Speaker 1: A few days ago, the kids told us not to
Speaker 1: worry about dinner because they quote got it covered. It's
Speaker 1: a phrase that always makes me suspicious, and because I
Speaker 1: don't really trust them, I immediately walked into the kitchen
Speaker 1: to see what they were doing, and I've got to
Speaker 1: say I was genuinely impressed. There was a place card
Speaker 1: on the table written in red crayon that said reserved No.
Speaker 1: The s was backwards. There were also settings at the
Speaker 1: table and handwritten menus at every seat. I was expecting
Speaker 1: we might be getting a pile of gummy bears for dinner,
Speaker 1: served on four plates, but instead Ruby was barking orders
Speaker 1: and played in casadillas, and Henry stood over the range
Speaker 1: scrambling eggs. It's the sort of thing my sister and
Speaker 1: I used to do for our parents, and it's sweet
Speaker 1: to see them make signs for their kids cafe and
Speaker 1: hear all about the daily specials. But what's also fun
Speaker 1: to see is how much they've picked up from us.
Speaker 1: Over the summer. We taught our kids to make some
Speaker 1: simple foods, but also we plucked herbs from outside and
Speaker 1: made compound butters. We showed them how to throw a
Speaker 1: little mint into a sun tea and how to flip
Speaker 1: peppers on the grill and tear up some basil and
Speaker 1: garlic and toss it in just for a little extra flavor.
Speaker 1: These days, kids cafes probably the restaurant we frequent the most,
Speaker 1: and while it isn't exactly the farm to table places
Speaker 1: that we used to go to, with chefs coming around
Speaker 1: with celery ac and ramps and showing off all these
Speaker 1: fresh from the garden veggies before they toss them in
Speaker 1: some mouth watering dish, those memories have inspired us and
Speaker 1: as a family, we've been trying to cook with fresher ingredients.
Speaker 1: This week, I found myself looking out at our little
Speaker 1: patch of garden getting excited for the possibilities, and in
Speaker 1: some ways it makes me feel like a kid again,
Speaker 1: because I'm basically playing restaurant too, thinking of what I
Speaker 1: can grow to thrill my diners and elevate our meals,
Speaker 1: and of course what I can model into our mock
Speaker 1: tails from my patrons of all ages. Hey there, I'm
Speaker 1: Mongais Particular, co host of Part Time Genius, one of
Speaker 1: the founders of Mental Flaws, and this is Humans Growing Stuff,
Speaker 1: a collaboration from I Heart Radio and your friends at
Speaker 1: Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make this the most
Speaker 1: human show about plants you'll ever listen to. Along the way,
Speaker 1: we'll share inspiring stories, tips and tricks to nurture your
Speaker 1: plan addiction, and just enough science to make you sound
Speaker 1: like an expert. In today's episode, we're learning from the
Speaker 1: growers and shakers and the food and drink industry about
Speaker 1: how to turn your home cooked meals into a true
Speaker 1: garden to table dining experience. We'll hear from one of
Speaker 1: the top bartenders in Atlanta about why fresh ingredients from
Speaker 1: her community garden are an essential component to her handcrafted cocktails,
Speaker 1: and we'll also talk to an executive chef about how
Speaker 1: her farm to table restaurant gets super creative with the
Speaker 1: gardens seasonal offerings. So why don't we dive in chapter ten,
Speaker 1: Garden to Table and Cocktail Shaker A Molly, So, I
Speaker 1: heard you have a game from you today. I do.
Speaker 1: I am so excited to play this one. It's called
Speaker 1: Botanicals Behind the Booze. And what I'm gonna do is,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you an alcohol, a liquor of
Speaker 1: some kind. I like the sound of that, and I
Speaker 1: want you to try to guess, and some of these
Speaker 1: I think are very common knowledge. Some will be easier
Speaker 1: than others. And I want you to tell me what
Speaker 1: plant that liquor is derived from. Are you ready? Yeah? Okay,
Speaker 1: first one, very very easy mescal. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: think I know what mescal comes from, or you said,
Speaker 1: or am I guessing the alcohol? Is the alcohol? Oh?
Speaker 1: I can tell you're not a big drinker, now, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. So mescal, like to keep ela derives
Speaker 1: from the agave plant, Okay. I always think a gove
Speaker 1: looks a little bit like alo, like a gross between
Speaker 1: alo and a cactus sort of. Yeah, totally, and so
Speaker 1: um it utilizes so we also like, I'm sure you've
Speaker 1: used like a gave sweeteners and things, and that's what
Speaker 1: it is. It's basically they utilized sugars for fermentation and
Speaker 1: that's how they get both tequila and mescal. It is
Speaker 1: a succulent and it's commonly grown in the southwest region
Speaker 1: of the United States and northern Mexico, and that's where
Speaker 1: we see most mescal come from. That's amazing. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: not I'm not. I'm not a big tetcula drinker, but
Speaker 1: I wish. I wish i'd gotten that right. I know,
Speaker 1: I feel a little guilty now that I said. This
Speaker 1: one's easy. You'll get it, don't worry. The next one
Speaker 1: is gin jin Uh? Is there juniper engine? Yes? I
Speaker 1: don't actually know what jin is, what the main ingredient
Speaker 1: is gin is though. So the thing about jin is
Speaker 1: it's comprised of almost a dozen different botana close but
Speaker 1: the main, most common one that we know is juniper berries.
