>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers, rural
communities and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, united
to grow family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com.
[chicks cheeping]
>> Well, spring has sprung.
And with the arrival of spring
comes the arrival of our
baby chicks via the
US Postal Service.
Now, I've got the book club
coming out to my farm today and
I wanted to make them a fresh
egg souffle.
But these guys aren't going to
be laying eggs for a few months
so I'm headed over to my
neighbor, author Michael Perry's
house, to get some farm
fresh eggs.
Then I'm going to meet up at my
field with the folks from
Cap and Cork to learn about
making dandelion wine.
Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
I'm your host, Inga Witscher.
>> All: Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
>> A few years ago,
I moved up to Wisconsin.
I started an organic dairy farm
at St. Isidore's Mead.
That's when I discovered
the abundance of Midwestern
local food
and small-scale farmers
growing everything
from green zebra tomatoes
to pasture pork.
I'm taking a break
from the cows,
hittin' the road
and seein' if I can't satisfy
my epicurious appetite.
Okay, now that I've gotten my
chicks back to the farm, they're
almost ready to go under
their brooder.
I've got the brooder all ready
with a heat lamp.
I like to use a red bulb in the
heat lamp.
That decreases any pecking that
the chicks do to each other.
I also use straw instead of the
wood chips.
In wood chips, the chicks will
be picking around for their food
and they're going to eat those
wood chips.
So I like to use straw.
That way they can't ingest that.
Then I've got their food ready,
which is just a chick starter
and a little bit of grit mixed
in with that.
And something I learned from an
Amish man was to put equal parts
of apple cider vinegar and a
molasses or a honey into
the water.
The sugars from that honey or
the molasses and that apple
cider vinegar is going give them
an instant surge of energy for
the first bit of their life.
I'm just going to prop their
water up a little bit.
That way they can't sit in there
and drowned.
It's just a little bit off the
ground so they can still
reach it.
They just dip their beaks just
right into the water so that way
they can find it.
Now she knows where it's at.
I'll stick her by her feed so
she knows where her food is.
We just do this with every
single chick.
That way they find their water
and they find their food, and
they can get acclimated.
If the chicks are all gathered
together like they're trying to
keep warm you need to lower that
heat lamp for them.
But it they're scattering around
and acting like they're hot, go
ahead and raise up a few inches.
You might have to do that every
day, and just go from there.
[chicks cheeping]
It looks like the folks from
Cap and Cork are here.
I'm going to put this little guy
away, and I'll meet you out in
the field.
You stay and watch the chickens,
Carlos.
Hi, there!
Welcome to the farm.
>> Hi!
>> Good, oh, wow.
This is so beautiful.
This is like the prime time to
be picking the dandelions.
>> Within a week or two of them
first starting to come out.
The second crops don't tend to
lend their herbal flavors as
well to the wine.
So it'd real nice to get them
now where they're big.
These ones are absolutely
wonderful.
The petals tend to give a lot of
their color.
You can see it on my hand, and
probably on my son's face over
there.
That lends itself very nicely to
the wine as well.
It makes it really pretty to
look at, sunshine in a glass
when it comes to this
wintertime.
We can enjoy the flavors of
summer and spring.
>> This is a family affaire,
making the wine.
>> It is.
>> Starting from right here.
>> The dandelions are always in
abundance.
It doesn't matter where you go,
everybody always wants you to
pick their dandelions, so you go
along the road.
We try to be selective.
We pick where there's been no
spraying so that we don't have
to worry about any insecticides
or anything getting in the wine
and infecting the flavor.
>> Can I touch these,
is that okay?
>> Sure.
>> Wow.
What's the process that you use
to make the wine?
>> Well, the most labor
intensive is this part,
gathering the petals.
Then once we get it back to the
kitchen we basically make a big
tea bag.
We steep it and put it in the
hot water.
Then over the next couple of
days we add sugar and a variety
of other additives, and finally
the yeast.
And away it goes starting to
ferment the sugar into wine.
>> What does it taste like?
I've never tasted
dandelion wine.
>> It tastes kind of herbal.
At the winery we make a sweet
version and a dry version.
>> Okay.
>> The sweet one tends to bring
out a little more nutty flavor.
The other thing is, we've kind
of had a wetter spring, so it
tends to be more fine of
a flavor.
