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- [00:08]
A
This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC studios in soho. And if you like hearing us on the radio, you're gonna wanna join us for one of our two special events coming up in just two weeks. Our October get lit with all of It Book Club is King of Ashes by SA Cosby. On Tuesday, October 28, we'll meet in person to discuss. Plus we'll hear a performance from Yaya Bay. It's going to be a great evening. You can be there with us at the New York Public Library. Get your free tickets now and learn how to download the ebook for free by heading to wnyc.org getlit Again, that's wnyc.org getlit Then on October 30th, our next Broadway on the Radio event is taking place. All of the new cast members from the Broadway musical and Hadestown will be here at WNYC's Green Space for an epic hour of live performances. Go to wnyc.org hadestown for more information and get your tickets before they sell out. We'll see you on October 30th. Again, that's wnyc.org hadestown now let's get this hour started. If you are chef and author Gesine Bullock Prado, you might decide right now would be a great time for a soup, salad and sammy. Or maybe a nibble or a side. Or perhaps you really want to get down and have a feast followed by something sweet. Those are just a few of the section titles in her new cookbook, My Harvest 100 Recipes to Savor the Seasons. In the book, Prado takes us into her home kitchen in Vermont. There are recipes for every season and a look into how she prepares her garden for harvest. Even though she says she calls herself a quote, half assed homesteader, my harvest kitchen is out today. Yay. Casina Bullock Prado joins us now. By the way, she'll be at the Strand tomorrow for a book event tonight. Oh, tonight she'll be at the Strand tonight for a book event starting at 7pm welcome back to the show.
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B
Thank you for having me.
- [02:25]
A
So funny. We do these preps a day early. Everybody puts the next day. Sorry about that.
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B
That's okay.
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A
Every produce has sort of a peak season.
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B
Yeah.
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A
How much do you think about eating seasonally when you're at home?
- [02:37]
B
So much. Also, because living in Vermont, living in the Northeast in general, our season is foreshortened. So I think a lot about eating in the season, out of season, if that makes sense. So as I'M harvesting, I am preserving, I am freezing tomatoes. I am pureeing my peaches and freezing. Like I'm doing a lot of putting away things so that I can enjoy the sweetness and the beauty in times where it gets very dark and sad.
- [03:07]
A
What's good in the garden right now? It's mid October. I'm curious, are in your garden. What's good picking?
- [03:13]
B
Oh, garlic, Garlic, garlic, garlic. So I have, I harvest the garlic in July, but I dry it so you have to put it up so that it dries so that it stays longer and so it creates these papery layers and you can store it longer. And now garlic, I'm putting it in everything. Cause it's still so juicy. It'll be a while before that green germ forms. You know when you get like that really light clove of garlic and you're like, looks big, feels light. And then you open it and you see that germ because it wants to be done already and start growing. So the garlic itself is bitter, but right now it is so glorious and juicy and fabulous. And I'm shoving it in everything. And then tomatoes, my pears are up, my apples are looking great. The quince is just starting to come in to its best, best ripeness. It's gorgeous.
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A
Now, you just described a beautiful garden, but you describe yourself in your book as a quote, half assed homesteader.
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B
Correcto. Yeah.
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A
What are the most important lessons you've learned in terms of gardening and homesteading? And why do you call yourself a half assed homesteader?
- [04:23]
B
Well, I've been doing this for a long time. Pre Pinterest, pre insta, pre. All this TikTok stuff where people are in prairie dresses. And there is strange psychology that's surrounding this idea of gardening and homesteading that I just don't get. And I've spent a lifetime. My mother was a gardener. She was the PTA mom that came in leather pants.
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A
Oh, you Wait. You're just my hero for just saying this.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Can I just say that out loud? Okay, continue.
