♪ 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.

I'm a Farmer.

She's not, but you've seen her on our show before.

Her name is Beth Carter, and she's amazing.

Thank you.

You have bakery items that I cannot resist.

Recently for Valentine's Day, I think you had a -- tell me about your cinnamon roll, which was just silly.

We created a chocolate covered strawberry cinnamon roll.

Our homemade cinnamon rolls with strawberry glaze and a homemade chocolate ganache drizzle on top to make it even better.

And way back -- Well, let's go way back.

What was it you made for us the first time?

The cake with the plop on the top.

Oh.

[laughs] And then, not too long ago, the wonderful yule log, -- Mm-hmm, that was beautiful.

-- which was a hit at our party.

Right, and then we got to eat it afterwards.

It's nice.

So, we're gonna switch it up.

You know, you have been around the world.

You've been cooking all over the place and you wanted to make something a little bit different.

And you're gonna use lamb tonight.

Now, if you didn't use lamb, somebody doesn't wanna use lamb, they could use hamburger just as well.

Yes, they could use ground beef or turkey.

So, what are you making?

We are gonna make a Mediterranean shepherd's pie.

Yes, it's delicious.

So, let's get started -- I'm so excited.

-- because the more we talk, the less we eat.

Right, right.

All shepherd's pies have their base, which is a tomato based, kind of like a stew.

And that's what we're gonna do first.

But we're gonna top this, instead of with mashed potatoes, with sweet potatoes.

Yum.

It makes it even better.

So, the first thing we do is we're gonna get some oil in our -- Let me turn you on some heat.

Thank you so much.

Lamb, you know, because it's so lean, you need to help it out a little bit by with some olive oil.

And it's less smoke and a better taste.

So, the first thing you do is we have chopped some onion and garlic.

So, we wanna start with that.

Yeah, we do need help stirring.

I have been your stirrer in the past.

You have?

[laughs] I almost messed up.

Good and bad.

I know.

Yeah, I know.

I almost messed up on something.

I have to warn you.

That's right.

So, we got onions.

And then, maybe two cloves of garlic.

Okay, so once our garlic and onions are translucent, then we're gonna add some fresh herbs.

My preference for this is fresh thyme and rosemary.

Yum.

Two to three teaspoons of fresh thyme and fresh rosemary that are chopped.

So, once you've stirred that in, now it's time to stir in the lamb.

Am I getting paid for this?

No.

[laughs] My wife always says I'm a stirrer-upper.

You're a stirrer-upper?

You're a chopper?

I'm a chopper.

So, we're gonna add a pinch of salt.

I like a pinch or two.

And then, we'll re-season after we get all the goodies.

Now, that just smells wonderful.

Now this is lamb.

Remember, this is ground lamb.

That is lamb.

And now this is my favorite spice, cumin.

Oh, cumin is good for you.

You know, that's an old-world spice.

It is an everything-that-I-make spice.

So, I put about two teaspoons of cumin.

So, we're gonna cook, we're gonna brown the lamb until it's all the way done.

And we're just gonna leave that fat in there, right?

We're gonna leave it all.

Lamb is lean, but it's also the olive oil.

And what happens at the end is any extra olive oil soaks into those sweet potatoes, and it's just the best.

It's delicious because it's flavored.

So, once you get your -- Once the lamb is done or browned, we're gonna turn the heat down, because we don't wanna scorch our tomatoes.

And we're gonna add a large can.

It's probably about 15 to 18 ounces of crushed tomatoes.

So, once you get to this point, we're gonna add some chicken stock or chicken broth.

Gotcha.

And I've already pre -- Always save your chicken stock.

Exactly.

And just keep it in the freezer.

And then, you've always got some.

So, we're gonna pour in, this is a 16-ounce container.

So, we're gonna start with eight ounces and stir it up and see what it looks like.

You want this to be more stew-like, and it will thicken up.

That looks good to me, because the next wonderful thing that we're gonna add is roasted vegetables.

We're going to pre-roast butternut squash.

So, you're gonna -- I use one squash.

You're gonna peel your squash, cube it, and toss it in olive oil and some cumin and some salt.

And it'll bring out the sweetness.

And throw it in the oven along with some carrots.

Carrots are sweet as well, so I put a little salt on these too.

So, here's your carrots.

That's about three carrots.

How am I doing?

You're doing great.

[laughs] You are doing great.

You're quite a stirrer.

I'm a stirrer-upper.

Stirrer-upper.

Now, do you see how that's getting thick?

Oh, yeah.

It's thickening up.

And now at this point, we take a look at it and we say, "Do we need any more broth?"

