Monday, March 25, 2024
Good afternoon!
The Paris café waiters race 2024 [Instagram]
Seven rules for being a good dinner party guest from Adam Roberts [Cup of Jo]
‘Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking’ Brooks No Compromise [Eater]
Happy sixth day of spring! It didn’t feel like it at all this morning, which was downright icy, but the cloudless sky and longer days say otherwise and I’m here for it. This week’s newsletter has so much good stuff: A few recipes perfect for your Easter table; an interview with Jess Damuck, author of the excellent new cookbook Health Nut; plus, and the third episode of my new podcast, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, which dropped this morning (all is about buttermilk pancakes). Plus, in case you missed it, I have a new video demo for you for a Rolled Spinach Omelet [Reel, TikTok] that’s simple and downright centerpiece-worthy, and another for Pickled Carrot Sticks [Reel, TikTok], which I cannot resist making with rainbow carrots. Oh wait, you wanted more? J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and I are on Ed Levine’s Special Sauce podcast this week talking about our new podcast, and you can listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Cheers!
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers now that spring is finally here? I thought you’d never ask! Try the sesame asparagus and carrot chop, double shallot egg salad, leek and brie galette, toasted ricotta gnocchi with pistachio pesto, and fettuccine with white ragu. To finish, I recommend the bee sting bars, mango curd tart, and/or the carrot cake with brown butter and no clutter. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
My new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched a month ago and our third episode, out today, is all about Buttermilk Pancakes. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a new podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays. We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along.
potatoes with soft eggs and bacon vinaigrette
I know it's not for everyone but this here? This is the brunch salad of my dreams: potatoes, soft eggs, a bit of greens, and a warm bacon vinaigrette seasoning everything. I think we should treat ourselves.
leek, ham and cheese egg bake
Vying for a place on your weekend agenda: a giant puffed and bronzed casserole that serves a crowd, reheats like a treat and tastes like the inside of a very good quiche.
focaccia onion board
An Eastern European savory flatbread smothered in onions and poppy seeds with the classic chew and crisp of focaccia, is a cinch to make and a heavenly alternative to bagels in a big brunch-y spread with cream cheese, lox and all the good stuff. Your kitchen is going to smell otherworldly.
green bean salad with fried almonds
Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables. I hope you give this salad with crunchy almonds, pickled red onions, and so little fennel and celery, even the skeptics won't mind, a chance. I could eat it every week of the year and never get tired of it.
lamb chops with pistachio tapenade
I love lamb chops more than any human being should and this is one of my favorite ways to prepare them, in which a paste of olives, pistachios, capers, garlic and herbs is smashed on mid-cooking and becomes one with the chops before they reach your plate -- it's also one of the easiest. (Hooray.)
creamed chard and spring onions
Creamed Chard and Spring Onions but also how to "accidentally" make it too creamy and turn it into a pasta dish. This is what happens when I try to clean out the fridge.
yogurt panna cotta with walnuts and honey
No matter how fancy panna cotta sounds, it's remarkably simple to make at home, especially this Greek-inspired version with yogurt, honey and walnuts. Cut it into wedges, cake-style, or pour it into cups, breakfast/snack-style. Don't be surprised if it becomes a habit.
braided lemon bread
Sweet, buttery dough, cream cheese and lemon curd filling, and crunchy pearl sugar stud the prettiest, easiest braided pastry I've made -- basically a mega-danish. What are you waiting for?
carrot graham layer cake
I suspect we are all overdue for a grand ta-da! of a celebration cake in our lives and I nominate this one -- a moist, finely-layered carrot cake with warm spices and graham crumbs, stacked with all the cream cheese filling your heart desires. Needless to say, mine desires a lot.
chocolate raspberry pavlova stack
A wobbling centerpiece of a three-tiered chocolate pavlova with crackly edges and pillowy centers, plus an unforgettable raspberry curd, drizzle of chocolate sauce, whipped cream, fresh raspberries, and a dusting of sugar, almost as pretty as fresh snow. It's here to generate and distribute decadent joy, so please drop everything to make it, you will have no regrets.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JESS DAMUCK
My shelves are full of wonderful cookbooks I don’t get to talk about enough, so I’ve added this section so you can get to know the cool people behind them. Today we're chatting with Jess Damuck. Her cookbook, Health Nut: A Feel-Good Cookbook, comes out tomorrow, 3/26.
1. What inspired your cookbook?
I think it's pretty easy to wax poetic about the lushness and the fantastic produce available here in Los Angeles, and of course we all see Instagram content from wellness mega-stores like Erewhon-- but right before I started working on this book I picked up a book about Gypsy Boots (one of the original health food pioneers of the 1960's) while visiting Omnivore Books in San Francisco and that really shifted the direction for me. Hippie-leaning books like the Moosewood Cookbook have always been my idea of comfort food, but I felt like it was time for a bit of an update. When a lot of these books were first written in the 60's and 70's tofu was so difficult to find you either had to make it, or order it by mail. As I see sticky-shelved ma and pa health food stores disappearing quickly, I wanted to make sure the spirit of this movement didn't disappear with them.
2. What recipe are you the most proud of in the book, or felt the most triumphant when you got it right?
I will say that I used your pumpkin loaf as a jumping off point for a Roasted Sweet Potato Bread with a Miso Tahini Butter... and that flavor combination is absolute heaven for me, it was the first recipe I developed and honestly hard to beat. The Vegan Mushroom Lasagna was a whole journey-- I'm lactose intolerant but really avoid most vegan cheese products with weird ingredients, so I set out to make something that tasted great-- not just to vegans-- but to anyone who tried it. My Carob Thumbprint cookies were sort of the same journey, it's not about carob being a sad substitute for chocolate, or comparing it-- it's showcasing it as a unique ingredient.
3. What recipe is so low-effort, high-reward that it's worth cooking for dinner tonight, even if we're tired and don't want to cook?
I love keeping a big batch of the Chai Spiced Overnight Oats in my fridge for breakfast all week. The Cauliflower Chickpea Curry, One-Pan Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes, Chopped Cucumber and Feta Salad, Orecchiette with Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce... all require very little effort and very few dishes... which was a big consideration when developing this book! But I was developing two cookbooks at once while I was writing this book and I think it made this a better book, because many nights I really was too tired or burned out on cooking to cook-- so as a result there are more recipes that require less fuss, less specialty ingredients, and most importantly, less dirty dishes.
4. What's something you wish more people knew about your book?
One thing I wish more people knew about this book was that I had Roger Steffins (also known as the Family Acid) shoot all of the lifestyle photography. Roger is 82 and has been documenting California Counter Culture since the 1960s. Getting to know Roger and his wife Mary was a true gift of this book.
Thank you, Jess! You can order Health Nut right here.
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. I recently added several new favorites I’ve bought in the last year. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!