The Joy of Cooking Podcast

Episode Title: Adam Roberts: A Casual Culinary Chat About No Churn Ice Cream
Date: September 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This engaging episode features cookbook author and legendary food blogger Adam Roberts (The Amateur Gourmet), who joins hosts Megan Scott, John Becker, and Shannon Larson for a spirited, freewheeling discussion about no churn ice cream, the joys and perils of home cooking, the enduring value of cookbooks, and the evolution of food media. The hosts and Adam swap kitchen mishaps, culinary wisdom, favorite pasta shapes, cookbook obsessions, and answer a listener’s question about making delicious frozen treats without an ice cream machine. The episode stands out for its warmth, humor, and insightful look at both modern and classic home cooking.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Weekend Kitchen Adventures & Bucatini Mania

• The hosts recap their weekend seafood feast after a failed canned tuna hunt due to rough seas.
  • Megan details: "We bought some seafood instead and had a giant... three Dungeness crabs, three pounds of clams, two dozen oysters, and a bunch of bay shrimp. Oh, and prawns." (02:10)
• Bucatini is spotlighted as the pasta of the year, igniting a playful debate about pasta shapes, internet trends, and the rise and fall of bucatini during the pandemic.
• Shannon recalls: “There was a bucatini shortage a few years. I feel like this was during the pandemic.” (02:42)

2. Culinary Mishaps & Kitchen Peer Pressure

• Fun kitchen fails are shared, including mandolin-induced injuries and peer pressure in restaurant kitchens.
  • Megan: “Somebody walked by and they were like...‘you're such a wimp’. So then I was peer-pressured and stopped using the guard and... cut my finger wide open right before service.” (05:14)

3. Welcoming Adam Roberts: The Amateur Gourmet

• Introduction of Adam Roberts, his background, and works including his blog and recent novel Food Person.
  • Adam: “I made bucatini. I made it with tuna... I came back from a trip, and all I had... bucatini and canned tuna. I had fresh tomatoes... capers, and it was really good.” (06:12)

4. Food Blogging’s Evolution & Food Media Nostalgia

• Adam discusses how food blogging has changed with tech shifts from forums (eGullet, Chowhound) to TikTok.
  • “I feel like I’m like the horse and buggy of food media... I started writing everything I was learning. So if I was doing it today, I would just have done the same thing on TikTok and just showing my disasters.” (08:33)
• Notable moment: Anthony Bourdain defended Adam online for his critical review in eGullet forums, encouraging diverse voices.
  • “Anthony Bourdain... came to my defense. He was like, ‘we need to listen to these younger voices’… that was what gave me the encouragement to start my own blog.” (09:24)

5. Cookbooks, Community, and the “Security Blanket” Effect

• The panel explores their relationships with The Joy of Cooking and cookbooks in general.
  • Adam: “It was like a safety blanket, just to know (Joy) was there... The very first time I made French toast was from the Joy of Cooking.” (19:06)
• On why cookbooks still matter in the Internet era:
  • Adam: “A cookbook is a contained thing... it’s a window into a person, a culture, a vibe... You’re not being distracted with pop-ups and videos.” (20:35)
  • Megan: “It has also gotten harder to parse information... You don’t know if the first result is accurate... cookbooks are more vetted, edited, tested.” (23:48)
  • John: “AI is actually making us more relevant.” (23:36)

Notable Quote

“A cookbook is all about giving context to recipes. It’s... why is this important to the author, or why you should make it a certain way. That’s so important. The internet’s really trying to teach us not to read the context, just to read the recipe, which to me is besides the point.” — Adam Roberts (24:30)

6. Cookbook Stores & Collecting Obsessions

• Adam describes favorite cookbook stores (Bonnie Slotnick’s, Archestratus, Kitchen Arts and Letters, Omnivore Books) and his habit of secret book-buying to hide from his husband.
  • “I don’t cheat on my husband. But I do go online, buy cookbooks, and catch them at the door... and slip it into the house without telling him…” (21:40)

7. New and Favorite Cookbooks in Rotation

• The group shares what cookbooks are on their nightstand/kitchen counter: Adam loves Judith Jones’s “Love Me, Feed Me,” Samin Nosrat’s "Good Things," Melissa Clark’s “Dinner in French.”
• Shannon is loving “Love Japan,” Megan is cooking from "Sesame" by Seed and Mill, John mentions "Tender Heart" by Hetty McKinnon and “Woks of Life.”
• Adam’s eternal favorite: Lydia Bastianich’s cavatappi with sun-dried tomatoes and cannellini beans.
  • “You just take a pan... olive oil and also the oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes... It’s just like tart and garlicky and creamy and sweet and fun to eat because of its corkscrew nature.” (31:34)

Listener Q&A: No Churn Ice Cream

(Starting 32:57)

What is No Churn Ice Cream?

