Home Cooking – “Our Stuffing Ourselves” (Nov 21, 2025)

Hosts: Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway
Episode 26

Episode Overview

This lively pre-Thanksgiving episode of Home Cooking revolves around reimagining Thanksgiving traditions, overcoming menu fatigue, and troubleshooting pie crust anxiety. Hosts Samin and Rishi tackle listener questions about non-traditional holiday meals, make-ahead and vegetarian options, recipe inspiration from other cultures, and mastering savory pies. The tone is warm, irreverent, and relatable, marked by food nerdiness, playful banter, and the occasional groan-worthy pun.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Thanksgiving Menu Fatigue & Reinventing Traditions

• Both hosts readily admit to growing tired of traditional Thanksgiving menus, prompting a series of ideas about alternative, celebratory meals.
• Samin reminisces about ditching turkey for Dungeness crab (08:25), and hosting a minimalist Thanksgiving of “two bone prime rib, potato gratin, salad, and Rice Krispie treats” (07:06).

2. Comfort Foods When Sick & Appliance Nerding (<i>04:00–05:40</i>)

• Samin describes how getting sick turns her toward simple, nostalgic comfort foods, like chicken and rice dishes inspired by Taiwanese recipes (03:49). She also humorously details her journey through the world of juicers.
• Displaying classic chemistry-in-the-kitchen banter:
  • Samin: “It [the juicer] just presses the juice coldly.” (04:31)
  • Rishi (joking): "You have to get it turned on so it can masticate." (05:50)

3. Giving Back in the Holidays (<i>03:00–03:45</i>)

• Samin urges listeners to support local food banks and mutual aid networks, especially during the holiday season.

4. Listener Questions: Rethinking the Thanksgiving Spread

a. The Non-Traditional Feast (Maya’s Question, 09:26–10:42)

• Maya’s family enjoys cooking but wants to break out of the “turkey and stuffing” rut for something “elaborate, multi-course, and harvest-season inspired.”

• Samin’s main advice: Lean into family heritage or choose a celebratory meal from another culture.

  • Suggestions include dumpling parties, tamale-making, or even a full-on Korean- or Palestinian-themed feast (12:18–16:41).

  “Maybe you have a dumpling party. Maybe you have a tamale party... I think it’s nice to take advantage of all the people in their hands to make the kinds of things that maybe are too labor intensive... and folding and crimping.”
  — Samin, (13:34)

  • She extols the Levantine dish maqluba—an upside-down, layered rice, meat, and veggie pot—as a Thanksgiving showstopper (14:42–16:14). Also mentions Persian tachin and Moroccan tagine for those wanting new centerpiece ideas.

  • Rishi and Samin also suggest searching favorite cookbooks by ingredients such as sweet potatoes or squash to find festive dishes across cultures (17:14–18:12).

b. Thanksgiving for Two (Claire’s Question, 10:49–12:06; 18:18–23:22)

• Claire will be recovering from surgery and wants a freezable, make-ahead dish that’s fall-flavored and non-traditional.

• Suggestions:

  • Butternut squash lasagna: Roasted squash (with brown butter, sage, Parmesan, nutmeg), possibly homemade pasta, mozzarella, and béchamel—assembled, parbaked, frozen, and easily reheated (18:25–21:59).
  • Savory pies: Chicken or turkey pot pies, shepherd’s pie with Thanksgiving flavors (21:59–23:22).
  • Quiche with autumn flavors: Incorporate roasted winter squash, bitter greens like broccoli rabe, Gruyère, and possibly blue cheese (23:30–24:14).

  “Lasagnas are very satisfying... and there’s very little work on the day of. It still gives you that satisfaction of, ‘I’ve spent a lot of time making all these components.’”
  — Samin, (18:25)

c. Pie Crust Anxiety & Savory Pies (Cecilia’s Question, 11:32–12:06; 26:56–30:17)

• Samin’s pie crust tips:

  • Keep all ingredients and tools freezing cold.
  • Use vodka or vinegar in the dough to prevent toughness (29:00–29:50).
  • Work ahead—make crust on Sunday or Monday and freeze.
  • Handle as little as possible, and don’t let “crumbly” dough worry you.

  “You want everything to be cold. And by cold, I mean freezing cold... Even, like, I’ll measure out my flour and put it in a metal bowl and put that bowl... in the freezer.”
  — Samin, (27:04)

• Savory pie ideas include pot pies, quiche with roasted winter vegetables, or ‘stuffing pies’ (24:32–25:11).

5. Vegetarian Centerpieces & Kid-Friendly Dishes (Katie’s Question, 33:23–40:07)

• Katie needs a non-mushroom, vegetarian main that could unite picky kids and adults, and doesn’t want to spend the whole day cooking.

• Samin’s main idea:

  • Spanakopita-style phyllo pies: Use store-bought filo dough filled with mixtures like charred eggplant with feta, or roasted squash with herbs (34:48–40:07).
  • Assembled in advance, bakes beautifully, and great at room temp for travel.

  "The classic is spanakopita, but here we’re talking eggplant, right? ...I would char the whole eggplant... you could also put some sautéed greens in, some spinach or chard, and then more filo on top.”
  — Samin, (36:07)

  • Practical filo tips: Keep sheets damp and brush with fat; have filling prepped before you unwrap the dough.

