Muscadine Time

Muscadine grapes are so different

than what you would get in a grocery store.

The skin is really tart and tannic.

And the flesh is so juicy and sweet

that you don't even mind teething out the seeds

and spitting them

because the reward is worth it.

The Avett Brothers perform "Will You Return"

I'm Vivian and I'm a chef.

My husband, Ben and I were working

for some of the best chefs in New York City

when my parents offered to help us open our own restaurant.

Of course, there was a catch.

We had to open this restaurant in Eastern North Carolina,

where I grew up and said I would never return.

[Music plays]

So this is my life.

Raising twins, living in the house I grew up in,

and exploring the south, one ingredient at a time.

Previously on A Chef's Life

The FSA luncheon was a tremendous success.

It's probably a little dramatic

to say that my career blossomed out of a tomato sandwich

but you could almost say that.

We were approached about opening another restaurant in town.

We're still gonna do this

because we committed ourselves.

It will be a strain.

[Music plays]

I keep looking around for containers

because the dishwasher did not come in this morning.

It's his second to last day so I think he's just decided

it was his last day, yesterday.

We have a lot of stuff happening here today.

We are going to,

from 5 until 7 give away free pizza in the wine shop

to try to raise awareness of our new wood fired pizza menu.

We could have 10 people or we could have 100 people.

We have no idea.

Hopefully it will be somewhere in the middle.

We have a new person starting in the kitchen

and I'm thrilled about that

because we've been really struggling about a month.

Very short handed and it's very hard for us to find people.

So every time we bring in someone new I just want them

to kind of understand what we're trying to do here.

Chef and the Farmer is unlike any other restaurant

in this region.

We make everything from scratch.

We try to support local farmers as much as possible

and we hold ourselves to a really high standard.

-This is like my baby.

-Okay

And so I just want to know

that you are willing to take it seriously

and I get this vibe from you that you are

and I like that.

So we're really excited to have you.

-Here's a hat.... -Thank you.

So you don't scream new guy.

[Laughter]

You have kids don't you?

Two.

Is working at night, is that a problem?

No, it will be fine.

My wife works during the day so

it will all work out.

That's one of the things about working

in a restaurant.

A lot of people love to cook and are great at it

but what it really comes down to are these hours

is not what people want.

I understand the hours and the responsibilities, weekends,

holidays, things of that nature

so I'm 100 percent on board and I'm just ready to work.

-Awesome.

Thank you.

I'm excited.

-Thank you for the opportunity.

[Music plays]

By the end of summer here in eastern North Carolina

the newness of things like peppers and okra

and tomatoes has really worn off and I'm ready to see

something else walk into the door of my kitchen.

So when we start getting the first muscadine grapes

of the season I am thrilled

but my kitchen staff is not

because these grapes mean that every free minute of their time

is gonna be squeeze, squeeze, squeeze,

squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.

We try to use these grapes

in as many dishes as possible

to make the menu seem new and fresh.

[Music plays]

Ow.

Sorry.

[Laughter]

He bit me.

You got a mouth full.

I'm not sticking my finger in there again.

[Laughter]

Mr. Stroud.

This is Flo.

Hello there.

How you doing?

Did you enjoy your grape?

She likes your grapes.

Good.

It's nice to have you all visit our vineyard.

It's a muscadine grape called Carlos.

The variety is good for picking, good for cooking,

and good for wine.

Oh really.

I noticed that these are,

they're like the golden ones.

Right, right.

-We call it bronze... -Bronze.

In the grape trade.

They're nice and small, which I like.

That works better.

You get more flavor...

-They like em small too.

-You get more juice.

[Laughter]

Can I pop it in your mouth?

That's the good part.

[Laughter]

We used to have grape vines

when I was a little girl and my first word was pop...

-Oh okay.

-Because my grandpa used to pop the flesh in my mouth.

You wanna do it?

You want to?

I'll let you.

[Laughter]

Very good

[Music plays]

So how did you get into growing grapes?

Well, I planted these to be my childrens' 4H project

but they never got into it...

[Laughter]

So it was your 4H project?

So it's now my project.

Everyone that I know, just about,

has a grapevine in their yard.

