Announcer: The following program was produced in the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross, WPSU Production Studio, in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Food, a basic necessity.

We all need nutrients to survive, and thrive.

Whether your meals come from the field, the fridge, the treasured family recipe, or the takeout menu, something special happens when we come together, and share a meal and a common bond.

Culinary Connections is where we celebrate the people, and places, the use food to connect with the world around them.

Today, we'll introduce you to Kristin Rigby-DeBoer and Bill DeBoer, from Brown Dog Catering.

Their restaurant, coffee shop, and catering business is a culinary delight in the heart of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.

Bill DeBoer from the Kitchen at Brown Dog, welcome to the Culinary Connections kitchen.

Later, they'll show you how to make their take on an upscale comfort food, tuna noodle casserole.

I'm Tamra Fatemi-Badi, and welcome to Culinary Connections.

Announcer: Support for Culinary Connections is provided in part by Bobby Rahal Honda of State College, Tom and Sarah Songer of the Torron Group in State College, a proud supporter of programming on WPSU.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: More information at TorronGroup.com, Announcer: and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Bill DeBoer: Approachable elegance is sort of like our mission statement.

I like to put that forward because I want people to think that to get something really nice, it doesn't have to be super expensive, and it doesn't have to be [OVERLAPPING].

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: You don't need to be afraid of it.

Bill DeBoer: Right.

It doesn't have to be a black and white butlered everything.

It can- it can be a really [inaudible] board that- that looks great, but it's still easy to walk up to and- and eat.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: And you don't have to be scared by elegance.

Bill DeBoer: Yeah.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Anybody can have it.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Brown Dog Catering located in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, has been creating an atmosphere of approachable elegance for more than 10 years.

Kristin and Bill have been partners in the business since 2017, and partners in life since the late '90s.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: We met in college at a branch campus of Penn State, the campus on DuBois.

We had some classes together.

Bill DeBoer: She couldn't stop staring at me.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Oh Lord, he loves that [LAUGHTER].

And we've been together ever since, 33 years we've been together, and married for 25 this year.

Bill DeBoer: The first time she cooked dinner for me, it was- the chicken was raw.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Oh, that's true.

That's true.

I wasn't a cook then.

I was a dishwasher then.

The dishes were spotless.

[LAUGHTER] Bill DeBoer: Yeah, it was cute though.

[LAUGHTER] Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Well, Bill's mom was a chef.

So he'd been around it his whole life.

And so when he got a job in college, it was naturally in the food industry.

So in college, I worked in restaurants, mostly as a dishwasher, um, just to have beer money really, and pay the rent.

And I was a dishwasher at a restaurant near campus.

The chef they sort of took me under his wing, and taught me the basics.

I figured out that I'm pretty good at it, and I like it, and it's something I could see myself doing as a career.

Bill DeBoer: When I was 38 years old, I had a bit of a mental breakdown, [LAUGHTER] and I decided I should join the army, and I didn't stick, I didn't stay there very long.

But when I was there in boot camp, I was constantly thinking about three things.

I thought about Kristin, my dog, and the amount of food that they would put out every day.

And it was not bad, like considering the fact that you were feeding thousands of people, it was pretty darn good, and it just- it got me thinking constantly, like, how would I do that?

What would I do?

How would I go about that?

And it made me have the connection that I was like this is- this is what I should be doing, um, because pretty m- it's what I've done my whole life, but I've run from it.

I didn't wanna do it because I watched my mom do this, and I watched her struggle with five kids, and it was really hard.

So I was like, this is not for me.

This isn't what I want to do, but at that moment, that's when I gave up and said this is what- this is what I should be doing.

And when I came back, things started to click because I accepted my path, and that was the right thing for me.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Set a 10 minutes timer.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Kristin and Bill's path included opening a restaurant.

And in 2019, they started working toward that dream.

