[Molly Yeh] Hooray! Our new restaurant
in East Grand Forks is finally open,
and I'm whipping up some of the best brunch items from the menu.
These are our brunch superstars.
Like our show-stopping gigantic cardamom roll.
They're so pretty!
[Molly] Juicy, homemade breakfast sausage...
That's how the sausage is made.
[Molly] Our cool, herby,
smoked beet salmon take on eggs Benedict.
Eggs Bernadette!
This is a Benedict fit for a princess.
And a refreshing rhubarb basil shrub
to wash this non-basic brunch all down.
Weekend brunch at Bernie's, here I come!
-[ding] -[Molly] Oh, yum!
Yay!
Hey! This is me, Molly Yeh!
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family,
and this is our home,
our farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border.
The place where I eat, sleep and breathe food.
[chicken clucking]
Our new restaurant, Bernie's, is finally open,
and one of my favorite parts of the menu
is the brunch section.
So today, I'm sharing some of the most popular recipes from brunch.
Starting with something sweet, my gigantic cardamom roll
is striking, and moist,
and it's got ribbons of worm floral spirals throughout.
For my dough, I'll start with four and a half cups of all-purpose flour,
and I'll flavor it with a half teaspoon of ground cardamom,
which is just so special.
So I'll do a little cardamom in the dough,
and then also cardamom in the filling.
Just love how floral, it's kinda peppery,
it's delicious.
A teaspoon of kosher salt.
Two and a quarter teaspoons of instant yeast,
which is great because you don't have to proof it,
you can toss it in with the dry ingredients,
it takes less time to make the dough that way,
and it also uses less dishes.
And a third of a cup of granulated sugar.
I like this roll. It's a sweet bite,
and since it's huge, it's a great thing to split with the table.
I'll whisk this to combine.
I vividly remember the first time
I ever had a cardamom roll.
I was visiting Norway with my dad,
I must have been nine or 10.
We visited this mountain,
and at the top of the mountain there was this little cafe
that had these cardamom rolls.
And I remember not loving how peppery the cardamom was,
and just picking off the white sugar pebbles
that were on top and giving the bun to my dad.
But these days, I can't get enough cardamom.
So this is basically a gigantic version
of that roll that I had in Norway.
I'll get my wet ingredients.
I've got one cup of whole milk here
that I swirled around in a saucepan
with half a cup of unsalted butter.
I heated it up just to melt the butter
and then allowed it to cool,
just to lukewarm.
I don't want it to be too hot,
because then it would kill these.
I'll crack and add two large eggs,
this is just a buttery and rich dough,
enhanced with that flavor of cardamom.
And a splash of vanilla will make this extra cozy.
I'll get this onto my stand mixer to knead.
I'll let this knead until it's smooth
and still slightly sticky, about eight to 10 minutes.
So cardamom buns are popular throughout Scandinavia,
you see them in some different shapes, though.
This Swedish style is what we're most inspired by at Bernie's,
and it's what has those gorgeous,
striking swirls of ribbons.
Okay, it's looking smooth.
It's feeling smooth.
Smelling that cardamom.
All right, I'll grab a new bowl.
This is just coated with some neutral oils,
so the dough doesn't stick or dry out.
I'll ball this up.
Get a smooth and taut surface.
I'll smoosh it around to get it coated
in a thin layer of oil.
I'll cover this up,
and then allow it to rise for one and a half to two hours,
until it's doubled in size.
This dough is puffy-puffy!
I'm ready to roll it out.
I've got my counter dusted with some flour, and...
...I'm gonna roll it out to a great big rectangle,
twenty-four inches wide by 18 inches tall.
All right, so I'm just gently working this out,
and by gently I mean, I'm giving some muscle to it,
because I do wanna roll it out quite thin.
That'll give you the prettiest look,
because you can layer more cardamom into it.
I think I've taken up enough counter space.
So, so that my filling can stick,
I'll first brush this all over with some melted butter.
And this is a quarter-cup of melted butter,
but I'll just use half of it at this point.
So when this whole restaurant project began,
I knew we would have to have brunch,
because around town, we don't have that many brunch options,
and my friends and I would get together
for a brunch at each other's houses,
but, I don't know, sometimes you just wanna go out.
