Original subtitles

KARDEA: So the Lowcountry is where I'm from.

My family goes back here generations.

It's special and it's unique,

especially when it comes to food.

You could say the Lowcountry

is where Southern food got its start,

but it's definitely where I started cooking.

I get inspired by this place I call home every day.

So I got a treat for you.

I have a collection of my favorite Lowcountry classics --

Charleston shrimp and grits, Gullah red rice,

black eyed pea salad,

Southern Chow Chow, and Charleston Chewies.

Nothing compares to the Lowcountry.

I mean, it's my heart.

It's my home.

When you're born in the South,

there are two things you're gonna learn --

Southern hospitality and good eatin'.

Let's eat!

Down here in South Carolina is where I sat

at my grandmother's kitchen table

and learned all of my family recipes,

and now I've made those recipes my own

as a traveling chef and caterer, inspired by the deep roots

we have here in the Sea Islands of Charleston.

These days, you can find me right here

in this beautiful place I call home,

feeding the ones I love the most.

I'm Kardea, but when I'm in the kitchen,

everyone calls me Miss Brown.

♪♪

Charleston, South Carolina, also known as the Lowcountry

because we're surrounded by water.

We're at sea level.

In my opinion, Lowcountry cooking,

especially Gullah cooking, is the fabric of the South.

It's what Southern cuisine is made of.

It's beautiful. It's scenic.

And we have the best seafood you can get in the U.S.

My type of Lowcountry cooking is called Gullah cooking.

We eat by the land, we eat by the sea.

Whatever we catch, we cook.

Whatever we grow, we eat.

And we build layers of flavor with very simple ingredients.

I mean, it's food made out of necessity.

One of my all time classic Lowcountry meals

is shrimp and grits, my favorite meal of all time.

And today, I'm making it with my Aunt T.C.

To me, this dish just screams "home."

Aunt T.C. will be here soon.

Got to get this shrimp and grits started.

While my back is frying, I am going to get started

on my grits.

I'm using old fashioned grits. 2 cups.

Old fashioned grits are less processed than quick grits,

so it takes a little longer to cook.

These are the grits that my grandmother grew up on.

She still uses old fashioned grits.

I like quick grits, I mean, of course,

because if you're in a rush,

quick grits will cook within like five minutes,

but old fashioned grits take about 20 minutes to cook.

And the reason I whisk the grits as I pour it in,

because grits lump up very quickly.

You can tell a true Southern Lowcountry cook

by the way they make their grits.

If you make lumpy grits,

you are not considered a good cook here in the Lowcountry.

Once it starts to boil, you'll bring it down to a simmer.

And if you don't salt your water now,

you'll have some really bland grits at the end.

♪♪

Aunt T.C. knows her way around a kitchen,

but she was making shrimp and grits way before I was born,

so I totally trust her in the kitchen with me

Aunt T.C.'s here.

Cooking with Aunt T.C. is a blast. She's hilarious.

Was that a little dance I saw?

A little dance, T.C.!

If you ask her, T.C. stands for Too Cute.

But her name is Leticia, so it's T.C. for short.

Can you help me with the onions? -Of course I can.

Teamwork makes the dream work. -I know that's right.

It smells so good in here, Kardea.

This girl is makin' my favorite.

You know, I was thinking,

"Where did shrimp and grits come from?"

Definitely Charleston.

But, you know, everybody makes shrimp and grits so different.

You know, I think we all just added our own flavor.

You have to have fresh shrimp.

How can you eat shrimp and grits without Charleston shrimp?

Girl, I don't care if you got to go out

in the creek all day long.

I'm telling you, you need fresh shrimp

with shrimp and gravy.

No doubt about it, there's something very,

very special about Charleston shrimp.

It's the sweetest, most meaty shrimp

you'll ever taste in your life.

Once you've had it here, you won't want it anywhere else.

I think we got enough onions

before I start boo-hooing in here, girl.

Oh, okay. Well, yeah, that's enough.

This pan is nice and brown.

So that's gonna give me a good dark gravy.

You put that in there? -Yes.

I'll go ahead and add that in for you.

Yeah. -Mm-hmm.

Oh, yeah. That's gonna to make a really good gravy right there.

So the secret to making a really good Lowcountry-style

shrimp and grits is to have a nice dirty pan,

and I don't mean dirty. I mean, like

those tidbits from the bacon and the grease and the fat.

