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Gesine Bullock-Prado, "My Harvest Kitchen: 100+ Recipes to Savor the Seasons" (Countryman Press, 2025)
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- [00:00]
A
Hello, everybody. This is Marshall Po. I'm the founder and editor of the New Books Network. And if you're listening to this, you know that the NBN is the largest academic podcast network in the world. We reach a worldwide audience of 2 million people. You may have a podcast, or you may be thinking about starting a podcast. As you probably know, there are challenges basically of two kinds. One is technical. There are things you have to know in order to get your podcast produced and distributed. And the second is, and this is the biggest problem, you need to get an audience. Building an audience in podcasting is the hardest thing to do today. With this in mind, we at the NBM have started a service called NBN Productions. What we do is help you create a podcast, produce your podcast, distribute your podcast, and we host your podcast. Most importantly, what we do is we distribute your podcast to the NBN audience. We've done this many times with many academic podcasts, and we would like to help you. If you would be interested in talking to us about how we can help you with your podcast, please contact us. Just go to the front page of the New Books Network and you will see a link to NBN Productions. Click that, fill out the form, and we can talk. Welcome to the New Books Network.
- [01:07]
B
Hi, welcome to New Books Network. This is Laura Goldberg. You might know me from my blog, vittlesvamp.com I am here today on the Food Channel with actually my very first podcast interview. So we're bringing her back because she's got a new book. Very excited to welcome Gesina Bullock Prado once again to New Books Network to talk about her newest book, My Harvest, 100 Plus Recipes to Savor the Seasons. Well, welcome back, Kasina.
- [01:39]
C
Thank you for having me back.
- [01:41]
B
Yes. Well, I'm very excited. And before we even start, we need to talk about seasons, because your last book was My Vermont Kitchen, and you talked about six seasons in that book. This book, you really talk about three. Hope, Harvest, and Hibernate. Can you dig that a bit for us?
- [02:08]
C
Well, I wrote this as a grower, as someone who has been a grower, a homesteader for close to 20 years. It's one of those things that when I was speaking to students from across the country, oftentimes we'll get on the subject of growing. And I had a student from Arizona, and I was saying that I had just put out my tomatoes, and she said, oh, I just put everything to bed. Our season is already over. And I thought, I'd really love to write a book for everyone who Grows is curious about growing, is not curious about growing, but still curious about knowing what's in season and what's best to eat when or how to preserve things when you have a glut of them. And so instead of having like the Vermont seasons, of which there are six, instead of having our four regular old seasons, I decided to kind of focus on a grower's seasons. And Hope is really that time. For a lot of people it's spring. But since in Vermont our growing season is so short that like the hibernation time is so long and when Hope finally comes here, it's usually full blown spring other places. And for us the snow's still on the ground, the SAP is just starting. But it's different for everyone. But everyone has that period of when they're just so excited about things coming back to life again. And it differs for everyone depending on where you live. But I think everyone can totally relate to those types of grower seasons and that's why I divided it up that way.
- [03:51]
B
Very good. Well, you just said a magic word which was homesteaders. Homesteading. And in the opening of the book you talk about yourself as a half assed homesteader. And I'm curious what a whole assed homesteader would be. I'm assuming you're not doing a full on Little House on the Prairie type thing that you have indoor plumbing. Yeah.
- [04:16]
C
Oh my God, can you imagine? I can.
- [04:18]
B
You know, I, I really can. I read those books.
- [04:21]
C
I loved them. Well, in that I think a lot of people when they go into this kind of life, so I've been doing it for much longer than it's become like the Pinterest staple.
- [04:31]
B
Yeah. No, you're not, you're not a trad wife trender.
- [04:34]
C
Oh, heck no. It's really about the fact that you can't do everything. You have to forgive yourself. Right. So when you first start all of this, when I moved from Los Angeles, from, from California to Vermont, I had the dream, will live on my own land. You know, everything that goes into my mouth will be something that I pulled from the dirt. And then, you know, a week later you're like, uh, no, traitor cows. You're like, help me. And I, I understand that. I mean I, that is an enthusiasm. That's fantastic. However, you, you learn very quickly that you can't do everything. And if you did do everything, it is more than a full time job. It is very little sleep. And so I wanted it to be a companion in my life and not something that ruled my life. And I'm also a bit of a squirrel brain. So as much knowledge as I have and as much as I know what to do doesn't mean I always do it. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes life gets in the way. Often I forget to label what seed I put where. So it's like Mystery Game show, what's coming up now. It makes things more interesting, but it's also one of those things that you kind of have to know yourself and how much time you're willing to put into things and know whether you're a squirrel brain or not. Like, are there things that are going to hold your interest more? So I always recommend that people, when they start gardening, that they grow the things that they love because you are going to be more invested in that thing. Don't try to do everything at once and expand slowly. And I think all those things sound like, no, duh. But when you start. When you start, like, if you start a vegetable garden, you're like, well, I have to grow all the vegetables, don't I? Otherwise it's not a vegetable garden. It's like, right.
