(upbeat music) (projector clicking) - Have you ever wondered where the television signal you're watching is coming from?

♪ I love to go a wanderin' (projector clicking) ♪ along the mountain track - Welcome to True North.

(upbeat music) (mysterious music) - Good evening and welcome to Mainewatch (upbeat music) (projector clicking) Welcome to From The Vault, a celebration of 60 years of Maine Public Television.

Well, late August is blueberry season throughout Maine and Atlantic Canada.

The Machias Wild Blueberry Festival is back August 19th through the 21st after a couple of years off and maybe you're wondering what to make with your load of local berries.

We've got you covered with this week's episode as we go back to 2003 for a couple episodes of the cooking series.

"What's For Suppah?".

Local chef Cheryl Wixson and Maine's favorite humorist, Tim Sample, served up lots of locally sourced food in this 13 part series with Cheryl's take on some classic Maine dishes.

And Tim adding his dash of humor and visiting many locations where the food came from.

In our first episode, it's all about blueberries, Cheryl will show Tim how to make a delicious blueberry crisp and more after he returns from a visit with a Downeast blueberry legend.

Sanford Kelly in Jonesport.

In our second episode, we enjoy a bean feast with Cheryl's bean and sausage stew while Tim visits the annual River Drivers Supper in Lincoln, famed for their beanhole beans.

Perhaps you made it to their 74th annual supper held just a few weeks ago.

Now, both Cheryl and Tim are still out there doing their things.

You can find Cheryl down in Stonington at Rabbit Hill Farm, where she has lots of local offerings and events, including an upcoming "Perfect Popover Pop-Up" on August 18th.

Now that does require reservations so to learn more, check out her web site at cherylwixsonskitchen.com.

And Tim can be found performing throughout the state.

Check out what he is up to at his Maine humor store at timsample.

com.

All right.

Prepare to get hungry.

Let's go back to 2003's "What's For Suppah?"

(peaceful music) - [Announcer] Production of "What's for Suppah?"

"Beans, Blueberries and Beyond" on Maine PBS is made possible in part through a television demonstration grant from rural development, part of the USDA.

(upbeat guitar music) (pot lid clanking) (steam hissing) (upbeat harmonica music) ♪ What's for suppah - Hey, Cheryl!

Yeah, hiya.

Hey, folks!

Welcome to "What's for Suppah?"

Now, now, Cheryl, speaking of "What's for Suppah," I brung you some blueberries.

You got any good ideas?

- Well, I just happened to be making this pie shell and we could make a blueberry crisp pie.

- Sounds good.

- Mmmmm.

- Yeah.

- And how bout some grilled duck breast with a wild blueberry sauce?

- Now that sounds marvelous!

And I gotta tell you, I went down to Washington county, met fellow named Sanford Kelly down there, and he's got a blueberry outfit.

And boy, that's the place to go if you're "Searchin' for Suppah."

(truck motor growling) (motorcycle humming) Now when you're talking about Maine wild blueberries, you're talking about Washington County.

And we're here at Rockdale Farm to talk to a fellow by the name of Sanford Kelly, who will tell us everything we always wanted to know about blueberries, but didn't know who to ask.

Mr. Sanford Kelley.

- And Tim it's, it's a great pleasure for us to have you at Rockdale Farm on a lovely day.

- Well.

- And we're so glad you're here to pick blueberries.

- Well, it's awful nice to meet you.

Your reputation precedes you.

You're you're a famous Maine blueberry grower.

Tell me a little bit how you got into this whole blueberry business.

- Well, I was kind of born into it, you know?

- [Tim Sample] Yeah.

- When I was four or five years old, I went out raking blueberries with my mother and father out on the ledges here, where there was very few blueberries and a lot of bear.

(Sanford laughing) - [Tim Sample] Yeah, a lotta bear!

- A lot of bear!

And that's why I decided to stick to this local stuff down here where we have a lot of blueberries and pretty scenery and meet a lot of nice people too, Tim.

- I've got to tell you, Sanford that these are beautiful, beautiful looking blueberries.

And there's a lot of '''em!

Give me an idea, this is a blueberry rake.

- Yeah, this a blueberry rake.

- And didn't they used to have wooden ones in the old days?

- [Sanford Kelly] Well, I think they might have started out with those, but that's been a long time.

And this is the new design by the Hubbard Rake Company over on Bay here.

But let me show you how this works.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, please do.

- [Sanford Kelly] You know, and there's, - [Tim Sample] I'm gonna eat this blueberry to start with.

- What we're doing in the industry is trying to really go back to basics.

- Yep.

- You know, we rake very carefully.

- [Tim Sample] Now, look at that.

- And very carefully.

- [Tim Sample] Kind of a gentle.

- And it would slice some where they are.

We don't rip them off.

- [Tim Sample] Alright, I'm impressed already.

- [Sanford Kelley] Now, maybe you'd like to try that.

- [Tim Sample] Yes, I'll give it a shot!

I did work one time when I was a youngster.

And that's what, that kind scared me.

So, I went into show business.

This one's over here.

I'm after '''em now!

- [Sanford Kelly] Yeah.

- Now I'm getting after ''em'.

This is kind of a, kind of a challenge.

Look at that, huh?

Slick as a cup of custard.

- And tip the rake up and slide it back toward you.

Now there's some very, very significant changes taking place.

So, things are getting mechanical.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah.

- I think you just rake some blueberries and you do that all day long, you're gotta find your back is gonna hurt a bit.

- Yeah, I well imagine, yeah.

- And your muscles are gonna hurt a bit.

So, through some development work, we have a machine now that is going to hopefully, harvest this type of crop.

And you are very fortunate 'cause today is the first day we're gonna try it out.

- [Tim Sample] You're kidding me?

- [Sanford] We're gonna let you operate it.

- You're gonna let me operate it?

- [Sanford Kelly] You're gonna operate it.

- On the first day!

The first day, they're gonna let me operate it.

See the prestige that comes with having this type of show?

It's amazing!

That's great.

Okay, do I have to do something here?

I need a training session.

- Why don't you.

- Hey!

Now, your name is?

- Samford Kelly the third.

- You're the third Sanford Kelly.

We got multiple generations here.

Let's give it a shot.

(upbeat bluegrass music) (blueberry picker rumbling) - [Sanford Kelley] This machine can do an awful lot to change the industry.

And particularly for the small grower.

It can, because the hand raking is gonna be hard to come by.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah.

- [Sanford Kelley] And this machine will harvest many, many pounds of blueberries in a day.

(blueberry picker rumbling) - [Tim Sample] Alright, now, let me just tell you something, Stanford.

This is a slick way to do this.

But you know, I told Cheryl I'd get us some blueberries and I feel like it's only, wouldn't be kosher if I didn't do it the old fashioned way.

Can you show me again?

Give me a little chance to, to do some old fashioned blueberry raking.

- Let's go around and try again with this hand rake.

