Episode 182: Broth-y Soups, Papaya Salads, and Potluck Clubs

Marisa’s latest baking find.

In food news this week, we learned that one Whole Foods in New York City now features a vegetable butcher who will slice and dice your produce according to your whims in the store.

Marisa has seen the light about homemade stocks, thanks to some brothy soups she’s been making lately. The stock has been the star of the show!

During her exile from her under-construction kitchen, Joy ate most of the papaya salads at restaurants around Philadelphia and she shares her favorites. (The version at Bottles & Banh Mi was her favorite.)

We are thinking about starting up a potluck club. Are you in the Philly area? Would you want to be a member? Tell us in the comments.

And finally, at the market, we are stocking up on locally grown and milled flour. Specifically Daisy Flour.

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17 thoughts on “Episode 182: Broth-y Soups, Papaya Salads, and Potluck Clubs”

  1. I know that the first thought associated with a produce butcher would be laziness BUT I happen to have a neighbor in her late 60s who lives alone. She loves to eat good, fresh food but does not have the strength or dexterity to cut up things like butternut squash or watermelon. I have willingly become her personal produce butcher and am usually sent home with a goody bag. South Florida could definitely benefit from this service!

  2. I would love to participate in the potluck club. Please keep us posted as this develops.

    FYI-I burned out my KA motor on a batch of Jacques Torres choc chip cookie dough. Got it rehabbed at an appliance repair store in NE Philly. Works perfectly again.

  3. I am in the Chicago Cookbook Club that you mentioned! We meet monthly and have the best time ever. It is always a highlight of the month. You should interview my friend who put our group together, it is a great story and might inspire other groups to take the plunge and get one started. Our club has even branched off and a member started one in Alaska!

  4. Loved hearing your enthusiasm for starting a potluck group! I’m part of the Chicago group, and it’s been such an enriching experience. That club is cookbook based, and I’m also taking part in a smaller neighborhood group which has more of a theme or ingredient approach to the meal, which allows for more interpretation. Both methods for having a shared meal are great, just different. Please be in touch if you have logistical questions.

    Second, on Kitchen Aid mixers — Marisa, if you’re worrying that yours in burning out, I recommend a tune up by an authorized repair shop. At about 8 years old, mine started losing power (had been going through really heavy use from recipe testing plus personal cooking). I sent it in, and for about $70-80 was good as new, and preferable to purchasing a new one. The hardest part was being without it for several weeks.

    1. Oh! I didn’t realize that that was a possibility! I’m going to see if I can’t find a shop in my area!

  5. My wife and I recently started a potluck dinner with friend that we call 2nd Saturdays. I got the idea from your first Friday Night Meatball podcast. So we would definitely be interested in your potluck group, keep us updated!

  6. I like your little “surprise” at the end of your show notes. I read the book “Stir” and will definitely make that sauce with my preserved lemons. Thanks!

  7. It was great to hear you guys are fans of papaya salads! In Philadelphia we have a rare selection, ranging from Burmese-influenced to the Cambodian herbal versions and the Vietnamese varieties. For my wife and I, the “right way” to do papaya salad is the Isaan or Lao way, i.e. to use the funky juices of fish fermented in salt and rice bran. For years we’ve been making it at home (and the style of mortar and pestle makes a big difference–for “tum” salads, the mortar is wood and can grip the ingredients to bash them up). There is a restaurant in North/Near Northeast Philadelphia that does this salad properly: Dansavann Laos Cafe, 5419 N Mascher St.

  8. My daughter recently told me about your podcasts. After listening to this show, my question is: Have you ever made corn cob stock? Each fall, we gather as a family to process corn for our freezer. (I think last year we filled over 100 quart bags.) A few years ago, I wondered what we could do with all the leftover cobs and the subject of stock came up. We “googled” it and tried it. I have to say, to this day one of the best split pea soups I ever made started with that stock. I even shared some with a fellow cooking friend and she agreed. Can’t say we have tried the stock idea again, but I imagine I will one day.

    1. I’ve always meant to make corn cob stock, but never have. I’m planning on making a big batch of corn salsa this summer and will definitely save the corn cobs to make some stock!

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