[Molly] It's harvest,
and I'm making a totally tasty wheat truck lunch for two.
Why eat lunch at this roomy counter
when you could eat it squished in the cab of a wheat truck?
With my hearty and crispy fried chicken banh mi sandwiches...
Think we have arrived at Crispy town.
...dripping with sweet and spicy mayo,
salt and vinegar potato,
wait for it, salad...
This is not your average mayo-soaked potato salad.
...a savory miso broccoli green side
filled with the fruits of my farmer's labors.
Mmm!
And for dessert, my sweet and tart pickled plum crumble
is where it's at.
I've plum done it again.
[opening theme 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.
Wheat harvest is in full swing,
so I'm making a hearty lunch for Nick and me
because why eat lunch at a big, roomy counter
when you could eat it squished in the cab of a wheat truck?
For dessert, I'm making my pickled plum crumble,
which is sweet and sour,
and it's loaded with a brown butter five spice streusel.
It is so good.
I'm starting with two pounds of beautiful plums here
because stone fruit season and wheat harvest season
overlap completely.
So we get such great produce this time of year.
I'll toss these with three-quarters of a cup of brown sugar.
I love the dark depth that the brown sugar
lends to plums.
Plums are moody.
They need a moody sugar.
Three tablespoons of flour
will help the juices thicken
once they seep out of the fruit when it's baking.
A splash of vanilla extract adds some nice, extra flavor.
And then, six umeboshi, which are Japanese pickled plums
that have been cured in salt
and then preserved in vinegar
so they're super salty and sour,
and I love them.
You typically find them in savory dishes
like in the center of rice balls,
but when they're combined with sweet plums in this dessert crumble,
I think they add new life to a classic dish.
They haven't been pitted, so I'll just squeeze out the pits.
And you can find them at an Asian grocery store or order them online.
Ume means "plum" in Japanese
and boshi is a form of the verb "to preserve".
I'll mash these into a paste, which will help them evenly distribute
throughout the filling.
So these are providing both salt and acid.
You get two flavors in one.
I'll toss this in with the plums.
Plum on plum action.
And I combine it all together.
Crumbles are just one of the best things to make
because it allows you just to celebrate the fruit.
They're so special when they're in season.
And I feel like the umeboshi just takes this
in a slightly different direction
that makes it super unique.
This is just a buttered 10x7 baking dish.
[dish clatters]
I'll pile these in.
They smell so good.
And when they bake up, the sugars will caramelize,
the flour will thicken the juices
and make this all saucy and bubbly
and delish.
Might be a little messy eating this in a wheat truck,
but it's going to be worth it.
Okay, I'll just set this aside now
while I make my crumble topping.
This crumble has beautiful warmth and depth
from Chinese five spice
and loads of caramel-y flavor from the browned butter.
This is ten tablespoons of butter
that I just heated over medium low
and you allow the solids to caramelize.
And then I firmed it up in the fridge
so that it's cold to give me those good pebbles of streusel.
Browning butter is actually a really easy way
to add more flavor to whatever you're making with butter.
First, I'll combine the dry ingredients for my crumble, though.
I've got one cup of all-purpose flour.
I'll add five tablespoons of light brown sugar.
Brown sugar and brown butter complement each other really well.
And a half-teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder,
which has got cinnamon, which you often see in a plum crumble.
But it's also bringing along clove and fennel
and star anise and Sichuan peppercorn,
so it's cinnamon and all of its friends.
Total party.
Half a teaspoon of kosher salt.
Half a teaspoon of almond extract, which is so nice with plums.
I'll give this a little mix.
Streusel is great on pies, coffee cakes, and any kind of fruit crumble.
And then, I'll break up my butter into little pieces
and just work it in with the dry ingredients.
So just as if you were starting with a stick of butter
that you cut up into little cubes,
cutting it into pieces like this helps it incorporate uniformly.
I find making streusel by hand to be one of the most
therapeutic jobs in the kitchen.
So I'm just pinching the pieces of butter
with some of the dry ingredients
to work it in and get it evenly distributed
and I love a variety of different sizes of crumbs.
From little pea-sized bits to big, honking, raspberry-sized bits.