- Alright, we'll do that.

Then I'll feel like I'm doing the right thing.

(upbeat harmonica music) (Tim grunting) (Tim sighs) (upbeat harmonica music) (rake brushing) (blueberries thud) (upbeat harmonica music) Why did I pull blueberries kneeled down?

(Tim grunts) (slow bluegrass music) (Tim groaning) One for Cheryl, two for me.

One for Cheryl, three for me.

Hey, they told me if I brung these in here that you could winnow ''em'.

- Yep, we do that here.

- Well, how's that work?

- Well, first we pour the box onto the conveyor up here.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

So far, so good.

- Yep.

Then the berries are brought into this machine, which blows all the leaves and the twigs out and they go up and then they come into this basket.

- And the hot air blows the twigs into here.

- Yep.

- [Tim Sample] Then what happens?

- [Farm Assistant] Then they go onto the grader belt.

- [Tim Sample] Okay, the grader belt.

Now, that they.

Oh, I see, they fall down, the little ones.

- [Farm Assistant] Yeah, all the small berries will fall through the cracks.

- [Tim Sample] Now, you got a lotta small berries here, what do you do with them?

- [Farm Assistant] Those are the juice berries.

- [Tim Sample] Alright, blueberry juice.

- [Farm Assistant] Blueberry juice, yep.

- [Tim Sample] Alright, that is good.

And now what about this next thing?

- [Farm Assistant] It's the tilt belt and all the berries that are clustered, they'll fall off the edge 'cause they can't roll down.

- [Tim Sample] Now, then what happens next?

- [Farm Assistant] Then they go on to the final, the belt for the final picking.

- [Tim Sample] Oh, you're hard at work here.

I come to disrupt your whole day here.

What makes a good blueberry?

Is this a good one?

- That's a good one.

- If there's no stem in it.

- No stem.

- No stems.

- Big, plump, juicy.

We don't want the little pebble ones, they go out of there.

And then green ones, we get rid of them.

Now, you got an opinion on that?

You think Cheryl, now, you know, Cheryl's back in the kitchen.

She cooks, I just dub around.

But don't you think she'd like a whole bunch of these?

- I should think she would.

- I would think she would too.

And, and if I've done my part and bring these to her in - Then she should do hers.

- the kitchen.

That's what, she should do hers.

Cheryl, I got your berries and I'm coming back in.

(motorcycle engine rumbling) - So, tell me, Tim, just how difficult was it to harvest those blueberries?

- Well, I wanna tell you something, Cheryl, it was a lot closer to work than what I'm used to.

It really was, but I've done the hard part.

I got the blueberries now.

Now, we're here, what do we do with them?

- Let's make a pie.

- Works for me.

- All right, let's flour.

- I put the flour in there.

- Yep.

- [Tim Sample] That's the easy part so far.

- [Cheryl Wixson] So far.

- [Tim Sample] Yes.

- [Cheryl Wixson] A little sugar.

How about a little more sugar?

Little more than we usually have.

(Cheryl chuckles) - Uh, some cinnamon.

- [Tim Sample] All right, cinnamon in a blueberry pie.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And I have some allspice.

- [Tim Sample] Yep.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And cloves.

- [Tim Sample] Yep, we got allspice, clove.

- [Cheryl Wixson] How about you can grate the nutmeg.

- [Tim Sample] Oh, that is not, that is a nutmeg grater.

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's right.

Nice fresh.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, yeah.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Perfect, perfect.

- [Tim Sample] All right, just right.

Now, that is a.

- Now, if you would just mix that around a little bit.

- I shall mix it up.

- [Cheryl Wixson] All right.

- [Tim Sample] Gosh, I have to run right out and get a nutmeg greater over to my place.

You know?

- [Cheryl Wixson] All right, now we're gonna.

You scrape that butter in.

- The whole thing?

- Yep, yep.

- [Tim Sample] Watch this, flip it right overboard.

(Tim and Cheryl laugh) - [Cheryl Wixson] All right, you don't need that, we're gonna use a pastry blender.

- [Tim Sample] Now we're moving to the heavy artillery, folks, on this one.

A pastry blender.

Now, what are we looking for for consistent texture here?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Well, I like to say the consistency of like peas or a coarse corn meal.

- Okay, so you really want to, that's hard to mix up.

- [Cheryl Wixson] You really wanna mix it in well.

If the butter is at room temperature.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah?

- [Cheryl Wixson] It helps a little.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

So this is a little chilly.

We're not making chili, folks.

Don't go out and start gettin the.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Well, you know.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, I'm gonna use my finger.

- That's perfectly alright.

- Oh boy, this is exciting.

And what are we looking for?

The consistency of smushed up peas?

(Cheryl laughing) - [Tim Sample] Alright, I like that.

- Coarse cornmeal.

- Cornmeal, alright.

- Coarse peas, alright.

That looks almost perfect.

Now this is what's gonna make.

- [Tim] Can I sing a couple of Neil Diamond songs while I'm doing this?

That kind of break up the monotony.

(Cheryl chuckles) - No, I don't think so.

- [Tim Sample] Oh, this is fun.

Okay, go on.

- [Cheryl Wixson] I've got this.

- [Tim Sample] It's getting there!

- [Cheryl Wixson] It's getting there.

- [Tim Sample] Let me just get a little bit more because look, it's looking to me like cornmeal.

Sort of.

A little bit like cornmeal.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Actually, it's looking like butter, and cinnamon, and sugar.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, but no, look it is, I am getting it.

- [Cheryl Wixson] You're getting it.

- [Tim Sample] Now, is it because the butter was a little chilly?

- That's correct.

That's right.

- I took it out at the fridge a little.

I should have taken it out earlier.

- That's right.

- Ho, let's see.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Good, it's perfect.

That's the crisp.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Now, - [Tim Sample] I didn't have to dig Neil Diamond out - these blueberries, - after all.

Okay.

- That you so carefully harvested for us.

- Yes, I did carefully harvest them.

- Why don't we put them in the pie shell that I made earlier.

Okay, put '''em right in that pie shell over there.

- Right in that pie shell.

- Let's schlep it right over here.

- All right, dump '''em right in.

- Just uh.

- The whole thing, the whole quart.

Yep.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And I'm assuming you picked them over and there's no stems.

- [Tim Sample] Oh yes, carefully.

Carefully picked over.

- All right.

- Oh, don't they look good though?

Look at that color.

Escapees.

(Tim mimics alarm) Wait a minute, wait a minute.

There's one little thing.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Is that a stem?

- Just one.

- You, you.

- One out of all those.

Didn't I do good?

- You did great.

Now I'm gonna add our topping.

The top of the blueberries.

- [Tim Sample] Now, that all goes on top?

- [Cheryl] Well, what I'm gonna ask you to do now is to kind of like take this and pat it down.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, okay because this really is a little different than what I would think of for a pie because it's got a, doesn't have a pie crust top.

