Burnt Toast

We invite food writer and coffee expert Oliver Strand—and our very own Michael Hoffman—into the studio to talk coffee. After we make sure we’re caffeinated, we discuss specialty coffee, coffee snobbery, and cup some McCafe, just for fun. 

Today’s episode covers the topic of first food jobs—we chat with Lucky Peach co-founder Peter Meehan about how he got his start, how aspiring food writers might get theirs, and just how scrappy Amanda was before The New York Times.

This episode is a party: We pack the studio with Charlotte Druckman, Kenzi Wilbur, and Marian Bull to talk about something near and dear to our hearts -- cookbooks. We chat about what makes a good one, what makes a bad one, and some of the craziest books ever published. 

We invite chef, bakery owner, and cookbook author Allison Robicelli on our show to talk about all manner of strange food: What constitutes strange, the craziest things we’ve ever eaten, and how we feel about all of it. Things get weird. 

On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters (if you're in Apple Podcasts, swipe up on the episode player page—the podcast chapters will be at the bottom).  

If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Anthony starts listing them at 2:16) before starting the episode.

Onion & Olive Bread
makes 1 (12-by-16-inch) pan pizza

Sicilian grandma dough

• 900 grams high-protein flour
• 100 grams whole-grain flour, preferably freshly milled
• 30 grams sea salt
• 720 grams (3 cups) water, at 65°F (18°C)
• 100 grams starter (3 to 5 hours after feeding it at room temperature), or see note about using pre-ferment
• 60 grams extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling the pans

Onion & olive bread

• 45 grams green Castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced (about 8 olives)
• 44 grams Taggiasca olives, pitted and sliced (about 23 olives)
• 45 grams red onion, thinly sliced (about 1/4 medium)
• 12" round pan or 1 half sheet pan (900 grams) Sicilian Grandma Dough
• 40 grams (3 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
• Large flake or coarse sea salt for garnishSicilian grandma dough

Sicilian grandma dough

1. Weigh all the ingredients in separate containers. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours and salt and mix thoroughly with clean hands.
2. In another large mixing bowl, combine the water and starter.
3. Create a crater in the flour and pour the liquids in the center.
4. Begin mixing with your dominant hand. Start in the center of the bowl and mix in a clockwise fashion until the dough comes together, at this point add 60 grams of olive oil and continue to mix until the dough is fully incorporated. Stop mixing, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside for 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Perform a series of stretch and folds by stretching and folding the dough onto itself for about 6 minutes.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container with a lid (or a bowl tightly covered with plastic wrap) and let it rest at room temperature. Stretch and fold the dough for 1 minute every 30 minutes for 3 hours (six times).
7. Rest at room temperature (covered) for 30 minutes.
8. Using about 40 grams of olive oil, lightly oil two or three baking pans.
9. Lightly flour your hands, and using a dough cutter and scale, portion then shape the dough (three 700-gram or two 900-gram pieces) into rectangles by folding the edges into themselves.
10. Transfer each dough to the center of a pre-oiled baking pan. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
11. Lift the dough and press out any air from the bottom of the pan. Carefully stretch the dough to the pan's edges. Using your fingertips, gently dimple the entire length of the dough. Place the onions and olives onto the dough and very gently press until they sink in the dough. Cover and let proof at room temperature for 6-12 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Onion & olive bread

1. Preheat the oven with pizza stones to 475°F (250°C).
2. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the dough and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt, if desired.
3. Put the pan in the oven directly on the stone, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
4. Remove the pizza from the pan with an offset spatula and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Tell us all about it at [email protected].

Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

If you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe to The Genius Recipe Tapes wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Referenced in this episode 

• Crispy Yangnyeom Chickpeas With Caramelized Honey From Eric Kim (recipe + video)
• Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home

Genius-Hunter Extra Credit 

• When I Came Out to My Parents, Kimchi Fried Rice Held Us Together (an Eric Kim essay on Food52)
• Read some of Eric's writing on Food52's Table For One column!

Have a genius recipe you'd like to share? Tell me all about it at [email protected].

Host Peter J. Kim is joined by content creator Carolina Gelen and author Irina Georgescu to talk about mamaliga, pickles, and Romania's super juicy sausages, as well as how communism shaped the family dinner table. Peter also discusses the musical influence of Romania's Romani people with Henry Ernst, manager of the energetic brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia.

Join Chef Farokh Talati as he cooks through Masala Oats, his go-to quick breakfast that brings warmth, tang, and everything else you need for the day ahead from his new cookbook Parsi: From Persia to Bombay: recipes & tales from the ancient culture.

