Turnips: The Roots

[Music]

Okay, so, turnips...

Turn it up!

Sorry, no, do not use that.

(laughs)

It's been in my mind all morning (laughs).

[Music]

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.

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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.

I've noticed that we've been getting a lot busier,

especially after the tv show premiered.

A Chef's Life is airing and people are watching it

and some of those people are driving here

and some of them want to have their picture made.

You look good on tv and I love you!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.

I'm thankful for y'all.

I'm thankful for my family.

I'm just very thankful.

And I'm very thankful that this meal is done as well.

[Music]

-Hey.

-Hey y'all.

Hey Theo, you ready?

Yeah.

-Okay.

Haha.

[Music]

Now, we're gonna do a buzz cut like your dad wants?

Oh, no.

No thanks.

Just a little bit.

Just a little trim.

Being a mom who works a lot, a whole lot,

I get a lot of pleasure out of these mundane things,

these everyday things like going to get

a haircut for instance.

I want to get it shorter.

-You do?

-Yeah.

You want it short like daddy's hair?

I want it short like daddy's hair.

You look so handsome, Theo.

Theo has had a lot of haircuts

because he was born with a full head of hair

so it's become this thing

that we do together and he really enjoys it.

Is that Mary Poppins?

No, it's not Mary Poppins.

(Laughter)

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How many people does it take to stir a pot of grits?

Oh my god.

Corlin, I'm ready for you.

Alright, so you've got your red skin turnips,

almost equal parts bacon,

-right?

-Yep.

Toss it with salt, pepper, brown sugar,

and grapeseed oil.

We're gonna serve this with like

a little smoked gouda creamed turnip greens.

You can have some stem but not these big stems, okay?

We'll do one of these for the staff at 5 o'clock.

[Music]

Trying to use only local only seasonal ingredients

can be pretty rough here in the winter

because there's just not a lot to pull from

so we end up doing a ton of things from the turnip.

I mean you may see turnips on our menu eight or nine times

across the span during the winter

and that's saying something.

It's Friday and we have got

a completely chock-full kitchen.

We've been extremely busy and then I'm cooking tomorrow

in Raleigh for this charity dinner

for the Frankie Lemmon Foundation.

There's gonna be six really well-known,

very accomplished women chefs at this event.

I'm doing a dried lima bean dish in broth.

It's gonna be finished with this little turnip green chiffonade

and a soft herb and spicy tomato pistou.

Pea stew?

I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right?

I'm gonna blanch these and shock them in ice water

so they'll keep that bright green color.

I want this to look really vibrant in the bowl

and the beans are like the definition of dull color.

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And for my passed h'orderves I'm doing like a take on a summer

or spring roll that in place of the vermicelli noodles

we're going to have charred collards that are chopped

and then we're going to have this turnip mostarda

which is crunchy and acidic and sweet and mustardy,

so turnips are actually quite sexy.

Aren't they Marquis?

Very sexy.

(Laughter)

We're also gonna have country ham that's shaved really thin

and that's gonna all be wrapped up

and dipped in our pepper jelly

that's finished with some fish sauce.

I'm a little nervous about what the other chefs

will think because you know,

Asian fusion is not really that cool these days.

So we'll see how this goes tomorrow.

I grew up thinking a turnip was a turnip was a turnip.

Quite literally purple topped turnips.

Those were the turnips we grew up eating

and that's all I thought was out there until a few years ago

Warren brought me these Hakurei turnips.

He loves to grow Asian vegetables.

So where are your turnips?

There in the hoop house over here.

So you've got purple topped?

Purple topped, Hakurei, and Scarlett Queen.

Lillie, I want your opinion on the turnips too.

-Just give me five dollars.

-Huh?

-Gimme the ones.

-Give you the ones.

Alright.

You owe me four more.

I owe you four more, okay.

I just found me a guinea nest.

-Did you really?

-Really?

I thought you were doing something sneaky around there.

-You owe me four more dollars.

-Okay.

So you can never...

I heard you say you can never find the nest.

I offered a five dollar reward for the guinea nest.

-Are there eggs in it?

-Yes, ma'am.

Oh my god!

-Leave it alone.

-Leave it alone?

That's gonna be hard now that you know where it is.

I know.

[Music]

So these are Hakureis?