- [Cheryl Wixson] No, it doesn't.

Actually, when this cooks up, it's gonna be, "melt in your mouth."

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, I bet it will be because.

- [Cheryl Wixson] It has butter.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, butter.

Well, we all know I'm really onto that butter.

Okay, how's that?

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's looking good.

Now, pat it down just a little bit.

So there's no sugar on the blueberries that we started.

So, you want it just to sift down a little bit in there.

- [Tim Sample] Okay, pat it down?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Yep, just like that.

- Not really ram it like a mallet or anything, but just sort of pat it down.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Gently, pat it down.

(Tim singing) I think it's ready for the oven.

- That looks good.

All right, now I'll put this in the oven like this.

Coming around behind you.

- Can you get the door?

- Sure, sure!

- Put this in the oven.

Top shelf!

- [Cheryl Wixson] Top shelf.

All right, we'll put that on the top shelf.

- [Cheryl Wixson] 400 degree oven to start.

- Okay, 400 to start.

Now, when that's all done after cooking.

How long, Cheryl?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Oh, about 50 minutes.

- All right, then when that's all done, what you have is a beautiful blueberry crisp pie.

With Maine blueberries.

(upbeat folk music) Now, Cheryl, let's say somebody wanted to make one of these blueberry crisp pies.

What would they need for ingredients?

- [Cheryl Wixson] One 10 inch unbaked pie shell.

One quart of Maine blueberries picked by Tim.

One half cup butter, one cup sugar, three quarters cup flour, one half teaspoon cinnamon, one quarter teaspoon cloves, one quarter teaspoon allspice, and freshly ground nutmeg.

(upbeat folk music) (stove metal clanking) - Now, while I got you right here, I just gotta tell you something.

Now, when I was a kid, we're talking about blueberries and cooking with blueberries.

When I was a kid, people in Maine, growing up in Maine, people would talk about hot house blueberries.

And they would do it with a some kind of a sense of panic.

Like, oh my goodness, you wouldn't have any of those hot house blueberries?

It was like a hot house!

And you know, as a little kid, I had this mental image, "What is happening to these poor blueberries?"

They were in a hot house.

It's like a sweat shop for blueberries.

Some kind of terrible thing.

Now, I don't know really, I suppose a hot house blueberry is probably, you know, fairly okay.

But maybe I'm scarred from childhood, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna stick with them nice little, wild Maine blueberries.

(upbeat folk music) Hey, Cheryl.

Now, we got something elaborate going here now?

- Oh, we do.

We're going to make some grilled duck breasts with a Maine wild blueberry sauce.

- All right, I'm ready to begin.

Where do you want me to start?

- Let's start with making the sauce.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

- Okay?

So, the first thing is we're gonna cook up some aromatics.

- Okay, you want me to crank up this here stove here?

- Crank up the heat, yep.

- Okay, which one is this?

- I think it's the other one.

(burner clicking) - The other one?

- Nope, it's the other one.

Oh, you got it!

Perfect.

(Tim mumbling) - And I'm gonna be adding some chicken stock.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Alright.

And then our aromatic vegetables.

- Oh, aromatic.

That's because they have a nice scent to them, is that the idea?

- [Cheryl Wixson] That they smell and they add to the complexity of the sauce.

That's celery, carrots.

- [Tim Sample] Visually, everything seems to add to my complexity of the.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Onions, chopped onions.

- [Tim Sample] Chopped up there.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And some thyme.

- [Tim Sample] Alright.

- [Cheryl] Alright, let me get a spoon.

- [Tim Sample] You get me a spoon, I'll do my best to give that a little stir to get that going.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Now, what we'd like to do, is to bring this to a boil, - [Tim Sample] Mmmhmm.

- and reduce it by one half.

- [Tim Sample] Yes.

- And otherwise cook it down.

- [Tim Sample] Right.

So the flavors will concentrate.

- Precisely.

- Okay.

But what I've done here, is I've done that already for us.

- Ah-hah, comes pre, is that reduced?

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's reduced.

Exactly, reduced.

- In the interest of time, we've got this already brought down and you can see.

One thing I noticed, look, they plump up a little bit those.

- So why don't we take this and strain it.

- You're the boss, Cheryl.

We will strain this right over here.

- Into that.

- Right into this big green bowl.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And we're gonna use this as the basis of our sauce.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

Now, should I smush and mush?

- No, you're fine.

That's perfect.

We don't need to.

- It's already strained.

- Right.

Okay.

Straining credulity here.

- Put that right into our sauce pan.

- Okay, I will.

We'll pour that in here.

- And I'm gonna put the heat on.

- [Tim Sample] Good, good idea.

- Now, what's giving this flavor is a combination of a blueberry jam, - Okay.

- and fresh blueberries, okay?

- So we'll start with a little heat and we wanna bring this up to a boil.

- Yep.

- And I have a little red wine here, which I'll add.

- Oh yes, beautiful color there.

- [Cheryl] Doesn't that add a nice?

- [Tim] It looks like 1967 in Haight-Ashbury when you first put that in there.

- Okay.

And then I have some blueberry jams.

So you can just add that and stir it.

- May I?

That's what I'll do.

I'll stir in the blue.

Oh, it's heating right up there.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Now, you know, blueberries are a marvelous fruit.

- [Tim Sample] Yes.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And they have some great health benefits to us.

- I had no idea, really.

- Oh, they're antioxidants.

- They are?

- Yes, which means that when you eat them, - Yes?

- [Cheryl Wixson] they run around in your body and eat up the free radicals - [Tim Sample] Uh huh.

- [Cheryl Wixson] that cause cancer.

- [Tim Sample] It is like 1967 and Haight-Ashbury really, with the free radicals and everything.

But no, but they really are a.

- [Cheryl Wixson] They're very healthy food.

- [Tim Sample] They're a healthy.

Now, I have some blueberries.

This is just cooking up a storm.

- Yeah, I wanna get this sauce.

We wanna get it like a syrupy consistency.

- Okay.

- That's what we're trying to get here.

- Okay, we're trying for that.

Cause, should I just keep?

- Just let it boil, right?

- Okay, let it boil.

- Let it boil.

- I do have some blueberries, some actual Maine.

- Some fresh blueberries.

I don't wanna add '''em 'til quite the end because I don't want '''em to cook too much.

- Timing is everything.

- All right.

- [Tim Sample] Even with free radicals.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Now, the second part of this recipe, - [Tim Sample] Yes?

- [Cheryl Wixson] is actually gonna be grilling some duck breasts.

- Oh, you know what?

I know what that means.

I get to, we get to use that grill thing.

- We get to use the fun toys that you like to use.

- About burnt the place down last time, didn't I?

(Cheryl laughing) I can't wait to have another shot at it.

Okay.

- So what I think I'm gonna do is let's move this.

- Okay.

- sauce to this burner up here.

- Because that is a honking burner.

