Moveable Feast

>> From the editors of relish.com, we bring you Moveable Feast with host Alex Thomopoulos.

>> ALEX: We're here in the gorgeous high desert mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona.

A lively mountain town located on the historic Route 66, this town is known for its craft breweries and world-famous observatory.

We're here to cook up a feast with two local chefs who have helped turn this town into a culinary destination.

First up, Chef Joe Rodger will take us to Pierre's Prime Meats, a cattle ranch nestled in the Verde Valley wine country, where Pierre is raising some of the highest-quality beef in the state.

>> This is the, the spent grain from Dark Sky Brewing that Pierre essentially picks up and then works some magic with it, feeds it to his cows, that we in turn get back.

>> ALEX: Next, James Beard nominee Chef Rochelle Daniel will take us to Square Root Foods, a unique urban harvesting and wild foraging collaboration started by three friends who are passionate about sourcing the best local ingredients, no matter where they grow.

>> The dishes Rochelle does with, like, local food are only going to taste like that when Rochelle cooks them at her restaurant, you know?

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> So it's that extra level of special, I think, that you get with those foods, yeah.

>> ALEX: And once we've gathered all of our ingredients, we'll head to the Arboretum at Flagstaff, a 200-acre natural paradise that's home to 750 species of plants native to the high desert Colorado Plateau.

And that's all happening right now on Moveable Feast with Relish.

>> Major funding provided by: >> Oh, hey, it's the Donovans.

You know, legend has it the Donovans had a barbecue that fed half a town.

>> You know what I heard.

They drove cross country just to walk their dog.

>> Welcome to the National Kennel Show!

>> Apparently, they climbed a mountain to save some wild horses.

(thunder claps) (whinnies loudly) That's what they say.

>> That's what they say.

>> La Panzanella, bakers of Italian-inspired crackers.

Simple ingredients and non-GMO.

>> Additional funding provided by: >> ALEX: We're on our way to go meet Chef Joe, who's taking us to a place called Pierre's Prime Meats.

It's a cattle ranch owned by Pierre and his family in the Verde Valley wine country.

>> ALEX: Hey, Chef.

>> Hi, how are you?

>> ALEX: Good, how are you?

>> Good, nice to meet you.

>> ALEX: Nice to meet you, too.

Where have you brought us today?

>> Pierre's Prime Beef Ranch, down in Camp Verde.

I work for a brewery, Dark Sky Brewing, up in Flagstaff.

And Pierre picks up all the spent grain that they use to brew with and feeds his cows with it, and then we buy whole heads of cattle back from him and use it on the menu, so... >> ALEX: I like that circle effect.

>> Yeah.

The fact that it is full-circle, for me, I think that's, like, kind of any chef's dream.

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> You know, to be able to see everything from start to finish is awesome, you know, and to be able to keep it local.

We went to, like, rivaling high schools, just a few years apart.

So, it's pretty awesome, you know, to keep it that local.

>> ALEX: Very cool, I'm looking forward to meeting him.

So, should we go say hi to Pierre?

>> Yeah, let's do it.

>> ALEX: Cool.

Hello.

I got the whole family.

Hello!

>> Hello.

>> Hey, guys.

>> ALEX: That is a sweet ride.

Can I please take a ride in it later?

>> You can have a ride later, yes, absolutely.

>> ALEX: Oh, thank you so much for having us, I'm Alex.

>> It's nice to see you.

>> ALEX: Very nice to meet you.

>> Nice to meet you-- Kristi.

>> ALEX: Hi!

>> I'm Brynna.

>> ALEX: Hi, Brynna.

>> I'm Aubrey.

>> ALEX: Aubrey.

>> I'm Mckenzie.

>> ALEX: Mckenzie.

Nice to meet you guys.

Thank you so much for having us.

>> You're welcome.

>> Anytime, you're welcome.

>> ALEX: So where are we?

>> So we are located in Central Arizona.

We are about an hour north of Phoenix and an hour south of Flagstaff.

And so we have a small cattle operation here in Camp Verde.