When it's a dryer year you get
the herbal flavors.
Most people, their first taste
of wine was a homemade wine that
grandma or grandpa made back on
the farm.
>> Mine was a martini that I
stole from my parents.
[laughter]
>> Yeah, most people's fondest
memories is going back and
stealing some out of grandma's
basement or her larder, and it
was stuff that they had to help
make, as the kids are
around here.
>> Well, this is fantastic.
I've got some friends coming
over for a book club later and
I'd love to serve them some
dandelion wine.
So how about I trade you some
dandelions for the end product?
>> Absolutely.
We actually have a couple hidden
right here.
The gold one is the dry and the
yellow one is the sweet.
>> Wow! This is beautiful!
>> Yeah.
>> Oh! I see my friend with
the tractor.
I have to get a ride.
I asked somebody to give me a
ride over to Michael Perry's
house.
I'm going to leave that here.
I'll come back and get it.
>> All right, all right.
Absolutely.
>> See you guys! Thanks!
* *
[typing sounds in music]
Now that's what I call
hitchhiking.
We're at Mike Perry's.
Let's go get some eggs.
* *
[typing sounds in music]
Hi, Mike.
>> Hey, Inga.
>> How's it going today?
>> Just a moment.
[typing sounds in music]
>> That was the one, that was
the award winning sentence.
>> When you get a thought like
that you have to capture it.
How are you doing?
>> Really good.
Well, actually, I'm kind of
tired today.
Mind if I get a little pull of
your joe there?
>> Sure.
>> Get caffeinated.
>> You probably want to drink
out of the south end of that.
>> You know, I was thinking
about something as I was walking
over here.
You grew up on a farm, a dairy
farm, right?
>> I did.
I grew cleaning calf pens and
milking cows.
>> Oh, so if I need somebody to
help me clean my calf pens or
anything, you are available?
>> I am very familiar with the
business end of a pitchfork,
yes.
>> I was just thinking about you
growing up on a farm and you
having that farming gene in you
still, where you want to have
some animals around.
You have that need to kind of
take care of those things.
What is that about farm kids,
that they can never really
totally get away from the farm?
>> I think it's a mix of things.
On the one hand you have this
great sense of reality about
what hard work farming is, so
you tend to not want to get in
over your head.
On the other hand, I remember
when we first got pigs on our
little farm.
[pig snorting]
Part of what I felt was that the
minute you had living creatures
on that land, it took on a whole
new energy.
[pig squeals]
The entire farm seemed to come
alive, even with just two pigs
out in a little patch.
I think that's part of it, you
just associate the land with
some other form of life.
Often in the form of pigs and
chickens.
>> You never wanted to go into
dairy farming?
>> I never wanted to go into
dairy farming.
I loved growing up on a dairy
farm, I have written at length
about the fond memories I have
about milking time, especially
in the winter when it was cold
outside.
My dad had a small herd of
18 cows.
>> Holsteins?
>> Holsteins, he had Jerseys for
a little while.
He thought they were cute, but
they didn't give enough milk.
Although he did like getting--
He said, getting kicked by a
Jersey after getting kicked by a
Holstein was like getting a
love-tap.
He liked that part of it.
But I never wanted to milk and
it wasn't out of any sort of
bitterness or rancor, it was
just out of being completely
aware of how much work it was
and how consistently you had to
show up.
The cows had to be milked twice
a day, every day, every day of
the year.
[cow moos]
They weren't going to do it for
themselves.
I have so many memories of us
being at family events and at
about 4:00PM dad going, well--
And pushing his chair back.
We all knew what that meant, it
was time to go home.
>> I think you're out of coffee
there, Mike.
Hey, nice shoelaces!
>> Oh, thank you!
>> The old bailing twine, huh?
>> Yeah, bailing twine, or we
used to call it binder twine.
I think every farm--
On my dad's farm, and I know, on
our little farm even,
everybody's got that nail where
you hang the binder twine.
And whenever you've got to fix
something, whenever you've got
the hang a gate, whenever
there's trouble, you just go to
the nail and you've got this
endless resource.
And man, my entire childhood was
held together with binder twine.
We used it for belts, we used
it for--
I'd make lassos and pretend
I was a cowboy.
We'd hitch it to our trikes and
drag branches around with it,
and use it for the reins on our
runner sleds, and just about
everything.
