♪ They say ye'are what you eat, so I don't eat chicken feet ♪ ♪ But I love me summa' Grandma's pickled beets ♪ ♪ Well, cut it up, put it'na pan ♪ ♪ Throw it on these sholders see where it lands ♪ ♪ Right here in Farmer's Kitchen ♪ ♪ Maters, taters, beans and corn ♪ ♪ The cow's in the barn and the sheep's been shorn ♪ ♪ Kids in the barnyard ♪ ♪ Chasin' Grandpa's chickens, chickens, chickens ♪ ♪ Spices, slices, cuts and dices ♪ ♪ Gonna slash your grocery prices ♪ ♪ Right here in Farmer's Kitchen ♪ ♪ Help you grow your garden good ♪ ♪ With recipes to suit your mood ♪ ♪ Try some grub you've never tried before ♪ ♪ 'Fore, 'fore ♪ ♪ Smash it with a wooden mallet ♪ ♪ Gonna educate yer palette ♪ ♪ Right here in Farmer's Kitchen ♪ ♪ In Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen ♪ We're gonna cook some good now.

Hello and welcome to the Farmer's Kitchen.

The farmer's kitchen could be anywhere where we could have heat.

That's right.

Or, in this case, a fire to cook.

This is an outdoor show, thank goodness.

It's starting to get nice outside.

It is.

Are you happy to be outside this morning?

I am really happy to be out.

Let me see your happy look.

I like that.

So, here we are.

We've got all these assorted things on the table.

A lot of these we foraged.

That means we went to the woods to find these things.

It's spring and there's a lot of spectacular mushrooms out there.

There are.

Now, one of the things we wanted to do is go to our buddy, Rick Hill.

He's in Shelby County, we're in Kentucky.

And this is the time of year around turkey season for us, which is in April and May.

That's when the morels seem to pop up.

And as you can see, we found some.

Those are good looking morels.

Aren't they beautiful?

Yes.

Wow.

And we're going to go visit with him in a minute.

Then, we're going to talk about some other stuff that you can find in the woods this time of year and bring to your table.

So, let's go visit Rick first and see if we can find some morels.

[music playing] Now, it's almost May.

And I've had people sending me pictures down the southeastern part of the state and the western part of the state for the better part of three weeks now.

But here in Shelby County, Rick Hill just called me and said, "Farmer, here they are."

And here they are.

There they are.

So, you know, you've been looking for these a long time.

I've got a farm just over the hill.

Right.

Very close.

Nothing.

Zero.

Right.

Ever.

So, what do you think it is?

You know, people ask you for the magic place.

How do you find those?

Where are they going to be?

Are they around poplars?

Are they around May apples?

I've heard they're around this and that.

They're around beech trees.

They're around dying elm trees or dead elm trees and orchards, old orchards, all kinds of places.

There's really no rhyme or reason.

It appears to be very random to me.

I used to find them around ash trees, big ash with cedars around them.

And when the ashes died from the emerald ash borer, then I didn't find them there anymore.

But then, I happened upon them in thick areas of overgrown field under the cedars, like where it's real mossy, a little bit of grass and moss, heavy shade.

And I started finding some.

And that's where these came from.

Now, last year we showed you a diagram.

People, they're not common, but people say, "What's the difference between a morel, an edible morel, or a false morel?"

Now, a false morel, if you look in this diagram, it's got a cottony, fibrous stem that's not hollow.

If you cut these down the middle, they're hollow all the way through, including the stem.

Yeah, they're very hollow.

I mean, you can see right in them.

And it goes all the way through to the very end.

And basically, you take these and cut them up however you want them.

I've got a recipe that you're going to like.

It includes pasta.

Oh, sounds good.

Sounds really good.

Yeah.

But you know what, Rick?

You know, as people look around in nature, when you take a walk through the woods, and, you know, as a kid growing up in Fish and Wildlife, you know, I had you say, "Farmer, you know what this is?"

Plus, old-timers, when I was back in Carter County as a kid, they would point out things, and I would remember that.

Right.

They'd have a lot of knowledge.

Yes.

So, they were really good to talk to, to learn.

And, you know, some of the guys at Fish and Wildlife, Doc.

Remember Doc?

Oh, Doc Williams.

Knew everything.

One of my favorite people.

When you go to the woods, don't you like to look at the ground and say, "Okay, I know what kind of flower that is?"

Oh, sure.

Don't you like to hear a bird and say, "Okay, I know exactly what that is."

The more a sportsman or an outdoorsman of any type knows about the flora and fauna and everything around them, the more they enjoy it.

And we're going to do something right now.

Listen.

Let's see if we can hear a bird.

In a little while, we're going to ask you what that bird is.

We're going to give you A, B, C choice.