• Other ideas: sweet potato or butternut squash lasagna, savory bread puddings, or panade.

6. Make-Ahead and Travel-Friendly Dishes (Annie/Cecilia, 40:22–42:51)

• Annie wants something “low-stress and quick” she can carry on a plane.
  • Samin greenlights lasagna, savory pies, or “kopita/bureka” (savory phyllo bakes), since they travel well and taste great at room temperature.

7. Thanksgiving Cookies & Pumpkin Spice Overkill (Aubrey, 42:59–49:38)

• Aubrey raves about an elusive pumpkin spice cookie she wants to recreate. Samin proposes adapting a chewy ginger cookie recipe by replacing molasses with well-drained pumpkin puree, upping the brown sugar, and using a simple powdered sugar glaze (47:19).
• Debates the merits of pumpkin and chocolate chip combos, but both agree: “Pumpkin bread with chocolate chips... can get a four thumbs up." (49:23)

8. Buttermilk Chicken Versus Turkey; Side Dishes & Sauces (Unnamed caller, 50:09–55:59)

• Samin suggests it’s easier and tastier to roast four chickens than one turkey. Buttermilk chicken, from her famous recipe, is always a crowd-pleaser (51:13).
  • Pro tip: “Chicken is moist in a way that turkey will never be moist, no matter how much buttermilk you put in it." (52:00)
  • For oven economy: Make a stovetop potato gratin, finished in the oven as the chickens rest (53:15).
  • Sauce ideas: Fried sage salsa verde (Thanksgiving classic) or a spicy cilantro “green sauce” (from Berkeley’s Cheese Board) as alternatives to gravy.

9. Spreadsheet Love & Final Words on Non-Traditional Thanksgivings (56:05–57:35)

• Samin and Rishi bond over shared love of organizational spreadsheets as essential as the spread itself.

  “I love a spreadsheet almost as much as I love eating Thanksgiving foods.” — Rishi (56:11)

• Closing with reflections on “forgetting it all” and ordering Chinese food instead of cooking—sometimes even the hosts of a cooking podcast just want takeout for Thanksgiving (57:02–57:35).

Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• Rishi’s Sleep-Deprived Humor:

  • “You have to get it turned on so it can masticate.” (05:50)
  • Samin: “No, Rishi, no, no, no.” (05:52)
  • “Whenever I'm cooking something ambitious, I feel like... I actually ran out [of an ingredient] two months ago and never restocked it.” — Rishi (01:21)

• On Breaking Tradition:

  • “My dream Thanksgiving... is to completely forego turkey and have Dungeness crab... but the crab season has been delayed.” — Samin (08:25)
  • Rishi: “Sheet.” — (Thanksgiving spreadsheet pun, 56:18)

• On the Fellowship of Thanksgiving:

  • “Part of the beauty and pleasure of Thanksgiving is having all these people around and all their hands around.” — Samin (13:38)

• On Pie Anxiety:

  • “Even a not perfect homemade pie is pretty freaking good.” — Samin (30:12)

• On “Mcloopiness”:

  • “You have to make sure though, you have the right ratio of solids to liquids. Otherwise, it gets a little McCloopy.” — Rishi (21:25)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic / Listener Question | |-----------------|----------------------------------------------| | 04:00–05:40 | Samin’s comfort foods and juicer banter | | 09:26–14:15 | Maya: Non-traditional Thanksgiving menus | | 14:42–16:14 | Showstopper alternatives: Maqluba, Tachin | | 18:18–23:22 | Claire: Freezable dishes & savory pies | | 26:56–30:17 | Cecilia: Pie crust anxiety, crust tips | | 33:23–40:07 | Katie: Vegetarian main, kid-friendly dish | | 42:51–47:18 | Traveling with food, Thanksgiving cookies | | 50:09–55:59 | Buttermilk chicken vs. turkey, sides & sauce | | 56:05–57:35 | Thanksgiving spreadsheets, skip-it ideas |

Resources/Recipes Mentioned (to be linked in show notes)

• Samin’s Buttermilk Chicken (from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat)
• Potato Gratin (stovetop then oven)
• Fried Sage Salsa Verde
• “Maqluba” recipes (Arabiya by Reem Assil; Reem Kassis’s carrot maqluba in NYT)
• Persin “Tachin”
• Butternut Squash Lasagna
• Spanakopita/bureka with alternative fillings
• Pie crust with vodka/vinegar (SFAH recipe)
• Pumpkin spice cookies (adapted from Claire Saffitz, “Dessert Person”)
• “Cookies” by Vaughn Vreeland

Tone & Takeaway

The episode brims with encouragement for listeners to embrace the spirit of Thanksgiving—delicious food, creativity, and togetherness—while throwing out the rulebook on “must-have” dishes. The hosts’ willingness to try bold flavor mashups, honor culinary ancestry, and sometimes just skip cooking altogether champions the idea that Thanksgiving is yours to reinvent.

“Just make stuffing and pre-freeze it and bake it off and call it a day.”
– Samin, (26:57)

Happy Thanksgiving!