Seasoned

The pizza community in New Haven and beyond mourns the loss of pizza maker Gary Bimonte. Gary was the grandson of Frank Pepe and a third-generation co-owner of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. Do you have a story to share about Gary or are you a loyal Pepe’s pizza fan? Colin Caplan, pizza historian and the producer of the documentary Pizza: A Love Story, joins us live to celebrate Gary’s life. Share your remembrances of Gary or growing up eating New Haven pizza. We also talk about the bill designating pizza the official state food of Connecticut.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show. Gene Amatruda and Carmen Baskauf contributed to this show. 

Guest:
Colin Caplan – author of Pizza in New Haven and producer of Pizza, A Love Story. Colin is also an owner of Elm City Party Bike and owner/culinary tour guide at Taste of New Haven.

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Part of the joy of cooking comes from winging it. Sam Sifton of The New York Times and New York Times Cooking joins us to talk about ways home cooks can rely less on recipes and more on skill. You can cook! And you don’t always need a recipe. Sam’s got a career’s worth of tips to offer and plenty of guidance for pulling meals together from a simple ingredients list, no measurements, and the freedom to substitute anything you like.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guest:
Sam Sifton - Assistant Managing Editor at The New York Times and the Founding Editor of New York Times Cooking. Sam is the author of No-Recipe Recipes.

Featured Recipes:
Meatloaf
Smashed Potatoes with Bacon, Cheddar and Greens
Seared Scallops with Parsley Salad

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This week: some of our all-time favorite interviews to date. You’ll hear selections from our conversations with Ina Garten, Marcus Samuelsson, and Connecticut’s own vegan chef Chrissy Tracey and pizza historian Colin Caplan.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Ina Garten - New York Times bestselling author and the James Beard Award-winning host of Barefoot Contessa, which has won three Emmy Awards and airs on the Food Network. Ina is the author of 12 cookbooks. Her latest is Modern Comfort Food.

Marcus Samuelsson – Chef, restaurateur, TV host, and author of The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul Of American Food.

Chrissy Tracey – Owner of Chrissy’s, a plant-based catering company, and Vegan Vibes Meal Prep. She’s also a video host for the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen series.

Colin Caplan – author of Pizza in New Haven and producer of Pizza, A Love Story. Colin is also an owner of Elm City Party Bike and owner/culinary tour guide at Taste of New Haven.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Second only to water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. But for something we drink so much, we know surprisingly little about it. This week on Seasoned, we learn about tea from local experts. We talk to two tea importers in the state about what tea is, the characteristics of different types of teas, and how to savor the experience of drinking great tea. Plus, we talk to two herbal tea farmers about the benefits of herbal tea, as well as chefs who incorporate tea into their cooking.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Zshekinah Collier and Joseph Vazquez contributed to this show. Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Philip Parda – Co-owner of Savvy Tea Gourmet in Madison, Conn. (You can sign up for online tea tastings here). 
Jim Harron Jr. – Co-owner of Simpson & Vail in Brookfield, Conn.
Stacey Wood and David Soule – Co-owners of Whole Harmony Farm in Higganum, Conn.
Tom Kaldy – Executive chef, The Charles in Old Wethersfield
Cheryl Stair – Chef/owner of Art of Eating in Bridgehampton, NY.

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Beloved food writer and activist Julia Turshen talks with us about her new cookbook, Simply Julia, which describes her efforts to disentangle herself from diet culture and emerge a more centered, mindful eater. When her wife, Grace, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it changed the way Julia cooked forever. Now the couple enjoy Julia's "healthy comfort food," and we can, too. We learn that comfort food is less about carbs and cheese and more about feeling nourished and cared for. Also this hour, we talk to two chefs who cook for clergy in Connecticut and find out what's on their Easter menus.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Julia Turshen – Food writer and activist. Julia is the author of Small Victories, Feed the Resistance, and Now & Again. Her latest book is Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food.

Gordon Losey – Executive Chef and Conference Manager at the Pastoral Center, Central Service Offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.

David Makar – Food Service Director at the Sacred Heart Manor, serving the retired Sisters of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Hamden.

