INTERVIEW: Kardea Brown Talks New Cookbook 'Make Do With What You Have', Charleston Cuisine, Emmys + More

Summary

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The Breakfast Club: Kardea Brown Talks ‘Make Do With What You Have’, Charleston Cuisine, Emmys & More

Podcast: The Breakfast Club
Host(s): DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God
Guest: Kardea Brown (Chef, Author, TV Host)
Episode Date: November 12, 2025

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Overview

This episode features renowned chef and Food Network host Kardea Brown discussing her new cookbook, Make Do With What You Have, her journey to culinary television, Charleston and Gullah Geechee cuisine, representation in the food industry, and what it means to “make do” in the kitchen. The hosts dive into her Emmy award wins, personal life, cultural legacy, and practical cooking advice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Kardea Brown’s Backstory and Path to Food Television

• Journey Origin:

  • Kardea’s food roots are entrenched in Charleston, SC. With no professional culinary training, she learned cooking from her mother and grandmother, both excellent cooks ([05:08]).

  • Background in social work; cooking was her creative and emotional outlet after challenging days ([05:45]).

  • Her TV journey began when her then-boyfriend filmed her cooking; the video, unbeknownst to her, landed her on the Cooking Channel ([06:41]).

  • Food Network opportunity: She took a leap of faith, quit her job, started the New Gullah Supper Club, and after several rejections, was finally greenlit for her own show, Delicious Ms. Brown ([08:02]).

    Kardea: “So the following week, I put in my resignation letter at work.” ([08:02])

Breaking Barriers on Food Network

• Kardea is the first Black woman to win two Emmys for Delicious Ms. Brown ([09:02]), acknowledging the significance and difficulty of being a Black woman in the historically white, male-dominated culinary and TV spaces.

• Cites inspirations and peers like Sunny Anderson, the Neelys, and Carla Hall—remarking on increased but still insufficient diversity ([09:29]).

  Charlamagne Tha God: “How hard is that for a Black woman to break through on the Food Network? I only know y’all two, right?”
  Kardea: “It’s just really been us.” ([09:14])

Social Work Roots and Community Impact

• Past career in child protective services; describes the thresholds for child removal, the realities of family reunification, and humorous complaints kids had, e.g., about food or being punished ([10:26], [11:43]).
• Recalls a full-circle moment hosting Big Brothers Big Sisters at her restaurant, reconnecting with her roots in community mentorship ([12:52]).

Charleston and Gullah Geechee Cuisine

• Signature Dishes:

  • Shrimp and grits best represent Charleston/Lowcountry cuisine ([13:47]).
  • Red rice, fried fish, and other Lowcountry staples hold prominent cultural and personal value.
  • Discusses alternatives for dietary restrictions (turkey in red rice, vegan versions, regional twists like anchovies—“God damn anchovies in the red rice, come on now.” – Charlamagne, [14:30]).

• Family & Traditions:

  • Food is deeply woven into family gatherings: “Fried fish and red rice... On Fridays, you get paid Fridays, you go get you a fried [fish]” ([36:30]).
  • Community seafood boils, oyster roasts, pig roasts—a point of connection between Gullah lowcountry and other Southern Black communities ([27:29], [27:47]).

Making Food Accessible: New Cookbook & Money-Saving Hacks

• Make Do With What You Have is grounded in the reality of single-parent hardship, stretching ingredients, and maximizing pantry basics ([32:17]).
• Rejects elitism in food: Prefers store brands, advocates for using what’s on hand ([32:17], [33:08]).
• Practical advice for working families:

  • “Chicken bog” is a go-to budget meal (rice + whatever chicken is available + veggies in a single pot, [35:10]).

  • Buy discounted meats near expiration, freeze for later ([38:52]).

  • Pantry staples: rice, beans, grits, eggs, canned goods ([33:22]).

    Kardea: “You can make something out of nothing. You can.” ([34:59])

Work-Life Balance, Imposter Syndrome & Staying Grounded

• Recurring theme of imposter syndrome, especially as one of the few Black women in her space, lacking the formal training and network her peers had ([29:13]).
• Learned business skills from her grandmother and mother, navigated contracts and finance largely alone ([30:09]).
• Emphasizes never wanting to “be broke again”—drives her sharp business acumen ([30:56]).

Representation, Purpose & Legacy

• Strong sense of mission: Preserving and platforming Gullah Geechee heritage, opening doors for future Black and Gullah chefs ([18:06], [18:44]).

• Questions why, despite Black cooks being foundational to American cuisine, so few Black women are visible in mainstream food media ([19:23]).

• On cookbooks as spiritual/cultural inheritance: Importance of documenting recipes for communal memory ([47:13]).

  Kardea: “Cookbooks are spiritual because…all of us are going to leave this place one day and you got to have something left to talk about.” ([47:23])

Personal Life and Motivation

• Dedicates her second cookbook to her husband, who supports her work and offers honest feedback about her dishes—even when calling her red velvet cake “dry” ([16:53], [46:44]).
• “Feeding him is my love language… feeding, you know, not only his body, but his soul, too.” ([47:13])

Philosophy, Mantras & Faith

• Shares formative mantras from her mother and grandmother, e.g.,
  • “If you want to act grown, be grown.” ([41:39])
  • “The Lord will make a way out of no way.” ([42:42])
  • “Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.” ([44:10])
• Faith is a continual guide, especially through adversity and instability; she reflects on her period of homelessness as pivotal ([43:04]).

What’s Next for Kardea Brown

• Launching Kids Baking Championship with Duff Goldman; hosting Holiday Baking Championship ([44:47]).

• Intentionally embracing openness to new opportunities, avoiding the trap of comparison and hustle culture ([45:20]).

  Kardea: "I am allowing the universe to do what it do. Whatever God has for me, I’m not going to limit myself to anything." ([45:15])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Nothing ever felt right as that weekend did. So I stepped out on faith, sold all my belongings, got on the Amtrak, moved back down to Charleston and said, this is what it’s gonna be.”
  — Kardea Brown ([08:07])

• "I don’t want to keep saying that it’s only one or two women, Black women in general, that are on the Food Network. Why is that?
  — Kardea Brown ([19:23])

• "I use cooking as an outlet for me. My entire life, I’ve just always done it."
  — Kardea Brown ([05:45])

• "On Fridays…you get paid Fridays, you go get you a fried [fish] and your red rice, lima beans sometimes, and piece of toast, that cheap white bread, you know, and that’s how you get down."
  — Kardea Brown ([36:39])

• "The Lord will make a way out of no way, absolutely every single time…I am a living testimony...I was homeless at one point, so to be here today talking about my second cookbook...God will bring you out the darkest situation."
  — Kardea Brown ([42:42])

• "Feeding him is my love language, feeding…not only his body, but his soul, too."
  — Kardea Brown ([47:13])

• "Cookbooks are spiritual, especially coming from Black and Brown households where recipes are not written down…it’s only word of mouth...[they] are so important because eventually all of us are going to leave this place one day and you got to have something left to talk about."
  — Kardea Brown ([47:23])