Speaker 1: And it's really interesting is like juniper berries obviously come
Speaker 1: from juniper trees, which are drought tolerant and actually are
Speaker 1: really helpful with preventing soil erosion, which I did not know.
Speaker 1: They always serve gin and tonics in India because it
Speaker 1: was that malaria drink, right, like the quine in was
Speaker 1: supposed to keep mosquitoes away or help with malaria. I've
Speaker 1: read that, Yeah, about like with the tonic water. Yeah,
Speaker 1: very interesting. There's a whole history of the gin and
Speaker 1: tonic that we could spend an entire episode going into
Speaker 1: to be Okay, are you ready for the next one? Yeah, definitely?
Speaker 1: All right Vermouth, Um, you're saying all these things that
Speaker 1: I know I have in my barb. What m I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say grapes. Yeah, so vermuth is a fortified wine.
Speaker 1: So it's basically white grape juice that's slightly fermented. And
Speaker 1: but the other thing is often is flavored with botanicals
Speaker 1: like cameramil or coriander or juniper, a lot like gin um.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you might find saffron or wormwood in it. You
Speaker 1: can utilize remooth in things like as we know, martini
Speaker 1: is very commonly Manhattan's Negrownees. But one of the things
Speaker 1: I will say, because I've learned this lesson firsthand, if
Speaker 1: you're looking to make a martini, there's a big difference
Speaker 1: between sweet vermouth and drivermouth. Yeah. I know there are
Speaker 1: probably people out there being like, of course there's a difference.
Speaker 1: I learned that less in the hard way. But what
Speaker 1: I also like to do is I like to use
Speaker 1: sweet vermouth in some of my cooking the same way
Speaker 1: that I would use like, uh, kind of a cheap
Speaker 1: red wine or cheap port um to kind of sweeten
Speaker 1: like sauces or to like saute like mushrooms in it,
Speaker 1: like lends a really nice sweetness to it. So sweet
Speaker 1: vermouth grape for cooking not good for martinis. Just so
Speaker 1: you know, I actually just bought a blood orange form,
Speaker 1: which is really really tasty. Yeah, it's it's very different,
Speaker 1: but I enjoy it. That sounds Yeah, I'm going to
Speaker 1: have to look into that because that sounds amazing. Alright,
Speaker 1: those are the botanicals behind the booze. How do you
Speaker 1: think you did? How do you feel? Well? I know
Speaker 1: I didn't do that well, but I feel like maybe
Speaker 1: it's time for a drink. It's five o'clock somewhere for sure,
Speaker 1: let's do it. Oh man, I've clearly got some brushing
Speaker 1: up to do so. As I mentioned last season, one
Speaker 1: of the highlights of our pandemic has been Mocktail Hour,
Speaker 1: which we celebrate at five thirty, and my kid Ruby
Speaker 1: really got into mixing mocktails. In fact, the drinks are
Speaker 1: getting more and more complex. Last week we bashed up
Speaker 1: some basil simple syrup to use an a lemonade, and
Speaker 1: there was a sparkling leachy drink with orange and modeled ginger.
Speaker 1: But the funny thing is that as much as we
Speaker 1: pull herbs and fruits to use in our drinks, I've
Speaker 1: forgotten how the garden can also be used as almost
Speaker 1: this extension of the cocktail bar. I mean, what would
Speaker 1: a pims CuPy without cucumber and strawberries? And what would
Speaker 1: a mohito taste like without that fresh min? I mean,
Speaker 1: it really wouldn't be a mohito. But the best part
Speaker 1: about a bar garden is it doesn't actually have to
Speaker 1: be that big. Just some mint, lavender peppers, maybe a
Speaker 1: few edible flowers and you have what you need for
Speaker 1: a really impressive cocktail repertoire. To learn more about what
Speaker 1: a garden can do for our mixing and shaking, I
Speaker 1: called up Kiata Mincy Parker. She's been a bartender at hotels, restaurants,
Speaker 1: and and has even worked as a cocktail programmer. Most recently,
Speaker 1: she was named a finalist in Bombay Sapphire Jin's Most
Speaker 1: Immaginative Bartender competition. And what sets Kiata's work apart from
Speaker 1: others is how she infuses fresh ingredients from her sip
Speaker 1: of Paradise Garden. It's this community garden that she started.
