[Music] Most of the time when people think of Southern greens collards come to mind but I grew up in a house with turnips on the stove.

They have a little bit of bitterness that lends itself to such a beautiful pot liquor.

So, I think they've got actually more going for them than the collard.

(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.

[Music] So this is my life.

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

Previously on A Chef's Life I'm cooking tomorrow for this charity dinner.

This is kind of a version of a dish I grew up having.

This has been so much fun.

I was kind of nervous because these are really well known chefs.

I feel like I might of made some friends, maybe.

Delicious.

Thank you.

[Music] It'll be fine.

Just be yourself.

-You're a pro at this now.

-What?

I said you're a pro at this.

I am not and I don't want to be [laughs].

You got a strand of... it was sticking straight out.

I don't doubt that.

My mom believes in greens.

We grew up always with a pot of greens on the stove and my mom had a little coffee cup next to the stove full of pot liquor so she believes they're healthy and delicious and like a life force and for her the absolute queen of the greens is something called the run-up turnip.

So these are run-ups?

I'll get that.

Don't worry about it, mom.

Okay.

Yeah, you see that comes from some of the kinds the turnips, not all of them and it's a small root generally.

Right so you don't really eat that root.

You just harvest the greens all kind of fall and then in the spring...

This just shoots up but it's the best part of the turnip to me and this is just as tender as it can be.

Run-up turnips are from what I can gather, when you ask people you get all kinds of different answers but they shoot up from the ground after winter from a turnip plant, okay.

They are kind of the second coming of the turnip and they have a sweet, slightly bitter, really special unique quality.

So how do we start here, Mom?

This is semi dried sausage.

I would rather have dried sausage.

So you just put this...

I put this in the pot and cook it a few minutes.

[Music] So these, you know you're always seeing and reading what to look for when you buy turnips.

This is what not to look for.

[Laughter] This time of the year you're going to find turnips that are peffy.

What?

Peffy.

I'll have to look that up.

I thought it was piffy?

They say peffy.

Well I'm not convinced.

You know, any time you buy a root vegetable you really want if possible to buy it with the greens attached because that means it's fresh.

It hasn't been out of the ground long.

So these don't look... Now let me see if this is a little peffy.

[Laughter] -I'm gonna... -These are like an apple.

You know sometimes an apple will get ummm... what do you call it when an apple gets, is not really crisp?

It sucks.

[Laughter] [Music] So, everybody here calls this salad.

-Why?

-Turnip salad.

I don't know.

So tell me when to stop here.

We need to press it down.

We are southern.

I know that we are.

[laughs].

I remember growing up you always had a little cup next to your pot of greens with pot liquor in it.

I like pot liquor.

Would you drink the pot liquor from this?

Yes.

Are we going to make them like baby food?

Like so many of the greens in the south.

No, uh un but you got to have them soft.

[laughs].

That's one way I would do it slightly differently.

You wouldn't cook 'em as much?

Mmm uh.

When I get run-ups at the restaurant and we put them on something I blanch them for thirty seconds.

Is that all you cook 'em?

Mmm hmmm.

If you're going to make them a side dish I feel like you need to cook them more.

Okay.

To satisfy your Southern people.

Alright you think they're ready?

No.

No?

Okay.

[Music] They are not ready.

That's not gonna be cooked enough for me but you can go ahead and try it.

I like 'em softer.

I have some very important guests coming into the restaurant tonight.

I'm kind of freaking out about it.

I have to get there and gain control of the situation.

Having a restaurant that's kind of in the middle of nowhere we've always struggled to get food writers and chefs, people who fancy themselve's to really know about food to come and eat here.

And so now when someone does I get really nervous.

I think we should drink some pot liquor.

Okay.

This is probably where a lot of your vitamins are.

Right.

Well I'm sure after you boiled those greens to death.

[laughs].

Cheers Mom.

It is good.

It's not bitter.

-It's ready?

-Mmm hmm.

So you would scoop up the sausage too and eat it with the sausage?

Yes.

(Music plays) I mean they are very soft but they still taste kind of fresh.

-They're delicious.

-They are.

-They're very good.

-I mean you know... [laughter] I would not do that in the restaurant.

No.

Thank God.

[Laughter] [Music] So this is... share plates put Harker's Island Oyster Ceviche.

Run-up.

Wait, how am I going to say it?

Okay.

Here we go.

Turnip run-ups in pot liquor.

Kim, do you know who is coming tonight?

No, who?

Ben and Karen Barker from Magnolia Grill.

Remember we took you and Ryan there before we opened.

Yeah that was like back in the day.

Karen Barker won the James Beard Award for best pastry chef in the whole nation and Ben Barker won the award for best chef southeast so aren't you glad you're not making a special dessert for?

Yeah.

Ben and Karen Barker were some of the first chefs to really elevate and exalt southern food.

Paying attention to presentation and balance and texture.

When we moved here and decided to open this style of restaurant I bought their cookbook, Not Afraid of Flavor, and read it front to back, front to back, front to back.

Ummm so their cooking has really informed my style and approach.

