Episode 127: Frittatas, Beloved Cookware, and Our New Cookbook Club Pick

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Marisa’s tower of cookware

Some restaurants are eliminated tipping. We talk about whether we think this is a good thing or a bad one. We also talk about our own tipping habits and why we have them.

We sing the praises of the frittata, the Italian omelette that is so good at absorbing all your leftovers and get dinner on the table fast.

Our favorite cookware includes pots and pan both cheap and expensive, including Le Creuset, Lodge cast iron, Rachael Ray, and Sitram. We talk about the specific features we look for when shopping. Marisa confesses to a cookware problem.

We’re excited to unveil our new cookbook club pick for February: The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia. Joy suggests you start with the date shake recipe.

We’ve schedule our first cookbook club pot luck event. Mark your calendar for March 20 watch/listen for details.

At the market, we’re buying full fat, plain organic yogurt. We tell you why.

Episode 126: Whole Roasted Cauliflower, January Cookbook Club, Smoked Paprika

 

Marisa's inspiring homemade snow day pizza.
Marisa’s inspiring homemade snow day pizza.

Joy and Marisa had different takes on all the stories that came out during the blizzard about what to cook on a snow day. They also recapped all the meals they made while snowed in.

Have you seen the recipes for whole roasted cauliflower making the rounds? Marisa tried it out and reported back. Here’s the one from the New York Times she riffed one.

whole roasted cauliflower

We traded tricks and techniques for making hot chocolate at home and mentioned the good places to get it in Philly.

We got into the nitty gritty about cooking from our first cookbook club book–101 Easy Asian Recipes. We talked about what we made, what worked, what didn’t work, and whether we liked it overall. Did you join us in cooking from it this month? If so tell us in the comments here.

There are plenty of simple ways to use your stash of smoked paprika and we cover a few of them. It’s a good way to bring a grilled flavor to this grill-free time of year.

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Episode 125: Resolution Check in and Eating for Well Being

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Marisa’s Meal Plan Chalk Board

What makes for a diet that contributes to good health and makes a person feel great? Marisa and I talk about this surprisingly complicated subject.

One strategy that is key for us both? Meal planning. Marisa has been writing her meal plan on her kitchen chalkboard and posting it on Instagram. (You can follow her instagram here.)

We got a little philosophical about attitudes regarding different ways of eating and the judgment that can invade that conversation.

We talked celebrities and their approaches to diet: Nigella Lawson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen.

Joy ranted about how needless dietary restrictions negatively impact your ability to participate in food culture and connect with others, ultimately diminishing overall quality of life.

We detail our shopping lists for when we want to focus on eating for well being.

Here’s that Michael Ruhlman article we mentioned.

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Episode 124: Winter Stews, The Instant Pot, and Cooking While Sick

 

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Green Chicken Chili at Joy’s House

We talked about the Mast Brothers’ scandal. The Brooklyn-based, bearded chocolate “makers” have been under intense scrutiny for the past month or so. Read all about it.

The cold weather is really here now. We are all about the winter stews and we dish about our favorite recipes. Here’s the black bean, chicken and cashew chicken chili recipe Joy mentioned.

Joy got an Instant Pot for Christmas, and she shares her first experiences cooking with this multi-cooker. Her favorite so far: chicken stock.

Marisa is struggling with a pesky winter cold, and she and Joy talk about the things they cook and eat when they aren’t feeling well. Of course, soups are discussed. Joy looks forward to making Rotisserie Chicken Ramen from our January book club pick, 101 Easy Asian Recipes.

It’s winter. At the store, we’re buying cabbage. And we’re talking again about the many different ways we like to cook and eat it. Marisa provides Joy some coaching for her first batch of kimchi.

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Episode 123: Winter Salads, Using Your Leftovers, Cookbook Club

101EasyAsianRecipes

First we talked about a controversial recent study that suggested a vegetarian diet is worse for the environment than a meaty one. We are suspicious.

Winter salads–Joy and Marisa love salads all year long. Here’s the warm winter bread salad recipe Joy mentions.

Leftovers are a vexation for some people, but Joy and Marisa know what to do with them. They share their favorite tips to kick your food waste to the curb. One of the best: Make Marisa’s rye crepes and hide those leftovers inside them.