I remember I made a Huck Finn
raft out of popple trees that I
chopped up with an ax and I
lashed them all together with
binder twine.
It floated about as good as
you'd expect.
>> My favorite thing, because I
can never keep knives around or
scissors, so I take a piece of
bailing twine and loop it into
the other piece of bailing twine
on the bail of hay, and saw the
bailing twine off.
I learned that when I was in 4H.
>> How very resourceful.
Very good.
I'm an old farm kid and I never
knew that trick.
I just stick to--
I've got a little pair
of scissors.
[laughter]
And of course, a guy like me, I
can actually use it for
dental floss.
When you've got this sort of
dentition, it fits just perfect.
This is a diastima.
Not everybody gets to have one
of those.
>> Well, you know I've got the
book club coming over in a
little while.
But I don't have any eggs
because I still have baby
chicks, because my flock got
whipped out by --.
I was hoping I could get some
eggs from you.
>> Well, you know, you can, but
you're going to have to wait a
little bit.
I've been on the road so much
and we had some predator issues
that had to pursue some other
options.
But if you hang in there just a
couple of minutes, I have
someone showing up with some
chickens.
>> Oh, great!
>> For rent.
>> No way!
>> Yes, it's true.
>> I can't wait to see this.
>> It's the new thing.
[chickens crowing]
* *
>> Let me get this straight, so
somebody can call you guys up
and say, I'm ready for two
chicken or four chickens or--
>> It's kind of like being
chicken grandparents.
You get to have them for the fun
part and send them home.
>> Skip the hard stuff.
>> Do these chickens go through
some sort of background check?
>> Yes, they're thoroughly
checked.
The state has a registry now for
chickens.
>> They look like they'd be a
little hard to ear tag.
>> Actually, with the chickens
you're going to put a tag on
their leg, right by their foot.
If you were to rent some
chicken and become totally
attached to them, after we took
them back and took care of them
for the winter, you can get your
exact same chickens back next
year.
The coop that you have behind
you is really designed for two
chickens.
We have somebody right now who
has two coops and has four
chickens.
>> Oh, okay.
>> But this particular coop is
really designed for two
chickens.
>> Okay, and then you bring
everything with, and you come
pick it up when they're ready
to--
>> Exactly.
>> That's the way to do
chickens.
I tell ya.
You know what I mean?
>> Well, especially as because
the days get shorter in the
fall, a lot of people want these
because they want to collect the
eggs.
As the days start to get shorter
the chickens, you know, tend to
slow down on their egg
production.
>> Sure.
Is it all the same breed or do
you have different breeds for
different folks?
>> The Barred Rocks, they're our
favorite.
They're very gentle, they're
fairly productive.
They're a good chicken for this
particular set up.
>> This young lady seems to be
getting a little bit restless.
I wonder if you would like to
introduce her to her new
portable home.
>> You can do it.
[chicken clucking in music]
>> I bet she'll turn some folks
into full-time chicken people
after they experience a few
months of having chicken on
their own.
They're just wonderful, aren't
they?
They have personalities, they're
easy to keep--
>> Hummm--
[conversation in background]
[music and noises of curiosity]
[clucking]
* *
My recipes never look like that,
but of course I have, like,
these extremely orange eggs.
>> Yeah, yeah, and I've had
people who have gotten eggs
before and they call you up and
they're like, what's wrong with
these eggs?
This is how eggs are supposed
to look.
>> Well, it's great to meet you.
>> Yeah, thank you.
>> Have a great afternoon.
>> Yeah, you too.
[chickens clucking]
>> Can I get those other
two from you?
Here.
* *
[trickling water]
I've got to tell you, the
thought of making a souffle has
always intimidated me.
My folks used to make them
growing up in the springtime
when we had an abundance of eggs
in the chicken coop.
It seemed so effortless
for them.
I've been a little reluctant to
try it just because I think
there's so many things that
could go wrong.
Well, the other day I tried it,
and it was flawless.
It was so easy!
And now that the whole mystic
has been taken out of it for me,
I think I'm going to plan of
making a lot more souffles.
The secret to a fantastic
souffle is farm-fresh eggs.
One thing that you want to keep
in mind if you're getting your
eggs from your own coop or
possibly your friend's chicken
coop is that there's a
protective film that the hen
will put around the egg when the
egg is laid so that no bacteria
can get into the egg.