I'm doing this pot liquor and run-up broth thing for them because it's simple and real.

This morning when we cooked run-ups with my mom I think we all wanted cornbread so I'm making little individual cornbreads in here.

I think that will be a nice touch.

[Music] Cornbread is something that every Southern cook kind of makes.

It can as simple as just cornmeal and water or you can put a few other things in it.

This has grated onion, buttermilk, water, melted butter, and corn meal, salt and sugar so I guess I have more ingredients than three.

What I love about cornbread is like all the crispy edges.

So this should allow us to have a lot of those but cornbread and pot liquor are like man and woman.

I mean they are perfect together.

Sorry.

It depends on the particular man and woman but cornbread and pot liquor are great together, okay?

And that's what we are going for tonight.

[Music] It isn't that I depend on my mom to help me source ingredients for the restaurant, but in this case she knows where the run-ups are and I'm gonna let her go get them.

Good morning Mrs. Scarlett, how are you?

So how much turnip salad do you have today?

Umm we got four or five boxes.

So Vivian told me to buy her two or three boxes.

You can get what you want.

[Music] Now what was that you were telling me a while ago that the turnip salad, we plant it in the fall?

Okay, you can plant the roots with the tops in the fall, but your run-up is a totally different salad.

It comes from a seed.

It does not come from a root.

It's probably one of the oldest that you know of, the run-up.

We cooked some this morning and it was good.

It is good.

It is very good.

I cooked mine in semi-dried sausage.

But you cook yours with ham?

-Bacon grease.

-Bacon grease mmm hmm.

Rooted turnips in the fall you cook with ham hock?

Pig tail.

Pig tail.

Yeah, I do know that some people cook that with pig tail.

That's what Jack's mama did.

That's where I got that from.

Thank you Darnell.

Now she'll probably be sending me back to get some more.

Okay.

That will be fine.

Thank you.

I appreciate your business.

Alright.

Bye bye.

Take care.

-Hey.

-Hey.

Were you able to get them?

Yeah I got the turnip salad outside.

Can you get somebody to come and get it?

Yeah.

Did you learn exactly where they came from?

No.

No?

[laughs].

You look like you almost fell asleep in the car.

[Music] The reason I get so excited about the run-ups is that it's very rare to be able to introduce people in this day and age to something new, something they've never had, and something that you can only get in a very specific part of the country.

Cut that whole thing off.

And you're looking for pieces like that.

Individual.

Yeah individual little spears.

Alright.

[Music] This morning when we made the greens with my mom you know, she cooked them to death and I thought that was terrible initially but what it did was make for a very delicious broth so I'm separating the stems from the leaves and I'm going to simmer the stems a little longer than the leaves in the pot liquor that I've already cooked some greens to death in.

So we're going to have all that flavor that we want from the pot liquor and we're going to have vibrant, beautiful turnip greens.

I feel like I need to give the Barkers some nice texture.

Alright, so we need to talk about Barker?

Yes.

So Ben wanted me to discuss where would you like them to sit tonight?

Do you want to do like 23?

Yeah I love that area over there where it's a little more private.

Okay.

You want them at 23?

Not 30?

I think 30 is too close to the kitchen.

You know we do a lot of yelling and... You don't think they like... [Music] We have two new things tonight.

This is the share plate.

It is Harker's Island Oyster Ceviche.

I shucked them, reserved the liquid, added charred scallion, cilantro, citrus, combined it with the oysters about thirty minutes in advance.

Like, for a true oyster ceviche these would probably sit for like an hour, an hour and a half and the acid would cook the oysters but I still want to kind of have that raw oyster feel so these are kind of just slightly cooked.

Okay, so this is run-ups and pot liquor with air dried sausage.

Normally you know when we make a broth we have all kinds of aromatics and roasted bones and all kinds of things that go into it but this is really really super simple.

There's not even an onion in it.

I mean I haven't done anything like that in years.

So who's waiting on the Barkers?

Okay.

So I was going to put these ceviches on the table when they sit down.

-Are you coming out?

-Of course.

And I think I might put on a chef jacket.

Yaaay!

[Laughter] I get chef jacket and lip stick.

Yeah.

Definitely lip stick.

It will be a good night.

[Laughter] [Music] Alright order share tartar, samosa, and a farmerrita.

Order fire, fried collard.

They're walking in right now.

-Hi, how are you?

-Hello.

-W-Great to see you.r?

-How you doin?

-I'm doing great.

Justise you need to taste that every time.

[Music] At this point I've been cooking professionally for 15 years.

I cooked for 400 chefs and food writers just a few months ago down in Oxford, Mississippi and I am about to wet my pants I'm so nervous to cook for Ben and Karen Barker.

I don't know why but I think of them as like food Gods.

I don't want them to be disappointed in me.

Thank y'all for coming.

I'm not going to bombard y'all because I don't love to be bombarded.

But I am going to send you a few things just to start.

One of the items that is new tonight is this run-up turnips in their broth.

These run-ups are even like there's little pockets of eastern North Carolina that people don't know what they are so... Are these purple top turnips?

