March 14, 2025 • 26 mins
You know her from Top Chef and The Chew, Carla Hall takes a seat at Luke’s Diner!
You’ve got to hear the mouthwatering recipe Carla offers for Lorelai’s attempt at cooking with Hamburger Helper.
Plus, a Gilmore Girls breakfast staple reimagined— what’s Carla’s secret to making the perfect pop tart at home!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's just do Luke's Diner with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all and podcast one
of them productions iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcast another segment of
Luke's Diner. Joining us today is the one and only
Carla Hall. Let me tell you a little bit about
Carla here, a big celebrity chef. You know we're from
(00:43):
Top Chef the Chew Countless Food Adventures, where she brings
her signature energy and love of comfort food with a twist.
She's classically trained as a chef, champion of soulful cooking,
and an advocate for bringing people together through food. She
has just launched her very own virtual magazine, Sweet Heritage,
(01:05):
which you can find on her website at Carlahall dot com.
Without further ado, please welcome the one and only Carla Hall.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Carla Welcome, Thank you, Scott Gordon Tatterson.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That is me, that is me. It's good to see you.
It's good to see you too. First of all, are
you familiar with Gilmore Girls?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I am familiar. I didn't watch. I've watched a couple
of episodes. Everyone, I've spoken to from my niece who
is thirty seven to my assistant's daughter who is twenty something.
Watched an avid Watchers like the entire series, like multiple times.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yes that's yes, that's how they consume it. Yes, it's incredible.
So in season one, episode sixteen, Starcross Lovers and Other Strangers,
Laura I lead character is all about quick and easy
comfort foods. You know, she's not much of a cook,
but she does like to throw together some fun meals.
In this episode, she turns to yes, Hamburger helper. Have
(02:17):
you ever used it yourself?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I use it. I grew I am sixty years old.
I grew up like I was there when it was
made and put on the shelves in the grocery store.
I feel like my mother's like, oh, RERAI jesus, here's
the hamberg that help me? So, yes, I've have eaten it.
I've put a version in my cookbooks. Yes, I'm very familiar.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And so how would you put a Carla Hall twist
on it to take it to the next level? What
would you do with it?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
So I think, first of all, you're not going to
use the box is like the difference between box macaroni
and cheese and homemade macaroni and cheese. So you start
with your ground beef, but it could be ground chick
these days, it could be a ground meat substitute. And
then you add your seasons. You have onions, you have garlic.
(03:08):
If you like it's spicy, you can add a little
bit of chili flakes. Then you're gonna add some tomatoes.
It could be tomatoes sauce, or it can be dice tomatoes,
and you cook all of that up. Then you add
some liquid. It can be water, it can be stock.
And then you're gonna add in your noodle. So your noodles,
your little elbow macaroni actually cooks in the liquid with
(03:29):
the meat, so everything is saucy and delicious, and so
you don't have this bland pasta floating in delicious meat.
Once that's all done and the elbows soak up that liquid,
they're nice and al dente ish. Then you stir in
your cheese. That's the like a sharp cheddar I would love,
(03:53):
and then you dish it up and then you can
put partially on top. You can put more cheese on top,
and that's it.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
What's your uncle, Well, you certainly answer that question. I
just had breakfast, but I think I want to go
eat some more. So also in the show, if you're
not familiar, we know about Rory and a lauralized obsession
with pop tarts. Oh my god, me too. Oh I
have to ask you about your butter tarts, which look amazing,
(04:22):
by the way, I have to get my hands on those.
Walk us through this recipe and what inspired this unique
creation for it's a snack, right.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, So my butter tarts are at a fresh fresh market,
the fresh market, and I love I love pop tarts,
I love pie. So this is a rustic tart. So
you just take a flat piece of dough. I love
cooked fruit. There are apples, there's cherry, and then there's
orchard fruit, which is a mix of apples and berries.
(04:54):
And the because my grandmother loves almonds, she put and
extract and everything. These tarts have a layer of marzipan
or an almond paste, which makes it so succulent and delicious.
And then there's real butter in the crust itself and
you just fold it there, fold it over. So it's
(05:15):
a snack. It can be a dessert, it can be breakfast.
If that's how you roll and they're so good, they're
not too sweet. I think there's something for everybody. Some
days I like the tarts. I like tart cherries, you know,
and some days I like the apple. This is very traditional.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Okay, you're Southern girl. Where are you from Nashville? Nashville?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, I thought you were in Tennessee. You were in
Tennessee at some point, I think last year. Yeah, I'm
from Nashville though.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I went down Yeah, I was down there. I
was down there for a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So your Southern roots play a huge role in you're
cooking gobbage. Let's talk about some of your most famous recipes.