- And then you can add, oh, a handful of those blueberries that you so carefully harvested.

- I have a fairly large hand.

So, maybe this is okay.

We're gonna go one handful there.

Like that?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Yep, even more.

Go ahead, yep.

- [Tim Sample] A few more.

Okay.

Ho!

(Tim laughing) This is fun!

Man, I'm spilling them all over everything.

Yeah, you have to break a few blueberries if you're gonna make a blueberry duck breast.

- Now.

- What am I making here?

- You're making fun.

- I'm not making fun of you.

- [Cheryl Wixson] We're gonna grill the duck.

- [Tim Sample] Oh, we are gonna grill the duck tonight.

- [Cheryl Wixson] I think the best thing to do is for you to start the grill.

- Okay.

- And I know how you like to do the spray?

- I love to do that spray.

That's really one of the things.

(burner clicking) I know it's clicking and there's the heat is going there.

- Yeah.

- All right.

- I'll stand back while you.

- Yes, please do because folks, this is really the most important part of the whole operation there.

There we go.

- Oh perfect.

- Smoke her right up.

Smoke '''em if you got '''em.

All right.

And.

- You can take our duck breasts.

- I have tongs.

- All right, and I, my recommendation is that we start and we cook, there's two sides to our duck breast.

- Yes?

- Okay.

This side with the skin has a lot of fat in it.

- Okay.

- So, what I usually like to do is I like to cook this side first.

And then turn it over and cook the side with the fat.

- [Tim Sample] You have imparted that information to me, and I shall do my best.

And put it there with the lean side down.

- That's right.

- Not with the skin, the skin is up.

Okay, how's that?

- That looks very good, very nice.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

That grill heats up pretty fast.

- Right.

And I think, how's our sauce doing?

- Good.

- Why don't you give it a little stir?

- Give it a little stir.

Oh, it's yeah.

It's boiling.

Holy mackerel.

- [Cheryl Wixson] So, yeah it's gonna reduce down and get to be a nice syrupy consistency.

- [Tim Sample] Who's washing the pots and pans because this one's gonna get good.

- Not me.

- No, I'm not either.

That's, I didn't sign on for, that's not my contract.

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's not part of the deal.

- [Tim Sample] No, it certainly isn't.

- And I have some duck breast right here.

- Okay.

- That I've already cooked.

- Oh yeah, those look great.

- So, if you could maybe put '''em on the cuttin' board and we'll show people.

- Okay.

- How we are going to serve them.

- Go like this.

Once again, if you have tongs, use them, I say.

Now, wait a minute.

How about putting little of that in there?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Oh, that's excellent suggestion.

That adds nice little duck flavor to our sauce.

- Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

- I'm gonna pick up the blueberries that escaped.

- Yes, escaped blueberries.

- Convicts, escaped convicts.

- Now, I'm slicing these, Cheryl?

- Thin slices on the diagonal, right?

- [Tim Sample] Okay, on the diagonal.

Now, like.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Oh, perfect!

- [Tim Sample] Like that?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Very nice, yep.

Maybe a little thicker.

- [Tim Sample] Little thicker.

Well, I was in a restaurant once and I seen this happen.

- [Cheryl Wixson] You have?

Geez, those are cooked perfectly too.

- [Tim Sample] All right, yeah.

Well, there we go.

Okay.

(steam hissing) Like that?

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's very nice.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And we'll arrange them on our platter.

- Because one thing I have to say, Cheryl, that I admire about you, is the way these things and the final analysis, boy, even though I'm doing the stabbing, and grabbing, and sliding around, they come out looking pretty darn sharp.

- Well, you know, you eat with your eyes.

Nine-tenths of what you do is.

- It's nice how that looks.

- How it looks.

- The final analysis.

Okay.

Now, wait a minute.

There.

Do I keep that?

- [Cheryl Wixson] That's perfect.

Now, can we just lay those right on?

- Yeah, yeah.

- How, well, you know what?

- Use your fingers there.

- I think so.

Let's just go, just like that.

- [Tim Sample] Oh, there.

How nice is that?

See?

Beautiful.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Just lovely.

All right.

- [Tim Sample] Would you like me to put a few more?

- Yeah, just a couple more.

- Just a few more.

Okay.

(Tim humming) - [Cheryl] Perfect.

That's good.

- I gotta think of a good duck song.

But I can't think of any really.

- Now that our sauce has gotten to this nice consistency.

- Now you've got the, oh yes, yes, yes.

I see, there's a method in your madness.

- Mmhmm.

- Because you're gonna put the sauce.

- I'm gonna put a little sauce, - Right on top.

- right on top.

Yep.

- [Cheryl] And I'm gonna make sure that we get some of our fresh blueberries.

- [Tim Sample] Okay.

Wow!

- [Cheryl Wixson] How are we looking?

- [Tim Sample] Very good!

- [Cheryl Wixson] Ooh, yeah, look at those nice.

- [Tim Sample] And the blueberries are kind of cooked in there a little bit.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Right, but we didn't cook them totally.

So, they still maintain their - Yes.

- pretty shape.

- Okay.

- All right.

So, there we have grilled duck breasts with Maine wild blueberry sauce.

- Alright now, Cheryl, somebody's making grilled duck breast with Maine wild blueberry sauce.

What do they need for ingredients?

- [Cheryl] Two - 11 ounce duck breast with the skin on.

One quarter cup chopped onion.

One quarter cup chopped carrots.

One quarter cup chopped celery.

Four springs of fresh thyme.

Two cups chicken stock.

Salt and fresh pepper.

One cup of Maine wild blueberries.

One third cup blueberry jam or preserves.

One quarter cup red wine.

- Well, Cheryl, we've got us a sumptuous repast here.

- Yes.

- Maine blueberries.

- Would you like to try a little of our grilled duck breast?

- [Tim Sample] Yes, I'd like to try that.

Thank you, dear.

- [Cheryl Wixson] Alright, there you go.

- [Tim Sample] Yeah, yeah.

- [Cheryl Wixson] And I'll try just a bit.

- [Tim Sample] Now and this is not only good, it's good for you.

- That's right.

- Yeah, we've got that antioxidant thing.

Now, I gotta try this.

Just perfect.

- Mmmm, mmm.

- Perfect.

Kind of, that's the entree.

I gotta try some of this blueberry pie - Try our desert?

- Yeah.

With the crumbly crumbs.

How's that grab you?

- [Cheryl Wixson] Oh, I love that crisp.

Very nice.

- [Tim Sample] Don't even have to have any ice cream on there, folks.

Thanks an awful lot for joining us.

Come back and see us again.

We're gonna finish up here.

- Mmmm.

- Nice uh, nice crumbs on there.

- You can pick me wild blueberries any time.

- If you like, yeah.

(upbeat folk music) (upbeat folk music) (upbeat folk music) (tranquil music) - [Presenter] Production of "What's for Suppah?

