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Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Even among the people I know who turn their noses up at reality tv, they mostly make an exception for cooking shows. There's something warm and comforting about them. The competition ones in particular are as thrilling as any other TV show, and yet you feel safe to have them on when family is around. And if you are one of these people who's into watching people cook on tv, today's episode is just fun for you. Up ahead, Top Chef winner and host Kristen Kish has a new memoir out. But first, Nadi Hussain was a winner on the Great British Baking Show. And she's got a new book out titled Cook Once, Eat Twice, which is focused around practical cooking for your family, especially for those of us on a budget. In this interview with NPR, Sarah McCammon, she talks about challenging herself to not waste anything from garlic skins to banana peels. That's ahead.
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The Great British Baking show, or Bake off as it's known across the pond, has featured many contestants who've become fan favorites for surviving bread week and battling pies prone to soggy bottoms. But perhaps none is more beloved than the mom of three who wowed judges with her triple tiered lemon drizzle wedding cake. 2015 winner, Nadia Hussain.
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I am never, ever gonna put boundaries on myself ever again. I'm never gonna say I can't do it. I'm never gonna say maybe I'm never gonna say I don't think I can. I can and I will.
C
And she has ever since then. Nadia Hussein has become a culinary star in the decades since with multiple TV shows and cookbooks. And she joins me now from the UK to talk about her latest book, Cook Once Eat Time Saving recipes to help you get ahead in the kitchen. Welcome, Nadia.
D
Thank you so much for having me. What an introduction.
C
You know, one of the things I love about this cookbook is that it really seems to be all about simplicity and efficiency. You know, it's divided into these sections with names like Back to Basics and Lovin your Leftovers. But I went straight for the chapter called Two Dishes because like you, I am a Mom, I'm busy. I just love the idea of getting more mileage out of a round of cooking. So what inspired this approach to cooking?
D
Essentially all it is is I'm making a huge batch of something and then I'm splitting it into two and then turning into something else so it doesn't feel like you're having the same meal twice. So you've got something like a beef stroganoff, which I'll turn into a stroganoff pie, or a bolognese that I'll turn into a chili or a carrot soup that I'll turn into a carrot and cod curry. One of my kids favorite is the corn chowder that I turn into little individual pies that we take to the park. So, yeah, there's so many ways of being inventive and creative with one dish.
C
Just so you know, last night I just wanted to try this out, and before I went to bed, I made the chicken curry. Okay, so the first step for this one is to heat up the oil and add garlic, ginger paste, and then eventually onions and salt. So we'll start with the oil. The onions are starting to boil. They're not quite golden yet. Might need a little bit longer. I'm a big fan of curries. I loved this one. I have one question, though. So the onions, it says to wait till they're a golden brown. And for me, like, they just kept cooking and they got really soft, but they didn't turn brown. And I have to confess, I quit before they turned brown. I didn't quit the recipe, but. But I moved on. What did I miss there?
D
Sometimes you just have to crank the heat up and get it really caramelized because everything has a little bit of sugar in it and it needs like a high heat and get them to color quickly and then turn it down and that's when they'll start to brown. But well done for persevering. The thing is, with onions, with any good curry, the onion is the start. But if you don't show your onions a little bit of love, you don't get the best out of them. I always give myself a good 15, 20 minutes to really cook down the onions. And when you've done that, you have the start of a really good dish.
C
So that was the first step. The curry, you set that aside and make the second dish, the orzo. I made the chicken curry last night. I've got half of it put away in a storage container. Putting that in the refrigerator. And then this is part two. So this is a Whole separate meal. So it says, start by putting half the curry in a pan, adding the orzo, and cooking over high heat until the orzo is combined.
D
Okay.
C
How does this typically play out for you? Do you make it one night, feed it to your kids, put it in the refrigerator, come back?