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Timeline & Timestamps

| Time (MM:SS) | Segment | |------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:28 | Kardea Brown joins the show; shares the saga of her trip and “making do” | | 05:08 | Her culinary background and family influence | | 06:41 | TV career origin story and leap of faith | | 08:02 | Quitting social work to pursue food and TV | | 09:02 | Emmy wins and representation | | 10:26 | Experiences as a social worker / child protective services | | 12:52 | Full circle moment with Big Brothers Big Sisters | | 13:47 | Lowcountry cuisine and signature dishes (shrimp & grits, red rice) | | 15:01 | Thanksgiving advice for beginner cooks | | 16:53 | “Dry cake” story—her husband’s honest food feedback | | 18:06 | Responsibility of representing Gullah Geechee culture | | 19:23 | Calling out the lack of Black women on Food Network | | 21:30 | Restaurant ownership challenges; airport location advantage | | 27:29 | Family food traditions: crab cracks, oyster roasts, pig roasts | | 28:06 | On belonging, imposter syndrome, and Emmy validation | | 32:17 | Making do: new cookbook, affordable cooking, using what’s on hand | | 35:10 | “Chicken bog” – the ultimate cheat meal | | 36:30 | Family meals that bring people together | | 38:52 | Tips for saving money: manager specials, discounted meats | | 41:39 | Family mantras and their meaning | | 42:42 | Faith during adversity; overcoming homelessness | | 44:47 | What’s next: TV shows, embracing new opportunities | | 45:20 | Letting go of comparison, valuing peace of mind | | 46:44 | Cookbook dedication to her husband | | 47:13 | The spirituality of cookbooks in Black and Brown families |

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Final Thoughts

Kardea Brown’s interview is rich with cultural memory, practical wisdom, and heartfelt personal stories. She illuminates the intersection of food, identity, and perseverance, empowering listeners to cherish their roots, honor community legacies, and “make do” creatively—whether in the kitchen or in life.

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Transcript

[Unidentified Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Cartier Brown]

What a matchup we got, y'. All. This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo, drum beat, everybody showing that school pride.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

A game like this, yeah, it calls.

[Cartier Brown]

For an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah. Crisp and refreshing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's a game changer right there.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, that taste always hits the right note.

[Cartier Brown]

Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and an.

[DJ Envy]

Ice cold Coca Cola.

[Cartier Brown]

That's a winning combo.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work.

[Cartier Brown]

So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going on the podcast. Health stuff. We are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night. I'm Dr. Priyanka Wali, a double board certified physician. Hi, I'm Hari Kondabolu, a comedian and someone who once googled do I have scurvy at 3am and on our show we're talking about health in a different way. Like our episode where we look at diabetes in the United states. I mean, 50% of Americans are pre diabetic. How preventable is type 2? Extremely. Listen to Health Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story. America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to binge the entire season ad free, subscribe to Lava for good. Plus on Apple podcasts, people called them murderers. Ten years later, they were gods. Today, no one knows their names. A group of maverick surgeons who took.

[DJ Envy]

On the medical establishment who risked everything.

[Cartier Brown]

To invent open heart surgery. Welcome to the wild west of American medicine. I'm Chris Pine and this is Cardiac Cowboys. If you like medical dramas, if you.

[DJ Envy]

Like heart pounding thrillers, you will love Cardiac Cowboys.

[Cartier Brown]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts sponsored by Jasper AI AI. Built for marketers. I'm Eva Longoria. And I'm Maite Gomez Rejoan. And this week on our podcast, Hungry for History, we talk oysters. Plus the Miami chief stops by. If you are not an oyster lover.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Don'T even talk to me.

[Cartier Brown]

Ancient Athenians used to scratch names onto oyster Shells to vote politicians into exile. So. So our word ostracize is related to the word oyster. No way. Bring back the ostrichon. Listen to Hungry for history on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hold up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Cartier Brown]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[Cartier Brown]

Are y' all finished or y' all done?

[DJ Envy]

Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlamagne. Th guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lon Larose is here as well. We got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, indeed.

[DJ Envy]

Khadia Brown. Welcome.

[Cartier Brown]

Hi.

[DJ Envy]

How are you feeling? Morning.

[Cartier Brown]

I'm feeling good. How y' all feeling?

[DJ Envy]

Bless.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Black and highly favored.

[Cartier Brown]

I know that's right. Let me tell you what. What it took to get here. Okay, so my flight was canceled from Charleston. Right. But I knew it was going to be canceled, so something told me just go ahead and book a. A a trip on the Amtrak.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Y' all took the train?

[Cartier Brown]

I took the train. 14 hours.

[DJ Envy]

We should be cooking for you then.

[Cartier Brown]

Exactly. Right. I need a little continental breakfast. But yeah. And then the train got stuck in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

DC So when you fly in.

[Cartier Brown]

I didn't fly in.

[DJ Envy]

She just said.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I know, but when you. Was you scheduled to fly in?

[Cartier Brown]

I was scheduled to fly in yesterday at 2:55 until 4:00am this morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And they can't. They already had canceled it.

[Cartier Brown]

I already canceled it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yikes. See what's going on?

[Cartier Brown]

But I made sure I came.

[Unidentified Host]

You made it.

[Cartier Brown]

I made sure I was here.

[Unidentified Host]

That's because you're supposed to be here.

[DJ Envy]

Some breakfast. Well, how are you feeling?

[Cartier Brown]

I'm feeling good.

[DJ Envy]

You feeling good?

[Cartier Brown]

I'm feeling great.

[Unidentified Host]

I could have cooked you breakfast. No, you couldn't have says, use what you got.

[Cartier Brown]

Exactly. You know what I mean? What you had in here, what did you have in your house?

[Unidentified Host]

We could have did eggs, bacon, panc. I do little fried apples.

[Cartier Brown]

You know fried apples.

[Unidentified Host]

My grandmother does.

[Cartier Brown]

Yep.

[Unidentified Host]

That's a thing.

[Cartier Brown]

Where are you from?

[Unidentified Host]

My grandma from Virginia.

[Cartier Brown]

Okay, so, yeah, that makes sense. So like, you just like, take the apples, slice them up, cut them up and put them in a pan with.

[Unidentified Host]

Like, some butter or something and the cinnamon. Little brown sugar.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Cartier Brown]

Ooh, I definitely could have took that.

[Unidentified Host]

That's her favorite meal. That's an easy breakfast.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Stop making me very easy.

[DJ Envy]

No, because so, you know, since. Since your name been on this, the list that you were coming up here, Charlamagne's been salivating. Right. Or like, just comes. Just stroll down the mouth. So let's. Let's what are you talking about? Let's find out. How'd you get into cooking? Like, let's start from the beginning. It's your first time here. How did you get into cooking? What made you realize that you wanted.

[Cartier Brown]

To be a chef?

[DJ Envy]

We got some time.

[Cartier Brown]

Okay. So my grandmother and my mother are excellent cooks. My grandmother on my father's side was known for her red rice in Charleston. Hey, okay. You know about that red rice. So she was a cook at the Piggly Wiggly on Meaton Street.

[DJ Envy]

Piggly Wiggly?

[Cartier Brown]

Piggly Wiggly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's a grocery store for all you up north folk. Okay.

[Cartier Brown]

So she was a cook. A long time cook there. But I get it from both sides of my family. I do not have any professional background experience. I did not go to culinary school. It was just something I always loved to do.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Fortnite Pig Wiggly used to be.