Beans, Blueberries and Beyond!"

on Maine PBS is made possible in part through a television demonstration grant from Rural Development, part of the USDA.

(upbeat music) (pot rattling) - [Group] What's for suppah?

- Hey, nice to see ya.

Happy you could join us, and we'll get right to it, Cheryl.

The question on everybody's mind is what's for suppah?

- Spicy black bean dip, (sucks teeth) mm, and a 13 bean and sausage stew.

- Well that's enough beans for you, 13 beans.

Well, I gotta tell ya, I had quite a lot of fun.

I got a chance to go out and actually meet a fella, out in the back roads of Maine, who grows beans, all sorts of beans.

And after that, we went down to the River Drivers Supper in Lincoln, Maine, where they cook them beans and eat them beans, and that's where we went searchin' for suppah.

(engine idling) Well, we're up here, it's a marvelous day in Lincoln, Maine, right by the river, which is appropriate because we're here at the River Drivers Festival.

And this fella, Harley Sproul, are you the man I'm looking for?

- That is right.

I'm the guy.

- Godfrey, I've heard you know about all there is to know about bean-hole beans.

- [Harley] Well, I've been at it for over 30 years now.

- Have you, really?

- So I have a pretty good idea of what's going on.

- Well, why don't you let us walk out to where the bean holes are due.

- Okay, we'll do that.

- You've been doing this for 30 years.

- Yes.

- Same bean-hole parts?

- Yes, same parts.

- Yeah?

Good.

- They're all cast iron.

- Hey, yeah?

- We put 19 pots in the ground.

- 19 of 'em?

- Yes, and we put them in last night at 6:30.

- Oh, so you've been prepping for this, Robert.

Boy, that's hotter than the hinges of hades, yeah?

- Yes it is.

- [Tim] What's this there for?

- This is for our biscuit-baking process.

- Wow.

- You can see, the biscuits are baking over there, and we're getting more to go in pans that will go in these bakers.

- [Tim] Right in here?

- [Harley] Yeah.

And we bake 48 biscuits- - And then you put 'em on the top of that pieces of sheet metal?

- [Harley] No, right in front.

- [Tim] Right in front, oh, yeah, yeah.

They're opening it.

- Yeah.

- Son of a gun.

- [Harley] And that heat is reflected here, and does the baking for us.

- That sounds good.

- Yeah.

- Now, how long of a tradition is this in the state of Maine?

Do you know when they started making bean-hole beans in Maine?

- I would say back in 1850.

- Yeah?

- In fact, years ago, the river drivers used to camp in this field here at night when they were running logs down the river.

- Now, folks, in case you didn't know, the river drivers, course, we're talking about logging in the state of Maine.

River drivers, fellas going down there with their PVs - That's true.

- and all that stuff.

- Yeah, yeah.

- All that stuff.

And over here, this, that's quite a sight there.

(gravel crunching) - [Harley] This is where we have our beans all underground right now, but in a few minutes- - And they're cooking?

- [Harley] Yes.

- [Tim] How do you, now, what are you heating 'em with, electric coils?

- [Harley] (chuckles) Not quite.

No, a hardwood that we burned at 3:15 yesterday afternoon, and we put our beans in at 6:30.

We got done about 8:30.

- [Tim] You got that time in right down.

That must be an important part of it.

- Yes it is.

Yeah, and actually, this morning, they were already baked, having been put in last night at 8:30.

We could've had 'em for breakfast, but we'll leave 'em in the ground until three or 3:30 this afternoon, and we'll take them out and give them to the public.

- Now, is that extra few hours, Cheryl, who's the chef, of course, on the show, you always talk about food flavors marrying.

- Oh.

- Is that what they're doing?

- Not really, no.

They're just staying there, being kept to a temperature that's just right for eating.

- The product that comes out of this thing is kind of a unique Maine thing, isn't it?

A real- - Yes it is.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, in fact, yellow eye and pea beans are not known in the rest of the country that well.

- Yeah, 'cause you tell people from away that you're going to a bean-hole bean supper, if they're not from Maine, a lot of 'em will have not any idea.

- [Harley] No.

- Question I have is, you gotta start, when you're having a bean-hole bean supper, you gotta start with the actual bean.

Where do you get your beans?

- We get 'em here in Maine, right in Lincoln, in fact, out to Melvin Chesley's.

- Yeah.

- [Harley] Out on the pay road.

- Now, Harley tells me, we wanna find out about growing beans in the state of Maine, and Harley tells me you're the man to see.

- I've grown a few.

- Yeah, how long you been growing beans here?

- Oh, 45 years.

- [Tim] Have you, really?

- [Melvin] Yeah.

- [Tim] Now, you're making, if you're wanting a baked bean supper, I know there are a lot of different kind of beans.

Tell me what's the, what are you looking for?

What kind of beans?

- I don't know.

There's three or four different kinds.

I raise three different kinds.

- [Tim] What kind are they?

- [Melvin] Yellow eyes, pea beans, and Jacob's cattle.

- [Tim] Which one are which?

- [Melvin] Well, the Jacob's cattle are a meaty bean.

- Yeah.

- [Melvin] And the yellow eyes are a bigger bean.

The pea beans are just small beans.

It's all in anybody's choice.

- [Tim] What's the most popular for a bean supper, for a traditional, like in a bean-hole bean, what would you have there?

- [Melvin] Yellow eyes.

- [Tim] Yellow eyes?

- [Melvin] Pea beans to take up the slack.

- [Tim] Seems to me like a lot of beans.

There's a lot of bean suppers.

- [Melvin] Yeah.

- Now, what do you think the attraction is of the bean hole?

Do you think it really tastes different when it's in the ground like that?

- Oh, absolutely.

- Do ya?

- There's no- - You agree with him?

Are you with him?

- Yes I am.

- [Tim] And you admit it right outright, without any prompting?

- Yeah, of course.

- Yeah, and you think it's different.

What do you think makes it different?

- Oh, it's all in the preparation.

It's the idea of it being in the ground in the thing right overnight.

- Yeah.

All overnight, long time.

- Absolutely.

- Oh, you got good food and lots of people around, everybody comes out.

(soft flute music) (people chattering) - Now, how long you been coming to the River Driver Festival?

- 13 years.

- 13 years!

And you got a good plate load.

You get enough donuts on there?

- I'm fine.

- You're probably all set with donuts.

I gotta ask you a question.

Do you know why it's traditional to have beans on Saturday night?

- No.

- Do you know this?

- I had 'em for all my life.

- Yeah, everybody knows, Saturday night is bean supper night, but why?

Well, I'm gonna tell ya.

Because way back in colonial days and like that, see, on the Sabbath day, they wouldn't do any work.

They couldn't cook on the Sabbath day.

They make a big load of beans on a Saturday night, eat 'em all day Sunday.

(soft flute music) (people chattering) Yeah, can I get you some beans?