We proudly introduced the Local Mouthful Cookbook Club, and we hope you’ll become a member simply by picking up each month’s chosen book and join our conversation about the book and the recipes. First up: 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the Editors of Lucky Peach. We’re going to try to organize a cookbook pot luck as part of the club, so stay tuned for details.

Our seasonal ingredient crush of the moment is pomegranate. Marisa tells us how to pick a good one.

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Episode 122: Year End Special!

happy new year!

In this extended special episode, Joy and Marisa review all their favorite food things from 2015, including restaurants, recipes, cookbooks, gadgets, blogs and websites, podcasts, and more.

We want you to listen to the episode, so we are not making a list of everything here, although Joy did say she’d provide a link to the Nom Nom Paleo Cracklin’ Chicken recipe, so here you go. If you want more information about anything we talked out, say so in the comments here and we will help you out 🙂

We hope you have an auspicious and delicious New Year! Happy 2016.

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Episode 121: Cooking Resolutions, Food on TV, and chef Sara May

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Chef and author Sara May

 

In today’s episode, we marveled at this New York Times story about the trend toward “micro kitchens.”

We shared food and cooking resolutions–Joy and Marisa have both made them. Have you made any for 2016? If so, tell us in the comments here.

Are we in the Golden Age of food on TV? We think so. We talk about shows including Master of None, The Great British Baking Show, and Top Chef.

We talk with Sara May, Philadelphia chef and the co-author of Barkday Cakes, a forthcoming cookbook about treats for your dog.

We are really loving cooking with cold weather vegetables. This week our darling is the gnarly celery root.

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe! Bonus points if you rate us or leave a review. Follow us on twitter @localmouthful and help us spread the word about the show.

Episode 120: Frozen Vegetables, Cooking for Comfort, Chinatown

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Has indie coffee been swallowed up by corporate coffee? According to this recent story in the LA Times it sure has.

Frozen vegetables. Joy shares her favorite (unexpected) frozen vegetables. You will need to listen to this episode to learn the surprising frozen vegetable even restaurant chefs rely on.

We talk about the kinds of food we cook when we need to be comforted or when we need to care for others.

We compare notes on our favorite places (and must-have menu items) in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

And finally, we talk about the brightest spot of the darkest season of the year: Citrus fruits. Marisa discloses her source for Meyer lemons: The Lemon Ladies.

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe! Bonus points if you rate us or leave a review. Follow us on twitter @localmouthful and help us spread the word about the show.

Episode 119: Casseroles, Edible Gifts, Holiday Drinks

Marisa’s Tomato Jam from Three Springs Fruit Farm is just one suggestion from this episode’s gift guide. Photo courtesy of Albert Yee.

Chris Kimball is out at Cook’s Illustrated and Dana Cowin has moved on from Food & Wine. We try to make sense of these seismic shifts in food media.

We also talk over the topic of classic casseroles. You don’t actually need a can of condensed soup to make one!

Here are our picks for our favorite store-bought edible holiday gifts:

We also chat about our favorite festive holiday drinks.

Marisa schools Joy about Fromage Blanc.

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Episode 117: Vegetarian Dinners, Homemade Food Gifts, and Annelies Zijderveld

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Annelies Zijderveld, author of Steeped

We talk about the pressure to reinvent Thanksgiving. People like what they like.

Joy talks about how she has snapped out of her weeknight cooking slump. It’s vegetarian dinners. Two recipes in particular have floated her boat. Specifically Shredded Tofu and Shiitake Stir Fry and Trini Chana and Aloo. Marisa hearts Martha Rose Shulman for vegetarian recipe inspiration.

Marisa describes the adorable homemade food gift her father gives annually. (You will definitely want to steal this idea.) She also describes how to make homemade kahlua. Want more ideas? Check out Food Gift Love by Maggie Battista.

Annelies Zijderveld fills us in on cooking with tea and her terrific cookbook, Steeped.

We wrap up with a conversation about local cranberries.

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe! Bonus points if you rate us or leave a review. Follow us on twitter @localmouthful and help us spread the word about the show.