- [04:48]
B
So, but. And I feel like there is this. There's supposed to be this aura around it and I would not want anyone taking a picture of me while I'm in the garden because it's usually when I don't intend to be there. So I do things like I plant a lot of flowers and veggie patches. So just to entice me. And I know I've done this, but I still trick myself. And so I paddle over there. I'm like, oh, pretty flowers. And Then I see the weeds, and then I know it's my time, and I'm usually still in my jammy bottoms and, like, you know, some terrible rubber boots. And I don't have gloves on, of course. And so you're just this grimy little thing. And not everything grows perfectly, and not everything looks perfect, and it really shouldn't. And it shouldn't also take over your life either. I think it should bring you joy, and it should nourish you in a psychological manner and in a physical manner, but it should not be your identity, and it shouldn't kind of make you feel as if you have to spend a kajillion. We've all heard of the $400 tomato. First you buy the seeds, and you're like, oh, this is. I'm gonna have the most tomatoes for no money. And then you buy the pot, and then you buy the soil, and then you buy and all, you know. No, no, I just. I do let some of my tomatoes just go and replant, volunteer themselves for the next year, and I like as a little surprise. Hey there, Looky there. I did no work.
- [06:06]
A
Does it still give you joy, though?
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B
Oh, goodness, yes. Yes, the most joy. I think towards the end of the harvest, you kind of reflect on your mistakes. You're half acid ness about it all, and then you want to take a break. But come, you know, February, you're ready to start again. And in February is actually when I start my. On my dad's birthday is when I start my onion seeds. And then on my sister's birthday, I harvest my onions. So I kind of give myself this rhythm of the season that kind of, like, I can't forget to do certain things. Like I plant my garlic cloves on Halloween. Like, I make myself this schedule of joy and moments that my squirrel brain can't forget. My half acid ness can't forget.
- [06:50]
A
It's so interesting in your book because you have a lot of interesting little tidbits in there. And one of them, it's notes from your kitchen. Yes, notes from my kitchen garden. And you have my flock or things I love to grow or I loathe to grow. What's important for a reader of this book, my Harvest Kitchen, to take away from those little excerpts.
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B
Well, my first rule is grow the things you love and then grow the things you love to grow. There might be things you love to eat, and then you realize that growing them is just a hardship. It can be a big pain. And the tips are, you don't have to be gatekeepy and you don't have to be, as I said, a Pinterest board that if you just have a shelf near a window and a single pot, there's something just extraordinarily beautiful about sprouting a single seed that ends up becoming a basil plant. And then you will experience basil as you never have before because it just simply tastes different when you grow it yourself. You really, you really take care of that puppy and, like, you just don't give it away. You're like, if I'm going to give you a little morsel of my basil, you better treat it right.
- [07:59]
A
I'm speaking with pastry chef and cookbook author Gesina Bulk Prado. Her new cookbook is called My Harvest Kitchen. Gesina will be at the strand tonight at 7:00pm and by the way, why don't you get you in on this conversation. It's fall right now. What are the recipes and dishes you're most excited to make? Call or Text us at 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC what's Growing Best in your garden right now or you're seeing at the farmer's market? Do you have any questions about a particular produce item that you're not sure what you should do with? You could give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC Another thing about your book, My Harvest Kitchen, is that you, you name names. There are things that you love to use. You love guitar chocolate chips and red Star Platinum yeast. Why did you decide to name names?
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B
Because I don't want to gatekeep. I want outcomes to be similar to mine. And I think a lot of time, times of the things that you use are going to be informative of how the outcome is going to be for you. So if you can only find a certain kind of chocolate chip, that's fine. Use what you've got around you. But know that there are certain things that I have worked with for 20 plus years that I adore, but I also love to learn new things too. So if somebody said to me, you know what? I prefer something else and I would really like to try those things too. So I'm not going to be completely shut off from new things. But I'd like to share the things that I use just simply for outcome sake. Because you look at pictures and you're like, will I be able to do that? Well, you'll get closer to it if. And I like tell you the Tools. Sometimes a tool will change your whole life.
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A
Oh, what's a tool that has changed your life?
- [09:41]
B
I mean, there are some, like, in pastry, there are some kind of cut, there's some cutters that create this very specific lattice that is a literally called a lattice cutter. And you will have seen it all over these fabulous pastry things. And you're like, I can never do work like that. And it's like, dude, it's literally a roller. You just have to put the right amount of pressure down, and you, too, will have the perfect, perfect little pie. Just things like that, I think, are important just to take away the patina of speciality. It's like you, too, can do all these great things. You might just have to invest a couple bucks for the tool.