Feel free to add what you think is your most
famous recipe, but your your perfect buttermilk biscuits, four cheese,
mac and cheese. Yeah, chicken pot pie, Oh my.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Gosh, yes, chicken pot pie.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Sweet potato. It's our tean. Can you walk us through
your secrets to making these dishes so good?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I think, you know, a lot of people think about
Southern food just being overly sweet. Maybe it's overly fatty,
overly salted. I think there's a difference between celebration dishes
and every day dishes. You you happen to name a
lot of everyday dishes, and I think there's technique in
making them, like my biscuits. I used to make biscuits
with strangers in New York. I would walk up to
(06:42):
people and I would say, do you know how to
make a biscuit? And if they said now, I'm like,
can I come near your house and make biscuits with you?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Because that's the equivalent of being a.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Buster right right exactly the street. I love that, And
mainly it was because people would send me to place
because they knew when I was from the South, and
they send me to places that they said they have
great biscuits and they were terrible. And I'm like, you know,
either you need to know how to make a great
biscuit or you need to know how to recognize one
(07:11):
at a restaurant. And for me, a great biscuit is
sort of crunchy on the outside and really light and
fluffy on the inside, and when it cools down it
is not hard as a stone. And so there's their
techniques involved. And so I think a biscuit is a
blend between shortening, which keeps it soft after it cools down,
and butter and you grate the butter to make it flaky,
(07:33):
and then you don't use bleached flour. All the people
out there who love white lily, I love you for
loving white lily. I'm from the South. That's why they
do white lily. But I like a hard winter wheat
like King Garthur because it browns nicer and you get
that crunchy golden top and fluffy in the center.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
M in your opinion, do you have any recipes or
dishes that are perfect?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yes, I think so I would be. I mean, this
is not a humble brag, but if I don't think
my food is good, then I shouldn't be cooking them, right.
I had. I had a fried chicken restaurant, Pearl Hul
Soul Cookion for for a very short time, Curlhule Soul Food,
(08:17):
and it was a love letter to Nashville. And so
I did hot chicken and I didn't make fried chicken
for the longest time. And once I started to perfect
my fried chicken, it really was one of the best.
It was succulent, it was juicy, it was tangy. And
the secret I'm going to share this. The secret is
not the buttermilk where you add some liquid in and
(08:39):
then it gets the skin gets all flabby, and it
creates this pocket of air and moisture. But to use
all dry spices, so dried vinegar powders. If you want
to do buttermilk, do a buttermilk powder, and you put
that everything into the flour and you press it in
there and then let it sit for only a few minutes.
But vinegar powder creates this tagginess into the flower. It
(09:00):
goes and then into the fryer. So the skin stays
on the chicken and it and it is really hunchy
and delicious and a little bit tangy. Right right, I
just want you to about It was my job to
make you hungry. That's what I do.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Kill You're killing me right now. Man. I've already gained
ten pounds and I'm still on the couch because I cook.
And I'm gonna I'll listen back to all this stuff
and I'll use some of these techniques.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I love.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I love all those. I'm gonna try that dry vinegar
powder because I cannot, for the life of me, you know,
get that that that sort of u chicken skin to
do what I want it to do.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It's because you see these recipes and it's like, go
into the buttermilk season it, put flour on it, go
back in the refrigerator, let it get cold, come back out,
put more uh flower on it, and then you're just
creating I mean, it's going to be crispy, and it's
just creating this sort of wet pocket. But also that
you can also add corn starch to your flour mixture.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That gets it christy, Okay, any techniques that still challenge
you in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, the other day, what was I'm making and I
get obsessed over something. I'm working on a baking book
that comes out next year, and I did not get
on the craze of making sour dough with everybody else
during the pandemic, and so making bread for me was
I mean, I've made rolls. I make a lot of rolls,
(10:47):
but making bread and like bulls of bread is still
a challenge. And I'm afraid of yeast. I don't trust
when they say throw everything in the flour with the yeast,
the salt, the sugar and it's going to come out,
because I'm afraid that my bread isn't going to rise.
So that is still a challenge for me in doing
(11:08):
this book. I feel like I might look y'all, I'm
the chef doing bread and the home cook. So come
on this journey with me. I don't know everything, but
I'm willing to figure it out and we can figure
it out together.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Mm hmm. Okay, let me ask you this. You're a
big deal celebrity chef. Okay, TV chef. What's the thing
that you never expected?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Let me count the bays. I did Top Chef. A
lot of people don't know. I love when people come
to me, Oh, I saw you from the beginning, and
I'm like, well was the beginning when I did Top
Chef because I was forty four years old. Nobody pops
out of the womb at forty four years old, so
I was older, you know when I did Top Chef,
(11:52):
and I mean I was physically fit, so I think
people thought I was younger running around with those young people.
So when I did it as a personal challenge, when
I left, and I think being older, I was okay
with being myself, so I think people gravitated towards that
and the authenticity. So the first time that I was
(12:14):
recognized and I had on a hang up, I had
on a staff around my face and just my glass
is poking out and somebody says Carla, and I'm like
wait what, Like I'm not even trying to hide, but
it was just a cold day. And I think the
the being recognized and having people come up to me
is a really big surprise because I'm just like normal,
(12:35):
you know, just a person. And when I'm on the subway,
they're like you take the subway in New York. I'm like, yep,
It's the most efficient way of travel. So everything that
has come out of that franchise of Top Chef and
doing the show twice has really been a surprise. And
then I've just turned it into a business, Like what
am I going to do with this platform? What do
I do with it? How can I make people's lives better?
