Becky Krystal on Boiling Water

Summary

The Joy of Cooking Podcast: Becky Krystal on Boiling Water

Date: June 10, 2026
Host: The Joy of Creation Production House
Guests: Becky Krystal (Washington Post Food)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the enduring power and relevance of foundational cooking knowledge in the age of viral food hacks and AI-generated recipes. Special guest Becky Krystal—recipes editor for Washington Post Food—joins hosts John Becker, Megan Scott, and Shannon Larson for a lively discussion on why “basic” recipes and techniques matter, the importance of service journalism for cooks of all experience levels, and what it really means to “boil water.” Along the way, the crew swaps stories from the kitchen, revisits old Joy of Cooking debates, and dives into the very real value of cookbook tradition in today's digital food media landscape.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kitchen Updates, Recipe Victories, & Pantry Oddities

[00:57–07:41]

• The hosts kick things off with updates on recent home cooking adventures:
  • Megan talks about making gooey malted cookie dough chocolate chunk bars, navigating the challenge of sourcing malted milk powder in Portland, and stockpiling an industrial-sized bag (“Now everything’s got to have malted milk powder in it!”).
  • John spotlights the importance (and ritual) of searing meat for braises and stews, and how some cuisines flip his expectations (e.g. Korean Dakdoritang and Cincinnati chili).
  • Shannon shares "girl dinner"—shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, fries, and martinis for an impromptu dinner with friends (“I'm trying to introduce girl dinner to more men out there”).
  • The group discusses the joy and flexibility in adapting staple recipes—how even the Joy of Cooking’s marshmallow recipe can be easily altered with honey or maple syrup instead of corn syrup (p.868).

2. Introducing Becky Krystal

[07:43–11:49]

• Becky joins the table, recounting her first meeting with the Joy team (test-driving a “very, very strong” Deluxe Eggnog).
• She shares recent kitchen testing: a chicken “speedy” salad, the advent of her grill pan (and how cleaning it is a small kitchen nightmare), and her love/hate relationship with certain kitchen equipment (muffin tins especially).
• Memorable quote (Becky, 10:44):
  “Do I actually need to be cleaning it as well as I’m trying to? …Le Creuset says it’ll develop this seasoning, so I gave myself permission to not spend 30 minutes doing it.”

3. The Joy of Foundational Cooking—Who Is It Really For?

[12:21–16:54]

• Becky reveals her “signature dish” is a humble black bean and cheese quesadilla—“not sexy, but it’s great”—complete with crisping advice and the importance of a double cheese layer.
• Her relationship with Joy: as a self-taught cook, it was a stand-in for the family mentors she lost early in life:
  • (15:04) “Joy of Cooking is a little bit of a stand-in in that sense... In this time of AI slop...to know that that book is there, and be able to look up like anything, and have it feel like a reliable source—I love that.”
• The hosts and Becky discuss the vital place of vetted, physical cookbooks in the sea of AI and algorithm-driven search results.
  • (16:49, Megan): “You can look in Joy of Cooking. We have vetted all this information for you...if you run into something you don’t know, you can read more about it here.”
  • (16:54, Becky): “It’s nice to just get off the screens, too.”

4. Community, Advice & The Power of Service Journalism

[19:07–23:59]

• Becky describes how Washington Post Food’s weekly live chat has become a cornerstone for beginner and advanced cooks alike, fostering a friendly, recurring online community:
  • (19:28): “It is one of my favorite things that I do. I have people who sign on and say this is the highlight of my week...We’ve really built this community and it is one of my favorite things that I do.”
• The chat inspires new recipe ideas, builds reader connection, and often sparks fascinating debates—like the great onion-chopping-tears challenge:
  • (22:25, Becky): “Food safety things always tend to go crazy...but the one that really took off last week was how to chop onions without crying. Everyone had a different suggestion: matches, candles, bread in your mouth…”

5. What Does “Boiling Water” Even Mean? (And Other Terminology Debates)

[30:44–39:14]

• The group dives into the inspiration for Becky’s viral “How to Boil Water” article:
  • (32:44, Becky): “I’ve literally written about boiling water, which was a little bit of me trolling the people who, when I would write something basic, like about scrambled eggs or toast…the joke was always, what’s next? Boiling water. And I’m like, I see your challenge.”
• They discuss the pitfalls of recipe jargon and the value of clear language:
  • Difference between “boil,” “simmer,” “brisk simmer,” etc.—so often assumed knowledge in recipes.
  • The importance of explaining terms (e.g., “cut on the bias,” “fold”) instead of assuming every home cook knows them.
  • (35:04, Becky): “One thing I’ve tried to phase out of our recipes…when you say cut something on the bias. I don’t think people know that anymore…just say 'cut at an angle.'”
  • (36:18, Megan): “If you're reading Faulkner, it’s fine to look up a word, but maybe not when you're trying to make a casserole.”

6. Becky on Writing & Testing Recipes

[39:14–40:33]

• A peek into Becky’s assessment of what makes a recipe “well-written”:
  • Ingredients and steps must match, in order.
  • Clear cues: more than just time, but also texture, smell, color, temperature.
  • Avoiding vague language like “saucy” (“That’s not… it’s a sauce. Like, what are you talking about?” —Megan, 40:33).

7. Cookbook Editing: Behind-the-Scenes on The Joy of Cooking

[42:17–48:11]

• The hosts answer a listener’s question about the fate of the “hot blueberry sauce” recipe; it was simply renamed “blueberry compote” and moved to the fruit chapter (p.178).
• They reflect on the enormous, interwoven complexity of revising the Joy of Cooking (and the importance of cross-referencing).
  • (45:36, Megan): “It just made me think of that scene in True Detective where the storage unit’s covered in paper, and there’s string everywhere...That’s how it feels to revise this book.”

8. Current Cooking Inspiration

[49:25–53:14]

• What everyone’s cooking this week:
  • Shannon’s market haul and the creative funk she got through by shopping for fresh veggies (“Every night is just a little bit of an adventure.”)
  • Becky plans some grilling and her standby, black bean quesadillas.
  • John & Megan are musing over their garden’s green garlic and leeks, and Megan teases a new crispy potato technique she’s determined to try (“Bake a whole russet, smash it, crisp it up—just giving it away right now!”)
• The malted milk powder saga continues.