[Cartier Brown]

So good, you know, and it still is. The one on Savannah Highway. It's delicious.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Cartier Brown]

The fried chicken, you know, collard greens, red rice on Fridays. My husband now knows about it, but. But. So I started out with just like, my background's in social work. I went to school for psychology. Just thought I was going to do something in the non profit world, which I did. I worked at Big Brothers, Big Sisters. I did. I did removal of children from homes and I did child placement. I did all of that. So in the midst of doing that, because it's just a very hard job. You know, it's rewarding, but it's hard. So I use cooking as an outlet for me. My entire life, I've just always done it. Exactly. So I was living in Jersey at the time in 2015, and I was dating this guy who one day was like recording me. I was like, I don't know why he's recording me. I thought he was just gonna put it on Instagram. I get a call maybe a few days later from a producer who's like, your boyfriend sent in a video of you cooking.

[Unidentified Host]

Oh, you was cooking?

[Cartier Brown]

I was cooking in the kitchen.

[Unidentified Host]

You said, okay, so I'm sorry.

[Cartier Brown]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

I'm freaky over there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What kind of video recording was cooking? This is a chef story. What's wrong with y'?

[Cartier Brown]

All?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's up with y'?

[Cartier Brown]

All?

[Unidentified Host]

I was cooking in the kitchen and.

[Cartier Brown]

He was recording me. Cook. Okay, great. And I got a call from a producer. My bad. Let me back up. So I got a call from a producer, said, hey, we are featuring home cooks on this new show on the Cooking Channel, and we want to Feature you. We like your style of cooking. We like your personality. I thought it was a joke. I'm like, y' all are not about to come. I'm living in Jersey. I'm just cooking, you know, for fun. This is not serious. You can't be. They were serious. They filmed the show over a course of, like, a weekend. And on the last day of filming, the producer came up to me and said, I think you. You have what it takes to be, like, a food personality. I think you should try it. I'm like, listen, I don't know what kind of jokes you got going on here, but this was fun. I'm gonna go back to my cubicle on Monday and go back to my regular life. He was like, I really think you should give this a shot. You're a natural at this. I know you've never been on TV before, but if you. If you let us pitch you. We want to pitch you to the Food Network. Wow. So they pitched me. And well, before that, something in me was just like, God, you wouldn't bring me this far and show me this if it wasn't something behind it. So the following week, I put in my resignation letter at work.

[DJ Envy]

Ooh.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So you just, like your discernment, just said, you know what? It's time. Time to step out on faith.

[Cartier Brown]

Nothing ever felt right as that weekend did. And so I stepped out on faith, sold all of my belongings, got on the Amtrak and moved back down to Charleston and said, this is what it's going to be. I started a supper club called the New Gullah Supper Club, where it featured all of the Gullah Geechee dishes. And I honed in on my skills, and eventually they. We did a sizzle reel, and. And Food Network kind of gave in, was like, oh, we'll give you a shot. And it took about four or five years before that, yes, because I did get a no. I get. I got a few no's, but I didn't take it as, no, it's not for you. I heard it as, no, not right now.

[DJ Envy]

Not yet.

[Cartier Brown]

So I kept. Kept honing in on my skills, kept. Kept doing my thing. I did my supper club, and I had little appearances here and there on the Cooking Channel and Food Network, and eventually they gave me my shot. And with a proof of concept, they saw the proof of concept and greenlit the first season of delicious brown.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Delicious Ms. Brown. And you've won two Emmys for that so far. Wow. Outstanding Culinary Instructional Series and Outstanding culinary.

[Cartier Brown]

Host and the first black woman to do so. Wow. Yeah, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's so interesting, right, because, you know, you and Sonny. Sonny was the first black woman that I know from culture. Right. Salute to Sunny Anderson, who broke through on the Food Network. How hard is that for a black woman to break through on the Food Network? I only know y' all too, right?

[Cartier Brown]

It's us. That's, you know, I think over the years they've gotten better with diversity and inclusion on the network. But for a long time, it was just Sunny, the Neelys.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, the Neelys. I forgot about the Neelys.

[Cartier Brown]

Yes. And. And Chef Aaron with Big Daddy's House. And. But as far as a black woman back then, all I knew was B. Smith. And Smith. Yes, yes. God bless her soul. But Sunny was the only one. And Sunny was, you know, like I tell anybody, Sunny is who I looked up to. And I saw her on there and I saw her being her authentic self, and I was like, if she can do it, I, you know, I can do. But yeah, it's, it's just really been us. And then now Carla hall is, is on the network as well. But it's, it's, it's, it's hard. You know, it's a white male dominated field in and out of television, even with the culinary world in general. You know, most executive chefs, head chefs are white men.

[DJ Envy]

I do have one question before we go into the chef. Something that just, just made me think. When you used to work at cps, what was the reason why you would take a child from a home? Because usually they say it takes a long time. It has to be almost like to the word. So what would be that reason? Like, how far does it go? Cause I'm just curious.

[Cartier Brown]

Deplorable environments. Like if you, you know, I've said before that sometimes CPS can let things slip through the cracks. And on my watch, you know, any notices, anything, like coming in and seeing multiple reports of abuse, and you walk into a home and you see that they're clearly living in deplorable environments. After that, in multiple cases and multiple write ups, then it would, would warrant a removal from the home. Like there's emergency removal where there's clear abuse and then there's some. That it takes some cases and some write ups before that happens.

[DJ Envy]

I know a lot of parents are always scared that my kids are going to come to school and say, my mama hit me or my daddy hit me. Yeah, but that doesn't get your kid taken out. Okay.

[Cartier Brown]

Not immediately. No. We always want, we always want reunification and we Always want children to be in their homes. But if it's clear and there's multiple signs of something going on, then there has to be an investigation first before a child is just removed.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did a child ever complain that their parents couldn't cook and they wanted to be.

[Cartier Brown]

Of course that. That happens. That used to happen. Like, oh, I didn't want this. Or kids will complain like, oh, I didn't get a chance to wear this. I wanted to wear those sneakers. They took my game from me or something. That's you?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Don't you get mad when they call you to the house and you be like, you calling me? Cause your mama took your game?

[Cartier Brown]

Or even when I was. Even when I was a social worker and I had, like, you know, kids on beyond, like, them being with their. Their birthright families. Like when I did child placement and they were with their temporary households, and I would get calls on the. And I can hear the. The phone now. The. The on call phone. And I would get some of my clients who would be like, well, I'm on punishment, so why are you on punishment? What happened? I got a couple of Fs. And so you decided to punch holes in the wall and do crazy stuff because you got F's on your report card. Now, how does that. In 3:00 in the morning, like, I gotta go remove a child and put him in another home because of craziness. But, you know, kids will be kids.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's real.

[Unidentified Host]

I was gonna ask, did those two worlds ever, like, collide at all? Like, did any of the kids that you helped find, like, placement homes or whatever? Now they watch you on the Food Network. You run into them, like, did that ever happen?

[Cartier Brown]

That recently just happened? I also worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Newark while I was living in Jersey. And I recently hosted a Big Brothers Big Sisters meet and greet at my restaurant in Charleston, which was really nice as a full circle moment. Going from being a mentor manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters to hosting them at my restaurant. And the one in the airport, they. The one in the airport.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Cartier Brown's Southern Restaurant. Yeah. Yes. In Charleston Airport.

[DJ Envy]

The restaurant you own.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It came full circle.