- [06:29]
B
I mean, then you've also got pressure from, like, the Instagram and Pinterest of this world, you know?
- [06:35]
C
Exactly.
- [06:36]
B
You know, like, I've got to look just like that influencer. Look at that bucolic farm they've created in their backyard.
- [06:44]
C
Yeah. And everyone's in their prairie dress and their curtains, the chicken coop and, you know, the. It's the. The potager is just perfect. And it's like, you know, sometimes raspberries are just bramble and they're going to look like that and they're going to give you amazing fruit, but they're not pretty. So, yeah, it's one of those things that you just have to know what the reality is. What the reality is for you. If it's important that things look really good, I think that's fantastic. I love a pretty garden. I just know myself well enough that I can do. I can maintain some things that look great. And I just have to be more realistic in other places where it's just going to have to be practical rather than this, you know, showcase.
- [07:25]
B
Well, you do sort of have a showcase. It's called Free Grace. Am I right? Yeah.
- [07:30]
C
Free Grace is the tavern. So Free Grace and Free Grace and Jerusha Levitt, where the people who built this as our house as a tavern in the 1700s, and we actually have their portraits here hanging in the hallway. Um, and they built it as a tavern, as a stagecoach stop, as a farm, and so the place was built for all of the above. So I have my baking school attached where the carriage house used to be. And we tap trees as they did for maple syrup. They farmed. What they did specifically is that they. During the War of 1812, they. When they had banned imports of alcohol from the uk, they started selling. Selling. They called it potato whiskey. They were growing the potatoes and they had a still here. And I'm like, isn't that just vodka? But yes, please. So there's always been this tradition of using this place as both a home and as a commercial enterprise and as a farm. So we're kind of living the way that the original owners intended, which is pretty cool. Yeah.
- [08:43]
B
Intended. And yet, once again, let's say with indoor plumbing.
- [08:46]
C
Oh, yes. With indoor plumbing. Oh, jeepers. Oh, yes, please. But we do have a dug well, so, you know, there's always. There could always be potential drama. There might be a time when we don't have indoor plumbing.
- [08:58]
B
All right, well, I'm not going to hope for that for you. I'm going to hope the indoor plumbing stays intact as well as what I'm guessing is electricity. But I just want to echo what you were saying earlier, though, about knowing yourself, because I really think that applies to so many things in life. That's not just about gardening, that's about everything. If you want to really bring your best self forward, knowing your limitations, knowing also where you really shine, or finding out, discovering that and then embracing it, I think are big keys to living well. And I just like the way you embraced it in this book, because I've got to say, you have a section in there that's called 10 Things I Love and Loathe to Grow. So can you unpack that a bit for us?
- [09:47]
C
Well, yeah, I'm just. Obviously, things I love to grow are usually the things I love to eat, too, but they're the things that give me joy as they're growing. I love fava beans, AKA Windsor beans, because, first of all, I love eating them. But they're also so easy to grow, and they grow early, so I can start them even before we've had our last frost. But as they grow, they also get really pretty flowers, which is a great incentive for me when things look really pretty. Because if, like, from far away I see a flower, I'm like, oh, must go see flower. And then I go see flower. And then I'm like, oh, weeds. I should probably do a little something about that. So that is just a great thing for me. I love growing potatoes. Because it's like treasure hunting, because all the fruits of your labor are underground. Carrots, very similarly. And I. First, I'm like a kid that way. It's just so exciting to, like, what's under there, what grew? And then there are things that, like, what I hate growing, though I love eating are brassicas, which include cabbages, Brussels sprouts, kale, you know, only because I grow them really well until the loopers and the cabbage worms come around and I've covered my crops, and they're just such little gross beasties that they just. Just make me so angry. So it really depends on, like, just because I like to eat it, and I actually am pretty good at growing it doesn't mean I necessarily like growing it if I don't want to battle the thing that can come attack it later. So that kind of bums me out. And then beets are another thing, just simply because I don't like beets. And they have this enzyme in them called geosmin, which essentially translates to dirt taste. And I'm learning, growing, and it's that thing that people often love about beets, and it's the thing that I loathe about beets. And it was such a relief to, like, read that there was literally a. A component to the chemical nature of the thing that literally was a thing that I disliked, as opposed to me just being, you know, a nun. Skull.