That's what makes a really great gravy.

And I need a little bit of flour.

Can you stir around the grits for me, too?

-I sure can. -Thank you.

Kardea, what kind of grits do you use?

I'm using old fashioned grits today.

-Oh, really? -Using old fashioned grits

because it just holds up a lot better.

You know, it's nice and thick. It'll stick to your bones.

[ Laughter ]

That's what my grandma say. -I used to tell my children,

"Honey, it's gonna stick to your gizzard."

Yes, that's right.

Oh, yeah. This is coming along really good.

That looks good over there, Kardea.

Yeah, it's coming together.

Okay. Look at you.

See, I learned a thing or two.

Y'all taught me well. -You did.

I'm telling you, it looks really good.

Just gonna cook this down until the onions

get a little translucent. And while I do that,

can you put a little flour in the shrimp,

add some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

♪♪

I'm gonna brown the shrimp.

Stir up the grits for me. -I sure can.

You know, we can't have any lumps in that grits.

Yeah, that's right.

Add some water to this pot now.

That's when the gravy begins.

Authentic Gullah-style, Lowcountry-style

shrimp and grits has a pan gravy

usually made with some type of fat,

like a bacon fat or sausage fat.

And it's just a brown pan gravy, and it's simple, yet tasty.

Try that. -Mm, girl.

Make sure that that brown gravy is right.

Mm-hmm.

I love the onion flavor. The garlic in there. I love it.

Mm-hmm. Now, what's going to really set it off

is when you add the bacon. Yes.

Take the same bacon that I used to get

that bacon grease in the beginning.

All those flavors, the bacon, the shrimp, the gravy.

It's going to really boost that taste.

Can you cut up some green onions for me?

I sure can.

I came hungry. -Okay.

Like very hungry.

-I'll give you a good servin'. -Please do.

Look how thick and creamy. Slides right off the spoon.

♪♪

Oh, yes.

That plate is too cute.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

You did good, girlfriend.

♪♪

Kardea, it's nice and creamy.

The seasoning is just perfect. Love it.

I would say that shrimp and grits is the staple dish

of the Lowcountry or of the South in general.

And because it was originated by West African people,

I mean, this dish has been in the Lowcountry for centuries.

I'm making two of my favorite Lowcountry classics --

Southern Chow, Chow and Gullah red rice.

You are going to have the best red rice of your life.

And later...

Nothing says Southern salad like my Gullah caviar.

You wouldn't be Southern

if you didn't use hot sauce with black eyed peas.

KARDEA: Today, I'm putting together

my favorite Lowcountry classics.

When I think about Lowcountry foods,

one of the first things I think about is Gullah red rice.

Red rice is a staple in the Gullah community.

So Gullah people

are direct descendants of West African people.

So a lot of our food is very similar to West African food.

So Gullah red rice is a variation of jollof rice,

which is found in West Africa.

Jollof rice is the original tomato-based rice.

So you have jambalaya, you have our red rice.

I mean, it's the quintessential Lowcountry dish.

So I'm starting off with one large white onion

that I've diced, I'm dicing one bell pepper.

Typically red rice is cooked with some type of smoked meat.

I like to use a popular smoked sausage

that we use here in Charleston.

This smoked sausage is like a kielbasa.

It's fully cooked.

So it's just going to add that nice smoky flavor.

Right, so I'm gonna add 1/4 of vegetable oil.

I'm gonna add my sausage and bell pepper.

Get that nice and hot and sautéed.

Red rice is something that can get soggy very easily.

So I've learned over the years, bake it.

And you gotta bake it with parboiled rice.

Aunt Ronnie makes the best red rice out of our family.

And that's my grandmother's youngest sister.

She taught us how to make it.

And she told us the secret to making perfectly cooked red rice

is using parboiled rice,

which is rice with the husk already removed.

So it comes out fluffy every time.

You can get parboiled rice at any supermarket.

It's usually right next to your regular rice.

Let that cook up a little bit.

I'm gonna get my tomato paste started.

Tomato paste is a concentrated form of tomatoes,

so it really makes the rice red.

And you get that big burst of tomato flavor -- the color,

the smell, the smoked sausage. Oh, my goodness.

You wanna sprinkle in some sugar.

Gullah cooking is more sweet than spicy

because we like to add sugar to our recipes --

our collard greens, our red rice.

