.

I'm just dumping all of my
ingredients into my salad bowl.

And now a few radishes
will add a nice peppery kick.

♪♪

I'm gonna add half
of a red onion,

and now I'm gonna
add tons of herbs.

Tabbouleh has to have
a lot of fresh herbs.

I've got cilantro, parsley,
and mint in here.

I'll just pile these right in.

And now I'm gonna add
a little bit of heat

with some crushed red pepper.

And I'll season
with salt and pepper.

♪♪

and now this salad doesn't
really have a dressing.

I'm just gonna add tons
of lemon juice and olive oil.

And this is gonna add
so much nice brightness.

So I'm adding the juice
of one lemon,

and then I'm gonna eyeball
about a 1/4 cup of olive oil.

It doesn't need to be exact.

Now, I'll toss it all together.

Oh, it's so fun to see all of
these colors blend together

and get really pretty.

Okay, let me sneak a taste.

♪♪

mm.

I just love the way the lemon
and the olive oil coat

all the vegetables and really
make their flavor shine.

This is gonna be the perfect
side dish to my falafel.

♪♪

[ horn honks ]

♪♪

one thing I love
about middle eastern food

is all of the contrasts,
the flavors, and textures.

I've got my crispy falafel,
bright tabbouleh,

and now I need
something cool and creamy.

That's where labneh comes in.

Labneh is a thick
middle eastern yogurt

like a silkier cream cheese

that I love to slather
on all things.

I made this easily yesterday
with a quart

of full-fat greek yogurt,

and I stirred in a squeeze
of lemon juice,

a good pinch of kosher salt,
stirred it up,

and then dumped it into
a cheesecloth lined strainer

set over a bowl,

and I stuck it in my fridge
overnight to let it thicken.

Now it's super thick
and spreadable,

and it's really thickened up.

I love just setting it out
as a dip

with some olive oil and za'atar,
so I'm gonna do just that.

I'll dump this
into my serving bowl,

and I'll just spread it around
to make it look nice.

And this is gonna be great
with the hot falafel,

or you can just dunk
a pita in it.

It's so tangy and creamy
and delicious.

Mmm! Oh, my god.
That's so good.

All it needs is
a little olive oil.

The olive oil looks so bright
on top of the labneh.

And now I'm gonna
sprinkle it with some za'atar

which is a spice mix
that's super earthy.

It has dried thyme, sumac,
which is lemony,

and some toasted
sesame seeds and salt.

One dollop of this on falafel,

and it's gonna be even better
than food stand fridays.

Still to come, a tangy
and refreshing lemonade

with an option
for an extra something special.

I thought we would also
add tequila.

It's a party already.

And then,
let falafel night begin.
Wow.

[ laughter ]

[ laughter ]

I thought I would get the help
from one of my dearest

college friends, maria,
for my frozen mint lemonade.

-I'm here to help.
-It's super refreshing.

It's almost like
a fancy slushie.
Mm-hmm.

So we need a cup
of lemon juice.
Got it.

And I'm gonna get some water.

♪♪

so I've got a cup and a 1/2
of water here,

and I'm gonna add
1/2 a cup of sugar.

And then I'll also add
some mint into the blender.

And that's gonna be
blended first

because that takes longer
to blend up than the ice does.

Now I'm gonna blend this up
until it's smooth.

♪♪

-whoa, yeah.
-Smells so good.

All right.
Now I'm gonna zest a lemon

in to add more lemony flavor.

So maria and I
went to college together.
Mm-hmm.

And we bonded over our love
for good food --
yes.

...And also traveling.

We went to europe together
during our senior year.

Our euro trip! [ laughs ]

I'm just glad we survived.

Okay, so I'm gonna grab
some ice

while maria finishes up
with the lemon juice.

And I thought we would
also add tequila.

Oh, yeah.

You have to add tequila.
[ laughs ]
[ laughs ]

okay, I'm adding 4 cups
of ice here.

Do you want to grab
the tequila?

Oh, yeah.

Perfect!

-I got it.
-All right.

I'm gonna add
the lemon juice.

And then, how much tequila
should we add?

Eyeball it.
Just keep it going.

I'll just err on the side
of a lot. [ laughs ]

it's a party already.

And now I'm just gonna
blend this until it's a slushie.

♪♪

oh, I think I put enough
tequila in. [ laughs ]

-did you?
-[ laughs ]

okay.
So I'll pour this into glasses.

That's so pretty.

And then we'll do little sprigs
of fresh mint.

Oh, yay!

-Cheers.
-Cheers.

-To college.
-To surviving.

Mm. Mm-hmm.

Getting, like, the sweet
and sourness

and the refreshing mint.

-Perfect.
-Okay.

We've got to get this out
to the boys.
Okay.

I can't wait to show you
what nick built.
All right. Let's go.

♪♪

-delicious.
-Yeah.

Wow. Looks amazing.

-I hope you're hungry.
-Oh, always.

Maria:
Wait until you try the drink.

To falafel night!

All: To falafel night!

Molly: Okay, dig in.

-You got to go for the sauce.
-I'm getting to the sauce.

Get all the sauces.
Are we ready to switch?

-No. That way!
-No. This way.

-No. This way.
-That way.

-I want falafel.
-[ laughs ]

oh, no! Oh, god.

I like to stuff
my little pieces of pita.

Molly: Mm.

Okay, how does this compare
to food stand Friday?

-This is way more enjoyable.
-Thank you!

And we're sitting outside
in nature,

instead of on a curb.

[ laughter ]