- [12:02]
B
Never say that. I mean, I think I'm not here to yuck anybody's yum, but everybody is different, and everybody's palette is different.
- [12:09]
C
Absolutely. And. But in fact, what's so interesting is that I try to grow beats that. Where this wonderful professor. I forgot what college he's in. He's an agricultural professor. He created a beat, it's called Badger Flame, where he ex. He extracted as much of the geosmin as he could from it without not make keeping it a beat. And I grew those, and I actually ate it raw just to really get to know it. And it was actually, for me, really quite palatable. And I was crunching on it. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is great. At the very end, the dirt taste came in, I'm like, nope.
- [12:52]
B
I mean, to me, I've never eaten a beet raw. Um, to me, I cook them. I definitely cook them, and I do enjoy them. There's a sweetness I appreciate. But I. You know, I feel like it's probably similar. That chemical, you know, taste in your mouth must be similar to people who hate cilantro.
- [13:10]
C
Exactly. Right? Yeah, yeah. And I love cilantro. But I, I, I will never, as you said, yuck someone's yum. Or yum someone's yuck for that matter, if. Because I understand, like, sometimes things are just unpalatable to you. And that is okay. It is okay. It is okay.
- [13:29]
B
But you, you mentioned something earlier that I caught in the book. You mentioned flowers.
- [13:35]
C
Yeah.
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B
And, you know, I was hoping to, to chat with you a bit about flowers as food because you had something in there. And I was like, what the, what the peony jelly. You, you don't like rose, although you like rose hips. And, you know, I do because I love to cook Persian. Sometimes I do love using, you know, sometimes a little rose water. I also use orange flower water and things. But, you know, I'm thinking, you know, people definitely use lavender in food. Here I am, I'm once again not trying to yuck someone's yum, but where did you come up with peony jelly?
- [14:13]
C
Well, it's one of those things that if people are growers of peonies and like in large numbers, you often want to find something else to do with them. And the petals, most petals, not all petals of flowers are fine to eat, but some are. And I found that they actually were totally safe to eat. And I was curious because I wondered if the taste would translate from the ones that are the most fragrant. And because I'm always trying, I'm always trying to force myself to like things. And it's, I don't mind rose flavored things in, in like a more diluted manner. I just don't like super strong rose. That reminds me of soap.
- [14:58]
B
No, I get that. I'm the same way.
- [15:00]
C
And I'm the same way with the lavender. I mean, I like a hint of it. Not just, you know, like I'm eating soap, but the peony. I was like, well, I'm gonna go full bore. I might, I always go like whole hog first just to see if I wear and if I need to dial it back. And so I made this peony jelly from my peonies in front. So obviously things that you don't spray, right? So you don't want all the, like roundup on there. And the color is, of course, it's the first thing you see before it sets up. I'm like, the color was magical. So it's one of those things when it interacts with an ac. At first you're like, this is dull. And then the acid hits it and it turns this just adorable pink. And it is a Jelly. So it is kind. It's not at all opaque. So it's this very light pink. It's got this great texture and this beautiful color. I was like, okay, so far so good. And then once it set, I tried it with a lovely cake that I kind of. It's like a pound ish cake that I sliced up. And it was such this dazzling little jelly. It was just so beautiful, so subtle with just a brightness that was so pleasing. And it wasn't like overtly floral. It was just this really. It was just adorable. It was one of those things you're like, what a little delight it was. So it was so nice. And if you grow peaties and you know some of them that are very, very heavy headed. So like I have a sand. Sandra. Sarah Bernhardt. I always call them Sandra Bernhardt, wrong actress. It's called a Sarah Bernhardt peony. And they have very heavy heads. And I usually take them in almost immediately and put them in vases. But I had so many floral heads that had fallen. I'm like, this is the opportunity to make the jam. And so it was so fun. It was so fun to do.
- [16:59]
B
I mean, I gotta say, it makes me want to go get a bouquet of peonies. They just cost a bloody fortune in New York.
