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074: Aaron Clark: How to Make Every Bite Count

September 7, 2015 by Gabriel 4 Comments

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast
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Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make every bite count.

Feed The Pan

Aaron is completely obsessed with food. On his blog, Feed The Pan, his goal is to inspire us to learn about food and help us find enjoyment in cooking and entertaining, and to encourage us to make every bite count.

I am so excited to have Aaron Clark of Feed The Pan here on the show today.

(*All images below are Aaron’s.)

On What He Isn’t:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about an interesting ingredient he likes to work with.

I like to set to set my expectations for my readers beforehand. I want people to know that when they come to my blog, they’re not going to see blow your mind photography, poetic writing necessarily right away, but those are things I’m working on. I think it’s important to set those expectations because I want people to really get at the meat, if you will, no pun intended there, of the blog and really understand what it’s about, and that is uncommon techniques and ingredients.

On His Blog:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about his food blog.

It really came down to the evolution of my culinary experience. I started in college really watching a lot of late night Good Eats. I’d flip on Good Eats to relax, and Alton Brown really taught me the finer tuning techniques of cooking that my parents didn’t at home. They would cook with me and that’s really where the base started, but they didn’t explain to me why these things were happening and why they would do them.

Alton Brown really kind of taught me how to cook, but then after college, I had a kitchen of my own when I moved out to my first apartment, and I was able to start collecting tools and ingredients and have a good pantry. And I really found that I really liked to entertain. So from there, “how do I entertain better?” Well, learn how to cook better and really work with people, especially other cooks on how to improve a technique.

That evolved into, okay, maybe I should just start an Instagram page and start taking pictures of my food because the first thing you do is look at it. I want it to be a little bit better looking on the plate so that it pleased the eyes and the palate. And then a good friend of ours suggested I start a food blog, and it kind of all ran from there.

On an Interesting Ingredient He Enjoys Cooking With:

I thought about this a lot today, actually, when I was preparing lunch. Anchovy paste. It’s subtle. You don’t always taste that it’s anchovy paste, but offers a kind of savoriness, and umami if you will, to the food you’re preparing, whether you put together a pasta salad or put it into a spice paste that you rub on a chicken or a steak before you grill it. It’s got to be one of my favorites.

You typically get the same results from buying it in a tube from a store. Typically, it’s a product of Spain. If you go to any specialty or international grocery, you’ll usually find it there.

On a Cooking Technique We Have to Try:

I think if it’s in your budget pick up an immersion circulator. Sous vide is the type of cooking where you submerge food, vacuum seal food, or put food in a plastic bag in a water bath, and you can cook it to a very precise temperature for a very precise amount of time. I would say that’s something that everyone should try because it’s really convenient. If you’re not terribly comfortable in the kitchen with high heat applications or with grilling, it’s a great way to really cook expensive cuts of meat very precisely.

It comes out kind of gray and dull-looking, but what you can do is either throw it on the grill, a really hot grill or in a really hot cast iron pan for a few seconds on each side until you develop a nice crust. There’s charts and things all over the Internet so you can find the ideal temperature for different foods, including vegetables, meats, and everything in between.

You can season the food before you vacuum seal it or put it in your zip lock bag with olive oil. What I do with steaks is I put the traditional basting ingredients that you would do in a pan seared steak; thyme, garlic, and olive oil, and it comes out great. And then I throw it in a pan and sear it.

On How He Learned to Cook:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how he learned to cook.

Definitely the Internet and late night television. That, in combination with my parents. At home, my mom was always a gardener and always had amazing produce she would bring to the table. And her idea of food was fresh, natural, and right off the plant, while my dad, being an engineer, he would always tinker with things. So if the crock pot broke, he would take it out to the garage into his workshop and fix it. So between his technique-based cooking and my mom’s ingredient-based cooking, I would say it really started from there. Then I got more curious and needed to understand the why. So the why really comes from, in my situation, watching a lot of Jacques Pepin on YouTube. If Jacques Pepin’s on YouTube in any capacity I’ve probably seen it. He’s the master of technique, and he really explains what to do in certain situations where you’re working with different ingredients.

I think my obsession really comes from working with other chefs as well, where you’re understanding what they’re doing based on what they’re showing you, hands-on action, and you’re getting a lot of knowledge through what their experiences are, and that’s my favorite way to learn.

On Making Every Bite Count:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about making every bite count.

What I found is that by putting a little bit of extra effort into anything you put in your mouth, through either just adding a little bit of seasoning or blending up some spices and finishing up with fat, really I want people to discover every ingredient for its best qualities. So if you’re going to roast a carrot, say, you make sure and season it correctly, use olive oil and salt. And then what a lot of people don’t really understand is there’s a difference between the kosher salt you would use to season something and a finishing salt. If you add this finishing salt at the end, it really brings out the carrot for what it is and that’s what I mean by make every bite count. Is to do it to its fullest and use what nature gave you at its highest capacity.

I’m a big fan of kosher salt for seasoning during cooking. I usually throw it in the pan with just about everything, even desserts. Sometimes I’ll use other salts for desserts that are a little bit finer than kosher salt. But kosher salt has a little bit of a bigger grain, while a finishing salt, say, Fleur de Sel, is probably the most common one. It’s not as firm and it’s a little bit less dense, so it has a little bit of a crunch to it without giving you too much of a salty flavor. What it does is enhance the flavor of the food rather than taste salty.