>> ALEX: I smell beer all around me.

Is, is the grain in here?

>> Yep, that's this.

This is the, the spent grain from Dark Sky Brewing that Pierre essentially picks up and then works some magic with it, feeds it to his cows, that we in turn get back.

So Pierre can tell us a lot more about it than I can, but... >> This is basically what, what the beer barley itself looks like.

So we've been using this about ten years now, and I've had great results with it.

The cattle will gain very well on it, and we really like it, it's, you know, it's a by-product that we're able to use.

I feed about 1,200 pounds a day.

>> ALEX: Wow.

>> To this group.

Each cow will eat approximately one and a quarter, one and a third of these per week.

>> ALEX: How does that translate to the plate?

>> People just love it, you know?

And selling the concept that we, you know, it comes full spectrum, people just eat it up, you know, no pun intended.

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> So.

>> This stuff, you know, if you feed grain-fed beef right, like, even a well-done steak still has moisture in it.

>> I completely agree with Pierre.

Grass-fed beef is, it's always that misconception, you know, what you're eating.

But, grain-fed-- fat is flavor, you know, at the end of the day.

>> For me, it's personal preference.

If you like grass-fed, have at it.

I like grain-fed, that's what I'm going to have.

>> Right.

>> So that's what I produce.

>> ALEX: Wonderful.

Do you think you're going to use some of the steak tonight?

>> I'll definitely have a few of the strips out there and grill them up so you can see the marbling.

But I'll also be doing an offal ragout with some livers and kidneys, again to go with the same, I guess, concept of utilizing waste.

And yeah, cook that into a ragout with some spent-grain cavatelli.

>> ALEX: Love it.

>> Yeah.

>> ALEX: I notice you have a big vroom-vroom fast-fast machine.

>> (laughs) >> We bought it for use on the ranch, right?

But I needed something that had some speed to it because we have to cover a lot of country.

Just to go check the water line, it's 11 miles.

>> ALEX: And I have been eyeing it the entire time.

I'd love to take a spin in it.

>> Let's go.

>> ALEX: Okay.

(laughs) >> I'm wearing my seat belt.

>> ALEX: Now we're on our way to go meet Chef Rochelle, who is taking us to a place called Square Root Foods.

Square Root Foods is a chef-owned and -operated business, focusing on local ingredients and seasonality.

Hey, chef.

>> Hi.

>> ALEX: How are you?

>> Good, how are you?

>> ALEX: Good-- I've heard so much about you.

You've got quite the reputation.

>> (laughs) Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

>> ALEX: So where have you brought me today?

>> So this guy has a special spot in my heart.

He's one of the most talented chefs.

His background is Michelin.

>> ALEX: Oh, wow.

>> And so I became good friends with him when I was the chef at L'Auberge de Sedona quite a few years ago.

And then he started talking to me about foraging, and representing, like, the locality here in Flagstaff and what you can really use, like, the bounty here.

>> ALEX: What was your journey starting out as a chef to where you got to today?

>> Well, I started cooking professionally in a kitchen when I was 14.

I lied about my age.

(Alex laughs) I wanted to be in the kitchen, and I liked the way it brings people together.

>> ALEX: Tell me a little bit about your restaurant.

>> My restaurant, it's Atria, which represents your main blood source to your heart.

I feel like the kitchen is the heart of the restaurant.

And then it's also short for "atrium," because I wanted to represent Flagstaff and the locality, as well.

And when you walk into my restaurant, it's kind of light and airy and you have some greenery.

>> ALEX: What I'm so blown away by, you know, just, like, spending time here in Arizona, is, like, it's not anything that I thought it was going to be-- the bounty that you can get here in the desert and in the high desert.

>> Yeah.

>> ALEX: I'd love to go in and meet Brian and see what we can get for tonight's feast.

>> I'd love to bring you in and introduce you.

Hey, Brian.

>> Hey, what up, Rochelle, how are you?

>> I got someone I want you to meet.

>> ALEX: Whoa.

>> Hello.

>> ALEX: This place is amazing.