And not do dishes. [chuckles]
All right.
I'll sprinkle this with my filling now.
I've got half a cup of dark brown sugar,
dark so that you get a warm, vibrant swirl,
as well as some cardamom and a little salt.
I'll sprinkle two-thirds of it on now.
So what's nice about cardamom rolls is,
they really allow the cardamom to shine through.
They're not as sweet as a cinnamon roll.
And I'm getting it all the way to the edge.
I'll fold this in half, length-wise.
And then I'll repeat this process.
Another layer of butter, and the remainder of my filling.
[whispering] I'll just pour the rest of this...
There's my filling...
And I'll fold this in half.
So I'm just creating all of these layers.
Now, before I go any further, I'll get my skillets.
I love baking these up in skillets because it looks cute.
It also conducts the heat really well,
so you get a great, crispy edge.
So butter these generously.
So now to shape these.
I'll cut this in half the long way.
I'll create two very long skinny rectangles.
I'm working with one at a time.
I'm gonna separate this out,
you can already see such pretty layers,
I'm looking for a great swirly shape,
so I'll twist this up,
then I'll swirl it up, like a snail.
That looks cool already!
I'll gently transfer it to the pan.
And when this bakes, it'll absorb all that butter,
and get a great, crispy bottom and edge.
Okay, it's not filling up the pan completely yet,
but it will continue to rise.
I'll do this second one the same way.
It's the old twist and roll.
That is beautiful.
I'll nestle it into the pan,
I'll cover these up,
and allow them to rise for another hour,
and then give them an egg wash,
and then sprinkle with Swedish pearl sugar,
which is crunchy and sweet.
If you can't find that, you can also use turbinado sugar.
And then I'll bake these at 350 degrees
for about 30 minutes, until they're golden.
I'm so excited!
Oh, they're so pretty!
They are the perfect golden color,
these are awesome.
I've got my whipped butter ready here.
Oh, yeah. That's good.
I've gotta slather it with butter.
This is whipped butter,
so it's fluffier and easier to spread.
Mm!
It's pillow-y soft, super buttery,
and it's got the perfect amount of sweetness and cardamom.
These are our brunch superstars.
[Molly] Coming up, eggs Benedict has nothing on eggs Bernadette!
Find out what makes it so special.
For an amped-up version of a brunch classic,
we are featuring eggs Bernadette,
in honor of my three-year-old, Bernie,
the restaurant's namesake.
It's got a buttery, toasted English muffin,
topped with pink, beet-cured salmon,
a runny poached egg,
and a vibrant, green, herby sauce.
So I'll start by making the herby sauce,
which is dead simple.
It's just a ton of tender herbs
whizzed up in the food processor
with lemon and olive oil.
I feel it is a superior topping
than hollandaise sauce.
This herby sauce adds more flavor
and great color on top.
You get a little sauciness,
but it prevents it from being too heavy,
So I've got basil and parsley in my food processor,
I'll also add some mint,
just a little bit helps add more freshness.
I'm coarsely chopping this,
you don't have to be too precise about it,
since it all gets whizzed up in the food processor.
And then lastly, some dill.
I'll add some to the sauce,
and leave some to sprinkle on at the end,
'cause it's so pretty.
And that's the most forward herb in this sauce,
because of course dill and salmon
are like PB and J, Norwegian-style. [chuckles]
And a little bit of dill goes a long ways.
Couple of scallions will get tossed in.
And then two cloves of garlic.
The juice of half a lemon, for that important acidity.
You've gotta have lemon with anything that involves salmon, too.
And then I'll bring this all together
with a quarter cup of olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper...
And whiz it on up.
That's so pretty.
[sniffs] Oh, it's so fresh!
All right, I'll get my English muffins.
So at the restaurant,
we're doing these with homemade English muffins,
which are heavenly.
But store bought is also great,
as long as you toast them with enough butter.
So I'm getting a generous coating of butter on these.
I usually make toast right on a skillet,
so that I can fry the outsides
in some kind of fat, either butter or olive oil,
you get those great, crispy, fried edges.
Don't skimp on the butter here.