On Getting the Most out of Food Experiences:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about getting the most of cooking.

I guess in cooking big meals and entertaining, it really came from the way that I approach everything from the start of the meal, when I go to purchase the ingredients, to the end when I’m serving the guests or bringing their plates out. So it’s really a culmination of my thought process from beginning to end.

I was trying to make beef stock one time, and I have a very hot stove. I used to before I replaced the one I have now. It was an electric stove top, and I forgot to put the grate at the bottom of my stock pot. I put the beef bones in and brought it to a roaring boil, left the room, and they ended up sticking to the bottom. And then I fell asleep and everything burnt. Everything was smoky in the house and I couldn’t get that burnt smell out for about a week. So it took me a little while, but ultimately, I think patience being that virtue, I tried it again in about a month, and it worked out well. So I felt defeated for a little while, but then it came around to be a good thing.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

Jacques Pepin. Essential Pepin is probably my favorite show that he has done. I also watch
Fast Food My Way, and Jacques and Julia when they were together. It’s old and the resolution isn’t great, but those three are very high up there. Beyond that, Good Eats has always been my really sort of go-to.

What are some food blogs or food websites we have to know about?

Well, I have to throw this out to Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such. She’s a dear friend of my wife and mine, and she really is, a really strong motivation to get the food blog started. Her pictures and her writing are just incredible. And she’s an amazing cook. We see each other a few times a year, and we always throw it down in the kitchen, and her results are, oh man, mind blowing. Her biscuits are off the hook.

Who do you follow on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook that make you happy?

Instagram? I follow a guy called Creepy Chef. He’s a line cook out in California, and it reminded me of my days, my short-lived in the kitchen as a line cook. And he makes some really incredible dishes. I also follow Mind of a Chef.

ChefSteps is another one I follow a lot. They have a blog, an Instagram page, and they put together really, really cool, but very technology forward foods. And the pictures and the food staging that they present is really amazing.

What is the most unusual or treasured item in your kitchen?

Probably I would have to say my immersion circulator. It’s just really versatile, and I think anybody can use it from beginner to advanced, even though it’s a more pricey piece of equipment you would use in your kitchen. I’d recommend it if you like to cook, whether you just started or you are an expert chef, master chef, that this is probably an essential tool to have. And it’s quite unusual. People are really impressed when you pull it out.

Name one ingredient you used to dislike but now you love. 

Peas. Frozen peas, which I actually put in a lot of things. You can add those to a dish right at the end and because the surface area to mass ratio is really quite large, they cook very fast. You can put them in a meal with potatoes, with carrots, any other types of vegetable. Peas and carrots I know, kind of cliché, but actually that’s one thing I’ve really learned to like ‘cuz peas have a subtle saltiness to them that I really enjoy.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I really like David Chang’s Momofuku. What that does for me is really takes me outside of the traditional American realm. As diverse as it is already, but it gives you real insight into some of the techniques and ingredients that he uses in his kitchens in New York. He has several restaurants, and it really introduces me to a lot of the Japanese methods and ingredients. I’m a big fan of Japanese food, and this kind of helps me refine my own style in that type of cuisine.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I cook a lot to Andrew Bird. He’s a violinist and kind of a one-man orchestra. He has a plethora of music styles within his own band. And they take you from highs to lows, fast to slow, and he really picks me up in a pinch and helps me get motivated to cook.

On Keeping Posted with Aaron:

Aaron Clark of Feed the Pan on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with him.

Always check my Facebook. That’s my go-to. Instagram, I always post my links under my pictures there. And between those two, you should be able to find me.

 

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Aaron Clark, Alton Brown, Andrew Bird, Biscuits and Such, ChefSteps, Creepy Chef, David Chang, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Essential Pepin, Fast Food My Way, Feed the Pan, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Good Eats, immersion circulator, Jacques and Julia, Jacques Pepin, Mind of a Chef, Momofuku, sous vide

Lazy Day with Biscuits and Such, Adventures in Cooking and Dula Notes

March 7, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Lazy Day with Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such, Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking, and Nicole Dula of Dula Notes on The Dinner Special podcast share their favourite things.

Lazy Day with Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such, Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking, and Nicole Dula of Dula Notes on The Dinner Special podcast share their favourite things.

Lazy Day is a weekly series for those relaxed weekend mornings or quiet evenings where you finally have a break from the crazy work week.

Each week, I gather some of my food hero guests’ favourite things to make it easier for you!

Whether it’s a cookbook mentioned on the podcast, TV shows they tune into, interesting goodies to YouTube or Google, or awesome food blogs to follow, you’ll find many of the things mentioned on their episodes here.

The Internet has always been a mixed blessing for me. There’s so much information but I often times get lost in it. Hopefully, this series will help you navigate this crazy Internet thing.

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Biscuits and Such

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.

If you missed Elena’s episode, you can find it HERE.

You can also catch her World Ending, Last Meal on YouTube HERE, it’s filled with her birthday favourites.

Elena's Cookbooks:The No Time To Cook! Book
The American Cookbook: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes
The Meat Cookbook
Some Food Blogs We Have to Know About:Nothing in the House
Not Without Salt
People To Follow on Instagram:Hey Natalie Jean
Cookbooks That Make Her Life Better:Date Night In
Think Like a Chef
Ratio

Eva Kosmas Flores, Adventures in Cooking

Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking on The Dinner Special podcast talks about cooking and her family's Greek restaurant.