There's a few Hakureis.

These are Hakureis right here.

I grew up with purple-topped turnips.

Right.

I did too.

I thought there was only one kind.

Then recently, the past five years or so

you've been growing these Hakurei turnips.

Right.

I can hardly stand a purple topped turnip anymore.

Any other turnip.

Well, I mean the leaves are smooth.

If they're small enough you can put them in a salad.

And the root is sweet.

I think they're Japanese, aren't they?

They are.

The purple top has that..

-That tang.

-Old, yeah..

That bitter, earthy.

I tell people all the time if you don't like turnips

you might like these.

You should at least try 'em, you know?

Because it's that much different from...

Right.

From a, from a regular turnip.

Lillie, what do you think of the Hakureis?

I don't eat them.

So do you like purple tops though?

I like purple tops.

And how did you grow up cooking them?

The roots cook quicker than the tops do.

Really?

It don't take but a few minutes for the roots

to be real tender where those tops are tender now.

As they get old they'll get a little tougher.

Do you put any butter or anything in them?

No.

You can.

You can put whatever you want to put in it.

But me as an elderly person

I cook the way mama taught me to cook with salt

and pepper and pork fat.

Did you call yourself an elderly person?

Yes!

Tomorrow I will be 68,

on April 8th.

Well I hope when I'm elderly I'm as spunky.

Well, would you be willing to cook some of these with me?

Yes, I guess so.

Can we cook some Hakurei?

Yeah.

You can mix both of 'em the Hakurei and the purple top.

Okay.

[Music]

That's good.

Yeah.

They great.

They call them in the catalog...

Almost like an apple.

It calls 'em a salad turnip.

That's what, at the restaurant we shave them...

-Mmm hmmm.

-Put them on a salad.

They're just so juicy.

Yeah.

So I think we should cook some.

And what I mean is I want you to cook some.

Alright.

(laughs)

And what would you normally eat with turnip roots?

Pork.

(laughter)

Some cornbread.

Cornbread won't take but a minute.

I can make that.

Naw.

She won't eat my cornbread.

I've been practicing, Lillie.

I know.

But no, uh uh.

[Music]

Mashed turnip roots with the greens folded in

is one of these things that were always on my table growing up,

but I never participated in cooking them

and I honestly never really ate them.

And it seems very simple but there are some specific rules

and ways to go about doing it.

Alright, so are we going to cook the purple tops

or just the Hakureis?

We're gonna cook the purple tops by itself.

Okay.

We're going to cook the Hakurei with the...

-Scarlett Queen.

-greens and everything.

[Music]

Okay, so you put it in cool water

and bring it up and let it go...

Let it boil a couple, for a while...

we'll put these greens into the turnips.

So do you think they're better right out of the ground

or do you think it doesn't matter?

Out of the ground.

Look at that.

Yeah.

-I know.

-She's showing off.

(Laughter)

I do good just to get all the way around it.

This is a whole turnip.

I see that.

Vivian, I need a little history lesson.

People ask me these questions all the time.

So, you and Ben were in New York

and were y'all, did y'all work at the same place?

Is that how you met?

Yes.

We were servers at this restaurant called Voyage.

The restaurant was opening

so we did a whole week of training

and we sat, you know, like in a classroom.

I sat in the front row.

Ben sat in the back row

and he kept answering all the questions

and correcting the teacher.

And I thought, what a know it all.

(Laughter)

But I liked that for some reason.

So y'all kind of just struck up

a little conversation on the side?

Well, we just became friends.

He was not, he did not,

he was not into me in the beginning.

I had to pursue him.

Ahh okay.

(Laughter)

[Music]

You're not going to cover them in water?

-Nuh un.

-Uh un.

The steams gonna..

You're just gonna steam them?

-Yeah.

-Got it.

Uhh when will we put the greens in?

In a little bit.

Our meat was too thick you know to make it cook faster.

Yeah but now we're sitting here watching a pot boil.

-Exactly.

-That is exactly right.

We can take a break.

[Music]

They smell great.

So, what are you gonna do for your birthday, Lillie?

I will help Warren and then I'm gonna go play bingo.

I get to play bingo free.

Because it's your birthday?

Mmm hmmm.

I'm gonna let this cook down for a few minutes.

Okay.

Can I do my pork chops?

