Amber Waves of Grain

[Music plays] Back in the day you either came from a grit eating family or a rice eating family, in this part of the world.

I grew up eating rice with sausage and eggs for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch, and left over rice for dinner.

Thankfully, rice culture is making a little comeback in the south.

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.

The Avett Brothers perform "Will You Return" The Avett Brothers perform "Will You Return" 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 We were approached about opening another restaurant.

We've committed ourselves.

It will be a strain.

We have a lot of stuff happening here today.

We are going to give away free pizza in the wine shop.

What's wrong?

You know as well as I do.

Once you're behind, you're behind.

Oh my, okay.

Whatever.

[Music plays] One of the ways I have been able to keep my menu interesting year round here at the restaurant is by sprinkling it with these really cool indigenous grains from Anson Mills.

Things like rice and grits and wheat berries.

All kinds of things that you don't think about when you think of grains.

Glen Roberts, the founder and visionary behind Anson Mills is passionate about rice.

I'm pretty much on a first name basis and speed dial basis with all of my farmers and producers here at the restaurant.

So the fact that I've used Anson Mills for so long and I've yet to meet Glen is pretty amazing.

[Music plays] Because I've never met Glen Roberts I've always had this yearning to kind of know this man.

I'm sounding very weird hahaha.

I've always heard about Glen Roberts and how if you want to know anything about rice he's the man you need to talk to.

So when we started talking about really going to meet him I was very nervous.

We're here at Anson Mills in Columbia, South Carolina and I always imagined that their mill would be glossy and fancy actually.

It's not at all.

This is Anson Mills.

Right this way.

Welcome to Anson Mills.

This is kind of mind blowing to me.

You know, on my end -you think it's going to look a lot fancier here hahaha.

-That's true.

The idea was to put money into the seed and food and not into the process.

Here we process brown rice, which this is called a husker in the industry or huller.

Whole rice goes in here in the hull and it comes out of this thing brown rice.

I got rice in my eye.

There's still some rice in it's...

Hull hull in here.

I'll show you really fast.

Gravity means the larger less dense pieces float to the top.

-Sneaky huh?

-Wow, that's so labor intensive.

Yeah it is.

Everything... everything is by hand.

You do this with all the rice?

We do this with grits, buckwheat, you know... rice.

Everything we do is by hand.

If we bulked a hundred screen for wheat, we're doing it by hand.

[Music plays] Glen Roberts has made it his life's work to make Carolina Gold Rice a viable crop again.

When he got a hold of this rice there was actually only one farmer in the whole world still growing it.

So he's basically brought it back from extinction.

Glen took us to a nearby farm he kept referring to as the seed house.

This is where Anson Mills stores and protects many of the seeds for these heirloom grains.

I never really thought of farmers as just growing seed.

We don't sell seed.

Everything you see here is to produce seed that we give away.

Really?

Last year we gave away more than 50 tons of seed.

The only thing that makes this make sense in the long run is can it be relevant and if it's only just for rich people, you're screwed.

Can we take a look?

Yea sure.

Welcome to the seed house.

It's so beautiful.

I was doing an event for the Smithsonian.

It was a rice dinner.

What were the courses or can you recall any of them?

The center course is rice in a bowl with butter.

Butter has to be fresh churned.

What other forms would it take in a dinner like that?

You do laurels of beef.

You'd have a far see.

You do rice porridge and rice chips, rice crackers, rice cakes.

It's infinite.

Right.

It goes on and on and on.

[Music plays] The next morning we visited Turn Bridge Plantation on the Savannah River.

Roland, the farmer that tends to the plantation's rice crop met us there.

Those birds are making me nervous.

Yeah.

What are they doing?

Eating rice?

Yeah and when you don't see them too much, that means they're eating a lot of rice.

Yeah.

How much rice can they really eat though?

They can take the whole field out.

Once the rice is right is it like a race to get in here to get it or do you have a little time?

You cut as soon as you can... That's right.

