Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Biscuits! - full transcript

Do I have spinach in my teeth?

Do I?

No. Everyone was quiet.
I was like, "I do."

Welcome, friends, to
my kitchen. [chuckles]

Just kidding. Okay.

Those are strong.

Hmm. Hmm.

When it comes to cooking,
I'm not a fancy person.

We're going to just
do this very gracefully.

But I love being in the kitchen.

So let's talk biscuits.



So you just scooch them around.

And a lot of what I like to cook

are simple meals that
bring people together.

We've got a lot of people
to feed today,

So whatever you're
wanting to make at home...

This is going to get old if every
time I'm like, "Oh, this is so good!"

...just get creative
and have fun with it.

This is the dream bite.

Because at the end of the day...

You want to help mama
cook today?

...it's these moments at the
table with family and friends...

Perfect.

...that matter most.

There's something about
tried and true appetizers



that when you are
entertaining people,

or if you're going to
go to someone's party

and you need to bring something,

there's just something to having

some staple appetizers
in your back pocket

that you don't have to
think too much about.

So today's episode is going
to be a little different

in that I'm not going to show
you a full meal and a dessert.

I'm going to actually share

some of my favorite appetizers
that I like to make.

When I have friends
and guests over.

We're going to be doing
some cheese balls,

a baked brie, pretzels with cheese
dip and a spinach artichoke dip.

I promise you, if you take these
to a party, there will be zero left.

So first we're going
to do cheese balls.

With this recipe, I use two eight
ounce blocks of cream cheese,

and I'm going to go ahead

and start by whipping
this cream cheese.

We just want to
get it nice and soft.

And now I'm going to add
two cups of white cheddar,

and then a cup
of the shredded gouda.

I love gouda because it has
a smoky flavor to it.

Just makes it taste
a little richer.

I'm going to go ahead and cut
the sun-dried tomatoes.

I do love the color and the
texture that adds to the cheese ball.

Okay.

So I've got three
tablespoons of chives.

It kind of helps because I think

there's so much cheese
going on that it helps cut that,

so it doesn't feel too rich.

Then about a
teaspoon of garlic salt,

and then, pepper.

You're having guests over and
you want kind of a prettier dish.

This is something that's fun,

and most people will enjoy this.

So that is nice and blended.

Cheese is a staple
in the Gaines household.

And even Chip's parents,
any time we go over there

for a holiday, there's
always cheese balls out.

So I feel like it's just
something I had to learn quick.

Okay, so with this mix
right here,

I'm going to make three
medium-sized cheese balls

with three different coatings,
so that I'm not making a mess.

I'm going to use
an ice cream scoop

and form out
three scoops per ball.

If there weren't cameras here,

I'd probably be
doing all this by hand

cause I'm kind of
a messy person.

And now I'm gonna
roll the ball out,

so you just want to form it,

so it's a nice shaped ball.

Okay, so now that these
are packed down,

I am going to roll these
in the topping.

Okay, let me get
the toppings out.

So today's toppings
are just chopped parsley,

and any time you chop
herbs in advance,

it's nice to put like a wet towel
over it to keep them nice and crisp.

Oh. Fresh cracked ground pepper,

and then chopped walnuts,
which is my personal favorite.

So you take a ball
and you coat it.

If you want it fully coated, you
just keep kind of turning it around.

Okay, see how pretty that is?

It's about all you got to do.
It's really simple.

Okay.

The pepper ball and this kind
of cuts all that creamy cheese.

It's a little messy,

but I think if your kitchen is
not messy, you're not having fun

Every time Chip walks in, he
was like, "You gotta figure this out."

I'm like, "No, I love it.
I love making a big mess."

If I'm in the kitchen, I'm going to let
everyone know I am in the kitchen.

Mama is playing.

This is the chopped walnuts, which is
my favorite, because I love the texture.

Okay, so there's the walnut,
and the last step here

is just to wrap it in
some plastic wrap

and stick this in the fridge
so that everything can just set.

These can go in the fridge
three to four hours or overnight

if you want to make them
the day before.

And then we're going
to move on to pretzels.

Wish me luck.

Homemade soft pretzels.

This is a great appetizer.

I like to do half salty,

half sweet, with just like
a cinnamon sugar blend.