Catch Eva’s episode and the highlights of her show HERE.

If you’re curious what she would have for her World Ending, Last Meal, and what her plan for the end of the world is, find out HERE.

A Food Show She Enjoys:Barefoot Contessa
Some Food Blogs We Have to Know About:Call Me Cupcake
Two Red Bowls
People to Follow on Instagram:Linda Lomelino
Cookbooks That Make Her Life Better:The Art of Fermentation
Artisan Cheeses at Home
A Song or Album That Makes Her Want to Cook:Django Reinhardt

Nicole Dula, Dula Notes

Nicole Dula of Dula Notes on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Nicole’s show highlights and episode (in case you missed it) is up HERE.

Find out who she’d like to prepare her World Ending, Last Meal HERE.

Food Shows She Enjoys:Cook's Country
America's Test Kitchen
Lidia Bastianich
Some Food Blogs We Have to Know About:Take A Megabite
Hungry Girl Por Vida
My Name Is Yeh
Bon Appetempt
Someone to Follow on Pinterest:Wit and Delight
Cookbooks That Make Her Life Better:Donna Hay's cookbooks
Jamie Oliver's cookbooks
A Song or Album That Makes Her Want to Cook:Huey Lewis and The News

That’s it! I hope this has been helpful (and fun).

As I mentioned above, the Internet for me is a total mixed blessing. Sometimes, there’s just too much stuff and it’s overwhelming. The idea behind Lazy Day is to help narrow things down a bit.

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Dinner Special podcast on iTunes HERE, so you don’t miss a single episode every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Have more cool stuff to add? I want to hear about it! Leave a comment in the section below or email me at thedinnerspecial (at) gmail (dot) com.

Talk soon!

Gabriel

Filed Under: Lazy Day Tagged With: Adventures in Cooking, Biscuits and Such, Dula Notes, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Eva Kosmas Flores, Nicole Dula

Gabe’s Journal 001

March 1, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Gabe's Journal 001 The Dinner Special podcast

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick video to share a couple of super exciting things with you!

We’re six episodes in!

Thanks to my amazing first six food hero guests, the podcast has been downloaded over 350 times in the last week, with listeners from all over the world – from here in Canada and the US, the United Kingdom, to all the way in Australia, Cambodia, Iran, India and Hong Kong.

I’m overwhelmed by the support. So, really, thank you.

I was so nervous this last week to let my food hero guests know that The Dinner Special podcast was live and website was up. My head was swirling with thoughts like: What would they think? Would they like it? What if they think it’s horrible? Then what?

But, I was so relieved when I started getting emails congratulating me and really nice comments like, “This podcast is exactly the kind of food podcast I love.”

“I’m really excited to see my episode so I can share it with everyone!”

“I’m rekindling my love of podcasts thanks to you!”

So nice. Thank you.

I’m sharing all this not to brag, but really to say thanks to my first six food hero guests: Claire Thomas of The Kitchy Kitchen, chefs Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh of The Incredible Spice Men, Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such, Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking, and Nicole Dula of Dula Notes.

Thank you so much for sharing your stories, tips and excitement for cooking and food!

Of course, I want to thank YOU too for listening! Wherever you’re listening from.

There are some awesome food hero guests coming up this week, so make sure to catch their episodes. The easiest way is to subscribe to The Dinner Special on iTunes, it can be a bit confusing so I wrote a step-by-step how-to HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Also, if you enjoy the show, please rate and review The Dinner Special podcast on iTunes. This will help share the show with as many people as possible. Again, I’ve posted a how-to HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Thank you for an awesome first week! Talk soon!

Filed Under: Gabe's Journal Tagged With: Adventures in Cooking, Biscuits and Such, Claire Thomas, Cyrus Todiwala, Dula Notes, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Eva Kosmas Flores, Jordan Reid, Nicole Dula, Ramshackle Glam, The Incredible Spice Men, The Kitchy Kitchen, Tony Singh

Has Cooking Become a Chore? 28 Food Heroes Share Ideas on How to Make Cooking Fun Again

February 24, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

The Dinner Special podcast 28 Food Heroes Share Ideas on How To Make Cooking Fun Again

The Dinner Special podcast 28 Food Heroes Share Ideas on How To Make Cooking Fun Again

I know exactly what I’m making for dinner, each and every night.

Why is this a bad thing?

Well, it’s not necessarily, but I’ve found that, for me, cooking has become more of a chore than something that’s fun and enjoyable.

Especially after a long day, the last thing I want to do is have to think about what to make for dinner.

Sure, I could:

  • search online for new recipes to try
  • or find inspiration in new food blogs to follow

but most of the time, I just stick with the tried and true.

The funny thing is, I love food and I love to cook.

And yet, every Sunday, when I go to the grocery store, I pick up the same ingredients because on Mondays, it’s pasta, Tuesdays, pork and potatoes, Wednesdays, stir-fry with rice… and the weeks just pass by.

I totally get that the routine is boring, but it’s so easy. I know exactly how long it will take to make and how it will taste.

But, I want to break out of this cooking rut.

I want to have fun in the kitchen again. I want to get excited about making dinner. Maybe not every night, maybe not even once a week, but every now and then, I want to try new herbs, spices and ingredients, and be an inspired home cook!