Because once you heat it in the oven, it is gonna thicken up a little bit more.

I am gonna add just a tiny bit more.

Now what a lot of people don't know is this is actually our kitchen.

This is not a set.

Many, many shows, it's a set, but this is our home.

Back here, and we'll have Kelli show a picture of this later, your main squeeze is over here Your main squeeze is over there.

And there they are.

They're watching us.

Oh, that's just beautiful.

And so, maybe another pinch of salt and then you can try it and tell me what you think.

[music playing] What do you think?

Oh, wow.

Perfect.

It's beautiful.

Oh, my.

There's our actual shepherd's pie.

You can let this sit while you work on your sweet potatoes, but we're gonna turn off the heat.

Turn the heat off, okay.

You want me to hand you this so you can do this?

Yes.

So, then, what we do for this amount of stew, we're gonna parboil a five-pound bag of sweet potatoes.

And once they're finished, then they're so easy to peel.

You don't have to use a peeler.

I don't peel them before.

I peel them after.

The peeling just -- And add them to it.

-- peels right off.

Right.

So, we are going to use an old-fashioned potato mas.. here.

We're gonna add some heavy whipping cream.

So, we're gonna add about a fourth of a cup first, see where this gets us.

They need to be like a standard mashed potato that you would eat, you know, for dinner.

Just a pinch of salt and some pepper.

So, I see all your containers are empty, so I'm gonna I think we're ready.

-- that we're close.

It is.

So, we're gonna take this pan right here and we're.. pour the stew into it.

And you can use just a basic, like a casserole dish, or these are restaurant hotel pans, as they're called.

What you will find, if you let it sit till it's cool, some of the olive oil will surface.

And you can just take a spoon and just kind of skim some of that off of the top.

But I think that it makes the sweet potatoes underneath even better.

So, this is the tricky part.

That's why you wanna make sure your stew on the bottom of your pie is thicker, because these will sink to the bottom, and you kinda will have a disaster if you don't.

So, you have preheated the oven, correct?

We have, to 350 degrees.

To 350.

So, we're gonna just pop this in.

We're gonna pop this in, and -- How long?

-- it's almost dinner time.

Just until it's warm.

So, I would say maybe 20 minutes.

At 350.

Just check it, at 350.

Everything is already pre-cooked, so it just needs to marry each other.

So, anyway, you could also garnish with a little fresh thyme.

My grandfather used to say, "You should get it coined."

[laughs] Right.

All right.

Okay.

[music playing] You can't eat that, it's too pretty.

It is.

Look how it's caramelized on the edges.

Oh.

You know, I was talking not too long ago.

You know, it's wintertime, so, you know, I intentionally put on a few pounds in case I'm out in a blizzard.

Because you need that extra body fat.

[laughs] [laughs] Right.

Just in case.

Yes.

And they say, never trust a skinny chef.

So, I'm becoming more and more trustworthy every day.

Look at that.

[music playing] Look at that.

That looks like a pretty representative bite.

I got a little bit of the top on there.

I got some vegetables, tomatoes.

That is so good.

Isn't that good?

That is ridiculous.

And it just -- It is.

And then, the taste, just all those flavors just keep going in your mouth after you've bitten into it.

That's a beautiful thing.

You know, you've got that little, and the lamb.

Do lamb if you can.

I mean, if you haven't tried it, give it a shot.

And try it.

Just try it.

You'll be pleasantly surprised.

This is a pleasant dish to where you can kind of ease into eating something like lamb if you've never tried it before.

All right, let's get our better halves up here real quick.

We've got to try it.

He can eat off your plate, can't he?

He can.

All right, you ready?

Yeah, I want a bite.

What do you think?

I love it.

I know.

He got to -- Oh, wow.

Wow, it's really good.

That is so delicious.

Poor Kelli.

[laughs] Kelli doesn't get any.

[laughs] [laughs] I know.

Have you had this before, Barry?

It's his favorite.

I had a bite today.

That's really good.

I could probably eat half of that.

We've got a lot to eat.

We could sit down and eat for hours.

Yes.

We're gonna be miserable.

We won't be able to walk by the end of the night.

Oh!

That is really good.

Thank you so much -- You're welcome.

-- for coming out and cooking for us.

It's my pleasure.

This is wonderful.

Thank you.

And name it again.

It's a Mediterranean shepherd's pie.

Shepherd's pie.

Mm-hmm.

I love it.

Using lamb.

And look, he cannot stop.

I know.

I knew it.

It's delicious.

Talk about its history here in a minute.