>> Hi there.

>> ALEX: Hi, I'm Alex.

>> Brian-- pleasure to meet you.

>> ALEX: Nice to meet you.

You've got to tell me the story of this place.

>> Yeah, so we opened this shop kind of as a result of COVID, and it transitioned into, like, prepared foods that are easily made that are from scratch.

>> ALEX: It's really cool when chefs are, like, on the other side of the counter, providing the food for other chefs.

>> Yeah, the dishes Rochelle does with, like, local food are only going to taste like that, like, when Rochelle cooks them at her restaurant, you know?

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> So it's that extra level of special, I think, that you get with those foods, yeah.

>> ALEX: I am itching to know what you have in here, because this is like a candy store for me.

>> Well, can I show you the display case?

Some of the cured meats and pastries that we have?

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> All right.

So our cheeses here are some of the, like, classic cheeses that you want to find.

So we'll do, like, a soft, a good blue, you know, hard cheeses for grating.

And then our cured meats are really kind of the highlight for a lot of people.

We use local pigs and then we use all the animal.

And we have wonderful bread, too.

We work with a guy who makes only for us and one other person.

>> ALEX: Is this purple?

>> Yeah, it's a purple sweet potato and sesame, so... >> ALEX: Definitely, I'm going to take that.

>> All right, cool, cool, you should try it.

>> ALEX: Oh, wow.

Look at that color.

>> Yeah.

>> Mm, I could smell it.

>> ALEX: Chef, what do you think you're going to grab for tonight's feast?

>> We're going to forage, for sure, but I want to grab some elderberries.

>> Okay.

>> Maybe some confit lemon for the sunflowers.

>> Perfect.

>> I definitely want mushrooms.

>> All right, yeah.

All right, so we'll do mushrooms, elderberries, and sunflower?

>> Yeah.

>> All right.

So if we're going to go foraging, I need my business partners to come on up front.

>> Hi.

>> Jack.

>> ALEX: Hey.

>> Nice to meet you.

>> ALEX: Nice to meet you.

>> Good to see you, Rochelle.

>> How's it going, guys?

>> Good to see you.

>> ALEX: Nice to meet you.

>> ALEX: This place is amazing.

>> Met them...

They're farmers and, amongst other things, we were farmers when we met, and that's how we became friends.

I sold my restaurant and we've been partners ever since.

>> ALEX: Awesome.

Well, we're going to go forage for some sunflowers.

>> Sunflowers.

>> Cool.

>> ALEX: Are you all coming to the feast?

>> If that's an official invite, we're in.

>> ALEX: That's official, of course.

>> All right, let's go forage.

>> Well, thank you.

>> ALEX: Bye, guys.

>> I'll see you guys real soon.

>> ALEX: All right, let's go get some sunflowers.

>> Let's do it, got all of our goodies.

>> All right, so this is probably one of the best examples of the sunflower in, like, full bloom.

This is all edible.

But what we're out here to hunt are these, these unopened flower buds, and these are very much like an artichoke.

>> They're so small.

>> They're tiny.

>> The way they're going to get prepped in the kitchen is peeling them back.

We're trying to get to the heart.

This is the fibrous outer leaves, but if you keep peeling back, you're going to notice, when you look to the side... >> ALEX: Look how beautiful that is.

>> Yeah.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Looks like a baby violet artichoke.

>> ALEX: Cool-- we'll grab a bunch of these and then we'll head up to the Arboretum.

>> All right.

>> ALEX: We are here at the Arboretum with Chef Rochelle.

Tell us a little bit about what you're going to make for tonight's feast.

>> So I'm going to do a pan-roasted duck.

I'm going to serve that with the harvested sunflowers and an elderberry jus.

>> ALEX: Wonderful.

I think nothing goes better with duck than some sort of fruit.

How do we get this dish started?

>> We're going to start off with the stock, because it's going to take the longest.

So I use the bodies and the necks.

So we're going to brown these real nicely, I added a little bit of oil to the pan.

As we're going to do that, we're going to cure the duck breast.

