Molly treats her girlfriends to her favorite brunch dishes after a night out in Grand Forks and includes Mini Quiches with Peas and Bacon, Garlicky Lemony Kale, a Dark Chocolate Scone Loaf with Marzipan and Fresh Mint Iced Coffee.
Molly treats her girlfriends to her favorite brunch dishes after a night out in Grand Forks and includes Mini Quiches with Peas and Bacon, Garlicky Lemony Kale, a Dark Chocolate Scone Loaf with Marzipan and Fresh Mint Iced Coffee.
Below are the recipes used in today’s episode:
Fresh Mint Iced Coffee: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/fresh-mint-iced-coffee-5336067
Dark Chocolate Marzipane Scone Loaf: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dark-chocolate-marzipan-scone-loaf-5336090
Garlicky, Lemony Kale: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/garlicky-lemony-kale-5336056
Mini Quiches with Peas and Bacon: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mini-quiches-with-peas-and-bacon-5336065
Want even more of Molly’s recipes? Stream full episodes of Girl Meets Farm on discovery+. Head to discoveryplus.com/girlmeetsfarm to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply.
Find episode transcript here: https://girl-meets-farm.simplecast.com/episodes/girls-brunch
[MUSIC PLAYING] MOLLY YEH: Coming up, I'm making brunch for my girlfriends.
SPEAKER: So good.
MOLLY YEH: Mini quiches with peas and bacon, a garlicky lemony kale, my dark chocolate scone loaf with marzipan, and my favorite way to start the day, fresh mint iced coffee. Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh. I'm a cookbook author and food blogger. This is my husband Nick. And this is our home, our farm on the North Dakota, Minnesota border, the place where I eat, sleep, and breathe food. My food is a delicious mix of my Chinese and Jewish heritage and the taste of the Midwest.
I'm going out for happy hour later with my ladies. And tomorrow I'm having them over for brunch. Now I know I'm not going to want to wake up too early tomorrow, so I'm going to get ahead right now by making my chocolate marzipan scone loaf, which is basically a gigantic version of your typical buttery scone dotted with little pockets of marzipan dark chocolate.
Typically, I would not advise making a scone more than a few hours before you intend to serve it because they do tend to dry out really quickly. But in low form, there's so much more moisture that will help keep that fresh for longer.
The first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to prep my mix-ins. I have my favorite ingredient marzipan here, which is a paste made out of almonds and sugar. It's very similar to almond paste. Marzipan has a higher amount of sugar though. Almond paste will work as a substitute. I'm going to toss it with some powdered sugar so that my little pieces don't stick together.
Next, I'll add my chocolate. And this is the type of recipe where you could add any mix-ins that you want, like dried fruit or nuts or other types of chocolate. I love the way the marzipan gives little pockets of almond sweetness throughout my scone. I'll set this aside.
Next, I'll combine my dry ingredients. I'll do that directly in my food processor. Two cups of flour, baking powder to make them light and fluffy, kosher salt, and sugar. I'm not adding too much sugar because the marzipan and the chocolate will add some sweetness. And I'll pulse this to combine.
Next, I'll combine my wet ingredients, 2 eggs and buttermilk, which will add just a slight tang. And I always like cracking my eggs into a bowl first because if I get any shell in there, it's much easier to fish out when it's just the eggs as opposed to fishing it out from some buttermilk. Some vanilla extract and almond extract will enhance that marzipan flavor. The best smell. And I'll whip these up to combine.
This recipe came about one day when I made a batch of standard small scones and I brought them out to Nick and his farmer friends. And I was stressed out that they weren't going to finish them in time before they got dry. And so I needed a scone that would last for longer, so I loafed it. I made this [? cloth. ?] And with this there's so much more moisture. It stays fresher for longer. This [? cloth ?] is going to be perfect.
I've got my wet ingredients, my dry ingredients, and my mix-ins. Now it's time for the butter. I always save the butter for last when I'm making scones. And that ensures that the butter stays cold. Sometimes I even freeze the butter, which is the tip that my mom gave me. That'll ensure that the pieces of the butter stay intact when they're added to the butter. And those little pockets of butter will melt in the oven and create beautiful pockets of tender goodness.
I'm chopping up my butter into uniform cubes so that when they go into the food processor they'll combine in a uniform manner. I'm adding my butter cube by cube. And I'm going to try to evenly disperse it so that they don't stick together and we get any big clumps of butter. And I'll pulse this all together until the butter is pea-sized.
My butter is evenly distributed. I'll grab my bowl with the marzipan and chocolate chips and dump in my dry ingredients. I'll give it a quick stir to combine my marzipan and chocolate with the dry ingredients. These little bits of marzipan make me so happy.
I've been eating marzipan straight out of the package since before I could even walk. My mom always makes this marzipan cake around Valentine's Day. And some of my earliest food memories are of my sister and I fighting over the extra marzipan from the cake. I think that marzipan runs through my veins.