This is one of the reasons I started The Dinner Special podcast.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I chat with my food hero guests about their fondest food memories, favorite things inside and out of the kitchen, and a dish that is special to them.

I also ask them questions like, “For those of us where cooking has become a chore, how can we make it more fun.” Things that I truly want to get some answers and ideas on.

From time to time, I’ll put together all their answers into a post like this. I hope this makes it easy for you to turn to.

If you have any burning questions you’d like answered, please send them to me at: thedinnerspecial [at] gmail [dot] com.

You’re a huge part of The Dinner Special and I’m sure lots of people have the same questions they want answered.

(Sorry for getting sidetracked.)

When I asked my food hero guests, “For those of us where cooking has become a chore, how can we make it more fun,”

Here’s What 28 of Them Had to Say:

Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars:

Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

For people who think it’s a chore, I simply say try something easy.

Learn to scramble eggs really well.

I don’t think everybody has to love cooking, but we all have to eat.

I think the best advice I can say to someone is just to keep it simple. Your first meal doesn’t have to be a five-course extravaganza. Like I said, learn to make really good scrambled eggs, or pancakes, or French toast, and that will take you far.

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I think you have to start with some good music, pour yourself a glass of wine, make it like a whole experience.

Then, start with something easy that is impossible to mess up and I think that will build your confidence and it’ll make it more fun for you.

I’m not opposed to people who take things that are pre-made and tweaking them a little bit.

If you bought some pre-made chicken to add to your matzo ball soup, instead of cooking your chicken, that’s fine.

Whatever makes you happy and makes it work.

Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam:

Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I think just finding your basic technique.

Like, with a slow cooker, it’s just meat and some liquid and vegetables. And so it’s like, once you get that basic thing down, you can have fun and you can say like, “Oh, I have some sriracha in my fridge. Let me throw that in. Let me try it with soy sauce on the side, let me try it with red wine instead of…”

I tried Dr. Pepper in a pot roast and it was really good.

And so I think that’s how you can have fun. Stick to the basics that you know in terms of technique and then you can improvise from there.

Chef Tony Singh of The Incredible Spice Men:

Get somebody to help you, because lots of people are time pressured and it is a chore if you’ve got a million and one things to do.

If you can get your children involved, it’s a great family experience and you’re teaching them life skills. Get somebody to peel the onions or peel the carrots or stand there and start to wash up for you.

Get people involved and that makes it much, much better.

The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Chef Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men:

What I always tell people in my classes is, when they look at a recipe, let’s say they look at a recipe in our book and they find something which looks very daunting, I always tell them to read the recipe first as if they’re reading a novel.

Then, shut the book and put it away and come back to it in a couple of hours. The recipe will automatically fall into place and will not look as dangerous.

The most important thing is unclutter your mind. Just de-clutter it and become creative.

Just become creative because all you will end up doing is creating something new.

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits & Such:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I think, especially during the weekdays, we totally get into a rut.

One of the things that I like to do is try and dabble with new ingredients or new cuisines.

So dabbling in things outside of your comfort zone is a good way to sort of bring the fun back into the kitchen.

And starting really small.

Trying to make something that you love to eat out, but that you hadn’t even thought that you could make at home, like a burrito bowl and then go from there.

Jodi Moreno of What’s Cooking Good Looking:

I think involving people always makes it more fun.

If I don’t want to sit at home by myself, I’ll just invite a bunch of friends over, casually set the table, give them a job to do and this way we’re not going out to eat ’cause in New York that’s very easy to do.

So, I think involving people, and if you have a spouse or children, that makes it even easier. My husband likes to cook too so the two of us will do it together and I think we kind of motivate each other to cook at home more often.

Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking:

Eva Kosmas Flores of Adventures in Cooking on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Try to think of ways to make it more attuned to your personal taste. So, if you’re trying to just make something from a cookbook, know that you don’t always have to follow it to a T.

You can always change it up and add something else that you really like.

If you’re okay about onions but you love leeks, you can totally swap those two out. The same goes with most vegetables. If you hate cooked carrots, but you love brussel sprouts, switch those up, because roasted brussel sprouts get all caramelized and delicious.

My main thing would be, don’t be afraid to change it up and make it more in tune with what you actually like to eat.

It’ll be a lot more interesting to you if it’s something that you enjoy, rather than if you’re just almost following guidelines. That’s a lot more boring.

Courtney Chun of Fork to Belly:

Courtney Chun of Fork to Belly on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

It’s just about doing recipes that really inspire you, and that you really enjoy.

Before I started the blog, I would try to make healthy dishes. It would get repetitive. I’m making the same chicken breast, the same salmon with broccoli, and brown rice in it. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy what I was making but the process gets repetitive. It’s just not really fun.

I started doing cakes or making Japanese dishes because I really enjoy Japanese food. That just really helped to push me along and make me really enjoy what I was doing.

I think just with anything, you need to find what you love to do.

Megan Voigt of Hint of Vanilla:

Megan Voigt of Hint of Vanilla on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

One of the things that I do whenever I bake or cook, or just when I’m in the kitchen ever, is I put on some music, and I kinda dance a little bit. I’m a terrible dancer, and I’m a terrible singer, but I will actually dance and sing as I’m cooking.

It’s something that you see in movies and you’re like, “Oh, that’s so cheesy.” But you know what? I do it, and I really enjoy it.