Then came 2020, the pandemic took away most of their business, and their dog Jude, the namesake of their company had passed away, just when they thought the year couldn't get any worse.

Bill DeBoer: So we had a five year plan to get the place to where we are right now, but in 2020- 2020 happened, and then we had a fire here as well, and that fire pushed our plan.

It was a gift.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: It was a gift.

And every time you think that, or you say that, you feel guilty about it, right?

But it was.

But the day of the fire, it didn't feel like that, and we sat- Bill DeBoer: Not at all, no.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Sat across the street and just went, what do we do now?

Like.

Bill DeBoer: But high in sight, it was- I mean, it was 2020.

So COVID took all of our business away, and I don't think we would've survived COVID without it, because we didn't have to worry about anything the-the money was coming in from the insurance.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: You know, we were able to thankfully pay some of our staff to actually do demo here, which [LAUGHTER].

Bill DeBoer: So yeah, I mean, you don't want anything like that to ever happen.

But if it's gonna happen, it happened at exactly the right time.

The day of the fire, the lot across the street filled up with people, and it was surreal because you're not supposed to be touching anyone, but everybody in this town was hugging us, like telling us it's gonna be okay.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: It was humbling.

I mean, like that day you're in shock, right?

And we- it took a few days to set in just how, you know, how caring everybody was being with us, and it was, you know, that day it didn't really sink in, but it was, uh, pretty spectacular.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: When the restoration was completed, Kristin and Bill we're back in business, three businesses actually.

After they got Brown Dog Catering backup to speed, they opened The Kitchen Restaurant and something Philipsburg was lacking, a coffee shop.

[BACKGROUND] Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Coffee shop came about because we- um, we don't have one in Philipsburg.

And the restaurant is just because I always wanted a restaurant.

So we have a restaurant.

Those two allow us to do whatever we want because Bill's trained in pastry, he gets to do pastries for the coffee shop, and I get to do whatever the heck I feel like it in the restaurant, right?

Because it's not dependent upon it to pay the bills because the catering does.

Bill DeBoer: There was a sense of welcoming since the time we bought the building, like we've just- we have felt welcome and wanted, and really, really wanted, just like- not like we were just another business that was opening in town that was going to put taxes into town, like we feel like we're part of the town because we opened their doors.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: And as far as the restaurant goes, we changed the menu pretty frequently because I get bored of making the same thing six months straight.

You know, after two weeks, I'm tired of it.

I want to try something else.

We both like food, obviously.

[LAUGHTER] We like to eat.

So- and we- like, we're adventurous.

So if we have something that we like, I always want to try and recreate that.

It's about keeping ourselves fresh, and engaged, and constant changes, just what I need, I know.

Bill DeBoer: The restaurant and the coffee shop, we want them to do well obviously, right?

But the catering carries the day.

The catering is our bread and butter.

Um, so we're allowed to be a little bit more relaxed with the coffee shop, and with the restaurant, and we're allowed to give it a little bit more of a- of this is like our home.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: And there are several items in the restaurant from their childhood homes as well.

Bill DeBoer: So my mom was a chef and she is very big influence in this place and who we are.

And this painting was hers, and it lived in our house forever and it was always in our living room, and when she passed away, it belonged with us.

The salt and pepper shakers come from my mom.

Uh, she collected them.

She didn't have a whole ton of them, but she had- she had a few.

Uh, so it's sort of a nod to her that every table has a different salt and pepper shaker on it.

They're all just a little different.

I don't know that she would have loved the dinosaurs.

[LAUGHTER] Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: I think she would see the humor in it though.

Bill DeBoer: I think she'd see the humor, yeah.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: I think our- both of our moms' influence is- is very prevalent in not only in our restaurant, in the little touches here and there, but also in our careers as a whole, you know, in different ways, right?

Bill's mom being a Chef, mine not- mine being not very good cook.

Um, our moms drove us down this path and- and, uh, we're thankful for that.

Yeah.