It's really sort of a tradition

but in a vineyard like this there is

a good bit of work.

Do you and your wife pick all these yourselves?

You have to have some help.

-No, we do it mostly ourselves.

-Really?

There's not many people you could hire that will go through

and select the brown ones and leave the green ones.

That's very tedious and you have to handle them carefully

or the ones you wanna leave will fall off too.

-Right.

-So it's very delicate picking.

Would you show me what a perfect one would be?

These are getting ripe.

You see they are beginning to turn a pinkish color

and this ones a little better.

And then over here we have some that are very good and ripe.

See, they're really getting bronzy over here.

That is the perfect color name, bronze.

Uh hmm.

That's it.

This is bronze

and the first ones are sweet but these are sweeter.

Thank you Mr. Stroud.

You're so welcome.

Thank you for including us.

And I look forward to getting the grapes on Tuesday.

I like forward to it but my staff doesn't.

[Laughter]

Wooo it's raining.

It feels good actually.

Look, just in time.

[Music plays]

He's a lot better at this than I am...haha...a lot.

Years and years.

Okay, so I think we should go kind of light.

Okay.

What do you think about that?

Do you think it needs more?

I would just push a little bit out to the edge.

I would say that's good coverage.

[Music plays]

A little blue cheese.

Let's pray that's not gross.

Hot.

Well, I won't be able to taste anything

for the rest of the night.

That's damn good.

You remember that tart we did with the blue cheese

and the grape with the bacon fat?

It would be really cool if you mixed it in with the grape.

I think bacon would be really good on here.

Yeah I was thinking bacon or bacon fat to what you mixed

for the pizza.

We are considering putting bacon on it

but this is a neopolitan style pizza and these like,

neopolitan "gods" are really big into like, less is more.

Don't crowd the pizza.

Don't put too many things on it

but I always like, more is more.

[Music plays]

-We have a bunch of stuff to try.

-Nice.

This is kind of dry time for local produce

and one of the few things that we have locally are these grapes

so we've got them kind of all over the menu

so let's really try to sell these dishes

that have these grapes on it

cause I think you would be really hard pressed

to find any expression of grapes like this

in a restaurant, okay?

So we have a new pizza tonight.

Actually, the base of the pizza is scuppernong preserves,

some maytag blue cheese, and benton's bacon.

We also have the chicken stuffed

with the grape skins, pecans, and goat cheese

and then it has a mole, muscadine sauce on top

served with a dirty farrow.

Is that going over very well?

Very well.

And then this is the new dessert.

We have buttermilk panna cotta

with muscadine preserves and crispy, sweet corn bread.

And you know this is not the type of dessert

that we ever really sell

but if you can convince someone to get it

it's surprisingly good.

So anyway, y'all know our pizza thing starts tonight?

If you really talk that up to your tables.

I'm terrified no ones gonna order any pizza

when we put all this effort and time and money into it.

Tell em it's free from 5 to 7.

Yeah yea cause people...

My dad said that he and mom

were gonna come eat in the wine shop.

Free pizza.

I'm like, it doesn't work like that.

You get, like a slice.

[Laughter]

Man, these are banging too.

Oh it's so good.

-Get, like all of it.

-All of it.

Yeah, all of it.

I'll just take the whole plate.

That right there is my favorite.

[Music plays]

Homemade wine is a very big thing

in eastern North Carolina.

Everyone I know except for my family

makes homemade wine.

Are we starting?

And Gator, is your last name Williams?

And Gator is your first name?

On your birth certificate?

[Laughter]

Today we are at the Williams home place

with Mike and Gator Williams.

I buy grapes from these guys for Chef and the Farmer

and I convinced them to show me how they make wine.

Mike was saying that it was actually his recipe.

Yeah it was our grandfather's recipe.

I'll be the fourth generation.

I put a little twist.

I like the riper grapes.

They seem to make a better wine.

It's got a lot more purple versus,

you can see how dark this one is versus this one.

That would be ideal?

This is perfect for making wine.

That would make a tart wine.

There's so many different flavors

and palettes to please.

In the fancy wine making world

they would call these shriveled grapes.

That would be a late harvest.

A late harvest.