- [10:15]
A
You also have these odes in the book, Odes to the harvest, Odes to hibernation, Odes to hope. What went into your choice about what deserves an ode?
- [10:27]
B
Well, I think hibernation is big simply because in Vermont, we do a lot of it. Our winter season is so long, and that hope is that season, even though that there is snow on the ground, that the SAP starts running for the maple, and you start feeling, though nothing green is popping quite yet, you get that sweetness from the earth that just gives you a little hope. And, you know, Vermonters tend to go outside when it's just above 30 in shorts. So it is feeling springtime y for us. And then, you know, harvest, it's so wonderful. The second things start getting green, I start hunting for morels, fiddleheads, and all those things that are free. I love to find free things. I love free things. Like, we have wild grape leaves that I grab and make stuffed grape leaves. They're in the book, too, because they are good, because they're such a pain in the butt when you're gardening and you have to, like, they climb up all your, like, lovely ornamentals, and you're like, but wait a second. Not only can I just tear it down, I can eat you. And it's very satisfying. It's like this kind of ghoulishness. You're like, I get to eat it.
- [11:31]
A
I have to ask about your shirt. You have a great shirt on that says maple syrup.
- [11:36]
B
Yeah. The real thing.
- [11:38]
A
Is it too early to tap for maple syrup?
- [11:40]
B
It is. It is a springtime thing, so, like, late February, but, you know, it's good all year round. It's a reminder that it's still out there. And get the stuff from Vermont. Thank you.
- [11:51]
A
What is a good recipe in here for the Fall season.
- [11:55]
B
Well, the creamy garlic soup is fabulous because it kind of straddles a couple things. So garlic is completely cured by now. Still super juicy. But it's also soup season. But it's also spooky season. So if you're thinking vampires and things, it's kind of the perfect thing to combat all things when you're too cold and combating vampires. So the garlic soup is super tasty.
- [12:16]
A
We've got a text here that says my tomatoes did not quite make it to ripe but are a tantalizing green. Looking forward to some fried green tomatoes, but open to recommendation. Any suggestions?
- [12:28]
B
So it makes a great relish because they're still not sweet enough. You can actually chop them up and kind of relish them in a beautiful way so that they do have a tartness. They still hold their shape really well. But I am with you in that pain where the frost comes too soon and things are just stunted. And you're like, why, why, why couldn't this have ripened? And it feels like they get to a certain size and they stay green just to mock you. And I'm very sorry. But yeah, you can also the, you know, bread them and bake them. You don't have to fry them. So you can do a couple things, but kind of chopping it up almost like a salsa relish is a lovely thing.
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A
Does this go into your category of ugly tomatoes? Because you have an ugly tomato cheesy bean dip in the book.
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B
Yeah, that's for a super ripe tomato. So sometimes if you go into the garden and. And things are just flopping over with ripeness and you're like, ooh. And there's some that are might have been nibbled on a little and you know that it's been nibbled on because it's so super juicy. And the tendency might just be to like chuck it or let the animals have at the rest of it. But it's the sweetest thing. And if you put it into that ugly tomato dip, you get the best of it without having to actually see what would have looked like.
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A
What it looked like.
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B
Yeah, what it looked like. No one needs to know that it was ugly. Tell no one. Just chop off the part that was nibbled on. No one needs to know.
- [13:47]
A
And you go from ugly to the most beautiful thing ever. I took a picture before you came in and I put it on our Insta Stories. I'm sorry it's not an official photo, but it's of your summer to fall focaccia. It is beautiful. Why Is it a good summer to fall recipe?
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B
I think because when things are in play in the summer, vegetable wise, you can make this thing with the freshest of fresh. But the harvest is long, so the focaccia changes, the picture changes. It's literally. I have a baking class that I teach and there's a good half hour of crafting where you just look at vegetables and look for the beauty in them and make them into flowers. You make them into trees and people have done some. I've made them into dragons. And you create artwork with vegetables. And it depends on when the season is. You get different kinds of veggies doing different kinds of things that are really pretty.