[Cartier Brown]

So it came full circle to have them, you know, there. And I remember being a struggling social worker, you know, rubbing pennies together to make ends meet to having the same organization. That kind of. That's organization. I left before I started the Food Network show. And so to have them at my restaurant, gosh, almost 10 years later, it meant a lot.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, I've heard You say that your cooking is a love letter to the low country where we from. What's one dish that best tells the story of where we from?

[Cartier Brown]

You think shrimp and grits?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, absolutely.

[Cartier Brown]

It's my favorite. You know, it's nothing. And I tell people every time you come to Charleston, you have to have Charleston shrimp. Like, it's, it's, it's, it's like none other. You can go anywhere in the world and have seafood. There is nothing like low country seafood. That. That's my, that's my favorite.

[Unidentified Host]

I gotta go.

[Cartier Brown]

I, I gotta come to try that rice too, though. And the red rice. And the red rice. But see, you don't. You don't eat pork in your red rice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, but a lot of people cooking now with turkey, though.

[Cartier Brown]

Turkey. You know, you can do turkey. Some people do it vegan. Who is. What's the. What's the guy's name that's from Charleston that has the night. No, the late night show. Stephen Colbert. His wife put anchovies in her red rice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. That sound like really potato salad. Evan, you know I love you, but God damn. God damn anchovies in the red rice. Come on now.

[Cartier Brown]

You know.

[DJ Envy]

So the holidays are coming up, right? Yes, Thanksgiving. So for people that, that are not cookers, right? Because there's a lot of, A lot of women, a lot of men out there that don't cook. What's an easy dish for people to make that can still impress some type of people? Like, for instance, Lauren has a new founding man, right. She really doesn't know how to cook. So what would you suggest her to cook to impress this gentleman?

[Cartier Brown]

Don't do shrimp. Chicken Alfredo. We don't for Thanksgiving.

[Unidentified Host]

I would never.

[Cartier Brown]

But I see everything. Every time I see something on social media, everyone's like, oh, you gotta do the Alfredo for, you know, for a date. We're not doing Alfredo for Thanksgiving. I would say a spatchcock turkey. That's super simple. People think that that takes a lot to make, and it really doesn't. You just take the backbone out the turkey or chicken. If you don't want to do a big chicken. I mean a big turkey. Smash it flat down, season it, inject it with some, you know, some butter and some creole juices, bake it off. And it's like the tastiest, juiciest turkey you will ever have. There's some other recipes in there.

[Unidentified Host]

I'm already.

[Cartier Brown]

The jollof rice. I mean, it's so simple. Like, you don't have to do a lot to impress someone, I do something simple that takes a little less step so you don't get all flustered and stuff and just make it taste good. That's it. Presentation, too.

[DJ Envy]

Has your husband ever hurt your feelings?

[Cartier Brown]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

Cause you are a chef, right?

[Cartier Brown]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Sitting back there, have you ever said, nah, that's not it? And you'd be like, what?

[Cartier Brown]

Several times.

[DJ Envy]

What meal was it that he said, that's not.

[Unidentified Host]

What's the last meal? He was like, babe, you gotta go try that again.

[Cartier Brown]

I made. So I made this. I tried to make this, like, jerk chicken and dumpling thing, and I made the dumplings with, like, frozen biscuits. It usually works.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, you gotta make the biscuits from scratch, man.

[DJ Envy]

She didn't have that much time.

[Cartier Brown]

I didn't have much time. And the dumplings just kinda like it did something in there. It was yucky. It was thick. It was slimy. Also, he is a dessert snob, and he will call somebody's cake dry in a heartbeat. Dry. I said, not me sitting on these. I am a judge on holiday baking championships Spring bacon. I know desserts. So I made a red velvet cake one time. He took a slice of the cake.

[Unidentified Host]

And was like, I need water.

[Cartier Brown]

It's a little dry. I said, absolutely dry. Where? I said, do you. If you put your finger. I said, the crumb on it. Do you see the crumb? He's like, I don't know about all that. All I know is my Aunt Pam makes a. Wow. Put Aunt Pam in there. Aunt Pam make a good red velvet cake. And. And hers be a little buttery than this. It's a little dry. I don't know what you want me to tell you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So was he missing something? Did you.

[Cartier Brown]

I thought I did. Right? I put my stick of butter in there. A little oil for me. Technically a stick of butter, guys. A stick of butter. I guess Aunt Pam put about two or three sticks.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's what I'm saying.

[Cartier Brown]

I thought one stick would be enough. 12 tablespoons. I'm measuring. He was like, nah, it's dry.

[DJ Envy]

So what happens after that? After he tells you it's too dry or it don't taste too good? So what's your next move?

[Cartier Brown]

Mumbling across the house? I'm talking about dry.

[Unidentified Host]

Did he finish the piece of cake or.

[Cartier Brown]

No, he threw it away.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Damn, that's cold.

[Cartier Brown]

But. And. But then I thought about it too. Cause I did go get another slice later on that day, and it was reading a little dry. So, you know, he ain't. He's not gonna Fake it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, I wanted to ask you about when you started delicious Ms. Brown. Did you ever imagine you'd be representing, like, an entire region on national. On tv?

[Cartier Brown]

Absolutely not. I just thought I was coming in there and, you know, just. And, you know, growing up in the low country and being of Gullah descent, you really don't think about it. It's just a way of living. It's just like, we Geechee, that's it. You know, that's all we know. And then. But seeing the interests from other people and, like, genuine interest of the Gullah Geechee culture, then I started to realize the importance of what I was doing. It's not only just cooking Southern food and frying fish and making red rice. It was really about preserving a culture.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How has your Gullah Geechee heritage shape not just your recipes, but just the way you see community and success?

[Cartier Brown]

Oh, man. You know, just coming from being of Gullah Geechee descent, it's like, you know, it's not many of us. It's a particular region and era and area, and there's not many of us that make it out of Charleston, out of South Carolina. And so being one of the very few means a lot to me, but it also means that I have work to do, because we're not going to be just us. We have to pave the way for other Gullah Geechee folks, black folks, to be able to do this, too. I don't want to keep saying that it's only one or two women, black women in general, that are on the Food Network. Why is that?

[DJ Envy]

Right?

[Cartier Brown]

All these years later, why is that? You know, there should be more of us. We. I mean, the fabric of American cuisine comes from African American people on the slaves on the backs of enslaved people. So why isn't there more representation across the board with our food?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Aunt Pam need a show. They stabbing you up today?

[DJ Envy]

Stabbing you up today. I wanted to add. You talked about the restaurant, the name of the restaurant again.

[Cartier Brown]

Cartier Brown Southern Kitchen.

[DJ Envy]

You know, when you hear people talk about entering the restaurant business, they say it's one of the hardest things to do.

[Cartier Brown]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

Most of them don't last. So talk about how difficult that is to make sure that it's lasting, it's not trendy, because a lot of restaurants are trendy. Two years, everybody goes. And the third year, they're like, all right, whatever.

[Unidentified Host]

Now this is the age of we got food at home.