It’s just injecting a little bit of fun.

Have a recipe that you’re comfortable with, that you know is pretty good for a weekday dinner, so you’re not stressed. Then, on the weekends, you can kind of do a bit more research and try something that you’ve never tried before and maybe do something that has a little bit more time and effort put into it.

Jonathan Melendez of The Candid Appetite:

Jonathan Melendez of The Candid Appetite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I would say turn on music while you’re cooking. That’s like the one thing I always do as I cook, always.

Right before I start cooking, I will turn on music, I’ll have it on shuffle, and I’ll just listen to music the whole way. And then it feels like you don’t even think about it anymore, because you’re listening to these songs that you really enjoy, and you are in the kitchen.

And it doesn’t become a chore anymore, because there is something there to distract you.

Cristina Sciarra of The Roaming Kitchen:

Cristina Sciarra of The Roaming Kitchen on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I think the best thing is just to make it to the market, pick something that looks good to you and go home and search (for example) broccoli recipes. The websites I really rely on, if you type things into Food52, you will have great results with a recipe that will work for you.

Karen Chan of HonestlyYUM:

Karen Chan of HonestlyYUM on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I would always say start by making sure you have just the basic correct tools, and I think at the very minimum you just need a really good knife. A really good or really sharp knife, because if you’ve got to sit and cut an onion with a crappy knife, I wouldn’t even want to do that.

You just need the basics and you need really good basics.

For example, a really good pot. Like a very good cast iron pot, for example, or for me I use a mortar and pestle all the time. Especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of ethnic cooking, those are just so handy to have.

But aside from that, music. I almost always listen to music when I cook. It lets you settle into it more and kind of focus on the chopping. It’s a little meditative because you just kind of zone out there listening to music.

A glass of wine doesn’t hurt. I always have a glass of wine and some music playing and just have fun with it.

Start with manageable things, have equipment and tools that are good and that will help you. I always say, seriously, a good knife goes a really long way and alcohol…

Skye McAlpine of From My Dining Table:

Skye McAlpine of From My Dining Table on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

In my mind, what makes cooking a chore is the mess.

I love cooking. If there are times when I don’t feel like cooking, it’s pretty much always because I cannot face cleaning up the kitchen.

So, I would say, maybe try and choose dishes where you use fewer saucepans, just to get you started.

Maybe dishes that don’t require a whole load of equipment. And clean up as you go along, because it’s really easy to wash up as you go along. But if you leave it all until the end, that sort of sets the trap.

The other thing about cooking is it’s all kind of confidence and practice. The more you do it, the more you are going to enjoy doing it. Go out and buy a really inspiring cookbook full of easy dishes that don’t require lots of washing up and just jump in the deep-end.

And also, I genuinely believe that cooking for people rather than just cooking for yourself or yourself plus one is so much more fun.

Nicole Dula of Dula Notes:

Nicole Dula of Dula Notes on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

My best advice for that is like what we were talking about before, to kind of put a piece of yourself in it because it becomes more personal and it’s more rewarding in the end.

So if you like, say quinoa, just try to experiment with different things you can put on like a quick sauté of vegetables or vegetables and meat, put it over your favorite grain and just experiment with flavors until you find a dish that’s super easy to make, super adaptable, no matter what’s in your fridge.

Just have a stand out dish that you can make at the drop of a hat whenever you’re hungry, and then it will just make you feel better about yourself.

Cindy Ensley of Hungry Girl Por Vida:

Cindy Ensley of Hungry Girl Por Vida on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Some days you just have to get dinner on the table, so it’s more about what recipes you have in your arsenal. But if you can throw something new in there every week, maybe, or even every couple of weeks, I think that makes it fun.

Or use a new ingredient. A couple of years ago, my husband and I weren’t really big fans of fennel, so we started implementing it into our meals and now we love it.

So I think that trying a new ingredient or trying a new recipe, but not going overboard and trying to do it every night of the week. I think that gets daunting.

There are lots of different ways you can use ingredients and just trying them out a couple of different ways, I think, is also key.

Phi Tran of Princess Tofu:

I think you should do it with someone who loves to cook.

I like cooking with other people. I think if you cook with somebody who likes to share their food and also their skills, it’ll make it more fun.

It’s nice to do it with someone else every once in a while. And if it gets charred then you have someone else to share pizza with.

Alanna Taylor-Tobin of The Bojon Gourmet:

Alanna Taylor-Tobin of The Bojon Gourmet on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Wine or maybe a cocktail or something. Put on some fun music, pour yourself a drink, and just try to relax and make it a treat for yourself.

Also having someone to cook for, I think, is really important. So invite someone over who super loves food and is really fun and encouraging.

Ileana Morales of A Little Saffron:

Ileana Morales of A Little Saffron on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Try not to overthink it. It doesn’t have to be fancy.

Our weeknight meals tend to be pretty simple. I use canned chick peas all the time and I just do that with some sautéed kale and some bacon. That’s it, that’s dinner. So I would say, don’t overthink it and don’t be so hard on yourself.

I like to think of a recipe like a guideline, because if you’re out of something, it’s fine, it’s usually not essential. Just work with what you have.

Katy Atlas of Sugarlaws:

To make it more fun, two things.

Don’t do it by yourself if you can avoid it.

