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129: Yosef Silver: Kosher Cooking and Barbecue

June 29, 2016 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

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Yosef Silver of This American Bite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Kosher Cooking and Barbecue

This American Bite

Since starting This American Bite, Yosef has evolved into a Kansas City based kosher food blogger. On his blog is where he welcomes us into his kitchen, where he highlights flavor when cooking from scratch, seasoning a plate, and breaking bread. Yosef believes that though it is not always easy to express gratitude in person, a home cooked meal says it all.

I am so happy to have Yosef Silver of This American Bite joining me on the show today.

(*All photos below are Yosef’s.)

On Being Kosher:

Yosef Silver of This American Bite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about being Kosher.

My wife and I are Jewish, and we keep a kosher home. I didn’t really start off to be a kosher blogger in that niche, but inherently my recipes are kosher, and that means that we don’t mix dairy products with meat products. It means our meat is all certified kosher and I’m personally gluten-free and dairy-free completely. So there’s just a lot of synergy with kosher cooking when you’re already doing a dairy-free diet.

I’ve been eating kosher most of my life. I think about since four or five years old, we’ve been keeping kosher in my family.

One of the big no-no’s is mixing the dairy and the meat product. So there’s no biscuits and gravy if there’s butter involved. So I’ll cook with a lot of dairy alternatives. Kosher slaughter has a lot of rules around how the animals are treated while they’re alive and while they’re being slaughtered, as well as there being restrictions on which meat products we eat, and which fish we eat. There’s also humane treatment of the animals as well. So pork is out of the question, and a lot of shellfish is out of the question, lobster, things like that we don’t eat at all. But, I think there’s a lot of traditional brisket and roast chicken on Friday night for the Sabbath. So we don’t go hungry, I’ll tell you that.

I tend not to get overwhelmed with kosher. Produce, fruit, vegetables, beans, legumes, rice, that’s generally kosher. Fish and meat, primarily meat and chicken, there’s a certification. But in the United States it’s very easy. Most Trader Joe’s you’ll go into will carry kosher chicken, maybe kosher meat, depending on what region you’re in. And if you’ve ever been in a store and seen a little symbol, which is a “U” with a circle around it, that’s the kosher symbol.

On the Food Culture in Kansas City:

Yosef Silver of This American Bite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the food culture in Kansas City.

Kansas City has an awesome food culture. There’s a lady called Jill Silva who writes for the Kansas City Star. And their food blog actually just won a national award for their coverage of the local food scene.

Our kosher barbecue festival brings people in every year from as far as New York, LA. We have the entire country covered. I have a very good friend from Northern California who isn’t Jewish, doesn’t keep kosher, and he flew in to be on my team. Friends of mine from Israel flew in and are on a team with us, and it’s such a culinary adventure. We’re very lucky that Simon Majumdar from the Food Network comes out every year to our barbecue festival, and he either emcees it or judges it. And if you read his book — I think it’s called Fed, White and Blue — he actually talked about a Friday night dinner that he had in our home, and then the weekend of the barbecue festival.

On Competing in the Barbecue Festival:

Yosef Silver of This American Bite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about competing in the Kansas City barbecue festival.

My goal at the barbecue festival really isn’t to win. We’re there to have a great time, and my teammates and I have really embodied that. You’re competing in an official Barbecue Society sanctioned competition, and they’re looking for something specific. They’re looking for the smoke rings. They’re looking for the flavor, the texture. And then you kind of got this rogue team brining turkeys. So our competition has a brisket round, a ribs round. I think it’s brisket, ribs, chicken, turkey; obviously no pork because it’s a kosher barbecue festival. To follow the laws of kosher, everyone’s meat is provided for them, which is very atypical.

Everyone has the same supplies. Everyone has the same ingredients list that you can request from. Everyone has the same smokers, same gloves. We have non-Jewish teams, non-kosher teams that participate, and it really does level up that playing field a lot. And the first year I competed, my buddy Chris and I made a terrible brisket. We fell asleep as the water pan ran out. It was disastrous. It wasn’t even good for jerky. And you know, we got better year on year.