Speaker 1: It's roughly a quarter of an acre in Atlanta, Georgia,
Speaker 1: and it's designed to bring together bartenders in a space
Speaker 1: where they can grow ingredients and ideas together. Hi, how
Speaker 1: are you doing so? Well, and it's so nice to
Speaker 1: have you on the phone. You know, I'm so inspired
Speaker 1: by this garden that you've started, and I've been watching
Speaker 1: the videos which are so lovely, and I think I
Speaker 1: saw the eaves pot liquors that recipe that you made
Speaker 1: and how it tells the story between your cultures. Would
Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about that. Yeah, So I
Speaker 1: was a finalist for Bombay Sapphires. I entered the competition
Speaker 1: with this cocktail and it is a colla green and
Speaker 1: green apple cocktail. That's the base of it, along with
Speaker 1: Bombay sapphire achin. But I wanted to tell the story
Speaker 1: of me in the relationship between my Southern mother and
Speaker 1: my African father. So just emerge of them. And both
Speaker 1: of those things grow in both places, but they're just
Speaker 1: cooked differently or or eaten or done differently. But I
Speaker 1: wanted to marriage to two into myself into a cocktail.
Speaker 1: I love that. And and and so what does the colored
Speaker 1: green do for the cocktail? And how do you prepare
Speaker 1: it for that for that drink? So I have been
Speaker 1: choosing them so you can get that fresh shoice and
Speaker 1: collars are a little bit bitter, so you have to
Speaker 1: be careful with that, huh. And and so what's the
Speaker 1: I'm so curious. The name is so great, the pot liquor,
Speaker 1: But where does the name come from? And and and
Speaker 1: then too, what is the overall like flavor of this drink?
Speaker 1: So the name comes from Eve's pot liquor. I was
Speaker 1: thinking Adam and Eve with the green apple. And then
Speaker 1: how in the South, especially my granddad, the leftover choice
Speaker 1: stus in your pot from cooking color greens. It's called
Speaker 1: pot liquor. And my granddad would dip his corn bread
Speaker 1: in it that it tastes like almost like a salad,
Speaker 1: like a boozy salad, because you know, you have you
Speaker 1: have an herbolocor in the air, you have your bombay sapphire,
Speaker 1: some sidrus, a little bit of sweet, and then you
Speaker 1: have the greens from the collars. You almost get a
Speaker 1: new mummy taste with it. Collars feel like such an
Speaker 1: unusual thing to put in a drink, Like, what are
Speaker 1: some of the other unusual ingredients that you've used from
Speaker 1: gardens and been inspired by? I remember once I did
Speaker 1: a red cabbage cocktail. Red cabbage has ingredient in it
Speaker 1: that it's almost like butterfly pea, flour, so it changes
Speaker 1: colors when you add asset to it. So I've kind
Speaker 1: of playing around with that. Beats, of course, tumoring. Honestly,
Speaker 1: anything that you can add sugar too and kind of
Speaker 1: make it work you can put into a cocktail. I
Speaker 1: think what I like about some of this too, is
Speaker 1: it almost makes it feel like the drinking is virtuous,
Speaker 1: like like you're you're drinking a salad, so it feels
Speaker 1: healthier and something we like to trick you. And so
Speaker 1: when you're dreaming up these cocktails, some of your ideas
Speaker 1: are a lot of your ideas actually come from dreams, right,
Speaker 1: do you actually what do you speak about that for
Speaker 1: a second? Yeah, you know, the first time I started
Speaker 1: realizing what was happening, I was freaked down. But then
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, let me just keep a
Speaker 1: little notebook around it on the jot down when I remember,
Speaker 1: and usually I'll see the glass and what color it
Speaker 1: is and then kind of build from there, just see
Speaker 1: what ingredients or what time of year it is, and
Speaker 1: just kind of pulled from there a lot of times.
Speaker 1: So tell me about this garden that you've started. I've
Speaker 1: seen you talk about Paradise Garden as kind of as
Speaker 1: a safe space for bartenders. Can you talk about that
Speaker 1: and why why do bartenders need a safe space? We
Speaker 1: are the hub of everything. Sure, well, things are a
Speaker 1: little different now because you know we're in the pandemic.
Speaker 1: Before you walk straight to the bar. You met your
Speaker 1: party at the bar, you met your friends at the bar.
Speaker 1: Everybody gathers at the bar. Just the fact that people
Speaker 1: unload on us all the time and we're not really
Speaker 1: able to walk away. It's a stationary position. You know,
Speaker 1: we're taking on others baggage and it's something although we
Speaker 1: choose to do, but it's still something that we need
Speaker 1: to start taking care of ourselves. You can go in
Speaker 1: there and just sit in that space if that's what
Speaker 1: you want to do. You can grow your own food,
Speaker 1: you can grow stuff to develop cocktails, you can put
Speaker 1: your phone down and you can be in your own place,
Speaker 1: into your own thing, and it's just for us. So,
Speaker 1: how has Sip of Paradise evolved over the last year
Speaker 1: and has it become what you wanted to be? And
Speaker 1: has it evolved in other ways to all of the above?