I'm adding in my wet ingredients. And I'm stirring this just until the dry ingredients are combined with the wet and no more. Over mixing a scone butter could make it too dense and chewy. It smells so almondy and good. It's quite a thick butter, about halfway between a butter and a dough. It's looking great. It's combined. I'm ready for my loaf pan.
I'm lining my loaf pan with some parchment paper with enough to come up about an inch above the rim of the pan. And that's going to help me lift my loaf out of the pan when it's done. My hands are slippery from the butter. So at this point if you decide you want to bake these into standard small scones, you can do that. But because I'm going out tonight, I'm and baking it loaf style.
I'll pat it down evenly. Although it is quite sticky, so it's going to look rustic. That's how we do things on the farm. And my last step before baking is I'm going to sprinkle it with just a spoonful of sugar. That'll add a bit of crunch on top. OK, it's ready to bake. I'll pop this in the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes until it's golden brown and crispy on top.
I've got my scone loaf out of the way. It looks beautiful. And now I'm heading into town to meet up with my friends at my favorite bar.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
SPEAKER: I need an ice luge. That's it.
MOLLY YEH: It was really hard to meet friends when I moved to town. But we quickly bonded over a love of food. They're just some great all-around pals.
[CHEERING]
SPEAKER: How are you guys?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
MOLLY YEH: I am so excited for you guys to come over for brunch--
SPEAKER: What are you making?
MOLLY YEH: I'm mixing quiches. Any veg option? Yeah, we're doing kale. You can just have the kale. I'm so excited. You guys are going have a great time.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
The best thing is that my ladies are always game for me to bounce my latest recipes off them.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm going to introduce you to my chickens. The best part about having chickens is that I get fresh eggs every day. When we first got our chickens a lot of people said, what are you going to do when they stop playing? Are you going to make soup? I was so appalled by that suggestion because they are my pets. They are my friends.
Oh, oh my gosh, there are so many eggs today. I'm so proud of my chickens when they lay eggs like this. One of the best things about mornings on the farm is fresh eggs from my chickens. Today, I'm using them in mini quiches with bacon and peas, which will be the perfect centerpiece to my brunch. I have some bacon crisping up here, which I'll just transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to catch any excess fat.
The other best thing about mornings is the smell of bacon. I'll set this aside to cool while I collect the rest of my ingredients. I've got my eggs, heavy cream, and Gruyere, which is one of my favorite cheeses to go in quiche. Some Dijon mustard is going to give it a little kick and some frozen peas.
I'll also grab some paprika and cayenne. I'm ruined for store-bought eggs now because my chickens make the best eggs. They're all named macaroni. That was just the thing that we did when we first got them and they were chicks and we couldn't tell them apart. And we were intending to give them individual names, but we liked the name macaroni. So they just stuck.
I'll get some heavy cream in here. And I like making quiche because it doesn't have to be totally exact with my ingredients. I can eyeball the heavy cream and the eggs and the cheese. It's very forgiving. Let's get our spices next. I love a little bit of cayenne. It's smoky paprika. Of course, I got to add my salt, fresh black pepper, and the smallest amount of mustard is going to give it a great kick.
We'll give this a whisk. OK. Now I'll add my cheese. Gruyere is my favorite cheese for quiche. It's sharp and a little bit funky. Amazing. It's so good. Bacon. The best part. Now that it's cooled a little bit, I can chop it up into little pieces.
And the rule of thumb when making bacon is to always make extras. Yum! I'm having a very hard time not eating all of this right now. Some bright green peas to get some veggies in there and give this some color. We'll give it a mix.
Next I'm going to grab my pie dough. I'm using store-bought here. Store-bought pie dough always reminds me of making quiche with my mom. We used to make quiche Lorraine together. And I'm not getting too fancy with this. I'm going to use a bowl to cut out my circles that will go into my quiche pans.
Quiches are the perfect brunch food because they're delicious hot out of the oven. But they're also really great at room temperature. So you can make them in advance and either reheat them, take them out of the fridge, bring them out to room temperature.
I also like eating quiche cold. I have my fancy schmancy pan here, which I'm going to use to serve. I love the way this looks. It's actually a biscuit pan. You can certainly use a standard cupcake tin. And I'll press my pie dough circles right into these. I've made these circles big enough so that there's overhang here. And I'll fold over to make a crust.
It's important to work a little bit swiftly when you're working with pie dough because you want it to stay cold. That'll help it stay flaky when it bakes up. I like molding little edges. It's very satisfying. Now it's ready for the egg mixture. Each one will get a nice big scoop of filling. This mixture will rise a little bit, so don't fill the quiche all the way to the top. Leave a little bit of an edge.
Great. These are ready for the oven. They'll bake at 325 for about 40 to 45 minutes until the egg is set. While my quiches have a moment to rest, I'll crack on with my new favorite brunch dish, garlicky lemony kale. So good, the girls are going to love it.