Because this nice field... we have a big thunderstorm this afternoon and if the wind is wrong it won't be here tomorrow morning.

It will be all flat and you can't pick it up.

Once it lays down you can pick it up but the rice will never be the same.

[Music plays] It's the toughest work in the world working a rice field by hand.

I couldn't imagine that you could get in here to really do too much.

It's amazing how this field will dry out and you can get in there with tractors.

So you flooded it initially to raise the rice.

Right, that's correct.

Here in the last three weeks we've been pulling the water off of it.

We've been pulling it down.

If you run your hand down one of these... don't do it quickly.

Try it.

Oooh!

Hold it at the top and now run your fingers... -You can't.

-the wrong way.

Yeah, you can't.

You can cut the crap out of yourself.

These are protective things that keep birds... that deters birds.

They have to do all kinds of antics to get in here.

So if you're out here reaching to hand harvest all you're doing is slicing yourself up all day.

So let me tell you about what it's like to work rice as a slave.

You're working over a mirror in a hundred and ten degree environment and 100 percent humidity.

That water is reflecting everything back at you.

You can't wear headgear to avoid it.

You can't dress to avoid it.

It just gets you.

That's why sterility was such as problem in the slave trade, right.

Because you get sterile working out here, man or woman.

You just get cooked.

That just sounds so bad.

And you get sliced up while you're doing it.

You gotta be really careful.

I mean this is like.

-This is like little razors, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

If you had, you know they always ask this question, your last meal.

Your last meal would have to have rice in it.

So what would that be?

I think honestly, black pepper, a little shallots, butter.

Do the rice and bring it up in a pozhee, black iron style.

Do you have a favorite rice dish or are you just a straight up butter, steamed, steamed and butter kind of guy?

That steamed and butter is really hard to beat.

[Laughter] It is.

No doubt about it.

Yep.

[Music plays] After our trip I was so inspired by Glen's message that I wanted to really pay homage to him and his cause and throw my own rice dinner at the restaurant.

That in it self is a challenge.

Basically what we'll do is we'll offer four courses all centered around traditional uses of rice.

We have to convince a diner to have that be their whole dining experience for that evening.

Yes mam.

Tonight we have a five course dinner featuring rice in every dish.

We have 12 people now so we have two seats available for you and your husband to join us.

You can tell I wear these a lot.

I can't figure out how to get them on hahaha.

I mean, okay.

I see hahaha.

Aaaaahhh hahaha.

We're making freshly churned butter for our perfect bowl of rice.

That's one of the things Glen Roberts said you have to have at a rice dinner.

So making butter is really easy with this robo coupe.

It's just heavy cream and it processed it until it became whip cream and then it's gonna over process it so that it becomes butter.

Alright, there's the freshly churned butter.

I hope it's perfect because that's how I listed it on the menu.

Alright, so people are arriving at seven.

I would like to start serving food at around 7:10 if that's possible?

Um hm.

I'm just nervous about this menu.

I told Ben I wanted to do a rice dinner and he said why in the hell would you wanna do that?

The answer really is because we work in this bubble.

We don't have a restaurant community.

If I don't push myself to do things that are slightly uncomfortable then we don't ever get anywhere.

We serve the same food all the time.

These are confit of carrots and beets for our beef bog.

I am making for our main course, kind of like my mom's chicken and rice but with beef.

[Music plays] You want to make some chicken and rice with grandma?

Hot.

Hot hahaha.

The one thing that I do remember my mom making over and over again was chicken and rice.

I never thought of that as a quintessential kind of southern meal but to me it's true comfort food.

And when we're rolling I want you to say that again mom.

What?

What you just said to me.

What did I say?

About your hair?

You need to brush your hair.

[Laughter] So mom, when did you start making chicken and rice?

Before I was married which was 52 years ago.

-So it's something that your mom made?

-Yes.

And it was just this plain Jane...

Plain Jane.

When we say chicken and rice that's really all that it is.

We're gonna start with this whole chicken.

Okay, do you put anything in your water to start?

Salt.

Okay, you tell me when.