Lots of people think they always have to go out for dinner with friends but actually staying in and cooking is a fun activity to do with friends too. My husband will always keep me company. He’s not a great cook but he’ll help out and hand me cans and do little things to keep me company while I go.

Put on some music.

Cooking is sort of a wonderful activity because it’s a great way to just kind of be really active and engaged with it. Your mind isn’t wandering as much as our thoughts tend to wander. You can just focus on it and sort of enjoy the experience of it even if it’s not your favorite thing and can be a tough thing to find time to do everyday.

We just focus on being present and try to have company for it.

Renee Byrd of Will Frolic for Food:

Renee Byrd of Will Frolic for Food on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Trying new things is always fun.

For me personally, I like trying new spices, new herbs or trying something that’s a little bit weird or that’s a little bit strange.

I like to play with herbs in sweet things, like muffins, “I don’t really like muffins, muffins are boring,” put something in it that’s different, that has a new texture, that has a new flavor. Like cocoa nibs have the crunchy bitter thing going on and then you have sweet orange zest that is really aromatic.

These things are very fun for me. I don’t know if it’s fun for everybody. That’s sort of how I have fun in the kitchen.

Half of my time, I feel, is spent in the process of the mediation of chopping and looking out of my window and experiencing what I’m doing.

I really am very tactile so I love to touch things and have it in my hands. That’s really pleasurable for me and being able to create something that in my mind is artful out of that is so much fun.

Meike Peters of Eat in My Kitchen:

Meike Peters of Eat in My Kitchen on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

It’s like with everything else, you have to go through this time where you fail, where it’s not always fun, and where the results can be quite frustrating.

You just have to stick to it and cook and cook and cook.

What I like to do is because we always cook in the evenings, just open a bottle of red wine, have some cheese, some nibbles, and put on some nice music.

Because for me, what I love about food is, it doesn’t start when it’s on the table and when I eat, it starts already in the kitchen. I create a nice atmosphere in the kitchen and that definitely helps.

One shouldn’t take everything so seriously. If it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out, and you try it again.

Phoebe Lapine of Feed Me Phoebe:

Phoebe Lapine of Feed Me Phoebe on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I really think that this strategy, cook on Sunday or Saturday, whichever afternoon you have free, and eat all week long, is a nice way to do it.

You’re not rushed, and once you have those building blocks in your fridge, then ten to 15 minutes of cooking becomes less burdensome on a weeknight.

I feel like dedicating your afternoon that way is a nice time to grab a buddy or your loved one to tag team and divide and conquer.

Emily Hilliard of Nothing in the House:

One of the things that has been nice for me is getting a CSA or farm share.

That’s really nice because I’m not necessarily someone who can go to the store and have an idea. But, when I have a set framework of like onions, broccoli and potatoes, I think that adds a limiting factor, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

Another thing I like, I really like cooking with other people. That’s always been present in my life with family and just having friends over and cooking together.

I also like having music or the radio on while I cook.

Kristan Raines of The Broken Bread:

Kristan Raines of The Broken Bread on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I would say just to not worry about a thing and to enjoy the process. I think whether you’re baking or you’re cooking, the process can be the most reviving thing in the world.

My favorite thing is to just make it communal, grabbing whatever’s in the fridge and not worry if it’s going to come out great.

For me it’s turning on the music, and if it’s dinner time having a little glass of wine, and taking it slow and making it more of an adventure than a chore.

That shift in your perspective can aid you in like – “Okay, work day’s over, we can make food and enjoy the food because it’s nourishing and fun to do together”.

Becky Rosenthal of Vintage Mixer:

Becky Rosenthal of Vintage Mixer on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

Turn on some music, keep it relaxed. Don’t try anything too difficult at first, and cook things you know you’ll enjoy.

If you’re trying something new, maybe just have a back up in the fridge just in case it doesn’t turn out.

But, don’t be too hard on yourself and just stick to the things you know you’ll enjoy.

Chef Adrian Richardson:

Chef Adrian Richardson on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I suppose if you can teach people some simple dishes they can do, and how to make the dishes they’re already cooking even more enjoyable with things like seasoning and herbs and switching things around, I think this can be monumental.

Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef:

Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking more fun if home cooking feels like a chore.

I think a lot of people think cooking is no fun because they secretly don’t think they’re good at it.

I’m as lazy as the next person, I will take a short cut if it’s offered to me, I never make my own pasta.

There are many many really simple recipes out there that if you make them three times, you’ve memorized them by heart, but if you make them, you’re eating really good food.

That’s what I try to instil in my blog and that’s what I would tell someone who says “I hate to cook”, I’d say, “you know what, I bet you don’t, you just think you’re not good at it, and that’s why you don’t like it.” But actually, if you had some successes in the kitchen, you’d start to like it.

Awesome tips and advice.

Thanks food heroes!

I hope you enjoyed this post. I was actually thinking of only including ten or so responses to keep it short and sweet, but I honestly feel like we can get something from each food heroes’ thoughts.

Whether it’s a tip, some advice, or simply knowing that they get stuck in cooking ruts too, I find it encouraging and inspiring to hear their thoughts. I hope you do too!

Let’s get excited about cooking again!

Check out The Dinner Special podcast here and subscribe to get food and cooking inspiration every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

How do you keep it fun in the kitchen with a busy schedule?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let me know in the comments below.

Know someone who’s in a cooking rut? Share this post with them by clicking on a share button.

Let’s do this together!