- A little bit.

- Would you like a piece of pork in there?

- Hm-mm.

- You don't want none.

- No thank you.

- It's very slimming.

- You're supposed to get it on their plate.

- Excuse as me, Priscilla.

I am gonna try my very best.

I'll try with this one.

See if I can get it.

- No juice on the plates.

- Spoon me on, you're there.

- [Tim] All right, no juice.

Right there?

- There.

- Beautiful.

- [Tim] All right, would you like a piece of pork?

- [Patron] No thank you, partner.

- Yeah, I'm having a hard time getting rid of the pork.

Now, you're a bean man.

- (chuckling) Yeah.

- What makes a man a bean man?

I wanna know that.

- I think you gotta be raised with 'em.

- Yeah?

You gotta be raised with the beans?

- (laughing) Yeah, raised with that's part of your diet.

- Yeah, and you think you get a craving for it, do ya?

- Oh yes.

Yes, I come over every year for this, really.

(people chattering) - This is good food, and the getting all of our family and friends together.

- [Tim] It's kind of a traditional - It sure is.

- in a lot of ways, isn't it?

- Yes it is.

- It's the food is traditional and the community gathering - Right.

- together.

- [Woman] Did you find him a seat, or his daughter?

- [Server] Coleslaw?

- I'm gonna go find that Priscilla.

See if I can't get her to dish out some beans.

I'm gonna make her nervous, because I don't want her spilling even a drop on my plate, I'll tell ya.

Priscilla!

- Mine's all about the beans.

- The tables have turned.

- [Priscilla] Uh-huh.

- Now we're gonna see how you do it.

(Priscilla laughs) All right?

Now we're gonna see if you spill anything.

And I want pork on mine, by godfrey.

Look at that, huh?

An expert.

And she went all the way across, and I'm making it easy on you now.

Look, she got a piece of pork.

- [Priscilla] Oh, is that good?

- [Tim] Oh, you done good, dear.

You done awful good.

We got potato salad, coleslaw, yellow eye beans.

What are these, pea beans?

- Pea beans, yeah.

- Pea beans.

Plenty of pork.

- A lot of pork.

- Gotta move on down here.

We've gotta get biscuits.

How you guys doing?

- Well, we're getting enough to eat.

- Better than the poke in the eye with a sharp stick, ain't it?

- [Guest] You're right there.

- Right on, right on.

- Boy, I'll tell ya.

But we gotta go back in the kitchen and see what Cheryl's up to because I'm just having too much fun here.

- [Diner] In the kitchen?

- Bam, at the kitchen.

- Boy, it sure looked like they were having a lot of fun.

- You know, the folks come from all over the place, streaming right in to get them Maine bean-hole beans, right out the ground.

It was fantastic.

Very fun, very interesting.

So, how are we gonna proceed here today?

We got a dip going?

- We have a dip, and- - This isn't the one with the 13 beans.

That comes later.

- That's later.

This one is the spicy black bean dip.

- All right.

- Now, you see those black beans over there?

- I do see them.

- Yep, why don't you pick one of those babies up?

- These here?

- Yep.

- Teeny weeny little.

- Aren't those?

- Yeah.

- [Cheryl] Look at that.

Now, that's dried bean, - Yeah.

- I soaked overnight.

- You soaked that yourself?

- Yes, it was- - Well, they make you work hard here, soaking them overnight.

Okay, you soak 'em overnight.

- And then I cooked 'em up.

- Yeah.

- All right?

And we're gonna be using those.

- Ah.

- This portion of it.

- This is after they've been soaked and cooked.

- Right.

- They look, well, now I get ya.

- I don't think I'd wanna be munchin' on one of those.

- No, I don't think so.

- Probably chip a tooth.

- Crunchy.

- First thing we'll start with is, we're gonna put some garlic in our food processor.

- Okay.

Yeah, we like that.

- All right, all right.

And maybe some red onion.

- [Tim] Yeah.

- [Cheryl] All right, and I'm gonna need some lime juice.

Can you- - I happen to have a lime right here, Cheryl.

Leave that all up to me, and I'll slice this little puppy in half, right there.

- Squeeze it right over.

- And as usual, the great-looking outfit.

We got a color-coordinated, what do you call this, a squeezer?

- [Cheryl] That's a lime or a lemon squeezer.

- [Tim] Lemon squeezer, lime squeezer.

But it's nice and color-coordinated to the lime.

This is good for your pectoral muscles, I believe.

- [Cheryl] Actually, that's green Depression glass.

- Is it, yeah, it is, really.

- That was my grandmother's!

- [Tim] You know, now, why did they, was it because it was in the Depression, or is it because it's got depressions in it?

- (chuckles) No, actually, those used to come in flour barrels.

- No kidding.

- Yeah, they were giveaways back then.

- Well ain't that something?

- All right.

- And now they're worth the big bucks.

- All right.

- All right, how's that?

- That's perfect, so, set that right over here.

- I shall.

- Thank you.

All right, now, if you'll close up this food processor.

- Yes, that's another one of these major operations.

- All right, we're gonna just pulse this gently.

- [Tim] Help her out.

(food processor whirring) Yep.

- Okay, take that off.

- Yep, easily done.

- All right, and I'm gonna add our beans.

- [Tim] These are the ones we soaked last night.

- (chuckles) Yeah, right.

You can also buy these already cooked, - Yeah?

- pre-cooked, in the supermarket in a can, but sometimes I'll make up a big mess of 'em and then put 'em in the freezer, and use 'em as we go.

- That's another technical term, a mess of beans.

A mess of beans.

- This is low-fat sour cream.

- Oh, good.

Will it still be, will I still enjoy it?

- [Cheryl] I think you still shall, yes.

- Yeah, some things low fat, you still get the flavor, but probably healthier.

- Now, this lime juice, did you see any seeds in it when you squeezed it?

- I didn't, and I don't.

I see some pulp.

- That's fine.

- Pulp.

- We'll put that right in there.

All right, now we need to pulse that up again.

- Pulse her up.

So you're gonna have to put the cap back on.

Here, let me do that.

Let me entertain you.

The lime juice, that's an interesting thing to have, lime with garlic, but it all goes together.

- These flavors, you'll find, are gonna be very addictive.

- Oh yeah, wow.

They're married, I imagine.

- Cumin.

- Okay, this is cumin.

- That's right.

Now look at that nice pretty color.

- Yeah, it is.

- Turns a little purple.

- [Tim] Yeah, quite purplely.

- All right, chopped cilantro.

- Throw a little cilantro in there.

- [Cheryl] Mm, I can smell that cumin, I know you.

- I think we're gonna have a pop star here pretty quick, named Cilantro.

(Cheryl chuckles) Don't you think that'd be a good name for a pop star?

Okay.

- One more time.

The nice thing about making this dip - Yes?

- is you have, all you have to do is put it in the food processor, and that does all the work.

- Yeah, that's true.

