(Intro Music plays) Until I was in my twenties I thought beets were a processed food that came sliced, pickled, and swimming in a red scary liquid, but there is so much more to the beet.

(Theme Music plays- The Avett Brothers "Will You Return") I'm Vivian and I'm a chef.

My husband, Ben and I were working for some of the best chefs in New York City when my parents offered to help us open our own restaurant.

Of course, there was a catch.

We had to open this restaurant in Eastern North Carolina, where I grew up and said I would never return.

(Theme Music plays) (Theme Music plays) So this is my life.

Raising twins, living in the house I grew up in, and exploring the south, one ingredient at a time.

(Music plays) Previously on A Chef's Life.

I'm trying to write and deliver a cookbook by January.

We're just looking for some props.

Wow!

Let's use that.

So, I've got a little shot list and I've never done this before.

There ya go.

That's the money shot.

(Music plays) Are you pushing your foot on the gas?

I mean, on the brake?

Okay, you know worst case scenario she could put the car seats in your car.

Thank you, Mom.

My van is too technologically advanced for my Mom to start it.

Now, you make sure you get a nice shot of Kim's face because she's got her make up on for you.

So, how many layers are you doing?

Umm, six.

Okay.

A few years ago I came across the fact the during World War II, people substituted beet juice in their red velvet cakes instead of food coloring.

So, I became fixated on this idea of making a red velvet beet cake.

Well, that kind of failed but the result was kind of a surprising delicious chocolate cake.

Even better.

We used to do desserts or try to do desserts that were more froufy, frou frou?

Fancy.

(Laughter) And we have moved in a direction where things are more approachable and fun and I think we are much more successful now.

But, the beet cake was one that I always kind of wanted to bring back because beets add this moisture and earthy depth of flavor that really compliments the chocolate.

It's important to have our chocolate dessert be strong.

I've been having a lot of issues with the servers in that we go up to present dishes and they eat them and they just like, push the plate aside.

And we get no comments.

We get no feedback.

It's like, do you like that?

Yeah.

Do you not like that?

Neh.

You know, so, I wanna see how they respond tonight because if a table is gonna order two desserts generally one of them is always generally gonna be chocolate.

So, it's important that they like this is I guess what I'm trying to say.

We'll see.

(Music plays) The beets of my childhood, the beets that my mother had on her table or that we had at covered dish suppers at church would be so tangy they would literally lock my jaw so I didn't eat that many of them.

But last summer I had a jar of pickled beets I could not get enough of.

Hey!

Hey!

Where your beets?

They're right over here.

What kind are they, Warren?

Has anybody cut one yet?

Yep, Chioggia.

Also, called a candy striped beet.

What's our first step?

Cook 'em just like this.

Ohhh!

Show me something.

You don't need to take the greens off?

Nooo!

If you do that you might as well throw 'em away.

Last year we went to Crooked Fence Produce, Matthew's produce stand to have some butter beans shelled and on the way out he gave us a jar of his pickled beets and said these are the best pickled beets you will ever eat.

And I said whatever.

(Laughter) But then, but then...

But then we got in the car and opened it up and it was in fact the best pickled beet I ever had, but I have never seen anyone do what he is doing over here, putting the greens in the pot.

That's the reason.

If you cut that off it's gonna bleed out.

Mmm hmmm.

These will be bright.

Because you leave all the greens on.

That's right.

Yeah.

I guess then you don't believe in eating the beet greens?

No, I don't.

Do you?

I do.

Do you eat the leaf?

(Music plays) And we're just going to put that on the stove.

On the stove.

Alright, so we'll just wait for it to boil.

I cooked a salad Saturday night.

The boss got me some pastry.

The boss?

My wife.

Oh.

(Laughter) When did it first occur to you to leave the greens on top?

My brother in law moved his mother in beside me between us and I ain't never liked beets.

I was out in the yard one day and she said Matthew, you want a jar of beets?

Well, you know you take it.

I said yes.

That night I was eating supper and I said let's just try 'em.

I opened them beets up and I said God a'mighty!

I've been missing this?

Well then I said I got to know how to cook these things.

The ones I had seen cooked, people cut the tops off.

She said they're bleeding out.

She said that's the whole secret.

Boss does most of hers pressure.

Pressure?

They done blew up in the house one time.

We were cooking hog head.

That was a mess.

(Laughter) I bet it was a mess!

I walked in and it was dripping from the ceiling.

That thing had blowed up.

Hog head.

We was cooking souse.

Wooo!

You like souse?

I do like souse.

It's good.

Not on the ceiling.