Recipe
Serves 4
For Oats

• 100g ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 2 small green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 100g rolled oats or porridge oats
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
• 500ml chicken stock or water
• 4 tablespoons tangy onions (see below)
• a small handful of well-chopped curly
• leaf parsley freshly cracked black pepper

For Tangy Onions

• 1 small red onion
• 2 generous tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

To Make the Oats

1. Melt the ghee or butter in a sturdy-bottomed pot over a low heat. When hot, add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the vegetables have softened, but none have taken on any colour.
2. Add the tomato, chillies, garam masala and salt. Season with a few healthy grinds of black pepper and stir everything together. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to break down.
3. Add the oats, turmeric, hing and stock or water. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, stirring continuously, for about 2–4 minutes, until the oats cook and thicken – you want the consistency of a well-formed but loose porridge, as this is the essence of what you’re creating.
4. Place the hot masala oats in serving bowls and top each with a spoonful of tangy onions (see below) and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

To Make Tangy Onions

1. To prepare the tangy onions, peel a small red onion, cut in half, then thinly slice using a mandolin or sharp knife.
2. Sprinkle the salt and cracked black pepper.
3. Sprinkle the apple cider vinegar over the onions and, using your fingers, massage together.

Whether its recreating the iconic moon pie cookie in bar form or using tahini to elevate your go-to recipes, Joy the Baker is chock full of incredible baking tips and tricks to bring into a new year of better baking.

Referenced in this episode 

• Joy's Plum and Lemon Curd Cake
• Joy's Moon Pie Bar
• Joy's Dark Chocolate Tahini Skillet Cookie

Genius-Hunter Extra Credit

• Joy the Baker's Website
• Find Joy on Instagram!

Rugelach is a beloved Jewish treasure originating from Eastern Europe. The cookie-pastry hybrid can be filled with anything from jam to chocolate and is the perfect two-bite treat fit for any holiday spread. This version, a classic chocolate rugelach bolstered with the flavors of creamy milk chocolate and malted milk powder, has a nostalgic flavor and tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture that will shine at any cookie swap.

Recipe

16 Rugelach 

Dough

• 2 1/4 cups (288g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (40g) malted milk powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks/226g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 8 ounces (226g) cold cream cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes

Malted Milk Chocolate Filling

• 4 ounces (about ⅔ cup/113g) milk chocolate chips or chopped milk chocolate
• 1/3 cup (53g) malted milk powder
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (6g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg, for egg wash, plus more if needed
• sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Make the dough: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the flour, sugar, ¼ cup malted milk powder, and salt. Process until combined, 10 to 15 seconds. Add the butter and cream cheese and process until a rough, shaggy dough forms that just starts to pull away from the sides of the food processor, 30 to 45 seconds. (If you don’t have a food processor you can pinch and knead the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients using clean hands as if you are making pie dough.) Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, cut in half, and roughly form each half into a rectangle. (Wipe out the food processor, but don’t wash it.) Tightly cover in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
2. Make the filling: Place the chocolate chips, malted milk powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until the mixture is the texture of coarse sand, 25 to 35 seconds. (Alternatively, chop the chocolate into a fine dust and mix with the other ingredients.) Transfer into a bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, crack the egg for the egg wash and beat with a fork until no streaks of unincorporated yolk remain.
3. Unwrap one of the chilled doughs, generously dust with flour, and roll into a 11- by 8-inch rectangle. (The dough can get sticky, so use a bit more flour than normal.) Trim the edges to create crisp lines, if desired. Sprinkle about half of the filling onto the dough in an even layer leaving a ½-inch border on the top and bottom, pressing it in with your hands so it sticks and compacts slightly. Brush the top and bottom border with the egg wash. Roll into a spiral shape, brushing the underside of the dough with egg wash each time you roll it over, and transfer onto a sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling and freeze both logs uncovered for 1 hour.
4. As the cookie logs are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F and set 2 racks at the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets (you can line the one in the freezer once the logs are done chilling) with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
5. Brush the chilled dough logs with the egg wash on all sides. (If your egg wash has a lot of chocolate in it, it’s best to make a new one.) Generously sprinkle the tops of the logs with the sanding sugar. Cut the logs into 1½-inch thick slices using a thin sharp knife and place onto the prepared baking sheets spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until lightly browned, then let cool completely on the baking sheet before serving. (If any of the rugelach spread more than you would have liked, just use the back of a spoon to push them back together while still hot from the oven.)