9. Where to Follow Becky Krystal

[53:14–END]

• Instagram: @beckykrystal
• Washington Post Food: washingtonpost.com/food

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On foundational recipes:
  • “It’s not sexy, but it’s great. And my kid appreciates it.” (Becky on her signature black bean quesadilla, 12:23)
• On recipe jargon:
  • “Just say cut it at an angle. That’s one that I’m like, I’ll die on that hill. I realize some people think I’m dumbing it down, but… I don’t think a lot of people know what [‘on the bias’] means anymore.” (Becky, 35:35)
• On boiling water:
  • “What’s next? Boiling water. I see your challenge and I accept it. And you know what? That was one of my most read stories of all time.” (Becky, 32:54)
• On community chats:
  • “It is such a wonderful resource. I’ve gotten so many great story ideas… People come to us because it’s not something they find anywhere else.” (Becky, 19:28)
• On revising Joy of Cooking:
  • "[It] feels like that scene in True Detective...there’s string everywhere...That’s how it feels to revise this book.” (Megan, 45:36)

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Key Timestamps

• [00:57] – Host introductions & “what’s cooking” segment
• [03:13] – Megan’s malted milk powder quest
• [07:43] – Becky Krystal joins the show
• [13:23] – Becky’s quesadilla tips
• [15:44] – Value of Joy of Cooking in the age of algorithms
• [19:28] – Becky describes the WaPo food chat community
• [22:25] – The “great onion-chopping solutions” debate
• [32:44] – Why Becky wrote about boiling water
• [35:04] – Debating recipe terminology (“cut on the bias”)
• [39:14] – What makes a well-written recipe
• [42:25] – Listener Q: Status of “hot blueberry sauce” (& Joy’s editorial process)
• [49:25] – What everyone’s cooking this week

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Recipes Mentioned & Assignments

• Marshmallow recipe (p.868; swap honey or maple syrup for corn syrup)
• Cornmeal waffles (p.643)
• Blueberry compote (formerly hot blueberry sauce) (p.178)
• Joy Scouts Assignment: Make both waffles and compote, share on Instagram @thejoyofcooking

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Tone, Language, & Community

Lighthearted, self-deprecating, and warmly inclusive—this episode is a celebration of skill-building for every cook, from kids assembling quesadillas to home bakers updating their bookshelves. There’s playful teasing (especially about food jargon and kitchen failures), collaborative advice, and a constant sense of “we’re learning together,” both in the kitchen and on the page.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• No question is too basic; foundational skills are vital and worth celebrating.
• Cookbook traditions like Joy of Cooking remain indispensable, especially in a content-flooded, algorithm-driven world.
• Service journalism in food doesn’t patronize—it empowers and democratizes cooking for all.
• Don’t be afraid to ask: what does it really mean to boil, simmer, or “fold”?
• Building food community—whether through book clubs or weekly chats—keeps home cooking joyful and evolving.

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Next episode: Takeout favorites, DIY edition—pizza, noodles, tacos, and more!

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Subscribe at joyofcooking.substack.com or follow on Instagram @thejoyofcooking

Transcript

[A]

Sa.

[B]

Welcome to the Joy of Cooking podcast. Each week we gather around the table to share recipes and stories from the authors of the Joy of Cooking, kitchen victories and mishaps, and what we're cooking and eating right now. We're glad you've joined us at the table today. I'm Shannon Larson, home cook, Joy of Cooking user and fan, and spending too much money on plants enthusiast.

[C]

I mean, I know this about you.

[B]

God, it's hitting hard.

[C]

I'm Megan Scott, co Author of the 2019 edition of the Joy of Cooking. I'm a food editor by day and avoider of dish duty by night, and I am now one of Portland's best sources for malted milk powder. So just if you need any, I got it.

[A]

I'm John Becker, 4th Generation Co author and steward of the Joy of Cooking, America's oldest family run cookbook. And if a braise or stew recipe has no searing step, I really struggle to stick to the script. It's really hard.

[C]

I know you like browning meat. Like, you. Well, so many of your things that you are, like, really patient and good at because nobody browns meat long enough ever. And so you'll be there for like 20 minutes, very tenderly browning chunks of meat. Like, are you okay in there?

[A]

I'm just. I'm just concentrating.

[C]

No, I like it. You really get into it. It's good.

[A]

No, I mean, if a recipe. I feel like there are so many good recipes out there that don't require. Require anything like that. And. But again, I've just. It's been instilled in me that it must happen. So.

[C]

Yeah, it's a very Frenchy kind of technique. I know we've talked about this with Cincinnati chili, because you do not brown the meat for Cincinnati chili, and it always kind of throws you off. It's like it feels wrong to just boil ground beef.

[A]

Very true. But, yeah, I guess that leads into what we've been cooking because actually, I think you made this, but it was like a Korean spicy chicken stew. It was really, really good.

[C]

Yeah, that was great. And it has, like, little chunks of the moo radish in it. So it's similar to daikon, but they're a little bit squatter and rounder and cuter, and you cut it into chunks and add it to the stew. And I just love the texture of the radish cubes when they've cooked for a while and soaked up some of the cooking liquid. One of my favorites.

[B]

Yeah, I think cooked radish is something we should appreciate more in, like, American cooking.

[D]

I agree. Yeah.

[A]

So shout out to Sohui Kim's Dakdoi Tang recipe from Korean Home Cooking. Very, very good.

[C]

So Ella Quintner is talking about her. It's quite a mouthful. This recipe, gooey malted cookie dough chocolate chunk bars as like a quicker alternative to her ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. So I made those today. We're eating them now.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. It's like eating cookie dough.

[C]

Yeah, it's like cookie dough. It's so good.

[A]

Cookie dough with a nice crust on the bottom. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

But I had to get malted milk powder for the recipe and I've. I've cooked with malted milk powder plenty of times. I just had run out and I was shocked. Like, nobody carries it, not in Portland. None of the chain grocery stores here had it. I've looked on Instacart. Nobody had it. Walmart apparently has it, but we don't have a Walmart in the city limits. So I'm not going to go to Walmart. So I went to. I went to cash and carry or whatever, whatever they call it now.

[B]

Chef, Chef store, which I've never been to.

[C]

You should definitely go. But I end up having to buy, you know, the industrial size malted milk powder. So now everything's got to have malted milk powder in it. I think until I use it up. I know it's so hard.

[B]

I will think about recipes I might need malted milk powder for.

[C]

Just let me know and come over and borrow a cup from me.

[B]

They are really, really good.

[C]

Yeah, I'll make these again. And it does use a lot. It uses like 3/4 of a cup malted milk powder.

[B]

So what does the malted milk powder do?

[C]

I mean, I think it makes them chewier and it gives them that malt flavor, which it just makes to me. It's like a little. Just more complexity or almost like a. Similar to brown butter in a way.

[A]

Yeah. I feel like Cello Parks has described it as like the dessert equivalent of umami. Kind of just had, you know, very. A hint of a savory element.