(12:58):
You know? So it's it's all been a surprise.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
You have a favorite person that you cook with, whether
it's in your kitchen on TV.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You know who I love cooking with and I love
his food. Michael Simon And I was with him on
the two and he's from Cleveland, and you eat Michael's
food and you're like, this man loves his mama. I
mean it is like this food that is so delicious,
(13:26):
and so it's just not precious. And he's such a
technically gifted chef that I love cooking with him, and
I'm always learning something.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You've had. What I'm seeing here a very fascinating career path,
haven't you? Accounting, modeling, now a world renowned chef. Did
you ever imagine that you'd be where you are today?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And let me tell you. My first love was theater.
I wanted to be Carol Burnette. I wanted to be
the black Carol Burnette at twelve, that right, yes. And
I wanted to go to Boston University. I didn't they
were going to defer my admission. So I was like, Okay,
(14:15):
forget this. I'm just going to go to Howard University. Okay,
I like my accounting teacher. I'll major in accounting. Okay,
I'm doing this. Okay, I'll work at a like a
Big eight accounting firm. Okay, I'm doing that. Okay, I'll
take the CPA exam. Okay I passed that. Okay, I
hate it. Okay, let me go to Motherling and then
I'm like, I'm over there modeling in Paris. I'm like, okay,
all the girls are getting together. And clicking in somebody's house.
(14:37):
I don't know how to do that. I hate not knowing. Okay,
let me go to the bookstore and let me learn
how to cook. And then I started a lunch delivery service,
and then I went to culinary school at thirty and
then things just kept rolling right. And then I know
that was a very quick answer to you.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I mean that's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And then when I turned fifty seven, I said, what
about the theater? I mean, really, everything that I've done
is performing. And so I decided upon my sixtieth birthday,
which was last year, that I wanted to do a
one woman show. And so, because that's the only thing
that I haven't picked up, like as it begins, it's
how it ends. I'm like, that's how I want my
(15:14):
life to end. And I and I and so I'm
working on a one woman show.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
It's really tell us about.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
It is about my life. The framework is me at
a clicking show. I don't say the shoe, but it's
at the chew and all the challenges that I had.
And then there are a lot of flashbacks going back
to when I was in theater camp and wanting to
be the black Carol Burnett and then like this back
and forth, like not wanting to accept food in my life,
(15:42):
you know, going Gray on national television at fifty and
so all of these different things. It's it has a
lot of audience participation there, like mixed media. There are
videos there. I bring people up to sort of be
on stage with me, and it's about nine minutes of
just me interacting with the audience and telling my story.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And how far along are you in this process? Is
it is?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
It?
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Is it written?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's written? It's written, I mean, so there are still
things to sort of tweak it. I did a workshop
at Olney Theater in September and we're looking at directors.
It is going to be at the Only Theater, which
is a premiere regional theater in Maryland, in May of
(16:29):
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh boys, and I'm going to do it.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah, And that's at a small like black box theater
for four to five weeks for about two hundred. The
audience is about two hundred seats. And yeah, I'm excited.
I mean, it's pure, pure, It's so putting myself out
there being very vulnerable, but you know, in my life,
I'm I'm like, hey, why not. You know, I'm comfortable
(16:54):
with the uncomfortable, which is what I think Top Chef
gave me. Just putting myself out there and I can
fall flat on my face and okay, I would have
done it.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah right. I mean, you can't grow unless you're a
little bit out of your comfort zone. Right, the water's
a little too deep, and you know that's how you grow. Man,
good for you. I wish you a ton of luck
with that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I'll look out for that. That sounds very exciting. All right.
So let's talk a little bit about comfort food. Yeah,
because it plays such a big role in this episode.
What is your ultimate comfort meal just when you need
to feel good? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, so that was in New York. This is an easy,
easy answer. I like a big pot of beans, like mixedveins.
It doesn't matter what it could be, white beans, mixed
beans like a soup, greens like collar greens, kale, and
corn bread. That is my fisepta. That is the be
all and end all. I mean I could taste it
(17:50):
right now. I mean, and to have that like everything
is cluked and then you make the corn bread. It's
in a cast stern skillet. You cut that wedge out,
it's a crispy edges, and then you take salted butter,
not unsalted, and then you turn the cornbread on its
side so the wedge is exposed, and you put that
butter on it and it melts, and then you have
(18:10):
all these other like your beans, and maybe some chowchow
pickle or raw onions and the greens. And I am
in hog heaven, So.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Let me ask you this, what's the one dish that
takes you back to your childhood?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That corn bread? Literally the corn bread. My grandmother wouldn't
make it until we were on the inside of the door.
She knew we were coming at the church. She knew
it was thirty minutes, but she wouldn't The pan would
be the cast iron skillet would be in the oven,
but she wouldn't make it until we were there because
it would be coming out hot. And I knew once
(18:56):
she put that corn bread batter into that oil pan
and it starts curling up on the size to get chrispy,
that we were going to be eating in twenty minutes.