Is it a chickadee?

Is it a titmouse?

Or is it a cardinal?

I wonder how many people will know.

I don't know.

We'll find out.

But, Rick, I want to thank you.

I used to always thank the landowner for when I was hunting and fishing.

But I want to thank you for letting us catch some dry land fish.

Oh, you bet.

And I hope they're as good as they look.

You know what?

Next time, I fix this.

I'll save a little bit and let you try it.

Just a little bit.

Just a little bit.

That'd be good enough.

You never were a big eater anyway.

Well, I'm a pretty light eater.

Thanks again, man.

You're welcome.

[music playing] So, let's talk about morels.

People will see these and say, "Can I find them in Michigan?

Can I find them in California?

Can I find them in Tennessee?"

They're almost all through the United States.

So, there are certain folks who have morel sighting pages.

So, you can see them all throughout Tennessee, down south, and up into Canada.

Even Michigan?

Even Michigan.

Really?

Michigan is huge for morels.

Then you find them in the west in Oklahoma.

Then you find them out on the west coast, California.

So, they are everywhere.

And again, we already talked about how they look.

One thing I like to do when I get these back home is to soak these in water and a little bit of salt.

Why?

Get the bugs out.

Get the bugs out.

And let's take a look at these little guys.

They're beautiful.

They are hollow.

Go ahead and cut one of those in half.

They are pretty neat.

Yeah.

Cut it straight in half.

And again, you see how they're completely hollow.

And when you rinse them around in here, you get any dirt off.

They do grow on the ground.

Believe it or not, they do have dirt on them.

And guess what?

That's minerals for us.

That's right.

So, we get the water.

Now, we want to pat these dry too before we put them in any recipe.

Because if we're going to put them in oil or butter, we don't want all that water in there popping around.

Now, if you look right in front of us, you'll also see another mushroom.

We had those last year.

Kelly called me, and she said, "What kind of mushroom is this?"

And I said, "Oh, my goodness.

That's a pheasant back.

Most people around here call them a pheasant back or Dryad's saddle.

If you look at that, it looks just like a feather pattern.

So, let's go take a look at where we found these growing as well.

[music playing] Now, we talked about getting to know nature.

When you look around, know what a plant is.

When you hear a bird, know what the bird is.

As I squatted down here to look over my beautiful Dryad's saddle or pheasant back, as some people call them.

Now, last year, you might remember that we found some of these.

They're very distinctive.

These color patterns tend to mimic what they look like.

The actual tail of a grouse or a pheasant.

They're very tasty.

You have to pick them before they get too hard.

Now, we found them on dead wood, and we always leave one for seed.

We also noticed that two had already dried up and fallen to the ground.

Hopefully, the spores will drop there.

And next year, just like this year, we're going to find the same thing.

So, remember, when you're picking mushrooms, gathering mushrooms, chicken of the woods, whatever, morels, tap them.

Let any spores that might be there fall off on the ground.

This is the second year we've found pheasant back on that particular tree.

And they're more than likely to be there next year as well.

This is wonderful for foraging.

We're going to make a wonderful dish tonight.

Now, if you don't forage and can't find some of these, we'll tell you stuff you can buy in the store to make this recipe.

Now, a lot of people will take a spoon and scrape off this lower part.

And that just comes right off.

And then, I'll be cutting these up into little sections.

But as I look around me, I'm really knocked out by how much stuff is right here that we can eat.

We look at the violets.

We know you can eat those.

We look at the dandelion.

Every part of this can be used.

The greens, the flowers, the roots right here.

Wild strawberries.

You see the bloom coming out right here.

We have deadnettle.

A lot of people call this henbit, but it's deadnettle.

The flowers are sweet.

You can use those in a salad.

The greens themselves are very good.

They're mild.

They have a peppery taste.

And wild onions right here.

I see clover right here.

There's so much we can use around us if we pay attention and get to know these things.

So, I'm going to grab these onions.

Just look around you.

Take the time to learn these plants and bring them back to your house and make yourself some outstanding healthy food.

We're coming back with dinner.

[music playing] [music playing] [music playing] Now one thing about the pheasant back, or Dryad's saddle, is that a lot of people will take this honeycomb-like material down here.

And you want to get these.

And you can just kind of scrape that off.

See how that works?

Oh, yeah.

Why do you do that?

Just for better texture.

Once you get down into there, you see the texture.

The mushroom itself.

A lot of times, they start to mature more around the edges.

And if it's a little bit hard, you'll get rid of that hard edge or exterior.

This one's still in pretty good shape.

You want to get these while they're still supple.

And remember with mushrooms, if you're going to go foraging, it's up to you to make sure you're making the right decision.

I can't be there for you.