[Cartier Brown]

It's definitely that, you know, and so I think what gives me an upper hand is that I'm in the airport, so I automatically have, like, foot traffic in people. And so I keep getting. Oh, Cartier can bring. Bring the restaurant down to King street or downtown or Somerville or wherever. And it is hard. A lot of my colleagues are like, stay away from it. If you. If you can stay in the airport and keep doing, like, airport licensing, things like that, it's easier to do that. But in this day and time, it's like. A lot of my friends who own restaurants are like, you know, we have to struggle between the cost of groceries, the cost of ingredients, paying our staff a livable wage, and trying to turn a profit. A lot of our friends are not making profits right now. They're just breaking even. But I wouldn't say discourage. Discourage you from doing that if you have something really great to offer. Like you said, don't overthink it. The trendy stuff, it dies quickly. We make regular food for regular folks. At my. At my restaurant, we got pork chops, we got fried fish, we got chicken. You know, stuff like what you would normally find in. In Charleston, S.C. and you just do it good, and you do do it well.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

When you are out there early in the morning, that meat and three platter.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I'm saying? Briskets and some biscuits.

[Cartier Brown]

That's all you need.

[Unidentified Host]

How has everything going on with the airports and all that stuff? Has that affected your business in a negative way? I mean, people are still in the airports.

[Cartier Brown]

They just stuck.

[DJ Envy]

They stuck.

[Cartier Brown]

The business is booming.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Booming. Every time I pass by that restaurant.

[Unidentified Host]

That restaurant can't wait to come down there and try your food.

[Cartier Brown]

You got to, girl, while you're there, you got to come to my house. I gotta actually cook for you too, because, I mean, I believe in that.

[Unidentified Host]

I like to eat.

[Cartier Brown]

Listen, I got you. I got you covered.

[Unidentified Host]

Charlemagne was telling me that because I love seafood. I didn't know that there was so much seafood, like, in the sauce.

[Cartier Brown]

For real, because me and from.

[Unidentified Host]

I'm from Delaware. So, like, up here.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Host]

You think of Maryland for, like, crabs and seafood and all of that.

[DJ Envy]

Y ain't got no oceans.

[Unidentified Host]

No, not even that. I just don't think that.

[DJ Envy]

I mean, I know you got no bodies of water.

[Unidentified Host]

Seafood is everywhere. But I just didn't know that there was, like, an area in South Carolina that specialized in that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Country.

[Cartier Brown]

That's all. That's all.

[DJ Envy]

The NBA season's rolling and DraftKings newest game pick six is the easiest way to play for your shot at big wins. NBA stars are lightening it up now. Their numbers aren't just highlights, they're your shot to cash in. Here's how it works. Just pick more or less on two or more player stats. The better your picks, the better your payout. So nail your picks tonight. And don't just win. Stack up on those payouts. New DraftKings customers get $50 and pick six credits with just a $5 entry on your first pick set. Don't just watch basketball. Pick, play. Cash in. Download the DraftKings Pick Six app now and use Code Breakfast. That's Code breakfast. Play just $5 and get $50 in pick six credits. Make the call. Ride the upside in partnership with DraftKings Pick Six, the crown is yours. Gambling Problem Call 1-800- Gambler Help is available for problem gambling. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org in Connecticut must be 18. Age and eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction. Pick Six not available everywhere, including New York and Ontario. Voidware prohibited. One per new customer bonus awarded as non withdrawable. Pick 6 credits that expire in 14 days ends December 2nd at 11:59pm Eastern Time. [e-mail] promos the first thing you notice about Smart Water?

[Cartier Brown]

The pure, crisp taste. Every sip feels like a reset, whether you're racing through the airport, getting ready for a night out, or just claiming a moment of peace on a couch. Smart Water is vapor distilled with electrolytes added for taste. A smart way to keep hydrated no matter where life takes you. Morning commute, brunch with friends, errand run is there for all of it. Pure, crisp and refreshingly simple. And let's be honest, Smart Water is as easy on the eyes as it is on the taste buds. That sleek bottle? It matches that new bag you just got, like they were meant to be together. Wherever you're headed, Smart Water fits right in, keeping you refreshed, confident, and just a little more.

[Unidentified Host]

Well, Smart, Smart Water Purity you taste, hydration you feel.

[Cartier Brown]

Visit drinksmartwater.com to learn more on the podcast Health Stuff we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night. Yes, yes. I'm Dr. Priyanka Walley, a double board certified physician. And I'm Hari Kondabolu, a comedian and someone who once Googled Do I have scurvy at 3am on health stuff, we're talking about health in a different way. It's not only about what we can do to improve our health, but also what our health says about us and the way we're living. Like our episode where we look at diabetes in the United states. I mean, 50% of Americans are pre diabetic. How preventable is type 2? Extremely. Or our in depth analysis of how incredible mangoes are. Oh, it's hard to explain to rest of the world that like your mangoes are fine because mangoes are incredible. But like you don't even know. You don't know, you don't know. It's going to be a fun ride. So tune in. Listen to health stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way. Can we get a Thanksgiving first? I'm hungry. Hey y', all, it's Kadeen and Deval, the hosts of Ellis Ever after podcast.

[DJ Envy]

This holiday season, whether you're cooking for the family, out buying gifts for the.

[Cartier Brown]

Kids, or crowded in holiday traffic, tune out the noise and tune in to Ellis Ever After. On Ellis Ever after, we get real with our crew about family. If you feeling like you feeling that's probably because you a good parent, friendship.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Be careful what you put in your body.

[Cartier Brown]

Move your body and love it the way you love them cars, that house.

[DJ Envy]

Them clothes, them shoes, love yourself, them brunches, loving marriage.

[Cartier Brown]

You know what's become attractive to me and it's because I've self corrected and I guess I detoxified myself. Accountability like it has mad attraction. So attractive to me and everything else in between. I've told my most embarrassing moment on this podcast before, which was me taking a in a Ziploc bag. So listen to Ellis Ever after on.

[DJ Envy]

The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever.

[Cartier Brown]

You get your podcast.

[DJ Envy]

It's okay not to be okay sometimes and be able to build strength and.

[Cartier Brown]

Love within each other. Thanksgiving isn't just about food. It's a day for us to show up for one another.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm Elliot Connie, host of the podcast Family Therapy, a series where real families.

[Cartier Brown]

Come together to heal and find hope.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What would be a clue that would be like?

[Cartier Brown]

I've gotten lots of text messages from him. This one's from a little bit better of a version of him because he's feeding himself well.

[Unidentified Host]

It's always a concern like, are you eating well? He's actually an amazing cook.

[Cartier Brown]

There was this one time where we had neighbors and I saved their dogs and I ended up inviting them over for food and that was like one of my proudest moments.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is family therapy. Real families, real stories on a journey to heal Together.

[Cartier Brown]

Listen to season two of Family Therapy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every Wednesday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

[Cartier Brown]

You get your podcasts.

[Unidentified Host]

You the first person that's ever told me about any of this stuff.

[Cartier Brown]

Oh. So now you gotta really come and see it for yourself. We do crabs. We do crabs similar to you all, but we do, like, our crab cracks, where we put paper down on the. On the table and pull out bushels of crab, and we. You know, that's my family reunion. See, that's what I'm saying. It's so similar.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oyster rolls.

[Cartier Brown]

That, too. Pig roast. You know, bj, Chef bj Dennis does that a lot back home, but, yeah, we get down the same way. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You talked about being nervous when you first filmed at home, Right. What was the moment you realized I belong here?