That means you don't want to
wash your eggs until right
before you used them, or else
you're going to wash that
protective film off.
Okay, so we need to separate
three eggs.
Okay, and the last egg white in
there.
Go ahead and just gently whip up
your egg yolks.
You know, I think that some
nettles would be fantastic in
the souffle.
Let's go get some.
When you go to pick nettles make
sure that you get some rubber
gloves on, or some sort of
protection, because once you get
the stingers in there, it's
going to be in there all day.
However, I have heard that folks
with arthritis, if you get some
nettles on that affected area,
whether it's your knuckles or
joints or where ever, it can
help relieve that arthritis.
So there you go, maybe if you're
suffering from that, don't
use gloves.
When you pick your nettles, you
want to just use your top
leaves.
These are going to be the
tastiest for cooking in recipes.
As the nettles get older
throughout the summertime and
as you get lower on the stalk
those nettles tend to get a
little bit more chewy.
They have a little bit more
fiber in there.
So that why we want to just use
the tops.
You know, as a kid I grew up in
Washington state on a farm.
My two brothers and I, we would
spend all summer long just
running around in the fields, in
the woods, through the streams,
just everywhere.
We loved it.
But we quite a bit ran right
through a nettle patch.
My grandfather just thought it
was hilarious.
He'd say, you know, if you want
to get rid of the sting, just
put some cow manure on the area
and the stinger would go away.
And it did!
It worked really well.
But I think, I'm just thinking,
we probably could have used mud
or even water or something.
I think it's just that moisture
that takes the sting out.
But I'm sure he got a kick out
of watching us walking around
with cow pies covering our
bodies.
So if you get stung while
picking nettles and you're on a
farm, you're in good shape.
When you pick the nettles, just
pick the tops.
That's going to be the nicest
for cooking with.
Otherwise they can get a little
bit hairy and more fibrous as
they get older and they go down.
Nettle are so good for you.
Just find the anywhere.
If you can't find them where you
live, come to the farm,
I've got plenty.
* *
After you've washed you nettles,
just snip the leaves off
the stalks.
That way you're not going to get
any of those tough stalks
in there.
You want about four cups,
loosely packed.
Okay, then just pop four cups of
your nettles right into the
boiling water.
Those nettles are going to cook
for about four or five minutes.
* *
Now, don't throw your nettle
water away.
We're going to use that for our
souffle.
I pour about a half a cup to a
cup of water in my measuring cup
so I can save it.
There we go.
And just squeeze all the
moisture out of my nettles.
* *
Now you'll add the flour to
that butter.
You're going to cook
that flour--
I know it doesn't make sense,
but you're going to cook it so
that the flavor of the flour
comes out of it.
Burns out of it, is what
they say.
You want to keep constantly
stirring that.
[pan hisses]
Okay, now we'll take it off the
heat and add it to our egg yolk.
Slowly add some of the roux to
your egg yolk and mix that
right in.
You want to let the roux cool
for just a second so it doesn't
coddle you eggs.
And a little bit more.
Get the rest of that nice and
mixed in there.
This is probably the hardest
part of the whole souffle, just
making sure that you don't
scramble your eggs in the
process.
Now we can just chop up our
nettles and our chives.
We want to do them as small as
possible, because this is just
going to go right in here.
What you want to aim for is
about a quarter cup of chives.
If you like the garlicky, oniony
flavor, then I would add more if
I were you.
So I'll just, there we go, mince
these up.
Now you can always save your
chive flowers and garnish them
on top of a salad.
They look really beautiful.
They're actually an edible
flower.
Okay, now the nettles.
And see, now all the sting is
out of the nettle, so it's no
big deal.
They really cook down, they're
just like spinach.
If you didn't want to use nettle
or if you didn't have any
around, you could always use
spinach.
Okay, and in she goes.
To the mixture, now you going to
add a cup of cheese.
I added an aged cheddar just
because we make our own here on
the farm, but you could also use
a parmesan.
A little bit of salt, and my
favorite ingredient, which goes
well with nettles and eggs,
is nutmeg.
You'll want to grate your fresh
nutmeg.
It just smells so good and
it just taste so much better.
I would say you probably want
about, oh, a teaspoon or so
of this.