- [17:06]
C
Well, I think the problem there too is that more than likely if you buy them from a florist, they will be heavily sprayed. And you will. And you. Because it's such a subtle flavor as well, not that you want to have anything that's so sprayed. I think that you will get a flavor from those chemicals coming through because they are such a subtle, subtle thing. But if you, if you grow peonies and if you. The Sarah Bernhardt ones are relatively light in color, so the color that I got from them that leach from it was very light. But there are some peonies that are like these beautiful deep red and it would be an even more glorious color. And the flavor would be very similar though. And I had to.
- [17:49]
B
I think what I need to do is wait until they're its actual season. And I can see some of them at the green market.
- [17:56]
C
100%. 100%. Because you know that if you go to the green market to farmer's market, those are the flowers and you can actually talk to the peop the growers and ask them like, how are these, how are these produced? And you will get a good, a good amount of information on what they're doing for the growing process.
- [18:15]
B
I also, speaking of farmers markets, one of the Things I know in New York anyway, people go ape about is are ramps. And I think of them as, they're wonderful, but I think of them as sort of like a bougie vegetable. Cause, you know, there's a comedian I love named Jake Cornell who does this whole bit about, you know, being a gay dad and calling his husband and being like, oh my God, we forgot that it was ramp season. We need to get rotten up school now and get him, have him taste the beat the, you know, the ram pizza before it's gone.
- [18:53]
A
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- [20:00]
B
And so I was surprised though, because I just wouldn't associate it with homesteading. Oh, absolutely.
- [20:06]
C
Well, I'm a forager, so I don't. I can also get them at my local grocery store because we are like a heavily foraged community.
- [20:14]
B
So we.
- [20:15]
C
Yeah, for us it's kind of like we all talk about who saw what when they were on a hike with ephemerals in general. So it would be fiddleheads, morels and ramps. And everyone knows locally if you're a forager where the goods are. And as a matter of fact, that I have myself and it's not an easy task to do. I have transplanted the bulbs of the ramps here on my property along a little pauseway because it's you know, has the same kind of growing medium that would be in the forest. And they're so good. And the reason I. I love them so much is that it. The way they come in seasonally is when garlic has gone to hell. It's when, you know, the season for garlic has long passed, and every head of garlic is populated with just cloves with germs, the little green little stalk coming through, and that means your garlic, the garlic flesh itself has gone bitter because it no longer wants to be a culinary delight. It wants to be planted, and it wants to grow a new head of garlic. And so I think ramps, they bridge that gap between fresh garlic and dead garlic. And then you have ramps that kind of fill in that gap and give you some of that flavor that's fresh and beautiful and vibrant so you don't have to, like, deal with that terribly bitter stuff at the grocery store.
- [21:49]
B
Well, it's so interesting to me because I don't think most people, including myself, have ever really thought of garlic being in season. And then I saw in the book, you have sections, deep dives into the seasons for both garlic and onion.
- [22:02]
C
Yeah. Yeah. And if you. And I think if you love garlic, and pretty much most people do, you will notice those times where you pick up a head of garlic that looks like it should be this chonker because it's so big, and you have it in your hand. You're like, why is this so light? And it's so light because the season has ended for garlic. And that germ that's in the middle that you know you're going to find when you cut it open is sacking all the goodness from the flesh around it because it's using it for nutrients to grow a new plant. And that make. That's what makes the flesh itself bitter. The germ itself is fine. It's. It's sweet. It really doesn't taste like much, but it's the. The flesh, It's. It's like a little vampire. It's like, I would take your essence.
- [22:49]
B
Mm. Now. Now onions are. Are a little bit different. And. And I was really taken by one of the headnotes that you wrote specifically about onion soup. Um, and you talked about how you really hated onion soup, but your father loved it. But now. Now you get it. Can you talk about that journey that. That onion soup journey?