I've got my griddle heating up here over medium.
I'll just stick these on, face-down,
listen to that sizzle.
And let these go for a few minutes
until they're golden-brown and crisp.
While these fry up, I'll poach my eggs.
I've got an inch and a half
to two inches of barely simmering water here.
And I do like to crack my egg
into a separate bowl first,
to make sure that the yolk isn't broken,
and also it allows me to pour in the egg
a little bit more gently,
so that I can handle it with care
and not break that yolk.
I'll do three more, doing it one at a time.
Now a great thing about poached eggs
is that they're actually pretty easy to make in advance.
If you just keep them in an ice bath,
you can make them up to a day
or even two days in advance.
Boop! I'll simmer these gently for a few minutes,
ntil the egg whites are firm, but the yolks are still runny.
I'll get my slotted spoon here at the ready,
since this happens fast.
To determine if they're done, this is how I do it.
I just scoop it up with my slotted spoon,
and you can see if the egg white is firm.
But when you jiggle it,
the yolk part should still be jiggly.
I'll transfer it to a paper towel,
to absorb any excess moisture.
Eggs Benedict is all about the steps.
Let me get the salmon.
This beet-cured smoked salmon
is such an easy way to add color
to any smoked salmon Benedict.
I just layer up lemon and beet slices.
Then pile on flaked salmon.
Add more beets and lemon.
So it's like a salmon sandwich.
Cover with parchment, and a weight to compress,
and let it cure overnight.
Let me get the beets off of this.
Here, I'll use a fork, so I don't dye my fingers.
Oh yeah, that's so pretty.
Bernie loves this color.
And of course, this is a little nod
to all the beet farmers in the region.
I just love the color of this salmon.
All right!
I'll get my platter and plate these up.
That is the perfect amount of fried toastiness on an English muffin.
Some salmon...
Bernie does love salmon.
She's a good Nordic toddler like that.
I'll throw an egg on top.
Gotta be very gentle with these.
Drizzle on this sauce...
This is when the colors come together.
Some flaky salt and pepper.
A little more dill, 'cause it's pretty.
You get a couple of layers of green on top.
And I'll nestle some lemon wedges around the side.
Okay, these yolks are just begging to be broken.
Oh, look at that!
See, now the rainbow is complete.
Mm! Mm-hmm.
It is so bright, and vibrant.
And you also got that craveable,
buttery crunch from the English muffin.
Bernie does love her princess stories,
and I feel like this is a Benedict fit for a princess.
[Molly] Next, a sweet and spicy homemade sausage
that'll brighten up your breakfast.
I can really get behind all of the sides
that we have at the restaurant,
and this one is for all the brunch time meat lovers.
I am making Bernie's house sausage,
which is a little sweet, a little spicy,
and it's got that classic diner greasiness.
So I'm starting with one pound of ground pork.
I'm gonna spread it out all over my bowl,
and that way, when I season it,
it gets a jumpstart on distributing evenly in the meat.
So I can reduce the risk of over-mixing it.
'Cause you never wanna over-mix meats,
because then it could create a gummy, tough texture.
And now, sausage is easy.
You just throw in a bunch of seasonings.
I'll start with my salt.
One and a quarter teaspoons of salt.
And one thing I like about the Bernie's sausage is that,
there isn't too many seasonings in it.
It kinda just enhances the natural flavor of the meat.
I didn't wanna mask it.
Two teaspoons of coarsely crushed fennel seeds,
which are that licorice-y flavor you've gotta have with sausage.
One teaspoon of dried thyme,
I love the woodsy-ness of thyme.
A little bit of fresh red pepper,
a touch of heat, not too much.
You don't wanna burn your mouth off during brunch.
I add some fresh nutmeg
for some great warmth that goes so beautifully
with the sweetness of the breakfast sausage.
Such a cozy addition.
And then breakfast sausage has gotta have some sweetness,
so I'll drizzle in a tablespoon of maple syrup.
Not a ton of sweetness,
but if you like it extra sweet,
you can always dunk it in syrup.
All right! I've got my skillet heating here over medium,
it's a non-stick skillet,
I'm not gonna add any more oil or fat in here,
since the fork is quite fatty.
