Wisconsin Foodie

Meet a young entrepreneurial couple that makes small batch preserves, Quince and Apple. Explore their newest recipe, Tart Cherry and White Tea, and follow the cherries back to Seaquist Orchard to meet farmer and owner Dale Seaquist. Finally, take a trip to the heart of cherry country for the annual Door County Cherry Fest.

Meet three up and coming Wisconsin culinary stars that collaborate on a special dinner: Brewer George Bregar, Chef Tory Miller of L’Etoile and Chef Justin Aprahamian, owner of Sanford Restaurant.

First we visit the Ditter family at their 4th generation dairy farm, Smilaire Family Farms in Plymouth, WI. We then follow a shipment of their milk to the Sartori Cheese company where they are making their award winning cheeses, SarVecchio Parmesan and Bellavitano. Take a tour of the process with Master Cheesemaker Mike Matucheski and meet Owner Jim Sartori.

In this episode of Wisconsin Foodie we profile Breadmaker Shawn Rediske of Water House Foods and Miller Gilbert Williams of Lonesome Stone Milling. We follow native Wisconsin heritage wheat from the field through the milling process at Lonesome Stone Milling and then baked into a delicious loaf of local love at Water House Bistro!

Travel to Madison, WI to visit The Underground Food Collective's newest ventures. Forequarter is a restaurant that prides itself on inventive American cuisine utilizing local ingredients and products. Then, visit Underground Butcher and get a behind the scenes look at the lost art of whole animal butchery while getting a lesson on everything from sourcing local meats to butchering philosophy.

Meet Chef Karen Bell, Owner of Bavette Le Boucherie in Milwaukee, WI and get her philosophy on the old world style of new school butchery. Follow Karen to Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville, WI to meet Cheesemaker Andy Hatch. Andy tours us through his facility and farm introducing us to his whey fed pigs. Finally, catch up weeks later for an event at Bavette that will celebrate Andy’s pigs and cheese.

We start off by visiting Wienkes Market in Door County, WI. There, the Wienke family gives us a tour of their farm and market, as well as a demo of their pickling process. Next, travel to Reedsburg, WI to visit the annual fermentation fest. Donna Neuwirth, Fermentation Fest organizer, takes us on the 50 mile loop tour of art and food that is Fermentation Fest.

Travel to Mineral Point, WI to visit with one of Wisconsin's true cheesemaking treasures, Tony Hook of Hook's Cheese Company. Hook's is known for their variety of high quality specialty cheeses, with one of our favorites being the 15 year old aged cheddar. Take a tour of their cheesemaking facility and get a little insight on aging cheddars, making blue's and most importantly, the curd.

Meet Lorin Toepper, creator of the WI Grilled Cheese Championship in Mineral Point. The state's very best grilled cheese chefs compete to win the annual title of best grilled cheese in the state, take home a trophy and a WI shaped cast iron pan. Then travel to Madison to meet Alisa Toninato of FeLion Studios for a first hand look at how she creates cast iron pans in the shape of Wisconsin.

Explore some of the less traditional aspects of Milwaukee's Beer and Sausage traditional past. First, visit Glorious Malone's Fine Sausage and get a behind the scenes look at the process of making Headcheese with Daphne Jones. Then head to Cathedral Square in Milwaukee for the annual Firkin Beer Fest and some insight into what a Firkin is.

Visit the annual WMSE Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser in Milwaukee, WI. Each year, the independent college radio station holds a massive chili competition between local restaurants as a fundraiser. Follow Fire Lieutenant Schuyler Belott as he prepares his special batch of chili for the competition. Then follow 6-time Veggie chili winner Riverwest co-op as they prepare their Bloody Bean chili.

Join us as we head out to the fields to hunt for lunch. Travel to Johnson Creek, WI and visit Millford Hills to hunt Pheasant. Hunting with expert Keith Warnke, we discuss hunting as original local food and paying homage to the land. We wrap up the day by dining on pheasant prepared by chef Jason Zellner of Millford Hills.