[C]

Yeah, I sense that. What about you, Shannon?

[B]

I had friends over randomly on Saturday night because my family couldn't make it down as originally planned. And so I did like homemade girl dinner, which was shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad and French fries and martinis. Oh, yeah. Really fun.

[C]

Dang.

[B]

And then we watched Mel Brooks, like Mel Brooks movies. So it was great. And I am trying to just. And they were all guys, so I'm trying to introduce girl dinner to, like, More men out there and be like, this is really.

[C]

This is a good thing. You should take advantage.

[B]

You don't have to think about the whole thing. We just are like shrimp cocktails. Delicious. French fries are great. Caesar salad. Let's go.

[C]

I'm there.

[A]

That sounds really good.

[C]

Yeah, I want that tonight. And we have that tonight. Do it.

[A]

Sure.

[C]

It's probably not gonna happen. We're probably gonna reheat something frozen, but that's fine.

[B]

But we can have girl dinner soon.

[C]

Yeah, we'll do girl dinner.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

I did not make our recipe of

[B]

the week, which I did not either. I had planned on it having my nephew down. Bernie. And making the marshmallows and then going to the nickel arcade and then coming home and making s'. Mores, and he got sick. I told him we would not make them until he can come down in a couple of weeks.

[C]

Yeah, good call.

[B]

It's postponed.

[C]

I will make them. I have made them so many times. But that recipe is on page 868. And one thing that I think is interesting that I didn't call out last time about it is that in all of the variations on the recipe that are in the book, you can sub honey or maple syrup for the entirety of the corn syrup. I know a lot of folks don't like using corn syrup, so you can definitely make, like. I mean, it's gonna taste like those ingredients. It will taste like honey. It will taste like maple syrup. So you need to like that flavor. But you can replace the corn syrup with other liquid sweeteners like honey and maple. So, yeah, I just thought that was an interesting thing about recipe. So if you make the marshmallow Recipe on page 868, please tag us on Instagram at the Joy of Cooking. We would love to see what you make. Irma Rombauer believed that cooking should be joyful, and that philosophy changed the way America eats. Her great nephew Kerner carried that same joy and generosity to Napa Valley, founding Rombauer Vineyards in 1980. The winery was built on the same belief that made the cookbook a classic, that good food and wine should bring people together. And just as the joy of cooking has been in American kitchens for nearly a century, today Rombauer is one of California's most celebrated wineries and the perfect pairing for every meal you cook from the book, your next favorite pairing is [e-mail] joy use code joypod. That's j o y p o d. All caps for 15% off your order. That's r o m b a u e r dot com joy and use code joypod at checkout.

[E]

Must be 21 to enjoy.

[C]

This week, we would like to welcome Becky Crystal to the table. Becky Crystal is the recipes editor for Washington Post Food. Following a six year stint as a staff writer and recipe developer. She came to the Washington Post in 2007 and has covered TV and travel as well. Becky, welcome to the podcast.

[D]

Hey, I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

[C]

Yeah, it's been a long time. So we first met in Washington, D.C. at the post offices where we were promoting the 2019 edition and we were doing an eggnog recipe, as I recall.

[D]

Yes, a very, very strong eggnog recipe. Feel like it was so potent. It lasted me a very long time. My fridge would take like a little like thimble full and that was about all I could take. So. Good stuff, but powerful.

[A]

You can treat it like cold brew where you just kind of dilute, dilute it with some extra.

[C]

That's.

[D]

That's a good idea. Yeah. I mean, it's also so rich. It's not just the alcohol. It was, it melted ice cream, basically like a custard, but fantastic. I still think about that and I've made it and it's a stunner.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, that's why it's called Deluxe Eggnog.

[D]

Yes. A lot of egg yolks in there. Might not have been the best thing when eggs are through the roof, but they've come back down. So. Yeah.

[C]

What have you been cooking and eating this week that you're excited about?

[D]

You know, I test a lot of the recipes that go in the Post food section. And so this weekend I tested an upcoming Ellie Krieger for a Chicken Speedy salad. So the Speedy is like a specialty of upstate New York, Binghamton specifically. And it's like marinated chicken. And you grill it and you basically like shove it in either like a hoagie or just even like a piece of Italian bread. And so Ellie is riffing on that in like a slightly lighter, you know, format. And so I used my grill pan in my kitchen for the first time in a while, and that was, that was an adventure. But it shockingly resembled, you know, an actual outside grill. So we ate that for a couple of days and it was, it was fantastic. I love it.

[C]

Yeah, I saw you post about the grill pan and I, and I also noted that you said you hate cleaning it, which. That to me is the big. I don't use a grill pan because I will not Clean it. I hate it.

[D]

Yeah, no, I let it soak for a while, and then I just got in there with the. The sponge and did my best. And then I started going down the rabbit hole of, like, do I actually need to be cleaning it as well as I'm trying to? I mean, Le Creuset is like, oh, it'll develop this, you know, kind of like a cast. It's actually enamel, but kind of like a cast iron. It'll develop that seasoning. And so, you know, I gave myself permission to not spend 30 minutes doing it, but, yeah, it's right up there with all the crevices and the waffle iron.

[A]

So, wait, the interior is enameled as well?

[D]

Yeah, it's this special, like, black enamel that they have. I don't have any other pans that are like that. And it. I mean, it. It cooked. It cooked great, but you just have to be mindful of what you're putting on it.

[C]

Yeah, that's right up there with muffin tins. For me, I don't really make muffins because I don't like cleaning the tin.

[D]

Yeah, that's sad.

[C]

I used to work at a natural foods grocery store in the bakery, and we made. The baked goods were really good there, but we made just dozens and dozens and dozens of muffins every day. And so sometimes I would get roped into washing dishes and just the stack of dirty muffin tins. I can. I just can't. I. All the wet, soggy crumbs and, like, stuck on. I just can't do it.

[D]

This is the trauma response. Yeah, I get it. All right, that. That's fair. I. I will say that the good muffin tin makes all the difference. And, like, you get, like, one of those good kind of gold touch ones. They release beautifully, and the cleaning is minimal.

[C]

But maybe I just need to upgrade my equipment. Yeah, probably.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah, probably.

[A]

I'm just trying to imagine, like, all of the geysers from using a commercial sprayer on a muffin table.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

It splashes right back in your face.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. We have a sink like that kind of in our food lab at the Post, where it's very high. And so whenever I'm washing something like that, it just comes down with such force, and it's just. It's just water everywhere. This is why I don't wear nice clothes to work, because that's just gonna end up all over. All over me.

[C]

Do you have a signature dish?