Just don't grate the ends of
your fingers.
I also use nutmeg when I make my
nettle soup.
I love springtime and
nettle season.
I love nettle soups, nettle
souffles, nettle tea, feeding
nettles to my chicks,
everything.
I just think they're
really good.
I've also heard people make a
slurry out of nettles and water
and adding it to their garden as
a soil enhancer.
Or you could just mix it right
into your compost, I suppose.
But don't ever just waste
those nettles.
They're a great resource.
Okay, I'm just going to stir all
this together
and let that sit.
Now, if you wanted to you could
always make this up ahead of
time and then whip your egg
whites right before you're going
to bake it.
This could sit in the fridge, it
could sit outside while you, I
don't know, went and milked cows
or something, and then you can
come back in an put it all
together.
Okay, now you just need to whip
your egg whites.
[mixer whirs]
Okay, it looks like our eggs
whites are nice and whipped.
I don't know how to explain it.
You don't want them to dry out
too much, but you want them to
be stiff enough.
I think the best way to figure
out your egg whites is by doing
it two or three times.
Then you can figure out what the
consistency is.
I think that's the best way to
learn most things.
Okay, add these right to the
yolk mixture.
Add a little bit.
You're going to fold it in.
You don't want to mix these
aggressively.
It's not good for this.
Mix in maybe a quarter,
maybe a half.
Let's do a half, what the heck.
Some people say you should mix
it in an 'S' shape.
I always do that for the first
couple stirs and then I forget
about it and just do whatever.
Gently mix these in.
That's good.
Now I'll just add the rest.
* *
I almost don't even mind if I
have a few streaks of egg white
in there because I know I don't
want to over-mix it.
So I'll take a little bit of egg
white instead of over-mixing it.
Okay, I've got my dish
all ready.
What it is is just some melted
butter on the inside, and then I
sprinkled some bread crumbs.
The bread crumbs are going to
allow that souffle to climb up.
If you don't want to use bread
crumbs, you could always just
use some Parmesan cheese.
Add it all to the pan here, and
then you're going to bake this
in a bain marie at 350 for about
40 minutes.
Now my souffle is ready to go in
the oven.
And I've got to tell ya, I can
not wait to see the look on
these macho book clubbers' faces
when they find out that they're
going to be eating a souffle
for lunch.
* *
[timer chimes]
[tractor motor]
[moped motor and horn]
>> "This morning while splittin'
wood I attempted to clear my
left nostril using a rustic
maneuver known as the farmer
snort, and misfired badly.
My Eustachian tubes have yet to
assume their former diameter.
I bubble gummed and eardrum,
shot fizz out of both tear ducts
and may have permanently everted
one eyeball.
I believe I sprained my uvula.
The act of blowing one's nose
without benefit of Kleenex is a
skill appreciated along a wide
spectrum of background and
endeavor.
Synonymous terms include,
fishermen's tissue and
air hanky.
We was walking from Oliver --
barn to the house for a lemonade
break between unloading hay
wagons when I puckered up and
gobbed a stringer down my
miniature bib overalls.
I'd been watchin' Oliver
all day.
He was a diminutive Norwegian
and an accomplished spitter.
Not big tobaccoy streamers, just
frothy little pips, but he did
it constantly, and the flecks
flew sharp and straight.
Gosh, it was just the neatest
thing!
He could do it while talking,
pitchforkin' or backin' up the
tractor.
I wasn't even in kindergarten
yet, but I was trying to march
beside my dad like a little
haymakin' man.
I guess I figured spittin' would
be the thing.
[snoring]
When I gobbered on my bibs dad
didn't even break stride.
He just looked down and said,
don't spit until you know how."
[laughter]
[applause]
>> Cheers, cheers everybody.
Serve your nettle souffle
straight from the oven so that
it doesn't fall like mine did.
But it doesn't matter if it
does, it still tastes delicious.
A spring salad with fresh
radishes and even some
dandelions go fantastic with the
souffle.
And round your meal off with
chilled dandelion wine.
I hope this has inspired you to
get a good looking group of guys
together for a book club.
And I hope you gather with us
next time.
>> All: Around the farm table.
>> I'm your host, Inga Witscher.
Cheers.
* *
[rooster crows]
[dog barking]
>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers, rural
communities and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, united
to grow family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com.