[Molly] We're having a sing-along on the farm
and I'm making a tasty lunch for the occasion.
I'm a terrible singer,
so I provide the sustenance
for the other people who are singing
and playing the piano.
With my hearty and comforting
hamburger mac and cheese.
She's beautiful.
And my adorable chocolate PB
and strawberry J cupcakes
to make sure everybody, including dessert
sings with sweetness.
[imitates fanfare]
Then for dinner, a Korean inspired feast
with my crispy rice bibimbap.
This is my ideal comfort right here.
And ooey-gooey corn cheese on the side.
Oh my good gosh, cheese, it's time for dinner.
[upbeat music playing]
Look at these beauties.
Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband Nick.
This is our growing family,
and this is our farm
on the North Dakota, Minnesota border.
The place where I eat,
sleep, and breathe food.
[upbeat music playing]
My mother-in-law is doing a sing-along
on the farm, and my kids are so pumped,
so I'm putting together a fun lunch
to keep everybody fueled
while they belt out their tunes.
For dessert, I'm making my chocolate
peanut butter and strawberry cupcakes,
which are moist, nutty little cakes
filled with jam, and finished
with tall high hats of fluffy meringue frosting
that get dunked in glossy chocolate.
To get going on my cakes,
I'll build the batter all in one bowl.
I've got my peanut butter here.
It's creamy and it's unsweetened
since I'll be dumping in a load of sugar as well.
Half a cup here.
Not only does peanut butter contribute
its delicious peanut buttery flavor,
it also contributes great denseness and moisture.
A quarter cup of melted, refined coconut oil
to bring it in the texture department.
Since cupcakes are so small,
they can have the tendency
to dry out a little faster than like a big hunk
and layered cake.
So using an oil
as opposed to butter is gonna help that moisture.
A cup of buttermilk adds that signature tang,
an egg for that structure,
and then one and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract.
That warmth of peanut butter is so delicious.
I'll whisk all my white ingredients together
until they're smooth.
This is the ideal dessert version
of a PB and J.
It has jam in the middle of the cake,
and of course, a coating of chocolate
on top never hurt anybody.
All right, that's smooth.
I'll sprinkle all my dry ingredients
evenly over the top of the wet ingredients.
One and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour.
One cup of sugar, these are nice and sweet,
and sugar also helps prevent against a cake drying out.
Three quarters of a teaspoon of baking powder
will help the cakes rise in the oven
and get puffy and fluffy.
And then a quarter teaspoon of baking soda
will react with the acidity and the buttermilk
to help these get even fluffier,
and also encourage some caramelization on the top,
and three quarters of a teaspoon of salt.
Salt your cakes generously,
just makes them taste so good.
All right, while our dry ingredients
are still sitting on top of the batter,
I'll give them a rough little whisk to combine,
and then I'll just gradually incorporate them in
with the wet ingredients.
Soon as I can no longer see any of my dry ingredients,
they're all hydrated by the wet ingredients,
I wanna stop mixing 'cause I definitely
don't wanna overmix this batter.
I'll get my cupcake tins
and I'll just divide the batter evenly
between my 12 tins.
And I like to use an ice cream scoop like this,
that helps get uniform amount in every cupcake tin,
and it's cleaner to scoop that way.
All right, I'll get these in the oven at 350 degrees
for about 18 minutes until they're golden
and puffed in the center and springy when you poke 'em.
[upbeat music playing]
[Molly] Cupcake's cool. Now for my meringue frosting,
this is gonna be the high hat on my cupcakes
and it's actually pretty straightforward to make.
You just cook the egg whites and then beat 'em up,
and then add some sugar along the way.
You wanna heat the egg whites very gently,
which is why I have them in a double boiler here.
So this is a pot of simmering water
with my heat safe bowl that's holding the egg whites,
and that's because I don't want them
to scramble and curdle.
I want them to stay smooth and glossy
to get that perfectly textured frosting.
So I've got six egg whites here.
I'll combine them with one and a half cups of sugar,
and then half a teaspoon of cream of tartar,
which helps stabilize the egg whites,
only egg whites and no egg yolks.
Even the tiniest spot of egg yolk
could prevent the egg whites
from beating up to their full potential.
Couple pinches of salt,
and then I'll whisk this continuously
and cook for a few minutes
until it reaches 175 degrees.
That's how I know that the egg whites are cooked.