Some of what I’ve learned from barbecue, I now apply in the home kitchen; the low and slow technique, using a dry rub, covering your meat. You can do that in an oven winter or summer.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

I love Chopped. I love the movie Chef and Burnt, and I really miss Iron Chef America.

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

I’m a big fan of Food52, Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat, I think she’s been on your show; Liz Rueven of Kosher Like Me. And two others that I really admire are Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn, and Melinda Strauss of Kitchen Tested. And all those people I consider are friends of mine. They’re awesome people. Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry. Jewhungry the blog is an awesome blog, and her writing style is so cool, so much fun, and Jonathan Margolin of Toque & Scalpel. His photography is outstanding. I’m jealous of his photography skills.

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

I know I have specific people on Instagram that I love, but I love exploring the hashtags on Instagram, and discovering other people cooking like me, who, you know…after I hashtag my own photo, I’ll go look at who else is using that hashtag.

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

My wife bought me this beautiful wine rack made out of an old wine barrel. And it’s just this beautiful arch cut out of a wine barrel. It’s the centrepiece of our table all the time. I love it.

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

Cilantro.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I mentioned Culinary Artistry before.

(Ottolenghi) I love his work. I also love that he’s an Israeli author, but he’s not exclusively kosher. I have hundreds of cookbooks.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

The soundtrack to Chef, and not to sound cliche but that movie and that soundtrack it’s on my Spotify, and it’s on Netflix all the time. It’s a great vibe, great upbeat, awesome music.

On Keeping Posted with Yosef:

Yosef Silver of This American Bite on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with Yosef.

I’m pretty active on Instagram. My Instagram name is Yosef Silver, and Facebook on ThisAmericanBite and Twitter as ysilver, I have not  dived into Snapchat yet. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my postings.

I would love to connect with everybody on Instagram, and I would love to answer questions and just connect. If you have recipes, ideas you’re not sure about, Instagram me, Facebook me, Tweet me, email me. And if you visit my website you can get emails for my new recipes as well.

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Amy Kritzer, Busy in Brooklyn, Chanie Apfelbaum, Chef, Chopped, Culinary Artistry, Fed White and Blue, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Food52, Iron Chef America, Jewhungry, Jill Silva, Kansas City, Kansas City Star, Kitchen Tested, kosher, Kosher Barbecue Festival, Kosher Like Me, Liz Rueven, Melinda Strauss, Ottolenghi, Simon Majumdar, This American Bite, Trader Joe's, What Jew Wanna Eat, Whitney Fisch, Yosef Silver

063: Whitney Fisch: Exploring Kosher Cuisine

July 29, 2015 by Gabriel 2 Comments

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast
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Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Kosher cuisine.

Jewhungry

On her blog, Jewhungry, Whitney explores and tests the limits of traditional kosher food by mixing in her Southern non-kosher food and family history, and her travels. Her writing on motherhood and her recipes have appeared in The Huffington Post, The Times of Israel, and Cosmopolitan Magazine, just to name a few.

I am so thrilled to have Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry joining me here today.

(*All images below are Whitney’s.)

On Starting her Blog:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about starting her food blog.

What got me interested in food was, I was living in Jerusalem. I was very close to The Shuk, which is the largest open air market in Jerusalem, called Mahane Yehuda Market. And I was 28 and blessed with free time, which I remember so well, yet don’t have anymore. But I had free time and access, and I just started as a hobby.

I remember my then-boyfriend, who’s now my husband, made roasted potatoes for me with onion soup mix, and thinking it was like a revelatory culinary experience. That’s how little I knew about food. So I just decided to experiment and it just evolved from making eggs. I mean, really, the knowledge of food that I had at that time was so minimal it’s almost laughable.

My experience and my time in that life was a recipe for, no pun intended, delving into what is now definitely the passion of mine.

