By Zora ONeill
A podcast for practical kitchens
This week I do a little brain dump about saffron, a treasured ingredient that feels fitting for spring. How to buy, what to cook with it, and so on. Plus an easy saffron recipe. Ambient noise of the week: subway....
Your host is a little spaced out this week, but luckily it’s a quick and easy meal, learned from a Syrian doctor and single mom: a fast way to get all the satisfying flavor of much more labor-intensive stuffed squash....
A short episode, for a very simple but surprisingly satisfying vegetable dish, optionally made heartier with lentils. From the Aegean coast of Turkey — but, honestly, from the Turkish Airlines inflight magazine! Eat as a side dish, or as a...
Cooking for virtual travel, starting with a little trip to Egypt through koshari, a combo of rice, lentils and pasta, topped with a tangy tomato sauce and crispy fried onions. It’s hearty and nourishing, with garlicky zing. No sides this...
A bit of a hybrid episode, focusing mostly on how to make a pie crust, plus a little about quiche. There’s a lot of misinformation in pie crust tips and recipes — this episode covers all I’ve learned in three...
Lentils with Moroccan spices are incredibly good and simple, and they stand up to a lot of substitutions. Alongside, a raw beet salad makes a sweet, crunchy counterpoint. Sound quality on this is pretty rough — our kitchen has been...
Schnitzel, cutlets, tonkatsu, milanesa: thin, breaded pan-fried cuts of meat are fun to make. Serve with a sweet-creamy cucumber salad and buttery potatoes (TBH, a little bit of an afterthought!). Yes, this episode is a sonic nightmare, and we’re slipping...
A short episode focused just on the principle of ladhera — Greek-style ‘oil-cooked’ vegetables, especially green beans. A good side dish, or a simple, satisfying dinner with bread and cheese. NOT-Shopping List * Fresh green beans* Tomato of some kind (paste, diced,...
Alevropita is a quick baked pie with feta, done in about 20 minutes, and marouli salata (lettuce salad) is a very simple, very springy complement. Together it makes a good light dinner or lunch that comes together in less than...
A special short episode on the simplest and best way to prepare artichokes, which are in season now. Accidental music credit: Peter Moskos, practicing his autoharp downstairs. NOT-shopping list * Globe artichokes* Salt* Vinegar* Butter* Mayonnaise* Garlic* Lemon juice Simplest and Best Boiled...
RIP, Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine, where I found this surprisingly delicious and easy pasta sauce recipe 20-plus years ago. Alongside: a very simple carrot-celery-almond salad. And DIY vinaigrette. It all takes a lot longer than it should, but hey, there’s...
By popular demand, Cooking in Real Time is back after nearly 11 years, with a pretty long and rambling session of cooking basic rice and legumes, with plenty of shortcuts and substitutions from limited pantries. NOT-shopping list * rice, ideally basmati, but...
This week, it’s a menu for winter doldrums. I’m nursing a light cold with some chicken soup–and adding chipotle chiles and garlic for extra health-giving kick. On the side: a baked sweet potato, packed with vitamin C. Shopping list * ...
This week, we cook a little risotto–it’s not as complicated or as fussy as you think. And it’s a very adaptable dish. On the side, we roast up some wee brussels sprouts and douse them in garlic and anchovies–what’s...
This week, it’s a really tasty version of the much-maligned meatloaf, along with some delicate little potatoes and some sturdy greens. It’s a very meat-and-potatoes kind of dinner, but satisfying nonetheless. And you can make a delicious cold meatloaf sandwich...
This week, I make a hearty soup that mixes kale, sweet potatoes and sausage–interesting spices give it a semi-Caribbean flavor. On the side, celery root and apple–both in season now–make an easy, refreshing slaw. Shopping list * Andouille sausage (12 oz.)*...
This week, I make perhaps my most standard standby pasta, a mix of onions, tomatoes and bacon–great year-round, and totally doable with just pantry items. On the side, I boil a bit of kale and dress it up with...
This week, I make a fish tagine–essentially, fish cooked in a stewpot–with spices from a favorite Indian recipe. On the side: carrots with cinnamon, honey and red pepper…and some potatoes that take a damn long time to cook. Shopping...
This week, I talk about ways to get motivated for cooking in the fall. And I discuss my new [now 10-year-old!] cookbook, Forking Fantastic: Put the Party back in Dinner Party. Fall means back to school…so get back in the kitchen,...
This week, I put together a very quick late-summer meal: Maryland-style crab cakes, sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob with butter. (Note: after this episode, the podcast will be on break until August 20.) Shopping list * Lump crab meat, 1...
This week, I explain some of the most common mistakes new cooks make–and how you can fix them. It’s surprisingly easy. Jamie Oliver hearts us. There are a handful of very simple-to-correct mistakes that novice cooks make. In this episode of...
This week, I make a salad that is the perfect summer meal: easy to put together, little heat required, not heavy but still nourishing. ***PLEASE NOTE: Due to some tech problems, the egg boiling in this episode does not happen...