These are seven tops so they make a little tiny not really great root.

-More of a greens turnip?

-Right.

We're really excited to be here.

Thank you.

I hope y'all enjoy yourselves.

I do want to come peek in the kitchen later on if it's not an issue.

We'll see.

[Laughter] [Music] I was like sweating all over my face when I was talking to them.

You know I did cook in New York but I was a peon there ummm and when we moved here I really didn't know anything about running a kitchen.

I didn't know that much about southern food and I learned a lot from their book and from eating in their restaurant so I really consider him my mentor but he doesn't even know that so it's ummm...

I think I'm about to start crying.

This is ridiculous.

I'm gonna get him to come in here and sweep and kind of run a mop along the floor because I think...

They're gonna ask to come back.

Chef Barker is going to come back here.

Okay.

I'm just wiping the same spot on the table over and over and over.

[Music] Andy, when you have a moment would you clean this?

This is our Harker's Island Ceviche.

Enjoy it.

Thank you.

They are going to do the Italian sausage run-up pizza.

Then, we're gonna go... they're splitting everything.

So we're gonna do chicken, we're doing monk fish, pork chop, and the next one is your choice.

How about if we send them a pork chop and a grit?

That's great.

-Okay.

Sounds good.

-Thank you.

[Music] Okay then after that course before the entrees I'm going to give Ben...

He wants to see the kitchen.

And then I'm going to try and leave.

Because I'm getting ready to go out of town and I just want to be home to put my children to bed.

Right.

So you're going to be gone all weekend?

I'm sorry.

[Music] This is our run-up and Italian sausage pizza with hand pulled mozzarella.

Those are the turnips?

Yeah they're run-ups.

Run-ups.

Turnip.

Turnip run-up.

So tell me.

About the Barkers?

He just said.

He was talking about the wood burning pizza.

He was talking about the crust and stuff and he goes, so you know know, ka-ching.

So he thought it was good?

Yeah they ate that turnip pizza.

The crust they think is excellent.

I feel like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown.

Why don't you have a drink?

Okay, so we're getting ready to do their next course.

[Music] You know they have eaten all over the world.

They have had chefs cater to their every whim.

They know what spectacular food is so the idea that I'm going to serve them something so simple is a little scary, but I want them to get a feeling for who I am and where I come from.

And this run-up is really very special and I want them to understand that.

Whooo!

So you have the run-ups, the two gentlemen have the run-ups with the sausage and the pot liquor broth and some cornbread and there's a little hot sauce that we made last summer with sun gold and jalapenos.

It's great.

This smells killer.

[Laughter] That takes you back to your childhood, doesn't it?

It does.

It's really delicious.

Thank you.

[Music] I've got a little cocktail to give me a little bit of courage before I take Ben Barker through my disorderly kitchen.

You wanna walk through?

I'm not going to pass judgement.

I know!

I know!

But you know what, I am who I am.

Alright, come on.

You've got a lot of space here.

Yeah, no shortage of it.

This is Justise, my sous chef.

This is Ben Barker.

Nice to meet you.

That's pastry over there.

We do a lot of meat fabrication.

We get whole cows.

Allen is still here, our butcher.

So this is where it all happens.

And this is where we do it all at night.

How big is this compared to what you had previously?

The same exact... this was a grill and we didn't have the oven.

The oven has increased our productivity and speed during service tremendously.

-Thank you.

-Thank you guys.

And that's the Boiler Room right there.

In that alley.

I'd say 80% of the people that go over there get burgers.

And that's how we're able to do this whole cow thing.

We use all the cuts we want over here and we grind everything else for over there.

So we'll go back through there.

We're thinking about, seeing how smart you are about your food I can't wait to come and eat here in some of the other seasons of the year.

Thank you very much.

I've just admired y'all for so long.

Anyway, I'm so just so happy that you are here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I feel good about that, you know?

I was able to introduce Ben Barker to an ingredient he had never had.

That's pretty awesome.

It's frightening to kind of meet and cook for one of your know, your culinary Gods but that's what we do, you know we're in the restaurant business and if they want to come we have to feed them and we just do our best.

I'm glad they came and I'm glad it's almost over.

Okay, well I'm gonna go home and put Theo and Flo to bed.

Okay.

You're gonna make sure these are perfect?

Yes.

Okay, great.

Alright, thank you.

You're welcome.

-I'll see you later -Goodnight.

[Music] Okay, spit.

Time to go lay down.

Mom, no!

I want to watch the rest of the Little Mermaid.

You're not going to watch the rest of the Little Mermaid.

Please!

I want to watch the rest of the Little Mermaid!

We're going to go lie down.

[Flo crying] I want to see the rest of the Little Mermaid!

Let's go!

Turn your back!

Watch the Little Mermaid!

Watch the Little Mermaid!

Watch!

Watch!

[laughter] I like to watch the Little Mermaid.

[Music] For more information on A Chef's Life visit PBS.org/food A Chef's Life is available on DVD.

To order visit PBS.org or call us at 1-800-PLAY-PBS