Access to the freshness was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. There’s definitely a privilege in being able to walk and get your groceries for the day, and not having to . . . like now, I only have time to grocery shop once a week. So there’s a privilege in being able to A) afford that, and B) have the time to just walk and leisurely go through the markets and smell and taste and explore. I don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for that year and that time.

I think it helps that I was falling in love with the man who I came to marry. He was open to eating anything. So thank God, he did not have a discerning palate and he was willing to be my guinea pig and very encouraging.

There was no TV in my apartment. There was nothing. So I had really just ample time. It was a hobby and we could share that together.

On Experimenting in the Kitchen:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about experimenting in the kitchen.

I kind of decided that every Sunday afternoon after she (daughter) wakes up from her nap, that’s when we, she and I, we bake together. So it’s been really fun. Some of the stuff has ended up on the blog. Some of it’s just ended up in my colleagues’ offices.

But you know, that time has been really crucial in upping the creativity. And then quite honestly it’s helpful that I do work on a school schedule, meaning I get holidays and I get winter breaks. That’s when I just go all out. My husband is visiting, and when he’s there, I just cook and I cook and I cook. That really unleashes the creativity.

On Kosher Food:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about kosher food.

Like most things in Jewish communities, most answers are like four days long. So I’ll give you the shortened version.

No mixing of meat and milk. Not only on the item itself. So no ham and cheese sandwiches and, of course, no ham. No shellfish. And there are certain food items that are just prohibited in general. But that means also in your prep. So I have separate meat dishes and separate dairy dishes and separate meat cookware and separate dairy, everything is separate.

The beautiful thing about kosher is that it depends on where you’re from. I have an Ashkenazi Eastern European background. So for me, a traditional kosher dish could be anything from what’s called cholent, which is an all-day stew that’s been cooking and getting delicious and gelatinous. It’s barley and meat and sweet potatoes. Real hearty. Great for a winter day. Now that I live in L.A. there’s this whole Persian kosher scene which I’m being exposed to, which is beautiful. When I was in Miami, there was a Latin kosher scene. There is no one thing that characterizes kosher, for anybody. Which is what I love about kosher.

On Exploring Kosher Food:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about learning about kosher food.

I was in a yeshiva, called the Pardes Institute of Judaic Studies and I was taking three foundational courses, just in Jewish Law. I just wanted more information about my own culture, community, religion, observance. I took a class on kashrut in Jewish Law. And as with anything, once you become educated, it makes sense, right? And it just so happened that I was creating a life with someone who grew up kosher.

So it just, for us, made perfect sense. Our household, we eat vegetarian outside the home. Which means that we do not eat non-kosher meat, but we’ll eat a cheese sandwich somewhere, something like that. And that can be controversial for some folks in the kosher world. Our main goal for our house is we want anyone to feel welcome and comfortable eating there. From the strictest of kosher to someone who doesn’t keep kosher and is not even Jewish.

On Online Resources for Learning About Kosher Food:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about some good online resources for learning about kosher food.

There are so many websites. There’s a really lovely community of kosher food bloggers out there doing amazing, amazing, creative work. And you forget that it’s kosher. You forget that at some point, I know, seen from the outside, a limitation, and I’m using air quotes. But I don’t see it as a limitation by any sense. But there’s really a lovely community of kosher food bloggers out there.

I would recommend anywhere from Joy of Kosher, Jamie Geller. And there’s Melinda Strauss, who does Kitchen Tested. There’s Busy in Brooklyn, there’s The Kosher Spoon. There are just so many beautiful kosher bloggers out there.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

Definitely Top Chef. That is the cooking show I watch.

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

I want to give props to the smaller ones that not everyone really knows about.

There’s a blogger in the L.A. area, a Persian kosher blogger. Her name is Sina Mizrahi. She has a beautiful blog, kosher Persian food.

My beloved friends that I co-wrote a cookbook with, an online cookbook for Passover. What Jew Wanna to Eat, The Patchke Princess, and Kosher Like Me. Those are beautiful, beautiful blogs. But then there are the smaller blogs. Hola Jalapeño, I think is such a fun little blog. I hope that more people check her out.