- [23:16]
C
Well, what's interesting is that I love onions. And it was the onion soup that I was getting that I hated. And I knew that it. That it was because it was badly made. Cause Usually it's charred to bits. And my dad, who was not the kindest when it came to food that came from, you know, when he was in a restaurant, if he didn't like something, he would be very vocal. It was like, you know, dad, you're embarrassing me. But you could smell the burnt onion from across the table. And I was like, this is very unusual that my father is not making a stink about the, the stink I smell. And in talking with him towards the end of his life and kind of trying to figure out what the deal was, you know, it totally made sense. He was a, an 18 year old boy just graduating from school in Alabama high school and sent to Normandy as a child. So he was on a journey that was just so frightening for such a young person. But when he was in France during the war, he discovered his love of French cuisine. And it would have been a family that had very little in Normandy that gave the little that they had in whatever produce it was which would, in that point, it would be onions. And they served him his first French onion soup. And it made such an impact on him that the memory held for 93 years. Well, it's like 80 some years because he was 93 when he died and he was 18 when he was in the war. That was a pretty amazing memory, a culinary memory that sustained him through some terrible bowls of soup. So I decided I wanted to taste what he tasted. I wanted the thing that held so strong for so long. And in my deep dive, I came to find that the onion that would have been used was not traditionally grown in the United States. And it's called a Rose de Roscoff de Caravel. And if you are a grower of onions or most things, you'll know that most Americans use steps. So they, in the spring, you go to the nursery and they look like green onions. They're like little onions ready to go in the springtime. And then by July or so or so, they'll be full bulbs. They'll be like onions. And so you can't. You. The varieties are very limited. It's like anything in the grocery store. You're not getting this whole panalogy of tomato varietals. And the same is true for going to a nursery and growing onions. So I had to get the seeds and I found the right seeds from Adaptive Seeds in Oregon. So they were growing those onions, I thought, very cool. We're at the same latitude. So with onions, you have to be at a specific latitude to grow a specific kind of onion. And as it Happens Oregon, where the seeds were, Vermont and Normandy in France. Brittany, actually. We all were on the same latitude so that we could all grow these long day onions. And so I'm like, so I can successfully grow them. I got the seeds, I started them on my dad's birthday in early February, and so they come up like grass. And then I harvested them in late July. And then I. You have to cheer them so you. They're very fresh when they come out of the ground. So you want the stalks to be dried and for enough time that the papers on the outside of the onion are protective and dry enough that you can store them successfully. So this is months, months before I can even think about making soup.
- [26:53]
B
This better be damn fine scoop.
- [26:57]
C
And so finally, when I was able to make. That doesn't mean that you can't use the onion straight out of the ground. You totally can. It's just cure them for storing. But I was being patient. And then I got my. My bones, beef stock, bones from my local butcher. I roasted them, made my stock, made the soup, caramelized for hours. And it was just, it was beautiful. I mean, just. And I made sure to eat the onion raw and in, in a different variety of ways just to kind of get to know what the flavor profile was and to make sure that I wasn't going to be tricking myself into like, like making myself love it. It is a pretty special onion. And I got to know what it was that my father fell in love with. And I was so happy to have experienced it. But then I also, guys, if you're putting something like that in a book, you're like, here's the recipe. First, get the seed. Second, grow the seed and wait a couple months. I mean, that's, you know, this story is fantastic. And if you want to go to the lengths that I did, I think it's a fantastic journey. But I also give you a roadmap for going to the grocery store and selecting a variety of onions that together will give you the complexities of the one. So you want something that will give you the flake because it's a pretty marvelous onion. So you want the full flavor complexity. It has a sweetness, it has a bite, it has all the things that like three different onions would give you, but it also gives you a certain amount of texture and it can survive long caramelization without disintegrating entirely. So that's why you have to get a number of varieties in the mix so that you do get onions that hold their shape. And some will disintegrate but they will give the right flavor as well.
- [28:41]
B
So I read that, and I started thinking to myself, it reminds me of when I approach apple pie.
- [28:47]
C
Yeah, sure. I mean, apple pie, especially, we're talking about memory makers. Having the right combination of apples or the single varietal, that speaks to you and that speaks to a memory is just really fantastic. And then sometimes you do have to, like, get three, two or three apples together. That will allow you to get both the texture that you want and the taste you want.
- [29:14]
B
Yeah, some of them really do fall apart much more than others. Then you still want that. That.
- [29:20]
C
That. That toothsomeness, you know that 100%. Yeah, absolutely.
- [29:24]
B
So it. It, It. I mean, mind you, I. I actually do think onions and apples go together really well.
- [29:30]
C
They do, absolutely.
- [29:31]
B
But it just made me think of that immediately, and I was like, you know, I've never thought of, you know, thinking, you know, combining more than one kind of onion in something. But you're right.
- [29:40]
C
They.
- [29:40]
B
They really do have different characteristics and.
- [29:43]
C
Yeah, they do.
