♪♪ I'm standing here in the heart of the Ozarks.

While most of modern civilization walks passed this delicate landscape, there are some who are studying the history of this terrain that bring an appreciation and understanding of the natural world.

Today, I'll meet a few of those modern foragers who go beyond farm to table to forest to table all for A Taste of History.

[Narrator] This program is made possible by the Blue and Gray Education Society, whose mission is to preserve American history through its historical guidebooks, nationwide tours, and philanthropic endeavors.

♪♪ Having only ever heard about the Ozarks from film and television.

I'm looking forward to meeting some of the culinarians, foragers and farmers who have made it their mission to bring the stories and cuisine of this regions first inhabitants back to life.

For years, Chef Rob Connoley has been researching the history of this region and its forgotten ingredients as well as painstakingly foraging its land in order to serve locally sourced, authentic, Ozark cuisine with a modern twist.

But first, I met up with author and culinarian Erin Rowe to learn more about this misunderstood region.

There are so many misconceptions about the Ozarks the hillbilly stereotype that we often get pegged as, but at the end of the day, we are hill-folk that have made it and survived.

The Ozarks is an island onto itself.

Being in the mountains and our valleys means so deep.

We don't have tall mountains but we have deep valleys.

People had to be willing to traverse by foot or mule or horse to reach here, and they couldn't set up railroad lines or telegraph lines until 50 years later than the rest of the country.

So we were already always behind with technology.

We had to make our own way.

-It had to be a pretty rough beginning here, trying to make a homestead.

-Absolutely.

Such a hard beginning.

I mean, for people to get here in the first place and to bring all that they needed to survive, and the Cherokee people that were here actually helped them out.

And that's how the Native Americans were very hospitable, very kind people.

-The book was fascinating, great recipes, great stories for me, honestly opened my eyes about the Ozarks in general.

[Erin] Many of the recipes are actually poems that children would learn at a young age so that they could learn how to cook through memorization In a very real way, the skills that you needed to survive were taught to you.

They may not have come inside of a schoolhouse they might have happened under the roof or at the family gathering table.

All of my grandmother's recipes are written on tiny little scraps of paper that have been... you know, the ink is faded.

And if we don't write down and document our food history, we lose it.

We all still need to gather around the table and talk to each other and tell our stories.

At the end of the day, the people that lived here are the people that would take anyone under their wing like family.

And I think that's what the Ozarks really should be known for and the wonderful food that makes up its components.

[rooster crows] Chef Rob, I'll tell you, you're not going to believe how much I anticipated this moment to be able to stand next to you, cooking with you, understanding your philosophy.

I always talk about from farm to table.

Well, guess what?

Today we're talking about from forest to table.

Because.

Why?

Because you are the expert.

-Well, thank you.

I appreciate those kind words.

It's quite an honor for me as well.

For me, it's all about looking at the history of the Ozark region.

When the indigenous people first met the settlers and oftentimes the enslaved, those three cultures come together at one particular time in the late 18th, early 19th century.

And they're surviving.

People who used everything that they had available to them, whether it was from the farm or from the forest, never wasting, always thinking ahead to get through that hard winter and curing and preserving and that ultimately grounds my entire cooking philosophy.

-You know, today I'm cooking with you at a farmhouse that was built in 1885 and it's a beautiful, reconstructed house.

It's unbelievable.

Normally you see me schlepping over open fire at 250 degrees but for me and you we got a modern kitchen to work with.

Since you're doing a very progressive cuisine it's very befitting that we get to work in a beautiful space like that.

[Rob] Chef, what I'm really excited to show you is one of my favorite dishes.

This is a classic dish.

A financier.

Except here, I'm using Ozark acorns.

Acorns in particular, are fun for me because there's a stigma against them.

Many people say they're poisonous, but they're not poisonous.

They're just very bitter.

But there's ways of getting rid of that bitterness.