[Cartier Brown]

I think it wasn't long until the first season where it kind of hit me like, oh, this is happening. But later on down the line, I'm in my 10th season now of the show and recently winning the Emmys. Winning two Emmys, I think before then, it's not really the validation of it, but it's like having your peers recognize you, in a sense, because there's been so many times where I've sat at tables and people are like, well, how many restaurants do you own? You know, so what culinary school did you go to? And I never really have an answer like, no, I didn't go to culinary school. No, I did. I don't own. At the time, I didn't own any restaurants. I had a traveling supper club. And so it was always trying to fight for that. I belong here. I don't know why y' all don't understand that God would not put me in this. In this seat if it wasn't a thing for me. Right. And so winning the Emmy was like, oh, I guess you do kind of got something going on here. But. But before that, I think I realized it kind of. It wasn't too long until I was like, all right, this is it.

[Unidentified Host]

Did it take. It took all that time until you won the Emmy just because you are one of. Only for a long time in the Food Network. Is that why the kind of imposter syndrome was there?

[Cartier Brown]

You know, that's funny. I was just talking about some. I was just talking to someone about that the other day. The imposter syndrome of feeling like, okay, I don't have all of these accolades and all of this, the schooling to back up what I do, but I know I can cook. And I know I can cook with the best of them. And just kind of reminding yourself that too. And especially when your pay doesn't equal your skill, that is, you know, something that, that kind of puts you in that, in that hole of thinking, like, do I belong here? Like, why am I 10 seasons in? Why am I still fighting for a decent salary? Or why am I still fighting for the same contracts as my colleagues? You know, like that, that I think affects that imposter syndrome. It kind of amplifies it some who.

[Unidentified Host]

Helped you navigate that world in the beginning. Like, you have these people that you name now, but it was very few far in between. So when you come in and you figuring out them contracts and dealing with all these execs, who was your person you picked up the phone to call?

[Cartier Brown]

No one. I had no one.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Cartier Brown]

No, I, I, I started off with an agent. I did start off with W and me and I, and I. And they did help me in a sense. But there was a lot of things that I did not know. Even taxes wise, I did not know and you know, turning, you know, yourself until your, your business into an LLC and becoming an S corp and all of that stuff. And there was no one really to help me. I kind of had to teach myself contracts and asking for what I, what I'm, what I deserve, you know, and kind of figuring out on my own. So I had agents, but, you know, agents are also there to get their own money.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay, you made a lot of mistakes early on, business wise.

[Cartier Brown]

I don't think, you know what, I didn't.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Cartier Brown]

And I think that it came from my grandmother being a very business savvy woman. She was the first person in our family to go to college and get an education. And, and so she always instilled in me the idea of business and saving and reading and understanding and acquiring knowledge on your own and not waiting for someone to tell you what it is. And my mom is also very, very good with that as well, so. And I also never wanted to be broke again. So, you know, I know the feeling of, of, of not having. And I didn't, I didn't want to go back. And so I figured out ways to say okay. And then I started asking questions from like, you know, on set like, hey, who's your, who's your lawyer? Or who's your accountant? Can you, can you, you know, refer someone to me? Or, you know, it's like I see you doing well. I see you have multiple businesses and, and, and stocks and, and whatever have you. So can you refer me to that person and that's kind of how I learned.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I feel like your book is so timely and I love the date of 1111 because that just means everything is in divine alignment. But it's called make do with what you have. And in this era right now where, you know, you got federal workers who haven't been paid in 40 plus days, you know, when you got people losing SNAP benefits, this is gonna be a holiday season where people really gotta make do with what they have. What made you want to lean into that aspect of it?

[Cartier Brown]

Well, the thing is, this is how I grew up. This is all I know, even to this day. I had someone mention to me the other day, she's like, oh, well, in the comments of. Because I did a tour of my fridge and someone in the comments said, I noticed you use a lot of store brand things. And I do. You know, they was like, I know a Publix bottle when I see it. I shop at Publix, I shop at Harris Teeter. But the reason for me making this book was because the first book, my first book, the Way Home was all about like getting to know who I am and where I'm from and the foods of the region. And then now this book is a continuation of my mother being a single parent, working three jobs at one time, my grandmother helping to raise me. And there were times more often than not where we really just had to have food at home.

[DJ Envy]

Right?

[Cartier Brown]

Like McDonald's will pass by like, mom wants some, you know, filet at the house. Seriously, like, and McDonald's at the house was a pot of rice and some beans or something like that. But it's like we have food at home and that's how McDonald's at the.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

House was the white wonder bread with a piece of hamburger meat.

[Cartier Brown]

That's what. Right. And you know, maybe some hand cut fries if you were lucky. But it's, it's just the way that I grew up eating and it's my style of cooking. Even on delicious Ms. Brown. Like if, if you watch the show, you'll see that I never reach for a lot of fancy ingredients. It's always things that you can find in your pantry, in your, in your refrigerator. Things that, you know, you go to a grocery store and you do your, your haul for the first, you know, two weeks of the month and you can make meals out of those things. And I think this is new to some people who aren't used to struggle. But this is what I know. You know, like this is how I grew Up. And so I'm helping people maybe, who don't understand. Like, hey, now, times are a little iffy, and you got to figure out things at home. Like, as a. As a business owner and a restaurant owner, I would love for you to come out and travel and eat, but I also know the reality of it, and it's not. It's not feasible for everyone. So I want you to be able to open your fridge and not look in there and say, man, we don't. We don't got nothing to eat in here. Which I did a lot as a child. But you'll see your refrigerator in your pantry in a different light. Like, okay, the other day I walked in, I was like, I got some onions, some celery, got a little sausage here. I got some beans in the cabinet. Oh, I can make red beans and rice. Always keep rice on hand, always keep grits on hand, always keep eggs on hand, sugar, all of those things. And you can make something out of nothing. You can. Without, you know, having it be a struggle and. And having. You know, when people look in a refrigerator and they get kind of bogged down or disappointed that I don't have certain things like that. That's all right. You can still make a decent meal with the stuff that you have.

[DJ Envy]

I was gonna say, what's a cheat meal that you can make, right? So let's say there's a mom listening right now, right? They just picked up their kids from school, may need to make a quick meal that's inexpensive, that the kids are like, go. What do you. What do you go to?

[Cartier Brown]

Ooh, that would be my chicken bog. That's, like getting, like, whatever meat cut of chicken you got in your house. Either some drumsticks, some wings, breast, whatever. You take that, you season it, you make some. You get some celery and some onions and stuff. You cook that down in the pot, and you put the chicken and you cook the chicken. Then you add rice to the pot, right? You cook that all together. So all the. The. You know, the fragrant, fragrant vegetables and the seasoning and the juices and the natural fats from the chicken all coming together in this one pot. So you got a meal in one pot. Gotcha. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's so funny because all of these. My stomach is over here growling because I'm just thinking about all of these meals that feel like hugs, right? Like, it's little things. First of all, grits and eggs for breakfast is always gonna slap. My grandma used to take toast, and she'll just put Cheese on it and give you a cup of tea.

[Cartier Brown]

Oh, yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, my God. Oh, absolutely.

[Cartier Brown]

A little butter on it. I love that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's one recipe that always brings your family together no matter how busy everybody is? We gonna. Oh, no, we're gonna.

[Cartier Brown]

A recipe or a meal?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

A meal.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah. Fried fish and red rice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Ooh, look at here. Man, you should have brought.

[Cartier Brown]

Well, you couldn't.

[Unidentified Host]

But you making me so hungry.

[Cartier Brown]

Look, you got. You got to actually try the food I should have brought. I wish I could. Like, next time.

[Unidentified Host]

That means you gotta come back.