Yeah.

When you play bingo, uhhh Lillie,

do you win something?

Sometimes you win money.

Okay.

And they got a game called You Got Mail.

If you win that ticket you go to the mailbox

and pull out a ticket and you've won some money.

Does your mom go with you?

All the time.

[Music]

I'm gonna like this corn bread.

Like this.

Okay.

Flatten 'em out.

So, do we need to chop these roots?

Yeah we're gonna chop them down.

This is the final touch right here.

Oh lord.

Hahahaha.

Oh my god.

My Mom said my Grandmother, my Dad's mom

used to do that but I didn't believe her.

Yes sir it's what I do right here.

Oh goodness I love it.

I love it!

Where are we with this?

Pull one of them things up for me.

Check that stem.

Okay.

-That's good enough for me.

-That's great.

-Oh man.

-Isn't that good?

That's so good with that sausage chopped in there.

-It flavored it too.

-It really did.

And they're very mild.

Mmm hmm.

But this is the Hakurei and the...

No this is...

-Purple top!

-Purple top.

Ohh okay.

Yeah it's so good.

Happy birthday, Lillie.

Thank ya.

I had to fix my own birthday though.

(Laughter)

Having always kind of seen this dish on our table

and never really eaten, enjoyed, or prepared it,

I was really blown away at how much we all enjoyed

the turnip roots with the greens folded in.

I mean, it's amazing to constantly be learning

these really simple things.

Two things off the top of my head about yesterday's

service that I wanted to bring up was the toilets,

and I see this a lot.

You should just check this.

In the men's room the front of the toilet

underneath the seat, for some reason people

have a hard time hitting the big bowl.

Is that because of the size of the toilet?

I mean, I don't know.

Sometime, sometimes men just enjoy peeing

in places they're not supposed to.

Why is that?

-I don't know?

-Marking their territory?

[Music]

So, I think it tastes good,

but I just don't taste the turnip, really.

You need a little less garlic puree.

If you can make that layer thinner.

I think the amount of cheese is good.

I just think you need to taste more turnip green.

When we make it for the staff let's try that.

[Music]

Alright, so we got two things tonight.

One, this is the pizza replacing the apple pizza.

So, on the bottom of the pie you have garlic puree,

into which we pressed our turnip greens,

and then on top of that we have our Italian sausage

that we make here in house,

and we top all of that with fresh mozzarella

that we also make.

So, today we have New York strip loins

from the Lang Angus cows that we get.

It's on top of that apple ginger butter

and then it's topped with bacon roasted turnip roots

over smoked gouda creamed turnip greens.

I have a question about reception to a dish.

We sold ummm a fair number of winter rolls last night.

Were people enjoying that?

Were they eating all of it?

Yes.

All of it.

Everybody loved it.

I'm serving that tomorrow night.

I'm just a little bit self-conscious about it.

I just wanted y'all to pay me a compliment.

Alright cool.

Y'all try these.

[Music]

Wait a second.

It's really hot.

Oh my god.

[Music]

Hi.

Jules, nice to meet you.

Matt, nice to meet y'all.

Alright, ordering a sweet potato pizza,

followed by a ragout, a pork chop, and a snapper.

I want the apple butter to go from

one rim to the other rim.

-Like I showed you.

-Okay.

Can I go ahead and put in the mozzarella pizza

with the turnips for you to share?

I don't eat turnips, at all.

You say that but you've never had Chef's turnips.

I grew up with turnips.

I did too.

When she puts it on this pizza with the mozzarella

it gives it a whole new...

I don't care for them.

The ribeye is awesome.

This evening we're doing it

with the smoked gouda creamed turnips.

I'm about to put you on the spot.

I don't even want to know

what I'm gonna get for my entree.

-I want you to pick it out.

-You want me to pick?

There's some ingredients that just sell.

Shrimp, crab, corn, tomatoes...

turnips, not so much.

Be adventuresome.

I think you should do it and be adventuresome.

Break away from the norm, Reuben.

Have some turnips.

You might just find out you like it.

Table 20, seat 1 said just send whatever.

So you're saying things you like.

Yes things I think they should try.

Do you not think they should try the winter rolls?

Ummm I don't think they're the winter roll type.

Okay.

[Music]

If I get you a yellow ticket you can stab it.