He needs his own plate.

He's out of control.

So, that's a wrap on this part of it.

We're gonna turn the lights out.

We're gonna sit down and eat like normal people.

And then, we'll be back with something else in just a second.

Don't you love everything Beth cooks?

I do.

She's a great cook.

When you walk past the bakery, you know, when early morning donuts are being cooked -- That's right.

-- I know what heaven smells like.

That's right.

[laughs] But you know what?

It's getting that time.

Everybody's wanting to plant some plants and get their garden going.

We wanna keep this simple.

So, we're gonna do a segment here and we're going to Kentucky State University.

Beautiful farm -- Oh, yeah.

-- out in Frankfort.

Just a wonderful place to visit.

And they're doing all kinds of interesting things out there in aquaculture, with goats, with pawpaw trees.

They have everything out there.

I mean, just amazing.

But I wanted an expert who could talk to folks on a very simplistic level, for those who might be wanting to start a garden, who've never done it before.

So, I talked to Megan.

And she said she would help us.

So, she's gonna step us through the very simple process of starting your own tomatoes.

And she's gonna do that right now.

Today, we're at Kentucky State University.

This is Megan Goins, farm manager.

You know, we were talking earlier about how many people have turned on to gardening in the last couple of years.

Even pre-pandemic, there was a lot of people, like from 2005 to 2013, the numbers went through the roof.

During COVID, 18 million more gardeners came on board.

A lot of those were millennials.

So, are you surprised at those numbers?

Not at all.

What do you think that caused that?

I think people are more aware of where their food comes from.

And they wanna know how it's being grown, what's put on it, how it gets to them.

I think people are taking a bigger interest in where their food comes from.

Now, here at KSU, I can imagine there's a whole lot of folks that you're around that you wanna teach these things to and have never been hands-on.

Today, we're just gonna talk about so many people wanna grow tomatoes.

We know that.

And we know why.

Because they're wonderful.

And also, peppers.

Those are two things that are probably used in more recipes.

Tomatoes, onions, and green peppers.

So, today, can you walk us through, let's pretend like folks out there have never done any gardening at all.

Can you walk us through how you would start your tomatoes in home?

Sure.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, first, you wanna decide.

There's thousands of varieties of tomatoes, and so you wanna decide which ones you like and which are suited for the area that you live in and will grow well.

There's different tomatoes that are disease and pest resistant.

So, I think that's the first step, is decide which kind of tomatoes you want.

You get your seed.

There's tons of different ways to garden.

You can start your seeds in a greenhouse.

You can start them outside.

Today, we're starting our tomatoes in a greenhouse.

So, we'll prep our soil, we'll get it moist, we'll put it into the seed trays.

We'll get our seed ready.

Where do you order seeds from?

Do you just kinda look through catalogs?

How do you do that?

There are tons of different places you can buy seed.

There's places online.

They have tons of different varieties.

You click on each variety and it gives you all different details about how to plant them, the disease and pest resistance.

They run out a lot and they have a lot of back order.

But if you get them in soon enough, like if you order in January, February, you'll have them by the time you need to plant in your greenhouse or you need to plant outside.

See, that's a good tip.

Most people wait around until the last minute and they say, "Okay, I'd like to plant some stuff."

And by that time, everybody else is thinking about it.

And next thing you know, you've got problems getting them in.

Right.

If you order early enough, you can even order in November, December, when you get your seed, just store them properly in a cool, dry space.

And they can last, what, a couple of years?

Uh-huh.

And usually on the packet, it'll say when they expire.

So, there are all kinds of charts to look online about what area you're in, whether you're watching this in Oregon, Canada, wherever.

And we have a vast viewership out there of folks all over the place.

So, you can look at what region you're in.

Then I would suggest, too, you look up what kind of tomato you wanna grow.

What do you wanna do?

Do you wanna can your tomatoes?

Do you want fresh tomatoes to eat right out of the garden?

Do you wanna do both?

So, what do you settle on today?

What are you planting and why?

We have quite a few different things because we have a fermentation and distillation program here at KSU.

So, we'll grow a lot of tomatoes that we can process for different programs and activities for that.

We also have some heirloom tomatoes that you can cut up and eat on a sandwich, or you can just eat fresh out of the garden.

And then, we also have a couple of commercial varieties that they just -- it's a nice, big, pretty tomato and it grows quickly.

So, just give us an example of what it says on the packet.

Yeah.

So, this is an Amish paste tomato.

It's an heirloom tomato.

It's good for canning, salsa.

You can also slice it up, eat it on a sandwich.

It's just an all-around good tomato.