Souse on the ceiling!

(Laughter) (Music plays) Alright, Matthew we've got soft beets.

So, we've got vinegar.

I'm gonna do 1 to 2 vinegar to sugar.

(sizzling) There ya go.

So, you don't put any pickling spices or anything?

This is it.

Okay.

Okay, so, we'll strain these.

Yep.

Y'all make a great team.

We do.

So, how do you peel?

Just take it all off.

Do they go straight in there?

Uh huh.

Woo!

I'm telling you they're hot.

Woo!

(Laughter) I know that leaving the top on makes it a beautiful color.

Do you think it affects the flavor?

I do.

That is a big...

Woo!

So vinegary!

Woo!

We ready?

Ready.

Here we go, in the jar.

That's enough.

Okay.

Now, we're going to process these in a hot water bath for ten minutes so that would mean submerging them in boiling water and have at least a half of inch of water above them and that's to kill bacteria and prevent botulism and also I think really the biggest safeguard is when you open it if it smells bad or it looks bad, it is bad.

Yeah, you don't eat it.

(Music plays) I had heard that a soup went back twice.

I did not heard there was a problem with the pizza.

They said it was burnt.

It was over cooked.

That one was burnt.

You know, sometimes people just expect it to look like a Papa John's pizza.

Yeah.

If they don't like pizza like that they should probably just order something else.

Umm.

okay great.

These beets I've roasted in the oven for about an hour.

The skin should peel right off with a dish towel.

I'm trying to work fast.

You want to make sure you season them while they're still warm.

It will accept the salt much better while it's hot.

I want to season them with salt, a little sugar, and just a little vinegar to brighten up their natural flavor.

One thing you never do at this point is add oil.

You want to make sure that the salt, the sugar, the vinegar have the opportunity to penetrate the beet before you do that because the oil will make all that just slick off the beet.

You can add oil later when you dress your salad or whatever, but not in this initial beet flavor fortifying phase.

I just made that up.

The share plate that we're doing is based on one of my favorite combinations, beets and orange.

So we've got orange pickled beets done in the same style as Matthew's pickled beets and then we got roasted beets that I'm gonna dress with an orange marmalade vinaigrette.

Then, I have some creme fraiche that I'm mounting with trout roe and then a little fennel pecan granola.

One of the things I love most about beets is how well they pair with rich strong cheeses.

Beets, blue cheese, and orange is like my favorite combination in the world.

And I don't like.

So that's the general portions and we can work on the plating with the first few that come through.

So, John, can we talk about the soup?

It was hot when it went you.

The second time?

Yeah.

You know if somebody sends a soup back for being cold, the second time it needs to be so hot they can't stand it.

I put the second one together myself.

Okay.

And then the third one also.

I believe you.

I mean, I've had the same thing happen when I'm in the window.

Something gets sent back because it's not hot and it probably wasn't as hot as it should have been the first time.

Make sure it's hot the second time.

At that point there's no pleasing.

Yeah.

It's just a lesson.

(Music plays) Oh good!

(Laughter) Warren is always picking on me because I want little tiny stuff.

I like baby everything he says, but actually in the case of beets, baby beets are useful to a farmer because they will sew a whole bunch of seeds and then go out and pluck the little ones and make room for the bigger ones to grow.

There you have a bunch of baby beets.

Warren, you can tell me thank you.

Good morning, Lillie.

Good morning.

How you doing?

Good.

How are you?

What you going to do with them boots on?

I mean, it's been raining out.

I can't wear sandals.

Yeah, but you got the wrong kind of shoes on darling.

So, I do have a question.

Where are they?

They're right here.

They're just baby beets in there.

They're baby beets.

And so you can tell the difference in the type of beet based on the color of the green, right?

Right.

So, these are the red Detroit beets?

That's right.

And the greener tops are the Chioggia.

Chioggia, so they're the candy striped beets.

So, this is your fall crop for beets?

Right.

When else would you plant beets?

In the spring, early.

Fairly early.

They're like a cool weather...

They like... they supposedly grow rapidly in cold, cool weather so we'll see.

That's what they say.

(Laughter) (Music plays) So, if I were to ask you to bring me some greens and you were to go through and pick these, would these beets, if they stayed in the ground would they produce more greens?

Oh yeah.

Typically, what you would want would be these little small ones.

Tender greens.

Right.

Did your mom ever cook the greens growing up?

I don't remember it.

I find that so bizarre because we come from this culture where we don't waste anything.

Right.

I mean we even you know, pickle watermelon rind.

Why wouldn't we eat the beet greens?