No matter how hungry I was, it was going to
be twenty minutes. And it was like the first bite
before anything, and so I think that's why that's my
comfort meal.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Beautiful. Yeah, tell us a little bit about sweet Heritage.
It's a magazine dives into culinary traditions. Your first issue
includes recipes tailored for different personality types. What inspired you
to bring this approach to recipe creation? Can you share
an example of how specific personalities influenced dishes?
Speaker 2 (19:33):
So we decided to do this magazine. So with me
and I have a very small core taine to four
of us, and I'm always asked my team, I don't
want us to rise up like me as a pyramid
with me on top. I want us all to rise
up like a box. And my assistant has always wanted
to do a magazine. I'm like, okay, let's do it.
And I said, let's do it around manifesting. And I
(19:54):
always want to do something that I feel people can
get something out of. And so it's like, well, finding manifesting,
finding your authentic self. And I'm really big into enneagrams.
Do you know aneagrams? Are you gonna take the test
after this, You're gonna listen back and take the test.
We're gonna find out what you are. Well, I am
a seven, which is the adventurer wing a very direct
(20:16):
and so there they are nine different types. And so
we did all of these recipes based on the different types,
Like if you are an adventurer, what you might wait make?
I have to look it up because I can't remember
the different types. I'm gonna look up cold please. And
in doing so, I had my whole team. Do I
(20:40):
have my whole team to do the test because I
want to know how you thrive and and in having
the language to help understand who you are, then maybe
you can compliment what my gifts are. So and that's
what this magazine is about. So right for instance, so
so the helper, which is type two, they're the help
(21:01):
or they're the giver. And so we did something very comforting,
which is the chicken pop pie, which feels like, you know,
it could have easily been chicken soup because if your
friends are sick, you're like, oh, let me make soup
for you. Let me just come and give you some comfort.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So the first issue is stout what can we expect
with the second issue of the magazine.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
The second issue is going to be about an adventure.
It's going to be about doing something that you've never
done before, put yourself out there, but also realizing that
you can have an adventure in your own city by
going to different restaurants and different cultures. You can do
an adventure by doing something new that you want it
to do. You can have your just go on a tour.
(21:44):
One of the things that I'm doing with my team,
we are doing a road trip to Nashville, and we're
stopping in different cities, so we'll document this whole thing.
We're stopping in diffferent cities. We're going to Bristol, Virginia,
We're going to be in West Virginia, and we'll we're
going to go on one of those rides where you're
on the train tracks and it's like paddle boats, but
(22:04):
it's on a train and you're like paddling along. So
we're planning all of these different things and we will
share it with you on the magazine. My husband is
taking a train trip from Kalamazoo to Burbank, California, and
so he's going to do a piece. But it's really
about getting out of your comfort zone and finding joy
in adventure.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
That's great, so great speaking of that, if you were
could share a meal with anyone from Gilmore Girls, who
would it be and what would you cook for them?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, I feel like we're talking about Lorelai. We're
talking about comfort food, and we're talking about something that
you want it to be easy, and it's something that
I think she would do. And it's always about surprising
somebody about something that they may want to cook and
surprising them that they could actually make it. So I
am going to say, and this is just coming to
(22:58):
me right now, I'm going to add some pimento cheese.
I'm going to have her do a burger because that's
my last meal and I want to share that with her.
But we're going to do it as a chicken burger
because we're in the South, instead of fried chicken, and
(23:19):
then pimento cheese, some pickles on that, a toasted bun,
and then we're gonna make some French fries and also
onion rings and a sweet tea soda.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
All right, staying with this theme, Yes, if you were
to come into Luke's Diner, what would you order and
where would you sit?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay, the first thing I'm going to order is the
hot chocolate because I love hot chocolate. I don't care
where I don't care what time of year. I love
hot chocolate. I want whipped cream on top. I want chocolate, shadies.
I may gill a bit overboard about what I want
in my hot chocolate. And I'm gonna sit in the
back by the window, okay. And the reason I shows
(24:06):
that seed is because I'd like to see people coming in.
I also like to see what's going on outside. I
also like to see people's faces as they the anticipation
of coming into a restaurant and what they're going to
have and their experience. So I like and then I
like to still watch them after when they order and
as they're eating. So it's a whole experience for me.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Interesting Carla Hall, ladies and gentlemen. Great talking to you,
great meeting you. Check her out at Carla Hall dot com.
Her magazine. Her virtual magazine is called Sweet Heritage. Second
issue is coming out or it's already out ye time
in July. That'll be out in July. Thank you so
(24:49):
much for your time, continued success, A joy talking to you,
and good luck with your one woman show. That sounds fantastic.
Go check chuck her out in Only Maryland at the
Only Theater is that what it's called yet the only theater.