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

I follow a lot of crafty folks on Instagram. Handmade Charlotte is one that I follow. Oh Happy Day! Just beautiful, colorful. A lot of it’s kid-based stuff that makes me happy. There’s this wonderful blogger, or Instagram account, at least, called Girl With Curves. And she’s just literally, like, “I’m beautiful, I’m curvy. Check me out.” And I really appreciate that.

Instagram is my social media addiction 100%. I cannot tell a lie. My students know it. They know Miss Fisch is on it and rocking it. I also follow Lena Dunham and Beyonce, of course. I’m not immune. They make me happy. And The Fat Jewish, which is hilarious.

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

I have my grandfather’s on my dad’s side’s flour sifter. It’s really old. Up until the time he passed away in 2005, he made a cake a week. He loved cake and so when he passed away and we cleaned out the apartment, that was something that I claimed, and the family welcomed and supported me taking home. I use it every time I bake, to this day.

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

I’m coming around to zaatar. We’re not 100% in love yet, but we’re in like. It’s so much in Israeli, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cuisine. I’m getting there. I used to really not, like, “Get it away.” But we’re dating, we’re getting there. We’re getting to know one another. It’s cool.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I just go online and look at blogs. But when I first started out, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and all the Mollie Katzen books were like my Torahs. I could not get enough of them. I’m sure every religious institution has the cookbook that their temple or their mosque or their church sends out. I have so many of those kosher temple cookbooks from Chabads, from whatever. I love those. Because they’re just filled with, like, “Here’s my bubbe’s recipe for Saturday chicken,” or whatever. And I love that stuff. Really, I peruse those often.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I listen to a lot of Band of Horses when I cook. And I listen to a lot of Erykah Badu and India.Arie. It’s a very random spectrum. I either really want to listen to Southern, rock-y, folksy music, or I really want to listen to some neo-soul. It depends on what I’m cooking, but those are the two.

Amy Sedaris. I remembered. Amy Sedaris, there it is, came out with a cookbook like eight, nine years ago, that is hilarious and delicious. So that’s my other cookbook.

On Keeping Posted with Whitney:

Whitney Fisch of Jewhungry on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to keep in touch with her.

Instagram is my bae. So definitely Instagram. And then secondarily I would say the Jewhungry Facebook page, for sure. And of course always the blog, jewhungrytheblog.com.

 

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Amy Sedaris, Ashkenazi, Band of Horses, Beyonce, Busy in Brooklyn, Cosmopolitan, Erykah Badu, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Girl With Curves, Handmade Charlotte, Hola Jalapeño, India.Arie, Jamie Geller, Jewhungry, Joy of Kosher, kashrut, Kitchen Tested, kosher, Kosher Like Me, Lena Dunham, Melinda Strauss, Mom, Oh Happy Day, Pardes Institute of Judaic Studies, Parent, Sina Mizrahi, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, The Fat Jewish, the Huffington Post, The Kosher Spoon, The Patchke Princess, The Shuk, The Times of Israel, Top Chef, What Jew Wanna to Eat, Whitney Fisch

019: Amy Kritzer: Learning About Jewish Cooking and Culture

March 30, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.
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Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast on Learning About Jewish Cooking and Culture

What Jew Wanna Eat

Amy is a cooking teacher, recipe developer, personal chef, and food writer. And her recipes have been featured in Cosmopolitan and Bon Appetite just to name a few. Today, we’re talking about Jewish food.

I am so excited to have Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on the show.

On The Idea Behind Her Blog:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the idea behind her blog.

I was living in New York City and wanted a change, so I moved from where I lived to Austin, Texas.

I was working at a corporate job as a consultant and I just felt the need to do something a little more creative. I’d been reading a few food blogs and decided I might as well start my own.