[D]

I have. It's hard because I'm testing so much. All the time I have things that I like to make a lot for people. This is gonna sound extremely basic, but I feel like right now one of my signature dish is just a black bean and cheese quesadilla. Because I make it so much for my kid and especially during early pandemic, I feel like that was a lot of what I was eating too. And I don't know, I'm just really good at it and it feeds me really well. And yeah, it's not sexy, but it's great. And my kid appreciates.

[C]

I think melted cheese is always sexy.

[D]

Yeah, melted cheese, especially when it comes out and you get that little like flavor frico type edge of the quesadilla. That, that is a feature, not a bug in my book.

[B]

Do you have any tips on how to make the perfect black bean cheese quesadilla? Like what do you do?

[D]

Yeah, I have a few things I like to do. One is that I kind of do two layers of cheese. So when I'm building it, I do a layer of cheese and then the black beans and then another layer of cheese. So you don't get one side of the tortilla that kind of flops open. Another one is you really have to let the pan get hot enough. I mean, this applies to not just quesadillas, this applies to, you know, the meat that John so carefully sears and all that. Because if you just stick it in the oil in the pan before it's hot, it's gonna start absorbing it. So if you wait like long enough, longer than you think you need to, it starts to get golden and crisp right away. And it doesn't absorb the oil, it's just like really crisp. Those are my two things. I also often, not for my kid, but for me, like to put a little pickled element in there, like pepperoncini or banana peppers or something like that for just little sharpness.

[C]

Delightful. And Becky, what's your relationship with the Joy of Cooking?

[D]

There are certain books that I feel like should be on everyone's shelves. I'm a self taught cook. Like I did not go to culinary school. I didn't like grow up cooking with my mom or my grandparents. You know, my grandmothers both died when I was really young, so I didn't have that kind of like figure in my life. So, you know, Joy of Cooking is a little bit of a stand in in that sense. And so, you know, it's like I always have my copy of Harold McGee's book or how to Cook Everything, you know, cooks illustrated books and Joy of Cooking. And it's just something that, especially this time of AI slop. And the algorithm's gonna give you what the algorithm gives you to know that that book is there and be able to look up like anything and have it feel like a reliable source. Like, I love that and I love the voice that's in all of, all of the editions where it's like you're learning something. But I mean, it's like that kind of spirit that you're someone who's teaching to cook might give you. You know, it's a little cheeky, it's a little fun. And so I, I just think it's such a wonderful resource for anything you want to look up. I have a copy at work and I'll flip it open and.

[C]

Awesome.

[D]

Do research.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I feel like one of the questions we got a lot when we were on book tour was, you know, what place does a cookbook like this have in the age of the Internet when you can just look up anything you want? And I feel like at the time our answer was, well, you know, Google has its algorithm, so when you search for something, you get the top results which are not necessarily based on what is true and what is factual, but rather on who has the best SEO. And so, you know, you can. Yeah, exactly. Or who pays to be there. And so, you know, you look enjoy of cooking. We have vetted all this information for you. And also like when you have other cookbooks that maybe aren't as in depth, if you run into something you don't know about, you can read more about it here. But I feel like in the intervening years it has become even more true that it's very nice to have a physical reference book versus now. It's like you get an AI summary. Maybe you never click through to see where it comes from. Maybe it comes from somebody's random blog that they wrote 20 years ago. Like, who knows? I think it's a good time to have a cookbook.

[A]

Yeah. Sad that things have developed that way and, but also good, good for Joy of Cooking.

[D]

I suppose it's nice to just get off the screens too, you know, like, do, do I have to look up everything online? Like, no, I was, I was the kid with the, like, my parents had the, like children's Encyclopedia Britannica.

[C]

Yeah, I remember that.

[D]

Appreciated that. Yeah, yeah. They might still have them. I'm not sure. Maybe.

[C]

Yeah, I think my mom bought those from a door to door salesman. Oh my gosh.

[B]

I read mine constantly and like Zoo

[C]

books and like Zoo books. Oh, so good. So good. We touched on the eggnog recipe earlier, but I was just looking in my email if we had emailed about it and we did and you had asked me a question about cutting back on the booze just for like, you know, it's, it's expensive to make a huge batch of this eggnog. It has like four different kinds of booze in it. And we were wondering if you had received any like, feedback from readers about things they've done or.

[D]

Oh my goodness. Let me. I'm looking to see if there have been any reviews on it. Trying to think who. If. Hold on, let's look at the reviews. Maybe I don't want to look at the reviews because they're usually not relevant. We do have someone who says they make quartz that go out to friends as gifts every holiday season. Now my wife wants a gallon for her office party.

[C]

Wild office party.

[D]

Yes, exactly. And per the notes, we age some. It's delish, they say, so great. Yeah.

[A]

Sending people home with quartz sounds like the responsible way to go.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. So that's all I know off the top of my head. It is always one of those things that people appreciate having having around for the, for the holidays.

[C]

Well, I'm glad one person liked it. That's all. I cannot ask for more.

[D]

It's not, it's not totally your fault because when we relaunched our recipe finder, we like basically all its reset. So I'm sure there might have been good reviews, but it's one of those tech things that you do not. Cannot really account for. But. Yeah, but when I, when I've made it, the response has been. Been great.

[A]

Well, yeah, I was just, I just noticed that like, that you have like a weekly chat where people like are, you know, kind of log on to ask like whatever culinary questions that they have. And I was just kind of curious like what your experience with that has been and like, if it's actually like kind of helped you develop like content for the food section and yeah, just how that's been.

[D]

So the post has been doing live online chats at this point. I mean it must be more than 20 years, possibly 25. And so when I fairly early on, I was previously, as Megan said, in the travel section, like one of the things I wanted to do most was the, was the chat. And then when I came on to the food staff, I really wanted to do the chat. And so it's actually one of my favorite things that I do. And I think it's one of our readers favorite things that we do. I have people who sign on and they say this is the highlight of my week. Which just like boggles my mind. This silly little hour where I'm basically the Kermit meme in real time typing like crazy. And it is such a wonderful resource. I've gotten so many great story ideas and you know, we spin them off into questions or we spin them off into like, you know, kind of user generated things and it takes on a life of its own in the comments and people get in there and it really is, I think, unlike anything else that people in food media do. I mean, you know, there's the, there are Reddit things and there's, you know, Instagram lives and whatever, but people come to us because it's, it's not something they find anywhere else. And we've really built this community. I mean, I, it's anonymous, but people often use the same like handle and they recognize each other and it's just such a great community and it is one of my favorite things that I do. So I love it and I hope I can continue to do it for as long as I can because it's great and knowing people trust me to, you know, help them cook better. And then, and then they come back and they say, you told me this, this is something that was in last week's chat. Someone said, I asked you how to make my bran muffins better and you said to cream the butter and sugar well, because no one ever does that well enough. And I beat the heck out of it. And they were the best muffins I ever made. And I just almost choked up because that's, there's nothing better than that, you know?