When are you previewing this? And when's it gonna when's
(25:09):
it gonna hit? This?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Twenty six? It always feels like yesterday, but may have
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Go check her out. Carla Hall, ladies and gentlemen, thank
you so much, Carla, thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
This was fun.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, it was great. It was really great. Hey, everybody,
(25:51):
and also again, follow us on Instagram at I Am
all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio
dot com
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's just do Luke's Diner with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all and podcast one
of them productions iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcast another segment of
Luke's Diner. Joining us today is the one and only
Carla Hall. Let me tell you a little bit about
Carla here, a big celebrity chef. You know we're from
(00:43):
Top Chef the Chew Countless Food Adventures, where she brings
her signature energy and love of comfort food with a twist.
She's classically trained as a chef, champion of soulful cooking,
and an advocate for bringing people together through food. She
has just launched her very own virtual magazine, Sweet Heritage,
(01:05):
which you can find on her website at Carlahall dot com.
Without further ado, please welcome the one and only Carla Hall.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Carla Welcome, Thank you, Scott Gordon Tatterson.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
That is me, that is me. It's good to see you.
It's good to see you too. First of all, are
you familiar with Gilmore Girls?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I am familiar. I didn't watch. I've watched a couple
of episodes. Everyone, I've spoken to from my niece who
is thirty seven to my assistant's daughter who is twenty something.
Watched an avid Watchers like the entire series, like multiple times.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yes that's yes, that's how they consume it. Yes, it's incredible.
So in season one, episode sixteen, Starcross Lovers and Other Strangers,
Laura I lead character is all about quick and easy
comfort foods. You know, she's not much of a cook,
but she does like to throw together some fun meals.
In this episode, she turns to yes, Hamburger helper. Have
(02:17):
you ever used it yourself?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I use it. I grew I am sixty years old.
I grew up like I was there when it was
made and put on the shelves in the grocery store.
I feel like my mother's like, oh, RERAI jesus, here's
the hamberg that help me? So, yes, I've have eaten it.
I've put a version in my cookbooks. Yes, I'm very familiar.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And so how would you put a Carla Hall twist
on it to take it to the next level? What
would you do with it?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
So I think, first of all, you're not going to
use the box is like the difference between box macaroni
and cheese and homemade macaroni and cheese. So you start
with your ground beef, but it could be ground chick
these days, it could be a ground meat substitute. And
then you add your seasons. You have onions, you have garlic.
(03:08):
If you like it's spicy, you can add a little
bit of chili flakes. Then you're gonna add some tomatoes.
It could be tomatoes sauce, or it can be dice tomatoes,
and you cook all of that up. Then you add
some liquid. It can be water, it can be stock.
And then you're gonna add in your noodle. So your noodles,
your little elbow macaroni actually cooks in the liquid with
(03:29):
the meat, so everything is saucy and delicious, and so
you don't have this bland pasta floating in delicious meat.
Once that's all done and the elbows soak up that liquid,
they're nice and al dente ish. Then you stir in
your cheese. That's the like a sharp cheddar I would love,
(03:53):
and then you dish it up and then you can
put partially on top. You can put more cheese on top,
and that's it.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
What's your uncle, Well, you certainly answer that question. I
just had breakfast, but I think I want to go
eat some more. So also in the show, if you're
not familiar, we know about Rory and a lauralized obsession
with pop tarts. Oh my god, me too. Oh I
have to ask you about your butter tarts, which look amazing,
(04:22):
by the way, I have to get my hands on those.
Walk us through this recipe and what inspired this unique
creation for it's a snack, right.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, So my butter tarts are at a fresh fresh market,
the fresh market, and I love I love pop tarts,
I love pie. So this is a rustic tart. So
you just take a flat piece of dough. I love
cooked fruit. There are apples, there's cherry, and then there's
orchard fruit, which is a mix of apples and berries.
(04:54):
And the because my grandmother loves almonds, she put and
extract and everything. These tarts have a layer of marzipan
or an almond paste, which makes it so succulent and delicious.
And then there's real butter in the crust itself and
you just fold it there, fold it over. So it's
(05:15):
a snack. It can be a dessert, it can be breakfast.
If that's how you roll and they're so good, they're
not too sweet. I think there's something for everybody. Some
days I like the tarts. I like tart cherries, you know,
and some days I like the apple. This is very traditional.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Okay, you're Southern girl. Where are you from Nashville? Nashville?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, I thought you were in Tennessee. You were in
Tennessee at some point, I think last year. Yeah, I'm
from Nashville though.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, I went down Yeah, I was down there. I
was down there for a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So your Southern roots play a huge role in you're
cooking gobbage. Let's talk about some of your most famous recipes.