This is the cure for the duck breast, black pepper, brown sugar, a little bit of curing salt, crushed coriander.

And all this is pre-toasted.

>> ALEX: I love crushed coriander.

It's one of my favorite spices to cook with.

>> It smells so good.

And then just regular kosher salt.

Mix it all together.

We're going to add some thyme and some bay leaf.

And that's what we're going to rub on the breast.

This only cures for 17 minutes because we've already dried it out.

And you want to just remove some of this excess fat.

I use some of this fat.

I don't throw it away, I try to use all of it.

You want to really score the skin.

I do really small ones-- you try not to get into the flesh of the meat.

>> ALEX: You're doing that just to open up the fat so it can render out properly.

>> Correct.

>> ALEX: And it doesn't curl up.

>> Correct.

I'm using just the tip of my knife-- I'm letting the knife do the work.

So season the duck nicely.

We're going to put it skin side down.

You don't want it too hot.

I got my pan already heating up.

I'm going to add a little bit of the duck fat.

It doesn't need a lot of fat, because there's plenty on here to render out.

(sizzling) I also, I'm going to do an elderberry mostarda.

Mostarda is a classic preserving technique.

So they used to preserve their fruit in a jar with plump mustard seeds.

>> ALEX: Delicious.

The duck is going, the jus is starting to render.

Now we are moving on to the sunflowers that we foraged for earlier.

>> So those have been blanched.

This is the raw form.

So you're really just pulling off these leaves.

You're going to get this beautiful purple center, and that is very, like, a citrusy, pine nut kind of smell.

You can smell your fingers, it smells amazing.

>> ALEX (sniffs): Oh, wow.

>> And that, it eats almost like an artichoke.

>> ALEX: That smell!

>> Smells great.

It's very refreshing.

>> ALEX: Oh, my God.

>> So this is a mixture of half white wine and half red wine.

I'm going to add it, deglaze the pan with it.

And then I have my spices that I pre-toasted.

It's black pepper, pink peppercorns, and white pepper.

And then I'm just going to let this reduce down about halfway, and then I'm going to cover that with my veg stock and add my aromatics.

>> ALEX: Okay.

It sounds like there is a lot to do.

I'm going to let you plate all this up.

I'm going to go check on Chef Joe, get his dish ready, and then I think we are ready to feast.

>> Cool, thank you.

>> ALEX: Thank you.

While the chefs are preparing their dishes, Nate from the Arboretum here-- that's Nate.

>> (laughing) >> ALEX: He's been kind enough to show me around the vegetable garden.

We're going to forage for some edible flowers, maybe for some nasturtium leaves.

Something to kind of add a little bit of Arboretum love to my charcuterie board.

>> Great, yeah.

>> ALEX: All right.

>> Well, let's show you what we have.

>> ALEX: Okay.

>> We've got some... We have nasturtiums here, which have that nice peppery, pepper taste to it.

>> ALEX: Yeah, I love nasturtium leaves.

They're, like, peppery and citrusy, and they are so beautiful.

We'll take some of those.

>> So we have borage here, another edible flower.

It almost tastes like a cucumber.

>> ALEX: I love borage.

If you've never had borage before, they're really light and delicate, but they're filled with flavor.

As he said... Has essence of cucumber.

Really nice, could go on top of some chicken, some fish, vegetables, or in this case, a nice charcuterie board.

What better way to taste the flavors of Flagstaff than at the Arboretum?

So thank you so much for having us.

We'll see you at the feast, yes?

>> Yes, thank you.

>> ALEX: All right.

>> Yeah, can't wait.

>> ALEX: All right.

So we are with Chef Joe now.

What are you making for tonight's feast?

>> So we are taking some of Pierre's beef offal.

So we've got some kidneys and some livers, and we're basically making a ragout with them, as well as, we took some of the spent grain from the brewery and dehydrated it, re-milled it, and turned it into a house-made cavatelli.

>> ALEX: Whoa.

>> So just a little pasta.

>> ALEX: So this spent grain is throughout this dish.

