The Key Ingredient

Food Series / 3 Seasons

Renowned food writer and cooking teacher Sheri Castle celebrates local ingredients, tracing their journeys from source to kitchen. Sheri introduces us to local farmers, growers, fishermen and chefs and shares approachable home cooking recipes and tips.

Watch Latest: S3 E303

26m 46s / TV-G

Field Trip to the Utopian Seed Project

4m 51s

Sheri visits a collard farm outside Asheville, where she discusses the harvest with collard expert Chris Smith. As executive director of the Utopian Seed project, he shows Sheri how cultivating variety helps build resiliency for the leafy greens.

Collard & Cornbread Sandwiches | Cook Along with Glenn & Dorsey Hunt

4m 31s

Sheri cooks along with Glenn and Dorsey Hunt at the Pembroke Street Festival in Eastern NC, where members of the Lumbee Tribe are known for turning the collard-and-cornbread duo into a delicious sandwich.

Kitchen Recipe – Collard Salad

7m 2s

Sheri has nostalgia for wilted salads, so she brings flair from her mountain upbringing to this collard salad with hot bacon dressing. Her contemporary recipe offers traditional flavors with the perfect amount of crunch.

Green Curry and Coconut Creamed Collards | Kitchen Recipe

6m 27s

Sheri Castle’s recipe for green curry and coconut creamed collards will make you rethink leafy greens. A peanut garnish adds crunch to the tender collards, and a squeeze of lime juice brightens the whole dish.

Preview | Turning Over a New Collard Leaf

30s

Sheri offers a new take on collards with recipes for green curry and coconut creamed collards as well as collard salad with hot bacon dressing. She shares how to use every part of the leaf and explores a wide range of collard varieties with Utopian Seed Project’s Chris Smith. Sheri then meets Glenn and Dorsey Hunt of the Lumbee Tribe at a street festival and makes their famous collard sandwiches.

John’s Savory Merkel Pie | Cook Along with John Fleer

6m

Sheri Castle joins chef John Fleer to learn how to make savory merkel pie with morels she foraged. This Appalachian take on shepherd’s pie is a recipe with a sense of place, perfect for bringing people together.

Double Mushroom Soup | Kitchen Recipe

7m 8s

Sheri never gets tired of making soups, and this recipe is no exception. She shares her cherished recipe of double mushroom soup, which is a celebration of mushrooms’ exquisite variety.

Preview | Mushrooms Are Having a Moment

30s

Sheri hunts for morels deep in the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains with foraging experts Natalie Dechiara and Luke Gilbert. She then visits the home of farm-to-table pioneer John Fleer to use the morels (aka merkels) in a savory pie. In the kitchen, Sheri shares recipes for double mushroom soup and buttery sauteed mushrooms on toast, plus a tip for cleaning and keeping store-bought mushrooms.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Crumble | Kitchen Recipe

6m 44s

Sheri shows how to make her sweet potato casserole with a crisp pecan crumble, a dish she’s made for more than twenty years. Its gentle sweetness is perfect for breakfast, a side dish or a dessert during any season.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes | Kitchen Recipe

5m 46s

Since childhood, Sheri Castle has admired twice-baked potatoes at nice restaurants. Now she elevates the classic recipe with twice-baked sweet potatoes, which hold together a delicious bacon and apple concoction.

Field Trip to the North Asheville Tailgate Farmers Market

2m 59s

Sheri Castle discovers sweet potatoes of all shapes, colors and sizes at the North Asheville Tailgate Market, providing insight about this locally sourced ingredient.

Preview | We’re Sweet on Sweet Potatoes

30s

Sheri Castle visits a farmers market to explore sweet potatoes of all shapes, colors and sizes. She then heads to the kitchen to share her favorite recipes for sweet potato casserole and twice-baked sweet potatoes. Asheville-based chef J Chong demonstrates a twist on Cantonese cuisine with her sweet potato and pork dumplings, and Sheri shares how to create the perfect sweet potato puree.

Preview | New Season

1m 1s

Sheri Castle is back this fall with eight all new ingredients, including peaches, mushrooms, crabs, honey and more. Sheri introduces us to local farmers, growers, fishermen and chefs and shares approachable home cooking recipes and tips. A new season returns to PBS in October 2024!

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