Bill DeBoer: It sucks that it's- it's been five years that she's gone and I still- I was the only boy.

So we're similar in that our mothers were single mothers and five kids.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: His mom would be probably our biggest supporter if she were still here because she would be so proud of him.

Bill DeBoer: We wouldn't be able to get rid of her.

[LAUGHTER] Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

She'd be here all the time.

She would be here, be in our- Bill DeBoer: She would be living upstairs.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

She just be our biggest champion because, you know, it's her baby boy.

We have our own restaurant, and it's a- and it's a restaurant, you know and she was a chef.

So she would be happy and proud on a bunch of different levels.

Bill DeBoer: I never dreamed of this.

I never envisioned this.

This was never- I never ever thought that I'd have my own business, or that I would add my own brick-and-mortar or, that we would have our own restaurant.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: And also, people in food industry are people pleasers.

We want to know that you're happy, right?

And this is how we get bring you happiness.

Bill DeBoer: Even after doing this for what?

Thirteen years now for ourselves, it is still humbling, exciting, wonderful to hear people say, "I had your food at a wedding, you know, six years ago, and it was the best wedding food we ever had."

It's a pretty great feeling to know that you've mattered that much to those people, and you've- you're gonna be part of their lives forever.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Bill DeBoer from the kitchen at brown dog.

Welcome to the Culinary Connections kitchen.

Um, In your story, you mentioned approachable elegance as one of the things you incorporate at the restaurant.

Can you tell us a little bit more about what that means?

Bill DeBoer: Yeah, it's, um- it's our philosophy on how we take everyday foods and we try to make them a little bit more interesting to make your event a little bit more special.

We take, like- if you want a backyard barbecue and we'll do something like a red wine and blue burger, right?

For the 4th of July.

That's blue cheese and cranberry butter with- on a white button.

It's red, white, and blue.

It's a little bit dressed up.

It's a little interesting.

It's not just a regular burger.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: And what would you do with a- say a tuna noodle casserole?

Bill DeBoer: Well, that's where Kristin comes in.

[LAUGHTER] She's doing not your momma's tuna casserole today.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So you brought someone really special with you today?

Bill DeBoer: Yes.

[LAUGHTER] The boss.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: So the first thing is to, um, cook the noodles, which we use Popper Delhi noodles.

Um, because they're, you know, a little bit stepped up from just plain old egg noodles.

And, um- and then we've got all the vegetables we're going to make a sauce out of them, and sarowe tuna steak to go on top.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So it's not your mom's canned tuna?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Right.

Exactly, Yeah.

Um, so next we're going to do the sauce.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So are these recipes, things that you create on your own?

Is it something that's from the family or is it all new?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: It's- this is something that I created, um, to- for a restaurant menu years ago that, um, we were doing a Pennsylvania sort of menu.

So this is one thing that my mom cooked a lot for dinner.

Um, so I wanted to kind of take it and elevate a little bit and sort of bring it forward a few decades [LAUGHTER].

So into- I'm going to just start the saucer.

I do have oil on there.

Just going to start the sauce with a little mirepoix.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Can you explain the mirepoix?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Mirepoix is diced celery, onions and carrots.

Um, and then some mushrooms because it's always made with cream of mushroom soup.

So that's what this is going to be as a cream of mushroom soup, but it's actually a sauce.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: As you're- as you're making the sauce.

One of the things that you mentioned in your story was shuffling it up.

So what is shuffling it up mean to you?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Uh, it's kind of- what I was just talking about with this that, you know, we're taking it- taking a dish that everybody is familiar with and then sort of putting a chef spin on it, bringing it forward, um.

Bill DeBoer: With more modern ingredients.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Modern ingredients right.

Bill DeBoer: That's pappardelle noodles and tuna steak.

And normally we would use like wild mushrooms in here too.

Just a little bit more modern ingredients.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

I went to the store last night and specifically bought everything for this dish at the store to show that, you know, everything that goes into this, you can buy it at the regular grocery store.