I'm smelling that almond.
There's a lot of good stuff in this crumble.
If you ever come across a crumble that lost all of its crumbles,
I was there.
Okay, before I cover the plums in this,
I'll toss in half a cup of coarsely chopped toasted almonds
for more almond flavor
and great, crunchy texture.
And now, I'll cover the plums in a snowstorm of crumble.
[upbeat music playing]
This is a great crumble-to-fruit ratio.
This'll go in the oven now at 375 degrees
for 45 to 50 minutes
until the plums are soft and the juices are bubbling around the edges
and the crumble is crisp.
Holy brown butter buckets, it smells incredible in here.
Let me check on my crumble.
[whispering] Oh, yeah, baby.
[in normal voice] Look at how bubbly it is! Oh, my goodness.
It smells so good.
I'll let this rest before I pack it up to bring it out
to the tractor for Nick and me.
But first, I have to steal a taste.
Perfect bite. Mostly crumble, some fruit.
Mmm!
That is freakin' heavenly.
Between the almond and the sourness of the umeboshi...
Sheesh! I've plum done it again.
Coming up, a snappy sandwich
that'll knock you right out of your tractor,
metaphorically speaking, of course.
-[knife slices] -[jar pops]
-[pot clatters] -[water sloshing]
[trays clattering]
For the star of our wheat truck lunch,
I am making my fried chicken banh mi sandwiches.
They are crispy and juicy,
loaded with pickled veggies and sweet, creamy mayo.
They're also, like, gigantic,
like the size of two of my fists.
I'll start by making my chicken.
I have one large chicken breast here
that I've thinly sliced.
So I've just cut it in half horizontally.
And having a thin chicken breast, it cooks faster,
it also gets extra crispy.
Now, for my dredge,
I'll combine two eggs...
With a quarter cup of cornstarch,
which creates almost like a batter
that adheres to the chicken really well.
I'll season with two teaspoons of kosher salt
and a teaspoon of Chinese five spice.
I figure I have it out already from the plum crumble,
it'll also go great with the chicken.
I'll mix this up until it's smooth.
This cornstarch with the egg
creates a thicker, crunchier coating
and you know sometimes when you get fried chicken,
there's an air pocket between the fried, crunchy exterior
and the actual meat?
This helps avoid that.
Okay.
And I'll take the chicken on through.
I'll get it coated in the egg.
Let any excess drip off.
And then transfer it to panko breadcrumbs.
Love panko breadcrumbs.
They're coarser than classic breadcrumbs
and so you get more crunchy bits.
And I've brought these to room temperature,
which allows that breading to adhere really well to the chicken.
I'll take this other breast through.
Banh mi sandwiches are Vietnamese sandwiches.
The term banh mi simply means bread.
They're not typically made with fried chicken.
Usually, they're made with a variety of meats.
Oftentimes, you see pate or pork roll in them.
Sometimes grilled chicken.
But Nick always seems to lose weight during harvest.
So I'm shoving in the extra calories when I can.
Right, these are fully coated.
I've got about an inch of neutral oil here
heating 350 degrees in my skillet.
And I'll lower these in gently away from me
so that oil does not splatter.
-[sizzling] -And that's exactly the sizzle you wanna hear.
I'll fry these for one to two minutes per side
until they're golden brown and crisp.
Like a beautiful golden wheat field.
Golden wheat fields are my favorite.
They're so beautiful.
They smell really good, like bread or pizza.
And when they're harvested, they get...
Cut off in such satisfying straight lines and rows.
It's a really cool process to see.
I think we have arrived at Crispy town.
Look at that beauty.
It's gonna be so crunchy.
I'll transfer these to a wire rack
so that any excess oil can drip off.
The rack allows for air circulation underneath
so that the bottom can stay crisp.
I'll let these drain while I whip up my mayo.
The unsung hero of a banh mi sandwich is the sauce.
Mayonnaise, hoisin, sriracha.
Just gonna throw them all together.
I'll start with half-a-cup of Japanese mayonnaise,
which I love for its richness and it's a little bit sweet.
A tablespoon of hoisin sauce,
which is super sweet and salty.