[Laughter]

I know very little about the fancy wines.

I don't know that much either.

I do like to drink though.

Yeah.

[Laughter]

[Music plays]

-How old are you?

-Six

So you're in kindergarten?

First grade.

You ever help make wine before?

Vivian, you also got to keep up with your weight

so you know how much sugar to add.

So for one of those barrels, how many pounds

of grapes do you use?

Those barrels most of the time will hold about 250.

Alright well get ready and go to the masher

and try Gator's invention.

I'll hand it over to him.

[Laughter]

Y'all about ready to start making some wine?

Yeah.

Whoooo.

Sorry.

[Laughter]

This smell reminds me of when I was a kid.

My Uncle Bunk, yes that was really his name,

had grape vines and I imagine he was making wine

but at the time I didn't know that

and this is the smell that I associate with his shop.

Smells are very powerful tools for memories.

The main thing is you don't want the sugar to clump up.

I don't know anything about making wine

so I'm gonna ask probably a stupid question.

Wouldn't this ferment even if you didn't add sugar?

Yes but the two together is what makes your alcohol.

Okay.

-You'd only have vinegar if you didn't add sugar.

-You'd have vinegar.

Okay.

There's your finished product.

It's good for now.

I'll seal it up and check it tomorrow afternoon

and if it's started working I'll start stirring.

How can you tell if it's working?

-Come step inside.

I'll show you.

-Okay.

This looks like some you have in the works already

judging by these bubbles.

Yes, I started this last week.

It's been fermenting for a week.

It would actually be a sparkling wine at this stage

because it's not completely worked off.

That's where the bubbles come from

when you get a sparkling wine.

Okay, so there's bubbles, air coming through

and then you attach a little hose to let the air out

so it doesn't explode?

Actually the air, the gases are...

-Ohhh it stinks haha.

-Very bad.

It's a chemical reaction

between the sugar and the grapes that create a gas.

It smells like a rotten egg.

Yeah it's gonna look like that too.

Eeew I'm not sure I wanna taste that.

Alright, let me stir this up.

As you can see everything floats to the top...

That's why you got to leave the extra space at the top.

How did you get the name, Gator?

My granddaddy raised me til I was about 5.

Well, I lived with him.

His name, his nickname was Gator.

So he was big Gator, I was little Gator

and it stuck ever since.

Aright then are you daring to try?

I will.

It's really good but you will taste the carbon in it.

It is good.

You know, that little bit of effervescence

make it kind of light.

It tastes a hell of a lot better than it looks.

That's for sure.

[Laughter] -Thank you.

Going into making wine with Gator and Mike

I really had no idea what to expect?

I did know that I had some really terrible homemade wine

in my day.

Luckily, what Gator and Mike make is very, very tasty

and packs a punch if I do say so.

Hey, let's do cheers.

Why not?

Many more years of wine.

-Cheers.

-Thank y'all for helping me out.

-Cheers.

-No problem.

[Music plays]

To celebrate muscadines and all their sweet, sticky glory

we're gonna make something that's kind of like a cross

between a preserve and a pickle.

I call it mole muscadines.

At the restaurant we use this as a sauce for chicken or pork

but today we're gonna do something much more simple.

We're gonna have it

on top of some goat cheese that's spread on a crostini.

So to start we're gonna start the way we start everything

we do with these grapes and that's by squeezing.

After you've squeezed enough grapes

for this application you're gonna pour the grape pulp

into a pot

and bring that pot up to a boil

and let it simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes

so that the pulp separates from the seeds.

Once that's done we are going to strain out the seeds.

[Music plays]

Once I have my pulp without seeds to it

I'm gonnna add the skins back.

They're gonna make it really nicely tannically balanced.

If you were doing this at home

you could add any number of spices that you wanted.

I've chosen a few that I really like

for this particular preparation.

I'm gonna add some sugar, some citrus,

that would be orange juice,

lemon juice, honey, and vinegar.

So you see we are trying to create a little balance

with our sweetness and our acidity here.

The spices I actually want to take out of my mole

after cooking it.

I'm going to build a little sas shay, sachet...

that word's hard for me.