Feel free to add what you think is your most
famous recipe, but your your perfect buttermilk biscuits, four cheese,
mac and cheese. Yeah, chicken pot pie, Oh my.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Gosh, yes, chicken pot pie.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Sweet potato. It's our tean. Can you walk us through
your secrets to making these dishes so good?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I think, you know, a lot of people think about
Southern food just being overly sweet. Maybe it's overly fatty,
overly salted. I think there's a difference between celebration dishes
and every day dishes. You you happen to name a
lot of everyday dishes, and I think there's technique in
making them, like my biscuits. I used to make biscuits
with strangers in New York. I would walk up to
(06:42):
people and I would say, do you know how to
make a biscuit? And if they said now, I'm like,
can I come near your house and make biscuits with you?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Because that's the equivalent of being a.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Buster right right exactly the street. I love that, And
mainly it was because people would send me to place
because they knew when I was from the South, and
they send me to places that they said they have
great biscuits and they were terrible. And I'm like, you know,
either you need to know how to make a great
biscuit or you need to know how to recognize one
(07:11):
at a restaurant. And for me, a great biscuit is
sort of crunchy on the outside and really light and
fluffy on the inside, and when it cools down it
is not hard as a stone. And so there's their
techniques involved. And so I think a biscuit is a
blend between shortening, which keeps it soft after it cools down,
and butter and you grate the butter to make it flaky,
(07:33):
and then you don't use bleached flour. All the people
out there who love white lily, I love you for
loving white lily. I'm from the South. That's why they
do white lily. But I like a hard winter wheat
like King Garthur because it browns nicer and you get
that crunchy golden top and fluffy in the center.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
M in your opinion, do you have any recipes or
dishes that are perfect?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yes, I think so I would be. I mean, this
is not a humble brag, but if I don't think
my food is good, then I shouldn't be cooking them, right.
I had. I had a fried chicken restaurant, Pearl Hul
Soul Cookion for for a very short time, Curlhule Soul Food,
(08:17):
and it was a love letter to Nashville. And so
I did hot chicken and I didn't make fried chicken
for the longest time. And once I started to perfect
my fried chicken, it really was one of the best.
It was succulent, it was juicy, it was tangy. And
the secret I'm going to share this. The secret is
not the buttermilk where you add some liquid in and
(08:39):
then it gets the skin gets all flabby, and it
creates this pocket of air and moisture. But to use
all dry spices, so dried vinegar powders. If you want
to do buttermilk, do a buttermilk powder, and you put
that everything into the flour and you press it in
there and then let it sit for only a few minutes.
But vinegar powder creates this tagginess into the flower. It
(09:00):
goes and then into the fryer. So the skin stays
on the chicken and it and it is really hunchy
and delicious and a little bit tangy. Right right, I
just want you to about It was my job to
make you hungry. That's what I do.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Kill You're killing me right now. Man. I've already gained
ten pounds and I'm still on the couch because I cook.
And I'm gonna I'll listen back to all this stuff
and I'll use some of these techniques.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I love.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I love all those. I'm gonna try that dry vinegar
powder because I cannot, for the life of me, you know,
get that that that sort of u chicken skin to
do what I want it to do.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It's because you see these recipes and it's like, go
into the buttermilk season it, put flour on it, go
back in the refrigerator, let it get cold, come back out,
put more uh flower on it, and then you're just
creating I mean, it's going to be crispy, and it's
just creating this sort of wet pocket. But also that
you can also add corn starch to your flour mixture.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That gets it christy, Okay, any techniques that still challenge
you in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, the other day, what was I'm making and I
get obsessed over something. I'm working on a baking book
that comes out next year, and I did not get
on the craze of making sour dough with everybody else
during the pandemic, and so making bread for me was
I mean, I've made rolls. I make a lot of rolls,
(10:47):
but making bread and like bulls of bread is still
a challenge. And I'm afraid of yeast. I don't trust
when they say throw everything in the flour with the yeast,
the salt, the sugar and it's going to come out,
because I'm afraid that my bread isn't going to rise.
So that is still a challenge for me in doing
(11:08):
this book. I feel like I might look y'all, I'm
the chef doing bread and the home cook. So come
on this journey with me. I don't know everything, but
I'm willing to figure it out and we can figure
it out together.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Mm hmm. Okay, let me ask you this. You're a
big deal celebrity chef. Okay, TV chef. What's the thing
that you never expected?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Let me count the bays. I did Top Chef. A
lot of people don't know. I love when people come
to me, Oh, I saw you from the beginning, and
I'm like, well was the beginning when I did Top
Chef because I was forty four years old. Nobody pops
out of the womb at forty four years old, so
I was older, you know when I did Top Chef,
(11:52):
and I mean I was physically fit, so I think
people thought I was younger running around with those young people.
So when I did it as a personal challenge, when
I left, and I think being older, I was okay
with being myself, so I think people gravitated towards that
and the authenticity. So the first time that I was
(12:14):
recognized and I had on a hang up, I had
on a staff around my face and just my glass
is poking out and somebody says Carla, and I'm like
wait what, Like I'm not even trying to hide, but
it was just a cold day. And I think the
the being recognized and having people come up to me
is a really big surprise because I'm just like normal,
(12:35):
you know, just a person. And when I'm on the subway,
they're like you take the subway in New York. I'm like, yep,
It's the most efficient way of travel. So everything that
has come out of that franchise of Top Chef and
doing the show twice has really been a surprise. And
then I've just turned it into a business, Like what
am I going to do with this platform? What do
I do with it? How can I make people's lives better?