Um, so I just got regular domestic button mushrooms for the sauce.

[NOISE].

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Is this one of the, um, more popular items at the restaurant?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: This is usually a pretty good seller whenever we put it on the menu.

Um, we change our menu every couple of months, um, just to keep us interested and our customers.

Um, so it's been on our menu a couple of times now I think.

And it's a pretty- pretty good seller [NOISE].

So, uh, I just have a little bit of vegetable stock here.

[NOISE] Tamra Fatemi-Badi: I love the sizzle.

Speaking of sizzle, um, does- you sear the tuna you said, right?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Okay.

So.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Get that pen going here in a minute.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: It's on.

Hopefully it will- it's warming up.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Okay, great.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: And then, uh, a little bit of roux in there just to thicken that up.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: And roux is basically butter and flower, right?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Right, melted butter and then you add flour to it until there's no more liquid evident.

Bill DeBoer: And they'll start to smell a little bit nutty.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Bill DeBoer: You put it in your boiling stock and that'll help pull your sauce together and make it nice and thick for you.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So we're making a shift up mushroom soup.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah, exactly.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: All right.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: And then heavy cream.

Then we'll just let that reduce and thicken.

Bill DeBoer: Keeps doing that while you work on the peace.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Okay.

So we're going to add some snow peas into this?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah, the snow peas are gonna go in last because they cook really quickly.

Uh, so basically you just want to take the- the thread off of the snow peas, right?

You pick off one end and pull it down the length.

And then we're just going to slice those up.

And those will go in the sauce last.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: I think you mentioned it also in your earlier story, but you like to try to use as much local produce or vegetables as you can get, correct?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Absolutely.

Yeah- yeah it's- I think it's- you can tell a difference in the taste if you're using something that's grown locally as opposed to something that was grown in, you know, California or Florida or wherever.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: I never thought about doing that with snow peas the way you kind of I don't know what you call that Julian or whatever.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah- Yeah, that was a Juliane on a bias.

[LAUGHTER] Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Yeah.

Beautiful.

It's going to give it the flavor, but it's not, you know, taking over the whole soup.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah, I mean, because tuna noodle casserole always has p's in it.

Usually people use canned peas.

I don't like peas, but I love snow peas, sugar snap peas.

And- fresh ones I love.

But, um.

Bill DeBoer: Do you want that any thicker chef?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah, a little bit thicker.

Bill DeBoer: That's more real?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

We can get you some more cheese too.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: It seems like you- you work really well together.

[LAUGHTER].

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: We kind of have to.

Don't we?

[LAUGHTER].

Bill DeBoer: We spend all of our time together.

So if we don't.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: It's uncomfortable for our employees if we don't get along.

[LAUGHTER] All right.

That pan should be getting hot now for that.

Um, so always bring your meats to temperature in the air- in- in your kitchen, uh, it brings out the flavor in them, right?

And then season them with salt and pepper.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So you're saying room temperature?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Right.

Just let them sit out on the counter for, you know, 5-10 minutes before you cook them.

Um, it helps bring out the flavor in the meat and, uh, helps them cook a little quicker too.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: That is a beautiful piece of tuna.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Right?

And again, I just bought this at the grocery store, so- [NOISE] Bill DeBoer: The tuna goes quick.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

[NOISE] How does that look?

Bill DeBoer: Yes.

I turned it off.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yes.

Bill DeBoer: Yes.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Good.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: It's really starting to smell amazing.

I [LAUGHTER] wish people could be there- be here to smell this.

[NOISE] Bill DeBoer: One day smell ovation will be here.

[LAUGHTER] Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Yes.

The next step.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Sorry.

Let me leave that one in for a minute.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: So you really did just sear the- the outside of the both- both sides.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Sear the outside a little bit.

Cook it rare and then it's just absolutely- and then when you slice it, you want to slice against the grain.