Visit the Ishnala Supper Club in Wisconsin Dells and meet author and filmmaker Ron Faiola. Learn some of the history behind Wisconsin Supper Clubs and experience the ultimate summer supper club feast. Then travel to Praire Du Sac, WI with Ira Koplowitz of Bitterbube to visit Wollersheim WInery and talk to Winemaker Philippe Coquard about their recent venture into the world of distillation.

In this episode, Kyle Cherek and Jessica Bell explore the fine culinary delicacies of the Wisconsin State Fair. From maple-glazed pork belly wrapped in bacon to the iconic cream puff, explore all the fair has to offer.

Kyle visits the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, touring the grounds and sitting down to a white-linen dinner prepared by Tyler Sailsbery of the Black Sheep. This episode also profiles Dan O’Leary, who has been caring for the bees of Michael Fields for 15 years.

Kyle and Jessica travel to Door County to feature two successful food families making their mark in the region. At the Wild Tomato, Kyle tries his hand at making wood-fired pizza. In the second segment, Kyle and Jessica meet Bob and Yannique Purman, owners of Island Orchard Cider.

In this episode we celebrate cheddar! Gordon Edgar, famous Californian cheesemonger by day and cheese writer by night, has come to Wis. with his new book “Cheddar” and tours some of his favorite cheddar makers, Henning's and Widmer's. Kyle travels to L’Etoile in Madison where chefs Tory Miller, Justin Aprahamian and Justin Carlisle each prepare a course using a different aged cheddar

In this episode, the crew visits the Driftless area, home to one of the best food scenes in the Midwest. At Driftless Organics, meet the young farmers responsible for one of the most influential organic farms in the state. In the second segment, meet Dani Lind, owner of the Rooted Spoon pop­up.

In this episode, spend the day in New Glarus with Deb and Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewery for Oktoberfest. Jessica Bell meets up with Deb and Dan at their home as they prepare for Oktoberfest, lederhosen and all. In the second segment, meet an upstart brewer with big plans of his own.

In this episode, Kyle visits Stoney Acres Farm to meet a young family that has decided to stay on the family farm but try something totally different: a pizza farm. To compliment their CSA program, every Friday night in season the family opens their farm to the public. From the crust to the veggies, everything comes from the farm.

In this episode, visit a festival that beats all festivals (for cheese): Cheesetopia. Cheesetopia is an event that showcases the best of the best in Midwest cheeses. Kyle meets some of our favorite Wisconsin cheese makers and tries some award-winning cheese. At the event Kyle meets one cheese maker in particular, Katie Furman of LaClare farms.

In this episode, travel to Spain with sisters Chef Karen Bell and Jessica Bell. Spain was very influential in the sisters’ culinary lives, who both lived and worked in the country before settling in their hometown of Milwaukee. Tour from Madrid to San Sebastian, and try to eat and drink everything in between.

In this episode, explore native cuisine from festival favorites like fry bread to the more traditional and historical like wild rice. In the first segment, Kyle stops by the Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee to meet local characters and try some delicious native staples. In the second segment, travel to a reservation to profile Greg Johnson of the Ojibwe tribe and learn how to harvest wild rice.

Kyle travels to a small dairy farm in Chaseburg to meet the Gretebeck family, whose farm produces milk that goes to Organic Valley for grass-fed milk and butter. Kyle follows the family’s milk from their farm to a nearby butter plant and watches their grass-fed milk become butter. He then returns to the farm with some new butter to enjoy.

In this episode, we visit the UWM School for Fresh Water Science in Milwaukee and hear what they are doing to help fish farmers breed a more healthy and sustainable perch. Then we travel to Fond Du Lac to visit an icon in the fish fry biz, Linda Wendt, owner of Wendt's on the Lake. We go behind the scenes to see what makes their lake perch fish fry so special.

Bay View has always been thought of as a working class neighborhood with mom and pop restaurants, ethnic eateries and delis. Today, a group of young chefs and restaurateurs want not only to preserve that tradition but elevated it to a whole other level. In this episode we feature a small sample of restaurants leading the charge, Odd Duck, The Vanguard and Goodkind.