I mean, it's a little bit more sweeter

than you would typically find in the South.

Garlic powder. You know, I love my garlic.

2 cups of parboiled rice that I've rinsed,

got some of that starch off. Give it a mix.

It may look soggy, but honey, once you put it in that oven,

I promise you, you're gonna have some really nice,

fluffy, dried red rice.

I'm gonna add a little water on top

because as the rice cooks in the oven,

it does start to absorb some of that tomato paste.

So I want to make sure that none of the rice on top

gets crispy. Oven's preheated to 350.

You wanna let it cook for about 35 to 40 minutes.

♪♪

Let me check on my red rice.

♪♪

All right.

Whoo, sensory overload.

I'm just fluffing it at this point.

It's still a little bit on the wet side and that's okay.

That's what fluffing is for.

You know, it's basically done, so it wouldn't hurt to taste.

Mm.

Mm. Lord have mercy.

This tastes like my grandma's house.

The smoked sausage just adds so much smoky flavor to this.

The acidity from the tomatoes,

the flavor from the onions and the bell pepper.

A little bit of that garlic is coming through.

Huh!

That is red rice for you.

And I'm serving this red rice at a very special event --

one of my supper clubs right here in Charleston.

The thing I love the most about introducing people

to Lowcountry food

is that they've never had it anywhere else.

So when you come to the Lowcountry and you taste it,

it just blows their mind, and I love seeing that.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, I mean, should I ask,

"How's everything?"

-Girl, this is ridiculous. -[ Laughs ]

Sully, how's that red rice?

I'm pretty picky about my red rice

and it's pretty -- pretty dang good.

It's pretty amazing to see the layers of flavor

that we get in our Lowcountry food

from very, very simple ingredients.

And it all goes back to the people

who originated these recipes.

They simply made the most with what they had.

Another recipe I think of

when you think of Lowcountry classics is Southern Chow Chow.

It's a mix between a slaw and a relish.

It goes on anything.

I'm gonna to start off with 5 cups of vinegar.

I'm gonna use 3 cups of granulated sugar,

2 tablespoons of salt,

a tablespoon of mustard seeds, teaspoon of turmeric.

The turmeric adds bright, vibrant yellow color.

Red pepper for a little heat.

About a handful of cloves, as well as the whole peppercorn.

1 bay leaf, a squirt of yellow mustard.

And that's basically it, right.

I wanna head over to my stove and give this a whisk.

Smells great already.

All right, now for the vegetable part --

green tomatoes, bell pepper, onions,

and a cabbage. To make life easier,

I want to use a food processor. All right.

So I have -- we want to do this in batches

because if I put too much in,

the food processor is going to get really liquidy.

I don't want -- I want to avoid that.

♪♪

Take my first batch out.

♪♪

Quick pulses.

♪♪

And you know what makes it a Southern Chow Chow

than your regular, just like run-of-the-mill relish?

It's the addition of green cabbage.

♪♪

Go over here and add it to my vinegar and pickling spices.

♪♪

Let that go for about 15 to 20 minutes

until most of the liquid has absorbed.

After simmering to perfection,

the chow chow will look like this.

And I'm telling you, I put this thing on anything,

but I really love it on a pulled pork sandwich.

-Oh. -Pulled pork! Pulled pork.

♪♪

The sandwich is awesome, man, the greens, the sauce...

It's all good. I like that chow chow, Kardea.

KARDEA: Next, my black eyed pea salad,

a.k.a. Gullah caviar,

is the perfect Southern side dish for any get together.

And later, there's no dessert that says Lowcountry cuisine

like a Charleston Chewie.

No matter what the occasion is,

you gotta have Charleston Chewies.

KARDEA: Today is all about my home,

the Lowcountry of South Carolina

and the food we make here.

Black eyed pea salad.

What I call Gullah caviar. You eat it on some chips.

You can eat this right out of the bowl,

which I have done plenty of times.

My grandmother had -- she made Hoppin' John,

staple dish in the South --

white rice, some black eyed peas.

And it's cooked in some type of meat,

like a ham hock or a turkey neck.

So my grandmother had leftover black eyed peas that she made.

And so I said, you know, "What could I do with these

beans other than eat more black eyed peas?"

I said, "Huh, I can make something like a cowboy caviar."

So I took the black eyed peas, mixed it up with some corn,

some onions, a little bit of bell pepper,

a simple vinaigrette. I called it Gullah Caviar,

which is what I'm making right now.