My chopping arm would get tired to get all that in there.

So it's kinda got a nice consistency for a dip.

- All right, would you get me that plate of vegetables?

- Right here.

We prepared these.

Interesting vegetables, too.

We got wax beans to dip in the- - Right, right, yeah.

- So it's beans dipped in beans.

- [Cheryl] All right, I'm gonna put this right in here.

Now, you could make this up and keep it in the refrigerator for several days.

- [Tim] Gee, it's great looking.

And that, what'd you have, low-fat sour cream?

- [Cheryl] Low-fat sour cream?

- [Tim] Yeah, that kinda gives it a kind of a purplely-pink, kind of a nice color on that.

- All right, there we go.

We have spicy black bean dip.

- Finest kind, right there.

(steam hissing) (pot rattling) (upbeat music) Now, Cheryl, if somebody wanted to make that spicy black bean dip, just the way you made it, what would they need for ingredients?

- [Cheryl] One 15-ounce can of black beans, or about 1 1/2 cups of cooked black beans, three tablespoons low-fat sour cream or yogurt, two teaspoons minced garlic, two tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1/4 cup chopped red onion, 3/4 teaspoon cumin, and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

(stove rattling) - Now, can we talk here for just a minute?

Now, I'm Tim Sample.

Of course, the menu here includes beans, so I would certainly be remiss if I would not at least touch upon a certain aspect of this particular menu item.

What is it, when you tell people that you're having beans for supper, all of a sudden, the comments start flying, like, "Oh, don't light a match after supper."

Now, we know what we're talking.

Why is it, I wonder, I'm wondering, and I'm just talking, why is it that flatulence and flatulence jokes, which are associated with beans, which have been very, very good to me, I must say, in the last 20 years, why is that such an incredibly pervasive aspect of this particular food stuff?

Well, I believe this.

I believe that down through the centuries, you see, that's the one aspect, and it doesn't matter if you're a king or a pauper, the same basic physiological response is gonna happen to everyone, and it's universal.

And that sort of makes people feel like they're part of the human race.

And there's many, many lines.

Of course, one of my favorites, and I'll kinda leave ya with this one.

Of course, you got the diner by the side of the road with about 48 gasoline and diesel pumps out front.

And then right over the top, for the convenience factor, has the sign up there that says, "Eat here, get gas."

(upbeat music) Hey there, Cheryl.

Yeah, just chatting 'em up a little bit, I was.

Now, are we ready?

What are we doing from here?

- Oh, we're gonna make a 13 bean and- - 13?

- 13 bean and sausage stew.

- Wow, sounds like a horror movie, 13 beans.

And all these beans, well, we got 'em right over here.

There's a lot of 'em.

- [Cheryl] All of these beans are actually grown right here in the state of Maine.

- Wow, that's fantastic.

That's interesting.

Well, where do we start with this here 13-bean soup?

- Well, I think we're gonna start in the pot.

- Right here, all right.

All right.

- Take the lid off.

- Take that lid off there.

- And we'll put some heat on it.

- Why not?

- And dump in a little olive oil, just to coat the bottom.

- Okay, how much is a little?

Just a dite, or a dab, or a slab, or a?

- [Cheryl] Enough to coat the bottom.

- [Tim] No, yeah, coat the bottom.

- [Cheryl] Perfect.

- [Tim] Ah, just like that.

- Yep.

- All right.

- All right, now I have some chopped garlic that we can- - Okay, we'll put some of that in there.

- [Cheryl] That in.

- All of that.

- All of that.

- [Tim] Not just some of it.

- You know, one of the wonderful things about cooking with beans - Yes?

- is that they will absorb a lot of the flavors of the things that you're cooking with.

- Yeah.

- All right?

So, if you happen to like garlic, - Yep.

- and the flavor of it, then, this is chopped red onion.

- Now, beans also, don't they have a huge amount of protein?

They're good for ya.

Beans are really good for ya.

- Protein, fiber.

Oh, they're so good for you.

- Yeah, fiber, yeah.

- (chuckling) Keeps you- - That's good.

Yeah, we know about that.

Yes, yes we do.

Yes we do.

But the old-timers, the hard-working fishermen, and farmers, and loggers, they always would have a plate load of beans, and you get 'em really, I think they're really energy food, in a certain way.

- I love 'em for Sunday morning breakfast.

- There ya go.

I do kinda like that too.

- There you go, stir that.

- But I'll keep stirring here, while you- - All right, we're gonna add some chopped, fresh tomatoes.

- [Tim] They look marvelously fresh.

- Now, you can also make this with canned tomatoes if you don't happen to have any fresh around.

- You could do that.

That's right.

- A cup of red wine.

- [Tim] Yeah, right in there.

Put it right in there with the garlic and everything.

Oh, there we go.

- All right.

- This is getting there.

- And two bay leaves.

- Put them bay leaves in there.

But don't, you don't chew up on the, you kinda pull 'em outta there, don't ya, eventually?

- I think, when we're all done, we'll take 'em out, right.

- Don't really be chomping on the bay leaves.

♪ Chompin' on the dock of the bay ♪ - Now we'll bring this to a simmer - Yeah?

Yeah, yeah.

- before we add our 13 beans.

- Now, 13 beans.

- Now, can you- - Now, why 13, do you know?

- Can you count out those many?

- Oh yeah, I bet I can, yeah, yeah.

- (chuckles) 13.

Why, actually, because you get a lot of different varieties here, - Yeah.

- and oftentimes, they're sold that way, as a 13-bean soup mix, so.

- Yep, now, this is, these are all, these haven't been pre-cooked.

- No, these are all dry.

- They're all dry.

- That's right.

- Yeah.

- So we're gonna add - Put 'em right in there.

- our beans.

- [Tim] Now, is this one of these dishes where the more you let it simmer and set, the better it gets, or how do you?

- [Cheryl] Well, it's gonna take about 2 1/2, three hours for the beans to cook.

You cook it any longer than that, then they'll start turning to mush.

- [Tim] We don't don't want 'em to turn to mush.

How much water you putting in there?

- [Cheryl] Well, it's about five cups.

- [Tim] Yeah, now it's starting to look like soup.

All right.

- Now, this, as I said, would take 2 1/2, three hours to cook.

- Yeah.

- So we'll put the lid on it, and leave it right there.

- We have a lid right here.

These are nice, heavy lids.

- When you're working with beans, I do recommend you use a heavy pot on top of the stove so they don't scorch.

- Yeah.

- You ever had burnt beans?

- Yeah, oh, I have.

I don't want 'em, but if a burglar comes along, you can smack the burglar, and then get right back to your cooking your beans there too.

All right.

- All right.

Now, I made some beans, 13 beans, earlier today.

- Made her up ahead of time.

- Right.

- Give it a little, ah, marvelous.

- So, why don't we saute up some sausages?

- Okay.

- Now, these are some spicy.