[C]

Yeah, that's amazing. Helping people to get that, to get the feedback almost right away from somebody who takes your advice. And it works. It's so good.

[D]

Yeah, it's scary, but it's, it's like, hopefully it all works out, but it's, it's incredibly rewarding.

[B]

My husband did use the omelette recommendations for how to make like the perfect omelette. And it was so perfect. I loved it.

[C]

So was that on the social media or where was that?

[B]

I know I saw it on your Instagram. Yeah. And it just worked out really, really well. Is there like a specific topic that's been like the most popular that you've talked about?

[D]

Food safety. Things always tend to go crazy, especially the ones where like I say that's probably not safe to eat. You know, like someone left out. There was one a while ago. Someone left out a stew for too long, and I was like, not worth it. Please don't eat it. And people, you know, you're wasting food. And I've never gotten sick. And I'm like, all right. Well, I'm not even getting into the anecdotal evidence versus whatever, but the one that really took off last week, last I checked, there were almost 100 comments, I think was how to chop onions without crying. Everyone had a suggestion from, like, you know, holding the match in your mouth to doing it underwater next to a candle, wearing goggles, holding bread in your mouth. I mean, talk about seeding content. Like, I. I think I'm gonna have to try.

[C]

Yeah, you gotta try these and document it, I think.

[D]

Yeah. I'm hoping we're talking about some sort of video, you know, just like, humble myself for. For content. But, yeah, that. That was. That was a big one.

[A]

Lit. Lit match or unlit? I'm really.

[C]

Match in your mouth.

[D]

Unlit.

[A]

I'm just wondering what would that do?

[D]

I don't know if they're. Because of the. I have no idea. I have not looked into it. I suspect it has something to do with whatever is in the. Like, the end of the match. Like the sulfur, whatever, and then the onion. You know, the sulfur and the onion. What are you cut? I don't know.

[B]

I mean, you know, sometimes when my cats, you know, go to the bathroom and it's a little stinky, I light a match and then let it burn out. And like, whatever that.

[C]

Yeah, it takes that.

[B]

I wonder if that's okay.

[C]

Am I going to test this?

[A]

You light the match, then you put it out, and then you put it in.

[D]

Yes. The mouth thing is weird. Some of them, a lot of them revolve around just, like, breathing one way but not the other way. So I feel like if there's something in your mouth, you only breathe through your nose. Or maybe you're not supposed to breathe through your nose, but only through your mouth. I don't know. So I need to actually go through and make a list of all these suggestions.

[C]

I feel like this is a Harold McGee question. Like, we need to email Harold and see what he thinks.

[D]

Yeah, I'm sure I have my copy of On Food and Cooking here. That would be probably a good place to start. But. Yeah, it got. It got real weird real fast.

[C]

I kind of, like, this is weird, maybe, but when I. I don't always cry when I'm cutting onions, but sometimes. Yeah, but I kind of like lean into it, you know, Like, I'm just gonna cry now. Like, this is a good time for me to let off some emotions and just cry with this onion. Yeah. I feel like it's a therapeutic opportunity.

[D]

Well, someone had to be very technical. And they're like, you're not crying. You're just tearing up. And I'm like, all right.

[C]

Okay. Well, thank you.

[B]

I feel like, unfortunately for me, it's more like physical versus emotional. I wish it was more emotional because it sounds like it'd be a nice relief, but, yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You just have to let it be.

[B]

I know.

[C]

I'll try.

[A]

Lean in.

[C]

I'm.

[D]

Next time, I'm just gonna hold a

[B]

match in my mouth and let you

[C]

all know and start crying.

[D]

Please, if you get to it before I do, I'm all ears.

[C]

So Ron Bauer Vineyards is sponsoring today's episode, and honestly, I've been wanting to talk about them because they just released a fresh vintage of their Sauvignon Blanc, and it's quickly become my go to white wine as we head into the warmer months. It's refreshing and vibrant, exactly what you want when the sun is out. I've been having it with asparagus with orange and hazelnuts, and, I mean, it just works perfectly.

[A]

And. Okay. If you're planning on firing up the grill soon, let me tell you about their Zinfandels. They just released their 2023 vintage, and it's bold, juicy, and has real depth. The kind of wine that just belongs with good food and good company. Something like grilled marinated octopus with shaved fennel and white bean salad comes to mind, but it's so versatile.

[C]

Head to rombauer.com joy and use code joypod. That's J O Y, P O, D, all caps for 15 off. That's R-O-M-B-A-U-E-R.com joy and use code joyPod at checkout.

[E]

Must be 21 to enjoy.

[C]

What has changed the most about being a food editor at a newspaper in the time that you've been doing this job?

[D]

I think it sort of touches on what we've talked about already some, which is AI and. And all the different ways people can find recipes or come up with recipes or get answers to their questions. You know, like, I'm doing the chat, then someone's like, well, I just put this into chatgpt. It's just like, set, sad, tear. Yeah. I just think the volume of things that are out there and possibly the volume of things that are not. Trustworthy and trying to sell us as a trustworthy, reliable source. People feel like, why should I go to you when I can go to this person on TikTok? I mean, that's the other thing. TikTok. That has certainly changed in the years that I've been doing, you know, this sort of stage of my. My career. And so it's AI or it's TikTok and trying to compete with that and get people to pay attention and make our recipes. And once you get them, making them, I think you're. You're most of the way to. To victory. So that's. That's the challenge.

[C]

As a food editor, I sometimes struggle with what to cook when I'm not working. How do you tackle, like, everyday cooking when you're not testing a recipe?

[D]

Some of it revolves around, like we talked about with Casey's, what. What my kid will eat. My husband is a great home cook, and so that takes a lot of the pressure off me because we're usually sharing cooking duties for the week. And so, I mean, we talk about what he's gonna make, but having someone else's brain power makes my life so much easier. And, yeah, I make a lot of recipes on repeat that are not necessarily for work. And I think that also helps because I have to do so much. I feel like original thinking when I'm developing a recipe or I'm commissioning recipes or whatever. Just having those things in my repertoire that I can make while distracted by things or whatever really just makes the process so much easier.

[C]

What are some of the things you have in your rotation?