- [29:44]
B
You know, if you want to blend them. So I was just thinking that there might be other things that I want to do that with, you know?
- [29:52]
C
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even tomatoes. Yeah.
- [29:55]
B
Potatoes. Absolutely. I'm sort of. That's a little bit more ingrained to me because when I go to the green market, you see the brandy wines, you see the striped, you know, prints, and, you know, they make a fuss out of the different.
- [30:10]
C
The varietals. Yeah, they do. And they're really exciting to grow, too, because as they start developing, the fruit starts developing. You see their characteristics so beautifully, and you get to see their growing stages, how sometimes they don't look very fancy when they start, but then, whoa, when they start to really come to fruition, they start showing their fancy colors.
- [30:33]
B
And what I appreciated in the book is you're all about letting that shine. There is, I kid you not, listeners, a sandwich recipe. Aunt Siss's tomato sandwich. I mean, it's simplicity. It's nothing but bread. And I believe, if I recall correctly.
- [30:53]
C
A little bit of mayonnaise, and there's dude.
- [30:56]
B
And that's it. And this is a recipe in the book.
- [30:59]
C
And I say in the headnote, this is less a recipe than a memory, though. I don't give you the bread recipe. I do give you the bread. But it's one of those things that it. I mean, it's just talking. It's a. It's talking to the fact that food is memory and something like a tomato. I think we can all agree that what you're getting in the regular old cellophane at the grocery store is really not a tomato. It's just like, it's the memory of a tomato. And the, the sandwich I got from my aunt Sis was a reminder that. And I was a kid that was just, just, just obsessed with junk food. And my mom didn't let us have, we were, we were macrobiotics. So it was like a, it's a vegan style diet that was very low on flavor.
- [31:45]
B
Yeah, you mentioned that in one of the headnotes for the, I believe for the cold soba noodle salad.
- [31:50]
C
Yes. Yeah. So when I visited someone like my aunt Sis who lived in the south and, and who had access, and would give us access to junk food, my anticipation of hearsen giving me a sandwich would be like orange cheese, you know, delightful illegal processed cheese food and cheese meats. And, and the fact that I was getting a slab of tomato, I was like, well, I am really let down here. But when I ate it, I will never forget the taste of that glorious sandwich. And so it is really about looking at the thing, the tomato. And when you find a beautifully grown tomato or you grow one yourself, eat it in its simplest form and there is just, you know, memory will stay with you forever.
- [32:43]
B
I absolutely agree. I've got to tell you, when I start seeing the heirloom tomatoes at the Green Market, because I, I mean, once again, I live in an apartment. I don't, I don't grow anything, but I really respect those that do. And Lord knows I love fresh produce. And sometimes I'll just for dinner slice up a few different tomatoes and just put a little salt on them and maybe a drizzle of olive oil.
- [33:09]
C
And that's it.
- [33:10]
B
That's all you need?
- [33:12]
C
Absolutely. Well, and the book isn't just. The book isn't like a tome to you must grow. Because like you said, like, sometimes it's you living in a place where you simply cannot, or maybe you can have a little pot with an herb, but it's also appreciating when things are in season, when you can go out and when you should be looking for things. It's also about, like, you should really make friends with your greengrocer. Or, you know, just, even if you just only have like a Kroger, talk to the produce manager, make friends with him and say, if you have an ability to get this in stock at this time, you know, maybe you can do that for me. And then sometimes they'll just get enough for you like, they will get you bulk things as well. You just have to be really nice to them. Absolutely.
- [34:00]
B
My grandfather was a produce man in a supermarket. And, I mean, he was very persnickety. He'd bring stuff back. Like, he taught me how to, you know, figure out what pineapple was good or a melon.
- [34:12]
C
That's so amazing.
- [34:14]
B
I love that, you know, there's a joy in it for them. You know, I think if you go up and you explain to them that there's a joy in it for you, you've got something in common immediately.
- [34:27]
C
Absolutely. Yeah.
- [34:29]
B
I mean, you know, I agree with you. I mean, I'm that way with all sorts of. Like my butcher. Yeah.
- [34:36]
C
Yes.
- [34:36]
B
I'm lucky enough to have a great butcher. And by the way, I love the story about your husband Ray, and how he likes to travel 30 minutes to his preferred butcher for ribeyes.
- [34:46]
C
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It is like a little. We call it date day when we go to our butcher. It's a very exciting time in our time in our life.