Speaker 1: Where a licensed business in the State of Georgia. We're
Speaker 1: also a five oh one C three, so we are
Speaker 1: full nonprofit. And when people discovered that, they just started
Speaker 1: giving and donating and everybody had no problem buying a plot.
Speaker 1: That's really cool. And we're working with Currant writers. So
Speaker 1: yet more funding so we can have a water irrigation system.
Speaker 1: I want to be able to pay my garden director
Speaker 1: and my communications director and myself. We're just doing this
Speaker 1: because we had time on our hands. You know. My
Speaker 1: producer Molly was saying, how we think about like garden
Speaker 1: to table cooking, but we rarely think about garden to
Speaker 1: table drink, and we should. It doesn't have to be alcohol.
Speaker 1: Just know that you can still get nutrition from drinking
Speaker 1: something even if it's a little alcohol, and it is fine,
Speaker 1: it's okay. What what are some of the under used
Speaker 1: herbs and fruit in gardens that belong in cocktails that
Speaker 1: you think maybe we should be thinking about. I think
Speaker 1: people need to start working with dill um. I also
Speaker 1: think they need to start working with pineapple stage more.
Speaker 1: Oh and the lemon time. Lemon time is delicious. How
Speaker 1: would you use some of those flavors and in drinks
Speaker 1: at home? See, dill is an interesting one. So you're
Speaker 1: actually gonna have to put thought in using that. The
Speaker 1: easy way would be to put it in vodka, vodkas
Speaker 1: and neutral spirit. So whatever you put into it is
Speaker 1: going to take it. And you said lemon time. Is
Speaker 1: that right? Lemon time? It's delicious. I would definitely use
Speaker 1: that in some some chin or some rum really rum.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, it's funny. I've used lemon time and chopped
Speaker 1: it up and with salt and butter and radishes, but
Speaker 1: never in drinks. You know. I didn't think about that
Speaker 1: either until last year when one of the members planted
Speaker 1: in it and I discovered it and she was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I used this with my fish a lot when I
Speaker 1: cook fish and I smelled it. I was like, this
Speaker 1: is beautiful. Should put this in a drink? You know
Speaker 1: what one of the things I saw that you were
Speaker 1: gardening or talking about was I think it's she show
Speaker 1: leaves as though. Yeah, yeah, somebody gifted us one little
Speaker 1: plant of that and it grew so huge. And I
Speaker 1: know I used it a lot with tequila. I um
Speaker 1: kind of did like a garden sin margarita. So I
Speaker 1: used that. I used cement and I used green tea.
Speaker 1: It was really good. Yeah that sounds great. So one
Speaker 1: of the things my kid and I do a lot
Speaker 1: is we we do a mocktail hour, And so I
Speaker 1: was curious if we were going to make a mocktail
Speaker 1: using some of the things in your garden, what would
Speaker 1: you recommend or what could you dream up for? Oh?
Speaker 1: I would definitely do some cameramel iced tea because cammel
Speaker 1: is a good one. Also lab and their iced tea.
Speaker 1: I think a really good base for mocktails is some
Speaker 1: kind of lemon and some kind of sparkling water. So
Speaker 1: if you infuse your sweet with your herb, I think
Speaker 1: you can get more flavors out of it. Don't be
Speaker 1: afraid to combine some herbs together. So so what sort
Speaker 1: of herb combinations makes sense for drinks? So I like dill,
Speaker 1: I like cilantro, and I like ment together really that one? Yes, yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: the dilan there is surprising, definite thing. It's like this
Speaker 1: burst of something that you're not sure what it is,
Speaker 1: but it's really good. And I saw your husband has
Speaker 1: the same thing my wife has where he doesn't like cilantro.
Speaker 1: Is that right? Oh? My gosh, yeshan is in the
Speaker 1: percentage that cilantro tastes like soap to him. I know,
Speaker 1: and I love cilantro so much. So I saw in
Speaker 1: one of the videos you've done that you were sort
Speaker 1: of very gently pruning the basil, or there was a
Speaker 1: very specific way to do it. So anything that grows,
Speaker 1: it's okay to prune. It is growing to be pruned,
Speaker 1: and then more will grow from Once you prune with basils,
Speaker 1: once they start to get that butt and flower, you
Speaker 1: gotta clip equit or the entire plant would get bitter.
Speaker 1: It's a subtle bitterness that's really interesting, but it also
Speaker 1: helps it grow more, right, isn't there is there a
Speaker 1: time that that you can try to prune it, which
Speaker 1: I've killed so many basil plants so so I know
Speaker 1: nothing about this. I'll take any dips I can get it.