So I'm going to start first by putting the brown butter in on the bottom And you need to make sure that brown butter is room temperature.

If it's still hot, it's going to cook these eggs.

Just to make sure I don't cook those egg whites.

I add all my dry ingredients.

Now we can be fancy and whisk these together and whatnot.

But I'd like to just put them in and keep things simple.

So that's the cake flour with the baking powder and salt.

Here's our acorn flour and sugar.

I'm just going to mix this together a little bit and add the egg whites So now we're just going to mix this batter until it gets to basically a thick cake batter consistency.

-I can just smell the brown butter.

-And so now all we have to do is scoop it into the mold.

Now I'm using this silicone mold, but of course, you can use a cupcake tin if you want.

[Walter] And how long do you normally bake them, chef?

-So this is one of the magical things about financiers.

I start at 425 for 6 minutes.

-To get that glaze on it.

-And that way you get a little crust, a litte glaze.

And then.

-This is what makes the financier because when you bite into it, you want to get this crunch.

-That's right.

And so you finish baking it so it's not gooey on the inside.

By going down to 375 for just another six more minutes.

Some people are going to think of this as a dessert.

But I actually like to serve it with salads or pickles.

But this is one of the beautiful things about acorns in this recipe, because it's so rich that brown butter and all that sugar.

And then you have the acorn that has a little bit of bitterness.

But certainly some nuttiness also -Fantastic ♪♪ [Walter] Wow.

Look at them.

Beautiful.

And the aroma that comes out of there you can smell the sugar, you can smell the butter and you can smell guess what?

-Those acorns.

-Absolutely.

Now, this is my first time ever that I had a financier with acorns so I'm dying to try one of those How is it?

There's only one word spectacular.

[Rob] Ah, thank you.

I'm really excited to introduce you to a friend of mine.

Rachel West is the premiere forager here in the Ozarks.

There's so much bounty in the woods, and she can't wait to walk you through it.

♪♪ Welcome, chef.

I'm happy to have you here to my forest.

We're in Old Wilderness Canyon right now in the Ozarks, and I teach spring foraging classes here where I lead groups around and show them how to "Eat our Ozarks" And that's what I want to show you today.

[Walter] When you teach those classes, what's the reaction of people who have never before been in a class of yours and seen foraging?

-They're always shocked.

They always go home right after class, and they'll send me pictures and they'll go, "I can't believe I just had three or four" "things in my backyard" "that I've just been like mowing over!"

With all wild plants, even the invasive non-natives.

They were brought here as a food source.

And so it's just kind of like feral food that's free all over the place that we've just kind of forgotten.

-How did you come up with what is edible, what is not edible?

-It takes a lot of research.

Lots and lots and lots of books.

Never, ever trust one guidebook.

That's the one thing that I learned is I have a couple of different guidebooks that actually have the wrong picture with the wrong description next to them.

And thankfully, none of the mistakes that I've caught have been deadly mistakes, but they are definitely mistakes.

All right, Chef.

So I just went right up over there and I found a whole bunch of wild oregano.

This is our dittany This is like a peppered oregano.

-Let me see that here Unbelievable.

-It's one of my favorites to do a wild chimichurri.

I do any kind of pasta, pizza sauce.

-That is obviously an herb that has a tremendous amount of usage.

-It's perfect.

Any of your brambles.

So blackberry strawberry are all usable for tea, and they're really, really high in tannins, which are good for our heart.

And they can also, as a fun side note, stop diarrhea.

So if you're in the forest and you're dehydrated, that is a good way to have a strong tea that will stop that So these are a red raspberry.

There aren't any berries on these.

These are first year canes.

The red raspberries have a round cane.

And then if you notice this round cane, it also has a a little plume on the outside.

You can kind of rub off, which is a natural yeast.

You could even start a vinegar with it.

Blackberries have a square stem.

And so you can tell the difference between a blackberry from that.

Blackberry or red raspberry leaves will always be pure white on the underside.