(12:58):
You know? So it's it's all been a surprise.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
You have a favorite person that you cook with, whether
it's in your kitchen on TV.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You know who I love cooking with and I love
his food. Michael Simon And I was with him on
the two and he's from Cleveland, and you eat Michael's
food and you're like, this man loves his mama. I
mean it is like this food that is so delicious,
(13:26):
and so it's just not precious. And he's such a
technically gifted chef that I love cooking with him, and
I'm always learning something.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You've had. What I'm seeing here a very fascinating career path,
haven't you? Accounting, modeling, now a world renowned chef. Did
you ever imagine that you'd be where you are today?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And let me tell you. My first love was theater.
I wanted to be Carol Burnette. I wanted to be
the black Carol Burnette at twelve, that right, yes. And
I wanted to go to Boston University. I didn't they
were going to defer my admission. So I was like, Okay,
(14:15):
forget this. I'm just going to go to Howard University. Okay,
I like my accounting teacher. I'll major in accounting. Okay,
I'm doing this. Okay, I'll work at a like a
Big eight accounting firm. Okay, I'm doing that. Okay, I'll
take the CPA exam. Okay I passed that. Okay, I
hate it. Okay, let me go to Motherling and then
I'm like, I'm over there modeling in Paris. I'm like, okay,
all the girls are getting together. And clicking in somebody's house.
(14:37):
I don't know how to do that. I hate not knowing. Okay,
let me go to the bookstore and let me learn
how to cook. And then I started a lunch delivery service,
and then I went to culinary school at thirty and
then things just kept rolling right. And then I know
that was a very quick answer to you.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I mean that's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And then when I turned fifty seven, I said, what
about the theater? I mean, really, everything that I've done
is performing. And so I decided upon my sixtieth birthday,
which was last year, that I wanted to do a
one woman show. And so, because that's the only thing
that I haven't picked up, like as it begins, it's
how it ends. I'm like, that's how I want my
(15:14):
life to end. And I and I and so I'm
working on a one woman show.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
It's really tell us about.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
It is about my life. The framework is me at
a clicking show. I don't say the shoe, but it's
at the chew and all the challenges that I had.
And then there are a lot of flashbacks going back
to when I was in theater camp and wanting to
be the black Carol Burnett and then like this back
and forth, like not wanting to accept food in my life,
(15:42):
you know, going Gray on national television at fifty and
so all of these different things. It's it has a
lot of audience participation there, like mixed media. There are
videos there. I bring people up to sort of be
on stage with me, and it's about nine minutes of
just me interacting with the audience and telling my story.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And how far along are you in this process? Is
it is?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
It?
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Is it written?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's written? It's written, I mean, so there are still
things to sort of tweak it. I did a workshop
at Olney Theater in September and we're looking at directors.
It is going to be at the Only Theater, which
is a premiere regional theater in Maryland, in May of
(16:29):
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh boys, and I'm going to do it.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Yeah, And that's at a small like black box theater
for four to five weeks for about two hundred. The
audience is about two hundred seats. And yeah, I'm excited.
I mean, it's pure, pure, It's so putting myself out
there being very vulnerable, but you know, in my life,
I'm I'm like, hey, why not. You know, I'm comfortable
(16:54):
with the uncomfortable, which is what I think Top Chef
gave me. Just putting myself out there and I can
fall flat on my face and okay, I would have
done it.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah right. I mean, you can't grow unless you're a
little bit out of your comfort zone. Right, the water's
a little too deep, and you know that's how you grow. Man,
good for you. I wish you a ton of luck
with that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I'll look out for that. That sounds very exciting. All right.
So let's talk a little bit about comfort food. Yeah,
because it plays such a big role in this episode.
What is your ultimate comfort meal just when you need
to feel good? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, so that was in New York. This is an easy,
easy answer. I like a big pot of beans, like mixedveins.
It doesn't matter what it could be, white beans, mixed
beans like a soup, greens like collar greens, kale, and
corn bread. That is my fisepta. That is the be
all and end all. I mean I could taste it
(17:50):
right now. I mean, and to have that like everything
is cluked and then you make the corn bread. It's
in a cast stern skillet. You cut that wedge out,
it's a crispy edges, and then you take salted butter,
not unsalted, and then you turn the cornbread on its
side so the wedge is exposed, and you put that
butter on it and it melts, and then you have
(18:10):
all these other like your beans, and maybe some chowchow
pickle or raw onions and the greens. And I am
in hog heaven, So.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Let me ask you this, what's the one dish that
takes you back to your childhood?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That corn bread? Literally the corn bread. My grandmother wouldn't
make it until we were on the inside of the door.
She knew we were coming at the church. She knew
it was thirty minutes, but she wouldn't The pan would
be the cast iron skillet would be in the oven,
but she wouldn't make it until we were there because
it would be coming out hot. And I knew once
(18:56):
she put that corn bread batter into that oil pan
and it starts curling up on the size to get chrispy,
that we were going to be eating in twenty minutes.