D
Yeah. So what I tend to do is make the chicken curry, see how much of it they eat. And normally with a dish like this, they would normally eat half of that in one night, and then I'm usually left with the other half. That's why I've kind of eaten. Increase the volume of the curry. Once it's cooled down, I might pop it in the freezer and make the chicken and orzo another night. That's why I kind of bulk the recipes up. So you can get two dishes out of them?
C
That's what I was going to ask. You can freeze it?
D
Yes, absolutely. There's very few things that you can't freeze. I love my freezer. It's one of the best ways to save money, to save time, to save ingredients. I save everything down to my potato peelings. When I peel, peel any root vegetables, whether that's parsnips, carrots, potatoes, swede, I will pop the peelings into a freezer bag, put it in the freezer, and then take it out and make a huge soup with the peelings afterwards.
C
You're really serious about not wasting food, and you have a whole section devoted to just that idea. I mean, you're doing really interesting things, even making a curry out of banana peels. Tell me more about where that sense of frugality comes from for you.
D
I think it definitely comes from growing up in an immigrant household. We did not waste anything. You know, I grew up with my grandma. She spent a lot of time with us. She essentially raised us when my parents weren't able to be around. So they had very little. And the little that they did have, they never, ever wasted anything. Whether that was ingredients, whether that was old clothes, they would cut them up and turn them into blankets. And I always found that so intriguing. And it's something that I thought I'd never picked up until I had my own family and realized actually what I'd watched had been somehow, by osmosis, ingrained into me, and I just took to it. I love the challenge of asking myself, is there any way I can use that? I make prawn oil, which is delicious when you're making noodles as a condiment on top. I never chuck away my garlic peelings because you just pop them in the oven, roast those and then grind them down with some salt. And you've got instant garlic salt. There's so many ways of saving and not wasting.
C
The one in that section that really caught my eye is the chickpea meringue. I love garbanzo beans. Chickpeas use them all the time. I never thought to do anything with the water.
D
Yeah. So it's aquafaba. And when you pour that liquid out, it looks very much like egg whites. And there's some magic that happens when you whip that up and add a bit of sugar. And you have vegan meringues. I have a little tub of meringues that I make every time I drain a can of beans. No matter what kind of beans they are, I always make little meringues because I just can't throw them away. I just think, what a waste of a br. Brilliant, magical product.
C
You know, we're speaking during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and I know you have another cookbook that's devoted to that. That book is called Ruza. Is there one recipe that you particularly cherish this time of year? Maybe something you like to break the fast with?
D
Well, we always break our fast with cold water and a date. But the one thing that we have to have on our table every year is samosas. Every culture has its own version of a pastry filled with delicious things. Often they're filled with, like, spiced lamb or spicy potato and pe or chicken tuna. There's so many variations, and my kids absolutely love them. And I make them by the hundreds.
C
Okay, let's end on a sweet note. Your father ran a restaurant. I want to know more about this ice cream recipe that I gather he used to serve.
D
What they used to sell is kulfi, which is an Indian ice cream that's made with thick cream, lots of ground whole spices, and it's made with bread. So it's got a lovely kind of just delicious Moorish texture when it's frozen. My dad would buy these prepackaged kulfis, and I was like, no, I've got to make my own version. So I kind of mastered my own version. It's so much better than the prepackaged stuff, but I think anything that you make from scratch is always going to be better than anything you buy from a shop.
C
Nadia Hussain's new cookbook is Cook Once, Eat Twice. Well, Nadia, it's been so nice talking with you. Thank you so much for your time.
D
Thank you so much.
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Kristen Kish is now a bonafide famous person who cooks on tv, but her first cooking jobs were far less glamorous. She's got a new memoir out titled Accidentally on Purpose, and she talked to Here Now's Jane Clayson about what she learned from working at fast food joints as a teenager.