We'll be safe to feed to my kids.
So once it is noticeably thinner,
you can start checking it with your thermometer
and I'm just using a candy thermometer here.
So Roxanne, my mother-in-law
is a former elementary music teacher
and you can totally see it.
She's always playing music for the girls
and the girls love it so much.
I'm a terrible singer.
I provide the sustenance
for the other people who are singing
and playing the piano.
All right, my egg whites have reached
175 degrees.
I'll remove them from the heat,
and then I'll switch over to my electric mixer now
and beat this until it holds stiff glossy peaks.
[upbeat music playing]
This is so glossy and it's holding peaks.
I'll flavor it with a splash of vanilla extract,
and then freeze dried strawberry powder,
which is just finely ground freeze dried strawberries
that have been sifted to remove the seeds.
And I love this stuff because it lends
concentrated strawberry flavor
without adding any more moisture.
I'll mix this in and watch this frosting
turn really pretty pink.
Okay.
I'll get this into my piping bag.
[upbeat music playing]
I'm ready to decorate.
The first thing I'll do is create an opening
for the jam in the center.
So I'll take an apple corer
and remove the very center of the cake.
This is your seedless strawberry jam
and I'll just pipe the jam right into the opening.
And now this frosting has gotta hold up to its name,
it's got to be high.
So I'll pipe on three layers of frosting
and I'm holding the piping bag
just straight up and down
and just squeeze and allow it to go all the way
to the edges of the cake.
I'll lift it up
and do another layer,
and then another layer,
almost like a snowman.
[imitates fanfare]
It's like a cartoon cupcake.
All right, I'll keep on filling
and frosting the rest.
I'll stick 'em in the freezer until they're firm
and then they get one final chocolate kiss.
[quirky music playing]
The frosting is firm. I'm ready for the final touch.
I've got my semi-sweet chocolate
melted with a little coconut oil,
which helps it thin out and also firm up.
So I'll just give it a quick dunk,
pull it right back up like that.
And I've cooled it to room temperature
because I definitely don't want hot chocolate
melting the frosting,
and that creates such a great chocolate shell.
And before they fully set,
sprinkle with some sprinkles.
Totally look like ice cream cones.
All right, this one looks so good.
Gotta make sure it's okay for the girls.
This isn't gonna be a flattering bite,
but it's gonna be a worth it bite.
Here I go.
Hmm.
I love the salty peanut butter
with that sweet fruity jam.
Talk about hitting all the high notes for sure.
Coming up, the secret to the best
beefy mac of your life.
It's easy and it's cheesy.
[upbeat music playing]
For a fun and hearty lunch at our sing-along,
I am making my hamburger mac and cheese,
which is beefy, and bacony,
and cheesy and creamy
is sure to be a hit
with both kids and grandma's alike.
Plus, I'm making it all in one pot.
I'm not even gonna boil the pasta in a separate pot.
How's that for efficiency?
To start, I'm crisping up some thick cut bacon
because everybody knows
that bacon cheeseburgers are the best cheeseburgers.
And then I'll use its fat
to help me cook up half an onion.
This will just add a little bit of sweetness,
and a pinch of salt
and just let this onion soften.
Smelling really good.
Also, I feel like onions kind of become invisible
in mac and cheese, so it's a vegetable
that I can sneak in to my kids.
Onions are soft, they've got some great color on them.
I'll add in my beef now.
I've got a pound of ground beef,
and then I'll season it with a teaspoon of salt.
I'll cook this and break it up with my spoon
into little bits until it's brown.
A few minutes over medium high.
So this is basically a combination
of Bernie and Ira's favorite foods,
burgers and mac and cheese.
Before kids, I had every intention
of only ever making homemade mac and cheese.
My, how times have changed.
[chuckles] Whatever.
I loved boxed mac and cheese when I was a kid.
The meat is cooked.
I'll amp up the flavor now
with a little paprika and garlic powder.
This will give it some smokiness.
Not too much heat.
I'll let the paprika
and the garlic powder toast a bit.
And I'll also stir in a tablespoon
of Dijon mustard.
Just a little bit goes a long way
for the overall balance of flavors in the dish.
And of course, I love mustard on my burgers,
but also in my mac and cheese.
It adds delicious depth.
I'll stir this down to incorporate.
The burger element of this is done.