[Music plays] That's probably... you always taste later.

Okay, I'm gonna add just a little bit more.

Okay.

Umm so we're gonna bring this up to a boil and how long will you let it cook?

After it boils, starts boiling I will turn it down and let it simmer.

But I let it cook to pieces.

[Music plays] Alright mom our chicken's cooked I guess about two hours.

This is what you're looking for?

Yes.

And you want to get all the skin out, right?

Yes and I do not use the skin.

I don't put it back in.

Alright so this is probably about two quarts to three quarts of liquid.

I wouldn't put over two.

I would not.

You can always add more water but I would not put over two cups.

Okay so I'm gonna put about half of it.

You know, your chicken and rice always smells different than mine and I think... Tastes different too.

[Laughter] I think you know, I think that you cook the chicken a lot longer than I do.

Probably so.

And the fact that all the skin has given up all it's fat, a lot of the bird has become one with this broth, really does make a difference.

I give these bones to my dogs.

You're not supposed to give dogs little chicken bones like this but I'm sure that Gracie has gotten a few of them so... -She has.

[Laughter] Let's move this over to the side and if you don't mind I'm gonna eat the gristle.

[Laughter] Okay let's see.

Now... hahaha.

What is that about?

You think it's good for your arthritis, right?

Yes.

I think it's good for my arthritis and good for my bones.

Here.

Right there.

You have to eat it off the bone.

That gristle is caught in my throat.

So mom this is definitely done but I remember it being a little different.

Let it sit uhhh a little bit.

It will soak up the juices better and more...

The rice will kind of burst.

It will break it's form.

Yes.

Mmm hmm.

This is nice and soupy.

Mmm hmm I like it that way.

It really is so much better than when I have been making it.

It takes a lot for me to admit that.

It really does.

Thank you mom.

I know that I never thought in a million years that I would be making your chicken and rice for a camera.

And I didn't either.

[Laughter] [Music plays] Oh wow this is turnip salad haha.

Who would have known a filled in pool would make a perfect little turnip patch?

I planted it because of the turnip salad in the spring.

That's what my favorite thing.

So after the winter when you think the plants are dead these purple top turnips will shoot up and mom says those are the best greens you can eat.

We'll see.

[Laughter] Alright so.

Giuseppe Ronarde Valpolicella.

Classico.

What's the grade?

Who remembers?

Ben runs the front of the house of the restaurant and it's no secret that he does not love this.

One thing he does love is drinking wine and sharing wine knowledge with others.

He has spent a great amount of time and money educating our staff on regions, grapes... everything you can imagine.

I tend to disagree with this because I've watched all these meetings where he's tasting them on all these phenomenal wines and they can't even name like four red grapes.

Any body have a chance to go online and look up these bottles yesterday?

Okay.

One of you guys.

Good.

That's great.

[Laughter] When you sell more wine who makes more money?

Everybody Everybody.

The reason people don't take this industry seriously is precisely what just happened here which is not what happens if you're in banking or you're in something else.

When someone asks you to do something that night at home or whatever for your job, you don't do it you lose a promotion, you lose a raise, you might get fired.

In this industry we just put up with it.

So keep that in mind, okay?

[Music plays] It's good.

Do you want to umm as people arrive send them their first course or.... No.

Everybody's sitting down we're gonna put that on the table.

What if someone is 20 minutes late?

Who's gonna be 20 minutes late?

I'm just asking.

Then we're gonna go move forward... That's good.

That's good isn't it?

Wow.

So maybe we should start.

I'm just waiting on the word.

[Music plays] Today I'm gonna show you how to make ginger and leek crispy rice with a sunny side up egg.

I'm gonna start by showing you how I like to cook rice.

I grew up in a household where we had rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

My mom was always very particular about how much water, how little water, the rice is too sticky.

So I devised a way of cooking rice so that it almost always turns out perfect.

I'm gonna start by bringing more water than I need to a boil.

To that water I'm gonna add a generous sprinkling of salt.