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Ever since she won Bravo's Top Chef season 10 in 2012, Kristin Kish has been in the spotlight, even more so when she took over for longtime host Padma Lakshmi last year. But as we learn from her new memoir, Kristen Kish wasn't always comfortable being showcased. It took time, a few mentors and missteps along the way. Kristen Kish's book is called Accidentally on Purpose, and she joins me now to talk about it. Kristen Kish, welcome to Here and Now.
F
Thank you, Jane. Happy to be here.
E
So let's start at the beginning. You were born in South Korea and adopted to a loving family in Michigan. How did growing up Asian in a predominantly white community shape you?
F
You know, I think it shaped me because I didn't realize that I was Asian growing in a predominantly white family. You know, my school was incredibly diverse. My parents are and were incredible in making sure that, like, I knew where I was coming from, who I was, that I was adopted, but also not making me feel separate then. So rather than feeling separate or different in that way, they made me feel unique and special. And so I think just shaping that narrative around unique and special really helped me shape my identity and give me the permission to explore the the parts of me that were different.
E
You, you talk about working in fast food restaurants in high school, at a pretzel stand in the mall. What did those jobs teach you?
F
Well, I think especially at 15, they taught me responsibility, showing up on time, doing my job not just to the best of my ability, but also doing my job that challenged me to find a new definition and a new bar of what my best was in, whether it be shaping pretzels or ringing up on the cashier to eventually, you know, running my own business. Like, I've realized that my best oftentimes can be even better.
E
Well, and you say that the kitchen was the first place you ever truly felt like you fit in. What Was it about that space or that rhythm that gave you a sense of belonging?
F
I think it was because I questioned so much of my ability and my confidence for so much of my life that a kitchen when in that space, and I was tasked with, you know, cutting, chopping, setting up a station, finding organization skills, my mise en place, I was really good at it, and I didn't have to try so hard. And I feel like in the kitchen, I found that confidence because I didn't have to think so hard about trying to be good at my job. It just came naturally to me, at least, like the baseline. Of course, I needed to learn a lot of things in the kitchen, but, you know, comparative to so many other parts of my life, I didn't have that feeling.
E
It's interesting to hear you talk about struggling with your self confidence.
F
I struggled with it for a very long time. I do still. I don't think that that's something that goes away. I can be both confident and also insecure in different spaces. You know, my job now as an adult who is somewhat, you know, aware of my own things and issues and challenges that need to be faced, I know that when I feel that insecurity, I know I can get to a confident place. I just have to put the work into it.
E
I want to play a moment for you which is very familiar. It's when judge Tom Colicchio gave you the win on Top Chef, season 10.
F
Kristen.
D
Kristen, you are Top Chef.
E
Take us back to that moment when you won Top Chef. Kristen, Kish, what did that win mean to you, and what does it mean now?
F
Gosh, I mean, I think over the years, over the over a decade, it has really shaped and defined what it has meant to me and what it did for my life and the opportunities that has provided me back then and till this day. The thing that Top Chef really showed me is that I can do something that I never thought I could ever do and still be good at it. Because when I went on Top Chef, I didn't think I could do it, and I didn't want to go. I was encouraged to go, and I was supported all the way through. But there was everything in my being that was like, I've watched on tv. There's no way I can do something like that. And I think when you come out on the other side having been successful and that doesn't necessarily even mean a win, that could mean whatever that success marker means for you. When you come out on the other side and you realize you just did that thing like that is talk about building confidence. That's like a thing that will never escape me. And it's something I'm gonna carry on with my, you know, in my entire life and my career moving forward. And that just means everything to me.
E
Well, that makes me wonder, was there a time early in your career when you felt like you had to shrink or edit parts of yourself to belong in a kitchen or on TV? And has that shifted for you over time?