They're really high in vitamin C. So excellent to add to your tea.

All right, chef.

So this is a spice bush.

This is lindera benzoin, and it is in the bay laurel family.

So all parts of the plant, the leaves, the twigs, the berries are edible.

So you can grind them all up together and use them as a seasoning, which you're going to be cooking with Rob.

-That is amazing.

The amount of flavor that comes out of the the leaves when you rub it and then the allspice flavor.

I'm looking forward with Rob, using this spice in one of the recipes.

I can't wait to see what he cooks up ♪♪ Chef, this recipe is one of my favorites also.

And what's fun about this one for this particular moment is when we were just walking around outside.

I saw pecan trees here at the Farmhouse on the Hill, and I didn't know they were going to be here.

When your eyes are open to what's available in nature, you see things everywhere.

And this took maybe 10 minutes of foraging.

-You kind of mirror what my life was about when I grew up many, many, many years ago in the Black Forest.

You don't think for one moment I had a chance in the afternoon to play soccer with my friends?

No sir!

I was sent into the woods.

"You go look for chanterelles, you look for raspberries."

Well, it makes a lot of sense because when we live off the land, when we look for opportunities to feed ourselves and feed our family's, what's available?

But if you know what you're looking for and how to stay safe, then you can go out into the woods, gather your own and put them in a skillet that night.

[Walter] Matter of fact, I was told this pecan tree was planted when this farmhouse got built.

So it's been there for a long time since 1885.

Think about that -That's amazing.

And to still be putting off nuts that we can enjoy today, that means someone back at that time put the thought into feeding their family and look at all the families it's fed since.

So the first thing we're going to do for these pecan croquettes is grind the nuts in the food processor and we're going to add a little bit of foraged spice to it to give it its flavor.

Spice bush, because it's in season and is very Ozarks.

We're going to add these pecans to the food processor and a little bit of the forged spice bush.

This has already been dried.

You can do as much as your flavor preferences allow and then a little bit of salt and we're going to add more salt later, but we want to get it started.

[grinding] Now we're going to add water and we're going to make it flow like lava.

[grinding] That looks very simple, very easy.

There's only one small trick to it.

What happens if I don't have a spice bush or any other herbs?

I'm going to have to improvise that obviously.

- You can but this is the great thing about the recipe because all you have to have is pecan, water, and salt, whatever flavor you want, that's up to you.

So then we scoop this out, put it in a bowl and let it sit for about one hour.

And what's going to happen is the nuts are going to absorb that moisture and thicken up and make it easier to handle.

So next we're going to give them a panko coating or a bread crumb coating and so I'm going to take that scoop, drop it into my hand very quickly, roll it into a ball, toss it in the flour.

-That's all purpose flour I would assume?

-All purpose flour, just like we'll have at home.

Then we can drop that in the egg wash. And so we put the panko coating on the ball and at this point.

-You can shape it one more time.

Shape it a little bit more.

Don't press it too much, because the whole point of the panko is to give you a nice crunch.

-The crunch.

-Yeah.

Now we're going to fry them, and we'd like the oil to be 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

And this will only take about 2 minutes to fry, and we'll see the color change very quickly.

The ability to make it any flavor you want is one of the special things about it.

The spice bush, though, I think that's just such a perfect way to season these pecans.

Beautiful!

A nice, crunchy shell with a creamy center.

-It just looks good!

-All right, chef, I'm really excited to have you try these.

-It looks so delicious.

It's just perfectly fried crunchy, unique flavor.

But I'm not sure I believe you that there's no allspice in there.

There's no allspice.

This is purely from the forest with the spice bush.

[Walter] This is such a beautiful and simple recipe.

I would be very disappointed if nobody was trying to make it at home.

All you need is a little kitchen processor, some pecan nuts.

-And you don't have to do anything to them.

You don't toast them, just grind them, add your spice, add your water, and enjoy.

-Fantastic.