But today I'm going to
show you the salt blend,

So the first step is getting one
and three quarter cup warm water,

four teaspoons
of dry, active yeast

and then a teaspoon of sugar.

The yeast essentially eats the
sugar, and then it creates gas,

and that's what helps it
kind of foam up.

And I'm going to set this
aside for about five minutes.

I'm going to let
this mixture bloom,

so now I'm going to
just do the dry mix,

which is five cups of flour.

[metallic clang]

Ding!

You know, I love to make
pretzels with cheese sauce,

especially for, like, game night

when it's something like
football game, baseball games.

It adds to
the occasion for sure.

Then half a cup of sugar,

two teaspoons salt.

So we're gonna do
a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

And then I'm going to add yeast,

which you can see has ballooned.

Can you see kind of
a liquid and the foam.

And this just means the yeast
is active and it's good to go.

And I'm going to let this mix
for about five minutes.

Wanna use the hook attachment.

The kids love to
watch this part.

You can start seeing it
come together.

The dough is starting
to cling that hook

and you know it's done
when it forms a ball.

When I transfer that dough,
I'm gonna put it in this glass bowl.

And I'm gonna cover it.

And this dough is really sticky,

so I'm gonna just
spray the bowl,

just so it doesn't stick to it.

Get that ready to go.

Okay. I think this is
looking really good.

That was really messy,
the perfect ball of dough.

Some I'm gonna go ahead
and just get it off like this.

Wow. It's heavy.

Oh!

I love playing with dough.

I love the smell of dough.

Beautiful.

So you want this to double in
size, so I'm going to cover this up,

let it set for about an hour
and let the dough proof.

This next appetizer
is baked brie.

Baked brie is a great
appetizer for really any occasion,

so what I'm going to
show you today

is topping it
with some brown sugars,

some toasted pecans.

It's really quick and easy,
but very beautiful.

So the first step
is toasting the pecans,

and you just want to toast
these for a couple of minutes.

You can see that this dough is
getting close to doubling in size.

Does that look like a cup?

Looks like a cup to me.

Just stir it a little bit.

So I'm toasting the pecans.

I'm gonna start by making the
brown sugar and butter mixture.

It's four tablespoons of butter

and then half of a cup
of brown sugar.

A pinch of salt and then
two tablespoons of water.

So this mixture is for
the top of the brie.

I'm gonna clean up.

I'm gonna check on the pecans.

I kind of do
a smell check on these.

When I can start smelling them,

you know,
they're nice and toasted.

Go and just put them on here,
I'm gonna chop these.

I like them in smaller
pieces for the appetizer.

To me, the key with these
appetizers is not over complicating it.

It makes it a lot easier when
you're having guests over,

you don't think
too much about it,

And I'm just going to fold it into
the brown sugar and butter mixture,

Brown sugar, butter and pecans.

It's a great base for a lot of amazing
things, so I'm gonna grab the brie.

I love to serve this specific
brie with green apples.

This is a one pound
wheel of brie.

I love how pretty that is.

Now I'm just going to
top it with the mixture.

So as this cooks,
it's going to settle

and the brie is going to
kind of slump.

It's going to get nice
and creamy on the inside,

so I've set the oven at 350,

and I'm going to put it in
there for 12 to 15 minutes.

You just want to make sure
the inside is warm and gooey.

I'm going to clean up
the kitchen really quick.

By the time I'm finished, I
bet that brie will be ready to go.

I can smell the brie,
and I think it's ready.

Oh, yeah, it's nice and bubbly.

The sides have softened up
and it smells so good.

The thing I love about this,

along with the other appetizers
I'm sharing with you is,

I just think food
can be really thoughtful.

So when you are
going to a friend's house,

this is something
that's nice to bring.

It's beautiful.

It's very simple,
but it's thoughtful.

Look, when I cut into this,

look how nice and...
Oh my Lord, that's so pretty.

Do you see that?
That's the goodness.

There's just something about
the creamy texture of this brie.

Then you've got the nuts.
You've got this caramel sauce.

You've got the crunch
of the apple.

It really is like
the best thing.

Mm.

We can all go home now.
That was really good.

Wait, there's more.
We can't go home.

And now I want to show you one
of my favorite savory appetizers,

which is
the spinach artichoke dip.