Once the water is boiling I'm just gonna kind a slowly pour in my rice and give it a gentle stir.

Once it comes up to a rolling boil I'm then gonna turn it down.

After about ten minutes of cooking my rice is perfect.

The starchy center is soft.

It's perfect now but this is where it gets tricky.

Where at my house the rice would sit on the stove and continue to kind of cook and absorb water and steam and become this really sticky glutenous mass.

So here at the restaurant we strain the rice and run cold water over it so that will stop the cooking.

After that we'll spread out a thin layer on a sheet tray and put it in the refrigerator.

Once you put it on the sheet tray I also take a little bit of vegetable oil and try to coat every grain of rice to help me get it crispy.

I have a pan pre heating here.

I'm gonna add a little grape seed oil and a little butter.

To that I'm gonna go ahead and add a little ginger.

That ginger is gonna fry up and really flavor my butter and grape seed oil.

I'm gonna add leek rounds.

Next I'm gonna add my rice.

And what you wanna do is make sure your rice is really dry and your pan is very hot.

So I'm gonna add about three spoons full of rice to cover the bottom of this pan.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do when cooking is just to let things be and that's what I'm trying to do here.

Okay, as I'm letting this hang out I am gonna hit it with just a little bit of salt.

You remember we seasoned our cooking water for the rice but you need to season as you go.

Alright, now I'm going to attempt to crack this egg into this pan.

Okay, so that wasn't so bad.

I'm gonna season my egg with some salt and some pepper.

So to this I'm gonna add some mustard greens that I cooked in broth with garlic and butter.

I'm just gonna toss this all together.

So we wanna make sure we get some of all of it.

The mustard greens, the leeks, the ginger.

See that runny yolk.

It's just gonna fall down and make a little sauce.

The interplay of textures is my favorite part of this dish.

You have that crispiness of the rice, the creaminess of the yolk, that little fried edge of the egg white.

It's really perfect.

Alright Allen we can start putting three rice cakes in each of those small jars.

And then I'll start cooking off the shrimp.

Put like four of five shrimp on each one.

Make sure the scallion is still showing.

What inspired you to do a rice dinner?

I don't know?

This is a brown rice salad with persimmon brown butter sauce.

Some of your persimmons, Warren.

And some charred scallions.

This has an Asian feel.

I didn't really mean for it to.

I guess when you're dealing with a lot of rice that makes sense.

[Laughter] Will, what do you think about the shrimp?

Your persimmons make it taste a whole lot better.

-There ya go.

[Laughter] [Music plays] Three minutes, we're ready.

This should remind you of breakfast.

Rice grits with sausage apple gravy.

There's a little cheddar cracker and some compressed apple.

We went to meet with Glen Roberts and he said you would had to have a middle course of a bowl of perfectly cooked rice with freshly churned butter.

It is not that easy to perfectly cook rice.

So whether or not this is perfect is up for debate.

She does.

[Laughter] I need a runner.

So this is my personal favorite of all the dishes.

It's a take on a bog.

Bog is a rice based dish where they would typically cook some kind of bird in a broth and take the bird out and put rice in and cook the rice to pieces as well.

The broth gets bogged down in the rice.

That's where the name comes from.

So I decided to do it with beef so I made a really aromatic beef stock and then put short ribs in there and confit carrot and beet and pickled peanuts.

And if any of y'all remember going to my house swimming.

We used to have a pool in the backyard.

My mom has filled the pool up with dirt and planted turnips in it.

That's where these turnips came from.

[Laughter] The short ribs are really tender.

This is amazing.

I'm just...

I can't believe it.

The rice dinner went really well.

I learned a ton.

I put forth a tremendous amount of effort and research.

I read more about rice than I have almost any subject since college.

Sure, not as many people ordered the dinner as I would have liked but I didn't really expect 40 people to come in here and get a four course rice meal.

It's been a fantastic meal.

Thank you.

Thank y'all.

[Applause] But really I think that Glen would be very proud and I plan on putting a copy of my menu into the mail for him tomorrow.

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