[D]

We make a lot of Indian food, particularly vegetarian Indian food. We have this potato chickpea curry from Mater Jaffrey that I think, like, the first Indian recipe I probably cooked, and I did eventually, like, publish it, you know, as a column about that recipe. We make that a lot in the winter. I make. We make a lot of soups, you know, minestrone tomato soup, air fryer, orange tofu, which, again, was a post recipe. But, like, that's on regular rotation. Yeah, there's a lot of kind of lighter, lighter fare. I would say.

[C]

Minestrone is such a great one to have in your repertoire because you can kind of put, like, any vegetables you got in the crisper. You can use different pasta shapes. It's just really versatile and nice.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. And I'll even eat. It doesn't have to necessarily be cold. It's kind of a light enough soup that it kind of an all time of year.

[C]

Yeah, agreed.

[A]

I was actually kind of curious about, like, I mean, I think you kind of touched upon this. But, you know, one of the things that I really appreciated about the Washington Post food articles that I've seen over the years is just the kind of focus that you guys have on service food journalism. I guess I was kind of curious if that was just. If that was like an editorial choice that was kind of that, like, maybe Joe Yonan was kind of focused on, or if it's something that kind of grew organically out of the weekly chats that you guys do.

[D]

Yeah, no, it was definitely a conscientious decision. And I wish I could take credit for that initial push, but as it turns out, I was on maternity leave when they decided to try this whole more service oriented, beginning friendly approach. So, yeah, that was Joe Yonen, who is the former food and dining editor, and Matt Brooks, who's the current food and dining editor at the time. He was, you know, an assistant editor. And Liz Seymour, who was our features editor at the time. And yeah, it was a very conscientious decision where we sort of branched off a little bit from the type of cooking coverage we'd been doing more previously. And so that's when I came back from leave and I was brought in to be like the originating staff writer for this sort of offshoot that then sort of just became our overarching food content. And yeah, I mean, we felt like there was a need for that kind of instructive but welcoming coverage that does not take anything for granted. I think one of the things that food media and writers tend to do is assuming a certain level of knowledge that is not always there. And, you know, we wanted to present in a way that wasn't talking down to people, but also was like, here, we're here to help you. And nothing is too basic. I mean, I've literally written about boiling water, which was a little bit of me trolling the people who, when I would write something basic like about scrambled eggs or toast or whatever, and the joke was always, what's next? Boiling water. And I'm like, I see your challenge and I accept it. And you know what? That was one of my most read stories of all time. So, yeah, I still feel that way in terms of wanting to help people, because it was not, if you think about it, that long ago when I was in that position and learning how to cook and teaching myself how to cook and trying to find those people and resources that brought me along and helped me become a more confident cook.

[B]

Gosh, the boiling water thing hits home My husband and I had very different ideas of what boiling water meant. And his was just like little, little bubbles, you know, like, like, you know, it's like, almost there. And it was like, john, no, that is not boiling water. Like, do not put the pasta in right now.

[D]

I mean, a thermometer, really helpful. You're like, do I need to check the temperature? Yes. If it's not 212, it's not boiling.

[B]

And I didn't want to make him feel bad because, like, I know he didn't mean, like, he was like, no, I think this is right, you know, but like, it was. I was a little like, yeah, there

[C]

are so many of those. I mean, boy, to boil is not jargon. That's like basically a definition of a temperature.

[D]

But.

[C]

But, you know, simmering versus boiling. What is that? You know, what is simmering? What is boiling? Like, we were talking about this because we were kind of going through the soups chapter. Melina, what do we need to add or change? I'm like, how do we, like, tell people what a simmer means? Or like a slow simmer versus, like, a brisk simmer versus a boil?

[B]

Like, it's not like a dumb thing.

[C]

No.

[B]

Well, not to know. Right? Like, it. Actually, when I. Thinking about it, when John and I were arguing, I was like, oh, wait, no, maybe it isn't as clear as I would think John Becker is currently.

[A]

Wait, what? No, I. I totally understand. Like, with sim. With simmer, it's. It's a little bit vague.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I think all of those terms can be vague if you haven't, like, honestly had, like, a grandmother who has shown you a hook or, you know, or a father, whoever. But like, if you haven't seen it in action, maybe it's confusing.

[C]

Yeah, I feel like recipes include a lot of shorthand terms like that or like, fold in. You know, it's like the shit's creek. Like, fold in the. Just fold it. You just fold it in. But it's like, what does that mean? You know, And I think about that all the time. And I feel like when I'm writing recipes, I try to. Like when I can avoid terminology like that and just say what you're supposed to. Yeah, like the action.

[D]

One thing that I've tried to phase out of our recipes, and I'm sure there are other examples, but like, when you say cut something on the bias, and I'm like, I don't think people know that at least anymore. It's like just. You cut it at an angle. Ah, okay. So that's one that I'm like, I'll die on that hill. And I realize probably some people think I'm dumbing it down or whatever, but it's like, you know, I don't think a lot people know what that means anymore. If you didn't come up through, like, culinary whatever.

[A]

I mean, what are you losing by leaving that out or replacing it with on the diagonal or at an angle?

[D]

Literally nothing. Yeah.

[B]

You're just making people's, like, end goal be better.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Might as well, like, word it in a way that makes people's food taste better.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And that way you also don't make them feel bad when they don't know something. I mean, we were sort of talking about something similar at work in, like, a slack conversation. It's like, well, it's okay to challenge people and, like, you know, have them look something up, but I don't know if that's something I want someone to have to do. While they're looking the recipe, they're looking at the carrot going on the bi. You know, so there's a time and a place for it.

[C]

Yeah. If you're reading, like, a William Faulkner novel, it's fine to have to look up a word, but maybe not when you're trying to make a casserole or something.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You're in the middle of making dinner for your family.

[D]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[A]

I can just picture somebody cursing at Siri, you know, asking that question.

[C]

And while they're coming, while your hands are covered in something. Yeah. We've all been there.

[A]

It's kind of heartening to know that the service food journalism approach works, or at least as it seems to get. Get views. I know that. Like how to boil water. Maybe there's like a clickbaity ragey kind of aspect to that. Maybe.

[D]

But yeah, well, not clickbait in that. Like, we're tricking people. But, you know, I mean, I feel like stuff like that also gets a bad rap. It's like, why wouldn't I want someone to read that? Like, what's wrong with writing a headline that gets people's attention as long as you deliver on it? So, you know, I think about SEO and audience and whatever, and sometimes it's like, I'm not gonna feel bad about saying something that makes someone stop and look. That's the whole point. Right.

[C]

Yeah. Have you ever had to abandon a recipe?

[D]

Yes. Probably multiple times. And now I'm trying to think what would be. Yeah, I never picked this one back up, but I want to do it Sometime I was really trying to do like a single serving scone.

[C]

Oh wow.