F
Oh, 100%. I think that there have been so many scenarios, whether kitchens or otherwise, where I tried to take up less space, I tried to be invisible, I didn't want to be seen. And that was purely out of complete anxiety and insecurity. I have worked really hard at reckoning some of that. But that being said, there are some scenarios I still walk into a room and I have to remind myself to take up space because it's not a natural thing. You know, I think growing up with incredible social anxiety, for most of my life, the goal was just to not be seen. Like, don't do anything that pulls attention towards you. And I've done a lot of therapy on understanding the moments that I have to be like. I have to be for myself, for my job, for people around me, for people watching me that I feel, you know, or that perhaps look at me to represent themselves. There's so many reasons why I have to do it, and I've gotten much more comfortable at doing it. But I can't say that it's a, it's not a natural resting position to take up all the space.
E
Let me ask you more about that because you've talked about the many labels that you carry, adoptee, person of color, queer woman, and what it means to bring all those layers of identity into a public high pressure industry. How have you managed the tension between staying true to yourself and carrying the weight of representing so many different communities?
F
It doesn't feel like a weight to me. It feels like a privilege, an honor. Like I, I get to do this. And by way of doing, I meet incredible amount of people that have so many amazing words to share with me. It's less about thinking how to do it. And the greatest value that I have in this arena or on TV is that I'm doing these projects and aligning myself with projects that just allow me to be me. Now. They can tap in and amplify certain parts of me more than others, but it is still very much me. As much as I am a television host, I'm not playing a character of a television Host. I'm me holding the role of a television host. And I think because I get to simply just be who I am genuinely and authentically in the jobs that I choose, that makes it feel less weighted, if that makes sense.
E
Yeah. Can we do a quick lightning round together?
F
Yes. I love that.
E
Okay, You're a lover of fast food. What's your favorite?
F
Arby's.
E
Okay. What at Arby's?
F
Sorry, I have to follow up the chicken fingers with the curly fries and ranch dressing and barbecue sauce.
E
Okay. Yum. Piece of kitchen equipment you can't do without.
F
Okay. Other than, like, the normal knife kitchen, like, that kind of stuff. The chef things, I would say a Y peeler.
E
What is that?
F
It's the shape of the peeler, and I feel like it's more ergonomically designed for a quicker and more efficient peeling of vegetables.
C
Yeah.
E
You won Top Chef, but now you're the one saying you are Top Chef. How does it feel to be part of someone else's life changing moment?
F
Oh, my gosh. That moment is incredible. I will say the moment, one of my favorite moments, actually, is when all the chefs walk in on the very first day and they have no idea what they're in for and how potentially their life is going to change and that one of them is going to walk away. Winning Top Chef that first day is the full goosebump moment for me because I'm like, you guys have no idea that your life is about to change, and that's really awesome to be a part of their story.
E
You've described your career, Kristen Kish, as something that unfolded accidentally on purpose, which happens to be the title of your book. How do you feel about that story now, looking back at your journey?
F
I think looking back at it, writing this memoir, there are so many accidents that defined my purpose, that allowed me to see purpose, and that defined what purpose meant for me in my future going forward. And. And the title of the book came last. We wrote the book, and as we were reading through it, and me and my writer and going through the edits, there was a theme, and that theme was all these accidents that I didn't think twice of in the moment. I just went through it, defined everything about who I am and where I wanted to go.
E
Kristen Kish, Top Chef Season 10 winner and author of the new book Accidentally on Purpose, thank you so much. What a pleasure.
F
Thank you, Jane.
A
And that's it for this week on NPR's Book of the Day. Let us know what you think you can write to us@bookofthedaypr.org I'm Andrew Limbong. The podcast is produced by Chloe Weiner and edited by Megan Sullivan, and our founding editor is Edra Meyer. The show elements for this week were produced and edited by Melissa Gray, Ryan Behnk, Justine Kennan, Katherine Fink, Elena Torrek, Todd Muntz, Julia Corcoran, Shannon Rhodes and Emiko Tamagawa. Yolanda Sanguini is our executive producer. Thanks for listening.