So the grain on this one is going that way.

So I'm slicing it this way.

It helps to hold the- the slices together.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: It's gorgeous color.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yes.

Bill DeBoer: We've also played with this where we've taken it and done a blackening seasoning on top of it too, um, on the tuna.

Gives it a little different flavor, makes it a little bit more spicy.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

Notice it?

A little bit of shredded Asiago on the top and I mean, panko breadcrumbs instead of crackers, a lot of people do crackers.

You could do panko breadcrumbs on top.

Yeah.

But that- there it is, cheffed-up tuna noodle casserole.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: That's amazing.

Can you tell me a little bit about the- uh, the salt and pepper shakers that you brought with you today?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: We- um, every restaurant needs salt and pepper shakers, right?

But we didn't want to have just, you know, plain Jane everywhere.

We had a couple cool ones at home.

So we brought those in and then just expanded on it.

So they're all- we tried to keep them all white.

Um, Bill's mom collected salt and pepper shakers.

So that was kind of where the inspiration came from, um, because his mom was a chef.

So- Bill DeBoer: And our mothers are peppered throughout the whole restaurant, so- Bill DeBoer: Peppered.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Peppered.

[LAUGHTER] Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yes.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Cute.

[LAUGHTER].

Bill DeBoer: Not intentionally.

[LAUGHTER].

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Thanks so much, Kristin and Bill for sharing your cheffed up version of tuna noodle casserole with us.

It looks absolutely delicious.

And now how about we try some of these unique sweet treats that Bill creates?

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Brown Dog Catering is name for the brown dog Jude.

So then we didn't want the other dogs to feel left out.

[LAUGHTER] Bill DeBoer: And I also wanted something- the coffee shop to have some signature items, right?

Some things that you couldn't go anywhere else and get, uh, and then, you know, naming them after the dogs just feels natural since we're Brown Dog Catering.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: We had a- a miniature dachshund.

She passed away about a year ago.

Her name is Josie and she was white with cinnamon colored spots and blue eyes.

Bill DeBoer: So it's got the cinnamon butter with white chocolate chips and blueberries, and then we dip the top in sugar.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: So the Joey Cocoa is a- a Mexican hot chocolate named for our Chihuahua.

And Mexican hot chocolates have a little bit of spice in them, a little bit of a kick to them.

Bill DeBoer: Cayenne, vanilla, cinnamon.

It's really nice.

It's really interesting flavor combination.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: Yeah.

And then the Jack muffin is named for our other dog Jack, who is a big dumb, dumb.

And he's black and white.

So it's a dark chocolate muffin with a cream cheese in the center.

And it's topped with rock sugar because Jack has an affinity for rocks.

He- he's weird about rocks.

Bill DeBoer: He eats them.

Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: He eats them.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: Whether you're looking for approachable elegance or a dog named desert, you can find them both in Phillips bag.

This is where Kristin and Bill found their home.

But food is where they belong.

More episodes of Culinary Connections and a full menu of local programs are available at video.wpsu.org or on the PBS app, and to experience a whole world of international cuisine, checkout World Kitchen at wpsu.org/world kitchen.

Hitham Hiyajneh: Food is my passion, I make it a difference.

: [BACKGROUND] Cindy Pasquienlli: Good Day Cafe is so many things beyond just that name.

Santina "Mama" Randazzo: Well, the secret to Italian cooking is put a lot of love in it.

And- and that's what I've been doing.

Bill DeBoer: To get something really nice.

It doesn't have to be super expensive and it doesn't have to be- Kristin Rigby-DeBoer: You don't need to be afraid of it.

Tamra Fatemi-Badi: We'd like to thank all of you for watching this season of Culinary Connections.

We sure had a lot of fun making it for you and hope you enjoy this peek behind the scenes.

From all of us here at WPSU, you thanks for watching, and remember to connect with the food community around you.