Be real careful about stabbing tickets.

If there's three courses then maybe not.

After the second course.

How about if you just don't stab anything tonight?

Because I don't want you to stab me.

Exactly.

You're learning already.

That's actually really good.

I've never had turnips on pizza before but it's awesome.

It's really up to the servers

to push the dishes they want to push

and I wish that they had pushed the winter roll

a little harder so I had a better sense

of how people respond to it before tomorrow night's event.

Now is there another pizza coming with that or no?

It's already...well yeah actually.

Sorry.

Yes.

My bad.

Don't get cocky.

(Laughter)

What am I doing?

[Music]

I'm feeling a little nervous

because my dishes are very rustic,

one pot, country time,

and this house is very fancy.

This event was put together by Ashley Christensen.

It's called Twelve Roses

and it brings together six female chefs

and six female winemakers.

Do you know what time we start passing things?

7:30.

One of the things I love about doing

this sort of event is getting to meet other chefs

and I love the idea that these are all women.

I'm a little bit nervous about serving my winter roll

alongside Andrea Reusing

who has an awesome Asian Restaurant.

So, I probably should have thought that

through a little more.

[Music]

The winter roll is literally based on a summer

or spring roll and I've taken southern ingredients

and substituted them for the Asian ingredients.

So, the charred collards stand in

for the vermicelli noodles.

The turnip mostarda stands in for grated carrots

or radish and then the country ham stands in

for something funky like fish sauce.

The herbs are the same, cilantro and mint.

But my favorite substitution of all

is our pepper jelly in place of sweet chili sauce.

Do you get here much?

Are you in Raleigh very often?

-Who me?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe like once every two weeks to do stuff.

There's nothing to do where I live.

That's where you're from though, right?

Yes.

I grew up actually right there.

Where do you live?

I live on the lower east side.

Way lower, way east.

I used to live on Allen and Glancey.

Oh so right there.

Andrea, I almost hate for you to try this but...

Oh hush.

Delicious.

It's really tasty.

I don't really wanna call it...what do we call it?

-I don't have any idea?

-Just pass it.

Yeah, just pass it.

For once I chose some easy things.

My first probably ever room temperature thing.

So far I'm liking that.

I'll probably do it again.

Do you guys just wanna run through this real quick.

We'll talk about the courses

and figure out what is needed.

My course is just gonna be in a pot

and go straight from the pot to the plate.

So, you know how to work in a kitchen with six people.

I've learned.

Course 2

It's a room temperature sauce.

And I think we are gonna to try to do all of them at once.

Just like one shot.

So it's 7:16 right now and we talked about starting

to pass courses at 7:45.

If anyone needs a hand I have two.

(Laughter)

Typically when I go to these sorts of things

I'm working up until the last minute to get my prep done

but for some reason I'm done

and that makes me kind of uncomfortable

because is my food too simple?

[Music]

Hey Vivian, do you wanna give the servers

the verbal on your spring roll?

So, we're going to call this a winter roll, okay?

(Laughter)

What's in the center is like pepper jelly

and it's been mounted with some fish sauce.

Delicious.

That's really yummy.

Okay can somebody help me?

I'll put the broth down

and then just a little country canelle of the pistou.

-It's a dollop.

-Yeah.

But be generous because it really is the point.

[Music]

Hi, I was told to come out here and talk to y'all.

This is kind of a version of a dish I grew up having

at a friend of mine's house.

They would put a pot of lima beans on top of the stove

in the morning with a hambone in some water

and it would sit and cook for hours and hours and hours

and I knew at the end of the day

we would have these amazing lima beans.

So I took the lima beans and then finished them

with some bright turnip greens.

I hope y'all enjoy everything.

-What's your name?

-I'm Vivian.

Hi, I'm Vivian Howard.

I run a restaurant in Kinston,

North Carolina called Chef and the Farmer.

(Applause)

I used to be so bad at talking.

You can ask Ashley.

I used to like stand beside her

with my head down like this but now I've embraced it.

Now I can't shut up.

(Laughter)

This has been so much fun.

I was ummm kind of nervous

because these are really well known chefs.

I have a lot of insecurities obviously.

Ummm but it's been such a warm giving time.

I feel like I might have made some friends, maybe.

It's good.

[Music]

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