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A
It's really beautiful. In the book, how would you describe it's like a little like a wildflower?
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B
Yeah. I thought of it as a poppy field. Like a poppy field. And then you also see it has foreground and distance. This is what you get when you're doing a cookbook. Cookbook that I, if you're doing something in the moment, you're like, oh, this onion looks fabulous. I'm going to have a couple onion flowers. But when you're thinking for a while going, what would be my fantasy? Focaccia? That was my fantasy because I love poppies and I love how like long stemmy they are and wistful they are. And so that's kind of what I was going for.
- [15:19]
A
We're speaking with pastry chef and cookbook author Gesina Bullock Prado. Her new cookbook is called My Harvest Kitchen. Get in on the conversation. What recipes and dishes are you most excited to make during the fall? What's growing in your garden right now? Any questions about a particular produce item that you have a lot of but you're not sure what to do about it, give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. After the break, we'll talk apples. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart in studio. I have Gesina Bullock Prado. She's a pastry che and a cookbook author. Her new cookbook is called My Harvest Kitchen. I said I would talk about apples. It's fall. It's New York. It's apple season. What do you suggest?
- [16:17]
B
I mean, I have a caramel apple pudding in here that is just, it kind of speaks to all of me in that apples. Yes. Wonderful, tart, sweet and all those things. Kind of that caramelly nature, which is perfect on Halloween. But Also a Christmas to the top. And it's really easy to do. There's nothing that there's not a lot of, like, very intricate cutting. You can like chop in any old manner and not really worry about goes in a casserole dish. Not a lot of bowls in the whole mix. But it comes out with a variety of textures, a variety of tangs and sweetness. And it's kind of the perfect thing to impress, to dress with a little bit of ice cream and just be super happy in the season. And it's like a warmth to it too. I just love it so much.
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A
You also have an apple crumb tart in here. Why a tart instead of a pie?
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B
I'm a texture person. I'm a full on texture person. So there's obviously softness to the apple and you've got the tartness and the sweetness of the apple, but the base is more like. It's like almost like a spongy cookie. And so it's got. And so you do it with the biscuit method and it is this beautiful, like tart base. It's a French tart base. And then you put a crumble on top so you get even crispier on top. So it has this kind of gradation of flavor and of texture. And I love an apple pie, but this is just. And it also holds its shape incredibly well. So when you cut it, you never get the bad first slice. It's good first slice to last.
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A
I mentioned to you, I was looking at the book last night and. And I thought, I can do this. There aren't too many ingredients in your recipes, which is really interesting. Why aren't there too many ingredients in your recipes?
- [18:09]
B
I think if you're gonna base something on the best of the season, that the thing itself should carry flavor and should carry the most flavor. And that makes me incredibly happy. So it's knowing when to find the thing. Right. Or how to preserve the thing. And there are some things that you might. Oh, this, this is going to be too much. Like, there's saffron in some of these recipes. But where we live, you can grow saffron in the fall. It's a fall blooming crocus. And you could have something on your balcony that is like a little long planter. And in the fall, you plant the crocus bulbs and they will come up within a few weeks. They come up pretty stinking quickly. And then you take a culinary tweezer or your regular tweezer. You just don't tell anybody. That's what you use it for. And then you. You gently pluck out these strands and you dry them. And you will get enough saffron to last you for the year from just a few bul. You will. It is such a satisfying thing to do and just to see happen. And they're beautiful flowers, but also those stamens are just like. They're the things of dreams, the bright orange. And then when they dry, they get, you know, what it looks like. But when they're fresh, they're insane. They look like little alien, like antennae. They're gorgeous.
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A
We got a text here that says we have a ton of butternut and delicata squash. I hope I'm saying it right in the garden. What's your go to recipe for an abundance of squash?
