- Tonight on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories, learn how the Finger Lakes Phenology Trail helps hikers and scientists get a better understanding of the influence of climate on plants and animals.

And Chef Cabrina Rotella shares her special recipe for Italian Braciole with Johnny Spezzano.

On Johnny On Fire.

This stuffed meat dish is sure to please any palate, your stories, your region coming up right now on WPBS Weekly, inside the stores, - WPBS Weekly Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

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Today.

- Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant Program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Good Tuesday evening everyone, and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories.

I'm Michael Rickey.

Today is Earth Day.

A Day to advocate for the protection of our planet's natural resources and to highlight the importance of environmental conservation.

Phenology is the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals.

Students from Cornell University in Ithaca created the Finger Lakes Phenology Trail to help hikers and citizen scientists learn about the impacts of climate change on our local ecosystems, all while enjoying a walk through nature.

- I'm Carol Klepack, and I've lived in Ithaca for the last 30 years.

I love the Finger Lakes area.

I love the lakes.

I love the rolling agricultural lands, the forests, the Spring wild flowers.

And I've supported the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

So when I heard that they were starting a phenology project, I became interested in learning more about it and then participating in it.

- My name is Hannah George, and I'm the conservation easement steward here at the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

The Finger Lakes Land Trust has a phenology trail at the Roy H. Park Preserve in Dryden, New York.

A place where people can go on a hike and record their observations of six different trees that are part of a national database.

- I wasn't familiar with the word phenology until the Land Trust began its project last spring.

- Phenology is the study of seasons and how animals and plants respond to those seasonal changes.

For example, in plants, flowers opening for the first time that spring falling leaves, breaking leaf buds.

Those are all phonological events, which we call pheno phases.

- There's an app on my phone which records the data.

It's all set up with the stations that Hannah has put in front of certain trees that they want to document week after week.

- That data actually gets entered into this national database that people such as scientists or other people interested in plants, they can look at that data and use it for their research.

I started the Phonology Trail with my fellow intern, Nick Desler, and he's actually also using Citizen Science to help with combating this invasive pest that's threatening our forests.

- The Hemlock Will Aji or HWA for short, is an aphid like insect that was introduced to the East Coast from Japan in the early 19 hundreds.

Hemlock William Dja was first detected in the Finger Lakes region in 2008.

It spread pretty rapidly throughout the Finger Lakes.

- This past has moved in and has been causing the decline of hemlock trees.

And these trees make up more than 25% of our forests in this region.

- We have a steep slope behind our little lake cottage, and there's hemlocks that have been badly affected by wool.

And you see kind of hemlock stands that it's so sad, these magnificent trees that are just look like they're sick.

- Here in the lab, we raise predators that feed on Hemlock Bully dji.

Currently, we are working with a beetle opus Nereus or little Larry, and a species of fly called silver flies.

These predators are native to where hemlock will DJI comes from.

And we bring them here to New York State to research them and release them into the wild to help control Hemlock diligent across its introduced range and protect hemlock trees for the future By enlisting citizen science observers around the state, they give us the information that we need so we can release the predators at the appropriate time of year.

And this is crucial in the success of the Biological control program.

So we release the predators when they have the right life stage of the ADT to feed on citizen science observations like these are really important for many different types of research.

And the Phenology Trail at the Park Preserve is another place where these types of crucial observations can be gathered for researchers to use.

- A lot of the people that visit the trail don't know what phenology is, but when they get there, they find out that there's actually a way for them to get involved in citizen science.

What's interesting is that a lot of people don't know what these trees are, and they walk past them every single day.

Red maple, sugar, maple, white pine.

A lot of people just look at those and they're just another leafy plant.

Wow.

- I think to go out to the same area week after week and just see the changes and you know, turning from brown to vibrant green and now there's bird song and now there's insects buzzing around and it's just this blossoming of this living planet that's so exciting.

- It is the end of the month, which means it's time to take a trip to Johnny Anos Kitchen.

Tonight he's joined by local chef Cabrina Rotella to cook some Italian Baal that's sure to make your mouth water.

- Hey, come on.

- Well, hello my friends.

Welcome to another episode of Johnny on Fire.

I'm Johnny Spezzano.

Welcome to my kitchen.

We got this wood-fired oven in the background.

We're gonna take a recipe and cook it on fire with me.

My guest, Cabrina Rotella.

Hi.

Cabrina is my friend and she has worked at a number of restaurants in the north country.