Featured Recipes:
Ricotta + Potato Chip Fish Cakes with Peas
Sticky Chicken
Breakfast Nachos

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Connecticut farmer Patti Popp of Sport Hill Farm in Easton joins us live—and we take your calls about planting and cooking the harbingers of spring: asparagus, peas, new potatoes, ramps, and garlic scapes—everybody wonders what to do with garlic scapes! We invite you to shout out your local farms and farmers, too. Farming is unbelievably hard work and we want to celebrate their efforts to bring local, healthy food to communities all over the state. Have you started your seeds yet? If your living room is overrun with heat pads and plant lamps, we want to hear from you. What are you looking forward to cooking most? We want to know.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guest:
Patti Popp – Co-owner and farmer, Sport Hill Farm in Easton, Conn.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get to know local chef and entrepreneur Chrissy Tracey. Chrissy owns a catering company, a healthy meal-prep service, and she’s just been hired by Bon Appétit to host cooking videos for their Test Kitchen series. We talk with Chrissy about what inspires her cooking and her quest to perfect the vegan pizza. She’s working on it! Plus, Charlotte Druckman’s anthology, Women On Food, amplifies the voices of women chefs and food writers. The anthology includes essays, interviews, and Q&As from more than 100 writers, chefs, critics, and TV stars. . .all women in the food world whose experiences truly run the gamut.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Zshekinah Collier and Joseph Vazquez contributed to this show. Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Chrissy Tracey – Owner of Chrissy’s, a plant-based catering company, and Vegan Vibes Meal Prep. She’s also a video host for the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen series.

Charlotte Druckman – Journalist, food writer, and creator of Food52’s Tournament of Cookbooks (a.k.a. The Piglet). She’s the author (and co-author) of several cookbooks, and the editor of the anthology Women On Food.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunger is a problem that can be solved. This hour, we talk to people devoted to ending food insecurity. Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare, joins us to talk about the ways the organization has mobilized to feed the more than 540,000 people at risk of hunger in our state. We’ll also talk to two organizers of Middletown Community Fridge, a project of the Middletown Mutual Aid Collective. What are the challenges of starting a grass-roots community fridge? And finally, did you catch West Hartford’s own Sam Occhiogrosso on Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship last year? We want to celebrate this 12-year-old baking star who proved 2020 wasn’t all bad.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Jason Jakubowski – President and CEO of Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare
Maya Gomberg – Organizer of Middletown Community Fridge,
Kirk Hart – Organizer of Middletown Community Fridge
(You can contact the Middletown Mutual Aid Collective via email: [email protected])
Sam Occhiogrosso – Kid baker from West Hartford, Season 8 Runner-Up on Food Network's Kids Baking Championship (@sambakesthecakes on Instagram)

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anna Francese Gass is the author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women. Anna’s mother, an immigrant from Italy, is a phenomenal scratch cook. And although Anna trained at the French Culinary Institute and immersed herself in the world of food and recipe testing, she was embarrassed to admit that she didn't know how to make her mother’s meatballs. Heirloom Kitchen documents Anna’s effort to capture and master her mother’s unwritten recipes, as well as the treasured recipes of women from all over the world who resettled in America. It was a delicious and uplifting experience. Also this hour, a conversation with the women of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven. We’ll talk to Co-founder Sumiya Khan, Culinary Coordinator Carol Byer-Alcorace, and Sanctuary Kitchen Chef Rawaa Ghazi.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Anna Francese Gass - Author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women
Sumiya Khan – Co-founder of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn.
Rawaa Ghazi – Chef at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn.
Carol Byer-Alcorace – Culinary coordinator at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn.

Features Recipes:
Gina's Brodo di Mama e Polpette (Meatballs with Tomato Sauce)
Safoi's Chicken Tagine
Maria's Sancocho (Meat Stew)

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

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Who needs a hot toddy when Connecticut breweries are making such great winter brews? Who is crafting your favorite beer in the state right now? Like many restaurants, local breweries have found ways to bring their beers to you safely. Let’s celebrate them. This week on Seasoned, we’re live with the master brewer from Black Hog Brewing in Oxford and New Haven, Tyler Jones. Tyler talks with us about ales, pilsners, IPAs, and more. Are you a fan of sours? God bless you. Have you tried a hoppy IPA somewhere that blew your mind? Don’t keep it a secret. "Lady Lager" brewer Alisa Bowens-Mercado, owner of Rhythm Brewing Co. in New Haven, shares a bit of her beer journey as well. She’s a pioneer in the state.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show.

Guests:
Tyler Jones – Master brewer, Black Hog Brewing (locations in Oxford and New Haven, Conn.)
Alisa Bowens-Mercado – Owner and brewer, Rhythm Brewing Co. in New Haven, Conn.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.