And I'm sure with some Dark Sky beer, it's going to be excellent.

>> Yes.

>> ALEX: Okay, how do we get this dish started?

>> So I'll get the pasta water going.

Little bit of salt.

We're just going to want to bring that to a roaring boil.

And we're going to add roughly a half-cup oil to the pan, as well as some cipollini onions that I've just julienned and some sage, once the oil heats up and the cipollinis kind of caramelize a little bit.

>> ALEX: A lot of people are hesitant to be cooking with things like kidneys and livers.

I think once they understand how to cook it, they'd be less afraid, and without them knowing, they've probably eaten it before.

>> Right.

>> ALEX: They're delicious.

>> Right, you'll be able to smell as the meat is cooking.

It's super-barnyardy, but it tastes just like beef.

>> ALEX: And I love that you're incorporating sage, as well, because of the nuttiness of that spent grain.

>> So while those are sweating, I'm going to go ahead and make the filling.

So we'll just take just about four raw, pretty large garlic cloves, a pound and a half of the livers... And this is about 12 ounces of kidney.

I went ahead and soaked these overnight in buttermilk to draw some of that blood out, which in turn draws some of that iron flavor out.

(processor pulsing and whirring) Okay, that's about good.

>> ALEX: Good?

>> Yeah, perfect.

I'm going to go ahead and throw some fresh sage.

>> ALEX: Sage is my favorite herb to cook with.

>> Then I'll just deglaze with a little red wine.

(sizzling loudly) I mean... And then we'll just throw a ragout in.

You'll see how it starts to cook and it really starts to kind of break down.

And then we'll re-emulsify the sauce with some lemon juice and some butter.

>> ALEX: Okay.

>> So basically you'll just see the ragout start to break.

>> ALEX: Yeah.

>> I'm feeling like this is about as rapid of a boil as this is going to get.

So we'll go ahead and throw this in there.

And this is just the spent-grain cavatelli.

Pretty traditional, just flour and water, spent grain, semolina, 00 flour, and water.

And then basically, I use a gnocchi board.

There are machines you can get.

>> ALEX: Mmm, yeah.

>> But I just roll them out by hand.

Yeah, these are... >> ALEX: You get the notes of...

Barley, a little beer.

>> Yeah.

>> ALEX: It's really nutty.

>> Yeah, super-nutty.

So I'm just going to add a few tablespoons of butter and we'll kind of mount the sauce.

>> ALEX: These are starting to float.

>> Sweet.

Would you mind just helping me out?

>> ALEX: Yeah.

I'll let you pour.

>> Sweet.

Go ahead and throw that right in the, right in the pasta itself.

Perfect.

And then, what I like to do with my pastas is, I hit them with lemon kind of at the very end.

Honestly, with something this gamey and earthy, like... >> ALEX: Yeah.

>> I love acid, I don't know a chef that doesn't.

So, you know, I'll go ahead and add at least the juice of one lemon.

>> ALEX: There's so much happening aromatically.

>> It's kind of intense, isn't it?

>> ALEX: Yeah, but in a really good way.

You're just kind of, like... What...

I've never smelled these smells before.

>> Right.

>> ALEX: Because I've never cooked with spent grain.

I've never really dabbled in making an la minute offal ragout.

>> Right.

Mm-hmm.

>> ALEX: Delicious, that's really good.

>> Tastes like beef.

>> ALEX: Tastes just like beef.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> ALEX: I'm not going to lie.

I was, like, a little nervous to try this dish.

>> (chuckling) >> ALEX: And it's really good!

>> Awesome.

>> ALEX: Very good-- so how do we finish this dish?

>> I've got some truffle pecorino here, so sheep's milk from Italy.

>> ALEX: Oh, yum.

>> I've also got some... Basically, dehydrated beef heart, cured and then dehydrated.

>> ALEX: Okay.

>> The process of, like, bottarga without smoking.

So I'll grate some of that on it, too.

>> ALEX: Wonderful.

So let's get all this stuff back into the kitchen.