And of course I absolutely love her Sunday dinners, which I get invited to a lot.

So thanks for being on the show with me today.

- You're welcome.

I appreciate it.

Glad to be here.

- All right.

You know, tell 'em what we're making - Today.

We are gonna make braciole and there is several different ways of making it.

This is the way I was brought up to make it, and we will show you what we're gonna do with it.

- All right, let's go through our ingredients.

Alright, we've got top round beef.

We've got some garlic, we've got pecorono, Romano cheese.

Parmesan cheese, some parsley, and some eggs and some olive oil.

So let's get started by getting our meat prepared.

Okay.

Now, in order for us to roll this up, we gotta flatten it out, - Right?

Yes.

We gotta pound it out.

- Alright.

Is this a good size or you want me to cut it down a little bit?

I'll cut it down a little bit.

I think we better cut it.

I got this cool new knife.

Look at this thing.

- Is that sliced - Is what?

Sliced the meat?

- Yeah.

No.

Oh, it was supposed to be sliced.

- I thought we were just gonna pound it down like that.

You want me to slice it down the middle?

It's - Gotta, no, you gotta slice that.

That's what I thought you had.

Yeah, - You want, so you want me to slice it like this?

- You gotta slice it real thin.

- I can do that very we'll.

Do it right here.

Live on camera in - Front of everybody.

Very, very, very, very thin.

- Okay.

How about that?

That good?

Thinner.

Thinner.

Now I'm gonna embarrass myself, but I got the right knife to do it.

'cause this thing is sharp.

I thought we were gonna pound this big top.

- Round out.

The meat has to be very - Thin.

Okay, so cut it first before you flatten it.

How's that?

Is that good so far?

We're gonna, we're gonna pound it down with a hammer in a minute.

- Very thin.

You can buy it thin sliced.

- Okay, let's see how, how this works.

Okay, voila.

All right.

Okay.

The thinner the better.

The thinner the better, right?

- Yes.

So - Now what we're gonna do is we're gonna pound it out.

We're gonna throw another piece of parchment paper over the top.

You can use Saran wrap, - Right?

Yes.

Or Ziploc bag.

- That's good.

'cause then it doesn't splatter on your wall.

You want me to do it?

- Go ahead.

- Okay.

- Pound it till it's nice and thin.

- Here we go.

This is fun.

- And then take that.

Ooh, that's beautiful.

And flip it over and pound it again.

- It's almost like I looked like I knew what I was doing.

Okay, we can use the same paper.

Now.

This utensil on one side, that's for tenderizing, right?

- Right.

- We don't want to hit it with that.

Put some holes in it.

We want this side, right?

- I use the, I use the other side.

- You use the one, put the holes in it.

I do.

Won't the cheese come out?

Nope.

Isn't it gonna cut - Holes in my, it's gonna be more like a stuffing.

- Isn't it gonna cut holes in my paper?

- No.

- All right.

She says she uses this side.

You ready?

Okay.

See, it puts holes in the paper.

That's okay.

It's gonna be tender now.

Perfect.

How's that look?

- Looks great.

- All right.

All right.

Now we gotta mix up our ingredients that are gonna go inside the eo.

Okay.

Love it.

Okay, so let's get started with that.

I'll move this to the side.

Okay.

These, alright?

- Okay.

We're gonna start with some garlic.

- All right, I got a garlic.

Press - Over there.

Press right here.

- Okay, we'll put this right here.

Just like that.

Cabrina and I talked about this before the show we're kind of iers, right?

We eye you were, you were stressed about the amount, - Right?

- But obviously if you're an ire at home, you, you kind of get an eye of how much two cups of cheese are.

Alright?

So you're gonna add the garlic.

You want me to do it?

- Sure.

- Okay.

We're gonna go right in here.

Oh, yes.

These are so much fun.

I love garlic - Presses.

- Okay, we're gonna do the rest of it.

Okay.

Throw it right in there.

And, oh yeah, great.

This is gonna be good.

We're gonna serve this with a side of spaghetti or pasta as well.

All right.

What are we gonna add now?

Parsley.

- Yep.

- Okay.

Parsley.

- Okay.

- Eggs.

- The eggs will scramble.

Separate - You scramble separately.

Okay.

Alright.

I can't wait to try this out over the charcoals.

- Oh, it's gonna be awesome.

Okay.

- And one more.

Sure.