Gabriel

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: A Little Saffron, Adventures in Cooking, Alanna Taylor-Tobin, Amy Kritzer, Becky Rosenthal, Biscuits and Such, Chef Adrian Richardson, Chef Cyrus Todiwala, Chef Tony Singh, chore, Cindy Ensley, cooking, cooking rut, Courtney Chun, Cristina Sciarra, Dula Notes, Eat in My Kitchen, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Emily Hilliard, Eva Kosmas Flores, Feed Me Phoebe, Food in Jars, Food52, Fork to Belly, From My Dining Table, fun, Hint of Vanilla, HonestlyYUM, Hungry Girl Por Vida, ideas, Ileana Morales, inspiration, Jodi Moreno, Jonathan Melendez, Jordan Reid, Karen Chan, Katy Atlas, Kristan Raines, Luisa Weiss, Marisa McClellan, Megan Voigt, Meike Peters, Nicole Dula, Nothing in the Houe, Phi Tran, Phoebe Lapine, Princess Tofu, Ramshackle Glam, Renee Byrd, routine, Skye McAlpine, Sugarlaws, The Bojon Gourmet, The Broken Bread, The Candid Appetite, The Incredible Spice Men, The Roaming Kitchen, The Wednesday Chef, Vintage Mixer, What Jew Wanna Eat, What's Cooking Good Looking, Will Frolic for Food

004: Elena Rosemond-Hoerr: How Southern Food Stands Out From Other Cuisines

February 23, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.
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Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast on How Southern Food Stands Out From Other Cuisines

Biscuits and Such

On her blog, Elena shares her love of southern cuisine and southern culture, and apart from the amazing recipes, you'll find gems such as her Cast Iron Chronicles, which is a series that documents the restoration of a seriously rusted cast iron pan.

She co-authored a cookbook called The American Cookbook: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes, contributed recipes to The Meat Cookbook, and has a new book coming out in April called The No Time To Cook! Book, which you can preorder.

I am so delighted to have Elena Rosemond-Hoerr from Biscuits and Such here on the show today.

On Missing Home:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talks about missing home.

I graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art which is an art school in 2008. I graduated right at the beginning of the recession which meant that I took a job that I didn't really want just to sort of float along. I was living in D.C. with my then fiancé, who's now my husband, and the apartment was decorated with all of his stuff which meant swords and dragons.

I was so out of place and I felt so homesick.

I just kept telling myself that if I could only make food that reminded me of home, I would feel better and it would be the way to get myself through this stretch.

I really wanted to make my grandmother's country-style steak, but I couldn't remember the whole recipe and I was a little dodgy on it. So I looked online because food blogs were starting to become a thing and I felt like I might be able to find some resources and there were no southern food blogs.

It was just a total lack of availability; there was nothing representative of the south online.

So I was complaining about it to Dan, my husband, and he was like, 'Well, you could just do it.' I was like, 'Oh, yeah, that's a good point.'

So I have a degree in photography, that's my background, and he is a web developer. So we put together Biscuits and Such and the first post, which was Country-Style Steak went up in October of 2008.

I have gone back and updated a lot of the photos and a lot of old posts. But, I have left the photos on that post because they are horrible and since they're so bad I think it's nice to look back sometimes and see how far I've come.

It's a good indicator of how much the blog and I have progressed over the past six years.

On Cooking:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talks about cooking.

My family is very passionate about cooking, all sides.

My mother is from New Jersey and her mother is very Sicilian and her father is very Irish; both families are recent immigrants and food is the way that they give love and the way that they nurture each other.

My father's family is very, very southern and on that side, also, food is how you comfort. You bring food to friends and relatives and families; potlucks for funerals, potlucks for weddings. It's the way that we nurture each other. So I grew up in a family where even through a lot of passionate fighting, the way that we connected and the way that we communicated was around the dinner table.

So I'm definitely not a chef. I learned from my parents and my grandparents and from experimenting. But food is something I've always been very passionate about.

I cook for my family pretty frequently. When I first started the blog, the person I was thinking of most was my grandmother, my father's mother, Barbara. We just spent a ton of time together throughout my childhood and my teenage years.

She cooked with me a lot and both of my parents were not super keen on having us in the kitchen when we were growing up because it got in the way of the productive things. But my grandmother would let me make JELL-O with her and let me dabble with her. It's really where I learned how to experiment.

I do love cooking for my family, now. My dad and I cook together all the time and it's really nice to talk to them about food and to feed them and to share traditions. Especially because what I focused the blog on is our southern food culture. So I really had a great opportunity to connect with my family about our family food traditions and foods that they grew up eating, and that they still love, and that I grew up eating and that I still love. That's been really nice.

On Southern Cuisine:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talks about southern cuisine.

The thing that stands out about this so much, to be both in southern cuisine and southern culture, is just the sense of warmth and a sense of community. I feel so loved everywhere I go in the south. The grocery store, my vet, the parents at the school where I teach. Everyone is just loving, and friendly, and welcoming, and warm and that's one of the things that I missed the most when I was outside the south.

Southern food is kind of the same way. It's home food, it's comfort food. It's not overly experimental or fancy. It's just good, quality ingredients made with care and that is something that I think is really special.

It definitely has its roots in sort of frugal, simple, farm-based, agricultural-based communities. They didn't have a lot of many things, but what they had was the time and energy to put into the ingredients and to really cook with quality and care.

