Episode 144: Intentional Leftovers, Picnics, and Cookbook Club Changes

A dish of leftover roasted cauliflower with yogurt and toasted cashews.
Repurposed cauliflower leftovers.

For our food news segment, we talked about this piece that ran in the LA Times recently, about recipe testing, test kitchens, and all those recipes floating out there on the internet.

We talked about the art of intentional leftovers. This can be as simple as a pot of soup designed to last a couple of nights, or those nights when you cook some elements that will get transformed in future meals.

With summer nearly here, we shared our picnic tips and confessed that we fantasize about picnicking more often than we actually picnic.

At the start of the year we launched a Cookbook Club and after nearly six months in, we’ve discovered that one book a month is too much for us. From here on out, we’re going to feature one book every two months. This leaves us with just three books left for 2016, which will be My Kitchen in Rome (summer), Vegetable Literacy (fall), Choosing Sides (holidays).

Finally, we talked about strawberries (which are finally in season) and shared some of our favorite things to do with the sweet berries.

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 143: Gnocchi, DIY Meat Grinding, Traveling Dinner Parties

Tis the season for English peas
Tis the season for English peas

During this week’s Food News segment, we took a moment to share some personal news: Local Mouthful won an award! Thank you so much, Rad Girls, for naming us “Storyteller of the Year.

We also talked about the New York Time’s recent story about what happens to Biggest Loser contestants after the show. Unsurprising spoiler: They gain the weight back, and sometimes more.

We discussed the gnocchi in all of its glorious forms. (Joy really likes this ragu over gnocchi.)

To grind or not grind–that is a question we explore on this episode. We talk about when it makes sense to grind your own meat and how to do it even if you don’t own a meat grinder.

Sometimes you host a dinner party at your house; sometimes you take the dinner party on the road. We share strategies for the latter.

Our seasonal ingredient crush of the week is English peas.

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 142: Quesadillas, The Silver Palate Cookbook, Camille Storch

Camille Storch, our guest and author of the blog Wayward Spark
Camille Storch, our guest and author of the blog Wayward Spark

Our news item of the day? The sugar shortage.

In our “What’s for Dinner?” segment we talk about an unrated old reliable: Quesadillas.

We discuss our latest Cookbook Club pick, The Silver Palate Cookbook.

Marisa interviews one of our favorite people, bloggers, and honey purveyors, Camille Storch author of the blog Wayward Spark.

And final we talk about the charms and challenges of a seasonal darling–the fava bean.

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 141: Birthday Special

rainbow birthday cake

Both of us have our birthdays this week! So we wanted to make a special episode on the theme of food and birthdays.

We cover:

  • Childhood birthday favorites
  • All the birthday cakes we’ve ever loved
  • Celebratory restaurant birthdays
  • Pot lucks and other homemade birthdays
  • Take-out birthdays
  • Birthday dinners for two at home
  • Food related birthday gifts (For Joy’s cast iron pan birthday story, you need to go listen to episode 127)

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 140: Stuff on Toast, Teriyaki, Sleeping & Eating

A favorite use for asparagus: breakfast tacos
A favorite use for asparagus: breakfast tacos

Our story of the week is Farm to Fable from the Tampa Bay Times. We talked about one reporter’s attempt to fact check farm-to-table claims on menus. What she found is disturbing.

We sing the praises of “stuff on toast.” You know, like avocado toast and its less trendy cousins.

Marisa explains the West Coast teriyaki restaurant culture.

We talk about how much a good night’s sleep (or lack thereof) matters to the way you eat.

It’s time to eat as much asparagus as you can–we tell you how.

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 139: Plant-based Proteins, Stir Fry Strategies, Allyson Kramer

9129831181_6f58cc31ca_z
Some of Joy’s favorite stir fry ingredients ready to cook.

We talked about how the state of Vermont has helped the cause of GMO labeling. Our take: What’s the harm of letting people know what’s in their food?

What is the deal with protein, and especially plant-based protein? We talk about our favorite meat free sources of this macro nutrient.

We share our hard-won stir fry wisdom and strategies.

Maris interviews vegan cookbook author Allyson Kramer about her work and her new book, called Naturally Lean.

At the market for us this week? Fiddlehead ferns.

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 138: Potatoes, Lost in the Supermarket, Passover

A recipe twice baked potato Joy made and enjoyed
A recipe twice baked potato Joy made and enjoyed

There are drugs in the salmon. UGH. We hate this news.

Potato forward meals. Surprisingly, the unfairly maligned spud makes a substantial centerpiece for a meatless meal.

We want you to keep listening to this podcast, but there are other food themed podcasts you might want to check out, too. We suggest adding Lost in the Supermarket to your audio diet.

Marisa explains the foods and recipes of Passover to Joy. She spills her brisket secrets.

And finally, all about stinging nettles.

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 137: Breakfast Special!

breakfast-bowl
One of Marisa’s breakfast bowls.

This episode is a breakfast free-for-all.

We talk, among other things, about:

  • Weekday versus weekend breakfasts
  • Marisa’s obsession with vintage waffle irons
  • Joy’s fast food exemption
  • Eggs, all the ways
  • Oats and oat toppings
  • Joy and Marisa face off over whose whole grain pancakes are hippy-er
  • Joy explains the new system of maple syrup grades
  • Granola and other cereals
  • Smoothies

Episode 136: Chopped Salads, Kombucha, Losing Your Cooking Groove

rhubarb
Rhubarb

Precycling! We talk about a New York Times story on the anti-packaging movement in grocery shopping.

Next up: Chopped salads. Why we love them, how we make them.

Kombucha–that trendy, fizzy fermented tea drink. Marisa and Joy share their differing opinions on this brew. Marisa talks about how to make it.

Sometimes even the most enthusiastic home cooks lose their verve, including us. How do we get back into our happy places in the kitchen?

Spring is here, and rhubarb is back! Here’s Marisa’s take on roasted rhubarb.

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 135: Stuffed Cabbage, Maureen Petrosky, and The Indian Family Kitchen

stuffedcabbage
Homemade (and rad) stuffed cabbage from Joy’s kitchen

In the food news: Starbucks is intentionally shorting its customers and now they are suing. Read all about it.

Remember how we once told you neither of us has ever made stuffed cabbage? Well, Joy fixed that. She made a terrific version from the excellent cookbook Whole Grains for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff and she shared it with Marisa. We both recommend this recipe to the stuff-cabbage-curious.

We compared notes on cooking from The Indian Family Kitchen by Anjali Pathak, our March Cookbook Club pick. Next up for the Cookbook Club: The Silver Palate Cookbook.

We have Marisa’s interview with the lovely author, food stylist, and TV personality Maureen Petrosky. She keeps her own bees!

At the market we’re stocking on shallots, as usual. We talk about why we love this often overlooked allium.

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.