Unorthodox

‘Girl Meets Farm’ Is the Food Network Show You Should Be Watching

Food blogger and cookbook author Molly Yeh makes recipes inspired by her Chinese and Jewish heritage, and life on a Midwestern farm

June 25, 2018

We here at Unorthodox make no secret of our love for Molly Yeh. She was a guest on our show just before Purim in 2017, and brought us the most magical sprinkle hamantaschen. She had just published her memoir/cookbook, Molly on the Range, about her unlikely journey from Juilliard to Brooklyn to a farm on the Minnesota-North Dakota border with her husband, Nick, a fifth-generation sugar beet farmer. Last week she returned to the podcast to tell us about her brand new Food Network show, Girl Meets Farm, which premiered Sunday.

We’re biased, but we mean it when we say the show is excellent. The series premiere centers around Molly and Nick’s third wedding anniversary, which they are celebrating with a brunch at their house with Nick’s family, who live on the farm as well. The menu reflects Molly’s heritage as well as her adopted Midwestern home—shakshuka with feta, roasted potatoes with paprika mayo (emphasis on the mayo), brussels sprouts and bacon hash (don’t tell the kosher police), and pocket pastries with strawberry jam, sourced from Nick’s aunt’s garden. It’s mesmerizing and drool-inducing to watch. She also makes an everything-bagel-inspired grilled cheese sandwich, which is a culinary feat worth celebrating. You can follow along with all the show’s recipes here.

The bulk of the show takes place in Molly’s perfectly appointed farm kitchen, which we could stare at all day—her pastel blue Smeg refrigerator and adorable mugs and nesting bowls (the labels on which were carefully covered up for shooting), and color-coordinated cookbook collection. We also get to see Nick out on the farm, and doing farm-y things like “pulling the tractor in.” The idyllic setting is obviously a draw, but the real heart of the show is Molly’s infectious charm and her genuine excitement about each recipe. Also her love for butter. And sprinkles.

We’ve been lucky enough to experience Molly’s baking magic firsthand several times. She shipped us a cake for our second birthday last summer, and she even made Stephanie’s wedding cake. Seriously. She’s that nice.

There’s a lot to look forward to this season. On one upcoming episode Molly updates the classic farm lunch to include garlic and onion challah and creamy homemade hummus. On another episode, her mom visits and makes her famous brisket (secret ingredient: orange juice), which they turn into brisket tacos. She also makes Midwestern classics like cookie salad and hot dish.

You can watch Girl Meets Farm Sundays at 11 a.m. on Food Network, online at watch.foodnetwork.com, or on the Food Network app on mobile devices and Roku, AppleTV, and Amazon Fire TV. You can also check out all of Molly’s recipes here–we love the Jewish-themed ones, like pretzel challah bagel dogs and honey whole wheat challah (sprinkles optional).

Mazel tov, Molly!

Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.

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