I'll remove it from my skillet to a bowl
and I'll use a slotted spoon
so that I can drain some of the juices.
[upbeat music playing]
Now for my noodles, I've got 12 ounces
of elbow macaroni here.
I love this shape with hamburger meat
for some reason. It's just classic.
And then, I'll add just enough water
to cover them, so about three cups.
You don't actually need that much water to cook pasta.
I'll season with a teaspoon of salt
and simmer it just for a few minutes
until most of the water has evaporated
and the noodles are just shy of al dente
because they will continue to cook
as I build my cheese sauce right in the same pot.
So hamburger mac and cheese
was one of my favorite dinners growing up,
but I loved it even more for leftovers the next day.
I was that kid that brought the smelly leftovers
to school in the cafeteria.
It probably stunk up the lunch table,
but it tasted better than being cool feels.
The noodles are plumped, they're ready to be sauced.
As my base for the cheese sauce,
I'm using a can of evaporated milk,
which is thicker than your typical 2%.
And then, for my cheeses,
I've got a combination
of shredded mozzarella
and white cheddar, which I love
for the meltiness of the mozzarella,
and then that sharpness of the cheddar.
And I've tossed my shreds in some cornstarch,
which will help thicken up the sauce.
It'll also help prevent the sauce
from breaking and separating.
So it's kind of a nice shortcut
because typically, when you make homemade mac and cheese,
you build a roux, and a bechamel, and mornay,
but this just skips all those steps.
I'll stir this around, just watch the cheese melt.
Oh, this is my dream.
All right. Now, that the cheese has melted,
it's ready for the hamburger element.
Dumping it right in.
I'll fold it in.
Smelling the bacon.
Okay.
I mean, she's beautiful.
And I'm garnishing with some classic burger fixin's,
pickles and tomatoes.
Hmm. Hi.
Sometimes, when I make mac and cheese,
I hope that the kids don't like it
so that there's more for me.
Some pickles
and chopped tomatoes.
Oh, yeah, these are there for the color.
It'll also help cool down a really hot night.
This is the job for a spoon.
Hmm.
Good food and Roxanne's sweet tunes,
double win.
[Roxanne] ♪ Bernie and Ira ♪
♪ Live at the farm ♪
♪ Mom and Dad do, too ♪
♪ They stomp with glee, Dance around the apple tree ♪
♪ Living at the farm ♪
[cheers and applause]
[Molly] Next, crispy rice bibimbap.
You're about to add this one
to your week night dinner rotation.
[country music playing]
For a colorful, flavorful dinner
that's loaded with the veggies that my lunch forgot,
I am making crispy rice bibimbap,
a Korean classic that's a bed of steamy rice
covered in a rainbow of toppings,
from juicy steak to a runny egg,
to piles of carrots and kimchi.
I'm gonna start by marinating my meat.
I've got some skirt steak here that I've thinly sliced.
This is the type of thing that you wanna eat
out of a bowl with a spoon,
so cutting the meat into little bits like this
makes that easier.
And to add flavor, I'll grate my yellow onion
right in here with the big holes of a box grater,
and grating it like this releases the juices
and speeds up getting the flavor into the meat.
It also gets the juice right into my eyes,
so I might start crying.
I'm just crying because it's beautiful.
I love bibimbap so much.
I'll use my fine Zester to grate in
a couple of cloves of garlic.
Getting a little tiny bits of garlic like this
helps distribute the flavor around the meat.
Two tablespoons of light brown sugar
will caramelize and make this so good,
three tablespoons of soy sauce for that saltiness,
and also a couple of pinches of kosher salt.
I'll toss these all together.
Bibimbap literally means mixed rice
and it's essentially just a bowl of rice
with loads of toppings.
We always do a runny egg
because the way that the yolk mingles with everything
kind of brings it together like a sauce.
I don't always do meat but today is a special day,
it's the dinner after a sing-along.
Okay. I'll set it aside and let it marinate
while I get going on my rice.
My pan is preheating on medium-high.
I'll get a couple of tablespoons
of neutral oil here.
This is short grain white rice
that's been seasoned with salt.
[sizzling]
That's a good sizzle.
I'll spread it out.
I'll let this hang out undisturbed
so that it can develop that crispy bottom
for about 10 to 12 minutes
while I get going on my other toppings.
I'll add a drizzle of oil to my other skillet,
and then soften up some Julienne carrot,
which adds a nice sweetness to this dish.