My brother and I, growing up, we were always really into our heritage, our Jewish food, and we had this kind of running joke that we’d open the door for each other and say “after Jew”, instead of after you. So it’s just a Jew thing. It was always a joke we had, and he said, “Why don’t you do Jewish food? Like no one’s blogging about that kind of thing. It’d be different and fun.” So I said, “Yeah, why not?”

I just started it for kicks, and it ended up being my true passion. I looked forward to doing recipes every weekend and I would sneakily go on Facebook at work to update everything, and email my new readers.

It was so fun so I ended up quitting my job to go to culinary school, and that was three years ago. Now, I’ve been doing this ever since.

I’ve always been creative and definitely into writing. One of my prior jobs I had was as a conference producer, so I would write different copy and agendas and interesting things like that. So I’ve always loved writing. And I always loved cooking and baking.

Growing up I cooked a lot with my Grandma, who I call my Bubbe, which is Yiddish for grandma. I’d always cook with her. But I never thought of it as a career until more recently.

It’s definitely something I’ve always had a passion for.

On Where The Name of Her Blog Came From:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the name of her food blog.

It was so my brother, as I mentioned, kind of did the “Jew for you” thing.

We were just kind of chatting about funny things, and I think it came up and we were like, “I don’t really know if that’s going to fly. Should I actually use it?”

In hindsight it’s definitely a name that stands out. People see it, they definitely have a reaction. And 99% of the time it’s a positive one like, “That’s funny. I get it, I get it.” And people are like, “Are you Jewish? Is that offensive?” “No, I am Jewish, that’s fine.” But it’s definitely helped me stand out I think, and it definitely says what my blog’s about right off the bat.

On Jewish Food and Jewish Culture:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Jewish food and culture.

In terms of Jewish food, versus maybe Italian food or Chinese food, it’s not just from a particular region. Jews have lived all over the world, and Jewish food’s actually evolved, so in different places the Jews have lived, they’ve taken the Kosher rules that they live by, and also some of the familiar recipes for holidays, like let’s say, matzah ball soup is a favorite of mine. It’s very traditional for Passover.

But if you go to Mexico where some Jews live, maybe they’ve added a little bit of spice or a little cilantro to their version. It’s evolved through the years.

Jews, unfortunately, have gotten exiled from a lot of different places. We lived in Eastern Europe and got kicked out of there. We live in America, and grabbed different things there. So living in Texas, I love to take some spices and local flavors and ingredients and adapt them to my food and my traditional recipes.

I think it’s okay to take something traditional and tweak it and add some modern foods and conveniences that we have.

A lot of the food I make is the Ashkenazi Jewish food. My heritage is from Eastern Europe. So I think if you were going to talk to Jews from the Middle East or Africa or anywhere else, they might have different staples.

Part of what I love with my blog is exploring these different types of Jewish food. And people always email me asking me if I can make a recipe that they grew up with, and it’s not something that I grew up with. So I’ve definitely learned a lot.

I would say you’re going to start with Jewish food with the Ashkenazi heritage, there are definitely some ingredients, such as matzah meal if you’re at Passover. Matzah is an unleavened cracker, and you can use it. It’s very popular around that time of year to make everything from matzah ball soup or you can use it to make matzah pizza. It’s a favorite of mine, or desserts using it.

Other Eastern European ingredients would be different kinds of cabbage and beets are really popular, so I like to incorporate those in different recipes.

The Jews had a lot of the tougher cuts of meats, such as brisket, or tongue even. So I’ll experiment with those as well. Things that people aren’t necessarily cooking. If you just give it a little love, you can make it really delicious.

On Some Good Resources to Learn About Jewish Cooking:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about some good resources for Jewish cooking.

The good thing is Jewish food is kind of in right now, so there are definitely more books and restaurants about it.

A classic book, which is not Jewish per se, but Ottolenghi the Israeli chef. He makes gorgeous Middle Eastern-inspired food that definitely has some Jewish heritage to it. Joy of Kosher is a great blog, and she does some more kosher food, not necessarily always Jewish, but around the holidays especially it’s more Jewish food. The same with the Shiksa in the Kitchen, Tori Avey. She is a great resource. Jewish Food The Nosher, is a website as well.