[Cartier Brown]

I have to come back because Chewies, red beans and rice, all of that gumbo, collard green, gumbo, fish, all that.

[Unidentified Host]

Why is that the meal?

[Cartier Brown]

It's just what we. We're known for in Charleston. Like, on Fridays, you know, you get paid Fridays, you go get you a fried. We call. Yep.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, push Friday.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah. You go get your fried fish and your red rice, llama beans sometimes, and piece of toast, that cheap white bread, you know, and that's how you. And that's how you get down.

[DJ Envy]

It's so crazy listening to, like, different areas of the country, right? Because we didn't really cook like that. Like, my mom did. Pork and beans. Like, pork and beans was, like, the cheat meal, right? Yeah, she cut it up with some hot dogs. She cut hot dogs in it. That was our meal.

[Cartier Brown]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

I hated when my mom cooked meatloaf. Like, meatloaf. I was just. I hated meatloaf.

[Cartier Brown]

I hated the way it looked. I hated meatloaf.

[Unidentified Host]

I love meatloaf.

[Cartier Brown]

I love meatloaf, too.

[DJ Envy]

I hate it New Year's Eve when my mom used to cook chitlins. But anyway.

[Unidentified Host]

Oh, I love chitlins.

[Cartier Brown]

Oh, you do? That's one. That's one.

[Unidentified Host]

Chil and fatback are the two things that my grandmother is still. She not supposed to have them, but my. My family still does. Those. Those are the two things that I like, I need my aunts to give.

[Cartier Brown]

Your family's originally from Delaware and they eat fatback? Well, no, they're.

[Unidentified Host]

My grandmother and her sisters are originally from Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia. Yeah. But then they move to Delaware. That's why everything's so country.

[Cartier Brown]

So that. That's Southern. So I'm like, I heard fatback, but yet pork. And we eat pork and beans, too.

[DJ Envy]

But you know what I was saying is, like, here was. We're so Caribbean food. Like, for us is beef patties. For us is jerk chicken. For us, it's oxtail. It's curry goat. You know, those are the meals that we eat, and it's like, I love those, but it always takes long. When my wife cooks oxtail, it just seems like it's a procedure.

[Cartier Brown]

It is.

[DJ Envy]

And I'm like, I'm hungry. She's like, you want the bone? You want the meat to fall off the bone?

[Cartier Brown]

No joke.

[DJ Envy]

But it just takes so long. What's the longest meal it takes for you to prepare?

[Cartier Brown]

I would be. It will be a short rib or a oxtail, and it takes about four or five hours at 275. And it's got to sit in that Dutch oven or that crock pot and just low and slow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'll cook it a whole hall.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah, they do. My uncles and them in the country do. I have not graduated to that yet. I just can't. I can't see myself, you know, opening the hall. I'm not that country yet.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I want to ask you.

[Unidentified Host]

She said, yeah, I love in your book, you have tips for saving money. You help people get their, like, cookware together. And you talk about how you can do it for the low as well, too. But the tips for saving money, I know everything is very personal to you. What was, like, the tip that you were like, I want to put this in, but I got to leave out. That didn't make the cut in the book.

[Cartier Brown]

Oh, manager specials. You know, growing up, you know, you remember the pack of meat that might have been expired or close to it, like, don't be afraid to use those. Like, because, I mean, the supermarket has to, by law, kind of put things on sale or get it out of there right before it goes bad. But a lot of stuff are more shelf stable than you actually know they are. Like beans. If you see, like, a pack of dry beans and it says, oh, it expires on 2025, and, well, January 2025. Beans. Dry beans will last in your pantry indefinitely. So doing things like that, like getting things that are, you know, maybe discounted because it is going to expire in a day or two, go ahead and get that. And you can pop it in your freezer. They can't keep it on the shelf because it's not frozen, but you can get those cuts of meats and you can put it in your freezer and thaw it out and use it whenever you want.

[DJ Envy]

I should do that with stinking college chicken. In college, I would wait till the day about to expire. And they go half price at the supermarket.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And we go cook it up.

[Cartier Brown]

That's a. That's. That is definitely a Hack people. A lot of people do. And you don't realize it because you can go get, you know, ribeye for half the price because they're about to put it on sale. So if you see that, like, maybe it's going to expire in about two or three days, go ahead and get it while it's on sale and put it in your freezer.

[DJ Envy]

How should you eat your meat? Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

God damn. Hey, yo, you guys. Amazing.

[Cartier Brown]

Go ahead.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

My God.

[Unidentified Host]

Envy is a fall.

[Cartier Brown]

However you like it.

[DJ Envy]

When I was younger, right. Okay, you started young, and I used to eat.

[Cartier Brown]

And I used to eat steak.

[Unidentified Host]

Now anymore your pronoun is underage.

[DJ Envy]

It was well done, right? Because that's what we were taught you got eat to. But now it's medium. So how should somebody eat their steak? Pause. Eat their meat.

[Cartier Brown]

I would say medium well. I like. I'm a medium well girl. I want a little bit of brown and just till it gets to the center. Pink.

[DJ Envy]

Pink is soft. It's just juicy. Melts in your mouth.

[Unidentified Host]

BAE said, stop.

[Cartier Brown]

But see, I don't want the callus to be mooing. You know, not mooing, but pinks.

[DJ Envy]

It gotta melt in your mouth.

[Cartier Brown]

So medium. Medium is okay. I go with medium for like, my. Like lamb chops or pork. Yes, I'll do that. But, like, for as far as steak.

[DJ Envy]

I'm scared of the pork media, man, because, I don't know, growing up, a.

[Cartier Brown]

Little bounce to it.

[DJ Envy]

I feel like you get sick. Right? My mom used to get the porky salmonella, whatever it's called. Yeah.

[Cartier Brown]

151, 150. 155 is okay for pork. Yeah. And then salmon, too, if you eat salmon. I like mine medium. Yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I wanted to ask you, right in the intro, you got these mantras you already talked about. You got McDonald's money. I just want to say some of these mantras, okay. And you tell me what. What they mean to you. Right. You said these are mantras your mother and grandmother instilled in you. And I also want to know which one is most relevant to where you are in life right now.

[Cartier Brown]

Okay.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If you want to act grown, be grown.

[Cartier Brown]

Now, that was the. You know, you think you grown. Well, then go ahead and take your stuff and get out and do it on your own.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Damn.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah, My mom is.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You remember the first time you heard that?

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah, I was about 14 or 15, and I guess I had got, you know, started feeling myself a little bit. And I said something back to her, and she was like, all right, you want if you want to act grown, you be grown. Pack your stuff up, call your grandmother and tell her you on the porch, you need to go. I was like, what you mean? Like she actually had me pack my, my stuff up and put me outside and called my grandmother, said you can come get her. She can figure out what she doing since she want to be so grown here. And I was like, you can't do that. You can't put me. But that, I mean, back then, like, I mean, I kind of felt, I guess I was feeling myself a little bit. I, the grandma come get you. No grandma. She was like, absolutely not. Like, Patty let her back in the house. Don't, don't do it like that. She, you know, she didn't mean, she didn't mean any harm, but you know, it took about an hour or two, but she let me back in. But I, I, at that point I realized I was not grown.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Lord will make a way out.