♪♪ It's no secret that cooking with fresh and local ingredients is the best way to achieve superior tasting, nutrient rich food.

Through grassroots efforts.

Springfield Community Gardens is creating the blueprint for local involvement in the foodways, helping to create a healthier community and reduce food insecurity in the region.

[Maile] When I was a little girl my father had all these wonderful stories where we had fresh peaches off the tree and fresh homemade ice cream and eggs from the chickens right out the back door, and everything they needed was on the farm.

And then in just one generation, we've forgotten how to grow our own food.

So we are trying to recreate a resilient food community where everyone has access to healthy local food.

We understood that if the whole town isn't on board, that we really can't create a local food system.

We have to have consumers and producers get the restaurants on board, the hospitals, the schools, and that's quite an undertaking.

And so the best way to do that is to start local and to teach people around us the importance of local food.

And so the community gardens do that.

[birds chirping] [Walter] I'm a gardener at heart, and while I've been to many, many, many libraries, I have never been to a library that concentrates on heirloom seeds.

We have partnered with the Springfield Community Gardens, which, as you can see around us, they have just a beautiful community garden and each one complements the other.

For our heirloom seed library, we encourage our patrons to check out seeds, plant them, grow the harvest, enjoy it, and then also return the seeds.

Many people across the country live in food deserts, and so they don't know how to grow a garden or to save seeds.

And so by us having this information available and people there to help them it just strengthens our community.

-The flavor, delicious.

And everything else you grow already there.

I'm sitting in front of my favorite: purple basil, regular basil.

They're picking raspberries as we speak.

My breakfast this morning was your raspberries, right here.

Matter of fact I've got a yogurt in the car.

I should have brought it.

[both laugh] I feel that everybody that's involved with this project brings their love into it and it shows in your product.

-Thank you.

-Springfield Community Gardens has made it their mission to foster involvement and growth within their neighborhoods, but also connect growers with local markets and restaurateurs like Chef Rob.

They even provide land and training programs for new farmers entering the field.

It started, its genesis was in the community gardens, and the community gardens are still doing wonderful things, but we realized over time that to make an even bigger splash in our local food system, we needed a farm.

So what I'm overseeing here is the direct relationship between local, sustainably grown food and the hospital food system.

And I think that's really powerful.

I mean, what is better for you when you're trying to heal from something than hyper local, nutritious food?

[Maile] Everyone is talking about regenerative agriculture, and we are doing it.

That's just a very important story to tell and to inspire other towns our size they can do it too.

♪♪ It looks like you have a big plan here.

Well, this one's a little more complicated, but this is just such a crowd pleaser at my restaurant.

And I think it's because the flavors and the ingredients are things that people know from what maybe mom or grandma or great grandma used to make for you.

But it's done in a very contemporary way.

It's a little bit fancier, but it's still at the end of the day, purple hull peas, bitter greens, -And chickpea flour.

-Well, there's chickpea flour now, that's not something from the Ozarks, but this is where I pull in the modern idea of foods from around the world.

And here I'm drawing from a very classic European dish called a Panisse.

As you saw yesterday.

I love working with community gardens and local farmers, especially the small ones.

To me, the smaller, the better.

Like when people come to the restaurant, I can tell them where every component of every dish came from.

The farmer, the hunter, the fishermen, everything.

And I can attest to that because I saw you eating tomatoes for at least 2 hours.

Those flavors of freshness and knowing how things were grown and trusting that the farmer cared for the food in the way that I'm going to care for it when I prepare it for my guests.

How would somebody want to go in and say, "Hey, I want to do a community garden," or "I want to" "plant some edible stuff in my backyard?"

I think for most people, it's not knowing how to access a farmer, how to actually get to know a farmer.

And the easiest thing is go to a farmer's market.

If you go to those farmer's markets and just start talking to the farmers that have grown the beautiful produce or raise that amazing meat, they will tell you how to get involved.