On Cooking:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about cooking.

It’s funny, growing up I wasn’t that big into cooking. I was more of a baker.

I was more artsy, so I loved to make cupcakes and decorate them. I would definitely lean more towards baking brownies and cookies.

When I initially started my blog I wanted to start a baking blog. And then I starting thinking like, “Do I want to make cookies every day?” I’m like, “I don’t know if I want to do that.” So I started experimenting with more cooking, and I found that I loved it because you can be a little more freehanded with it.

When I’m cooking for my website, I measure everything to make sure I can let people know exactly how much I used. When I’m cooking for a fun, I’ll just throw a little bit of this and this in there, and clean out my pantry, and add different spices. You can really experiment, and I find it just very relaxing.

On Cooking Non-Jewish Food:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about cooking non Jewish foods.

These days I definitely cook mostly Jewish food, I’m really busy with my blog and all my freelance work as well. But I like to experiment, especially with different kinds of Mexican cuisine. I like to try different Middle Eastern recipes that aren’t quite Jewish.

I don’t think I had any total disasters. I have had some times where, especially during Passover, when you’re trying to use weird ingredients, because you’re not allowed to have any leavened products. So you’re not having any flour during that time, so I’ll try to make a cake with some weird ingredients and it’s just totally flat and not the best thing. But I don’t think I’ve had any horrible, horrible failures, knock on wood, so far.

On Introductory Jewish Food for Beginners:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about cooking Jewish food for beginners.

I think it may seem a little complicated, but I love making brisket, because you really can’t go wrong with it if you cook it. The only thing that can go wrong is if you try to boil it instead of cooking it at a low and slow temperature. It’ll take all day, but it’s really mostly hands off. You can even do it in your crockpot.

If you just let it go long enough, seven or eight hours, it’ll come out delicious every time. And you can really add whatever spices you want. I’ve cooked brisket in beer, in whiskey, in wine. I did a little spicy version, added some tahini, so you can really get creative with it, too. I think it’s impressive. People are always impressed.

I think that it’s a little more complicated, than maybe beginner, but it’s really not. I think people just think it’s tricky. That’s definitely a staple.

For more Middle Eastern I always make my own hummus now, and it’s not hard. I think people are a little afraid of using dried beans, but it makes a world of difference. And again, it’ll take a little time, but it’s way better than the stuff you can buy in the store.

One of my favorite hummus recipes is a hatch chile hummus. It’s a little spicy. And recently I did a pomegranate hummus, which is a little sweet.

And one of the most popular recipes on my site is for a whiskey and cranberry braised brisket that I did two years ago. Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving, so they dubbed it Thanksgivukah, which was really fun. So I did a lot of combo recipes. This is kind of my Thanksgiving meets Hanukkah brisket, but I still make it all the time.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

I am obsessed with Chopped, I could watch that all day. I just love to see what they do with these super weird ingredients, and I think what I would do.

I really love Top Chef, too. The chefs are just on another level, the stuff they come up with, and how fast they can cook things. It’s super impressive.

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

My Name Is Yeh is a really awesome blog. She’s actually half Jewish, so she makes some Jewish tweaks on her website as well.

One of my good friends, Little Ferraro Kitchen, she does a lot of ethnic foods. I love to see what she comes up with during Hanukkah. She did eight days of different Hanukkah food from around the world, so a lot of them were even new to me, so that was super cool.

Tori Avey, I mentioned. She does a lot of food history, too, so if you’re interested in history, that’s a great one.

And then you mentioned the Food 52. I love that. I don’t even know if I’d consider that a blog anymore, because they’re on another level. But they are great for discovering new foodies and their recipes are always on point.