I'm going to set up to make a little charcuterie board for our guests, featuring all the stuff we got this morning at Square Root Foods.

And then, we are ready to feast.

I absolutely loved our time at Square Root Foods this morning, and of course I had to be able to showcase all of the wonderful ingredients that they sell there and they make there, including their gorgeous cured meats.

We've got the coppa, the lonza, the prosciutto, and the bresaola.

We've got this beautiful marinated chvre that they do with local herbs here in Flagstaff.

Amazing.

So what I'm going to do with this is, I'm going to put it in a food processor and get it really nice and creamy.

I'm going to put that into a piping bag.

Then right before our guests arrive, I'm going to grill this purple sweet potato bread with the black sesame seeds that we got from Square Root Food this morning.

And I'm going to pipe that over the top and then finish it with some foraged herbs that we got here at the Arboretum.

And no charcuterie board would be complete without the perfect cracker.

They're really light and crispy and crunchy, and they go really well with all the different cheeses.

They're a nice, neutral... Now we cue the B-roll.

>> ALEX: What's up!

(people talking in background) >> Hey, whoa!

>> ALEX: We've got a feast for you tonight.

>> Ooh, that looks so good!

(people talking in background) >> ALEX: Thank you.

>> Look at that.

>> Wow.

>> Oh, yeah, there's one more down here.

>> ALEX: Just start digging in.

>> Chef, serve us family-style-- here, I'll hold.

>> Tossed salad-- I just kind of dumped a bunch of dressing on the top of it... (talking in background) >> Do you guys want sauce?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> We're in good company.

>> ALEX: Yeah, for sure.

I know we were, we've already dug in, but can you explain to everybody what you made tonight?

>> I did whole duck, dry-aged, pan-roasted, duck confit with the leg and thigh.

And then I went foraging with my friend Brian here, and we did elderberries-- a little elderberry jus, elderberry mostarda.

And then you have baby sunflowers.

We butter-braised a little bit of, with them, and then we did it a barigoule style, kind of like an artichoke.

And then a little bit of our mushrooms.

>> ALEX: Thank you, Chef.

And Chef Joe.

>> So I just took some of Pierre's, Pierre's Prime Beef's livers and kidneys, and basically blitzed them up into a ragout.

And took some of the spent grain from Dark Sky Brewing, dehydrated that, made a cavatelli with it.

And basically just made a super-rustic pasta dish.

>> ALEX: Delicious, thank you.

And of course, I had to highlight some of the beautiful stuff that you are not only making, but purveying at Square Root Foods-- thank you guys so much for importing those beautiful cheeses, for making all of those gorgeous cured meats.

I hope you enjoy it.

>> Thanks for coming to the shop.

>> ALEX: Of course, of course, we'll be back.

>> Thanks for coming to Flagstaff.

>> ALEX: I will be back sooner than later.

I love this place.

>> Always welcome.

>> ALEX: Yeah.

I want to thank Chef Rochelle, Chef Joe, for taking me around Flagstaff today and cooking this beautiful meal.

Thank you guys at Square Root Foods, and thank you to the Arboretum at Flagstaff for hosting us in this beautiful setting.

I mean, can it get any more gorgeous than this?

If you'd like any of these recipes from today's episode, make sure to go to moveablefeast.relish.com.

And who knows?

Maybe next time, we'll be feasting in your city.

Cheers, everybody.

>> ALL: Cheers.

>> For more information about this episode, recipes, and behind-the-scenes fun, make sure you go to relish.com, follow us, @moveablefeast_tv, on Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

See you next time on A Moveable Feast with Relish.

Major funding provided by: >> Oh, hey, it's the Donovans.

You know, legend has it the Donovans had a barbecue that fed half a town.

>> You know what I heard.

They drove cross country just to walk their dog.

>> Welcome to the National Kennel Show!

>> Apparently, they climbed a mountain to save some wild horses.

(thunder claps) (whinnies loudly) That's what they say.

>> That's what they say.

>> Additional funding provided by: >> La Panzanella, bakers of Italian-inspired crackers.

Simple ingredients and non-GMO.