Cooking shows are fun to watch. You see these vibrant, colorful dishes — some look better than others — but it’s really such a tease. In most cases they leave out the most important part: the recipe.
While the episodes are designed to draw you in, part of the joy is trying to recreate what you see, so you can smell, taste and enjoy.
I need only think of a dish, whether it’s my maternal grandmother’s mandel bread, my paternal grandmother’s kugel or my mom’s chicken soup, and it brings me back to my youth. So you can imagine how strong the memory is after preparing and eating any of these dishes.
When I started the “Taste Buds with Deb” podcast, my priority was to include a recipe with each episode. My guests are eclectic in background and experience, which shows in the recipes they share. They are not all chefs. There’s a TV producer, community builder and networking expert in the mix. What they have in common is their love of food and an understanding that food brings people together.
I have found that this love of food, cooking and community is everywhere. People get excited when I talk about my food podcast.
I have found that this love of food, cooking and community is everywhere. People get excited when I talk about my food podcast. My Jewish and non-Jewish friends, strangers I meet at events, they all want to learn more. They want to hear what others have to say, but also, they ask, “Do you want to share recipes? Can we sit and talk about food? Can I be on your show?”
The other day, I mentioned my Instant Pot casually in conversation; it happens. A woman responded, “I may finally take my Instant Pot out of the box.”
This is what I want my show to do. To get people to take their appliances out of the box … to see a recipe that is out of their comfort zone and decide to try it … to have a conversation with a stranger and find common ground.
Remember, if you love food, you can be in any setting, and you are never at a loss for words.
These are the people I spoke with in May on Taste Buds with Deb, along with what recipes they shared. You can listen to these bite-sized conversations and get the recipes at JewishJournal.com. You can also find the episodes on iTunes or your favorite podcast platform.
Warning: This show may make you hungry.
And, because I will not leave you without a new recipe to try, below I added chef Judi Leib’s Pound Cake.
Aunt Rosie’s Pound Cake by Judi Leib
Equipment
1 10-inch Tube Pan
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated white sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
5 Tbsp pineapple juice
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F
2. Cream together butter and sugar. You are looking for it to be light in color and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Whisk flour and salt together.
5. Add flour, in thirds, alternating with pineapple juice. Always start and finish with your dry ingredients.
6. Do not overmix. Just let the flour barely incorporate. Finish mixing with a spatula, by hand.
7. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Pour batter in and set on a baking sheet.
8. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour.
9. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then invert and let fall naturally out of the pan.
Note: In Aunt Rosie’s pound cake recipe, Judi Leib uses pineapple juice for the liquid. But you don’t really taste the pineapple. You can use any other juice or buttermilk too.
Debra Eckerling hosts the “Taste Buds with Deb” podcast.
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