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

Make me happy, let’s see. I’m really into Instagram especially. I just love the visual aspect of it. I just feel like that’s the new social network, beside Snapchat, but it’s like the cool one, I guess. I like to follow food people and non-food people, so for laughs I’ll follow Andy Cohen. He always has good stuff going on. I like to follow The Garden of Eatin, she’s in Toronto, and it’s E-A-T-I-N, The Garden of Eatin. She does just gorgeous food displays. It must take her an hour to set up these gorgeous shots. But I love following her.

And Infatuation on Instagram. They’ll repost different, other people’s stuff, and they’ll post a different restaurant. Their food always makes me drool, and I won’t even be hungry, I’m like, “I need to eat something.”

I love Instagram. There are so many interesting people.

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

I think besides the immediate staples, something I like to add is unique spices.

Something I’ll have for dinner all the time is just roast of some seasonal veggies with a different spice on it. Maybe make like with a spicy yoghurt sauce on top, or poach an egg and put it on top and that’s it. Especially if I’m eating something heavy during the day, or I’m going out to dinner, I’ll have a nice light lunch.

I think what makes the difference is adding a unique spice. I love using za’atar. It’s a Middle Eastern spice. It’s a blend of actually different spices. The main ingredient is sumac, which is a very citrusy lemony flavor, kind of subtle. There’s oregano in there, sesame seeds, thyme, and sea salt. So you can make it yourself, but it’s just got a really nice balanced flavor.

Then using smoked paprika I like a lot, especially if you’re keeping Kosher, so you’re not having bacon. It adds a nice smoked flavor to the foods, too, in different chilis or stews. It gives kind of a smoky aspect. So I would say a few unique spices can take your dishes, your staples you always make, and bring them to the next level.

Name one ingredient you cannot live without?

Oh, let’s see. I might say tahini. I’ve been really into tahini lately.

Something that I always have in my fridge is Greek yogurt. I’m obsessed with Greek yogurt. I have it a lot as a savory thing, too, so I’ll make like a savory breakfast with some Greek yogurt, and I’ll put in some pumpkin seeds and some hot sauce, which it sounds really weird. But if you think of Greek yogurt as just a very neutral flavor, and you can do so much with it. I’ll even mix that with some tahini some thyme and make a sauce.

Tahini is a sesame paste used in hummus, or I’ll mix it with some hot sauce and put it over some veggies. It’s just extremely versatile. It has a lot protein, so it’s really filling, too.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I mentioned earlier the Ottolenghi, all his cookbooks are just gorgeous, even just looking at them for the food photos, I love. I always go back to the Joy of Cooking. It’s a classic.

There’s a cookbook called Schmaltz, and Schmaltz is a rendered chicken fat, and it’s a whole cookbook dedicated to what to do with this chicken fat and how to make it. So it’s your traditional Jewish ingredient, but to see it in different ways is really fun. I’d love to try to experiment with that cookbook a little more.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I don’t know if I should, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift.

People who don’t like Taylor Swift are lying, I think. It’ll pump me up, and I’m really into 90s music.

I’m a 90s child, so I’ll put on like the 90s Pandora Station, or I don’t know, Whitney Houston, Pandora, and see what comes up. Just something kind of fun and pop-y, and it’ll get you in the mood for cooking for sure.

Keep Posted on Amy:

Amy Kritzer of What Jew Wanna Eat on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.

All my social media links are What Jew Wanna Eat, and you can sign up for my emails on my website. That’s the most consistent way. There’s a few boxes you can sign up there, or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, whatever your favorite way is. Instagram and Facebook are my favorites.

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    Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Amy Kritzer, Andy Cohen, Ashkenazi Jewish, Chopped, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Food52, Infatuation, Jewish Cooking, Jewish Cuisine, Jewish Culture, Jewish Food The Nosher, Joy of Cooking, Joy of Kosher, kosher, Little Ferraro Kitchen, Matzah, My Name is Yeh, Passover, Schmaltz, Shiksa in the Kitchen, Taylor Swift, The Garden of Eatin, Top Chef, Tori Avey, What Jew Wanna Eat, Whitney Houston, Yotam Ottolenghi

    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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