[D]

Which is like silly. But I shared a recipe from Ed Kimber, the original great British Bake off winner, who's delightful. And he had this single serving chocolate chip cookie he called an emergency chocolate chip cookie that was in one of his books. And I like talked to him for a story and I ran the recipe and again we were talking about rage feeding, whatever that got people really angry. But it was so great and so many people did love it. And I was like, sometimes I just really want one scone. I don't want a batch of scones. And they were weird. Like they were. Some of them came out like cookies or they were too eggy. And I would just like, you know, it wasn't like a ton of ingredients, but I just, I had to step away from that one.

[C]

So maybe because I do feel like if you're not feeding enough people, like scones are best that when they're made, they're best like right after they're made. So you don't want a bunch of leftover cold, dry scones. I guess that's why what freezing is for. You freeze the dough and then just bake it off one at a time.

[D]

That's what people would get. Were mad at me about the cookie. Like why, why would you just make one when you could make a whole batch? I'm like, it is actually faster and if you only want to use like 2 tablespoons of flour, that's all you have. So I don't know. They did not sway me from my, my love of that. So I'll let you know if I figure out the scone. But that one was a little crazy making.

[C]

Are there any indicators to you of a well written recipe? Like, what do you think separates a really good recipe from one that's not so great?

[D]

Yeah, I think like what we were talking about for one, where it's easy to read, you know, obviously the red flag where if I'm reading a recipe, thinking about making it or whatever, if there are ingredients that are in the ingredients but not the steps or vice versa, or the ingredients are not presented in the order that they are in the recipe, or if it doesn't say like divided when an ingredient is used in multiple spots, if they're typos, I feel like obviously like a red flag to me, if there aren't enough cues, you know, to tell you when something is done, when to take it out. Like I want to see like multiple cues. I don't want to see like until it's done or just says like a time. That's a huge red flag to me because I want to know what it looks should look like, what should smell like, what the temperature should be like, anything so that people can triangulate. I think that's super important. So those are some of the things that I look for and certainly try to make sure addressed in all of my recipes.

[C]

Yeah, the multiple cues thing is really important. I read a recipe recently that described the consistency of a sauce, like what you're looking for in the sauce. And it was saucy. And I was like, that's not, it's a sauce. Like, what are you talking about?

[D]

It is spicy saucy. Yeah, someone was having a little fun there, I think.

[C]

Yes.

[E]

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[C]

All right, each week we answer a caller question and this week we're talking about blueberry sauce. Speaking of sauces, Dirk, can you please read question?

[E]

Hi guys. I heard you mention that you are currently working on the new edition. So exciting. Bring back the hot blueberry sauce but include a mixed berry alternative. My family loves it on waffles with whipped cream. Keep doing good work. I Love the podcast and look forward to the new edition.

[C]

Awesome. Thanks for the question, John. Do you want to take it away?

[A]

Well, we never got rid of it. We did some rearranging. It happens sometimes, but yeah. So basically we ended up moving the blueberry sauce to the fruit chapter because we talk a lot about blueberries in the fruit chapter and then it was going straight to the next berry that we cover. And in order to make the chapter more readable, we just try to break it up. But yeah, it also has a different name because it's a compote, so we just called it Blueberry Compote.

[C]

Yeah, it's the same recipe. We do sneaky stuff like that.

[A]

We did tweak it a little bit. It has a little less sugar in it and gosh, you guys are so sneaky.

[C]

I know, we're very sneaky. That kind of opened up a can of worms for us because we're always thinking about like, does this recipe belong here? It could also go here. I think I made John have like a minor panic attack when I was like, should we put all the salad dressing recipes in the salad chapter and not in the sauce chapter? And he was just like, oh. He just put his head in his hands and sighed.

[A]

Well, it used to be like that and 1997 edition, so there is a precedent for that. But, but yeah, no, I, I, I will still hold my forehead in my hands.

[C]

You talk about it, but yeah, it's a great sauce. It's really simple and quick. And you know, if you want to do a mixed berry version, I think you could just swap one to one mixed berry, like frozen mixed berries for the blueberries and wouldn't need to adjust anything else.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Do you agree?

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[C]

I mean, it might be more seedy.

[A]

Yeah. The recipe actually like started off in the 1997. It was, that's when it was added, actually. And it started off as like a non alcoholic version of cherries jubilee.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

And yeah, and then cherries was a substitute for the blueberries. So, yeah, I think that you could use just about any berry.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

As long as it's, I mean, I'm trying to think of a tough berry that wouldn't cook in the same amount of time.

[C]

I think that'll be fine. I also like thinking about this question and just thinking about, because we're starting to get into revising the book again and all the, the way that the book kind of fits together and the way that things are connected in the book. You know, we have cross references everywhere. So for Example in like, about avocados in the vegetable chapter, there's some stuff in there. There's like a lot of information about avocados, but we have avocado recipes in other chapters, so we have to cross reference, like, say, oh, we have this avocado salad. It's in the salad chapter. So here's the page number for that. So kind of trying to link everything together. And it just made me think of that scene in True Detective where Matthew McConaughey's character is like, he opens a storage unit and there's just like the walls are covered in paper and he's like scrawled things on the walls and there's string going everywhere and you're just like, yeah, that's how it feels to revise this book.

[A]

I think it would be interesting to see a visualization in string of all of the cross references that are in, in that book.

[B]

The index itself is like a puzzle. Sometimes I'm not. Not that it's hard to read, but it's just like, I don't know how you remember, oh, we use this ingredient in these recipes, but these are all in different sections and I have to link it. I don't know.

[C]

Indexing is a. Like, there are people whose. That's their. That's their job is they index books. And there is a method for it that I don't know and I'm very impressed that somebody does that.

[B]

Awesome.

[C]

But yeah, so this is also a good opportunity to talk about how, like, when you buy a new edition of the book, which we do recommend, everyone does, because things change. You know, cooking, the advice that we give changes when we learn new things. Like the science is always changing and being updated and shared. And so, you know, we do change a lot of things. But hold on to your old copy and at least until you're sure that all of your favorite recipes are in the new one. Or you may just want to keep both of them. Like, keep them all. I don't know, collect them all.

[B]

Like Pokemon.

[C]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

I mean, revising Joy is like super challenging. And especially like in a situation like this where so, you know, when we were going through the fruit chapter, it was very, very early on in the process. During the revision process, we were not going strictly, like sequentially through the chapters, but, you know, you got to think about moving recipes. So the sweet sauces section is, I think it's like 900 pages in.850 some odd pages in. And so, yeah, it's just like trying to keep like all of the pieces in your mind as you're going through each of these chapters, when you're revising, it's challenging. It's interesting.