Yum! My egg is set. The pie crust is lightly browned. I'm going to leave these to cool for just a few minutes before I serve them. All right. I'm whipping up some garlicky lemony kale, which will be the perfect side to my brunch. I have some almonds toasting here. And I'm just going to grab some garlic.
I love having vegetables in the morning. It makes me feel like superwoman, and it makes me feel less guilty if I want to eat cake the rest of the day. This is the dish that I whip up at any time of day. It's great for breakfast with some eggs, for lunch next to a sandwich. It adds great color to my brunch table and balance to my quiche, to my scones.
I'll get some olive oil heating in my pan. This garlic will cook for about 30 seconds to a minute, just until it starts smelling good. The thing that I love having when my friends come over, I love it when they walk in the door and can smell something good. This garlic is going to do that job. While that's cooking, I'll devein my kale.
Pretty much any type of kale will work here. I usually have curly kale on hand. So I'm just pulling out these veins of the kale. These tough bits aren't great to eat sauteed, but they're great in smoothies or great for the chickens. I'll give my kale a rough chop. And I'm going to need to add this in batches to my pan. So I'll get some of this cooking while I cut up the rest.
Kale used to scare me a little bit because it's tough if you try to eat it raw, but sauteing it will soften it right up. It's super weird that I'm saying that because for the first 20 years of my life, I barely ate a green vegetable. But these days I find that garlic and lemon on any green vegetable makes it delicious.
My pan is looking a little dry. I'm going to give it a little bit more olive oil. And I'll add some salt. Mm, I smell those almonds. I love to toast my almonds before using them as a topping. They get nice and crunchy and their flavor is really amplified.
I'm going to add the rest of my kale now. While my kale cooks, I'm going to grill a lemon. Grilling lemon is my favorite way to take a really simple dish to a fancy level. All I do is chop my lemon in half and stick it on a hot grill pan.
This is a good sound. That's how your pan is hot enough. I'll add some black pepper. Now Oh, yeah, that's fancy. I know my kale is done when it has a beautiful bright green color, and it softens. But it still has a little bit of a bite. We're ready to plate.
Kale, yeah, I can't forget a leaf garlicky bits at the bottom of the pan. I love a bit of hot sauce on my kale. And I'll put this on my brunch table in case my friends want to add more. I'll squeeze on some lemon and I'll serve it with the other half because it's pretty. I'll sprinkle my almonds right on top and some shaved Parmesan because why not? Easy. This is ready.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY YEH: Help yourself to coffee and I get them started with a fresh mint iced coffee as a final little addition to the brunch table.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Mornings on the farm are typically pretty early. So the first thing that I usually reach for when I wake up is a strong coffee. I'm typically a black coffee girl through and through. But I make one exception for fresh mint. This iced coffee is inspired by something that I had at a coffee shop in Berkeley where they add muddled fresh mint and just the right amount of heavy cream and simple syrup to make the most refreshing coffee drink I've ever had.
So I have my ingredients here, fresh mint that grows like a weed in our garden in the summer. We've got our ice and my heavy cream and simple syrup. Simple syrup is just equal parts sugar and water stirred together and brought to a boil. And I like using simple syrup in a drink because the sugar is already dissolved. It gives it a much smoother texture. If you don't have simple syrup and you must have this coffee right now, you can just use regular granulated sugar.
I have my two glasses here, and I'm going to add a few leaves of fresh mint. And I have a muddler here, which is going to help crush this mint and release that delicious refreshing minty flavor. Smells so good. If you don't have a muddler, you can just use the back of a spoon or a spatula. Minton coffee is an unexpected flavor combination. But when you try it, you know how magical it is.
I'll add my ice here. And now I have some coffee that I've cold brewed overnight, which is ideal for making an iced coffee. However, if you don't want to cold-brew your coffee, you can make hot coffee. I would just recommend making it a little bit stronger than you normally do because when it goes on to the ice, it's going to melt your ice just a little bit and then it's going to dilute.
So I'll pour this into our glass, leaving room for cream and syrup. And then we'll pour in our heavy cream not so much that it tastes like a latte but just enough that it adds that beautiful richness. That makes this extra special. And now I'll add my simple syrup. And I keep this on hand in my refrigerator all the time. It lasts for a few weeks.
I'll stir this up with my straws. I like drinking coffee out of a straw because I don't feel like I'm staining my teeth that way. And then I'm going to garnish it with some fresh mint, which is important because as you're sipping it, you can smell the mint. Here we go. Cheers. Mm, it's amazing. It's just a little bit creamy. It's not too sweet and that mint is front and center. It's delicious.
[LAUGHTER]
Help yourself to coffee.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER: What's all that? I can smell it.
MOLLY YEH: Lots of garlic.
SPEAKER: These look good
MOLLY YEH: Yeah.
NICK HAGEN: What! I was not invited.
MOLLY YEH: Oh no. No boys allowed.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
It's so good.
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]