I don't know.

I don't know.

Now those three growing right there together, that's not a sustainable system is it?

Yeah, yeah one of them will finally get bigger than the other one and you'll pull it out.

Then the other two will grow or maybe one more will get big.

They sort of take turns.

Sometimes they won't be round they grow in so tight they flatten each other out.

They'll be odd shaped.

How did you grow up eating beets?

We cook them and then pour a little sugar vinegar on them.

You boil them though.

Well yeah.

Had to get the skin off.

Pour a little vinegar and sugar on them and just serve them right there at the table.

Hot?

Hot.

Yea.

A pickled beet looks good on any plate, you know?

It does.

It's such a beautiful color.

It's just color on the plate.

When we do our winter menus we always have a lot of beets on them because you've got a lot of brown food.

Right.

Needs some color.

The beets add some nice color.

What do you say, Lillie?

I've got a question for you, Lillie.

What about your mom, did she pickle beets a lot?

No.

Not now.

Mama's how old?

Mama be 89 years old October 13th.

That's wild.

So, I'm giving her a dinner October the 12th at my house.

Oh, you are?

Yes I am.

Then after she eat and go in the house we're going to party.

(Laughter) Well, if I'm around can I come and bring something?

Yes you may.

So, what about dessert?

Do you have a birthday cake?

No, I haven't got that.

You gonna bring one?

Maybe I'll make a beet cake.

I don't know about that.

I ain't never ate none of that.

I'd be nervous cooking for Mary or Lillie.

If I had it I know I can eat yours.

(Laughter) (Music plays) This is not cooperating with me today.

Of course everything happens today.

It's always on Saturday.

Yes.

(Music plays) Okay, so we've got a few new things tonight.

We've got a share plate that is all about beets so we got pickled beets that have been pickled in orange brine.

Everything is sitting on a pool of creme fraiche with trout roe.

You'll get lots of little bursts of the salty brininess.

This is a chocolate beet cake and also we have a beet fudge so it's like our hot fudge that we make and we just folded in some beet puree.

It should work.

It may not be for everybody.

Y'all give it a whirl.

So what do y'all think of the beet cake?

You can be honest.

I think it's really good.

Love it.

I don't like beets but that's good.

This is so different.

Where else are you going to find this?

(Music plays) Order fire, a fried collard followed by a chicken, strip medium This is owned by Chef Vivian Howard and she wanted to create a restaurant this is farm to fork.

Alright, so go for those things that scare you.

I hated beets my whole life and then she added chocolate to them and I was like oh, beets are fantastic.

What about the beets?

I haven't sold any yet.

If the service staff does not buy into and believe a dish they're not gonna sell it.

And if they don't sell it you might as well have never made it.

She says okay, you've got this, you've got this, you've got this and we write it down but then we have to put it together in our heads.

So, we have started this beautiful beet, orange, and trout roe salad tonight.

You're going to have a bed of creme fraiche and on top we're gonna have a little bit of pecan granola for crunch and the trout roe which is going to give it a nice burst of saltiness.

Shall we begin with one of those?

Yes.

Okay.

I'll start that right away for you.

Thank you.

Got a beet plate.

First beet plate.

Amelia, I'm proud of you for using your spoon.

The inclination is to go in with tongs or tweezers but it takes a lot more skill to plate with a spoon than either one of those things so you should be in that pattern if you can.

(Music plays) You know, five years ago if I put a beet dish on the menu we would have a very hard time selling it but they've become more popular.

The issue with this particular dish is that it has roasted beets, pickled beets, and raw beets.

So, you gotta really love beets.

It's delicious.

Hey big time, how you doing?

Fine, how are you?

Alright.

You found the key to your car yet?

I mean I think I put the key to the car in the car.

It's too complicated, you know?

It's way more advanced than we are.

I know.

Those foreign cars.

Right after that you're going to start working two shrimp and grits and one cat fish.

Justin, how many bass do you have ready?

Okay, in three minutes I want you to plate me two bass and one lasagna.

Steaks and chops and mayhem.

I think they maybe getting crushed out there.

(Laughter) Cooking on the line is a very high pressure job and when you're not firing on all cylinders and things slowly start to go wrong, it can become very frustrating.

Alright, Port.

You alright, Portland?

I need a refire on this.

Refire on pizza.

Why?

Burnt.

I don't agree but okay.

I think there's some friction between John and Jamie King.

There is.

I was like it's 5:30, what do you want me to do?

Okay.

I was trying to find out what was wrong and he won't talk to me.

Jamie King sat as many people as he could at 5:30.