Make sure that you have somebody that IDs them that knows what they're doing or make sure you know what you're doing.

And it can take a lot of research.

But if you carefully key these things out, you will have no problems with them.

I mean, you can't miss on these.

We showed you what a false morel looks like.

These are obviously hollow all the way through.

And that makes them delicious morels.

[laughs] So, let's go ahead and cut those into little strips.

Okay.

So, just like a strip?

Yeah.

Now, a lot of people will strip off that feathered.. on the other side.

I always leave that.

I don't have a bit of a problem with that.

That looks good in the middle.

Nice and white.

So, here's how this recipe is going to look.

And I know you're going to like it because I know your taste.

Fennel is one of my favorite things to cook with.

And as you know, I've been on a fennel kick.

Yes, you have.

Fennel sometimes can be found in the wild, just like asparagus.

My father used to go along the fence rows in Mason County.

And birds would eat the seeds, and they would sit on the fence rows.

There's a process there.

You know where I'm going?

Yes.

They would deposit the seeds.

The seeds would fall on the fence rows, and you would see asparagus.

And Dad would pick that out and make his own asparagus beds out of wild asparagus.

Oh, wow.

Fennel sometimes can be found like that as well.

So, here's our process.

We're going to get our mushrooms cut in half and then cut into smaller pieces.

Now, if you are lucky enough to have a bonus year of morels, and you can't possibly use them up, and you want to be greedy and keep them all and not give them away, you can dehydrate those.

Good idea.

And we have shown you how to do that in the past.

Just get your dehydrator and look up how we did that.

So, we take our mushrooms and get them ready for the pan.

We're going to take those, and we're going to dry them off.

If you look in the water, you'll see some things that have sloughed off.

That's why we rinse them.

If you don't have morels or you can't find a pheasant back or some oyster mushrooms out in the wild, any mushroom will do in this situation.

Just your common white mushrooms.

You can buy them already cut up or cut them yourself.

You can use a portobello, or a baby portobello would be Oh, yeah.

really good in these.

Those are good.

So, you don't have to use these wild mushrooms.

If you can find them, that's great.

It'll be just as good with those button mushrooms.

We're going to take our fennel, our garlic, and a shallot.

I want those strong flavors in this.

I want the mushrooms and the fennel.

That's a very popular duo.

It is the fennel and the mushrooms.

You'll find several recipes for these.

A lot of them very close.

And you can use butter or you can use olive oil or a combination of both.

We're going to take mostly butter and put it in there.

We're gonna sauté our shallot and then our fennel.

We're going to cut the bottom of the bulb and just cut strips across that.

When you're cooking outside, one thing that I like is this little snake feature.

You can raise it up, set it down, and move it from left to right, and if you're cooking on the grates themselves, you just kind of move it around in or out of the fire.

That's your temperature adjustment.

Then after our fennel and our shallot is going along pretty good.

We're going to press some garlic into that, about three cloves of garlic into that.

Now, again, as always, you do not want to overdo your garlic.

You don't want that bitter taste.

We've still got a little cooking to do, so I'm going to mix that back up with the whole rest of the batch here in a minute.

Then I'm going to turn over the mushrooms, all that together.

If I need more butter or some more olive oil, I'll put that back in there.

[music playing] Once that gets going pretty well, I'm going to start to season it with our thyme and our sage, black pepper, a little bit of salt, just a few red pepper flakes, chicken broth, that's probably two and a half tablespoons, and a bit of fennel liqueur, or you could use an anise liqueur.

If you don't like any of those, you can use a white wine, or you can use just chicken broth, depending on what you like.

Now, I'm going to bring back the butter, and I'm going to let this reduce.

Now, you see that has reduced down dramatically.

So, at this point, I'm coming back with some Parmesan cheese, a fourth of a cup of cheese so far.

Then we're going to take our pasta.

Now, I'm going to do my best Kentucky Italian, actually.

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

I'm going to do a penne rigate.

You did that good.

Penne rigate.

The penne is a tube.

The rigate means it has ridges on it.

Now those little ridges will hold the sauce better.

You see what I'm saying?

So, that's what we're going to have tonight.

That's the pasta we're going to have.

Now in the preparation of the pasta, you want to make sure it comes out about the same time as this meal comes together.

At this point, Nicki is taking our pasta.

She is putting a little bit of butter and a little bit of cheese, tossing it in that so we have even more cheese and even more butter to let that melt and thicken up.

Then you put your mushroom mix back on top of that.

I like it.

And it's going to be a beautiful thing.

[music playing] Now, isn't it fun to go out and find things in the woods and bring them home and cook them?

This is really neat that you got all this out there.

This is great.

Only with pasta.

Look at it.

Should we eat it, or just look at it?