- That's it.

- Alright.

- Okay.

- Little black pepper.

We have the world's.

Okay.

- A lot of black pepper.

- We have the world's noisiest black pepper mill.

All right.

We're gonna add it right to this.

I'll do it.

- Go ahead.

Probably like - It's super loud.

I apologize.

- Oh, what?

Probably a half a teaspoon.

It's not three quarters.

It's not too bad.

- So how much?

- That's probably like tea.

A half a teaspoon to a teaspoon, depending on how much you like pepper.

Okay.

I find the salt or the cheese is pretty salty, so don't, you don't really need to put salt in it unless you love salt.

- I feel like it's a traditional Italian thing to have cheese, pepper, and parsley.

I think those things - Work.

- And garlic.

- And garlic.

You gotta have garlic.

- All right.

Now what?

- Okay, so we're gonna mix this all together.

- While Cabrina is doing that, I'm going to get our grill ready.

All right guys.

You know what's next?

- Okay, this looks probably wet enough.

- Okay.

All right.

Let's start with this piece.

Cabrina right here.

- So we're gonna take some of the mixture very thin, and you're gonna spread it on the meat.

- You were smart with those?

With the hold side of the hammer?

- Yep.

- Because now that cheese is gonna drop down into those holes.

All right.

You see how easy this is?

- And then we're gonna take it.

Okay.

And roll it - Just like that.

Top round turns into that.

Might - Wanna cut that end off.

- Okay.

- And then wrap it in the twine.

- All right.

So go ahead and stuff.

Some of those.

What we have here is something you can get from your butcher.

I just got it at the supermarket, of course.

And it is a, A cooking twine.

A lot of people use it for roast beef or whatever.

Should I have the ends?

Be tight so the cheese doesn't come out - Right.

Wrap it all the way around.

Okay.

Tie it right - Up.

Okay.

I've never done this before.

I know.

Those of you watching at home, - Find that hard.

Believe you can use toothpicks if you don't have the twine.

- Oh, toothpicks.

Okay.

Yep.

Until someone in your family takes a bite out of it and you forget to take the toothpick out.

All right.

How's I should let you - Watch.

Go right around it like this?

- Yep.

And one last time.

Where's my knife?

- You are gonna have to tie you.

Maybe put it through a, yeah, just you can tie you knot.

No, you're gonna cut this.

They - Taught me this in kindergarten.

I'm gonna tie my shoe.

Okay.

There we go.

- It just holds it together so the stuffing doesn't fall out in the sauce.

- Alright.

And we'll just make a little knot here.

And we're good.

Voila.

Eo.

Okay.

Stuffed Delicious.

Eo.

All right.

While our bjo are simmering in our tomato sauce, we're gonna talk a little bit.

Sure.

First of all, I know you love your family, you love your husband.

What's the one thing you love just as much as them?

- I love to cook.

- Cook and cook for them.

Cook, - Cook for them.

And anyone.

- I've been to Cab Rina's house, like I said, on Sunday, every once in a while she'll invite me over for a special meal.

And there's always plenty of people around how many grandkids you got?

- They have 10 grandchildren, - And they're all there - Eating - With me, Pete, and the whole crew.

And we really appreciate that.

- Yeah.

- That's why I said, you gotta come be on my show and show people how you make these amazing food, food items.

And it's because they're made with love.

Yes.

And that always comes through with everything you make.

- It's a labor of love.

- It is a labor - Of love.

Baking and cooking.

- Okay.

So you know, like I know I've gotten some Christmas cookies from you as a gift.

How many Christmas cookie, different kinds of Italian cookies do you - Like to cook?

Oh, I make about 15 to 17 different kinds of Christmas.

Made over 3,500 cookies this year.

- How many pies in the past?

- Oh, I can't count.

- But what kind of pies?

What's your favorite kind of pie to cook?

- What's my favorite pie?

- Yeah.

- Well, I like pumpkin.

- Okay.

- But I make all of pies.

All right.

Apple.

We gotta try that.

Sometimes.

Cream pies are, we're a very big hit in the restaurants, especially with the older people.

They like banana cream, coconut cream, chocolate cream, all kinds of desserts.

- So Cabrina and her husband, you guys just celebrated an anniversary and you guys went on a cruise.

I don't know if it was one that got onto WPBS auction.

It probably was.

Where'd you guys go?

- The last cruise we went on was in, can't even remember.

- Oh, where was it?