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B
I make sauces. So when you break down squash into sauces, you really roast in the sweetness of it. I don't know if you've had the problem we have had in that we were in drought. So a lot of our squashes tend to be a little drier right now. And so when you simply roast them, they can kind of like really stick in your mouth, like a little gummy. But if you turn them into something that's more of a sauce, because it's a beautiful coater, then you can start adding, you know, liquids that will continue to hydrate it and really bring out the sweetness that's inherent in those veggies, especially when they are dry. They carry a lot of sugars, but they don't carry enough hydration. So turning them into sauces is a great way to use them. And you can also preserve them so you can make sauce for the night, and then you can freeze the rest. And you can have it or you can can it. But I love to do that because it's so rich. And it's a nice alternative to tomato sauces. Leeks, Leeks.
- [20:32]
A
What are some of your favorite ways to cook leeks?
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B
Leeks vinaigrette was something that I was introduced to when I was a. Well, I was in my early 20s and I was a vegetarian. I grew up vegetarian. I wore a thumb ring. I was like, you know, all these things that, you know, you think you're this little hipster running around France. And this lady in the countryside in Lyon, we were visiting her son, and she was so curious. All I could remember was thumb ring and leeks. Cause she couldn't understand. She thought it must mean something. And it was just one of those identifiers, right? It's like we all wore, like, the ankh necklace and the thumb. It was a thing.
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A
I was so 70s and 80s.
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B
You're like. It was just a thing that we did in 1988. So sorry. Actually, it was 92. I was a little behind the times, but she put this platter of leaks, and I thought, I don't know if I can do this. And then started eating them. And it was just this experience I'd never had before, and that they were tender, but they still had some crispness. And there was this brightness to the vinaigrette, but it was so simple. This woman wasn't slaving away in the kitchen. She was just. She had these dumb kids over from America, and she had to feed them something. And I just watched the swiftness with which she took these fresh leeks and she transformed them into something that was extraordinary. The ease and the deliciousness all at once was so impactful to me.
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A
I wanted to ask you about your mom.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You have in this book. Your mom is German, by the way.
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B
Yes.
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A
You have a recipe for mini dumplings and cheese, and you wrote that German cheese dumplings are better than Mac and cheese. That's a high bar.
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B
It is. And I call out myself in that header as well, saying, I know this is very controversial, but it is one of those things that you can go from making the little dumpling spitzer to table in faster than you can cooking pasta and making Mac and cheese. So that's number one. It's faster. The other thing is that you put fried onions on top. Crispy deliciousness, fantastic. And it is just. You can crisp up the little dumplings a little and give them a little crispness and a caramelization, but they're still tender. And then the cheese is gooey and it's light, and then you've got that onion, and it's just this fabulous side dish. Fabulous. Just meal in and of itself. And it reminds me of my mom and home. So it's got all the things that you need from one of the best meals.
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A
One of the things that I think is interesting, if you read the book carefully, we learn a little bit about you.
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B
Yeah.
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A
We learn about your mom, but we also. There was one, I think it's turkey cali meatballs. Like, when I was in law school, I did. I was like, what law school?
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B
You were what now? Yeah.
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A
You were in law school?
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B
I was in law school, yeah. The reason I passed the bar was because I didn't study. I just baked my way through that period. And I was the most relaxed human walking into that. Everyone else was so freaked out because they'd just been studying, and I was just baking and, you know, sleeping.
- [23:38]
A
Well. How did law school lead to turkey meatballs?
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B
It led to. Because when. So the turkey meatballs. I lived in a house that had an avocado tree. And part of it is that I incorporate avocado into this whole recipe. And I was tired of guacamole. And, you know, there was a hammock where I would read underneath the avocado tree, and they would just, like, plop down on you. And I was like, I must do something with these that is not just guacamole. And hence, the turkey meatball came into our life. And it brings that fat, and it brings the lovely mouthfeel to it, because turkey can often be dry. Yeah. And avocado is just a lovely fat that binds things together, but also has just a very delicate flavor of its own. It's great in these meatballs.