This is a pound of spinach.

This seems like
a ton of spinach,

but you'll see it
shrinks down quite a bit.

You can always use
frozen spinach that you thaw.

This is when it gets
kind of hard.

A pound of spinach
is a lot to fit into a pan.

Okay.

Once I get all of it in here,
I'm gonna cover it with a lid,

so it'll just
speed up the steam.

Five, four, three, two...

one.

This is really what you're
looking for, the wilted spinach.

Okay, so this is good.

Now I'm going to
strain the spinach,

and you want to let
the spinach cool

'cause you're going to
end up chopping it.

So I'm going to
just let this set.

You want all the liquid
to come out.

I'm going to let it
sit in this bowl.

Let it cool off, and now we're
going to start the mixture.

So while the spinach is
draining, I'm going to start

with the cheese
and the artichokes.

This is one block
of softened cream cheese.

It's good to use cheese. It's
been sitting out at room temp.

And then a cup and a half
of grated parmesan,

and a cup and a half of gouda,

and then a cup of mayonnaise.

We're not reinventing the
wheel here with appetizers.

These are a lot of great basics,

and everything that I'm
making today can be modified.

So I'm gonna do some
pepper and some salt.

I have three jars
of artichoke hearts.

These are six ounces each.
I've already drained them.

Now I'm going to
just chop these up.

You want to make it to where
they're kind of nice, bite-sized.

Just having an appetizer,

it's kind of like
that surprise and delight.

Definitely not needed,

but is a fun addition
to any menu.

And now I'm going to just stick
them right back into this mixture.

I bet that spinach
is cooled off.

I'm going to go ahead
and get the spinach.

This is fun. The kids
like to do this part,

where we wring
all the moisture out.

It's kind of cool.

It'll just make a watery dish
if you don't do this step.

So now you just take this...
[whispering] Look how cool.

Look at that! That's a lot
of nutrients in this bowl.

Spinach is like one of
the best things for you,

before you put it
in the artichoke dip.

This is where it gets
super crazy for me

when you think about
where this started.

This is a pound of spinach.

Looks like
my parsley cheeseball.

So now I am going to

spread this out a little bit with a
fork and chop in smaller pieces.

And I don't like
stringy appetizers,

because when I'm
doing appetizers,

I always like to think about the
idea of people around the island

eating and talking.

So the easier the
bites are, the better.

This is the only time
my kids will eat spinach.

They love this step.

And I love to have
the kids join me.

And the best way
to get them in the kitchen

is doing something
like this artichoke dip

to see how pretty this is

like that green and that spinach

really just brings this to life.

Okay, so this is
nice and blended.

I'm gonna grab a dish

and it goes in the oven.

I've set the oven to 375
for just 25 minutes.

Get it nice and hot and bubbly.

Ooh! That looks so good
and it smells so good.

I'm going to do a little paprika

just for some color on top.

You can also top it with dill.

You can get creative here.

You can see how pretty that is.

So the key here is just getting all
the flavors to kind of blend together.

Okay, 20 minutes in the oven.

I'm gonna grab some chips
and get all of that ready

so that we can do
a little taste testing.

I can smell the artichoke dip.

When you know it's ready,
when it's bubbling...

And it is bubbling.

Whoa!

This smells so good.

I'm just going to add just a little
grated parmesan just for a nice garnish.

There you have it.
Spinach, artichoke dip.

So I'm going to try this.

I hate doing this to you because
you don't get to eat this right now,

but see how nice
and gooey and creamy it is.

Get a little bit of this top.

You all just want to
go take a break.

Chip taught me that.
Whip the cheese around.

That's good.

This is why I showed
up today, for this dip.

Don't make this part go fast.

Move this out of the way,

'cause I'm just gonna eat
all of it by myself.

And now it's time
for the soft pretzels.

The dough is ready to go.

And the goal here
is to get 16 balls.

I'm going to
weigh out the first one.

You want about
two and a half ounces,

and then after that,
I'm just going to eye it.

I'm looking for about
two and a half ounces.

And I'm gonna guess
that this is...

Pretty close. Let's see.

[laughs] It's four
and a half ounces.

Two point six, we're good.

So this is the size
that I am wanting.