- And these are spicy.

- Spicy.

You could use a kielbasa.

- [Tim] And I'm learning how to do this.

- (chuckles) The art - See, that's a art.

- of sausage sauteing.

- See, a regular person, that's not a chef-type person, might just stir them around, but not me, look at that.

How's my technique, Cheryl?

Pretty good?

- You're getting good.

- All right.

- [Cheryl] I have an interesting story about beans.

- Yes?

- My husband's grandmother - Yeah?

- swore that the way you could keep that flatulence, - Keep it down to a minimum.

- keep it, yeah, is that every 15 minutes, when she was baking her beans, - Yeah?

- she'd open the oven door to let the gas out.

(chuckles) - There ya go.

It wouldn't work if you had a gas oven, though.

That would be the problem right there.

- It might explode.

All right, so why don't we take these over here and you slice 'em up into small pieces for me?

- Okay.

Now, to come out like this?

- Yep.

Perfect.

- Kind of stick 'em and bring 'em over here.

- Right.

- All of 'em?

- Yep.

Well, why don't you start slicing?

- I'll start slicin', you start dicin'.

Okay.

- Cut 'em up into- - Now I need that back again.

- [Cheryl] You need that fork, don't you?

- [Tim] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

About like this, Cheryl?

- [Cheryl] Yeah, well, bite-size pieces.

I'd even do it a little smaller.

- [Tim] Little smaller than that.

- [Cheryl] Well, depends upon the size of your mouth.

- Well, I was just gonna say, I'm famous for having a big mouth, so, no wonder I put it twice the size of a, all right, this is looking, oh, one got away from me there.

Yeah, and of course, if the, they're always talking, if the minister's coming over for supper or something, you've got to be careful, have your Beano.

Now what about this Beano?

There's some kind of stuff that you?

- It helps the digestive system.

- Yeah.

- There's a lot of fiber in beans.

- Yeah.

- That's why they're so good for you.

- Yeah.

- And that, oftentimes, people's system can't handle that much.

- Yep.

- So, by eating the Beano, it provides the enzyme in your system.

- [Tim] There ya go, enzymes.

Well, now there's also, isn't there an ongoing quest in the agricultural community to create a gasless bean?

Has that happened yet?

Do you know anything about that?

- Well, I'm not familiar with that.

- It's up there with a 200-mile-per-hour carburetor, mile-per-gallon carburetor, I believe, the gasless bean.

- [Cheryl] I'm gonna start scraping some of these.

- [Tim] Yes.

- Right?

- Are those bite-size for ya?

- [Cheryl] Those are perfect, - All right.

- for your mouth.

- Yeah.

(both chuckle) Oh, come on now.

- [Cheryl] Now, see, now you've got some nice spices there.

- All right, those are just about right.

- [Cheryl] Just about perfect, right.

- [Tim] You don't have to tell me more than a half a dozen times.

I'll tell ya, I'm quick.

I catch right on.

All right, how's that?

Spicy, these are, too.

- Yeah.

I've tried this soup with an Italian sausage before, too, and it's very good.

- Or what we call Italian.

- All right.

- Yeah.

- All right, now, if you wanna stir that around.

- Sure!

- And then we're gonna taste it.

- [Tim] Stir it up.

- [Cheryl] Oh, we gotta add some hot sauce and salt and pepper.

- Oh yeah.

We got kinda stuff over here.

Okay, now tell me what you want me to add and when.

- Let's put a little salt and a little pepper in it.

- Okay, we got a little bit of salt.

A pinch or two?

- A pinch or two.

- Okay.

- Yeah, you might even need more.

I haven't salted it yet at all.

- Okay, you do, I'll hold the salt cellar.

- Yeah.

All right, go ahead.

- [Tim] Okay, there's three pinches.

- All right, crank - Little bit of pepper?

- pepper over it.

(Tim vocalizing) - [Cheryl] Now, how do you like your heat?

(chuckles) - [Tim] I'm not big on the big spicy - [Cheryl] All right.

- side of things.

- That's good.

That's good on the pepper.

- I'm learning a little bit more - How 'bout a little Tabasco?

- in my old age.

Just a little mite of this.

- Hot sauce, right?

- [Tim] Yeah.

(steam hisses) (pot rattling) - [Cheryl] (chuckles) Well, that's, - Yeah, yeah.

- it's coming.

- It's coming, little bit, - That's good.

- but it had to get outta that little bottle there.

- [Cheryl] Right, and chopped parsley.

- Okay, all, this whole log?

- Yeah, I think so.

- Put the whole log right in there.

- [Cheryl] Oh, that's perfect.

- [Tim] Look at that, huh?

- [Cheryl] Stir that right around.

- [Tim] I shall.

And the bay leaf is cooking up good.

- [Cheryl] Well, we can actually take out.

- [Tim] You take that out?

Yeah, use your fingers.

- [Cheryl] (chuckles) That's my God-given- - [Tim] That's, I know, I know.

- [Cheryl] All right, let me, I'm just gonna have you.

- Do I get to sample it, as they say?

(Cheryl laughs) Boy, it tastes pretty darn good.

- Is it all right?

- Yeah.

- Does it need more salt?

- Yeah, and it's not, no, it doesn't need, but you know what?

Little more pepper.

- Mm, mm.

- (chuckles) How's that?

- [Cheryl] Very good.

- I think that's the first time I actually made a real decision about what to put in.

- Now, can't you see this on a cold winter night?

- Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

- Mm, delicious.

- [Tim] It's hearty!

And it is a real combination of flavors.

- Here we have 13 bean and sausage stew.

(pot rattling) (upbeat music) (steam hissing) - [Tim] Now, Cheryl, for 13 bean and sausage stew, what are folks gonna need for their ingredients?

- [Cheryl] Two cups chopped onion, three tablespoons chopped garlic, one 28-ounce package 13 bean soup mix or two cups of uncooked beans, two cups chopped fresh tomatoes, one cup red wine, two bay leaves, five cups water, olive oil, one pound spicy sausage or kielbasa, one half cup chopped fresh parsley, salt and fresh pepper to taste, and Tabasco sauce to taste.

- Well, Cheryl, from the bean fields of Maine to our table, we got quite a spread here.

Would you like to try some of this spicy black bean dip?

- [Cheryl] Oh, I would love to.

- Why don't you try, muckle right onto one of them things and dip her in there.

All right, I'm gonna try a cucumber because I like the color combination with the green and the purple.

- Mm, nice bite.

- Yeah, nice spicy, kinda spicy.

- [Cheryl] Mm.

- [Tim] How's that soup?

- I like 13 beans in my soup.

- Lookin' sharp.

Well, we're having a nice time here, and we're awful glad you could join us.

Come back again, and who knows?

We're from beans and beyond, and blueberries and everything else.

We're just happy to have you with us.

So, take care.

We'll see ya next time.

Now, this is something.

(upbeat music drowns out speakers)