- [34:57]
B
Not be. Nothing's more romantic than going to the.
- [35:01]
C
Butcher together to select your meats.
- [35:04]
B
Oh, I mean, the fact of the matter is, I do think that's kind of romantic.
- [35:10]
C
I'm not being Confucius. We love it. It's like, very exciting and it's also a very pretty drive. But I mean, people who have. I've. I've wrote. Written about this place before, and I had a student who I forgot, she came from across the country, and she took a hike near this place, and as she was coming out, she smelled something delightful. And she was like that cartoon character that, like, floated towards the scent as it was drying her. And then she saw the sign. She's like, this is that place. Because she had. She had read what I'd written about it and. And it was true to form. It was this magical place. She, like. She was right. It's amazing. So, yeah, it's very exciting.
- [35:55]
B
Do you get your lamb chops from there as well? Because you talk about sous videing lamb chops in the book as well.
- [36:00]
C
I do get my lamb chops from Ben. I did. And speaking of romance. So they also carry Vermont wagyu beef.
- [36:09]
B
But I.
- [36:10]
C
For my husband's birthday last year, I got him the subscription to the. That. That Vermont farm. And I haven't stopped. I haven't stopped it yet. So it's been like two birthdays in a row. I'm like, we're just gonna keep this going. We're getting really good we're getting really.
- [36:24]
B
Good beef and, and you know what? Why stop when you've got a good thing going?
- [36:29]
C
Oh, it's beautiful.
- [36:30]
B
Now I gotta tell you though, when I read about the ribeyes in particular, which if I recall correctly are yeast served with the chimichurri I wanted to make. Although, oh my God, I will never make them, it's too much work. The brined and twice fried fries, I mean like that's a lot, that's a lot to do for a fry. Not that a perfect fry might not be worth it, but how did you come up with that particular, you know, recipe that developed? We need to do all these things in order to create the perfect fry.
- [37:03]
C
Well, I think either you go whole hog or you get oreiter. You know, I mean, honestly, it is like if you want the best fry, just peeling and slicing a potato is work enough. So you might as well go through the other steps because you do, you probably got everything around you. Anyway. Brining it brings a flavor and provides this base of, of eventual super crispiness and tenderness. So you're getting like this lovely texture on your potato and like built in seasoning. And then the double fry, the, the English really, really perfected the double and triple fry where you fry it obviously twice. Once to get the initial like par fry and the second one to, to seal in the, the crisp and also ensuring you still get this lovely fluffy middle.
- [38:00]
B
Okay, now one is a big bowl of those fries.
- [38:03]
C
Yeah, but I think, you know, but you're not wrong in that it is a lot of work. But I think when you start on a journey of, of frying your own fries, you're already well invested in a long journey or, or just, or you can like literally get frozen and you know, you can get frozen fries that are going to be satisfying or just go to McDonald's. I mean there are, there are other options of tasty fries, right?
- [38:28]
B
Well, I mean I'm lucky enough to live near a lot of other restaurants, you know, besides McDonald's, that, that will do the deep frying. I mean my point, even better. I've got a small kitchen and I don't deep fry in here.
- [38:42]
C
Well, yes, it is a stank.
- [38:44]
B
Well, it's a stank and it's messy. And one time one of my friends who is a former chef came and, and I told him he wasn't allowed to fry. And what does he do in my kitchen? He fries. He fries some, some frogs legs and it left stains all over the place because the splattering you know.
- [39:00]
C
Yeah. There is a splat. Yes. And I think it's one of those things, especially when it's a, it's a smaller kitchen where everything is going to be. Get like carpet bombed by the grease. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [39:11]
B
I mean, I've always said to myself, the day I have another home, like, if I've ever, I have a place like out in the country, you know, I will get one of those fryers and maybe even fry outside.
- [39:23]
C
Yeah.
- [39:24]
B
So that's when, that's when I will be able to embrace your brined and twice fried fries, you know, on my own. But until then, I will dream of them and go elsewhere where I know they can satisfy my French fry cravings.
- [39:39]
C
But I think the other thing is like, if you read something about that kind of technique, you'll. You start seeing that if a place does it, they will tell you what the process is because it is so specific and so good. And then you're kind of, your spidey senses will be alighted to this. So like, you will, you will recognize it and you'll go, yes, I read about it. I'm going to try that.