[C]

Yeah. So we'll make a note in, like the sweet sauces chapter, like, hey, we're gonna move this recipe to fruit. And in fruit, we're making a note, we're moving this recipe from sweet sauces to fruit. You know, it's so it's. Yeah, you gotta.

[A]

And then leaving breadcrumbs for people that are in the sweet sauces chapter that are just.

[C]

Which we do is a cross reference to blueberry. It's obviously the name changed, so that was confusing, but we did cross reference blueberry compote from about fruit sauces. So it's there. You just gotta know what to look for, and that is not necessarily obvious. So hope you can find it and hope it. It is up to your standards and what you remember it to be. And that's actually what we're signing for this week's Joy Scouts recipe. Well, we're signing cornmeal waffles on page 643, plus blueberry compote on page 178, because I think they go together really well. You've got to have something to put that compote on. But if you just wanted to make the compote, you could put it on yogurt or ice cream or pancakes or cheesecake. Cheesecake, yeah. Cheesecake, panna cotta, whatever you want. It's delicious. Lightly cornstarch thickened blueberry sauce. Shannon, I know you have a massive blueberry bush that's probably going to give you. We.

[B]

I have two bags of frozen blueberries from said blueberry bush in our backyard, and I've actually been needing to use them, so this is perfect.

[C]

Can you.

[B]

Can this compote? Okay.

[C]

No, yeah, it's thicken. It's cornstarch thicken. It's not. We haven't tested it for acidity, so.

[B]

But totally fine.

[C]

Yeah, I have plenty. I'm very lucky. If you have a cooking question or Joy story to share, call our hotline at 503-395-8858. Leave us a message or send us a text. We would love to hear from you, Dirk. Can you please read or play next week's scholar question?

[E]

What are your favorite Joy recipes for meals that people genuinely get for takeout? I'm thinking pizza noodles, tacos. The possibilities are endless. Thank you. A devoted listener and Joy fan.

[C]

Awesome. Fun. That'll be a really fun question to answer because I think we have some good ones. All right. What is everybody cooking this week?

[B]

I went to the farmer's market on Sunday because, to be completely honest, I've been in a little bit of a cooking funk and I needed inspiration and I was like, I need to just go without any sort of plan and get stuff that looks good. So I got just a ton of vegetables, like broccolini and cauliflower, and just a bunch of random stuff. So I'm using that as, like, my base. But I don't have any meal plan set. So every night is just like a little bit of an adventure. Tonight we're doing. I don't know, actually, I don't know. My husband's in charge. I think we're doing the broccolini with other things.

[C]

That's all. Yeah, that's all you need to know.

[A]

That sounds delicious.

[B]

Yum. But I was. I really have been in kind of a funk and I was like, I just need inspiration. And going to the market really helped, except it was completely packed and I was very overwhelmed.

[C]

It's so overwhelming. That's the struggle. Like, I feel the same way. I love the farmer's market and I always get a bit. It's like going to Costco.

[B]

Yeah, a little bit. Like, like, better, but.

[C]

Yeah, better than love Costco.

[B]

But still, it was like, oh, this is a lot.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I'm also really excited because I haven't sent it out yet, but I'm starting to plan my monthly friend dinner. Yes.

[D]

I'm so excited.

[B]

And so I drafted the email to a group of friends and we're just going to Allah Samin Nasrat, like friend dinner every month.

[C]

Yeah, I'm excited.

[B]

Yeah, that'll help with the inspiration aspect, I think.

[C]

What about you, Becky? What are you going to be cooking this week?

[D]

It's a good question. We've been feeding off of leftovers for the past couple days. So I've got like, we're talking about grilling. I've got, I think, a grilled steak recipe coming in from someone I need to test, so that might be on tap. Probably more quesadillas. I have black beans I'm really craving to be used.

[A]

Are you pulling out the grill pan for the steak or are you doing a real grill?

[D]

I think I might need to. Either that or when I need to test grilling recipes, I'll sometimes go to my parents house. They live relatively close by and it's just really fun. I love having them around to not only let me use their grill, but taste test stuff on It.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Good excuse to hang out.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

What are you gonna cook for me this week, John?

[A]

Something having to do with green garlic. Got plenty of green garlic to go through. And I think we. Yeah, we pulled out some leeks from the garden, so. Green garlic and leeks? Not sure.

[C]

Okay, we'll be surprised then.

[B]

Feels like we're all just kind of going with it.

[C]

Yeah, Right. We're just rolling. Last week was a rough week, man. We're just trying to recover.

[D]

So.

[C]

Yeah, we don't have any plans, but I did have a really good last week. I think it's a good idea. We'll see how it actually pans out when I try to make it. But I was. I think I was in the office, and I was busy doing something, and I couldn't stop to take a note, and I was like, john, write this down for me. Giant crispy potato. And he was like, okay. And he wrote it down. But my idea is so you know the potatoes that you like, smashed potatoes, where you, like, boil them and then you mash them and roast them until they're crispy? I want to do that, but with a whole russet potato. So, like, bake the russet potato until it's perfectly tender, smash it between two sheet pans, and then brush it with oil, salt, pepper, and put it back in the oven and let it get crispy. So that's my. That's my idea. I'm just giving it away right now, but I'm gonna try it really soon because it sounds delicious.

[A]

Are we gonna load it up?

[C]

Yeah, let's. We're gonna load it up. It's gonna be loaded.

[A]

Okay. All right.

[B]

That sounds incredible.

[C]

I'll let you know how it goes. Yeah, I want to do that this week for sure. And also anything that uses malted milk powder, because I can't. I have so much of it now.

[D]

Sounds like you need some milkshakes, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Malt. Yeah.

[C]

And, Becky, before we wrap, where can listeners follow you?

[D]

Yeah, I am on Instagram at Becky Crystal, and of course, on the Washington Post post [e-mail] Food Awesome.

[C]

And we'll put all that in the show. Notes for people to find. Thanks for listening to the Joy of Cooking podcast. Before we go, show some love for your favorite podcast by subscribing to the show and leaving us a review. Follow us at joyofcooking.substack.com and on Instagram @the joyofcooking. Stay tuned for next week where we'll talk about takeout dupe recipes. And don't forget to make this week's recipe. Well, there's two recipes, Cornmeal Waffles on page 643 and Blueberry Compote on page 178. Call in with questions, hopes, history or where you find joy in the kitchen. Our number is 503-395-8858. That's 503-395-8858.

[B]

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[C]

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[D]

It allows us to continue creating high

[C]

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[D]

House to join our community today.

[C]

Thank you for listening and supporting our podcast Dreams.