And on the back here, it'll give you the planting depth.

So, we'll wanna plant them about a quarter inch deep in flats or cold frames, five to six weeks before we are gonna transplant them outside.

So, we're gonna plant them now.

Then, five to six weeks from now, which will be the end of April, early May, we'll take them outside because they'll be probably two to three inches and they'll be a little hardier and can stand outside.

We do not want them to succumb to frost.

That's right.

We've got wacky weather here in Kentucky and things can happen.

We do.

So, if you will, just kind of walk us through it, show us what the seeds look like.

And again, this is basic information for folks who are just starting.

Everybody has their own way, but -- There are little teeny tiny seeds.

Some people, you can just use your fingers and pinch them if you have big girthy fingers.

There's lots of different tools like this.

They help you get a better hold on the seeds.

And then, you can kind of slide them to the front and drop them in.

We have a container with some moist soil.

You don't wanna get it too wet.

Just moist enough.

Now, if you don't have access to soil, is that just potting soil?

What kind of mixture is that?

This is PRO-MIX.

It's a seed starting soil.

Your local garden store, feeds store, and you'll just wanna get like a seed starting mix or just a general garden potting mix.

They make it very simple and easy.

On the front of the bag, they'll say starting mix or garden mix.

And then, there'll be certain types strictly for tomatoes.

And so, you'll just have to go through and look at the different bags that they have available.

So, here's our soil.

There's our seeds.

And that's basically how you get started.

That's right.

It's just that simple.

So, how deep are we going?

We're going a quarter of an inch, which isn't very much at all.

Some people can use the tip of a pencil and you just do a little hole and then you just drop your seed right in there.

And then, you just cover it up.

You don't wanna compact it too much.

But yeah, you just cover it up just a little bit and then you water it.

You wanna use kind of like a mister water.

You don't want a full blast on the garden hose, or it'll drown it and compact it even more.

So, how often do you just keep it moist at all times?

You'll probably wanna, depending on where you're starting your seeds, like in a greenhouse that's really sunny and hot, you'll probably wanna water them once a day.

You just wanna keep your soil moist.

Now could you, if you wanted to, set these in the window?

You could, absolutely.

In your own house, I mean?

Absolutely.

Because most people, their temperature in their house is 68 to 70.

Some people go a little hotter than that, which is the ideal temperature that you wanna start seeds with.

What's the rule of thumb for putting tomato plants in?

Depending on who you talk to is the rule of thumb.

I've had some people that say you don't plant outside before Derby Day.

You always plant the Sunday after Derby Day.

All right, so the next step is to, we'll see, we're gonna put the actual plants once they go and then we'll just take a visit next time we see some green out here.

What else is going on on the farm here?

We're doing a lot of ground prep.

We have a lot of projects going in the ground.

We're working the soil to get ready for sweet corn, potatoes.

We have chickens, poultry.

They're getting ready to start laying more eggs as it warms up.

You know, I keep hearing pawpaws.

Yes.

What's going on with KSU and pawpaws?

We have over 10 acres of pawpaws.

We hold the USDA clonal germplasm repository.

Pawpaws are native to Kentucky, and KSU holds the largest research facility, full-time research facility in the world.

We're doing lots of research and projects to breed pawpaws for their taste, the size, storage.

You don't see pawpaws in a lot of grocery stores because they don't have a very long shelf life.

Once you pick them, they have around three to five days and then they're rotten.

So, that's one of the major things that we're trying to work out here at KSU.

There are gonna be some people say, "What is a pawpaw?"

And a pawpaw, when I was a kid, we'd go out squirrel hunting whenever we'd see these odd shaped fruits that, and they do.

They're on the vine for a short amount of time, then they start to turn black, kind of like a banana.

Uh-huh.

Are they?

They're -- Flavor-wise, they're a cross between like a banana mango flavor.

They say anything you use a banana for, you can substitute pawpaw for, cake, bread, ice cream, jams.

I had some ice cream up here one time, it was delicious.

It is.

Well, thank you so much.

Step one.

Yeah.

We did it.

Tomatoes in the ground.

We'll be back.

Thank you so much.

No problem.

[music playing] The last couple of years, we did something that we haven't done in a while, but it really got a lot of attention.

So, this year, before it happens, I'm gonna throw a warning sign up.

That's right.

When the crappie get ready to bite, mid-March, starting April, what happens?

Red bud.

What happens when the red buds bloom?

We make jelly.

That's what we do.

What happens, Nicki, if you would go up to that tree and just grab a bunch of the purplish buds off and just throw them in your mouth?