- [40:02]
B
I will say in the book, you have some mighty potato recipes and you do say that you prefer starch over leafy greens, no matter how much you want to, you know, talk about, you know, your kale. And I'm wondering if some of that is German influence because I know that you also have German roots.
- [40:22]
C
Yeah, I am German. And so probably like the pork and the potato is strong. Yeah.
- [40:30]
B
A lot of recipes in here also that are German. You've got Kaiserspetzel, Schweinbraten, Wolkhorn, Brot, Volkhorn Brot.
- [40:39]
C
Yeah. And so Spitzer is something that like, it is, it's like pasta. It's a little dumpling. It's just, it's just fantastic. We fry it off. We. You boil it and then you fry it off in butter to give it a little more texture. There's. And it's really, it's actually terribly simple. I don't think it's any harder than making pancakes because the batter is very similar.
- [41:00]
B
I agree with you. I've made spaetzle. I mean, I'm also. I literally just got my passport. I am German.
- [41:07]
C
Me too. Yeah.
- [41:08]
B
Oh, yay. And I also interviewed and I've met Louisa Weiss. I don't know if you know her, but she.
- [41:16]
C
I do know. I do know her work.
- [41:17]
B
Yeah, yeah. So we talked about German cuisine as well. But I want to make some of yours Now. And you know, your German cucumber salad, I love that. That's the one vegetable I do believe Germans embrace like no other.
- [41:34]
C
Absolutely. I mean, when I was a kid, that was like our summer salad. My family's in Bavaria, and there was this little. It's a mountain, but there. It's a hill. And there was a little place that had just salads in it and beer. And so if you spend any time in Germany in the summertime, they will just have all sorts of salads that you think should never be a salad. Like Woestalat, which is like sausage salad, but. But which I adore. But of all, like, I love which is the cucumber salad. And this is when I was a kid and I was not a vegetable person. And I adore this stuff. I did then, and I still do now.
- [42:19]
B
I'm joining your cucumber salad lover club.
- [42:23]
C
Oh, so good. So good.
- [42:25]
B
And I'm lucky enough. I was just in Munich and I had some excellent cucumber salad.
- [42:30]
C
It was really so good.
- [42:33]
B
But there's something else German you mention in the book. And I also read that you, at one point in time were a judge for a Christmas cookie special on the Food Network, and you have a recipe in there for feffernus.
- [42:49]
C
Yes.
- [42:50]
B
Don't see that recipe very often. I love feffernus. I was wondering if you could talk a bit about cookies. Feffernus. And also for you having been a judge and considering Christmas is coming around the corner soon, what makes for a perfect Christmas cook cookie?
- [43:07]
C
I don't think there is a perfect Christmas cookie. I think there is a perfect Christmas cookie platter. Because I honestly believe that having that selection that represents different tastes and different traditions is so wonderful.
- [43:26]
B
It's.
- [43:27]
C
To me, it's one of my favorite parts of Christmas, of seeing the different types and different shapes and colors. It just.
- [43:35]
B
It.
- [43:36]
C
I love them all. And I don't think it's, like, anything about being a singularity. It's about just this lovely platter that gives you choice and gives you. You know, it kind of points to different people in your family.
- [43:50]
B
Yes, definitely.
- [43:51]
C
Different and different traditions, which. And even if it's something that you wouldn't traditionally like, would be your, like, dessert. Go to. I find that in those times of celebratory meals that you fall in love with things that wouldn't normally be your thing just because it was made by someone you love, you know, I absolutely.
- [44:16]
B
Agree with you on that. And it's. It's, as you said earlier, it's about memory.
- [44:21]
C
Yeah, it is. I mean, smells, tastes are just. They're locked and loaded with memory. And I think that's one of the things that was really driving this book in that some it's about seasonality, but I didn't want to make it about kind of a purity test of, like, everything has to be grown and everything has to be, you know, all vegetable. I really wanted it to be about comfort and memory and having whole foods that would still nourish you and give you delight. And I think. And I think that's exactly what a great holiday cookie platter will do.
- [45:01]
B
I agree. And I will say that your book delivers on all cylinders. It's been an absolute pleasure.
- [45:10]
C
Thank you so much.
- [45:11]
B
We've been speaking to Gesina Bullock Prado, and her newest book is My Harvest Kitchen, and it's over a hundred recipes to savor the seasons. And I'm also gonna say to help you, you know, make memories and spread a little joy. So thank you very much.
- [45:32]
C
Happy Harvest.