BFF with the Chef

This week's guest is Emmeline Kemperyd, the blogger behind Always Use Butter, a blog that's dedicated to bringing quick, easy and healthy-ish recipes that are designed to make sure her readers eat delicious every day. A Stockholm based foodie and management consultant, Emmeline was raised in a Swedish American household in Stockholm, where her international palate was first cultivated by her American Dad. Since those days, she has continued to seek out new and delicious cuisines around the world in her travels. As she puts it, Emmeline just wants to share her love of food and wine, and wants to help her readers cook up some amazing food in their own kitchens.

In this episode, we talk about morning scones, authentic Swedish food, decadent desserts that are easy to make, her go-to meal, variances and delights in Thai cuisine, the merits and culinary craft of mocktails, the kitchen tool she can't live without, and her #1 tip to elevate your recipes.

You can find Emmeline on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest

Recipes Mentioned in this Episode

• Passion Fruit Gino
• Thai Chicken Salad
• Easy Baked Tortellini Casserole

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This week's guest is Ridhima Gugnani, the blogger behind Everything Dessert, a blog that focuses on the sweet treats that she loves to make. Ridhima originally fell in love with baking when she was just 10 years old when her grandmother taught her how to make a sponge cake. A visual communications designer by trade, she fell in love with food photography, which led to her starting her blog in June of 2018. In less than a year, she's gained more than 5,000 followers and her account continues to grow daily as she shares the delightful treats that come out of her kitchen.

In this episode, we talked about delicious savory galettes that you can make at home, Indian comfort food, why you always need to have lots of chocolate in your kitchen, how toasted seeds can transform your dishes, and dessert recipes that will quickly become favorites.

You can find Ridhima on her website, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter

Recipes Mentioned in this Episode

• Apple Pie
• Honeyed Pear & Almond Cake

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This week's guest is Madalaine McDaniel, the blogger and YouTube host of Lakeside Table. A channel that is dedicated to showing you how to make simple and tasty recipes each week. A native of Saint Louis, Madalaine was a former medical sales rep, and a single mom that started out cooking by listening out for the fire alarm, however, after meeting her husband Jerry, and moving with him and his family to rural Illinois, she decided to buckle down and learn to cook. Since her early days of humble cooking, Madalaine has blogged about her journey become an accomplished home cook in her own right. She now shares what she's learned, as well as tips and tricks about cooking on her show and her blog.

In this episode, we talked about Midwestern comfort food and amazing authentic Italian cuisine, how to elevate dishes with spices, an amazing hack for dried herbs, divinely delicious popovers, the benefits of culinary school education, and a useful trick for measuring cream based foods.

You can find Madalaine on her website, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook

Recipes Mentioned in this Episode

• Popovers
• Pecan Crusted Salmon over Mustard Sauce
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Golden Crusted Crab Cakes

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This week's guest is Olivia Hersey, the owner of LivFit Training, a company dedicated to helping women and men meet their fitness goals. Olivia has been living the dream in Hawaii, where she's been a certified personal trainer since 2014, and she's also a group fitness coach at F45, a high-intensity interval training student. Liv is also an avid foodie and takes her meals quite seriously. She aims to have her clients have a healthy and balanced approach to nutrition so that they can meet their goals..

In this episode, we talked about how you can improve your health with small changes to your diet, how your personal trainer can be a fun part of your holistic life plan, three foods Olivia could eat every day, easy and delicious meal planning & prep, and how to enjoy treats without guilt.

You can find Liv on her website, Instagram, and Facebook,

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Have you ever wondered what cookbooks a food podcaster loves? Join host Nicole Schwegman as she shares and explores her top ten cookbooks of 2018! From no-knead breads to incredible smashburgers courtesy of the Baking Steel, sinfully delicious brownies, pad thai to incorporating more vegetables into your meals, delicious Persian meals, reimagined roast chicken, how to make elevated gourmet meals for one, odysseys of food and heritage, to divine pies and wine pairings, there's something for everyone!

10) Bread Toast Crumbs: Recipes for No-Knead Loaves & Meals to Savor Every Slice by Alexandra Stafford

9) Baking with Steel: The Revolutionary New Approach to Perfect Pizza, Bread, and More by Andris Lagsdin

8) BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks

7) Night + Market: Delicious Thai Food to Facilitate Drinking and Fun-Having Amongst Friends by Kris Yenbamroong

6) Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden

5) Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories by Naz Deravian

4) Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes by Alison Roman

3) Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One by Anita Lo

2) Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel by Alon Shaya

1) Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit by Lisa Ludwinski

Honorable Mention:

Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking by Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker

Recipes Mentioned in this Episode

• Alexandra Stafford's Peasant Bread recipe
• Andris Lagsdin's Smashburger Recipe
• BraveTart's Brownies recipe
• Kris Yenbamroong's Pad Thai recipe
• Naz Deravian's Tahdig recipe
• Alison Roman's Roast Chicken recipe

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Join host Nicole Schwegman on a recap of BFF with the Chef's first season and our 13 amazing guests! Hear the best cooking tips, recipes and eating advice shared by chefs and bloggers Jen Wooster (Peel with Zeal), Emily Wilson (The Craveable Kitchen), Riz Asad (Chocolates and Chai), Ben Myhre (Ramshackle Pantry), Brenda Sickles (Becoming Betty), Nick Hortense (Blogtastic Food), Haylie Abele (Our Balanced Bowl), Andris Lagsdin (Baking Steel), Madison Surdyke (Sunny Thymes Blog), Wendi Spraker (Loaves and Dishes), author & food critic Morgan Murphy, Kathleen Phillips (Grits and Gouda), and Sandy Axelrod (The Traveling Locavores).