He told me you were giving him dagger eyes.

Yes.

You know, the worst thing is I don't feel bad about it.

We just added this today.

We all got to try it and it was fantastic.

It's a chocolate beet cake.

Let's face it.

This is a beet cake.

It's not gonna fly out of here Okay.

so let's cut them to order.

Go big so it will fall and you're not going all the way out.

Just a little Just a little tail.

Yeah, just a little, oooh!

Now that I'm able to take a step back, not be down in the trenches prepping for service, running around, trying to connect all the dots, it feels good to be able to like have a teaching moment with someone.

You wanna go here.

It's just about quadrants and thinking about your plate as having having four quadrants.

I've never been able to really do that before.

It's nice to know that I can be a teacher.

Watch out... That looks nice, Portland.

Thank you!

(Music plays) So 61, she says best dessert ever.

Ever.

Ever in the world.

The beet cake?

The beet cake.

Awesome.

Try to sell some more because we only sold that one.

Oh okay.

Okay.

(Laughter) You see me?

I saw you running around and slamming the door on the oven and all that.

I didn't mean to do that.

I was just in my mode.

(Laughter) I'm sorry.

It's okay.

(Music plays) I'm making a chocolate beet cake for Mary's birthday.

I want them to like it but I also want to show them that this beet cake can be really good because Lillie kind of turned her nose up to it the other day.

So, in here right now I have sugar and eggs and I have beaten those until they're really light and fluffy.

There's totally an art to cake making and I'm not a master of it but this is what I know.

Sugar and eggs have to be light and fluffy before I add my other ingredients.

So, I'm gonna just melt some chocolate and a little vegetable oil in a double boiler.

So, I'm gonna blend the beets up with vegetable oil and vanilla just to get them really smooth so I can incorporate them into my sugar and egg mixture.

Then I'm gonna add the chocolate.

Then I'm gonna add my dry ingredients.

And I'm not even gonna go all the way with the mixer just because I don't trust myself.

The more you mix cake batters or cookie batters the more gluten you build up so the tougher it will get.

Think about the difference between cake and bread and how in a lot of breads you have that chew.

You don't want that when you eat a slice of cake, clearly.

I'd never hear the end of that from Lillie.

That's for sure.

(Music plays) I'm only gonna bake these layers for about 12 to 15 minutes because they're relatively thin and we don't want to overcook them.

Just like you've always been told I'm going to insert a toothpick into the middle to see if it's done.

While these cakes are still warm I'm going to brush them bottom layer with an orange syrup that I made.

Again, we're playing off flavors that go with both beet and chocolate.

And it's like a little element of surprise I think.

So again things that work with both beets and chocolate, I have a creamy cheese and pecan icing.

So, I'm hoping that all this kind of works together in this layer cake like it does in the beet dessert here at the restaurant.

To be honest, I really don't know.

I'm second guessing my decision to make this beet cake.

I wanted to practice making it, but at the end of the day I really want Ms. Mary to enjoy her birthday cake.

I mean it's not all about me all the time.

Hey Mary.

Happy birthday!

Did you introduce yourself?

My name's Flo.

(Laughter) You love cake?

Well good.

Go eat some cake.

Hey!

You're gonna have to change your shirt, Lillie.

I'm gonna keep my shirt.

It's all about me.

It's your Mama's birthday.

It's me though!

(Laughter) Oh wow!

These look good.

What are we having?

Barbecue chicken, some collards, potato salad, some pig feets.

You want me to do anything?

If they're pretty and brined you can flip it.

That ain't right.

Come on down here.

(Laughter) (Music plays) Did you make your own sauce?

What's in it?

Can't tell you.

I'd have to kill you.

(Laughter) I love Lillie.

I mean, everytime I'm with her I learn something.

She is so guarded about some things, this barbecue sauce being one of them but I'll get it.

I'll find out eventually what's in it.

I ain't gonna tell you.

(Laughter) Alright y'all we gonna get ready to eat.

(everyone singing happy birthday) And how old is you?

(Laughter) Vivian!

Yes.

I'm fixing to see if your cake meet the qualifications.

(Laughter) It passes ya'll.

It's good.

I think everybody genuinely enjoyed my chocolate beet cake and I am so glad.

I would hate to be the reason that Ms. Mary didn't eat her slice of her birthday cake because I'm very happy to be here.

Is it everything you hoped it would be?

Mommy, your chocolate cake is the best.

Awww, thank you.

(Music plays) For more information on A Chef's Life visit pbs.org/food A Chef's life is available on DVD.

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