Oh, you had a good time.

- We had a good time.

We went - To, was it Mexico?

Cozumel.

- Cozumel.

Cozumel.

- Like a Caribbean cruise.

- Caribbean Mexican cruise.

Yes.

- I'm glad you got a chance to get away.

Yeah.

And I'm glad you're back now.

'cause I want to - Eat.

Oh, good.

- Yes, because I want to get invited once again.

Manja, what do you say?

We dish up today's bra.

- Let's do it.

- Woo.

I just stopped by the Braul store and look what I found.

I'm gonna pull these out and put 'em in the pan.

They've been simmering in the sauce for a little bit, so they should be nice and tender.

Okay.

All right.

Ho ho.

That cab bring up - Look delicious.

- They really do.

They came up pretty good.

All right.

Oh, I can't wait.

Oh, now, as I mentioned, you can throw 'em on the grill and you can slice pieces off.

A butcher told me once.

- Right.

- Okay.

All right.

Just another option.

So we're gonna plate this.

All right.

So we're gonna, we're gonna have 'em with a side of pasta.

Now.

Should we cut the rope off before serving it to our guests, or not - Sure.

- The twine?

- Yes.

- Not today.

We can.

No, we can.

It's probably better if you're making it at home with tooth put picks.

- I take the toothpicks - Out.

Definitely take the toothpicks out.

All right.

Looks good.

All right.

So what we'll do is we'll take some of the little ones.

Okay.

Should I cut the string off?

Cabrina looks - Good.

Yes.

- Oh, it looks incredible.

- Smells good, too.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

There it goes.

Okay.

This is how you remove the string.

- Or you can even use scissors.

Scissors.

Well, yeah.

There - We go.

- Yeah.

There we go.

Un roll it.

- One more little piece on mine.

Okay.

You want me to work on yours or you wanna do it?

Sure.

Okay.

We're just gonna remove, remove the string, as they say.

- Looks nice and tender.

- Really does.

Looks delicious.

I can't wait to dig in.

All right.

I think I got it all.

Cabrina.

Okay.

Okay.

Let's put a little sauce on our, here we go.

On our whole, okay.

Wow.

I messed that up.

- Just cover up with sauce.

- Cover it up with sauce.

That's right.

All right.

A little over the - Looking good.

- All right.

Okay.

Of course you can get rid of that spoon.

Top it with a little cheese.

Do you want some crushed red pepper on yours?

- A little on - The side.

A little on the side?

- Sure.

- Alright.

I like that idea.

Where we're on the side.

It's like a decorat.

Okay.

Piece of Italian bread.

- Absolutely.

For - My local bakery.

- Okay.

Alright.

Can't wait.

- This is all us.

- Yes.

- Are you ready?

- I'm ready.

- I hope this is better than the cruise.

Okay, folks, this is how you make eo.

Cheers to you.

Thanks.

And here we go.

Hmm.

My dog.

- Excellent, excellent.

- Really came out good.

Wow.

- Got great flavor.

- Well, I thank you.

And like you said, you can stuff it with anything, - Right?

You can stuff it with some people do it with their meatball mixture.

Some people put prosciutto in it With mozzarella, you can use your own - Imagination.

I wanna use some, I would put some like roasted red peppers in it.

Maybe.

Maybe even some artichokes.

It'd be crazy.

Well, I gotta go 'cause we gotta eat.

- Yes.

- But we thank you so much for coming into my kitchen today.

Thank you for watching.

Remember, you can check out all the episodes that we do.

See all the recipes@wpbstv.org.

See you next time.

I'm Johnny Spezzano.

Thanks Cabrina.

Thanks, Johnny.

Gimme a hug.

Alright, back to business.

- Woo.

- Ooh.

If you're looking for more great fire grilled recipes from Johnny, just visit wpbstv.org and scroll through our library.

Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, just send us an email, WPBSweekly@wpbstv.org.

Make sure you include your name and of course, your fire grilled recipe idea.

Well, that does it for this Tuesday night, WPBS TV's annual fundraising auction begins this coming Monday, April 28th, and runs through next week till Sunday night, May 4th.

Tune in on air or online each evening from seven to 8:00 PM for a look at many of the items up.

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Everyone have a safe night.

We'll see you next episode.

Take care.

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- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another, like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today.

- Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Pull these out and put 'em into pan.

They've been simmering in the sauce for a little bit, so they should be nice and tender.

All right.