On Being Fearless in The Kitchen:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talks about being fearless in the kitchen.

I was definitely always fearless.

It’s a really important quality, especially during recipe development.

I learned a lot of techniques, both with my parents and grandparents and through trial and error, just by sort of seeing what would happen if I combined these ingredients or if I tried this method.

I drew a lot of inspiration from watching them and from cooking with them. But a lot of my progression has just been through seeing what would happen and a lot of times failing and being cool with that.

On Kitchen Disasters:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talks about her kitchen disasters.

The first Thanksgiving after Dan and I started dating, we had his sister, her husband and their then two-year-old daughter, our niece Meredith, over for dinner. It was the first time that I'd ever cooked for them.

There was a lot of pressure because I had just started this blog and I bought a pumpkin to make a pumpkin pie. I was super excited to make it from the pumpkin and to do it from scratch. I made it and I was so proud. It had taken me hours.

Meredith and I whipped the cream together and we put it out. She took a bite and she started to bawl.

I was like, 'What happened?'

Then, I tasted it. I realized that in my excitement, I had forgotten to put spices in the pumpkin pie and sugar in the whipped cream. Two super essential ingredients. Pumpkins don't really taste like anything without the pumpkin pie spices. You need those. It was awful, it was so awful, I was so embarrassed.

The next year for her birthday, I made Meredith a chocolate mousse pie and she said it was 'pony magical.' That's about the highest praise a three-year-old will give you.

On Co-authoring – The American Cookbook: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talking about co-authoring a cook book.

I got a call last June from someone at DK, which is a publisher based in London. They have U.S. and international publications and they're part of Random House.

They said that they had been interested in doing a cookbook about American cuisine, but that the author that had pitched the idea was from London. They didn't think it was a great idea for an English author to fly solo writing an American cookbook, so, they were looking for an American author to work with her.

I was super interested and it turned out that Caroline, my co-author, lives in Durham, which is about two hours away from where I live and is where I'm from. I drove up to meet her and we just really hit it off. We spent the day coming up with a list of all the recipes and dividing it up.

Then I spent about three and a half, four weeks cooking, writing recipes and cooking like crazy. The whole book was cooked and tested and re-cooked and written in about three and half, four weeks.

It was a really cool experience for me.

I had obviously been writing recipes and developing recipes for the blog for a number of years, but it was my first experience writing for a book where there are standards for how the recipes need to be written. It's UK-based, so I had to measure and weigh everything because it's the metric system which I am not familiar with.

There was this huge learning curve which was really challenging and also really fun. I'm very fortunate that my first cookbook was in such a wonderful environment where I had Caroline holding my hand and the editors holding my hand and everyone sort of showing me the ropes.

I'm very fortunate that since the American cookbook, DK has asked me to come back and work with them on two additional projects. So I did The Meat Cookbook and then we just wrapped on The No Time to Cook! Book, which has been fun.

The Meat Cookbook came out this past September so it's available. It's 300 recipes and so much more. It's a really great, solid cookbook and I contributed 50 recipes to that book.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

None. We don't have cable.

What are some food blogs or websites that we have to know about?

Nothing in the House is one of my favorite ones. Not Without Salt is great. Those are probably my two favorites.

Who do you follow on Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter that make you happy?

Instagram is great. I follow a ton of food bloggers but then also, a lot of lifestyle bloggers. One of my favorites is Hey Natalie Jean.

What is something all home cooks should have in their pantry?

Red pepper flakes.

Name one ingredient you cannot live without?

Red pepper flakes.

I love them because they add a really subtle heat. They add a nice undertone of spice that isn't overpowering and that you can use in any dish.

I put them in everything.

You never notice that they're there, but they add just a really rich and subtle heat, which I think is important in pretty much all savory dishes.

What are a few cookbooks that have made your life better?

I just bought Not Without Salt's new date night book, Date Night In.

I love her blog and I love that 'Dating My Husband' series, so I'm really excited to dig into that one.

When I was first learning how to cook, my husband bought me Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef. It's amazing because it teaches you processes, not recipes, which I think is so important, especially when you're first starting out.

Ratio is another one that's similar that's really great.

That teaches you how to make things… like the ratios for making cookies, the ratios for making cakes. The sort of standard recipes for all of these things that you can then adapt to your own needs.

That is absolutely what made me the recipe developer that I am now. I have a foundational understanding of how to make different kinds of dishes.

Keep Posted on Elena:

Elena Rosemond-Hoerr of Biscuits and Such on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.

The blog is called Biscuits and Such. It's BiscuitsAndSuch.com. I am on Twitter and Instagram as @ElenaBrent. On Facebook as Biscuits and Such.

So you can find me and follow the blog and see new posts and updates on all of those places.

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    Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Biscuits and Such, Cast Iron Chronicles, Cookbook Author, Country-style steak, Date Night In, Elena Rosemond-Hoerr, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Hey Natalie Jean, Jell-O, Maryland Institute College of Art, Not Without Salt, Nothing in the House, Ratio, Southern Cuisine, Southern Food, The American Cookbook: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes, The Meat Cookbook, The No Time To Cook! Book, Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio

    Hello! I'm Gabriel Soh, home cook, food enthusiast and your host of The Dinner Special podcast.
    Everything here on The Dinner Special is an experiment, just like with cooking. Thank you for listening and being part of the adventure.

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