Then two tablespoons of sriracha for heat.
Fried chicken sandwiches have to have mayo.
It's just a rule of life. I'll stir this up.
Okay.
That's it, easy peasy.
I'll grab my baguettes.
I've buttered them and gotten them toasty.
I'll get my other fixings and then I'll be ready to assemble.
I've got a rainbow of bright toppings here.
And I'll build. Start with one half of the baguette.
Slather it with mayo.
Crust to crust so that every bite gets some.
Top with chicken.
Now, a requirement for a banh mi
is a pickled mixture of carrots and daikon radishes
that are crunchy and peppery.
And I've just quick pickled these with some rice vinegar, salt, and sugar.
And the combination of this cooling crunch
up against the hot fried chicken
is what keeps me going back bite after bite.
These colors look great.
Now usually, you see cucumbers on these,
by my own little Midwest spin is that I'm gonna use hamburger dills.
Some thinly sliced jalapenos.
I'll finish with a pile of fresh cilantro.
Gotta have cilantro.
These are so pretty, I almost don't wanna cover them up
with another piece of baguette, but...
How else are you gonna eat them on a truck?
More mayo, just a little bit.
And a necessary sandwich assembly step.
-[sandwich crunching] -[whispering] The smash.
[in normal voice] To bring everything together.
Wrap this up.
I better just make sure that it tastes good, right here in the kitchen.
[crunching]
That chicken is so dang crunchy,
and the pickles with the mayonnaise
just soaking down into everything,
oh, this is one super sandwich.
[upbeat music playing]
Next, a broccoli salad that soars to new heights
with farm fresh ingredients.
For a fun, farmy side,
I'm making my miso broccoli grain salad
that's funky and toasty,
and loaded with chewy wheat berries
that come straight from harvest.
And it's filled with energy
for the next long days on the farm.
I've got my wheat berries here.
They're a hearty, chewy grain, and I love them so much.
I'll dump these in unsalted boiling water here.
Let this go for about an hour
until they're chewy and tasty.
You could also use farro or barley
or even couscous or orzo with this salad.
Any grainy, carby situation would be delicious.
While this cooks, I'll get my broccoli going.
I've got a pound of broccoli florets that I'll just drizzle with some neutral oil.
It'll help them get extra crispy.
A couple of good pinches of salt.
Toss this all around,
and then, I'm cooking this how I cook all of my broccoli these days,
which is I stick it under the broiler
and let it get super browned and crispy
so that it melts in your mouth
and you just eat them almost like potato chips.
All right, I'm sticking this under my broiler on high
and it'll only take about five to ten minutes.
While the broccoli crisps up, I'll just make my dressing.
I'm starting with three tablespoons of white miso paste,
which is a total flavor bomb.
It's what makes this salad.
It's fermented soy beans.
It's salty. It adds umami. I love this stuff.
And I can find this at my local grocery store.
You can find it at Asian markets.
And it lasts for a really long time in the fridge.
Two teaspoons of soy sauce.
A quarter cup of rice vinegar.
Look at that brightness.
A tablespoon and a half of toasted sesame oil
for those delicious toasty, nutty notes.
This is just a really great dressing.
You don't have to have it with this grain salad.
You could have it on a green salad, too.
Five tablespoons of neutral oil.
A tablespoon of sugar.
You're really getting all the flavors here.
Sweet, salty, umami, sour.
I'll grate in some fresh ginger.
This will add that brightness that I love.
And I like the really little pieces that you get from a fine zester
versus finely chopping it.
Makes for a smoother dressing that way.
And it eats smoother, as well.
A tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds for a little crunch.
I'll whisk this together.
Just get it nice and smooth.
You don't wanna have any chunks of miso paste hanging out in here
because that would be very salty.
Hmm.
Mmm.
That's good. Wakes my mouth up.
I'll drain my wheat berries.
Mmm. [sniffs] Oh, this smells so nutty.
I'll dump these straight into the dressing.
Get my broccoli.
-[oven door closing] -It's nice and crisp.
Toss this in.
You could really use any veggies here.
This is a super versatile salad.
Add in some grated carrots.