No matter how hungry I was, it was going to
be twenty minutes. And it was like the first bite
before anything, and so I think that's why that's my
comfort meal.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Beautiful. Yeah, tell us a little bit about sweet Heritage.
It's a magazine dives into culinary traditions. Your first issue
includes recipes tailored for different personality types. What inspired you
to bring this approach to recipe creation? Can you share
an example of how specific personalities influenced dishes?
Speaker 2 (19:33):
So we decided to do this magazine. So with me
and I have a very small core taine to four
of us, and I'm always asked my team, I don't
want us to rise up like me as a pyramid
with me on top. I want us all to rise
up like a box. And my assistant has always wanted
to do a magazine. I'm like, okay, let's do it.
And I said, let's do it around manifesting. And I
(19:54):
always want to do something that I feel people can
get something out of. And so it's like, well, finding manifesting,
finding your authentic self. And I'm really big into enneagrams.
Do you know aneagrams? Are you gonna take the test
after this, You're gonna listen back and take the test.
We're gonna find out what you are. Well, I am
a seven, which is the adventurer wing a very direct
(20:16):
and so there they are nine different types. And so
we did all of these recipes based on the different types,
Like if you are an adventurer, what you might wait make?
I have to look it up because I can't remember
the different types. I'm gonna look up cold please. And
in doing so, I had my whole team. Do I
(20:40):
have my whole team to do the test because I
want to know how you thrive and and in having
the language to help understand who you are, then maybe
you can compliment what my gifts are. So and that's
what this magazine is about. So right for instance, so
so the helper, which is type two, they're the help
(21:01):
or they're the giver. And so we did something very comforting,
which is the chicken pop pie, which feels like, you know,
it could have easily been chicken soup because if your
friends are sick, you're like, oh, let me make soup
for you. Let me just come and give you some comfort.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So the first issue is stout what can we expect
with the second issue of the magazine.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
The second issue is going to be about an adventure.
It's going to be about doing something that you've never
done before, put yourself out there, but also realizing that
you can have an adventure in your own city by
going to different restaurants and different cultures. You can do
an adventure by doing something new that you want it
to do. You can have your just go on a tour.
(21:44):
One of the things that I'm doing with my team,
we are doing a road trip to Nashville, and we're
stopping in different cities, so we'll document this whole thing.
We're stopping in diffferent cities. We're going to Bristol, Virginia,
We're going to be in West Virginia, and we'll we're
going to go on one of those rides where you're
on the train tracks and it's like paddle boats, but
(22:04):
it's on a train and you're like paddling along. So
we're planning all of these different things and we will
share it with you on the magazine. My husband is
taking a train trip from Kalamazoo to Burbank, California, and
so he's going to do a piece. But it's really
about getting out of your comfort zone and finding joy
in adventure.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
That's great, so great speaking of that, if you were
could share a meal with anyone from Gilmore Girls, who
would it be and what would you cook for them?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
I mean, I feel like we're talking about Lorelai. We're
talking about comfort food, and we're talking about something that
you want it to be easy, and it's something that
I think she would do. And it's always about surprising
somebody about something that they may want to cook and
surprising them that they could actually make it. So I
am going to say, and this is just coming to
(22:58):
me right now, I'm going to add some pimento cheese.
I'm going to have her do a burger because that's
my last meal and I want to share that with her.
But we're going to do it as a chicken burger
because we're in the South, instead of fried chicken, and
(23:19):
then pimento cheese, some pickles on that, a toasted bun,
and then we're gonna make some French fries and also
onion rings and a sweet tea soda.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
All right, staying with this theme, Yes, if you were
to come into Luke's Diner, what would you order and
where would you sit?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay, the first thing I'm going to order is the
hot chocolate because I love hot chocolate. I don't care
where I don't care what time of year. I love
hot chocolate. I want whipped cream on top. I want chocolate, shadies.
I may gill a bit overboard about what I want
in my hot chocolate. And I'm gonna sit in the
back by the window, okay. And the reason I shows
(24:06):
that seed is because I'd like to see people coming in.
I also like to see what's going on outside. I
also like to see people's faces as they the anticipation
of coming into a restaurant and what they're going to
have and their experience. So I like and then I
like to still watch them after when they order and
as they're eating. So it's a whole experience for me.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Interesting Carla Hall, ladies and gentlemen. Great talking to you,
great meeting you. Check her out at Carla Hall dot com.
Her magazine. Her virtual magazine is called Sweet Heritage. Second
issue is coming out or it's already out ye time
in July. That'll be out in July. Thank you so
(24:49):
much for your time, continued success, A joy talking to you,
and good luck with your one woman show. That sounds fantastic.
Go check chuck her out in Only Maryland at the
Only Theater is that what it's called yet the only theater.
When are you previewing this? And when's it gonna when's
(25:09):
it gonna hit? This?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Twenty six? It always feels like yesterday, but may have
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Go check her out. Carla Hall, ladies and gentlemen, thank
you so much, Carla, thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
This was fun.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, it was great. It was really great. Hey, everybody,
(25:51):
and also again, follow us on Instagram at I Am
all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio
dot com
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