The Joy of Cooking Podcast

Episode: Maureen Abood — A Casual Culinary Chat About Homemade Yogurt

Date: September 24, 2025
Host: The Joy of Creation Production House
With: Jon Becker, Megan Scott, Shannon Larson, special guest Maureen Abood

Episode Overview

This week's episode is both a celebration of culinary tradition and creative home cooking. The hosts welcome acclaimed Lebanese-American author and baker Maureen Abood for a warm, wide-ranging conversation touching on the art of Lebanese baking, the importance of recipes in connecting generations, and accessible tips for making yogurt at home. Sprinkled throughout: personal stories, practical kitchen wisdom, and plenty of laughter.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. What’s Cooking This Week? (00:57–06:04)

• The hosts chat about the seasonal bounty—green chilies, cold soba bowls, and camping meals.
• Megan admits to "cheating" on a camping meal by using precooked rice packs, while Shannon extols the versatility of cold soba mixes with whatever fresh produce is on hand.
• “You don’t really want to cook rice when you’re backpacking.” — Megan Scott (04:46)

2. Meet Maureen Abood: A Baking Journey (06:43–14:24)

• Maureen shares her love for baking and the inspiration behind her latest book, Lebanese Baking.
• She was motivated by both a lack of existing resources and a desire to make the traditions she learned from her family accessible to others.
• “[Older cookbooks] assumed that you kind of already knew what you were doing…they baked for sustenance and we bake out of pleasure and desire and the need to connect.” — Maureen Abood (09:31)
• Her process included deep research and a focus on clear instructional guidance, especially for beginners. Process photos were a major feature.

3. Recipe Generosity & Innovation (11:56–17:14)

• Discussion about writing empathetic recipes that meet readers where they are.

• Maureen describes working with her photographer on process shots to de-mystify Lebanese baked goods like Burma (“scrunched baklava”).

• Insights on adapting traditional methods to work with American ingredients—like hydrating commercial phyllo for easier handling.

  “With a light misting, very light misting of water, you now you’ve hydrated this just enough to create this really nice accordion pleat.” — Maureen Abood (14:21)

4. Tradition and Legacy in Baking (21:12–24:33)

• Megan reads a moving passage from Maureen’s new book reflecting on her mother’s legacy.
• The group agrees: Baking is more than food—it’s a vessel for memory, grief, community, and love.
• “It’s the personification of a hug…You can really address the loss in a special way by gifting someone with your loaf of bread, your Lebanese tillami bread, the honey buns wrapped in a towel and warm… It’s like a sigh. We understand.” — Maureen Abood (23:01)

5. Lebanese Baking for Beginners (25:21–27:07)

• Maureen recommends new bakers start with her recipe for bit lewa (Lebanese baklava):

  “If you take it and break it down…it’s just an assembly process...there’s really very few things that compare to that bite of biting into your own homemade piece of bit Lewa.” (25:28)

6. The Joy of Cooking: Personal Memories (27:10–31:25)

• Maureen shares how her mother gave her The Joy of Cooking for her 24th birthday, inscribed as “joy to give, a joy to use, the joie de vie.”

• She loves the Cloverleaf Rolls recipe (“been making every Thanksgiving for a million years”) and the pound cake—a truly unparalleled version in her view.

  “The Joy pound cake. There’s no comparison to any other pound cake recipe I’ve ever tried…It’s just the perfect balance of moistness and density, and it’s beautiful and golden.” — Maureen Abood (30:11)

7. Accessibility & Modern Lebanese Baking (31:46–36:32)

• The hosts and Maureen highlight some of her more innovative creations—like the Za’atar Cheese Dome and Baklava Cheesecake.
• Maureen describes the intensive research (including trips to Dearborn, MI bakeries in freezing weather) she undertook to perfect recipes such as fitaya (savory Lebanese hand pies).

8. Homemade Yogurt: Tips & Traditions (38:05–45:10)

Caller Question: “The yogurt at my local store has a bunch of added ingredients. I want to make it at home. Do you have an easy guide or recipe?” (38:05)

• Maureen and the hosts share an approachable method for homemade yogurt:
  • Heat milk to 180°F–210°F, then cool to ~115°F (40:21)
  • Mix in a bit of “starter” yogurt (from a previous batch or plain store-bought)
  • Maintain gentle warmth for several hours—Maureen wraps her pot in towels and puts it in a warm, turned-off oven overnight (41:13)
  • If it hasn’t set, just give it more time
• “It’s such a wise thing to do because it’s so economical and so simple and so satisfying. It’s almost like a sourdough practice.” — Maureen Abood (38:25)
• Tips on using powdered starter, troubleshooting failed batches, and favorite brands of commercial yogurt and labneh.

9. What’s Everyone Making Next? (48:59–52:59)

• Jon’s deep in a strawberry ice cream experiment—a riff on a favorite from Portland’s 50 Licks, using freeze-dried strawberries and (corrected by Megan) corn syrup.

• Shannon seeks creative uses for abundant okra and melons.

• Megan wants ideas for city hams after receiving two in a pig share.

• Maureen is savoring Michigan’s late summer produce—making BLTs with Lebanese flatbread, a tomato galette with phyllo and labneh, and plenty of stone fruit.

  “It’s a happy time for eating in Michigan.” — Maureen Abood (52:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Baking and Memory:
  • “Baking offers beauty and solitude. And in community, we continue the conversations with those who baked for us in the past…baking enacts a rich, braided conversation that never ends.” — Maureen Abood (21:12, quoting her book)
• On Tradition vs. Convenience:
  • “Baking isn’t necessary…when we cook, we need to eat to live, but we don’t necessarily need to bake, but we do it anyway.” — Megan Scott (24:14)
• On Recipe Writing:
  • “There’s definitely a more generous way of writing recipes that is going to be friendlier for beginners.” — Jon Becker (11:56)
• On Creativity and Perseverance:
  • “I’ll try it, I’ll try it and then I’ll fail and then I’ll try again and we’ll be good.” — Jon Becker, on homemade phyllo (19:09)

Key Timestamps

• 00:57 – Megan and Jon’s green chili stash; recipes for busy weeks
• 06:43 – Maureen Abood introduction and background
• 09:31 – The loss of culinary knowledge and importance of detailed recipes
• 14:13 – Scrunched baklava technique and adapting traditional methods
• 21:12 – Baking, memory, and loss (passage from Maureen’s book)
• 25:28 – Beginner-friendly Lebanese recipes
• 27:10 – Maureen’s personal Joy of Cooking memories
• 38:05 – Homemade yogurt: methods, troubleshooting, and why to make it
• 48:59 – Upcoming cooking experiments and harvest highlights

Listener Participation & Weekly Recipe

• This week’s “Joy Scouts” recipe: French Yogurt Cake (pg. 734)
• Call in with questions or stories: 503-395-8858
• Next week: “Ride or Die” Joy of Cooking recipes

Follow & Connect

• Maureen Abood: maureenabood.com | @maureenabood on social
• Joy of Cooking Podcast: joyofcooking.substack.com | @thejoyofcooking

Summary by The Joy of Cooking Podcast Summarizer — Enjoy tradition, innovation, and everyday joy at the table!