Let's eat it.

I'm going to try some with the mushroom.

I'm going to get a whole big bite because I'm starving.

I had a morel.

Those are so good.

Those are delicious.

It's hard to describe a morel, isn't it?

Is that your favorite mushroom?

I think it is my favorite mushroom.

Look what we've got.

And in all reality, when you eat this, do you even miss meat or want meat in there?

No.

You know what?

Your fennel gave it a great flavor.

The fennel, that's all you needed in the shallots.

It's perfect.

And a morel, I'm happy.

And the sage and the thyme is coming through.

Very good.

Delicious.

Think about this.

The more you cook, the more experiences you put yourself in when you put this flavor and this flavor and this flavor together, the more ideas you'll have.

This is a common recipe that a lot of people use with variations.

So, if you're looking for something to go along with your mushrooms to complement it, to give it that nice flavor, that, to me, is perfect.

Sage, thyme, fennel, shallot, butter, and parmesan.

Yum, yum, yum.

I think I like your fennel kick.

Yeah, I know.

I hope we don't run out anytime soon.

That being said, let's take a look at what's going on around the farm.

I guess we haven't taken the camera out much.

Now, we have five boys so far this year and a girl.

People ask us, "Do you eat your lambs?"

We don't.

Not that we haven't before, but more now people want these for hobby farms, for breeding purposes, and that's really where our lambs go.

So, they are going to live their lives out bouncing around in the field.

Just like Mavis, all our old girls.

That's right.

They're going to die of old age.

So, they have quite the life, and they're quite pets.

And our ram, Spot knows.

Spot knows.

He loves Kelly.

[laughs] He is a sweet ram.

He is sweet.

That's why we kept him because he doesn't butt us.

But you know what?

Montana's a little sweeter.

So, we might have to keep Montana.

I'm kind of attached.

So, let's get another bite or two, and then let's bring on the star.

[music playing] [music playing] Now, a while back, when we first had him, we were worried about him.

He might eat an ounce, two ounces.

He's still good.

Is he going to drink 11, 12 ounces this time?

He'll drink 16, three times a day on feed.

He'd drink more if I let him.

But he's starting to eat grass and drink water, so he's doing really well.

Now, on the rare occasion, if you watched our show a couple of weeks ago, you will have seen that his mother rejected him.

Now, there's no way, it doesn't matter how long you keep them tied up together, but the mother, if the mother had been bound to where she had to feed him, she'd kick him to death.

It was an absolute rejection, as we call it.

So, we took him on and he took us on, and now, I'm not sure if we're sheep or he's a person.

He's a dog, I think.

He thinks he's a puppy dog.

He thinks he's a dog.

Jeez, he's hungry.

He's getting big and strong and happy, and he's starting to pick.

He's starting to eat a little bit of hay.

He is.

It's good for his little belly.

A little bit of grain.

He's starting to eat some grass.

He likes garlic mustard.

Yes, he does.

And he likes all my nice flowers that he's not supposed to eat.

He eats all the good flowers.

So, the funny thing is, because he thinks he's part of our family, he doesn't know what's normal or not for a lamb.

So, he takes car rides.

He gets right in the car.

And when Nicki gets in the side-by-side to go around the farm and feed the animals, or we ride up into the woods to look for mushrooms, guess who wants a ride?

He has to be with us.

We'll show you how that works in just a minute.

He has to ride.

He jumps in.

You watch him.

He loves to ride.

He's hilarious.

Now, over our 10 years on the show, we have had recipe after recipe after recipe.

And if somebody came up to you very nicely and said, "Mrs.

Farmer, where can I find those recipes?"

You would probably say?

I'd say TimFarmersCountryKitchen.com.

And we have so many new Facebook friends growing rapidly.

If someone were to be part of our Facebook page, how difficult is that?

It's very difficult.

They hit like.

That's it?

That's it?

I might join it.

Okay.

[laughs] You know what?

We so enjoy sprin And we hope you can enjoy that with us as we travel around the farm and you see all our critters and all the things that we do.

And we hope to see you again next week on Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen because it's all about?

Good times.

Good friends.

And really good eats.

We'll see you next week.

And the farmer's kitchen goes in search of more food.

[music playing] [music playing] Funding for Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen is brought to you by Amerson Farms Country Store.

Something for every member of the family.

[music playing] Ephraim McDowell Medical Center in Danville, Kentucky.

[music playing] Gulf Coast Connection, seafood straight from the Gulf to you.

The Spine Center of Central Kentucky.

[music playing] Wilderness Road Hospitality, Stanford, Kentucky.

Visit Frankfort, Kentucky's spirited capital city.

[music playing] [music playing] To order a cookbook, email TimFarmerCK@gmail.com.