They're delicious.

I do it all the time.

Find some red buds.

Somebody will let you have some.

Take them.

Make some good jelly.

And make some jelly like Nicki did.

You're gonna find something wonderful.

[music playing] Now, we're gonna make another small batch of our seasonal jelly.

And again, this is not to keep around through Christmas.

Now, if you wanted to pressure can it, that'd be a whole different story.

This is just a quick and easy batch for the next couple of weeks, and boom, we're done.

All right, Mrs.

Farmer, we had a late frost, and that just about ruined this tree.

But we got plenty of trees right down the hollow that are good to go.

So, we're gonna take about a cup.

Yep, we need one cup.

We need one cup, and we're good to go.

Small batch.

Now, these are good to eat right off the tree.

They really are.

They really have a nutty, even sweet taste.

[music playing] [music playing] All right, we're back.

We got boiling water.

What happens next, Ms.

Nicki?

This is exactly like the dandelion jelly, except we're using red buds.

And I like this one better because red buds are easier to pick, and I didn't have to cut them.

Now, look.

Look at the violet.

And, you know, it depends on, you know, we got more purplish violets, some of them more blue.

But that's almost the same color.

That's violet jelly.

And here's the dandelion, which, oh, yum.

And here's the red bud.

Red bud.

And each one of them has their own subtle flavor.

They do.

All right, we're gonna start with two cups of water.

Bring it to a boil.

We're gonna put in one cup of whatever you use in red buds.

If we were doing violets, it would be violets.

It's the exact same, but we're doing red buds.

We're gonna pour that in and let that boil for three minutes.

Once it's boiled for three minutes, we're gonna drain it, just like we did the dandelions, and squeeze down and get -- Strain it.

Yeah, strain it down.

And get three quarters of a cup of juice.

We're gonna take that, put it back in the pan.

We're gonna add three teaspoons of the Sure-Jell to it.

About a tablespoon of lemon juice.

I'm just gonna squeeze a little bit in here.

And then, we're gonna sprinkle -- put in a little bit of the vanilla.

We just kinda shake in a couple shots of that.

Get that boiling.

Once it's boiling, we're gonna add our cup and a half of sugar.

Boil three minutes.

And we got jelly again.

That's pretty simple.

Mm-hmm.

That's really simple.

You know what it tastes like?

Kelli just said, cotton candy.

It has a cotton candy taste, almost.

It does.

It's really good.

Yes, it is.

So, this'll make us four little jars.

Somebody asked last week, if you only have three quarters of a cup of liquid, how in the world do you come up with 16 ounces?

Well, the main ingredient in this really healthy deal is sugar.

A cup and a half of sugar added to that.

Don't forget the sugar and a little bit of pectin.

And there we have it.

It's that simple.

Now it's gonna set up.

We're gonna pop it in the refrigerator.

And then, we're gonna enjoy some in just a little while.

It has its own unique flavor.

It's not like the dandelion jelly.

No, it's not.

The kids would like this.

It's like cotton candy.

We put a little, and I thought this might be a good way.

This is the way Lisa -- And we don't have any Brie, so we're doing a -- Cream cheese.

-- poor man's Brie.

But this makes it even better.

So, we'll put a little cream cheese.

This is our dessert.

That's a good dessert.

We're kind of being healthy with the pretzel.

And that jelly's a little hot because it was sitting next to the stove while we were cooking, so it's a little runny.

But look.

Ooh, I'm gonna make a sandwich here, Mrs.

Farmer.

Look at that.

Mmm.

Mmm, mmm.

I could just eat.

Mmm, that's good.

And with the salty pretzel, that's perfect.

That's a perfect appetizer.

That's gonna be a gooey mess, and I love it.

Yes, it is.

[music playing] Lots of people might be thinking, "Well, how in the world could I get some of those recipes like that?"

And Mrs.

Farmer, if you were picking up your sled dog Alaska, and somebody came up to you and said, "Mrs.

Farmer," because we do have yours in Alaska.

We do.

How do I get your recipes?

What would you tell them?

You go to timfarmerscountrykitchen.com.

And then, they might say, "Well, hey, why are you still here?

And your sled dogs are going crazy.

What about Facebook?

Do you possibly have a Facebook page?

And is it difficult to access?"

What would you say?

Very difficult.

You hit like.

I know.

Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen.

Come on.

We're getting our numbers up there.

Yes, we are.

We wanna get to a million... That's right.

..very shortly.

So, check us out over there as well.

And remember, it's all about -- Good times.

Good friends.

And really good eats.

And we'll see you next week with a brand new Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen.

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