Speaker 1: Do not feel bad. It is okay if something that
Speaker 1: is it is not a reflection of you. I love that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been such a pleasure chatting with you, and I
Speaker 1: really want to come visit a cip of Paradise Garden
Speaker 1: when I can. I hope you give me the grand
Speaker 1: tour and a drink to drink as well. Oh, first
Speaker 1: of all, we ever need a reason to have a
Speaker 1: cocktail at a sip of paradise, so definitely and will
Speaker 1: love giving tour it. I love it wonderful. Thank you
Speaker 1: for being here, Thank you so much. I really appreciate
Speaker 1: this humans growing stuff. Will be right back after a
Speaker 1: short break. So I'm not really a foodie, but for
Speaker 1: a very short time, I felt like all of my
Speaker 1: friends were. And suddenly we were racing across town to
Speaker 1: eat at a strip mall Chinese restaurant because some famous
Speaker 1: chef was supposedly working there in disguise. Or we'd linger
Speaker 1: a little too long at a club because a woman
Speaker 1: was about to come through with these amazing late night
Speaker 1: and panadas, or we'd walk up to the third floor
Speaker 1: of this place that seemed like a bank, but inside
Speaker 1: was actually a secret Korean fried chicken joint. The food
Speaker 1: was often cheap and mouth watering and the type of
Speaker 1: experience you wanted to tell friends about. But I wasn't
Speaker 1: really thinking about ingredients. I was just there for the adventures.
Speaker 1: And then some friend made a reservation at this restaurant,
Speaker 1: Blue Hill at Stone Barns maybe you've heard of it,
Speaker 1: and they booked a seasonal tasting menu and I kind
Speaker 1: of went reluctantly. It was on this beautiful estate and
Speaker 1: the way that brings you a menu of things grown
Speaker 1: on the farm, and ask about any allergies you might
Speaker 1: have or any food diversions. And then for a few
Speaker 1: hours the chefs just play. They make whatever delights them,
Speaker 1: And going in I thought, how can we possibly spend
Speaker 1: this much on food? Like my wife and I weren't
Speaker 1: making much, no one at the table was, and the
Speaker 1: meal basically cost as much as an airplane ticket. But
Speaker 1: of course, after course, it was the most incredible experience.
Speaker 1: Vegetables I've never tried before, foods I had tried but
Speaker 1: had never liked, whips and froths and crispy airy bites
Speaker 1: that were utterly transported. It's still one of the meals
Speaker 1: I think about the most. Then, if I could take
Speaker 1: all my friends there, I would, Yeah. But when I
Speaker 1: left the thing I realized wasn't that I wanted to
Speaker 1: go out for more fancy meals. It was that I
Speaker 1: wanted to cook with better ingredients. We started adjusting our
Speaker 1: weekend schedule to hit up the local farmers market, and
Speaker 1: I realized what a luxury it is to have a
Speaker 1: garden you can raid for fresh foods, and also just
Speaker 1: how simple. Some of those flavors can be Like a
Speaker 1: little fresh basil with homegrown tomatoes makes for a much
Speaker 1: more joyous capraise salad. When you're roasted carrots and fresh
Speaker 1: time are grown from your own two hands, it somehow
Speaker 1: feels more satisfying. Chef Katie cost knows a lot about
Speaker 1: growing flavor combinations. Her menu at Hoskin Nashville, Tennessee does
Speaker 1: exactly that. Katie's the executive chef there and splits her
Speaker 1: time between the kitchen and the restaurant's garden. Husk operates
Speaker 1: under the philosophy of if it's not from the South,
Speaker 1: it's not going on the plate, and because of that,
Speaker 1: Katie and her team have paid close attention to what
Speaker 1: grows locally and have created a menu and practice for rediscovering, cultivating,
Speaker 1: and preserving the region's natural gifts. Hey, Katie, are you there. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm here. It's so nice to be chatting with you.
Speaker 1: It's so nice to be chatting with you too. So
Speaker 1: I've been to Husk a few times and I love it,
Speaker 1: and it's really thrilling to have you on the show.
Speaker 1: One of the things that keeps coming up whenever we
Speaker 1: research you or look of interviews with you or anything.
Speaker 1: Is that you seriously love Dolly Parton? Is that true?
Speaker 1: That's absolutely true. I have a giant picture of her
Speaker 1: in my kitchen. Do you think she gardens? I don't
Speaker 1: think she has time. She's a very busy woman. So, um,
Speaker 1: back to the reason we're here. Your garden plays such
Speaker 1: an important role at Husk and you know, one of
Speaker 1: the things I love is that you can see it
Speaker 1: from all over the restaurant. But how do you get
Speaker 1: your diners to connect with what you grow? Um, we
Speaker 1: have a banister where you can look down at all
Speaker 1: the tables, and during service, I would send line cooks
Speaker 1: out to go pick arnishes and herbs, you know, so
Speaker 1: that they really understand that what we're putting on your
Speaker 1: plate we are also harvesting from our garden. And I
Speaker 1: think it gives the line cookes more perspective to that.