That fresh bit of sweetness.
Some scallions are nice.
They complement the miso really well.
And lastly, some toasted cashews
which I love for their crunch.
You get to mix your protein in here, too.
I'll toss this all together and get everything coated in that beautiful dressing.
So whenever I need wheat berries,
I call up Nick and I say,
"You know where a girl can get some wheat berries around here?"
And Nick answers and he says,
"I think I know a guy."
And then within minutes,
he's at my door with a bucket of wheat berries
straight from the field or the huge grain bins
right outside our door.
Mmm. Like a little ball pit.
Of wheat berries.
That dressing is distributed.
I'm digging in.
Mmm. Mmm.
[upbeat music playing]
The chewy texture obsesser within me
is so satisfied by this,
and the miso brings it all to life.
I'd date this grain salad.
Still to come,
imagine if salt and vinegar chips and potato salad had a beautiful baby.
For a flavor-packed accompaniment to our meal,
I am making my salt and vinegar potato salad.
It's hearty, it's bright,
and it's creamy from the potatoes,
not from mayo.
This is not your average mayo-soaked potato salad.
And it has chewy bits of Chinese sausage littered throughout.
I love this. I'm starting with my little golden potatoes
that I've boiled in salted water until tender.
I'm just chopping them up into quarters.
And these golden ones are so nice
because they're creamy and they're so, so flavorful.
We get really good potatoes in this region.
There's a lot of potato farmers around here.
Nick's grandpa farmed potatoes.
He was the head of the Potato Growers Association.
So I'm basically a potato princess.
I'll toss in some fresh cilantro
as well as some scallions.
And some peas add nice sweetness.
And now, my favorite part, Chinese sausage,
otherwise known as lap cheong,
which is super fatty.
It's sweet, it's salty.
And it has some fennel in it.
It just explodes with flavor.
It's a dried sausage, but you still gotta cook it.
-[sizzling] -Let's stir this around. It smells so good already.
I need this to get heated through and crisp around the edges.
Al the best potato salads have meat.
Around here, a lot of people put ham in their potato salad.
I love it.
But I'm upping the ante with Chinese sausage.
And it is little morsels that explode with flavor
when you find 'em in the salad.
I'll be digging through the salad for these.
Seems crispy to me.
I'll just dump it right in, fat and all.
The potatoes will soak it up.
It looks great already, but, of course, it still needs its dressing.
For my vinegar element in this salt and vinegar situation,
I'm using rice vinegar,
which is a bit more mild than the standard distilled white vinegar flavor
that you get with salt and vinegar.
Around here, most of the potato salads are covered in mayo,
which, nothing against that,
but this one kind of takes a cue from German-style potato salad,
which is a vinegar-based potato salad
and channels some Asian energy.
A quarter cup of neutral oil,
which will emulsify with the vinegar and allow it to thicken.
A tablespoon of mirin, which is a Japanese cooking wine
that's sweet and tangy.
A tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
allows the darker notes.
A couple of teaspoons each of toasted sesame seeds and black sesame seeds.
Some garlic.
And salt, of course.
I'll whisk this together,
quite vigorously so that the vinegar and the oil can emulsify.
[sloshing]
I'll pour it all over.
There's a lot going on in here.
It's like a party. Ooh, yeah,
the smell of the vinegar, it's really strong in the best way.
Looks bright and colorful to me.
And for a finishing crunch, some chow mein noodles.
'Cause for more textural excitement.
I love these crispy little guys.
And some flaky salt.
And...
Taste, obviously.
Gonna get, like, a lot of lap cheong and one potato.
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
Oh, yeah, you can't go wrong.
It's bright and salty.
And the sweetness of the potato just mellows everything out
and allows it all to come together.
Farm to table? More like...
Lunch to truck.
Let's eat.
-Hello! -[Nick] Hey.
[Molly] I packed a big ol' lunch.
[Nick] All right, well, let's unpack that lunch.
[Molly] You look like you still have a lot to do.
[Nick] Well, I just ate half of my wheat crop
in that plum crumble, so I better keep on going.
[Molly sneezes] The wheat always makes me sneeze.