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Episode: “‘Cook Once, Eat Twice’ and ‘Accidentally on Purpose’ are new books from cooking stars”
Host: Andrew Limbong (A)
Featured Guests:
This episode explores two fresh books from culinary stars Nadiya Hussain and Kristen Kish. The discussion centers on both practical and personal approaches to cooking: Nadiya’s resourceful focus on maximizing every ingredient and meal for family cooks, and Kristen’s thoughtful memoir journeying through her rise in the food world and personal identity. Listeners get insight into the authors' creative processes, values, and life stories, all tied together through the universal language of food.
Interviewed by Sarah McCammon (C)
[01:24 – 09:17]
Cookbooks that Prioritize Simplicity and Efficiency
“I just love the idea of getting more mileage out of a round of cooking.” (C, 02:19)
Batch Cooking & Meal Transformation
“So you've got something like a beef stroganoff, which I'll turn into a stroganoff pie, or a bolognese that I'll turn into a chili…” (D, 02:45)
Home Cooking Demo & Practical Q&A
“If you don't show your onions a little bit of love, you don't get the best out of them.” (D, 04:09)
Meal Planning & Freezer Wisdom
“There's very few things that you can't freeze. I love my freezer. It's one of the best ways to save money, to save time, to save ingredients.” (D, 05:41)
Food Waste Minimization & Frugality
“I never chuck away my garlic peelings because you just pop them in the oven, roast those and then grind them down with some salt. And you've got instant garlic salt.” (D, 06:21)
Aquafaba (Chickpea Water) for Vegan Meringues
“And when you pour that liquid out, it looks very much like egg whites. And there's some magic that happens when you whip that up and add a bit of sugar.” (D, 07:31)
Ramadan Traditions
“Every culture has its own version of a pastry filled with delicious things. ...my kids absolutely love them. And I make them by the hundreds.” (D, 08:07)
Nostalgic Family Dessert
“It's so much better than the prepackaged stuff, but I think anything that you make from scratch is always going to be better than anything you buy from a shop.” (D, 08:42)
Interviewed by Jane Clayson (E)
[10:09 – 19:35]
Identity and Upbringing
“They made me feel unique and special… that really helped me shape my identity and give me the permission to explore the parts of me that were different.” (F, 10:53)
Early Work and Lessons Learned
“They taught me responsibility… doing my job that challenged me to find a new definition and a new bar of what my best was…” (F, 11:40)
Finding Belonging in the Kitchen
“I found that confidence because I didn't have to think so hard about trying to be good at my job. It just came naturally to me…” (F, 12:17)
Self-Confidence and Growth
“I can be both confident and also insecure in different spaces.” (F, 12:59) “The thing that Top Chef really showed me is that I can do something that I never thought I could ever do and still be good at it.” (F, 13:50)
On Representation and Public Identity
“It doesn't feel like a weight to me. It feels like a privilege, an honor. Like I, I get to do this.” (F, 16:32)
Lightning Round: Personality and Culinary Quirks
“It's the shape of the peeler, and I feel like it's more ergonomically designed for a quicker and more efficient peeling of vegetables.” (F, 17:59)
“Accidentally on Purpose” — The Memoir’s Title and Life Theme
“There are so many accidents that defined my purpose, that allowed me to see purpose, and that defined what purpose meant for me in my future going forward.” (F, 18:54)
Nadiya Hussain’s resolve on overcoming self-doubt:
“I can and I will.” (D, 01:45)
Kristen Kish on representing multiple identities:
“It doesn't feel like a weight to me. It feels like a privilege, an honor.” (F, 16:32)
Both authors: Share the joy and confidence they find through food—not only nourishing others, but finding and embracing their own stories through cooking.
This episode offers deliciously practical cooking ideas from Nadiya Hussain for anyone seeking efficiency and zero-waste meals at home, plus encouragement to find creativity in constraints. Kristen Kish shares a moving look at how food and kitchens can become nurturing spaces, where even the most uncertain can grow into confident leaders. Both segments will inspire you to see cooking as a place of endless possibility, resilience, and self-discovery.