Speaker 1: You know, this is a really important part of what
Speaker 1: we're coming up with. We are using the garden for
Speaker 1: the restaurant and it changes everyone's perspective. I love that
Speaker 1: that sort of transparency and visibility. But will you talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about how you've elevated the garden. It
Speaker 1: sounds like it's grown tremendously in your time there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So what's great about our garden is we really make
Speaker 1: use of all of the space and we have a
Speaker 1: lot of perennials, which we are so thankful to have. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, we always have ground time that comes back
Speaker 1: every year. We always have lemon bomb um, we have strawberries,
Speaker 1: we have pear trees. And what's great is we also
Speaker 1: compost here. Yeah, whenever we don't have our seeds in
Speaker 1: the ground, we actually plant clover to turn back into
Speaker 1: the sorrel. Whenever we get closer into our spring season.
Speaker 1: Right now we aren't able to plant anything, but we
Speaker 1: have a massive amount of clover that we're going to
Speaker 1: turn right in the soil. That's incredible. So I've read
Speaker 1: the host philosophy on produces sourcing from the South, and
Speaker 1: we know that much of the menu springs from taking
Speaker 1: advantage of the seasonal gems that are available. So so
Speaker 1: I imagine that you come up with ideas all the
Speaker 1: time about new things to cook. What are some of
Speaker 1: those things that are harder to grow but but are
Speaker 1: kind of delightful. I would say one, I'm very obsessed
Speaker 1: with spicy peppers and peppers kind of in general, they
Speaker 1: take time, and they take time if you want them
Speaker 1: to be at a certain heat level, if you want
Speaker 1: them to grow at a certain rate, that really takes
Speaker 1: time and patients, and you have to know that, you know,
Speaker 1: peppers are a lot like grapes where they really need
Speaker 1: to struggle in order for them to produce that heat
Speaker 1: level that you're looking for. So you're not watering them
Speaker 1: every day, and you're also making sure that there's you know,
Speaker 1: enough sunlights we're watching where you know, we took out
Speaker 1: one tree basically just to take care of the garden
Speaker 1: because it was shading over the some of our plant beds.
Speaker 1: That's really saying. I've never heard or thought of the
Speaker 1: fact that pepper's need to struggle to be cultivated correctly.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, absolutely, that's fascinating. And I saw it. There
Speaker 1: was an interview where you talked about this pepper I
Speaker 1: hadn't heard of, like the habanata. I think, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: the habanata. Oh my gosh, you're you're just talking about
Speaker 1: the One of the most the best parts of a
Speaker 1: pepper for me is that like tropical sensation. And in
Speaker 1: your head, you're so trained to think that it's going
Speaker 1: to be incredibly spicy that you actually start salivating, and
Speaker 1: it's the craziest thing. It is just it is crazy,
Speaker 1: and then you eat and then nothing happens, but you
Speaker 1: get this amazing tropical like habaner experience without any of
Speaker 1: the heat. That's really incredible. It's it's funny because my
Speaker 1: um I grew up in a family where my dad
Speaker 1: we used to joke that he'd burned off his taste
Speaker 1: buds because he loved pepper so much. And anytime you
Speaker 1: heard about like a new pepper, like he would like
Speaker 1: trying to find it from the Power's market. But my
Speaker 1: kids can't take spice, and so I was trying to
Speaker 1: figure out how to I feel like this is the
Speaker 1: perfect pepper for them. Oh yeah, absolutely, habanat Us it's
Speaker 1: great and just the very first one. You just have
Speaker 1: to eat it raw and you just have to know
Speaker 1: in your head that you can't help it. You're going
Speaker 1: to salivate whether you like it or not. You're just
Speaker 1: trained to do it. And it's it's incredible. That's really crazy.
Speaker 1: So when you approached the layout of the garden at Huskar,
Speaker 1: are you meagining dishes that you'll be making in a
Speaker 1: few months. Oh yeah, Um, I have my commercial cannying license,
Speaker 1: and so anything that we grow that's really spectacular in
Speaker 1: our garden, I actually am kind of a I hoard
Speaker 1: it back and I wait until we're in months like
Speaker 1: these where it's like, okay, everybody's got pumpkin and sweet
Speaker 1: potatoes and turn ups. What do I have in my
Speaker 1: larder that I'm going to use? And I pull out
Speaker 1: a jar of you know, tomatoes that we had from
Speaker 1: our garden, peppers, a whole source of variety of different things,
Speaker 1: and I kind of save those for winter time when
Speaker 1: everything's really drab. I I love that. And I think
Speaker 1: I've read that you'd really taken over the canning and
Speaker 1: pickling at at Huskin sort of grown that. Uh right,
Speaker 1: is this that correct? Oh yeah, yeah, it's one of
Speaker 1: my favorite things to do. That little pain that the
Speaker 1: can makes whenever the lid seals is like placeless to me.