From amazing two ingredient biscuits to divine cocktails, must-have black bean burgers that can be easily made and frozen, to better than takeout pizza with the Baking Steel, favorite foods from Trader Joe's, no-churn ice cream, and the best eating and cooking advice, enjoy this retrospective on our first season! We're grateful for each and every guest for sharing their time, their knowledge, their recipes, and even their family secrets with us!

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This week's guest is Andris Lagsdin, the chef and inventor of the Baking Steel. Andris started out as a chef, but gave up restaurant life to work for his family Steels business. While working there, he had the brilliant idea to create a Steel surface to cook pizza, based on a technique he read about in the book Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. Andris spent 16 months tinkering with a prototype before he started his first Kickstarter. The Kickstarter became wildly successful after it was featured on the prominent food blog, Serious Eats. Since then, he hasn't looked back. Andris is also the author of Baking With Steel: The Revolutionary New Approach to Perfect Pizza, Bread, and More.

Show Notes:

This week's guest is Andris Lagsdin, the chef and inventor of the Baking Steel. Andris started out as a chef, but gave up restaurant life to work for his family Steels business. While working there, he had the brilliant idea to create a Steel surface to cook pizza, based on a technique he read about in the book Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. Andris spent 16 months tinkering with a prototype before he started his first Kickstarter. The Kickstarter became wildly successful after it was featured on the prominent food blog, Serious Eats. Since then, he hasn't looked back. Andris is also the author of Baking With Steel: The Revolutionary New Approach to Perfect Pizza, Bread, and More.

In this episode, we talked about Andris' quest to create the Baking Steel, how the home chef can make restaurant quality pizza with the Steel, secrets for the most delicious dough, cheese and seasonings, and the versatility of the Baking Steel for recipes such as smashburgers and English Muffins.

Links to Recipes that were Mentioned:

• Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe
• A Simple Margherita Pizza
• Homemade English Muffins
• The Ultimate Smash Burger

Andris' Cookbook

Baking with Steel: The Revolutionary New Approach to Perfect Pizza, Bread, and More

You can find Andris on his website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

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This week's guest is Jen Wooster, the creator of the healthy food blog, Peel with Zeal. Both Jen and her husband, who she affectionately calls Mr. Peel, suffer from different autoimmune diseases. She has Celiac Disease, while Mr. Peel suffers from a more serious diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. They both follow the Wahl's Protocol, a functional medicine diet, which Jen blogs about each week. Both she and her husband invite their readers to join them as they create healthy recipes that focus on healing your body through food. They believe that food and life should be fun and that a little bit of humor makes each dish taste just a little bit better.

In this episode, we talked about Jen's creation of delicious, healthy, adventurous and beautiful dishes full of fruits and vegetables that also fit gluten-free dietary requirements, how to make homemade tasty treats for your pet, "fake out the takeout" dishes, easy meal prep and the three components that will ensure that your recipe will be right on track.

Links to Recipes that were Mentioned:

• Seven Healthy No-Cook Sauces
• Easy Paleo Thai "Peanut" Sauce
• Paleo Swimming Rama
• Charred Cauliflower Steaks with Curry Sauce
• Roasted Cranberries
• Wild Cauliflower Rice Pilaf with Grapes
• Pumpkin Pupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Other Links mentioned in this episode:

The Wahl Protocol

Purpose and Plenty (Jen's Sister's Website)

You can find Jen on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

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This week's guest is Sandy Axelrod, the executive chef, blogger and one half of the dynamic duo known as The Traveling Locavores. Sandy and her husband Steve's blog combine their passion for local food and travel by sharing adventures, recipes and wonderful insight into America's best food, farmers markets and attractions.

Trained at Le Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London, Sandy spent 18 years as the chef-owner of Affairs to Remember Catering. Her love for great food, family, entertaining, RV adventures and travel combine to give Sandy an amazing perspective.

Show Notes:

This week's guest is Sandy Axelrod, the executive chef, blogger and one half of the dynamic duo known as The Traveling Locavores. Sandy and her husband Steve's blog combine their passion for local food and travel by sharing adventures, recipes and wonderful insight into America's best food, farmers markets and attractions.

Trained at Le Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London, Sandy spent 18 years as the chef-owner of Affairs to Remember Catering. Her love for great food, family, entertaining, RV adventures and travel combine to give Sandy an amazing perspective.

In this episode, we talked about Sandy's stellar 50 year career as a chef, her time at Le Cordon Bleu School of Cookery, designing menus for a party, her love of Bobby Flay, and how to make her new favorite dessert, Grasshopper Pie.

Links to Recipes that were Mentioned:

• Tuna Pasta (Penne with Tuna, Capers and Raisins)
• Grasshopper Pie

Links to Chef's Knives mentioned in this episode:

Global Chef's Knife (from Williams-Sonoma)

Shun Kaji Chef's Knife (from Williams-Sonoma)

Ken Onion Chef's Knife (from Bed, Bath and Beyond)

Sandy's Cookbook – Affairs to Remember

You can find Sandy on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

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This week, Nicole is telling you about the best Black Friday deals for home cooks and she gives a look at to what she's hoping to buy this holiday season