♪♪

So I cut off the kernels from the cob.

From one ear of corn,

black eyed peas -- two 15-ounce cans,

green bell pepper,

and just for texture and taste purposes,

you don't want big chunks of bell pepper.

I'm going to chop up 2 cloves of garlic.

The red onion just adds another burst of color in there.

Red wine vinegar, just a few dashes of hot sauce,

I mean, cause you're makin' black eyed peas.

How could you not use hot sauce?

You wouldn't be Southern if you didn't use hot sauce

with black eyed peas.

2 tablespoons of sugar, fresh cilantro.

One of my favorite ingredients -- pimentos.

Dried oregano, salt, cracked black pepper.

So I'm using about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil,

and I'm using vegetable oil instead of a oil like olive oil

because it's neutral.

It's not going to interfere with the other ingredients.

This is beautiful. Aw, the smell. Oh, my goodness.

The cilantro, the onions, I'm even smelling the pimentos.

Got yourself some Gullah caviar.

Gullah caviar is fun at any occasion --

a picnic with your friends, an outdoor barbecue,

or tea time with the ladies.

Thank you for having us.

-Yes, thank you. -So glad you guys made it.

-Isn't today really pretty? -So gorgeous.

We all came here for what?

Food. -Food!

With friends or family or anyone that I love in general,

I like to show my appreciation and love for them by cooking.

It's my love language.

-Cheers to us being friends. -Yes.

-Cheers. -Cheers to friends.

KARDEA: Coming up, you can't have a party in the Lowcountry

without Charleston Chewies.

This is a Chewie.

KARDEA: Today, I'm celebrating some of my favorite Lowcountry recipes,

Charleston Chewie, I would say,

is the staple dessert of the Lowcountry.

It's basically flour, eggs, brown sugar, and butter.

That's it.

All right. That's nice and melted.

So what's a Charleston Chewie?

It's basically a sticky blondie, crunchy on the outside,

ooey, gooey, and sticky on the inside.

So I've melted 1/2 stick of butter here.

Turned the heat off.

Add 1 cup light brown sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract,

and a teaspoon of almond extract.

It just gives that buttery sugar flavor just an extra kick.

Now I'm going to add 1 egg.

Just give it a little stir.

The wet portion of the recipe is done.

How simple is that?

3/4 cup of flour. 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

I'm gonna whisk this up and add in my wet ingredients.

♪♪

Chewies can be made two ways -- with or without nuts.

I like nuts. My grandma loves nuts.

But you can go to some parties

and eat your Chewies without nuts.

Now, it depends on your family. Some families like it with nuts,

some families like it without nuts,

but it does have this distinct molasses mapley flavor.

And if you add nuts, it gives it a really nutty flavor, too.

I would say about 1/2 cup of chop pecans just folded in

until it's incorporated.

Whoo, you gotta put your elbow in it.

That looks great to me.

So I like to make my Chewies in small batches.

You don't want to overcrowd your oven.

The heat won't distribute evenly.

I've also buttered my pan to make sure

that once it's cooked, they'll come out easily.

And this is a 8-by-8 baking dish.

I'm using a glass baking dish so the edges won't get too crispy.

Now all I'm going to do is use

the back of my wooden spoon to smooth it out.

Don't worry if it looks like

it's not even at the bottom, it's going to bake up.

Just keep doing it. It's going to come together.

Okay, that looks great.

Got my oven preheated at 350.

I'm gonna bake it for about 20 minutes,

and make a second batch.

♪♪

♪♪

My second batch is done. Just going to take it out

the oven and let it cool.

And each tray, you can get about 16 pieces

depending on how you cut it.

My family loves Charleston Chewies.

They will eat it any day of the week.

Forget an occasion, just make Charleston Chewies.

I'm gonna get these cut into squares,

put it on a tray, and add a little bit of powdered sugar.

♪♪

Crispy on the outside, nice and gooey on the inside.

This is a Chewie.

♪♪

♪♪

In Charleston, no matter what the occasion is,

you gotta have Charleston Chewies.

♪♪

The Lowcountry inspires me to cook because,

I mean, this is where I learned how to cook.

This is where I learned to cherish my family recipes.

I mean, it's my heart. It's my home.

So no matter where you are in the world,

I hope these recipes inspire you to bring a taste

of the Lowcountry to your home.