Speaker 1: I'm so nervous about canning and pickling things. I mean,
Speaker 1: like pickling is less than an issue of canning. I'm
Speaker 1: both afraid of it and totally intrigued. Oh it's it's
Speaker 1: a lost art. Nobody at a small scale does it anymore?
Speaker 1: You know? And I thought it was funny during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: everybody got into baking bread and I walked down the
Speaker 1: aisle and all the mason jars were there, like all
Speaker 1: the candidates, like you know what you should be doing?
Speaker 1: Like we went we went into shutdown in March. I
Speaker 1: was on Etsy buying ramps and green garlic from like
Speaker 1: Wisconsin or something. And I would go to the farmers
Speaker 1: room every weekend. That's all I did throughout the whole pandemic.
Speaker 1: Is I just can't all summer. You mentioned that husk
Speaker 1: is composting and the garden is you know, I assume
Speaker 1: actually helping the restaurant reduce its food waste and it's
Speaker 1: a footprint by composting food scraps. Can can you speak
Speaker 1: to why that's important to you as a chef? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I mean waste not want not. I really anything that
Speaker 1: anything that we have that we can go back into
Speaker 1: the earth. I mean, why wouldn't you do it? I
Speaker 1: do it at my home, Like I don't understand why
Speaker 1: restaurants everywhere wouldn't do it. As long as you know
Speaker 1: the proper technique and turning it and adding it to soil.
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's a great benefit for us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's amazing. At the start of the pandemic, you know,
Speaker 1: New York City stopped composting, and it's crazy how much
Speaker 1: more trash you end up with when you're putting your
Speaker 1: food scots in the trash rather than in a compost. Then, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's very sad. Katie, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1: It's just so fun to be chatting with you and
Speaker 1: to be inspired by all the things you're giving at
Speaker 1: your restaurants. So so thank you for coming on the program. Awesome,
Speaker 1: thank you for having me. Hey everyone, it's producer Molly A.
Speaker 1: Can and I wanted to take a moment to talk
Speaker 1: to you about a very important issue. It's the dangerous
Speaker 1: of bland, unflavored and unseasoned food. Every time someone becomes
Speaker 1: the victim of a meal without any spice or zest,
Speaker 1: that's right. And you likely even know someone whose taste
Speaker 1: buds have been deprived of flavor. Or maybe you're the
Speaker 1: one eating poach salmon with nothing to accompany it steamed
Speaker 1: green beans. But all is not lost and helps out there.
Speaker 1: And it's called hot sauce, and it's here to take
Speaker 1: your food and your mouth to new experiences as you
Speaker 1: feel the delicate heat a flavor. Town adding just a
Speaker 1: little bit of hot sauce to a dish could be
Speaker 1: a major game changer. And with fresh peppers from your garden,
Speaker 1: you can make your very own hot sauce and then
Speaker 1: you can control the flavor and the heat. And listen,
Speaker 1: I hear you. You're not at the bottom of tabasco
Speaker 1: sauce in the glove compartment level yet, But trust me
Speaker 1: that with a little help from the garden and the
Speaker 1: magic affirmentation, you can make the perfect hot sauce that
Speaker 1: will enliven any recipe and to light your palate. So
Speaker 1: here are a few simple steps to make your own
Speaker 1: hot sauce. Number one, pick the perfect pepper. There's an
Speaker 1: enormous variety of peppers and each one has a different
Speaker 1: level of heat. In fact that there's even a way
Speaker 1: to measure them. It's called the Scoville scale. The hot
Speaker 1: of the pepper, the more Scullville heat units it gives off.