[Cartier Brown]

Of nowhere absolutely every single time. And I, and I say that with conviction every single time. I am a living testimony of making God will bring you through the, the darkest storms. I was homeless at one point, so to be here today talking about my second cookbook and, and being here with you all is a testament of that. God will will bring you out the darkest situation.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was that the moment? Because we all, we know, we all are believers and we all have faith, but we always have that one real moment where we like Lord God. I know that was God.

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah. I don't, I feel like it happens on a daily, you know, like just driving to work or flying on a plane or just doing it, like when you land like that that was nothing but God or you know, getting home to your, your house and your family. That, that had to been God because anything could have happened in between times. So I, you know, you see that on a, on a daily.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He would never give you more than you can bear.

[Cartier Brown]

Never. And I think as, as humans, we underestimate how much we can actually take and deal with. And God shows us like, okay, yeah, this may be a, a very trying time, but I'm giving this to you because I know you can handle it. And once you handle it and if it happens again, you know that I've been here before. I've, I've handled this. So this coming, the next thing coming, you know, it's easy, it's nothing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And I think this is one people need to really understand in this era. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

[Unidentified Host]

Yeah, my grandma be saying that to Me?

[Cartier Brown]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's that mean?

[Cartier Brown]

Don't be pennywise and pound foolish. Means that you don't. Don't think you know more than what you actually do. You know, be. Be open and receptive to feedback and criticism and constructive criticism. And you don't know everything. You don't. And there's somebody that's going to know a little bit more than you or somebody's going to help you understand this. But be open and receptive to, to criticism, constructive feedback and just advice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's next for the delicious Ms. Brown brand? You know, we got cookbooks, we got restaurants, we got products.

[Cartier Brown]

Yes. You know, right now I am looking forward to. I'm hosting Kids Baking Championship with Duff Goldman at the top of the year. Holiday Baking Championship is on now. You know, I'm, I'm at this time, I'm, I'm the type of person that's always like, I gotta have everything in control. Like, I gotta have my next plan written down. I'm, I'm. I know I'm doing this. I know I'm gonna do that next. I am allowing the universe to do what it do.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, okay.

[Cartier Brown]

Whatever God has for me, I'm not going to limit myself to anything.

[Unidentified Host]

What peace of mind has that given you in.

[Cartier Brown]

In work that has given me so much? Because so oftentimes in social media is. And I. And I'm sorry, you're fine. Social media. And I am very. I do it to this day, I'm guilty of comparing to other people's, where they are in their life. Their. Their point C. To my point A.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We was talking about that this morning and I was like, yo, they got. People got to stop doing that because niggas be lying. They social media lying. They every.

[Cartier Brown]

All day long. Especially the people that, you know, that, you know, I know you don't live like that, but I, you know, get caught up with that. And social media makes it really easy to get caught up with comparing your journey to someone else's. And I've, I've caught myself saying that. Okay. I, you know, if this book doesn't get New York Times bestseller, but why did their books, you know, why is there a book. Why is this book not selling as far. And I'm tired. You get tired of that because at the end of the day, what my pieces, my slow morning, being with my husband, having the freedom to get up and do what I love to do every day. That's. The older you get, the more those things matter to you. So it's a peace of Mind of knowing. Just like, hey, whatever happens, happens. But I know it's going to always be for my greater good. Well, thank you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Dedicated.

[Unidentified Host]

Wait to try these recipes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I got one more. You dedicated the book to your husband.

[Cartier Brown]

I did.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why did you dedicate it to your husband?

[Cartier Brown]

He's the reason why I cook. He's. I. I enjoy cooking for myself, you know, but it's nothing like, babe, what you feeling like today, you know, or like, you know, with seeing his face when he's excited about something that I'm making, and when he walks in the house and I'm cooking, he's like, oh, it smell good in here. That. That makes me feel good. So I get. I get gratification and satisfaction from. It's my love language, feeding, you know, not only his body, but his soul, too. So that's what.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And I also want to say, you know, we always say we're losing recipes. Do you think cookbooks are spiritual because of that?

[Cartier Brown]

Absolutely. Especially coming from black and brown households where recipes are not written down. It's only word of mouth. And so God forbid, if Big mama goes and y' all didn't get that sweet potato pie recipe or that fat bag recipe, and nobody wrote it down and nobody can't call her, you know, so having recipes written down and the stories that follow the recipes are so important because eventually all of us are going to leave this place one day, and you got something. Got to have something left to talk about.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[DJ Envy]

Well, thank you for joining us this morning.

[Cartier Brown]

Thank you so much.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And listen, I'm over the holidays. What's the date? We gonna be with Chris Kalin.

[Cartier Brown]

Yes.

[Unidentified Host]

Is that November 27th?

[Cartier Brown]

The day after.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Day after Thanksgiving. So, yeah, November 28th.

[Unidentified Host]

28Th.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Actually, November 28th. Will be at the Magnolia Room. Myself, Cardia. I said it, right?

[Cartier Brown]

Cartier.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Cartier. Like the glasses.

[DJ Envy]

Like the glasses.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Cartier. Cartier, Myself, Cartier and AJ from the We Talk Back podcast will be with Chris Kalin at the Magnolia room in Charleston, 720 Magnolia Road, man. So tickets are available for that now.

[Cartier Brown]

That's right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I believe. I don't know. I'm just reading what's on Chris Kalin's page.

[DJ Envy]

All right, it is Cartier Brown.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Make sure you go to Cartier Brown, Southern Kitchen and Charleston Airport, man.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm telling you, somebody's listening to me right now, and they're like, you know what? Our flight's delayed for two hours. Might as well get some hook yourself up. Walk right past the chick Fil a and go in the summer kitchen.

[DJ Envy]

That's right, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Cartier Brown]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[Cartier Brown]

On the podcast Health stuff, We are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night. I'm Dr. Priyanka Wali, a double board certified physician. And I'm Hari Kondabolu, a comedian and someone who once googled do I have scurvy at 3am and on our show we're talking about health in a different way. Like our episode where we look at diabetes in the United states. I mean, 50% of Americans are pre diabetic. How preventable is type 2? Extremely. Listen to Health Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentuck, went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story. America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or record wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Poynter, chair of Women's health and Gynecology at the Atria Health.

[DJ Envy]

Institute in New York City.

[Unidentified Host]

I'll be talking to top researchers and.

[Cartier Brown]

Clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife.

[Unidentified Host]

Women'S health directly to you.

[Cartier Brown]

100 of women go through menopause.

[Unidentified Host]

Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it?

[Cartier Brown]

Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Poynter on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[DJ Envy]

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cartier Brown]

I knew it was a bomb the second that it exploded. I felt it rip through me.

[DJ Envy]

In season two of Rip Current, we.

[Cartier Brown]

Ask who tried to kill Judy Berry and why.

[DJ Envy]

They were climbing trees and they were.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sabotaging logging equipment in the woods.

[Cartier Brown]

She received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our movement. Episodes of Rip Current Season 2 are available now.

[DJ Envy]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cartier Brown]

People called them murderers. Ten years later, they were gods. Today, no one knows their names. A group of maverick surgeons who took.

[DJ Envy]

On the medical establishment who risked everything.

[Cartier Brown]

To invent open surgery. Welcome to the wild west of American medicine. I'm Chris Pine and this is Cardiac Cowboys. If you like medical dramas, if you like heart pounding thrillers, you will love Cardiac Cowboys. Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts Sponsored by Jasper AI AI. Built for marketers.

[Unidentified Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.