I'm gonna get
16 of these ready to go.

Doesn't have to be perfect.

A lot of the times
when I make dough,

I put a little extra sugar in it

because I just love to pinch
it off and eat raw dough.

When I was little,
my dad would go into

a chicken place
that made fresh rolls,

and he would go in there and
just ask for a dozen raw rolls.

And me and my dad would eat the
raw rolls because they were sweet.

There was a lot of sugar in
them, so it was so delicious.

But don't do that at home.

Just going to add a little here,

so I'm going to roll these out,

and the key here is,
rolling it out about 24 inches,

and I'm going to just use
this kind of as my measure.

Just do this times two.

You want to roll it out
nice and thin.

Can you see me over here?

Just wanna make sure I don't
move away from your screen.

So one thing to note
that when you're doing this,

you want to put a little
flour on your hands.

This is what helps with the
dough because it is pretty sticky.

So I'm gonna show you
how to pretzel.

You're going to

make a horseshoe,

and then you're going to
cross it over once,

you twist it twice,

and then you just fold it
over and kind of spread it out.

Okay, there's one.

See how easy that was?

So I'm going to keep going, and
I'm gonna form all of these out.

If you're having guests over and
they come when you're doing this part,

it's just nice to have, like,
a fun appetizer on the island.

They're eating,
they're chatting.

So the hot water is what
you're going to dip the pretzels in

right before you bake them.

This is one and one
third cups of baking soda,

and I'm going to gradually
add that into the water.

And that's actually what
makes the pretzel a pretzel.

It's what gets them
that nice round color.

You want to do this gradually

because it bubbles up really
quick once it hits the water.

I'm always impressed when I
think about, like, the history of food

and, like, what person
decided to, A, make a pretzel

and B, put

a ton of baking soda and
water and dip that pretzel.

I mean, I just think,
good for that person.

Basically, you're going to just
dip the pretzel into the water.

You're going to push it down a little
bit just to make sure it's submerged.

So with the water bath, you can
see that they are getting even more

into that pretty pretzel
shape that we're after.

We want to make sure there's
enough space in between each pretzel.

And while they're so nice and
wet like this, I'm going to sprinkle

some of that flaky salt.

I like it kind of on every bite,

so I tend to do quite a bit.

And then you can
always flick it off

if you don't want that much
salt once they're baked.

So the oven's set to 425.

I'm going to put these in
there for about ten minutes.

Make me proud, little guys.

So while the pretzels
are baking,

I'm gonna grab the cheese
balls and the crackers.

We can give it a try.

So I just put the cheese balls

on this pretty little
cutting board.

And I'm going to try
the walnut one.

When I serve it, I like to
take them out a little earlier,

just so that they
get a little soft,

so they're not as hard when
your guest is cutting into it.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

That is so delicious.

Okay.

Pretzels.

Pretzels look so good.

What I like to do
with the pretzels

is get a little melted butter

and brush them on top
to just finish them off.

I was going to do that here, and
I'm going to put them on the platter.

These smell so good.

You know the fun thing
about pretzels,

you can do mustard with them.

I love to just do kind of
a classic cheese sauce

I made the cheese sauce a
little earlier, so that's ready to go.

And my kids like the cheese, so
that's typically how I serve these.

The cheese sauce
is just really creamy.

There's gouda in there.
There's white cheddar.

Look how pretty those are.
They're like glistening.

So now that you see this
full spread like this, I'm...

I'm thinking I want to have
an appetizer party.

How fun would that be?

Baked spinach and artichoke dip,

pretzels with the cheese sauce

and then the apples
and the delicious brie

with the pecans and the brown
sugar and then the cheese balls.

Now, for the final
bite of the day.

It doesn't get better than that.

Dip it in the cheese sauce.

Mm. That tastes
like home right there.

The pretzel's so nice
because it's soft on the inside,

but kind of crispy
on the outside.

That texture is really nice.

It's chewy.

Mm. These are so good.

You bring one of these
to a party, it will be a hit.

And I just feel like all of these
are really good, simple appetizers,

but they just
feel a little more...

I gotta eat that. Sorry.

Okay, so there you have it.

I could just sit in a corner
by myself and just eat all of it.

Every one of these
are going to be hit.

So you should try this at home.

See you next time.