I'll toss this together to evenly combine,
and again, I don't wanna over-mix it.
Just to get the seasoning distributed.
So even though we just opened,
I'm already looking forward to all of the fun occasions
and events that I wanna have at Bernie's.
I wanna go all-out for Christmas and Hanukkah.
And then around harvest time,
I wanna do special harvest lunches
that farmers can come by and pick up,
or picnic baskets to bring to the lake.
The options are endless.
My meat is combined,
and I'm forming little patties
about three inches in diameter.
And I'll gently lower this in.
There's that sizzle.
I'll keep on forming.
So basically just flat meatballs.
Mm-hmm, I'm evenly spacing these,
so that they can get that great heat all around the edges.
All right, let me wash my hands.
Before I flip them, I'll sprinkle them
with a pinch of kosher salt.
It'll also help you develop that great brown crust.
I think these are ready to flip.
Oh, yeah! See those crispy bits?
That's the texture you're looking for.
I'll flip the rest of these,
and allow them to go for another few minutes,
so that the other side can get that great color too.
This is the sound and smell of breakfast.
And I've always been a sausage person
versus a bacon person.
I mean, I can get down with bacon,
but sausage gives you more to bite into.
We also have the brunch Juicy Lucy,
which is this sausage stuffed with cheese, with an egg on top.
Eaten as a burger.
Well, that's how the sausage is made!
I wanna move it to a wider rack,
so any excess fat can drip off.
Yum. Mm!
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Just going in here with my hands.
Mm!
Oh, yeah. I'm in.
A touch of sweetness. Great crust.
That is some stellar sausage, I say.
[Molly] Still to come, a farm to restaurant drink
that'll wet your whistle real good. Mm, refreshing!
The cherry on top of a great brunch
is a great drink component.
So, for a refreshing bev,
I am making my rhubarb basil shrub,
which is sweet, tart and herby,
and it's a beautiful way of showcasing the rhubarb
that grows bountifully in this region.
To start, I'm coarsely chopping
three-quarters of a pound of fresh rhubarb,
you could totally also use frozen.
Okay, so I'm not being too precise,
because I'm just using it to infuse the syrup.
So, a shrub is basically a drinking vinegar, which I love,
because you get your sweetness
that you want in a cocktail,
but you also get the depth of vinegar and acidity.
so it's just more dimension.
I think it's easier to drink.
I'll toss this into my saucepan,
and combine it with a cup of sugar.
Since rhubarb is so tart,
it requires a lot of sugar to balance out that tartness.
A bunch of fresh basil.
I associate basil and rhubarb
with about the same time of year,
because they're both spring, summer-y.
And I'm just infusing this again,
so I don't have to chop it up or anything.
I'll bring this together with a cup of water.
And half a cup of apple cider vinegar,
which is what makes it a shrub.
So this is a great syrup
that you could use in cocktails, mocktails.
We'll mix this together and bring it to a boil.
Rhubarb is technically a vegetable,
but it's eaten like a fruit,
so the opposite of a tomato.
And it's crisp,
it's really tart,
but when it's combined with a lot of sugar,
it tastes fruity and so great
in baked goods, pies, of course.
I love having this on the menu at Bernie's.
It's just an extra special little touch,
and it showcases the regional flavors.
Okay, I'll reduce to a simmer
and allow it to cook
until the rhubarb starts to break up,
and the syrup starts to thicken.
Looks syrupy to me.
I'll strain out the solids,
I'll just pour this through a sieve,
all right, I'll let this strain.
Okay, that is the prettiest color.
That's a perk about rhubarb,
is it has that great, natural pink.
I've got my ice and fizzy water,
I'm ready to build a drink.
I'm just doing a spritz here,
but this would of course be great in a cocktail.
And this is to taste, so you could do a lot of it,
if you want it sweet and tart,
or just a little bit for a hint of flavor.
Fill it up with fizzy water.
And garnish with some basil,
so you can smell it as you drink.
Get some keep straws.
[mimics trumpet fanfare]
That is pretty.
Mm!
It's bubbly, and tart, and sweet.
Weekend brunch at Bernie's, here I come!