Now, some people want to learn how to do it in their backyard, but maybe you start that by going and volunteering at a farm.

They will want your help.

And so it's a great way to jump in.

I also like going to farmer's markets because you see what's fresh and it keeps you in tune with the seasons.

And so when you go there and then go to the grocery store, which is necessary, you realize how many things are not in season and what's the consequence of that?

Well, the flavors not as good the texture is not as good.

[Walter] Just looking at the ingredients over here, I can't wait for you to take me through it.

-Let's go ahead and get the peas going because they take a little bit of time.

Put them in a pan add a heavy pinch of salt.

And then if you could add some water just to cover.

-Here you go.

Just to cover?

Just the cover.

That's perfect.

-Like so -And now we're going to bring this to a simmer and cook this uncovered for 30 minutes.

For the panisse, which is kind of sort of related to a polenta.

We're going to start with the milk and here we add milk to a blender.

This is not a normal step, but we're doing it because I want to add the bitter greens to the blender and ultimately to the panisse.

So I'm going to just roughly rip these up, put them in, and now let's blend this until it's nice and smooth.

[blender sounds] [both laugh] -Rob as you can see, I'm no expert in electrical kitchen machinery.

[Walter laughs] [Rob] And now we have the bitter greens blended into the milk so that tradition of a wilted green is now infused in a totally different way.

Gotcha.

OK, so what we're going to do is have a pan because again, we're going to cook this like polenta and we're going to put in this blended milk and some fats.

So this is olive oil and butter.

-Beautiful -And so we're going to add the chickpeas and a little bit salt and stir this with a whisk for about 10 minutes until it thickens up.

-So in other words, you want to make sure the liquid goes underneath the chickpeas to create the right consistency.

-That's right.

We want it as smooth as we can get it.

Just like that it goes from watery liquid to a thick paste.

And so now all we need to do is cook this until the moisture evaporates and it takes about five to 10 minutes and your arm will get tired.

Just know that even if you don't stir it perfectly, it will still be delicious.

But the more you stir it, the smoother it's going to be.

OK, so now we're going to pour this into a pan and look how it just glops out.

See how thick that is and spread it as smoothly as you can.

Doesn't have to be perfect.

And now we're going to put this in the fridge and let it firm up.

Because this takes a little bit time.

I made some ahead so we can show you how it works.

So after this sets up in the fridge, like an hour or so, and when I cut it out, I like to use something as simple as a juice glass.

We're going to end up with these.

[Walter] Now, there's a couple of ways you can do them.

You can pan sear them or you can deep fry them.

Either way.

-I like to fry them because there's more flavor and we get this really wonderful, evenly crisp crust with this custardy, thick filling in the center.

-Perfect.

-And you'll see how fast they fry [sizzling] about 350 degrees.

-You just want to get them nice and golden brown.

-Yeah, we want a nice color to them.

And that crisp crust, and that'll take about three or 4 minutes.

[Walter] Look at that.

Oh, beautiful.

That makes a nice presentation, I tell you that.

Simplicity, beauty, unique ingredients and guess what?

A modern twist, your twist, chef Rob, to an old standby that I used to make already in the sixties.

Think about that.

-Right.

These are flavors that will tap into your childhood, but done in a much more contemporary way.

Wow.

The flavors are just perfect.

The greens that you have mixed under it.

I have never had it with chickpeas but it's a beautiful combination.

So obviously you've done your homework on that.

Light, refreshing, and I just think that it's a very exciting dish as an appetizer, or as a course, or along with anything else, you know?

-Right.

And again, for me it's all about the texture.

-And all this for A Taste of History from the Ozarks.

[Narrator] This program is made possible by the Blue and Gray Education Society, whose mission is to preserve American history through its historical guidebooks, nationwide tours, and philanthropic endeavors.

Viewers can find DVDs and cookbooks at atasteofhistory.org including the all new “A Taste of History Cookbook ” complete with step by step instructions of recipes seen on the show.

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