• Megan lays it out in detail:
  • “No churn ice cream... is an ice cream recipe that you don’t have to have an ice cream maker to freeze. Any ice cream could be no churn, but churning prevents big ice crystals and introduces air, making it scoopable and smooth.” (33:03)
  • Typical base: sweetened condensed milk, cream, and flavorings; whipped cream or whipped eggs folded in for body.
  • Drawbacks: Can be too rich and dense; a balancing act.
  • “You should also look into Kulfi, which is an Indian still frozen dessert... really dense, but fudgy and chewy.” (34:19)

The Tradition in Joy of Cooking

• John highlights the long-standing presence of no churn and still-frozen desserts in Joy:
  • “In 1931, when the first Joy was published, it was basically 50, 50 churn and no churn recipes... I think the 1963 edition had 46 no churn recipes.” (35:07)
  • Granita, semifreddo, and parfaits are all discussed as easy, delicious frozen desserts.

Tips, Techniques & Recipe Recommendations

• Coffee granita with whipped cream is a favorite, as is referencing "Paletas" by Fany Gerson for popsicle inspiration.
• Adam suggests: “I recently did the thing where you freeze bananas and put them in a blender. Add peanut butter, some vanilla, some honey. Really liked it… out of the blender, a very refreshing, mostly healthy treat.” (39:02)
• Adam’s granita highlight: “Zuni Cafe’s famed espresso granita with whipped cream… the highlight of the meal.” (39:24)

On Ice Cream Makers

• Adam and Megan agree having a machine is fun if you love making ice cream. Adam:
  • “It is really fun to have an ice cream maker... that moment of pulling the canister off, once it’s turned, and just eating with a spoon out of there.” (40:58)
• Megan: “We splurged on a Breville... it can do batch after batch after batch.” (42:27)
• Adam asks: “Isn’t the advantage you don’t have to cool down the base when you cook it, so you just dump it right in and have ice cream?” (43:16)

Recommended Books:

• The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz — “Highly recommend!” (41:43)
• Paletas by Fany Gerson — For pops and frozen treats.

This Week’s Joy Scouts Challenge

• Recipe: Pistachio and Rose Water Kulfi, p. 853 (Joy of Cooking, 2019 ed.)
  • Key tip: “Be cautious with the rose water... some brands are much stronger than others... I would use, like, maybe a teaspoon.” (44:10)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Context in Cookbooks:
  "For me, the whole point of a recipe is the context... whatever the story is that surrounds the recipe is what makes it taste good."
  — Adam Roberts (25:24)

• On Remaining an “Amateur”:
  "I really do feel like I’m an enthusiast, and I get excited about new things. There’s so much I don’t know... There’s tons of things I haven’t cooked."
  — Adam Roberts (17:18)

Additional Segments

Cookbook & Recipe Favorites (28:04–32:43)

• Hosts and guest share which cookbooks are inspiring their current meals — ranging from "Love Japan" to "Sesame" and beyond.
• Go-to back pocket recipes: Lydia Bastianich’s cavatappi, frittata with leftovers.

What Are We Cooking This Week? (45:38–48:36)

• Corn dog cravings, plans for tuna canning, basil chicken stir fry, and Megan eyeing a broccoli tahini salad.
• Adam’s overnight oats “trend” — toasted oats, coconut, walnuts, seeds, yogurt, and oat milk.

Where to Find Adam Roberts

• Instagram/TikTok/Substack: Amateur Gourmet
• His novel: Food Person — available wherever books are sold.

Notable Timestamps

• Bucatini shortage & kitchen fads: 02:42
• Kitchen peer pressure/mishaps: 05:14
• Adam joins, accidental bucatini dinner: 06:12
• Food blog origins & Bourdain anecdote: 08:33–09:24
• Cookbooks as cultural experience: 20:35
• No churn ice cream explainer: 33:03
• Kulfi & international frozen desserts: 34:19
• Parfaits/granita recipes, Joy of Cooking history: 35:59, 38:04
• Frozen banana “nice cream”: 39:02
• Breville ice cream maker tribute: 42:27
• Recipe challenge: Pistachio & Rose Water Kulfi: 44:10
• What we’re cooking/plans for week: 45:38
• Adam on overnight oats: 47:33
• Where to find Adam / Wrap up: 48:40

Concluding Notes

This episode illustrates the kitchen as a place for both misadventure and joy; blends nostalgia, humor, and practical cooking advice; and offers a thoughtful meditation on why cookbooks — and the community around them — still matter in a digital age. For those craving new ideas for no-churn ice cream, seasoned with irresistible food nerdery and generosity of spirit, it’s a must-listen.

Don’t miss the Joy Scouts Recipe Challenge: Pistachio & Rose Water Kulfi (Joy of Cooking, p. 853)!