Speaker 1: So a ghost pepper which is really hot maybe around
Speaker 1: one million Scullville heat units. But halapenos can be anywhere
Speaker 1: from to five thousand. So find out what level of
Speaker 1: heat you're comfortable with, and plant those peppers, because, if
Speaker 1: we've learned anything from this show, fresh from the garden
Speaker 1: always tastes better than the grocery store. Number two, get
Speaker 1: creative and think outside the pepper box. While the peppers
Speaker 1: are usually the essential part of any hot sauce recipe,
Speaker 1: there are many that also incorporate other fruits and vegetables
Speaker 1: like pineapple or kiwi, and even more commonly tomato. So
Speaker 1: think about what other flavors from your garden you want
Speaker 1: to heighten in your hot sauce. And finally, number three,
Speaker 1: get familiar with fermentation. Fermentation is the main process of
Speaker 1: making hot sauce, so don't start your recipe at lunchtime
Speaker 1: and expect it to be ready by dinner. Most hot
Speaker 1: sauce recipes recommend that you let those little hotties sit
Speaker 1: in a brine for anywhere from one to two weeks,
Speaker 1: depending on the temperature at which they're stored. Once you've
Speaker 1: waited out the fermentation, drained the brine, and blend your
Speaker 1: peppers in a food processor or blender with just a
Speaker 1: little bit of that remaining brine, and then you've got
Speaker 1: yourself some hot sauce, and you and your food are
Speaker 1: forever saved from bland land. This week, I've been thinking
Speaker 1: a lot about the pride people get from the gardens,
Speaker 1: that joy of tending to the earth and watching things
Speaker 1: grow and then actually doing something with it. Homemade gems
Speaker 1: and pickles, fresh cucumbers and mint you can toss into
Speaker 1: a gin tonic or a salad if you're the type,
Speaker 1: And in my head, I feel like I can be
Speaker 1: that type of person. I love the way Kiota gets
Speaker 1: inspired by the collared greens and bills she grows, and
Speaker 1: then figures out how to make delicious drinks from it all.
Speaker 1: I love how Katie makes sure that her dinner see
Speaker 1: the connection between the yard and the food on their plates,
Speaker 1: and that the staff takes so much joy and arguing
Speaker 1: over what to grow, and that they get so much
Speaker 1: delight from plating those little herbs. This year, I want
Speaker 1: to experience some of that, because last year was a disaster.
Speaker 1: Our little attempt to grow some radish and let us
Speaker 1: in the fall was a total failure. We threw some
Speaker 1: seeds in the ground and watered them, but nothing sprouted up.
Speaker 1: So I've decided it's about resetting my expectations. This week
Speaker 1: I was reading about a man named Andy George who
Speaker 1: was determined to make a chicken sandwich from scratch, like
Speaker 1: totally from scratch, and he went to this incredible length.
Speaker 1: He started a arden for lettuce and tomatoes and onion.
Speaker 1: He made pickles by combining the cucumbers from his yard
Speaker 1: with all the salt he'd harvested from ocean water. He
Speaker 1: made cheese, starting by milking a cow to nearby dairy.
Speaker 1: He separated the wheat for his bread, and actually butchered
Speaker 1: and plucked a chicken himself at this local poultry farm.
Speaker 1: And after six long months of incredible work and spendings
Speaker 1: of his own money into his garden and growing all
Speaker 1: his food, he filmed himself taking a bite of this
Speaker 1: beautiful artisanal chicken sandwich that he'd been waiting for. And
Speaker 1: when he bit into it, he looked at the camera
Speaker 1: kind of disgruntled and said, not bad. I mean six
Speaker 1: months of my life and all I can say is
Speaker 1: not fat. He did not look pleased, and he couldn't
Speaker 1: actually say anything positive about it. And my sense is
Speaker 1: he should have spent a seventh month, maybe making Molly's
Speaker 1: Hot sauce to make that an sandwich taste better. But
Speaker 1: I was thinking about Andy as I contemplated my own
Speaker 1: garden and ambitions. And despite what he says, there really
Speaker 1: is something incredibly rewarding when you've cut out the grocery
Speaker 1: store and made your food by going straight to the
Speaker 1: source of it all. I think this year, if we
Speaker 1: end up with a handful of misshapen vegetables, cucumbers that
Speaker 1: look like elbows, and let us that only grows the
Speaker 1: size of golf balls, no matter how bad it is,
Speaker 1: I'll be thrilled because I grew something I could actually eat.
Speaker 1: And also, it's about getting creative with what you have.
Speaker 1: So I'll bring these garden misfits into my kitchen and
Speaker 1: with great enthusiasm say the same thing Andy George did
Speaker 1: six months of my life. And all I can say
Speaker 1: is not bad, except I'll use an exclamation point at
Speaker 1: the end of my sentence. That's it for today's episode.
Speaker 1: Don't forget no matter what season it is or where
Speaker 1: you're at in your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources
Speaker 1: waiting for you on the Miracle Grow website. Next time
Speaker 1: on our show, we're gonna talk to the men who
Speaker 1: love Plants, Plant Dad's, Plant Daddy's and Miracle Bros. If
Speaker 1: you like what you heard, don't forget to rate and
Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts. Also, we want to
Speaker 1: hear from you. What are your inspiring plant stories, relatable
Speaker 1: struggles or growing questions. Tagus in your post or tweet
Speaker 1: using the hashtag Humans Growing Stuff, and don't be surprised
Speaker 1: if you hear your story featured on an upcoming episode.
Speaker 1: Humans Growing Stuff is a collaboration from I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show is written
Speaker 1: and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mongy Chatiguler in
Speaker 1: partnership with Rhino Vadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Hayley Ericson, and Garrett
Speaker 1: Shannon of Banter Until next Time, Thanks so much for listening.