All right, on my same skillet just on the other side,
I'll crack in my eggs.
A little bit salt in the carrot will help them soften.
And then, I'll just cook this for a few minutes
until the carrots have softened and caramelized.
And the egg whites are cooked
but the yolks are still running.
Let me check on my rice.
Oh, look at this.
Look at that color.
Now, I've gotta make some room
in my skillets to cook the meat.
I don't wanna use like 60 skillets
when I could just use two.
So, I'll start to plate it up.
I'll get some rice in here.
Oh, yeah.
I'll get some carrots on each bowl.
And these eggs are perfectly cooked.
Like that first bite of bibimbap,
you've gotta just go at it into the egg yolk.
Watch it all ooze down over everything.
And now, I've made room in the skillet here,
I'll use this to cook my steak.
Medium-high heat for a few minutes
just until it's brown all over.
Smells really good.
I'll get some kimchi.
I love adding kimchi onto our bibimbap.
It's fermented cabbage and it's a little spicy.
I find it so refreshing and flavorful,
and it's an easy veggie to have on hand
in the dead of winter when our access
to fresh vegetables is pretty limited.
So you don't always find kimchi on bibimbap
but in our house, we love it.
Let me check on the steak.
Oh, yeah, that's looking good.
The brown sugar and the marinade
is what does it for me with the steak.
I like a sweet meat.
What can I say?
I'll pile this on.
[humming]
I'll bring this altogether with my sauce.
So, this is a combination of gochujang,
which is a Korean red pepper paste that's sweet,
and peppery, and hot, but not overly spicy.
And I thinned it out into a saucy consistency
with some toasted sesame oil, and sugar, and water.
This truly is one of my all-time favorite meals.
Some toasted sesame seeds,
just to add great texture
and they look really pretty,
and lastly, my scallions.
Yay!
I'm so happy with this.
All of my dreams are about to come true.
[upbeat music playing]
Mmm-hmm.
Between the crispy rice and the sweet and salty steak,
this is my ideal comfort right here.
[upbeat music playing]
[Molly] Still to come, corn cheese.
Can I say, "Yes, please?"
[country music playing]
For an easy cheesy dinner side,
I'm making corn cheese.
It's sweet, and creamy,
and the uncontested queen of the cheese bowls.
I'll build it all in my skillet,
and then, royal to melty perfection.
I'll start with a good plop of butter.
Peak-seasoned sweet corn
is honestly perfect on its own,
but when you add butter and cheese to the mix,
it's perfecter.
I'll get it in a red bell pepper
to add great color.
Pinch of salt and just let this soften.
Peppers and corns go so beautifully together.
I've got six sliced scallions here
and I'll add the white parts
and the pale green parts to the mixture,
and then save the dark green parts
for garnish at the end.
And now, for my corn, I've got six ears of corn
that I've just chopped off the cob.
We got such perfect sweet corn here
in this part of the country.
Originally, corn cheese was made with canned corn
and it was canned corn that was brought over
by American soldiers to Korea during the Korean War.
So, this is actually a relatively
recent Korean-American mash up that I love.
I'll season it with some kosher salt,
and then two teaspoons of sugar.
It will enhance the sweetness of the corn.
And then, some gochugaru,
which is a Korean pepper powder that's smoky,
a little sweet,
and it's hot but it's not overpowering.
I love this stuff.
And then, for the creamy element,
the love of my life, mayonnaise.
I'll add a cup of it.
I'll fold this in.
That's the good stuff.
It is ready for its cheese.
So, I'll smooth it out evenly.
I've got eight ounces of shredded
low-moisture mozzarella,
which I love for its melty,
mild creaminess, and I'll just blanket it.
I'll get this in my oven and broil it on high
for about two minutes until the cheese
is melt and bubbly.
Hmm.
[lively music playing]
Oh, yeah.
Look at that beauty.
Yum.
I'll finish with a pinch of gochugaru,
and the scallion greens.
Oh, it smells insane.
Okay.
-[bell rings] -It's cheese bowl o'clock.
[upbeat music playing]
Ready for this?
Yes.
Hmm.
Mmm-hmm.
It's so sweet and cheesy,
and that little bit of red pepper
breaks it up in the best way.
Oh, my good gosh cheese, it's time for dinner.
[upbeat music playing]