Cooking the Books

Are We Winning author Will Leitch’s episode of Cooking the Books is less of a “cooking” show and more of a “dropping something in warm but not boiling water and leaving it there for 2 minutes” show.  Nevertheless it’s one of the best episodes ever for various reasons.  The ending is a real shocker.  I’m still a little bit shocked.

Julie “Sweet Jewish Noodles” Klausner came to the Cooking the Books studio to discuss her book I Don’t Care About Your Band and make kugel. We ended up mostly speaking Yiddish so I hope you don’t have problems understanding us. This was the first time we’d had a guest who is already a star of the funniest videos on the Internet (cf: Mommy Time, Racist Annie, Welcome To Our House) and I have witnessed people coming up to Julie on the street and thanking her for the joy she’s brought into their lives so I know you know what I’m talking about here.  Julie is beautiful and hilarious and awesome to be around.  She handles every situation with aplomb, even when her hands are coated in noodle goo.  Visit her on the internet here.

For A Fortunate Age author Joanna Smith Rakoff’s Cooking the Books, we made a classic brunch dish from late lamented Williamsburg eatery Oznot’s Dish, harissa eggs and rosemary potatoes.  This is the easiest thing we’ve ever made and one of the most delicious — if you have harissa around.  If you don’t have harissa around, why not make some?  It’s cheap and lasts forever and you can put it on absolutely anything, but especially eggs, fish, meat and sandwiches.  Or mix it with mayo and lemon juice for a crazy dipping sauce/sandwich enhancer.

Harissa (from here):

• 10-12 dried red chili peppers (I used a mix of small hot ones and chile de arbol, available in the produce aisle or the Mexican aisle of the grocery store)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Preparation:

Soak the dried chilies in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Remove stems and seeds.
In a food processor combine chili peppers, garlic, salt and olive oil. Blend.
Add remaining spices and blend to form a smooth paste.
Store in airtight container. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top to keep fresh. Will keep for a month in the refrigerator.

My Cooking the Books, starring Bennett as host and a very awesome Batman tshirt from the Val collection.

Kathryn Borel, the author of Corked, taught us how to make perfect hollandaise sauce and imitated her dad’s French accent. 

From the Hips author Ceridwen Morris and her husband The Ask author Sam Lipsyte joined us for some Momofuku pork buns.  In the Awl comments Choire pointed out that there is a recipe for these available online, but I feel that it is inferior and that you should just buy the cookbook.  It’s a great cookbook — even if you never cook anything from it it’s fun to read and pretty to look at.  Sam and Ceridwen’s books are pretty good too.  Read a fun review of Sam’s book here.

Cleaving author Julie Powell showed us how to make pig liver and onions.  Fun fact: I have been mostly a vegetarian since we taped this, not because it wasn’t good, but because a little liver goes a long way.

On episode 5, Girl Power author Marisa Meltzer and I made vegan cupcakes from Alicia Silverstone’s vegan cookbook The Kind Diet.  Alicia advocates eating a healthy helping of greens for breakfast every day, and would like to remind you that honey is food for bees, by bees.

The Melting Season author Jami Attenberg made cheeseburgers on episode 4.  We tried to replicate the Shake Shack burger with ok results.  The Shake Shack sauce was good, at least.  Probably Laurie Colwin is right that hamburgers are a restaurant food, not an at-home food.

Obsolete author Anna Jane Grossman made popcorn cookies for Episode 3.  This was the only time we made food that was actually not very successful; if you would like to also make kinda-gross cookies with too much going on in them, the recipe is here.