Episode 353: Colcannon, Yogurt Cake, and Eliminating Disposables

In food news this week, we talk over the New York Times’ article, “How the Cookbooks of 2020 Tell the Stories of Our Pandemic Kitchens”

In what’s for dinner, it’s colcannon

In How’d you Make that, we’ve got Marionberry Yogurt cake.

We also discuss eliminating disposable everything in the kitchen.

In what we’re loving, it’s hummus topped with warm chickpeas, olive oil, and zaatar.

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18 thoughts on “Episode 353: Colcannon, Yogurt Cake, and Eliminating Disposables”

  1. My online recipe source for the Pandemic Times has been Shutterbean.com; I also bought Midwest Made by Shauna Sever – have only made three recipes but each one was wonderful.

  2. My favorite cookbook is How to Eat Supper from Splendid Table. Best recipe is the butternut squash pasta but also some other gems. The first Smitten Kitchen cookbook is great too.

  3. I would also love to own the Blue Zones cookbook! In my pandemic kitchen, I’ve actually been falling back pretty hard on some basic Joy of Cooking recipes. I love your segment on eliminating disposables. I tried going “zero-waste” 4 years ago. It’s been a process, but I still consider myself a “low-waster.” Some extra kitchen suggestions I would have are using dish washing soap bars instead or dish soap liquid in a plastic bottle, look into using a reusable oil sprayer like the Misto instead of spray grease in a disposable can, and using cloth napkins instead of paper ones at each meal.

    1. I also forgot to mention that ketchup in glass is now very easy to come by! There is a brand called “Primal Kitchen” that I have seen in Weaver’s Way, Giant, Acme and possibly even Aldi. Just look towards the bottom next time you’re in the condiments aisle. 🙂

    2. Faith, what brand of dish washing soap bars do you recommend? Or are they pretty similar across brands?

  4. cookbook recommendations are:
    1. Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley
    2. Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables by Abra Berens
    3. Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden

  5. Oof, I don’t really relate to that cookbook list, either, other than Salt Fat Acid Heat. My workhorse pandemic cookbooks have been all of Isa’s books, all of Bryant Terry’s books, Sweet Potato Soul, V Street, and Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking.

    I’ve got Marisa’s beet ketchup on my short list! Last summer I canned some of her regular ketchup recipe from Naturally Sweet Food In Jars, and I really like making the Canadian Ketchup from Saving the Season (which uses peach & apples in addition to tomatoes, great to make in late summer). Last time I made it, Marisa’s tomatillo ketchup was delicious as well!

    1. If you like the Naturally Sweet tomato ketchup, you’re going to really like the beet ketchup. The texture is even better.

  6. Joy, re: vegan yogurt — coconut yogurt is definitely the most delicious to eat with a spoon, but I’m really not picky when I’m using it in cakes. I get whatever is on sale and unsweetened, and I’ve always had it work

  7. My most valuable cookbooks: Six Seasons, Plenty, Flour Water Salt Yeast, and Maangchi’s Real Korean Cookbook. I was recently gifted Coconut and Sambal, and I love flipping and cooking through it.

  8. Fav cookbooks over the past year – Smitten Kitchen Every Day and Bread, Toast, Crumbs. I didn’t get into much project cooking because working from home while parenting was exhausting.

    Zero waste kitchens: My goal is a minimal waste kitchen. I found parchment paper that can go in my compost bin. We recycle as much as we can. I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought paper towels. My son is 8 and I know I didn’t buy them for a few years before he was born. I use kitchen towels for everything…cleaning up spills, wiping the counter, or a mess on the floor. When they get too stained or worn, I cut them in half to use as cleaning rags. If I have to clean up something gross (vomit), I don’t feel bad about throwing the whole thing away because I know I’ve used it for years. As the towels are used, I toss them into the laundry room (conveniently right next to the kitchen) and they go through with the next load. I struggle with forgotten containers in my fridge and the science experiments that they become so I still use ziploc style bags and plastic to-go containers for some things. I tried to go completely zero waste but had to find a solution with more balance and settled on minimal waste.

    1. That sounds like a really balanced and reasonable approach. And you’ve inspired me to designate some rags for the really disgusting messes that I don’t feel bad about throwing away. I definitely have some old kitchen towels that I can cut up for that!

  9. Colcannon, I used tiny Yukon gold potatoes, boiled and lightly smashed blended in with the sautéed onion, garlic, green cabbage and red kale. Delish.. so much better than I had expected..

  10. Thought I would comment about kitchen waste and Keurig coffee pods. I use the compostable pods from San Francisco Bay coffee company, they are made of pressed corn and the whole used pod goes in my compost bin. The Keurig machine works best in in my house cause I only drink decaf and my spouse regular, so making a carafe doesn’t work for us.

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