- [24:21]
A
This text says, I saw a video on how to make tomato soup from scratch with a little olive oil and water in the bottom of a d Dutch oven with cord, beef steak, tomatoes, and garlic. You just steam them until the skin comes off, and then break them up into an immersion blender. You can add herbs and cream if you like, but it tastes just like the most amazing tomatoes.
- [24:39]
B
That's great. I love it. And roasting things really brings out their sweetness. And peeling tomatoes is a big, fat pain in the butt. So, like, when you can steam them, or I freeze my really ripe tomatoes, and then before I make a sauce with them, you just run them under warm water, and they peel off. It's like a magic trick. It's fabulous.
- [24:57]
A
Another recipe in here. I'm learning about you that you went to Morocco.
- [25:01]
B
Yes, for our honeymoon. We were in Morocco.
- [25:03]
A
I went to Morocco, too. How cool was that?
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B
I adored it.
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A
And I tried. I tried. I tried to learn to make chicken tagine.
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B
Tagine.
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A
You have a recipe?
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B
I do.
- [25:15]
A
What is the secret to making it so that it tastes like you just left the fez and are gonna sit down and have a fabulous meal?
- [25:24]
B
There's an interesting thing about this chicken recipe is that you cook it in the sauce longer than you think until it breaks? So one of the things about the sauce is that it intentionally broken to the end, so it kind of separates and it kind of releases the aromatic flavors. But I think the main thing is that making your own preserved lemons, which have a richness of flavor that is outrageous.
- [25:46]
A
Somebody. Okay, so the preserved lemons explain what those Are so.
- [25:50]
B
So you got an abundance of lemons. Someone's given them to you, and you cut them into quarters, but not all the way down. So essentially, you're creating almost like a flower like structure from it. So it's a whole lemon. So you're cutting it in quarters, leaving the bottom whole, and you're shoving them into a big old jar with a ton of salt. And then you press and you press and you press until the juices are released up to the point of the last lemon. And the salt kind of incorporates. And then it literally preserves them. You leave them like that. I put them in the fridge for weeks on, and then you just use the rind once it's perfectly preserved, and you chop that up and it has the tang and it brings, obviously, salt. You rinse them, but there's still some salt in it. But the release of flavor and texture in that preserved lemon really brings the fez to your table.
- [26:39]
A
It does. It's sort of the magic ingredient. It really is.
- [26:43]
B
It is.
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A
What would you suggest someone make for your last bits? We've been through a feast. We've been through the nibbles, we've been through the sammies and salads for a sweet. Someone just wants a sweet treat.
- [26:56]
B
Oh, you know what? Let's do something really simple that doesn't require a lot of heavy lifting. And there's something from my childhood in Germany called schochelkrassies, which are, and this is gonna sound insane, like German. They are corn flakes and almond slivers coated in chocolate. Okay. So it's this crunchy little thing, but I made it s' mores, like, so you do mini marshmallows. And then instead of corn flakes, I also, you know, the honey grams. All the things I didn't have as a kid. And I'm like, what would I have loved as a child? And then you make an Erzatz tempered chocolate and you coat it and you put a little sea salt on top. And it's just this little nubbin that's super quick. And it's like, especially as the holidays are coming, if you want just a little nosh that you can, like, package and give away and just nibble on yourself. It's really satisfying. And you use a really good chocolate, and it's guitar chocolate. Use guitar chocolate, a little sea salt, and your day will be made.
- [27:54]
A
The name of the book is my harvest kitchen. 100 plus recipes to savor the seasons. Gesena Bullock Prado will be at the strand tonight at 7. Pm thank you for coming into the studio again.
- [28:06]
B
Thank you for having me. Happy harvest. For 140 years, MultiCare has been in Washington prioritizing long term solutions, partnering with local communities and expanding access to care. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn more@mycare.org It's Cybersecurity Awareness Month and LifeLock is here with tips to help protect your identity use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication and report phishing scams. And for comprehensive identity protection, Lifelock is your best choice. Lifelock alerts you to suspicious uses of your personal information and also fixes identity theft, guaranteed or your money back. Stay smart, stay safe and stay protected with a 30 day free trial@lifelock.com Special offer terms apply.