I'm gonna start with a tiny little cinnamon stick,

chili flakes, and clove and a bay leaf,

mustard seeds, coriander seeds.

I'm gonna tie all of that up to make it a neat little satchel

so after all of this is done.

I can just pull it out

and no one will get a stupid mustard seed

stuck in their tooth or something.

Now I'm going to put this on heat and bring it up to a boil

and reduce it down to a simmer

and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

I'm gonna start building my crostini.

Here I have a piece of bread

that I pan fried in olive oil,

and then dusted with a little salt.

This is the way that I love to make crostinis.

I'm gonna top this with just some fresh goat cheese

and finally my mole.

This is going to be absolutely delicious just like this

but if you were to wait until tomorrow

the spices would really have a chance to bloom and merry

into the whole flavor of this mole.

But the fact that this is warm,

it's gonna heat up this goat cheese

and it's gonna be amazing.

That is so crunchy and creamy and sweet

and tangy all at the same time.

There's nothing better.

Really.

[Music plays]

Okay this is the muscadine grape pizza.

It's not on the menu out there.

We got some pizza up.

Eat as much pizza as you'd like.

We need basil, the little baby basil.

It's like I'm clearly working

and yall were clearly standing there doing nothing.

You know that basil is part of the station.

Hey, just one sec y'all.

Vivian did a special pizza today.

It's muscadine grapes, blue cheese,

and Benton's bacon.

So give that a roll too.

There's one up there right now.

I told them to hurry up with more pizzas.

We need to tell the kitchen

to hurry up with more pizzas.

Ben said whatever you had left

he wants you to send over there.

That's what I said.

Okay.

What's wrong Ben?

We're out of pizza.

We can only cook.

I mean, I'm not going to make excuses...

Don't even say anything because you know as well as I do

once you're behind you're behind.

Oh my, okay.

Whatever.

Although this pizza thing is really not that big of a deal,

it is more added stress for Ben.

Everything new we do is a learning experience.

So I can only imagine the first few weeks

of serving pizza in the wine shop

will be wildy stressful for my husband.

I just sent one!

I mean, we had all these pizzas on the board.

-We were behind from the moment we started.

-We were not behind from the moment we started.

We were told to slow down at one point.

-I said... -We don't have these peaches.

86 peaches.

I just came and said I....

I 86ed them.

Go talk to...

That last count we got was 2 orders.

I 86ed them.

I'm sorry.

Next time you get a count

tell me personally.

I'm tired of being a jackass in my own restaurant.

[Music plays]

Are we gonna run out of dough?

We are down to less than 20

and we have only been cooking them for about a hour now.

Did you not put any oil on those bread crumbs

or butter that's on top of this?

No, I know you didn't because I can look at it and tell.

We had this whole conversation

about all these bread crumbs that you made today

and then you're over there chopping up cubed bread

to make bread crumbs and they're not even done properly.

[Music plays]

This is absolutely my favorite.

-This is my favorite.

-This is the winner.

What's that?

That's with the grapes and the blue cheese

and the bacon.

Bacon, okay.

And I likey.

We'll just keep going until we run out

and we'll tell you when we run out.

Yeeaah just keep going.

We sell out, we gave them all away, you know?

We didn't have a pizza at 5 o clock

then he had a temper tantrum

and now he's... everything's going well

and we've come out of the weeds and he's happy.

That's the last of the one from the pan.

You need to make sure that everyone

at the bar, in the wine shop,

that we are 86ed pizzas.

We have three doughs left

and we are gonna send them out to give away, okay?

Thank you.

Thank you, God.

I'm so tired of cutting those.

And I'm terrible at it.

Definitely I felt the pressure

of having to get these pizzas out quickly

and only being able to do really two at a time.

Ben seemed to think things were a little different on his end

but he is always dramatic about things.

We on the board have a second course muscadine

that you can probably start.

It's been hectic and I was worried

that no one was gonna show up.

I don't know why?

If you're giving something away generally people will come

but I just want to hear

what everyone's reactions was and I want people

to come back and buy the pizzas

so that will really be the test

of how successful tonight was.

Can you bring me an okra because I have servers

all over my board, please?

You like it on the edge.

That's how you live.

Haha

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