This week, I talk about that magical ingredient, butter–salted vs. unsalted, various types, when to use a lot, when to use a little…. Butter is one of those great ingredients that makes a lot of things taste sensational, but people...
This week, I make an easy, summery pasta dish, plus arugula that’s a nice variation from the usual salad. It all comes together very quickly, and doesn’t heat up the kitchen much–great when the weather is hot. Shopping list * 1...
This week, by special request from a fellow New Mexican, I cook up a batch of the distinctive red chile sauce used all over everything in New Mexico. New Mexico Red Chile Sauce Smooth, rich and spicy. I usually eat this...
This week, it’s that old-school standby, sloppy joes. On good crusty bread with an interesting side salad, it makes a very easy, very satisfying dinner. Shopping list * Butter* Crusty sourdough bread * Ground beef (1...
This week, I talk about three very common terms that have a particular meaning in recipes, but–because they’re so common–are rarely thoroughly explained. Listen to hear what zest, fold and deglaze mean. (Episode 11 was a video; you can see...
This week, I make an easy pilaf with Middle Eastern flavors: dates and cinnamon, plus salty feta. Green beans pickled with dill and garlic are on the side, and for dessert, we have a quick trick for making strawberries...
This week, I make a very quick omelet for dinner, along with the simplest of all side salads–just pick a good tasty green, and let that do all the work for you. The omelet filling is only a suggestion–it’s really...
This week, I demonstrate the relative ease with which you can make this takeout staple for your own sweet self. Absolutely no wok required! The shopping list might look a little daunting, but all the odd stuff will keep in...
This week, I read through a recipe a friend brought me. She had eaten the dish and gotten the recipe, but it seemed very complicated. In this episode, I go through line by line to see where shortcuts...
This week, I make a hearty dinner of Arroz con Pollo–saffron rice with chicken–with a crunchy fennel salad on the side. And there’s time to make dessert: an eggy, fruity clafoutis with raspberries. Shopping list * Chicken thighs* Rice (short- or...
This week: Just in time for (Greek) Easter, esteemed egg expert Peter (er, my husband) cooks the perfect hard-boiled egg in real time. Use this episode as your own egg timer at home! Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs Good eggs double as...
This week, it’s a menu for winter doldrums. I’m nursing a light cold with some chicken soup–and adding chipotle chiles and garlic for extra health-giving kick. On the side: a baked sweet potato, packed with vitamin C. Shopping list 2 chicken thighs,...
This week, it’s a menu for winter doldrums. I’m nursing a light cold with some chicken soup–and adding chipotle chiles and garlic for extra health-giving kick. On the side: a baked sweet potato, packed with vitamin C. Click to play...
This week, we cook a little risotto–it’s not as complicated or as fussy as you think. And it’s a very adaptable dish. On the side, we roast up some wee brussels sprouts and douse them in garlic and anchovies–what’s not...
This week, I make a hearty soup that mixes kale, sweet potatoes and sausage–interesting spices give it a semi-Caribbean flavor. On the side, celery root and apple–both in season now–make an easy, refreshing slaw. Click to play this episode in a...
This week, I make a hearty soup that mixes kale, sweet potatoes and sausage–interesting spices give it a semi-Caribbean flavor. On the side, celery root and apple–both in season now–make an easy, refreshing slaw. Click to play this episode in...
This week, I make perhaps my most standard standby pasta, a mix of onions, tomatoes and bacon–great year-round, and totally doable with just pantry items. On the side, I boil a bit of kale and dress it up with chili...
This week, I make a fish tagine–essentially, fish cooked in a stewpot–with spices from a favorite Indian recipe. On the side: carrots with cinnamon, honey and red pepper…and some potatoes that take a damn long time to cook. Click to play...
This week, I make a fish tagine–essentially, fish cooked in a stewpot–with spices from a favorite Indian recipe. On the side: carrots with cinnamon, honey and red pepper…and some potatoes that take a damn long time to cook. Click to...
This week, I talk about ways to get motivated for cooking in the fall. And I discuss my new cookbook, Forking Fantastic: Put the Party back in Dinner Party. Click to play this episode in a new window; right-click to download Subscribe...
This week, I talk about ways to get motivated for cooking in the fall. And I discuss my new cookbook, Forking Fantastic: Put the Party back in Dinner Party. Click to play this episode in a new window; right-click to...
This week, I put together a very quick late-summer meal: Maryland-style crab cakes, sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob with butter. (For more on how I got this crab-cake recipe, visit my food blog.) Click to play this episode in...
This week, I put together a very quick late-summer meal: Maryland-style crab cakes, sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob with butter. (For more on how I got this crab-cake recipe, visit my food blog.) Click to play this episode...
This week, I explain some of the most common mistakes new cooks make–and how you can fix them. It’s surprisingly easy. Click to play this episode in a new window; right-click to download Subscribe via iTunes Subscribe via RSS There...
